Alex Zalben

I’m Over Here!

I’m blogging more frequently over here:

zalben.tumblr.com

I tried changing the site over to this address, but it denied access to some important features, blah, blah, blah, anyway, go over there now.

The Stack in The Onion and on Newsarama

The Onion’s AV Club has a killer bi-weekly feature called “Comics of Note,” which you should definitely check out. I totally missed, however, that they reviewed us a month and a half ago. Oops!

Finally, for those who like smart, informed talk about superhero comics, the three hosts of “The Stack” video podcast—Alex, Justin and Pete—run through the current highlights of the mainstream and indie-hero realms with a lot of charm and insight. Nerdy but agreeable, The Stack’s trio trade off-the-cuff lines but rarely waste their seven-to-nine-minute timeslot, instead running through the reviews quickly, with lots of illustrations, a fair amount of friendly disagreement, and none of the snooty pissiness of many Internet comics critics. They’re the kind of guys it would be fun to talk comics with down at the local. The Stack is available via pulpsecret.com, or as a direct download to TiVoCast-enabled TiVos. B+

Also, because I didn’t mention this before, The Stack is now broadcast on Newsarama.com, pretty much, like, the biggest site on the whole planet.

CBC in the New York Times!

CBC was featured in the New York Times today:

The heart of the show is the chemistry among the three men, all aspiring comedians, whether discussing the annual, a comic book series’s larger, bonus issue, traditionally published in the summer (Mr. Zalben: “I miss annuals. You don’t get them anymore. You used to expect them every year.” Mr. Tyler: “Hence the word annual.”) or their recollections of a particular fan who has attended nearly every show.

Check out the rest of the article here.

The Heavy Show: A Season for Oscar

CBC in NYTheatre.com

“I can tell you that, if you are a New York City comics fan, there is a club for you which meets every Tuesday night. Comic Book Club is a witty and entertaining geek-out on the week in comics, formatted like a late-night talk show, with segments, professional guests from the comics industry, and a musical guest.

At a time when comics’ fandom has largely moved online, it is fun to see talented performers who have decided to take their passion for comics in the opposite technological direction. Comic Book Club is a lively and entertaining hour of geeking-out for a low price. I would definitely recommend it for the comics fans living in town, or who are passing through on a Tuesday night.”

Check out the full review here.

Comic Book Club Best of New York Press 2007

BEST PLACE TO FIND A MISUNDERSTOOD COMIC BOOK ARTIST
Comic Book Club at The PIT
154 W. 29th St. (betw. 6th & 7th Aves.)
212-563-7488
The mix of dubious improv talent and other odd-ball acts that fill The People’s Improv Theater’s lineup are always loaded with the risk of not satisfying the need for actual entertainment. But the three fanboy pundits who host the weekly Comic Book Club—Alexander Zalben, Justin Tyler and Pete LePage—have stumbled on something that seems to have been lacking for the city’s comic book-obsessed. Every Tuesday at 8 p.m., they gather with comedians and industry professionals to dissect the latest promotional materials and the origin myths of various superheroes. Add to that quirky musical guests and you have the reigning kings of geekdom holding court for the masses.

Check it out here.

The Heavy Show: Saw IV

I’ve started creating a sketch a week for The Heavy Show, over at, surprise, Heavy.com. Along with the rest of the EL boys, we get a topic Monday night, create a video sketch on that topic, and post it as part of The Heavy Show on Wednesday. So, you know, pretty quick turnaround.

Here’s the sketch we posted for the Halloween edition, “Saw IV: The Board Game!”

Horny Doctors

This is a sketch that I directed, co-wrote, and edited. So far, it’s been featured on MTV’s Short Circuitz (on TV!), MySpace (over 400,000 views), iFilm (over 100,000 views), and Metacafe (over 90,000 views), among others. Also, I heard that the Grey’s Anatomy staff thought it was pretty funny. But that may not be true… Grey’s Anatomy staff, I’m calling you out!

Minesweeper: The Movie

Didn’t direct this one, but I thought I’d throw it up anyway… As of this date, it’s one of the most popular videos in College Humor’s Original series, the most Digged video for the past 30 days, and got mentioned in NY Mag’s Approval Matrix. So that’s pretty cool:

WHIT Radio

This is the second short I directed for College Humor… Turned out pretty well, and as usual, the effects work kicks arse: