George Perez: Out Of Steam?

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

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?

JMS, Guggenheim & Acton Comics

Death: What Happens To Some Pitches

Rich Johnston did a little interview with Marc Guggenheim to help promote his new book, Halycon. In it, he addressed some of the rumors that had surrounded his leaving Action Comics before he really got started.

A few interesting notes:

1. Guggenheim, like JMS before him, stresses in his response that the two never talked about the situation. This is arguing against a straw man: no part of the rumors have anything to do with the two parties having words at all. When you refute an accusation that isn't being made, it implies you're doing so because you can't directly refute what's actually being said.
2. In not being able to personally attest that no mandate was requested that Superman not appear elsewhere, he basically indicates that the pitch JMS made more or less requires Joe getting Kal-El all to himself. It's almost as if Guggenheim is saying, "I'm sure JMS is telling the truth when he says he never specifically asked for control of Superman...he let his pitch do the asking."
3. The official version of Guggenheim leaving Action Comics said his pitch turned into something that he felt he wasn't the best writer for. Guggenheim's answer seems to suggest that Superman being out of Action happened sometime between his being picked for Action and JMS being announced on Superman. So HIS pitch was something else before editorial informed him that Superman would be confined to his self-titled monthly. 
4. The pitch that he wound up not fitting was what was a mix of him trying to make lemonade out of the situation and taking editorial direction. "In fact, I'd worked out a whole story that would lead up to Superman's triumphant return to Metropolis -- in it's darkest hour, natch -- that turned his absence into a virtue. But then, as these things often happen, discussions ensued and ideas evolved and the focus started to fall more on Lex and the story started to become more about Lex's quest for a Black Ring... and I realized that while the story had become extremely cool, it had also evolved itself out of my wheelhouse." See right there? His own pitch, even after the JMS developments, was to focus on setting up Metropolis's darkest hour, not so much Luthor's jaunt across the globe and universe trying to find a black ring. Writers don't generally pitch something out of their own wheelhouse, but have feedback from above that steadily pushes it out. 
5. It would seem that what led Guggenheim to not be a part of Action Comics was a combination of JMS taking advantage of his position in pitching an angle that required his owning Superman and editorial having strong feelings about what they wanted the title to be used for after the Kryptonian was subtracted from the mix. Which, when you boil things down, just reduces to Guggenheim being off the title because DC Comics kept changing the circumstances around the assignment until he was no longer comfortable with it. The discussion of the rumors have always seemed to center around it being JMS's fault, but that's ignoring that he only has the power to make a pitch, not accept the pitch and, by doing so, put limitations on the work of others. When you factor into it that Guggenheim seems to have been happy enough to stay on the title without Kal-El, the driving factor in his leaving would seem to be editorial taking even more of the freedom to tell his story away. 

But what's the point of the rumors if there's no malice behind the story?

It looks to me like Straczynski had a genuine idea that he wanted to execute. DC had an earnest desire to let him take a crack at it in hopes that it would move units. Guggenheim was still able to have enough enthusiasm to keep bouncing around ideas on where to go. Then DC seemed to want to hedge their bets by using Action to accomplish some other goal besides just telling interesting stories. 

Given the sales on the traditional Superman titles in the recent past when they didn't have Superman in them, you can't blame them for possibly having thought, "if we're going to risk pissing away money on the book, we can at least do so in a way that maybe helps re-establish a historically important supporting cast member while hopefully telling good stories." It's obviously a shitty spot for Guggenheim to have been caught up in, but the kind of bad situation that happens to good creators all the time. Tough decisions are made every day that pull sweet gigs out from under freelancers. I guess you could say the silver lining here is that it happened to a creator that is so successful in other avenues that he could afford to bow out of the project, rather than suffer from working on stories he had no interest in or having his reputation tainted by such stories that he felt ill-suited for. 

The surprise for me is that Cornell seems to have been given so much of the direction he's working on. He's still executing it in a very entertaining fashion, as even Guggenheim seems to agree. But I was more inclined to think he came up with much closer to 100% than it turns out. 

