The Four Color Media Monitor

Here's an article in the Japan Times about Misako Takashima, a Japanese-born manga artist who went to work in the United States.

Labels: manga and anime

The Nashua Telegraph, in their report on Joe Kubert's new graphic novel, Dong Xoei, that's based on the Vietnam war, have slipped in a little insult:

Kubert’s writing occasionally devolves into rah-rah jingoism, but overall, it’s an impressive research and development effort.

Tsk tsk tsk, they're using a bad word for patriotism, I see. I've seen that kind of propaganda used at least a few times before by the press when they review war stories like these, and it's not good. It only trivializes what's at stake in war and what the enemies are up to. And that's another reason why the customer base of mainstream newspapers is dwindling.

Labels: msm propaganda, politics

Here's an article in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune about the LA Rockin Comic-Con that opened this week.

Labels: conventions

The Hurting blog tells why the House of M crossover only spoiled the X-Men, and never really helped it out. I can think of one more reason why: because they had to do it all as an "event" that would do away with too many mutants in a contrived, mediocre manner, and not as a self-contained story. And because they couldn't have just tried to let a lot of these overabundant mutants be forgotten and downplayed, which could've been more effective.

Labels: crossoverloading, marvel comics, X-Men

In the third issue of the inappropriately titled Rise of Arsenal, he goes to buy and smoke heroin:

Pages 12 & 13: His daughter dead, and his dead friend prodding him, Roy decides to jump down off the rooftop in full costume and buy some heroin from a street dealer.

Page 14 & 15: he smokes heroin and nods out, in a two page spread.

And that, along with some of the violence porn that fills the book, kills it for real. They sure know how to crap all over the good lessons he learned since his teen years.

Via Comics Beat.

Update: The Titans Tower Monitor has more on the flak this has been deservedly getting, and a good point is made on how this is one of more than a few books at DC that have suffered from far too much editorial interference and mandates.

Labels: dc comics, dreadful writers, Titans, violence

Publisher's Weekly (via Comicon's Pulse) says that Disney will be taking over Marvel's licensed children's book division. I guess that's one positive thing to come out of this deal: they've got to be more reliable with this kind of business than Marvel themselves!

Labels: marvel comics

Comics Alliance reviewed the debut issue of the new series, but what really raised my eyebrows here was this part near the end:

Which isn't to say I didn't have a problem or two along the way. Right at the start, actually. The book opens with Zatanna doing a stage trick where she's chained to a wooden frame and gagged while the Joker and Dr. Light point a massive drill at her from behind. Of course these aren't the actual villains, merely actors in costume performing as part of the finale to Zatanna's show. But, and this is the second time I've had this problem with a DC book, while those characters are fictional to us, the reader, Dr. Light and the Joker are very real people in the world Zatanna inhabits. Both of them are mass murderers. One of them crippled Zatanna's friend. The other raped Zatanna's friend's wife, which led to Zatanna wiping his memory in an act that did severe damage to her own psyche and to her personal relationships to several other heroes. So you'll pardon me if it takes me out of the moment to see her be totally okay with two actors pretending to be these people as part of her show.

Since DC is still going by those horrors as their status quo, I think this is very out of place to be regurgitating it. I'm afraid they're repeated the mistake again for the gazillionth time - bringing up something embarrassing, without even doing much to repair it beforehand. What actors in their right frame of mind, even in the DCU, would want to play Dr. Light after he raped Sue? And is it even appropriate for a magic show on stage?

They really know how to ruin everything.

Labels: dc comics, misogyny and racism, women of dc

The blogmaster of the Invincible Super-Blog wrote an item on Comics Alliance (via Comics Should be Good) where he's arguing about "regressive storytelling", and the Silver Age heroes coming back, shoving aside their replacements, some of whom are minority group members. I decided I'd have to respond with my own take. I'm sure it won't be perfect, but I'll do my best here to argue why I think he's got a flawed discussion at hand.

If he's dismayed by the death of Ryan Choi, I'll agree there that it certainly didn't have to happen. But while there may be some potential to the whole argument, I'm afraid there's something terribly wrong here too: where is any of the mention of how almost every one of these replacements for the Silver Age protagonists, minority member or otherwise, since the 1990s, has been ushered in after their predecessor was disgraced, as Hal Jordan was in Zero Hour? There's only one non-committal mention given of Identity Crisis, and it's superficial at best, without reminding how some of the miniseries' biggest victims were white (though if memory serves, even the new Mr. Terrific, Michael Holt, who's black, was insulted in that abomination). And here's the big question: did the white cast members really have to be disgraced for the sake of ushering in minority members? Does this mean he's got no problems with Hal's misuse and doesn't want to right a wrong, something Geoff Johns ironically hasn't done?

