SCHWAPP!!!

Kirkman Manifesto: Fuck Over Your Friends?

2012-02-09T21:49:00.000-05:00

Wow. Tony Moore is suing Robert Kirkman because, he alleges, his old friend duped him into an agreement that put control of their Walking Dead property in Kirkman's hands, with little of the promised monies making their way to Moore and absolutely no access to the books to insure honest profit-sharing.

Don't write for the corporations, but profit like them by screwing over others.

Moore Should Have Known Better...Maybe

2012-02-02T19:42:00.001-05:00

Each time Rich Johnston trots out talk of the WATCHMEN contract, I get a reader (I know, I was shocked that I still had any, too) pointing out to me that some of his statements about graphic novels in print are false.

To wit:

No one has ever cited that Marvel collected the Dark Phoenix Saga in trade in 1984 (wikipedia is wrong about the first version; the first was in '84 with a Sienkevich cover). And that went into multiple printings. Marvel also released their "graphic novels" (Death of Captain Marvel, etc.) to bookstores, and those had more than one printing. In the '70s and early '80s, Marvel did a number of bookstore books (Origins of Marvel Comics, Son of Origins, Bring on the Bad Guys, etc.).

By the time Watchmen came out in September of 1986, Marvel had done upwards of 22 of the Marvel Graphic Novels. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Graphic_Novel
DC put out its first collection of RONIN the same month that Watchmen ended.

So, there were graphic novels in print and previously serialized monthly works that were put into continuously reprinted trade 1-2 years before WATCHMEN saw publication.

I'm not necessarily saying Gibbons and Moore went into this with eyes wide open, but that half the shutting would be due to their own lack of observing the market. I still don't like the deal and think that rights should revert to them, but I no longer have as solid an objective case for it as I once used to.

Why Is My Confidence Lacking?

2012-01-18T18:56:00.000-05:00

Green Arrow has a pilot in production for The CW, per The Hollywood Reporter:

Arrow, based on DC Comics' long-running Green Arrow, revolves around the hooded super hero, a wealthy playboy by day who secretly saves the city by night using his enhanced arrows.

The hourlong drama is a modern retelling of the legendary comics character and hails from Green Lantern duoGreg Berlanti and Marc Guggenheim, who will executive produce and pen the project alongside Fringe co-EPAndrew Kreisberg, with whom they worked on Eli Stone.

1. I'd probably have preferred that SuperMax movie that was running around the 'net awhile back. This most likely means the chances are even slimmer.
1a. I'd like to remind you that "preferred" is relative. As in I might prefer to be punched in the gut than kicked in the junk...
2. The team that brought you Green Lantern? Obviously, this amazing project can't come soon enough.
3. Kreisberg? Really? And, again, this team all worked together on that bastion of TV success, ELI STONE?

I wish them well, but the track record is distinctly lacking.

Evidence That 2012 Is, Indeed, The End Of Times

2012-01-18T08:20:00.000-05:00

Someone is trying to get a HONEY BADGER DON'T GIVE A SHIT TV show on the air.

Just shoot me now.

I'd Buy Any Amanda Conner Project

2012-01-02T15:04:00.003-05:00

Yup...any project...

Worst DC Relaunch Ever

2011-12-03T23:22:00.000-05:00

And before I saw the photo-variant cover, I had said, "finally, some New Gods stuff!" ;)
Found here!

DC 52: On the 1s & 2s: Frankenstein

2011-11-19T02:26:00.000-05:00

About, oh, two weeks ago, I asked folks for examples of DC 52 books they might be interested in seeing reviews for. I had the idea for reviewing two issues of a series at once, largely because I wanted to use the "on the 1s and 2s" phrase, but, also, because it has felt like there isn't always enough meat to the single issues of this relaunch to fairly judge just one. The first up is Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.

The first thing I noticed when going over this selection was how at odds the cover art seems to be with the interior. Employing JG Jones on covers doesn't just give you art that is at conflict with the interior pencils, but suggests practically a brand difference.

But then breaking past that initial concern, I'm faced with yet another apparent contradiction. The story elements, on the surface, seem to suggest more action movie than indie drama. But the muddied, moody art (including the way coloring is employed) suggests the type of story you'd see in Vertigo books, where the action is rarely THE THING, but mostly there to service the story. The coloring, in particular, really seems to fit what I more often have seen on Vertigo product than DC Universe: larger sections of one solid color, rather than more intricate detail. Which, separate from a review, makes me wonder if there's some manner of cost savings in such a move, rather than simply being an artistic decision.

