Scheduling: The Biggest New 52 Problem

A lot is being made about the controversial contents of a few books from DC this week. As with so much in American entertainment, the controversy boils down to sex. Regardless of where you come down on this particular divide, it brings to mind a completely different, yet related problem...

Scheduling.

In the previous week, there was the issue of strong similarities between two books that could have been resolved by the schedule for the 52 roll out being over a month long. In fairness, the schedule wasn't so tight that they couldn't have pushed one of these to another week.

But now we have the Starfire and Catwoman controversies that are overshadowing other quality releases. When you want word of mouth, reviews, buzz, etc to influence sales, a comic book Wednesday becomes much like a movie Friday: you don't want your product to get lost in all the attention competing products get. If the competing product is from your own house? Well, you quite simply bump it to a different release date where it can shine on its own.

In releasing two books that, regardless of your personal feelings about, were sure to cause a loud reaction, DC hurt a few of their other books. Ironically, Wonder Woman and (to a lesser extent) Supergirl were two high quality, otherwise-high-profile releases that aren't going to get as much attention as they merited because people will be talking about the sexual issues at play in Red Hood & the Outlaws and Catwoman.

It might be that DC had this as a calculated move, thinking two strong female characters without sexual overtones used would help counterbalance the sturm and drang caused by those otherwise-low-profile books. While you can see the logic behind that (if not, sadly, the effectiveness in use), the better move would have been to stretch out the release schedule a bit more or, at the very least, schedule the two tempests-in-a-teapot to separate weeks so they didn't go all "Wonder Twin Powers Activate! Form of...misogyny accusations! Form of...DC thinks strong women are sluts!"

Controversial works can be good for business. But when they obscure your other worthy products or waste their attention-grabbing ability by being piled up on the same date, it just doesn't make good sense.

Schwappathy...Ended?

I didn't intend for my first new posting on the site in ages to be about the decline of my old stomping ground.

No, I planned on talking about the successful DC relaunch. Why? Because curiosity got me running into the store to get the books and the horror stories of sold out issues had me hot-footing it over there instead of taking days or weeks to head in.

While my pile has been dominated by DC, I've actually bought some single issues I wouldn't have otherwise picked up. I've been trafficking comic related sites and social network entries more, so I saw Clevinger asking fans to pick up a new Atomic Robo issue and people talking about Pigs by Nate Cosby.

Now, I love Robo, but it is normally trade purchase for me. Seeing as how Clevinger had an interesting take on Firestorm that I wasn't going to get to see published, I figured I'd pick up this first issue to show some support (and then decide whether or not to trade-wait on the rest later).

Cosby? He's been a damn entertaining Twitter follow since leaving the editor chair and I was keen to see what a book written by him would turn out like.

There are certainly other non-DC books I pick up, but they were things I'd likely have picked up without this whole New 52 thing reinvigorating my anticipation for Wednesday deliveries. SIXTH GUN is one of the rare books that I'd actually search through the old weeks' shelves at the shops to make sure I didn't miss if work had gotten in the way of my making a weekly visit.

But, yeah, the apathy has come to a rather abrupt end. I plan on trying to post opinions and all around here to see if anyone wants to read them. Most of the traffic I ever got was because of a passionate fan working at a publisher, leaking information because he had concerns about what they had planned. Since he's ridden off into the sunset (for the purposes of this site, not in his life or career), it remains to be seen how piqued curiosity is for my musings...

How The Mighty Have Fallen

I loved the folks I worked with at Newsarama.com. Some of the folks still working there are people I'd step in front of a bullet for. I take no joy in pointing this out

But...wow...I just checked their Alexa stats on a lark. Their global rank? 12,521. That's neck and neck with another popular comic book site. CBR? No, they're ranked 5860.

That close competitor? BleedingCool.com at 12498. That's right: Bleeding Cool is ranked higher than Newsarama for the last three months.

One of the main differences? CBR and BleedingCool still have forums that encourage readers to discuss their coverage right there. Newsarama? They encourage you to give them feedback on Facebook and Twitter. They're sending you to places that don't help their ad rates and they can't fully monetize, as far as I can tell.

A lot was made of the changes Newsarama underwent a few years back. Much was made of the new bells-and-whistles of how items were presented, but I don't think that was what knee-capped the site. No, I'd say it was the migration from vBulletin to the other message board interface they ran with for awhile, due to having been bought out by another company that happened to use it. They kept tweaking the forums to try to find a configuration that made them more inviting, but they failed. There used to be links at the bottom of articles to a thread in the forum where you could discuss it, much like CBR's current model.

But this message board system had a flawed notification system that didn't properly alert you of the new posts and didn't direct you straight to the newest entry, from what I can recall. So the message board traffic continued to dwindle as more effort was required of the visitor than had been previously or was currently required at their competitors.