There's a reason why, until DiDio and Johns came along and messed everything up, Barry Allen was one of the few - maybe the only - Silver Age hero whose death and mantle-passing was ever successful: he was treated like a hero till the end, whereas Hal Jordan, in contrast, was not. If Hal - and much of the rest of the GL Corps - hadn't been trod on so badly, chances are we wouldn't be complaining so much about their departure. (Curiously enough, by contrast, DC may have had more success in replacing some of the Golden Age heroes, Johnny Thunder with Jakeem Thunder, Terry Sloane with Michael Holt as Mr. Terrific, to name but some.)

Then, there's this part, which is flawed and superficial:

"The Good Old Days" have become a driving force in the comics industry in particular and DC Specifically (and Geoff Johns even more specifically, as DC's Creative Director who is personally responsible for regressing Green Lantern, Flash, the Legion of Super-Heroes, Hawkman, Aquaman and others), and it's all built around a desire to recapture a feeling these creators got when they were kids.

First, he's wrong about recapturing the feel of the Silver-Bronze Age. Back then, there may have been deaths, and there may have been signs of bleeding, but the level of violence at the time was nowhere near as jarring as it is now, and usually had more of a point to it than you'll find in today's output. Second, whenever they created a minority group superhero, they usually created them as their own role (i.e-Black Lightning), but weren't hell-bent on making them replacements for the main heroes.

I'm also annoyed by this line:

And much of the time -- not always, but enough that it's more than notable -- they're being passed back from a non-white character to an Aryan ideal.

Good grief, that's a bit strong there to imply that the white protagonists of yore are "aryans"! It's also insulting to the writers who came up with them in the first place, like Gardner Fox and John Broome. And, it's risking criticizing the characters instead of how their written/characterized, something I argued about at least once before in past years. Come to think of it, what he's saying is practically unfair to whites. That's not how to lead an argument.

And I don't think humiliating white protagonists is something even minority members have ever asked for, which is why there's another something to consider: that the degradation of Hal Jordan, Ray Palmer, Jean Loring, Ralph and Sue Dibny, Ted Kord, Ronnie Raymond, among others, could be insulting to minority group members as well.

I also think we've become so utterly concerned about introducing minority group members to replace white heroes that we've neglected to consider that they can make just as effective members of a supporting cast. And if there really need to be minority members in superhero roles, why don't they consider for example...Bulgarians? Why does that never occur to them?

Race has been made too much of an issue already, and it's hurting DC comics more than helping. As far as that goes, I think they have to cut it out.

I don't enjoy that Ryan Choi was killed any more than anyone else does, nor will I if some of these other minority group heroes are killed off too. And I've got nothing against replacing white heroes with minority members either. I just don't believe in disgracing the white superheroes on their way out. And it's a shame that all of a sudden, we seem to have a problem with a faction of readers who're so desperate for minorities to replace the white superheroes in their roles that they're willing to go right along with whatever DC did during Zero Hour and Identity Crisis, etc, all at the white protagonists' expense. And did it ever occur to anyone who calls the Silver Age heroes "dull and devoid of personality" that the same could hold true for minority groups characters? Let us remember: a character's personality can only go as far as the writers do.

The race factor has gotten way out of hand lately. It's time to put it aside and focus on competent writing. But you can be sure that won't happen under Geoff Johns.

Labels: dc comics, misogyny and racism, politics

Here's an article in the Canadian Jewish News about a comic written in Yiddish based mostly on King Solomon that got a Yiddish Literature Award.

The Arizona Republic writes about the upcoming Comicon taking place in Phoenix on May 27 next week for at least 3 days.

Labels: conventions

Business Wire reports that Anime Expo, the largest convention for anime productions in America, will take place during July 1 at LA's convention center.

Labels: conventions, manga and anime

The Nashua Telegraph gives some superficial coverage of Marvel's upcoming Heroic Age, which is still being overseen by Brian Bendis (and even Matt Fraction, who's just as pretentious):

It’s morning in America again – at least, the America in which Marvel characters such as Spider-Man, Iron Man and the Avengers live.

