Comic Book Resources

I'll say your analysis of the state of the Marvel & DC is spot on. I think most of us know this, already. I really don't see this changing much as the focus is more on using the characters for licensing than it is for publishing good stories about them. I'm not sure DC or Marvel have any idea of how to transfer to some sort of Original Graphic Novel and/or online format that won't affect their short term bottom line.

The Direct Market was more about controlling costs than growing readership. At some point that cord will probably have to be cut. It will hurt a lot of small businesses, but sometimes ripping the band-aid is less painful than trying to take it off slowly.

I've actually really grown to like Dollhouse, though I haven't seen any of the new season yet (its waiting for me on my DVR). I think the Dollhouse concept is more morally ambiguous than you give it credit for (possibly because you skipped out on the best parts of last season). The "dolls" have volunteered to be there, mostly because they are running from something in their past that they want to get away from. So they sign away five years of their lives, and come out at the end with a big pile of money and a chance at a new start. Does that make it right? Maybe not, but its at least an interesting question.

Further, everything the Dollhouse is contracted to do isn't evil. The episode with Patton Oswalt last year is where things really turned around for me on that front. In it, Oswalt plays a guy who has gained all the material success he'd ever wanted, but lost his wife to a freak accident at almost the same time. All he wanted was to re-live that one day, giving it a happy ending to replace the tragic one he has to live with. A little creepy? Maybe. But evil? No. The moment the show had me questioning basic assumptions of who was right and wrong, I felt like anything could happen, it really turned a corner and won me over.

Is the Midnight from Shang-Chi the same Midnight who later showed up in Moon Knight?

The point Dollhouse reached at the end of this year's premiere is exactly where it should have been AT THE END OF THE PILOT. (I guess that's why it got a 1.0 share. I'll be Fox is wishing they'd bet on Sarah Connor Chronicles now...)

Great column, some great thoughts about the business stuff. In regards to the Shang-Chi (Post-Crisis version), while I've not purchased the magazine, the pages you show of the Tomm Coker vignette remind me of a subtitled movie. And I have to admit, while I understand your aversion to moving your eyes up and down, instead of across in a flow, that idea looks incredible to me. Old VHS tape, presented in letterbox, with the translation in the bottom black area, while the actors talk and action occurs, and sometimes you have to watch it twice to see what you missed when you were reading it the first time... that's all kinds of awesome to me. Like the old Animeigo slogan, the best movies you'll ever read, that's just a great way to present a foreign story.

I suppose it would have worked better here if it had been a foreign commission...

Cheers,

B

Plus, he's got amnesia. Huston doesn't really bother with explaining any of this other than a throwaway caption referencing "Kree science" being responsible. Now, again, in fairness it's entirely possible that I missed something somewhere in some other book, but, you know, I bought THIS one and that's where I'd like to see some of these things spelled out a little better.

Englehart bought back Midnight as a foe for the Silver Surfer about twenty years ago, in Silver Surfer #29. But, yes, a footnote or something would have been nice.

How many titles have you dropped in the last ten years? Against that, how many have you added?

All I am buying from DC and Marvel today is Batman and Robin, Detective Comics, Wednesday Comics (cancelled), Agents of Atlas (cancelled after the latest issue?), and Captain America.

The rest of my comics budget goes on Golden Age and Silver Age comics picked up in online auctions and on comic strip reprints -- Terry and the Pirates, Little Orphan Annie, Dick Tracy, Popeye, Prince Valiant, Walt and Skeezix, and others that are still coming out.

I do wonder why DC and Marvel don't follow the Archie model: just tell consistent stories and get your books in the supermarkets. I mean, Archie's got to be selling tremendously given that I see, at least in Digest format, it in every Wal-Mart and supermarket I visit. Why not at least get your "adventures" level books out there as well? "Mommy, buy me that!" works very well for sales.

Castle is without a doubt the best fun show on TV right now. If you can't see that Nathan Fillion is having the time of his life on this show you must be blind. BAM! said the lady.

I believe the Midnight from Shang-Chi later became a Silver Surfer villain (of all things) in the 90s.

Wait, "Dollhouse" started already? Crap, now I'll need to find spoilers for the episodes I missed.

