Thank you for being with us at The Comic Book Bin in 2007. This year was great for us, thank in part to you. Of note, April was our Women’s Month which was so popular that we had to extend it to the month of May. For Women's Month, we looked at comic books, action figures, video games, fan films, books and movies with a strong interest in women and more. A lot of new readers joined us during Women’s Month. We intend on having more women’s month in the future, possibly as a yearly event.
Our second theme month of the year was Dark Horse Month which was held in mid-June and all of July. It was a very popular month with several interviews, reviews about Dark Horse Comics. Following that, The Comic Book Bin went to The San Diego Convention where we provided on the spot coverage of this large convention for those of us who could not go. Similarly, we had great coverage of Wizard Con, The Fantasia Festival, and several more festivals and events covering video games, films, comic books and more.
Industry-wise, for what’s worth The Comic Book Bin was very interested in the business side of content producing industries. One issue we have been following is the issue of copyrights and how some industry players are trying to get governments all over the world to change existing rules into more constraining and limiting rules. The Comic Book Bin was itself caught in the crossfire of Viacom’s suit against Google’s Youtube. Viacom claimed that one of our videos, produced and edited with our equipment, our cameras, our computers, and done for our visitors belonged to them.
We chose, after much debate to let that one go and not fight Viacom. The video they claimed is theirs, is undeniably ours, but we just don’t have the financial means of fighting Viacom, knowing that even if we won, they would drag this for years until we would be bankrupt. Such is the way major contents providers and why they want to change copyrights laws all over the world, to make it easy to sue common individuals and make criminal activities that are not and also claim ownership over contents that belong to smaller creators.
In this fight, The Comic Book Bin was present at the protest against Canadian Minister of Industry Jim Prentice, at his riding on December 8, 2007, when many concerned Canadians asked him why he refused to consult Canadians on the changes of the copyrights laws that the media industry has been pressuring him and other governments to enact.
The Comic Book Bin is itself a large creator of original contents, which, dare I say, is often copied without attribution by some of the large media group that would sue us to death if we ever tried such things with their own contents. This is why The Comic Book Bin is in favour of balanced copyrights that benefit the rights of both copyright owners and the public. Copyrights should not be absolute rights nor treated as criminal offenses. Personal copies, media shifting, educational, parody and press usages should not be treated as criminal offenses. Tinkering with media protection technologies that often can damage one’s computer should not be a criminal offense, especially in light that such scheme restrict innovation, research and competition.
January 2008 is Top shelf Month
We are starting 2008 with a theme month that we have been looking forward for quite some time. January 2008 will be Top Shelf Month at The Comic Book Bin. Top Shelf Comics is an important comic book publisher in the North American comic book market and we wanted to spotlight them. To support our efforts, we’ve even added a Facebook event page that will also be updated and contain information on how what is happening at The Comic Book Bin.
In 2008, we have a lot in store for you, our visitors. In 2007, we tested a few things about how to improve the site. The Comic Book Bin continues to be one of the only Comic Book Web site that is 100% independent and covers films, comic books, video games, action figures, books and fan films independently of the folks who want to sell them to you. Our coverage is above the folds. We do not gossip or involve ourselves in petty attacks and feuds with other members of the industry. We follow a strict writing guide when writing news, reviews, interviews and feature articles.
Always committed to improving ourselves, the staff of The Comic Book Bin has participated in a leadership evaluation of publisher Hervé St-Louis reviewed by The University of Calgary earlier this year. I don’t know any other comic book Web site or media outlet where the leadership willingly went through a leadership review audited by a university just to make sure it did its job properly. That’s how committed we are about the work we do at The Comic Book Bin and why we believe that our team sets the standard in news reporting and reviewing in comic books, video gaming, action figure collecting and films.
On behalf of all writers and editors of The Comic Book Bin, we wish you a Happy New Year and can’t wait for you to come back and see what we have in store for you in 2008.
The Cult of the Comic Book Creator Part Two: Vassals and Middlemen
These debates about the nature of comic books and the industry created around it in North America still fight what I consider old battles about identity and how the individual relates to comic book
Comics Legend John Byrne
John Byrne appeared on the comics scene when he illustrated a two-page story which appeared in Nightmare #20, published by Skywald Publications
Warner Bros. creates DC Entertainment Inc.
Warner Bros. responds to Disney's acquisition of Marvel by creating a new company to attempt to match the Power of the Mouse behind the House of Ideas.
Superman – More Copyrights Stupidity
US. Federal Court renders Justice of King Solomon judgement crippling Superman for all parties and the character's comic book readers.