Maybe not, because Quesada is still in charge too.

For a couple of years in the Marvel Universe, Norman Osborn – yes, the Green Goblin – has been America’s top cop. He was head of the Avengers (which he staffed with murderous supervillains) and the black ops/intelligence agency S.H.I.E.L.D. (which he renamed H.A.M.M.E.R. and staffed with thugs).

This was on the heels of a “Civil War” between superheroes and a debilitating invasion by shape-shifting Skrulls from outer space.

The bad guys were in charge, the real Avengers were on the run and Captain America was (temporarily) dead. Grim days.

And days we could've done without. 6 years or more of total time wasting turkeys, which could not escape the feeling of editorial mandate or even favoratism to writers of Bendis' "caliber". I don't see that changing so easily. There's every chance he'll write just as pretentiously, and even if he reverses the fate of the Wasp, who was killed 2 years ago, it may still not be enough to counteract the bad taste he's left behind.

And then Osborn invaded Asgard.

That event, called “Siege,” proved to be a step too far, and the president revoked Osborn’s authority. It was a little late, as the Shining City came crashing down in Norman, Okla., and thousands – including Norse and Greco-Roman gods – lay dead.

Oh, and I suppose we're not supposed to care that Thor's and Hercules' worlds have been destroyed? Sorry, but that did not have to be.

Also, what's happening now to Iron Man?

Iron Man: “He’s back at square one,” Fraction said, “in mind, body, soul and professional life. No armor to his name, no company to run … living in a motel in Oklahoma. We spent two years taking away everything he has and now … now we get to watch him rebuild his entire life.

“Also: new armor.”

But not a new situation. Tony's been through this kind of story before, and done much better. Just what are they trying to prove by reducing him to a guy living in a shabby motel?

Thor: Asgard’s destruction leaves a hole in the “Nine Worlds” of Norse mythology, and what replaces it is very old – and very scary. Thor will be “terrified,” Fraction said.

“What do gods look up to?” he asked. “These guys. These are the gods of Bor and even earlier – these are primal forces of space/time given physical form. This is The-End-Of-All-Things.”

Yes, we know what that is, don't we? Ragnarok, what else? In that case, I'm not sure if Thor for one will be finding any light at the end of the tunnel. And even if he does, it's possible this won't be any better than Spider-Man's One More Day.

The LeHigh Valley Express-Times is just as sugary about this:

At the end of "Siege," former Captain America Steve Rodgers was given control of the superhero community. After seeing the world controlled by superspy Nick Fury, then Iron Man and, finally, Norman Osborn the president decided it was time to give control over to someone everyone respects, Captain America.

And what does that mean? That Nick and Tony aren't people we can respect? Sorry, but this really tanks, as does the following line:

Bendis brings fun back to the book.

I'm a fan of Bendis' previous Avengers. Its darker, street-level take on the team was what was needed to breathe new life into the aging franchise at the time.

Oh really? It was so far from the ideals that made the Earth's Mightiest Heroes work in the first place, and was so mired in crossovers - and I won't be surprised if there's still more where those came from coming soon - that it wasn't worth the paper it was printed on. And the Scarlet Witch didn't have to be ejected as terribly as she was either.

Now it's the return to the big epic adventure that's needed to keep the book fresh.

Bendis really pulls it off.

Yeah, I'll bet he does. How can we tell he hasn't - or won't - inject some of the same tasteless dialect and talkiness into this current take that he did earlier? And why should we just let him off the hook after he insulted our intellects in past years?

[John] Romita's art on the book helps give it a classic comic-book look.

I'm a huge fan of Romita's artwork and would buy the book based solely on his work.

Anyone who is thinking about becoming a comic-book artist should really study Romita's work.

Indeed. Romita Jr, if that's the artist here, has actually gotten rather iffy over the years, alternately drawing competently enough and at other times blocky. His artwork needs to be studied to know what works and what needs to be avoided in art practice.

Labels: Avengers, crossoverloading, dreadful writers, golden calf of death, marvel comics, msm propaganda

As if DC couldn't do enough to anger their onetime fanbase by destroying their mainline universe with superheroes, they've even managed to anger manga readers by terminating the CMX line they'd launched. And with their track record this past decade, I can only say they deserve whatever bad reception they're getting. Interestingly, they didn't even publicize or promote it well to begin with:

We are of the opinion that DC never really gave CMX the love they deserved—they didn’t give it much publicity, and the books were impossible to find in bookstores.

