Man, what a marathon, today. Finally sent True Story Swear to God: 100 Stories to the printer. Making Comics Better is hot and thirsty work.

I'm personally finding it real interesting reading the online reviews of Planet of the Capes since the reception (and perception) of any work, really, is dependent upon what the reader brings to the table. It's why I find it hilarious that when I tell someone they just didn't get Channel Zero, say, they're more apt to get pissy than to shrug and agree. The work is the work, you know? You're on the bus or you're not; don't blame the bus if you miss it.

In that vein, Sean Collins gets Planet of the Capes. Instead of pointing out that the characters' motivations aren't explained, there's hardly a throughline to follow, and, in fact, that no one does learn anything, and everyone does in fact die... Sean sees that that's the point of the work and shows everyone pretty clearly what I think of superhero comics. Being labelled a "smartass indie guy" doing a comic where "'We've been had' is the message" gives me my first smile of the day.

Me, I can't wait to see what a full-on superhero guy like Augie De Blieck, Jr. will make of it, because, so far, anyone's who's read it as just a superhero comic has been distracted by the capes and tights and missed the point wide.

Speaking of superhero-comics-but-you-know-not-really, the big Demo blogtest has gone live, so, in addition to Dave Fiore's rumination today, you can get all the particulars on the Demo Contest Page posted up by Shane Bailey. There are a big honkin' lot of books there for some lucky and interested folks.

Greg Gatlin does his "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love DEMO" impression on Raw Feed, while Kevin Melrose has a quick interview with Becky Cloonan about process, minis, and upcoming work. And a little talk about, you know... DEMO!

I gotta say, Dorian over at Postmodern Barney is a new friend of mine for mentioning in his Planet of the Capes review that he's going to try to use the book as a gateway drug for superhero-only dudes at his shop to point them to other AiT/Planet Lar books. I love it when a plan comes together.

Rick Geerling has a great review of his experience reading Planet of the Capes, which includes this line: "Yeah, it jumps around. Yeah, no one really has much motivation. But that doesn't end up mattering." Which is exactly what Brandon and I were trying to get across about superhero comics. The rest of the review is pretty complimentary, too.

Dave Fiore finally got his package of books; there's no Planet of the Capes in there, Dave, because it wasn't printed yet when I originally sent it out. Apparently, the mail to Canada is slower than I thought.

Mike Sterling has some nice words about Demo. As a publisher, there's nothing better to hear from a retailer or reviewer than: "You certainly get your three bucks' worth."

My man in Texas, Ken Lowery, shines his reviewing flashlight ("Reviewing flashlight... OF JUSTICE!") on Codeflesh this week. "Codeflesh is a gutpunch of a comic" is going on the review site...

Those of you following Proof of Concept will note the new script is up, but Caleb and JG haven't been able to format the column yet, because of the huge amount of art we're showing off for last time's "Hemogoblin" script. Read this one, "For the Time Being," and get a head start on it, because the clock doesn't start ticking until the column goes up.

Bill Sherman, he of the refined taste, doesn't think much of The Annotated Mantooth!, and, honestly, I don't know what I was thinking sending that along to him. That's like expecting noted Savage Dragon fan Augie De Blieck, Jr. to like Manny Bello's restrained but confident graphite work. Too much kick-splode with the former and not enough kick-splode in the latter.

Man, WonderCon was great! No time to really do an update, but I'll see you back here tomorrow with links and a report!