Captain America #25
© N/A
2007: The Year in Review, Part One
By: Kurt AmackerDate: Friday, December 28, 2007
Greetings, Maniacs, and welcome to another swan dive into the shallow end of the pool with Comicscape! Because of the Christmas holiday, UPS won’t deliver the comics to the shops until today. I imagine a few of you have already succumbed to uncontrollable tremors, cold sweats, and sleeplessness. Regardless, Friday has arrived and you can heat that spoon and strap that arm as soon as you get to your local shop.
This week’s column distinguishes itself as the last one for 2007. I’d be remiss in my duties as the Comicscape columnist if I didn’t write one of those dreadful “year in review” columns. They never cover everything important. And, what they can cover, they do so superficially. Regardless, a few things bear mentioning. Actually, so many things bear mentioning that I’m breaking this column into two. This week, I present five really important things in the comic world that occurred in 2007. Five more will appear next week. This isn’t a “Top Ten” list and it’s not in any particular order. It’s not even a list. It’s just a collection of musings and observations on some of the more significant happenings in American comic books. So, raise your chins, stiffen your upper lips, and think of England, Maniacs. Here we go.
The Death of Captain America
If you’d asked me on March 6, 2007 whether the death of Steve Rogers would affect me, I’d have said no. I didn’t read Captain America, though I’d heard fantastic things about it up until that point. I just had it on my “to read” list. But then, as he ascended the steps of a courthouse to stand trial for his role in Civil War, a sniper and a shooter on the ground killed Steve Rogers. His death saddened me on a level I hadn’t expected. I promptly bought all of the back issues of the current series and added the title to my pull list. I didn’t feel angry at Marvel, because I think that heroes need to die sometimes. But, Cap’s death seemed an oddly poignant observation on the current state of our country – ideals sacrificed for pragmatism and bureaucracy. You can interpret that how you want. Most of you know that my politics are all over the map and I avoid using this column as a soapbox. But, something felt appropriate about Cap’s passing and yet very, very wrong. Still, while Steve Rogers lies under the ice in Antarctica, a new Captain America will arrive on January 23rd with the series’s 34th issue. In the interval, Ed Brubaker has kept the series afloat with an engaging look at the book’s supporting cast – Sharon Carter, Sam Wilson – the Falcon, Bucky Barnes, and the villains that orchestrated Cap’s death. I have no doubt that Rogers will return one day, but I’m glad Marvel made me care.
Licensed Books are Go!
Licensed titles normally sell on name value alone. Frankly, most of them aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on. But, they helped American comic books – as opposed to their characters in movies and video games – took a giant step towards mainstream respectability in early 2007 with The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger Born and Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8. Controversy preceded the launch of The Gunslinger Born after Marvel had to admit that Stephen King wouldn’t actually write any of the many planned Dark Tower prequel miniseries. Rather, he would just plot, supervise, and approve them. After much fanfare in 2005, the reality of King’s role caused a minor uproar. Then, Marvel announced a nearly year-long delay of the first issue. Sometime in the interval, the publisher announced that Peter David would actually script the series. Other than a few fans swearing they wouldn’t buy anything not actually written by King, most readers welcomed the announcement. The series drew a surprising amount of non-comic-readers into shops, as many King fans wouldn’t miss out on anything from the Dark Tower universe. I’m not a huge Stephen King fan, but I applaud Marvel for attracting new readers with the series.
Dark Horse has had the Buffy the Vampire Slayer license since the second season of the television series. But, the line of books based on the character didn’t attract much attention until Dark Horse announced a new “season” of the series in comic book form – one that would continue from the end of the television series, written by Joss Whedon and others. The series drew new readers in surprising numbers, leading to five printings of the first issue alone. Following Dark Horse’s lead, IDW announced Angel: After the Fall, which followed that television show’s sixth and final season. I know I take shots at Whedon’s writing and his frequent delays, but I commend both him and Dark Horse for finding a property with enough of a fan-base to bring new readers to the shops. Comics aren’t dead yet.
