New, J. Michael Straczynski Interviewed, Protectors Inc #1 Reviewed

New! Now online at The Beat, I interview J. Michael Straczynski about his new Twilight Zone Comic, out this January from Dynamite.

And Protectors Inc. #1 by J. Michael Straczynski is out this Wednesday from Joe's Comics. Click here for my original review.

Movin' On Up

Today, I leave JHU Comic Books, my employer of the last six years. It has been an enlightening, educational, and wildly entertaining experience. I don't know what the future holds, but know I'm going to be in comics for the rest of my life and JHU was one hell of a launching pad. That store and the people there have made me the man I am today. It's where I found my calling, and found my family. JHU was the first place I could call Home, where it ever felt OK to be me. Exactly one year ago, JHU as a company and as a group of people supported me through a very crazy time, and I'll be forever grateful for that. 

I want to keep working in comics, plus my writing here at The Comic Pusher continues unabated. And stay tuned because I'll have more stuff coming from The Beat as well! Follow me on twitter @B5Jeff, Like The Comic Pusher on Facebook, and follow CP on Tumblr, and of course stay tuned to The Comic Pusher, home to The Run, The Wednesday Review, and a some pretty swell reviews and criticism.

The Comic Pusher is Reoprting from New York Comic Con! (Updated!)

I've been reporting all weekend long from New York Comic Con for Heidi MacDonald's The Beat, and several reports are now live!

For my report on the J. Michael Straczynski Writing Workshop, click here!

For my report on the BOOM! Studios editing panel, click here.

For my my report on the Chew Panel, click here. 

And for my brief review of the DC Comics Documentary, Necessary Evil: The Villains of DC Comics, click here.

For my report on the East of West panel, click here.

For my Molly Danger interview with Jamal Igle, click here.

And for my convention wrap-up, click here!

I am also tweeting extensively at @B5Jeff and posting on The Comic Pusher Facebook. 

Stay tuned for many more updates as they become available!

Jeff-Bot 3000 in New York City. August 17, 2013.

A Day in the Life of Jeff-Bot 3000 from Madeline Jane on Vimeo.

The Comic Pusher at Six Months

Thursday, August 22 is the six-month anniversary of The Comic Pusher blog. Many thanks to my friends and family for the support, and many more thanks to those who read and link to my various ramblings about the things that I love.

Below I list some random stats from the past six months of The Comic Pusher. Of note, my writing output since February when I started this has gone far beyond anything I have done previously - to date, over 95,000 words. In the 12 months between December 2008 and December 2009, I wrote just over 12,000 words, all for the JHU Blog. But in the three plus years that followed, I wrote nothing - not one word.  My newfound ability to write is a result of many factors: a recent hospitalization, a refocusing of priorities - but more than anything, for the first time I am able to translate my passions about comics into the written word, and people have responded.

When I started The Comic Pusher this February I committed myself to a blog that reflected the depth and breadth of my comic and graphic novel knowledge, with the goal of writing thoughtful reviews and commentary on the medium and art form I love. Hopefully I have come close to achieving this with The Comic Pusher. I still have far to go before I am truly satisfied with my work here, but it I'd like to think I've made a pretty good start.

Thanks for reading - now some stats.

The ten most viewed reviews on The Comic Pusher, sorted chronologically:

• Marvel's Irrational and Schizophrenic Graphic Novel Policies
• Lovecraft and the Heart of Ice: Nemo Reviewed
• Post-Apocalypse Now: Brian Wood's The Massive, Volume 1 Reviewed
• Tintin on the Moon and Beyond, Hegre's Odd and Wonderful Sci-Fi Espionage Adventure
• Dave Roman and John Green's Wonderfully Absurd Teen Boat
• The Final Testament of Ivan Brunetti - Aesthetics: A (Non-) Memoir
• Creating the Universe: The Incal by Jodorowsky and Moebius
• Six Perfect Panels, One Perfect Comic
• An Appreciation of Emily Horne and Joey Comeau's A Softer World at Ten Years and 1000 Strips
• The International Private Eye and The Future of Comics

My most read article to date, across the JHU Blog and The Comic Pusher, is my Definitive Love & Rockets Guide. Even Fantagraphics and Jaime Hernandez have commented on its completeness - if you have ever thought about getting into Love & Rockets (comics' supreme masterpiece) then this is the place to start.

