The Dominance of DC

Four months after The New 52 crashed into comic stores, I'm still feeling the shock waves from DC's mega-successful re-launch. We did extraordinarily well in September and I don't foresee any time in the future when DC doesn't outsell Marvel in our store. I don't have access to 20+ years of sales data, but I feel pretty confident in saying that that has NEVER happened in the history of the Den. Not like this, not on this scale. The New 52 created new customers, and brought old customers back to the store. The New 52 was and is a success.

In addition to showing the power of targeted tv ads, The New 52 did a great job of re-invigorating their most popular characters. Neither Wonder Woman nor Superman & Action Comics were selling well, pre-launch. Post-launch, Wonder Woman and Action Comics are very strong sellers, Superman a little less so. I think that book will pick up when Dan "I Killed Superman" Jurgens returns to the book in a couple issues. In addition, the Bat books are selling strong. After Justice League, Batman by Scott Snyder is our best seller by a country mile. Snyder's pre-New 52 run on Detective was AWESOME (check out the hardcover of The Black Mirror that just came out) so this isn't a surprise. In terms of returning their main heroes to critical and commercial acclaim, DC succeeded.

The surprise break-out hits have been the Animal Man, Swamp Thing, Demon Knights and (to my surprise) Deathstroke. They're well-written, well-drawn and have a lot of buzz behind them. If they had been launched by themselves at any point within the last 5 years, I don't think they would've lasted long.

Not all of the New 52 are successes, though. Captain Atom, Mister Terrific, Men at War and a couple others are struggling. I don't know that having Blackhawks and Men at War was really necessary. Two war-themed books was overkill in a market that hasn't successfully sold war-based comics in decades (outside of GI Joe). I'm not entirely certain that all of The New 52 will make it past the 9 issue mark. I'm hoping they've got some new books being prepared. A lot of Stephanie Brown fans really want her back as Batgirl, so I've got my fingers crossed for that.

Some of the books have gotten better, too. I wasn't enthralled with New Guardians #1, but the 2nd, 3rd and 4th issues were MUCH better. Stormwatch #2 & #3 were an improvement, as was Resurrection Man. That said, I still think an extra month preparing for The New 52 would've given some of the creators a bit more time to put everything together.

When I reviewed all of The New 52 in September, one of my conclusions was that the books were very, very dark. They still are, and I' still wish they'd gone with a bit more variety. I think letting some of the books find their own voice instead of being editorially driven, would've been a good idea. But  they didn't ask me, the fools. :)

The other black mark I'm giving to DC is regarding pre-New 52 continuity. It's becoming more and more obvious that they have NO idea which stories from the last 50 years still count. A Facebook update on Dan Didio's page in October made the oblique comment that none of the Crises ever happened. Um, really? Going down that road already? I mean, I'm assuming Bane broke Batman's back, I'm hoping No Man's Land actually happened, and I'm praying that Gotham Central still counts for something. And if I find out that Starman by James Robinson didn't take place, I'm going to lose my mind.

On a smaller scale, DC isn't quite sure what to do with some of their other characters. I read an interview with JH Williams on Comic Book Resources, and found that DC doesn't know what they're doing with Renee Montoya, aka The Question. Given her popularity and prominence as one of the few lesbian super-heroes, you'd think that DC would know if her back-story still holds in The New 52. Apparently, noone's figured it out yet. That's pretty disappointing, if only because I could sell boatloads of a new Question series - especially if they got Greg Rucka to come back and write it.

So, continuity issues are a problem. The tone is still a little much for me. But I'm very impressed that all the trains are running on time. All of the New 52 have come out on time, except for Justice League #5, which is due to Jim Lee's wife having a baby over the holidays.

I'm not surprised that there's already been some creative changes. Ron Marz is off Voodoo, Gail Simone left Fury of Firestorm, George Perez is moving off of Superman, Ann Nocenti is taking over Green Arrow. and now it's been announced that Jim Lee won't be on Justice League #7 and #8. That's really disappointing. I mean, I'm happy Gene Ha is drawing #7, he's no slouch. But I honestly figured we'd get 9-12 issues from Jim Lee om Justice League. He may end up doing #9, but how many more will he get done after that? That's adowner

And yes, Voodoo is still my guilty pleasure. I'm still seething a bit at seeing my precious Wildstorm characters have their histories wiped away, but Voodoo is entertaining, so I'll live.

All in all, I think the New 52 has done a good job. There's a number of things they could've gone differently, but September was a success and created new customers. I can't complain about that.

As for the cancellation of Static Shock, Hawk & Dove, Blackhawks, Men at War, Mister Terrific & O.M.A.C... I'm disappointed, but not surprised. I think putting two war-themed books with the initial launch was a mistake. Mister Terrific was a good idea, but the first issue failed to execute properly. Hawk & Dove proved that Rob Liefeld still has fans, but not enough for an ongoing series to succeed. Losing Static Shock is a tremendous disappointment.

The replacements look stronger. An ongoing Earth 2 book by James Robinson harkens to his epic JSA 50's tale, The Golden Age. That, plus the Batman Inc series and World's Finest will more than make up for the loss of sales of the 6 cancelled books. As for Dial H, The Ravagers and G.I. Combat, I'm not sure how they're going to do. Another war book? Ehh... We'll see.

--

So what about Marvel? How did the Hulk and X-men re-launches do? How did Fear Itself end up? What's going on with X-Sanction, Avengers v. X-men & the Return of the Phoenix? Is the House of Ideas still cranking out greatness?

One word answer: Uhmmm... uhhh..

Okay, that was two.

To be continued tomorrow.

Be good.

Scott.

Looking Ahead - Feb/March 2012

Happy New Year!

I am as excited about comics in 2012 as I have been in awhile. The success of The New 52 is the gift that keeps on giving: We're starting to see sell-outs across the board, as we get more and more new customers. I'm fairly certain we're going to see some new announcements from DC within the next month or two, so keep your eyes peeled to teh interwebs for more info. In addition,  new works by Robert Kirkman, Nick Spencer, Ed Brubaker, and other fan-favorite creators have been announced, and it's only January.

On top of all that comic goodness, we've got movies for The Avengers, Batman, The Hobbit and more. The dwarves singing in The Hobbit trailer gives me goosebumps. I know it's easy to get down with all the economic news, gas prices and such, not to mention the fact that we're in an election year - I've barely recovered from the last one - but it's going to be a great year for comic fans.

Speaking of fan-favorite creators doing their own thing, let's start the year off with a bang. 

SAGA #1 
by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Comixology Link for Reservists

* Y The Last Man's BRIAN K. VAUGHAN returns to comics! We all know Y The Last Man, right? One of the best books of the 00's, it propelled it's creators into household names. While Vaughan went off to Hollywood to make the Big Green TV Dollars, he's kept his foot in the comic door, doing small projects here and there, and now he's back with his newest series, SAGA. Billed as Star Wars meets Game of Thrones, and the first issue is double-sized for only $2.99.

INFESTATION 2
by Duane Swierczynski and David Messina
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Zombies vs. the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Okay, I'm sold. The TMNT re-launch from IDW has done gangbusters and last year's Infestation cross-over was very popular. Now the zombies are back, and infiltrating the GI Joe, TMNT, D&D and Transformers universes. TURTLE POWER meets AUTOBOTS, TRANSFORM meets I CAST A FIREBALL meets YO JOE meets UGGGHHRHRH BRAINS.