The way that both JMS and Guggenheim devote so much energy to denying that they ever talked about this leads me to feel that there may have been some degree of a debate or power struggle...SOMETHING that would explain their need to create a straw man here. But there's no way of confirming that happened right now and it's not likely to be a "sexy" enough story to encourage the effort it would take to dig it up. 

Why I'd Doubt JMS's Explanations

(Editor's Note: yes, a string of JMS posts. I've been rather sporadic in updating this blog, but, when I do work on it, I shoot out a bunch of posts about a subject I'm passionate about. One thing I'm always passionate about: railing against bullshit when I feel someone's trying to shove a steaming pile in my direction. {sniff sniff} Whattaya know? I do believe I smell some...)

So, JMS has been giving more reactions to the news of him leaving monthly books to focus on Superman: Earth One (and possibly other self-contained projects). And, to my mind, he is giving people more reason to doubt his word on the whole thing each time he grants an interview.

Why is that, you say?

Inconsistencies.

On Newsarama, JMS said on Friday, regarding Brave & The Bold:

I filled in a bit on The Brave and the Bold to kind of get my sea legs in the DC Universe.

And on CBR:

I came to DC primarily to do "Superman: Earth One," and filled out the time on "The Brave and the Bold."

Back in January on CBR, JMS sang a different tune about the series:

When we last spoke, you said you've told DC that by the end of 2010, "The Brave and The Bold" will be somewhere in the top 20 or 30 books and that you have a plan to make that happen. Can you share any details about how this will happen?

Step 1 is to build up the credibility of the book as something other than an oddity. We've made some good progress in that area, given the majority of the reviews and attention the book is now getting from critics and the blogosphere.

Step 2 is to start upping the ante, taking some real chances with the storytelling, getting more experimental.

Step 3 is a secret. I've talked about it with [DCU Executive Editor] Dan DiDio, and he's on board. It's our Manhattan Project, for lack of a better term. If we pull it off, it'll draw enough attention to bring the book the rest of the way up.

So, he was making declarations about how he'd turn his feet-wetting, fill-in book a Top 30 title...and he needed to get his sea legs in the DC Universe when the main focus of his hire was just Superman: Earth One, which is not set in that universe. Coupling a series you're just passing time on with bold claims of sales success you plan on having due to a secret master plan you've cooked up makes no sense, unless, possibly, if your name is Mark Millar.

He, also, contradicts himself on the matter of Wonder Woman, in my opinion, in his interview with Newsarama...and manages to do it all in one answer:

Nrama: Was this connected to recent delays on your comics?

JMS: No. First, there's only been one delay on Superman due to a recurring lung infection that has, happily, been resolved once and for all. There were no delays on Wonder Woman, and before the B&B hiatus, all of those issues came out on time.

Once the decision was made to shift me from the monthlies a few weeks ago, they put out the word that the next Wonder Woman issue would be pushed, but that was just to buy time to find a new writer to finish the story.

If your scripts were coming in on time, why is an issue that you should have handed in the script for long ago pushed "to find a new writer"? Where is the logic to that? Are you suggesting DC wants to scrap a perfectly good script that they surely paid for so they can have the new writer re-write it from your plots, JMS? Or are you, as I suspect, just trying to hide your repeated lateness issues behind excuses that insult the intelligence of the readers?

Let me say again, the answer boils down to this: he had no delays on Wonder Woman, but DC is delaying it because they needed to find a writer who would have nothing to do with contributing to the actual issue in question.

If the issue was held for any other reason than lateness on someone's part, the only explanation I can think of is that, contrary to public statements thus far, they plan on trying to condense the conclusion to the JMS storyline so they can bring in a new permanent writer sooner. If that is the case, then his "I had no delays on Wonder Woman" is accurate, but his explanation for the issue getting pushed back is a lie of omission.

