Collected Linkblogging and a scan request

In times of national memorial, remember the Red Cross always needs your donations.

A bit of collected linkblogging today:

* Superman/Batman writer Mark Verheiden has been kind enough to grace our blog with a link. Of our Enemies Among Us review, Verheiden writes "I could try to explain what I wanted to accomplish with the series, but [Collected Editions] gets the drift right off and says it better!" Thanks, Mark! Everyone go watch Battlestar Galactica.

* Tom Bondurant at Newsarama gave Collected Editions credit for our post on DC Comics' 30 Essential trade paperbacks. Tune in for plenty of fun being made at Dark Knight Strikes Back.

* Matt Blind at Comics Snob mentioned Collected Editions in his write-up of John Shableski's Graphic Novel panel at the Great American Bargain Book Show (we noted an article by Shableski back in July on graphic novels in libraries and bookstores). As Blind notes:

One of the first things John presented was the explosive growth in the market: from $43M in 2001 up to $330M in 2006. This comes not just from the increased sales of manga, but also the growth of graphic novel collections in libraries and renewed interest in graphic novels from the likes of DC and Marvel. Another trend is the increased sales of collected story arcs in the trade paperback format, as opposed to comic book fans buying individual issues. (The evidence here is anecdotal, so far, but has been noted in a couple of places, including wikipedia) There is also a growing movement in "comics literature" (that my term, not John's) particularly in the popular field of comic-autobiography (i.e. Maus, Persepolis, Fun Home, American Born Chinese, Mom's Cancer, American Splendor, Stuck Rubber Baby, et al.)

Blind's full article talks a bunch about the growth of the trade paperback industry; worth a read.

* Finally, Collected Editions could use a favor. We're working on a new template, and we'd love a scan from the Superman: Back in Action trade paperback: page 58, bottom panel, where the Acquisitioner is (naturally) talking about "collected editions." If you can provide a scan of that panel, please send an email to the address at right (don't send the image itself; we'll let you know if you should). Of course, credit will be given to the artist, Pete Woods, and we'll link to the scanner.

Thanks for reading!