Links to other parts of Infestation 2:

Infestation 2 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Infestation 2 Transformers
Infestation 2 GI Joe
Infestation 2 Dungeons & Dragons
Infestation 2 Team Up

SUPURBIA #1
by Grace Randolph and Russell Dauterman
Comixology Link for Reservists
* I hate the Housewives franchises, but this just makes me laugh. Supurbia is the "behind-the-scenes... TMZ-fueled" story of what happens when the superheroes come home, take off the costumers, and sit down to eat a meal with the Mrs. and the kids. I expect this to be slightly raunchy, possibly inappropriate, and the Guilty Pleasure of All Guilty Pleasures. I will never admit to reading this in public, but you know it's going to happen.

BATMAN BEYOND UNLIMITED #1
by Adam Beechen, Derek Fridolfs, Dustin Nguyen and Norm Breyfogle
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Terry McGuinnes returns! Batman Beyond was one of the casualties of The New 52 DC relaunch, and I'm psyched to see it return in a new format. In a thicker-than-normal 48 pages, you also get a back-up story featuring the Justice League Unlimited team.

FAIREST #1
by Bill Willingham, Phil Jimenez and Andy Lanning
Comixology Link for Reservists
*Who's the Fairest of them All? Featuring all-new tales of the female characters from Fables, Bill Willingham dives even deeper into the Fables universe. The Fables comic, much like Y The Last Man, has been one of the most consistent comics out there, with no ending in sight. This is a great jumping-on point for anyone looking to learn more about these classic characters, and adds depth for any current Fables readers.

ROCKETEER ADVENTURES 2 #1
by Various Creators
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Noone drew Betty Page quite like Dave Stevens. Returning for another round of creator tributes, IDW has put together a second mini-series featuring the much-beloved character. (My goal with this mini-series is to make sure I have enough copies for everyone this time.)

AVENGERS vs. X-MEN
by "The Architects"
Comixology Link for Reservists
* I wish Marvel would publish more "big event comics", don't you? .... yeah, I got nothing here. Here's hoping it's less disappointing that Fear Itself. Is that a good sales pitch? Oh, who am I kidding, we're going to sell a ton of this of just on the name.

THIEF OF THIEVES #1
by Kirman, Spencer & Shawn Martinboough
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Ooh yes.. yesyesyes. Robert "Walking Dead" Kirman and Nick "Morning Glories" Spencer team. Given how fast Morning Glories #1 flew out of here last year, and given that Walking Dead #1 sells for hundreds of dollars, I guess I don't have to tell you how hot Kirkman and Spencer are. These creators working together means that this book will not only be hot and highly sought-after, but it's going to be a great comic, too. Oh yeah, what's it about? Something about thieves, I'm sure. :) Seriously, these two writers working together is all you need.

DOMINIQUE LAVEAU: VOODOO CHILD #1
by Selwyn Sefu Hinds, Denys Cowan and John Floyd
Comixology Link for Reservists
* What comics need is an ongoing voodoo/mystery series set in New Orlea- Oh. There you are. I swear, the editors at Vertigo are mind readers. I was thinking the other day, "I can't wait for Treme season 3 to start on HBO, I love a good story in New Orleans." And BOOM!, now there's a new comic for me to salivate over. "Dominique Laveau: Voodoo Child" is too long for a title, but I can forgive them for that small transgression. The series takes place in post-Katrina New Orleans, and explores the hidden mystery of the Voodoo Queens and their role in shaping the events in The Big Easy. This looks very intriguing. Check out the first issue when it ships.

WINTER SOLDIER #1
by Ed Brubaker and Butch Guice
Comixology Link for Reservists
* I'm alright with Ed Brubaker writing more Bucky-as-badass comics. Ed Brubaker has done a terrific job with the Captain America franchise for years. Giving Bucky his own title as the Winter Soldier is one of the few new Marvel #1's that I can truly get behind, because I trust the creator implicitly. This is going to be Bucky working behind-the-scenes in the Marvel Universe, and if it's anything like the recently-released Fatale, it's going to be dark and very cool.

THE SECRET HISTORY OF D.B. COOPER #1
by Brian Churilla
Comixology Link for Reservists
* So, he jumped out of an airplace with a bag of stolen money, and noone ever found him? I didn't know who DB Cooper was until a year or two back, when I caught a cable special, talking about "the only unsolved air piracy in American aviation history." More here.  It's a fascinating story, so getting a comic book that plays off of that should be something different and unique.

THE TWELVE #9
by J. Michael Straczynski and Chris Weston
Comixology Link for Reservists
* The Twelve Return: Ladies and gentlemen, Hell hath frozen over. The Twelve is a confounding beast. This 12 issue mini-series started when I was still a music teacher upstate, but stalled after 8 issues. What made the late-shipping so irritating is that The Twelve was really, really good; Perhaps writer J. Michael Straczynski's best work in comics, to be honest. A lot of retailers got behind the book, many were calling it Marvel's Watchmen, but that joy led to frustration for readers when the issues started getting farther and farther behind. The book is all done, and will be shipping the last several issues over the next couple months. In addition, Marvel has put out a softcover of issues 1-6 and a reprint of issues 7 & 8, so anyone who wants to jump in, can. I'll say it again, just because it may be hard to believe: The book is completely done. So, have no fears that it won't be finished.

THE MANHATTAN PROJECT #1
by Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Jonathan Hickman loves science-fiction and it shows. The Manhattan Project is another Image mini-series by Jonathan Hickman, writer of Marvel's FF, Fantastic Four and Ultimates. This story is an alternate timeline, where "black" projects were taking place behind the scenes of The Manhattan Project. Last year's The Red Wing was superb, as were Hickman's other Image mini-series (Pax Romana, Red Mass for Mars, Transhuman, and The Nightly News). I love seeing new creators keep their feet in superhero work, while staying true to other genre work at other publishers. This is why, incidentally, Image is going to be my publisher to watch this year: They're knocking it out of the park.

SUPERCROOKS #1
by Mark Millar and Leinil Francis Yu
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Another Mark Millar mini-series? Works for me. Millar has his own style and has been moving away from superhero comics for awhile, his last work being on the Ultimates line last year. He seems more interested in telling his own stories, his own way. I'm okay with that, as long as he can get them out on time, which is a perception shared by both readers and retailers. Supercrooks is an Ocean's Eleven-type story, featuring all supervillains pulling off "one last heist", in Spain. OLE!

COLDEST CITY HC
by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart
Comixology Link for Reservists
* Being a spy sounds fun, until everyone wants what you want, and you're on your own. When you grow up reading the adventures of Jack Ryan, and one of your favorite movies is The Hunt for Red October, it's going to be hard to turn down a good Cold War yarn. Antony Johnston, who I've mentioned here before for his incredible work on Wasteland, has written a graphic novel about spies in Berlin before the war went down. Look, that should be enough for anyone who's ever loved a Tom Clancy book; The Cold War is and has been rife with fiction opportunities, and I'm glad to see another writer telling a tale of suspense and espionage.

FLASHPOINT THE WORLD OF BATMAN SC
by Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso and various
Comixology Link for Reservists
* The best Batman story in YEARS.. is collected in Flashpoint The World of Flashpoint featuring Batman. This collection contains the Batman: Knight of Vengeance mini-series from last year's Flashpoint event, plus several other great stories. But this book is worth it, just for the Batman story alone. In the Flashpoint reality, Bruce Wayne was killed while his father, Thomas Wayne watched. Now, Thomas Wayne wears the cowl, but he's old and weary... and that's all I'm going to say about this story, because any more detail would spoil it. This book comes with our highest recommendations!

