Month: December 2016

Comics Review Specifics

In my last post, I mentioned I’d be reviewing some DC comics, starting in January 1977 and working my way forward. Today, I’m going to get more detailed about which comics I’ll be looking at. On Monday, I’ll post my first actual reviews. As I mentioned before, I don’t have time to read every DC comic that came out in 1977, nor would I want to; let’s face it, some of them were crap. So I compromised and picked some popular comics, plus a few that I like or have always wanted to read but never got around to.

I’ll be posting comic reviews every Monday and Friday (Wednesdays are for reviews of the TV show Lost Girl). I’ll do at least two comics reviews in each post, sometimes three (or even four, if need be); these won’t be insanely long, page-by-page reviews … there are already plenty of those to be found online. I’ll summarize the storyline of each issue, then afterwards I’ll add a few observations, under the heading of Noticeable Things (a title I took from that old Missing Persons song “Noticeable One … remember the video for that? Man, Dale Bozzio looked like Lady Gaga’s hotter sister). Some reviews may be longer than others, depending on what I have to say, or how complex the story is, or whatever. I’ll also be including some art from each issue. The reviews will be absolutely overflowing with spoilers, of course.

Continue reading “Comics Review Specifics”

What’s this all about?

As I said in my first post, I’ll be reviewing comics month-by-month, starting in January 1977. Why 1977? It’s the earliest I can remember reading comics, so I figured I’d go back to where I started and read some old favourites, as well as check out some stuff I missed the first time around.

Of course, I can’t review every comic that came out in 1977—I just don’t have the time. So, I had to choose where I wanted to focus, and I ultimately decided to go with DC comics. I read DC and Marvel as a kid and I generally like both, though if pushed I’d probably lean slightly toward Marvel—which is why I’m concentrating on DC for these reviews; I’ve already read 90% of Marvel’s Silver/Bronze Age output. Now, a lot of those are great comics, and I wouldn’t mind reading ’em again, but there are lots of DCs out there that I’ve never read, so I figured why not give ’em a shot? Plus there are already a couple of sites that examine Marvel month-by-month: Marvel University and Supermegamonkey’s Marvel Timeline and I don’t think I can compete with them (nor would I want to).

So, I’ll be reviewing DC comics here … not all of them (again, just don’t have the time); I’ll be concentrating on comics that I either read as a kid, would’ve read if I’d known then what I know now, or should’ve read because they’re staples of the genre. In my next post, I’ll go into which comics I’m reviewing, as well as my review style. I hope you’ll join me as I revisit some classic (and not-so-classic) stories, and discover some new gems that I’d previously overlooked.

(And for the non-comics fans out there, I’ll also be doing reviews of TV shows, starting with Lost Girl. Why? Cause it’s a hell of a good show!)

First!

Yeah, I hate it when people shout “First!” in comment sections too. But in my case it’s true. Not only is this my first post, it’s my first blog. I’m a geek from way back, currently trying to become a published writer. You’re probably thinking “Oh God, not another writer chronicling their journey to publication!” Well, you’re in luck. While I may mention my writing from time to time, this blog will mostly be about comics and other geek stuff (because there aren’t nearly enough blogs about THOSE things).

So welcome to the Erudite Gorilla. I recently decided to go back to my comic book roots, which started around 1977, when I was a kid. I’ll be reviewing a number of comics, starting with those that are cover dated January 1977 and working my way (hopefully) through the years. I’ll also be reviewing episodes of the TV show Lost Girl every Wednesday. I hope you’ll join me and add your two cents from time to time. It should be a lot of fun.

And just what (or who) is the Erudite Gorilla? That would be Gulliver, whose face is plastered across the header. He’ll be popping up from time to time (and if comments get too rowdy, I’ll let him moderate … he has a low tolerance for humans, so everyone better behave). But to kick off the blog, Gulliver has a message for everybody:

Merry Ape-mas

MERRY APE-MAS!