UPDATE: Does This Look Rushed?

I'm just saying: Batman...major event...variant cover...and you have your both-writing-and-drawing-artist producing the variants. You're probably going to get a loss of quality somewhere in the whole thing. Writing was a given. But when the cover doesn't look as perfect and shiny as you'd expect DC to use to sell a big project, that's a bit alarming.

UPDATE: The above was referenced in the comments section.

YKW suggests that this may have been rushed from the production side. I'd still contend that it might have gone past getting inked because of delays from the artist. There are other indication of pencil artist lateness in the book, I believe. I don't have it in front of me, but I recall there being multiple inkers on #2.

Ultimate Comics Walk-Up Sales For Feb 18st, 2009

From Lee Newman of Ultimate Comics, the list of top-selling books at one of their locations in North Carolina for what was released on 2/18/09. Pull lists are not included, as this is meant to capture what is being bought off the shelf.

(Ed note: I know, this is real late. It's awful "Special Olympics" of me.)

1. Deadpool #8
2. Secret Warriors #2
3. Superman: World of New Krypton #1
4. Gotham Gazette: Batman Dead? #1
5. Black Panther #2
6. Batman Cacophony #3
7. Hulk: Broken Worlds #1
8. Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk #3
9. War of Kings #1
10. New Avengers: The Reunion #1

An all Big 2 week because well it was huge.
1. Jon, the company manager, loves this book and it is infecting all of us and our customers as well.
2. That Jonathan Hickman, we love him, so do our customers.

The rest of the list all smacks of Event (but then again so are Secret Warriors and Deadpool).

Employment circumstances have left my head spinning on a daily basis, leaving the blog to be not as high a priority as I'd like it to be. So this list wound up sitting in my inbox MUCH longer than it should (my apologies, Lee). 

Lee is right: a lot of that list (and the list I imagine we'd see for this week and weeks upcoming) can be classified as "event" related. But I don't know if I'd say they are all tied to the "four letter word" version of an event. Obviously, it is all in the eye of the beholder, but I believe most of the titles listed there are great concepts and stories first, event marketing second. 

The IGN Batman RIP Wrap Up

First, I have to say that it says a lot about the current state of comics when an interview with a DC Bat Editor is surrounded by a background made up of exclusively Marvel super-heroes.

But on to the actual wrap-up...

"IGN Comics: Were you worried at all about having to roll some of these stories out before RIP concluded, or was that a necessary evil from a publishing standpoint? Marts: It was a combination of it being a necessary evil, but it was also intentional on our parts, in that we wanted it to tell some stories that took place after #681 so readers got an indication of where things were headed, and to suggest an idea of threat or a sense of doom that might be on the horizon."

I can appreciate how Mike Marts thought it could create that sense of doom, but I don't think it really did. He spoke earlier about getting the same excitement reading Grant's planned story that he felt as a kid reading comics. I just think most of the audience is too hardened to fall back into that sense of wonder. We're too cynical about death in comics to ever really feel a sense of anything like doom from the implication of a character's passing, either.

IGN Comics: Keeping track of how the timelines of each monthly book line up in the greater scheme of things is tricky enough as a reader, and I imagine it would be even more difficult as an editor. How do you go about keeping track of how each book lines up with the others without getting a giant headache? Marts: It is a tricky job. On the one hand, you've got a group of books that are a family of titles, such as the Batman family of titles. In this event, we were trying to involve all the books and have them be a part of this major event. At the same time, you want all the books to sort of stand on their own and have their own distinct voices, and allow the creators to tell their own stories. I think the RIP tie-ins that we did this past year succeeded in maintaining that distinct voice for each title while also tying into the family feel of it.

Mission not accomplished, seeing as how the tie-ins had very little that tied them in and several pieces that contradicted RIP.

Now, I really like the books Mike Marts has been a part of putting together over the years. But this has to one of the most unintentionally funny statements I've seen an editor have to make:

As far as the precise continuity and figuring out where each story takes place, we know that almost all of our readers have been with us for a while, and all our readers are intelligent. And we don't want to really insult our readers by banging them over the head with a precise timeline of "this is when this happens, and this is when that happens." For the most part, we figure that they'll be able to situate the stories where they feel comfortable situating them in their heads. But the whole time we have a solid idea of what storyline takes place first and in what order. For the most part, if we can release them in a chronological fashion, and have them come out according to when the stories take place, great. But in the cases where that's not a possibility, we leave it up to the readers to figure out how best to fit it in.

