Random Comics-Related Stuff

Topic

A place to talk about anything to do with comics that doesn’t belong in the other threads.

Replies

I think the cancellation of the show by Netflix really took the heat out of the sales, driving the speculators away.

And, for the comic readers, no Quitely must have been a bit of a blow. I know it made me wait for a cheaper option down the road rather than picking it up issue to issue.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Dave

[Rocket]

garjones wrote:

That is such an astronomical drop off though I’d be interested to look further.

I don’t think you need to look any farther than this. Edwards style is very different. I bought the first 2 but I am on the fence about #3.

edit: Vikram beat me to it. I remember I had some concerns about the story but stayed for the art so not surprised the new story is not doing as well.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 3 months ago by Rocket.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Dave

Maybe but the solicitations never pretended Tommy Lee wasn’t doing interiors.

I’m not sure we’ll see Quitely do much of that again. He’s never been fast at the best of times, he suffered an injury I heard that makes it tougher still and he got a big lump sum of money from the MW sale because to his credit Mark always kept the 50/50 split.

For instance, you walk in a LCS, You see Jupiter’s Legacy with Quitely art. Impulse buy(you are not going to care what name is on the top or what the solicitations say). The following month, no Quitely, are you still going to buy it?

2 users thanked author for this post.

Vikram

This is no disrespect to Edwards is intended. He’s a great artist, but a totally different aesthetic than Quitely’s work and, I imagine, a less widespread appeal.

But, the Netflix cancellation can’t be overlooked. The show was cancelled before the first issue shipped. I’m sure LCS guys adjusted their orders accordingly pretty quickly after that.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Rocket, Todd

Vikram wrote:

But, the Netflix cancellation can’t be overlooked. The show was cancelled before the first issue shipped. I’m sure LCS guys adjusted their orders accordingly pretty quickly after that.

Which is probably more relevant as we have to remember all these figures are sales to retailers and not customers , they are also sales to retailers before they’ve offered issue 1 to customers. So while it may be true for some the idea of it being people who bought for a Quitely cover expecting interiors isn’t really going to be a factor here. That’s why I specified solicitation because readers may not read them, the retailers have to to make an order.

52k to 17k is an abnormally large drop so some external factor like that would have to be at play. If it’s just a dwindling interest in Millar work then they wouldn’t have placed the 52k initially.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Todd

The dates match too. FOC for issue #1 was 24 May, the Netflix cancellation was announced at the start of June and FOC for issue #2 was 28 June. Plenty of time for retailers to adjust down.

Also, anecdotally there was a big push in my LCS for the Jupiter’s Legacy trades and other MW books when the series hit, but that disappeared as soon as the cancellation was announced.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Todd

In his latest newsletter, Ed Brubaker offers his thoughts on the Substack deals:

What else else? I guess I’ll say a few words about the Substack Comics thing, because a lot of the talk I’ve seen about it seems to either be concern-trolling or just not understanding what is even going on. A lot of talk about how it’s “disrupting” comics, or that it’s going to hurt retailers or publishers, and a lot of misinformation about how comics are published in the first place.

(My friends Matt Fraction and Kelly Sue DeConnick recently talked about it in their newsletter, and I suggest reading what they said, especially the footnote portion).

I don’t see this substack comics push as disrupting comics as they are, or hurting publishers or retailers. Other than Tynion, it looks like most of the creators doing it are just adding more work to their schedules, and still doing books for Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, etc etc. What this is is some popular creators being given money (in some cases a LOT of money) to start newsletters – much like what you’re reading right now – where they also publish new comics stories in serial form as they complete them, and give you behind the scenes process stuff as well. This is not something that is aimed at taking on the big publishers or competing with comics that sell 100K in comic shops. This is creators finding their hardest-core fans that want to see books coming together and hear how the process works, and are willing to pay for that access. Not every comics reader will be interested in this, which is fine, it’s not designed to appeal to every reader. It’s about a small audience (anywhere from 500 to a few thousand readers) who are paying upfront to watch creators make something.

The big deal of it is the money involved, and how it’s given creators a way to make some new work that they fully own, with no risk involved. But if you’re just a comics reader that goes to your shop every week to buy the books you like, none of this really changes anything. All of these comics will be put out in print when they’re finished. It’s just that a small devoted fanbase will have already seen them first. Think of it like this, Charles Dickens serialized his novels in a weekly magazine. These novels were then printed as books and sold many more copies than the magazines they were published in. This is simply a subscription model for serialized fiction, but having it sent to your email instead. It’s that simple.

In full disclosure, I was offered a substack pro deal, but the fact is, me and Sean are already living our comics dream. We fully own everything we do, and we put it out in book form to a large audience several times a year. Still, comics is a very hard field to make a living in, especially when you want to create your own work and not do WFH comics, so I’m glad to see a bunch of creators trying something different, just like I find Patreon and Kickstarter interesting ways for creators to support their work.

One thing I will point out though, is that more journalists need to do a better job when talking about comics publishing. I’ve seen so many incorrect statements about publishers surrounding this subject that it’s amazing. Please stop calling publishers who take half their creators ownership and all control of media rights ‘creator-owned publishers’ – there are many publishers of comics and graphic novels that DO NOT take any rights from creators, so we need to stop confusing them with the ones that do. This is a disservice to the industry that will lead to younger creators giving away rights before they realize they do not have to (and I speak from experience here). And if you’re a comics creator, always insist on full ownership and control of your work. You don’t have to trade rights to get an advance from a book publisher, and you shouldn’t have to in comics either. There are many options in comics to retain full ownership of your work now, and there didn’t use to be, so make sure you’re not selling your work to a place that’s more interested in your media rights than in publishing your comics.