My ten favorite articles, in chronological order:

• Analysis: Adventure Time: Goliad
• Tintin on the Moon and Beyond, Hegre's Odd and Wonderful Sci-Fi Espionage Adventure
• Chris Ware Doesn't Want You to Read Floyd Farland Citizen of the Future (And Neither Do I)
• Life, Jim Hanley's Universe, and Everything: How J. Michael Straczynski and JHU Comic Books Changed My Life
• Ultimate Spider-Man and The Obligations of Superheroism
• Six Perfect Panels, One Perfect Comic
• Batgirl, Robin and Marcos Martin: Year One
• The Daring Visions of Grant Morrison and Garth Ennis
• The Unexpected Delights of Wine (And Comic) Making in Etienne Davodeau's The Initiates
• Understanding Time

My piece on The Incal is a close runner up, and my essay on Superman and Superheroes is a pretty good read. Usually whatever article I have just finished is my favorite, but I think this is a pretty representative list of the work I'm happiest with, warts and all. Not on the list, but by far my favorite thing I have written for The Comic Pusher, is my 10 articles on Naoki Urasawa's Pluto. I'm immensely proud of my writing about Pluto and I hope you can check those articles out. Also of note is my early article on Marvel's ridiculous trade policies. That article got reblogged by everyone under the sun and had a bunch of unforeseen consequences, and as such ranks highly for me.

Top articles by Word Count (excluding multiple-book reviews):

• The Daring Visions of Grant Morrison and Garth Ennis
• Musings On Superman on the Seventy-fifth Anniversary of the Superhero
• Analysis: Adventure Time: Goliad
• Life, Jim Hanley's Universe, and Everything: How J. Michael Straczynski and JHU Comic Books Changed My Life
• Tintin on the Moon and Beyond, Hegre's Odd and Wonderful Sci-Fi Espionage Adventure
• Batgirl, Robin and Marcos Martin: Year One
• The Failure of Fumetti: Force Field Fotocomix
• Understanding Time
• Ultimate Spider-Man and The Obligations of Superheroism 
• Marvel's Irrational and Schizophrenic Graphic Novel Policies 

I left all of my Pluto reviews out of this list; all told it is the book I have written the most about (16,388 words). Quantity does not always equal quality, but there is a fair amount of overlap between this list and my list of favorite writings. Make your own judgements.

Top ten most reviewed publishers:

• Marvel
• Image
• DC
• Misc Book Publishers
• Misc Self Published
• Dark Horse
• Viz
• Fantagraphics
• Boom
• Drawn & Quarterly

All told I have reviewed books from thirty different publishers including a half dozen international publishers. I have also reviewed webcomics, books, movies,videos, art exhibits and more here at The Comic Pusher. I don't review everything I read (and I read quite a lot) but I try to reflect the broad diversity of my comic intake. However, I have always and will always honestly review material sent to me by publishers and authors. If you are a publisher or author who would like me to review your work, feel free to email me at jeffey.o.gustafson@gmail.com.

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Going forward I hope to continue to review whatever moves me, and I hope you all continue reading. I believe I continue to get better at this, and I always appreciate feedback from readers and creators. Feel free to leave comments on any blog post, email me, or contact me on Twitter or Facebook. Thanks for reading. As always, Like The Comic Pusher on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ComicPusher, and follow me on Twitter at @B5Jeff. You can also subscribe to The Comic Pusher via olde timey RSS and Email!

The Comic Pusher by Jeffrey O. Gustafson - comicpusher.blogspot.com and ComicPusher.com

Your Comic Pusher Makes the Front Page of Gothamist by Reading Comics

Every day is a day to read comics in public.

The New York City news website Gothamist recently ran a contest with the good folks at Bookish asking readers to send pictures of their favorite reading spot, and I won! Cool! Pictured is your friendly neighborhood Comic Pusher engaging in my favorite pastime, reading comics at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden!

Check out the announcement of all the winners here!

As always, read some of the best comic reviews online here at The Comic Pusher, Like the Comic Pusher on Facebook and follow me on Twitter @B5Jeff!

Follow The Comic Pusher All Over The Interwebs

Now you can get updates from The Comic Pusher right up in your FaceSpace thing! Like The Comic Pusher on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ComicPusher

New, September 2013! You can now follow The Comic Pusher on Tumblr and you can now see the Full Index of Reviews Here!

As always, follow me on Twitter at @B5Jeff.

You can also subscribe to The Comic Pusher via olde timey RSS and Email!

Like a particular review? Don't forget to click the icons at the bottom of the review to Share it on Facebook, Recommend it on Google Plus, Tweet it, and more!

The Comic Pusher by Jeffrey O. Gustafson - comicpusher.blogspot.com and ComicPusher.com

Index: The Comic Pusher Review of Naoki Urasawa's Pluto

The Run: Naoki Urasawa's Pluto

In The Run I review an entire run of a particular series. Pluto, published in 8 volumes in the United States by Viz, is Naoki Urasawa's masterful adaptation and expansion of Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy.   An astonishing original work in its own right, Pluto is a masterpiece and one of the finest comics ever produced. Below are links to my reviews of the individual volumes in the series, as well as my concluding analyses and essays on the work as a whole.

