Green Lantern & Free Comic Book Day Musings

I’ve appeared on a few other websites, again:

“It’s kinda hard to root for a guy who thinks he’s the underdog but is in reality a good-looking fighter pilot with a smoking-hot girlfriend, great support network of friends, amazing apartment (exposed steel beams!) … oh, and a magical wishing ring.”

– Me, talking about the Green Lantern Film at The National Post’s Popcorn Panel

and

“All in all, I like FCBD but we haven’t noticed any slow-down for not participating. Hell, we didn’t even really hear much from our regulars about not holding it. I think it’s because we do so much outreach throughout the rest of the year–on average we’re doing 30 events for the public in a calendar year, and that’s not counting TCAF. We’re always trying to bring new folks through our doors, and while FCBD and legions of cheap giveaway comics are certainly helpful in that regard, I don’t really think they’re the only weapon in our arsenal, so to speak. ”

– Me, talking about Free Comic Book Day at ComicBookDaily

I’ve been doing some other writing too, but more on that when it’s ready. 🙂

– Chris

CMXy

(via)

So, here’s the deal:

CMX wasn’t, at its inception, a particularly well-run company. There are a lot of excuses out there, but bluntly DC didn’t know a thing about the manga market, and the person they hired to start the imprint wasn’t good at his job. DC offered a deep-discount offer to retailers to stock some of the initial titles, MADARA in particular, an older-Seinen action adventure title at the height of the shoujo boom. (Their sole shoujo title was from the 1970s.) I can’t stress enough, their initial licenses were very strange and generally weak with no cohesion as a line.

Sales tanked, comics retailers who were encouraged to buy BIG were left with unsold stock, and comics retailers have long and ‘specific’ memories and if they’re ever burned by anything they never forget and hold a grudge indefinitely. (Except for superheroes of course; Marvel and DC are putting out lit cigarettes on the foreheads of comics retailers every month, and they keep coming back for more. But say something nasty about Carol Kalish in an obituary and I WILL NEVER BUY YOUR FUCKING BOOKS FOREVER I HATE YOU. Comics are kinda lame sometimes.)

So with retailers burnt, the publisher upped the ante and censored one of their second wave of titles, when the _only_ thing it had going for it was the dirty bits. Manga fans hold STUPID grudges too, and they only need the thinest whisper of an excuse to steal their shit forever. “CMX censored Tenjho Tenge! That’s why I’ll download all the books they publish and never give them any money ever!” Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh. You’re awful, flat out awful.

But that’s besides the point; fans were burned too.

So no retailer support, little fan support, reported difficulties getting press coverage/convention coverage, and the books were barely ever in bookstores. All of it added up to…? What? Surprise? It wasn’t a matter of if CMX was going to get closed but when, and bad news at Viz provides the perfect cover doesn’t it? “See! Economic downturn! We can’t publish manga if Viz can’t!” Except of course Viz are publishing manga, just tightening their belts. Feh and bah.

This all smells very much like someone got some early July DC solicitations, noticed there were no CMX books, and started asking questions. This seems exceptionally poorly handled, from a company who’s doing a great job at poorly handling this imprint.

So to summarize: It was a line that was poorly conceived, poorly run for the first half of its life and then barely run at all for the last half. Then it was unceremoniously killed. The end.

I’m not saying the whole thing isn’t utterly depressing, it is, but only because it’s just a monumental waste of time and resources and talent and opportunity, not because I’m particularly sad to see it go. Maybe that’s mercenary of me–a lot of other people liked the line and I should probably shut up–but yeah. DC evidenced quite clearly that they have no idea how to run a manga line so if they weren’t going to _try_ then it’s best they stopped wasting my time clogging up my shelves.

– Chris

The 5 Things Wrong With DC’s War Of The Supermen #0 Cover

fcbd10_wotsm-cv0-fpoI hesitated posting about today’s big DC “news”. I did it yesterday and I kind of don’t want to make a habit of giving them a lot of attention—negative or otherwise—because they’re a multinational corporation who doesn’t need it when I could be focusing on excellent books from smaller publishers. It’ll do wonders for my hits though. And seriously, as much as I love posting about something just to rag on it, I’m a genuine fan of the artist of this cover, JG Jones. I own lots of his comics and think he’s a really talented artist.

But.

But this cover is already out to a wide lead for “ugliest comic book cover of 2010,” and… and I gotta say something. Maybe there’s still time.

The 5 Things Wrong With DC’s War Of The Superman #0 Cover:

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“FUCK YOU, DAD!”

1. Superman should not look like a petulant teenager. He also might be cross-eyed here.

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2. Supergirl is making a kissy-face on the cover. Seriously. All the dudes on the cover are angry or serious, the girl on the cover is giving her best come-hither. The teenage girl.

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3. Are those seriously hairs on the art? Like the art that DC released today was scanned with hairs on the scanning bed?

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4. Not Jones’ fault (I hope), but that logo is terrible. There are 3 different fonts in that logo. WAR has 5 different text effects on it, including a bevel. Bevel. Bonus problem not related to the design: I seriously cannot believe this is DC’s entry into Free Comic Book Day.

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5. It’s just not a good cover. Washed out, oddly static, the figures aren’t moving in the same direction and don’t come from even roughly the same point, the expressions don’t match up, it’s poorly ‘blocked’ meaning it looks like the woman in the upper-right corner looks like she’s standing on Superman’s shoulder… The whole thing feels like it’s been art-directed to death, or not at all. I can’t tell which.

I have solicited comics before, for free comic book day. You gotta get the art in early to make a very early deadline for a May book. Maybe it’s just rushed, or otherwise not the final. Or maybe this really will be the ugliest book DC releases in the new year.

– Christopher

My thoughts on DC’s ‘Earth One’

Accepting their official announcement at their blog and the unembargoed interviews at AICN at face value, DC Comics today announced that they will be developing:

  • A new Batman series and a new Superman series both called “Earth One”
  • With a new continuity/no backstory
  • Exclusively in ‘graphic novel’ format of 100+ pages, released twice-yearly starting in 2010.
  • By well-regarded comics creators.

Perhaps the most important factor about this announcement is that there is no mention of the business or publishing intent behind this move. In fact the creators go out of their way, in the interviews at AICN, not to tie this to any business/publishing strategy other than “DC Likes To Try Different Stuff!” The only intent mentioned is a creative one, with both writers mentioning that a lack of ‘continuity’ will allow them to focus on the characters and the story. At DC Comics’ blog, it is specifically mentioned that this move is intended to create a “new continuity”.

In the responses to this article at PW’s The Beat and The Comics Reporter, it is mentioned (many times) that this is one of maybe 3 or 4 “new continuities” developed for these characters within the past 5 years, including the top-selling  All-Star Comics line (developed by Bob Schreck, who was fired by DC with the line being all-but-discontinued).

So that’s about as neutral as I can be, let’s start digging deeper than face-value now:

It’s pretty clear to me that DC is attempting to develop a continuity-light series of graphic novels featuring their core characters, to introduce new readers to their IP, and re-capture the attention of lapsed readers. They’re phrasing the move in terms that their existing, painfully hardcore readership can understand, like “new continuities”, in the hopes that the Direct Market-shopping fans of their IP will still support this new format, to give them a large non-returnable sales-base with which to expand their mass market sales. (As a refresher, book sales through comic stores are “non-returnable”, and 10,000 non returnable sales (my prediction) is a great base from which to set your print-run and distribute the work to the larger market, which can return unsold books for a full refund (and which sticks publishers with lots of unsold books).)