Let's not ignore that he talks about Brave & The Bold going on a hiatus that was never announced that I can find. You know, he wasn't late on anything with the book...it just took an unannounced break that had nothing to do with his timeliness. If you can find where it was announced, I welcome a link to it in the comments, dear readers.

What we seem to be seeing here, folks, is a pattern of inconsistency. Which is to say a pattern of making up excuses on the fly that seem to forget that Al Gore invented the internet, which allows us compare what you're spitting out now with previous statements and other known facts. Making up excuses is, also, known as bullshitting.

If you're going to follow J. Michael Straczynski's spin-filled statements and interviews on this subject, may I suggest you wear your high waters? Because he's shoveling on the readers pretty deep.

Earth One OGNs: Is Serialization After-The-Fact Completely Dead Now?

So, we all know that JMS had that famous statement at a SDCCI panel that he later chastised bloggers for getting wrong (when they didn't) about Superman: Earth One debuting as an OGN, being serialized afterwards, collected again and then further volumes debuting in serialized, non-OGN format.

DC attempted to address the tempest-in-a-teapot, but, as David Brothers pointed out, they seemed to sidestep directly answering whether the project would ever be broken into single issues.

I'm guessing that the reported success of the initial volume rules that out or at least tables it for the time being. As a huge proponent of OGNs, I'm glad for their apparent win here. As someone who'd have died of curiosity had he been born, instead, as a cat, I'm saddened that the OGN's performance likely means never knowing for certain whether there was anything to JMS's misstep.

JMS: The Half-Term Governor Of Monthly Comics

So...anyone else embarrassed at this point to have rallied to JMS's side in the One More Day fiasco?

After publicly stating that he nearly requested his name be removed from OMD, it seemed the reaction from a lot of fans was "fuck yeah, JMS, you tell 'em!" Who knew it was more about being a prima donna or diva?

Since that, he left Thor because, after asking for and getting 6 issues without tying into a Big Event (TM), Marvel eventually needed the series to tie-in. And that was just too much to ask of JMS...and he blew that popsicle stand.

Leaving his last ongoing Marvel title made him pretty much full-time DC. That led to some more fun.

After the decision to relaunch the Red Circle characters in the Brave And The Bold title, going so far as several completed scripts and, apparently, completed artwork, he told DC Comics he couldn't do it and that he needed to do it as a separate event. He no longer wanted to do it that way, so he pretty much unilaterally decided it wouldn't be done that way. That is, if you believe his version of the story.

He gets put on Superman. BleedingCool.com has some really interesting rumors about it. Ones that, despite JMS protesting, appear to be quite nearly spot-on. This involves the idea that he required control of Superman, pulling him from his second monthly title and other regular books. This effectively ran Marc Guggenheim off the book. Given that the Superman books without Superman for a year had significantly dropped in sales, I really don't buy that DC Comics decided on their own that a pitch to have Action Comics star Lex Luthor with no Superman was the way to go (note: I'm glad that it worked out this way, because I'm loving Paul Cornell's run).

No, it seems much more likely that DC Comics was so excited about the idea of JMS bringing attention and sales to the Superman title that they were willing to give him control of the character and try out a creative pitch for a Superman-less Action. Even if it meant pulling the rug out from under a previously committed writer (Guggenheim) and replacing him with another (Cornell).

JMS was, also, put on Wonder Woman. While there are no rumors about the circumstances around that and no second series to be intruded upon, it does seem like he was given just as absolute control over her. One can't say that her lack of appearances elsewhere are a result of a requirement on the writer's part, it does present itself as a possibility, based on the rumored issues with Superman.

Then came the reader reaction to the directions JMS took two of DC's flagship characters. It wasn't good, but DC had committed themselves firmly to the story arcs that JMS laid out. I mean a serious deluge of PR. Pushing for coverage in major news outlets. With Superman, apparent attempts to coordinate with areas of the country that he'd be walking through for additional press. It'd be extremely difficult to extricate themselves from that without it being a major embarrassment.

