Hey Scott,
Thought you and the BOD may be interested in a new project I'm guest writing at Comic Book Resource's Comics Should Be Good Blog - it's called "Gimmick or Good." In this column, I look at the gimmick covers/issues from the 1990s (foil embossed, variant covers, polybags, etc.) and analyze the contents to see if the comic book actually has any redeeming merits. Considering how a lot of these gimmicks are making a comeback in today's marketplace (Batman #13's die-cut covers, Age of Ultron #1 foil embossed cover), I thought this would be a fun retrospective. I think a lot of people slam the excesses of the 1990s, and deservedly so, but through four columns, I've already found a number of "gimmicked" gems and I expect to declare many more to be "good" even by today's standards.
Thanks,
Mark
(aka, Chasing Amazing guy - www.chasingamazingblog.com if you want to throw the plug in there too)
Of course I've been reading it! CSBG is one of the first web-surfing stops I make every day, and I've had a couple of suggestions picked by Dread Lord and Master Brian Cronin myself for his columns.
I'm not really into Age of Ultron yet, but it's only been a couple of issues. Still, feels like the BIG RESET button is obviously going to be pushed, rendering the whole thing little more than an Elseworlds. We'll see, I guess.
Quick tangential comic recommendation: The Sixth Gun! I picked up the trades and blew through them, and apparently it's going to be a pilot on NBC, so support it now and look cool and hip when it's the next big thing! Becky shooting the everloving fuck out of the bad guys while in spirit form was one of the most awesome moments I've read in a long time, and the wacky entourage of undead Billjohn and the grumpy mummy is tons of fun. It's just a consistently great western/supernatural hybrid and well worth your money. Plus Cullen Bunn is a cool guy, too.