Publisher links for product shipping in March 2012:

Dark Horse: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=3
DC Comics: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=1
IDW: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=12
Image: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=4
Marvel: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=2
Vertigo: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=1&i=3
Zenescope: http://pulllist.comixology.com/dmd/JAN12/?c=47

This week in comics: Bendis, Rob Liefeld, Being Awesome & More

Some days I come home, and find that the comic book industry has released little news of note. And then there are days like Tuesday.

* Brian Michael Bendis will leave the Avengers books next year. I cannot tell a lie: I love many of Bendis' early works. Fortune & Glory was great, Ultimate Spider-man (especially the first arc) was stunning and Sam & Twitch was much, MUCH better than any Sam & Twitch comic had a right to be. Plus, I had a letter published in the letter pages. Why? Because I'm awesome, that's why.

But his Avengers run... uhhh. Not my thing. Too much talkey, not enough 'splodey. Plus, it doesn't feel like an Avengers book, it feels like Marvel's Greatest Heroes Team-Up. I'm a traditionalist, what can I say. I think Spidey isn't a team player and Wolverine going off and killing people in Uncanny X-Force makes it hard to figure out how he can actually be on The Avengers and not get, y'know, arrested. And look, I can see how some people like looking at Spider-Woman, but come on... I can only take so much Jessica Jones. I mean, Jessica Drew. Wait, wasn't Jessica Jones based on Jessica Drew? So how are they both in the b-

Never mind.

I will give Bendis credit for one thing, though: Luke Cage is not a C-lister anymore. He made Cage a player. It is one of the few successful pushes for a minority character at Marvel in the last ten years.

So, Bendis is leaving. Someone else will be taking over. It's a change that's overdue, and I'm happy to see it happen. Given the downward spiral that have been the store's Avengers sales for the last 6 months, I don't think I'm in the minority on this one.

* ONCE UPON A TIME on NBC is by some of the LOST writers. Confession: I'm a huge LOST fan. HUUUGE. That said, I'm also a FABLES fan. It looked to a lot of people that NBC had ripped off the great Vertigo comic. So, what did Bill Williamson, creator of Fables do? He did an interview at CBR, telling people to lay off. What a guy.

Go. Read.

* I've been bad. I shouldn't talk about it, 'cause if I give away my secrets, you won't come to the blog and read my posts. Which is funny, because I write two entries a month, if I'm lucky.

I've been a bad comic manager. There's this comic that came out a month back, and I've been making people read it. Not buying it, but reading it. In the store. And it's... well, it's not your average comic. It's part sci-fi, part parody, part love story and part world-breaker. Reading this comic, will warp your mind. It will change the way you see things. It will alter your perception of reality.

Most importantly (and really, this is the main point), you'll put the book down, ask me "Why... why?" and then put your head in your hands and sob while I laugh hysterically at you. Amanda will laugh too, if she's around. She's like my little padawan of sadism. I'm so proud of her.

So, by all means, please go read OUR LOVE IS REAL.

(Just so there's no confusion, this is not a book for anyone under the age of 18. Oh, and I love it.)

* I like the idea that The Den is a place to get away from politics, religion, the real world, and other hot topic issues. We're an escape from the real world. At least, that's the way I like to think of it. I know, it's a crazy idea and I'm nuts for bringing it up, but that's the kinda guy I am: Nuts. Awesome. And slightly sadistic, in case you couldn't tell from the previous item.

Where was I? Oh yeah. Politics. So, as some of you might know, a couple people here and there have been getting together for sleepovers in a couple cities across the planet. And by "couple", I mean "thousands" and by "sleepovers", I mean "Occupy". See what I did there? I was sarcastic and you didn't see it coming. I told you I was awesome.

So, there's an Occupy Comics book coming out. It's not something that will be offered by our distributor, but the talent included in the project is stellar. It's one of those fancy-shmancy Kickstarter things.  Go take a look, and maybe pledge a couple dollars towards putting it together.

* This indy project caught my eye. I have no idea who any of these creators are, and who is publishing it, but I want:

Death Sentence

* In the ongoing debate about the role that digital comics plays in the comic industry, there's been a lot of conversation about "digital day-and-date", and whether digital comics will end up putting comic book stores out of business. I'm not going to lie, I get a little concerned sometimes that ten years from now, everything will be electronic and noone will come in to yell at me that they didn't get their Deadpool comic that week. I don't think comic/games/popculture stores are going to disappear, but I think there's some darwinism at play here: The stores that make themselves a destination for the customer, will get the tall green dollars. Those that don't, won't.

But then there's the creator side. What's it like to be a comic creator, watching the industry grudgingly move towards digital day-and-date? How does that tie into sales over the last few years?

Brian Wood, writer of DMZ, Northlanders, and the soon-to-be-published Wolverine mini-series, writes on his Tumblr about some of these topics, in lieu of the brou-haha that erupted around Dark Horse's digital day and date policy over the weekend. and a couple loud-mouthed retailers, about Dark Horse's digital day-and-date policy. Wood is always very honest about his work and his career, without taking shots at others. This is a great read for anyone who enjoys hearing about the "other" side of comics, as well for any future creators out there.

Highly recommended. Make with the clicky.

* And last but not least... Rob Liefeld. I don't know that there's a more polarizing figure in comics. Is he crazy? Is he a genius? By all accounts, he's the nicest guy you'll ever meet, and loves comics. I mean _loves_ comics. A buddy of mine had him in for a signing at his west coast store, and swore to me that Liefeld was the best salesman he'd ever had; The guy was pointing people towards great books left and right, many of which didn't have Liefeld's name on them.

But the internet loves to hate, and every time an article or interview pops up online, the comments section goes wild with "he can't draw feet" or "That pose looked awesome in 1995" or other low-quality snark. All that said, he's gotten 4 issues of The Infinite and 4 issues of Hawk & Dove out on time in the last 4 months. Any other Image founders even coming close to that?

So, in the spirit of fairness, I invite you to read this longish blog posting on Liefeld's site, where he talks about his work in the 90's, the time off he took around the turn of the century, and what it was like, several years later, to go online and find out that he had become one of the most hated artists in all of comics. It's fascinating and more than a little honest, to see inside the head of one of comics' most intriguing figures.

Reading that makes me want to fly him out for a signing. I wonder how many people would show up?

"How to beat the Haters" by Rob Liefeld

Looking Ahead: January & February

Previews came out last week, chock-full of new comic-y goodness that will be arriving in 2012. I popped open the large tome and found some cool reprints, new comics, and dollar books that I think a lot of you will dig. I've add Comixology links for our loyal Reservists, too.

Enjoy.

"But my feeling is what Gotham really does is challenge you in these ways that shake you to the core." - Scott Snyder, from an interview at CBR.

* If you've been enjoying the new Batman series by Scott Snyder or All-Star Western featuring Jonah Hex in late 19th century Gotham, then BATMAN GATES OF GOTHAM is a must-have.

Gates of Gotham sets the stage for the history of Gotham and the Five Families. It details some of the back-story and relationships between the Waynes, the Cobblepots and the rest of the Gotham families. This trade paperback collects the entire mini-series at a reasonable price and is a GREAT Batman story. Highly recommended.

Kudos to DC for releasing it first as a trade paperback instead of a hardcover.

Comixology link and more information can be found here.

