The Great American Review Week - Wowio.com

Within the past year or so, the ability to read regular print comics in a digital format has tried to go legit from its BitTorrent incarnation. Back in '06, I wrote about my inability to read comics on the computer and that digital comics is not going to kill the print format in an old column at Movie Poop Shoot (Dreams In Digital).

But, that hasn't stop the Internet from trying to find a successful business model for the delivery of digital comics. One site called Wowio is one of those sites. When it first debuted, all of the comics were free online with the ability to download a max of three free books per day. Sure, the majority of the books were real small press but there were some gems (Lone Star Press for example). So, I joined and started re-reading the colored version of Pantheon (a great mini-series, by the way).

But suddenly in mid July, Platinum Studios bought the site, images and interface included, and brought the site down for about a month then relaunched last week. And my reaction was mixed to say the least.

On the good side, my queue of comics to download was pulled over from the old regime, which was nice. And there was an offer of a free $0.99 comic download in the form of a gift which was courtesy of one of the site's sponsors. But that's about it.

One major complaint is that the site is the same as it was before. That may not sound like a gripe but when you consider that all the new owners added was their books and started charging for PDF downloads, it's a dead breaker for me. I don't know how much the percentage of the sales are going to the actual creators. But if you just look at the surface, it seems like the new charges for the books are just going directly to the coffers of Platinum, which is very uncool.

Another problem that I see is that you can save/download the individual comic pages via jpegs to your hard drive when reading the book online. So, what do you think users will do when they learn that news? It just means less money that goes to the creators of these books; another check mark in the uncool column.

Lastly, the search engine on Wowio has issues. Like I said previously, I'm a fan of Lone Star Press and Pantheon, in specific. So, I decided to search for all of the books under that imprint. The results that I received were less than stellar as not one book was returned. The only way that I could find the books is to go directly to the Comic Books & Graphic Novels sub-directory and seeing a rotating ad for LSP, which means that any trust in the results from the engine is lost.

Overall, while all existing users still have their data exported from the old site and that you might get a free comic every once in a while, to pay for download that was free a couple of months ago at the same site with no realized added benefit to the user with a terrible search engine just doesn't add up. Wowio doesn't wow me at all.

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The Great American Review Week: "Saudades De Rock" - Extreme

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The Great American Review Week - "Tradeables" by Fathead

If you may remember last month, I reviewed the new product by Fathead called Tradeables. I was not all that glowing in my review mostly due to the fact that I received three of the same Tradeable (Larry Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs). Well, the good folks at Fathead decided that they wanted another chance here at TTFL by sending me an entire pack of Tradeables for review.

The standard pack (pictured above) contains five Tradeables broken down like this (according to the website):

• 1 Team Helmet (All 32 Teams available)
• 1-2 Authentics (25 Players available)
• 2-3 Game Time (125 players available)

To help differentiate between the Authentics and Game Time Tradeables, I'll offer a quick description. Authentics card not only offers a Player Fathead but also contains a small team logo Fathead and a second smaller Fathead of the same player in a circle shield-like design with the team and player's name in script in the circle. The Game Time card contains a single Fathead featuring the player in an action pose. Here's what I received:

• Green Bay Packers Helmet
• Tom Brady (Authentics)
• Eli Manning (Authentics)
• Clinton Portis (Game Time)
• Maurice Jones-Drew (Game Time)

Now, that I've had a chance to test and pour over the whole package, my opinion has definitely changed concerning the Tradeable product. I like the protection that is offered by the Fathead-stamped clear cellophane envelope that encases the new card sheets. The difference between the two types of Player Fatheads are pronounced and make either inherently more collectible.

Like before, the ability to move the cling from card sheet to new surface is still the same without any tearing whatsoever. Also, the only remaining drawback is the lack of associated player/team stats on the back of each card sheet. But that is really minor when you consider that the majority of purchasers will discard the sheet once the Fathead is removed.

One thing that I did not review which is included with the Tradeable purchase is the "Top Secret Code" which can be redeemed at Tradeables.com for Games and prizes. So, round out the entire experience, I went to the website to redeem the code.

After an initially complicated username login creation (due to the fact that the site uses the same Fathead customer database that is used for ordering products online), I entered my 12 Alpha-Numeric code and here's the first screen that I received:


The "Locker Room" site itself is basically a portal environment with individual widgets that you can move around on the page (although my browser never seems to let me but I have IE configuration issues). With the three column look, it's like an homage to the old Sport Pages of the last century. The game that I unlocked was Save The Cheerleader, an old-school 8-bit game while being simplistic, did make the old gamer in me laugh. Obviously, the point of the site to make you go back to unlock more games and other Fathead-associated stuff and based on my experience, I'll definitely go back.

Initially, I was leery of the $15 price point but when you include the differences between the card sheets and the online content, I would definitely recommend picking up one for the sports fan in your life.

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The Great American Review Week - "Too Cool To Be Forgotten" by Alex Robinson (Top Shelf)

Too Cool To Be Forgotten is the latest original graphic novel from one of my all-time favorite creators, Alex Robinson (Box Office Poison, Tricked). The story is about a guy named Andrew Wicks who allows himself to go under hypnosis in order to quit his addictive nicotine habit. While in his hyopnotic state, Wicks "travels" back to 1985 and his junior year in high school so he can stop himself from taking his first drag on a cigarette butt. But as the former Rosanne Arnold can tell you, there are some things that hypnosis uncovers that you may not want to remember. Thank goodness this book does not go down that same abusive road.

Robinson does a great job of mixing the all-too-familiar feelings of social awkwardness and poignant pain that comes with being a teenager. Characters are more than just stereotypes and the dialogue steers clear of using the dated pop-culture references or teenage-speak cliches. the pace of the book was quick and even at a shade under 130 pages, it was a relatively quick read.

The art is Robinson's forte. For those who only read the superhero books, Robinson's style may be considered odd. All of the characters look different (in a good way) and there are some layouts that could only be in the comic book medium. The splash pages are non-existant and the flow of the art from panel to panel and page to page makes reading the book almost effortless. A big plus is the cover of this hardcover, which is a sweet design marriage of the very familiar cigarrette soft pack of Kools and the overly trite yearbook signing phrase 2 Cool 2 B Forgotten.

If you're new to comics, a veteran of multiple Earth crisises or somewhere inbetween, you should read this book. Too Cool To Be Forgotten is an ideal piece of comic fiction with its compelling story and easy-to-follow layout Capes and tights stories can take a hike when compared to this book.

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The Great American Review Week

This week here at TTLF, you're in for a real treat. To help me get off my ass and review stuff that I have be so graciously been given to review, I am throwing down the gauntlet and making a personal challenge to only post fanatical reviews for the week. The reviews will run the gambit from comics to books to CDs to other stuff. And the real winner from all of this is... YOU! Stay tuned..

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