Rob Osborne and James Sime are quoted in the Arizona Republic about minicomics; Rob about turning 1000 Steps to World Domination into a graphic novel and James about the legitimacy of minicomics and the Isotope Award for Excellence in Minicomics.

But I know those two well, so the standout quote to me is this: "Artists who work their way from minicomics to publishing deals are as rare as sightings of Batman and Bruce Wayne in the same room. In his three years at Marvel, C.B. Sebulski [sic], manager of talent relations, knows of only two who have made the leap." Which of course will come as news to Tom Beland, Becky Cloonan, Ryan Yount, Darick Robertson, Kieron Dwyer, Brian Wood, and me, for that matter, making seven former minicomic folks at AiT/Planet Lar alone. Throw in James Kochalka and Nick Bertuzzi and half of everyone Fantagraphics and Top Shelf publishes, and the fact that Cebulski is a manga guy, and you can see how that sort of quote makes me smile. Unless ol' C.B. is talking about just at Marvel, which makes me think of Peter Bagge, and Dino, and James Kochalka again, just off the top of my head. And that's not counting Roy Thomas and all the old guard guys who kicked it mimeo-style before they got to the House of Ideas.

Honestly, I'm just going to go write a book about it.

Speaking of legitimacy, also up today is Part Two of my look at the comics bloggers who do their voodoo that they do so well, over at Comic Book Resources. And you can catch Bill Harms at the Isotope again, what with it being New Comics Day today. But I saw Joe Keatinge and Sean got his Capes page yesterday, so all's right in the world. A trip to the Isotope is never wasted.

Very nice review of Planet of the Capes over at Millarworld, proving once again there are two kinds of people in the world; those who order the world into two kinds of people, and those who don't.

Er... I mean... those who look at a book like Planet of the Capes and think, "There's a lot going on in this book; I'm gonna figure it out," and those who think, "Obvious Batman ripoff by way of Captain America with shades of The Phantom! Worst! Comic! Ever!"

Looks to me like reader SeanM, who writes things like, "Planet Of The Capes is a lot of things. It’s an alternative history story. It’s an Authority-style criticism of the old school, power fantasy superheroes. It’s a sort of tribute to those same classics, with characters that visually conjure Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and The Incredible Hulk. It’s a silly comedy. It’s a tragedy. It’s a crazy goddamn book."

and

"We meet a few other characters; my favorite is the Hulk analogue, Schaff. This is probably the best Hulk story I’ve read since PAD was on the book, and it stacks up well against that colossal run as well. Schaff is, like the Hulk, the product of a foolish and noble sacrifice that, through the magic of science fiction, left him both incredibly powerful and horribly mutated."

is one of the first kind of people in the world, and not the second.