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§ January 21st, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on The Progressive Ruin Questionnaire-Fest 2009, Part Two: The Smell of Fear.
More shocking answers to incisive questions. Can your heart handle the results?
- H asks
“Can I request a week of photos showing you and co-workers pointing in dramatic fashion, preferably in response to someone having said one of the things not to say to a comic shop employee? If not, how about a photo series of you and your cohorts re-enacting the 7 Deadly Harveys?
“If not, I’ll settle for the answer to the question of what super team comic book you would create if you had the chance.”
Would you settle for a fellow who used to be an employee, pointing in a dramatic fashion?
As for the superteam book I’d create…hmmm. That’s a good question. Naturally it’d have to revolve around Swamp Thing, and maybe featuring some of the folks from this post.
Or if we have to stick to characters from one company…I don’t know why, but “Swamp Thing and the Outsiders” just popped into my head. “Hold on…Geoforce…I’ll take…this one.”
Ooh, ooh, I got it…a “League of Extraordinary Gentlechildren.” Sluggo, Lulu, Nancy, Tubby, Charlie Brown, Linus, Richie Rich, Little Lotta, Little Orphan Annie, Herbie…you’d pay to see all those characters in one adventure. Don’t you lie to me!
- Isaac asks a couple of questions:
“I’d like to hear your take on some of Rick Veitch’s early, trippy solo work: Abraxas and the Earthman; stuff like that. How does your knowledge of his later Swamp Thing work color your interpretation of those early books?”
I was a fan of Rick Veitch from the moment I was first exposed to his material in Epic Illustrated. I think it was “Abraxas and the Earthman” that really solidified the fact that I was going to pretty much read anything he was attached to from that point forward. In other words, I already pretty much had a solid opinion of those early works by the time he got around to taking over Swamp Thing. If anything, being a fan of those early works helped me get over the loss of Alan Moore on the title right quick, since I knew if anyone could fill those big bearded shoes, it would be Mr. Veitch.
“Worst facial hair in comics?”
Egads. Um…well, let’s say J. Jonah Jameson (as drawn there by Rick Veitch), if only because of the Hitler-stache. Not a look you want if you’re the kind of boss your employees already dislike. (And wouldn’t you know it: a Wikipedia entry on that very type of moustache, which includes Jolly Jonah as a famous fictional wearer of said style of lip fur.)
- Jacob T. Levy levies
“What, if any, Swamp Thing stories do you treat as out of continuity, because it’s just easier that way?”
None, really. I mean, there’s that whole business at the end of the original Swamp Thing run (which runs into his appearances in Challengers of the Unknown) where Swamp Thing is turned human again, which was considered “out of continuity” by DC when they were asked about it in a Swamp Thing lettercol. But even then, as you can read at the end of that second link, I had my own personal workaround to keep it in continuity if were, you know, any big deal.
By and large I don’t worry a WHOLE lot about continuity. Some consistency is nice, and I realize that sometimes I go on about how this contradicts that on the site, but that’s more out of the fanboyish fun of dissection than any real concern or complaint. (Like, say, all this crazy talk about Lex Luthor’s timeline.) But with multiple creative teams over multiple decades, some inconsistencies are going to worm their way in, and, eh, not a problem. I’ll deal.
- Max asks
“Shared Universe Comic Book Continuity: threat or menace?”
I kinda covered part of that in the last question, where I’m not too overly worried about continuity. I mean, if you worry too much, you start thinking about how the very existence of the Teen Titans fouls up the entire DC timeline (a recurring discussion topic of mine and pal Dorian‘s, which we got into again last weekend for Employee Aaron’s benefit and someday we really just need to sit down and record).
But half the fun of the superhero books is seeing your favorite heroes team up and/or fight, so I don’t mind the shared universe aspect that much. At least until you have some kind of major crossover event title upon which the rest of your publishing line depends, and delays on the main title ripple across the other books and the poor retailer’s budget goes out the window waiting for the company to get its act together.
But I rant..er, digress.
I don’t mind the shared-universe thing, by and large, is what I’m trying to say. Sometimes, when I was a kid, I’d be reading, I don’t know, Green Lantern, and some serious crap would be going down, and I’d wonder “man, you’d think Superman would at least check in. ‘Hey, Hal, need help?'” But, you know, Superman would never even call.
