If you had to guess, how long do you think the current Rick Jones as Abomination status quo will last?

18 Comments

• At November 14, 2009, Manglr wrote:

  Is it just me or has the Hulk line gotta incredibly convoluted since the World War Hulk crossover?

• At November 14, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Well, it went from one book to two. That likely complicates things.

• At November 14, 2009, Baron of Kaos wrote:

  Who know about Rick status, in his life he had been pretty much everything, except mutant. And then he had ...

• At November 14, 2009, Gavin wrote:

  Marvel has more used to be dead brought back to life and totally changed characters than anything I've ever seen. ...

• At November 14, 2009, Les Fontenelle wrote:

  This whole "Red Rulk/Son of Hulk/Red She-Hulk" mess is so bad it almost looks like a DC comic.

• At November 14, 2009, Adam wrote:

  I thought it was fairly obvious that the gamma radiation in World War Hulk #5 changed Rick. I thought ...

• At November 14, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  "Is it just me or has the Hulk line gotta incredibly convoluted since the World War Hulk crossover?"

  "Well, it went ...

• At November 14, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  Geeze, am I the only person that has been enjoying the Hulk line of books? Aside from red Hulk, they've ...

• At November 14, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  So, in the Marvel universe, four-star generals wear kimono-tops to work?

• At November 14, 2009, T. wrote:

  Isn't General Ross a senior citizen? Does McGuiness have any idea how to draw regular men who aren't bloated ...

• At November 14, 2009, T. wrote:

  Well, it went from one book to two. That likely complicates things.

  More importantly, one of the writers is Loeb. ...

• At November 14, 2009, chad wrote:

  rick status being the new Abomanition will last as long as marvel wants it to last. unless he does ...

• At November 14, 2009, danjack wrote:

  @ Chad.

  Just wondering, can you use punctuation? It would make your comments much easier to read, as right now, i ...

• At November 14, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Ross is a 3-star. I don't know why Marvel can't make up its mind on his rank, branch of ...

• At November 14, 2009, Josh wrote:

  Wait, Doc Sampson is a villain? Boo! He's much better as shrink to the super-heroes. (read X-Factor ...

• At November 14, 2009, Dave wrote:

  Agreed. He wasn't often used well, but he was filling a niche that no other character was. Now ...

• At November 14, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Also, "villainized?" Really, Marvel?

• At November 15, 2009, Steve Gerding wrote:

  Three titles, if you count the soon-to-be-ending Son of Hulk series, though that hasn't tied or figured directly into the ...

It's really cool to see that Jeff Parker is so involved in such a big storyline for Marvel. Hopefully this leads to even more notable work for him at Marvel, as he is a good writer!

And my goodness, look at that art lineup! McGuinness, Pelletier AND JRjr?!? Wow!

15 Comments

• At November 12, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  They need an art line-up like that, as this entire story (as does the entire concept of a "Hulk family") ...

• At November 12, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I enjoyed Planet Hulk and World War Hulk, but just aren't interested in this at all.

  Hulk takes on an entire ...

• At November 12, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  I haven't been following the Hulk since the end of Planet Hulk, but I agree that Jeff Parker is one ...

• At November 12, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  I wonder how Parker will work the Agents of Atlas into this event.

• At November 12, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Unfortunate that this push involves him being billed as last of three writers ( both more famous, one extremely derided ...

• At November 12, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  Where is Blue Hulk? BLUE HULK SMASH!!!!

• At November 12, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  She-Hulk's vagina is almost hanging out.

• At November 12, 2009, Adam Kirby wrote:

  Nitz-

  Alphabetical order!

• At November 13, 2009, P. Boz wrote:

  She-Hulk needs to cut down on the steroids. She looks like a man, there. At least red She-Hulk ...

• At November 13, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Parker's great, but yeah -- it's unfortunate when writers I really like (see: Slott, Dan) get attached to projects I ...

• At November 13, 2009, Ricardo wrote:

  I really don't understand the fuzz on Hulk, which became unreadable since Peter David left. Unless people really enjoy slugfests ...

• At November 13, 2009, Tom wrote:

  "She-Hulk needs to cut down on the steroids. She looks like a man, there. At least red She-Hulk knew where ...

• At November 13, 2009, Tom wrote:

  (forgot the link)

  http://www.shehulklibrary.com/superhero-library/Img/Gallery/she-hulk-valykrie-thundra-pinup-l.jpg

• At November 13, 2009, Julian wrote:

  Wasn't it bad enough the first time around? How the hell does Jeph Loeb still get work?

• At November 13, 2009, Richard J. Marcej wrote:

  "That is cropped from a drawing of She-Hulk, Valkyrie & Thundra by Frank Cho, from Hulk #7"

  HOLY..... What the hell ...

Best Comics Outpost

Rocketship
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Getting into comics—a/k/a graphic novels, a/k/a "Don't call them 'graphic novels,' you sound like a douchebag"—is daunting for newcomers: so much to absorb, so many stigmas and clichés to roll your eyes at, so many X-Men titles to choose from. Brooklyn's Rocketship, on Smith Street in Cobble Hill, tends toward the lit-scene-approved side of things: You're more likely to find a book-length epic, like Charles Burns's Black Hole, than the latest dalliances of Spider-Man. But for those whose experience doesn't extend much beyond Watchmen, the impeccably neat, thoughtfully organized spot is a good place to expand your horizons without feeling overwhelmed or judged. Plus their constant slate of special guests and events is top-notch: Any friend of the guy who does Achewood (achewood.com, go now) is a friend of ours. Consider this a clean, well-lit place for books with pictures. 208 Smith Street, Brooklyn, 718-797-1348, rocketshipstore.com

Congrats to Alex and Mary!

2 Comments

• At October 28, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  Major congratulations! Rocketship is my favorite comic shop. I only wish I lived closer.

• At October 28, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Good work!

You might recall I just discussed Tuska in last week's Comic Book Legends Revealed.

He was a great artist for Marvel and DC on various superhero titles (most notably Iron Man), but had an extremely varied career beyond just superhero work.

Thanks to Tom Spurgeon for the heads up.

27 Comments

• At October 16, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Tuska takes knocks, but he was an immensely long-lived and versatile penciller in the industry for many years. His ...

• At October 16, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  For some reason, when reading your Legends column last week, I got the impression he was already dead. I ...

• At October 16, 2009, T. wrote:

  Tuska takes knocks,

  Really? That's horrible! Why do people take knocks at Tuska? He's one of the best ...

• At October 16, 2009, Mike Blake wrote:

  Not knocks for many, just that he's rarely anybody's #1 favorite. But he was a thorough professional. He did have ...

• At October 16, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  Repeatng myself from the Classics forum --

  I was not a particular fan of his work available in the spinner racks ...

• At October 16, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  T., I was thinking mainly of the very critical mail the Iron Man title was getting towards the end of ...

• At October 16, 2009, Chris Simpson wrote:

  Well that's sad news.

  My very first US Marvel (I live in the UK and "our" comics were B&W reprints) was ...

• At October 16, 2009, Scott Lobdell wrote:

  George was one of the best comic book artists ever. I was lucky to work with him on ...

• At October 16, 2009, Greg Geren wrote:

  I was another who didn't appreciate Mr. Tuska's work in my youth, but came to a much better appreciation for ...

• At October 16, 2009, Drew wrote:

  This is sad news, though I've sadly never really seen much of Tuska's work. But it's inspired me to check ...

• At October 16, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Any 1970s issue of Iron Man will have his pencilling, but I recommend any issue in the range of IM ...

• At October 16, 2009, Omar Karindu, with the power of SUPER-hypocrisy! wrote:

  Sorry, that should be IM #86-102. Beautiful stuff.

• At October 16, 2009, benday-dot wrote:

  Most of the discussion of Tuska here relates to his Marvel work, or bronze age work in general. This was ...

• At October 16, 2009, Franklin Colletta wrote:

  George and my dad drew many comics together along with the newspaper strip World's Greatest Superheroes. Vinnie said that Tuska's ...

• At October 16, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  I was never a fan back in the day, when my untrained eye was mainly looking at how kewl each ...

• At October 16, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  I'm sad for his family and fans. It's nice to know that he led a long life, though. He won't ...

• At October 16, 2009, Zombie X wrote:

  He was a WW II vet too, i think.

• At October 16, 2009, Cully C wrote:

  His bronze age work was solid, but his golden age work was absolutely outstanding. He easily outshone many artists in ...

• At October 17, 2009, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:

  @T.: I can only speak for myself, but one reason I didn't much care for Tuska's Bronze Age work was ...

• At October 17, 2009, badspock wrote:

  I always likes Mr. Tuska's work, having grown up reading his Iron Man issues over and over.

  On the "more unhappy ...

• At October 17, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  "O" --

  >>one reason I didn't much care for Tuska's Bronze Age work was that he always seemed to draw men ...

• At October 17, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Tuska was one of the great, unsung workhorses in comics.

  Here's hoping Marvel, DC, et al., put out tribute collections ...

• At October 17, 2009, terri wrote:

  Best Iron Man artist, loved his Madame Masque

• At October 18, 2009, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  He should be remembered for his great Golden Age work, since his Iron Man was quite dull (although more due ...

• At October 18, 2009, doctor bob wrote:

  Many happy memories of George's work from my early comic reading days - JLA 153 and DD Annual 4 spring ...

• At October 19, 2009, kalorama wrote:

  I liked Tuska's Iron Man work as a kid, but I never really considered his work particularly noteworthy. it wasn't ...

• At October 20, 2009, LouReedRichards wrote:

  Put me with the "never cared for it as a youngin" camp.

  As an adult I can totally appreciate the strengths ...

Obviously, Starman #81 by Robinson is the biggest one, but I'm looking forward the most to seeing a Suicide Squad #67 by John Ostrander!

And I bet that Atom and Hawkman issue by Geoff Johns will be an important one for the Blackest Night story!

Although it's odd to me that they have Eric Wallace writing the Power of Shazam one instead of Jerry Ordway (no offense intended to Eric Wallace, as he's a fine writer, but it seems weird to not give it to Ordway, especially as he just did some JSA issues for DC, so it's not like they don't know he's around).

57 Comments

• At October 13, 2009, Fayzan wrote:

  I don't quite agree with you Brian. I've only been reading comics regularly for a little over a year now ...

• At October 13, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  If DC doesn't do anything in Blackest Night to explain to new readers what this skip month is about, then ...

• At October 13, 2009, Rebis wrote:

  Nifty idea. And yes, I'll buy Starman and Suicide Squad. (Not sure which one I'm more excited about. Both have ...

• At October 13, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  This is a novel concept, yeah. Yet...

  On the one hand, Robinson comes back to write an 81st issue of "Starman" ...

• At October 13, 2009, Rusty Priske wrote:

  I will buy Atom & Hawkman and maybe Starman... but the issue that makes this all worthwhile is...

  SUICIDE SQUAD!

  Oh boy!

• At October 13, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  Am I the only one who felt that Jack Knight wasn't even the most interesting part of Starman? Opal City ...

• At October 13, 2009, Anthony Strand wrote:

  I love that they're numbering the Suicide Squad issue 67, despite the fact that there've been two Suicide Squad series ...

• At October 13, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Suicide Squad, Starman and Phantom Stranger all look good to me!

• At October 13, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Gail Simone has also announced that she has a hand in the Suicide Squad issue, too!

• At October 13, 2009, Lt. Clutch wrote:

  Atom & Hawkman might resolve things if the Silver Age Hawks are indeed returning. Should be interesting. I hope Ostrander ...

• At October 13, 2009, Joshua Long wrote:

  Just another in a long line of ideas from DC meant to cater to old fans while thumbing new readers. ...

• At October 13, 2009, chad wrote:

  can not wait for both the star man one and also the suicide squad one mostly to see how the ...

• At October 13, 2009, Chris McAree wrote:

  Starman. Robinson. I'm sold :)

  Seems to me that recently, DC has stepped up their game a little bit on the ...

• At October 13, 2009, Adam wrote:

  What, no Spectre #62 by Ostrander and Mandrake?

  Actually, I'm betting that I won't be the last person to ask "Where's ...

• At October 13, 2009, The Ugly American wrote:

  DC should have solicited Ennis to do a Hitman: Blackest Night.

  If for nothing else than to bring back some members ...

• At October 13, 2009, Thok wrote:

  DC should have solicited Ennis to do a Hitman: Blackest Night.

  Actually, Ennis could do a two for one, with an ...

• At October 13, 2009, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  Agreed, Ugly American. No Black Lantern roster is complete without Dogwelder.

• At October 13, 2009, Ralph wrote:

  People don´t get it: the titles are "coming back from the dead", the concept of the event. Why lauch a ...

• At October 13, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  And our long national nightmare continues -- 41 years & counting & I'm still waiting to see BROTHER POWER THE ...

• At October 13, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Can you just see Starman Omnibus vol. 6 adding # 81 to the mix?

  Wonder who's drawing it, Tony Harris or ...

• At October 13, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  What, no OMAC #9?

  Pass.

