Brains 'Sploded

OMFG

"As of last night, I understand that Paul Levitz is telling people he intends to step down as Publisher and President of DC Comics within days."

A New Era At DC Comics?

Just a thought:

If Diane Nelson is indeed in charge of overseeing DC Comics now – and, as evident from what I've read concerning her, wants to help drag the publisher into the 21st Century in terms of digital media & movie production – then I'm done poo-pooing DC's efforts. Because, frankly, I want to see more female execs succeed and make an impact in the entertainment industry.

As women, we can blog and rabble-rouse online about this or that perceived or actual sexist thing, and I think that's necessary to a degree. But the only person who is going to actually make a tangible, immediate, long-lasting difference is the person Paul Levitz has to answer to, or a similar person of that rank and stature.

(and you can say "yay we got Stephanie Brown back" but the fact of the matter is the cover of the first issue of the new "Batgirl" cuts off her eyes and focuses on her breasts so the same cluelessness is in play in my opinion)

I remembered Jenette Kahn's last day at DC, and how it dovetailed into the start of Dan DiDio's tenure at DC. I remember being told the story about how Jenette first arrived at DC, how Warners wanted to drag DC Comics into the 20th Century and so they hired her. And how she went in there and essentially cleaned things up and made them presentable to interact with the rest of the modern media. The 1980s were a golden age for DC; I don't think anyone can argue with that. DC is still living off the comics and ideas brought forth in that golden time.

It is my belief that what happened with DC and Jenette Kahn in the late 1970s might be happening again now. And this brings with it a tremendous potential for change and advancement for this publisher.

This is not to say that by having a woman in charge, all things will immediately get awesome and there will never be any sexism anymore and etc. That is too simplistic a view. But having a female in some position of authority helps. It helps. Because I doubt a woman with the personality and character to negotiate movie rights with a JK Rowling is going to just nod and look away at some of the crap that has been happening at the DCU for the last 10 years.

I'm a damn hard cynic, but I'm going to allow myself a window of optimism.

After Watchmen, What's Next?

No, I don't specifically mean this site.

I mean: after Watchmen, what future classics that will stand the test of time has DC Comics produced over the past 5 years?

Here is a couple to start:

• DC: The New Frontier
• All-Star Superman
  

And what future classics is DC producing right now?

If Comics Don't Change, They "Could Be Dead In 18 Months"

Devin Faraci from the website CHUD has written a article that I find particularly shattering. Granted -- he is really "a movie guy," not "a comic guy," so some may find his opinions a case of "the outside looking in." But as a former comic collector, and especially as an outside observer, I think Faraci's apocalyptic prognosis for traditional comics bears a look.

Faraci basically believes that "the new depression may be the best thing that ever happened to comics." He predicts the death of the "superhero," and gladly welcomes it. He accuses the mainstream comic companies of catering too much to the hardcore fans -- especially by pushing said superhero genre -- and not doing enough to encourage readers outside the "clique." And he feels that the 22-page floppy format, with its relatively hefty $4.00 price tag, is too much for people to pay for in this economy.

He ends the piece with this stark prediction for the future of the medium and the business:

"When Marvel and DC fall (and for me it's when, not if. I guarantee to you that ten years from now the idea of going to a comic shop to buy part 17 of a universe-spanning crossover event will seem as bizarre to readers as it would be for readers today to go to a grocery store to pick up Night Nurse), the world of comic books is going to be in serious disarray. Local shops that haven't already branched out into geek interests beyond comics will be destroyed almost overnight; hybrid stores that offer everything from video games to baseball cards and maybe have a social element - coffee shop for instance - will be left standing, but barely. Spider-Man will go on to star in five more movies, and there will be some sort of comic tie-in for them, but that'll be tertiary marketing. The Big Two will still be publishing something, but it won't be monthly pamphlets in the way we know them today - maybe we'll get endless reprint trades and occasional new graphic novels.