‘Course, nowadays characters pop up in each other’s books at the drop of a hat, so it’s a bit different. And not quite the novelty it used to be.
- Just Some Guy wonders
“Do you have more turn over in TPB’s than monthlies? Are there books that sell very well as trades but do horribly as individual issues; what about vice-versa?”
We do sell a lot of trades, but the periodicals are still where most of the customers are following their particular serials.
I can’t think of anything that sells well as trades but not as a periodical. There are plenty of items that sell great as singles but not as collections…Marvel fans, for example, seem to prefer the monthlies. But there are lots of comics that sell well as periodicals and as trades. Fables and Walking Dead are the examples that leap immediately to mind.
- Googum asks
“You’ve probably answered this before, but do you have any of the Swamp Thing’s toys and whatnot? Besides the chalk, I mean.”
Boy, do I ever. The pencil sharpener, inflatable bop bag, and the aforementioned chalk, the board game, the puffy stickers, and all the action figures and portfolios and statues and t-shirts and original soundtrack albums and so on.
Alas, I still do not have the Swamp Thing slippers, items so awesome that it got none other than legendary Swamp Thing artist Steve Bissette to ponder their true horror for our entertainment, as well as discussing other items that I’d featured on my site.
“And, is there any comic or related item, that you sell on a regular basis, that is just an embarassment to you? Like, to the point where you really wish you could not carry it anymore, even if it does sell.”
Not since we stopped selling POGs. If I’m going to hell for anything, it’s that. (I go into further detail somewhere in the middle of this post.) Heck, not even selling Pee Soup embarrasses me. …Much.
- Skipped Pickle picked
“1. What did Jennette Kahn ever do for you?
2. More Funky Flashman please.
3. WWTTMW? What would ‘T.M. Maple’ write?”
1. She created Dynamite Magazine, which a young Mikester loved to pieces.
2.
from Mister Miracle Special #1 (1987) by Mark Evanier, Steve Rude & Mike Royer
3. What he would always write…a shitload of letters to every comic book in existence. If he were still alive.
- Alex ticks
“I either don’t remember or haven’t been a reader long enough, but what was your take on the original Tick series by Ben Edlund? Did it fit in well with the black and white comic boom, or stand out to you at the time? And did you ever think The Tick would’ve made it as far as he did, longetivity-wise?”
I didn’t start reading The Tick until a few issues in, when a friend of mine kept talking it up to me and I said, “okay, fine, I’ll check it out,” and lo, it was very funny. Those original issues by Edlund remain some of the funniest comics ever published, and it was a shame that the other Tick books, while okay, never really felt quite the same to me as the ones direct from Edlund’s fevered brow.
I don’t recall now that it stood out any more than the other books, aside from getting a little more positive buzz than most, and, hey, they’re actually going back to press on the earlier issues…when was the last time a small press book had to do that?
As for its longevity…I hadn’t really thought about it, but yeah, of all the things in comics to catch on with a general audience, it’s this? But it’s funny, and funny in a way that you don’t have to be a member of the comics-converted to enjoy, even as it mocks some of the long-held conventions of the genre.
- And let’s wrap things up for today with a little Harvey Jerkwater:
“Have you ever noticed the parallels between Herbie and the Golden Age Hawkman?
–Both fly and bop people with spheres on sticks.
–Both are mostly unrecognized as the kings they are.
–Both are devils with the ladies.
Is there a connection? Should there be?”
I’m going to say 1) no, I’ve never noticed, and 2) if there wasn’t a connection before, there is now, at least in my head, as I’m currently picturing a bare-chested Herbie with hawkwings and a mace fighting the Shadow Thief. There’s a commission piece to ask Joe Kubert for.
“Who never worked on ‘Swamp Thing’ that you would have liked to have seen? A Liefeldian, footless Muck-Encrusted Mockery of a Man? Steve Gerber, using his experience with Marvel’s swamp beast to bring wit and absurdity to Alec Holland’s world? Jack Kirby, just because?”
I mentioned in my Twitter-thingie a while back that I wanted a Rob Liefeld Swamp Thing drawing, because, c’mon, wouldn’t you want to see it?
And I’ve often said I wanted to see Jack Kirby’s Man-Thing (hur hur, yes I know), with the big squared-off fingers reaching toward you, because that’d be awesome. But a Kirby Swamp Thing would be cool, too.