What adds insult to injury? That JMS don't work cheap, as far as I can tell, and the books ain't selling.

But the news isn't all dire. The Superman: Earth One project debuts to a lot of press coverage and...shock...sales to match.

Enter the reality: the best way to get through this is to have talented, more affordable talent finish out the directions of Superman & Wonder Woman, while moving JMS over to a property that might just sell enough to justify his pay rate: his Superman: Earth One project. Seems like an excellent job of making the best of a bad situation.

But, you may ask, how does this cast JMS in a prima-donna/diva light?

Well, I believe he leaked the move to BleedingCool.com to try to get ahead of the news. Why do I think he leaked it? I love Rich Johnston as much as the next guy (or probably more, given how many bash him), but the fact that JMS chose BC.com and only BC.com to give a statement to regarding the move seems like one hand washing the other: Rich runs his leak (that frames the move to be about the future of publishing and NOT about sales not meriting his pay rate on the monthlies) and JMS will give him an exclusive statement on the issue later (one where he frames himself as it all being about the craft, indicating he's leaving substantial money on the table).

(Update: Rich Johnston, in the comments below, refutes my theory that JMS leaked the info to him and gave him the exclusive response afterward as part of a quid pro quo. It doesn't negate the overall idea that JMS, to some extent, used his statement to BleedingCool.com to spin the news.)

Just to be clear: I don't posit that theory in any way to knock Rich for it. Johnston often cries the loudest that he's not a journalist. There's been evidence of posting rumors/scoops on his site that were actually PR folks using him to generate buzz. He's there to generate hits and disseminate info that his audience wants to read. So I wouldn't fault him for agreeing to such an arrangement. I, also, don't doubt that he approached DC for a reaction, with both he and JMS being reasonably certain they wouldn't have an official one.

In JMS's official statement, he even appears to manage to blame his artist, Chris Weston, for the delays regarding The Twelve. But, you know, that's almost not worth noting, given all of his other incidents.

God help DC Comics if the future installments of Superman: Earth One don't sell similarly to the first one.

Mini Mr. Anonymous Update

Mr. A hit me with two quick things:

1. Assuming his TV development gig doesn't get in the way, Jeph Loeb is STILL set to take over the Marvel cosmic books. I know: folks thought that was just completely bad info and I thought that things must have changed. But, no, things were just delayed for some reason.

And a reminder: Mr. A's whole point of getting the news out on the cosmic takeover was in hopes that fan response might kill it before it got started. While to some that might just sound like a convenient method to explain it away if it never comes to pass, I assure you that it's his honest position. If he wasn't spoiling out of frustration with bad decisions and moves, he'd have been trying to get something from me out of the deal and/or hitting me with spoilers on a much more frequent basis.

2. Completely unsolicited (I swear!), he offered up: JMS is childish and unprofessional. He had more specific comments about him shared in our conversation, but he didn't specify those having his blessing for publication. I'd e-mail JMS to confirm that he is childish and unprofessional, but I don't have his e-mail and, well, his reaction to being in the news recently might be all the confirmation we here at SCHWAPP!!! need. ;)

Top 5 Other Things That JMS Recalls Incorrectly

A reader e-mailed me the following. Wish I could take credit.

#5: The Telepath arc of Babylon 5 didn't suck.

#4: Wonder Woman is an Amazonian princess, as opposed to a member of Prince's band.

#3: Superman on walkabout is a new idea. Since Superman splits after every major event for a little alone time (see Infinite Crisis, 52, etc.).

#2: One More Day.

#1: Norman Osborn fucking Gwen Stacy.

JMS Upset At Folks Quoting Him Accurately

From Rich Johnston's BleedingCool.com:

Could somebody do me a favor and pass this on to the folks who have been saying that I announced that plans for the OGN Earth One series have been changed? It’s not what I said but it’s all over the net and nobody checks with me to confirm… what was said before going out with these stories?

