Spider-Girl's future uncertain

I found some info through Spider-Man Crawl Space and Comic Boards that not only is Spider-Girl's current ongoing series only garunteed until the 30th issue, it appears that there's a storyline coming up called "Brand New May". And if that's really the title they're going to use, and if Quesada's interfering with this in any way, then I wouldn't be surprised if that's why the series is losing so much audience now.

Yet another exaggeration about how well comics are doing

Seacoast Online writes about the Portsmouth convention. But I don't think they're being clear about if comics are regaining ground:

PORTSMOUTH - As comic books make a comeback across mainstream America, one of the Seacoast's largest comic book conventions has come back to Portsmouth.

[...]

Like many others, Drew and Falkenburg were happy to see the Portsmouth Comic Book Show back in the city and were excited to see comic books coming back into the mainstream.

Either the interviewees or the press themselves have to remember, but I doubt they ever will, that, while movies and games based on comics may make waves, and it's certainly possible that Iron Man will find success as a movie (I think it's supposed to debut this weekend), the source materials as we know them...may be in decline.

Honestly, I think it's yet another news article that exaggerates the facts on the ground.

DC's suffered a really bad past few years

Brian Hibbs does a little analysis on Countdown and also talks about how DC really tanked in recent years:

DC has had a pretty bad last two years. Their editorial vision has been, in my humble opinion, horrifically broken, and, more importantly, completely and utterly out of touch of the interests of the audience. What successes they've had have seemed to this observer to either be completely accidental (SINESTRO CORPS) or actively worked against (the end of 52, and the multiverse, etc)

Actually, I'd say it was more like 4-5 years of badness they've gone through, if we look back at Identity Crisis, and even Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day, which was also pretty awful. And one of the commentors replying to the topic also points to some of that:

Excellent as your review was, Brian, I think perhaps you were wrong about the problems startng with OYL. It seems to me that some of the problems (at least the bloodthirstiness as sales grab) goes back to Identity Crisis. Here they took a perfectly good character, Sue Dibny, a nice, smart, good humored woman who was a fairly unique character in being non-superpowered but joining in on her husband's adventures as somewhat of an equal, and brutally murdered her in issue 1. Then issue 2, we get to see her in flashback brutally raped by villain Dr. Light. Issue 3 opens with her graphically depicted autopsy. With this natural progression of events, issue 4 may very well have opened with Dr. Light or some other villain going back to the morgue and skullf***ing her. But I wouldn't know because I tuned out.

Having revitalized the JLA by making them all ashamed or vengeful toward each other (and in fairness I'm sure Identity Crisis was more Brad Meltzer's idea) we move on to DC Countdown. 80 pages for a buck ending in one forgotten 2nd string character (Max Lord) brutally slaying another 2nd string character (Blue Beetle, not so forgotten and fondly remembered in some quarters). But this death was not in vain as it provided the springboard for the next big event, as BB's death raises the attention of the other heroes that Lord is planning to take out all the heroes and...

Oh but wait, before we get to that, you have to read four different miniseries of six issues each. Twenty-four issues (and yes I spelled out the numbers to make it seem longer)? I tuned out.

See, it really makes me glad when someone points to the real beginning of the problems, which certainly was with IC, as the only idea they really seemed to have with that was to tear down heroic ideals. Even today, there's still some apologists for IC out there who may complain about how DC's storytelling has deteriorated, yet won't consider the possibility that IC may have led to it. And that's a shame, because how are problems to be solved if we don't consider some of the things that may have served to bring about current disasters?

I think this is where I'd also like to make a point of my own that, even if it didn't happen right away, some of the worst storytelling effects at both Marvel and DC came as a result of editorially mandated crossovers, gratuitous character deaths and villifications, among other things that were otherwise done as publicity stunts and controversy generators. They brought plausible writing to a standstill, forced some books and their writers to add contrived elements that simply didn't mesh well, which resulted in embarrassing ideas that could be difficult to overlook the deeper they sink into them. Kyle Rayner's awkward development was an early example of that when they killed off his girlfriend. Why, even before Zero Hour, DC had already tarnished Hal Jordan's image when they wrote a story in Action Comics Weekly where it was told that the reason why Hal was such a brave man was because Abin Sur had influenced him to that effect! It got worse with the Emerald Dawn miniseries, where it was claimed he'd screwed up by getting drunk.

