Free Iron Sky Comic

I just checked-out the "Iron Sky" website to keep myself updated on what's going-on with the film, and I was surprised to see that the site now includes a comic entitled "Bad Moon Rising". You can read the book online for free or, if you so choose, download the book and (get this) pay whatever you want for it. According to their site, all the money generated by purchasing the book will be used to help fund the movie. Apparently, there will be a total of three comics based on the movie.

Shooting for the film, now categorized as an "independent dark sci-fi comedy", finished in February of this year, taking place in Germany & Australia. The release date is scheduled for April 4, 2012, being released worldwide in theaters and via the internet.

More About "Iron Sky"

Last month I mentioned a German film called "Iron Sky". Well, if movies about Nazis living on the Moon since 1945, then plotting their revenge on Earth using flying saucers and zeppelins sounds like fun to you, then check-out the official "Iron Sky" website. At the site, you can view several videos of the movie. I think it looks like a fun film with some nice-looking special effects, but that's just me (and I'm a guy who enjoys watching Johnny Socco & His Giant Robot and Judge Dredd with Sylvester Stallone, so take my opinion for what it's worth).

Breaking News ... if I posted this before anyone else talked about it!

I was reading yesterday about Atomic Comics in Arizona closing all four of their stores (here or here or here). The thing that bothers me is the "doom & gloom" reaction this keeps getting. Even though people keep saying "this doesn't mean it's the end of the 'comic shop'", they keep talking about "the end of the comic shop", repeatedly bringing-up the digital market & the future of comics. Sure, digital comics will have an impact on paper comics, but DC hasn't started selling them the same day they're released yet, and Marvel doesn't seem to be all gung-ho about digital books at this point. What happened to Atomic Comics seems pretty obvious to me. They suffered a major financial set-back, had their stores located in high-rent buildings, and obviously weren't paying their bills (or at least, their taxes ... like the IRS or creditors wouldn't notice).

I wasn't even going to post today, but then, the "EAST COAST EARTHQUAKE" hit, and I have to talk about that! I've lived in eastern Pennsylvania all my life, and the last (and only) quake I remember people talking about around here (about two decades ago) I didn't even notice. Today's quake? I watched the news and saw people overreacting as if the world was coming to an end. I know people from the West Coast are probably like "5.8? That's it?", but I can understand people who have never been in one getting a little freaked-out about it.

So how did I react to the quake, no one asks? I was sitting on the floor, doodling a little bit, with my kids in another room. I could hear the trash truck going down the street (the truck's either THAT loud, or the walls of our home are THAT thin), and all of a sudden, it literally felt like the trash truck pulled into my driveway and bumped into my house. I'm sitting there going "What the heck was that?" when, about a second or two after that, it felt like the trash truck had backed-up so it could really slam into the house at full speed. My home didn't just shake, I heard a rumble, too. I jumped to my feet, because nobody messes with my home, and the kids start telling me about the dining room table shaking, and I'm like "Yeah, ok, I'm going outside to see what the heck hit our house." I go out, and the trash truck is going down the street, and it becomes obvious that nothing was slamming into us. I go back inside, listen to the kids talk about the table again ... and think nothing more of it, until my wife (who was at work) sends me a message that reads "Did you feel the ground shake?" Seeing as how my wife works about 25 miles away from our home, my amazing powers of deduction tell me that what I had experienced earlier was an earthquake.

Honestly, while the rumbling and feeling that something big & heavy had just slammed into our home was a little irritating, it wasn't that big of a deal, beyond being something that I can turn into one of those stories with which I can one day annoy future grand kids with as I get older and more senile.

Random Thoughts

I was just reading about Marvels "Comics for Comics" Program, and I got a little irritated. Marvel is telling retailers that if they rip covers off unsold books, they can return those covers to Marvel and receive one "limited edition variant" comic from Marvel. Sounds like a great offer ... at first. I kept reading, though, and that's when I got more than a little annoyed, because it's not Marvel's comics that are on the select list of titles that can be returned, it's DC's books. Sorry, but I just don't buy into the idea that any given comic shop doesn't have hundreds of Marvel comics collecting dust on their shelves.

Whether you like DC's upcoming "relaunch" or you totally hate the idea, you have to admit that's it's generating quite a bit of press for the company. Over the past several weeks, I've seen several tv shows talk about the relaunch, including, of all things, "The View". Do you know how weird it was to watch Whoopi Goldberg talk about comics on a show geared towards women viewers?