• At October 13, 2009, Marcus Brute wrote:

  I glad Robinson's sticking to his gun's about Jack Knight never returning. Knight had one of the best and most ...

• At October 13, 2009, Stephane Savoie wrote:

  My first thought was"More 'Young Heroes in Love'? Finally!"

  Don't know what that says about me.

• At October 13, 2009, Lex wrote:

  I agree with Brian. This is a clever idea.

  I don't get the argument that this leaves new readers out ...

• At October 13, 2009, Eric wrote:

  I disagree Marcus Brute-

  Robinson's conclusion might be nice if it was creator owned, but Jack Knight is a part of ...

• At October 13, 2009, Alonso wrote:

  Agreed, Brian.

  The Starman and Suicide Squad issues sound really good to me, but I think I might be most excited ...

• At October 13, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  Oops I was confused about POS because of this Didio comment:

  Nrama: Greg Rucka is writing The Question?

  DiDio: Of course Greg ...

• At October 13, 2009, Dave wrote:

  Given how unbelievably boring and stupid I've found Blackest Night to be so far, I don't know if even Ostrander ...

• At October 13, 2009, Captain Comet wrote:

  I hope Eric Wallace on Power of Shazam means Freddy's going to be joining the Titans. That'd be pretty sweet.

• At October 13, 2009, Joe H wrote:

  I don't care for Blackest Night or any of these titles, but it is certainly an INTERESTING idea at least.

• At October 13, 2009, Andrew Collins wrote:

  I'd be a little more excited if I knew who was drawing the issues, but yes, this is one the ...

• At October 13, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>My first thought was"More 'Young Heroes in Love'? Finally!"

  Don't know what that says about me.

  I'd say it says you have ...

• At October 13, 2009, Alonso wrote:

  Any guesses/ wishes as to the artist that DiDio gave the clue about? Tony Harris on Starman maybe? Or Ordway ...

• At October 13, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  Sook is apparently working with Johns.

• At October 13, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  Oh boy! Time for SSOSV and Freedom Fighters#16, Inferior Five #13 and Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew ...

• At October 13, 2009, buttler wrote:

  Whoops, that last Anonymous one was me.

• At October 13, 2009, Jeremy Henderson wrote:

  Are people really that excited about seeing Ted Knight's rotting corpse acting like a villain? You do all realize that ...

• At October 13, 2009, buttler wrote:

  Unless it's David. Or more likely, both.

• At October 13, 2009, Ultimate Matt wrote:

  I want Aztek #11.

• At October 13, 2009, Philip wrote:

  People do realize it's the James Robinson who's been writing Justice League; Cry For Justice writing the new Starman and ...

• At October 13, 2009, buttler wrote:

  Maybe the big reveal is that Robinson is a Black Lantern, Philip.

  When asked for comment, Mikaal Tomas only ...

• At October 13, 2009, John Smith wrote:

  Call me crazy, but I have very little desire to pick up a "new" issue of a comic I read ...

• At October 13, 2009, Andy wrote:

  @Marcus Brute and Eric-

  I agree w/ MB. I think you might be right from a logistical/continuity perspective, Eric, but ...

• At October 13, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  This seems to me like more of DC's "let's throw everything to the wall and see what sticks" mentality of ...

• At October 13, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  .

  If this skip month was used as a launching point for a bunch of new titles tied-in to the Blackest ...

• At October 13, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  "Wonder who's drawing it, Tony Harris or Peter Snejbjerg?

  Any taker?"

  Harris said he's doing the cover on Twitter.

• At October 14, 2009, Shane wrote:

  What no Ambush Bug? :)

• At October 14, 2009, Wilbur Lunch wrote:

  @Sijo:

  "the fact most of them currently have no series of their own make the stories feel superfluous in a modern ...

• At October 14, 2009, A. Nominus wrote:

  "Can you just see Starman Omnibus vol. 6 adding # 81 to the mix?"

  good gordon, I hope not.

• At October 14, 2009, christian wrote:

  anyone else really wish we could have had a new final issue for Birds Of Prey?

• At October 15, 2009, Christopher Stansfield wrote:

  Anyone else wondering whether some of the titles chosen might have been chosen for reasons of maintaining trademark? I mean, ...

• At October 15, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Weird Western Tales was used as a title for DC 8 years ago.

• At October 15, 2009, Christopher Stansfield wrote:

  Mea culpa- that said, the period of time during which a company can file for trademark termination based on ...

• At October 15, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yeppers.

• At October 15, 2009, Michael wrote:

  If they're going to try to hang a blanket over whatever kind of deadline trouble they're having with the main ...

• At October 16, 2009, Michael Mayket wrote:

  Please, please, please be the real James Robinson and not that imposter running around the DC universe for the past ...

• At October 16, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  >>anyone else really wish we could have had a new final issue for Birds Of Prey?

  Yes, indeed. And even more ...

Thoughts?

107 Comments

• At August 31, 2009, Richard J. Marcej wrote:

  • Say goodbye to Convention sketches? (Since Disney has been known to be VERY strict with unlicensed drawings of their ...

• At August 31, 2009, T. wrote:

  I'm hoping having that Disney money and access to offering Disney benefits packages will help Marvel sign a bunch of ...

• At August 31, 2009, Mike Klander wrote:

  What is this going to mean for it's content? Disney has been known to make sure their content stays ...

• At August 31, 2009, GQ wrote:

  Could be good, could be bad. Just have to wait and see.

  Let the panicing commence in 5... 4... 3... 2....

• At August 31, 2009, charles m. wrote:

  R.I.P. Marvel - you will be misses.

• At August 31, 2009, Wraith wrote:

  With its own comic book publisher, will Disney continue licensing out its properties to others?

  And, will Marvel's books now begin ...

• At August 31, 2009, ninjawookie wrote:

  I'm almost expecting Spider-man to wear mickey mouse ears.

  I do wonder if this will affect creators original characters an royalties ...

• At August 31, 2009, Dale Houston wrote:

  Time for me to dust off my script for an animated buddy comedy featuring M.O.D.O.K. and a cute talking squirrel.

  Otherwise; ...

• At August 31, 2009, Capt USA wrote:

  Very scary as a comic/Marvel fan. Disney is not really known for a hands off approach to their subsidiaries and ...

• At August 31, 2009, Matt Beahan wrote:

  Dale, that would never work. M.O.D.O.K. hates squirrels, ever since Squirrel Girl handed him his arse. Make it a mongoose ...

• At August 31, 2009, Roquefort Raider wrote:

  Howard the Duck can now lose the trousers.

• At August 31, 2009, The Dane wrote:

  Why would Disney's purchase necessarily mean anything for the level of maturity (or lack of such) in Marvel's books? Disney ...

• At August 31, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Good-bye, Northstar. Good-bye, Wiccan & Hulkling. So long, Shatterstar & Rictor. Caroline from Runaways, just make sure your Skrull beau ...

• At August 31, 2009, Squashua wrote:

  I wonder what this will do to Universal Studios themepark in Orlando, the competitor to Disney World.

  Many of their rides ...

• At August 31, 2009, Zach wrote:

  Damn, wish I had bought that Marvel stock.

• At August 31, 2009, Roquefort Raider wrote:

  Will Marvel start publishing Disney-themed comics? If it helps getting younger kids reading more comics, that would be quite a ...

• At August 31, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  If Disney has any sense they will allow Marvel to be run in pretty much the same way it has ...

• At August 31, 2009, R3D RJ wrote:

  This is huge. Planet-wide HUGE. =0

  Nobody escapes the Mouse.

• At August 31, 2009, Keg wrote:

  The only thing I can see happening is BOOM losing its Disney properties in a year or two and Marvel ...

• At August 31, 2009, Todd wrote:

  Does this mean Peter Parker will be wearing a purity ring? How about Wolverine getting a woodland critter sidekick?

• At August 31, 2009, Palomides wrote:

  Personally, I'm looking forward to the inevitable Mickey Mouse/Wolverine cross-over. Or they could do an Amalgam thing, e.g. merging Donald ...

• At August 31, 2009, Dan K wrote:

  My expectation is they want the character catalogue for use in other media (e.g. animation) and merchandise. Comics themselves are ...

• At August 31, 2009, DWright wrote:

  I've been more than a little turned off by Quesada's childish comparisons with D.C, so I'm wondering what happens now ...

• At August 31, 2009, Stephen Doe wrote:

  Nothing at Marvel will change. This is just Disney adding another trophy to thier mantle.

• At August 31, 2009, Mark S. wrote:

  Disney new XD channel already has a bunch of Marvel cartoons.

• At August 31, 2009, Todd wrote:

  And in response to Richard Marcej said, that is completely true about Disney. My gym had a daycare room with ...

• At August 31, 2009, Mory Buckman wrote:

  Like Squashua, my first thought was how this fits in with the theme park competition. Universal (Disney World's biggest competition) ...

• At August 31, 2009, Stefan wrote:

  My initial reaction was pure terror, and there's a part of me that's still there. I hate Disney. ...

• At August 31, 2009, Stefan wrote:

  Todd - Do you live in Florida? I remember that story - it was either you guys, or an ...

• At August 31, 2009, T. wrote:

  What is this going to mean for it's content? Disney has been known to make sure their content stays watered ...

• At August 31, 2009, T. wrote:

  I've been more than a little turned off by Quesada's childish comparisons with D.C, so I'm wondering what happens now ...

• At August 31, 2009, DailyRich wrote:

  "I have seen people say that Pixar could do Marvel Films. I doubt this as they seem to do original ...

• At August 31, 2009, Teebore wrote:

  I, too, thought of the theme park stuff first.

  Maybe I'm naive, but I just figure this will mirror the ...

• At August 31, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  "Good-bye, Northstar. Good-bye, Wiccan & Hulkling. So long, Shatterstar & Rictor. Caroline from Runaways, just make sure your Skrull beau ...

• At August 31, 2009, T. wrote:

  Good-bye, Northstar. Good-bye, Wiccan & Hulkling. So long, Shatterstar & Rictor. Caroline from Runaways, just make sure your Skrull beau ...

• At August 31, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Anybody remember when DC bought Wildstorm which at that time made up 20% of Image?

• At August 31, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  I don't think Disney owns Mirimax anymore. But Disney as a company has a pretty good record on gay ...

• At August 31, 2009, brax wrote:

  *choke!* Horrible!

  This is the most horrifying reminder of why Quesada is bad for business. Of course, he'll be the ...

• At August 31, 2009, Alex Scales wrote:

  So, I don't usually leave comments on here, but two things came to mind--

  1. I loved Crossgen and miss ...

• At August 31, 2009, T. wrote:

  Disney still owns Miramax and has since 1993:

  http://www.miramax.com/about-us.html

• At August 31, 2009, Matt K wrote:

  An article I read (CNN perhaps) mentioned that Disney wanted the expand the 2nd tier marvel characters so hopefully this ...

• At August 31, 2009, T. wrote:

  I always wanted to know what Milestone comics could have become (I know most of the titles went to Vertigo, ...

• At August 31, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  My mistake, T. Someday I'll remember something correctly.

• At August 31, 2009, buttler wrote:

  I can't wait for Huey, Dewey and Louie to meet Unca Howard. Talk about a world he never made.

• At August 31, 2009, Jon H wrote:

  ". Pixar WILL be doing Marvel-based films."

  I wonder if they could get the non-Marvel toy-oriented rights to the Micronauts... They'd ...

• At August 31, 2009, Alex Scales wrote:

  I thought Sebastian O and Enigma were both originally planned as Milestone titles?

• At August 31, 2009, al wrote:

  So does this mean Marvel can now publish comics with the Crossgen Comic Book characters?

• At August 31, 2009, Dan wrote:

  If you're fearing the state of Islands of Adventure, look into something like MGM Studios. Disney does own Miramax, ...

• At August 31, 2009, joecab wrote:

  Good lord this is an awful lot of overreacting. I'm certain Disney knows that Marvel knows better than they do ...

• At August 31, 2009, Jack Tango wrote:

  Disney bought Marvel for the same reason Time Warner suffers DC: Because they're content creators. They leave the publishing arm ...

• At August 31, 2009, Mr. JR wrote:

  I'd be interested in hearing just which 2nd-tier characters Disney had it's eye on developing* and how it planned to ...

• At August 31, 2009, Todd wrote:

  I live in New York, but apparently that has happened in a lot of places. So I wouldn't be surprised ...

• At August 31, 2009, Dean wrote:

  Long run, I think this a good deal for Marvel. Disney is pretty much the gold standard in terms ...

• At August 31, 2009, Todd wrote:

  I'm actually a big Crossgen fan and I wonder...do you think Marvel will continue those properties? They have most of ...

• At August 31, 2009, Nemesis wrote:

  Am I the only one who wants a Marvel MAX Mickey Mouse title...he could lose Minnie and try to kill ...

• At August 31, 2009, Matt K wrote:

  @ Todd, I would love to see more Way of the Rat and perhaps Disney could leverage some of Marvel's ...

• At August 31, 2009, Disney Buys Marvel: What The–?! « Speed Force wrote:

  [...] Further analysis and discussion at Comics Worth Reading, The Beat, Robot 6 and Comics Should Be Good. And it ...

