Mikester

I was just thinking about other comics DC Comics has published in the past that would make good material for “manga-style” trades and that wouldn’t necessarily be aimed at a superhero-reading audience. How about Amethyst (at least the stories prior to the character being shoehorned into the DC Universe), or Warlord, or Jonah Hex (yes, I realize a couple of those are somewhat superheroish)? How about all those horror stories from House of Secrets or House of Mystery? (My pal Dorian champions the reprinting of “I, Vampire” in particular.) Or how about the countless romance comics?

Or, if you are going to do superheroes, how about reprinting some that might actually attract a general audience, such as Plastic Man or Captain Marvel, or my aforementioned suggestion of the comics based on the Batman Adventures cartoon? Where are the cheap digest collections of New Teen Titans or Justice League of America, now that kids are interested in these characters again? (And, as the manager of a comic store that, believe it or not, does have a large clientele of younger people, I can tell you there is demand for such a thing…the Justice League Adventures and Teen Titans Go comics do help, however.)

Or how about going the other way, sizewise? Thin, oversized hardcovers aimed at children, reprinting Mayer’s Three Mouseketeers or Sugar & Spike?

Well, anyway, it’s just a thought…with a slight undercurrent of enlightened self-interest, as I’d want a lot of these things in cheap reprint editions.

• Here’s an online archive of Catatonic Comix, complete with annotations…this one is my favorite.
• What exactly is this person selling? Take a look at the seller’s other items…looks like an error with bulk listing to me.
• “gambit is NOT gay”

Well, images of the Marvel digests have been unleashed on Newsarama, and Fanboy Rampage and Grotesque Anatomy point out the concerns people have in the attached discussion board regarding the design similarity to Tokyopop books.

I find myself more concerned with the people who apparently have never seen the ubiquitous Tokyopop publications; representative quote: “Are they the same format as the ‘Archie’ ones?”

I’m going to chalk this up to “no decent comic shop and/or bookstore in the area.”

(Someone in the discussion does have a good idea, though…how about Batman Adventures in this format?)

Dorian lets the comics world have it with both barrels.

Comics Burrito points out an article in the Korea Herald about a comic shop just for women! Neat.

Marvel fans looking forward to Joss Whedon’s run on New X-Men had better hope he doesn’t have any other paying work at the same time (see also Kevin Smith, Fray).

Hey, some (mostly) reasonable posts in a Newsarama discussion for once. Who is buying these things? And honestly, who’s gonna want this grotesquery?

(…says the man with the Swamp Thing statue)

Anyway, I like the fellow in the discussion who says that he uses his life-sized Spider-Man head as a doorstop. Now there’s an untapped comics merchandise market.

While you all are waiting for the trade on your favorite series, I’ll content myself with waiting for the microfiche.

Well, you all missed your chance to get yourself a Sin City Marv statue for a bargain price from the Steal It Back police auction website.

Some other (closed) comic auctions from the site here and here.

(found via Mike Gunderloy’s weblog)