Other creators: I would love to see Ed McGuinness on the character, just to see Swampy reinterpreted in that particular “chunky” style of superhero art. Or how ’bout Art Adams? Or Walt Simonson (who did a ST pin-up once, I think)? Or even Mike Kaluta…I know Kaluta did some covers, but I would have loved to see some interiors by him.
Ah, hell, let’s completely cross the streams: Mike Ploog Swamp Thing! From Marvel’s swamp monster to DC’s! Maybe he can draw the eventual crossover comic with the two characters that I may have just now promised to give up my firstborn child for in order to have happen. Don’t try to reread that sentence…I think I may have pulled something just writing it.
Okay, that’s enough fun for now. More questions answered next time, faithful Progressivites…same Ruin time, same Ruin channel!
§ January 20th, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on Today’s post called due to health reasons.
from Targitt #3 (July 1975) by Conway, Meyers, Lieber, Kupperberg & Nostrand
No, the health department didn’t perform a surprise inspection in the Progressive Ruin Industries kitchens and discover hamster droppings in the baked bean vats. Rather, I’ve been pretty under the weather and when I tried to continue the Questionnaire-Fest 2009, I found I had a hard time putting together coherent responses. I mean, more so than usual. I don’t even know if
this post makes any sense. The ducks are on fire, someone get the marmalade. Stapler!
So the answers will hopefully resume tomorrow, and I plan on taking enough medication to make me forget Monday ever happened. See you then.
§ January 19th, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on The Progressive Ruin Questionnaire-Fest 2009, Part One: Let the Self-Indulgence Begin!
Yeah, I know…”begin?”
I asked for questions in this post, and you folks delivered, so let’s see what I can do for you.
I’ll just do ’em in order, aside from the couple I already addressed, and I’ll do a few a day ’til I get ’em all done.
- M.A. Masterson asks
“How deep is your love?”
So you know the little puddles of dew that occasionally collect on your car in the morning, like on the hood or right there by the windshield wipers, or even on the roof? The puddles that are barely hanging together thanks to the surface tension?
About half as deep as that.
- Former employee Josh asks
“best facial hair in comics?”
Aside from me? Knowing you, the answer you’re fishing for is “Green Arrow,” which I’m probably going to have to agree with, if only because he had that beard and was able to maintain a secret identity at the same time. I mean, who was he fooling, really?
- Lurkerwithout lurks
“Could Nancy and/or Sluggo beat up those babies from Sugar & Spike everyone else thinks are funny?”
Oh, come now. Nancy and Sluggo, beating up babies? That’s a pretty low thing to do…I think Nancy and Sluggo, despite their occasionally overwhelming self-centeredness, are generally ethical beings and would certainly draw the line at beating up babies.
Now, those son-of-a-bitch Katzenjammer Kids…they’d beat up babies, I’m sure.
“Is there a DARK HERBIE?”
While Herbie has shown the occasional flash of anger, by and large he’s pretty unflappable, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in an uncontrollable and persistent state of rage and destruction, as per X-Men’s Dark Phoenix. Sure, he gives what-for to the folks who’ve got it coming, but he’s never, for example, blown up a planet full of plant people. But he totally could if he wanted to.
In fact, if Herbie were to ever turn his powers to evil, who could stand against him? Who? Who?
“When will Pogs be making their nostalgia driven triumphant comeback?”
I’m honestly expecting this to happen, sort of. It may be too soon, and I’m expecting more of a limited “hey, I’m looking for that ‘Death of Superman’ pog set” type of nostalgic demand rather than the crazy “buy anything that looks kind of like a flat disc of cardboard” hording frenzy.
“Does a tinfoil hat protect you from space aliens or government spy rays? Or both?”
I seem to recall reading how a tinfoil hat would, if anything, amplify the rays being beamed into your head. Whoops!
- Pal Sean dares to inquire
“I’ve always had one for you: Who knows more about Spider-man: you or your lovely significant other? And does she read anything other than the Spidey titles?”
I posed the Spider-Man question directly to Nora, and she told me in no uncertain terms that she knows more about Spider-Man than I do. So who am I to argue?
She doesn’t read a whole lot of other comics, though she has an interest in the art of Alex Ross and read that Justice mini. Plus she wanted to know more about Darkseid, so she’s poked through some of my Fourth World funnybooks. Oh, and a while back she wanted me to give her the lowdown on Aquaman, so I let her read that Giffen/Fleming/Swan/Shanower special, which she really liked.