* WASTELAND is a post-apocalyptic series that teases a dark future with lots of question. While the book itself has been solid, it's struggled with coming out on time over the last 18 months. The creative team and publisher recently put out a press release that addressed the issues with candor, and announced that issue #33 is going to be $1. A new jumping-on point for a series tabbed to go 60 issues, #33 might not be the best place to start, but for a dollar, it's a good gamble. Vertigo and Dark Horse fans, this will be a book you might enjoy. I've been reading the series for years, and it's distinctly different than anything else on the market.

It's a dollar! Give it a shot!

Read an interview with the writer, Antony Johnston at CBR.

Comixology link and more information can be found here.

* It feels like Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips has been creating great crime/noir fiction since the dawn of time, so I'm stoked to see that they're doing a new ongoing series entitled FATALE. The difference between this and his other crime work, is that this comic will have a supernatural bent. If you like Criminal, Sin City, The Usual Suspects, 100 Bullets or any crime noir movie/book/tv show EVER, then you're going to enjoy this series. Two of comics' best creators, who've worked with each other for a long time, doing their best work? This is going to be a great book.

A video clip from Brubaker plus several finished pages can be seen here.

Comixology link and more information can be found here.

* Ridiculously long title aside, WOLVERINE AND X-MEN: ALPHA AND OMEGA looks very cool. Quentin Quire and Wolverine square off in this mini-series written by Brian Wood. Brian hasn't done much superhero or work-for-hire books in awhile, but coming off of his DMZ and Northlander runs at Vertigo, he's doing this mini-series and he's working on Conan at Dark Horse next year. I think this will be one of the better mini's to come from Marvel in quite some time. Given that Kid Omega (Quire) played a huge role in Schism, I think this series is going great. Wood has a different sensibility than a lot of the guys at Marvel, and I think it'll show.

Comixology link and more information can be found here.

Don't die Optimus, I.. I... I think I love you.

* IDW relaunches the Transformers books with two new ongoings: TRANSFORMERS ROBOTS IN DISGUISE and TRANSFORMERS MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

Look, this is a series about alien robots who transform into cars and guns. Do I really need to sell this? :)

Comixology link and more information for More Than Meets The Eye and for Robots In Disguise.:

* A couple months ago, a Kickstarter project was started to raise funds for an entirely female-created comic project called WOMANTHOLOGY. The fundraising was a HUGE success, and here is the result: THREE HUNDRED PAGES of female-created comics. The price tag is high - $50 - but proceeds from this book will be going to charity.

This will be a great book to give in time for Valentine's Day. Hint hint, gentlemen.

Comixology link and more information can be found here.

I liked her better with the mohawk.

* SNARK ATTACK: AVENGERS #21

Storm joins the Avengers! What, Maggot and Stacy X weren't available? I mean, haven't most of the X-Men and FF already become Avengers already? Sheesh.

Come on, Marvel. This the best you can do?

I'm not giving you the Comixology link. I'm sorry, I just can't.

 

NYC Comic Con... The Aftermath

NYC Comic Con

So Comic Con is now over and we have survived... although Zombie Petz are still dead and Iron Age may be Jaded (Ha, just a play on the titles... it has been a long weekend)! We had a chance to talk to MANY people from all over the area and beyond, and I thought we would share some of what we heard at the booth.  I know that our roving staff may have more to talk about the show itself, but I was trapped at the booth and have a lot to share about that experience.


One huge comment that we heard was: "How come you guys aren't at Cross County in Yonkers?" or "Are you the same Dragon's Den that was in Cross County in Yonkers?" Matter of fact, the Owner of a fantastic comedy club in Midtown called Ha, used to shop at the Dragon's Den in Yonkers! Oh and if you get down to Midtown, the Dueling Pianos at the club were fantastic!

Another huge comment that was heard many, many, MANY times was: "Where is the Wizards of the Coast booth?"  Wizards of the Coast, WotC, did not have a booth this year was the answer.  WotC did send a single staff member to run some demo games and give out some promo items.  He stopped by the booth on more then one occasion, but their lack of presence was felt and we heard about it from many people/players. Hey WotC you might want to come next year... you were missed.

I think one of the big things we are thinking about for future cons (gaming, comic, pop culture, or anything else), we will be thinking about the lay out of the booth and product.  We notice that some product moved well, and other product very slowly.  We also noticed that some product areas we were some of the only people really carrying.  There are many things I will keep the same with how the event went, but I have started the mental list on how to make it better next time! If you have ever stood for 9+ hours on a cement floor, you know what I'm talking about!

So I know that Scott is working on a review of Comic Con from his trip on the floor.  He spent multiple days walking the floor, attending panels/seminars, and doing the show... not from the booth perspective.  So stay tuned for more information about Comic Con.  We promise that there will be plenty to read.

Enjoy, and hope to see you at the show next year!


Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Scott goes to NYC

I've been waiting for NYCC since last year; I'd gone for a day and had the time of my life. This year, I was much more prepared: I was staying with a friend in Brooklyn, I had some meetings scheduled, and I was looking forward to enjoying NYC while representing the store.

While the rest of the employees would be going down early Thursday morning, I headed down late Wednesday nightNow, as I've said to some of you, I'm a guy who likes being behind the wheel, but when I get too close to NYC, I turn into Mr. Road Rage. I'm fortunate in that I left so late that the traffic was minimal, the directions were perfect (thank you Google Maps) and I found a parking spot right next to my friend's apartment building. As a precocious evil infant likes to say, "Victory is(was) mine!".

My first challenge on Wedneday night was holding off the peer pressure of my friends to go out and have "one or two" drinks. We all know what one or two drinks turns into, right? I wasn't having any of it, so I stayed in my swanky Williamsburg pad and got some sleep.

--

Thursday morning rolled around, and I had my first adventure on the subway. I had to switch between 2 different subways. Did I mention that I was a complete neophyte when it comes to this whole subway thing? To my surprise it went much better than I thought and I got to the Javitts Center in time for the Diamond Comic Distributors Brunch. Diamond is the main source of all the American-published comics, and the elephant in the room when it comes to distribution. Several times a year, they hold breakfasts like this at NYCC or San Diego or some of their own retreats, and use it as an opportunity to speak with retailers.

I generally have mixed feelings about these kinds of things. They don't always come across as productive, and seem more "ra-ra, look at us" than necessary. There's often a distinct lack of professionalism at these events, but that might be a personal bias of mine; after being a teacher, I often think HOW you act is just as important as the message you're trying to get across.

He said ATROCIOUS, not ATROCITUS. Pay attention, puny human

The brunch was held in a much prettier location than year's sub-basement facility, but the sound and audio in the large glass-filled room was ATROCIOUS. Halfway into the brunch, I turned to a colleague and said "This is the third time I've been to one of these and I hope it's my last." I'll spare you the details, if only because I couldn't hear most of them (and it wasn't for a lack of trying). However, Dark Horse announced next year's Free Comic Book Day offerings would include Star Wars AND Serenity. Best news ever, right there.

So, the brunch was a complete bust.

I spent the afternoon in a couple panels. One was very, very good; a great session on running events, and the other was a general-purpose customer service talk. I was disappointed that a panel on LGBT comics was cancelled without notice, I was hoping to get more info on those books. I took a lot of great ideas away from that afternoon, and hope that the audio for the events panel becomes available in the near future, so I can pass it on to the rest of the Den staff. We do so much business with events and the tables, that every good idea we can steal helps us along the way.