Does this company want to succeed even with satellite brands and lines? Do they want to make money? I guess not. What is the use of launching a line for special brand distribution if they're not going to put any genuine effort into promoting it? This tells just how poor their management is, and that they're wasting a lot of money on something they don't even care to make a convincing success.

Labels: dc comics, manga and anime, sales

The second official issue, not counting the one marked #0, has just come out, and Geoff Johns and company just can't take a rest from shedding more red. In a story that might be connected to the Martian Manhunter, this time we see:

...a mother turned monster/Martian slaughter her Rock Band-playing family with a knife to the throat, drumsticks through the chest and plastic guitar contusions. And that doesn't even touch on the random deaths and other grim topics, like Firestorm's blowing up or what have you.

[...] it seems like these three issues have been only about over the top killings and shock deaths. We don't know any more about the White Lantern than we did at the end of Blackest Night. We don't know why these particular heroes and villains were revived. We don't know who the badguy of this piece might be. It's three issues in and I don't see any story or build up towards a story - it's just a bunch of killings and two or three page spreads dealing with random characters reacting to the violence.

[...]

On the Manhunter side of things, J'onn's retreading his origin, something every Martian Manhunter miniseries and JLA story seems to want to do. This time, we're adding a daughter to the scientist that initially brought J'onn to Earth and we find out that the father and daughter brought some other Martian or alien menance to Earth before J'onn - presumably the mother that went nuts earlier in the issue and tore her face off to reveal what I thought might be a White Martian, but that doesn't seem to be the case based on what the professor brought through the portal in the flashback. I'm not sure how this really added anything to his origin or what it adds to the plot of Brightest Day. It also requires the question of how and why this monster/Martian had a family and children and what it was doing for all these years in hiding as a suburban house wife.

And by the time an answer is provided, anyone unlucky enough to run afoul of this latest vulgarity from Johns will surely end up with a migraine from all the shock tactics. If this is what Brightest Bloody Day has been like so far, it's quite likely that each consecutive issue will feature at least one page flooded with these horrors, and by the time it's done, Johns will have developed a thick portfolio of ugly, lurid exercises in gore to add to his record from past years, something no sensible person need waste their hard-earned money on.

Labels: dc comics, dreadful writers, moonbat writers, violence

Comics Alliance reports that DC and Marvel lost a lot of writers and other contributors in past years:

The past couple years has seen a rise in those fires. A number of creators have left the Big Two, meaning Marvel Comics and DC Comics, under less than friendly circumstances. These creators also felt comfortable enough in their career to fire shots back publicly at the company that they felt wronged them. While the two companies have never released a statement about the dismissals and accusations, having several angry ex-freelancers talking about their practices in public likely indicates something going on behind the scenes.

Not all the people they've lost as writers are a really big deal, and J. Michael Straczynski, who's among the mentioned, certainly isn't. Still, this same article even points to at least one other surprising item, a Mark Waid interview with Ain't it Cool, that tells how even something as overrated and worthless as 52 failed to impress Dan DiDio even at that level:

EIC Dan Didio, who first championed the concept, hated what we were doing. H-A-T-E-D 52. Would storm up and down the halls telling everyone how much he hated it. And Steve, God bless him, kept us out of the loop on that particular drama. Siglain, having less seniority, was less able to do so, and there's one issue of 52 near the end that was written almost totally by Dan and Keith Giffen because none of the writers could plot it to Dan's satisfaction. Which was and is his prerogative as EIC, but man, there's little more demoralizing than taking the ball down to the one-yard line and then being benched by the guy who kept referring to COUNTDOWN as "52 done right."

It is kinda surprising that 52, cruddy miniseries that it was, still failed to satisfy DiDio. Waid also had some negative comment about Bill Jemas, former CEO of Marvel, about his attempted mandate of the Fantastic Four:

Brevoort and I were just gobsmacked by this. Just speechless. And there was no arguing with Bill--he wanted the MUNDANE FOUR because they'd be more "relatable." BUT--he was the boss, and Marvel owns the characters, not me, so we actually took a stab at trying to give Bill what we thought he wanted without destroying the FF. We planned a story arc in which Reed had been forced to brainwash the entire family, including himself, into this basic scenario for reasons I forget. It was actually a pretty elegant workaround--I can't remember the details, but I promise it was better than it sounds--but Bill decreed that it was too little, too late (three days later was "too late") and one Friday, poor Brevoort called me to tell me that I didn't have to bother with the next script because Bill had already written it himself and had dropped it on his desk. I was fired. I had never been fired off an assignment before. I was stunned. Artist Mike Wieringo was asked if he'd stick around, but in a gesture I thanked him for till the day he died, he told Jemas to take a hike.