Midnight got resurrected as by the Kree in Silver Surfer, of all things.

If you're wondering why a Shang-Chi villain was brought out of the mothballs to fight someone with the Power Cosmic, well, the answer is, "Because Steve Englehart, that's why."

If you gave up on Dollhouse after a few episodes last season and then watched the first episode this season, i can understand why you were disappointed. Dollhouse hit it's stride about halfway through last season and improved week by week until the season finale. I thought the first episode of this season, last week, was a throwback to the early episodes and not very good. If you want to see it at it's best, try to get the DVD set of season 1 and watch it through the end. I hope the upcoming episodes improve or the show will be a 2 season wonder.

David: It's called Hulu. Unless you're a dirty Canadian. Then it's called something slightly less legal.

Greg: I think the reasons you cite against liking the Shang-Chi one-shot are exactly why I think I should track it down and buy it. Totally looks like my thing.

Also, the season premiere of Dollhouse was not exactly new-or-returning-viewer friendly. It's suffering from the Marvel-and-DC problem of pitching to the hardcore-- or at least assuming greater intelligence and patience on the part of its viewer than the average casual watcher will have. If you missed the back half of the first season, you really missed the best show on television. Yes, the first five episodes were FOX-eriffic sex-and-blood fare, but it turned into a truly intelligent, exciting, and fascinating conspiracy-ish show in the latter episodes that really fleshed out all the characters. Even if you don't necessarily like them, you understand them; and that's what makes me intrigued now.

Also, the unaired Epitaph One episode is really required viewing, even if that's the only episode anyone ever watches. Absolutely brilliant, and kind of takes apart all the negative points you made above. The mission of the show is not for Echo to become self-aware and escape the Dollhouse; the flash-forwards in Epitaph One show this as an inevitability. The end is set mostly in stone, and we're just playing towards it. What the series is really about is saving the collective souls of humanity, or at least redeeming the souls within the Dollhouse. Really cool stuff. Rent the DVDs.

Greg, I have to completely agree with your analysis on the corporate end of comics, which in the end has to win if comics are to continue. There is, in my opinion, a complete disconnect on the pricing of single, floppy comics with the value that you receive and this has serious consequences going forward.

Personally, I read internet reviews quite often and curious as to certain series, but never really curious enough to buy it at news-stand price.

Yes, I wait-for-trades, but further than that, I wait-for-big-discounts-on-trades. Whether it is through Amazon, conventions, other internet providers or sales at the LCS (rarely happens) there is enough product out there available at prices that approach 1/4 of the cost of buying it as a single issue a-piece. Only at that point does it become comparable with other forms of entertainment, but still falls far short of a traditional book.

The Wednesday Comics issue is an example that makes me angry. I am sure, at least in part, that this was pitched as means to increase readership, but that was a maddening failure. What did you get instead? Inferior quality paper (and I understand that was part of the appeal) at high prices sold only at LCS. What the hell was that all about? All it did was feed the incestous relationship between publishers and existing core readers further. Why would a non-reader chase an over-priced, short-lived, emotionally-neutral contexed piece of Sunday-style comics, especially if it meant that they had to change their patterns and enter in stores that they are not accustomed to going into. Especially with the nerd-stigma around most LCS. (yup- still nerd shops as a whole....)

My prediction, just to piss of people further: 80% of LCS will fail within the next 10 years (and that might be a generous estimate). Single issues will be distributed more on a digital basis at minimal costs to the publlishers. Those that catch on will be promoted to TDB status, but if they don't then it is minimal fuss and muss and paper/admin costs to getting comics produced. Who knows, creators might only be paid if there is a certain level of profit level. If not then they would take on more of the financial responsibility. Similar set-up with certain movies that are produced.

Ultimately comics are just not that big of a profit-centre. It is the spin-offs (toys, movies, clothing....) that generate the bulk of the profit. So if corporations can keep the 'cardboard-structure' of the comics and their characters standing with absolutely minimal costs and involvement, while allowing them to make profits in the areas that matter most to them then they will absolutely consider it.