The folks running NYCC decided to create a separate entrance for Pros and Press, but to my surprise, the line to get in for the 4:00 opening was loooooong. I got in line around 3:45, but was inside by 4:05 or so. That line really hustled once they got the doors opened.Nice job, Javitts and Reed Exhibition folks!

And once I finally got inside and took a look around, my mind was blown.

--

A life-size Optimus Prime! The Avengers helicarrier booth! Artists Alley!  There was so much to process and not enough time. I walked over to our booth to check how things were set-up, and I was very impressed; they'd put everything together quite nicely, and had things ready to go. I thought bringing the Batman neon sign was particularly inspired, it really stood out. I made my way over to our friends at ZombiePetz and spoke with Ryan for a bit. I caught up with him a couple times during the con, and he was absolutely insane with sketches and commissions. We carry the ZombiePetz t-shirts at the store, and couldn't be happier for Ryan and the success he's getting.

I waited in line for a while and got one of our Action Comics variants signed by Jim Lee, who was a perfect gentleman. He even remembered me from when we met at the New 52 Retailer Roundtable at DC about 3 months ago. Great guy.

I walked through Artists Alley for a bit, making a mental note of where certain artists and writers were. I immediately kicked myself for not writing down in advance where some of them lived.

By around 6:30pm, I was ready to call it a day. I knew Friday would be a long one, but I had some time to kill before a late dinner with a group of retailers and the DC Sales department. I walked around NYC for a bit, before meeting up with everyone at Hill Country Barbecue which was just awesome. I got to hang with our DC Sales Rep, Stewart, who had shaved his awesome Hulk Hogan-inspired beard (BOO!) and shoot the bull with other store owners. I then took the L back to Brooklyn, and prepared for Day 2 of NYCC Madness.

--

On Friday I got up earlier than my roommates, as I had been invited to a retailer-only breakfast with a couple people from Image Comics. I don't know whether many people responded to the invites or some people slept in (it was at 9am), but when I got to the restaurant, there were 3 other retailers, the Image Sales Guy, and the Publisher of Image! So... small crowd, which meant I got some good face time with one of the decision makers at Image. Even with our "small but getting bigger fast" store status, my feedback was valued and listened to. That felt good, and it was great hearing about some of the books coming out over the next year. (None of which I can talk about, sorry).

By the time breakfast had ended, and I had gotten into the con, it was well after 11, almost 12 noon. I headed over to DC to thank Stewart for dinner, walked to our booth to check in, and then started roaming the Con, looking for artists and writers. This is where my lack of Con experience caused me the largest waste of time. So many writers and artists will be at their booths for an hour here, or an hour there; some put up signs, some leave their assistants. So while there were people I found right off the bat (Brian Wood, writer of DMZ, Northlanders, just announced Conan and soon to be announced Wolverine), others proved to be more elusive.

I had a wonderful conversation with the folks who work for Peter Beagle, writer of The Last Unicorn. We discussed the possibility of him coming to the store to do a signing next year when they re-release the movie in limited release across the country. The comic adapatation of The Last Unicorn is GORGEOUS, and highly recommended to everyone, ever. Plus, IDW is releasing a graphic novel adaptation of the sequel to The Last Unicorn, "Two Hearts".

I spent more time than I wish tracking down the maker of the Popfun glasses we carry in the store. I made at least four trips there to meet him, but each time he had "just left" or was in a meeting somewhere. It was too hectic to talk for too long, but it was nice to meet the guy who's been making all the cool glassware that's been selling so well.

I waited in line again at the DC booth for Jim Lee (had more books to sign), but he showed up late, and the line was too long, and I didn't make the cut-off point. That was disappointing, but only fair as I'd made the cut-off point the day before.

I hung out at the ComicsPro booth for a while and schmoozed with other retailers. Meeting other retailers and talking shop is one of my favorite things, and a source of great ideas. I got a bunch more little tidbits and interesting sales tactics from a couple people, and I look forward to putting some of them to use at The Den, if I can squeeze some extra space out of the comics wall.

Brian Wood was alone at his table, and I caught up to him and talked shop. He's wrapping things up at Vertigo, and doing Conan for Dark Horse, with long time creative partner Becky Cloonan. I re-read his DMZ before I went down to NYC and it's superb. A great work of art. We talked about him doing a signing up at The Den, as he travels up to our area a couple times a year.

I waited in line for a couple writers (Abnett and Lanning), only to have them have to leave for a panel. My man crush on DnA was denied! Curses!

Sadly, I approached one or two creators about doing a signing up at our store, and was rebuffed. I got some attitude or "Ohh, I don't know"-type bs. That didn't win any points with me, and needless to say, they will not be invited our way any time soon. Sorry comic creators, we can't all be as big or important as Mid-Town. Pssh.

Along the way, I bumped into Seth Green, and saw Tom Morello checking out Artist's Alley. I'm not going to lie, I almost started singing some RATM lyrics, but kept my inner rage-fueled fan bottled up.

I headed over to the Marvel booth to check things out, and was blow away by how big the backdrop was. I confess to being disappointed that Marvel was more interested in pushing The Avengers movie than the comics themselves. That was a bummer, especially when you consider how comic-centric DC's booth was.

I caught up with Kieron Gillen, who some of you might know as the writer of Uncanny X-Men #1. He's a Brit, so I won't hold it over his head, but he was a cool guy. We ended up having an entertaining conversation about A-ha later in the day. (Much later. See below).

I did a bit more wandering, and realized it was almost the end of my day. I had plans to meet some retailers out for drinks later, but I decided to head back to Brooklyn for a bit to recuperate. Hours later, I was out with retailers, shooting the bull, and hearing gossip I didn't need to know. Then I headed down to the iFanboy party where Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie were DJ'g. The bar was wayyyy too small for the comics crowd, but I spotted Jason Aaron (his beard is mighty), and a couple people from Comics Alliance chilling out. I grabbed Kieron and we started talking about A-Ha's Take On Me. We found out that we both love 80's music, being only 6 months apart in age, but Kieron's knowledge of 80's pop music is INSANE. As in, trumps mine. The man is an 80's music afficionado.

By now, it was after midnight, and I may or may not have had too many drinks. I deny nothing. The swanky Brooklyn pad was calling out to me, and it was time to sleep. L train to Williamsburg, 3 block walk, and I was out.

--

Since the original plan was for me to work Thursday and Friday, I got Saturday and Sunday off. I lounged around Brooklyn on Saturday and caught up with friends Saturday night. I went over early on Sunday for an hour and did some more wandering around the show, then went back to Williamsburg, packed my bags, and headed north for the long sojourn to Poughkeepsie.

--

Some final thoughts:

* As someone who's never "done" a big con before, I made the right decision not to plan too far ahead. That left my schedule flexible to see and do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted.

* That said, I wish I'd done a little more research into learning where creators live. Getting crestors to do signings is easy when they live in NYC. When they've recently moved to Oregon, not so much.

* I've gotten some feedback from customers and other pros that the aisles were too small and it was too crowded. Since I stayed away on Saturday, I can only imagine how nuts it was, but I don't think this is something that's going to change. The Javitts is the only place to hold a convention of this type in NYC, but it's not really the best venue.

* Big props to the rest of the staff at the Den for the traveling, packing, unpacking, breaking down, putting together, and then doing it all over again on Sunday.

* Saw a bunch of reservists and regulars while I was down there. Nice job representing the Dragon's Den, guys!

New York Comic Con 2011 Update

So I was thinking about the staff that are already down in NYC setting up the booth and attending the brunch or panels today, and I thought about a few things I missed yesterday with the main post.