Up until 1984, I'd say that most storytelling was pretty good, because you didn't have tons of company-wide crossovers that hijacked each and every character, probably even those without their own ongoing series. Secret Wars may have been what led to the downfall of modern comics. While it's not like there weren't editorially influenced stories even before that, what they featured in one book was still stand-alone enough so that it didn't have to affect each and every other book published by both companies. SW drastically changed all that, but while Marvel had lame crossovers years before, DC may have turned out worse crossovers as the years went by. The Millenium crossover was pretty dreadful, but it was with Armageddon that things got worse, when Hank Hall, the Hawk side of the Hawk and Dove duo, was turned into a villain before being killed off.

There were even new characters whose introduction was disastrous, such as in the Bloodlines crossover, which took place within several series annuals. Now, if they want to introduce a couple new protagonists to the DCU, that's fine. But the way Anima, Argus, Gunfire and Hitman began their (very brief) careers was not. A most disgustingly bloody mess was this crossover, and now that I think of it, some of the worst crossovers DC's done are those that involve serious violence and bloodshed.

If that's what crossovers are going to amount to these days, that's just one reason why crossovers have seen their day in the sun, or, maybe more appropriately, their night in the moon. If comics are to save themselves, they're going to have to stop with crossovers, fix each and every error that got caused in their wake, and return to more stand-alone storytelling, with the only real crossovers being guest appearances by stars of some books in those of others. That's all that's really needed.

It can only be hoped that this year's crossovers will lead to the end of any more real company-wide ones in the future. But so far, there's no way to tell.

Big changes are just bummers

The Worcester Telegram writes a very middling article about what "big changes" Marvel's superheroes are going through these days. They sure don't explain much with the following:

Prior to his dramatic demise, “Captain America” had not been selling well, said John Pratt, manager of That’s Entertainment in Fitchburg. The death of Captain America issue went on to sell 290,497 copies, compared to 44,700 copies of the title a year before.

“What better way to spike sales than with a national coverage thing,” he said.

Keep going. First, what isn't mentioned here is that during 2002-2004, Cap was made to wallow through an unreadable slew of humiliating stories laced with anti-Americanism in the series that was published under the Marvel Knights label (which was largely discarded 2 years ago). Second, these publicity stunts, as they are, just don't garuntee long-term sales, especially with the way they're handlings things now.

Last month, Bucky, the Cap’s sidekick since their debut in 1941, became the new Captain America. That issue sold 127,524 copies.

“If anyone has the right to be the new Captain America, it is Bucky,” said Kenneth A. Parson, manager of That’s Entertainment in Worcester. “So even for old-time fans, you hate to see a great character like Steve Rogers done away with, but I think the fact that they brought Bucky in to take his place has satisfied people who have been around for a lot of years.”

And what hasn't satisfied people is that, under the Cap guise, Bucky's been carrying a gun, which gets in the way of the more imaginative elements that made Cap such an enjoyable superhero in better times. Also, is 127,000 copies much compared with when comics could sell about a million 2 decades ago?

At least they admit what's wrong with Spider-Man now:

Last fall, in “Amazing Spider-Man” #545, Peter Parker (a.k.a. Spider-Man) makes a shaky deal with the devilish Mephisto to save his beloved Aunt May’s life. The catch is the pact erases all traces of Parker’s nuptials with Mary Jane Watson, whom he married in the comics back in 1987, and returns him to his days of single geekdom. The issue sold 124,406 copies, compared to 118,800 copies the year before. However, sales have been gradually declining since, and “Amazing Spider-Man” recently dropped to 97,881 copies.

Mr. Pratt said the “hokey, lame TV soap opera plot” totally went against the friendly, neighborhood persona of Spidey’s character.

“Why would Marvel’s poster boy for doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do make a deal with the devil? It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever,” Mr. Pratt said.

In addition, many longtime readers were put off by the interruption of continuity, Mr. Parson said.

“I think it’s always risky to tell them what they are reading for any number of years is negated, because a lot of appeal of comics is the whole continuity and episodic nature that you come back month after month and you learn something a little new and the story advances,” he said. “And it’s fun when you have been reading it for years because you feel that these are people that you know.”

