Don't want to just jump on a post from Michael Harrington (TechCrunch) as if I have just discovered something. But there is something special about ComicVine. At it's simplest, it is a more user-friendly "wikipedia" for comic fans. But more than that, it is a co-created community for comic fans. When registering, you actually create yourself as a superhero. I am Gothrex. I have not filled in my complete bio yet but one of my superpowers is the ability to create blackout conditions. I am also invulnerable to evil.
There are blogs and message boards available. Not sure Gothrex has the time for an additional blog but I will keep track of visitors to my page. The comics "community" is a strong one. You can tell because it has withstood the vagaries of the market which makes comic books popular one year and a complete financial debacle the next. My wife worked for Neal Adams, a well-known artist who has his own commercial studio in NYC (and a history of wonderful comics including Bucky O'hare under the Continuity Comics label). Neal became famous for his work on Batman and his career is much more prolific than any single character. But I remember the community of artists and writers - each of them a fan - and then there were the pure fans, themselves. How many aspire to creating books? Lots. And then there are the loyal readers. This is a real community. ComicVine is simply offering them a new way to interact.
I want to add my Gothrex "page" once I finish it to my TypePad blog. Rather than create a new blog, I simply want to connect to my ComicVine page just as I have done to my VOX blog. I want one hub to my many alternate identities. This is how they can extend the experience to those of us who will not dedicate our online experience to comics but are genuinely connected anyhow. I grew up with books and still buy them.
Once of the best features is the Powers section. Here you can pit one superhero against another in single power battles or the whole shebang. Simple one-click voting will move the character up in the rankings.
I also love that the creators - Ethan Lance and Dave Snider - put themselves out there as characters. And here's what they said about their venture:
"Comic Vine is also a community of comic nerds. We're trying to provide new methods for fans to express their passion for comics. We'd like to help out the comic wanna-bes, whether that's the 12 year-old tracing his first X-Men cover or the 40 year old who's still a big kid and dresses up for the local Con. We just want this to be a fun place to chat up comics. "
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