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Post by EnriqueH on Jun 14, 2011 15:06:14 GMT -5
I have gotten into comics hardcore twice.
Both times, I got out because I had gotten disgusted with the comics industry's gluttony. They keep coming out with titles and tying shit to other shit until they wear me down and I have to throw up my hands and say, "Fuck this!"
Comics get expensive.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2011 17:20:14 GMT -5
Yeah, it'd be nice to follow one single line without needing to buy a separate line's issue to follow the story.
I'm back into comics. Goddammit. GodDAMMIT. I've put it off for a good while. Got hardcore back into it about five years ago, read them every night, real ones and downloaded ones, listened to Zep and Floyd, it was magical. Wonderful. Then I just up and lost interest completely for a good while.
I've bought five TPB's in the past couple of days. Ughhhh.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2011 20:43:54 GMT -5
I find the parallels between a dying comic industry and a dying newspaper industry amusing. That said, I accept that I likely won't have a job by next summer if I don't figure out another line of work.
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Post by EnriqueH on Jun 14, 2011 21:30:18 GMT -5
Journalism SUCKS, Brad. Get the fuck outta that industry if you can. It's for the birds.
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Post by Valentine Smith on Jun 14, 2011 22:08:04 GMT -5
There are occasionally superhero books like that. Grant Morrison's Batman has been more or less unaffected by other books for the last five years. It's been the only Bat-title I've bought in that period, and I've had no problems.
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Post by crazy_asian_man on Jun 15, 2011 0:27:11 GMT -5
Well, if that's the definition of weirdo, then I guess I'm one of those, too.  Though... I can't say that my love of single issues applies as much to the current stuff- as I often feel nowadays that the material is designed specifically KNOWING that it's going to be reprinted in one clump.... versus the older issues during the bronze age (at least I think it's the bronze age--- where things I thought (in general) felt as if it were designed more to be 'as if it were the first comic book you ever picked up' (and which was actually a real editorial edict at Marvel, according to an interview book that talked to various Marvel writers during the bronze age---- hence, oftentimes there would be an overabundance of 'recap' material woven into comics with long storylines- Captain Marvel under Starlin is a prime example), rather than a fragment of a story--- which is often how I feel most DC and Marvel comics feel today in single issues. Also, I dig the old ads and company promos that existed with the bronze age comics---(which often aren't reprinted in the collections) really makes the older single comics feel like a moment in time, in more ways than one. Having said that, if comics do end up being mostly all digital, and only trades & hardbacks exist, I'll also feel like it's a bit of a shame--- (On the flip side, can you imagine how much your comic collection will go up in value if single comics cease to exist?) |
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Post by Jor-L5150 on Jun 21, 2011 17:55:54 GMT -5
here's the scuttlebutt:
the "batman" and green lantern titles remain virtually unchanged. all recent arcs and so forth are still relevent.
bruce wayne and talia have a son, he is the current robin. (which,i have to think will eventually be ret-conned but whatevs..)
barbara gordon will return to being batgirl, but her back story ( shot by joker/paralysed/ becomes oracle) is still canon- she will be "cured" in some fashion.
so, the BIGGEST (and probably only major) revamp is superman.
of all 52 books, NONE have JSA or captain marvel.
superman is the first hero- so where will JSA fit in? for at least 50 years DC always rewrote canon around superman(and batman) being in his prime- so what will become of the golden age characters?
it will be intersting to see- i can't believe the golden age characters are mothballed.
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Post by Valentine Smith on Jun 21, 2011 22:11:02 GMT -5
I've had the impression for quite some time that DC editorial is uncomfortable with the JSA running around now that their chronological ages are roughly 100. it sorta makes sense to shunt them back off to a parallel Earth where they can retain their WW2 ties.
Action Comics and JLA both take place in the "early days" of the new DCU. At the very least, I'm buying these, as that's where they'll establish all the new status quos. I'm alright with that.
Oh, and for the record, the Grant Morrison Batman stuff that's continuing? These are the best Batman comics in at least 15 years.
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Post by Jor-L5150 on Jun 22, 2011 21:44:05 GMT -5
BleedingCool.com reports that DC Comics recently traveled to Dallas, TX to talk to retailers about the companies upcoming relaunch of their entire line of comics.
According to the report, DC told retailers that they have a seven figure marketing budget to spend on the relaunch which includes, among other things, ads on Cartoon Network, USA Today, Facebook, and movie theaters as well as conventions and promotional materials.