4 users thanked author for this post.

Rocket, DavidM, Ben, Vikram

He’s making digs at Skybound near the end there, right?

1 user thanked author for this post.

Ben

Probably. It’s a very grey area. I know Dave grabbed a companies house description to declare Millarworld a publishing house. Firstly as someone who has set up a company you can write what you want there (MW is definitely not a publisher in my eyes)  and secondly Image is the greatest and worst example of all kinds of things.

Pure Image is the greatest deal not just in comics publishing but anywhere. It very very quickly got into questions about IP with Neil Gaiman. Kirkman gave a manifesto about dumping Marvel and DC for creator owned, then set up an imprint where he owns it and pays work for hire.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

Martin Smith wrote:

He’s making digs at Skybound near the end there, right?

Skybound deserves it.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, Martin Smith

garjones wrote:

I know Dave grabbed a companies house description to declare Millarworld a publishing house. Firstly as someone who has set up a company you can write what you want there (MW is definitely not a publisher in my eyes)

What I said was that I would describe MW as a “publishing company”, which is slightly different to considering it a publisher or publishing house (which I don’t).

It’s a company, and it’s in the business of creating and publishing comics (and not just through US partners like Image currently but also through other international publishing partners) – I can’t think of a better way to describe the nature of its business unless you just call it “the Mark Millar business” which is essentially what it is.

But what it does is obviously distinct from being a publisher that actually prints the books, distributes them etc.

It’s splitting hairs and semantics really. We all know what it is and how it’s different to a publisher like Image.

Todd wrote:

What this is is some popular creators being given money (in some cases a LOT of money) to start newsletters – much like what you’re reading right now – where they also publish new comics stories in serial form as they complete them, and give you behind the scenes process stuff as well. This is not something that is aimed at taking on the big publishers or competing with comics that sell 100K in comic shops. This is creators finding their hardest-core fans that want to see books coming together and hear how the process works, and are willing to pay for that access.

Ohh, now I get it.

It’s Patreon.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Martin Smith, Todd

Tynion’s first Substack comic:

https://jamestynioniv.substack.com/p/blue-book-betty-and-barney-hill-chapter

I’m surprised he hasn’t gone with something more immediately appealing and engaging for his first comic on the platform. But then I guess part of his plan for it is to use it for these less commercial niche projects.

Didn’t JL:R #1 have a bunch of variant covers?

The 7 Most Racist Moments in Comic Book History

JRCarter wrote:

The 7 Most Racist Moments in Comic Book History

I’m surprised “Black” Punisher didn’t make the list.

1 user thanked author for this post.

JRCarter

Todd wrote:

JRCarter wrote:

The 7 Most Racist Moments in Comic Book History

I’m surprised “Black” Punisher didn’t make the list.

I actually managed to forget about that.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

JRCarter wrote:

Todd wrote:

JRCarter wrote:

The 7 Most Racist Moments in Comic Book History

I’m surprised “Black” Punisher didn’t make the list.

I actually managed to forget about that.

But JR, he teamed up with Luke Cage! It’s all good!

1 user thanked author for this post.

JRCarter

Todd wrote:

But JR, he teamed up with Luke Cage!

Sweet christmas!

2 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, JRCarter

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

The Batman one’s a bit of a stretch – he quite casually killed various people in his early days.

I’m going to question the Sunfire one too. It may seem stereotypical but I don’t know how much the writer knows Japan.

I worked closely with Japan for several years, including reporting to a Japanese boss. They do use ‘san’ when referring to anyone who isn’t a close friend or a child. Every email I got was addressed to Gareth san.

I nearly picked up on my first day and got stopped from referring to a Japanese colleague by their first name, it would cause great offence and I should only refer to them as Matsuda san and never referred to anyone without the san suffix ever again. So maybe my dialogue in a conference call would sound stereotypical too. 😂

Difficult to argue with the rest though, especially Captain Marvel’s flunky. Wow that’s bad.  (I am assuming though he acts in a slavish manner rather then he was literally Batson’s slave in the comic.)

Yeah, I’d never heard about Captain Marvel’s slave before. That’s the kind of thing I’d have thought would have come up before now. I’m a little surprised Hal Jordan’s eskimo stereotype friend wasn’t on there, actually.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

[DavidM]

Martin Smith wrote:

The Batman one’s a bit of a stretch – he quite casually killed various people in his early days.

This is a bit of a myth, based mostly on one panel in something like his 8th story. It might be an interesting exercise to count the number of times he deliberately killed in the Golden Age. I think you could probably do it on one hand.

I’m currently reading the Golden Age Batman Omnibus Volume 3 (so 1942-ish). I’m almost at the end and I can’t recall a single death yet. Plenty of quips and puns, though. You know this back-to-his-origins-grim-and-gritty Batman that “edgy” writers like to pretend they’re inspired by? Never really existed. The Batman I’m reading now from 1942 was basically Adam West.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by DavidM.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

I definitely remember him killing some of Hugo Strange’s mutated goons with barely a shrug very early on.