On August 8, HBO will be showing "Superheroes", a documentary about real people who have taken it upon themselves to make the world a better place.

Apparently, there's a new "Judge Dredd" movie in the works, set for release in 2012 (I live under a rock, so if you already knew about this, please cut me some slack). Fortunately, Rob Schnieder will be not be in it, although I do have to admit that I don't mind the 1995 "Judge Dredd" movie. It's fun to watch once in a while.

Speaking of movies, "Iron Sky" is a German film about Nazis setting-up shop on the Moon in 1945, and then mounting an invasion of Earth in 2018. It's set to be released in 2012, but I don't know if it's coming to the USA or not. I hope it does, because the concept sounds pretty cool.

Stan Lee's "The Guardian Project"

I heard about this in October 2010, and then completely forgot about it until just today. Being a fan of both hockey and superheroes, I'm not sure how this managed to slip my mind for so long.

The National Hockey League and Stan Lee formed a partnership last year to develop superheroes for each of the 30 teams, collectively called "The Guardians". You can check-out the new heroes at guardianproject30.com, which includes bios to all 30 characters, plus short stories for each, a pair of videos, and some other stuff.

When I first heard about this, my reaction was "that sounds kind of lame". Seriously, I didn't think the idea was interesting or that anything decent would come out of it. Now that I can see all 30 characters, I have to admit that, overall, I'm a little impressed with what has been done so far.

Here is my opinion of The Guardians, for those who might care:

My Favorite Guardians (based on appearance):
The Canadien
The Canuck - I like the design of the costume, which is based on the logo. However, I think they missed the "Canuck" part in the overall design (FYI: "Canuck" is slang for a person from Canada).
The Flame
The Predator - I just the idea to go with a robotic humanoid cat was pretty cool.
The Red Wing - Well, it's close to being awesome, if only they decide to drop those stupid wheels on his feet, which only serves to remind me of the Golden Age hero Zippo (from Hillman's "Clue Comics").
The Senator - Almost a no-brainer to take the "roman" logo and run with it. This might be may favorite design of the bunch.

My Least Favorite Guardians (based on appearance):
The Oiler - Something about the helmet & shoulder pads just turns me off.
The Shark - His feet turn into surf boards? Really?
The Panther - Well, first thing is, the costume doesn't contain any red, which the team's jersey still has, although it's not as prominent as the original jersey from the early 1990s. Secondly, I don't like that the head for the character looks exactly like Marvel Comics' Black Panther.
The Blue Jacket - It just looks bad, like something out of a cheap 1980s cartoon.
The Ranger - Kind of a weak design, and I'm not liking how the shield looks.

Cool Comic Links & Other Random Stuff

Terrific Comics is Tony Z's new home on the 'net. Tony previously ran the "Golden Age Heroes" blog. Since October 2010, he has been publishing "Amazing Golden Age Adventure Funnies", which reprints many hard-to-find Golden Age comic book stories. Currently, there are three volumes of this series, so if you enjoy holding an actual book in your hands as opposed to staring at a computer screen in order to read old comic stories, head over to the site and poke around.

Jim Shooter's blog has found its way onto my "check it out every day" list, so I thought I'd give it another plug ... as if it really needed any help.

Sort of related to comics, Trademarkia is an easy-to-use site to search for Registered Trademarks.

Want to keep-up on the latest happenings from DC Comics? Don't waste time getting the information second-hand, go right to The Source, DC's blog where all the breaking-news of their "September Relaunch" first appeared.

Random thought ...

I'm watching the NHL Stanley Cup Finals and really hoping Boston wins. It's not that I'm a fan of the Bruins, but I'm a fan of more players on Boston than I am of players on Vancouver. If the Vancouver Canucks win the series, I'll be happy for former Ottawa Senator Sami Salo. On the other hand, for Boston, these are the players I want to see hoist the Stanley Cup:
former Sentaors Zdeno Chara, Chris Kelly & Shane Hnidy (hope Hnidy gets to play at least one game in the Finals);
former Flyers Mark Recchi & Dennis Seidenberg;
and former Penguin Andrew Ference.

Magazine Fiasco!

A while back, I kind of ranted about an incident where someone had sent in a letter to a magazine to address corrections to an article the magazine had published, in which the bulk of that letter consisted of a post I had made on a message board. Based on the way the letter was presented, it had appeared as if the letter-writer was taking credit for the "hard work" I had put into my post OR that the editor had messed-up somehow and incorrectly attributed what I said on the message board to the letter-writer of the magazine.