Well at least they get those parts right. Also, this last part is interesting, though it undermines itself at the end:

Jason Cavanaugh, avid comic book reader and reference librarian at the Shrewsbury Public Library, prefers lighter comic book yarns to the increasingly darker ones of today.

“I just like the happy-go-lucky stuff I read when I was a kid. Spidey battles The Shocker. Yeah, The Shocker looks like he’s running around in grandma’s oven mitt that he made his costumes out of. It was just fun. The good guy won,” Mr. Cavanaugh said. “I think there should be wholesome and there also should be the hardcore stuff for the people who enjoy that. But I just find a lot more of the dark stuff is getting in there and a lot less of the whimsical.”

As far as superhero comics go, Steve White of Worcester also feels they have taken a turn for the grim in an attempt to generate new readers.

“Right now, you pick up a comic and somebody’s dead. I like good triumphs over evil. That’s what attracted to me to the hobby in the first place,” he said. “But, I will say this, the comics right now have the best talents they have had in history. They have the best writers, the best artists. I’m just hoping, at one point, they’ll find a happy medium and tell the more positive and upbeat stories like they did in the old days.”

So do I. I'll have to note though, that it's a bit exaggerated to say that comics today have the best of writers and artists, especially when some of them even go the knee-jerk route with the editors in chief, the ones who are really responsible for the grim turning point in today's scriptwriting. Dan Slott may have turned out to be but one example.

Mark Steyn reviews new book about Jack Kirby

Canadian writer Mark Steyn has written a book review in Macleans about a new biography (King of Comics) by Mark Evanier on legendary King Jack Kirby.

Update: here's another review from TH Online.

Manga sales increase in US

Anime News Network says that US sales for manga books have increased (though at a slower rate last year).

It wouldn't surprise me if this was due in part to how American comics are letting down, prompting some people to see what the Japanese market has instead.

Last month's sales fell 15 percent

ICV2 put out the latest sales report, and sales of pamphlets again, are not looking good:

Sales of comics to the direct market by Diamond Comic Distributors slipped 7% in the first quarter of 2008 vs. the year ago period, the first quarterly drop since Q4 of 2004, when comic sales were down 4%. Graphic novel sales were up 5% for the quarter, ameliorating the over-all decline to 5% for the quarter in combined comic and graphic novel dollars. Q1 2008 was also the first over-all decline since Q4 of 2004, when combined comic and graphic novel sales were down 3% vs. the year ago period.

March was the ugliest month of the quarter for comic sales, with a 15% drop in comic sales vs. March 2007. Graphic novels were up 4%, bringing the over-all annual rate of change to a positive 4% for the month.

Paperbacks and hardcovers are what many companies may have to change to in the next several years. As for pamphlets, it should be obvious why sales have dropped so badly. When something as terrible as Brand New Day comes along and sours everything, this is what's to be expected.

Mark Waid lets me down

As told in this interview at Comics Bulletin, he's going to join the writing staff for Amazing Spider-Man in its current, Brand New Day state.

Wow! That really has me feeling disappointed to learn that a writer whom I once thought was pretty talented is going to play along with an editor who's becoming quickly unpopular, and take up the assignment of writing a book being held hostage to unfair mandates. But maybe this shouldn't be too surprising after how Waid went along with editorial dictations since Identity Crisis, and even seems to accept the death of his own creation, Bart Allen, as fait accompli. That could even suggest why sales for Flash dropped shortly after "The Wild Wests" went to press, as people were understandably let down by how he just waved a white flag and went along with what DC's done.

I heard that even Roger Stern may make a story contribution to ASM, one more sign of how some of the most well regarded writers of the yesteryear are abandoning any solid stands they might've once had in favor of getting paid to write under embarassing circumstances like what ASM's been put through. Several years ago, I wondered why some writers weren't getting hired lately. But even there, there's a problem, that writers who aren't getting work as of recent may be willing to do whatever the editors tell them if that's what it takes to get back into the business again, even if it involves something unpopular with the readership.

There may be a lesson to be learned in this, that even some well-regarded writers today can really let people down by siding with the editors mandating the stories, even if it leaves in place the damage being done.