Martin Smith wrote:

I definitely remember him killing some of Hugo Strange’s mutated goons with barely a shrug

You’d have to position your shoulder just right to do that.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, Martin Smith

Dave wrote:

Martin Smith wrote:

I definitely remember him killing some of Hugo Strange’s mutated goons with barely a shrug

You’d have to position your shoulder just right to do that.

To be fair, the mutated goons were very wimpy.

[DavidM]

DavidM wrote:

Martin Smith wrote:

The Batman one’s a bit of a stretch – he quite casually killed various people in his early days.

This is a bit of a myth, based mostly on one panel in something like his 8th story. It might be an interesting exercise to count the number of times he deliberately killed in the Golden Age. I think you could probably do it on one hand.

I’m currently reading the Golden Age Batman Omnibus Volume 3 (so 1942-ish). I’m almost at the end and I can’t recall a single death yet. Plenty of quips and puns, though. You know this back-to-his-origins-grim-and-gritty Batman that “edgy” writers like to pretend they’re inspired by? Never really existed. The Batman I’m reading now from 1942 was basically Adam West.

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by DavidM.

Glen Weldon’s book The Caped Crusade goes through some of this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Caped-Crusade-Batman-Rise-Culture-ebook/dp/B0176M6PTY

24 people in the first year, not including supernatural creatures.

4 users thanked author for this post.

Rocket, Martin Smith, DavidM, Todd

Ok, I’m really surprised by that number, though it’s been a while since I read Vol 1 of the archives so obviously I’ve just forgotten. Certainly by his third year (which I’m reading now) he was completely different.

Interesting to see that the next Tynion Substack book is going to be a Department of Truth spinoff. Maybe he realised he needed something with a bit more commercial appeal to go alongside the more esoteric stuff.

Randomly…

As much as I am old school and grew up loving John Byrne and his material, there is the fact of his attitude and personality quirks.

And this from Wikipedia:

In 1981, Jack Kirby began speaking publicly about his belief that he had been deprived of fair credit and money while creating the majority of Marvel’s top characters. Byrne wrote an editorial declaring himself “proud” to be a “company man”, and arguing that all creators should “live within the rules while they’re around.” Steve Gerber and Kirby lampooned Byrne’s position in Destroyer Duck, drawing him as a character called Booster Cogburn, possessing a removable spine and existing only to serve as a cog in the mammoth corporation that owned him. Erik Larsen created a villain in the 1990s for his Savage Dragon and the Freak Force series’ Johnny Redbeard/the Creator, who parodies Byrne; a massive cranium with atrophied appendages, he can bestow superpowers indiscriminately.

And this link:

https://comicbookhistorians.com/the-comic-book-relationship-between-jack-kirby-and-john-byrne/

Mixed feelings now and some of previous suspicions are starting to be confirmed.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Andrew

But also: https://theconversation.com/how-a-canadian-superhero-brought-queer-representation-to-marvel-comics-128597

1 user thanked author for this post.

Al-x

An interesting bit of context is we always like to imagine all comics creators as being impoverished and hard done by, which is often the case, but Byrne under oath in that Steve Gerber case admitted he had received over $10m in wages and royalties from Marvel in his time with them. Chris Claremont earned a sum big enough to buy a personal plane. This is in an era where sales of 100,000 could see you on the cancellation block.

I’m not defending Byrne’s stance of opting company man over Kirby’s argument but it’s easier to be like that when the company is rewarding you so well.

Things are not always black and white with people. Robbo is right that within the confines of the comics code in the 80s Byrne did introduce Northstar and Maggie Sawyer who were clearly intended to be gay characters even if he couldn’t overtly say it at the time.  So one point in the plus column and one in the minus.

People like black and white arguments but we are all shades of grey if we’re honest. The Image founders are great examples, they championed creator rights and set up the best publishing model of any kind but also in places became work for hire employers themselves, reaping financial rewards for ideas others came up with.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, Dave

[Al-x]

I follow your points but still… work for hire…. In these times with the MCU films, some of them got $5G while the movie based on their idea/concept makes $1B.

$5,000 vs. $1,000,000,000!!!

(Fwiw, I mentioned this in the Marvel movies thread with links of some creators who can’t stomach going to the box office or seeing a poster of a Marvel film based on their material.)
———————–

Oh…Wasn’t it that jefferson guy (jefferson.lob.sargent) from MW who always bought up Kirby and then Seigel’s plight with DC over Superman?

I forgot… Memories

• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by Al-x.
• This reply was modified 3 years, 2 months ago by Al-x.

I think it shows the difference between their legal and moral obligations. Similar to the Watchmen argument. No-one is claiming that anyone is violating those contracts, but at the same time in retrospect those contracts feel very balanced in favour of the corporation given how much value they’ve managed to extract from the work.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Al-x, Todd, lorcan_nagle

Dave wrote:

Interesting to see that the next Tynion Substack book is going to be a Department of Truth spinoff. Maybe he realised he needed something with a bit more commercial appeal to go alongside the more esoteric stuff.

My take on the announcement was that he’s going to be telling the “real life” stories behind the conspiracies that feature in the book. He wants to make this a “True Weird” double feature with the Bluebook UFO stories, alternating every other week.

If true, I don’t think that’s going to be any more mainstream. Just with a little brand name recognition.

Al-x wrote:

I follow your points but still… work for hire…. In these times with the MCU films, some of them get $5G while the movie based on their idea/concept makes $1B.

True enough, it doesn’t seem hugely fair. There are different takes on it, Brubaker was quite upset with the Winter Soldier stuff but Millar when asked about ideas lifted from Ultimates into the movies has always said he knew what he was signing up to, that the page rate included no intellectual ownership of anything.

It is a bit sketchier in older scenarios. Kirby’s era were signing ‘contracts’ on backs of cheques, Siegel and Schuster delivered Superman to DC/National Comics rather than being hired to create it. Moore, Gibbons and Lloyd in the 80s agreed to a contract that would have reverted all rights to them but someone (Nick Landau of Titan Books specifically) invented the concept of the collected edition so they never did.

There are apparently special deals with Chris Claremont and Tom Defalco that they get staff writer jobs for life, even if Marvel don’t want to publish anything by them, Stan Lee had an annual payment basically to agree no legal action for times contracts were not so watertight as nobody foresaw much long term value in this stuff. DC does make token payments but they are clouded a little by the ‘derivative’ clause when you build on someone else’s work. It’s arguable Winter Soldier fits in that category as Ed Brubaker invented Winter Soldier but not Bucky Barnes.

I’m not a comics writer but I know, and everyone else does, that if I take a big 2 job I will get nothing from media rights even if I come up with the most popular character of the next 50 years. Which is probably why Millar is more sanguine about it all as he’s received millions from his creator owned ideas.

 

3 users thanked author for this post.

njerry, Todd, Al-x

garjones wrote:

I’m not a comics writer but I know, and everyone else does, that if I take a big 2 job I will get nothing from media rights even if I come up with the most popular character of the next 50 years.

Case-n-point: how much money did Len Wein (or Roy Thomas, or Herb Trimpe, or John Romita Sr.) receive from the use of Wolverine in virtually every X-MEN film and spinoff that has been released to date? Thomas and Wein created the character, Romita came up with the design, and Trimpe drew him in his first appearance in THE INCREDIBLE HULK comic: but did any of them benefit from the success of that character in the various FOX films?

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

N0 but as I say those creators further back had no precedent. What they were doing was considered a disposable item back in the 60s and 70s.

My main point is that Ed Brubaker and Mark Millar went into big 2 comics knowing exactly how that worked. Winter Soldier was created 5 years after the X-Men movie where he knew Wein, Cockrum, Claremont and everyone else involved in creating those characters got diddly-squat. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the right to still think it’s unjust because I think it is too but modern creators also can’t deny they sign up to that openly. Something Kirby, Thomas and that generation could justifiably say.

 

2 users thanked author for this post.

Dave, Todd

As of August 2021, the Marvel Cinematic Universe series was the highest-grossing film franchise with total worldwide box office revenue of 22.93 billion U.S. dollars.Aug 27, 2021

https://www.statista.com/statistics/317408/highest-grossing-film-franchises-series/

———————-

What is with all these bloody panels of someone getting stabbed in the back straight through the chest so that the stabbed character sees the front of the blade out from the chest?

Once someone did it, everyone followed.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Andrew, Ian Smith

I always took Byrne to be part Canadian given his emphasis on Wolverine and pushing Alpha Flight back in the day.

Those who signed up to the various Substack emails, how are they going so far? Are you getting decent value for your money?

Byrne grew up in Canada. Moved to the US when he was 30.

This is from his webite:

JB: Bounced back and forth between Canada and England until I was 8. Settled in Edmonton, Alberta, in 1958. Moved to Calgary, Alberta in 1966. Moved to Chicago (when I got married) in 1980. Brooklyn Heights from 1983 to 85. Since then, Fairfield, Connecticut.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Al-x, Todd

Here’s some random comics-related stuff. The first comic book I purchased with my own money was cover-dated September 1970, which means I have been a comics collector for over 51 years now. For the record, that book was Marvel’s TOWER OF SHADOWS #7; and I still have it in my collection.

7 users thanked author for this post.

Bruce, Dave, Sean Robinson, Al-x, DavidM, Todd, Vikram

garjones wrote:

52k to 17k is an abnormally large drop so some external factor like that would have to be at play. If it’s just a dwindling interest in Millar work then they wouldn’t have placed the 52k initially.

August sales are out, and it’s down to 13,600, so definitely seems to be something up with that initial 52k.

Dave wrote:

Those who signed up to the various Substack emails, how are they going so far? Are you getting decent value for your money?

I checked on them without subscribing. Despite all the hubbub, as of now only three Substacks are actually putting out full comics AFAIK: Zdarsky, Tynion, and Hickman and co. All the others are behind-the-scenes stuff, previews, or Scott Snyder’s Comics Writing 101 course.

Hickman’s only put out the five-page preview so far, everything else has been process stuff. I’ve no idea how much of the project will actually be comics compared to world-building stuff.

Tynion’s put out two ten-page chapters of “Blue Book” (coming out twice a month) and the first part of THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH: WILD FICTIONS, a text-piece companion that’s the type of thing that often shows up at the back of issues in Brubaker books.

Zdarsky has two series going at once, and three parts of each out. No free previews, so no idea how long each chapter is.

The Discover page gives a very rough estimate of how many subscribers each newsletter has. Hickman, Tynion, and Snyder all have “thousands of subscribers,” the rest have “hundreds of subscribers.”

https://substack.com/discover/category/comics/paid

3 users thanked author for this post.

Todd, DavidM, Dave

Thanks Paul. Interesting to know. So far I’ve only seen the first instalments of the two Tynion books (as I was previously signed up to his email before the substack deal) and it wasn’t enough to get me to sign up to the paid version. Be interesting to see if any popular comics come out of this experiment.