Let me point-out, for those of you just joining our broadcast, that "the letter-writer" took large portions of my message board post and changed very little of the wording (leaving nearly an entire paragraph virtually unchanged).

The whole debacle came to my attention a couple of months ago, but I let it slide because I have more important things to occupy my time with. Anyway, I brought it up "way back when" just to vent a little, and because, to be honest, it's the first thing since I started this blog that has happened to me in my life (related to comics) that I felt was interesting enough to talk about. I mean, really, would anyone sincerely care what vegetables I was able to talk one of my kids into eating at the dinner table this week? Didn't think so.

So, I ranted, let-off the little bit of steam I had built-up over this, hopefully entertained a couple of people, and then I felt that the ranting was enough. Once again, I was willing to let the incident pass without giving it any further thought. But then, I read this comment:

Daniel [oeconomist.com] said...
Well, I hope that you'll make a point of contacting the publisher. Remember that you won't simply be helping yourself; you will be helping every other author who might potentially have his work stolen.

I thought about what Daniel said (and no, I don't really consider myself an "author", in case you're wondering), and decided that he was right, that I should do something. Well, for whatever it's worth, and with at least one of M.O.D.M.'s readers "cheering me on", I sent a message, via this neat thing called "electronic mail", to the editor of the magazine-in-question. The editor of the magazine forwarded my message to the letter writer, who in-turn, sent me an e-mail.

I'm not going to get specific, and while I understand that the details (name of the magazine, name of the editor, name of the letter-writer) would make this a heck of a lot more interesting to read, I don't want to bad-mouth people specifically in public.

The editor was very apologetic, going so far as to offer me a lengthy digital subscription to his magazine, plus hard copies of the magazine "the letter" appeared in, along with the follow-up issue where it would be stated that the ideas from the letter-writer were actually from me. The editor came-off as being truly sincere, and I have no doubt that whatever happened here, it wasn't his fault. Oh, and I turned-down his offer, because I wasn't complaining so that I could get something for free.

The letter-writer ... Well, here's a direct quote from him: "I am most likely to credit the site rather than the individual to direct traffic to the site". That's the line that sticks with me the most regarding this situation.

UPDATE: (August 24, 2011) Two paragraphs up, I wrote that the editor of the magazine told me that he would be publishing a correction. He told me that it would appear in the next published issue, which would have hit comic shops not too long after I originally created this post. He said that, I didn't ask for it. Two months later now, I still haven't seen the correction printed. Very disappointing, and if I actually gave you the name of the editor I'm talking about (again, I don't want to bad-mouth people on the 'net), you would be saying "I don't believe he wouldn't make this right as soon as possible."

List of relaunching DC titles: Updated ... Again ... and again ... and again!

LIST UPDATED June 10, 2011 (twice): Yep, I'm committed to making this list as complete as possible. Why trudge through dozens of news announcements and blog entries when you can just read this list?

On June 1st, DC Comics announced that, following Flashpoint # 5, the company will be relaunching 52 titles, starting with "Justice League # 1". They will also be making all of their new series available on the same day via digital download.

I was searching the 'net, looking for someone to have a comprehensive list of the confirmed relaunched titles, but didn't see anything like that. Of course, I didn't really look all that hard, so maybe somebody is keeping track. Either way, I thought I would start a list of the titles DC has announced so far.

Batman
Detective Comics
Justice League - 1st title to relaunch after Flashpoint # 5
Green Lantern
Green Lantern Corps
Green Lantern: The New Guardians
Red Lanterns
Wonder Woman
Aquaman
Flash
The Fury of Firestorm
The Savage Hawkman
Green Arrow
Justice League International
Mister Terrific
Captain Atom
DC Universe Presents
Batman and Robin
Batman: The Dark Knight
Batwing
Nightwing
Red Hood and the Outlaws
Batgirl
Batwoman
Catwoman
Birds Of Prey
Swamp Thing
Justice League Dark
Animal Man
Demon Knights
Frankenstein, Agent of SHADE
Vampire
Voodoo
Resurrection Man

DC also announced the relaunch of "Batman Incorporated", set to start in early 2012. Technically, DC may not be counting this as part of the relaunch.