- Here’s former employee Josh again, apparently having gotten into the cooking brandy and asking me
“if a tree falls in the woods, and no one is around, does Swamp Thing hear it?”
If no one is around, no one hears it, since the vibrations being caused by the falling tree reaches no ear drums. But Swamp Thing probably could sense it, through his connection to the Green.
- Brian Smith quarks
“I’d honestly never heard of the show ‘Quark’ before you posted its DVD cover art back in August…I wound up researching it and buying the thing. Did you get it? Do you know anyone else who did? (Coming into it without benefit of nostalgia, I thought the show started off terribly but had a lot of promise by the end.)”
I haven’t bought it yet, though it’s on my short list of must-buys once I have that kind of money to start throwing around again. I (ahem) may have the episodes on videotape, so I have at least seen the shows relatively recently. It’s certainly silly humor, definitely dated, but there’s a kind of harmless, innocent charm to its goofiness and political incorrectness. I can see why I liked it as a young Mikester. Plus, dude, Richard Benjamin!
I don’t know if anyone I know personally bought it, but I know I’ve sold a few whenever I posted the Amazon link for the DVD set
, like I did right there.
- The man with a new website, Dave Campbell, demands
“How do you feel about Man Thing, aside from the obvious and belabored penis jokes? Pale imitation of Swamp Thing or archetypal monster? ANSWER ME STERLING!”
Man-Thing penis jokes? Can’t say I’ve heard any.
Well, I suppose I’d better get this out of the way…I can’t say Man-Thing is an imitation of Swamp Thing, because (cough) Man-Thing appeared first (cough), though it appears generally accepted that the proximity of their introductions was simply coincidence. But the two characters are certainly different enough that I don’t feel like they’re redundant.
I do like the character…it was certainly at its best when written by Steve Gerber, who used it as a catalyst for stories of psychological horror, bizarre fantasy adventure, social satire, and just some plain whacked-out weird-ass shit.
J.M. DeMatteis did some good work with the character (particularly in this issues of Marvel Fanfare), and this issue from Manny’s second series remains probably my favorite non-Gerber story with the character. And aside from some other brief moments in that second series, I haven’t cared much with what’s been done with the character since. None of the recent appearances have really grabbed me, unfortunately, though I keep looking at them whenever he pops up.
And the less said about that movie, the better.
- Aqualad Knox wants to know
“How does your store stay successful through slump periods? I’ve seen a ton of comic shops come and go here in NJ, it’s kind of depressing.”
Well, I don’t know that I’d use “successful” to describe some of those down times. There are times when it’s more like “by the skin of our teeth, a bunch of scrambling, and a hell of a lot of luck,” which is not a position anyone wants to be in. But a lot of it has to do with a large clientele, a diversity of product, and a good reputation, which keeps people coming back to us as opposed to going elsewhere.
And then there’s taking on other product lines…like, I hate to say, the pogs thing, which brought in some much need revenue when the comic side of the business was down. And during the ’90s comic market slump, the games section of the store helped keep us afloat. There’s also the mail order business we do, which really took off once eBay popped up.
So there are lots of ways to ride out the lean times. While we’d love to always be successful, when things get really rough you need to focus on simply surviving. It’s not easy, but it can be done.
- Gordon divines
“Is there any way to counteract the Satanic pact that allows Rob Liefeld to remain working in comics?”
Alas, that deal was attached to the same pact that also brought about the reprinting of Herbie, the return of Beanworld, and the Complete Peanuts, so we’re stuck with it. Damn those Satanic congressional riders!
- And to wrap things up for today, Dave Norman wants to know
“Because you run a comic shop, do you feel the need to read EVERYTHING that comes out, to be in the most knowledgeable position possible for your job? Or was it something you used to do in your youth but have now realised the folly of it (and have left it to mad young turks like Sims)?You obviously keep abreast of current comic trends and are a fan, but do you skim through all books that come out each week? Do you do it in the occasionally quiet times in the shop, in between scanning old comics for the blog and Twittering?”
What? Twitter at work? Why, I have no idea what you’re talking about.