• At August 31, 2009, JoeMac wrote:

  DWright wrote: "Also, and I'm sure I'm in the minority, but I found the end of Secret Invasion and Ultimatum ...

• At August 31, 2009, chris wrote:

  Last time Disney acquired a franchise I loved they ran it into the groud. Oh Marvel, don't suffer the same ...

• At August 31, 2009, Rob Schmidt wrote:

  Hulk smashes "It's a Small World." Thousands cheer.

  Wolverine guts Captain Hook in an unfair fight. Peter Pan, Wendy, and the ...

• At August 31, 2009, JoeMac wrote:

  I guess I'm old... I never understood the appeal of the Power Rangers.

• At August 31, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  On the one hand, maybe I was a bit harsh and hasty in my response to the news. As Anonymous ...

• At August 31, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Howard the Duck can now lose the trousers.

  Yeah, I was thinking Howard would get to be Howard again. He might ...

• At August 31, 2009, Dean wrote:

  On the other hand, ABC cancelled areality show about prejudices that was won by a gay couple. Disney executives did ...

• At August 31, 2009, T. wrote:

  Look, it is just a matter of time before some Talk Radio guy finds an issue of something like "Ultimatum" ...

• At August 31, 2009, Jurel727 wrote:

  "I guess I'm old... I never understood the appeal of the Power Rangers."

  Characters in coloful costumes fighting with other characters ...

• At August 31, 2009, Rob Schmidt wrote:

  If you think about it, the potential synergy is almost limitless. Howard the Duck and Donald Duck. Peter ...

• At August 31, 2009, Mory Buckman wrote:

  Also: I wonder if Runaways will be the first Disney/Marvel Studios movie.Why make it a movie when they can make ...

• At August 31, 2009, Mecha-Shiva wrote:

  "The Wasp and the Seven Dwarfs."

  I would rather Disney have bought DC, so we could've gotten Perry White and the ...

• At August 31, 2009, The Mutt wrote:

  If this means Pixar will be doing Marvel movies, it's the greatest news ever. After I saw The Incredibles, I ...

• At August 31, 2009, Dean wrote:

  @ T:

  It is not necessarily a negative, just a change. My point is that Disney will have an effect ...

• At August 31, 2009, Ted wrote:

  Mike Loughlin:

  "Where do you get off telling me to "stop being dramatic & reactionary?" Especially with reactionary meaning ...

• At August 31, 2009, fourthworlder wrote:

  Now I get the One More Day satanic annulment.

  Peter Parker and MU Hannah Montana to wed by next summer.

  And ...

• At August 31, 2009, Tonebone wrote:

  "Good-bye, Northstar. Good-bye, Wiccan & Hulkling. So long, Shatterstar & Rictor. Caroline from Runaways, just make sure your Skrull beau ...

• At August 31, 2009, bob wrote:

  If wraith's speculation is correct i hope they revive the old marvel anthology series so we can have "Walt Disney ...

• At August 31, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  It scares me.

  I fear the mouse.

  Actually, DC's done alright, but if a Disney exec decides the comics aren't making enough ...

• At August 31, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Ted,

  "Radical" means extreme leftist, "reactionary" means, in most cases, extremely right-wing. I know T. didn't mean it that way, one ...

• At August 31, 2009, T. wrote:

  Actually, DC's done alright, but if a Disney exec decides the comics aren't making enough cash, and the characters could ...

• At August 31, 2009, T. wrote:

  Which great writer went to DC and had their work reduced?

  Pretty much all of them I've followed over to DC, ...

• At August 31, 2009, T. wrote:

  Most drastic drop in quality I'd say was Ted McKeever though. Man did he turn horrible at DC. ...

• At August 31, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  All hail Disney Comics!

• At August 31, 2009, T. wrote:

  What will REALLY be interesting is the type of legal muscle Marvel will now have available if they have to ...

• At August 31, 2009, Rob Schmidt wrote:

  Mickey Mouse wouldn't become the Sorceror Supreme. He'd be the Sorceror Supreme's apprentice. Hijinks ensue as Dr. Strange ...

• At August 31, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  T. - Johns worked at Marvel during the height of decompression. He's stated that some of his Avengers work was ...

• At August 31, 2009, T. wrote:

  Oh wait, I'm sorry, I meant Sean McKeever. Oops.

• At August 31, 2009, david wrote:

  I worked for the Rat for 10 years in Orlando, so what I can tell you is this:

  1. There were ...

• At August 31, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Most drastic drop in quality I'd say was Ted McKeever though. Man did he turn horrible at DC. Tony Bedard ...

• At August 31, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  No Disney does not have a problem with gay people. How do you think they have 1000s of ride operators, ...

• At August 31, 2009, david wrote:

  Oh, and yes I read the quote about Lasseter being "excited". I stand by my statement however. If there are ...

• At August 31, 2009, david wrote:

  "Yeah, but large clumps of Disney's audience have problems with gay people, and they like to scream really, really loudly."

  Well, ...

• At August 31, 2009, Ted wrote:

  Mike Loughlin,

  I know T. didn't mean it that way, one of the reasons the label annoyed me.

  So, basically, you were ...

• At August 31, 2009, Mike Loughlin wrote:

  Let me get this straight... I don't like being called something, an inaccurate term at that, so I'm causing "people ...

• At August 31, 2009, T. wrote:

  Gail Simone did much better at DC than at Marvel..

  I don't really like her at either company, but I still ...

• At August 31, 2009, Adamantium Wholesaler wrote:

  I hope Disney doesn't get any crazy ideas about trying to abandon the core adult market and trying to market ...

• At August 31, 2009, Ted wrote:

  Let me get this straight... I don't like being called something, an inaccurate term at that, so I'm causing "people ...

• At August 31, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I don't really like her at either company, but I still found her writing less grating over at Marvel.

  Go read ...

• At August 31, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Disney still does not endorse or even officially recognize Gay Days. But it remains the most profitable single day (the ...

• At August 31, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Sat crossed lovers

  STAR crossed lovers it should be.

  What a way to ruin a perfectly terrible pun.

• At August 31, 2009, Ted wrote:

  I just pointed out how he had responded in a manner similar to the one he was decrying.

  What ...

• At August 31, 2009, Ted wrote:

  Unless, of course, when you said "Especially given your responses to subjects ranging from misogyny and welfare to Jeph Loeb ...

• At August 31, 2009, Dean wrote:

  I don't really like her at either company, but I still found her writing less grating over at Marvel. There's ...

• At September 1, 2009, jccalhoun wrote:

  I'm guessing Boom Studios is going to be the most impacted by this. They are going to lose the ...

• At September 1, 2009, T. wrote:

  Go read Secret Six!

  There's a new trade out... apparently there's couple before it, but it's the start of the ongoing, ...

• At September 1, 2009, T. wrote:

  I am no great fan of the Dan DiDio era, but I would suggest that the paragraph above does not ...

• At September 1, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I think her plotting is good, it's just her dialogue that grates on me. It is often too self-consciously clever, ...

• At September 2, 2009, Shane wrote:

  I can't help thinking Marvel's 'House of M' (in terms of the title) now strangely prophetic. Not to mention what ...

• At September 2, 2009, DanCJ wrote:

  Same problem with Seven Soldiers. I basically don't like comics where I need to read annotations on websites or have ...

Diamond gets the comics from the publishers on Fridays. They pack boxes over the weekend and ship them on Monday so the books can arrive on Wednesday (or Thursday if you're all international and shit, but let's not complicate this more than it needs to be). Therefore, UPS would only have to deliver books to them on Friday (which is Christmas, so that's not going to happen) and pick them up on Monday, which is the 28th and therefore should be a work day. That's the way it is. Of course, the way the holidays fall this year will screw it all up. UPS can't deliver the books on Friday, and according to my retailer, they won't deliver the books to Diamond on Saturday (I don't know if this is true; the UPS web site doesn't really specify, using "business days," which may or may not include Saturdays). So if they follow the usual timeline, they wouldn't deliver books for 30 December until Monday the 28th, and Diamond probably wouldn't be ready to ship until the 30th itself. UPS isn't working on the 31st or (presumably) the 1st, which is presumably the reason for skipping the week. It's not necessarily UPS's fault, because Diamond and the Big Two (who probably don't care) could easily work out a solution. (I should point out that Christopher Butcher lets us know that this is the problem, according to Diamond's press release.)

Diamond has an exclusive contract with Marvel and DC. They could (all of this is could; i.e., if Diamond had any inclination to do so) ask them to ship the books earlier, maybe even with the books for the 23rd. UPS could deliver them all on the Friday before (the 18th) and then, the following weekend, Diamond could pack the books for the 30th just like normal. Everything would be fine, and we wouldn't be having heart palpitations about missing our comics. But Diamond won't do this. Why? Because they're trying to save money. They don't want to pay their employees that weekend, and they don't want to go out of their way to change their procedures. My retailer wondered if DC and Marvel could split the order on the week of the 23rd and ship them to the retailers on the 24th, meaning the comics would arrive in stores on the 28th. Diamond won't do this, because they don't want retailers putting out books before Wednesday. According to my retailer (who, admittedly, is a bit shaky on the legal side of his business), his contract with Diamond states he can't put books out prior to Wednesday, and if the books get there on Monday, some unscrupulous retailers will put them out on Monday. I suppose that's possible, but I know that Atomic Comics, the other retailer near my house, gets their books on Tuesday, and they don't put them out until Wednesday. Diamond could bend their own rules in this instance, but they won't.

Why does any of this matter? Well, readers can go jump in a lake. If you can't go a week without your comics fix, you need some help. But let's consider the retailers. Mike Sterling, retailer extraordinaire, wrote this about the skip week:

Bit of a shocker, there, and one I'm not entirely thrilled about. However, December does tend to be a strong month for sales, not to mention we'll get that post-Christmas traffic from folks with gift money and gift certificates (the latter of which usually used to subsidize purchases of items far greater than the certificate's value) ... we should be able to ride out a week without new product. I'd rather have new product ... even a minuscule amount of books, like we've received Christmases past, would be preferable to nothing at all. With any luck, this may not entirely be the disaster it sounds. I hope.

Now, if a world-famous retailer like Mr. Sterling is having a bit of anxiety about this, what hope do mortal retailers have???? The point is, most retailers make most of their money from new comics. The week between Christmas and New Year's is, I would imagine, a busy one in the retail world, because kids are out of school and a lot of people take off from work. My retailer is planning on having a big sale, which he's confident will recoup whatever money he's going to lose from the loss of new comics sales. But in today's economy, with bills to pay (evil utilities don't care about religious holidays, man!), the loss of a huge chunk of income for retailers is nothing to sneeze at. Some people mentioned that it's a fifth week, so it "doesn't matter" if there's a skip week, but DC and Marvel long ago stopped caring about the existence of fifth weeks. Comics no longer come out on a regular schedule (Fantastic Four always on the first week in a month, for instance), so fifth weeks are meaningless. Maybe the week after the 30th, the week will be gigantic and retailers can recoup losses, but that doesn't help them the previous week, will it? It would be nice if DC and Marvel load up on the 23rd to maybe help retailers make more money to get them through the next week, but I don't know if that's their plan. Why should they care about retailers?

Now, I doubt if retailers are going to go out of business because of this. Many of them will probably have big sales, and that's cool. Getting people into the stores is the issue, but that's part of advertising, and retailers know they might have to get the word out occasionally without relying on their regulars. I just wanted to point out that this has nothing to do with you, the readers. Some people actually rely on comics, not for entertainment, but for their livelihood. Diamond, which has a relationship with the retailers, has decided not to make any effort to alleviate this situation. They could, but they won't. My retailer hopes that enough of his ilk let them know that this isn't a great business decision so that they rethink their decision. I can live without my comics that week. I just wanted to let you know that it's not about us.

13 Comments

• At August 22, 2009, Matt Lzorwitz wrote:

  Yeah, my boss and I were talking about what we were going to do about this on Wednesday, and it ...

• At August 22, 2009, brian wrote:

  I wonder if this gives the retailer who has a sale a new display area for sales items? My ...

• At August 22, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  I usually skip comics Christmas week, since I'm traveling and spending time with my family. So I'll just end up ...

• At August 22, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Yeah.

  As a fan I could/couldn't care less. It's not like I'm gonna walk into the comic shop ...

• At August 22, 2009, Patrick Rennie wrote:

  UPS doesn't make routine deliveries on Saturdays. They only do special Saturday delivers for which they charge an arm and ...

• At August 22, 2009, Joe wrote:

  I get my comics monthly anyways, so this doesn't affect me at all. BOOSH.

• At August 22, 2009, BP wrote:

  I don't think most of us are concerned from a reader perspective, but again, from a retailer perspective. And it's ...

• At August 22, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Diamond will do whatever it takes to destroy the comics industry.

• At August 23, 2009, Craig wrote:

  My store is also pushing for a big sale week. Rather than complaining (because, as it seems, it won't be ...

• At August 24, 2009, Stephen C wrote:

  Wow!, a week without books. Whatever will people do??

