Random Comic Stuff

I've been meaning to get "Contract with God", I was wondering is it still in print?
 
Anubis said:
I've been meaning to get "Contract with God", I was wondering is it still in print?
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Almost all of Eisner's work is currently in print. Many libraries will have it and your local comic shop can order it.
 
Might try the Library. haven't been to one scince I worked there.
 
iloveclones said:
I ran across a book at Barnes and Nobles the other day, and I was wondering if anybody else read it. It's called Eisner/Miller (or reversed, I don't remember), and is an extended interview/conversation between Will Eisner and Frank Miller. There was some interesting stuff in there. When I looked on my library site, surprisingly, they don't have it.(I'm so freakin' cheap) Anybody read this? Any thoughts?
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Here's another glowing review of it.

http://www.thefourthrail.com/reviews/snapjudgments/062705/eisnermiller.shtml

I may pick this up this weekend.
 
Interesting/Fun article from Ninth Art that I wholeheartedly agree with.

Selling out is headline news, everyone's got an exclusive and nothing in comics will ever be the same again. Paul O'Brien delves into the tired and tawdry world of the publisher's press release.
04 July 2005

Once upon a time, the PR press release was a noble art. Well, okay, perhaps not noble. But an art. The idea was that you would write something catchy and attention-grabbing, and send it to the press. The press, in their infinite journalistic wisdom, would then read it and, most likely, chuck it in the bin. But if you were lucky, they'd go and write up the story.

Things have changed.

Here's how it works now. You write any old crap. You e-mail it to every news site you can think of. Chances are they'll just stick it up as it is. Especially if it's from Marvel or DC, but let's face it, some sites would run a press release about the launch of a new photocopied minicomic in Tajikistan if they thought it would fill space. Quality control, where it exists, seems to consist largely of checking whether the press release comes from a sufficiently major publisher. Some are uninformative. Some are repetitive. Some are trivial beyond belief. And some are just plain delusional.

So, with that in mind - three press releases I am particularly bored of reading.

1. OUR NEW BOOK #1 Has Sold Out At Diamond

Who the hell cares? Well, to judge from the comments threads, quite a few people, but only because they don't fully understand the ordering system. Here's how it works. The publisher solicits a book. Retailers place orders for the book. Once the publisher has got the orders in, he has the book printed. At that point, he decides how many copies he's going to print. He'll always print a few extra, to allow for damaged ones. And he might, or might not, do some more.

Selling out at Diamond simply means that the publisher has sold all the copies he printed. Since he already has the order figures by the time he sets the print run, this is not an achievement in any way, shape or form. In order for it to be remotely meaningful, you need to know how big the overprint is. Sometimes this information is included. Usually it isn't, and what does that tell you?

'Selling out at Diamond is not an achievement in any way, shape or form.' Marvel print to order as a general policy, and have an incredible nerve putting out these press releases at all. Not that that seems to stop them - for example, here they are announcing that LAST HERO STANDING #1 has sold out.

DC are more hit and miss - they do overprint, and sometimes to a significant degree. But sometimes not. Here's their press release for HAWKMAN #41 - details of the overprint are conspicuously missing. Oh, and it's not just the big two - here's a similarly uninformative effort from Image, hyping DEADWORLD #1.

2. Creator You've Never Heard Of Signs Exclusive Deal

I mean, I'm sure their mums are interested, but...

Some creators are A-list, big name talent, capable of selling virtually any (relatively mainstream) book they choose to work on. When they change companies, it's a big deal. Some creators aren't quite at that level, but still have a loyal following who will be interested to know where they're going. You can see why these guys merit a press release.

'Once upon a time, the PR press release was a noble art.' But in practice, Marvel and DC seem willing to sign any halfway established pro to a two-year exclusive deal, frequently with so many exclusions and exceptions that "exclusive" turns out to mean little more than "not working for the other guys any more, though we couldn't care less about his indie work". There are a lot of guys out there on exclusive deals who, frankly, aren't all that prominent, or are working in the sort of roles where they're not exactly going to build a huge following.

Now, that's not to say that there aren't good reasons for signing these guys up. Publishers need a solid overall stable of talent. And of course, many of these are talented guys who simply aren't as prominent. To an extent, you might see this sort of thing as an attempt to build stars. But when publishers are putting out press releases to announce that they've signed a colourist for three years, you have to wonder who is supposed to care.

3. Completely New Publisher Set To Turn Industry On Head

Uh-huh.

These ones come along from time to time, and they're usually rather depressing. At best, they badly misread the audience. At worst, they make you fear for the author's sanity. As a general rule, it's insanely difficult for new publishers to make it in the direct market. If you're targeting the direct market core audience then it's virtually impossible. If you want to do a new superhero universe, god help you.

Now, having said that, launching a new publisher is not impossible. If you're aiming for the indie crowd, or pitching yourself at the level of, say, Image or Dreamwave, and you've got a credible selection of talent, then it's achievable. But it's still difficult, and one of the hurdles that need to be overcome is to build retailer confidence. Because if they don't order your comics, it doesn't matter how good they are.

