The News Blog of Comics Culture
TweetBy Steve Morris In an interview with CBR, writer Rick Remender has confirmed that his ‘Final Execution’ arc of Uncanny X-Force will be his last on the title. Whether this leads to the book being cancelled and relaunched is anybody’s guess, although the most interesting news comes via Remender’s choice of words in the interview.
TweetBy Steve Morris In an interview with CBR, writer Rick Remender has confirmed that his ‘Final Execution’ arc of Uncanny X-Force will be his last on the title. Whether this leads to the book being cancelled and relaunched is anybody’s guess, although the most interesting news comes via Remender’s choice of words in the interview.
As retailers keep slashing their orders on Before Watchmen and the replacement “New 52″ titles, DC’s overall figures decline again in July. That, in itself, is not surprising, however, and the company is still doing quite well. I see no reason to disagree with anything prominent retailer Brian Hibbs said in his recent look at “New 52″ numbers. With regard to DC’s overall performance, Hibbs makes some of the same points that I’ve been making here in the months since the relaunch, and as far as his own store is concerned, his observations seem to match the market climate. “The reboot was a remarkable success,” Hibbs says, and: “There hardly could have been a better result.” I agree, all things (such as the stifled potential of the comic-book format and the stifling way the major publishers are set up now, structurally) considered.
But it’s also worth remembering that what we talk about now when we talk about comic-book sales that are “doing quite well” and a relaunch that’s “a remarkable success,” and note that “there hardly could have been a better result,” are the kinds of sales figures we used to see more regularly five years ago, when the DC Universe imprint was publishing fewer comic books than it is now. (From 2007 through 2009, the average number of published DC Universe titles was 52. From 2010 through August 2011, it went up to 57. Since the relaunch in September 2011, it’s been an average 63 DC Universe titles per month. “Keeping it at 52“? Not very much, Dan DiDio.)
It was a year for considering what has changed and what has stayed the same in comics at the Harvey Awards. While a new MC, Phil LaMarr, took the stage, many of the nominees for the awards appeared pretty evenly stacked between superhero works from Marvel and DC and indie publishers with a wide variety of material from adult to all-ages content. Another feature of the nominations was the predominance of multiple nods to the same works, leaving a certain amount of anticipation not just about what works and creators would win a Harvey, but even about how many Harveys might one particular nominee might garner.
Via PR, Penguin, which has been dabbling in the graphic novel field for quite a while, has finally announced its own Ink Lit line, to be headed by former DC and Yen publishing exec (and Beat contributor) Rich Johnson. In line with what has generally sold best in recent bookstore sales, the line will focus on adaptations of existing work by established SF and genre authors. The line launches next month with Alpha and Omega: Volume 1 by Patricia Briggs and Todd Herman, adapting the first book in Briggs’ Alpha and Omega series. Future contributors include Charlaine Harris, Chris Golden, Don Kramer, Laurell K. Hamilton, Karin Slaughter and Sage Stossel, who will be writing an original graphic novel.
Each year, Marvel SVP of Publishing Tom Brevoort gives a lecture on editing to younger Marvel staffers. At this year’s Baltimore Comic-Con, he presented the two-hour talk for the audience, as recounted by Alex Zalben. Although there’s definitely some “Marvel Way” in the talk, most of it was the kind of common sense that everyone needs drilled into them. However, it’s also a pretty interesting glimpse into the day-to-day thinking behind Marvel’s editorial decision making. The whole thing is worth a read, but a few selected excerpts to give the flava:
TweetBy Steve Morris The Thought Bubble Convention is considered to be one of the strongest in the UK, emphasising comics ahead of film or television. As a result, creators from all round the World have attended, from David Aja to Frank Quitely, Peter Milligan to Gail Simone. You can also find small-press and self-published creators [...]
TweetBy Steve Morris The Thought Bubble Convention is considered to be one of the strongest in the UK, emphasising comics ahead of film or television. As a result, creators from all round the World have attended, from David Aja to Frank Quitely, Peter Milligan to Gail Simone. You can also find small-press and self-published creators [...]
Just in case you were wondering, last week’s Farewell strip for Maakies was just another prank by creator Tony Millionaire, and the strip is still going strong. Great news!
Last Thursday, Millionaire posted the above script, provoking cries of anguish on Twitter along the lines of “Why Tony, why?”
Just in case you were wondering, last week’s Farewell strip for Maakies was just another prank by creator Tony Millionaire, and the strip is still going strong. Great news!
Last Thursday, Millionaire posted the above script, provoking cries of anguish on Twitter along the lines of “Why Tony, why?”
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