Justice League movie gets posponed again

Joel Silver, it's producer, has said that it's now been "tabled" (via Newsarama blog). That's another way of saying that it's been "put aside for awhile", but really, what's the use? If they can't get a coherent script together and start filming, I see little point in their continuing with the charade they're going through. They missed their chance to expand movie franchises based on DC heroes big time.

Geek in the City interviews Chuck Dixon

The Geek in the City website interviewed Chuck Dixon, one of the few conservatives who managed to climb the ladder successfully in comicdom. And I see he talks here about the Dibnys, who came back as body-possessing ghosts in Batman and the Outsiders:

GitC – As for your work on Batman and the Outsiders. Did you always plan to bring poor ‘ol Ralph and Sue Dibney back into the DC Fold? Also, any other surprise characters you can hint at? Any Haunted Tank rolling with the Outsiders?

Chuck Dixon - The Dibneys’ return was by editorial fiat from on high. And there will be surprises ahead. Some characters returning. Some leaving. Some morphing into a new form.

I just hope that in the case of the Dibnys, it'll be returning as themselves. The whole idea of becoming ghosts does not appeal to me, and does not repair the damage done in Identity Crisis either. But this does tell a thing or two about what the higher-ups wanted to do, which was to turn the Dibnys into disembodied spirits. I'm sorry, but, while I'm sure there are some "darker" things Ralph and Sue can dabble in, the darker world is not the place for them, and turning them into ghosts takes away one of the things that made Ralph such a great guy years before: his ability to stretch with doses of gingold juice. It also detracts considerably from his potential as a comedic superhero.

And Sue isn't helped either by being a ghost.

Ralph and Sue should be returned to the living world. As ghosts, they really don't have much range.

Traverse City Library's manga book club

An article in the Grand Traverse Herald about the manga book club that takes place at the Traverse Area District Library, as well as an anime club.

Even in the Silver Age, this wouldn't pass muster

This week's nominee for the most ridiculously cartoonish panel would have to be this one that comes from Countdown to Final Crisis #3.

Let's see, we have Mary Marvel corrupted again, just after I thought she'd stopped and come to her senses. Check. She's submitted to Darkseid and is serving him again. Check. And the writers and artists are working as hard as they can to make it harder for the audience to suspend their disbelief at how Kyle, and even Donna, can stand the impact of his being used as a human club without getting his back broken. Check.

There are plenty of good reasons why DC has not been able to outdo Marvel in sales on the long term for many years now. This is one them. Even back in the Silver Age, this would've been tasteless and disgusting. Some might find it unintentionally funny, but I don't find it even that much. If this is how DC editorial was thinking of bringing back the Silver Age, they blew it. Even during the 1990s, when they were trying a nostalgic approach, they didn't stoop to anything this lowly.

Joe Simon battles on

The New York Times has an article about Captain America co-creator Joe Simon with some interesting details about how he and Jack Kirby had troubles not unlike Siegel and Shuster had when they created Superman back in the day. But today, if there's anything that's really bothering Simon, it's the current direction they've being going in:

Mr. Simon said he was worried about the direction the hero — well, his replacement — has taken. “The new costume, with the pistol and knife, and the old shield design going down to his privates, that’s not Captain America,” he said. Mr. Simon said he feared that someone would “shoot up a campus with pistols,” claiming he was inspired by the character.

Hmm. There could be something to that concern, but what really bothers me now is how it's unlikely that Capt. America will fight current threats to the free world in a convincing, honest approach. Or, put another way, little to no chance he'll fight modern-day terrorism convincingly. I wouldn't be surprised if Simon were also bothered for the same reasons.

Hat tip: Soccerdad.

Catwoman looks like it's been cancelled

The ongoing series of the anti-heroine of the Batworld appears to have been cancelled, if the solicitation here for issue #81 is any indication (via Occasional Superheroine).

Which brings me to point to one of the things I think has led to such bad sales for the second volume: the "revelation" they made after Identity Crisis that Catwoman had been influenced by Zatanna's mindwiping to abandon her crooked ways, and didn't make the choice herself. Thanks to that, I'd say Selina was among those protagonists who suffered the worst as a result of the contrived situations IC led to. It turned much of the character development she'd had during the Bronze Age into a farce. Simultaneously, Zatanna was made out to look ridiculous by apologizing for trying to cure crooks of their bad ways. It just stinks in both directions, and no matter how much they try to make it look otherwise, such steps only make it hard to credit any following storylines, if at all.

