This is a bit of a slow week for comics, but still a good work and for once an inexpensive week, since only one comic was $4, and we also had a comic that was $1.
The sales figures for January 2009 are out, and it is no surprise that the Obama Spidey Team-Up sold 350k sales across 2-3 prints. The Top 5 books are all $3.99 books and most of the Top 10 comics are, too. The downside is that overall comic monthly sales are down 9%. People have been complaining about the inability of Marvel and especially DC to sustain comic sales around the middle of the Top 100 or so for a while now, especially for the past 6 months and so. IcV2.com has a theory and I sort of saw it at my shop.
DYNAMO 5 #0 is a .99 comic. Normally my LCS has about 10 or fewer copies of DYNAMO 5 on the shelf (many times I am lucky if I nab the last copy by the mid afternoon), and that is a $3.50 Image book. This time, with a comic that is a buck, they had well over a dozen copies on the shelf. In a way it demonstrates that comic book sales do actually have impact on the retailers. Think about this; for a big book like, say, NEW AVENGERS, a typical shop may order 2-4 dozen copies of NA. Unfortunately, when you add an extra buck, retailers are paying twice the cost for those books as they were before. That means that they have to recoop that cash in expenses somehow, and that usually comes at the expense of smaller books; those books where they may order ten copies and then can't sell all of them within a month. Now they may only order, say, 9-8 issues of those books, and taken over thousands of shops, it explains why a lot of midcard titles saw a drop. NOVA was a title that sold no lower than 28k for an ENTIRE CALENDER YEAR. In Jan. 2009, it had slipped to 25k. INCREDIBLE HERCULES is suddenly dropping after being stable for a few months last year above 35k. You can't simply ask retailers to literally double their wholesale costs for big titles and expect them to buy as many of the smaller titles, can you? Thankfully, Marvel & DC are businesses who have never bothered with little things like economic realities, so they will simply blame it on too few Wolverine or Batman comics.
The only reason why Marvel would be willing to do this is perhaps because fewer companies are advertising in Marvel comics, as more of their ads are house ads than a year or two ago. Still, one can't slice off an arm to save oneself from gangrene and then try to play basketball without having to overcome something.
TPB sales are up 4%, though. Although it could all be copies of WATCHMEN flying off.
As always, full spoilers ahead.
Dread's Bought/Thought for 2/18/09:
DYNAMO 5 #0: After running 2-3 months late for issue #19, D5 has now shipped a special lower priced "issue" within 2 weeks of the last regular issue. This issue is basically a dollar for 10 pages of story with no ads, as well as two pages of a text summary of the previous 19 issues of D5. Considering the typical issue of DYNAMO 5 is 20 pages at $3.50 (with no ads), this is actually a very good value for the money. Series co-creator and writer Faerber envisions this as a jumping on title for new fans while offering a token story for longtime fans. I can't answer for fans who never read the book, but as a fan who has been on since #1, it does offer a low priced little story.
It basically is a "day in the life" of the superhero team, especially since the founders have just reassembled themselves after issue #19, after breaking up over issues of trust and the loss of their mentor. The five heroes are having some downtime in their aquarium base with Hector complaining about how far they have to travel for visits and to have it closer to his home town. It does also establish that Scrap is moving to Tower City (thus being the only member of the team who doesn't need to teleport from another state), and that Gage/Scatterbrain is the only one of them whose "real" family isn't aware he is a superhero. After about 2-3 pages of talking, though, an obligatory threat appears. A random villain appears to be challenging the police and then seems to be overpowering the D5 team. Maddie eventually finds out that this man is a janitor for Dr. Jessup who has built a "Strong-Suit" that allows him to basically adjust to any threat he faces to pummel it. Once finding out that the suit reacts to brainwaves, Scatterbrain uses his psychic powers to lead to saving the day, which, frankly, has proven fairly common in D5. Asrar & Riley handle the art as they aways have, and it's always energetic and bold superhero-y as usual.
I suppose a new reader would get the bare minimum about what the team is about; the cover tells you 2 lines about the premise, the first 2 pages gives you the basics to their civilian identities, and the rest offers some bold, non-bleak superhero action. It does beg the question, though, of how this is different than a lot of other superhero books. The premise is what makes the book more unique for newcomers, and aside for the last page cliffhanger about Synergy, another child of Captain Dynamo. It is a promising cliffhanger for longtime readers but I am unsure what newbies would make of it. Two full pages of text covering the last 19 issues could seem imposing for a new reader. That said, the first trade of issues 1-8 is an excellent value and I would recommend catching up via trades. I mean, DYNAMO 5 is better than a slew of superhero books from Marvel and DC.
This was similar to a non-storyline issue of DYNAMO 5 from some past issues, or an annual story, but for a dollar it was very enjoyable for me. Plus, the price has likely gotten some shops to order more copies of this than usual, so there is the chance a new comer could nab it. I am curious if a 10 page story could be .99, why a 20 page story couldn't be $1.99 or even $2.75? Sadly, only two issues of this book sold at $2.99, and it may not improve now for Image to sell it below $3. At any rate, Faerber continues on a superhero team book that many have dismissed, but is actually very good. The premise is solid, the characters are all decent, the art's nice, and it isn't trying to be more than it is. It doesn't apologize for the breast beating superheroism that the genre does well, and it isn't usually bleak or grim. While it may not be INVINCIBLE, I think it is a worthy read for superhero fans put off by, say, Marvel's latest bleak brooding wrist-slitting team book, or DC's latest relaunch of a figure who was cool back before half of all comic readers were even born, or even when their parents were still in college.