• Pluto Volume 1: "Urasawa expands on Osamu Tezuka's original creations and crafts an original and mature story of startling power. Pluto is a riveting mystery of murder, horror and war, an exploration of love, loss, and life, and a visionary work of science fiction that utilizes futuristic set-pieces to movingly examine the very root of the human condition... frankly one of the finest comics of the 21st century"
• Pluto Volume 2: "Again we see the world coming to terms with the the developing intelligence around them and what that means for Robots and Humans. And it is in Volume 2 that we begin to see the larger geopolitical picture at play and the forces manipulating things from a distance."
• Pluto Volume 3: "The mysteries weaving throughout the series come into unexpected sharp focus... The series' multiple identity as not just a mystery and international thriller, but surprisingly scary work of horror also come to the fore. There is plenty to fear, from the creepy abilities of one subtly monstrous robot at the beck and call of a mysterious foe, to grand shifting horrors beyond human and even robot understanding... Things are coming into focus at the same time the lines blur even more, the lines between guilt and innocence, beauty and horror, war and peace.  And we are given moments of beauty wrapped in pain, and startling revelations that ask more questions than they answer."
• Pluto Volume 4: "The scenes that follow are pure moments of riveting suspense that drive the story forward into amazing, nonstop action-packed set pieces. Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki's scripting and Urasawa's art evoke an astonishing economy of storytelling, propelling the plot forward with an emotion and tension that are rarely seen in comics of any stripe."
• Pluto Volume 5: "The scripting continues to leave you breathless, as does the astonishing art. From a robot compulsively washing its hands, unable to clean the metaphorical blood on them, to a quiet dinner packed with subtext, the quiet moments of pain and loss and grief which fill the book are seismic. And amongst all the pain and sadness there is hope, bleeding in around the edges. But things are darkest before the dawn and under gathering storm clouds, we are still far from sunlight."
• Pluto Volume 6: "A tightly plotted thriller with equal parts explosive action and riveting suspense-filled conversations. Urasawa continues to pull out a virtuoso performance of comic storytelling. Extraordinarily powerful and moving, this is a work of art that says volumes about the human condition, one of the finest accomplishments of the medium."
• Pluto Volume 7: "This is the weakest volume in the series, but even a weak turnout from Urasawa is stronger than most comics. His and Nagasaki's writing is just as sharp, his art no less emotive and powerful."
• Pluto Volume 8: "In the end, the final battle becomes about overcoming nature, be it the darkness that exists in all of us or the programming and orders given to a tortured soul. Urasawa's art throughout this last volume is frankly astonishing. His depictions of human emotion and suspenseful character drama are matched by his world-shattering battle sequences, quiet moments of pain and loss and explosive action. This is a story about the transformative power of loss. It is about the darkest aspects of our nature that makes us human. It is about the evils of war and the scars of war that echo down through the years. It is about the subjective reality of memory. It is a story of evolution and change and becoming human through trial and pain. And it is about the power of love to break the cycle of hate, the beauty within to overcome the darkness."
• And finally, my analysis and exploration of Pluto (split into three parts). In the first part of my treatise, I examined The Role of Hatred, Redemption, and Evolution in Pluto. In the second part I looked at Humanity and the Role of Memory in Subjective Reality in Pluto and I also examined the Effects of War and Urasawa's commentary on the Iraq War and American Imperialism. And here in the third and final part, I examine Urasawa's craft and Pluto's role as a fiercely original work.

Repost: Silence & Co.

In April I reviewed Silence & Co., the new original graphic novel written & published by Gur Benshemesh and illustrated by Ron Randall, which is released today to comic shops.

To read my original review, as well as Mr. Benshemesh's comments about my review and my response, click here.

For more reviews and commentary, follow me on Twitter: @B5Jeff.

As always, comics provided by JHU Comic Books, New York City's Premier Comic Shop, Where Art & Literature Meet.

Welcome to The Comic Pusher.

I guess this is the point where I state what I will be doing with this blog.

Obviously, first and foremost, comic reviews. I sell comics for a living for JHU Comic Books in New York City. I love my job, and I'm damn good at it. I read more comics every month than most folks read in their life, so it's about time I started writing about them.

(I've dabbled in the past with writing for the JHU blog. Here I hope to be a bit more consistent with my output, and I won't be limited to positive reviews, or indeed just comics.)

What else will I cover? Hell if I know. Comics, TV, books, sports, current events, whatever. But mostly comics. You can see the most recent reviews as well as a link to jump to a random post on the left sidebar. Also on the left are links to our RSS feed and email subscription options.

Check out my twitter, @B5Jeff.
Like The Comic Pusher on Facebook at Facebook.com/ComicPusher
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And feel free to email me at jeffrey.o.gustafson@gmail.com.

Click here for the full index of all reviews.

Thanks for reading!

The Comic Pusher is Trademark and Copyright 2008, 2009 and 2013 Jeffrey O. Gustafson