Happy 2010 from CBF!
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We’ve arrived at the next decade. Hope everybody enjoyed themselves in 2009 and are prepared for more fury from Mike and myself in 2010. Marvel definitely seemed to enjoy the last of 2009 with the official acquisition of them by Disney made known yesterday.
As we prepare to see what the comic world has to offer this year, we’d like to see what you wish to see come out of 2010 in comic books. We already know Blackest Night is wrapping up in DC, Siege is just getting started in Marvel, and Vertigo is continually pushing new and fresh material at alarming rates. What do you expect to see come out of these books and others? What would you want to see overall this year?
Let us know your thoughts and resolutions for the year to come. We already know what Wolverine’s are. What do you say, bub?
Indeed…
CBF Thoughts – Interesting Comic Sales Numbers for Oct ‘09
I thought this would be interesting to post after listening to IGN Comic’s latest podcast. Check out this link on the latest sales figures for comics last month.
Typically, Marvel and DC had a significant gap in sales numbers the last couple of years, with Marvel usually being ahead in that gap. Note the 3% difference this time for last month’s numbers. Obviously Blackest Night has a lot to do with that and for good reason, as you’ve heard so much from Mike and I the last few podcasts regarding the series, but it makes me wonder as well if Marvel is losing steam due to this “event fatigue” what with Dark Reign lasting for as long as it’s been amongst the other big arcs they’ve done. Granted, DC just did Final Crisis not too long ago and everybody’s still scratching their heads over it, but it seems DC has cut off that fat by taking a book that’s been handled brilliantly by Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi and giving them the reins on a properly handled event.
Marvel also just announced recently that Siege will start in January too as a 4-part series and says that would end the whole “big event” they’ve supposedly started back with the “Avengers Disassembled” arc many years ago. Maybe that’s what it’ll take to get Marvel to increase the sales gap, as I’m sure people would love to see things go back to self-contained stories.
Should be an interesting ride next year – maybe we’ll see Hawkman back in his own book again, just like Mike wanted. Right, Mike? 
Disney buys Marvel for 4 billion – My Thoughts
So this has been quite an interesting start to the week, wouldn’t you say so? In case folks are still coming out of weekend hibernation, Disney is finalizing their acquisition of Marvel Entertainment for a whopping 4 billion dollars. Two articles I found that go into more detail are here from IGN and here from iFanboy.
This is obviously now the biggest story to hit us comic nerds in quite some time, especially when you consider the attention DC’s been getting lately with the Blackest Night books and Batman 3 movie rumors. I’ve been following all sorts of Twitter accounts today and measuring their reactions to the news and for the most part, the future of Marvel’s work is uncertain and yet very promising. I can agree with that assessment because Disney has been smart in keeping their acquisitions in the state they were beforehand. Take Pixar for example – they were acquired in 2006 and it’s safe to say Pixar is still scoring hits each summer and with the same witty creativity too.
Here’s an excerpt from The Feed, G4’s news department, as to what I’m talking about (full article here):
“In 2006, Disney purchased Pixar animation. There was fear at the time that Pixar movies would henceforth feature pop-culture-wiseguy sidekicks in the vein of Disney animation movies, and that Pixar films would creep toward the Disney formula and eventually all be stories of self-empowered princesses. But if you look at what Pixar has produced since then (Wall-E, Up), that’s almost the opposite of what’s happened. If anything, Pixar has been allowed to be more creative, adult and less “Disney” over the years.
Disney has a long history of buying “edgier” companies that dates back to the early 90s, when it bought Miramax, leading to fears among fanboys and film-geeks that Miramax’s cutting-edge content would be censored and watered down. It didn’t happen, and I don’t think it’s going to happen here.”
Mike and I are hoping to find some time tonight to do an impromptu podcast on the news. Keep checking the site and the CBF Twitter feed as we hear more info throughout the week.
Blackest Night Has Arrived
It’s finally here.
Two years of hype built since the last issue of Sinestro Corps War has come to this. What both Geoff Johns and Peter Tomasi have been doing for the main Green Lantern books during this timeframe has been amazing, but now it’s time to take off the kid gloves. Mike and I both picked up issue #1 today and while we will definitely will be talking about this in more detail in our next podcast, I just wanted to share a quick two cents and then sign off.
And that is just simply…..wow.
Obviously we have seven more parts to go in this DC comics event, but if this book is any indication, we’re in for a wild ride. A good build up, lots of drama, and then they hit you hard with what’s to come. Fantastic.
Be on the lookout for the next podcast – we got a LOT to talk about.
28 Strangest Comic Books Based On TV Shows
I found this on tvmunchies.com. I forgot about the cop show Sledge Hammer in the late 80’s. If I remember right, Hammer caused a nuclear explosion in the season 1 finale. Season 2 began with the old “One Year Previously” routine. It was canceled soon after.
I think I may have one of the Battlestar Galactica comics around. Lorne Greene, best TV death ever.
