164 2010 Comic Sales

The 2010 sales numbers are in, and pretty much everyone has had something to say about them. I don’t have too much to add, but here’s a couple of points that I want to expand upon.

First, I don’t think it can be overstated what a tremendous impact Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison and Brian Bendis have on mainstream comics. Douglas Wolk points out that the 26 best-selling DC single issues were all written by Morrison or Johns, and if you look at the top of Marvel’s charts, Bendis rules the roost over there. In fact, taken as a group, Sean T. Collins points out that 65 of the top 75 best-selling comics of the year were written by one of three people.

I also don’t think it can be overstated how unhealthy this is, though I’m not sure who it says more about: the industry or the fan base. I’d like to believe that it isn’t the fault of the fans, that Marvel and DC are just shooting themselves in the foot here. Banking on three people for all of your output sounds like a bad creative decision and an even worse business model, and I don’t really believe that’s something fans want. Logic dictates that the more kinds of comics there are the better comics will be overall, and that the more people creating comics, collaborating with and challenging each other, the better the stories will be. If fans are that easy to please, that lazy, there’s nothing to stop companies from continuing that practice.

152 And Now a Smart Thing That DC Has Done

From the Source:

NEW YORK / BURBANK, Calif., June 23, 2010 – DC Comics, publisher of Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and Fables, is partnering with comiXology and PlayStation®Network for two separate digital comics distribution deals launching today, Wednesday, June 23. In addition, a DC Comics App for the iPhone®, iPad® and iPod® Touch is available allowing consumers an easy way to access DC Comics’ content. The announcement was made jointly today by DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution.

And as Heidi MacDonald points out:

Bonus: Now we can finally read Zuda comics without that horrible Flash interface, since Flash is to Apple mobile devices what garlic is to vampires.

DC has gotten a lot of flack for not throwing their hat into the iPod/iPhone/iPad ring along with… well, every other publisher under the sun. Comixology paved the way with the debut of their comics reading app last July and even created an app specifically for Marvel.  The stakes got a bit higher recently with Marvel going day and date with one of their comics, albeit for a markup.  But now that DC has launched its app they’ve also taken the full plunge, putting day and date comics on the app at shelf price, as well as making a more competitive pricing structure: prices range from free, to $0.99, and up.

Anyway, I’m sure you can find plenty of talk about the impact this will have on the publishers online, but my initial thought is that ComiXology has now officially and completely changed the game. A few years ago comic reading interfaces on the iPhone/iPod were counterintuitive, and the selection was grim. Marvel and DC had no presence, and the only Image book available to download was Elephantmen in its own app. I remember seeing the Comixology Comics app before it hit the store and thinking it was unbelievable, and an incredibly easy and fun way to read comics. Fast forward a little over a year later the app was so successful that now Marvel and DC (that’s Disney and Time Warner) have reached out to the company in order to build their officially branded apps. That’s an incredible leap, and add that to the hundreds of other comics on the official ComiXology app that are available to read and what you’ve got is a legitimate stranglehold on the market. That’s huge.

Think about it this way: Diamond was/is the number one source of distribution for comics in this country. The big two comic companies no longer show any faith in Diamond. (DC for quite some time.) Both have latched onto ComiXology as a form of digital distribution. If there needed to be some impetus for the “digital revolution” in comics I think we may have just seen it.

UPDATE: And for all the retailers out there…

“Staying true to comiXology’s support of comic retailers, DC’s partnership with comiXology also includes a first-of-its-kind Retailer Affiliate Program, which will collect a portion of digital revenues to be invested back to and on behalf of comic book retailers in a variety of initiatives.”

107 DC Comics to Become "DC Entertainment"

In a somewhat surprising move, and one sure to be seen as a response to Marvel’s recent purchase by Disney, Warner Bros. has restructured DC Comics, creating the new DC Entertainment brand. The press release, which was announced via the DC Universe Blog, has Paul Levitz relinquishing his position as President and Publisher to Diane Nelson, currently president of Warner Premiere.

In his new role, Levitz will be called upon for his deep knowledge and more than three-decade history with DC Comics, both as a comic creator and an executive. Besides serving as a writer on a number of DC Comics titles, he will be a contributing editor and consultant to DC Entertainment on projects in various media.

This comes hot on the heels of Rich Johnston’s previous report that Paul Levitz would be stepping down as President of DC Comics, but the news that DC would be changing from “Comics” to “Entertainment” was surprising, and Levitz’ new position even more so.

