On ComicsAlliance:

Let me just tell you all right now that I am an enormous comic book fan. That being said, my "enormous comic book fan title" comes with a footnote: only in the DC Universe. I've read every single DC Universe trade paperback in the Ottawa Public Library system of libraries, and I've devoured most of the Vertigo titles as well (the ones I'm really missing are American Virgin, Air, DMZ, and a few others). 

So when I want to go somewhere for my comic book humour, culture, or new releases fixes, I go to ComicsAlliance. Or, I did, until AOL shut it down late April, around my birthday (which doesn't really matter, but it sucked balls for me). 

I was devastated: I'm not really a current reader, as in I don't buy monthlies (mostly because I can't afford it, and because I really don't agree with the direction in which DC is going, which will become another post, I'm sure), but I love hearing news from the comic book community-- who was mad, why they were mad, what the Big 2 (and the littles) were doing, why they were doing it, and what they were doing to the characters in which I had a vague interest from the Marvel Universe. Additionally, it's great for when I don't have time to read comics: they summarize in a smart, smarmy manner. 

But more than that: it was their features that made them stand out. Any website like Bleeding Cool and Ain't it Cool News can describe the details of the newest Superman, or Iron Man, but it's Comics Alliances additional articles, the ones that are often "unnecessary" but are the entire reason why I read the site. 

Features like: Best Art Ever, Best Cosplays Ever, Comics Alliance Reviews, Bizarro Backstories, Ask Chris, and, my favourite, Great Comics That Never Happened. Each of them are ongoing features, each with their own distinctive flavour and genre. Best Art and Cosplay are visual features filled with- truly- the best art and cosplay from both non-professionals and professionals all over the web. Comics Alliance Reviews takes any sort of movie that's related to the "nerd industry" (for lack of a better word) and reviews them in an engaging, yet intensely humourous matter. Bizarro Backstories is essentially that: the most bizarre old comic stories from, usually, that really awkward time between the Silver and Golden Age. Ask Chris can be both philosophical and hilarious, and involves Chris Sims (Batmanologist) answering questions on (usually) the DC Universe. 

These questions receive intensely satisfying answers: they are deeply insightful and additionally written well. 

My favourite Ask Chris column is probably the one focused on Wally West Flash (#151) which perfectly sums up my feelings on the gorgeous comic book stories of the 90s, and the horribleness of DCnU (you can see my bias here). 

It's not only their regular features that draw me in, but also their posts on the general goings-on of the comic book (+ friends) industry. Looking on the front page right now, I see an article on Stan Lee cologne, awesome farting superhero art, a non-Batman-reader's reaction to Batman (which is so incredibly rare in the comic book circles) , and Hans Zimmer's AMA on Reddit (specifically on his work on Man of Steel), among others. These features are the one that encourage me to expand beyond my own secluded little DC universe-- I remember reading reviews on manga that I otherwise would've never heard of, raving Mark Waid-Paolo Riviera Daredevil work, and even an interesting article from a local Ottawa comic book creator, who spoke about comic book pricing. There's a bit of everything in here. 

Anyways, as you can guess from my last paragraph, Comics Alliance is up and running again. As evidenced from my twitter freakouts earlier today, I hadn't bothered to check CA for a few weeks because I didn't want to feel sad, but upon checking it today, I realized that there were new updates. Joy! Happiness! Tears of pure elation! 

I'm ecstatic Comics Alliance is back, and I hope it's here to stay this time. 

- A.