Come to the booth and scan our code! Not able to, play along with the home game... or just check out the code and enjoy what we are saying from the show:

We will have the code on shirts at the show, but to see the cool design, you'll have to stop by the booth and see us walking around.  We will even have some of these very cool limited edition t-shirts at the booth!  What more info... SCAN the code!

We also have a few more items to bring with us that you might find very interesting.  If you are a fan of the Walking Dead and the new series starting soon, check out the Walking Dead board games... yes board games, also the etched pint glasses and steins!

We also brought many other games including the Resident Evil Deck Building Game! Such a great game with 3 different methods of play! 

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

The New 52: The Reviews, Mr. Rood, and The Rage

So, September is over and wow, what a month. Easily the best of month of comics we've had in a long time. It was exciting and crazy and nuts and fun and just... wow.  I'm not going to lie, I was a bit nervous about the orders we'd placed for the New 52. As most of you noticed, we got a LOT of comics in this month. We placed those orders a couple months ahead of time, and had no idea how much interest there would be. Fortunately for us, there's been plenty.

In addition to new and returning customers, I've also gotten a lot of questions, both in-store and in e-mail, about the New 52. Now that September is in the books, I figured I'd post some general answers and information.

(I want to quickly thank loyal employee Brittany, her paramour Garrett, and miniature artist extraordinaire Mark Lake 2.0 who went to New Orleans for some game thing, and brought me back a hand-rolled stogie.)

So, *lights cigar*, it's the weekend, let's do this.

--

Q: You guys ordered a lot of the New 52. How come you have more than other stores?

A: I can't speak for the ordering practices of other businesses. However, my sense is that a lot of comic stores played their numbers close to the vest. They didn't think this was going to do well, or they didn't have the cashflow to go in deep on the #1's. I can't blame them, noone gets rich off of comics anymore. The last couple years have been rough on everyone, it's a tough business.

Q: Why did you guys think it was going to succeed, and they didn't?

A: Because this was the first Action Comics and Detective Comics #1 in over 60 years.

Q: But DC and Marvel re-start all the tim-

A: Don't mean to cut you off, but that's not completely accurate. In the last 15 years, Marvel has gone to the re-launch well again and again. I think the Avengers books have been relaunched with 4 #1's since 1998? Maybe 5 if you include Heroes Reborn? Thor and Cap have gotten at least 3 themselves. Over at DC, Green Lantern got a new #1, Flash has gotten a couple (botched) re-launches, but Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman have kept their corresponding numbering for decades.

You can say that Marvel has been guilty of numerous re-launches (too many, really), but DC has not been as egregious in this area.

Q: So it was because of Action Comics and Detective Comics #1?

A: Yes and no.

Q: But you said-

A: I was being snarky.

Q: Shocker.

A:... Is there a question?

Q: So why did you order so many?

A: John Rood convinced me.

Q: Who is John Rood?

A: Back in June and July, DC Comics sent most of their VP's (Including Jim Lee, Geoff Johns and Dan Dido) across the country to convince retailers to order huge on this and answer questions about the re-launch. I went to the one in Manhattan and came away feeling inspired. Everyone from DC was enthusiastic and you got the sense that it was "all hands on deck" for the re-launch. They were going to do everything possible to make this work, and if it didn't, people were going to get fired. That's not a joke; Didio laughed more than once about how his job was on the line.

But it was John Rood who got me thinking that the New 52 was going to be a success. Rood is DC"s Executive VP of Sales & Marketing. When it was his turn to speak, he talked about how DC was going to do newspapers, blogs, this and that, even some radio... and then he mentioned tv.

I sat up.

Over the last ten years, comics have gotten a tremendous amount of press in newspapers and magazines, but only the occasional mention on TV. Usually it's controversy, like when a Captain America comic criticized the Tea Party and Fox News gets upset.

But COMMERCIALS? On all of the Warner Bros. channels? That's a game-changer. Even with TiVO's and illegal downloading, lots of people still watch commercials.

That's when I knew this was going to be big.

There was also a number of returnability and cost-saving measures available to us from DC; that convinced David and I that we had a safety net to work from. If this didn't work, it wouldn't cripple the Den.

Q: So have you sold a lot of the New 52?

A: Tons. Just tons and tons and piles of comics. It's been heavenly.

Q: But you sold out of some..

A: Yeah, we're not perfect. We under-ordered on most of the Batman titles, and anything that ends with "-girl" or "-woman". Seems to be a trend, actually. In talking with other stores, the Batman titles were the first to go. Most of the first prints from the Batman family will be the hardest to find in the long run, I suspect.

Q: Do you think comic stores will go out of business like they did in the 90's, because of the New 52?

A: Not quite, no.

Q: Why?

A: There were numerous reasons comic stores closes in the 90's: Over-reliance on variant covers, late comics from Image, the distributor wars, over-ordering on X-Men #1, the move from the back-issue model to the bookstore/Graphic novel-model, there's no one definitive reason for the bust period of the 90's; it was a perfect storm of calamity.

But the New 52 #1's were under-ordered. Supply did NOT meet demand. Not even close. Stores didn't order enough, DC didn't print enough. End of story.

Q: What about digital comics?

A: I think we're at least a full generation away from paper comics dying. DC has proved that there's still plenty of life in paper comics and comic book stores.

We're not going anywhere.

Q: Are you going to offer digital through your website?

A: At some point, yes. However, the business agreement to offer DC's New 52 through the web was... well, it wasn't very good from a retail standpoint. Not going to spend a lot of time on that, other than to say it was onerous. Not something I wanted our name attached to.

Q: How many of the #1's have gone to 2nd printings?

A: All of them.

Q: All? Wow.

A: Yeah, and Justice League #1 is on the 4th printing. Batgirl is on the 3rd. Detective will get another print, as will others.

Q: You reviewed all of the #1's?

A: Yeah. You can find the reviews for Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, and Week 4.

Q: Any stand-outs from the New 52? What else did you think about them?

A: I have lots of thoughts.

Q: No kidding.

A: ....

I'll let that one go.

Some conclusions from the New 52:

*  From a sales and creative view, the Batman family did fantastic. Thumbs-up across the board. Batman #1 and Batwoman #1 were great. I didn't like Detective as much as everyone else, but that's just a matter of personal taste.

* I think some of the costumes were a little TOO 90's-esque. See Deathstroke, Teen Titans (hate the Kid Flash and Red Robin re-designs)

* There were a bunch of surprises: Frankenstein, Animal Man, Demon Knights and Swamp Thing were all solid reads. Animal Man, especially, was creepy as hell.

* The Legion books were a massive disappointment: Legion Lost needed a re-write. Legion of Super-Heroes looked gorgeous, but was NOT a good #1. Not getting these books right was a missed opportunity.

* I confess, the Green Lantern books didn't do much for me. Yes yes, I know, I'm a huge Red Lanterns mark, but I thought that was the best of the GL books. New Guardians wasn't bad, but Green Lantern didn't feel like a good starting point for new fans, and Green Lantern Corps was just there. The days of GL being DC's best-sellers are over, I think.

* Superman, Action Comics, Wonder Woman, Aquaman and the Flash were all home-runs. Great books all around,  but in different ways. The Aquaman scene (you know which one) was hilarious. Flash was gorgeous. Action Comics was Grant Morrisson doing his Golden Age pastiche. Wonder Woman was the first WW book I'd read in years that felt right.

* There's been some internet hub-bub about the sexual content in Catwoman and Red Hood. Between that and the violence in many of the books, I don't think most of the New 52 are appropriate for under-16 crowd.

