NEWS YOU CAN(‘T REALLY) USE!

The latest tidbits on comics and media spawned by comics.  But first, if you’re looking for something to read, and you’re looking for DC not Marvel (then that’s your first mistake!) may I suggest the following: Batgirl/Robin Year One.  Both of these stories have been released as standalones, but now the stories are combined.  Batgirl Year One is easily the best Batgirl comic I’ve ever read, and Robin Year One is some of Chuck Dixon’s best work.  Plus, there’s art by Marcos Martin and you can’t beat that.  Over 400 pages for $25 bucks (reprints BGYO #1-9 and Robin #1-4).  There’s also a new Animal Man Omnibus that reprints Grant Morrison’s entire run—700 pages for $75.  If you haven’t read it yet, you can’t beat that price and it’s one of the best supercomics ever.  That’s not my opinion, it’s fact.  In addition to my suggested reading, I suggest you avoid all DC New 52 trades coming out in the next few months.  DC really has slipped dramatically in terms of quality.

Hit the break for the latest on the tie-in between Runaways and Uncanny X-Force, why you still shouldn’t care about Green Lantern, the latest Marvel creators to go across the street to DC, and much more!

JANUARY 2013 COMIC BOOK SALES #s…

It’s looking like a Happy New Year for Marvel, and for comic books in general.  Dan Slott’s remake of Spider-Man, in which Doc Ock occupies Peter Parker’s body, seems to resonate with fans.  Superior Spider-Man handily crushed all competition, with the first issue coming in at #1 for the month and the double-shipped second issue coming in fifth.  The entire top 10 for loose comic issues (i.e., non-trade paperbacks), was:

1.   Superior Spider-Man #1 (proving that a risky-but-high-quality comic can pay off)

2.  Batman #16

3.  Justice League #16 (proving that fans don’t always buy quality books)

4.  New Avengers #1

5.  Superior Spidey #2

6.  Savage Wolverine #1

7.  Uncanny Avengers #3 

8.  Detective Comics #16

9.  Avengers #3

10.  Uncanny X-Force #1

Interestingly, the double-shipped issues of All-New X-Men, Brian Michael Bendis’ X-title, were #13 and 15.  Before Marvel Now, Bendis regularly had two Avengers titles in the top 10.  Plus, All-New X-Men is probably the best work he’s done in years (other than Powers), so I’m kind of surprised it’s not in the top 10.  Top 20 is still good—especially with so many #1 issues coming out every month—but I’m just surprised that Uncanny X-Men is outselling it.  UXM is a far inferior product.

The bestselling indie comic continues to be Walking Dead, which cracked the top 20—an amazing feat for any indie comic.  You have to go all the way down to #52 to find another indie book in the top 100 and that one, too, is written by Kirkman (Invincible).

On the graphic novel front, we see lots of Walking Dead (no surprise) and DC.  Marvel never does real well on the graphic novel front—I don’t know why—although the reissue of Stan Lee and Moebius’ magnificent Silver Surfer comic did come in fourth.

Perhaps the most remarkable piece of datatrivia is that overall comic book sales through Diamond Comic Distributors increased 25% over January 2012.  (Graphic Novel sales increased a whopping 38%, which must make Robert Kirkman very, very happy.)  In fact, the overall trend for the past 10 years has been upwards—despite the recent hullaballoo about digital piracy hurting comic sales.

MORE D.C. CANCELLATIONS AND LOTS OF NEWS SHOWING MARVEL IS BETTER

Not even a “new” banner could get people to buy comics about Firestorm and Hawkman.  They are stupid characters who look stupid, and they’ve never been able to support a book for any length of time.  DC is also cancelling part of its horrible, misguided efforts to mainstream Wildstorm and a few others: Deathstroke, Ravagers, Sword of Sorcery and Team 7.  Hawkman will go back where be belongs: The Justice League B-Team (the new JLA book).   Amethyst will move over the Justice League Dark.  Gemworld was a horrible comic from its inception way back in the 1980s.  Why did DC revive it?  Is that really “new?”  I mean, the only stupider idea I can think of is reviving He-Man.  Oh.  Wait.