Luckily, Jemas was removed by the board of directors, but by now, it's clear he was little more than a convenient fall-guy for Joe Quesada, who put Straczynski on the Fantastic Four afterwards, and it turned out to be a short-lived run, as his work on the FF was considered even more unpopular than his Spider-Man work. And, since then, Marvel's sunk neck-deep into the quagmire of crossovers...

Some of these writers have moved back and forth between companies, but if the editors in charge continue to increase their iron grip of editorial mandate upon the kingdoms they've been given the keys to, chances are the freelancers will leave them completely and go full-fledged independent. Alas, we cannot expect Marvel or DC to come to their senses that easily.

Labels: bad editors, dc comics, marvel comics

Another example of how the newspaper comic strip is becoming extinct: the Little Orphan Annie strip is being canceled. It's actually the second time it's happened: it first ran from 1924 to 1968, originally ending when creator Harold Gray passed away, and was revived in the late 1970s, continuing until now. But it certainly did plunge into obscurity all these years. Though I had read it in my childhood, I rarely thought of it for a long time after, and certainly didn't see it on many newspaper websites, and in the end, barely 20 carried it.

And this is another sad sign of how newspaper strips are reaching their twilight.

Labels: comic strips

ICV2 reports that last month's sales saw a decrease by 15 percent in sales of pamphlets. And on the sales chart, it's still pretty stagnant. Although Brightest Day #0 sold about 129,000 copies, it still sold even less than Blackest Night. The new volume of the Flash only sold 100,903 copies, which is even less than what the 600th issue of Amazing Spider-Man sold. Speaking of which, there were only 2 issues of Amazing Spider-Man that came out last month, which suggests that with post-OMD sales floundering more and more, they're going to eventually have to cut back to once a month again.

And it tells us how the industry is continuing its sad slide into extinction, thanks to their refusal to maintain any kind of decent policy in writing.

Labels: dc comics, Flash, marvel comics, sales, Spider-Man

The San Antonio Express-News writes about Joe Kubert and a new graphic novel he's produced called Dong Xoei, based on a battle in Vietnam.

Labels: good artists

The Las Vegas Sun writes about the special three-day tribute to the works of Stan Lee at LV's Palms hotel during the local premiere for Iron Man 2.

Labels: exhibitions, good writers

The Iron Man movie sequel has already premiered and has gotten almost as much praise as the first, and certainly took the numero uno spot at the box office. But the Nashua Telegraph seems to think that the reason why some of Iron Man's most prominent rogues' gallery members haven't been used yet is because they're "too dated":

If you’ll recall, the first Iron Man movie featured a villain who is also B-list or below: Iron Monger, a one-shot villain who committed suicide in 1985. So where are Iron Man’s biggest foes? I’m afraid the answer is that they’re too dated.

Without a doubt, the Armored Avenger’s longest-running and most serious threat – his Joker, if you will – is the Mandarin. This cunning and super-powered Asian warlord probably made a lot of sense when he was created in the early 1960s, when Red China was considered an enemy, and memories of Fu Manchu were still fresh. But while the “yellow menace” has a long history in comics, the movies are a different and more politically correct medium – so it’s uncertain we’ll ever see a cinematic Mandarin.

Oh really? I'm not sure I agree with this. First, in regards to China: they're still communist, the government controls the press there, the one-child policy is still in effect, and to make matters worse, they've formed a strategic alliance with Iran and North Korea (H/T: Weasel Zippers). Why then wouldn't the Mandarin make for a good supervillain?

And regarding Russia, under Yeltzin, things may have improved for a time, but since Putin came to power, which he still holds as a "prime minister", the country has been backtracking considerably, putting local media outlets under government control, and 2 years ago, they attacked Georgia. And Forbes recently reported that totalitarianism is making a comeback, Russia included. Why then shouldn't the Soviet-style nemeses like the Crimson Dynamo be worth using?