'These press releases make you fear for the author's sanity.' Getting the retailers' attention is difficult enough. That might explain some of the more over-the-top predictions of certain triumph that we get from time to time. But not all publicity is good publicity. You need to generate the right impression: i.e., we are a competent publisher that has a decent product and knows what to do with it. Confidence needs to be tempered with realism, or the average reader will simply assume that you're an idiot.

For the most part, these releases tend to come from micropublishers who really should know better than to give up the day job. Every so often, though, a publisher who by all rights ought to have a fair shot at success gets it horribly wrong. Alias Comics, in principle, ought to have a better shot than most. But it does itself no favours with press releases like this one. It gets off to a bad start with a misleading headline, and then blissfully announces that their May launch was "a very strong showing".

Now, Alias only had three comics in the Top 300 in May. In fairness, they also had a couple of low-price books that weren't eligible for the charts. But of the full price books, the top seller was 10TH MUSE #1, which sold fewer than 5,000 copies. JUDO GIRL #1 did 3,605, and PARKIN'S LAND #1 didn't even clear 2,000. By any sensible definition, these are bad numbers.

Alias don't see it that way, though, and solemnly maintain that this is very good indeed. They also claim to be "on [their] way to becoming one of the comic book industry's foremost publishing houses". That's just... demented, frankly. Alias is looking increasingly like a rather ugly trainwreck, and while their problems are clearly far more profound than an inane press release, it certainly hasn't done their image any favours.

Some people would be better off if the news sites didn't run their press releases at all...
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Just came across this site.

http://www.comics4kids.org/

From their website:
Comics4Kids is a not-for-profit company that gives comic books to children. This at once instills a sense of appreciation for literacy, as well as providing vicarious adventure for these children, maybe even comforting them.

We accept donations of monetary funds, comic book collections and store overstock. Comic books will be distributed to children at homes, hospitals, lodges, and participant schools, as well as many other levels (including Adult Hospice). All funds are used for obtaining and transporting comics to these persons.
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I don't know anything about this organization other than what they have on their website, but it sounds like a great cause. I think I'm going to check into it a little more and maybe donate to it.
 
DBM said:
Just came across this site.

http://www.comics4kids.org/

From their website:


I don't know anything about this organization other than what they have on their website, but it sounds like a great cause. I think I'm going to check into it a little more and maybe donate to it.
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I never pass up an opportunity to corrupt the youth! ;)
 
Oh, DBM. Why do you keep finding ways to part me from my hard-earned cash.


OK, from my cash, anyway.....
 
Just finished this tonight. I reserved it a while ago at my local library and have really been waiting for it:

eisner3.jpg


Basically, it's the story of how the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion came into being. For those of you who have never heard of this, it's a "book/pamphlet" that's been used by the Russian Tsar, the Nazis, modern day White Supremacists, and Arab extremists to whip people into a frenzy against Jews. A few years ago I heard about al-Jazeera telecasting a miniseries based on this.

eisner4.jpg


The Protocols were a plagiarized account of another book, the fictional "The Dialogue in Hell between Machiavelli and Montesquieu", a thinly veiled criticism of Emperor Napoleon III (nephew of Napoleon Bonaparte).

I enjoy history and comics, so this was a pretty good read for me. I guess time will tell whether this book has the effect that Will Eisner intended, but I wanted to put it out there for a little discussion.
 
I've been meaning to pick that book up. I remember reading about it a while back and it sounded pretty interesting.

Maybe I'll get it this week.
 
New site I just discovered that I thought I'd share.

It's Last Minute Auction. Basically it shows you all of the eBay auctions that have less than an hour to go and the costs are $1 or less. It's pretty ****ing cool.

I've linked to the "Comic" section of it above, but it also has the categories for all other eBay areas. I'm definitely going to use it in the future.
 
couldn't you just go to ebay, go to the comics section, select "Time:Ending Soonest", and enter $1.00 maximum in the price fields on the left column?
 
Elijya said:
couldn't you just go to ebay, go to the comics section, select "Time:Ending Soonest", and enter $1.00 maximum in the price fields on the left column?
Click to expand...

Yes you could if you were just searching for comics. But the site provides it for all eBay items, so it would save a lot of clicking if you were searching through lots of categories.
 
Publisher's weekly has several email newsletters about happenings in the publishing world. They've recently added a Comics newsletter to their selection. You can see it/subscribe to it at this link.

It's nothing groundbreaking but it does have some interesting reviews and articles each week. Mostly about the kinds of comics/graphic novels that you're going to find at bookstores.

Just thought I'd share.
 
