Comics are Awesome II

[andersonh1]

Here's an interesting quote from Gail Simone, which seems to confirm that this reboot was essentially a desperation move by DC.

http://forums.comicbookresources.com/sh ... p?t=383342

I think we muffed the message quite a few times, but the goal here really IS to save DC and comics and the retail outlets. I know that seems overstating it, but it really isn't. And hopefully everyone at DC and elsewhere will step up their game.

I realize we are losing, at least temporarily, a lot of things that people loved, but in general, those things were not loved by enough people to support the books in question. Some of the books people are most unhappy about losing right now sold in numbers that were not enough to keep going, it's sad but true.

[Onslaught Six]

And this is why the floppy model should be destroyed entirely and replaced with the manga magazine model. That way Batgirl doesn't 'need' to sell--it sells because the Big-Ass Batman Monthly Book sells.

It would help if individual issues went back to shittier paper, too. Floppies are disposable; they're not long-term investments. Trades are. I buy floppies because I literally can't wait six months to find out what happens. (Hell, I don't even mind when trades are on shittier paper. Look at the new Transmetropolitan.)

I mean, think about it, this is being called 'the new 52.' 'Fifty two books' released every month. There's no way anyone could possibly keep up with that--and that's assuming that they don't also buy Marvel or independent stuff.

[Sparky Prime]

I mean, think about it, this is being called 'the new 52.' 'Fifty two books' released every month. There's no way anyone could possibly keep up with that--and that's assuming that they don't also buy Marvel or independent stuff.

I don't think DC really expects any one person to keep up with all 52 titles. That's just what DC decided to initially relaunch with. We already know they will slowly add more titles, such as Batman Inc., scheduled to return in a few more months.

[andersonh1]

And this is why the floppy model should be destroyed entirely and replaced with the manga magazine model. That way Batgirl doesn't 'need' to sell--it sells because the Big-Ass Batman Monthly Book sells.

It would help if individual issues went back to shittier paper, too. Floppies are disposable; they're not long-term investments. Trades are. I buy floppies because I literally can't wait six months to find out what happens. (Hell, I don't even mind when trades are on shittier paper. Look at the new Transmetropolitan.)

I mean, think about it, this is being called 'the new 52.' 'Fifty two books' released every month. There's no way anyone could possibly keep up with that--and that's assuming that they don't also buy Marvel or independent stuff.

I've read in several places that going back to the older paper wouldn't really make that much difference in price. I'll see if I can find a link.

[andersonh1]

Today's comics: Batman #1, Transformers #26, Daredevil #4 and Nightwing #1. Haven't had time to read them all yet, but I'll say that Scott Snyder takes "introductory issue" to heart for Batman #1. It hits just about all the high points about who Batman is, who his friends and enemies are and what Gotham is all about and does so very smoothly. Nicely written book.

Batman #1
This book may as well have had “INTRODUCTORY ISSUE” emblazoned across the cover in bold lettering. Not that that’s a bad thing. But this is a book written by a writer who knows it’s a first issue, and a major reintroduction of the characters and setting of the Batman universe, and he makes sure that everyone gets some page time, along with a framing internal monologue by Batman that ties into the main story and a speech given by Bruce Wayne later on very nicely.

The first few pages feature a good slice of Batman’s rogues’ gallery in a fistfight with Batman, and we get a caption telling us who they all are. Then we get a quick scene to assure the readers that Batman and Commissioner Gordon still have the same old relationship. Then we get an introduction to Bruce Wayne and all the other characters. Alfred, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake and Damien Wayne are all who they were before the relaunch. I know we’ve been told that DC’s two most successful properties are Green lantern and Batman, and that both would see the least changes, but it’s still good to see that on the printed page. Dick Grayson was still the first Robin and is now Nightwing. Tim Drake was Robin and is now Red Robin. Damien’s still the current Robin. Alfred appears to be the same as ever. And from comments given at the end of the book, the events of Batman Inc. are still in continuity, as detective Harvey Bullock refers to Bruce Wayne as “Batman’s pal”. It wasn’t broke, so DC didn’t try to “fix” it. They’re just carrying on with the winning Batman formula.