As consumers we could receive comics quicker, cheaper and perhaps of even wider creative results. We will read them on our Apple iPads or netbooks in single and even in collected editions and if we want it on paper to grace our 'shelf-porn-hideways' then we have to accept less variety on the paper front and perhaps even higher prices. And the next generation of kids would see paper collections as hopelessly outdated and better places to spend their money.

I don't see any particular nobility or justification in NEEDING to have a direct-market comic shop systems. If they are not supported economically and statistically by increasing readership then they too shall pass. Comics won't disappear, they will just morph into something else that will serve society's needs more clearly.

In the meantime I will enjoy the best of the stories that come out now and look forward to new ideas and creators as they come out. And if comics just don't pan out then I can always read a good book.

But I don't want comics to disappear. I enjoy them greatly and wish the stories well. And I still like comics in my hands, just not exclusively. And there is one other path that we could go, but somehow I doubt we will. I think we entrenched ourselves too deeply into our own-subculture to easily mix again in other company.

The best comic shop was not even a comics shop that I have ever seen. This was in Aix-En-Provence, France in a huge bookstore on the main road in the centre of town. There were no special 'comics' people and no large superhero posters gracing the walls. It was a large room, up from a spiraling staircase and had numerous nooks and crannies. All of it was hard-cover and the various books covered so many different subjects. Yes, there were some Marvel and DC books, but these were only a slice of various publishers and topics. All living gloriously side-by-side together.

Prices were reasonable for what you got. It wasn't $50 for a HC edition. It was a book. And I felt more entranced in this room full of comics of which I could not read and did not know the various creators than I have ever felt in any comic store in North America. It was a place of class, dignity and abundance, no matter what the language.

And strangely, it felt more truer to the spirit of comics and removed from the commercial underpinnings than what I find here. I maintain that you can not ignore the commercial aspect of comics, but I just wish what we have here in North America was more of the COMICs business rather than the comics BUSINESS.

I kind of liked the Shang-Chi comic, but that's probably because I bought it because of the Deadpool appearance and I've been on a bit of a kick with the character lately. I agree that the format of 48 black and white pages for $3.99 is pretty nice -- I just wish Marvel wouldn't describe it on the cover as being in "glorious black and white" though. Isn't it enough that they boast "more pages, more thrills"?

My thought for getting more people reading comics would be for Marvel to repackage the thrice-monthly Spider-Man comics as one book for the newsstand. I think I saw one or two books like that a while back, but it'd be better if they did it concurrently with the new issues. If you're a collector you can still get the individual issues at the comic shops, and if you're a kid you get a better deal than paying $3.99 for one new Spider-Man comic at a convenience or book store.

Have a good day.
John Cage

Ajit - You can't really claim Wednesday Comics is "cancelled". Sure its over now, but it was conceived as a 12-issue weekly series, ran for 12 issues, then ended.

From a marketing perspective, I do not think the right business model for DC Entertainment is so inscrutable.

If you look at the growth of the Trade Paperback market relative to the Direct Market Periodical business, then you will see that TPBs are growing robustly and have reached a point where they are twice the size of magazine piece of the business. Year in and year out, the best selling trades are the ones that tell a complete story with a beginning, a middle and an end. Stuff like WATCHMEN and V FOR VENDETTA still sell decades after they were released.

In that sense, continuity and cross-overs are a liability. A new Superman story should pick up from the place that the general reader is most familiar with, tell its story without crossing-over and wrap everything up by the last page. In other words, nearly everything should be ALL-STAR SUPERMAN from a content perspective.

If you look at Manga and Video Games (two media options competing for the same dollars), then you see ways to segment the market. There are choices for both genders and several age ranges. Why are DC and Marvel almost exclusively releasing multiple titles featuring the exact same characters, selling down the same channel and targeted to the exact same audience? Maybe they should consider tweaking their formats to appeal to different audiences. 32-page floppy booklets are great for kids, but it is a tough way to follow an adult story-line.

Ideally, you would see the 32-pagers sold with young reader content and the mature content in something like Manga format.

Promote the stuff to people who are already fans of your content in other media. That means tweaking continuity to make things more accessible. That also means stuff as simple as putting coupons in DVDs for SMALLVILLE, JUSTICE LEAGUE or TEEN TITANS.

