Weekend Pattering for May 27th, 2016-- The Downfall of Civilization

** So going into Memorial Day weekend here in the States, it's revealed that Captain America is, for all intents and purpose, a Nazi?  Nice job, Marvel.



** Happy Memorial Day, everyone!  Go and read a nice Patriotic Comic like Sgt. Rock or Nick Fury and His Howling Commandos.  Unfortunately, Marvel doesn't seem to be publishing any comics featuring a patriotic character.   (O.k., I guess there's a Sam Wilson book right now.  But when is Nick Spencer going to reveal that Sam is a founding member of F.O.O.M.?)

** So, what have we been up to lately?  Glad you asked.
** Scott lists his current three favorite monthly comics over at Trouble With Comics.


** At The Comics Journal, Rob Kirby reviews Gabby Schulz's Sick.

** Is the Superhero Craze Destroying the Movies? (Indiewire)-- I don't know if I've ever linked to one of these piece of film criticism but I know I've made fun of them on Twitter a number of times, the way that film writers are sounding like The Comics Journal writers from the 1980s and 1990s, decrying the effect of superhero stories on the medium.
...(most) of the people who are chomping at the bit to help "Civil War" to a bonkers opening weekend are probably not wrestling with the choice between visionary filmmaking, or a film that features a character called Vision. Which is not to say that there aren’t plenty of moviegoers who contain multitudes, but we’re talking about the masses here. And yet, it’s notable that these two options are so diametrically opposed: a gargantuan mega-blockbuster, and a Godard film. I would love for us to live in a world where those things could be one and the same, but we don’t.
Even the resignation at the end here, that Godard will never be a mega-blockbuster (or to put in it TCJ terms, Daniel Clowes will never be Marvel's Secret Wars,) sounds like the self-same smugness that TCJ held their standards to.



** Indies, Apathy and Beyond Issue #1 (Mom Reads Comics)-- Jessica of Mom Reads Comics writes about the tendency of reviewers to ignore independent comic series after the first issue.
Recently, I went on a last ditch effort to get more people interested in the series Welcome Back. I was so heartbroken about it being unexpectedly cancelled. I thought there had to be a way to keep it from happening. I had supported the series when it was in its initial order phase. I even interviewed writer Christopher Sebela about the series. However, after having such a successful launch I immediately took for granted that other readers had stuck around. I didn’t review any issues. I didn’t talk much about what I was enjoying about the story. It was given an ongoing by Boom Studios and I made the assumption it was safe. With the eighth issue now on the horizon the series is officially ending.
** And finally, a video about Calvin and Hobbles.