INVINCIBLE #59: Kirkman has something big planned for issue #60, which of course is a nice even number, like issue #50 was, but also would symbolize five years of running (perhaps six with delays). However, that still leaves Kirkman with an issue to fill, so we get something that Invincible hasn't done for a bit; focus an entire issue upon a new villain, Scott Duvall, a.k.a. Power-Plex.
Scott Duvall seems like your typical Kirkman citizen; he works as a scientist for the Pentagon with access to advanced technology, has a wife Becky and a young son, Jack. Unfortunately, his sister was one of those many nameless people killed way back in INVINCIBLE #12-14 or so when he was fighting Omni-Man across the world. He holds Invincible responsible for her death and has declared bloody vengeance against him, even believing that Invincible is no hero and ultimately plans to rejoin his father and take over the planet. His wife is 100% behind him on this, even when an internal investigation of Scott's stolen Power-Plex stuff causes him to quit his job and become more blatant. He fights Shapesmith and even Robot, Splode, and Monster-Girl of the "Global Guardians" before concocting a fake hostage plot to lure out Invincible. Sadly in the ensuing fight, Scott accidentally kills his family, but this does not cease his quest to kill Invincible; in the end it merely cements it.
My only problem with this issue is that it feels a bit late in coming for a villain whose entire motive happened about four years ago. In some ways it is akin to the screaming man from the cover of AMAZING FANTASY #15 suddenly returning to face Spider-Man as Captain Neurotic or something. While it is Kirkman's own comic, part of me feels this villain would have had more impact a year or two ago, at least.
There is a dynamic that Kirkman has tried to hint at since issue #42 or so. That dynamic is that despite the fact that the overall media and society sees Invincible as a hero, there still is a bit of a vocal minority who distrusts him. Him being the son of Omni-Man, who had been a capable hero for decades before announcing his plot to conquor the world and then causing a battle that killed hundreds of people and caused millions in damages leaves some to assume that he will follow in his father's foot-steps. Worse, some may think he is cahoots with his father, who has been "off world" for quite some time. While we know this to be true, the public of Earth doesn't. The fact that Invincible is no longer working for the Pentagon likely won't help these matters. The problem is that in order to make this subplot more than a passing detail, Kirkman would have to focus on it more, which would upset the often "light" or at least non-bleak nature of the book. It is possible that Kirkman brought this up to reframe a conflict or dynamic that is about to become a big deal, as he has done before. After all, not only has Invincible aided a known felon in Wolf-Man, but we have a reborn Angstom Levy (as revealed in several past issues) with a small army of alternate reality Invincibles who could ruin Mark's name fairly easily, if that is his plan. Anyssa the female Viltrumite sees a possibility of Mark joining their army, which may be a hint of a conflict to come.
The issue barely touches on the feelings of guilt that Mark has for some of his failures, or the people who have died in his fights, but this issue was devoted to Power-Plex, so making Mark a bit player for an issue is expected. While Power-Plex's design is a bit generic in comparison to some of Ryan Ottley's other designs (or redesigns from Cory Walker work), I did appreciate that he was a physical threat to Invincible. As Mark has improved as a hero and become far faster, tougher, and stronger (going from lifting 40-75 tons to 400 tons), many of his older enemies are now no threat to him. Power-Plex absorbs energy, even the energy from Invincible's strikes, so he is a very capable threat who could become worse as he goes along. The only hiccup was that it was implied that Scott's suit merely enhanced a power he already had, but how he got said power is unknown.
The art by Ottley and Plascencia is great as always.
While not a perfect issue, I think it did accomplish the overall goal to remind us that not everyone worships or trusts Invincible, and to give him a new villain who isn't from space or magic based who can actually challenge him. My only quibble was that Power-Plex probably should have come sooner to have more emotional impact. Kirkman admits he literally thought up the idea on a recent plane ride, and that sort of thing happens with creator work.
Kirkman also plugged his presumably last Marvel work, DESTROYER, which is about to start from he and Cory Walker from Marvel Max's line (Walker is a slow artist and I imagine he needed a bit of lead in time). I guess the Big Two aren't so bad when they're selling your own comics. While I understand Kirkman being a bit bitter over IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN, his utter garbage run on ULTIMATE X-MEN for about two years all but cancels that out for me. He's been at his best at Image, though, and so far INVINCIBLE and WOLF-MAN look to be on time. Glad to see him playing to his strength, which is creator run work.
GHOST RIDER #32: Sales on this book aren't exactly high at around, and they were slipping for ages, it seems that Jason Aaron's GHOST RIDER is holding steady at 22k for at least the last 2-3 months, which frankly is far better than CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 is faring. Even the spin-off is running at 15k, which isn't that bad for a spin-off to a Top 85-90 book.