Now assuming that what I’m saying is correct (and this is unproven analysis), the success of this endeavour in the book market is going to come down to education, and as The Beat intimated, a lot of hard work on the part of DC’s book distributor Random House. Long story short, DC has got to educate Random House that these two works, above and beyond the 20+ Batman and Superman comics collections being released every season, are the ones that are going to appeal to the broadest possible base. Then Random House needs to educate booksellers (primarily the buyers for the chain bookstores) that above and beyond the 20+ Batman and Superman comics collections they present every season, these two are the ones that will appeal to the broadest possible base. THEN the chain bookstores need to inform their employees, then those employees need to inform customers, who are going to go to the GN section and see 60-70 other BATMAN and SUPERMAN collections on the shelf. That’s a hell of a lot of work, I’d be amazed if they pulled it off.

I’ve touched on the biggest problem with this endeavour: DC releases a LOT of Superman and Batman collections every season. But it’s more than just the quantity (there are dozens). It’s that the vast majority are continuity-heavy, new-reader-unfriendly, confusingly designed and numbered, and thin. And bad. Talk about market confusion. It sounds like these ones are going to be ‘thin’ as well; in his interview at AICN Superman writer JMS talks about how the first book is “well over 100 pages”. A128 page graphic novel, even in hardcover, has a spine that’s not-quite 2/3 of an inch… they’ll disappear on the shelves. Gary Frank and Shane Davis create artwork for their regular line as well, and their styles aren’t particularly unique or noteworthy; these books will look like everything else DC publishes. Their best bet? Significantly changing the size and design of these books… but with them trying to appeal to their hardcore fanbase, they risk alienating the folks who simply cannot deal with books that don’t line up on a shelf, or fit in a longbox.

Actually, it’s worth noting that for the past year DC has begun to release oversized hardcovers of stand-alone books, all featuring Superman or Batman or related characters. Killing Joke, Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow?, Red Son. Perhaps that’s a clue.

As I mentioned, this is all speculation and analysis, but looking at the announcement as it stands, it seems like a half-measure at capturing a new audience (at best) with product that’s indistinguishable from their regular releases, or recent initiatives. Possibly worse.  Or, and this would be the worst, perhaps there really is nothing more to this than accepting the announcement at face value. Perhaps this is just about introducing a new continuity of Superman and Batman stories, to sell more Superman and Batman comics. Maybe this move is as deep as a puddle.

I don’t know which answer would be more depressing. Anyway, it’s hard to get too worked up about it though; today’s announcement was fanboy-bait with few details and lots of emotion and hype. Developing, as they say.

– Christopher

The Bromance is Over… for Marvel

The most hilarious thing I’d seen solicited in months was the “Marvel Bromance” trade paperback.

39950712I remember it being solidly mocked amongst my blogging peers, as is anything Marvel tries to do that is hip, because Marvel is not hip. They are at best occasionally ironically hip. But they seemed to at least understand that, on this trade, because the solicitation text is a winking, knowing, funny piece of writing:

If This Be Bromance–! Marvel’s greatest buddies take the spotlight in this one-of-a-kind collection, and it’s male bonding like you’ve never seen — as Cable and Deadpool swap stories, Wonder Man and the Beast share a plane ride, Spidey and the Human Torch battle back-to-back, Wolverine makes a bet with Nightcrawler, Black Panther and Everett Ross lay their feelings on the line…and the Warriors Three set sail for fun! Plus: Captain America and the Falcon, Iron Man and Jim Rhodes, and more! Be here as Marvel says, “I love you, man!”

But it did get some… coverage… in the larger not-just-wonks blogosphere as well, as MTV’s Splash Page ran a pretty straight-up piece on it.

Alas, it appears that the Bromance is over.

Just moments ago I got a press-release about a very familiar sounding project, with a more conventional title and solicitation text with all of the winks and knowing edited right-the-fuck-out.