Finally, accept the 21st century. The Internet exists and all the old, hidden stuff that you want to suppress is out there. People have seen Wonder Woman playing with bondage, read Elliot S. Maggin describing her love making with Superman shaking the JLA Watchtower, Joe Shuster drawings of Lois whipping Superman, Batman and Robin waking up in bed together and everything else. It is out there in the culture and more people have probably seen Superdickery.com than read the last issue of Action Comics. Take a page out basic P.R. and deal with it directly. Address it and spin it, but do not ignore it. If you ignore it, then you have lost control.

Honestly, I think that DC has an easier path forward than Marvel. So much of the Marvel brand is tied up in its inter-woven continuity that I am not sure how they position themselves going forward.

I don't think that the fact that the protagonists on Dollhouse aren't squeaky clean should turn people off. The Sopranos, the Wire, and the Shield all focused on less than savory people. I also don't think that the Dollhouse crew are evil. Caroline and the other Actives volunteered. They knew what they were signing up for. What fascinates me about this is people like Ballard and Boyd who just assume the Dollhouse is evil because they have such narrow views of morality. That said, the premiere was my least favorite episode in awhile.

The people running the Dollhouse are no more evil or unpleasant than many of the Serenity's crew, or the Scooby Gang from season six onwards ( and even before then, at times ). Joss Whedon has always written morally complicated characters; the Dollhouse staff are just on the authority side of the fence, instead of the rebels.

As Neal K noted, the Dollhouse has done many good things as well as ill ones; as Eric noted, the morally upright characters are narrow-minded and hypocritical in practice. Ballard and Boyd qualify, but Caroline ( Echo's pre-mindwipe identity ) was an even more obnoxious character, a myopic self-righteous college activist stereotype who only stumbled across the Dollhouse on a PETA Eco-terror campaign. The Dolls are not evil because they lack the free will to do morally suspect things; everyone else has to do bad things simply to remain effective.

Omar Karindu noted on one of the Alvaro's forums that while the Whedonverse characters are morally flawed to degrees sometimes reaching extremes, they at least get things accomplished, which is more than can be said for many contemporary superheroes

It's interesting that you mention Burn Notice because I've been running through it lately, and to me, it has the same problem that you mention with Dollhouse: the theory seems to be that once Michael finds out exactly who burned him and why, the series is over. As a result, we have a seemingly endless parade of shady dudes (and one shady lady) who represent some organization that was involved in Michael's burning. We're constantly told that the new shady dudes outrank the old shady dudes, but the organization is so vaguely defined that there is theoretically no limit to the number of outrankin' shady dudes that can replace the current one.

Also, by the end of season two (where I am), we're not much closer to any apparent motive (other than general shadiness and a really questionable recruitment strategy: If you're a covert operation, would you really want to employ a bunch of people who all possess high-level lethal skills and hate you?) It seems like the plan is to keep throwing out misleads and answers-that-don't-really-answer-anything about the who/what/whys, but really to artificially keep the mystery going indefinitely.

So I like the show, the writing's clever, the acting's good, but I have this sinking feeling that since Michael can never really solve the mystery, I'm going to stop caring about the clues very quickly.

Is this a problem for anyone else? Or, hey, maybe I'm an idiot and season three goes in a totally different direction.

As Brian mentioned above, the Chinese dialogue with English subtitles is another part of the current obsession with trying to make comics as much like movies as possible. Like you, I don't think in this case it helps tell the story -- and in fact detracts from telling the story -- but I don't think telling the story is what they were trying to do here. They were trying to create an ambiance to suggest an old school kung fu movie from the 70's. For people wanting to read a Shang Chi story this is probably an annoyance; for people who pick up the book because it looks like some cool 70's kitsch, it's probably fun. I don't mind them doing it once, but I certainly wouldn't want to read a series done like this, as it's pretty much just a gimmick.

