Um, Lev, sorry for the thread drift, but I think you're a tad off base. First, I think Tom was speaking for himself, not the Journal (does he even work there any more?).

And while it's true that the Journal doesn't do as much reporting on the mainstream as the other comics news outlets, it's not like they totally ignore it, either. I'm going off the top of my head, so I'm sure I'm forgetting a lot of stuff, but I seem to remember a pretty lengthy interview with Alex Ross in recent memory, as well as an interview with Steve Rude in the last couple of months. And when the Journal does interview a mainstream creator (or any creator, for that matter), you can be sure that the interview will be fairly definitive, as opposed to the pretty shallow interviews you see in most other publications.

In addition, even if they did totally ignore the mainstream comics world, so what? How often do CBG and Wizard report on Top Shelf or the Drawn and Quarterly folks? Between those two publications, the TwoMorrows stuff and all the online news outlets, I think fans of the mainstream are pretty well served. Or, to put it another way, just because Rolling Stone doesn't cover classical music doesn't mean they're evil, it just means that classical music's not part of their editorial focus, and I think that Gary Groth and all the Fantagraphics folks are pretty up front about their bias against superheroes. I personally disagree with that bias, but I'm not going to let it keep me from enjoying all that TCJ has to offer.

Just to offer the democratic response....



I'm still waiting for someone to offer the example of the story that was "stolen" (meaning, I assume, taken from Wizard whole cloth without any work having been done on Newsarama's own...) from Wizard. Occasionally, we've made deals with publishers to break stories online that Wizard has a print exclusive to, but as for stealing, I'm still waiting for examples of what seems to have become a mantra that's swallowed and repeated without an independent thought.

But you're right on one count - I've never actually dug up information on my own. My office doesn't even have a phone! Everything written up on Newsarama is handed to us on a silver platter by little Asian boys who are owned by the big publishers. They only give me stories that are approved for publication by a committee that is, to this day, shrouded in mystery. That committee makes sure none of the stories will get any publisher angry, of course.

Gotta run - one just rang my doorbell now....oooo - maybe it's from Marvel!

In all seriousness, at least with Newsarama, I think you're comparing apples with oranges, and getting mad when you're finding that apples aren't orange-colored, come in sections with a removable skin, and are citrus.

Generally, we cover different areas. I wouldn't dream of running a picture of Mark Mmillar on Newsarama poinintg out how he apparently has gotten fat or that Dreamwave moved to a new studio. It doesn't fit with our coverage, but does with his. A Pro sequel? Sure, but when there's confirmation and something more than a rumor which, apparently, we both heard in early December. I don't have a traffic light to gauge rumor from truth, so I've got to opt to reporting on the truth, not rumor.

And one of my resolutions is to be more entertaining - and by God, I will do it in a way where everyone who reads Newsarama will be entertained in exactly the same way - or not, depending on your personal taste.

MattB
newsarama.com