UPDATED June 8, 2011
Action Comics
Hawk and Dove
Legion Lost
Legion of Superheroes
Teen Titans
Static Shock

UPDATED June 9, 2011
Stormwatch - featuring The Martian Manhunter
Blackhawks
Sgt. Rock and The Men of War
All-Star Western - featuring Jonah Hex
Deathstroke
Grifter
OMAC

UPDATED June 10, 2011
Blue Beetle
Suicide Squad

(and later in the day ...)
Superman
Supergirl
Superboy

And there we are, all 52 relaunched titles (plus one). It'll be interesting to compare this list to the full DC solicitations to see which, if any, titles that didn't make this list will still continue with their current numbering, because I don't remember seeing DC anywhere say that they won't be publish anything beyond these 52 books.

Thinking Out Loud

Kind of dropped-off the face of the Earth there, didn't I? Too many plans and things that have to get done in the real world, and way too little time to do it all.

When I named this blog "My Opinion Doesn't Matter" (since shorten to M.O.D.M.), my intention was not to let my personal opinion influence what I said about the stories or artwork I posted. If I though an artist stunk, well, that was my opinion ... which shouldn't matter to someone else who might be a fan.
... psst! I'll let you in on a little secret, too ... it's also a backwards shot at everybody who is a self-proclaimed "expert" on something and has an over-inflated ego, thinking the world of themselves ... so like, if they read it out loud, they would actually be saying (to themselves) that their opinon doesn't matter!!!
Sometimes, though, I DO have an opinion on something and I feel a need to vent a little. Today is one of those times.


Today, I'm just rambling about something ... I swear I'll post some Golden Age comic stories (or more humor digest artwork ... not sure which yet) at some point this month once I get some things settled in "the real world".

Something I just read today:
Michael Netzer has created a petition in which he hopes the result will be comics' two big publishers, Marvel & DC, will do what they can to revive the comic industry. You can check it out here:
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save_the_comics/

Netzer points-out that Marvel & DC have neglected comic book publishing, instead focusing their efforts on licensing their characters. He also states that comics are sold through "a monopoly distributor and are sold only in specialty shops". Netzer puts the health of the industry squarely on the shoulders of The Big Two and paints a pretty bleak picture of independent publishing.

I'm all for anything that raises public awareness of comic books, from crappy movies & cartoons that get young whipper-snappers into their local comic shop, to causes like Netzer's that (perhaps) make the general non-comic-buying public aware that comics are something that can be taken seriously both as an artform & as a business. On the other hand, I think this petition is a waste of time.

First, the government has already looked into Diamond and the alledged "monopoly" they have on distribution (that's IF I can believe anything I've ever read online). They ruled that while Diamond may be the only company handling comic book distribution, they aren't the only company that distributes material to newstands, book stores, etc etc etc, and therefore, Diamond wasn't a true monopoly.

Second, Netzer makes it out as if only Marvel & DC can "save the industry", that anything published by any other company is largely ignored by fans & creators working for an independent company are basically fending for themselves career-wise. Sure, Marvel & DC currently dominate the market, but that hasn't always been the case. It probably seems like ancient history to some people out there in the world, but there was a time in the not-too-distant past where The Big Two were looking over their shoulders at a few upstart publishers (Image, Valiant & Malibu) who were all getting a lot of attention from fans & the comic press.

Anyway, here's why I think the petition is a waste of time: Scream all you want, but as long as Marvel & DC are making money somewhere (movies, toys, cartoons, underwear, paper plates and all that garbage), they aren't honestly going to worry about the comic market until that aspect of their business becomes their bread & butter. Yeah, they'll do some nice PR moves, like dropping the $3.99 price-tag after fans made enough noise about it, but at the end of the day, they are going to do what's best for their company. Let's face facts here: If the comic industry finally did crash & burn and every comic shop in North America shutdown, Marvel & DC would continue to operate & (probably) still make money.

What I think should be done ... a better use of everyone's time who is concerned about the comic book industry ... is to forget about Marvel, DC and Diamond. Dont' worry about them and let's focus our attention elsewhere. In the world of sports, you see organizations "re-build". They let-go of their top stars, go with a "youth movement" and begin plans for future success. Sure, there's (sometimes) a long period where things look bleak, but eventually, if done properly, the team returns to its winning ways & may even surpass its past success.

It's well past the time that the comic industry, specifically fans, retailers & creators, take the same approach sports teams do rather than wait for Marvel or DC to do something that will bring-in new fans (you know Diamond doesn't care so why talk any more about them?). Here's my thoughts on this, and in no way do I think I have the answers here, so maybe we can all just look at this as a starting-point, some thoughts to pick apart while looking for more solid ideas that will benefit the comic book industry for the long-haul.
... OR we can all sit around doing nothing about the problem & continue to complain about it as the industry continues to get worse.

