Despite what , I can’t say there was much of anything to crow over this year. And yet, they seem to think so. The latter part in this item, about crossover mania, is what really makes me groan:

At both Marvel and DC, the big publishers who between them publish about 90 percent of American comics, the year was dominated by two major crossovers - stories that “crossed over” into virtually every title.

At DC Comics, the “Infinite Crisis” miniseries leaped all of the publisher’s superhero series one year into the future, where readers were introduced (in many cases) to surprising new status quos, like Catwoman as a mother and Green Arrow as the mayor of Star City.

That missing year, in the meantime, is being explored in the weekly series “52″ - yes, a weekly series, which alone makes it big news. Weekly comics are a near impossibility, but DC is managing it with multiple artists and four writers. And so far, they haven’t blown a single deadline.

But does that alone make it any good? It wouldn’t be good news if it suffered delays, but artistic quality still has importance, and from what I’ve analyzed so far, 52 doesn’t seem to have much of it.

That’s not the story over at Marvel Comics, which has been dominated by the “Civil War” storyline, which pits its major characters in combat with each other over (of all things) politics.

Make no mistake, “Civil War” is a huge story - if for no other reason, that it revealed Spider-Man’s secret identity to the world, forever changing the company’s flagship character’s life. Other changes are rippling across the publisher’s superhero line, from the splintering of the Avengers to the virtual vilification of Iron Man.

Whoo boy! Talk about sensationalizing it all, and it doesn’t get any more superficial than this either. There was nothing great about Spidey unmasking, nor the splintering of the EMH, and the villification of Iron Man is insulting at worst. And to be quite honest, I think I’d feel much more comfortable if “changes” weren’t being done. Because by now, I realize that I never asked for it, certainly not the way they’re doing it, and after this, I think a case can be made that Marvel needs to be putting all these “changes” on the shelf.

But while the story is a success - like it or loathe it, it’s selling like mad - Marvel has had significantly less success than DC at keeping on schedule. The “Civil War” miniseries that is driving all the other title’s stories was supposed to wrap up in November, but has been delayed a couple of times and now won’t finish until early in ‘07.

This almost sounds like something Wizard might say, depending on how favoratist they are to either one company or the other. Mainly because the publishing schedule alone is not important, it’s the story quality that is. But this dreck column here has almost no concern about that, if at all.

Now, what’s this they say about money:

1) Money, money, money

2006 was the sixth consecutive year of rising sales for the comics industry. While the final figures aren’t in, Comics Buyers Guide’s John Jackson Miller said this year’s sales surpassed last year’s back on Nov. 22. In fact, November, with five ship dates, was huge overall.

Which means the industry’s never been healthier. So come on, 2007!

Uh, I wouldn’t count on that so easily. It’s true that quite a few people have been buying up Marvel’s recent books like hotcakes, regardless of story quality, which is appalling and distressing, not to mention misguided, but at the same time, it’s hard to say if comics, at least the pamphlet issues are increasing their sales at any rate. And when you see that they’re not providing clear figures of any sort, you have to wonder if this is just “hype” to prompt people to go and buy, under the assumption it’s not for nothing.

As a result, alas, there’s no telling if the industry’s any healthier now than it was before, and no way of knowing if 2007 will be any better.

Despite what , I can’t say there was much of anything to crow over this year. And yet, they seem to think so. The latter part in this item, about crossover mania, is what really makes me groan:

At both Marvel and DC, the big publishers who between them publish about 90 percent of American comics, the year was dominated by two major crossovers - stories that “crossed over” into virtually every title.

At DC Comics, the “Infinite Crisis” miniseries leaped all of the publisher’s superhero series one year into the future, where readers were introduced (in many cases) to surprising new status quos, like Catwoman as a mother and Green Arrow as the mayor of Star City.

That missing year, in the meantime, is being explored in the weekly series “52″ - yes, a weekly series, which alone makes it big news. Weekly comics are a near impossibility, but DC is managing it with multiple artists and four writers. And so far, they haven’t blown a single deadline.

But does that alone make it any good? It wouldn’t be good news if it suffered delays, but artistic quality still has importance, and from what I’ve analyzed so far, 52 doesn’t seem to have much of it.

