Huh...a prolific writer from the eighties writing an unneeded sequel to one of his best works...why does that sound familia-
...WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!
But seriously though, GMO has more hits than misses.
Comic Book News
- Thread starter ThatNickGuy
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...WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!
But seriously though, GMO has more hits than misses.
There's plenty of "I'm glad this will exist" news, but stuff I'll actually check out? Nothing I didn't already know about from before SDCC.
Mark Waid & Chris Samnee on Captain America is promising. Though I doubt they'll be able to clean enough of the Nazi-Cap stink. But it might be worth checking out. Their Daredevil run was phenomenal. Tried the first volume of their Black Widow book and it was...okay, I guess? So, could go either way, I guess.
fade
Staff member
DK2 was the worst.Huh...a prolific writer from the eighties writing an unneeded sequel to one of his best works...why does that sound familia-
...WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!
But seriously though, GMO has more hits than misses.
Worse than DK3?
DC looks to be ending the Young Animal imprint and putting those titles under Vertigo as part of a Vertigo revitalization that looks to include new American Vampire, Sandman, some other stuff.
I sure as hell hope Gaiman is involved with the new Sandman because otherwise, it's not Sandman.
On the other hand, I'm okay with spin-offs because they turn out rather well sometimes, like Lucifer. Though I feel Death is also just as much Gaiman's baby as Sandman. So, hm, kinda torn on this.
Glad to see a Vertigo revitalization, though. Hopefully it's not just an imprint in name only and is an almost side or separate entity like it was before. I think they had more freedom away from the other upper executive editors on the superhero side of things.
Yes and no. The downside of this merger is that a couple of current Young Animal books are being put on hold until the grand reopening of Vertigo is ready, so they can be part of that lineup, which shows there's still some editorial nonsense in the background. There are plans for crossovers with mainline DC later, though those are just one-shots. Those shouldn't affect the main titles any more than when Darkseid was in volume 10 of The Sandman.
I'd love to get a new solid Sandman spin-off. Or a good Lucifer spin-off. Reviving Lucifer was a mistake to me in both concept and execution. Carey's run ended with such finality, only for the new one to go "Let's hit rewind on most of that stuff so we can start from pretty much where Sandman left off. again."
Superman: Year One OGN to be written by Frank "whores whores whores" Miller
As if we weren't already well-stocked on tellings of Superman's origin and early years, why the fuck would anyone think this was a good idea? Aw, DC, you've been doing so well lately. I almost wonder if that's the point--they want another infamous book like All-Star Batman and Robin, something so awful it can't help being successful for it.
As if we weren't already well-stocked on tellings of Superman's origin and early years, why the fuck would anyone think this was a good idea? Aw, DC, you've been doing so well lately. I almost wonder if that's the point--they want another infamous book like All-Star Batman and Robin, something so awful it can't help being successful for it.
DKRIII was for some reason a top 10 title each month it came out. As much as I don't like his stuff Frank Miller's name is money. I admire DC for working on developing more evergreen stories, and like it or not there's not a lot if any people working on monthly books that would justify the risk of an OGN the way a Gaiman or a Miller can.
Every one I hear mention it hated it--but bought every issue.
I do get the money angle.I guess there's nothing saying someone at the top thought it was going to be a book of quality, just that they're doing it.
The 1,000,000 BC Avengers:
Ghost Rider is on a flaming woolly mammoth.
Your argument is invalid.
Your argument is invalid.
Jason Aaron is writing this. He also writes The Mighty Thor. His continuity says Odin was unable to wield Mjolnir.
So I can only assume this is a different hammer. Like, if Bendis was writing it, I'd understand, because Bendis gives zero fucks about continuity, but otherwise Aaron would be breaking his own rules --
I'm probably overthinking it. I don't have any faith in the Make Mine Marvel initiative this starts, but this could still be a fun one-shot.
So I can only assume this is a different hammer. Like, if Bendis was writing it, I'd understand, because Bendis gives zero fucks about continuity, but otherwise Aaron would be breaking his own rules --
Oh.