Speaking of Delays
Marvel and DC both experienced a few well-publicized delays and odd publishing schedules. DC had to shuffle and reschedule arcs in Action Comics, Superman, and Wonder Woman. In the case of Action Comics, the final issue of Richard Donner and Geoff Johns’s Last Son arc will not see print until February of the coming year, in the series’s 11th annual. The same story has already experienced a significant delay and a four-issue break between the last two parts to see print. The final delay reportedly occurred to accommodate artist Adam Kubert’s schedule. It seems believable enough, as Donner and Johns continued working on the series with artist Eric Powell (The Goon) on the outstanding Return to Bizarro World arc.
The Superman delay in question broke Kurt Busiek’s 10-part Camelot Falls into a few pieces, with the run interrupted three times – first, for a two-issue story involving the Prankster; second, for a Countdown tie-in and a special 666th issue; and third, for a three-issue arc called The Third Kryptonian. The story finally concluded with the series’s 13th annual. The story began as a high-concept exploration of the impact superheroes could have on the natural rises and falls of civilization. It concluded with half the impact it could’ve had with a little compression and fewer interruptions.
The Wonder Woman delay occurred when the ever-late Allan Heinberg dragged out the first four issues of the first arc of the new One Year Later series, Who is Wonder Woman?, for over a year. When the much-maligned Amazons Attack! drew near, DC delayed the arc and had Will Pfeifer write a fill-in issue before then-regular series writer Jodi Picoult came on with #6 to tie the series into the crossover. After Picoult departed, J. Torres took over for issues #11-13. Gail Simone took the reigns with #14, and there was much rejoicing. While I hardly consider myself a die-hard Wonder Woman fan, I can’t fathom why DC treated a series featuring one of its three most recognizable characters so poorly. Still, hope burns eternal. Simone’s run has already garnered a great deal of praise, though I haven’t had a chance to pick it up.
Marvel got in the game with the 13th and final issue of Mark Millar’s The Ultimates 2, which finally arrived in May of 2007. The first issue came out in December of 2004, just to give you an idea. Fortunately, Millar concluded the series very well. But, I have to wonder if a book’s quality can trump a delay of that length. At some point, people will stop caring. Marvel earned a great deal of ire with the delay in the middle of Civil War last year, including that of many fans that dropped the book. At some point, readers will lose patience and plan to just grab the trade when the arc has concluded. And, in the case of DC, if a story comes out in fragments and requires a spreadsheet to order the pertinent issues, people will walk away and buy something else. Then again, if your story is as bad as Ultimates 3 #1, it doesn’t matter how fast your books come out.
Toeing the Puddle of Digital Comics
DC and Marvel both slowly crept into digital comics with Zuda and Digital Comics Unlimited, respectively. Zuda allows both amateurs and professionals alike to publish web comics, though DC got the ball rolling with nothing but established talent. Every month, the editors pick ten of the submitted strips and allow registered users to vote on who DC offers a one-year contract for 52 weekly installments. DC also retains the right to offer contracts to six “instant winners” whose work merits an override of the voting process. The publisher will pay a $1000 purchase price up front to the creator, followed by $250 per weekly screen of web comics. But, as I understand it – and I’m not a lawyer, so don’t quote me – signing a contract also means allowing DC to hold on to your creation until they see fit to return it to you. You might get the rights to your comic back, but not the film rights. You might not get either, though there is a royalty system in place. I don’t want to expound upon Zuda’s deal in too much detail because I would – as I advise anyone considering a submission – want to have my lawyer explain the contract to me, and he’s on vacation. Needless to say, many web comic creators don’t care for the deal, though its terms are hardly alien to those that have worked in the print side of the business. Still, Zuda offers new creators a potential foot-in-the-door of the comic business and, unlike Marvel’s kind-of-similar Epic imprint, this one seems to have more long-term potential.
Marvel’s Digital Comics Unlimited has already sparked controversy via its subscription and distribution model, which is more restrictive than iTunes. Rather than allow users to download and keep files, the site charges a monthly or yearly fee that gives users access to a Flash-based catalog of back issues. Marvel updates the issues with a significant lag time behind their print counterparts in comic shops, thus avoiding any conflict with the direct market. Marvel – along with a number of other publishers – used the launch of DCU as a springboard to stop Torrent listings at a couple of comic scan sites, thus initiating the industry’s move to curtail illegal downloading. I would advise Marvel to learn from the mistakes of the music industry and give readers what they want – inexpensive digital copies of comics with no Digital Rights Management (DRM) software that come out at the same time as their print counterparts. It may not serve the direct market well, but the broader market has made its demands clear. If the comic industry doesn’t meet those, potential customers will happily turn to piracy. That be unethical, and I agree that the onus shouldn’t be placed on publishers, but trying to dictate consumer buying habits is akin to herding cats. If you decline to sell people what they want – within reason; I’m not saying we should legalize everything – they’ll often steal it or copy it. I think it’s more prudent to just sell it to them and profit by their interests.
Barcode Bonanza
In September, Diamond – the direct market distributor for virtually all mainstream comics in the United States – announced that any title it distributed would require a UPC barcode as of January of 2008. It did so in anticipation of a point of sale system it intends to market to retailers – a module for comics that works with Microsoft’s Dynamic Retail Management System (RMS). Effectively, Diamond wants comic book shops to get on board with so many other retailers and maintain an electronic inventory of their products. Rather than just manually enter an amount at a sale, they would scan a UPC barcode. You could argue that Diamond wants comic book publishers and retailers to catch up with the rest of the retail industry. But, many independent publishers cried foul at the announcement, as a single company maintains a near-monopoly over the barcode business. To obtain a UPC number, a publisher has to register with GS1 for $750. After that, they pay $150 a year for 100 unique UPC’s. Then, the publisher can use a program to generate a barcode that relays the UPC. But, GS1 doesn’t even track individual products. It only ensures that each UPC issued remains unique to all of the other ones it has issued. The individual retailer, not GS1, tracks each number in relation to a particular product.
Nothing requires a publisher to purchase a GS1 membership and a batch of UPC numbers, but GS1’s system has become the industry standard. Everyone uses their numbers and, thus, no two products have the same numbers. This effectively forces independent publishers to spend another $900 up front, and then $150 per year thereafter. The only alternative remains a few barcode resellers that sell recycled, individual numbers for a single charge. But, anyone already publishing a comic should already be prepared to raise $900, if needs be. It’s not a cheap or profitable business. But, forcing anyone to deal with GS1 smacks of theaters shunning a movie because they didn’t rate their movie with the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). It may be the industry standard, but it sure as hell isn’t fair.
Join me again next week for part two of Comicscape’s 2007 year in review. Until then, Happy New Year to everyone.
The Spinner Rack
By Ben Johnson and Kurt Amacker
Ben: Hope you all had a great time celebrating Christmas. My wife bought me everything I need to make a stop-motion studio in my house. She got a little hotter.
Kurt: I got a bunch of coal. I seem to get that every year.
DARK HORSE COMICS
Journal Joe Ledbetter $9.99
Ben: I used to call my brother “Joe Bed-wetter”, and that is a better name.
Kurt: And now, Joe knocks over liquor stores for money to buy hookers, shouting Ben’s name through his sobs the entire team.
Star Wars 30th Anniv Coll Vol 11 HC Union $19.95
Star Wars Knights Of The Old Republic #24 $2.99
Usagi Yojimbo #108 $2.99
Ben: Retro proof that all the good names are taken.
DC COMICS
52 Aftermath The Four Horsemen #5 (Of 6) $2.99
Action Comics #860 $2.99
Kurt: Geoff Johns writes without Richard Donner. I’m still on board.
Authority Prime #3 (Of 6) $2.99
Ben: Remember Prime from the Ultraverse? I used to love that comic. This one sucks.
Batman #672 $2.99
Kurt: Now that The Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul, or The Crossover Nobody Wanted, has wrapped, we can get back to Grant Morrison’s regular run on the title. This issue guest-stars Bat-Mite, of all people.
