And hey, how ’bout that nutty Star Wars bar / Can you forget all the creatures in there?
You may have noticed the reduced schedule this week…a combination of still-recovering-from-illness and prepping-for-Christmas has brought about a dearth of content here, which…well, What Can You Do? But it’s almost a moot point anyway, since everyone is out Star Wars-ing it up and not doing dumb stuff like reading blogs or anything.
Speaking of which: I am pleased to see that reaction from pals of mine upon the Twitter seems to be generally positive to The Force Awakens. I mean, let’s be honest, even if everyone said “hoo boy, what a stinker,” I’d still go because Star Wars got a firm hold in my heart and my brain when I was eight years old and hasn’t let go yet, though the grasp loosed just a tad as I watched Anakin and Padmé roll around in the grassy fields on Naboo in Attack of the Clones. But, people seemed to like it, which makes me anxious to see it even more.
I said on the Twitters that I felt like I was somehow betraying younger me because I wasn’t going to be immediately at a theater the second the film entered general release. Alas, adult responsibility and just plain ol’ scheduling is probably keeping me from catching the film until early next week. In the meantime, the big keywords on social media right now is “NO SPOILERS!” and most decent folks seem to be adhering to that pretty strongly. I, of course, am in the prime danger zone for spoilage, what with running a funnybook store an’ all, but a few times in the recent past customers were discussing other movies, TV shows or comics or whatever that could have involved spoilers were usually preceded by inquiries as to whether or not I would be spoiled by their discussions. So, you know, that’s good. I’d hate to have to do what one store did and ban for life anyone spoiling the film.
The big point of discussion right now is “when are you seeing it?” assuming of course “it” doesn’t refer to the new Alvin and the Chimpmunks flick. I am curious if I’m going to see a “Star Wars dip” in my sales over the weekend, if enough of my clientele decide to head to a local Googol-plex and catch a viewing on one of its twenty-two screens featuring The Force Awakens. The other thing that one or two people asked about is if I think the Star Wars comics are going to hit the same sales wall that other comics with movie adaptations do once the film is actually in release. Like, when, say, Sin City sold really well until the film came out, and then it took years to start approaching its old sales levels again. In the case of Star Wars, I don’t think it’s going to go like that…I’m not the only one Star Wars got its grip on, and Star Wars is more of a widespread cultural thing anyway, not some niche item in which the masses briefly find interest until the film’s come and gone.
If there’s a danger of the Star Wars comics significantly dropping in sales, it’s going to come from oversaturation in the comics marketplace. And hey, when’s Marvel ever done that?
Anyway, I’ll probably have something substantial to say about the actual film once I go and see it. In the meantime, be sure to read blogging brother Tim’s quite-good post on the whole Star Warsian thing.