In brief…I was asked about the format of the graphic novels, was it going to be single issues collected as is the rule or a straight-up GN, to which I said it was a novel, unlike B&B [Brave And The Bold], which was single issues gathered into a hardcover (thus trying to promote the book, which is coming out this week), having a little fun with it when the fan said he was confused, and I said I was too. That was it. Somehow these two statements concerning two different books got conflated into one.

The one has nothing to do with the other.

The bolded part is new, while the rest had been previously shared. Well, new to being publicly reproduced from the e-mails, as I'm sure it was in what The Beat and Robot Six received.

Now, thanks to Nathan in the comments section of the previous, here is the transcript of what he said from DC's podcast of the panel:

Q: With your Superman: Earth One story, is that going to be like an ongoing graphic novel series, or is it just going to be one and done, or do you have plans for other Superman graphic novels, if this is a one and done?

A: What they're going to do is, as I understand it, first the graphic novel will come out in hardcover, then it will come out in individual issues, then more issues will follow to be gathered together in graphic novels.

Q: So, it's going to be graphic novel hardcover first, then single issues recollected, then single issues again?

A: Correct. As I understand it.

Q: That's extremely confusing.

A: You and me both.

If I had his e-mail address, I might contact him to ask that he listen to the recording of what he said before responding indignantly about being misquoted and not approached to get it right (whereas his version of "right" would obviously be wrong).

Earth One OGNs Update

So, DC's official response (given to Heidi & JK Parkin) to the questions about whether they've given up on Earth One as OGNs is:

"Our plans regarding the EARTH ONE line of original graphic novels have not changed - they will serve as new, unique and compelling reinterpretations of our key characters in original graphic novel form, by some of the biggest names and brightest stars in the industry."

-- Jim Lee and Dan DiDio, DC Comics Co-Publishers

Then JMS contacts Robot Six to clarify:

This was the actual exchange, as I remember it.

Someone asked me on the panel if Superman Earth One was only coming out as a hardcover or as issues at the same time or afterward. I said, as near as I can remember it, "This is coming out first in hardcover, unlike B&B, which is single issues collected into a hardcover" (which I slipped in to promote the book, which is coming out I think this week or next week). So it went in both directions, which prompted the fan to note, "I'm confused," and I joked back, "So am I."

That was the entirety of the exchange. Basically, the two different subjects got conflated in the hurry to transcribe what was being said, so they got lumped into one sentence.

OK. So we've at least confirmed that the first volume will experience "retro serialization" (credit to Johanna). Beyond that, we haven't really gotten a whole heckuva lot out of anyone about this.

Some questions that still need answering:

1. How are they dealing with making an OGN (which should be a seamless story from cover to cover) work with retro serialization? Which format will experience some sacrifice: the OGN by needing artificial breaks for eventual single issues or the single issues for having no natural breaks to end on?
2. What exactly is/was the intended production schedule for this? Because, if you're publishing HC and then serializing afterward (and then possibly doing softcover), there'd seem to be the potential for built-in delays between new volumes. It doesn't seem likely that the second volume of the OGN will hit shelves before the last issue of the serialization does (or even softcover trade).
3. Was "retro serialization" honestly part of the original plan? Because answers from the talent in their AICN interview certainly didn't seem to reflect that. They were asked whether they thought OGNs might be signaling the end of monthlies and never once brought up serialization plans, which would have been a strong, direct, silencing answer. 

I'm sure there are more questions (like how DC felt their official non-answer was worth giving), but those three are a good start.

DC'S Earth One Books No Longer OGNs?

Man, I can't believe I missed this and had to have it pointed out by a friend.

From CBR:

The last question went to Straczynski. The fan asked whether the writer plans on continuing the "Earth One" stories. The writer revealed that the hardcover release will be followed up with by single issues, which will later be collected.

Apparently, after the first Earth One Superman OGN, following volumes will be serialized in comic book form and then collected. So...the OGN/bookstore thing goes flying away before it even gets started.

Were pre-orders that low? Are the folks at DC that lacking in testicular fortitude that they can't wait to see how it performs for a bit before announcing a switch to serialized-into-collected traditional publishing?

