Henceforth, new posts will be found at www.comicsbeat.com. Thanks for visiting!

We were hoping we’d have the new digs open for business today, but despite our best efforts nodding with templates and what not, we’re not quite ready for the housewarming. However, we should be able to at least move our new posting over to the new site later this week.

To answer the question many had, no, the Beat archives will NOT be hosted here any more. They will be moved to the new site. Unfortunately, getting the old posts moved was beyond my own limited WordPress skills since THIS blog is hosted on such an old version of WP that none of the export functions work. *Sigh.*

WOW. Thanks for all the support in the comments, on Twitter and via email on the announced move. I was truly overwhelmed and touched and having the support of so many amazing people — and loyal readers — means the world to me. It really makes all the work worth in.

Understandably, I hope, I’m going to be a little busy with the migration and figuring a lot of things out (been “learning” CSS on the fly, after a fashion) at least for the next few days. The new site should roll out pretty quickly, although it’s going to keep evolving. So The Beat will be a little quiet for a while…although if one particular story we’ve heard brewing is true, we’re going to need to jump into action pretty damned fast! And on that tantalizing note…

It’s been a great 3 1/2 (!) year run here at Publishers Weekly, but all good things must end, and in the very near future, The Beat will be moving to its own website: www.comicsbeat.com. PREPARE TO BOOKMARK!

The move is a combination of many things, but mainly the fact that PW is focusing on its B-to-B business plan, and The Beat, for better or worse, is really a consumer site. With PW’s move to a new web platform and impending ownership change at some point, it just didn’t make as much sense to continue to partner up.

I want to stress that the move is completely amicable, and everyone here at PW — Brian Kenney, Cevin Bryerman, Ron Shank, Dan Blank, and departed folks such as Sara Nelson and David Nudo — have always been incredibly supportive and appreciative of my efforts here. And of course Calvin Reid is the best boss/partner in crime anyone could ever ask for and has helped me out in innumerable ways and, I’m sure, will continue to do so. The current team has been incredibly helpful with the move, and they have my deepest thanks and appreciation. And I will be continuing in my non-Beat PW work, such as editing PW Comics Week and the graphic novel review section.

The move will be taking place over the next few weeks, but it’s been brewing for a while, leading to some distraction for your humble blogger, meaning I haven’t been as on top of some big stories as I should have been. The good news is that with a new site, The Beat will have more resources and flexibility than ever, and hopefully will be moving full steam ahead in the weird world of the future, or at least be iPad compliant.

We’ll have more ad placements in the new home, so anyone interested should shoot me a line. The Beat is also looking at some interesting partnerships which will also roll out in due time.

I started The Beat at Comicon.com in June 2004, meaning that at 5 1/2 years, I have probably been blogging every day about comics for longer than anyone else out there. (Dirk started before me, but he took a long break to edit the Journal.) When I started, the blogosphere was still a youngling at Jedi school, and I was making things up as I went along. As I watch the explosion of nerdcentric blogs (see previous item) it’s fascinating to track their evolution. The one-person shop pioneered by Dirk, Tom and myself has given way to corporate sponsored teams in the Gawker mold, or mini online magazines as I like to think of them. As more and more outlets emerge, link blogging becomes huger and huger, and original content becomes even more time consuming — and yet even more important. Blogging has evolved in so many ways, from mere curation to the trusted source to driving the media narrative of politics and social change.

The Beat will continue to evolve with all of this. Where exactly it will end up, I’m not exactly certain. But I will enjoy the journey, and hope you do, too.

We’re back! Damn the torpedoes AND the servers. While the server was down we took a little rest, finished watching season 5 of Lost, went to the gym and ate a cookie. And WE’RE BACK!

So let’s rap, people! No subject is too contentious. Women! Comics! Women AND comics! African Americans in comics! Asians in Comics! One More Day! Twilight! Photo contests! Marvel vs DC! Kirby! Ditko! It’s an OPEN THREAD.

(more…)

Sorry for radio silence, we’re were felled by the crud yesterday and were flat out until now. It’s not the H1N1, thank God, maybe the Piglet flu? We’ll have the final part of our survey tomorrow and be back on it Monday. Hopefully.

Hooray, it’s Monday! Back to work and the real world, y’all! To celebrate, let’s analyze the adventures of Captain Triumph as seen on the cover to Crack Comics #60 c. 1949. Captain Triumph thought that stopping a lynching would be a picnic, but he discovered this was not the case. A lynching is a violent attempt at murder via asphyxiation, carried out by hooligans in bright yellow caps. A picnic is a casual meal eaten outdoors, preferably on a sunny day, giving an opportunity to indulge in both potato salad and Vitamin D at the same time. Thus, the lesson is learned: TROUBLE IS NO PICNIC.

With that somber lesson in mind, it’s a brand new day here at Stately Beat Manor, and to start the year off, we’re looking for some interns again. If you know some WordPress, HTML, and have an orderly mind, we may have some tasks for you. No pay but all the glory in the world! Plus, free comics! Apply at the usual place.