I just read through most of this thread and whew! It was nice to know that I am not the only comic book geek out there who prays for Wednesday to come. I am unique in my small corner of the world, I am a GIRL, who has a LARGE comic collection and loves them. They are mostly Marvels, though. I was too addicted as it was to even think of looking at DC, I spend too much each week as it is! (Though an Ultimate DC Universe would be to much for me to pass up...) The only other local comic book geeks like me that I know of are all guys and they don't always read the same books as me, but there's nothing more satisfying than bumping into one of our own, YKWIM? Like passing someone who has a Wolverine T-shirt while you've got your Spiderman on. Or being at work at the factory and looking under the machine next to you and seeing a tool box covered with images of Spawn and Lady Death and Wolverine and of course, the beloved Gambit. Life just doesn't get better than that....sniff! :p
 
I was wondering if anyone else noticed that, when they put those free previews in comics (lately a preview of Howling Commandos-I'd ask DBM, the resident Fury completist, if he were buying, but I'm afraid he'll crack the Hype in half), they ALWAYS seem to be for something terrible. The last couple I remember were for the Hulk and Avengers (right before Disassembled). If even by accident, why are these previews never for things like MTU, Young Avengers, Runaways, or something that has a CHANCE of survivng? Or that they would WANT to.
 
squeekness said:
I just read through most of this thread and whew! It was nice to know that I am not the only comic book geek out there who prays for Wednesday to come. I am unique in my small corner of the world, I am a GIRL, who has a LARGE comic collection and loves them. They are mostly Marvels, though. I was too addicted as it was to even think of looking at DC, I spend too much each week as it is! (Though an Ultimate DC Universe would be to much for me to pass up...) The only other local comic book geeks like me that I know of are all guys and they don't always read the same books as me, but there's nothing more satisfying than bumping into one of our own, YKWIM? Like passing someone who has a Wolverine T-shirt while you've got your Spiderman on. Or being at work at the factory and looking under the machine next to you and seeing a tool box covered with images of Spawn and Lady Death and Wolverine and of course, the beloved Gambit. Life just doesn't get better than that....sniff! :p
Click to expand...

ooohhhh it's a lady... hahaha
 
iloveclones said:
I was wondering if anyone else noticed that, when they put those free previews in comics (lately a preview of Howling Commandos-I'd ask DBM, the resident Fury completist, if he were buying, but I'm afraid he'll crack the Hype in half), they ALWAYS seem to be for something terrible. The last couple I remember were for the Hulk and Avengers (right before Disassembled). If even by accident, why are these previews never for things like MTU, Young Avengers, Runaways, or something that has a CHANCE of survivng? Or that they would WANT to.
Click to expand...

I've seen those previews and the art is absolutely awful. The idea for the story isn't bad and has plenty of potential, but pairing it with such a horrible artist is a huge mistake. I'll pick up any issues with Fury in it just to keep my collection complete, but I'm not picking up any he's not in, and in all likelihood I'm not going to even read the issues.
 
iloveclones said:
I was wondering if anyone else noticed that, when they put those free previews in comics (lately a preview of Howling Commandos-I'd ask DBM, the resident Fury completist, if he were buying, but I'm afraid he'll crack the Hype in half), they ALWAYS seem to be for something terrible. The last couple I remember were for the Hulk and Avengers (right before Disassembled). If even by accident, why are these previews never for things like MTU, Young Avengers, Runaways, or something that has a CHANCE of survivng? Or that they would WANT to.
Click to expand...

And you know what? That damn preview has gotten on my last nerve. For the past month I get to an end of a Marvel book and I'm like, "Oh, theres a few more pages left...hmmm. Then I flip and it's the damned Howling Commando's preview. :mad: If that preview did anything it cemented the fact that I WON'T be purchasing that book, heh.

But, yeah, if they're going to preview something...why not something that has a potential of succeeding instead of some new idea, that is OBVIOUSLY going to bomb.

Why not preview Dan Slott's She Hulk? Or his Thing ongoing? Or, as iloveclones pointed out, Marvel Team Up. Which will have a teamup of Spider-Man/Invincible next month.

But, yeah, that Howling Commandos preview really had me PO'ed. :mad:
 
SpideyInATree said:
And you know what? That damn preview has gotten on my last nerve. For the past month I get to an end of a Marvel book and I'm like, "Oh, theres a few more pages left...hmmm. Then I flip and it's the damned Howling Commando's preview. :mad: If that preview did anything it cemented the fact that I WON'T be purchasing that book, heh.
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:D Yeah, that's gotten me like that a few times, too.
 
I'll be honest, DBM, the art is so bad, I haven't even read it. I'll have to take your word for it as far as the concept goes.
 
What would you guys change about my current pull list. Must be the same amount of titles. some may not be changed

New avengers
Cable and Deadpool( stays on the list)
Ultimates
Astonishing X-men
Ghost Rider
Wolverine
House of m
 
taskmaster said:
What would you guys change about my current pull list. Must be the same amount of titles. some may not be changed

New avengers
Cable and Deadpool( stays on the list)
Ultimates
Astonishing X-men
Ghost Rider
Wolverine
House of m
Click to expand...
DC Zombie here :o

New Avengers into JLA, JSA, or Teen Titans (ie: a GOOD team book)
Ultimates and AXM keep
Ghost Rider into Green Lantern
Wolverine into Fables
House of M into Infinite Crisis :o
 
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