  I live 45 miles from the closest CBS and only go to ...

• At August 24, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  About every 6 weeks or so (including, as it happens, last week) I skip a trip to my LCS anyway, ...

• At August 24, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  And it's not a crisis moment but it is indicative of the kind of immaturity in the business of main ...

• At August 24, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Well, why doesn't everyone go into their local shop and try something new that week?

  I've always got something I'm meaning ...

Ardden Entertainment is debuting a new Casper the Friendly Ghost series featuring other Harvey Entertainment characters, as well! J.M. DeMatteis came up with the concept for the series and Todd Dezago is writing it (with art by Pedro Delgado).

Read on for covers of the first two issues!

It'd coming out just in time for the 60th Anniversary of Casper's introduction!

22 Comments

• At August 18, 2009, Mea wrote:

  Is that supposed to be Wendy and li'l Hot Stuff with him?

• At August 18, 2009, tk. wrote:

  Looks like it. Are we going to get some Little Dot, too? That girl sure loves dots.

  Crazy coincidence, though.

• At August 18, 2009, Ted Chmura III wrote:

  We've just become partners with Classic Media to provide Live Appearances of Casper at Malls, Fairs, Festivals, Zoos, Trade Shows, ...

• At August 18, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Very cool, Ted!

• At August 18, 2009, joecab wrote:

  I still hate the style, but at least they reworked Casper. The original was worse: http://www.cartoonbrew.com/wp-content/uploads/casperspectrals.jpg

• At August 18, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  DeMatteis *and* DeZago? *And* Hot Stuff? Sold.

• At August 18, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  Part of me is laughing, the other is cringing.

  Must EVERY old kids character be reworked to be "cool" today? And ...

• At August 18, 2009, Cully C wrote:

  I see Hot Stuff finally grew out of diapers.

• At August 18, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Yes, it had already been announced.

  Hate the art. The appeal of these characters was that they were not evil looking, ...

• At August 18, 2009, Mike wrote:

  Poor Wendy. One of her hands must apparently be locked in the "Devil Horns" position at all times.

• At August 18, 2009, Kirayoshi wrote:

  Actually she thinks she's Spider-Man.

• At August 19, 2009, Leeatard wrote:

  Wow, I actually really enjoy the new "Hot Topicesque" art. And I grew up with random issues of Casper ...

• At August 19, 2009, Luis Dantas wrote:

  Good to see them back.

  I must second the complaints about the poor choice of visuals for Wendy and Hot Stuff, ...

• At August 19, 2009, Lynxara wrote:

  The old designs would probably bore the snot out of modern kids. The new designs look pretty much like the ...

• At August 19, 2009, HammerHeart wrote:

  "Bad boys"? The only "bad boy" in these pics is Hot Stuff, and it's actually a natural extension of the ...

• At August 19, 2009, Tijmen wrote:

  Hear, hear.

• At August 19, 2009, Mary Warner wrote:

  I don't like the new look, either. And I really don't think kids would mind the old styles. ...

• At August 19, 2009, Lynxara wrote:

  I doubt Little Audrey or Sad Sack would be able to qualify as "Spectrals." Separate relaunches would make more sense.

• At August 19, 2009, Dan Bailey wrote:

  I sorta like the new characterizations, too. Infinitely more, at least, than I do the new-style versions of Archie, Betty, ...

• At August 19, 2009, The Mad Monkey wrote:

  Anyone remember the trouble Marvel got in over the one issue of Crazy Magazine and the infamous "Casper The Dead ...

• At August 19, 2009, Scott Harris wrote:

  I certainly wish these guys all the best with this, lord knows the comic world could use more stuff for ...

• At August 20, 2009, Luis Dantas wrote:

  Wendy's clothes are ok. The anorexic look, the heavy eye make-up and the silly gestures, not so much.

  Hot Stuff, ...

Well, this year, things are going to be a bit different.

Comics will be on-sale in most U.S. stores on Wednesday, December 23rd, but they won't be in stores AGAIN until Wednesday, January 6th.

It mostly has to do with UPS' schedule and the resulting inconvenience that that would entail, and I understand that Diamond Comics is going to go out of their way to help retailers with the undoubtedly larger shipping weeks that they'll see on 12/23/09 and 1/6/10, but still, this is an interesting development.

It's also worth noting (as a few of the commenters have said) that December would be a five-week shipping month normally, so a reduction from a five-week month to a four-week month is a lot less noticeable than a reduction from a four-week month to a three-week month.

Still - a comic book "skip week." I can't recall when something like this last happened (if it ever HAS happened).

34 Comments

• At August 18, 2009, Matt Lazorwitz wrote:

  No one I have talked to can remember a time this has happened either.

  I'm curious, though, whether it will ...

• At August 18, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

• At August 18, 2009, Kevin wrote:

  That's not okay. That's not okay at all. *scratches arm like a heroin addict*

  Not cool, man, not cool.

• At August 18, 2009, Thok wrote:

  It probably helps Diamond that December is a five week month this year and that they are skipping the fifth ...

• At August 18, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Try six weeks without new comics.

  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

• At August 18, 2009, Wesley Smith wrote:

  I'm sure something like this happened back in the newsstand days, but I doubt it's happened since the direct market ...

• At August 18, 2009, JoeMac wrote:

  Is this the beginning of the end of the print era of comics like everyone is always telling me? The ...

• At August 18, 2009, supertim82 wrote:

  I don't know that I can deal with that. Some Christmas present...

• At August 18, 2009, Adam wrote:

  Just ask your families for a bunch of TPBs for Christmas presents. That should tide you over until January.

• At August 18, 2009, Joe wrote:

  I get my comics once every 5 weeks so this won't affect me at all. January 15 is when I'll ...

• At August 18, 2009, Brian wrote:

  cough... that's actually wonderful news. (ducks) It is shaping up into a busy week already, between xmas ...

• At August 18, 2009, joshschr wrote:

  This will be the week I break down and buy all of the Scalped tpb's at once. I can ...

• At August 18, 2009, googum wrote:

  Your better comic shops will have sales--back issues, old trades, stuff found under the bed, something--to keep your weekly visit ...

• At August 18, 2009, John Cage wrote:

  "Is this... the first portent of doom? The harbinger of a dark and evil world?"

  Yes. I believe it is. God ...

• At August 18, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  DISASTER!

• At August 18, 2009, David Hackett wrote:

  Well Boxing Day is on a Saturday, so the actual Stat holiday would be pushed back until Monday, the 28th, ...

• At August 18, 2009, Ken S. wrote:

  Oh God, now I'll have to talk to my family over the holidays. YOU BASTARDS!!!!!! Have you no ...

• At August 18, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Now that I think about it, I don't think it has anything to do with UPS. I think it is ...

• At August 18, 2009, Sallyp wrote:

  Gadzooks! It's months away and I'm having palpitations already.

• At August 18, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Huh. I suppose if I synthesized a liquid form of Warren Ellis comics that I could inject into a variety ...

• At August 18, 2009, DubipR wrote:

  Should be getting ready with tinned rations and water in case there's mass hysteria?

• At August 18, 2009, Justin wrote:

  Several years ago, when UPS went on strike there were intermittent weeks when the shops in my area wouldn't ...

• At August 18, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  i was wondering how many posts it'd take before someone started wondering if this had anything to do with diamond's ...

• At August 18, 2009, Brian Hibbs wrote:

  "No one I have talked to can remember a time this has happened either. "

  It happened in 1998, the last ...

• At August 18, 2009, Brian O'S wrote:

  Well, on my side of the pond/Atlantic, it makes not a blind bit of difference. That week between Christmas and ...

• At August 18, 2009, Tom Daylight wrote:

  I can't believe this "sky is falling" hyperbole from some of you. It's standard practice in UK publications to take ...

• At August 18, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  Here's a good idea: on the Wednesday you would've gone to the comics shop, read a webcomic you've never ...

• At August 18, 2009, Kirk Warren wrote:

  Not sure why they dont just ship it a day earlier instead. Those that cant make the cut off ...

• At August 18, 2009, Zor-El of Argo wrote:

  I recall DC used to have an annual "skip week." Don't remember which week, but sometimes they would ship a ...

• At August 18, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Zor-El of Argo --

  Decades ago, there were only 4 shipping weeks per month for most comic book companies. After ...

• At August 18, 2009, Stefan wrote:

  I'm usually somewhere far away from comic shops at Christmas time anyway, so I'll actually be a bit glad, not ...

• At August 19, 2009, Ian wrote:

  Not even decades ago Alan, I remember that happening in the late 90s.

• At August 19, 2009, Bishop wrote:

  This actually won't be the worst thing in the world for me. I tend to get a lot of ...

• At August 20, 2009, Verdammt wrote:

  While it may be an issue for those that have a weekly addiction, I pick up my pull list once ...

Well deserved!

5 Comments

• At July 25, 2009, Andrew Russell wrote:

  Congrats on both the nomination and, of course, the win.

• At July 25, 2009, Dexter wrote:

  Absolutely--especially since the buyout of Newsarama, this is the one place I can come for reliable news online.

  Congrats to all!

• At July 25, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  Wow, we beat the Journal? Go us!

• At July 25, 2009, Perry Holley wrote:

  Woo hoo!

• At July 26, 2009, Crash-Man wrote:

  Excellent. Congratulations.

Pretty nifty!

8 Comments

• At July 23, 2009, adam! wrote:

  where's SUPERMAN?

• At July 23, 2009, Gavin wrote:

  DC bias!!! lol

  great, though

• At July 23, 2009, joshschr wrote:

  I just saw this about 2 minutes ago. It rocks.

• At July 23, 2009, TravisR wrote:

  Got the fables google theme. It was a toss up between that and blackest night.

• At July 23, 2009, Craig wrote:

  I opened Google today at work (comic book store) and everyone around me was stunned. Is SDCC really that big ...

• At July 23, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  If you use igoogle (which I did just for this) there's a bunch of superhero themes to choose from - ...

• At July 23, 2009, Paint Eater wrote:

  If you're wondering where Superman is currently, click the logo. to remind yourself.

• At July 23, 2009, Gavin wrote:

  I went with the Cap theme...almost went Vertigo.

So I wonder if Dark Siege is actually not a Thor project at all, but rather, something tied more directly to Dark Reign - the title certainly suggests it, doesn't it? You've had your "Dark Reign," and now we'll have the "Dark Siege." If so, it'd be neat if Fraction was given such a major assignment, as I've really enjoyed his Marvel Universe work.

20 Comments

• At July 23, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  But we know JMS did want to leave before the crossover began - though that could be because presumably a ...

• At July 23, 2009, Tom Daylight wrote:

  JMS has been on the record about crossovers for years. He felt that writing Civil War tie-ins derailed the storylines ...

• At July 23, 2009, chris wrote:

  I'm about to go launch a Dark Seige on my toilet bowl.

• At July 23, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  Something to do with the "Seige Perilous" perhaps?

• At July 23, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  Brian,

  You realize that Fraction is writing, more or less, the biggest Marvel event of 2009 right now by handling all ...

• At July 23, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  I'm thinking it's Norman Osborn trying to take command of Asgard.

• At July 23, 2009, Michael P. wrote:

  Bendis could, of course, be full of crap. It wouldn't be the first time a creator has refuted a rumor ...

• At July 23, 2009, Patent Dragon wrote:

  Loki vs Osborn vs Doom for Asgard, fate of the world in the balance? Sound possible...?

• At July 23, 2009, SanctumSanctorumComix wrote:

  Not that I'm even close or anything, but it would be cool if it were a twist on:

  Seige of Darkness

  That ...

• At July 23, 2009, Stefan wrote:

  Fraction's definitely due to write the next big event book. Which will mean it's the first Marvel mega-event in ...

• At July 23, 2009, Stefan wrote:

  Sanctum - You think we're going to get one? Man, that'd be great. I've been expecting one for ...

• At July 23, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  SSC: Likely ties in to the upcomming return of Angelic Punisher

• At July 23, 2009, DoctorErebus wrote:

  Return of angelic Punisher? Oh christ, please tell me you're joking.

• At July 23, 2009, Chris Jones wrote:

  Rein of Sieges!

• At July 23, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  This has little if anything to do with One More Day…

  Well nothing to do with it unless you read the ...

• At July 23, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Bendis could, of course, be full of crap. It wouldn’t be the first time a creator has refuted a rumor ...

• At July 23, 2009, Shaq-fu wrote:

  I'll bet Dark Siege is something to do with the Fantastic Four. Where have they been all Dark Reign?

  It's not ...

• At July 24, 2009, Matt D wrote:

  The FF have their own Dark Reign mini right now, leading up to Hickman's run, which has some awesome stuff ...

• At July 24, 2009, Chuck D wrote:

  If Fraction is writing it count me out. He's a Kansas City guy just like me and I want ...

• At August 1, 2009, Marianne Farleybaconcheeseburgercombo wrote:

  its the end of Thor's decent run as a comic thats what it is. JMS helped protect the title from ...

Has anyone heard anything on the subject?