How hard is it to at least wait until you're coming close to the time where you have to solicit the work from the second volume before you reveal to the world that you have no faith in this OGN idea?

There's phrasing at Newsarama that makes it sound possible that they're talking about publishing the OGN, publishing as single issues and then collecting it again (maybe with added material or something?), but that sounds about as unlikely as it sounds stupid.

Last question concerns the format of Earth One, which JMS reports will come out as a hardcover, then individual issues, then be collected again. Fan: "That's extremely confusing." "To both of us," JMS said with a chuckle.

I don't know. I was impressed that they were going to try this OGN thing for awhile, with their most marketable characters in an interesting project. But if they're ready to bail out on it before it has even hit shelves, that says more negative about DC as a publisher than the initial plan said positively about them.

DC Comics 75th: Best Covers: Superman Annual #11

Maybe I'm letting my fondness for the story between the covers color my opinion of the cover, but as a kid who almost never bought Superman comics, this cover really caught my eye and made it a must buy for me.

You Know...

When you are the company that is publishing the projects, there are some statements you shouldn't make...like:

"So, wait — we get an ongoing ACTION COMICS series from Cornell, Woods and Finch and a top-secret Guggenheim series? Sold."

Fans get to say that. News sites get to say that. Sites that suckle at your teat as to maintain unfettered access for interviews, previews and early heads up on announcements get to say that. You who are already publishing the projects and that any enthusiasm from is better called "marketing"? You don't get to say stuff like that without sounding stupid or pathetic.

Ironically...Cornell, Woods & Finch on Action Comics? Sold.

No slight to Guggenheim. I'm just not sold on something that is still "top-secret".

Wait...What?

JMS is on Superman and Wonder Woman?

I thought when JMS got the Superman: Earth 1 project, his mission to write Superman was resolved. But now you're putting him in control of the main Superman and the alternate Superman?

That doesn't seem like a smart move. It would seem more likely that people pick one JMS Superman project over the other. There is the possibility that there seems to be less differences between the two versions, because it is likely that JMS writes the core of the character rather identically in each version. There's a reason why Marvel didn't just slap Bendis on the traditional Spider-Man title after JMS left, beyond the chance that Bendis didn't want to write two versions of the same character.

The addition of Wonder Woman to his writing schedule makes much more sense, though. With how he seemed to have brought a new level of interest to the THOR title at Marvel, slapping him on to the DC character that deals with a pantheon of gods seems to be a no-brainer.

Robinson/Bagley On JLA

The Source blog announced that James Robinson and Mark Bagley will be working on Justice League of America starting in August. While not my dream team, I can definitely see some great advantages in their pairing on the book.

Robinson is basically immersed in all the big events going on at DC through his collaborations with Geoff Johns on the Superman books and Blackest Night: Superman, not to mention always having the potential to put together something great.

Bagley is fast and still manages to turn out some of the better artwork out there. I wonder what his work would be like if allowed more time to breathe and grow, but I'll definitely take it as is.

It isn't a pairing that made my jaw drop the second I heard about it. But it is a pairing that my excitement for is growing as it sinks in.

DC Comics: Blackest Night In August

I've been slacking on the blog, lately. I can't really blame it on work getting in the way, because I've done more blogging with a much more hectic schedule. Regardless, I'm planning on making this a daily thing again starting now.

With that out of the way, I'm...at work. Waiting for the project to get under way, I figured I'd compose an entry via e-mail. Stupid internet filters keeping me from Blogger. Images will follow the text entry and be corrected to go with each proper entry later this evening.

In August, DC is dominated by Blackest Night. This brings no complaints from me, as I've been looking forward to it for a long time. As we're discussing solicitations, you don't want to read further if you want to remain completely unspoiled. Nothing outside of what is in the solicitations will be stated.