Dan DiDio stated that many of the 52 books in the relaunch will have six issue story arcs and, if any title has bad sales, DC will not hesitate to cancel it since the company wants strong sales across the board.
DiDio also stated that if any comics should fail to ship on time, DC is very willing to replace a writer or an artist if they fall behind.
He added that there may be a total of roughly eighty titles published company wide which would include kids comics and Vertigo.
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Post by crazy_asian_man on Jun 23, 2011 1:25:48 GMT -5
Suprisingly, on the surface, that sounds very smart. Marvel (imo) was at its best when there were only a handful of titles monthly back in the day. Quality, not quantity....
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Post by Jor-L5150 on Jun 23, 2011 17:01:05 GMT -5
I've had the impression for quite some time that DC editorial is uncomfortable with the JSA running around now that their chronological ages are roughly 100. it sorta makes sense to shunt them back off to a parallel Earth where they can retain their WW2 ties. Action Comics and JLA both take place in the "early days" of the new DCU. At the very least, I'm buying these, as that's where they'll establish all the new status quos. I'm alright with that. Oh, and for the record, the Grant Morrison Batman stuff that's continuing? These are the best Batman comics in at least 15 years. thing is, superman is older than the JSA! ;D it'd been REAL ballsy to have superman, batman and the JSA be the "core". |
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Post by Jor-L5150 on Jun 25, 2011 11:34:32 GMT -5
The Hollywood Reporter has posted an article detailing DC Entertainment's planned relocation from New York City to Burbank, CA which is part of parent Warner Bros. Entertainment's continued strategy of working more closely with the Hollywood division of the iconic comic book company. Here's an excerpt:
DC will move into its new Burbank headquarters, at a 14-story office tower called the Pointe, in mid-August. The company’s new home at 2900 W. Alameda Ave. is less than a mile from Warner Bros. Studios.
Warners inked a 10-year lease on behalf of DC in April. The deal for 35,000 square feet with landlord Worthe Real Estate Group is valued at roughly $16 million, according to sources with knowledge of the Burbank office market.
The headquarters will accommodate staffers from the company’s offices in New York and San Diego. Some have already made the move to Los Angeles and others are expected to relocate by August. However, DC Entertainment’s publishing division, DC Comics, will remain at the company’s 1700 Broadway offices in New York.
The new headquarters will house most of DC Entertainment’s leadership team, which works with Warners on film, television and interactive products. It also will be home to a group that handles the company’s collectible merchandise, such as action figures, statues and prop replicas. DC Entertainment President Diane Nelson will have an office at the headquarters space, and retain another at the Warners lot. However, it is unclear how many people will work out of the offices at the Pointe.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2011 11:39:21 GMT -5
Try as they might, they're still gonna make shit.
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Post by crazy_asian_man on Jun 25, 2011 11:42:43 GMT -5
Well, DC has sold out for years, with zero respect for its own history. Only makes sense that they leave their original offices. But with "Green Lantern's" grosses, they might want to keep one office cubicle in New York, if they have to move back....
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Post by Valentine Smith on Jun 26, 2011 6:25:39 GMT -5
oh, please. 1700 Broadway is NOT their "original offices". They were on 5th Avenue for like, 30 years before that, and somewhere ELSE before that. It's real estate, not artistic integrity.
You don't really think that guys like Mark Waid, Geoff Johns, Kurt Busiek, and Grant Morrison LIVE in the New York area so that they can report directly to their editors do you?
The publishing wing will remain in NYC because every publishing company in the solar system keeps offices in NYC. NYC is the Hollywood of publishing. It makes perfect sense for them to have Hollywood offices considering that not even the best selling titles on the market sell 100,000 copies anymore. Marvel did the exact same thing back in the 80s, but Marvel Comics is still in Manhattan, almost thirty years later.
Nerds everywhere need to unclench. If we collectively spend less time complaining about what NUMBER is on the cover of a little pamphlet that publishes the adventures of fictional characters (and the excruciating minutiae of their existences) and more time putting forth a better public face about why we love these characters and why they matter, then perhaps the medium wouldn't be dying the slow, painful death that it is.
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Post by Matt in the Hat on Jun 26, 2011 9:47:54 GMT -5
It's nice they have so much money to throw around. Seriously. But it still isn't making me want to buy these new titles. "Baby with the bathwater" yet again.... They'd better have some Fucking spectacular stories with all this bullshit.