I’m subscribed to both Tynion’s and Hickman’s. I would have subscribed to Snyder’s as well, but his is based around a comic writing class and my dreams of being a comic writer are long behind me.

Tynion’s is formed of 3 weekly newsletters. The free one, the Bat one and the comic one. Being the Bat-fan that I am, I’m enjoying the behind the scenes stuff he is sharing, but it’s definitely a niche item. Funnily enough I haven’t read the Blue Book comics yet, although chapter 3 of that comes out this week. Not for lack of interest, but time (more on that later).

Interestingly, given the earlier conversations we had about delivery methodology, Substack comics are now accessible via the iOS Panels app. This gives you a ComiXology like reading experience that is much better than reading them through the newsletter email/ webpage.

Hickman et al’s service is quite different. As well as the comics and world building diagrams/ schematics/ info dumps that you would expect from him; he is also doing a bunch of community building events. He had a live interview with Grant Morrison a while back, that was slightly marred by technical issues but definitely an interesting discussion. Last weekend he also hosted the first of a live watch along of a film, with simultaneous community discussion. I didn’t participate in that but others seem to have enjoyed it.

The comics themselves are still getting started. It’s fairly standard science fiction at this stage. Entertaining but hardly mind blowing at this point. Still, if you like that type of thing (which I do), that’s good enough.

The funny thing is, with both services up and running, I find myself frequently struggling to just keep up with the emails as they arrive. I’m notoriously bad at keeping on top of my inbox at work. I don’t know why I thought I would manage any better in my leisure time either. Some habits are hard to break.

6 users thanked author for this post.

paul f, Ben, Dave, garjones, Todd, DavidM

Liefeld’s latest “Robservations” podcast is a long interview with Erik Larsen – @njerry might be interested as a fellow Fin-addict.

2 users thanked author for this post.

JRCarter, njerry

https://imagecomics.com/press-releases/the-kurt-busiek-universe-comes-to-image-comics-with-new-arrowsmith-astro-city-more-in-2022

PORTLAND, Ore. 10/08/2021 — Kurt Busiek, the bestselling writer of Avengers, Superman, Thunderbolts, Iron Man, JLA, and more, is returning to Image in a big way in 2022, with new entries in fan-favorite series, including Astro City, Arrowsmithand others, plus new creations and more, as he brings his creator-owned work to Image Comics as his primary publisher.

“I’m thrilled to be back at Image and glad to be working with Eric Stephenson and the whole crew here,” said Busiek. “Image is the best comics publisher for creator-owned work, so it’s very nice to be bringing my books together here, where they can be available as a group, supported by the team here—and sitting alongside such great series as Saga, The Walking Dead, Criminal, Savage Dragon and so many more. And not just because Image is only about twenty minutes from where I live, so I can actually drop by the place, once the pandemic is in the rearview. My creative partners and I are looking forward to a having a home for the work we’re doing now and lots of new ideas to come.”

Chief Creative Officer and Publisher at Image Comics, Eric Stephenson, is just as excited Kurt is making the move to Image. “When I was editing comics for Extreme Studios back in the ’90s, one of my big regrets was that I couldn’t close the deal on getting Kurt Busiek to write Supreme, so working with Kurt to make Image the home for all of his creator-owned work—from Astro City to Arrowsmith to Autumnlands and more—has been nothing short of a thrill. In addition to being one of comics’ finest writers, Kurt is also a magnet for equally talented artists, and we couldn’t be happier to see the Image ‘i’ on work by the likes of Carlos Pacheco, Brent Anderson, Alex Ross, Ben Dewey, Stephen Mooney, Jordie Bellaire, and Alex Sinclair.”

First up, Busiek and superstar artist Carlos Pacheco (Fantastic Four, Avengers Forever, Final Crisis, X-Men, Superman) bring fans the much-anticipated return of Arrowsmith in Arrowsmith: Behind Enemy Lines. This six issue miniseries launches from Image Comics in January 2022—followed in February by an oversized, fully re-mastered hardcover collected edition of the original series.

In March, Arrowsmith will be joined by the return of Astro City, Busiek’s collaboration with Brent Anderson, Alex Ross, and Alex Sinclair, first with an Astro City one-shot special introducing new characters and setting the stage for upcoming dangers for the city and the world, plus new collected editions that will make the entire Astro City backlist available again.

Longtime fans will also be treated to a new urban-fantasy graphic novel, The Gods on Sunday Morning, from the whole Astro City team, after which they begin a new ongoing run on the acclaimed series.

Also in the works is Free Agents, a new series launch from Busiek with co-writer Fabian Nicieza and artist Stephen Mooney and the return of Autumnlands from Busiek with Benjamin Dewey and Jordie Bellaire, all planned for late 2022.

6 users thanked author for this post.

Ian Smith, DavidM, njerry, Martin Smith, Sean Robinson, Ben

Fucking hell – I want all of those.

Great to have Astro City back but also…. Autumnlands! Thought that was a dead series.

Never got into Arrowsmith but an OHC for series 1? All right then.

Wow, Busiek’s really kicking into gear. Incredibly, I’ve still not read any of Astro City, but I’m keen to give it a go. And Arrowsmith too.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Ben

Martin Smith wrote:

I’ve still not read any of Astro City

Was it a long prison sentence, or a coma?

4 users thanked author for this post.

