Ever wanted to read a comic but didn't know where to start? Interested in superheroes, manga, romance, webcomics and more? Look no further! We have all the recommendations you'll ever need.

Sunday, 6 December 2009

What's this site about?

Hi, maybe you’re here because a friend has recommended the site to you, maybe you’ve stumbled across this from a search engine or maybe you got here from another blog.

This is a site about comics.  It’s intended as a review site for those people who have never read a comic before, or maybe not read one for a long time, and are interested in finding out more but don’t know where to start.
We will cover superheroes, manga, alternative and web comics.  We will not recommend anything where it is necessary to know decades of continuity.  We will only recommend books that are available in a trade (collecting 6 to 8 of the monthly magazines) format so that you can get them from regular bookshops.  We are keen on people using their local comic book shop but understand that they can be somewhat intimidating if you've never been in one before.  To aid this, there will be a list of recommended local comic book shops made available.

I want this blog to be as accessible as possible, and I hope that I can branch out into non-English versions and well as producing entries that are easily understood by people with English as second language or those with low reading levels.

This blog will avoid comics with sexist, racist, homophobic or ableist overtones or intent.  If there is some background to the comic, the writer or the art team that could contradict this policy, the issue will be mentioned and discussed within the review.  I realise that there is usually disagreement and discussion on what constitutes bigotry, and if you see anything on this site that you believe breaks this promise I urge you to contact either myself or one of the other contributors at the following email address: paicomics [at] yahoo dot co dot uk, or you can leave a comment on the relevant entry.

The reviews may or may not have an overtly political tone to them, dependent on the nature of the comic.


On superhero comics
Some people may view all female superheroes as being inherently sexist, considering the skintight costumes in the genre.  I would argue that the costumes can be used in an objectifying way, although that is not always the case.  A great deal depends on the artist and the writer.

The superhero comics genre is not particularly diverse, and with this mind I would like this site to highlight comics with women leads, with characters of colour, those with disabilities and those of the non heterosexual persuasion.

If anyone would like to contribute to the site please email us at paicomics [at] yahoo dot co dot uk, and submit an example of your writing, or provide a link for your website/blog.  Some indication of where you stand on feminist/race/ablist/trans/queer issues in comics would also be nice, and some idea of what you would consider suitable for review would also be helpful.

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