Mike Sterling's Progressive RuinThe reason cows are out of season since 1969

In which I plug a lot of stuff.

§ June 10th, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on In which I plug a lot of stuff.

So at last…at long last the print edition of my favorite comic strip about a comic shop, The Rack, has been unleashed upon an unsuspecting world. Written by Killer Kevin Church and illustrated by Bashful Benjamin Birdie, the strip follows the lives of a crew of comic shop employees, both at the store and outside it, making it more than just industry in-jokes and catering to the fanguish of the moment. You get actual characterization, genuine wit, and the occasional fistfight. Something for everyone!

There’s also an introduction by the industry’s snappiest dresser, retailer James Sime, an interview with the creators conducted by a gen-you-ine college professor, and plenty of pin-ups by guest artists!

And in the interest of full disclosure, I have contributed to this strip as well, in that I’ve guest-written two strips, and have provided some minor inspiration for others. I’m very proud to have been, even in this very small way, part of this strip, and very happy for Kevin and Birdie for its success on the web and the arrival of this handsome-looking print edition.

If you want to get your own copy, and surely you must, all the details you need can be found right here. Tell ’em Mike sent you! (Not sure what that’ll do for you, but tell them that anyway!)

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In other news:

• So remember when I said that Greg Burgas of Comics Should Be Good dropped by the shop? Well, he did a very nice write-up of the store, including a terribly frightening picture of me…I’ve since shaved and had a haircut, so I’m no longer as scary…or, at least, I’m scary in a different way, anyway. But go check out the write-up, and dig who left the first comment to say something nice about our shop!
• Pal Dorian just did one of his patented movie trailer review posts, which I always love. Heed his advice, or ignore it at your peril!
• Here’s a webcomic I found out about because they’ve been advertising on my site recently: Multiplex, which is sort of like The Rack but only with movie theatre employees. I’ve not read a whole lot of them yet, but I do like the art, and it seems to be well-written. When I have more time I’ll do a little diving into the archives, but so far they’ve got my attention.
• So long as I’m enjoying Plug-Fest 2009 here, I’ve finally put up a few things in my personal eBay listings…a bunch of card sets, and a suddenly-redundant Blackadder DVD (due to my recently obtaining the complete DVD boxed set). Bid early, bid often, and I should have more card sets up next week.
• And here’s a link for swell cartoonist Cathy Leamy, just because she’s awesome and deserves some positive attention.

Bat-talk.

§ June 9th, 2009 § Filed under all star batman Comments Off on Bat-talk.

So I had a few responses to yesterday’s post about Batman and Robin, All Star Batman, and so on, and I thought I’d respond to a few of them here rather than hiding them away in the comments section.

• First off is Dean, who sez:
  

  “I’ve never quite understood the logic of marketing something like ‘All-Star Batman and Robin’ as a periodical in the first place. […] The individual floppies were priced around $3 to start, so in essence DC was offering 264 pages of Miller-Lee for $36. Is there any chance that it wouldn’t have sold 100,000 copies had it been released straight-to-trade at that price?”

  Probably not, but all things being equal here, we’d still be waiting for that theoretical Miller/Lee All Star Batman book to come out, for the reasons Dean gives later in his comment. And given that the book is, shall we say, a bit challenging to a typical reader’s expectations for a Batman story, word of mouth reviews, from those less enlightened than All Star Batfans like you and me, may prevent some folks from picking up a $25 book, who may otherwise have sampled a $2.99 issue.

  There are pros and cons for both sides here, but I don’t think DC would ever have seriously considered releasing ASB as a book from the get-go, given it would probably turn into a much talked-about no-show like Miller’s theoretical Holy Terror Batman story.

  If the industry was a little further along in its transition from a periodical-based model to a book-based one, it could be we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But to have a new, ongoing Batman book by Frank! Miller! and Jim! Lee! on the stands is too much of an ongoing potential sales/publicity coup for DC to resist, potential delays aside.