I’m not entirely sure what impac tthis will have on the company’s production, if any at all. If it means more movies based on their product, well, then good for them, I suppose. It’s a weird distinction, though. If they were planning on getting rid of Levitz, or even if this is a response to Levitz stepping down, why the change in branding? I imagine many are going to throw their hands in the air complaining that the company is going to worry more about movies and TV than it is comics, and I suppose that’s a valid concern but I doubt there will be any more changes other than a small shakeup in editorial. Still, Levitz had one hell of a career at DC, and this new role is either really beneath him or a nice, cushy position to segue into retirement.

What I think would be really interesting, though, is if this was “outed” by Johnston. People are saying this release was “rushed out” at the last second. It was being talked about less than an hour after Johnston’s post. Was this DC reacting to a blogger’s “scoop”? If so I think we live in some pretty weird times. The whole comics rumor site deal that Johnston has going on, a sort of TMZ or Page Two for comics… man, it’s weird enough that shit actually exists. Now you’re telling me someone with a blog and some friends in the business can change the way the mainstream comics industry operates? Shit man.

Thing is, we already know this happens in Hollywood with producers and studio execs looking to the internet to gauge fan reaction and possibly make changes to their productions. Now that Warner Premiere is more or less being merged with DC it doesn’t seem unreasonable that the new management might react the same way. Thing is I’m not sure that kind of reasoning is a good thing for the comics industry (I’m hesitant to believe it’s good for film), since most comics fans tend to be a bit more obsessive and character-minded than most film fans.

So while, say, Spout might talk shit on a Captain America movie for just not being a very good film, your average Newsarama or CBR message board hammerhead likes to talk shit about the creators of Captain America because he really loves Captain America– like, as a person– and if each comic is not catered to his tastes (yeah, I said “his”; this is one of those times female fans can be happy they’re being ignored in a comics discussion) than there’s nerd outrage. There’s not as much intelligent criticism on comics as there is on film. Yeah, there’s your Abhay Khoslas and Douglas Wolks of the world. But for every Savage Critic there’s about a million Hannibal Tabu’s out there waiting to ruin the world with their shitty taste in comics. This isn’t to say there aren’t a ton of shitty film critics as well, but I think we’re at the point where we know who to listen to: Roger Ebert might be outnumbered by the Rotten Tomatos crowd but his opinions certainly go a longer way. It’s like when I post reviews of comics: people stand at attention. They’re demanding of an intellect far greater than your average comics fan. Also, everyone gets an erection.

Tomorrow: A review of Fantagraphics’ Squirrel Machine, which I am just having the hardest time getting my thoughts down on paper for. I think I’ve finally decided that I like it. That much I know. I know I like it.

See? Now that’s comics blogging!

UPDATE: Here’s a letter from Diane Nelson.

093 San Diego Comic-Con!

I didn’t go!

But here are some items of note!

072 Thoughts from this weekend…

Happy post-Memorial Day weekend everyone! Hope you had your fill of hot dogs and hamburgers, and if you’re Italian I hope the sausage and peppers were up to snuff. Me? I had a nice bike ride and picnic on Friday with the old lady, as well as a Bar-B-Q with her family. Ribs, beer, and Greek music– what more can a guy ask for!

Unfortunately a couple of other things happened over the long weekend that I didn’t have a chance to discuss. I thought today might be a good time to address them.

1. Christopher Handley pleads guilty

My first real post on this site concerned the first amendment, and the persecution/prosecution of a man from Australia with a collection of Simpsons porn. The idea behind the conviction was that the “children” were all under the age of consent, and thus the photos constituted child pornography. Now here in America it appears we have yet another dangerous precedent being set: Christopher Handley, accused of possessing obscene visual representations of the sexual abuse of children and mailing obscene material, has plead guilty, despite the assistance of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (for those of you unaware of the CBLDF browse through the site; they’re really doing amazing things in the defense of the first amendment.) While it’s not by definition an actual legal precedent (due to the fact that it will not go to trial) there are dangerous connotations with a verdict like this.

I can not express the disappointment I feel right now. A man with no history of sexual deviance, a man who collects Manga, not pornographic magazines or movies, is now in danger of serving up to fifteen years in prison. The standard argument here is, of course, that no “reasonable” or “responsible” person would read this type of work (I know nothing about the stories; they could be gross for all I know) and that clearly anyone who reads it must have “issues”. Well beside the fact that this is a logical fallacy, the fact of the matter is no law was broken. No children were placed in harms way because of this comic, just as no people are actually tortured in those terrible “torture porn” horror movies.  To quote Neil Gaiman, “if you don’t stand up for the stuff you don’t like, when they come for the stuff you do like, you’ve already lost.”