The comic world will seem like a wasteland for a while, but those independent mammals will have positioned themselves perfectly for the next phase. I don't think these books will become suddenly profitable overnight; I know that many creators struggle to make ends meet while producing their books. That won't change. People will still have day jobs and will write and draw on the side. But suddenly, without the superhero choking everything, these books will find the opportunity to grow. The artistic drive that makes people want to tell stories will continue, and a new economic model for these books will be created - hell, it's already being created. And I don't think that this means comic books will suddenly become an endless series of stories about being abused by your dad or about having no luck with girls; there will be adventure and science fiction and horror and romance. Getting into writing and drawing mainstream comics today is like being in a cover band - you want to do your version of Aquaman. When the superhero dies, it's going to be like being in a garage band. You do it because you love it, because you have songs to sing. And maybe somebody will take notice and you'll make some bucks off it."

Finally, Faraci says that if the mainstream comic book industry doesn't radically change its focus and methodology, they "could be dead in 18 months."

What do you think? Is he full of it? Or is he on to something?

Hat tip to Vactor

Joss Whedon: Most DC Heroes Can't Connect With Movie Audiences

Marvel vs. DC: which superheroes connect more with film audiences?

Joss Whedon, in a recent Maxim interview, explained why (in his opinion) Marvel characters "connect" better with audiences than DC characters:

"Because, with that one big exception (Batman), DC's heroes are from a different era. They're from the era when they were creating gods.

"And the thing that made [rival publisher] Marvel Comics extraordinary was that they created people. Their characters didn't living in mythical cities, they lived in New York. They absolutely were a part of the world. Peter Parker's character (Spider-Man) was a tortured adolescent.

"DC's characters, like Wonder Woman and Superman and Green Lantern, were all very much removed from humanity. Batman was the only character they had who was so rooted in pain, that had that same gift that the Marvel characters had, which was that gift of humanity that we can relate to."

Whedon also explained his side of the Wonder Woman movie fiasco:

"They didn't tell me to leave, but they showed me the door and how pretty it was. Would I like to touch the knob and maybe make it swing? I was dealing with them through [producer] Joel Silver who couldn't tell me what they wanted or anything else. I was completely in the dark. So I didn't know what it was that I wasn't giving them. I've moved on."

Between this interview and the ones he done for "Dollhouse," I really get the feeling that right now Whedon is a bit disillusioned by the whole Hollywood thing, period. He sounds really annoyed. He sounds tired and frustrated. I think "Dr. Horrible" has been his one pure creative joy in at least a few years.

Won't nobody think of Joss?

DC Fan Defends The Company

"Die in a fire, Femenazi (sic)"

--"Earth M", in a comment to my post complaining about violence to women in Teen Titans.

Luckily for Earth M, DC Comics provides him with a plethora of such images for him to fantasize about.

Didio, McKeever, et al: here is the audience you are playing to. Good work. A least they're loyal.

The Comics Are Made For 14-Year-Olds

If this DC thread criticizing the dark n' gritty tone of their books still worked (and who knows, by the time you read this, it might -- or maybe it's been just shoved down the memory hole), you could read for yourself the cynical musings of one poster, who said something like:

"The comics are made for 14-year-olds; what do you expect?"

What does the average 14-year-old (male) want for entertainment?


I think the key to the current DC offerings is exactly that -- just shoveling what they feel the masses want. It's a simple equation. What's the difference between torture porn in the latest "Saw" movie and in Teen Titans? Not a whole hell of a lot. It doesn't matter.

How about the idea that our pop-culture helps inform the ethical and moral standards of impressionable youth? It doesn't matter. If their parents are doing a shitty job, then let them grow up with the idea that violence is acceptable. What, Superman is supposed to teach them something? That's naive, don't you think? Superman, he's like one step away from Borat and Carrot Top, right?

A company can do whatever they want, if the numbers justify it. What they can't do is hold their heads high and wrap that red Superman cape around themselves like the everloving American flag. No, now that I think about it, they could still do that, too. They can do whatever they want, create whatever version of reality they want and just project it. It doesn't matter. They are not moral arbiters. They're just peddling funny books, keeping that Superman copyright tight until which time it's pried from their cold zombified hands.

Want To Be An Assistant Editor At DC Comics?