Creators should work together to form strong companies instead of starting-up yet another creator-owned imprint. Give-up a little control over the things you create in exchange for creating a company that 10-20 years from now new creators will be dying to work for because they want to work on a character you created.

Retailers should do whatever they can to promote quality Indy books. Off the top of my head, I'ld suggest that if you have a little display next to the cash register (where the "impulse-buy" comics are located), you reserve that spot for Indy books only and never let a Marvel or DC title sit in that spot ever again. I would hope that it can go without saying that any book in that spot is appropriate for any age. And hey, if you've got a decent back-issue run of a used-to-be-popular Indy title, put that in a prime spot so people can see that you have it. That assumes, of course, that you do still carry back-issues in some quantity.

Fans have to spread the word that Indy comics don't suck in comparison to The Big Two because word-of-mouth is still king in the advertising world. Got a friend who only reads Marvel and/or DC? Convert them, but be intelligent about it. Trash-talking their favorite X-Men or Batman books won't get you anywhere, they'll just think you're a jerk. Maybe they have a favorite writer or artist who used to or currently does work on an Indy title that they aren't aware of? Don't assume that anybody ever knows the same things you do.

It's not like I hate Marvel or DC, but I love comic books more than either of those two companies. When I used to have money to burn, I would get in my car & driving aimlessly for hours looking for a new comic shop to visit. For a number of years, my wife & I would drive for about 13 hours to go to the Chicago Comic-Con (aka Wizard World Chicago) ... starting late at night so we'ld arrive in Chicago just as the convention opened! Someday, I'll have money to burn again, and I want there to be awesome comic book conventions, cool comic shops and great titles all waiting for me whenever I get back into collecting. Right now, I look at the comic industry and all I see is a jumbled mess that everyone wants to complain about but nobody wants to fix. So, instead of wasting time waiting for something to happen or trying to get Marvel & DC to fix something they probably care very little about at this point, why not just forge ahead without them?

So long GarageBand.com

This post has absolutely NOTHING to do with comic books, but ...

If you like Independent music, and I mean honest-to-goodnesss REAL Independent music from people who aren't signed with any kind of record label ... if you like musicians who create & record music just for the fun of it or are still trying to be discovered ... then head on over to http://www.garageband.com before July 15th. That's the date when GarageBand.com goes away forever.

Whether you like Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Rap, Jazz, Techno, Folk, Funk, Pop, Punk or Classical, there is (still) something for everyone, and every once in a while, that "something" is worth listening to. So, if you're the kind of person who likes to be ahead of the curve by finding artists nobody else has ever heard of, then check-out GarageBand.com before it disappears forever.

Wasting My Time

I'll be posting some more Golden Age stories a little later today, but first ...

I need to vent! Man, do I need to vent. I was bidding on something on eBay and the seller cancelled the item because they wanted to upgrade the listing. Umm, doofus? You can upgrade the listing by simply adding to the description after bids have been placed.

I was excited when I first saw this particular item. It's rare and flies under the radar of most comic collectors, because it's not a comic book. I put in a bid that I hoped would win the auction. Now I'm just irritated that I wasted my time and skipped bidding on other things I would have been just as happy to win. It's been relisted, but I'm not as interested now because there are others things I'm watching.

Not as irritating but still a matter of disappointment is that fact that goldenagecomics.co.uk has been down most of the week. It isn't about not being able to download a bunch of Golden Age comics for free (which is nice), but that the message board has been unavailable, too. It's a nice group of people to interact with. Members don't lace their posts with attitudes, people get into debates, not arguments. Anyone who asks questions doesn't get talked-down to, they get answers. Yeah, folks voice their opinions about whatever they want, but overall, the spirit of the message board is a heck of a lot friendlier than what I've seen in most other places. So I'm sitting here hoping that everything gets straightened-out soon, and that whatever company is handling the web hosting can get their collective heads out of their butts long enough to do their jobs for a minute and get the site back-up.

Oh, and a note to anyone looking to leave a comment: Feel free to comment on a story I post, even if you don't like it, or even just go "I like that character or artist". I do my best to keep my opinions to myself, but that doesn't mean you have to.

However ....