This is not to say I don't enjoy Alberto Ponticelli's art at all. I do, despite some of the inconsistencies (namely Frankenstein's monster looking like several different characters throughout the book). His art is always effective, tells the story ably and can handle the blend of action, humor and drama well. One of the strongest stretches for the art appears with a flashback in the second issue. In relating a supporting character's history (and, also, informing us on some of S.H.A.D.E.'s history), the art team perfectly evokes the feeling of old, grainy home movie footage.

The book uses classic horror movie characters, which would seem to suggest the style of art is fitting, as moody/muddied is often found in horror comics. But the cast is really a swerve, as it is much more of a sci-fi book with huge, bloodied battlefields through the first two issues; a sort of "sword and raygun" fantasy that might be better served by cleaner pencils.

The writing is very strong. I'll be honest: despite my warning above regarding single issues being hard to judge a property by in DC's 52, I had decided to stray away after the first issue, until this book was suggested for review. I'm very glad for the opportunity, as the additional installment casts the whole in a different light. It's difficult to pinpoint where and why there was a change, but suddenly everything clicked much more nicely once I was several pages into #2. Ideas seem less thrown out there, but are, instead, part of well-executed world building and character depth. Not every note is perfect (the gag about no one telling the doctor that Frankenstein's monster was such a gentleman comes to mind), but, somehow, the accumulation of bits between the issues starts to gel, without there being anything to put my finger on as being done differently from one issue to the next.

Lemire deftly weaves horror concepts into sci-fi properties and makes some of his sci-fi concepts feel all too real. Whether we're talking their base of operations, the prison within it, the communications system or the nature of the external threat in this first arc, all of the ideas just work.

Except when it comes to lettering. Of all the things to still have difficulty adjusting to, it was the method of delivery for S.H.A.D.E.net communications. The lettering was an x-on-black style (where x could be white or, more commonly, some other color that was used in large amounts elsewhere on the page) that was a bit of an irritant to my eyes. Why the purpose was clear (setting itself apart from other captions/bubbles), the combination of using it in such dark areas of art and often using non-white colors (making it stand out slightly less well on the black) was a source of frustration. Hopefully, it is something they can adjust and I can adjust to going forward.

Overall, this is an enjoyable series with a talented creative team. I think I'll be adding this to my regular purchases going forward.

A Request

2011-11-05T19:37:00.000-04:00

I'm looking to review a swath of New 52 books from DC. I've read practically all of them, but I'm not such a masochist that I'm eager to go through them all. Ideally, I'd like to go over the first two issues of at least ten of the titles. But, since I'm being selective, I'd like to get a little direction from those who are reading the blog.

Please take the time to note five of the New 52 that you'd like me to review the first two issues of. With the limited replies I generally get, you just might see me review all five of your requests. ;)

Victor Von Dammit!

2011-11-04T22:46:00.002-04:00

I think someone pulled a Brevoort here.

To the right, you see a story, as it ran on BleedingCool.com before Rich Johnston was swamped with complaints about questionable reporting on it (Rich committed the error of putting too much faith in his original sources, it seems).

The story he was fed? The real story behind cancellation of the Victor Von Doom mini wasn't lack of orders, a shift in Marvel strategy or because the original editor (the witty & well-liked Alejandro Arbona) was shit-canned, but that the artist (Becky Cloonan) had personal emergencies that led her to not have finished ANY of the artwork for the mini. Marvel claimed to not have received a single, solitary page.

Sources came to Rich almost immediately upon publication of the article, telling him Marvel's story was patently false and that they had seen the completed pages for the entire first issue.

Which brings me to "The Brevoort"...

Most folks probably don't remember this to the point of obsession like I do, but when Civil War delays led to delaying a bunch of titles that tied into it, Tom Brevoort tried to cover for the fact that Marvel only owned up to it the afternoon before it was supposed to be on shelves because, FOR THE SAKE OF RETAILERS, they needed to hold off on announcing it until they had a plan in place for "fixing" it. I'm in good company thinking that the whole move screwed over retailers, seeing as how that was Tom Spurgeon's opinion at the time. Going toe to toe with Brevoort over how asinine his claim was wound up being the first time I recall Marvel complaining to Newsarama about me (expecting an unpaid reviewer to have his opinion kept in check by the site).