The issue also continues Grant Morrison’s wish to have Bruce Wayne play more of a part in the ongoing series, even though Morrison isn’t the writer. Bruce Wayne may just get more pages in this book than Batman as he makes a big speech to the movers and shakers in Gotham promising plenty of money for urban renewal in Gotham. And it certainly makes sense to have Bruce Wayne fighting the extreme urban blight and crime in his city from more than one angle.

The twist comes at the end of the issue as a man is found murdered, and Dick Grayson is implicated, which seems to tie into the plot of Nightwing #1. Of course we all know he couldn’t have done it, so we’re left wondering what’s really going on. A brief scene with Grayson disguised as the Joker may provide the answer, or it may may just be foreshadowing.

This is a well-written introductory issue. Like so many of these #1s that I’m trying out, I’m not sure if I’ll be back for the second issue or not, purely for financial reasons. But if you’re a fan of Batman, I think this book is well worth picking up. It certainly blows Detective Comics out of the water, though that wouldn’t be difficult.

Nightwing #1
I definitely prefer the old black and blue costume to the new black and red. Other than that, we've got much the same look for NIghtwing that he's sported for awhile now, and I'm happy to see Dick Grayson back to being his own man with his own costumed identity rather than filling in for Batman. I'm reminded of one of his lines back after Knightfall/quest/etc ended when he briefly filled in for Bruce before and thought "I won't die in another man's shoes", or something to that effect. But now he's back to being Nightwing, possibly to simplify things for new readers.

The writer brings back Haley's Circus, where Dick Grayson grew up and where his parents were killed, and weaves it into the plot, though how much relevance it has other than providing an opportunity to explain how he became Robin and then Nightwing, I'm not sure. And a new villain shows up, kills a couple of punks, and goes after Dick Grayson, but apparently not because he knows he's Nightwing, but because (he claims) Dick Grayson's a killer. Which would seem to tie into Batman #1, as I mentioned earlier.

The art's really good, and the story is a first chapter, which is about all there is to say about it. It shows us who Dick Grayson is, where he came from, and what he's up to now, assuming he lives through the cliffhanger. I can't quite decide if this is better than the last Nightwing #1 (which I also bought back in the day) or not. But it's a decent book.

[BWprowl]

And this is why the floppy model should be destroyed entirely and replaced with the manga magazine model. That way Batgirl doesn't 'need' to sell--it sells because the Big-Ass Batman Monthly Book sells.

It would help if individual issues went back to shittier paper, too. Floppies are disposable; they're not long-term investments. Trades are. I buy floppies because I literally can't wait six months to find out what happens. (Hell, I don't even mind when trades are on shittier paper. Look at the new Transmetropolitan.)

I mean, think about it, this is being called 'the new 52.' 'Fifty two books' released every month. There's no way anyone could possibly keep up with that--and that's assuming that they don't also buy Marvel or independent stuff.

Eh, there's arguments for both sides. I kind of agree that going to anthologies would be cool in terms of getting everything related into more-or-less one place. Think of how all that Gotham books one month will actually be different parts-in order-of a single story arc. I hate it when single books do that, but it would be pretty cool as something for a magazine/anthology to do every now and then. They would also work well as vehicles for companies to launch new characters/properties and maybe actually have them stick. No one ever gave a shit about Aztek no matter how hard DC tried to sell him, but if he were sandwiched between Green Lantern and Superman stories in Monthly Action Jump, people might actually read his stories and find that they like him.