Blackest Night: Superman #1

The Shane Davis cover is a striking image and a bit unexpected for me. Jonathan Kent isn't THIS Superman's dad, so I wouldn't necessarily expect that would be a target of his. The interiors are going to be by Eddy Barrows, which isn't everyone's favorite choice, but I think he'll exceed expectations. For all the grief I've given James Robinson for his writing since returning, I've been converted to a believer again. The World of Krypton stuff is reading very nicely. I'll give him a mulligan on that Atlas arc from this point on and try not to bring it up again.

Blackest Night: Titans #1

While I'm not thrilled with the proliferation of tie-in mini-series for this event, JT Krul has supposedly been consulting Geoff Johns on this (meaning it may avoid being a completely unnecessary riff) and has shown a lot of enthusiasm in his interviews. I would have to say I'm more concerned about Ed Benes on the book. His habit of posing characters for excessive T&A shots can be very distracting. I'm hoping he'll avoid doing that with a Black Lantern Terra.

Blackest Night: Batman #1

This mini screams of cash-in more than the other two, despite it being Peter Tomasi handling the scripts. I've been very impressed by his past work and he's obviously deep into the Blackest Night plans, having handled the run-up on the Green Lantern Corps series. But Deadman, "cries of the dead rising" and Black Lantern Flying Graysons, while possibly making for a good story, don't seem like they'll handle an intregal plot point for the event or move it forward in any noticeable way. I've yet to encounter any Adrian Saef artwork that I'm aware of, so that's a completely unknown quantity. I'd like to assume that putting him on a Blackest Night AND Batman book means he's a great talent...but I've been burned by that sort of thinking before. I'll still pick this up on the strength of Tomasi's previous work.

Blackest Night #2

Yeah...vague solicitation. Almost no point in having one: it has nothing to sell the issue in it and, honestly, doesn't need to anyway. At this time, retailers are aware this is going to be something big and their existing customers have already communicated in some way what their level of interest is in the book. The only thing that would necessitate a solicitation would be to express that some Spider-Man unmasking or Captain America catching a bullet with his chest level stuff is going to happen. Maybe if this was Marvel, it would have just read "Nuff Said!" and been done with it.

Green Lantern #45

While the idea of seeing the non-green factions go at each other (rather than this being driven completely by the Guardians' gang) piques my interest, zombie Sinestro Corps cannon fodder doesn't. I'm not complaining, because we've certainly known that not every Black Lantern was going to be a marquee character. Just saying it does nothing to amp my excitement to see the issue. Then again, with Geoff Johns & Doug Mahnke on it...I didn't really need to be amped further. The John Stewart/Katma Tui bit is worth looking forward to, assuming they can give it the space it needs to be effective.

Green Lantern Corps #39

In what may seem contradictory, I am excited by the idea of Green Lanterns being revived in Black to go at their former colleagues. The reason is this: we know and care about many of the living Lanterns and even a few of the dead ones. There's not nearly as much emotional weight to a fallen Sinestro Corps member fighting against a live one, since we don't know them or their relationships nearly as well. I know some of them have been given personalities as Mongul was establishing his control of the group, but that's still far from where we stand with the GLC and its diseased members. I think Tomasi and Gleason tend to do "all hell breaking loose" pretty well, on top of that.

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. 

Something So Wrong, There Aren't Words

Maybe There Is Hope For JSA After All...

From Bill Willingham's comments in his own blog up on Big Hollywood/Breitbart:

Full Metal, yes, I will be writing the JSA starting soon (I’m not entirely sure just at the moment which issue will be my first, and I’m too lazy to walk across the room and look it up), along with my frequent writing partner Matt Sturges. This will indeed be the first test to see if I can hold to my guns. And since JSA is a DC company owned series my only real weapon is the last resort kind. If they insist on imposing too many changes from above, ones that would corrupt my shiny new mission statement, then I’d have to reluctantly walk.

This is the first time I'm rooting for editorial interference.

The actual opinion put forth in the blog itself only strengthen my desire to see Willingham & Sturges off/never on JSA.

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?