Maybe at one time, these prominent foes of Iron Man were "dated", but as recent world events show, they may have become un-dated, and their backgrounds more relevant again. In that case, to say they're dated is rather exaggerated. And yet, if they are dated, did it ever occur to these writers in the MSM that what ought to be done is to rework the backgrounds of the villains so their countries of origin will be more fictionalized? Mission: Impossible had plenty of fictionalized countries featured during its 1966-73 run, and if Marvel were to do something similar, it's possible that these supervillains could hold up much better in use. Indeed, I've sometimes found it odd that Marvel chose to use real life countries for some of their stories when they could've featured fictionalized ones instead, and they certainly do have some, like Latveria, Wakanda, and Symkaria. I guess it's strange that they didn't think to retcon some of their writings so that the real life countries could be exchanged with more fictionalized ones that would hold up better in retrospect.

I honestly hope the Mandarin does get used as a villain in another Iron Man movie, if there'll be one, but if not, I have an idea why: it's possible the studio wouldn't use this major member of IM's rogues' gallery because they don't think they could sell it in China! Is that possible? Maybe, and if so, it's a shame that they've succumbed to political correctness.

Speaking of which, that's the problem with the Nashua Telegraph article: it's very weak in it's reference to the movie medium, because it suggests that PC-ness is okay. And, it ignores current world events that strongly suggest China and Russia are still menaces, and that's why Iron Man's rogues' gallery isn't as "dated" as they must want to think.

Labels: Iron Man, marvel comics, msm propaganda, politics

The famous artist who'd worked as an assistant on comic strips like Lil' Abner and the comic book takes on Conan is dead at 82.

Update: extra article from Amazon's Omnivoracious blog (via Instapundit and Soccerdad).

Labels: good artists

Found through this blog, we discover that any concerns Brightest Day would degenerate into Bloody Day were not for nothing. Is that what it appears to be? Throat-cutting? Oh my god. There may be some potential to the story premise coming before this where Aquaman and Mera save some kidnapped children from slavemongering pirates who're said to be an allusion to the recent cases of Somali pirates in Africa, but if Johns and Tomasi are going to feature a pointless gorefest like this afterwards, it ruins everything. But then, Johns has long ceased to surprise with his shock tactics.

And who is the fishmonger who commits the sadistic deeds? Apparently, it's Black Manta, Aquaman's notable nemesis who worked as a mercenary with a specially powered scuba-suit (he's so angry to hear Aquaman's back in action, he takes it all out on his customers). It was written that he was black too back in 1977 in Adventure Comics #452, in a story where he'd slain Arthur Curry's young son; actually a rather sloppily written item too, because, if memory serves, Manta was shown taking off his helmet underwater while speaking! But two or more wrongs don't make a right, and this current take on Manta is not helping matters one bit. Why is he working as a fish store operative now anyway? Surely he wouldn't be wanted by the authorities for his past crimes?

I remember when a decade ago, there were complaints about the overuse of the Joker and the deaths left in the wake of those stories where he was, which eventually led to the Joker being used less over this past decade. Unfortunately, within this time, Johns and company have done quite a bit to "jokerize" other villains in the DCU, and it's becoming quite tasteless, rendering many of these villains embarrassing to read about, including Inertia post-Rogues' Revenge.

And this is what they call "Brightest Day"? Uh-huh. "Bloody Day" would describe it much better. Now we certainly can't be surprised if this kind of sadism continues to occur as the miniseries goes on for another year.

Labels: dc comics, dreadful writers, moonbat writers, violence

One of the writers on CBR's Robot 6 blog writes about the history of secret identities and how they were once a reliable story springboard. But there's also a little something here that's worth noting for how it only led to awfulness:

For example, Lois has known for almost twenty (real-time) years; and when it got awkward between Bruce Wayne and bodyguard Sasha Bordeaux, she found out. If there are no stories about the secret being pierced, then a big part of the secret’s dramatic utility goes away; and what’s left are briefer interludes in, say, the Daily Planet bullpen or Wayne Enterprises’ boardrooms.