They're hiring.

They're looking for an editor for their licensed publishing department, too.

My DC Comics/Warner Bros. "Golden Carrot Award"

Just to have on record. Received it about 6-7 months before I left, after three-and-a-half years of service. Personally signed by Paul Levitz. When you receive this, you are invited in Paul's office and he thanks you in person for good service to the company. You also receive a cash prize. Usually everybody (in the entire company) gets called in to the 7th floor conference room and they announce the awards. I don't remember if that happened in my case or not. But, I got it.

Just to have on record. I'll be permanently including this as a link on the sidebar to my blog.

/stuff you find when cleaning your closets.

//yeah, I believe the "carrot" refers to Bugs Bunny.

///also carrot in front of the horse to pull the buggy, I guess.

////at Acclaim Comics I won a free SNES and the Turok videogame cartridge, but that was the result of a game of chance.

Should I Charge A Consulting Fee?

Remembering the news that both Catwoman & The Atom are canceled, my mind goes back to this post dated 3/13:

"If I had to make some decisions on it, I'd do the following:

Cancel:
Atom
Infinity Inc
All the Classifieds
Checkmate
Catwoman
Birds of Prey (sorry)
Supergirl
Green Arrow/Black Canary
The Flash (sorry)"

Looking at the numbers for March, I still stand by this assessment, though with two caveats:

1. Some people report actually liking Supergirl. But will there be brand confusion with their new children's comic starring a radically different version of the character?

2. I really like Tom Peyer & Freddie Williams III's Flash. I mean, I really feel strongly about it. The fact that the second part of the current arc reads like there was supposed to be a whole issue there that was edited out makes me nervous, however. It has that "hurry and wrap this up" feeling to it. I hear a lot of rumors about Barry Allan & Impulse. I have to wonder if they are just going to try to fix things one more time with this title.

Also --

I expect some cancellations following the aftermath of Final Crisis. These might not be due to low sales in some instances, but after any event of that magnitude there is going to be some reshuffling.

DC's numbers for March seem like a lame duck in the shadow of Final Crisis. I would imagine the landscape of the DCU would be changed quite a bit within the next three months. Ditto for Marvel after Secret Invasion, though they are generally performing across the board better than DC.

I'd be very curious as to the numbers for Titans #1. I don't think that particular book is going into a direction I would dig personally. But I am really curious if it gets its fans anyhow.

Just remember -- "Buffy" is at the head of the Top 100 chart, and "Witchblade" is towards the end. What type of book should DC model a title like Titans after? What works?

Buffy The Vampire Slayer is the top-selling female superhero. Study this.

NYCC '08 Action Figure Preview Part 6: DC Super Heroes from Mattel

DC Super Heroes Supergirl

I have to admit, when I first read about this new DC line from Mattel -- to my mind, an analogue to Hasbro's Marvel Legends -- I wasn't that impressed. It just seemed boring, with a bunch of starter heroes like Nightwing and Penguin that just made me go bleah.

But the DC Super Heroes display at New York Comic Con contained an intriguing assortment of characters, including the Cassandra Cain Batgirl and two different versions of Firestorm.

My only quibble? Blue Superman. Do we really need another figure of this version?

The DC Super Heroes display at New York Comic Con

DC Super Heroes Firestorm I

DC Super Heroes Firestorm II

DC Super Heroes Clark Kent/Superman

DC Super Heroes Batman/Bruce Wayne

DC Super Heroes Catwoman

DC Super Heroes Batgirl

DC Super Heroes Wonder Woman

NYCC '08 Action Figure Preview Part 4: DC Universe Infinite Heroes from Mattel

The 3.75 inch action figure was big in the early-to-mid 1980s: GI Joe, Star Wars, DC's Super Powers, etc. By the early 1990s, the format was largely considered dead, ousted by the larger, more squat Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-styled figures and the 5-inch+ Marvel Toy Biz line.

But, largely due to the success (I think) of Mattel's Justice League Unlimited line, a new 3.75 series has emerged: DC Universe Infinite Heroes. Infinite Heroes is similar in size to DC Unlimited, but non-cartoony and more articulated. I find them to be cool, but somewhat of an oddity due to their format. I believe Marvel came out with a similar line last year.