The Buddies of Marvel Take Center Stage in Marvel Super Hero Team-Up
The best buds of the Marvel Universe come together in the explosive Marvel Super Hero Team-Up collection featuring an all new cover by Jorge Molina as featured on MTV!  An all-star list of creators including the likes of Stan Lee and Chris Claremont deliver the mighty men of Marvel uniting to battle evil, save the day and…win some bets?! Captain America, Iron Man, Jim Rhodes, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Deadpool, Cable, Nightcrawler and more get the spotlight as their friendships are put to the test!
Marvel urges retailers to check their orders on Marvel Super Hero Team-Up, as the collection generates mainstream press and significant buzz.  Which guys get along best in the Marvel U?  How do super heroes really hang out when not fighting crime?  Check out all the answers in the testosterone-filled Marvel Super Hero Team-Up!
MARVEL SUPER HERO TEAM-UP TPB (JUN090651)

The Buddies of Marvel Take Center Stage in Marvel Super Hero Team-Up

The best buds of the Marvel Universe come together in the explosive Marvel Super Hero Team-Up collection featuring an all new cover by Jorge Molina as featured on MTV!  An all-star list of creators including the likes of Stan Lee and Chris Claremont deliver the mighty men of Marvel uniting to battle evil, save the day and…win some bets?! Captain America, Iron Man, Jim Rhodes, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Deadpool, Cable, Nightcrawler and more get the spotlight as their friendships are put to the test!

Marvel urges retailers to check their orders on Marvel Super Hero Team-Up, as the collection generates mainstream press and significant buzz.  Which guys get along best in the Marvel U?  How do super heroes really hang out when not fighting crime?  Check out all the answers in the testosterone-filled Marvel Super Hero Team-Up!

MARVEL SUPER HERO TEAM-UP TPB (JUN090651) [solicit info removed]

A quick check reveals that yes, in fact “JUN090651” is the item formerly known as “Marvel Bromance”. Apparently the word… and concept… of Bromance was just a little to hip for the room and we get a “team-up” collection. We also get all the kitsch taken out of the solicit, and the phrase “testosterone-filled” added in. Maybe that was the copy-writer’s revenge for having to dull-down the original solicit?

Here’s the thing that I find the most intriguing about all of this though, the press release I received doesn’t mention anywhere that this thing used to be Marvel Bromance. I mean, they’re mentioning that the book got coverage “on MTV”, but the reason it got any coverage at all is because it was called Marvel Bromance. Seriously. Here’s the quote from MTV:

Given MTV’s history with covering great moments in “Bromance” history, Marvel wanted to give Splash Page readers the first look at the never-before-seen Jorge Molina cover to “Marvel Bromance.”

Marvel tried something different, got some decent press coverage for it, and then… totally balked and tried to pretend it never happened. They did implore retailers to “check their orders” on the book though, without mentioning that they never ordered a book with this title, or why it got all of the “buzz” that they’re touting. It’s almost like Marvel panicked or something.

I hesitate to draw any conclusions from this, I mean publishers change the titles and descriptions of already-solicited books that have received good media coverage all the time. This  could just be Standard Operating Procedure, right? But the more I look at these decisions, the more I feel like the whole thing feels a little bit… queer?

– Christopher

Final Crisis Hardcover is going to work out after all…

final_crisis_hcHey, kudos to the folks at DC Comics for doing right by the Final Crisis HC. Originally scheduled to contain just FC #1-7 for 25 bucks, it’s now also going to include the absolutely-essential Superman Beyond #1 & #2, as well as Final Crisis: Submit, all by Final Crisis author Grant Morrison, an extra 100+ pages for 30 bucks total. From Newsarama’s coverage of this weekend’s DC Nation panel at Megacon in Florida:

Dan Didio: “…One thing DC realized is that when we collect Final Crisis in hardcover, it will have to include all 7 issues, 2 issues of Superman Beyond, and one issue of Submit. Once the material is all together, and when you read it as a whole, it’s simple. Originally, I wasn’t fully supportive, but for the full and better reading experience, it’s a home run.”

I’m really glad that reason won out, and someone convinced Dan Didio to make a good decision.

From a retail perspective: I just quadruled the number of copies we’ll be ordering of this book. So, you know, good call DC Comics.

– Christopher