There are two immediate thoughts I have after reading about this. First, I’m bewildered at the sheer alarm in this country when it comes to anything regarding sex or sexuality. Whether it be eroticism in art or the acceptance of one’s sexuality it seems that the consensus is: this is bad. Religion has a large part to play in this of course, but I think it also has a lot to do with the old guard still being in charge of things. That is, our parents’ generation and older, who were born in a time when artistic and sexual expression were “weird” or “disgusting”. And that brings me to my second thought: with a changing of the guard, will this change? Clearly with each generation we become more tolerant as a people but are we in a loop where there will always be an undying portion of the 1950′s to contend with? Isn’t that what the Reagen neo-cons and Bush conservatives are all about, after all? There’s a self-perpetuating trend in this country, and indeed the world, that seems inescapable, but for the sake of us all I hope these old fogey ideas die with the old fogeys who believe them.

2. The Avatar movie is racist and I don’t care what you say

Hey, new photos were released from that Avatar movie! 

There’s a lot of controversy over the “whitewashing” of this film (with good cause, in my opinion). O! what say you, mighty Newsarama commenters?

AYRES Says: 

May 22nd, 2009 at 11:01 am 

What alot of people are forgetting is the shows influences are based on Asian culture and Anime, nowhere in the series were the Fire nation called Japanese or Chinese it’s obvious that’s where the show is based but it was never called that at all , the Water tribe was never called Alaskans or Inuit , where are the protesters for Sherlocke Holmes with Robert Downey jr being American playing a British icon????? Or did anyone have an issue when certain Latino actors portray Caucasian charactors (sic)?? I get that there is an issue here but I think people need to find a real problem with in the world and focus on something else.

Yes, a real problem! Now that Barack Obama is president and racism is eradicated why should we get up in arms about this? And, hey, he’s right: Robert Downey, Jr. taking the role of Sherlock Holmes from a Brit is totally on par with stealing someones cultural identity!

Steve Says: 

May 22nd, 2009 at 1:34 pm 

…just because white people are cast in Asian roles doesn’t mean its whitewashed. Its possible that the director simply found these actors to be the best choice available. After all, M. Night isn’t a white guy himself.

Casting by

Douglas Aibel

(via IMDB)

Ryan Says: 

May 22nd, 2009 at 3:29 pm 

Oh god. You “controversy” people are just ridiculous. I liked the cartoon. So far the pictures seem true to the cartoon. get a life.

Yes, get a life. The anonymous poster on a comic book message board would like us all to get a life. Well Ryan, here’s a thought: remember your own advice next time you raise your hand at a convention to comment on how Spider-Man and Mary Jane should still be married.

Ryan shows his intelligence later in the thread as well, in response to a comment left by “Liem”:

Liem Says: 

May 22nd, 2009 at 5:04 pm 

Show me a white kid raised by monks who live monastically in temples and maybe then I’ll consider a non-Asian perspective that defends the casting choices.

Ryan Says: 

Show me an asian kid who can bend air, water, fire and earth and flies around on a six legged bison then I’ll consider the need for the kid to have the “correct” racial background.

The difference between co-opting someones culture and marginalizing it compared to making up fantasy (which, might I add, is based off of said culture) is so incredibly vast that it boggles the mind how this kind of argument could even be made.

Listen, whether the characters in the cartoon “look” Asian or not isn’t even up for debate (as can be seen here), but even if that were the case please don’t feign ignorance by pretending you don’t know the series is influenced by Asian culture. Shit, I don’t even watch the show, but just by casually reading up on it it’s glaringly obvious. For more on this check out RACEBENDING.COM. 

068 Kevin Smith Writing Another Batman Mini

From Entertainment Weekly:

According to Smith, “The Widening Gyre is a 12-issue Batman mini-series split into two volumes, with a half year break between each. Issues one through six (Book I) will ship monthly. Then, the story goes on hold for six months. Then, issues seven through 12 (Book II) will once again ship monthly. Yes, I built in the break to insure we don’t run into my usual problems with lateness. But I’m trying to improve, folks: first six scripts and first issue’s art — by Cacophony artist Walt Flanagan — were already done before we took this public. But here’s the kicker: three weeks after the last issue of The Widening Gyre, we’ll launch a solo series featuring the new character, which I’ll be writing bi-monthly.”

A six month break between volumes and a bi-monthly series just to cater to Smith’s propensity for lateness? Damn.

The article also mentions that Smith will be adapting his unused 2004 Green Hornet screenplay into a comic for Dynamite Entertainment. Hopefully these books will be a little more Chasing Amy than Clerks 2. ZING, gotcha Smith!

The Widening Gyre begins in August. No word yet on a release date for the Green Hornet.