After a week off, we're back!

COMICS!

You may have seen this floating around different web sites this week, but if you haven't, here's Francesco Francavilla's "tinkering" with a "1972 Batman" concept. If DC doesn't hate money, they should probably get on with publishing this.

Tom Spurgeon shares his 170+ tips for attending Comicon. PHEW! I'm probably skipping SDCC again this year, but that's a pretty comprehensive list if you're attending.

So I guess the big news this week is that Zenith is getting collected. Here's the problem, though - it appears that Rebellion doesn't have the permission or blessing (depending on who you believes owns it) of Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell, and they're printing it in what seems like an underhanded fashion. I'd love to read Zenith, but I think I'll skip this version until they can come to some agreement with the actual creators.

In the "sort-of" comics category, Kelly Thompson writes about fictional dealbreakers, including her personal experience with Wonder Woman #7. It's an interesting thing to think about.

This is a nice piece about Karen Berger and Vertigo, and of course they get a quote from Dan DiDio, which led to this very good response to said quote.

Robot 6 links to this article about changing the newspaper comics page. It's funny because it's so very, very sad.

I'm not completely sure if working in comics is like dating, but that's still a pretty funny post. Everyone wants to be Chloe Moretz!

I don't always think Tucker Stone is that funny, but he can be, and this week, he and Abhay turn "Comics of the Weak" into Comics Alliance, and the results are glorious, because they nail it.

Do cover blurbs matter? I understand the argument here, but I still don't think they matter, because I'm not sure I trust them. It's cool to get good ones, though!

Chris Sims writes about Uncanny X-Men #183. If you remember UXM #183, you'll know why this is a perfect issue for Chris Sims to write about, and he does a wonderful job with it. He believes that this would never be published today, and I agree, but for completely different reasons.

POLITICAL and SOCIAL ISSUES!

Hey, look, yet another man claims that rape is legitimate if the woman doesn't take the correct precautions. I really feel like I need to apologize for being a man at least once a week, because men say some pretty stupid things quite often.

So the CEO of McDonald's actually told a young girl who asked him a question that McDonald's doesn't sell junk food. Yes, he really did. Here's a breakdown of the many lies contained in his very short answer.

I'm sure you've heard about the meltdown certain Fox News commentators had when they found out that the percentage of female breadwinners keeps going up. Here's the original broadcast with all the hand-wringing by, it should be noted, four men. One of them, Erick Erickson, clarified what he meant, which probably made it worse. Others, of course, wrote about the idiocy of these men, but the most glorious response was Fox's own Megyn Kelly, who tore into Lou Dobbs and Erickson on her own show. Kelly's an interesting case study in why I'm not a conservative - she is fiercely devoted to women's issues, because she's a woman. Conservatives - at least the conservatives who end up in politics or bloviate on Fox News - seem to possess empathy only about those things that affect them personally. So if some angry conservative has a gay son, suddenly he doesn't think gay marriage is too bad. Kelly is a woman, so she's very aggressive about making women's issues. Liberals might not be any more compassionate than conservatives, but at least they try to express empathy for people who aren't exactly like they are. Why shouldn't we care about discrimination even if we ourselves aren't discriminated against?

Here's a story about a man who killed his wife's lover and was acquitted. Why? One important detail: the incident took place in Florida. 'NUFF SAID!

I hope you've heard about the interracial Cheerios commercial and the asshats who are objecting to it. Racists of the world, stand up and be counted so we may mock you!

GENERAL COOL STUFF!

Animals you didn't know existed. I actually knew three of the animals on the list, which at least made me believe the others weren't made up, because some of them are freaky.

Poor Zosia Mamet! You must feel pity!!!!

Well, that's all for this week. Have a great day, everyone. It's June - let's celebrate!