Aaron has been on the book for over a year at this point and after a few months of middling has managed to rehabilitate the new status quo that Way had set up for the franchise, of the Ghost Rider's power being heavenly in origin. He has set up a legacy of Ghost Riders across the globe and set up a final battle between them, the new Caretaker Sara, and against the evil angel Zadkiel, his hordes, and a misled Dan Ketch. Huat is still the main artist and while it isn't too bad, the title has had stronger artists than he on this latest volume.
I expected this arc to finalize things, and it didn't. There is a bit of an awkward "obligatory biker moment" when Ketch challenges Blaze to a motorcycle race around the world rather than a straight-forward fight (or rematch, as Ketch won their last fight), and after that goes for a few pages, they wind up in front of Kowalski, who was set up in the desert as a wild card by Zadkiel's agents. He winds up shooting Blaze in a pivotal moment, allowing Ketch to drain his energy and take all of the Ghost Rider to Heaven. Alas, it was as Blaze had warned; Ketch was little more than a weapon to Zadkiel, who dismissed him back to earth once he had succeeded in blasting down the gates of Heaven. And across a blaze of thunder that is felt by figures around the world (such as Spider-Man, Brother Voodoo, Thor, Lucifer, Man-Thing, and some guy Punisher shoots in a funny panel), Ketch reveals the horrible truth; Zadkiel has succeeded where Satan failed in overthrowing God, apparently. While Blaze's mortal wounds were healed in the fall-out, this leaves he, Ketch, and Sara seemingly powerless and on the run.
The irony is that this is the sort of thing that should matter to other Marvel books. Surely the "God" that Blaze was fighting to protect would be among whatever godly pantheons that exist in Marvel, and that other gods would be aware of his downfall. Considering he was a member of the Champions, I could imagine Pak and Van Lente having great fun with a GR team up in INCREDIBLE HERCULES to restore things, or Aaron taking a stab at that himself. Alas, beyond for Way's token fight with Hulk in WWH, and some aimless guest stints in X-FORCE and HULK, this book is on the fringes of the MU. At 22k some may feel that is where it belongs, but I don't know. It does seem that across the Marvel Universe, the "dark gods" seem to be in control of things now, doesn't it? Mephisto successfully stole Spider-Man's marriage, which had to give him some power. Dormmamu's newest pawn, the Hood, is rising up and may become Sorcerer Supreme. Loki is reborn, working with Dr. Doom and the rest of "The Cabal" and has just wrested control of New Asgard in Oklahoma (technically Balder is in control, but Balder just listens to anything Loki says or agrees with, so Loki is the real power there without Thor). And now an evil angel has overthrown God and rules Heaven. It would be interesting if this was part of something greater, to explain why everything at Marvel is always bleak and ends with the heroes losing or crying or whatnot. The bad gods are literally in control. I mean, heck, Ares is a public hero while Hercules is a wanted man (and Zeus is dead). Even Chtlon is making his token bid for a new host body once every 20-30 years in MIGHTY AVENGERS. If Marvel were truly looking for a mystical angle at an ANNIHILATION style event, this could be the pieces of it. Far more so than some aimless mini's with some cross between John Lennon and Harry Potter who Dr. Strange beat once twenty years ago. It might make a far greater story for someone to finally catch on that perhaps all of the evil gods or Hell-Lords or something are either consciously or not pooling their power, or at least all grabbing for power in Marvel, and that is why all is so bleak, why Norman Osborn can win the world's love while Steve Rogers dies in shame. Maybe it really is more than cynical times. Maybe with the loss of many of the old, seemingly "good" gods in recent years, the baddies all are grabbing those higher rungs, and that turns fate against the noble.
That's all me brain-storming I guess, but it is all possible, and would make for a bit more of a story than Skrulls invading Midtown in ships.
At any rate, Aaron's run on GR apparently is not ending in cancellation as the book will still be around in May, which gives him some time with this status quo of the heroes on the run and Heaven having fallen to the enemy. That should prove to be a very taut status quo, and at least it will manage to get Blaze and Ketch on the same side again. While this new status quo might seem more seriously and important if another book bothered with it, it should suit Aaron's purposes fine. Still, 22k sales is a low average, and while GHOST RIDER should make it to issue #36, I do wonder how much longer it will exist beyond that third year. Way had 19 issues for his stuff, and hopefully Aaron gets at least that many issues for a clearly superior run. GHOST RIDER would have been far better if he had relaunched it instead of Way in the first place. My kingdom for a time machine!
I sometimes give GR a sort of backward compliment of, "it is the worst of the ongoings I still get", especially now that I am not getting NEW AVENGERS, Bendis is off MIGHTY and NEW WARRIORS is canceled, but while I don't like it more than, say, NOVA, GOTG, CAPTAIN AMERICA, INCREDIBLE HERCULES, CB&MI13, or even THOR, it still is a solid book with a good writer doing a good franchise run. I can't imagine anyone other than Aaron making heads or tails of GR at this point. And considering that I have done the non-fanboy thing and actually whittled down my pull list to books I can actually say are good and enjoyable every month, GR has a worthy place indeed.