I'm probably overthinking it. I don't have any faith in the Make Mine Marvel initiative this starts, but this could still be a fun one-shot.
But it was a comic issue that he wrote.
Well, it does look like it's a 2-handed hammer...
This really irks me.
http://www.comicsbeat.com/tilting-at-windmills-261-marvel-comics-and-the-deck-chairs-of-the-titanic/
There's a bunch of speculation over Marvel character crap, but the thing I'm harping on is that essentially in the face of losing sales, Marvel is holding variants hostage from comic book stores if they don't order a certain number of low-selling titles that Marvel believes should sell more. I doubt these stores only sold a few due to lack of copies--if issues were flying off the shelves, they'd order more. I rarely ever buy variants because i don't keep most of my monthlies, but I understand the financial importance to the stores.
So like the freight issue with "free" comics earlier this year that Marvel couldn't sell, they're passing the buck to comic stores. Disney has kept their hands off the comic book side of things, but I wonder if the people running that are at risk of losing their jobs if they don't start showing Disney better sales, no matter what they have to do.
http://www.comicsbeat.com/tilting-at-windmills-261-marvel-comics-and-the-deck-chairs-of-the-titanic/
There's a bunch of speculation over Marvel character crap, but the thing I'm harping on is that essentially in the face of losing sales, Marvel is holding variants hostage from comic book stores if they don't order a certain number of low-selling titles that Marvel believes should sell more. I doubt these stores only sold a few due to lack of copies--if issues were flying off the shelves, they'd order more. I rarely ever buy variants because i don't keep most of my monthlies, but I understand the financial importance to the stores.
So like the freight issue with "free" comics earlier this year that Marvel couldn't sell, they're passing the buck to comic stores. Disney has kept their hands off the comic book side of things, but I wonder if the people running that are at risk of losing their jobs if they don't start showing Disney better sales, no matter what they have to do.
Something a friend of mine pointed out when people tout those sales numbers: they're JUST on Diamond orders. It doesn't account for collected edition sales for people who "wait for the trade." It doesn't account for Comixology (sales numbers aren't usually available, I believe). It doesn't account for Marvel's own digital subscription service. All those things would definitely move those numbers.
Those variants, though? That's fucking ridiculous and a PERFECT example of selling comics the wrong way. As the article points out, variants in the 90s like Adventures of Superman #500 nearly killed the industry.
If I ran a comic store, I would ignore all those variant deals. Of course, if I ran a comic store, I'd do it similar to a shop I frequented in Toronto, where they put 90% focus on graphic novels and collected editions. They also had a great incentive for customers: buy 10 books and get the 11th free based on the average of the 10 books.
EDIT: Gah, I keep editing this post. Sorry. A friend of mine also pointed out another one of Marvel's problems: they basically shuffle the same writers around their biggest titles. Bendis, Spencer, Waid, Aaron, etc, basically move from one big title to the next and there's rarely any new blood being given a chance.
Those variants, though? That's fucking ridiculous and a PERFECT example of selling comics the wrong way. As the article points out, variants in the 90s like Adventures of Superman #500 nearly killed the industry.
If I ran a comic store, I would ignore all those variant deals. Of course, if I ran a comic store, I'd do it similar to a shop I frequented in Toronto, where they put 90% focus on graphic novels and collected editions. They also had a great incentive for customers: buy 10 books and get the 11th free based on the average of the 10 books.
EDIT: Gah, I keep editing this post. Sorry. A friend of mine also pointed out another one of Marvel's problems: they basically shuffle the same writers around their biggest titles. Bendis, Spencer, Waid, Aaron, etc, basically move from one big title to the next and there's rarely any new blood being given a chance.
So I'm reading another article Hibbs wrote: What the Hell is Wrong with Marvel, Anyway?and I see two very damning quotes about Marvel's business practices. They're ones I've discussed myself and why the problems are NOT the so-called "SJW agenda." Not that anyone here says that, but still.