That’s not the story over at Marvel Comics, which has been dominated by the “Civil War” storyline, which pits its major characters in combat with each other over (of all things) politics.

Make no mistake, “Civil War” is a huge story - if for no other reason, that it revealed Spider-Man’s secret identity to the world, forever changing the company’s flagship character’s life. Other changes are rippling across the publisher’s superhero line, from the splintering of the Avengers to the virtual vilification of Iron Man.

Whoo boy! Talk about sensationalizing it all, and it doesn’t get any more superficial than this either. There was nothing great about Spidey unmasking, nor the splintering of the EMH, and the villification of Iron Man is insulting at worst. And to be quite honest, I think I’d feel much more comfortable if “changes” weren’t being done. Because by now, I realize that I never asked for it, certainly not the way they’re doing it, and after this, I think a case can be made that Marvel needs to be putting all these “changes” on the shelf.

But while the story is a success - like it or loathe it, it’s selling like mad - Marvel has had significantly less success than DC at keeping on schedule. The “Civil War” miniseries that is driving all the other title’s stories was supposed to wrap up in November, but has been delayed a couple of times and now won’t finish until early in ‘07.

This almost sounds like something Wizard might say, depending on how favoratist they are to either one company or the other. Mainly because the publishing schedule alone is not important, it’s the story quality that is. But this dreck column here has almost no concern about that, if at all.

Now, what’s this they say about money:

1) Money, money, money

2006 was the sixth consecutive year of rising sales for the comics industry. While the final figures aren’t in, Comics Buyers Guide’s John Jackson Miller said this year’s sales surpassed last year’s back on Nov. 22. In fact, November, with five ship dates, was huge overall.

Which means the industry’s never been healthier. So come on, 2007!

Uh, I wouldn’t count on that so easily. It’s true that quite a few people have been buying up Marvel’s recent books like hotcakes, regardless of story quality, which is appalling and distressing, not to mention misguided, but at the same time, it’s hard to say if comics, at least the pamphlet issues are increasing their sales at any rate. And when you see that they’re not providing clear figures of any sort, you have to wonder if this is just “hype” to prompt people to go and buy, under the assumption it’s not for nothing.

As a result, alas, there’s no telling if the industry’s any healthier now than it was before, and no way of knowing if 2007 will be any better.

, Stan the Man Lee is now 84 years old (H/T: ).

I too wish him a happy birthday, and, as per the phrase he often used, Excelsior!

, Stan the Man Lee is now 84 years old (H/T: ).

I too wish him a happy birthday, and, as per the phrase he often used, Excelsior!

I found this , where he argues that for kids, collecting is becoming a thing of the past. According to the (registration required) item he’d linked to then:

Collecting things, once a big part of childhood, is now pretty much passé with kids. Preoccupied with MP3 players and computer games, they are rarely found sitting at the kitchen table putting postage stamps into collectors’ books or slipping old coins into plastic sleeves. These days, baseball cards and comic books are collected by adults. Of the estimated 37 million Americans who identified themselves as collectors in 2000, just 11% were under the age of 36, according to a study by marketing consultant Unity Marketing Inc. Most were over 50….

While today’s children, I’m sure, do still collect some things (Pokemon, I would figure), it sadly wouldn’t surprise me if they don’t care about baseball cards and stamps, now that it’s possible to get a desktop image of your favorite sports players for the home computer. And comic books too may not be far behind on the list of things that children today no longer collect.

Let’s hope that trade paperbacks are prevailing, because that’s probably the better way to get children interested in comics, for example.

I found this , where he argues that for kids, collecting is becoming a thing of the past. According to the (registration required) item he’d linked to then:

Collecting things, once a big part of childhood, is now pretty much passé with kids. Preoccupied with MP3 players and computer games, they are rarely found sitting at the kitchen table putting postage stamps into collectors’ books or slipping old coins into plastic sleeves. These days, baseball cards and comic books are collected by adults. Of the estimated 37 million Americans who identified themselves as collectors in 2000, just 11% were under the age of 36, according to a study by marketing consultant Unity Marketing Inc. Most were over 50….

While today’s children, I’m sure, do still collect some things (Pokemon, I would figure), it sadly wouldn’t surprise me if they don’t care about baseball cards and stamps, now that it’s possible to get a desktop image of your favorite sports players for the home computer. And comic books too may not be far behind on the list of things that children today no longer collect.