• Your Obedient Serpent (say, I’ve always wanted one of those!) says a thing or two about a thing or two:
  

  “So much of comic sales come from stores with subscribers and hold lists that there really ISN’T anything resembling consequences for late books. Bad books, sure; if something starts to stink, I’ll cross it off my list. If I have a budget crunch, I’ll start whittling away at the titles that are least-impressive. […] If a book is late or erratic, people are going to be MORE prone to keeping it on their hold list, because they know it’ll slip right by them if they DON’T.”

  That is true in the case of comic savers that the lists tend to remain fairly stable, and that lateness rarely plays into said savers dropping books. (Though it did result in more than one subscriber asking me why I didn’t pull Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk #1 and #2 for them after seeing #3 in their box. “I pulled those for you three years ago,” I’d tell them.)

  However, in this case I was still referring to rack sales. We do get a lot of walk-in traffic, so our percentage of new comic sales to comic savers isn’t as large as you’d expect. Like I said, Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk still sold well, and when All Star Batman does deign to come out, it’s usually our top selling comic (or close to) for the month. I think this is more an artifact of the modern comics business and customer expectations…after so many significant delays on high profile books, people have just become used to them. It’s Business as Usual.

• Matthew (who’s recently sent me a couple of awesome logo banners that I’ll be using soon!) wonders the following:
  

  “I’m curious to know if folks who liked THE DARK KNIGHT film are coming in and checking out the Bat-books. If someone really dug that movie, or BEGINS, and decided to see what the comics were like I would imagine it would be a bit jarring to find out Bruce Wayne isn’t Batman right now. Or do you just recommend trades to those people (if they even exist. I’m assuming a lot here)?”

  I know a couple of people have already answered this in the comments, and I’m mostly in agreement with them. Dark Knight didn’t really create increased demand for Batman comics. Batman is just one of those characters there’s always demand for, regardless. You do bring up a good point that perhaps someone new to comics may be thrown off a bit by someone else in the costume, but…well, as Cole said in response to you later in the comments, there have been enough different interpretations of Batman over the years that anyone interested enough in the character to actually sample a comic can probably catch on pretty quick. The premise that Batman’s former sidekick Robin has taken over for his mentor is a simple one to grasp, even for people only vaguely familiar with the character.

  But as Matthew implies, if people want Batman Classic, it’s not as if there’s not 70+ years’ worth of previously-published adventures to choose from!

• I’ve already covered a few things Cole mentions in the previous response, but he also sez
  

  “…Based on things Mike and others have said over the years, the connection between movies and serialized monthly comics doesn’t seem to be anywhere near as strong as it is for discrete works like Watchmen.”

  The other part of it seems to be that if there’s a bump at all, it’s usually 1) for the first film in a series (i.e. Spider-Man 2 and 3 didn’t help comic sales any) and 2) almost exclusively prior to the film’s release. So by default, the Watchmen movie would be the “first” in a “series” (oh God, let’s hope that’s not the case), thus bumping sales on the book. If there were a Watchmen 2: Seymour Rising (for example) I wouldn’t expect sales on the comic to experience anywhere close to the same bump.

  That said…sales on Watchmen at our shop have pretty much dried up. Used to be, for the last couple of decades, I’d have to order copies every week. Haven’t had to order one in a few months. Like since, oh, I think, around the time the film came out. Funny, we sell a lot of books here.

• Bill D. notes
  

  “…There are plenty of people out there who consider themselves Batman fans without ever coming into contact with the comics. I saw a contestant on Jeopardy’s Teen Tournament a year or two back who talked about being a huge Batman fan, and was obsessed with the movies, the cartoons, the games, and the toys. When Alex asked him about the comics, the kid said he didn’t have any of the comics, and that they actually held no interest for him at all.”

  I encounter that a lot at the shop, actually. Lots of “big fans” of Wonder Woman, or Silver Surfer, or Superman, looking for stuff with those characters…but not the comics. The iconography of the figures is what’s attractive for those people, and, you know, that’s fine.

  Wonder Woman in particular is a popular favorite for this type of collector. We try to order WW merchandise whenever we can, because that stuff is like printing money, honey.