Fast forward to today, with the product being much lower profile, but the overall issue of cancelled Marvel product being a little more embarrassing and the delay in announcing it being, once again, unprofessional. So they leak that it is because a freelancer had personal life get in the way of their professional commitments and, though they still love her and no one is mad at her, it caused the series to currently be cancelled...even if that might not be the real explanation.

While everyone is mad at Rich Johnston for having reported this, the real focus of the ire should be his source. Really...even if true...they wanted so badly to take the heat off of Marvel's decision to cancel by taking a swing at the professionalism of a freelancer that, by their own explanation, seemed to be going through some trying times?

Johnston's reporting here speaks to the larger problem with the state of comics journalism. Due to so few sites being willing to potentially frustrate their meal ticket, the publishers, there aren't many outlets for news stories that might cast anyone in a negative light. Yet a significant number of the audience eats up those stories, making the race to be the one who puts out the few bits of real news that ever trickle out a cutthroat one.

So, Johnston trusts his source. His source places the blame as politely as possible on a freelancer. He makes at least a token effort to reach out to the freelancer, but doesn't hear back soon enough for his comfort. Why the discomfort? It's Friday afternoon and he's losing his most valued readership time. Weekends are generally more dead than weekdays on comic book sites. If he doesn't get this up before the end of the business day, he will have to debate saving it for Monday.

Meanwhile, every moment he holds on to it, there's a chance the story will leak out to someone else who will run it without further confirmation without having nearly the same relationship with the source that he might have. And then what happens next time? Will the source bypass Johnston for the person willing to run the story immediately on their word next time? Maybe he crassly does the math that the source who gave him this story will be in a better position to give him future stories than the freelancer he'd be respecting by waiting for their response or eating the story altogether.

But here we stand: at last check, there were a lot of people who screamed "FUCK RICH JOHNSTON", but I didn't notice anyone adding "...AND FUCK WHOEVER GAVE HIM THIS 'STORY', TOO!"

Of Spoilers & Setups

2011-11-04T14:17:00.007-04:00

Ed Brubaker (gentleman on the left in the picture to the right) put forth a Twitter tirade about his Fear Itself 7.1 story getting spoiled on comic book news websites (mostly directed at BleedingCool.com, I believe).

But he misdirects his anger...and I think even he might admit by now that he overreacted a bit.

No way to discuss this without acknowledging the spoiler, so, out of respect for his frustration, I'm putting the rest of the talk on a click-through after showing a few of Brubaker's initial tweets on this subject:

More...

Why would I say he misdirected it? Because most readers were already fairly certain that Bucky wasn't going to stay dead due to how lackluster his "death" was in the Fear Itself mini. The Gutters affirms the notion in their blog beneath their parody of Bucky's rise/fall/rise/fall thus far. If odds were laid, Vegas would have probably had it at even money or 3:2 that he was coming back, at worst, while not even bothering to publish a line on Thor (but I digress...and pay far too much attention to NFL spreads these days).

Then there was Marvel choosing to release a teaser for the Winter Soldier series a few weeks back that was very clearly his star and similar to the teaser that led to Captain America: Reborn, which only further cemented the idea that Bucky was coming back...and, quite honestly, caused the race to post the spoiler information as part of updating the teaser discussion (for any sites that aren't beholden to an embargo or owe a lot of their traffic to keeping good relations with Marvel, at least).

To be fair, Brubaker slid further and further away from generally complaining about day-of-release spoilers to complaining about it being so immediate and then settling on the complaint being that the spoiler was built into some article titles, as to be virtually unavoidable for any reader visiting those sites involved. Where he settled is fertile ground: the weak setup and Marvel's inability to withhold hyping until the reader catches up offer no cover for slapping visitors in the face with information that they should be able to choose to know or not know. Even if Marvel had the Daily News run a spoiler, it doesn't mean you have to throw the same information in a headline.

But the irony is that, when fans respond to his work on Twitter in a fit of anger, rather than as rational discussion, he's justifiably quick to cut them to ribbons on it. If he took the constructive approach he lambastes others for eschewing, he could have had those offending sites pull the spoilers out of the titles of articles and hide them behind click-throughs, rather than impotently yelling into the ether and telling those who could manage to catch his signal in the overwhelming noise that is the average Twitter timeline to avoid websites before their trip to the shop. Approaching the sites directly (hell, even tweeting at them) would have been much more productive.

Brubaker's not a bad guy for his reaction at all. He's human and all of us have our emotions get the better of us from time to time. We, also, are guilty of criticizing actions from others that, upon reflection, we'd recognize we do ourselves from time to time. Not all of us are as talented at writing as Mr. Brubaker, though, and I can't endorse strongly enough his past, current and future works, especially the Criminal line.