Enjoy 28 Strangest Comic Books Based On TV Shows
Anatomy of the Comic Book: The Dark Knight Returns
Re-boots seems to be all the craze nowadays in movies. Batman was brought back to audiences four years ago and showed what the character and his universe was really made of (Heath Ledger would have something to do with that in the sequel). I also recently saw Star Trek, which refreshed a franchise in dire need of new direction and yet still honored the spirit of the franchise.
It’s only fitting then that I start off my blog series about relevant comic books with a re-boot that brought the Batman of the comic books out of the campy terrain:
- Dark Knight Returns
Before this book hit the stands, Batman was all about Adam West and the Bat-Tusi in the 60’s. The campy nature of the show became a hit, but at the same time, it made the character one not to be taken too seriously in the books. Rotating writers in the 70’s and early 80’s made efforts to bring the character back to his dark roots, but it was 1986 that saw Frank Miller put Batman back on top of the food chain.
Comic book enthusiasts know Miller well from bringing a similar darker edge back to Daredevil and Wolverine around the same time frame. His independent work on Sin City and 300 would become feature films as well. This dark, edgy style was the kind of boost Batman needed and would help remind us who he is and why he is the way he is.
Dark Knight Returns gives us a 55-year-old Bruce Wayne long retired from the crime-fighting business, but seeing his city still crumbling under the might of old and new villains. Not one able to enjoy retirement for too long, he dons the cowl once more and revamps his tactics to take on this new, violent society. The book is renowned for helping to bring more adult-oriented storytelling to the books and put characters in new lights (a female Robin, a government puppet in Superman, Joker just an unfunny psycho, etc.). It also (like Watchmen) spoke of a society in the Cold War going to actual war and what its characters’ values spoke of those events.
I also take personal satisfaction in the last issue when Batman must confront a Superman that has to bring him in. Say what you want about all the help he needed; the sight of Batman kicking the Man of Steel to the floor is a sight that won’t leave me.
What’s interesting about this book is that it speaks volumes as to what Mike and I spoke about in our last podcast regarding Neil Gaiman’s ‘Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?‘. Batman is a character that is relentless in his quest to put fear into the criminal element. The only way he can ever see himself out of the game is if he was dead. No amount of golf or emptying the family wine coolers would bring satisfaction. It’s a sad story to see, but it brings the kind of depth to a character that can be difficult to replicate at times.
This darker edge has resulted in many superb stories from The Killing Joke to Knightfall. It transferred over into the animated and movie realms and the rest is history. Read Dark Knight Returns and tell us what you think.
Anatomy of the Comic Book
I routinely get asked what’s so fascinating about reading stories of spandex-clad super-heroes in the comics. I’ll get remarks that it’s just “nerd” material, just for kids, or that I need to get outside more. Granted, I do question at times why Superman wears red underwear outside his costume, but hey, he’s still fully clothed and that’s all that matters…
There’s a lot to be said about the comic book itself and what it brought to the table throughout history. When people were first introduced to Captain America in the 40’s, it was a response to our fears about how the U.S. will fare in WWII. When the X-Men were introduced in the 60’s, it spoke volumes about the racial prejudice prominent to that period. Then there were the stories that brought things down to a more personal scale. Spider-Man brought us a character that not only fought crime, but dealt with real-life issues most high school and college students could relate to. The Fantastic Four showed us that even super-hero families have relational issues and can still work them out. Combine these with the sci-fi aspects that comes with being super heroes and you can see why comics have outlasted economic turmoil and critic bashing over the years.
Of course, being that comics have been a visual medium for the longest time, there comes a time when the emphasis on art is stronger than emphasis on writing. Enter the early 90’s. Artists became superstars. Publishers produced hundreds of covers for almost every single issue. It was the “in” thing to collect and sell at later times. Storytelling took a back seat while artwork helped rack in the dough.
Then the market became saturated with thousands of useless issues that weren’t being collected. Consumers realized the deteriorating value behind these issues. Retailers and publishers lost millions. Marvel declared bankruptcy in 1996. The bare-bones storytelling became more noticeable and many fan-favorite characters suffered via cancellations. The industry started to re-think the direction behind its heroes as well as other areas they can explore.
The mid 90’s started to show the potential of the medium through Neil Gaiman’s Sandman, which Mike touched upon in our first podcast.
It was a different approach, delving into and re-inventing the mythologies Gaiman wanted to play with. It went away from the conventional super hero books and showed that comics could be as just a respected reading medium as any novel on the bookshelves. DC took notice and created its “Vertigo” line to accommodate creator-owned lines and new universes.
Fables, Y: The Last Man, Ex Machina, and more would help in grabbing old readers disenchanted by the old superhero stories and new readers looking for innovative storytelling. The superhero books would follow after DC and Marvel discovered a new crop of writers that could re-invent their images. And while today’s sales numbers may not reach the numbers the 80’s and early 90’s brought, comics are getting a new kind of respect that has resulted in writers being offered TV gigs and comic properties becoming high-grossing movies.
My next few posts will highlight the books I feel are helping to realize the medium’s potential. Feel free to suggest any you feel deserve to be up on that list. Enjoy!