• My longtime customer Jo comments that she didn’t care for Batman and Robin specifically because of the character filling the Robin role. And I can see that…he can be a bit offputting, but that’s what I’m liking about the particular dynamic here. It actually reminds me a bit of the portrayal of the Batman and Robin team in All Star Batman, with an antagonistic sidekick constantly giving grief to Bats.

  Of course, you’re not supposed to like this new Robin…he’s a nasty little jerk, he’s rude to Alfred (and nobody’s rude to Alfred), and he’s clearly going to get some sense knocked into him along the course of this storyline. So, Jo, if you don’t like him, keep reading…he’ll get his comeuppance!

• JBS says
  

  “Judd Winick and Ed Benes – a solid creative team? huh?”

  I knew someone would say something about that. And, yeah…it’s a solid creative team featuring talents that are competent and proven sellers. I know people gripe about them online, but those folks generally don’t represent actual real world comic sales. As pal Dorian says in his following comment, this comic functions as “counterprogramming” — if you don’t like that Batman book, maybe you’ll like this one. If you don’t care for Morrison and Quitely’s take, you can have this more traditional version by Winick and Benes.

  Plus, Winick’s previous run on the Bat-books was well-received and a good seller, so I’m looking forward to his return to the title. (Yeah, yeah, I know…”well-received? Huh?” Don’t you start with me.)

• Chris T wraps it up with
  

  “I never knew Rick Veitch had a blog. Thanks for tip!”

  You’re welcome! Rick Veitch’s weblog is awesome, and everyone should check it out every day. SO SAYS MIKE.

Bat-rambling.

§ June 8th, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on Bat-rambling.

• Batman and Robin #1, so far, as sold very well for us. It’s the first of the “New Batman” titles out the gate, it features a high-profile creative team, and has an extraordinarily eye-catching cover.

  I’m curious about how the next two comics involving the New Batman storyline, due out this week, are going to do. One is Batman #687 by Judd Winick and Ed Benes, which is a solid enough creative team for this sort of thing, but not quite the pull that Morrison/Quitely are. This issue is a direct follow-up to the Battle for the Cowl mini-series, which did sell well and was, at least at our store, positively received. Also, you’ve got Superman and Wonder Woman popping up in this issue to check in on New Batman, so there’s a draw for the fans right there. I imagine the first issue will do very well on curiosity’s sake alone, but we’ll see how it goes after that.

  The other related title is Red Robin #1 by Christopher Yost and Ramon Bachs, and this one is kicking off with a four-part story in which the title character is searching for the original Batman, whom he believes not to be dead. Okay, everyone who read Final Crisis knows that the Bruce Wayne Batman isn’t dead. Heck, anyone familiar with comics in the slightest should know he isn’t dead. It’s too early to really assume where this particular storyline is going, but I think it’s safe to guess that, since DC seems committed to New Batman for the time being, Red Robin isn’t going to find Batman by the time part four of four rolls around. But I do wonder if we’re going to get any actual clues as to the eventual reintegration of Original Batman into the DC Universe. Again, probably too early, but Fanboy Mike is still curious.

  So, in both cases, curiosity is likely to drive the early sales on these titles. My customers do seem genuinely interested in following current Batman events, which is of course the goal of stunts like this. Even ol’ jaded yours truly, who, with the rare exception, has mostly followed just the Bat-titles based on the Bruce Timm/Paul Dini-era cartoons (and of course the Miller and Morrison stuff), has found myself likely to at least check out some of these new Bat-books. But the question is how long the curiosity in this event will continue, and when will the sales begin to drop if and when the novelty wears thin. For some reason I can picture this event going on about two months longer than anyone reading it would really want it to. I hope it doesn’t…I hope it keeps people involved ’til the very end. Sell more comics that way.

  I suspect ultimately Batman and Robin will remain the strongest seller of the bunch, even with Quitely only drawing every other story arc. Partially on the strength of Morrison (attracting readers who normally wouldn’t read Batman comics), partially due to this being a new series, and partially to what I feel is the sense of this series being the flagship of the New Batman event. “If you read only one New Batman title this year, read Batman and Robin!” …You know, like that.