On the other hand, if I just want to read Green Lantern and don't give a shit about Superman or Aztek, I'm SOL unless I drop a chunk of change on the DC anthology GL's in (this happened to me with Yen+, especially when they started swapping out titles, and as they packed in more shitty Korean and OEL stuff; there was a period there where I was buying the magazine to read just like, two manga). Plus, if floppies go away in favor of anthologies, where is more off-the-radar stuff going to go? Would anyone have bought Atomic Robo had it been bundled with a bunch of other Red5 stuff no one cared about? And I sure as hell wouldn't want to buy a big IDW magazine filled with Star Trek, Ghostbusters, and zombie/vampire crap every month just to get Transformers.

It's a hard call, but it's also hard to deny that manga's doing a lot better in Japan than comics are here, and if you want my opinion on why that really is...

I don't think DC really expects any one person to keep up with all 52 titles. That's just what DC decided to initially relaunch with. We already know they will slowly add more titles, such as Batman Inc., scheduled to return in a few more months.

But they kinda do, since that (more than the decades of built-up continuity, if you ask me) is what primarily scares new people off of mainstream comics: the idea that DC kinda *does* expect you to buy all these books a month in order to keep up with everything happening in this universe, since in this day and age, crossovers are expected to be frequent and comprehensive. Hell, even if you *just* want to keep up with Batman, you still have to buy like a dozen books, and god help you if Batman's books get involved in DC's universe-ending crossover that month, since it likely means the Atom'll be dropping into Bruce's lab with all the baggage from his adventures that you haven't been keeping up with. Compare this with Japan's model, where if I just want to drop six bucks on an issue of Shonen Magazine to read Negima, I can read Negima without worrying if it'll have a story-dependent crossover with Fairy Tale or Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei or Tsubasa or whatever.

(As an added bonus of Japan's model, if I like Negima, I can keep reading Negima without worrying that the creative team will change next month and make it suck all of a sudden.)

[andersonh1]

I think comics have simply gotten too expensive. They aren't a cheap hobby any more. Comics would do better if they were still $1.00 each or even $1.50. I understand that the companies probably can't sell them for that price, but it's the vicious cycle isn't it? Readers leave, companies raise prices to compensate, more readers leave, lather, rinse, repeat.

I'm not sure continuity lockout is a problem. I've bought relatively few books in recent years when I've been collecting, and have no problem following the story without buying 30 other books. I think often "years of continuity" is just a convenient excuse, because 90% of the time those years of continuity don't mean much for any given issue of a comic.

[Shockwave]

I know we hear this everywhere to the point where it's almost cliche to mention it, but I think the economy has a lot to do with it too. As Anderson pointed out, comics are more expensive and people are poorer. Many don't have money to be dropping on luxury items like comic books let alone 52 of them/month at about 3$ each. And if DC really is expecting people to be able to front upwards of 200 bucks a month on comics they're nuts. Honestly, I don't expect this model to stick for ANY length of time. It won't be long before DC either realizes their fuck up and changes everything again or they don't and go out of business. This actually almost happened to Marvel back in the 90's and if not for the bail out from a hardcore fan they would have folded. DC better wise up cause I don't think they'll have the same luck.

[Sparky Prime]

Avengers The Children's Crusade #7
The Avengers arrive and confront the X-Men, both wanting to take Wanda into their custody. Ultimately a fight breaks out, which Wanda stops by putting them to sleep and then teleports the Young Avengers with her to Doom's castle. With a bit of a retcon, this issue explains how Wanda's powers were suddenly so powerful to change reality, as well as her erratic and violent behavior during "Avengers Disassembled" and "House of M", in that she was possessed by the power of the Life Force itself (which Dr Doom helped her harness) in an attempt to recreate her children. Now they plan to use that same power to return the powers of all the de-powered mutants, but needless to say, things don't go according to plan.
Only two more issues left in this mini-series. I'm starting to wonder how they will wrap things up seeing as they're trying to redeem Wanda by explaining her rampage as being possessed by a force of power she couldn't control. Which sounds somewhat familiar...

But they kinda do, since that (more than the decades of built-up continuity, if you ask me) is what primarily scares new people off of mainstream comics: the idea that DC kinda *does* expect you to buy all these books a month in order to keep up with everything happening in this universe, since in this day and age, crossovers are expected to be frequent and comprehensive.