We’ll be rolling out the results of our annual survey as soon as we have some coffee, and a few other roundup-type pieces are planned for this week. Unlike other folks, we needed that time off just to get them written, but better late then never. Onward and upwards with the arts!

Continuing Torsten Adair’s compilation of the most popular — as measured by comments — posts on The Beat last year:

PW Beat Top Ten Posts November 2009
(17 No comments)

114 Alan Moore, destroyer of library workers

61 The Onion A.V. Club’s Best Comics of the Decade

56 Welcome to the Brokeback Pose

43 TWILIGHT ruined THE DARK KNIGHT’s record opening!

43 Marvel Month-to-Month Sales: September 2009

36 What’s sauce for the goose…

35 What do women like? Part XLVIII

33 Children’s comics: A not-so-phantom menace

33 Evangelist: If Alan Moore isn’t porno, what is?

33 What is the most iconic DC cover ever?

Continuing Torsten Adair’s compilation of the most popular — as measured by comments — posts on The Beat last year:

PW Beat Top Ten Posts October 2009
(36 No comments)

50 Indie Month-to-Month Sales: August 2009

44 Marvel Month-to-Month Sales: August 2009

37 DC Comics Month-to-Month Sales: August 2009

36 David Gabriel on Siege, event fatigue, Marvel Women and more

36 Con Wars heat up at Big Apple

32 Breaking: Big Apple to go head to head with New York Comic-Con next year

31 San Diego Comic-Con sells out…in 2010!!

29 Comics Journal to beef up online presence

27 Salman rushing to comics?

27 Big Apple/Con Wars wrap-up

Continuing Torsten Adair’s compilation of the most popular — as measured by comments — posts on The Beat last year:

PW Beat Top Ten Post September 2009
(28 No Comments)

90 Tonight to do: Julia Wertz fundraiser

88 DC Comics Month-to-Month Sales: July 2009

85 Kirby family files for copyright reassignment

53 Astonishing X-Men motion comic trailer

48 Marvel Month-to-Month Sales: July

44 They’ll do it every time!

41 DC makes changes official: Levitz gone, Nelson in, DC now DC Entertainment 41

38 Amazon: Cartoonists aren’t authors

36 The coming end of the Direct Market

34 Meet Diane Nelson! – UPDATE

Continuing Torsten Adair’s compilation of the most popular — as measured by comments — posts on The Beat last year — things were beginning to get REALLY INTERESTING!

PW Beat Top Ten PostsAugust 2009
(22 No Comments)

118 OH NO, not the gossip war again.

68 Only one problem with this Obama image…

62 Disney buys Marvel — Analysis

61 SD09: The New Invaders

59 The defense of Rob Liefeld — UPDATED — the saga of The guy in the Yellow Hat united the industry as nothing else could.

47 Breaking: Disney buys Marvel for $4 billion

47 The happiest cartoonists of all time

43 DC Month-Month Sales: June 2009

36 More on Marvel/Disney as reactions unfold

36 Is Diane Nelson the new overlord at DC?

Continuing Torsten Adair’s compilation of the most popular — as measured by comments — posts on The Beat last year:

PW Beat Top Ten Posts July 2009

47 No Comments (CCI:SD posts))

121 Let’s all market with Tyrese Gibson’s MAYHEM

115 Tyrese creates MAYHEM at The Beat!

57 RIP: Ellie Frazetta

55 DC Month-to-Month Sales: May 2009

54 Comic-Con’s culture clash

47 Stand up for your Harvey Nominees

45 Marvel Month-to-Month Sales: May 2009

44 Supergirl’s Guide to short skirts and the active lifestyle

43 Carmine Infantino speaks; Chris Irving responds

39 Will we all be getting ready for LA in 2013?

Continuing Torsten Adair’s compilation of the most popular — as measured by comments — posts on The Beat last year:

PW Beat Top Ten Post
22 No Comments

57 “Comic Sales Crash in May”

55 And the bar is HOW high this time? — One in an endless series of posts about women in comics

47 2009 Harvey Award nominations announced

45 Shia no Y-a

41 This Might Melt the Internet — Megan Fox-related

40 Nickelodeon Magazine folds

36 JMS leaves THOR    36

34 Is there a Steve Jobs in the comic book industry?

30 DC Month-to-Month Sales: April 2009

30 EXCLUSIVE: Marvel announces STRANGE TALES MAX for September

Continuing Torsten Adair’s compilation of the most popular — as measured by comments — posts on The Beat the Beat Last last year:

PW Beat Top Ten May 2010
19 No Comments

91 handley-pleads-guilty/

86 /more-handley-reactions/

84 megan-fox-wonder-woman-is-lame/

58 the-matter-of-the-dayagain/ — more on Diamond’s new minimums

42 dc-monyh-to-month-sales-march-2009/

41 marvel-month-to-month-sales-march-2009/

37 the-day-that-comics-on-itunes-arrived/

37 warlords-of-io-a-symbol-for-our-times/

35 marriage-update-archie-spidey/

Continuing Torsten Adair’s compilation of the most popular — as measured by comments — posts on The Beat the Beat Last last year:

PW Beat Top Ten April 2009
13 No Comments

48 dc-month-to-month-sales-febroary-2009/

47 all-the-old-jose-luis-garcia-lopez-you-could-want/

44the-webcomics-approach-to-printing/

42 /marvel-month-to-month-sales-february-2009/

42 huntress-soars-up-the-chartshuh/ — Remember Ivory Madison?