  So anyway, let’s all meet back here in about a year and see how things worked out. It’s a date!

• In other Batman news, for some reason we’ve had a handful of people asking us this weekend where All Star Batman and Robin the Boy Wonder, America’s most beloved Batman book, has disappeared to. The most recent issue came out near the end of last September, so, you know, it’s been a while. Not to get into it again, but I really dislike this sort of delay on what is allegedly a periodical. But lateness is rarely punished in the direct market for high profile books…orders don’t drop significantly, readers just sorta shrug and accept it, since that sort of thing is becoming business as usual. I don’t think we experienced any significant difference in sales from the beginning of Ultimate Wolverine Vs. Hulk to the end, and that had a three-year-long gap in the middle.

  I know the response to that is “well, if sales aren’t hurting, why are you complaining?” Well, it just doesn’t seem very professional, is all. And just because sales aren’t hurt much on specific titles doesn’t mean consumer confidence in general isn’t hurt. I wonder how many people pass up high-profile titles or series, preferring to wait for an eventual paperback collection if they want the story at all, simply because they don’t want to put up with delays in the story’s production.

• Also due this week is the first extra-sized, extra-priced issue of Booster Gold, featuring the Blue Beetle back-up. I’ve only had one fella at the shop take the title off his pull list specifically because of the price increase…but he’s since asked to have it put back on again. It helps that Booster Gold is actually a good, fun comic, but I’m not quite sure word has got around to all of our customers yet re: the bump in price.
• Just so it’s not all sales analyses (or what passes for same): Rick Veitch briefly discusses one of his Swamp Thing covers.

"Nuts to you."

§ June 7th, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on "Nuts to you."

So we recently sold a full set of unpunched 1966 Topps Funny Rings trading cards on the eBay, and I thought I’d share a few with you folks.

This ring introduced the harsh realities of the real world to the young’uns, so the cards are at least educational:

I’ve had moments where this next ring would have come in handy at work. “Hey, I invested heavily in multiple copies of Another Temporarily Dead Superhero #233, and from the profit I made I was able to recover the car seats with high quality lemur fur. What say you to that?”

Me:

Hey, remember that brief period in human history where the word “fink” was apparently a punchline in and of itself?

I swear I have Wizard of Id paperbacks with long stretches of reprinted dailies where some variation on “you fink” was the joke.

This set had more than its fair share of weird monsters, like this handsome fella:

…okay, maybe it’s a “pretty lady” and not a “handsome fella.” Your guess is as good as mine.

And I think this next ring is my favorite of the bunch:

…simply for the sheer bizarreness of it. “Yes, I’m a man who loves hot dogs, and I don’t care who knows it! BEHOLD THE WIENER RING.”

Sluggo Saturday #5.

§ June 6th, 2009 § Filed under sluggo saturday Comments Off on Sluggo Saturday #5.

SLUGGO

KNOWS WHAT HE’S TALKING ABOUT

from Four Color Comics #1034 (Sept-Nov 1959)

In which Mike overuses the "in which" format for his post titles.

§ June 5th, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on In which Mike overuses the "in which" format for his post titles.

• Hey, Thursday at the shop I finally had someone inquire about the “Archie Gets Married” thing that’ll be out in about three months. Woo hoo! Way to go, mainstream media attention!
• Oh, and on Wednesday Greg Burgas from Comics Should Be Good stopped by our shop and said hello. He was a nice, friendly guy, and we had a good chat about comics retailing. Plus, he spent lots of money, and thus bought his way into my affections. ‘Course, if any of you also wish to spend your way into my good graces, I happily accept PayPal.

  Seriously, though, it was very kind of him to drop in just to see me and our store. And it’s always great to be able to put faces to names familiar to me from my online travels. Thanks for coming by, Greg!

• So Batman and Robin #1 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely came out this week, and it was, as expected, a choice comics-reading experience. Now, I pretty much skipped the whole “Who’ll Be the New Batman” hoo-har…the last Batman story I read was Morrison’s last issue before this one, and I was able to jump into this new series just fine. The circumstances re: the new Batman and new Robin are explained, situations are set up, and personalities clearly defined…can’t wait to read more.