Blue Beetle #22 $2.99
Ben: It’s just like Spider-Man in the DCU. It’s also better than the crap going on in Spider-Man right now.
Brave And The Bold #9 $2.99
Ben: DC’s newest deodorant.
Kurt: Next, look for Secret Identity – strong enough for a man, but made for a hero.
Cartoon Network Block Party #40 $2.25
Countdown Arena #4 $3.99
Countdown To Adventure #5 (Of 8) $3.99
Countdown To Final Crisis 18 $2.99
Ben: I would imagine that most readers think of the end of this garbage as anything other than the Final Crisis.
Kurt: I haven’t read it in several issues, but I’ll have to go through it in one or two sittings. Damn you, DC.
Crime Bible The Five Lessons Of Blood #3 (Of 5) $2.99
Ben: Thou shalt covet thy neighbors wife.
Kurt: But only if she’s hot.
Death Of The New Gods #4 (Of 8) $3.50
Empty Empire Vol 6 $9.99
Ben: Bet you could get one hell of an echo out of this place.
Flash #235 $2.99
Flash Fastest Man Alive Full Throttle TP $12.99
Freddy Vs Jason Vs Ash #3 (Of 6) $2.99
Ben: Christmas comes a few days late this year.
Kurt: I am waiting for the trade, so that I can experience the biggest event since the birth of Christ in one, uninterrupted reading.
Gotham Underground #3 (Of 9) $2.99
Ben: Dinosaur bones? Who would have guessed?
Green Lantern #26 $2.99
Ben: Believe it or not the end of the last story arc (which was awesome with a capital HOLY CRAP THIS IS COOL) had a preview for the next big Green Lantern event in Summer… 2009.
Green Lantern Sinestro Corps Secret Files #1 $4.99
JLA Classified #49 $2.99
Ben: Psst… Guy Gardner is totally in the closet.
JSA Classified #33 $2.99
Ben: Psst… So is Power Girl (not that we didn’t see that coming).
Kurt: It’s true, then, that no man is fit to lay hands upon the glorious bounties that sit upon her chest.
Legion Of Super Heroes Cvr A #37 $2.99
Legion Of Super Heroes Cvr B #37 $2.99
Loeg Black Dossier HC 2nd Ptg $29.99
Kurt: I bet DC’s feeling just a shade sorry now.
Power Girl 13 Inch Deluxe Figure $69.99
Ben: Always took her for a girth girl.
Kurt: I will see you in Hell.
Showcase Presents Brave Bold Batman Team Ups TP Vol 02 $16.99
Tales Of The Batman Tim Sale HC $29.99
Teen Titans #54 $2.99
Teen Titans Go #50 $2.25
Ben: Hang out at the rest stop looking for dates.
Tower Of The Future Vol 9 $9.99
Uncle Sam And The Freedom Fighters #4 (Of 8) $2.99
Wildcats Armageddon #1 $2.99
Ben: One can only hope.
Kurt: Well, with only one issue of the series by Grant Morrison out, there’s not much to destroy.
IMAGE COMICS
Hawaiian Dick TP Vol 01 Byrd Of Paradise (New Ptg) $14.99
Ben: I bet he gets leid a lot.
Kurt: I almost corrected your spelling on this, then I realized that you just think you’re clever. Well, you’re not. Hear me?
Invincible Presents Atom Eve #1 (Of 2) $2.99
Pax Romana #1 $3.50
Ben: I will buy this and read it. Not because I know anything about it, but sometime titles totally draw me in. I’m a total sucker for good names.
Spawn New Flesh TP $14.95
Kurt: Hey Ben, didn’t you just spawn some new flesh recently?
Witchblade #109 Graham Crackers Ex Var Cvr $10.00
Ben: Seriously, WTF?
Witchblade #112 $2.99
MARVEL COMICS
Amazing Spider-Man #545 OMD $3.99
Ben: Oh Snap, this is So Raven! (The ultimate curse)
Avengers Initiative #8 $2.99
Ben: Still the best Avengers book on the market.