But no, I don’t try to read everything that comes out. I don’t personally buy a whole lot of comics…for example, this coming week I’m picking up about a half-dozen DCs and no Marvels, and that’s usually typical for what I get from the Big Two, though some weeks I usually do get at least one Marvel. I do try to be aware of what’s going on, however, even if it’s just through solicits or what I read online or talking with the customers. And the other employees can pick up the slack if I happen to be lacking in specific knowledge of a book. New employee Tim reads a whole lot of Marvel, for example, so he can clue me in if I need it.
If there’s something that’s causing a big hubbub, I’ll take a closer look at a title if it’s one I don’t normally read. And sometimes I’ll flip through a few of the new issues on Wednesday just to see what’s going on…not in any kind of detailed reading, just a quick pass through the pages. I will note that I’ve been perusing Walking Dead this way for a while, and I should really just knuckle down and get the trades and stop being a cheap bastard.
So short answer: read everything, no. Try to at least be somewhat aware of what’s going on in the titles, even if in the most general of details, yes.
Okay…more questions answered tomorrow. Some of them even answered correctly, for no extra cost!
So I’m sure most of you are somewhat familiar with one of DC Comics’ most famous Silver Age oddities, Mopee:
Appearing in
Flash #167 (Feb. 1967), courtesy Gardner Fox, Carmine Infantino and Sid Greene, Mopee was a magical imp (or “Initiate Tenth Class of the Heavenly Helpmates”) who claimed to have been responsible for the lightning ‘n’ chemical accident that gave Barry Allen his abilities as the Flash. And it wasn’t
just a claim…by the end of the story, the claim still stands, and we’re left with the knowledge that, yes, Mopee did
in fact do what he said he did.
This is one of those ideas that, like Clark using super-hypnosis to disguise his identity, was roundly, and perhaps wisely, ignored. And I only bring it up here because as it turns out, Mopee makes his return to the printed pages of a DC comic this week, his first (I believe) since being mocked in an issue of Ambush Bug. Pal Dorian pointed it out to me when he dropped by the store on Saturday…we were explaining the character to his husband Pete and to Employee Aaron, which prompted me to extract the actual Flash issue in question for their perusal.
As they looked at the comic, the thought crossed my mind. What did the letter writers at the time think of the story? So, jumping ahead a few issues to #171, here’s what folks had to say:
From a gentleman in Simi Valley:
“The story cannot be compared to any Mr. Fox has ever written. […] I especially liked the use of Mopee. He is undoubtedly one of the best supporting characters the Flash has ever had.”
The next fellow wasn’t so enamored of the revelation:
“Gardner Fox must have been mad when he introduced that inept initiate Mopee as the prime mover behind Flash’s career, for in doing that he has robbed this magazine of its uniqueness and its drama. Mopee, the ‘heavenly helpmate’ (what a name!) has made a face of Flash’s origin. Was the Human Comet born of a freakish burst of raw energy (elegant irony – sheer accident creating a man with a purpose); or did Flash arise from the bidding of an unscrutable [sic] Fate? No! he is the protege of an Otherworld Wally Cox, whose superiors are too similar to Green Lantern’s Guardians to be original.
“Please forget that ‘heavenly helpmate.’ Otherwise your readers will finally understand why Flash is still called a ‘comic.'”
Here’s another note of criticism from a fellow in our store’s town of Ventura, CA, with some extra commentary on the Batman TV show “camp” influence on comics:
“This is the silliest thing I’ve seen in my Flash reading history, and if it isn’t stopped now, I’m afraid of what such fantasies will start running rampant through what was formerly, to all intents and purposes, a serious magazine. If you think it will be easy to get back on this trail of the straightforward tale, just look around, and you’ll see several magazines glutting up the stands which started as superhero fiction, but are now marked by stories which now reek of comedy and satire.”
I think, my favorite letter, however, is this one:
I’m reasonably sure that would be the very same Cary Bates who would later become a comic book writer…and not of
just any ol’ comic book, but of the Flash book itself! Okay, maybe it’s another fan with the same name, but that would be a heck of a coincidence. At any rate, Mopee never turned up during Bates’ run, as far as I know. That would have certainly perked up that long ol’ “Trial of the Flash” storyline.
In other news:
§ January 17th, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on Getting a smurf start.
So while I’m still taking your questions through the weekend (and doesn’t that sound pretentious?) and wasn’t really planning on beginning to address them ’til Monday, I thought I’d answer at least one today.