  In fact, the line-wide revamp of the Bat-titles seems to be generating some excitement among our customers. And even for me, a person who generally doesn’t read Batman comics unless something unusual grabs my attention (like, say, getting Morrison to write it), I’m finding myself interested in the run of Batwoman stories that’ll be in Detective. A soft-reboot of the franchise like this is good for revitalizing the books…for something like Batman, a concept that’s been around about 70 years, polishing off a bit of the rust isn’t a bad idea once in a while.

  Of course, once Bruce! Wayne! Returns! in some big ol’ multi-part crossover prior to the release of the next Batman movie, and the Bat-status quo is forced back upon the books, I’m sure a lot of that excitement will dissipate when we’re back in the same ol’ same ol’. Then again, the excitement will have died down a bit already, most likely, since it appears this New Batman/New Robin storyline will be going on for at least a year or so. But if it turns out these new revamped characters and titles and storylines are remarkably popular, how much disappointment will there be when the old status quo returns, as it must? (Well, I’m sure that anything in any of these books that’s popular at all when Original Batman returns will be spun off into its own book.)

  Mostly, I just want to keep reading the adventures of you-know-who trying to fill the Bat-shoes, and the other you-know-who as a troublesome Robin, but it’s hard to ignore the (as yet unknown) expiration date on this particular take on the franchise, and its eventual reversion to Just Another Monthly Batman Title. Though admittedly, it’d be nice to have something actually called Batman and Robin on the stands, regardless of who’s starring in the title roles or who’s writing or drawing, just to have to sell to kids and/or parents looking for comics with Batman and Robin in them.

• Related: here’s what it would take to get Kevin Church to watch a particular reality show.
• Pal Dorian reveals his least favorite comic book character, and announces the winner of his contest. Personally, I guessed Kitty Pryde.
• So, remember that Popeye and Environmental Careers comic I posted panels from a few days back? Well, let’s pretend you do. Anyway, Dr. Polite Scott examines another Popeye career comic from the same series. (I wonder if any of the comics offered up “sailor” as a career choice? You know, what with Popeye an’ all.)
• Tim O’Neil looks at a few recent Marvel books (plus one DC), and in the process articulates my own feelings about Mark Millar’s work on Wolverine and Fantastic Four much better than I would have.
• New from Action Age Comics, it’s Monster Plus #1, available for free readin’, either via the website or via download. Full-on monster-fight action, in the mighty Action Age manner!
• It’s an ill wind that blows no one on eBay any good: the David Carradine Tribute Button.

"Fumpy?"

§ June 4th, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on "Fumpy?"

from Vic Verity #3 (March 1946)

You comment, I respond.

§ June 3rd, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on You comment, I respond.

• Mr. Garfield asks
  

  “Is that Cracky the Parrot or Cracky, Jr., Mike? Or am I mixing the Golden Magazine mascot up with some sort of Toucan Sam, Parrot Detective character?”

  Mr. Garfield is referring to the sidebar pic, and that is in fact Cracky, from The Wacky Adventures of Cracky, a title that can elicit a bit of a cynical giggle along the lines of “HA! That parrot is on the crack!” because, you know, “Cracky.”

  Which reminds me of that one time I had copies of Crack Comics and Speed Comics which I displayed together in our store’s glass case, because who doesn’t love drug humor? Also, I’m pretty sure I’ve related that story here on the site before, but I don’t care because I’m old and entitled to repeat myself.

• GQ asks
  

  “…What do you make of this whole Captain-America-shipping-on-a-Monday thing that has some people so worked up?”

  Frankly, I’ve been trying not to think about it…I’ve got other things to worry about. (In short: Marvel is offering to release Captain America to retailers a couple of days earlier than the standard new comics day to take advantage of supposed media coverage re: Cap about the same time.) I know my sharp-dressed fellow funnybook slinger James Sime isn’t thrilled about this is being handled, and you can read there for more details about it.