15 Comments

• At July 6, 2009, Name wrote:

  Most likely not. Ed Boon said the next game is going to be "M rated" which would likely mean no ...

• At July 6, 2009, Conor E wrote:

  Doing a 'straight' Mortal Kombat game next doesn't mean they wont ever do another crossover. I guess it depends on ...

• At July 6, 2009, Da Fug wrote:

  A video game post from CRONIN? DOES NOT COMPUTE! FIZZLE...CRACKLE....SPARKS...BLINK....SMOKE...EXPLOSION!!!.......................

• At July 6, 2009, Namor wrote:

  Great, now maybe DC can buy Marvel (joking) and we can finally get a frickin' kickass superhero battle game.

• At July 6, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  No, the next game is Mortal Kombat vs. Looney Tunes.

• At July 7, 2009, Gavin wrote:

  Street Fighter > Mortal Kombat

  Always been and will always be

• At July 7, 2009, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  How about Mortal Kombat vs. Dragon's Lair?

  That would soooo kick ass.

• At July 7, 2009, Ninjagodzilla wrote:

  Yeah seems like MK needs DC alot more than the other way around.

• At July 7, 2009, Anonymous wrote:

  -"No, the next game is Mortal Kombat vs. Looney Tunes."

  Scorpion: GET OVER HERE! (Pulls Tazmanian Devil closer)

  Taz: RAWWWRR!! (eats Scorpion)

  Voiceover: ...

• At July 7, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  Wait for it...there will be a press release soon about an upcoming JLA arc introducing the MK-verse characters to the ...

• At July 7, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  A video game post from CRONIN? DOES NOT COMPUTE! FIZZLE…CRACKLE….SPARKS…BLINK….SMOKE…EXPLOSION!!!…………………..

  You'd be pleased to read my Video Game Legends Revealed, then! ...

• At July 7, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  s1rude: puhleaze...as long as he gets to put zatanna in every other issue, Dini will write whatever garbage Didio wants.

• At July 7, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  Yeah, that was admittedly a stretch, but I couldn't come up with another Dwayne McDuffie analogue and went the "wrote ...

• At July 7, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  "No, the next game is Mortal Kombat vs. Looney Tunes."

  This is why I love you Bill. That you were the ...

• At July 7, 2009, Brad Curran wrote:

  I am also like Gavin okay for pointing out which '90s fighting franchise is better with math. I might grow ...

Dwayne McDuffie confirmed this on his message board, writing:

Nope, it was my own doing. I was fired when "Lying in the Gutters" ran a compilation of two years or so of my answers to fans' questions on the DC Comics discussion boards. I'm told my removal had nothing to with either the quality of my work or the level of sales, rather with my revelation of behind-the-scenes creative discussions.

There's a little bit more in that thread. I haven't been reading the book after giving a few issues early on a look, but I've heard a lot of negative things about the writing -- that seem to be explained by editorial dictating characters and story elements. My question: was McDuffie right to discuss those elements when asked given that he's the writer and blamed for those faults and "clearing his name" makes sense, or is this sort of behaviour unprofessional? My take below.

I've always had certain issues with editors taking a heavy-hand in the creative process, often wondering that if they want to write the books, why don't they simply do that instead of hiring someone and then leading them by the hand through every step of the process? They obviously hired Dwayne McDuffie to write the book for a reason -- so why not let him write it?

I spent a bit of last week reading Christopher Priest's accounts of working in the comics industry, which detail a lot of similar incidents of behind-the-scenes actions where books are sunk by (seeming) editorially mismanagement of various kinds (including Priest's own actions at times). Mark Waid has discussed similar things, as has Chris Claremont and many others, so it's not like these reports by McDuffie seem unbelivable.

However, I'm torn on what the proper course of action is for a creator to take when it's his or her reputation that's being damaged because of the actions of others. It's easy for fans to say "Well, he should quit or shut up" since it's not our job and paycheque on the line. There's also the idea that while fans may blame McDuffie, comics insiders know what's really going on, so McDuffie's career won't really be damaged, but accounts by creators don't support that since it's not uncommon for everyone involved in a book to blame someone else (ie. writers blame editors, editors blame writers), so who knows what the perception is of these events inside the industry...

Honestly, I want to side with McDuffie, but that's because I'm not really sure what else he could do beyond quitting or shutting up, both of which either result in losing the paycheque (which he has) or allowing his reputation as a writer to be horribly damaged (which it hasn't necessarily).

What do you think?

91 Comments

• At May 28, 2009, Matthew E wrote:

  I figure, McDuffie's been around. He knows how this works. In saying the stuff he said, he must have known ...

• At May 28, 2009, Shaun wrote:

  I thought McDuffie's comments were remarkably respectful and professional for what they were—but being critical of management is always a ...

• At May 28, 2009, thesea nj wrote:

  Alternatively, a public grievance could have the editorial mandates back-off, giving the writer room to breathe. The first interview for ...

• At May 28, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  If he disliked writing it so much, I don't think he'd really mind being removed from the book. He wasn't ...

• At May 28, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  Quite possibly. I do think the idea that he raised these issues may have been attempt to use public opinion ...

• At May 28, 2009, Jack Norris wrote:

  Things like full-on trade secrets and the type of information that would give a competitor an unfair advantage are the ...

• At May 28, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  As I understand it, it seems to me Mr. McDuffie has a legitimate grievance. It stands to reason that DC ...

• At May 28, 2009, Michael wrote:

  I don't think McDuffie did anything wrong, but I'm not at all surprised they handed him his walking papers. Few ...

• At May 28, 2009, Dork wrote:

  The very-top, down editorial hand controlling everything is also what Chuck Dixon has said is the current status at DC ...

• At May 28, 2009, John Cage wrote:

  Well this is a kick in the head. Even with all of the tie-ins and editorial interference, I've been enjoying ...

• At May 28, 2009, NickT wrote:

  "I’ve always had certain issues with editors taking a heavy-hand in the creative process, often wondering that if they want ...

• At May 28, 2009, Mr Wesley wrote:

  McDuffie has always come across as a consument (sp) professional. So there's that. On the other hand, while he may ...

• At May 28, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  "He wasn’t allowed to tell the stories he wanted to tell– that’s hideously frustrating for a writer."

  Probably true, but when ...

• At May 28, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  What's the point of ever putting Chuck Dixon on a book for anybody? He hasn't written an interesting comic in ...

• At May 28, 2009, McK wrote:

  Otherwise, we need laws in place cutting back on the power to police employee blogs and other channels of public ...

• At May 28, 2009, McK wrote:

  Just as an example to add to my comments above -- I used to work in a job where the ...

• At May 28, 2009, Superfriend wrote:

  I'll miss McDuffie. I've been waiting to see what Dwayne would write, hoping that he would be 'free' do ...

• At May 28, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  ”

  But some of the issues McDuffie came up against were to do with what was happening in other books. Wether ...

• At May 28, 2009, Jack Norris wrote:

  "Anything you put on the internet is public information, oftentimes even if it is password protected."

  You're not telling me anything ...

• At May 28, 2009, Ricardo wrote:

  I think Dwayne had to step forward because he was being lambasted for his erratic run on JLA. And I ...

• At May 28, 2009, McK wrote:

  I’m just advocating legal constraints on a company’s ability to crack down on such things. Disagree with that notion as ...

• At May 28, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  I disagree with you, Jack. Unless you're a government employee, a company is a private entity. Whether it's privately owned ...

• At May 28, 2009, McK wrote:

  Curiously, this was ALSO the case for Jim Shooter and his great little run at Legion of Super-Heroes. And probably ...

• At May 28, 2009, Ricardo wrote:

  McK

  Actually, Jim Shooter DID speak up before he was fired. He said he had to change things and shorten his ...

• At May 28, 2009, Stephen wrote:

  Geez, every writer I like at DC keeps getting run off by editorial. Timm and Rucka had better watch their ...

• At May 28, 2009, T. wrote:

  I don’t think McDuffie did anything wrong, but I’m not at all surprised they handed him his walking papers. Few ...

• At May 28, 2009, Apodaca wrote:

  I think it's pretty petty of DC to fire him for that. It's like they kicked him out of the ...

• At May 28, 2009, T. wrote:

  To me, the sad thing is now McDuffie does not get to sheppard his own creations from the Milestone universe ...

• At May 28, 2009, Coralskipper wrote:

  As the son and grandson of small business owners, one who has spent most of his life listening to them ...

• At May 28, 2009, Josh wrote:

  There are a couple of things going on here.

  One is McDuffie essentially being canned for going public with his problems ...

• At May 28, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  To be fair, there are only two writers these days that can write whatever they want (and in the process ...

• At May 28, 2009, T. wrote:

  Coralskipper...all he did was say which story decisions came from editorial. He didn't badmouth them or anything if you ...

• At May 28, 2009, thesea nj wrote:

  "FUN FACT: All of the above are writers… now must be a great time to be an artist at DC!"

  Because ...

• At May 28, 2009, Daryll B wrote:

  So if DC is pushing their 'Nation', 'Source' and Twitter informational stuff, talking about how open they are with the ...

• At May 28, 2009, Dean wrote:

  FUN FACT: All of the above are writers… now must be a great time to be an artist at DC!

  I ...

• At May 28, 2009, Dean wrote:

  Huh....

  I guess the Internet is for baseless speculation, so I will just note that Dan DiDio no longer has his ...

• At May 28, 2009, T. wrote:

  I'm convinced Didio must have the most comprehensive set of blackmail pictures of Time Warner execs ever because I can't ...

• At May 28, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  If you make PUBLIC inappropriate comments about your boss or your job and it, in turn, detracts from your ability ...

• At May 28, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  No, his great crime was accidentally telling enough of the truth that it was easy for LITG readers to see ...

• At May 28, 2009, Sean wrote:

  "I think Dwayne had to step forward because he was being lambasted for his erratic run on JLA."

  I don't like ...

• At May 28, 2009, Sijo wrote:

  Does DC have the right to fire McDuffie on a whim? Yes, as long as there's not a contract that ...

• At May 28, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  Are they wrist slapping him and making an example… OR, is their attempt to put out the fire - McDuffie ...

• At May 28, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I don’t like to side with DC, but, if somebody came to me and complained about something the company had ...

• At May 28, 2009, red Ricky wrote:

  I'm with Hatcher, here.

  If what Dwayne said was wrong, he should've been corrected, or told so, or fired, when he ...

• At May 28, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  It’s funny how everybody loves Freedom of Speech; that is… just as long as nobody says something that you don’t ...

• At May 29, 2009, red Ricky wrote:

  Freedom of speech is a government/legal concern, not a private one.

  I was just expressing a general sentiment of mine; not ...

• At May 29, 2009, Paul Newell wrote:

  As the son and grandson of small business owners, one who has spent most of his life listening to them ...

• At May 29, 2009, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Yeah, sure sounds like a poor decision by DC to me, as well.

• At May 29, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  Of course you side with McDuffie. The choice is the guy who gave us the Justice League cartoon or ...

• At May 29, 2009, Paul Newell wrote:

  Did any of you guys actually read the LITG that Chad linked to?

  A game of "Chinese Whispers" is a wonderful ...

• At May 29, 2009, Vicus Smith wrote:

  I'm sad to say that i'm happy that he got taken off the book. McDuffie needs to be on a ...

• At May 29, 2009, Tony Isabella wrote:

  I have a new mantra. It goes like this:

  "Forget it, Jake. It's DC Comics."

  DC has been screwing over ...

• At May 29, 2009, Graeme Burk wrote:

  As Greg said, just gave the facts of what happened behind the scenes and often said that he didn't blame ...

• At May 29, 2009, Dexter wrote:

  Actually, I do see similarites with the corporate world, but not quite how most are seeing it here.

  He hasn't been ...

• At May 29, 2009, Rusty Priske wrote:

  He deserved to lose that gig. It isn't that he shouldn't "lift the curtain", it is that he basically told ...

• At May 29, 2009, Vicus Smith wrote:

  Yeahm you caught that before I thought about the title of this article. I hope this gives McDuffie room for ...

• At May 29, 2009, sgt rawk wrote:

  Only DC book I read is Jonah Hex. Haven't read Justice League in years. I just assume they save the ...

• At May 29, 2009, T. wrote:

  He deserved to lose that gig. It isn’t that he shouldn’t “lift the curtain”, it is that he basically told ...

• At May 29, 2009, T. wrote:

  I’d rather take Meltzer than the mess that plagued Dwane McDuffie’s run. I’m only 27, so this is the least ...

• At May 29, 2009, T. wrote:

  Oh, and I doubt that the real reason is McDuffie talked. That’s just a convenient excuse (and perhaps a warning ...

• At May 29, 2009, McK wrote:

  o if DC is pushing their ‘Nation’, ‘Source’ and Twitter informational stuff, talking about how open they are with the ...

• At May 29, 2009, Carl wrote:

  I think Justice League might be a tough book to write for, especially today. First, there's the age old ...

• At May 29, 2009, T. wrote:

  I don’t like to side with DC, but, if somebody came to me and complained about something the company had ...