I also think it’s time to stop calling it the “New 52,” especially since most of the titles are just rehashing the same stories that were told—and told better—in the original DCU.  Of course, Marvel Now! will always be now.  That’s the brilliance of calling it “now.”  Once again, Marvel is smarter than DC.

Click on “more” for news about the new Iron Man cartoon, Star Wars, the next big Marvel event, and much more….

COMIC BOOK NEWS

Yes, I’ve been neglecting news for a while due to the slow news cycle at the end of January, being horrendously busy at my paying job, and having the flu (arg!).  But I’m back, with news about a new Brian Wood Marvel comic, X-movies, and more…But first: I can’t wait for this one.  Ethan and Malachai Nicolle’s Axe Cop is a bizarre free-for-all action comic that begs—nay, demands!—to be televised.  It will arrive on Fox on July 27^th at 11 at night, with voice work from Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Patton Oswalt, Ken Marino and Tyler the Creator.

Now, hit the break for more.

WE’RE IN THE SLOW NEWS CYCLE TIME…

The two weeks before the New Year are typically slow, so not much to report…Hit “more” for news on cartoons, the DMZ TV show, and more. Let’s look at this trailer and then click the break for news.

WEEKLY GEEKLY NEWS

The trade paperback for Space Punisher and the hardcover of the beautifully illustrated and profanely wonderful Butcher Baker The Righteous Maker came out last week, and the second volume of the absolutely brilliant horror comic Rachel Rising came out as well.  Two books worth your money.

Oh, and there’s this.

The news is next.

MARVEL NOW!—so how is it?

Marvel NOW! began in October of this year, and continues through February 2013.  Unlike the DC “hard reboot” that was New 52, Marvel Now! is a “soft reintroduction” of most of its major characters with new #1 issues and new creative teams.  If you think about it, it’s a great way to spread out the sales DC saw with 52 #1 issues in one month over the course of five months.  Spreading out the #1s also helps those of us with limited budgets who can’t buy everyone in one 30-day period.  Smart thinking, Marvel!  If there’s a penny to be snatched up, leave it to the House of Ideas to figure out how to get it.

Marvel has exactly half as many “new #1s” as DC did (26 #1 issues are scheduled), but it’s also using the “event” as an excuse to cancel quite a few underperforming titles; revamp some titles that have begun to slip a bit; and introduce comic books that will more closely resemble the real moneymaker: Marvel Studios’ planned film and television projects.

Of course, if the actual comic books suck, then none of this matters.  After the break, I’m racking and rating the ones that have come out so far—being that we’re over halfway through the reboo—I mean, relaunch—and most of the major titles have come out already.  My ratings and musings appear after the break but, spoiler alert, Marvel is doing much, much better than DC.

No real surprise there, though, is there?

MARVEL SELLS OUT!

Yes, they did do it after DC did it.  But once again, Marvel did it better.  The eight Marvel Now! issues that came out in November all cracked the top 10—pushing DC out almost entirely—and sold over 100,000 copies each.  That hasn’t happened in five years, including during the new 52.  The #1 seller was, no surprise, All New X-Men #1; here’s the top ten:

1. All New X-Men #1
2. Batman #14
3. Captain America #1
4. Deadpool #1
5. Indestructible Hulk #1
6. Iron Man #1
7. Fantastic Four #1
8. Uncanny Avengers #2
9. Justice League #14
10. Thor God of Thunder #1

Bubbling under the top 10, in the top 20, were the second issues of All New X-Men, Deadpool and Iron Man, the rest of the Marvel Now #1s launched in November, Amazing Spider-Man #698, two Bat-books, Green Lantern, and My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic #1.  I don’t really understand what’s going on with that Pony thing.  Maybe I’m too old to understand comics anymore.

COMIC NEWS OF THE WEEK!

Above the fold news today: NO MORE WALKING DEAD FOR FIOS CUSTOMERS!  If you’re reading this and you subscribe to FIOS for your cable TV, they are thinking of dropping AMC.  If you’re a Walking Dead fan, please write to FIOS immediately at the “Save AMC” website.  If you’re not, please do it anyway on my behalf.

I can’t live without my undead!

Hit the break for Superman news (both film and print), new Mark Millar movie projects, a Keith Giffen property getting the big screen treatment, and much more…