  Like I said the other day, I’m not really expecting a huge media-caused bump on this comic, since a character (presumably) returning isn’t quite the draw that knocking off a character is, but we’ll see. I’m not going to lose any sleep over it, and I don’t think we’re going to bother with the early release.

• I linked to this gentleman’s Swamp Thing pic the other day, and he was good enough to let me know that he has the initial pencils for a Man-Thing drawing up. Not just Man-Thing…but Man-Thing Versus The Vision! The battle you demanded! Looks good so far, and am looking forward to the finished piece.

DC Comics house ad, June 1941.

§ June 2nd, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized § 1 Comment

Taken from a beat-up copy of All-American Comics #27…you can see the browning of the paper from the tape “repair” along the edges. Don’t use tape on your comics, kids…it’ll only lead to heartbreak and broken homes.

But, man, wouldn’t you like to have seen a rack with all these original Golden Age books on it, starring “Super Man,” “Bat Man,” “Star Man,” and “Green Lan Tern?” Brings a tear to your eye, it does.

Monday Monday, can’t trust that day / Monday Monday, it just turns out that way.

§ June 1st, 2009 § Filed under Uncategorized Comments Off on Monday Monday, can’t trust that day / Monday Monday, it just turns out that way.

• So the other day, in my most recent End of Civilization post I noted the forthcoming “someone’s a’gettin’ married” event forthcoming in the Archie comics, and I mentioned something about the possibility of this getting real-world news coverage. Well, I didn’t realize this (having divested myself of cable television at the house recently), but this event is getting real-world news coverage, apparently.

  Yes, that’s right, it’s getting covered right now, a full three months before these comics even hit the stands. Usually when a comic gets its media push when it’s solicited, versus when it’s about to be released, we’ll get a number of people pop into the shop looking for the item in question, and we have to explain ordering lead times and such. Well, okay, maybe we just say “it’s not out yet..they’ve jumped the gun a bit.”

  I don’t think I’ve had anyone ask about this new Archie wedding thing. Maybe the news coverage mentioned the three-month lead time and all those potential customers actually listened. I mean, there’s always a first time, I suppose. And it’s not as if we won’t sell them…we’re one of the, what, ten?* direct market stores to carry any kind of Archie comic stock in depth, so we do have a clientele for it. But I’m not holding my breath for any kind of massive turnout for this particular stunt.

• Speaking of which, there’s still this whole Reborn thing coming from Marvel, which is maybe the beginning of the return of the currently assumed dead Captain America or something like that. And, we’re supposed to be getting some kind of solicitation information at some point in the near future, since so far all we have is the creative team, all-black cover “images,” and a promo shot of who I think is the female Bucky from that “Heroes Reborn” event from a few years back. Oh, and there’s supposed to be “extensive media coverage” for this series in a couple of weeks, we’re being told.

  Now, if it is the return of Cap, I can see this being like the Adventures of Superman #500, which was the beginning of the return of Superman following the enormous-selling “Death of Superman” storyline. Everybody bumped up orders, hoping for “Death of Superman” sales numbers…and they didn’t materialize. And now you can find that comic in bargain bins pretty much everywhere. Not saying this is going to be the fate of Reborn, but…well, death sells, life not so much. Not sure anyone in the real world is going to care a whole lot about this…even assuming they get exposed to the promised media coverage, if it actually happens.

  So again…we’ll order based on what we think we can sell, and not based on potential fluke media-driven sales which may or may not materialize. Assuming we ever get any more solicitation info.

• Follow-up to my Swamp Thing links post…you know that one sketch I linked to, the one I compared to Mike Mignola’s work? Have a colored version, why don’t you? Very nice.
• Pal Dorian is giving away a copy of the most-excellent Boody trade paperback, reprinting bizarrely wonderful comic stories by Boody Rogers, and all you have to do is tell him which character he hates more than Spider-Man, and why. Deadline’s in a couple of days, so hurry up. And don’t bother asking me for hints…I told him my guess, and he told me I was wrong. OH THE SHAME.
• And now…Swamp Thing Jokes. Please don’t shoot the messenger.

* I’m exaggerating. But not much, I think.