No panties, but I've giving Mattel slack because this is probably just a prototype

Thoughts On DC's Latest Sales Numbers

These are the sales numbers for DC Comics in January. Please read all the standard provisos and explanations that go with such stuff.

Here is my analysis:

The top regular DCU books seem to be JLA, Superman, Action Comics, Teen Titans, Batman, Detective Comics, Green Lantern, and, when it ships, JSA.

So far, so good. These are all "top tier" DC titles and if they start to suck, the whole house of cards falls. That said, they probably should be going more toe-to-toe sales-wise with Marvel's top tier.

Declining sales for Grant Morrison's Batman is only a problem if it is a harbinger of a degree of reader apathy for his work as a whole -- or rather, for his "mainstream" in-continuity work. There just seems to be more excitement when he is allowed to completely create the world -- a la All-Star Superman, not bound by continuity.

Now, the Superman titles seem rather solid, and that's a good thing. And Teen Titans and Green Lantern, though too are experiencing a little bit of a decline in sales, seems to have built a nice niche for themselves in the upper end of the sales spectrum.

On to the bad news.

"With Justice League of America, DC Comics only had one book selling above 70,000 units in January. As a consequence, the publisher’s average periodical sales saw a steep drop, falling to around 27,000, their lowest level since January 2005. Similarly, average sales of the company’s DC Universe line, which makes up the bulk of their releases, dropped to around 33,000, also the lowest they’ve been in three years."

Lowest-Selling Regular DCU Titles: (with rank on Top 100 list)
The All-New Atom: 144
Infinity Inc: 142
Blue Beetle: 137 -- regular writer is leaving
JSA Classified: 124 -- supposed to be canceled, but a new issue has been solicited
Checkmate: 122 -- regular writer has left
JLA Classified: 113/109 -- canceled as of issue #54
Catwoman: 106
Superman Confidential: 102
Birds of Prey: 93
Robin: 73

Notable Sales Declines:
Green Arrow/Black Canary
Supergirl
The Flash
Wonder Woman
Green Lantern Corps

Something isn't working. I'm not being mean or unfair about it. I'm saying something is not working. I don't even know how the majority of these are referred to as "mainstream" comics. Does "mainstream" = superhero comics?

Buffy The Vampire Slayer is a mainstream comic. Dark Horse is a mainstream publisher. It is not an "indy" publisher. It is a full-fledged mainstream publisher, because it is putting out in big numbers a comic that a broad base of people want to read.

Blue Beetle is an "indy" comic. Catwoman is an "indy" comic. And that's not a bad thing. But the definitions have changed. Maybe, if the definition changes, that actually helps books like Blue Beetle, because instead of comparing its numbers to "mainstream" sales and acting accordingly, its publisher can maximize on its "indy" potential.

Now, a book like Green Arrow is the victim of bad writing decisions. Despite the beautiful art, the writing absolutely killed this book.

And books like Supergirl and The Flash have been wounded by all the creative changes that have happened to it over the last year or so. The lack of stability.

And everything was wounded by not wrapping up the whole "Crisis" thing after 52 and ending this whole multiverse drama on a high note and moving on.

And now a lot is resting on the shoulders on Final Crisis. And the problem is that there shouldn't even *be* a Final Crisis at this point. Final Crisis should have happened where Countdown started.

That said, Final Crisis might be great. Who knows?

If I had to make some decisions on it, I'd do the following:

Cancel:
Atom
Infinity Inc
All the Classifieds
Checkmate
Catwoman
Birds of Prey (sorry)
Supergirl
Green Arrow/Black Canary
The Flash (sorry)

Radically rethink and relaunch:
Birds of Prey
Supergirl
Catwoman
The Flash
Green Arrow (you can keep the art)

Books that should be consistently in the top 20 or higher:
Action Comics
Superman
Batman
Detective Comics
Superman/Batman
JLA
JSA
Teen Titans

Books that should be consistently in the top 30 or higher:
Robin
Nightwing
Green Lantern titles
Wonder Woman
The Flash
Green Arrow
Teen Titans spin-offs

Books that should never dip under the top 50:
Legion of the Superheroes
Supergirl
Birds of Prey

Books that might have "indy" status conferred to them and thus protected:
Blue Beetle
Catwoman

Book that will probably manage to slip under the radar for a long time to come:
Booster Gold

Don't bring back unless you have a damned good plan:
Aquaman

JMS @ DC: I Predicted It!

