The Final Year [Shotgun Blurbs]

Over a year ago, I pitched a column called “Creator-Owned Spotlight” to a certain person at a certain magazine in order to, uhh, spotlight some of the creator-owned books that I felt were deserving of wider recognition. The magazine ultimately turned non-responsive on the entire premise of the column or on me pitching ideas in the first place or on who the hell knows what, so I decided to repurpose what I felt was a decent bit of writing I’d done for the first Danger Club sample I submitted.

Eventually, my friend Keith Silva joined me for this soiree and it became a recurring feature here at Thirteen Minutes. We renamed it “Shotgun Blurbs” after organically stumbling onto that sobriquet. We were hyping the newest monthly installment on Twitter and I think I said something like “Keith Silva ‘shotgun blurbs’ Prophet” or whatever the particular book was that month. We got plenty of appreciative RTs and decent hit spikes, but ultimately decided to shutter the column after one year in order to meet the caustic demands of our many financially non-feasible and non-accredited writing assignments elsewhere.

Thanks to Keith for consistently delivering like a pro and enhancing Thirteen Minutes with a much different voice occasionally booming from behind the megaphone. Here’s a message from Keith and a link dump to reference for the entire set of entries. Thanks for reading!

I want to thank Justin for this opportunity to highlight creator-owned work. I feel we will have succeeded if even one person hits on the idea that once in a while it's better to put one's faith (and some cash) in the hands of a creator rather than a corporation -- who roots for Dow Chemical anyhow?

The indies are in ascendancy, let's try to keep it that way. Sales figures and box office receipts don't determine quality, only popularity. If a thing is good, people will come (eventually), they always do, and let's remember popularity is fleeting as well. I want to read comics and not have an adjective like 'superhero' or 'mainstream' or 'DC' dictate the marketplace. Maybe that means I live in a 'comic book,' who knows.

Justin called 2012, 'the year creator-owned comics won.' Here's hoping 2013 continues the creator-owned groundswell and in ten years we'll all be watching Red Team, The Massive, and Mind MGMT on the big screen or streaming an entire season at home. And who knows, by 2023 we'll be due for an Iron Man reboot, so there's always hope.

Danger Club – June 2012

Mind MGMT – July 2012

The Massive – August 2012

Prophet – September 2012

Wasteland – October 2012

Bedlam – November 2012

Think Tank – December 2012

The Black Beetle – January 2013

Todd The Ugliest Kid On Earth – February 2013

Storm Dogs – March 2013

Deathmatch – April 2013

Red Team – May 2013