Here in Australia, buying comic books is slowly morphing into a hobbyist pursuit. Not only are we paying (at least) double the American price, but rarely are they sold outside the hard-to-find local comic shop. Only a handful of titles make it to the local newstands, and you are never guaranteed to find the same title two months in a row. Those local comic shops that do succeed and stay in bussiness rely solely on regular customers and their standing orders. The number of titles that make it to the free standing shelves is decreasing. Only the larger, more successful, and harder to find comic shops are stocking large quantities and wide varieties of titles.

Borders, the only bookshop I know of that stocks comics and TPBs in large quantities, are slowly making their way into the Australian marketplace. Unfortunately some clown in marketing has decided to slap a $14 price tag on a $2.99 American comic. Talk about a slap in the face for collectors and making the books unappealing to new buyers.

Over the past 10 years we have seen a large number of comic books adapted into big screen movies, but where is the original source material? Why aren't TPB's of Spider-Man, Iron Man, Batman, Superman, X-Men made available in more book chains and department stores? A wide variety of merchandise is made available in these places, but go in and ask for a collective trade, and you will be given a blank stare. Only the recent movie adaptation of Watchmen has made this graphic novel available outside the local comic shops and in the major book shop chains.

Go into any local bookshop these days, and count the number of Vampire/Werewolf books you see in the sci-fi/fantasy section. Watch as how this small niche in the market is expanding and making it harder for other titles to be seen or recognised. Now imagine if Marvel or DC started published stories in TPB format and sold them in the llarger book shop chains instead of exclusively in the LCS. Marvel's recent resurge of Cosmic Titles would certain be big money earners. Like many other collectors, I tend to skip the single issue mini-series and wait for the whole story to be sold in TPB format. The only reason I haven't done so with the ongoing series titles is because I would then have to turn a blind eye to a large part of the internet and enter discussion threads 6 months late.

If Marvel and DC are keen to cling to their much favoured 32 page magazine, how about taking some steps to bring the prices down for overseas collectors. I know they can't do much about currency exchange and transport costs, but what about printing and distribution? Do all books have to be printed and distributed from Canada? What about contracting out to well established print media outlets in different countries so as to better target their markets?

All I know is, that when Marvel and DC decide their next price mark up, and the US price reaches $4.99, then that could be the end of my collecting days. Paying $10 for a 32 page magazine just isn't worth it.

Thing I'm beginning to wonder about is...."They" say the readership is shrinking and the market is disappearing, but we have no actual way of proving it. It's sorta just taken as read that that's what is happening.

Yet, according to Diamond's figures, since 2004 sales have risen each year...At least for Marvel & DC.

So my question is, how do we know the readership is shrinking? It's something I've never questioned and "taken as read" myself....But I'm beginning to wonder if it's just some big furphy.

I wonder if the reason behind the Shang-Chi special was, at least in part, a trademark-holding ploy for the character and the Master of Kung Fu tag. The last appearance I recall was some time ago in an Ultimate version, and I don't remember anyone calling him the Master of Kung Fu in it.

Still didn't watch DOLLHOUSE. But I disagree with Greg. The protagonists in fiction I enjoy don't necessarily have to be nice people. They're characters, not dinner guests.

Totally agree about HEROES, though. Ironically, HEROES has the same problem as a Marvel/DC comic book, it has become trapped in "illusion of change."

Hatcher's Hatchings. Or Hatchlings.

Greg's Grumblings.

Masterful Musings.

Teacher's Pet Peeves.

(need any more?)

Go here for an analysis of the comic book market:
http://fiendishobservationalcomedian.blogspot.com/2008/04/decline-of-comic-book-business.html

The upshot is that dollar sales for periodicals has been essentially flat after the collapse of the mid-90s. However, prices have risen during that time, so unit sales have really declined.

That said, the Trade Paperback business has grown enormously. It is important to note that the top selling trades are nothing like the top selling floppies. The two lists tend have few titles in common at all, except for the sub-market that is sold through Diamond to the LCS.

I look forward every week to watching Castle, although I find it's not a great show. I man-crush Fillion.

Reading your comments on The Lone Ranger Traps The Smugglers, I think I must've read that at some point. It sounds all too familiar. Unless it was adapted in a comic book.

I guess I'm going to have to try to find Done The Impossible, as I love Firefly and Serenity.