From P-TOR, longtime faithful reader of this site and proprietor of the Dr. Strange fan blog Sanctum Sanctorum Comix, has this to say:
“Do you love Peyo’s SMURFS or is that old photo of you (reading a Smurf comic) merely a mockery?
*Also, if you DO love Smurfs… who is your favorite?
** ALSO, also… which explanation for Gargamel’s desire to catch the Smurfs do you espouse:
– to make GOLD from them
– to EAT them
– to deflower Smurfette (as to which the many on-line spoofs allude).”
For the four of you who haven’t seen it, here’s the photo P-TOR is referring to:
That was taken by pal Sean, back when I had the full beard, and hair that was still mostly brown, before going gray over people who actually think comic book companies will actually do something like
permanently kill off characters like Batman or Captain America.
Whoops, tangent there. Sorry about that.
Anyway, I do love the Smurfs, but alas, I haven’t been exposed to enough of their comics over the years (though I did borrow and read some of pal Dorian‘s hardcover albums several years ago). Thus, my primary exposure and memory of the Smurfs is, of course, the all-pervasive cartoon from the 1980s.
As I recall, when I decided to pose for this picture, I didn’t put a whole lot of thought into which comic I would be reading, beyond “hey, The Smurfs would be funny.” And that’s it. No mockery or anything intended. Just thought it would be amusing.
By the way, I also returned the favor by taking a picture of pal Sean at about the same time, give or take a day or two:
I know this photo doesn’t have much to do with P-TOR’s questions, but 1) that picture always makes me laugh, and 2) Sean wanted the picture for
his band’s Myspace page, so there you go, Sean! Sure, I could have just e-mailed it to him, but this is sillier!
Anyway, back to P-TOR: my favorite Smurfs, eh? Well, my sympathies are with Brainy Smurf, since he tends to go on and on and on and on and on and on and on, annoying everyone around him and I sort of get the feeling that I do the same thing. But I think my favorite Smurf has to be Jokey Smurf. The guy gives out presents. To his fellow Smurfs. Who have the presents EXPLODE in their faces. …That utter bastard. Why the other Smurfs haven’t ganged up and beat the holy living smurf out of him, I have no idea. But I like the idea of little Anarchy Smurf running around and stirring up trouble in their mushroom village.
As to Gargamel’s motivation: now, I have heard of both of the reasons, re: making gold and just outright eating them. I think maybe we can reconcile these by saying that Gargamel wants to eat them, then use what’s left (the bones, the hats, the inedible gristly tail-nubbins) to perform his forbidden alchemy.
I hadn’t heard the…ahem, “Smurfette Theory,” but without getting into things like, er, relative sizes, or perhaps what that would imply about Gargamel’s…endowment…okay, I’m not going any farther with this. It’s all too icky. But I should add that it doesn’t surprise me that some people have put thought into this. And now I’m one of them. Great.
Speaking of thinking things best left unthought, here’s my old “Smurfs Life Cycle” post, since it seems a bit appropriate to the subject at hand.
By the way, later in the comments, reader Linus suggests that I use the Obamafy Me website to generate some images similar to that Obama poster we’ve all seen.
Sure…here you go:
Now
that’s smurf you can smurf in!
§ January 16th, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on So it’s come to this.
Well, frankly, I’ve got nothin’ for today. I kinda went overboard yesterday with my posting and left myself with not a whole lot I particularly wanted to cover at the moment.
It’s been a while since I last did this, so maybe it’s been long enough for me to get away with it again. If you, the dear and loyal Progressive Ruin reader, happen to have any questions for me…hopefully comic book related questions…feel free to leave them in the comments section for today’s entry. Even if it’s not so much a question as just a request to cover a particular topic, go ahead and drop those in and I’ll see what I can do.
I just ask that you keep the questions and requests clean, keep ’em friendly, and keep ’em at least somewhat related to things I’ve covered on this site. I reserve the right to skip questions that are rude, insulting, or just plain nosy. Or about Fell, just to spite the guy who kept nagging me to talk about it.
If I get enough questions/requests, maybe next week can be “Reader’s Request” week. Hopefully someone will ask for high DPI scans of old funnybook characters pointing angrily, because I could totally go for another week of those. Couldn’t you?