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Post by Jor-L5150 on Jun 26, 2011 11:58:36 GMT -5
Nerds everywhere need to unclench. If we collectively spend less time complaining about what NUMBER is on the cover of a little pamphlet that publishes the adventures of fictional characters (and the excruciating minutiae of their existences) and more time putting forth a better public face about why we love these characters and why they matter, then perhaps the medium wouldn't be dying the slow, painful death that it is. val, love ya- but i MUST protest. - as to the "number on the cover"- uuuhhh.... it's a publicity stunt, DC wants to have cake/eat it too. they want ANOTHER DC-wide ret-con (ad nauseum) while keeping pre-ret-con elements for batman and green lantern. they are escalating the degree of confusion for non-fans, as well as fans who DO read comics. "every thing changes" int he NuDC, except what doesn't change, and whatever is changed is arbitrary and will again be subject to ret-con after a couple years of editorial deriliction of duty. - as to a "public face" of the people who love the characters? come on! we LOVE the characters, which is why we're annoyed at DC. we have no duty or obligation to carry the water for DC/WB. if they give us quality, we support it. if they give us crap they complain about stocdgy fans and the need to ret-con. how exactly do we put a better "public face" about how/why we love the characters? how do we put a better spin when the only real success for WB is nolans batman? it's not our fault they fumbled with superman and green lantern. it's not our fault they make TOO MANY titles, and the editorial direction is asleep at the wheel. it's not our fault they ret-con every 12-18 months. frankly, print media is dead anyway. thats at least a HUGE part of comics decline. that and the fact that when we were kids comics were a large part of a normal kid's entertainment. comics, occasional movies, and tv. today kids have unreal video games, social networking, portable digital devices with streaming music/video. comics are an antique format. isn't it interesting that main-stream hollywood had been all-about comic movies, int he last 15 years, when comics themselves have declined..? could it be that we love characters, but the characters have out-grown/out-evolved thier original format? sure, the BIG ones, superman, batman they have always been in other media- but now? more people know who hector hammond is than EVER read a green lantern book. more people know who ra's al ghul is than EVER read any comic book. more kids are playing DCUonline than read DC comics. while i LOVE the antique format of print media, and i always will, the new generation of kids has no use for it. pulling publicity stunts won't change that. al DC is doing is testing the patience of the people who DO read comics, for a scheme to get people who have no interest in comics. DC needs to have FEWER titles, not 52-80 in a month's time. more quality. better craft. otherwise it's a waste of paper- and how long before we have an "environment fee" for buying paper anyway? i WANT the comics/cartoons/films to be great. but i see nothing in DC/WB that indicates they know thier collective anus from a hole in the ground. i see nothing that indicates they understand what they have. nothing to indicate that DC/WB will produce anything of real quality unless it is by complete accident. again, this is not "our" fault. it's not simpsons comic book guy talking. its the FAILURE of DC/WB. we cannot be fairly asked to just get behind every little stunt they pull just to show how "reasonable" we are. --------------------- whew. sorry, val, that wasn't even directed AT you, just my .... rant about DC.  |
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ShogunLogan
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Post by ShogunLogan on Jun 26, 2011 13:01:51 GMT -5
Excellent post, Jor.
Also, on the subject of printing more comics a month. There was a letter printed in a "Avengers Academy" issue which had a good point. This person, as with me, buys comics every week but is limited to a certain number/budget. For me, I buy no more than 3 a week...$10. Now, Spider-man takes up one of these slots. So that leaves only 2 more issues at most that I will purchase. I'm simply not going to INCREASE by buying because they've increased their production. If I do buy one if these new issues, I'm going to drop something else that I would have bought that week.
I think a lot of people are like that.
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Post by Valentine Smith on Jun 26, 2011 18:34:47 GMT -5
Nowhere in this, or any, thread have I advocated buying all 52 of these #1s. Quite the opposite. In fact, in order for me to check out the two Superman titles, Justice League, and Gail Simone's Batgirl, other DC books on my list are gonna have to get cut.
Of COURSE it's a stunt! But, it's a stunt to get in desperately necessary new readers, without whom, there will BE no comic publishing industry in ten years time. So yes, it's time to not complain about nonsense like continuity or what order the books are supposed to go in the longbox and instead say focus on things like, "Wow! The guy who wrote one of the most highly regarded Superman stories of all time is in charge of the Superman reboot? And his Action Comics is going to be the SPINE of the new DCU? That's pretty amazing." Because it IS pretty amazing and exciting.