Marvel puts out press releases without being clear

They say that the new Cable series sold out, but I wouldn't be surprised if even this unclear press release from Marvel on Comicon's Pulse is exaggerated. They say that:

Cable #1, spinning out of the sold-out X-Men: Messiah CompleX event, has sold out at Diamond (though copies may still be available at the retail level).

But again, we seem to have a case here of no specific amount given, and if enough copies are still available anywhere, then that's hardly what I'd call selling out. And if it was say, less than 50,000, that's pretty tiny even by today's standards.

They say they're going to do a second printing of that debut issue for this new volume of what was one of the most meaninglessly written X-books during the 1990s, and the most irritating thing about that is that Rob Liefeld, once again, is being employed to draw a variant cover for this. When will they ever learn that artists as bad as Liefeld do not help in the long term?

And I think this is another example of Marvel trying to pretend that they're really doing well in sales, when in truth, they're not.

Can the Rogues still be called "beloved"?

I looked at this interview with Geoff Johns and Scott Kolins on Newsarama, which talks about Rogues' Revenge's ties to Final Crisis, and features this question:

Can readers still expect a story about the beloved Rogues from the Johns/Kolins Flash run?

Better yet, can they expect the Rogues to become likable again? At the end of Johns' run on the book, he did one of the most ludicrous take-aparts I've ever seen, when he implied that the Rogues were supposedly brainwashed by the Top to become honest and supposedly never made the choice to drop their crooked ways by themselves. This was an outgrowth from Identity Crisis, one more reason why it came off as dismaying. Of course, the Top's ditherings could all be dismissed as his own insanity, but even so, to go and turn the Rogues' into a nasty, unpleasant bunch in Johns' last story was uncalled for and another post-Identity Crisis mistake. For look what it led to: they killed Bart Allen (or may have, but it's still tasteless).

Thanks to all these contrived, forced circumstances, it's become harder to like the Flash's Rogues Gallery, if at all. If they would fix the errors they made, the Rogues might become lovable again. But for now, they are not.

Here's something else to note:

NRAMA: But they still have rules?

GJ: Well, they're bad guys. They've killed before. But they do have rules about this that they try to follow. And when they don't follow the rules, that's when things go wrong. When Mirror Master steps out of line and goes anywhere near drugs, Captain Cold has to yank him back. When Heat Wave loses control of his pyromania, Captain Cold's got to yank him back. These guys have had their lives ripped apart in numerous ways.

The part about Even McCullogh, the new Mirror Master, being a junkie, has always troubled me since it was published, because it does not sound plausible for a costumed villain to become a drug addict like he became 4 years ago. For a non-costumed crook, it would be more believable, and there'd probably be some human interest story value to get out of a story like that. But for a costumed crook, it's just unimaginative and unsuitable.

Steve Ditko puts out new book

It's not often you hear about Steve Ditko today, but now, he's had a new book published called The Avenging Mind (via The Beat). It's great to see that he's still working on some things today.

A manga book about European food

Here's an article in the Japan Times about a manga called Kami no Shizuku (The Drops of the Gods) that talks about French wine and cuisine, and has just recently been translated in French for European sales.

Marvel's continuing puff piece invasion

Not surprisingly, Marvel, assisted by Publisher's Weekly, is going out of their way to claim that crossovers like Secret Invasion are successes, except that there's one little problem with the press article here: I don't see any sales figures included here. I wouldn't be surprised if it did sell over 100,000 copies, but I wouldn't be surprised if it sold far behind Civil War either.

Here's one item I'll quote here that I can try to take issue with:

Crossover events-epic storylines that involve virtually every series across a comics publisher’s universe of characters and titles-have become tremendously important in generating both media interest and sales for both Marvel and DC Comics, the Big Two of American comics publishing. Like its previous crossover event, Civil War, which earned considerable mainstream press in 2006, Marvel hopes that pitching the niche to media outlets like Entertainment Weekly, which previewed the first ten pages of the series online, will catch the attention of consumers outside mainstream superhero comics circles.

After the outrage that came in response to One More Day, something tells me they may actually have trouble finding that many new ones. And might they also take into consideration that these "epics" end up costing a lot of money, and that the Big 2 should have to rely almost entirely on crossovers for the sake of sales is a shame.