* Great to see Justice League with Jim Lee on board, but it felt a little too decompressed. Not enough story for my tastes.

* Most of the New 52 ended on a cliffhanger. The era of decompressed storytelling is limping to a close, we're going to see more of this type of storytelling in the future.

Q: Speaking of Justice League, why does Hal have a ring there, but not in his own book?

A: One area DC really botched was explaining the timelines and continuity aspect of the New 52. In short: Action Comics is Year Zero for it's first story arc. Justice League is Year One for it's first story arc. Everything else is Year Five, or thereabouts.

Q: So what will happen with the #2's?

A: Well, we increased our order on some of them.

Q: Really?

A: Yeah, and I ordered bunches of the 2nd printings, although I don't think they'll be around for very long.

Q: More sell-outs? Does this mean my comics will be worth more?

A: Ah, er, um.. well, look. I can't deny there's serious secondary market action on some of these titles, but anyone looking at these as an investment should remember the Death of Superman. Those books aren't worth much more than cover price anymore, if that.

Q: So that's a 'no', then?

A: It's a warning.

 Gambling on collectibles is very risky. For my money, I'd buy the ones you enjoyed reading, stick 'em in a bag and board, and check e-bay once the collected editions come out. Or keep 'em forever. Or fold 'em up and put them in your back pocket. I've got a couple customers who do that.

Q: My last question is about Marvel.

A: Haha... yeah. Marvel.

Q: What are they going to do to compete?

A: Great question. Short answer: No idea. Long answer: They have to do something. They've been crowing about being the #1 publisher of comics for years and years. Those days are done, over, kaput. I look at my sales for the month, and every DC book outsold our best-selling Marvel titles (FF & Uncanny X-Force).

I also think there's something to be said about Marvel's $3.99 price point not matching the quality of some of their titles. Sometimes I read Avengers or a couple other Marvel titles, and put the book down 3 minutes later and say to myself "That's it? Really? Yeesh."

And I know I shouldn't say that (yet another reason why I don't review books much) but at the end of the day, I know that every dollar counts more than it has in years. I want you to enjoy what you buy, not make purchases out of inertia - aka "I've been buying this one forever", etc. I can always find a good comic to put in your hands, I promise. :)

Q: So what's next?

A: Next is Comic-Con in New York. The Dragon's Den will be in attendance. We'll be selling tons of games and gaming merchandise at Booth #2920. I'll be running around meeting people and getting publishers to buy me drinks. There's also a rumor we'll be giving away a complete set of the New 52 #1's. (I can neither confirm nor deny such a rumor.)

After NYCC... it's the holidays, and that's a whole 'nother level of craziness.

But in the meantime, it's an exciting time to be a fan of comics

-Scott.

(This post was written with the assistance of the music-based word editor OmmWriter and a well-rolled cigar. Thanks Garrett.)

DC New 52 - Week 4

4 weeks and 51 comic reviews later, the first month of the New 52 is done and in the books. (Yes, I missed a couple reviews along the way, whaddyawantfromme). Each week, I took home a pile of comics, then read and reviewed each one. I occasionally had to scrub my brain of the violence and gratuitous nudity (okay, I didn't scrub all of it), but it was an interesting challenge; Reviewing books has never been something that came naturally to me. Personally, I don't like picking apart the medium I love, and professionaly, I really don't like speaking too critically of any of our product, even though I think it's important to be honest. But I learned a couple things along the way, so I guess I could conclude my month-long reviewing experiment with "it was fun".

And I am never, ever doing it again.

... although Sean and David are telling me these reviews are driving traffic to the blog, and that I might be doing more of this in the future.

Oy.

--

So here we are, Week 4 of the New 52. Coming into September, it was the last week of the month that looked the most intriguing:  Cult characters (Firestorm), Old concepts by hot new talent (I, Vampire), popular b-lister written by popular A-lister (Aquaman), several artists taking on writing duties for the first time (Manapul on Flash, Van Sciver on Firestorm) and one high-profile artist writing again for the first time in a long time (Perez on Superman).

A very interesting batch of books. And overall, I'd say this is the best comics week of the month.

Hands down.

So let's get into this and see if I have any more rage-induced meltdowns.

Run Forest, run.

* Flash #1 - Francis Manapul had some assistance on the writing chores, but wow... this did something no comic has ever done before: Made Barry Allen likeable. Sorry Silver Age fans, but to me, Barry Allen is the equivalent of the bow tie; it's quaint, is nice to bring out every couple years, but gets really boring, really fast. But yeah, this was a great read, and you can see Manapul really playing with the layout and format of each page. Reminds me a bit of JH Williams on Batwoman. I think this book has serious potential to go from very-good to Fantastic.

And that's a Flash Fact.

(Sorry, couldn't help myself. It was that good.)

* Justice League Dark #1 - If you're going to take a bunch of Vertigo fan-favorites and put them together on a Justice League-like team, then Peter Milligan is the guy to do it. Whereas Red Lanterns sometimes felt a little too mainstream, this one is dark, creepy and has just the right tone. I see they cleaned up Zatanna's costume a little, too. Good idea, the fan backlash on that was getting a little hoary. The art on this was a good mix of Vertigo and Super-hero, but it felt a little rushed sometimes. Great start, this looks like it'll go the distance.

* Blackhawks #1 - Had to struggle to finish this one, but that's because I don't have much connection to the characters. Okay, I'm lying, I have _zero_ connection to these characters. Have I ever read a Blackhawks story? Hm. Food for thought. Anyways, the story was okay, the art felt rushed here, too, in places. This was probably the most "meh"-like book of the week for me. Really didn't do much for me.

* Voodoo #1 - My Wildstorm-induced rage has been whittled away after the last month, so no red ring this time about how they've destroyed one of my precious characters (not yet, at least. keep reading). This book was a little gratuitous, and felt a little light on the plot. Whereas Catwoman was cheesecakey and over-the-top but still had a good story, Voodoo was lacking in substance.

Look at him. So cute.

* Annihilators Earthfall #1 - Ah, Abnett and Lanning. I may have a mancrush on these guys. The cosmic Marvel books have been awesome the last couple years, and this books is no exception. Plus, look at that cover! Beta Ray Bill bringing THE SMACKETH DOWN on the Avengers? Totally sold. And it's got a talking Russian dog cosmonaut.

What? Oh, sorry, yeah, Annihilators Earthfall is not part of the New 52. Or, um, published by DC. But it's a damn good book anyways. Go buy it.

IT'S GOT A TALKING RUSSIAN DOG COSMONAUT, FER CRYIN' OUT LOUD.


* Fury of Firestorm #1 - A little heavy-handed with the race conversations, and I was surprised that they went for a cold reboot of the Firestorm mythos, instead of playing off the Brightest Day stories, which, frankly, set them up just fine. But they lost me at the end with the 2 Firestorms and Fury. That just didn't do it for me at all, sorry.

* Aquaman #1 - Oh hey, this was good. Good, clean, bright, shiny art. Aquaman just popped right off the page, and the story was fun. I had a "They did this bit far better on South Park" moment about halfway through the story, but I really dug this. Good action, good laughs, good drama, good ending. Best Geoff Johns story of the month, hands down.