Out Of Context Theater

2011-11-04T03:52:00.002-04:00

I guess we all have our price.

Uncanny X-Men #1

Occasional Competent Studio?

2011-10-29T22:00:00.000-04:00

Bleeding Cool pointed readers to a blog by someone who used to run day-to-day operations at Platinum Studios. He goes on about a fictional (read: not that fictional) Goldmine Studios, owned (to its detriment) by a silver-spooned idiot who throws money at any problem or desire.

The stories are much less salacious and about a much smaller "mover/shaker" in the comic book industry than Valerie D'Orazio's DC memoirs, but are so much less veiled as to make up for those shortcomings. It is a riveting and hilarious window into the worst kept secret that a particular studio was terribly mismanaged by its owner, despite having some well-intentioned employees trying to make it a success despite him.

Review The Reviewer

2011-10-27T03:46:00.000-04:00

After being bothered by it for years, both by sites I contributed to and sites I merely visited, I've been giving great consideration towards "reviewing the reviewer".

I'd likely hit most of the major sites that contribute comic book reviews (and possibly other popular forms of entertainment) to dissect how common it is that the "reviews" are over 50% recap, rather than critique.

My question to the eight people still reading this with any regularity: would you be interested in seeing such an examination?

The Hype Machine...Comes Through?

2011-10-21T18:49:00.001-04:00

I've enjoyed a good deal of Mark Millar's work, but his incessant hyping of it makes me less and less likely to try his new projects. The slowness with which they eek out is a deterrent, too, but it's really his endlessly hyping up his own abilities, successes and spinning of his shortcomings as wins that push me away.

But damn if it doesn't work for him.

I don't know how it happened, but somehow I've found up on e-mail alerts from The Hollywood Reporter throughout the day about any entertainment developments. Two of them today have included news about Hollywood Mark Millar:

Universal in Negotiations to Pick Up 'War Heroes' Comic Book Project (Exclusive)

&

'X-Men' Director Matthew Vaughn Developing Mark Millar Comics 'The Secret Service,' 'Superior'

Though, it is interesting to note, that the second THR article asserts that Vaughn co-created The Secret Service property, which makes this appear more like Millar is a hired hand in the process with Vaughn than the full-fledged creative force that he more often sells himself as. The appearance of this point, coupled with the article mentioning that Vaughn wants to get back more control from start-to-finish of his projects, seems to suggest that he may have played a large role in formulating the key points that the project launches from and then handed it off to Millar to flesh it out.

Regardless, success for comic book projects in other media still brings at least a modicum of attention back to the medium that was its source...and if War Heroes is a success, I'll be thrilled for the payday it might bring to Tony F___ing Harris, stand-up guy and outspoken workers' rights fella on Twitter.

George Perez: Out Of Steam?

2011-10-18T23:58:00.000-04:00

According to Newsarama, that's exactly what editor Matt Idelson implied by saying, "sometimes there's enough gas in the tank and sometimes there's not," at NYCC this past weekend.

There are many different ways to try to politely explain why a legendary creator is quickly jumping off a title. Even if the above quote is accurate, it isn't the smartest thing to announce to the world. The likelihood that it will be taken negatively is far too high.

You frame it better than that.

"As excited as he was to be writing Superman, he had a yearning to get back to full pencils on an upcoming project that we can't yet announce."

Something similar to that winds up true and is much hard to spin into a negative or have taken the wrong way. I know that, if I were Perez, I wouldn't appreciate the way the move was communicated, as it paints me as being clearly unable to last beyond (or maybe even UP to) six issues.

I'm confident that Idelson didn't dream the statement could be misconstrued as a negative commentary on Perez's ability to follow through on such an assignment, but, when you're at a convention that is essentially a four day press conference, you really have to be more conscious of controlling the message than that.

Here's hoping a more detailed and flowery explanation for the change up is forthcoming.

Superman & #OWS

2011-10-17T05:13:00.009-04:00

I was reviewing tweets with the hashtag #ows and I was reminded that Grant Morrison has described his Superman in Action Comics as being a man of the people who is striking against corporations. Seems like a perfect match for Occupy Wall Street.

In the first issue of DC's relaunch of Action Comics, Superman bursts into the penthouse of the biggest corporate "rat" and attempts to force a confession out of him regarding all the laws he has broken. He does this with cops chasing HIM down, telling him to stop.