To answer Greg Burgas's question, the Midnight from Moon Knight -- a young man named Jeffrey Wilde -- is a wholly separate character from Shang-Chi's foster brother M'nai.

Moon Knight battled an art thief named the Midnight Man in his first series by Doug Moench and Bill Sienkewicz. Later, in his 1990s series, Moony met the Midnight Man's son, named Jeffrey Wilde to play down his ties to his criminal father, who became a kind of unwanted sidekick named Midnight. After ignoring Moon Knight and trying to fight the Secret Empire -- a kind of budget version of HYDRA -- Midnight was seemingly killed.

However, some years later, it turned out he'd been cyborgized by the Empire, and blamed Moon Knight for assuming that his fiery death was, uh, a fiery death. The Empire sent him to fight Spider-Man, Moon Knight and the New Warriors in one of those biweekly summer stories Marvel used to do. Midnight went a bit nuts when he learned a seemingly kind nurse who worked for the Empire was not only manipulating him, but had deliberately gotten cyborgized herself. They seemingly died fighting each other. (In essence, all of this was the Jason Todd-as-Red Hood story years earlier...and with more killer cyborgs involved.)

Finally, Charlie Huston brought both Midnight-borg and the nurse back in his recent MK story, where they apparently provoked Moon Knight into helping them die. Confusingly, Huston wrote the story as if everyone knew of these two utter obscurities from circa 1992.

The other Midnight was an adopted son of Fu Manchu raised alongside Shang-Chi. His face scarred in toddlerhood, M'Nai regarded Fu and Shang as his only ties to humanity. When Shang-Chi defected from Fu's service, and enraged M'Nai tracked him down and fought him to the death...M'Nai's, unfortunately, when he plunged from a crane and had his neck broken by one of those cape accidents the Incredibles made fun of thirty years later.

His co-creator, Steve Engelhart, apparently liked the character a lot, first having him plucked from time for Kang the Conqueror's Legion of the Unliving as a martial artist tasked with capturing fellow Engelhart creation Mantis. She kicked his time-displaced butt and he, with the other dead villains, was sent back to the moment of his physical death by Immortus and the Avengers. Doug Moench briefly revisited the character in a flashback story to Shang's childhood. A year or two later, a bizarrely pointless Iron Man Annual backup story had Midnight meeting extremely minor Iron Man enemy Half-Face at some point prior to M'Nai's death and failing to recruit Half-Face to Fu Manchu's service on the basis that both men were disfigured freaks.

Many years later, writing a second Kree-Skrull War in the Silver Surfer title, Engelhart decided to use him again, with the excuse that the Kree had for years been warehousing the bodies of unusual aliens from places like Earth. Given superhuman strength and special discs that let him fly silently through space, but now a mute amnesiac relying on muscle memory for his martial arts talents, the rechristened Midnight Sun attempted to defeat the Surfer twice but was horribly outmatched on both occasions and then ignored after the Kree were defeated.

A subsequent writer, Ron Marz, brought back Midnight Sun, having him battle the Surfer on Earth's moon and establishing that he was trying to regain his memory. The battle was stopped by Black Bolt of the Inhumans, then living on the Moon, and they offered Midnight Sun sanctuary. As he was never seen again in later Inhumans appearances, one wonders what that offer really meant.

Evidently this story slots in between his first appearance and his Silver Surfer appearances.

How about "Friday's Leftover Dinner" as a title?

And Greg, please don't give us any more "Comics Are Doomed!" stories. We get enough of those from Grant, and I'm quite tired of them by now. Not that I don't believe the facts or disagree with his conclusions. But even *if* they were true, what can *I* do about it? Nothing. I'm just the reader, I just try to enjoy what I can, hope things will get better or last, but if they don't I just shrug and turn to something else. (And why is it that everybody blames THE FANS for all the bad things in comics? I don't recall ANYBODY ever asking me if I wanted a titled canceled, or a price increase, or a reboot, or a mass crossover. At the most, some fans might be to blame for continuing to buy crappy comics, but since the companies do their damnedest to get us to buy them, is that really our fault? Spare me.) I really much prefer the Hatcher comments when they are about the things they loves in comics (or other things. )

Oh, I gave up on Heroes too. It isn't just that they failed to live up to the series' potential; the show has gone all "DC Comics" on us, giving us shock-value instead of characterization, and throwaway plotlines instead of solid storytelling. I may pick up on the series later IF I hear that it has improved, but right now I don't feel like investing emotionally in it again.