• At May 29, 2009, joshschr wrote:

  I visited the DC forum after Rich ran the article, and it was pretty bland stuff. Fans asked why ...

• At May 29, 2009, McK wrote:

  The real problem is that DC editorial seems ashamed to sign off on their own handiwork.

  Well the real problem is ...

• At May 29, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  I don't see how he "told people that the book was going to suck." He basically just explained the ...

• At May 29, 2009, Vicus Smith wrote:

  OK, T. Fight crazy hyperbole with more crazy hyperbole. I get it!

• At May 29, 2009, Vicus Smith wrote:

  I haven't bought the book in a while (because it didn't make my budget cuts) but this thing sounds in ...

• At May 29, 2009, T. wrote:

  Vicius, I think the editorial needs a relaunch, not the book! No matter who they put on it, they ...

• At May 29, 2009, Lawrence wrote:

  The injustice wasn't that he got fired. The injustice is that he never actually got to write the Justice League ...

• At May 29, 2009, Dean wrote:

  DC has been screwing over talent since the Major was running things. It’s always been a petty and pompous company. ...

• At May 29, 2009, Vicus Smith wrote:

  I don't know who Vicius is ;) but I agree with you. Editorial should be on the curb for Countdown ...

• At May 29, 2009, T. wrote:

  Oops, my bad on the misspelled name brother.

• At May 29, 2009, SageShini wrote:

  "Oh, and I doubt that the real reason is McDuffie talked. That’s just a convenient excuse (and perhaps a warning ...

• At May 29, 2009, Smokescreen wrote:

  If it's been mentioned, forgive me:

  When I hear stuff like this, all I can think of is the floating Julie ...

• At May 29, 2009, Michael wrote:

  Thinking about it, I think my lack of surprise comes less from anything he said, and more from an awareness ...

• At May 29, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  DC Editorial was one of the reasons Alan Grant stopped doing Batman, too...

  They wouldn't let him write what he wanted, ...

• At May 29, 2009, James Moar wrote:

  "I’m reminded of when Colleen Doran trashed the ink job done on an issue of Sandman she’d done. On the ...

• At May 29, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  Does this effect McDuffie's position writing Time Warner's animated shows ( most recently, Ben 10: Alien Force )? I doubt ...

• At May 29, 2009, Chad Nevett wrote:

  The effect of poor inking on a penciller's reputation can also be quite damaging since the average reader may not ...

• At May 29, 2009, Dean wrote:

  @ smokescreen

  The dynamic of editor needing to sell books vs. writer who just wants to write a good story can’t ...

• At May 29, 2009, Dean wrote:

  DC has been screwing over talent since the Major was running things. It’s always been a petty and pompous company. ...

• At May 29, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  “Oh, and I doubt that the real reason is McDuffie talked. That’s just a convenient excuse (and perhaps a warning ...

• At May 29, 2009, Richard Pachter wrote:

  I think Didio covered the whole "editorial mandate" thing quite well in his Q&A.

  Basically, all corporate books are done under ...

• At May 29, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  red Ricky said:

  "But if I remember Valerie D’Orazio’s case correctly; staff personnel may not have any rights either. "

  Any time ...

• At May 29, 2009, Afraid of Retaliation wrote:

  ...I worked at Milestone for some time, and actually overheard McDuffie go severely ballistic when one of the freelancers publicly ...

• At May 29, 2009, Jack Norris wrote:

  "I also think that if Dwayne was unhappy, he could have quit. As a freelancer, that’s his right."

  Maybe that's what ...

• At May 29, 2009, Jack Norris wrote:

  Also,

  jazzbo: you didn't actually bother reading my clarification to McK, did you. I know full well that's not the way ...

• At May 29, 2009, Gatman wrote:

  Who would be the best choice to replace Didio? DC comics seems to have some serious internal issues. ...

• At May 30, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  Jack, I did read your clarification, and I got that you're advocating those kind of laws. I was saying I ...

• At May 30, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  And re-reading my initial post, I realize maybe I wasn't totally clear. I wasn't just trying to point out the ...

1.  Anime News Network confirms that Shojo Beat magazine will be ending in just a few weeks with the July 2009 issue, which will actually be released in June.  I'll really miss Shojo Beat -- it started up just a few months after I started reading manga in earnest.  Through the mag I discovered joy that is NANA and as a whole the magazine allowed me to figure out my taste as a manga fan by featuring a diverse line-up of shojo works.  I never minded the change in the manga titles serialized in the magazine, and in fact most of the time they were actually appreciated since this sped up releases of titles like NANA.

And because the issue of bloggers bitching about the end of the mag but not actually buying it has come up a lot since the news broke, I feel compelled to note that I ordered Shojo Beat through my comic book shop every month (trying to support local businesses and all, although I guess I should have subscribed and upped the circulation numbers.  And saved a lot of money.  Oh well).

2.  Viz is starting up an on-line seinen manga mag called IKKI.  They've already posted the first chapter of Daisuke Igarashi's Children of the Sea, which is lovely and everyone should go check it out.  The comic reader they are using is fairly easy to navigate (it is the same one they are using for RIN-NE).

Here is the relevant info from the site itself:

Now, in partnership with VIZ Media and its "VIZ Signature" line of graphic novels, IKKI is bringing the works of some of its top creators to the English-language audience. Each month, new chapters of featured manga series will be offered online in their entirety. After the completion of the online serialization of a volume, that volume will become available as a VIZ Signature graphic novel, subject to reader demand. Also, each month new content—such as creator interviews, feature articles, news, and giveaways—will be posted on the site.

The full site will launch in August 2009. We hope that you look forward to it.

We'll have to see what "reader demand" means, but I look forward to simply having access to works that otherwise wouldn't be available in the English marketplace.

3.  Viz will be raising its prices on its Shojo Beat and Shonen Jump books to $9.99, which is a dollar hike for Beat books, a two dollar hike for Jump books.  (Found out about this via Simon Jones over at his Icarus Blog, who points to a mania.com thread breaking the news here.)  Checking amazon.com it looks like the poster at mania is correct and the price increase will be implemented for October's books.

This is the passing of an era -- I'm not really upset by this financial decision by Viz, they're catching up to a price point for manga that was implemented almost five years ago, but this means making tougher choices in the future about which Viz books I can pick up.  Viz puts out a LOT of series I currently follow and a lot of series I'd like to follow in the future.  Of course, a lot of Viz series I like are also Viz Signature series, which means they already are a little more expensive than most other series (although so completely worth it).

It's easy to put this in perspective since most American TPB's are $14.99-$19.99 (and sometimes more depending on the specific book & publisher) but the wallet still feels the pinch, of course.  Particularly when we look at long running shonen series like Gin Tama or Reborn!, which are both fun, silly books, but at $9.99 it becomes hard justifying buying them both.

6 Comments

• At May 23, 2009, MarkAndrew wrote:

  Yeah, with you on the last part. As a primarilly-American-comics fan (still) ten bucks for well over a hunret ...

• At May 23, 2009, William wrote:

  I really enjoyed the first chapter of Children of the Sea. I'm looking forward to future installments.

  As far as "Reader ...

• At May 23, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " Yeah, with you on the last part. As a primarilly-American-comics fan (still) ten bucks for well over a hunret ...

• At May 24, 2009, Dan Felty wrote:

  Well, I've never (or even seen, I think) Shojo Beat, but I've already gone to the website. I can't ...

• At July 10, 2009, Pulp Magazine Manga for Grownups « Alternating Reality Books wrote:

  [...] Manga Before Flowers - All the Viz News That’s Fit to Blog (goodcomics.comicbookresources.com) [...]

• At July 13, 2009, will wrote:

  sig ikki recently posted a video trailer for children of the sea. Everyone should check it out

  Children of the Sea ...

Lastly, and this is really important, while we didn’t know this would be the last arc until comparatively recently, I had it in mind that it was possible it would be from the time I started plotting it. Indeed, the end of this arc marks the end of what I had planned for the book when I started. One of the images right at the finish is what I always felt I was heading towards, and I’m very pleased I got there. So: you will get a real, thorough, proper, ending, not just of ‘Vampire State’, but of the whole run. It hasn’t been rushed to fit the space, it hasn’t been compromised, it won’t just suddenly cut off: it’s what I intended. I think the Annual and the two remaining issues finish off one of my best stories in any media, and that story is actually the entirety of Captain Britain and MI-13. You’ll see what I mean a bit more next issue. This is a comic with a proper ending.

A real shame as this has been a great comic and "Vampire State" a truly fantastic story.

72 Comments

• At May 19, 2009, Brian wrote:

  Damn.

  Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn.

  B

• At May 19, 2009, Chris Simpson wrote:

  Whilst I wasn't thrilled with the first story arc I was pleased I stuck with the title as "Vampire State" ...

• At May 19, 2009, tdubb wrote:

  this really sucks. Big fan of this book, i own the entire run.

• At May 19, 2009, Mike wrote:

  Bummer. I sure hope Marvel can find more projects for Cornell (and that he wants to keep writing comics!)

• At May 19, 2009, Darren Wilson wrote:

  Gutted. Absolutely gutted. Bye bye Marvel, this is the series that brought me back.

• At May 19, 2009, PaxHouse wrote:

  Oh, nooooo....!!

  Marvel did it again....!! >:(

  At least this comic will end much better than most comics from Marvel did........

• At May 19, 2009, Earl Allison wrote:

  Man that's depressing. I really was enjoiying that book! It does mean a lot that it will end ...

• At May 19, 2009, RachelWagner wrote:

  Marvel allows good books like this to get cancelled, while Bendis' Fake Avengers continues publication.

  Logic at Marvel? Ha! ...

• At May 19, 2009, ryan wrote:

  Sad news, but I think the rumor a few months ago had everyone expecting this. I've enjoyed the series and ...

• At May 19, 2009, s1rude wrote:

  This sucks.

  On the other hand, kudos to Cornell for his approach. Every creator who gets a pitch ...

• At May 19, 2009, Dunc wrote:

  While this is very disappointing, I do love a story that has an ending, so that's nice to hear.

  This, Young ...

• At May 19, 2009, Olly McPherson wrote:

  What a bummer--one of my favorites, gone.

• At May 19, 2009, Eric wrote:

  Well that blows. Not surprised, but oh well. Moving on.

• At May 19, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  If comics should be good, then why do all the best comics end up canceled?

  Between this and Young ...

• At May 19, 2009, Larry King wrote:

  I left the book when my LCS gipped me on it for two months and I was told it was ...

• At May 19, 2009, Mortimer Toynbee wrote:

  Not really Marble's fault. Not enough people bought the book to justify continuation is all.

• At May 19, 2009, RachelWagner wrote:

  If Marvel supported GOOD books, it would have sold. But they don't so it didn't. Instead they are ...

• At May 19, 2009, Matt Spatola wrote:

  Yeah this is bad news but like was said earlier is all about sales. We as readers love to rip ...

• At May 19, 2009, M Bloom wrote:

  This is a pity. Not a surprise by any stretch of the imagination, but still a pity.

• At May 19, 2009, DC Guy wrote:

  It's nice to see DC isn't the only company canceling great books before their time...

• At May 19, 2009, Omega Alpha wrote:

  DAMN YOU, MARVEL!

  It's a shame that Hudlin writes over 40 issues of Black Banther, even gets a relaunch, Claremont gets ...

• At May 19, 2009, jazzbo wrote:

  I liked this title, and it sucks that it's being canceled. I'm also not a fan of Bendis, and think ...

• At May 19, 2009, Adam Grose wrote:

  Damn!

• At May 19, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  @jazzbo, that's just crazy talk. Clearly Marvel planned this as a personal insult to all the REAL fans. It is ...

• At May 19, 2009, Ultimate Matt wrote:

  This book got a pretty good start and a good support via Secret Invasion - the sales were its to ...

• At May 19, 2009, NickT wrote:

  "What a joke this is. I want to go to the Bendis forums and tell Marvel its time they start ...

• At May 19, 2009, DanLarkin wrote:

  @Nick T- that is impossible. A Bendis fan could NOT love a book that REAL fans love! SHAME!

• At May 19, 2009, David Uzumeri wrote:

  Once you start capitalizing words and getting authoritative like that, you always come off like a timecube.com expert.

  MARVEL HAS 4-CORNER ...

• At May 19, 2009, Ken Raining wrote:

  One thing they did was botch the first trade paperback; it only contained four issues for $16 (plus two old ...

• At May 19, 2009, Colin.ynwa wrote:

  Well I wondere if this would happen. Today I cancelled the last remaining Marvel books on pull list as Dark ...

• At May 19, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  @Rachel - Whoa! What book is being marketed to pedophiles? That statement is just flat out ridiculous ...

• At May 19, 2009, Blackjak wrote:

  NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

  It's not true!!!!!

  That's IMPOSSIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  *Sob*

• At May 19, 2009, Davros wrote:

  Well, that's another $4 back in my pocket.

  Thanks for making it a lot easier to cut back on my comic ...

• At May 19, 2009, Glen Newman wrote:

  I'm on trades with this so feel a little guilty that I didn't pick up the singles. It's a pity ...