Let’s hope that trade paperbacks are prevailing, because that’s probably the better way to get children interested in comics, for example.

And most certainly not one-sided darkness done only for the sake of it.

With this post, it’s time to take on the whole notion that Marvelites are drawn to Marvel simply because of darkness, depression, and forced violence and bloodletting. I for one certainly never took to reading them because of those traits. And whether they’re focused upon political themes, no matter the standing, I don’t read them just for that either. I read them for adventure, to be entertained by the crimebusting heroes facing off against the villains. I also read them in hopes that there’ll be a good lesson to be learned in morality in some way or other, and a pleasing resolution.

Now if we were to take the X-Men as an example, let me make clear: whenever I read it in past years, I most certainly didn’t read it for this:

That’s from Grant Morrison’s “E is for Extinction” balderdash, and let me just say that it’s one of the most superfluous acts of gore and gross I’ve ever seen in a mainstream comic. And it is not art. Why am I even posting it here? I should be so ashamed, no matter how much I want to make a point.

There are Marvel characters, titles and series that are dark. Daredevil, The Incredible Hulk, Dr. Strange, Tomb of Dracula, Cloak and Dagger, to name but some, are certainly among those that are. But not all the Marvel characters and their worlds are like that. The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, the Avengers and even Thor, are far from being dark (certainly when written well), and as for the X-Men, I’d say that would have to be in-between, just like Green Lantern. Perhaps even the Defenders are too.

Some of the best stories from Marvel, I might add, are those that end with optimism. Others can be those with a good sense of humor involved. I doubt I would’ve dug any of them if they could only end in sheer bleakness.

And what am I saying this for? Simply put, in order to make clear that, if I don’t read Marvel for pure pessimism, then I don’t read DC Comics for that either. So, where did DC’s current management ever get the idea that any and all of Marvel’s audience reads their books for darkness? I certainly don’t.

It’s arguments like these, if you ask me, that are needed in order to make it clear to DC that, if they think that this is all that any decent reader of Marvel is interested in, they’re wrong. And hopefully, it’s arguments like this that can help change the future of comics for the better.

Open trackbacks: , , .

And most certainly not one-sided darkness done only for the sake of it.

With this post, it’s time to take on the whole notion that Marvelites are drawn to Marvel simply because of darkness, depression, and forced violence and bloodletting. I for one certainly never took to reading them because of those traits. And whether they’re focused upon political themes, no matter the standing, I don’t read them just for that either. I read them for adventure, to be entertained by the crimebusting heroes facing off against the villains. I also read them in hopes that there’ll be a good lesson to be learned in morality in some way or other, and a pleasing resolution.

Now if we were to take the X-Men as an example, let me make clear: whenever I read it in past years, I most certainly didn’t read it for this:

That’s from Grant Morrison’s “E is for Extinction” balderdash, and let me just say that it’s one of the most superfluous acts of gore and gross I’ve ever seen in a mainstream comic. And it is not art. Why am I even posting it here? I should be so ashamed, no matter how much I want to make a point.

There are Marvel characters, titles and series that are dark. Daredevil, The Incredible Hulk, Dr. Strange, Tomb of Dracula, Cloak and Dagger, to name but some, are certainly among those that are. But not all the Marvel characters and their worlds are like that. The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, the Avengers and even Thor, are far from being dark (certainly when written well), and as for the X-Men, I’d say that would have to be in-between, just like Green Lantern. Perhaps even the Defenders are too.

Some of the best stories from Marvel, I might add, are those that end with optimism. Others can be those with a good sense of humor involved. I doubt I would’ve dug any of them if they could only end in sheer bleakness.

And what am I saying this for? Simply put, in order to make clear that, if I don’t read Marvel for pure pessimism, then I don’t read DC Comics for that either. So, where did DC’s current management ever get the idea that any and all of Marvel’s audience reads their books for darkness? I certainly don’t.

It’s arguments like these, if you ask me, that are needed in order to make it clear to DC that, if they think that this is all that any decent reader of Marvel is interested in, they’re wrong. And hopefully, it’s arguments like this that can help change the future of comics for the better.

Open trackbacks: , , .