"Because, really, the only reason to keep comics as a periodical 32-page stapled booklet, that's ridiculously overpriced compared to any other form of popular entertainment out there, is because fans insist on getting them that way."

Right on!

I mean, really. Consider the following:

1) $10 for a $200 million, two-hour movie in a state-of-the art theater.
2) $9 for a month's worth of all the movies and TV shows you can watch from Netflix (one at a time).
3) $8 for a 500-page paperback book.
4) $4 for a stapled booklet that takes five minutes to read.

Which item doesn't belong on the list?

I kind of hope the floppy comic is doomed just so I can see DC and Marvel suffer. They're ruining comics for us so they deserve what they get.

Is anyone in the industry seriously trying to reduce costs? How about exporting all the art chores to unknown but reasonably talented artists overseas? Or printing most comics in black and white and grayscale with TPBs in color? Or printing comics half as often (bimonthly) with twice the pages but only 1.5 times the cost? Or going back to cheap newsprint and non-bright colors?

I'm sure we could think of more ideas to save the business without even getting into new marketing and distribution methods (e.g., online). So get serious, you big bad comics companies. Change or die!

P.S. I agree with you about "Castle."

"Cross-Hatchings"

I love the stiletto heel look Shang-Chai has going for him in that first story. And Midnight wearing a mask as a kid as well? Awesome. I'd love to see other Marvel villains wearing their masks as kids also, like Doom or the Green Goblin.

On another note, I just never got the Nathan Fillon love. I mean he's ok and all, but I never got a hard from him the way other fanboys do.

"As Brian mentioned above, the Chinese dialogue with English subtitles is another part of the current obsession with trying to make comics as much like movies as possible. Like you, I don't think in this case it helps tell the story -- and in fact detracts from telling the story -- but I don't think telling the story is what they were trying to do here. They were trying to create an ambiance to suggest an old school kung fu movie from the 70's. For people wanting to read a Shang Chi story this is probably an annoyance; for people who pick up the book because it looks like some cool 70's kitsch, it's probably fun. I don't mind them doing it once, but I certainly wouldn't want to read a series done like this, as it's pretty much just a gimmick."

I thought it was dumb and pretentious.

I completely agree with what you said about comics audiences are getting smaller. Hell, my pull list is down to 10 issues a month. Comics just arent very popular where I am from and I live in Vancouver!! Shame really, good column.

Shucks, I should know by now that I could write a couple of paragraphs about Dollhouse and call it done, and commenters would cheerfully wrangle on about it for days.

Guys, I've SEEN the one with Patton Oswalt and I even pulled up "Briar Rose" and "Omega" on Hulu last spring. The show is just not my cup of tea. I understand that not everyone in my fiction needs to be nice -- I like Mike Hammer for God's sake -- but there's a difference between that and getting all invested in a bunch of smug sociopaths running a high-tech whorehouse, for damaged clients who also happen to be unbelievably rich. I can't bring myself to care about these folks because the premise really puts me off, no matter how brilliant all the allegory and whatnot about identity politics might be. It's not just that I 'haven't seen the good ones.' It's that it's not my thing.

It's interesting that you mention Burn Notice because I've been running through it lately, and to me, it has the same problem that you mention with Dollhouse: the theory seems to be that once Michael finds out exactly who burned him and why, the series is over....So I like the show, the writing's clever, the acting's good, but I have this sinking feeling that since Michael can never really solve the mystery, I'm going to stop caring about the clues very quickly.

Is this a problem for anyone else? Or, hey, maybe I'm an idiot and season three goes in a totally different direction.

Actually, yeah, we were starting to get annoyed about that too. But the third season took it to a place we weren't expecting -- suffice it to say that it's not about solving the mystery so much as it is Michael figuring out "what now?" And though Burn Notice is doing a split season, like a lot of cable originals, the finale for the first half ended on a terrifically satisfying note; it was the kind of thing that even though there were no actual ANSWERS given and it was still sort of open-ended, the show could wrap up for good right there and you'd feel things had been resolved, especially with Michael and Fiona. And there's still lots of places to go and more to come. We'll see. But we really liked where they left us before the hiatus.