And it's ballsy. It's a real go-for-broke maneuver here. WB knows EXACTLY what they have with all of these properties. They have a bunch of characters ripe for exploitation in animation, film, toys, and video games that, for some reason, other than Green Lantern and Batman DO NOT SELL comics. They have a bunch of underperforming books. One of the theories about why comics don't sell is that there is this Android's Dungeon mentality among the entrenched readership (which is true) and retailers, and that new readers are terrified of endless continuity (which is also true).
It is NO COINCIDENCE that DC is doing this right after the Harry Potter franchise comes to an end. WB wants their next "Harry Potter franchise" to come from the DCU. They're looking to see if ANY of these books can be used as an entry level "Volume 1" type jumping on point for new readers, just as surely as anyone who sees a Harry Potter film knows which book to read first. It sure ain't the case with Green Lantern (the fact that the film itself is a failure is another matter), and it is absolutely NOT the case with Superman or Batman either.
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cypher85
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Back off, man. I'm a scientist
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Post by cypher85 on Jun 26, 2011 18:59:51 GMT -5
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Post by Valentine Smith on Jun 26, 2011 19:08:43 GMT -5
That's the first official image of the new Superman that looks kinda cool. I can live with that design, and I'll be totally alright with it if it's basically what the movie costume looks like.
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cypher85
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Post by cypher85 on Jun 26, 2011 19:14:12 GMT -5
This goes to show that perez is no jim lee.
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Post by Valentine Smith on Jun 26, 2011 19:16:50 GMT -5
I'm assuming you're joking. Jim Lee has never, in his entire career, done anything that approaches the draftsmanship of Perez in his prime.
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Post by Valentine Smith on Jun 26, 2011 19:30:53 GMT -5
In the interest of full disclosure...my current DC pull list and how it will be affected by the relaunch!
Adventure Comics (not getting relaunched...was gonna drop it anyway. Disappointing secondary Legion book. Wanted to love it.)
Batman Inc (relaunch/continuing as planned. Best Batman title in 15 years. Will buy it until Grant stops writing it.)
Flash (may or may not buy the relaunch. Haven't loved this book, despite wanting to. DO love Manapul's art, so may give the first couple of issues a shot)
Green Lantern (been looking for an excuse to drop GL for a bit now. Not because it's bad. It's still quite good. But I think it really PEAKED a year or two ago, and I can't see it scaling those heights again. I think the relaunch is a fine excuse to DROP this book to make room for something else I want to try.)
Legion of Super Heroes (again...been looking for an excuse, and I think I found it. I'm a HUGE Legion fan, but this book has been pedestrian at best.)
Secret Six (the best book DC publishes? Possibly. And it's not getting relaunched. But, I love Gail Simone, so the lack of this book will allow me to buy Batgirl which she will be writing.)
So, basically, of the 6 DC titles I buy regularly, 3 are definitely either getting dropped or not relaunched, and one or two others MIGHT get dropped. So, this leaves room in my budget for...
Action Comics (Grant Morrison. Sold.)
Superman (I'll at least give it a shot. Anytime there's a new status quo for Supes, I'm around for a look.)
Justice League (this and Action are set in the "past" of the new DCU and will form the spine of the new continuity. Frankly, I hate Jim Lee, but I'm curious about this book, and will at least give the first story arc a look!)
Batgirl (Gail Simone is a brilliant writer. If anyone can make this work, it's her. Count me in for at least that first issue)
There are other books I WANT to try, but again, the life of a poor college student precludes me from doing so...
Firestorm (again...Gail Simone. I trust her.)
Aquaman (if ANYONE can make Aquaman cool, it's Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis)
Stormwatch (not a huge fan of the concept, but Paul Cornell is a heck of a writer)
If I had the time/money, I'd probably give the first couple of issues of Hawkman, Green Arrow, and Captain Atom a shot...but I don't. So, that ain't happening.
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cypher85
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Back off, man. I'm a scientist
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Post by cypher85 on Jun 26, 2011 19:36:50 GMT -5
Valentine, I personally have to disagree with you. But it is incredibly a matter of opinion as to what art looks aestheically pleasing to your own personal tastes.
Also imo, perez is decades, yes I said decades, past his prime.
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