Amazing Spider-Man #546 made the top of Diamond's sales charts for January, followed close by Hulk #1. Marvel took 9 of the top ten slots; Dynamite Entertainment's Project Superpowers #0 made an impressive showing in fourth place.
The DC titles that managed to crack the top 20 were Justice League of America #17, Batman #673, and Countdown #16.
And Dan Slott had three books in the top ten, and four in the top 30. Go, Slott!
GI Joe's Red, White, and Blue Is Gone?
The MTV Movie blog has what might be the first picture of the new GI Joe logo -- and its patriotic red, white, and blue have been replaced by silver and black.
I understand the need by Hasbro to extend the popularity of GI Joe beyond the USA. But...
Maybe I'm just nostalgic. Was watching the old cartoons the other day.
The Joker Returns
The New York Post ran an article called "Cruel Joker" about the decision to release action figures and other Dark Knight merchandise despite actor Heath Ledger's death:
"Heath Ledger lives on - as an evil 6-inch figurine."
I love how the Post just reduces things...
Anyway, here is the Joker action figure...what do you think?
"Shaun of the Dead" director to helm Ant-Man?
Could Shaun of the Dead director Edgar Wright be up for directing the Ant-Man movie?
Wright told Empire Magazine:
"I finished the script and I'm having a meeting about it next week, but it depends which comes first in the queue basically. I've been working on two at once, and I'm also about to start developing two more scripts, one of which is with Simon (Pegg). It could be Scott Pilgrim [Scott Prilgrim’s Precious Little Life] is next or it could be Ant Man, we shall see."
In other news, there's going to be a Scott Pilgrim movie...
Video: William M. Gaines Interview from late 1980s
Some interesting stuff to point out in this interview:
* Gaines says in the interview that he has no plans to ever accept advertising in Mad, because of the conflict of interest. Of course, that has now changed post-Gaines.
* Gaines also says he would never license Mad out for other products:
"I just think that sucking every last buck out of a product with merchandising is not neccesarily the way to go and Mad doesn't do it."
As we can see by the current DC Direct Alfred E. Neuman and Spy Vs. Spy toys, this is another big change from the Mad Magazine of yesteryear. However, to be fair, I did remember playing with a Mad Magazine board game as a youngster (it kicked ass).
* Gaines refused to do market research, because he was afraid that if they knew the exact demographics, they would sub-consciously start writing to target that demographic.
* Gaines (and company) on the sale of Mad to Time Warner:
Gaines: "I didn't sell Mad to Warners, I sold it to somebody who sold it to Warners..."
Staffer: "Like the Contras deal..."
* Gaines was required by Warners to have a yearly physical; he regularly sent another staffer to take his place.
I don't think the G.I. Joe logo losing the red, white and blue is so bad - they're not gonna be US military in the movie, after all - but that's a pretty crummy logo. They could've just used the original in silver.
ReplyDeleteEdgar Wright's been attached to both Ant-Man and Scott Pilgrim for a while now. Ant-Man's been co-written with UK comedy guy Joe Cornish, who I saw buying All-New Atom and Irredeemable Ant-Man #1s shortly after the news came out. True story!
Wright's talked about doing Ant Man with Joe Cornish a few times.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've read the story features Hank Pym as a kind of cold war secret agent Ant Man during the 1960s, then Scott Lang comes along in modern day and steals his suit.
Seems like a mash of classic Antman and the recent comics.
Bosh.
ReplyDeleteMad the Original Daily Show
ReplyDeleteIt's not really surprising the BND orders were high for the first few issues after OMD since they were ordered before OMD was released. I'm *really* curious to how Amazing will fare in about the 4th and 5th month numbers after OMD since then we'll truly see what effect OMD had on Spidey's orders.
ReplyDeleteI told everyone not to support this crazy shit but does anyone listen to me? No. Joe Q can read dollar signs & all he is finding there is "I am on the ball."
ReplyDeleteYikes.
The Mad board game did indeed rock. It was like the opposite of Monopoly, in that you had to LOSE all your money.
ReplyDeleteGI Joe cartoons dont really survive reviewing I find, I find myself shouting at the screen "WHY ARE YOU DOING THAT???" Things like hopelessly elaborate headquarters and so on I find a bit much.
ReplyDeleteThe comics on the other hand, I am rereading and find deep and compelling and well written.
The first issue of BND doing well does not impress me. Call me when the 30th issue comes out. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd Bill Gaines was one of the most unique, interesting individuals in the world of publishing, a true legend in the field. MAD is much poorer for his absence (and he was 100% right not to accept advertising. MAD's never been as good since.)
Re. Heath Ledger Joker figure
ReplyDeleteIt was mentioned on the news here yesterday that his family are okay with a figure being released of him, as "he was proud of the work that he had done on the film", and presumably they could see that releasing a figure (possibly any figure?) reflected a "memorial" of type to his memory.
If his immediate family are okay with the release of the figure, why should there be a problem?
To some people, G.I. Joe was Action Force: International Heroes.
ReplyDeleteNot me, though. I live in Canada, the 51st state.