(spoken by Superman in continuation from above; panel cropped to focus on dialogue)

He resorts to dropping the guy off the balcony to scare him (with the corporate "rat" never in danger, as Superman will save him) and gets his confession. The crimes?

Corporate crimes. White collar crimes. Hurting the American people in the ways they get hurt in real life, not the way comic book super-heroes do it. And this isn't intended to be a one-off.

What's a better symbol for #OWS right now? He is bigger than a corporate IP, but has embodied truth, justice and the AMERICAN WAY, which are all in jeopardy now and being fought for by the folks in every #OCCUPY movements.

I know it will never happen, but how cool would it be to see a large number of protesters sporting the S shield?

Shazam Returns? Wither Batman: Earth One? (UPDATE)

2011-10-15T17:55:00.002-04:00

Update: Well, no sooner did I post this than stumbled upon better coverage of the convention that demonstrated that BATMAN: EARTH ONE is, indeed, still coming and Amazon has it for pre-order.

Original article:
If you check The Source, Captain Marvel is coming back.

The team doing it? Geoff Johns and Gary Frank. It starts as a backup feature in Justice League, but this is the same team that was supposed to have completed the Batman: Earth One by now, with no word of its completion or scheduled publication coming out.

Honestly, if I had to pick one, I'd go with the CURSE OF SHAZAM project (even if the "curse" part has me a bit worried), despite my strong interest in the Batman: Earth One OGN.

DC has been remarkably quiet about the previously planned OGNs, as far as I can see.

Green Lantern At Less Than 1/3 Cover Price

2011-10-14T01:35:00.000-04:00

You'll find it for just that price (pops up automatically for me, but some may need the discount code of GREEN to be put in on the final checkout page).

I've been beating this drum for awhile, but the online deal site, Tanga.com, has had several DC relaunch titles for postal subscriptions at less than one-third the cover price.

Snail mail subscriptions are always cheaper, but never before have they regularly beaten even the discount that retailers get in buying the book through Diamond.

If you couple this with the returnability commitment that DC keeps expanding out for additional months, it might seem to indicate that the publishing strategy on the physical side is to increase circulation so that ad buys will be more attractive and/or increase the pool of potential digital subscribers.

Six or so DC titles offered up at a dangerously low price (not quite a loss, necessarily, given DC cutting out retail and distribution, but having to pay lower class mail rates) upping the circulation and putting them in direct contact with the customer in a way that retailers won't be as alerted to as Marvel's "free digital copy for every comic" idea seems like it is good for the reader and possibly the publisher, but not anyone in between.

Why Automated "Related" Links Are Bad

2011-10-12T15:01:00.000-04:00

That Old Captain America/Wizard Magazine Controversy

2011-10-11T06:29:00.001-04:00

Warning: nothing new to see here. If you want timely observations, you'll need to check back at a later date (or, some would suggest, peruse a better site). This here be history.

I was looking over site stats and saw that Johanna over at Comics Worth Reading had linked to my article about the declining popularity of Newsarama. She mentioned how their doing away with forums irritated her for a reason other than what I was pointing out in my post: links to old 'Rama articles were now dead, since the forums had been wiped from existence.

After thanking her for the link in her comments section, it hit me: one of the few original articles I had done for Newsarama (not counting convention coverage) may have been lost to the ages. Googling it confirmed that it was one of the things that had all traces deleted off the 'Rama website. What a kick square to the nuts.

While I was able to dig up the original Word doc I sent for publishing, I'll never be able to locate the conversation it generated and the give and take. I know from my notes that it was the first interview Drew Seldin had given on the subject, even if it was one of the last to get posted on the sites. For instance, Rich Johnston had a brief bit published about it in his Lying in the Gutters over at CBR, but I had talked to him before that call took place, which is partially evidenced by the message not being quite so well-formed from Wizard yet. There are some similarities in answer, but the longer form of our discussion revealed some stumbling blocks.

As I conducted the whole interview on my own (from tracking down Seldin, to developing the questions and recording the phone conversation), never received any compensation and now the article is no longer even published on Newarama, I'm going to repost it here for posterity's sake.

Oh...and for the record? Drew Seldin was a pleasure to talk to. He's a great guy who had nothing to do with the decisions Wizard made, just was in the unenviable position of having to deal with the aftermath.

Original article (with "Newarama" now edited out) follows after the break.

(full article...)

SCHWAPP!!!: Drew, I just want to say that we appreciate you taking the time out to sit down for this interview. Things are probably just settling back down for you from the convention this past weekend (editor’s note: this interview took place days after Wizard World: Los Angeles, March 16-18, 2007). Your time is greatly appreciated here.

Drew Seldin: Listen, you know what, I’m new to this industry. I’ve literally been at Wizard since February 5th. My plan was to start reaching out to reporters who, from what I’ve been seeing on the web, are popular and accurate and seem to report fairly.

SCHWAPP!!!: We understand that you’re new to the industry, as you said, but you’re probably familiar with the fact that there are only a few major publications that really cover the “spandex” set of comics (Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, etc), with Wizard having arguably the highest profile amongst those publications. Obviously, that means it is a natural for you to get big stories and exclusives on new projects that DC and Marvel are excited about and want to get the word out on that will, also, appeal strongly to your readers. This means Wizard will occasionally get information ahead of other retailers (who don’t have publications), sometimes information that they won’t be privy to until the comic reaches their shelves. Has this been a subject of concern for Wizard in the past?

DS: Honestly, I can’t speak so far into the past. What, basically, I would say to that is that Wizard Entertainment is one company…editorial, conventions, and the store. We all work together. We all rely on each other. We’re all in most of the same meetings and things are discussed. How best to proceed, you know, for the company with what information we have.

There was never…and I just want to clear this up…like a backroom deal where editorial leaked something to the store. It was the type of thing where, in the natural course of business, it was, “OK, we’re going to be doing this huge dedication to Captain America in our next issue because of what is going on, so we definitely want to do something with the convention and do something with the store.” That’s kind of how it initially broke out.

SCHWAPP!!!: With the release of Captain America #25, as you’re well aware, it has raised questions amongst retailers and industry pundits whether some retailers have an advantage over others, specifically ones that run comic news publications (like Wizard or CSN). Has this brought up any concerns for Wizard?

DS: No, I mean it is not so much of a concern. Obviously, we saw how upset that people got from this. Of course, that was not our intention. Our intention is always, in the course of business, put out a great product, make money, and, you know, not create the kind of anger that we did…and that was part of the reason we pulled our extra eBay auctions down. Obviously we heard and we saw what was going on.

Our initial intention, really, we wanted to make sure that people who were really closed out and couldn’t get books were able to get books. And, in the process of that…doing business, make some profit on it. Again, once we saw what had happened, we pulled stuff down and tried to scale it down. Now that the convention is over, I kind of want to explain to people that it wasn’t a matter of looking to strangle somebody. That’s the way it happened. We’ll continue to work with…whether it be Marvel or DC or whoever it may be…on an event like this in the future…we’ll really want to work it out to doing hopefully what is in the best for the industry as a whole as well as our company.

SCHWAPP!!!: So what you’re saying is that there are no concerns on Wizard’s part as far as any potential wrong-doing, because there wasn’t any…but in as much as you’d like to help foster good will and good business for the industry, you’d like to work with the publishers to ensure something like this might not happen again? But without having to hold yourself back, either?

DS: Yeah, definitely use it as a learning experience. Definitely there are things…listen…every time there’s a situation that creates negative aspects, there is always something you could have done differently. But, again, as we were planning it, the perception was that we were operating for the industry, to make sure there were books out there, to create excitement, and to make some money.

SCHWAPP!!!: Picking back up from something you said earlier, one of the things that is your focus is that you want people to understand that there were no “backroom dealings”.

DS: No, there definitely was not. It would be like your foot not knowing what your leg was planning on doing. We’re one unit. Some people are saying, “Wizard needs to decide what they want to be…are they a publication? Are they a store?” We’re a company. That’s like asking Disney if they want to make movies and cartoons or own theme parks. Obviously, we’re not at that level, but you know…without sounding pompous or jerky about it…I’m just trying to say we’re a whole group, with almost 100 employees, and we’re trying to function as a business. We’re trying to function as a business and do things that are good for us, good for the industry, good for the comic book makers and good for our readers.

SCHWAPP!!!: What I’m hearing here is that some of the people who have expressed wanting you to decide what you want to be or want you to try to separate the entities…separate the magazine from the retailer operation…it is, in a sense, an unrealistic expectation because it would hamper yourselves from being a solid business?

DS: Right, it is a standard business practice. No company is going to do that…no company is going to limit what they can do to be profitable or successful or increase circulation. You can’t work that way as a business.