• At May 19, 2009, Tim wrote:

  I was going to get the trade this week as I was quite intrigued by all the reviews; I don't ...

• At May 19, 2009, Hysan wrote:

  Well, dang.

  That's a shame. I hope Cornell gets to play with these characters again eventually.

• At May 19, 2009, Martin Gray wrote:

  I'm really upset by this news - can't Marvel just stick a big X on front, or sell it to ...

• At May 19, 2009, Michael wrote:

  I hope you can see this, comic book industry, because I'm doing it as hard as I can.

• At May 19, 2009, Scavenger wrote:

  I'm sorry for the fans of the book, as they were enjoying it.

  For me, I dropped it a few issues ...

• At May 19, 2009, muffinpeddler wrote:

  wow. Really sucks. I was hearing really good things about this and was going to add it to my pull ...

• At May 19, 2009, muffinpeddler wrote:

  And I do have the first trade, which i loved.

• At May 19, 2009, DaVeO wrote:

  @ mufinpeddler

  Please tell me you also read Secret Six. One of DC's best IMHO.

• At May 19, 2009, muffinpeddler wrote:

  Definitely! I LOVE the Secret Six, maybe more than the Thunderbolts.

• At May 19, 2009, The Dude wrote:

  Goddamn it!!

  This series is so amazing, all the way since the Wisdom mini-series. This was also one the few series ...

• At May 19, 2009, Roman wrote:

  I actually want to cry. This (along with Iron Fist) was the most consistently entertaining and well-crafted comic from ...

• At May 19, 2009, Roman wrote:

  P.S. People are right that the fault lies with the fans; don't just tell Marvel, tell your friends! And then ...

• At May 19, 2009, Ian A. wrote:

  Man, this bums me right out.

  I hope Marvel does right by Cornell and gives him a shot at whatever ...

• At May 19, 2009, jjc wrote:

  well, he's writing Dark Reign: Young Avengers right now, maybe that'll reach a wider audience.

• At May 19, 2009, Bill Reed wrote:

  Sonuvabitch. It was one of the handful of comics I was going to keep buying the singles for-- Marvel's best ...

• At May 19, 2009, Neal K wrote:

  We can only hope that Marvel recognizes the critical acclaim Captain Britain received and figures out that Cornell can be ...

• At May 19, 2009, Alan Coil wrote:

  Never read it, so I won't miss it, but...

  Over the years, I have been heartbroken many times by the cancellation ...

• At May 19, 2009, Rob wrote:

  @Neal: Dark Power Pack? DARK POWER PACK?!?!?!? Holy....

  Marvel GET ON IT!

• At May 19, 2009, jhota wrote:

  i'm really going to miss this book. my Marvel pull list just keeps shrinking and shrinking.

• At May 19, 2009, Jeremy wrote:

  Stop getting mad at Marvel. They are a business, which means they need to make money first. The fact that ...

• At May 19, 2009, Capt USA wrote:

  I almost dumped this book after the story ar, but stuck through it and am loving Vampire state (with one ...

• At May 19, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Well this will cut my Marvel books down by a quarter...

  Now I only have Amazing Spider-man, Moon Knight and The ...

• At May 19, 2009, Michael wrote:

  Moon Knight's canceled too, Funky.

• At May 19, 2009, Andrew Kennedy wrote:

  Well, damn. I guess this a a few more bucks in my pockets but really Marvel? Honestly? I know it's ...

• At May 19, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Moon Knight’s canceled too, Funky.

  For shizzle, dizzle?

  Jaysis.

  And around the same time as Young Liars.

  They should start paying me not to ...

• At May 19, 2009, Cass wrote:

  Backlogged to infinity so I never got around to grabbing this book. I'll be one of the post-cancellum picker-uppers though, ...

• At May 19, 2009, Jack Norris wrote:

  Cancelled books, cancelled shows, good movies that don't last a week in the theatres, season after season of Survivor and ...

• At May 19, 2009, Stefan wrote:

  They cancelled The Order when it was the best book they were publishing. They're cancelling Captain Britain, and it's ...

• At May 19, 2009, Stefan wrote:

  That said, I'll let it go. Whatever Cornell does next'll probably be even better. Anyone checking out his ...

• At May 19, 2009, "O" the Humanatee! wrote:

  The comments here raise a bigger question: How do companies assess sales and popularity when some people wait for the ...

• At May 19, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I'd say launching a series as a tie-in to a crossover may boost sales on a monthly, but may very ...

• At May 20, 2009, Joe Rice wrote:

  Not very many people bought it. It was pretty good. I'll live fine without it.

• At May 20, 2009, Rachel Wagner wrote:

  @Neal K - Yeah well a lot of Americans voted Osama into office, that doesn't mean they know what's best ...

• At May 20, 2009, Joe Rice wrote:

  Oh, boy, a new wacko.

• At May 20, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I’ll live fine without it.

  When you end up on the street - shaggy haired, copping mouthfuls from businessmen to raise ...

• At May 23, 2009, Legion wrote:

  @Cass: "So don’t blame Marvel, blame, I don’t know, philistinism."

  Thank you for the most insightful forum comment I have ever ...

• At June 6, 2009, Dazzer wrote:

  i dont know very much about comics, but as im knocking on abit and going through my second childhood i ...

• At October 29, 2009, Jason wrote:

  Having read the entire series I do have to a bouquet to the writer and artists, and a brick ...

Jeremy Love's Bayou was the big winner of the night, taking home the Glyph Award for Best Artist, Best Writer, Best Female Character, Best Comic Strip and Story of the Year.

DC Comics cleaned up, as Bayou is part of DC's Zuda! online comic wing. They also won for Best Male Character (Black Lightning), Best Cover (Unknown Soldier #1) and the Fan Award for Best Comic (voted on by fans) for Vixen's recent mini-series.

1 Comments

• At May 19, 2009, Libaax wrote:

  Its cool Unknown Soldier won. Its a very good series.

Diamond's new policy was announced back in January, when they raised the purchase order benchmark that comics would have to meet in order to be featured in Previews. The fear was that small publishers would be driven out of business, making us all much sadder. What does "purchase order benchmark" mean? Well, let's check it out. According to several sources, this means that a comic needs to make about $6000-$6500 in retail business for Diamond to keep listing it. The chain, in case you don't know, is this: Publisher sells to Diamond, Diamond sells to retailer, retailer sells to consumer. However, if the retailers don't order enough of the comic, even if it's listed in Previews, Diamond won't issue a purchase order to get the books from the publisher. The publisher gets screwed and the consumers get screwed. The retailers, however, won't get screwed because they haven't paid for the book yet. Here's the interesting part: What Diamond pays the publisher for the comic is subject to debate. I've asked my retailer how much they pay for their comics. Marvel and DC give him a 55% discount - meaning for a $2.99 comic, he pays Diamond (who buys the book from the publisher, remember) $1.34. In order for Diamond to make a profit, they have to pay less than that to Marvel and DC. The worst discount my retailer gets from a publisher is 42% - meaning they pay Diamond 58% of the cover price. Theoretically, this means the retailer could charge anything he wants over $1.34 for the comic - the $2.99 price is MSRP, to an extent. This is why my retailer offers a 20% discount on his comics, and why, if you're buying your books at cover price (plus tax), you're getting screwed.

That's the numbers part of it (although, as noted, I can't find how much Diamond pays the publishers). Back when the new benchmark was announced, several people had apocalyptic things to say about the new policy. Heidi McDonald and Johanna Draper Carlson brought it up, while Tom Spurgeon published a letter sent to him by Dan Vado, the owner of SLG (ironically, SLG will be important later in this post). Vado predicts that Marvel and DC, which have a different relationship with Diamond due to their size, might be the only publishers to survive. He also points out that books don't have to hit the benchmark every time, but if they consistently fall short, Diamond will kick them to the curb. Initial orders are given a lower threshold, but Diamond insists that the book move more copies or it will drop it from the catalog. Simon Jones breaks it down pretty well:

Comic Ace issue #1 has a cover price of $5, and retailers order 1000 copies, putting its retail value at $5000. It surpasses both the sales threshhold and the purchase order minimum. A purchase order for 1000 copies is issued by Diamond, and Comic Ace issue #2 appears in the next Previews catalog.

Comic Bee issue #1 only garners orders for 500 copies, totalling $2500 retail. Diamond issues a purchase order for 500 copies, but warns the publisher that if orders for issue 2 does not increase, they would not allow issue 3 to appear in Previews.

Comic Cee issue #1 gets an abysmal 200 orders, for a total value of $1000. Despite retailers ordering 200 copies, they will never receive them … Diamond refuses to issue a purchase order at all for Comic Cee because it missed the PO benchmark.

Verstehen sie? Yeah, it's confusing.

This has all come to a head recently because of the poor sales performance of The Warlord of Io and Other Stories by James Turner, published by SLG. This is, as far as I have seen, the first comic by an established publisher that has been rejected by Diamond. According to the other, cooler blog at CBR, Robot 6, Diamond told SLG that the sales on the one-shot meant that they (Diamond) would not solicit the new mini-series that the one-shot sets up. This means that SLG will not publish it, although you can buy both the one-shot and the first issue of the mini-series at SLG's web site as a PDF file (the first issue is here for 99 cents, while the one-shot is here for $1.49). The Warlord of Io got good reviews (Parkin naturally links to one on his own blog, but damn it, I'll link to mine!), but as usual, good reviews mean nothing when it comes to sales. That's really neither here nor there, except to I'd like to note once again that James Turner is freakin' awesome.

The problem with Turner and SLG being rejected by Diamond has led to all sorts of reactions from the usual suspects: Tom Spurgeon discusses it, Heidi McDonald weighs in here and here, and Brian Hibbs checks in. Hibbs, as a retailer, offers an interesting point of view, but he shoots himself in the foot a bit by beginning his essay with "CONSUMERS: Honestly, a fair chunk of the issue is your own fault." It vexes me whenever vendors blame the consumers for not buying what they think the consumers should be buying, but Hibbs does go on to qualify that statement. He takes everyone in the chain to task, too, so there's that. He brings up the idea of the "mercy fuck" - if only distributors and retailers would order a lot more copies of, say, The Warlord of Io, and put it right next to Generic Superhero Shit Comic #57, then all the fans of Generic Superhero Shit Comic #57 would see it and see the light and buy it! Yeah, that's pretty stupid. Maybe we should blame the consumer ...

Despite the provocative title of this post, I don't necessarily blame Diamond. They're a business, trying to stay in business in tough economic times. What is annoying, however, is that they aren't more forthcoming (as far as I can tell). I suppose it's their business how they do business (I can still joke about this!), but when they say it's unprofitable for them to list a comic in Previews, I wonder why. Consider: I submit my comic book, Angst-Filled Days in 1980s Suburbia, my trenchant memoir about growing up white, male, and middle-class and how that totally fucked me up, to Diamond for review. They agree to put it in Previews. Here's where things become secretive. How much does it cost Diamond to put an inch-high blurb in Previews about my awesome autobiography? I don't know. Let's say it's not much. Then, because I have a large extended family, 100 people order my comic. I charge $5 for it, because you're privileged to read about my summer days watching Star Blazers while wracked by adolescent ennui, bitches! Diamond pays me $1.75 for it, the retailer pays Diamond $2.25 for it, Diamond makes a profit of $50. Does it cost more than $50 to put my tiny blurb in Previews and to ship it? I assume that shipping the books makes up the largest part of Diamond's expenses, but I don't know. Now, I wouldn't expect a comic selling 100 copies to make it into Previews. According to SLG's web site, The Warlord of Io and Other Stories sold 900 copies through the Direct Market. Yes, that sucks, but the question remains: How much money did Diamond lose to advertise the product? I'm sure I'm missing something, but if the only money they lose is to put a short solicit in their catalog and the shipping costs (which I'm sure they get a bulk discount on), it seems like it wouldn't take that much for them to turn a profit. Again, I must point out that I don't have all the information. I welcome people with more knowledge to come here and tear me a new one.

The question remains (and this is where I want to look at solutions, as wrong-headed as they may be): What can we, as readers, do? Well, on-line seems to be the place to go. I'm sure many creators have made this point, but Scott Sava shows up to comment on one of Heidi's posts, and he mentions how much better it is to build an audience through the web, then offer a trade paperback of the collection (I know Brian Clevinger, for one, espouses this, although I can't find where he mentioned it, and I'm sure other creators feel this way too). This, of course, leads to the problem of reading comics on-line, something we've debated before. I HATE reading comics on-line, mostly because of the format, but also because (old man alert!) it hurts my eyes. I suppose I could learn to live with it, if we have a revolution in the way comics on-line are produced. That's one option, of course.

Diamond, presumably, isn't going away, unless there's a cataclysm in the industry. If you're hooked on your Wednesday single-issue fix, there is something you can do. Basically, consumers need to be more proactive (a word I hate, but it fits here). In the comments thread of one of Heidi's post, customers who use Previews show up. Ray Cornwall writes: "So the first book, Warlord of Io and Other Stories, did go through Diamond? Huh. If that’s true, I’m upset, because I would have pre-ordered had I known it was James Turner. Bleh." Yes, it's true, Ray - it was offered in Previews. He later writes:

"I'm a guy who fills out the form, and have for years. Do you [he's addressing a retailer who commented before he did] do anything to help them fill out the form? Do you offer a newsletter offering favorites or specials to those who pre-order? Pre-ordering is a lot of work. It takes me two hours to go through the catalog. In return, MOC gives me 30-50% off my order. If you want your customers to pre-order, offer an incentive!"