Black Panther #33 $2.99
Captain America #33 $2.99
Ben: Dear Ed: I realize I have doubted you in the past and you have always proved me wrong (hell, I’d drink the Kool-Aid if you told me to), but after seeing the Puerto Rican flag Captain America I can’t imagine how you can possibly pull this off.
Captain Marvel #2 (Of 5) $2.99
Daredevil #103 $2.99
Daredevil By Frank Miller Omnibus Companion HC $59.99
Ben: I might get stoned for asking the question, but is this still the best Daredevil? And if I get stoned, please make sure it’s Strawberry Cough.
Kurt: I think it was really groundbreaking for the time, but parts of it haven’t aged well. Still, it’s worth reading. Actually, this isn’t his original run. It’s some stuff he did after in other series, a couple of miniseries, and the like – hence the designation, “companion.” I know things.
Daredevil By Frank Miller Omnibus Companion HC Var $59.99
Daredevil TP Battlin Jack Murdock $12.99
Fantastic Five TP Final Doom $13.99
Fantastic Four Isla De La Muerte One Shot $3.99
Ben: Bag and board this and in five years it might be worth a few bucks more.
Fantastic Four Isla De La Muerte One Shot Spanish Ed (Pp#791) $3.99
Ben: Bag and board this and in ten years it will be the only edition the average American can read.
Kurt: I think you have a bright future in talk radio.
Giant Size Avengers Special #1 $4.99
Kurt: Wow, even I noticed a good pee joke here and Ben totally ignored it!
House Of M Avengers #3 (Of 5) $2.99
Hulk Vs Fin Fang Foom One Shot $3.99
Iron Man #24 $2.99
Marvel Adventures Iron Man #8 $2.99
Marvel Illustrated Picture Dorian Gray #1 (Of 6) $2.99
Ben: I hope they do Sense and Sensibility next.
Kurt: I will buy this. I love this book. I don’t care if the pages have a special compound that renders you gay on contact. It will be worth it. I am buying this.
Marvel Spotlight One More Day Brand New Day $2.99
Ben: I’m a pacifist, but my alter-ego “I-Hate-You-For-Buying-This-Excrement-Man” is not. He will kick your ass if you buy this thing.
Marvel Spotlight X-Men Messiah Complex MC $2.99
Kurt: F—king crossovers!
Marvel Zombies 2 #3 (Of 5) $2.99
Ben: Remember when you used to like zombies? Me either. This onslaught of crap has completely washed those fond memories from my mind.
Kurt: You’ll know that the trend has run its course when the guys that do those parodies like Epic Movie and Date Movie come up with a zombie flick.
MMW Amazing Spider-Man HC Vol 05 $54.99
MMW Amazing Spider-Man HC Vol 05 Var Ed 22 $54.99
MMW Golden Age Human Torch HC Vol 02 $59.99
MMW Golden Age Human Torch HC Vol 02 Var 88 $59.99
New Warriors #7 $2.99
Punisher #53 $2.99
Red Prophet Tales Of Alvin Maker #11 (Of 12) $2.99
The Zombie: Simon Garth #2 $3.99
Kurt: I’m sure this rocks and everything, but what necessitates the extra dollar on the price tag?
Thor #5 $2.99
Ultimate Fantastic Four #49 $2.99
Ultimate Power #9 (Of 9) $2.99
Ben: I can’t wait to buy the last issue of this mini. I’ve been out of toilet paper for days.
Ultimate Spider-Man #117 $2.99
Ben: This on the other hand is totally awesome again.
Uncanny X-Men TP Extremists $13.99
X-Men #206 MC $2.99
X-Men Emperor Vulcan #4 (Of 5) $2.99
X-Men First Class Vol 2 #7 $2.99
X-Men Messiah Complex Mutant Files MC $3.99
Kurt: Wow, it’s part of a crossover and even more unnecessary! I’m waiting for the trade!
Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at comicscape@mania.com.
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Oh, and the zombie movie parody was already done a few years back...Shaun of the Dead.