SCHWAPP!!!: I think that is understandable…

DS: Something I want to get across is that I’m the first Director of Corporate Communications at Wizard. In the past, one thing I know, is that there was never any kind of response to any of these situations. I’m definitely going to be changing that. I want it to be the type of thing where people have someone to reach out to, whether it be to say, “hey, listen, what went on with that,” or say, “hey, that was a great issue, you should do a follow-up to that.” Again, that is important as well, because the company has never had that before. That’s what I’ve been hearing from people as this has been going on.

That has to be an important part of business as well. That’s why they have things like PR directors. It is important to hear what people are saying and respond, otherwise you get that perception, “well the company doesn’t care…the company isn’t listening…they’re sitting up in their glass tower.” That’s really not the way things are and they definitely are not the way I want them to be going forward.

SCHWAPP!!!: You’re saying that, when something like this happens or anything similar, you want to make sure you have someone there to be able to hear those concerns, address them by working with retailers if possible, but, in a case like this, it is business and you can’t be blamed for doing good business. You want to be able to put a perspective on it, put a face to the discussion, and manage perception?

DS: Well, not so much to manage perception, it is just to be available. The great thing about this country is you can question anyone for any reason. It is more so for when people keep asking a question and no one is answering or no one is home, it leaves one perception. Then again, as we saw what was going on and such a negative reaction was erupting, we did pull the stuff down, acknowledging that we need to pull these things down and address that everyone is very upset at how this broke out.

SCHWAPP!!!: I’m guessing amongst the feedback you’ve received, there have been fans and retailers, but have any publishers expressed anything to you?

DS: To be honest with you, not that I’m aware of. That’s not to say that’s not the case, just not that I’m aware of.

SCHWAPP!!!: You’re saying that, within your function, if that contact has happened, it just hasn’t been through you, but may have happened further up in the chain?

DS: Well, yeah, my answer is I just honestly don’t know if we’ve heard from any publisher expressing anything like, “hey, what the hell was going on with that?”

SCHWAPP!!!: Can you think of any concerns, other than the obvious, that have been brought up by this? Any positives that you’ve might have gained from this, as a company?

DS: I’m looking forward to building relationships with people in other ways. I’m all for talking to Wizard about letting other people write editorials for the magazine, different retailers, different fans. Really bringing more people like that into the fold of what we do. There’s a reporting aspect which we do, but this is such a fan driven industry, it would be great to hear certain peoples’ opinions like that.

SCHWAPP!!!: Would you say this particular occasion helped speed up and prioritize the move towards better retailer interaction?

DS: No, because, actually, I was hired before it happened. This is something that they wanted to do. Coincidently, it came at a time where it turned out to be a good thing that it happened. No, the company was moving in this direction, absolutely, because they don’t want to be seen as this “they don’t care/they aren’t listening”. Because they are, they just never had anyone in position.

Whither "Samaritan X"?

2011-10-10T23:16:00.000-04:00

I was just talking with some friends online and, after discussing the news about Archie with their Red Circle characters, we wound up on the topic of JMS.

It's my opinion that, with the possible exception of Superman: Earth One, JMS-at-DC has been an unmitigated disaster. Everything has been stops and starts for him, with very little apparent critical or commercial expense to come along with him being such a hyped signing.

One of the hyped announcements regarding his DC work was Samaritan X, announced in March 2010 to fairly wide discussion, as it was an apparent attempt to add a hospital drama to the DC Universe that was, at the same time, somehow creator-owned. When JMS did his whole bowing out from monthly comics thing, he announced that Superman: Earth One was the top priority, followed by Samaritan X (in November 2010).

We're almost at a year since that announcement/update, but we've heard nothing more about the project. Shane Davis, artist of Superman: Earth One, has already been working on the follow-up OGN, so it makes it clear that, if Samaritan X is ANY kind of priority, there should be some movement on it.

From talks about the relaunch, some recounting of events would suggest that JMS was aware the restructuring of DC's main universe was already under way at the time. The OGN was supposed to be set in regular continuity, so it could be that it requires tweaking, that DC is reconsidering the format or it has been scrapped altogether. But you'd have expected it to come up in some way, shape or form by now. Either my Google Fu is weak or it is something completely lacking any updates.

With the relaunch moves and the whole Amazon/Barnes & Noble GN controversy at DC Comics, might this topic get addressed at NYCC?