It also doesn't generate any long-term sales boost for either company.

Batman will survive "Final Crisis", but what about other heroes, and us?

The Boston Herald reports that DC has assured that Bruce Wayne will survive the latest crossover they're doing. Not that it makes the crossover justified, though. Especially if evil really does win, as it says here in the article:

“Worlds will live and heroes will die in this epic tale spanning the beginning and end of the DC Universe,” according to a company press release.

Acclaimed writer Grant Morrison and artist J.G. Jones are the architects behind the seven-part miniseries. The first issue goes on sale next month.

“We’re going with a simple concept with ‘Final Crisis.’ It’s good vs. evil. We’ve been consistently raising the level of threats and dangers and the level of problems that occur to our heroes on a very consistent basis, and we’re upping the ante here. Our heroes are being challenged in their personal lives. Against immeasurable odds in ‘Final Crisis,’ they have to face what happens the day that evil wins.”

Wait, what? Evil wins?

“What do our heroes do? What happens to everybody when the heroes lose? It is a challenge of spirit, dedication, desire and belief,” Didio said.

Yes, what happens? 4 years ago already, evil actually did win in Identity Crisis, not because it made sense or anything, but because the writers/editors dictated it. And by now, things are becoming too predictable, and the advertising too discouraging, one more reason why I see little reason to waste time on this crossover either.

The opening chapter follows Libra, an obscure villain of the Justice League from the ’70s who formed the Injustice League, stole the League’s powers and became something of a god. Here he’s assembled an army of DC’s most nefarious criminals.

“He’ll grant the villains their greatest wishes,” Didio said.

Wait a sec, didn't something like that already happen at least a decade ago, possibly during Underworld Unleashed? Nothing new here, I guess.

The story in “Final Crisis” is so big that DC will also be offering a number of miniseries and one-shots that play off the events. “Batman R.I.P.” actually refers to a story line Morrison will be telling concurrently in the monthly Batman title.

That arc is “a total examination of Batman’s role in Gotham City and his role in the DC universe. By the end, it will be clear how and why he is essential,” Didio said.

And I guess that marks another needless attempt to tug as much money as possible from the wallets of the buyers. With comics already at least 3 dollars, I wouldn't be surprised if this amounts to a lot of money that needs to be spent to figure out everything, again. And I've got a feeling that in spite of what DiDio says, there won't be much made clear beyond what we already know about why Batman is essential to the DCU.

Most curious of all though, is this line here:

“Final Crisis” completes a trilogy begun by previous miniseries “Identity Crisis” and “Infinite Crisis.”

So let me get this straight. This is why the DCU's been bogged down as badly as it has for at least 4 years now? But how do we know that this is the end of the problems, and that every error they've made since then will finally be corrected? There's no garuntee.

Penn. Express-Times fawns over Bendis

And while we're on the subject of Avengers and Brian Bendis, let's also take a look at some fluff-coating that the MSM has been doing in their coverage of Secret Invasion. I see that the Pennsylvania Express-Times has taken to fawning a bit over Bendis, at the expense of past writers who did much better:

The Skrulls were among the initial villains of the Marvel universe, first appearing in "The Fantastic Four No. 2."

While popular, the Skrulls were never taken as a serious threat by readers or comic book creators.

Wow, didn't the buffoon who wrote that puff piece ever read the Kree-Skrull War, written by Roy Thomas, back in 1971-72? That sure is some way to dismiss and obscure the masters of yesterday for the hacks of today, I'll say. He actually does mention Thomas's much superior story at the end of the column, but by then, any impact that could be made has been nullified.

Fortunately, Brian Michael Bendis saw the Skrulls as a deadly and dangerous enemy.

Now with "Secret Invasion No. 1," out, he proves how evil the Skrulls are.

If he's trying to prove that they're evil enough to do what's spoken about in the previous topic, on the assumption that they did, I think I'll have to disagree - the Skrulls wouldn't resort to sexism. And didn't Roy Thomas already prove how evil they were, when he had at least one of them disguise himself as a judge, while the others took steps to deceive the Avengers and lure them into a trap? What about that?

There's a lot going on in this first issue and it all plays to Bendis' strengths.