Maybe, but sometimes it's probably better for the secret identity not be discovered, if Sasha's case is any example. Because when she found out, it wasn't so much as to develop her better as a character, but rather ironically, to lead to wedge-driving between her and Batman in the Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive storyline, one of the worst crossovers DC ever had the gall to cough up. She ended up in prison, taking only so much abuse, and this turned her against Batman, who initially preferred to just continue his life more as the Masked Manhunter than as Bruce Wayne and not actually solve the case of who murdered Vesper Fairchild, and let Sasha rot in the clink until the government arranged for her release to become a Checkmate agent. It was one of the worst examples of making Bruce look more like a self-centered, apathetic man than a human being since the 1990s, and Sasha was little more than a plot device. One of the worst stories in which learning a secret ID led to helllish circumstances.

And sometimes it seems like anyone who learns Batman's secret ID is bound to end up in a very horrid situation, even if it's not a coffin (in the original premise for Jason Todd, his own parents ended up dead after learning the secret in 1983). Maybe that's why it's better not to explore the idea, if that's all they can think of.

Labels: Batman, crossoverloading, dc comics, misogyny and racism

The Washington Post writes about the owners of a comic book store in the Wheaton area. Towards the end, that's where it really gets annoying:

James Wu said he and his brother are constantly analyzing comic book trends, but he acknowledges that "we don't know where the comics business is going."

They learn more from their clientele.

"We talk with customers about what's going on, which superhero is going to come back, who is going to die," he said. "Ten or 15 years ago, Superman died. That was a big deal."

One of their biggest sales spikes came not too long ago.

They sold more than 100 copies of a Spider-Man comic that featured President Obama.

Where is Spider-Man when you need him?

Better still, where's Mary Jane when you need her? What they cite here about the going-ons at a comic store only makes me feel more depressed, because they don't seem to discuss with their customers whether this is good or bad in the long term for the industry, and the big two personally. Apparently, it doesn't matter what DC and Marvel do with their universes, or whether politicians who've already proven their policies are poor are being injected into their books as a sales stunt, all that matters is if the books sell. Sometimes the business can really be quite soulless.

Is it any wonder they don't know where the comics biz is going?

Labels: dc comics, golden calf of death, marvel comics, msm propaganda, politics, Spider-Man, Superman

The Austin Chronicle talks about Free Comic Book Day, and says it's helped the industry, but has it?

It was a massive gamble for a shrinking industry: Give away a couple of million samples of your product the day after one of your industry's biggest characters makes his major motion picture debut. The people who make and sell comic books had no way of knowing whether the public's interest in Spider-Man onscreen would generate any appetite for the wall-crawler in his four-color form, but this seemed like one way to find out. So, on the first Saturday in May 2002, more than 2,000 retailers handed out free comics from 30 publishers to anyone who came into their shops.

The gamble paid off, so much so that eight years later, Free Comic Book Day has become as firmly established an institution as, well, comic-book movies kicking off the summer blockbuster season. And each year, public response just multiplies.

Challenging question: just what has FCBD done for those pamphlets that actually cost money? It's easy to go for something that's free; the question is how many of these same people have invested seriously in whatever's not given out free of charge? Because the sales charts today don't look promising. Indeed, how many are willing to spend nearly 4 dollars on current comics?

And that's why this article is just another in doubt. And crossovers events, which have taken up a considerable amount of Marvel and DC's output, are another reason why FCBD may not be doing what they claim. Some of their own offerings for FCBD, like War of the Supermen #0, are just gimmicks to try and lure people into spending far more money than need be on overblown mishmash. Not really a good way to encourage people to get into their books.

Labels: crossoverloading, dc comics, marvel comics, msm propaganda, sales

Auto Evolution reports that there's a campaign underway to get the state of California to issue special license plates featuring the famed beagle of the Peanuts comic strip upon them that could be used to support state museums (via Robot 6).

Labels: comic strips

An article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin about manga creators on the island who're putting together special anthology projects.

Labels: manga and anime

The latest death of a character nobody asked for: Nightcrawler is the victim, in X-Force #26, a decade after Colossus - and Psylocke - were subjected to this overused nonsense.

The story where Colossus was killed back in 2000 was one of the crappiest ever written. So too in fact was the story in X-Treme X-Men where Psylocke was slain (and she actually took it worse than he did. Sometimes it seems like more women in comics are killed at the hands of villains than men are, if those 2 stories are any suggestion). Both deaths were reversed about 3 years later. Unfortunately, as this clearly shows, Marvel hasn't learned their lesson, nor have they understood that if they're going to resort to deaths as a sales gimmick, it only cheapens all drama, and makes death grow tired even faster.

Labels: golden calf of death, marvel comics, X-Men