I don't see that being the case at all. As I keep pointing out, books like Batman and Green Lantern are pretty much unchanged, picking up right where they left off before the relaunch, while other books like Superman and Justice League are starting over from scratch. Picking up all 52 issues wouldn't give a reader the full picture of the DCU when not all of the 52 are in sync with each other, taking place at different points in time, rewriting some history, but not all of it.

And Dan DiDio did mention in an interview at CBR that they "never expected everybody to buy all 52, to be perfectly honest.".

[Onslaught Six]

And this is why the floppy model should be destroyed entirely and replaced with the manga magazine model. That way Batgirl doesn't 'need' to sell--it sells because the Big-Ass Batman Monthly Book sells.

It would help if individual issues went back to shittier paper, too. Floppies are disposable; they're not long-term investments. Trades are. I buy floppies because I literally can't wait six months to find out what happens. (Hell, I don't even mind when trades are on shittier paper. Look at the new Transmetropolitan.)

I mean, think about it, this is being called 'the new 52.' 'Fifty two books' released every month. There's no way anyone could possibly keep up with that--and that's assuming that they don't also buy Marvel or independent stuff.

Eh, there's arguments for both sides. I kind of agree that going to anthologies would be cool in terms of getting everything related into more-or-less one place. Think of how all that Gotham books one month will actually be different parts-in order-of a single story arc. I hate it when single books do that, but it would be pretty cool as something for a magazine/anthology to do every now and then. They would also work well as vehicles for companies to launch new characters/properties and maybe actually have them stick. No one ever gave a shit about Aztek no matter how hard DC tried to sell him, but if he were sandwiched between Green Lantern and Superman stories in Monthly Action Jump, people might actually read his stories and find that they like him.

On the other hand, if I just want to read Green Lantern and don't give a shit about Superman or Aztek, I'm SOL unless I drop a chunk of change on the DC anthology GL's in (this happened to me with Yen+, especially when they started swapping out titles, and as they packed in more shitty Korean and OEL stuff; there was a period there where I was buying the magazine to read just like, two manga). Plus, if floppies go away in favor of anthologies, where is more off-the-radar stuff going to go? Would anyone have bought Atomic Robo had it been bundled with a bunch of other Red5 stuff no one cared about? And I sure as hell wouldn't want to buy a big IDW magazine filled with Star Trek, Ghostbusters, and zombie/vampire crap every month just to get Transformers.

It's a hard call, but it's also hard to deny that manga's doing a lot better in Japan than comics are here, and if you want my opinion on why that really is...

That's...why you would have the trades! Sure, you'll have to wait for it to be collected, but them's the breaks. And the comics industry is full of trade-waiters anyway as it is, so.

I mean, that's what the manga model does anyway, prints them in the magazine first, then collects it when they have enough chapters to do so.

The magazine format would 'also' free up things significantly in terms of story length and content. Batman's only got enough material for 16 pages this month? Give Catwoman or Nightwing more pages. As it is, every story is locked into 22 pages-or-die mode.

(As an added bonus of Japan's model, if I like Negima, I can keep reading Negima without worrying that the creative team will change next month and make it suck all of a sudden.)

Yeah, but I think that's a cultural thing, and also a consequence of the industry itself. I mean, Frank Morrison surely doesn't want to write Batman or Superman forever. Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson were the creative team on Transmetropolitan for the series' entire run (the only thing not done by Robertson was some covers), while Sandman had a revolving door of artists that served that book way better than a consistant creative team ever could. (Although Dave McKean's covers tying it all together thematically helped, I'm sure.)

But! Both those books had a (mostly) concrete story to tell, and simply worked at doing that. They have a beginning and an end. You don't pick up the first Sandman trade only to see it fizzle out and the end unfinished, like so many other comics. (In fact, when Sandman ended it was probably one of DC's highest selling books, so much that after it ended they started reprinting the entire series in floppies.)