Those right there are the killer. Marvel's business practices in selling these comics, wanting to push more titles or reboot titles back to #1 confuses and turns away readers. It makes these books horribly inaccessible because they don't understand which #1 they have to start on or they suddenly think they have to read Black Panther's one or two new books on top of his other one. Hell, I'm trying to read Jason Aaron's run on Thor and didn't know if there was a Volume 3 of Fem-Thor or if the new Volume 1 is what I continued on with. To say nothing of wondering if Secret Wars or Secret Wars: Thors was required reading. And that's coming from me, a guy who's been reading comics for decades. I can't imagine what it'd be like for a casual reader who just wants to read the latest issue of Squirrel Girl.
I stopped reading comics regularly in the mid-90s. The Navy killed my interest. Not by any direct means, but basically through lack of storage. When all your belongings have to fit in a 6ftx2ftx8in box, comics are an impossible luxury. And after that, it was hard to regain interest. With this on top of lack of funds, I don't see me returning to either faction any time soon.
I'll just get my fix from reading these threads and what hits my Tumblr dash.
The Thor reset is what delayed me in reading more until I made myself and realized it was still the same story. Thor, Thor, Mighty Thor. Thanks, Marvel. -_-
FYI I'm reading the Secret Wars tie-in right now. So far I can't see how it's necessary--right now it's just an issue of What If? where Thors are a cliche homicide police movie, so at least it's amusing--but I'll have to get to the end to see if it matters for the main title.
Diamond orders are what drive the ability to do collected editions. The monthly doesn't sell, they won't do a collection, it really is that simple. To them, if the monthly isn't doing the job, why would we want to spend more money to reformat, repackage the story that didn't sell in the first place.
Comixology has subscription numbers, but not for individual titles because they have things like the Unlimited subscription that lets you pretty much read everything, but doesn't generate any other money beyond the monthly fee. So, after some quick research, the Marvel plans include an unlimited (~$100 a year) or individual monthly/yearly, so they have that #, but honestly, it's probably much lower than you would think.
Numbers I've seen for digital are around 10% or so of the direct market, and ComiXology top charts don't differentiate to much from the monthly direct market lists. Book market charts are similar. Exception being Scholastic, we have no numbers for what they sell in book fairs and their other sales outlets. If a title sells poorly as a floppy the odds of it being some big huge success as a trade is extremely low.
Not sure this is true anymore. Even Marvel's early cancellation series get trades, likely because in the digital age it doesn't take as much to make a trade and they might as well eke out what they can.
On that note, Squirrel Girl sells pretty poorly each month, but the Scholastic book fair sales and general trade sales apparently make it worth keeping around.
http://www.comicsbeat.com/batman-in-the-real-world-busiek-and-leons-batman-creature-of-the-night/
Batman: Creature of the Night, by Kurt Busiek & Jean Paul Leon was announced today. It's the spiritual successor to SUPERMAN SECRET IDENTITY that Busiek briefly mentioned in his introduction in one of the SSI collected editions. So it's been a LONG time coming.
Superman: Secret Identity isn't just one of my all-time favourite comics. Of all the comics I've read over the years, it's unquestionably my ALL-TIME favourite. So yeah, I'm a little excited for this. Though since Batman isn't my favourite superhero, it probably won't hit me as hard as Secret Identity did.
Batman: Creature of the Night, by Kurt Busiek & Jean Paul Leon was announced today. It's the spiritual successor to SUPERMAN SECRET IDENTITY that Busiek briefly mentioned in his introduction in one of the SSI collected editions. So it's been a LONG time coming.
Superman: Secret Identity isn't just one of my all-time favourite comics. Of all the comics I've read over the years, it's unquestionably my ALL-TIME favourite. So yeah, I'm a little excited for this. Though since Batman isn't my favourite superhero, it probably won't hit me as hard as Secret Identity did.
Zappit
Staff member
He's destroying the Marvel U and Applebee's!
I'd love to see him replace Hitch on Justice League.
Actually I'd love to see anyone replace him ...