Why $1 Extra For Digital Is Better For Retailers

2011-10-08T02:55:00.001-04:00

Much is being made of the Avenging Spider-Man free digital copy with every print copy. Great for customers, to some extent, but shitty for retailers.

Why?

With the extra dollar charged for the JUSTICE LEAGUE copies that have a digital code, the retailer at least knows they're sending their customer to a competing delivery service and is getting their money up front.

With Marvel's plan, the retailer gets a $.50 credit somewhere down the line for every redeemed code.

But how do they track that?

Is it reliant upon the customer filling out a referral field that says they bought the book at BOB'S BIG COMICS? Or is it reliant upon Diamond records having the right batch assigned as being shipped to the right store and that batch matching up with all the proper codes?

And what system could possibly be in place for a retailer to be assured that they're getting the full credit they earned? Seems like it comes down to "hey, trust us, we're Marvel...have we EVER done you wrong?"

Reason #18373 I'm Not A Brevoort Fan

2011-10-07T16:51:00.000-04:00

When DC hit with their 20 pages for $2.99 move, Marvel hit with all kinds of spin.

Brevoort indicated DC could make the cut because they didn't need to make a profit directly off publishing, but Marvel needed the $3.99. This despite someone from Marvel corporate already having told shareholders that they initially raised prices on their titles to see how inelastic they were.

The prices went up on their most popular titles first, not the books that were less popular but having hardcore audiences (like his suggestion that the same folks buying DC's Booster Gold at $2.99 would buy it at $3.99).

But what brings us here today is the sentiment expressed first, I believe, by CB Cebulski and echoed by Brevoort: DC's $2.99 move would hurt the talent, because they'd be getting their rate on 20 pages instead of 22.

Brevoort has, also, defended Marvel's raising prices to $3.99, despite the recession concerns of the retailers and their customers.

Yet Marvel has slowly but surely moved more books to 20 pages, while still charging $3.99 for a lot of them.

That's not the real impetus for this post, though. This is...

According to Richard Pace, he's "been told Marvel cut everyone but the top names' page rates and dropped two pages as well."

So, now the high and mighty Marvel gives less work per issue for their contractors to earn from AND pays less per page?

If there was any doubt that their claims to the moral high ground were false and full of spin, let this put an end to it.

Note: my problems with Brevoort started with his lying on behalf of Marvel to claim that refusing to tell retailers about the massive Civil War delays until Monday or Tuesday of the week the latest issue was supposed to hit was done "for the retailers". That was the first incident where my outspokenness resulted in Marvel's ire being directed at Newsarama. I went back and forth at Brevoort as a fan, since my Newsarama work involved no pay at the time and left me feeling that it would be unfair for Marvel to hold my opinion against them (I was not their employee) or for the 'Rama to feel I should bite my tongue on their behalf.

The Devil's In The Bleeding Details

2011-10-06T22:47:00.001-04:00

Over at BleedingCool.com, Rich has an early scoop about DC overtaking Marvel in both market and dollar share. He indicates "(t)he only time DC has been ahead of Marvel in any form for decades was last December," but that'd be inaccurate.

DC beat Marvel in both categories in May 2005, October 2005 and May 2006. DC beat Marvel in dollar share in January, February and August 2003.

It doesn't really put a damper on this accomplishment, if it holds up as accurate, but it does shoot down the needlessly overstated hyperbole.

C'mon, Rich, I know you always profess to not be a journalist, but if you're going to go out of your way to say "decades", rather than "in recent years", you gotta put forth just a little more effort at accuracy in reporting.

In all honesty, though, I might have just passed it over without digging anything up, but a few of my remaining readers dropped me a line to point out a few of the above examples, causing me to work back from October 2005 to see if I could come up with any more. Then I realized that the point is already made without spending the rest of the night pouring over ComicChron.com and let it go.

New 52: Aquaman

2011-09-29T15:27:00.003-04:00

I'll flesh this out in a later post, but just to get my initial reaction up here immediately:

Why did I have to pay $3 for Geoff Johns to literally lecture a section of the comic book reading audience on how Aquaman isn't the joke they think he is, especially when a good portion of that group probably skipped the book on the shelf to begin with?

For my money, we got about three-to-five pages that should have been in this book...and they were the ones that just featured the new-big-bad rising from the deep.

Any other writer, the next issue would not be leaving the shop with me. But, then again, few other writers would be bold enough to expect their audience to pay $3 to be told (much more than shown) how the character is much cooler than the people making fun of them for buying the issue think.

At least the art is strong, even if some of the coloring effects are a bit much.