Editor's Note: Arlington-based comic book editor Jason Rodriguez is sending us his dispatches from a cross-country trip investigating the comics scene around the country. Read Part I, Part II, Part III and Part IV. Let’s just get it out of the way: I lost. I lost to a fantastic book, 5, an independently produced anthology with a lot of love and creator support on its side. The book had some gorgeous work from twin brothers......

Illustration by Monica Meehan Editor's Note: Arlington-based comic book editor Jason Rodriguez is sending us his dispatches from a cross-country trip investigating the comics scene around the country. Read Part I, Part II and Part III. Santa Fe, NM The night I arrived in Santa Fe, Bram and Monica Meehan took me out for New Mexican food. Carne Adovada. I got it with the red chiles and I sweated through the entire meal. I......

Illustration by Chris Haley Editor's Note: Arlington-based comic book editor Jason Rodriguez is sending us his dispatches from a cross-country trip investigating the comics scene around the country. Read Part I and Part II. History lesson: In the early 1990s a bunch of people said, “Wow! Amazing Fantasy #15 (first appearance of Spider-Man) originally sold for 12 cents. Forty years later, it’s worth $50,000. That’s one hell of an ROI!” (ROI = Return On......

Illustration by Dean Trippe Editor's Note: Arlington-based comic book editor Jason Rodriguez is sending us his dispatches from a cross-country trip investigating the comics scene around the country. Read his introduction to the series here. July 15 Washington, DC I showed up at Hertz to pick up my car at 7 a.m. They didn’t have the Corolla I reserved three months ago and attempted to up-sell me on a RAV4. I thanked the man......

Illustration by Scott White Editor's Note: Arlington-based comic book editor Jason Rodriguez is sending us his dispatches from a cross-country trip investigating the comics scene around the country. It seemed like a great idea: I’ll drive cross-country, by myself, and stop at every major and minor city along the way to talk with comic book creators, fans, and retailers. I leave tomorrow. I no longer believe it’s a great idea. Dallas Middaugh, my editor......

With great power comes . . . free comics! As everybody knows, or ought to know, the first Saturday in May is when comics publishers and comic book store proprietors throughout the Marvel and DC Universes celebrate their independence from bullies by giving away books for the low, low price of bupkis. Wait, strike almost all of that. First off, the perception that comics (or "sequential art," to use the term preferred by Will Eisner,......