DavidM, Martin Smith, Ben, Todd

Arrowsmith was great, although it has been a while since the first series (18 years almost, I think it will be).

1 user thanked author for this post.

Ben

I’ve dipped into Astro City previously and wanted to read more of it but the previous collections were tricky to navigate in terms of reading order. Hopefully the new ones will be more clearly numbered.

njerry wrote:

Martin Smith wrote:

I’ve still not read any of Astro City

Was it a long prison sentence, or a coma?

I thought restraining orders applied to books too.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Dave, njerry

Dave wrote:

I’ve dipped into Astro City previously and wanted to read more of it but the previous collections were tricky to navigate in terms of reading order. Hopefully the new ones will be more clearly numbered.

There’s some recurring characters, but most of the stories are stand-alone and have different characters, so the order doesn’t matter most of the time. The only “long” story arc they ever did was the 16-part The Dark Age storyline, which stretched on far too long (especially as, due to delays, those 16 issues took five years to come out).

2 users thanked author for this post.

Ben, Dave

paul f wrote:

There’s some recurring characters, but most of the stories are stand-alone and have different characters, so the order doesn’t matter most of the time.

Good to know, thanks.

I’d still like to know the best reading order though, I guess by release date if possible. Aspects like watching how the writing and art develop can be weird when you read issues out of sequence.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Martin Smith

Go with publication order Dave.

They built a lot of things up over time but not sequentially, more like mosaic tiles in random order at first, then you start making connections.

It generally flits between short and long stories.  The biggest long form story was the Dark Ages but Busiek did a longer running plot across the last DC published run.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Dave

Astro City is crying out for a set of coherently numbered collected editions. Yes, theoretically you can read the various existing collections in any order and it will still make sense, but tracking them all down and making sure you’ve got everything from all the different  imprints must be almost impossible now. Plus, it’s nice to have everything in the same trade dress.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Vikram, Ben, Dave

https://www.polygon.com/comics/2021/10/9/22717122/saga-comic-55-return-date-brian-k-vaughan-fiona-staples

Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ epic is coming back to shelves

Y: The Last Man writer Brian K. Vaughan, together with artist Fiona Staples, made a long-awaited announcement today at Vaughan’s spotlight panel at the 2021 New York Comic Con. Saga — their heart-wrenching, twist-filled, sexy, violent, operatic space epic — will return to publication after a lengthy hiatus in 2022.

“I’ve really missed connecting with readers through the pages of Saga,” Staples said via news release, “so I’m thrilled to roll up my sleeves and dive into this world again. The next arc is already going places I never imagined.”

Saga #55 will be an extra-long issue — 44 pages rather than the usual 22 — for the same price. The book will hit shelves on Jan. 26, 2022.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Ian Smith, garjones, Ben

Just for the record, the Wikipedia list of trades provides a complete and coherent reading order for all three volumes of ASTRO CITY:
Astro City Volume 1: Life in the Big City (ISBN 1-56389-551-X, collects Astro City vol. 1 #1–6)
Astro City Volume 2: Confession (ISBN 1-56389-550-1, collects Astro City vol. 2 #1/2, 4–9)
Astro City Volume 3: Family Album (ISBN 1-56389-552-8, collects Astro City vol. 2 #1–3, 10–13)
Astro City Volume 4: Tarnished Angel (ISBN 1-56389-663-X, collects Astro City vol. 2 #14–20)
Astro City Volume 5: Local Heroes (ISBN 1401202845, collects Astro City vol. 2 #21–22, Astro City: Local Heroes #1–5, Astro City Special: Supersonic, “Since the Fire”)
Astro City Volume 6: The Dark Age Book One: Brothers and Other Strangers (ISBN 9781401220778, collects Astro City: The Dark Age vol. 1 #1–4, Vol. 2 #1–4)
Astro City Volume 7: The Dark Age Book Two: Brothers in Arms (ISBN 1401228437, collects Astro City: The Dark Age vol. 3 #1–4, vol. 4 #1–4)
Astro City Volume 8: Shining Stars (ISBN 978-1401229849, collects Astro City: Samaritan Special, Astro City: Astra #1–2, Astro City: Silver Agent #1–2 and Astro City: Beautie #1)
Astro City Volume 9: Through Open Doors (ISBN 978-1401247522, collects Astro City vol. 3 #1–6)
Astro City Volume 10: Victory (ISBN 978-1401250577, collects Astro City vol. 3 #7–10, Astro City Visitor’s Guide #1)
Astro City Volume 11: Private Lives (ISBN 978-1401254599, collects Astro City vol. 3 #11–16)
Astro City Volume 12: Lovers Quarrel (ISBN 978-1401258252, collects Astro City vol. 3 #18–21, 23-24)
Astro City Volume 13: Honor Guard (ISBN 978-1401263874, collects Astro City vol. 3 #17, 22, 25, 27-28, 31)
Astro City Volume 14: Reflections (ISBN 978-1401274924, collects Astro City vol. 3 #26, 29-30, 32–34)
Astro City Volume 15: Ordinary Heroes (ISBN 978-1401274931, collects Astro City vol. 3 #35-36, 39-40, 42, 44)
Astro City Volume 16: Broken Melody (ISBN 978-1401281496, collects Astro City vol. 3 #37-38, 41, 43, 45-46)
Astro City Volume 17: Aftermaths (ISBN 978-1401289447, collects Astro City vol. 3 #47–52)

3 users thanked author for this post.

