Hey everyone!

In light of Comics Alliance closing the doors, a friend of mine, Stephanie Chan, is promoting and working on a comic news and review website called Smash Pages.

You can find them here.

And on Facebook.

The contributors come from a diverse background with people who have worked on Robot 6, Newsarama, and more. In short, they’re a well rounded bunch of journalists.

In fact, I managed to snag a bit of free time with Stephanie and conduct a short interview:

Jamie: What is the main purpose of Smash Pages? What do you hope to do in your contributions there?

Stephanie: We want to bring the latest and best in comic news and provide insights from indies to mainstream. As many sites tend to talk about film and television, our main focus will be comics.

Jamie: What perspectives do you hope to bring to the website?

Stephanie: A few things; we want to make sure the comic book industry has coverage, and I do not mean just the big companies, but we want creators and independents to shine as well. We want to provide an in-depth look at certain issues and topics that come up. It doesn’t always have to be controversial. Brigid Alverson is starting a colum about comics based on news. I will be looking more into the cultural and historical significance of comics, and we will still have time for the odd goofy column.

As other sites closed or restructured, in an accidental way, Smash Pages became a home to comic bloggers and journalists that just want to talk about comics. Of course there might be some crossover/genre related news

Oh! I am going to interview Jay Bardyla of Happy Harbour Comics, who is wearing a different comic shirt everyday and posting them up on Facebook.

Jamie: Are there any comics in particular you like or would like to come out?

Stephanie: Personally?

Jamie: Yes.

Stephanie: My big one I have to keep close to myself as it’s a pet project. But I would love to see Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. come back.

Jamie: Nice. What are some of your recommendations you’d give readers looking to get into graphic novels? Especially as graphic novels are still, by and large, associated with superheroes.

Stephanie: I have a soft spot for graphic novels by Renegade Arts Entertainment recently. I love Canadian history and they managed to make it interesting with the Loxley’s and the war of 1812 and The Loxleys and Confederation, which is something I think all Canadian households should read. And have you seen Shame, painted by John Bolton? Absolutely beautiful!

And forget the Ghost in the Shell movies, both the live action and anime movie, do yourself a favour and read the original manga! It’s cyberpunk at its finest.

I also have a soft spot for turning literary classics into comics. Udon Entertainment did some great work with Manga Classics.