You know it's going to be a good day when the first thing you read is "Man, I get a kick out of Larry Young." When Tim O'Neil writes, "Something like Proof of Concept seems to me to be comfortably situated somewhere between fascinating discourse and self-indulgence, and I have a funny feeling that this is just how Young likes it. Even moreso than making a few good comics, he seems obsessed with destroying the mystery which surrounds comics publishing: he’s hardly a Sim-like Messiah, he’s much more down-to-earth, and absolutely dedicated to putting the 'means of production' squarely in the hands of his readers. Seen in that light, Proof of Concept has an almost loosey-goosey, 'Look Ma! No hands!' feel to it. The idea – and it’s a good one – is that thinking up good ideas really isn’t that hard, at least not as hard as some awful pretentious folks have made it out to be." ...it's like he has a window into my soul.

Speaking of windows into my soul, Ken Lowery says, in his review of Proof of Concept: "And it's all pretty damn good. It's all entertaining." After waxing my car a little with the vainglorious "I've talked with Larry at length, and the man is the king of the High Concept. He's the kind of guy that can zing off five compelling story ideas at the drop of a hat," he does put his finger on exactly what I was trying to do with the project: "...what's provided in Proof of Concept is an example of the Wild-Ass Ideas that it seems only comics are capable of exploring these days. What I see here is a call to arms. What I see here is a lot of Wild-Ass Ideas on display. What I see is a bunch of very talented artists. What I see is fucking entertaining."

Matt Price over at The Daily Oklahoman/News 9 gives Hench the #7 spot in the year's Ten Best Graphic Novels: "Writer Adam Beechen and artist Manny Bello create this behind-the-scenes look at the henchman. Ex-jock Mike becomes a supervillain's henchman when other avenues don't work out for him. His journey takes him through some homages to many of comics' great moments, while examining what pressures drive a man to make decisions that lead to long-term harm." Nice work, guys.

Chris Allen uses Demo, in his statement of intent, as an example of the kind of personal and professional growth he's shooting for this year: "For instance, when the [long mooted but unannounced] collection comes out and I review the entirety of Demo, I can tell you that the gist of the review will be that writer Brian Wood has made a significant step forward in his progress in that he now can write scenes of a weight and mood that remain with the reader. That’s not to say these scenes add up to great stories, but I still enjoyed the book more than most series I read last year. That’s not a backhanded compliment at all, just my opinion of his progress. Moving forward is the key here, not the distance moved."

Shane Bailey gives Matt Fraction and me the Illustrator treatment: