In mid-2008, I was lucky enough to be asked to join the staff at the comic book discussion site iFanboy. Since then, I have been sullying their good name with weekly columns on a variety of tangentially related topics, and very occasionally I even get to sit in on one of their podcasts. Our story so far:

You Don’t Know From Crossovers (1/25/10) – If you think the tie-ins are bad now, you don’t remember the “Good Old Days.”

I Traded in 50 Blackest Night Comics and All I Got Was Deadpool in a T-shirt (1/22/10) – Marvel’s latest marketing initiative had people a’talkin’!

When S.W.O.R.D. Gets the Axe (1/18/10) – The best books you’re not buying are already the best books you can’t buy. Can’t a fellow get a second arc? Plus: DOCTOR VOODOO!

I’m Going to Marvel Land! (1/11/10) – How I spent my winter vacation: thinking about comics some more. (I also recapped this week’s User Reviews.)

Favorite iFanboy Moments of 2009 (1/04/10) – A look back at some of my favorite articles and shows from the last twelve months of iFanboying around.

What Do You Get for the Man Who Does Everything? (12/21/09) – Gaze in mute dread at the horror of… Superhero Secret Santa! (I also recapped this week’s User Reviews.)

Cover Blindness (12/14/09) – A generation of bland posing has created an annoying new affliction. Here is the story of one sufferer.

How Do You Top Blackest Night? (12/07/09) – Dark Reign and Green Lantern have reached the huge, satisfying culmination of stories years in the making… but where do we go from here?

(11/30/09) – Never mind how you store your comics: why do you store your comics? (I also recapped this week’s User Reviews.)

The Iron Landlord (11/23/09) – If you think your building’s super is a jerk, try renting from H.A.M.M.E.R. for a few months.

My Green Lantern Homework (11/16/09) – After putting it off all year, your DC-averse columnist breaks down and asks the question, “Hey, have you guys heard about this Green Lantern book that’s coming out?”

You’ll Appreciate This: Bloom County – The Complete Library (11/09/09) – What’s funny, lovingly reproduced, and will get you an “A” in your History of the Eighties class? Click to find out!

Who is… the Wolverine? (11/02/09) – In times of peril, some people see their lives flash before their eyes. Others see the lives of fictional characters.

There’s a Market for It (10/26/09) – They’re reprinting what??

Gears of What, Now? (10/19/09) – Apparently, the #1 best-selling comic book of 2008 was something I have never heard of in my life. But it’s not like I work for a comic book web site or anything.

Whatever Happened to the No-Prize Hunter? (10/12/09) – Remember when people wanted to like the books they read?

You’ll Appreciate This: Breakfast of the Gods (10/05/09) – Not all webcomics are the same. I have a great one that will only be funny to you. Yes, you!

As the World Turns (9/28/09) – A serial story that’s been around since the thirties full of cliffhangers, dead characters who don’t stay dead, and melodrama… but isn’t a comic?

The List: Real Life (9/21/09) – Why should Norman Osborn get to have all the fun?

Attack of the Clones (9/14/09) – Can you imagine if all the books starring a “Superman type” actually starred Superman?

Tickled to Death (9/07/09) - Is there such a thing as drowning in fun? Are you able to keep up with your DVR/queue/stack each week? (In addition to the usual stuff, I “broke” a little bit of news this week as well.)

Your New-to-Comics Glossary (8/31/09) - Without even realizing it, comic readers use an in-group jargon that’s tough for newbies to crack. Here’s everything you need to know to get started.

Factored Out (8/24/09) - Rumors of cancellation swirl around a favorite book, and much hand-wringing will commence. I also “wrote” the User Reviews column this week.

PODCAST – Booksplode #2 – Queen and Country Definitive Edition Vol. 1 (8/20/09) - A special edition! Josh, Sonia, Paul and I devote a book-clubby hour to chatting about Greg Rucka’s seminal spy saga. Amazingly, without even trying, we did the entire hour completely spoiler free.

Spider-Woman, Agent of S.W.O.R.D. Episode 1 (8/19/09) - Marvel has entered the world of “motion comics,” comics that are vaguely animated so you can sell ‘em on iTunes as videos. It is a truly bizarre medium, and I really appreciated the chance to review their first effort and weigh in.

Keep That Slump Coming (8/17/09) - A futile attempt at positivity breaks out into partisan warfare. The comments have to be seen to be believed.

You Can Leave Gotham (8/10/09) - You might not need Batman. You might just need a good realtor.

Gerber’s Baby (8/03/09) - I find myself thinking a lot about Howard the Duck– no, I really do!– and this was my opportunity to purge those reflections.

No Time For Stan: Comic Con 2009 (7/27/09) - My hazily remembered convention recap.

PODCAST – 07.26.2009 – Episode #194 – Amazing Spider-Man #600 - While in San Diego, I sat in on the Pick of the Week podcast with the fellows. We recorded this using a single mic in the hotel room, not in a Tijuana gutter, despite what our voices may sound like in this abbreviated episode.

Comic Con Week: The bossmen spent a week in San Diego at Comic Con, and before I joined them Paul Montgomery and I “ran” the site. During our dark reign, I posted my take on a news story or three.

Your Positivity Booster Shot (7/20/09) - Why so serious? Let’s put a smile on that face!

Fire is Hot. (7/13/09) - I don’t care how much training you get in your Batcave; pain still hurts.

The Trouble With Rom (7/06/09) - It may be the best book you’ve never read… and you never can. I was taken aback by the enthusiastic response this one got.

The Comics That Transformed My Childhood (6/29/09) - In honor of Michael Bay’s latest masterpiece, I spend a couple hundred words that are More Than Meets The Eye.

Announcement Season (6/22/09) - Summer means comic conventions, and comic conventions mean breaking news. Should you care about any of it?

“Worst X-Men Villain, Ever.” (6/15/09) - Being the kids’ favorite adult can have its downside.

Twelve Months Later (6/08/09) - Has it really been a year since I was asked to join iFanboy? Holy crap!

Professor Xavier is a Jerk (6/01/09) - The X-Men are the worst civil rights leaders in history!

I Have It In For Deadpool (5/25/09) - In which I start a fight with the pushiest fandom in comics today.

The End is Dear (5/18/09) - Sometimes, it’s just nice to be done.

Star Trek: Oh, No! My Band is Popular (5/11/09) - You think you want your stuff to be embraced by the masses… but do you, really?

PODCAST – 05.10.2009 – Episode #183 – War of Kings #3 - I sat in with Ron and Josh this time, covering the latest issues of the exact same books that came out the last time I was on the podcast. This gave the whole thing a sort of Groundhog Day quality, but I really enjoyed the conversation and didn’t feel like a complete stammering goober this time.

My Free Comic Book Day (5/04/09) - It’s like a holiday now. How did you celebrate?

Its Al Donwhill From Hear (4/27/09) - An egregious injury to the English language sent me off on a rant. I don’t think of myself as a grammar cop, but every so often….

Comics and the Moving Van (4/20/09) - There’s nothing like carrying everything you own to make you question the wisdom of your pastimes.

Friendly Reminder: Read “The Surrogates” Before This Fall (4/13/09) - Bruce Willis’ movie version of this book hits the screen in September; this is your last chance to like it before it got cool.

Get Inside the Library (4/06/09) - I meant for this to be extremely perverted but chickened out. “People actually read this. Will they think I’m a weirdo? What if the objectum-sexuals get offended? Do I care about that?”

PODCAST – 04.05.2009 – Episode #178 – The Flash: Rebirth #1 - A podcast that was three months in the planning and hours and hours in the recording. In honor of April Fools and Marvel Comics’ “Assistant Editors Month,” we thought it would be fun(ny) to replace all of the iFanboys for one week with Sonia Harris, Paul Montgomery, Mike Romo and me. Replace the employers with the employees, basically. Usually, when one of us guest hosts, there is a listener uprising, but this entirely guest-hosted outing was so warmly responded to that I am pretty sure I hallucinated the whole thing. People demanded we do it again soon. Looks like we just succeeded our way into some extra work!

The Top 10 Comics Purchases I Wish Had Gone Differently (3/30/09) - This piece began its life in a very different, much more vitriolic form, but I ended up very pleased with it.

Watch Your Mouth (3/23/09) - Be careful who you trash-talk. This stuff is cached.

Trade Whiplash! (3/16/09) - See, this is why it’s hard for me to get my friends to read my iFanboy articles. “Trades” is one of those in-group comic book words that acts as a barrier to normal people trying to understand what the hell nerds are talking about. In short: every 4-6 issues or so, individual comic books are regularly collected into “trade paperbacks” and published as honest-to-God books. Some people choose to “wait for the trade” rather than reading the story one chapter at a time each month. I’ve tried it both ways, and this week I decided to talk about the pros and cons of each approach. (To the site’s target audience, this stuff is fascinating.)

Why I Quit (3/09/09) - From roughly 1986 to 1990, I spent every dime on comic books. Then, one day, I just stopped. I have no memory of why. One day, I decided to sit down with my old comics and figure it out CSI-style.

A Place at the Table: The New York Times Adds Comics Bestseller Lists (3/06/09) - We really should do these more often. A piece of news comes out Friday afternoon; someone e-mails, asking, “Anyone want to write about this today?” and we do a nice little mash-up. (I benefit a lot from not having to think up topics. I should do a letters column.)

Coming Summer 2011: Super Grover, The Motion Picture (3/02/09) - Sort of speaks for itself, doesn’t it?

Just Add Capes (2/23/09) - I’m amazed by the number of willing walking stereotypes who won’t read a book unless it has superheroes in it.

Return to Stack Week, Part I: More Like “Slack Week” (2/16/09) - Every so often, it’s time to revisit the pile of books on the nightstand and shame yourself publicly into reading them.

The Spoiler Protocols (2/09/09) - Where is the line between discussing and ruining? I’m afraid you’ll have to tell me.

Antici……….pation (2/02/09) - Help! Nothing is exciting me this year!

It’s Not Homework, It’s Recess (1/27/09) - When did we start treating fun like a grind? Also: vomit!

Collateral Damage: Mighty Avengers (1/20/09) - Every invasion has its casualties. (This one’s a little inside baseball.)

The Stealth Boom (1/13/09) - Everyone around you is reading this stuff… secretly.

Favorite iFanboy Moments of 2008 (1/5/08) - Looking back at 2008, some of the most fun I had was running my mouth on iFanboy.com and watching other people do the same. Sounds like New Year’s post fodder to me!

PODCAST: Pick of the Week– “Justice Society of America #22″ (1/4/08) - This time, Ron is unavailable so I get to riff with Conor and Josh about the week’s comics. Felt like I was off my game as I was doing it, but I was very happy with the results. Most fun I’ve had podcasting so far.

Missing the Target (12/22/08) - in which I brave the retail jungle for Christmas shopping and try to make it about comic books somehow. It was time for that week off.

The Geek Hierarchy: We All Have Our Thing (12/15/08) - Sure, we make up 0.001% of the population… but at least we’re not like you people.

Sure, I’ll Sell Your Comics For You! (12/08/08) - You’d think “specialty shops” would be full of people specially interested, but not so much.

The Gift Monologues (12/01/08) - You’d be so much easier to shop for if you just liked video games like a normal person.

7 Things I Hope You Learn From Comics (11/24/08) - An open letter from a comics reader to his kid about how to learn from superheroes without warping your brain.

Hating Your Heroes: How the Sausage is Made (11/17/08) - These days, you can follow a creator so closely that you know what they had for lunch… but how good an idea is that, really?

Continuity: Keep Your Universe to Yourself (11/10/08) - What’s the point of using all your books to tell one story if that story’s just going to sort of trail off at the end?

Subtext is Everything (Everything is Subtext) (11/03/08) - Can writers help but write about current events? This one can’t!

Happy Walking Dead Day! (10/27/08) - If you can make me like a book about zombies this much, you must be one hell of a scribe.

The Hulk and I Are Estranged. (10/20/08) - Breaking up is hard to do, but sometimes you love a book too much to stand by and watch it destroy itself.

Alan Moore, the Watchmen Movie’s Biggest Fan (10/18/08) – This was the first time I read some news and posted it to the site after dashing off an opinion. Very satisfying, although the argument in the comments still keeps restarting a year later.

A Love Letter to Marvel Team-Up #74 (10/13/08) - This was the week that Spider-Man teamed up with Stephen Colbert, reminding me of the first what-the-hell guest star like this I ever saw. As the tagline to the article said, “you never forget your first time.” I’ll admit I can go into a weird area sometimes.

Dead Babies Are Fun: Swears, Squares, and Comic Ratings (10/06/08) - Welcome to mainstream comics, where we can violate your corpse just as long as no one uses a swear word.

Ode to the Beyonder: the Video (10/13/08) - July’s Ode to the Beyonder was so popular that it cried out for a dramatic reading. Comic Book Resource’s Augie de Blieck obliged with his golden tones, and the rest is (probably going to eventually be) history.

Late Comics: Jim vs. Jim (9/29/08) - One the biggest tempests in the comics teapot is lateness. Most books are scheduled to come out monthly… but then they don’t. Writers take side jobs, artists get in over their heads, and excuses come out with a regularity that the books can’t match. With all that in mind, given that this is the most complained-about thing in the biz, I wondered: how hard is it to draw a stupid comic, anyway?

To Beat Cobra, We Must Think Like Cobra (9/22/08) - They told Harlan that G.I. Joe was a highly trained special mission force. He never asked them to define “special.”

Same $#*^, Brand New Day (9/15/08) - In 1987, for reasons that science may never understand, they decided to abruptly marry Spider-Man off. Marvel Comics’ current Editor in Chief has been complaining about this move for years, and in late 2007 he actually did something about it. Reading the web, you would think this decision resulted in riots throughout our major cities, but in fact it was a brilliant move. Saying so gave me the chance to psychoanalyze some readers, and also to invite the haters out of the woodwork.

The Bulletproof Writer, and Other Tales to Appall (9/01/08) - Can people really believe that some writers can do no wrong? Is that possible?

My City, My Hero (9/01/08) - in which a video game brings childhood characters to life, and I go from creator to hero to failure in the span of six months.

The Geek Closet (8/25/08) - in which I ruminate on some questionable parenting, let my freak flag fly, and reminisce about the first bookstore I ever loved.

Comic Sales: Nobody Knows Anything (8/18/08) - a comic book writer named Robert Kirkman had just announced that he was no longer working for anyone but himself, and in the video he posted about it he repeated the canard that Comics As We Know Them Are Dying. I am awfully sick of hearing this, so I blew off some steam by getting some facts.

PODCAST: Pick of the Week– “Secret Invasion #5″ (8/17/08) - Josh Flanagan’s vacation is my gain and the listeners’ loss as we discuss the week’s new releases. This is a particularly partisan summer; read the comments to see grown people lose their minds because one company’s products are discussed more than another’s.

Comics and the Future (What There is of It) (8/11/08) - My most halfhearted effort to date! A rumination of the end of the world as they wrote it, and why the future in a writer’s eyes is always post-apocalyptic.

This One Time, at Hand Camp…. (8/04/08) - Friends don’t let friends go all ninja.

I Demand The Future! (7/28/08) - a series of inconveniences reminds me how unnecessary and ridiculous it is that comics are still printed instead of being e-mailed to me. Piracy, shmiracy.

Sour Capes (7/21/08) - in honor of the upcoming San Diego Comic-Con, I wrote about never getting to go to the San Diego Comic-Con.

PODCAST: Batman: Gotham Knight (7/17/08) - Fun! I got to review the new Batman cartoon with Conor Kilpatrick and Paul Montgomery on my very first podcast. The real fun turned out to be reading listeners’ comments after I said I didn’t like it.

Ode to the Beyonder (7/14/08) - and sometimes it’s a poem!

So… Why Aren’t We Reading Resurrection? (7/07/08) - It’s strange to me that comics fans are fundamentally reading but don’t seem to follow the writers when they write something other than superhero fiction. So why not stand on the soapbox as long as it’s sitting there?

When “Small Press” is Your Laser Printer (6/30/08) – Bummed out by the previous week, I took a look at some books that were locally produced, which is to say “copied at Kinko’s by the authors.”

Crisis Crisis: Don’t Blame Didio (6/23/08) - From an early age, I developed a brand loyalty: I liked Marvel comics and thought DC comics were bewildering. This piece was supposed to be about DC books so good even I like ‘em– sort of an olive branch– but then I mentioned some DC gossip that was in the news at the time and ended up spending a lot more words on my problems with DC books… and then came the reader comments.

Stack Week, Part One: The Shaming (6/16/08) - Like far too many people I know, I have a habit of buying new books before reading my previous purchases. Comic fans are especially bad about this, so we devoted a week on the site to our Stacks.

Requiem for Nu Marvel (6/09/08) - The comic book landscape has changed quite a bit since I returned to it in my adulthood, leading me to wax nostalgic for the year 2000 already.

Are Comic Book Movies Ruining Summer? (6/06/08) – A “special edition” point/counterpoint about some idiotic article in Entertainment Weekly.

The Handoff (6/02/08) - In my first article, I pondered the challenges you face when you take over a series from another talented writer, making it your own without derailing everything that came before.