Forums.comicbookresources.com accounts for 27.95% of CBR's visitors over the last three months, according to Alexa.com. I'm pretty sure BleedingCool.com's forums account for a lot of their traffic, but that info isn't available to me, as it isn't setup as a subdomain.

Forums.newsarama.com just redirects to Blog.newsarama.com. It's great that more and more of the front page content is actually a blog entry where visitors can respond, but you need to subscribe to an RSS feed if you want to be kept in the loop, rather than just checking a box to be notified of replies to your comment or new comments in general on the post (as the Blogger and WordPress formats encountered elsewhere allow). Newsarama has more or less actively discouraged visitor interaction with their site.

In short, I believe, for want of a nail (encouraged visitor participation), a kingdom (past traffic dominance) was lost. And it's a fucking shame.

Schwappathetic 52

Count me amongst the folks that felt that DC Comics should have relaunched all of their comics back when they did Crisis on Infinite Earths or several of their other events. It would have been well-timed and, I believe, much better received than this new directive.

For some reason, I can't muster much enthusiasm for this relaunch. I think I figured it out.

All of those other moments where they thought about it or could have done a relaunch? They weren't using an Elseworlds story as the launching point. That's what Flashpoint is.

All of the previous events included at least an attempt to give the characters we've followed for decades a last hurrah. They were going out with an epic fight before being started over. We weren't given empty, alternate versions of the characters to follow through an event that hasn't even given us enough time to be made to care about them sufficiently to even be concerned about the stakes. 

With the original Crisis, there was a fight at the beginning of time. We knew all the players, so you didn't have to learn about them and decide if you cared, but just have it demonstrated that the stakes were high. Zero Hour probably made the weakest argument for being used as a huge relaunch starting point, but it did have the plot devices necessary. Infinite Crisis would have been pretty strong, given all the discussion that had come from DC about this being an example of it being darkest before the dawn, seeming to indicate plans at a tonal shift for their entire line. Final Crisis would have been a bit poetic, given that it was Grant's demonstration of the power of a story, being used to end one while starting another.

Flashpoint? Ugh. It is an "event" in name only, as it centers around only one of the DC flagship characters being used to drive this alternate reality...and not one of the most commercially attractive ones, at that. While this is going on in its mini and a bunch of alternate one-shots and minis, the rest of the DCU titles are going on as if blissfully ignorant of the whole thing. So we don't seem to even get much of an opportunity for creative teams in the original titles to give titles or character versions a real send off. 

In that sense, the whole thing stinks of business-first/story-last. I'm not naive: I'm fairly aware that business, push comes to shove, is always first. But it is in the best interests of all involved to make sure that never stands so naked before the customer as it appears to be right now. Which makes it difficult to build up excitement to continue to read the obligatory event that launches the business decision of the year in September. It, also, makes me wonder if they knew they had the OK to relaunch back when they planned Flashpoint or if it came along after this event was already scheduled, making it necessary to turn this into part of the launch, rather than designed that way.

Schwappathy Continues

I've been treading water with the comics habit lately. I'm buying stuff and reading it, but not being wowed. All of the stuff that grabs me is largely read in trade format. Thankfully, I had periods of time where I was out of comics, so there is a wealth of stuff from years back that I can read for the first time today (Gotham Central, for instance).

But what I had been looking forward to snapping me out of my current mainstream comics doldrums (since even the TPBs I'm enjoying are largely from smaller publishers) was FLASHPOINT. I didn't care about the comparisons to the Age of Apocalypse, mostly because I enjoyed that event so much. But man...

I know they couldn't have this sneak up on readers like AoA did. We live in a different age where information can't be kept from the masses (even in cases when it arguably should). But the run up to it had no suspense or excitement. Instead, we saw a few issues of Flash that largely spun their wheels and had everyone read more than a little bit emo.

Then we get the first issue of this alternate reality and never has the term "meh" seemed so appropriate.

Judging by an alternate cover, I get the feeling that we're supposed to be wowed by Cyborg's place in the super-hero world as a leader. But then the contents of the issue show him to be ineffective, with everyone scattering when he can't deliver a more important teammate.

Try as I might, I can't really get excited by the new or obscure characters remade in this reality. Maybe one of the problems is that we weren't really shown what key change was made that turned this reality on its ear. One of the things that made AoA so interesting to me was that we were seeing how some of the players might have been effected by the absence of Xavier. Here...we don't know what, if anything, is missing. We're supposed to be keenly interested because we're trying to divine what that item is that led to this world? Sorry...not really grabbing me.

But one of the biggest whiffs for me was best pointed out by a friend of mine: the product of Shazam was turned into Captain Planet-Thunder. It wasn't really much of an interesting change. I felt like the kids in the group already annoyed me with a surprisingly short exposure.

The only thing that topped it, though, was the "shocking" reveal of an identity at the end. Dropped with a thud.  I'm not really curious how this makes anything different. To my thinking, it just further cements the idea that little is going to feel changed when this story is done.

In typing out these thoughts, it struck me how this issue really was just a collection of scenes slapped together more than a natural story. We just seemed to flip through "hey, look at this different character" moments, rather than focus on telling a story. What little story and character was introduced wound up denied oxygen due to exposition and costume redesigns sucking all of it out of the room.

It's going to be a long summer.

Holy Shit

He's dead.

I feel sadness remembering everything from September 11th and the people lost, both physically and emotionally, on that day.

I feel joy that comes from such a cathartic moment as seeing something evil die.

I feel afraid to go to sleep for fear that I'll open my eyes to find out it was all a dream.

Schwappathetic

noun - when the owner of this blog is apathetic about the subject matter he generally covers.

Folks, I'm not dead, dismembered or laid up in a hospital that will want my first born (and then some) to cover the expenses.

I'm just busy, tired and seriously lacking in motivation to write about comics lately.

Since the last week of November, I've been working a day job, again. Started up a help desk at a company that had previously used site techs at all of their locations. Not as part of management, but the first and most seasoned member of the actual desk. I'm one who often takes things way too seriously, so I've poured myself into the job and the hours I spend with my mind and actions on the job (in and outside of paid times) more or less fill the day.

Now, that said, I'd still be able to find the moments to write about comics and the like...if things weren't so disappointing and/or boring from the big two. I've been reading plenty of comic book material from anywhere else BUT those companies that is worthy of discussion (The Sixth Gun Volume 1 TP, Locke & Key V. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft TPB, etc). The rub? It would take more time and energy than I seem willing to give.

You see, the "mainstream" comic material that is good or bad enough to comment on doesn't always demand precise wording and detailed thought for discussion. One doesn't feel quite as guilty for basically saying little beyond "me like" or "SCHWAPP SMASH" about those offerings.

Lately, what I've read hasn't even really struck me as clearly good or bad. What I've liked hasn't necessarily had anything particular stand out about it that would encourage a post. I'm still enjoying Secret Six every time I buy it, but I'd be hard pressed to write two paragraphs about it, for instance. What I've disliked is the same. I don't know how many times I can point out what I feel are James Robinson's shortcomings on JLA or if I really want to bother bringing attention to his poorly juggling a hundred and one narrators to someone who can't pick it up on their own.

Beyond that, though, is the problem of the "meh" work. I've been sufficiently underwhelmed by so much of late. BRIGHTEST DAY and JUSTICE LEAGUE: GENERATION LOST come to mind. How much they both seemed to whiff on their final swing of their series is the closest they've come to really giving me any reason to want to say something about them to the five or so people that still look at this blog on occasion. I mean...if a stilted introduction of Swamp-Punisher-CaptainPlanet-ExpositionMan-Thing is the way you finish a book? Next time, don't start it.

Maybe if I had been weened on Marvel as a young 'un, FEAR ITSELF would deliver the goods more for me. If DC wasn't running in place or, in the case of REIGN OF THE DOOMSDAYS, trotting backwards, I might muster up some excitement for FLASHPOINT. I don't know.

I hope this post might be the start of my putting something up here at least weekly. I pray that, by the time I finally get a regular work schedule, I can post more frequently than that and give time to the non-"mainstream" works I'm really digging. But be warned: whenever I've prayed or hoped in one hand, it's always the other hand that's been filled faster. As long as I'm at it, I'm hoping/praying that Cullen Bunn could get at least half the attention that Nick Spencer has gotten over the last year, since, to my thinking, he's at least twice as deserving a talent.

DC Comics: Exactly How Many Cooks Do They Need?

DC just announced the promotion of Eddie Berganza to Executive Editor.

That's on top of Didio & Lee being co-publishers. And Geoff Johns having his fancy title & Hollywood focus.

If you'll recall, Executive Editor was the position filled by Dan Didio for years when DC didn't have an Editor-in-Chief and only one man (Paul Levitz) as Publisher.

But now they have two men filling the Publisher role, another man in the previously-unfilled EiC role and yet another in the Executive Editor spot (which has not, to my knowledge, existed simultaneously with an EiC previously at the company).

The need for all of these high management positions escapes me at first glance. It seems to be a sign of bloat.

I wrote the proceeding paragraphs at least 24 hours ago. Now I've read (oddly on CBR and NOT on Newsarama) that Mark Chiarello was announced as a new VP at DC...and I think it's absolutely outstanding news, with no negatives to be found. Does that make me (more of) a hypocrite (than usual)?

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.