Anyway, drop in your questions and/or suggestions, and I’ll do my best to give ’em serious answers. And probably long, meandering answers…you folks have read my site, you know how I run off at the virtual mouth a bit.
§ January 15th, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on THE PRICE & BLURB STICKERS ON THIS COMIC WERE JUST A JOKE. REPEAT: JUST A JOKE.
We ran through our copies of that new Amazing Spider-Man by mid-afternoon, but we saved a copy for Employee Tim since he wasn’t going to be able to pop into the store until after school let out.
So I prepared a copy specifically for him:
I just did this as a joke, but I’m sure there were stores you could walk into and see something pretty similar done to their ASMs hanging on their walls.
Anyway, we didn’t have the hassle that I feared we would over this. Had a few people get snippy over the fact that we didn’t have the Obama cover, including a couple of phone calls that ended with the folks on the other end slamming their phones down as soon as the words “don’t have the Obama cover” left our mouths, and so on. But by and large we weren’t swamped with people seeking to make their fortunes. It was more “a spattering of interest in the ‘Spider-Man unmasking’ story” than the “oh sweet heavens there’s a line of people around the block waiting to buy the Death of Superman,” at least for us. But hey, after months of the book dropping sales we finally got an issue of Amazing Spider-Man that actually sold well…now there’s change I can believe in.
In related news, I found this message thread through my referral logs, where they’re going on about Marvel not sending people the Obama covers. To wit:
“I don’t think it’s fair that the men and women who pick up every issue of this comic cannot get the alternate because Marvel has only sent them to select retailers. Yes, I firmly believe Marvel deliberately sent the books to the specific stores so they could get the price jacked up for online orders. There, I said it!”
I don’t know how that argument follows exactly, but someone did try to send him to my post on Tuesday where I explained how Marvel actually distributed the comic. To recap: so long as you matched orders of a previous issue with the regular cover of this new issue, you could order as many Obama covers as you wanted. You could order a thousand. You could order ten thousand, but you’d probably get a lot of questioning phone calls and e-mails from the distributor, I’d imagine. Marvel has been offering several variants in this fashion in recent months.
From the sound of things, a lot of stores found themselves in the same position we were in: looking at the dropping sales of Spider-Man, trying to decide whether raising the orders and ordering the variants on top of that was worth it, and either opted not to do so or to order very conservatively. It’s not a case of Marvel picking and choosing who gets the variants; it’s a case of many retailers having little or no confidence in sales on the comic, and keeping orders low. (Again, keep in mind all this order decision-making was done and finalized prior to the news coverage.)
That’s just a generalization…I’m sure some stores ordered TONS, and some stores didn’t order it because they didn’t know about it. But regardless, I wish Marvel just stuck with one cover on this book and avoided all the confusion.
Of course, it’s hard to explain this over and over again in the store to people who want “the comic with Obama on it” and wonder why the comic we’re handing them has an implied-threesome gag on the cover. But What Can You Do? I did tell ’em we’d have a new printing the following week, with the Obama cover, which made some of them happy.
Well, here’s to the weekend…wonder how many calls about this comic I’m going to get over the next few days?
READ MORE ABOUT IT: Dr. K tells a story about a store where the guy behind the counter apparently had his fill of the Spider-Obama comic. It’s remarkably unpleasant.
In other news:
- So it’s bad enough I accidentally duplicated part of someone else’s post yesterday…but it had to be part of a post by Bully, the Little Stuffed Bull! Even down to the same panels. Boy, I’m a jerk.
Don’t worry, everything’s cool between me and Bully. Plus, I think my focus was more on my continuing fascination of the filling of the gaps/backstories of every single aspect of the Star Wars universe, though we both had to say something about the “Piggy” comment. I mean, c’mon, you kinda have to, he said self-justifyingly.
Speaking of which, as I Twittered last night, it’s not enough that Han Solo has a stripe design on his pants. It has to be a Corellian Bloodstripe, with its own significance and backstory.
I’m not taking the moral high ground or anything: I’m a big ol’ Star Wars dork. I’ve read all the books. But I’ve got enough self-awareness, I think, to occasionally roll my eyes at some of the “Expanded Universe” excesses. Did you know pretty much every character in the Mos Eisley cantina has a backstory that’s been told? Of course they do
. And it doesn’t stop there
. (Again, no moral high ground, I read all those.)