As I predicted in an earlier post, it looks like indeed J. Michael Straczynski has DC Comics in his future. From my original post on 2/8/08:

If I was sitting in the DC executive seat (sometime around when pigs fly and that The Dark Knight Heath Ledger talking doll with a pull-string comes out), I'd probably look to get Brian Michael Bendis & JM Straczynski . I have no inside information on that, I'm just trending this out.

From Newsarama's WonderCon coverage today:

"DiDio then announced a special panelist - J. Michael Straczynski. DiDio said that Straczynski will be working with DC Comics in the very near future.

DiDio welcomed JMS to the panel, and said that it was exciting for him personally to bring him to DC, as he's a huge Babylon 5 fan.

JMS said that he has always been a massive DC fan, and has more Curt Swan original artwork than he can describe. "The chance to work in the new universe is a great opportunity," JMS said.

He added that he's looking at projects for later this year and the first part of next year, to which DiDio added that he has an open door and is more than welcome to work on anything he'd like."

Usually, I get paid a consultancy fee. But that's ok.

Puzzling DC Rumors...

I'm trying to stay positive about Final Crisis, but two items in the most recent Lying In The Gutters have me concerned.

The first:

"Sources close to freelancers inform me that DC Comics has a new in house policy for pencillers. Aside from very specific contracted creators (such as Jim Lee), any penciller contracted to work on a monthly book must deliver complete turnaround of 22 pages of work in four weeks. Not a month, four weeks. If that schedule isn't maintained, they'll pull pages and assign them to other creators. And you may run short of future work. A reduction in quality is more acceptable than a reduction in quantity."

Looking at the DC creative teams listed in the latest Previews, and noting how many books have fill-in artists or books with the art chores broken up, I can believe this.

But I think it's a mistake. We saw how well this method worked for Countdown.

Nothing will kill a book like sloppy, rushed art or breaking up the art chores among several different artists.

The other side of the coin is, do you want a book that is late?

A little behind-the-scenes information as to what is at play when a comic book is running late.

My last two assignments at DC were the titles Arkham Asylum: Living Hell and Human Defense Corps. I was virtually editing them myself, and I did not want them to be late.

Management gave Arkham the priority. In contrast, my instructions for Human Defense Corps were, "I don't care what you have to do, just get it in. Fire people, replace people, anything, the book isn't worth it, just get it out the door.

Every issue of both titles came in on time, but Arkham took extreme care and work. Despite of the priority put on Arkham, I was encouraged several times to cut corners, split art to make deadline, to bring out the thumbscrews, everything. In the end, the only compromise I had to make was to shift inking duties from the artist (who was doing it all himself) to another person. But, even here, I had to make a search for an inker who had an appropriate art style and who both the artist and writer were cool about. The creative talent were very concerned about the artistic integrity of the book, and I had to take that into consideration.

If I had the current alleged DC policy in place, and just arbitrarily swapped out the artist or split art chores, several things would have happened:
1) The writer would have quit.
2) The book would have looked like shit.

In the case of Human Defense Corps, which they wanted to cut down from six issues to five (though thankfully that didn't happen), I had to let go of an inker and break up art chores on the last issue (which I "wrote" into the story as a framing sequence, so it didn't look too bad).

The experience I've had with comic book artists is that, while some can hit the monthly deadline, a good number of them can't, or will start off hitting the deadline and fall off. I think a four weeks or you're out policy will greatly reduce quality.

But, if you are running an editorial department like a "studio" to pump out material, then this strategy would be necessary.