It features much of the character interaction Bendis is known for.

What about the crude, juvenile dialogue Bendis is starting to become known for too?

While there is no big fight scene in this issue, there is plenty of action and four long-time heroes are revealed as Skrulls.

I had predicted last week that two of those heroes would be Skrulls, the other two were surprises.

Oh, I'll bet. As soon as I find out who the Skrully agents are, I'll be telling here, and helping anyone who hasn't found out yet to save a lot of money. I find that part about no big fight scene suspicious too - during House of M, it was pretty slow at the beginning, and the rest wasn't much better. Why wouldn't I be surprised if this turns out to be as slow - and padded - as quite a few of Bendis' other works?

With their agents in place the Skrulls strike quickly and take out most of Earth's defenses.

These scenes of destruction are where artist Leinil Yu shines. I'm not a big fan of Yu's work but he does a great job in this book.

The splash pages are uncluttered by text boxes, allowing the images to tell the story of the surprise attack better than any writer could.

Whoa, what's that? Splash pages? Meaning, there's more than one or two? Why do I get the feeling that this is but another clue to how padded this could be? That narrative boxes were largely dropped in past years, IMO, is one of the ways in which comics were dumbed down. Even Alan Moore didn't stray far from narrative boxes when he was writing Swamp Thing in the mid-80s!

All of Earth's heroes are caught by surprise. There isn't even time to cry out for help.

By the end of the first issue, S.H.I.E.L.D. is in bad shape, S.W.O.R.D.'s satellite headquarters explodes, the Fantastic Four's headquarters has been destroyed, the Thunderbolts are under attack, both teams of Avengers are trapped in the Savage Land, all the imprisoned super-villains are released and a Skrull armada is headed to Earth.

Things aren't looking good.

Nope, they're not. I am not interested in seeing the FF's Baxter Building HQ blown to smithereens again, like it was in the mid-80s. Come to think of it, I'm not interested in seeing Four Freedoms Plaza suffer the same fate again either. Why all the nihilism lately? Most writers years before didn't resort to the kind of mad destruction Secret Invasion seems to feature, and that was a good thing.

Bendis has been planning "Secret Invasion" since 2004's "Secret War" and he has been building it up in "New Avengers."

With ties to the history of Marvel comics starting with the "Kree/Skrull War" and including the highly successful "Civil War," the long planning around this story is what will make the book a success.

Sometimes, even long planning can still be for naught. And, if some of the info I found on this page at CBR is correct, Secret Invasion is selling far less than Civil War did. I'd attribute that fact to how Marvel insisted on forcing constant crossovers galore down everybody's throats for at least 4 years now, and when it's that bad, and that tasteless, it should be no wonder if people are getting tired of even the latest one. So to the Express-Times, please, do stop fluff-coating Bendis already, for heaven's sake. His writing is not worth the paper it's printed on.

Even if that were a Skrull, it still wouldn't be in character

Wow, Brian Bendis continues to show how creative he really is. Reducing Doctor Doom, usually a villain with masterfully comic-book dialect, to a rude-mouthed juvenile, as seen in the picture here from Mighty Avengers #11 that came from ICV2 (via Precocious Curmudgeon and Newsarama blog), that really is draining everything that makes a costumed criminal so appealing. It's also insulting to Ms. Marvel, and her fans.

Certainly male villains like Dr. Doom could consider women inferior to themselves, but if he's ever said anything that could be sexist, it'd usually be in ways that are more restrained, and with more eloquence. That's what made him so popular since his creation in the Silver Age, because he was suitably different from real life villains. If it were a non-costumed criminal saying what's seen in the panel, like some of the ones Denny O'Neil featured in his runs on Green Lantern/Green Arrow and Batman in the 1970s, I could believe it, but for a costumed crook, and an established one at that, not at all.

This latest letdown is the third one of its sort I know of that was written by a writer who also resorted to turning Scarlet Witch insane, and beat up on Tigra in a contrived assault scene, so I'm not really surprised he would do this as well. Would people just understand that a]Bendis is not the expert writer some seem to think he is, b]knows nothing about what made Marvel and DC work in the past, and c]is not worth spending money on? Fortunately, if recent sales figures are any indication, they are, and it figures that Bendis would eventually lose momentum. Sales are still dropping slowly though.