As I told a friend of mine on Twitter yesterday: while the 8-year-old Mikester loves this stuff, the 39-year-old Mikester can’t help but wonder why he keeps reading these. Probably because the 8-year-old Mikester is the one in charge of the book budget.
- Speaking of Star Wars, pal Dorian posted a good example of one of the most effective advertising strategies: confusing the customer.
- Here, have a review of Final Crisis #6 from someone not taking a paycheck from Marvel. Seriously, this is some crazed superhero stuff, and a lot of fun.
- When Fangirls Attack and Written World‘s Lisa Fortuner makes her triumphant return to her “Just Past the Horizon” column at its new home.
- Now seems like a pretty good time to link to Andrew’s tale of “Mr. Tawny’s Pleasure Peril.” (For the record: I can enjoy Tawny both here and in Final Crisis, because my sense of humor is simultaneously innocent and cruel.)
- Tim O’Neil writes smart about the Wasp (who’s had her share of problems lately), and has some insightful reviews of a handful of super-books.
- Boy, that was a lot to read. Well, you’re not doing anything right now anyway, right?
§ January 14th, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on Biggs Darklighter pays a sensitive tribute to a fallen comrade.
from Star Wars #6, reprinted in Marvel Special Edition featuring Star Wars #2
by Roy Thomas, Howard Chaykin, Rick Hoberg and others
Dude, he’s already an overweight guy saddled with the name “Porkins.” And he’s
dead. Why pile on with the “Piggy?”
Anyway, like all things Star Warsian, major or minor, there’s an involved backstory for Porkins — in particular the various names and nicknames, insulting and otherwise — which you can read about at Wookieepedia. I should also note that I’m a bad person for laughing at the transcript of Porkins’ death, which you can find in the article under the heading “Battle of Yavin.”
In conclusion…Lucas. You had to call the fat guy “Porkins.” Really.
§ January 13th, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on Things I don’t want to write about.
1. The Amazing Spider-Man comic with Obama that’s coming out this week.
Seriously, I don’t even want to deal with it. We ordered based on what we thought we could sell, and on the information Marvel gave us (and they did give us enough info on the comic itself ahead of time), not based on media coverage that may or may not have materialized. If there’s still demand, we’ll have a second printing the following week. If demand continues, we’ll continue getting reprints if Marvel keeps supplying them.
We’ve had some phone calls for it, but not a whole lot. ‘Course, I wasn’t in the store on Monday, so maybe the phone rang off the hook all day. I don’t know.
But we’re not going to bump orders way up on a comic that’s been generally trending downward in sales, in a month where comic sales are usually sluggish for us, in the hopes that real-world news will create more one-shot customers that only come by for the hyped comic, and never come back. (Like they did on, say, the Captain America death issue. Sales sure scaled back on that title right quick.)
Yeah, maybe we missed out on the hundred dollar eBay sales and the “investment opportunity,” and maybe someone will pop into my comments to tell me how he, I don’t know, reshingled his roof with the money he made reselling this comic on the secondary market. Hey, good for you. I don’t care.
So, again, we based orders on information we had on hand, not on potential hype (which, by the way, started after we finalized our numbers on this comic). This may be a conservative way of doing things, but this isn’t an industry that, on the whole, really encourages, or rewards, or can even support, a whole lot of risk-taking. Because I’m sure if we ordered a metric ton of copies of a comic via direct sales in the hopes (or on the promise) of media attention, and it fizzled, the publisher would surely let us return the unsold copies…right?
Right?
Our preview of Wednesday, courtesy Employee Tim:
NOTES:
1. I’m not as angry about this as I sound, honest. I’m more bemused by it all.
2. Yes, I know publishers sometimes will offer items on a limited returnable basis to encourage orders. That’s more the exception than the rule.
3. I actually think Obama meeting Spider-Man is a cool idea, given that our President-Elect’s a Spidey fan.
4. “Our President-Elect’s a Spidey fan” is a very strange thing to find myself typing.
§ January 12th, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on "Believe me…I’ve been trying to."
I keep trying to find a use for this particular panel:
…so I’ll just post here in the meantime until I find one. Actually, this would make a good panel for this site’s eventual, and hopefully far-off, Very Last Post, I think. (This is another scan from
UFO & Outer Space, by the way.)
Maybe you can find a use for it:
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