This brings me to the second item in the LITG column:

A retailer who attended the RRP DC/retailer conference last week said,

"From a comics retailer perspective, however, there are some changes coming down the road that may not bode well. It will all depend on how the implementation of these new factors are handled by DC and Time Warner. Simply put, DC management I trust, greater Time Warner, I do not."

What could such a statement be referring to?

Is it referring to the way books will be ordered?

Or will something like mass-reboots of titles happen?

Mass reboots of titles -- starting it all from scratch -- would worry retailers. It might alienate fans. It might make the current books that the retailers ordered already "lame ducks."

But really, this is just speculation.

It's just that I had a sense that things were settling at DC, that they were entering a new phase. And think that they are still entering that new phase. But I have to wonder, at least for their superhero titles, if things are becoming more like an assembly-line to put out Product (with a capital P) out the door. There is nothing wrong with this, in theory -- if you're a business, you put out product. But, the creative side of things is going to suffer.

If there is any information to counter these rumors, I'm open to hearing them.

DC Comics: A Game Of Musical Chairs

I'm thinking about it...

Take The Flash, for instance...

He's Bart Allen! Here is a bold new direction for him!
Oh no, we suddenly killed him off!
Now we're going back to the Mark Waid era and Wally West!
We're so excited, Mark has all these great things planned and we are going to do a massive PR push!
Oh, wait, Mark is leaving!
Guess what??? Tom Peyer is suddenly our new writer!
(gee, is everything Mark did going to be undone...)

Hey guess what, we've just been strongarmed to make Supergirl less cheesecake!
And we are going to have a whole new creative team and direction!
(a couple of issues later)
Hey guess what, we're having a whole new creative team! And going in a whole bold new direction!
(wait nobody cares anymore???)

Hey guess what, Tony Bedard is our hot new writer now!
He's going to be writing Batman and The Outsiders!
Oh wait, we suddenly changed our mind! Sorry!
Chuck Dixon will be the new writer on Batman and The Outsiders!
See, at DC, we keep you guessing!

Guess what, kids? Sean McKeever is our new writer on Birds of Prey!
Oh wait, he's not doing the book anymore -- Tony Bedard is!
You remember Tony, don't you?
He's the writer who was going to do Batman and the Outsiders!
I know what you're thinking: "is he going to stay on this book or are you going to pull the carpet out from under me again??"
That's life, kid: it's uncertain!!!! Man up!

Hey guess what: we are going to have a new artist on Teen Titans every other issue!
And two billion inkers!
We call it: Our Artist Showcase!

You know, pretty soon I think you're going to see a game of "editor musical chairs."

The OS Hot Ten For 1/31/08

10. Catwoman Lip-Ripping Cat-Fight Cover


9. Batman: Rest In Peace?


8. Marjorie Satrapi


7. Spider-Bitch
6. Joe Quesada on Colbert Report



5. LEAVE TIGRA ALONE!!!!!!


4. Transformers Anniversary Ad: "They Were Always Real To Me"


3. Return Of Ambush Bug

(If only Ambush Bug had his own series on the Cartoon Network! *sigh*)

2. Y: The Last Issue / Season Four of "Lost"

(Picture of Matthew Fox barely trumps picture of the awesome Brian K. Vaughan)

1. The Return of Captain America



There it is, the Hot List
Let the debating begin...

Covers That Don't SuckJSA #8: Non-anorexic body-type believably supports upper region. Says: "I'm a fierce, powerful female." Also says: "STOP LOOKING AT MY BREASTS!"

Outsiders: Five of a Kind Grace/Wonder Woman:
Two strong women doing superheroey things.
Wondy's crotch is totally exposed, but in a non-alluring manner.
Okay, the torso is a little masculine. Okay, Grace looks a little masculine.
But it's totally not sexually exploitative.

Thor #1. Pointed out to me by the omniscient Sammy. Mike Turner can still draw, the JLA boob thing was just a nightmare, there's no place like home, there's no place like home. Makes you wonder if the later JLA covers look a little rushed because he was going to knock this one out of the park <---only speculation, I'm sure totally not true.

Of course, bad covers make for better posts.
But it's not like I'm wishing for them or anything.