Wednesdays are for two things in my life: Lost and comic books. Tonight I’m going to give the latter some love by reviewing a Web 2.0 comic book site called ComicVine.
At its heart ComicVine is a massive, user-created database of comic book information. They offer sections for members to write bios of their favorite characters, write reviews of current and back issues, participate in forums, and customize their profile page. On your profile page, you can add a photo gallery and a blog (reminded me of Gimme20’s profile features). And as with all social networking sites, you have a friends list to maintain. ComicVine hits all the high points of the Web 2.0 experience, but they have some unique features, too.
Since time began, comics fans have loved debating who would win in a fight between their favorite heroes and villains. Hulk versus Superman, Superman versus Flash, Batman versus Captain America, and on and on. Well, ComicVine has a feature that lets you vote on the outcome of those types of battles, and the winners are ranked on a list of most powerful characters. Right now, Superman is #1 (and Red Sonja is #4… one of the pitfalls of user-generated content, I suppose). If you have trouble deciding if Wonder Woman could beat Martian Manhunter in a fight, you can always pose the question in the forums where you’ll have dozens of folks ready to debate. It’s great fun.
Another unique feature of ComicVine is the ability to track your pull list on your profile page. Just visit the page for an issue of a comic you’d like to add to your list, and click a link to start tracking it.
I’ve been a member of ComicVine for several months (my handle is hooley21 if you want to look me up), but I’m still discovering new features. It is an amazing and essential resource for any comic book fan with an Internet connection.
And now it’s time to go watch Lost.