* Green Lanterns New Guardians #1 - Oh. Oh wait. What. What are they-what is this. What.. Why..  Why are they remaking Kyle's origin? What is- Kyle has friends? No DC, no Kyle Rayner is the creative artistic type. WE HAVE NO FRIENDS, DC. What is, wait he's being compared to Hal? That SILVER AGE LOSER? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? WHAT IS THIS- WHY, DC? WHY DO YOU HATE ME SO? WHY CAN'T YOU JUST I DON'T UNDERSTAND- WHYDOYOUMAKEMESOANGRYOUWONTLIKEITWHENI'MANGRYYHULKSMASHHULK
WANTREDRINGTURNINTOREDLANTERNAND...

Sigh. Okay, this was a really, really solid first issue. Quick origin, then a jump right into the action, while quickly drawing comparisons between him and Hal, and... man, Grant Morrisson did this much better in JLA about 12 years ago. Oh, but hey, the Rainbow Corps show up, along with my main squeeze, Bleez. Good times.

* All-Star Western #1 - Jonah Hex in Ye Olde Times of Gotham City? Yeah, this was fun, although it felt a bit padded. Add in one of the Arkham's, and all the backstory of the city created by Scott Snyder in Gates of Gotham (great story), and the writing was pretty good. The art was flat though, not a lot of contrast in color or tone. I understand why they went for this particular look, but they overdid it a bit.

* Savage Hawkman #1 - Again, the art didn't look completely finished here. The writing was okay, but nothing special. And I have to say: Hawkman is the posterboy for screwed-up continuity @ DC for the last 25 years. I don't think he should've been part of the reboot, and I don't know that I quite understood his origin story in this one. Weak first issue and the weakest of the week.

* Teen Titans #1 - Fresh start with the characters and I liked it. The art crackled, and the writing was solid. "N.O.W.H.E.R.E." seems a bit much, though, but Lobdell and Booth did a good job here. Nice hook on the ending, even though we probably knew that was coming.

Nice um, bunny ears.

* Batman The Dark Knight #1 - Man, David Finch can really draw, can't he? If he can stay monthly,and undo the mess he's made over the last year on his first aborted attempt on this series, maybe he can salvage his reputation. Gorgeous book. As for the writing, I have a soft spot for Paul Jenkins: A number of years ago, he wrote an Inhumans mini-series, with artwork by Jae Lee. Beautiful art, great story, I think it's Jenkins' best work ever. But everything he's written since (with the exception of the original Sentry story) has lacked the magic and mystery he put into Inhumans. The writing on this one is no exception, the words felt awkward and forced sometimes. It's been awhile since Jenkins had a monthly gig, so I'm hoping he gets back into things on this title. But for now, the art is enough for me to say good things about this one, even though that last page was just... yeesh. Don't know about that.

* I, Vampire #1 - I had high hopes for this one, and it did pretty well. The art was a wee bit too Vertigo-esque (more of that rushed feeling I've been getting over the last month.) The writer, Joshua Fialkov wrote the INCREDIBLY creepy Echoes for Top Cow earlier this year. That story sent chills up my spine. Great stuff. I, Vampire succeeds in setting up the first issue, although the art sometimes got in the way of the story. I needed to re-read this to make sure I had the characters right.

* Superman #1 - And now, something slightly different. For all the internet hooplah about Scott Lobdell writing three of the New52, it went practically unnoticed that George Perez was jumping in on the "other" Superman book. The writing was distinctly old-school, but I came away feeling like I actually _read_ a comic book. It had weight and heft, it felt like a story that had consequence. A good done-in-one, although the "old-school" feeling was a little much some times. The art was serviceable, no flaws, didn't feel rushed, but I wish they'd gone with someone a little flashier for the first issue, y'know?

New dress code at work? I'm sold.

...aaaand that's it. Come back this weekend as I blog my concluding thoughts on the first month of the New 52, talk about what we're doing at NYCC, and I smoke a hand-rolled cigar brought to me directly from the New Orleans aka The Big Easy.

No. Really.

-Scott.

(This blog post was written with the assistance of Ommwriter. Simple music-based word editor that's highly recommended for any writing types out there. )

New 52 - Week 3 - Reviews from Kathy!

Kathy from The Gamer's Gambit in NJ has also been reviewing The New 52. Check out what she thinks!

Batman: A good beginning, even if the origin story is glossed over. This comic dives into who is Batman? Who is Bruce Wayne? What is Gotham City and is there hope for it? 3.5 out of 5.  

Birds of Prey: Just as the Birds of Prey begin someone wants them—and a nosy reporter— out of the picture. Will this mysterious group succeed? An exciting beginning that could have used a little more story that seems to have taken a different turn with the new creative team. 3 out of 5.

Blue Beetle: The origin of the scarab, and why the earth should fear it. A villainous group wants the scarab, but will they be able to get it? Although this comic, sadly, confirms that Ted Kord was never a Blue Beetle, it’s a good story and a solid beginning. Sadly, 3 out of 5. I’m hoping issue two is better.

Captain Atom: Beginning with a crisis about his powers is an interesting start; a way to get around the origin story while still explaining who he is. Even so, it’s kind of meh. 2.5 out of 5.

Catwoman: From reading this, we know that Catwoman loves trouble. Jewelry, cats, money, Batman, sure, she loves those things as well, but they all lead back to the same: trouble. After her apartment gets blown up, she needs a way to get cash fast. Meaning, she needs something to steal. 3 out of 5.

Green Lantern Corps: Thousands of light years away, Green Lanterns are getting massacred! On earth, Guy Gardener and John Stewart try to balance their heroic and civilian lives, until duty calls. 3 out of 5.

Legion of Superheroes: Oh look! Introduction bubbles! So now we know who all these people are… but I’m still confused as to who the people in Legion Lost are. But it’s much less confusing than Legion Lost, and is even enjoyable at times. I just wish they reversed the release order of this with Legion Lost. 2 out of 5.

Nightwing: Dick Grayson is back to being Nightwing, beating up criminals in his own way rather than as Batman. He’s used to seeing the worst in Gotham, but how will he handle the circus coming to town? To everyone else, it’s just an ordinary circus. To him, it’s a bitter-sweet memory: place where he grew up and performed, and the place where his parents died. 4 out of 5.

Wonder Woman and Red Hood: I put both of these together because I’m confused. Wonder Woman dives right into acts of evil, but I don’t recognize the guy who looks like he’s made entirely out of black rocks. Nor do I recognize the girl that’s being chased after or why she knows Diana/Wonder Woman. And Red Hood? It… seems like DC’s answer to Deadpool, but it doesn’t have the same feeling. I know who Red Hood is because I’m a Batman fan, but what is he doing with those two. Why is Starfire on the run? Why is she so quick to have sex? It has just as little explanation as Wonder Woman. What is going on in both of these?  Both 1 out of 5.

What do I recommend so far?

Frankenstein: Agent of Shade- Don’t let the cover or the goofy title fool you. It’s good. Good characters, good story, I can’t wait for issue two. My favorite, if only because I want it to succeed so much! The Bat family? They’ll do fine. Green Lantern? No problem. I’m most worried this will fail due to a lack of star power despite being better than the rest of the 52’s.

Batgirl: This comic has, sadly, gotten a lot of negative feedback due to Barbara Gordon no longer being Oracle. It’s a touchy subject, but it’s been handled well. It’s emotional and realistic, and it’s nice to see that even superheroes have trouble with fear. I’m reading this to see Barbara Gordon adjust to her new role.

Batwoman: The art may be better than the story, but I’m a sucker for mysteries and the supernatural. For all of the “world’s greatest detective” praise that Batman gets, this one seems to have much more mystery to it than the main Batman titles.