Burn Notice is like Monk- you know hes not going to solve his wife's murder until the series finale, so you watch the situations he gets into week to week. The problem is when they spend too much time dealing with the overarching plot when we know that plot can't end anytime soon. It reminds me of the X-Files (which I stopped watching long before the series ended), when they wouldn't explain any mystery. I liked the episodes about werewolves and the like, but grew tired of the "over-plot" material. This past season, Burn Notice did a decent job balancing the big stuff with the week-to-week events.

Haven't been awake long enough to even try reading a thoughtful, carefully written column ... but in glancing through your words before reaching that decision I was struck by

...speaking as one of the forty-something comics fans that Marvel and DC seem to want to cater to so completely, it's a great time to BE a guy like me. I am continually astonished at how much of the current slate of paperback and hardcover collections are aimed directly at readers my age.

... mainly because now that I'm 50 (as of last week), does that mean the comics companies will start ignoring me & my whims to an even greater degree than they already have, fating me to become even MORE irascible?

My god -- this raises the distinct possibility that the publication a few weeks ago, a year after cruelly lying about putting it out, of ESSENTIAL SUB-MARINER is the last bone that will ever be tossed my way. *choke* So much for my hopes of seeing SHOWCASE PRESENTS TOMAHAWK or even SEA DEVILS before I'm dust ...

"Cross-Hatchings"

Not that we get a vote, but I really like this one.

Omar: I hoped you looked that up on Wikipedia, because that's just way too much to know off the top of your head. I mean, I read all of those comics (including the sidekicks' revenge story), but I didn't remember most of the details. I was just wondering if they were the same character! Seek help!

Top of my head, Greg, and you're lucky I didn't throw in Will Eisner's Midnight to boot!

Top of my head, Greg, and you're lucky I didn't throw in Will Eisner's Midnight to boot!

Damn. I can do an awful lot off the top of my head but that's really Olympic level.

Eisner's Midnight's the ONLY other one I knew of, and that only because of the brief revival as a backup strip in Ms. Tree.

I personally recommend tracking down Warehouse 13 and Eureka for fun quirky sci-fi that makes you think...

Smallville attracts yet repels me at the same time....I keep hoping for it to get better but everytime it seems to hit paydirt, a moronic line of shows starts that gets me steamed....I can say the same with Heroes

Can't find a fault in your Marvel/DC argument. Well thought out Sir. And yes I collect 1/5th the books I used to but my LCS lady Donna is awesome and lets me read other issues whenever she can so I remain caught up through all the universes.

I often say that Marvel could do a great martial arts flick with its heroes like Shang Chi, Iron Fist, Misty Knight, The Hand, Wolverine, Luke Cage etc. Mebbe we will get cameos in the next Wolvie flick...?

Here in Australia, buying comic books is slowly morphing into a hobbyist pursuit.

That happened long ago!

Borders, the only bookshop I know of that stocks comics and TPBs in large quantities, are slowly making their way into the Australian marketplace.

They over charge and have terrible inconsistent stock.

Where abouts in Oz are you?

In Sydney I'd recommend Kinokuniya who have pretty good stock and very good prices.
(There books were less than the US price back when the Aussie dollar was up a couple of years back).

Here in the Middle East, a good chunk of the comics sold at newsstands are aimed at kids, like Archie and Disney comics. The stuff that isn't is mostly DC and Marvel titles, usually Superman, Batman, Spider-man, and X-men titles. Depending on the store, you'll also find other DC/Marvel titles, like Hulk or Avengers or Green Lantern. Independent stuff you usually won't find at newsstands.

However, in some countries like Lebanon, bookstores are now devoting sections (very small ones, mind you, but it's a start) to trades and manga trades, even if they have a newsstand section. And not just the big name trades, you can also fine some independent stuff (like Palestine, which I bought) now. However, all the ones I've been to have a larger offering of manga titles than American stuff.