DavidM, garjones, Ben

Of all those stories, my favorite is still the ASTRO CITY #1/2 tale, “The Nearness of You”. My heart breaks a little each time I read it.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Ben

njerry wrote:

Just for the record, the Wikipedia list of trades provides a complete and coherent reading order for all three volumes of ASTRO CITY:
Astro City Volume 1: Life in the Big City (ISBN 1-56389-551-X, collects Astro City vol. 1 #1–6)
Astro City Volume 2: Confession (ISBN 1-56389-550-1, collects Astro City vol. 2 #1/2, 4–9)
Astro City Volume 3: Family Album (ISBN 1-56389-552-8, collects Astro City vol. 2 #1–3, 10–13)
Astro City Volume 4: Tarnished Angel (ISBN 1-56389-663-X, collects Astro City vol. 2 #14–20)
Astro City Volume 5: Local Heroes (ISBN 1401202845, collects Astro City vol. 2 #21–22, Astro City: Local Heroes #1–5, Astro City Special: Supersonic, “Since the Fire”)
Astro City Volume 6: The Dark Age Book One: Brothers and Other Strangers (ISBN 9781401220778, collects Astro City: The Dark Age vol. 1 #1–4, Vol. 2 #1–4)
Astro City Volume 7: The Dark Age Book Two: Brothers in Arms (ISBN 1401228437, collects Astro City: The Dark Age vol. 3 #1–4, vol. 4 #1–4)
Astro City Volume 8: Shining Stars (ISBN 978-1401229849, collects Astro City: Samaritan Special, Astro City: Astra #1–2, Astro City: Silver Agent #1–2 and Astro City: Beautie #1)
Astro City Volume 9: Through Open Doors (ISBN 978-1401247522, collects Astro City vol. 3 #1–6)
Astro City Volume 10: Victory (ISBN 978-1401250577, collects Astro City vol. 3 #7–10, Astro City Visitor’s Guide #1)
Astro City Volume 11: Private Lives (ISBN 978-1401254599, collects Astro City vol. 3 #11–16)
Astro City Volume 12: Lovers Quarrel (ISBN 978-1401258252, collects Astro City vol. 3 #18–21, 23-24)
Astro City Volume 13: Honor Guard (ISBN 978-1401263874, collects Astro City vol. 3 #17, 22, 25, 27-28, 31)
Astro City Volume 14: Reflections (ISBN 978-1401274924, collects Astro City vol. 3 #26, 29-30, 32–34)
Astro City Volume 15: Ordinary Heroes (ISBN 978-1401274931, collects Astro City vol. 3 #35-36, 39-40, 42, 44)
Astro City Volume 16: Broken Melody (ISBN 978-1401281496, collects Astro City vol. 3 #37-38, 41, 43, 45-46)
Astro City Volume 17: Aftermaths (ISBN 978-1401289447, collects Astro City vol. 3 #47–52)

I think I may have read that a while back and decided that I didn’t much fancy reading trades where the issues were printed out of sequence. Hopefully the new trades collect everything in order.

It doesn’t look like it would, but for this series, issues not being traded in exact order published has no bad effects on it.

Yeah Astro City, at the beginning anyway as I dipped out with the Dark Age delays,  is a bit like Criminal in that it’s individual stories set in a world that only sometimes intersect rather than one continuous saga.

I suspect with a creator owned book that Busiek has probably asked for that order but I guess we’ll see when the Image editions come out.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Ben

Thanks all. I’ll probably check out the new editions either way.

Dave wrote:

I think I may have read that a while back and decided that I didn’t much fancy reading trades where the issues were printed out of sequence. Hopefully the new trades collect everything in order.

The primary reason the books aren’t collected exactly in the order they were originally published is to juggle the one-and-done issues with the multi-issue stories while averaging 6 or 7 issues per TPB. The second trade, for example, collects the 6-issue Confession storyline that ran through issues 4-9 (vol.2), while the third TPB collected issues 1-3 and 10-13. If they had collected the issues in order, the Confession story would’ve been split between two trades.

Dark Horse does something similar with the Hellboy and other Mignola trades.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Dave, Ben

There’s not a digital comics thread anymore but having not checked into Comixology for a long time I notice some good sales on now. I’ve snapped up a few things – Michel Fiffe’s Bloodstrike collection, Erik Larsen’s Ant issue, the Battle Chasers complete collection, Batman: Ghosts by Sam Keith, DC Universe by Mignola, Vol. 1 of Hitman, and Batman Noir Collection by Eduardo Risso.

I’m tossing up whether to get the Spawn Compendium vol.1 – the first 50 issues for USD23.99 instead of 47.99…

You can now read Comixology books in your Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/comixology/account

There’s no grouping though, so you just get thousands of comics showing up individually in your Kindle library:

You can sort by title, but even that does that annoying thing where numbers are sorted alphabetically so that it goes 1, 10, 11, 12… ,2, 20, 21… ,3, 30, 31, etc.

There’s no way to go from one issue to the next at the end, you have to go back to the library and manually click on the next issue.

EDIT: The grouping eventually showed up. It seems to have to scan your library and do it itself, looking for patterns, and there’s still some series it shows as separate issues/volumes.

Marvel character or font? I got 15/20…

https://marvel-or-font.web.app/

1 user thanked author for this post.

DavidM

That was a bit of fun, I got 15 too.

