Mike is cynical and cranky (but there’s some holiday cheer in here as well).
1. Before you ask, yeah, new comics are delayed a day due to the Christmas holiday. Same thing next week, too.
Why, I remember one year new comics were delayed so badly by the holidays that we didn’t get them until Sunday. That was back when Diamond still delivered the books themselves, instead of using an independent delivery service.
Yes, Diamond used to transport the comics to the retailers themselves. That was also back when there was more than one distributor servicing the direct market with new comics. Coincidence?
2. Many folks have commented on Chris Butcher’s tale of 300 woe…with a forthcoming movie based on this Frank Miller comic, the collection of said comic is in short supply. Gee, Dark Horse graphic novels with a forthcoming movie tie-in suddenly hard to get a hold of? What a freakin’ surprise. Given what happened with Hellboy and, to a somewhat lesser extent, Sin City (I’m giving them a pass on Aliens/Predator, since that apparently was out of their hands), I have no confidence that we’ll have any 300 when we need them. Though once the movie is out of theatres, and the bookstore returns have come in, we’ll have 300 out the wazoo, I bet…long after the customers we’ve had looking for them have moved on to the next big thing.
3. Speaking of which, what’s this I hear about the Watchmen movie perhaps having a chance at being back on track? Oh, goodness, I hope that’s not true. I’ve already resigned myself to the fact that V for Vendetta graphic novel sales are going to completely dry up once the movie finishes its run (a la League of Extraordinary Gentlemen)…I don’t want to lose Watchmen, too.
4. Back to my comic strip talk from the last couple of days…man, you folks really didn’t care for Berke Breathed’s follow-up strips to Bloom County, did you? Okay, I can understand not liking his most recent effort, Opus. I figured the first few strips would be a bit rough, and that things would get better…but they never really seemed to, did they? But Outland…actually, I liked Outland quite a bit. Yeah, I know it became Bloom County II as it progressed, as more and more characters from the old strip began to pop up, but overall I thought it was a lot of fun, well drawn, with plenty of good gags. There was some overly familiar subjects and themes, and it probably was retired at the right time, but overall I thought it was pretty good. Certainly better than Opus, which just makes me kind of sad.
5. This man got a Skrull Kill Krew t-shirt for Christmas. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.