Even if that were a Skrull, or a Doombot programmed by a Skrull, that were depicted insulting Ms. Marvel, it still wouldn't work, because the Skrulls usually had more class than to sink to Bendis' juvenile rendition too.

Why the new Brave & Bold isn't doing so well

The Newsarama blog, in response to one of The Beat's own sales analyses, asked why hardly anyone is reading The Brave and the Bold if it's a fun book.

I think the best answer is because people like Dan DiDio and their obsession with killing off/demonizing characters instead of more positive uses out of them is discouraging people from really buying it more. Or, they could be waiting to buy it in trade format. I think the former possibility is answered by the following commentor on Newsarama:

B&B appeals to intelligent readers who appreciate the history of DC’s universe and the caring attention Waid and Perez give to the characters they use in their stories. Such readers have by and large stopped reading DC comics, since the bulk of the DCU is now run by overgrown fanboys with dismemberment fetishes.

When much of a universe is victimized as badly as it's been by an editorial staff as bad as what DiDio represents, is it any wonder that the embarrassment rubs off on even something that might be better, and makes it hard for anyone to feel up to buying it?

Ninteenth Comic Book Carnival

Welcome to the April 5, 2008 edition of the comic book carnival, published a day early. Here's the entries for this month.

Keller presents Flash #179 posted at DC Comics 40 Years Ago.

R.O. presents #6 Doujin posted at Japan Man, saying, "Japan Man has sexy Japanese idols, romantic advice, video game reviews, and Anime/Manga info. All of the video clips and pictures are new and my advice is timeless. Come check out my site, subscribe to my feed, stumble me, and comment!"

TVS presents Animation Update: Legion of Super Heroes, Ben 10 posted at TV Squad.

Hube presents Question "Authority" posted at The Colossus of Rhodey.

Scott presents Colorful Diseases of the Golden Age: The Purple Plague posted at Polite Dissent.

Jeremy presents When We Waged War on Comic Books posted at Advances in the History of Psychology, saying, "There is currently a great deal of fuss over the degree to which video games and the internet are damaging the minds of young people with images of sex and violence. In the 1970s, it was television that was widely feared to be warping our children’s psychological development. And before that, in the 1950s, comic books were thought to be the nefarious culprits. The pressure eventually became so great that comic book publishers took to censoring themselves."

cryton presents Skrulls! Marvel is About to Kick Off This Years Summer Event | Welcome Back Rosenthal posted at Welcome Back Rosenthal, saying, "Secret Invasion has started, and looks pretty darn good!"

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Cap with a gun does seem troubling

Cranky Old Man's Comic Blog recently wrote about Bucky's taking up the role of Captain America, with a handgun in this case. And he makes a few good points, such as, while Cap may have carried a gun during the Golden Age, the difference is that he was fighting a war as well. So unless he does battle with some Saddam type villains, which I doubt will happen just now, there's really not much to this gun-toting take on the Star-Spangled Avenger.

And now that I think of it, somehow, there is something rather disturbing about seeing Cap blasting away with a gun, even if he only shoots to injure. Maybe it's how it reduces some of the imaginativeness in depicting a guy using a frisbee-style shield to combat the baddies. The pistol does get in the way of that. Cap fought plenty of enemies in a serious vein years before while using his shield, and it didn't hamper the seriousness these past stories could include.

But I guess the biggest, most troubling problem here is the thought that they may have gotten rid of Steve Rogers because they didn't like the super-soldier serum premise. I wonder if that's why they made Steve bite it? I don't know, but if they did, I most certainly don't approve of their getting rid of Steve out of PC-ness.

Enough variant covers already

Looking at the sales charts analyses on The Beat for Marvel Comics and DC Comics again this month, I found some signs that the now not-so-big-two are continuing to resort to variant covers as a short-term sales boost. But what's the point? I'm sure many of those can be found very easily online and saved as desktop wallpaper, and they sure aren't likely to be worth much of anything in print in the next decade or so.

With the industry declining as badly as it is now, variant covers are just one of a few things that need to be dropped if the industry is ever to find some footing again, if it can.

Another sad loss: Jim Mooney

Another famous artist who passed away just recently is Jim Mooney (via The Beat). Some of his best works included his role as an inker on Spider-Man. He too will be very missed.