Jack Kirby’s Unpublishable, Eyebrow Arching Novel Has Reappeared

1 user thanked author for this post.

DavidM

1 user thanked author for this post.

paul f

Todd wrote:

Jack Kirby’s Unpublishable, Eyebrow Arching Novel Has Reappeared

Sounds like a bit of a train wreck. Perhaps better not to release it.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

Said no publisher ever.

Hence Terry Pratchett directing that his remaining writing bits ‘n’ pieces be bulldozed.

2 users thanked author for this post.

DavidM, Todd

Ben wrote:

Said no publisher ever.

Hence Terry Pratchett directing that his remaining writing bits ‘n’ pieces be bulldozed.

So did Kafka.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

The Very Best Comics of 2021

Robert Kirkman’s Skybound looking to acquire Transformers and GI Joe licenses.

Not really sure what benefit there is to this for Hasbro given

a) Skybound exists mainly print Kirkman’s comics

b) and create comics that it can sell licenses of to other media

c) Kirkman seemingly won’t be writing either comic

d) I doubt most people could name one of their comics other than Walking Dead and Invincible (which have both ended).

I’m not saying IDW should definitely keep the licenses – they’ve been pretty clueless with GI Joe especially the entire time they’ve had it – but if they move,  there are better options than Skybound. Boom for instance.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

Dark Horse Comics bought by video game giant Embracer

Comics publisher Dark Horse has been acquired by Embracer Group, the Sweden-based parent company that includes publishing and development studios Gearbox Software, THQ Nordic, Saber Interactive, Koch Media, Deep Silver, and Coffee Stain Studios. Embracer’s latest acquisition — announced a week after its planned buyout of tabletop game giant Asmodee — adds Dark Horse’s library of more than 300 intellectual properties, the company said in a news release Tuesday.

Buying Dark Horse, Embracer says, “strengthens its transmedia capabilities by adding expertise in content development, comics publishing, and film & TV production.”

“Additionally, there is untapped potential in creating games based on Dark Horse IP and substantial opportunity for synergies within the Embracer group, both within the Dark Horse Comics and Dark Horse Entertainment,” Embracer Group said in a statement.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Dave, Todd

paul f wrote:

adds Dark Horse’s library of more than 300 intellectual properties,

That can’t be an accurate number, surely?

Martin Smith wrote:

paul f wrote:

adds Dark Horse’s library of more than 300 intellectual properties,

That can’t be an accurate number, surely?

I think if you include the many, many 3 or 4-issue minis published over 30 years you’re definitely up there.

I’m a bit sceptical of that  given how much creator owned DHC went.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Dave

Yeah, I can’t think of much of anything Dark Horse have that a video game company would see the worth in purchasing. Hellboy, I guess, though I thought that was owned by Mignola. I suppose any random concept or idea could be used to make a decent video game with enough effort and care, but it doesn’t seem the gold-mine that Marvel or 2000AD were when bought up.

Could be something like DC where their “creator-owned” deal gives Warners first refusal on anything they publish

I’m guessing it was more about https://www.dhentertainment.com/about/

Ed Brubaker Humble Bundle, with Criminal, The Fade Out, Fatale, Velvet, Kill or be Killed, and more: https://www.humblebundle.com/books/ed-brubaker-image-comics-books

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

How complete is that bundle in terms of the series it contains?

Pretty much complete Bruce I think. Without deep study I can’t see much that isn’t finished.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Bruce

In that case…

Damn, news has hit the net that Ryan Bodenheim has died.  He was 44.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

Ben wrote:

Damn, news has hit the net that Ryan Bodenheim has died.  He was 44.

Fucking hell!

Artist Ryan Bodenheim Dies at 44

No cause of death has been given.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Ben

So sad. I enjoyed some stuff he did over a decade ago with Jonathan Hickman for Image (A RED MASS FOR MARS, DYING AND THE DEAD, and SECRET). 44 is way too young to die.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Todd

Was Dying For The Dead ever finished?

Ben wrote:

Was Dying For The Dead ever finished?

Not even close, as I recall. It was originally supposed to be 10 issues, but I think only 5 or 6 issues were released. But Bodenheim’s art was a highlight.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Ben

Been going through a load of long boxes following a house move recently, and came across a bunch of comics by Mike Carey. The awesome X-Men run with Bachalo and Ramos; Lucifer; and his brilliant Hellblazer run. Left me wondering what happened to him? I don’t think I’ve seen anything from him since The Unwritten wrapped up, other than one of the Joe Hill mini-series. Anyone know why he seems to have left comics behind?

1 user thanked author for this post.

Ben

Didn’t he move more toward TV and film work after his Girl With All The Gifts novel was a success?

1 user thanked author for this post.

Vikram

He did a few things for Boom Studios and IDW (The Highest House was pretty good) but he’s become a “one book a year” novelist. I knew him a little bit about 10-15 years ago (he used to come into the library I worked at with his kids). Nice guy but I’d guess he’s now early 60s and his kids will now be grown up so he probably is at the “winding down” stage of his career.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Vikram, Todd

Yeah I think it is mainly his success with his novels. He’s written 16 of them which is a good amount for a novelist, Paul Cornell seems similar, he ventures into comics a bit but novels seem his focus now.

Not everyone can be Dan Abnett who will write 3 novels a year and US comics and several strips for 2000ad. That guy surely did a deal with the devil to never have to sleep.

4 users thanked author for this post.

Rocket, Vikram, Todd, Ben