Neither Holy, Roman, nor an Empire

Neither Holy, Roman, nor an Empire

Appendix N guru Jeffro Johnson responds to charges from the Big Men with Screwdrivers crowd that Star Wars is not, and never has been, science fiction. Bruce Bethke weighs in yet again on a very old argument: this nutso idea that Star Wars isn’t science fiction: “Sure, it looks like science…
December 19, 201715 Comments

Geek Gab Reviews The Last Jedi

The fine fellows of Geek Gab pronounce their final verdict on Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi. The reality is even worse than the memes suggest. Remember: You were warned.
December 18, 201714 Comments
The Last Jedi Is a Con

The Last Jedi Is a Con

Film critic Steven Greydanus reviews The Last Jedi for The National Catholic Register. Before we dig in, a reminder: You were warned. Greydanus begins conventionally enough with the sorts of bland compliments you'd expect from any film reviewer who wants to keep his job under the ever-expanding Mouse Monopoly. In the…
December 15, 201742 Comments
Galaxy Rangers

Galaxy Rangers

Recently while messing around on YouTube I stumbled across an old animated series I hadn't seen since childhood. Chances are you don't remember The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers, and that's a shame, because the show was truly groundbreaking for its time. Galaxy Rangers premiered in a long-forgotten fall TV season…
December 14, 201718 Comments
Amazon Ghettos

Amazon Ghettos

Following my recent posts about how the fundamental realities of publishing have changed in the new Amazon/indie-dominated landscape, a reader passed along a number of eye-opening revelations about how authors and publishers are unintentionally consigning their books to "Amazon Ghettos". The Amazon sleuth explains: Amazon’s algorithm is set up to…
December 13, 201714 Comments
Sanderson’s Law

Sanderson’s Law

Authors are just as prone to cognitive dissonance when received wisdom about the publishing industry is challenged, as this series of tweets demonstrates. That tweet is not a statement of personal preference or opinion. It is based on objective market data. As of this writing, the top three books in…
December 12, 201719 Comments
The Perfect Publisher

The Perfect Publisher

Ebooks are here to stay. Amazon enjoys overwhelming dominance among book retailers. Indie has matured into the preferred publishing model for authors. These developments, among many that have turned the book industry upside down in recent years, are widely known. Yet publishers, and even most indie authors, continue to employ…
December 11, 201720 Comments
Never Go Full SJW

Never Go Full SJW

A friend and reader writes: Haha, it's official -- Tor newsletter just went full retard.And with that, I'm going to unsubscribe. He ain't kidding! Here are some highlights. Tor.com kicks off with a bit of garden variety historical revisionist boilerplate. Sure to be the talk of the junior college faculty…
December 8, 20179 Comments
Comics Need Professionalism

Comics Need Professionalism

Emery Calame's comment on my previous Marvel-related post merited a guest post of its own. This is not a popular sentiment but I think what is needed is professionalism oriented around maintaining the brand and IP. A fan who feels like they know Spider-Man probably should not be writing Spider-Man…
December 7, 201713 Comments
Customers Matter

Customers Matter

Presented for your education and enrichment: the story of Marvel Comics' implosion in two pictures. First, a Twitter exchange in which a weeb comedian rushes to the defense of Moon Knight scribe Max Bemis. And now, a Marvel sales graph. According to the chart, in February 2017 45% of Marvel's titles…
December 6, 201717 Comments