Precise continuity wasn't given in order to avoid insulting the readers? Right. More like Grant Morrison didn't layout the precise timing for them and they're as lost trying to figure it out as the readers are.

I can't bring myself to read much more of Marts having to put a happy spin on this stuff. I look forward to future projects that Marts shepherds at DC that better reflect what he's capable of.

Ultimate Comics Walk-Up Sales For Dec 4th, 2008

From Lee Newman of Ultimate Comics, the list of top-selling books at one of their locations in North Carolina for what was released on 12/4/08. Pull lists are not included, as this is meant to capture what is being bought off the shelf.

Sorry, everyone for the late post this week. One day shorter in the week and business in the store created a very hectic week for me.

1. Batman #682
2. Batman #681
3. Secret Invasion #8
4. X-Men Noir #1
5. Haunted Tank #1
6. Sandman: The Dream Hunters #2
7. Amazing Spider-Man #579
8. X-Infernus #1
9. Justice Society #21
10. Hellboy: The Wild Hunt #1

Commentary:

1&2: Media exposure baby. Seriously, I would love if Marvel and DC would start advertising on tv with a nice comic shop locator ride on!

3. It is important to note that last week's issue of Batman performed better than the end of Marvel's big event. Some will think this is attrition, but believe or not we don't see too much attrition in event books, even late ones like Final Crisis perform well and consistently. The big push here was the Batman story made it into the news.

4&8. Yup, people will buy the X-Men regardless of what it is.

5. Surprise of the week. Solid, fun, and funny book (although I am unsure as to whether or not it was supposed to be funny or if my twisted brain made it funny), it may have had something to do with me talking it up. ; )

10. Hellboy has been a big performer at this store. We are just now figuring out what numbers of it will sell here, it may become a repeat performer.

1 & 2. Ugh. I'd be afraid that those sales would mean we'd see more stories like BATMAN R.I.P., but most of my problems with the arc were very Grant-Morrison-specific, thus unlikely to be repeated any time soon.

4 & 8. I haven't seen a copy of these yet, but I'd like to hope there is some quality behind them in addition to having the X-MEN name slapped across them. Lee's comment doesn't leave me with much hope, though.

Ultimate Comics Walk-Up Sales For Nov 26th, 2008

From Lee Newman of Ultimate Comics, the list of top-selling books at one of their locations in North Carolina for what was released on 11/26/08. Pull lists are not included, as this is meant to capture what is being bought off the shelf.

1. Batman #681
2. Umbrella Academy: Dallas #1
3. Captain America #44
4. Hulk #8
5. Ultimate Spider-Man #128
6. Superman #682
7. Attack of the Killer Tomatoes #1
8. Nova #19
9. Secret Invasion: Inhumans #4
10. Secret Invasion: X-Men #4

A normal week with normal sales sees the usual suspects for the most part.

1. Media bump pushed this one over the top and required a fairly hefty reorder after a Friday Sell out!

2. Good to see this selling strong from the get go. The first series was a bit of a slow starter. I think the key difference here is that the core comic audience seems to like the book, so even though we get the My Chemical Romance fans a month or two behind the book, it sells strong on the release and then has legs. This is the kind of comic I like. I will probably have multiple facing for the book just like an Event or a Stephen King book.

7. I chalk this up to my customer base being weird. ;)

I'll toss in a few of my own comments later. It's been a hectic week, filled with attempts to become gainfully employed again and dealing with traffic court issues. Should be much more active again soon.

Ultimate Comics Walk-Up Sales For Nov 19th, 2008

From Lee Newman of Ultimate Comics, the list of top-selling books at one of their locations in North Carolina for what was released on 11/19/08. Pull lists are not included, as this is meant to capture what is being bought off the shelf.