I've said something along this lines ever since I started writing about Previews here on the blog. My retailer, as I've pointed out several times, gives Previews away. He pays Diamond $3 for it. As I've pointed out above, your retailer is making plenty of money on the comics they order, so retailers really ought to offer some kind of incentive for you to order from Previews. Ask your retailer to give it to you for free, people! His point about the time it takes is backed up by another commenter, Nate Horn, who writes:

Ryan,

Honestly, filling out the Previews order is a bit of a pain. Nothing against you, but I work two jobs - one corporate and one freelance - and I don’t want to spend 3 of my free hours each month going through a catalog looking for oddball independent books that interest me.

Now, it takes me less than an hour to fill out my Previews "order form" (the quotes are because I use my own paper, as Previews' short order form is far too short), and I order quite a lot of comics. For example, for April I ordered 39 items, and that's a fairly standard month. 11 of those were from DC, and 3 were from Marvel (3 were from Dark Horse, and 5 were from Image, while the rest were other publishers). The DC and Marvel books are mostly trade paperbacks or original graphic novels (I pre-ordered Batman and Robin #1 even though I'm confident there will be enough, and the other single issues are Vertigo books, because occasionally my store doesn't get enough copies of those). I don't know how many comics those gentlemen are ordering, but 2-3 hours to go through the catalog? Wow. They're hard core. But it really shouldn't take too long, and if you're serious about comics, why wouldn't you use Previews? I get that people have jobs (I don't), but if Mr. Horn, for instance, doesn't have an hour to go through the catalog, I wonder when he has time to actually read comics. I don't mean that snarkily, because I appreciate that he wants to use Previews, but I do wonder how he finds the time.

Another commenter, Joe Williams, is an artist who creates comics (click the link to check them out!). He's fairly grumpy:

I think it's ridiculous to force people to pre-order comics. When I go to the grocery store I can pretty much expect them to carry 30 varieties of salsa and 50 varieties of potato chips and 50 cereals (or more), they don’t just fill the store with Pop Tarts and Coke. When (if) I go to the video store it's a safe bet they won't just have 50 titles of the new Hollywood blockbuster but they’ll also have a copy or two of many of the low budget and indy titles I want to get. Comic shops think they can just sell Coke and Pop Tarts and they're doing their job because anyone who wants celery or pickles had better fill out a form every month to let them know that some people want something besides Coke and Pop Tarts.

While I agree with his sentiment, I would argue that the video stores often DON'T have quirky independent titles, or at least they don't last long on the shelves (it's been years since I went to a video store, so I could be wrong; someone makes this point later in the comments). Yes, they have more indie offerings than a comics store usually does, but it's still an imperfect system. You can extend the metaphor to video stores, music stores, and book stores. I've mentioned that my favorite band EVER is Marillion (much to Mr. Apodaca's chagrin). You basically can't find a Marillion CD in U. S. stores, because they don't sell very well. Years ago, Marillion went with a business model where fans could pre-order their discs and they would use that money to fund the actual recording. They offered a lot of bonuses for this (my name is printed in two different discs, as that was one of the perks) and once the disc was recorded, it could go to music stores in a stripped-down, "normal" version (one disc, no fancy packaging). If you're a hard core fan, you pony up the dough, man! It works well enough for Marillion that they've been able to release at least five studio albums in this way (they began it in 1998-99) and, of course, keep all the profits and retain all the rights. But you won't find Marillion discs in many actual locations, although you can get them on-line. This is true of a lot of bands I like - I've never bought a Hamell on Trial disc in a store, for instance - which puts the onus on me to find the discs. I'm not as huge a fan of music as I am of comics, but I don't know of a nice, handy catalog where I can find all the new music releases - even the tiny ones - in a given month. I'm sure it exists, but I don't go looking for it, because I don't care that much. But I like the fact that Previews exists, and I like the fact that I can pre-order comics. Joe Williams has a good point that stores ought to stock more weird stuff, but the fact is, most people want to buy DC and Marvel superhero comics, and comic book stores are, after all, businesses. This gets back to the "mercy fuck" idea, and most stores have no interest in that. If I want a furshlugginer comic, I'm going to order the confounded thing.

People respond to Joe and it becomes slightly contentious (it's the Internet, after all), but before that, Joe continues a few comments later:

Also, why can't Diamond offer their catalog on-line in non-PDF form? It's ridiculous the price they charge for a monthly catalog [This gets back to my point that retailers should give it away, or at least offer it at cost]. If there was an easier way to pre-order comics I might try it but most on-line places that offer previews of monthly titles don't list the Fantagraphics, AdHouse, etc. stuff I'd want to pre-order.

Diamond actually has this. It's not a very good system (it's kind of all over the place), and it seems like it would take a hell of a lot longer than getting the catalog. Plus, they don't list all the books they do in the printed version. But it's there, certainly, and if Diamond is losing so much damned money printing the catalog, streamline the one on-line, for crying out loud!

Ultimately, comics fans have to be aggressive. Most fans have become passive, accepting whatever their stores put out for them, which, at my store, means mainstream DC and Marvel, a few Image books (not all, just a few, usually Kirkman's), a few Dark Horse books, a few Boom! books, a few Dynamite books, and a few random issues from other publishers like Zenescope, because apparently tarted-up fairy tales sell well. You could have a decent reading experience picking up just what my store puts out, but if you're not that interested in superheroes anymore, the offerings are, admittedly, slim. They will order anything you ask them too, however. I've gotten some books based on what reviewers write on blogs, too, and I've written before about how nice it is when someone comments to me that I got them hooked on a book they wouldn't have gotten otherwise. I like to think I'm an aggressive comics reader. I'm not to the point where I follow stuff on-line, but I will, however, get a collection of, say, Kevin Colden's I Rule the Night when it gets collected. I had already known about Colden from Fishtown, but I found out about his new project from a comic blog - Tim Callahan's, to be specific.

I may disagree with Brian Hibbs claiming that it's my fault, but I do think comics fans need to stop blindly accepting what's given to them and start demanding what they want. Diamond certainly isn't the Devil. It's a business, and even Dan Vado doesn't hold a grudge for dropping Turner's latest. I think they could cut some costs without necessarily ditching smaller comics (like the on-line catalog idea). I don't have any really great ideas, but I do want to stress that, as always, it's up to you. Yes, it sucks, but comics are a hobby, and every hobby takes some work, doesn't it?

As always, fire away at me in the comments. I'm sure I've misunderstood the arcane nature of distribution and retailing, so let me know!

23 Comments

• At May 5, 2009, Ford MF wrote:

  Speaking as a book retailer (I don't sell floppies, just tradebooks, graphic novels, &c.), I have to say that of ...

• At May 5, 2009, Gavin wrote:

  That DOJ investigation into Diamond was a sham. The final ruling about how they didn't have a monopoly on ...

• At May 5, 2009, Three-Ninety NEIN!!! wrote:

  There are certain discount comic book services on the 'net that offer a Previews spreadsheet for download. It even ...

• At May 5, 2009, Greg Hatcher wrote:

  Well, it's been a while since one of us set the internet on fire. Was it your turn, or what?

  ....seriously, ...

• At May 5, 2009, Larry King wrote:

  The way the Direct Market works has never sat well for me. When I go to a Convention I will ...

• At May 5, 2009, Lucas wrote:

  Greg, I really couldn't agree more on your point that Previews should be online. I am lucky enough that ...

• At May 6, 2009, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  I remember when Jimmie Robinson from Bomb Queen came on here and said it's all our fault for not doing ...

• At May 6, 2009, amazed wrote:

  Diamond's online order form:

  >> they don’t list all the books they do in the printed version

  They don't "get" the Internet.

• At May 6, 2009, Manglr wrote:

  Just as an observation regarding Diamond's costs (and I have no special insight into this, but these do seem like ...

• At May 6, 2009, Brigid wrote:

  Actually, I think the guy with the grocery-store analogy got it exactly right. The problem with the whole system is ...

• At May 6, 2009, oletheros wrote:

  As a comics creator, I decided a long time ago that the direct market was not built with my needs ...

• At May 6, 2009, Will West wrote:

  Manglr - You pretty much hit the nail on the head. Everyone questions the reason for Diamond turning away *any* ...

• At May 6, 2009, Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources - Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment » Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes wrote:

  [...] de Guzman, and commentary from Heidi MacDonald (followed by debate in the comments section), Greg Burgas, Sean Collins and ...

• At May 6, 2009, oletheros wrote:

  Will - I understand where you are coming from when you talk about "vanity" projects (one of those weasel words ...

• At May 6, 2009, Will West wrote:

  oletheros - You're right - it's not an idea of "thinking outside the box". It is, however, an idea of ...

• At May 6, 2009, oletheros wrote:

  Will - I'm flattered that you think I'm successful. The truth is that success is (like the future) not a ...

• At May 6, 2009, Slaz wrote:

  WARNING: ECONOMICS LECTURE FOLLOWS: Without much knowledge about the inner workings of the industry, here's what microeconomic theory tells me ...

• At May 6, 2009, patrick wrote:

  that was a great article, well researched and well put.

• At May 8, 2009, ZEITGEIST / Random Comics News Story Round-Up wrote:

  [...] Finn cover before. * there's not a whole lot left in the Wizard of IO at Diamond ...

• At May 9, 2009, Joe Williams wrote:

  Thanks for the link! My only quibble is that too often people argue the exactness of the analogy I use ...

• At May 9, 2009, Greg Burgas wrote:

  Joe: The problem is that retailers still have to buy the books and if nobody buys them, they're stuck with ...

• At May 9, 2009, Thenodrin wrote:

  I think that the real problem with comparing comic book retail stores to grocery stores, or book stores, is that ...

• At May 9, 2009, Will West wrote:

  Theo - Diamond has a sales team. Their effectiveness is up for debate, but a sales force exist.

  The main problem ...

I know I received a review copy from Ivory Madison that came through Amazon, so my best bet is that Ms. Madison bought a few hundred copies all at once to send to people for review copies. That should be enough to make any book temporarily #1 on Amazon's list.

5 Comments

• At April 23, 2009, Randy wrote:

  Putting a gun to a webmasters head will do that.

• At April 23, 2009, Michael wrote:

  The Beat got one as well, so that's the operant theory.

• At April 23, 2009, Alison wrote:

  Ehn. It wasn't even that good. Rucka's Cry For Blood was much better.

• At April 24, 2009, ScottyQuick wrote:

  I loved it, I'm glad other people read it.

• At August 5, 2009, Huntress: Year One » Comics Worth Reading wrote:

  [...] was part of the review copy blitz on this book back in April, and it’s taken me this long ...

This coincides with welcome news posted to The Rumic World blog:  "As we unveil Rumiko Takahashi's newest manga series RIN-NE on this site, we're also pleased to announce some exciting news about her classic manga series Inuyasha.  Starting with volume 38 (which will be released in July), we're publishing the series the way it was originally drawn, from right to left, and releasing the graphic novels monthly.

VIZ Media also has VIZBIG 3-in-1 editions ($17.99) of the entire series on the way starting in November, also in the original unflipped format! For more Inuyasha-related products, visit the Inuyasha store."

Good news all around!

10 Comments

• At April 22, 2009, Michael wrote:

  Yay! More padded, forced romance stories!

• At April 23, 2009, Onion3000 wrote:

  Being British, as soon as I saw 'Viz' I expected lots of swearing in the traditiion of Fat Slags, Roger ...

• At April 23, 2009, Okman wrote:

  I dunno, padded may be a bit harsh. I do admit, I never got past the first volume of Inuyasha ...

• At April 23, 2009, Nitz the Bloody wrote:

  " Yay! More padded, forced romance stories! "

  In which case, you don't have to read it, and can just be ...

• At April 23, 2009, Danielle Leigh wrote:

  Yes, Nitz, that is my outlook on the whole thing! Viz may now be on the cutting edge of ...

• At June 15, 2009, janiceenberg wrote:

  Hey All, it's always nice to meet new people..Just wanted to introduce my self as new comer into the forum ...

• At August 13, 2009, comopoonY wrote:

  This looks cool so far, what's up people?

  If there's anyone else here, let me know.

  Oh, and yes I'm a ...

• At October 9, 2009, anendenna wrote:

  Best choice of the month: Cumshot, Longest cumshot, Cumshot video and Cumshot clips here http://cumshot.goodnano-av.com/

• At October 26, 2009, freeskys wrote:

  I just ran across the website, and it seems like a good deal, but I went to do my due ...

• At November 9, 2009, CotVoirlrer wrote:

  Hello.

  My PC worked slowly, too much mistakes and buggs. Please, help me to fix errors on my computer.

  My operation ...