Do not use your comments as an opportunity to promote the sale of anything, or to direct other people to sites that are designed to sell & promote stuff. If you feel compelled to do something like that, start your own blog. MY BLOG is a place for folks to come, read some Golden Age comic book stories, maybe read my mindless ramblings if someone gets bored enough to do so, and escape reality for a minute or two. It's not a place for people to be told or "suggested" where they should be spending their money by people who have nothing to do with my blog. If I feel a book or movie is worth the time for someone to check it out on their own, then I'll be the one doing the promoting. Sorry, but that's just the way it's gonna be. My Blog, My Rules. If it happens again, I'll start heavily moderating all comments, or if it gets out-of-hand, I'll just shutdown the Comments altogether, and then everybody loses their chance to voice their opinions.

Super-Girls of The Golden Age

For your reading pleasure: Lady Fairplay from "Bang-Up Comics #1" (Decembber 1941; Golden Girl from "Golden Lad # 5" (June 1946); and War Nurse from "Speed Comics # 26" (April 1943). My mindless ramblings can be found after the last story so that everyone can jump right into reading the stories, which were taken from scans available at goldenagecomics.co.uk, which is currently experiencing "technical difficulties".























Lady Fairplay ran in issues 1-3 of "Bang-Up Comics" from Progressive Pulbishers Inc. Pat Parker, War Nurse, appeared in "Speed Comics" from 13 until 42, published by Family Comics (aka Harvey Comics). In issue 26, she last appeared in her "War Nurse" costume and, from 27 on, became just another member of the "Girl Commandos". Golden Girl only ever appeared in issue 5 of "Golden Lad", which was also the last issue of that series from Spark Publications.

On a totally unrelated topic (so you can ignore the rest of this post if you want), occasionally I'll search the internet for other cool Golden Age Comic blogs. There's quite a few out there, but most of them I hardly ever visit ... except when I'm really bored. Some are inconsistent in what they post, going beyond comic books and posting whatever type of artwork they feel like posting without giving much information about what their readers are seeing. Some of the bloggers are like me, in that they don't post on a regular schedule. Some bloggers ramble on and on about topics that have nothing to do with comics at all.

I ran across one blog where the person has a 500-word essay about his day's events before posting a Golden Age story. The person is a self-proclaimed "expert". No, seriously, he comes right out and says that he feels he is in a class all by himself, bascially an "expert amoung experts". I never heard of the guy before stumbling upon his blog last week, but ... whatever! He throws around the "big words" of a well-educated man, and is not shy about using the term "Panelology". If you're a comic book reader or serious collector and have no clue what "panelology" means, if you're sitting there thinking "What's that? The study of comic panels?", pat yourself on the back for enjoying comics for what they are.

Without a doubt, the artwork contained within the pages of any comic is worthy of study. I am something of an artist myself (although, by choice, not on a professional level), so I can appreciate the act of studying the work that goes into a comic page. But c'mon, do people really need to make-up words to make their hobby seem more mature than it really is? Besides, if the definition of the word is "the study of comic books", wouldn't "Comicology" be more appropriate (and sound better)? Are certain comic fans still embarrassed to talk about their hobby in front of non-comic readers, so they have to disguise it with words like "panelology" and "pannapictagraph"? At the risk of offending every reader I currently have, using words like "panelology" is more childish than the hobby itself.

I'm not a self-proclaimed anything. I've been reading comics since the 1970s. I've studied (seriously studied) the characters created during the Golden Age since the early 1990s (something made easier today thanks to tools like the internet). I've studied the artwork of Jack Kirby, Rob Liefeld and John Giunta for many years (well, Giunta is more recent, but you get my point, I hope ... and yes, I've studied Liefeld's artwork because it was fun, not because he's I think he's the greatest artist ever). I have, occasionally over time, since I was first introduced to the characters by Malibu Comics' "Protectors" series, investigated the history of the books commonly referred to as "Centaur Comics". But I will not proclaim myself an "expert" of any aspect of comic books that I've personally studied. There's always going to be someone who knows more than I do, and even if there wasn't, I simply don't have that type of ego where I need to proclaim myself a "Comic Historian" or "Expert" in order to justify the amount of time I've committed to one of my hobbbies.

To be clear, I am not, in any way, putting down anyone who takes time out of their lives to investigate, study, review, read or comment on comic books in a serious manner, because, as you've just read in the paragraph above, I do the same thing. I think it's vitally important that there are people out there who help preserve the history of this medium so that future generations can view the older stories with a greater appreciation beyond what they could get simply be seeing what's on the page. I just fail to understand why anyone would feel a need to legitimize this hobby with a word like "panelologist"? Dude, they're comics!