39 todays-comedy-image/ – one of many posts that related DC Comics and female breasts over the course of the year.

36 lost-the-life-and-times-of-judged-ben-linus/

34 eisner-award-nominees/

31 len-wein-housefire/

Continuing Torsten Adair’s compilation of the most popular — as measured by comments — posts on The Beat the Beat Last last year:

PW Beat Top Ten March 2009
15 No Comments

87 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/03/27/indie-comics-month-to-month-sales-february-2009/

70 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/03/06/marvel-month-to_month-sales-january-2009/

63 dc-comics-month-to-month-sales-january-2009/

62 borders-looking-shakier-than-ever/

58 scans_daily-shut-down-internet-reactsand-reacts/

47 indiana-jones-child-molester/

43 sexy-spidey-outrages-mom/

41 all-remaining-virgin-megastores-shutting-down/

39 /weekend-newsy-notes/

37 /thus-it-beginsagain/

36 lost-i-got-your-back/

33 studio-coffee-run-syfy-monster-attack-network/

Continuing Torsten Adair’s compilation of the most popular — as measured by comments — posts on The Beat the Beat Last last year:

PW Beat Top Ten February 2009
31 No Comments
90 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/02/16/die-pamphlets-die/

81 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/02/04/marvel-month-to-month-sales-december-08/
80 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/02/23/bookscan-debate-goes-to-hell-the-final-monday/

70 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/02/06/dc-month-to-month-sales-december-2008/

67 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/02/20/hibbs-on-bookscan-2008/

42 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/02/11/the-biggest-badasses-of-all-times/

40 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/02/18/steve-geppis-debt-woes-growing/

38 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/02/20/breaking-news-movie-doctor-manhattan-hung-like-a-horse/

37 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/02/27/secret-lives-of-comic-store-employees/
31 http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2009/02/11/pull-quotes-the-power-of-fan-fiction/

Tireless poster Torsten Adair has incredibly spent part of his holidays toting up the most popular stories — as measured by comment response — here at The Beat, and we’ll rev up for ‘10 with a brief look back. Here’s how things went a year ago in January 2009:

January 2009 (11 no comments)

114 Kim Condemns Hollywood Racism

94 Willingham calls for end to Hollywood Decadence

88 Today’s pet peeve– this was the “complimentary copy” kerfuffle — I notice people have started calling them “review copies,” perhaps part of the FTC crackdown on paid blogging.

80 Josh Tyler — Jerk of the year

76 New Diamond policies expected to have massive effect

67 Female superhero fight

61 DC layoffs include Schreck

57 DC Comics Month-to-month Sales November 2008

37 Marvel Month-to-month sales: November 2008

48 Kyle Baker’s Review of the Spirit

We’re rolling up the RSS feeds and email drops here at Stately Beat Manor, piling up the fireplace, heating up the mulled cider, and settling in to see the new year and new decade in. We still have a few looks back before we move forward. And forward we shall be moving. The Beat will be undergoing MAJOR MAJOR changes in 2010, all for the better — details when we can spill them!

In the meantime thanks to our valued contributors in 2009 — Zena Tsarfin, Evie Nagy, Paul O’Brien, Marc-Oliver Frsch, Steve Bunch and Aaron Humphreys. Super special thanks to our tireless proofreader and commenter Steven Stahl and to Mark Coale, who help out just about every day. A special thanks also to Torsten for his ceaseless posting and helping make this a more useful, informative site.

Thanks to the rest of the home-based flight crew: Amy, Trish, Charlene, Desi, Charles, Nikki, Trisha, Jah Furry, Jimmy, Amanda, Franks 1, 2 and 3, Elim, Dave, Paul, Brian, Tim, Nisha, Whitney, Kai-Ming, Evie, Calvin, Douglas, Laura, Rich, Dean and of course, Future Mr. Beat, the most elite Beat operative of them all.

Most of all, thanks to YOU, our faithful readers, who come here regularly. The many, many kind comments in email and in person are the biggest incentive imaginable to keep trying to make this a better and better site and resource. 2010 is going to be another one for the history books, and we’re going to be here every step of the way.

So to all, the very best in the New Year and beyond.

Whew, things got a little heated around here this week! Time for other things. Let’s just go out and buy some awesome graphic novels as gifts and then kick back with some nice mulled cider! Celebrate the season! Fruitcake isn’t so bad.