1. Ender's Game: Battle School #2
2. Supergirl # 35
3. Fantastic Four #561
4. Avengers Invaders #6
5. Pax Romana#4
6. Goon #30
7. X-Men Legacy #218
8. Uncanny X-Men #504
9. Robin #180
10. Ex Machina #39

Commentary

Another lite week lets some smaller titles shine.

1. I am blaming this firmly on college kids. I know I read the book in college and that age seems to have an affinity for the series.

2. NEW KRYPTON effect... see if it lasts. I know I was upset by yet another round of Kara's origin, we'll see if readers feel as upset about it.

5. We love Hickman and so do our customers. Can't wait to see what Secret Warriors does.

7. The story is pretty solid so both Legacy and Origins saw bumps during this arc.

9. RIP fever after effects.

1. I'd like to know how well the book is selling in more "progressive" (read: liberal) areas.

2. I haven't noticed a big backlash from the kryptonite poisoning gimmick. Looks like people are giving them room to work on their new angle.

3. That came out again? And non-pull-list people are buying it? Shocking.

5. I guess I need to check out more of his work. I tend to come late to the party on critically successful Image books.

9. Yet, the "tie-ins" really had nothing to do with RIP. Certainly people buying this issue already realized by now?

Is Dan Didio On Speaking Terms With...Dan Didio?

From Newsarama.com:

We’re still locking down the writer on the Oracle miniseries, but Battle for the Cowl will be written and drawn by Tony Daniel, which we’re very excited about. This is the first time Tony’s written in a while, and he’s just champing at the bit to be able to do this, and we’re excited that he’s on the series.

From Hero Complex on the LA Times website:

Dan Didio: The first thing we’re going to see is called “Battle for the Cowl,” that’s going to be a book that features nearly every member of the Batman family

GB: Even Ace the Bat-Hound?

DD: [Laughs] Probably. We have a writer-artist team on this right now that’s scouring every book possible to see what they can include in these two-page spreads they want to build of all the characters that inhabit the Batman universe.

Unless Tony Daniel has MPD, there's no way I can see him referred to as "they" and "team". What's the deal?

What's Going On At DC?

Rich's LitG this week seems to be pointing at Dan Didio as the source of a lot of disgruntlement for the writers at DC.

Making Grant Morrison change the ending to Final Crisis that is, supposedly, exactly what was approved at the beginning (have some doubts on that one)?
Writers having to put their own stories on hold because of the Final Crisis changes?
Having a stand-up shouting match with James Robinson (who, IMO, is writing like a guy back from Hollywood that thinks comic book scripts are kids' stuff)?
Winding up with Tony Daniel on your big follow-up to BATMAN R.I.P. (any bets on whether this winds up worse than Countdown: Arena?)?

I have no idea what is actually going on, but it doesn't look good for DC at all.

Much Ado About Nothing

The canceling of Nightwing, Robin & Birds of Prey seems to have a lot of fans in a tizzy.

If you've paid attention to the rumors or even the list of characters battling for the cowl, you'd realize that two of the canceled titles are only seeing this fate for the purposes of an event.

Did you think the sky was falling when the X-titles were canceled and replaced by the Age of Apocalypse books? If you did, were you feeling foolish when AoA ended and things returned more or less to what they had been?

I'm a little iffy on whether Birds of Prey will eventually be back. Given how chaotic things have been at DC as far as Tony Bedard's assignments, I'd almost be prone to think it won't be. Bedard just seems to be getting the short end of the stick there.

JG Jones Is A Class Act

I could think of many reasons why I wouldn't fall on my sword in this situation, like JG Jones just did.

One of the many would be Grant Morrison.

You know, that writer who has practically become a deity to his many fans.


You know, that writer who has needed fill-in artists on BOTH of his events (FINAL CRISIS & BATMAN R.I.P.).



You know, that writer who had delays on 7 SOLDIERS OF VICTORY that are only dwarfed by Kevin Smith's own battles with timeliness.


You know, that writer who is the devourer of lead time and plays matador to the bull of blame & accountability.


Now, I love much of Grant's work. But all signs point to him being the problem with the scheduling of his product. It'd be nice if he step up and admit to that, rather than letting his artist have the target painted only on his back...front...and anywhere people want to slag him.