Gregg Schigiel: It’s our 50th conversation/column. To commemorate we’re doing two things. Thing one, we’re gonna call the column “Regarding: Comics” from now on, you know, to class up the joint. Thing two, and without further ado, we’re going to tear through 50 bits of comics news and info, starting…now!
#1 SCOTT PILGRIM was released for the iPad and iPhone today. Was this the magic bullet for digital downloads aimed at the perfect market with Volume 1 and the color special for free, vol. 2-5 for $6.99, and vol. 6 at the regular retail of $11.99, or is the idea of an entire graphic novel series too daunting for new readers?
Gregg: I believe the true magic bullet, if there is one, is a universal file format, such as the mp3 in music, where the digital comic can be read anywhere on any device with any reader. Until then, there might be some resistance to paying the same or more than you would for the physical object when you don’t get said physical object, or even a physical file (as opposed to the “cloud”, which is how I understand most of the Comixology-based comics work).
But, beyond that, I’d say it’s a bold and smart move and could pay off for them. And as far as graphic novels go, SCOTT PILGRIM, at least the ones I’ve read, are pretty breezy and therefore not so intimidating.
Stephen Mayer: So the CBR or PDF or what have you must dominate the other.
I was just listening to your appearance with Chris G. on the Drew and Mike Save the World podcast and you mentioned maybe going to see SCOTT PILGRIM or THE EXPENDABLES this Friday. However Scott Pilgrim opens, you can't say the marketing team didn't try between the app, the interactive trailer, the DLC game for Playstation and Xbox, the Experience at Comic Con, etc. If EAT PRAY LOVE tops the box office for the week, that would certainly be an upset.
#2 At Comic-Con DC announced BATMAN, INC., a new Grant Morrison Batman monthly. New information’s described it as being about Batman recruiting/training others to wear the Batman suit…so Bat-Franchises. Thumbs up or down on this idea/approach to the Batman mythos?
Stephen: I'm ok with having several Batman teams, especially with the power vacuum that occurred after FINAL CRISIS. I've heard a lot of people around the store saying that they're not ready for Dick to hand back the mantle, they don't think they've heard his whole story under the cowl, and this could be the way for DC to have their cake and eat it, too. If this is just Grant Morrison creating more crazy characters for the DCU, I will in theory say that I could do without that, but at the same time, in practice I would probably buy it anyway.
Gregg: I’m not feelin’ it. I prefer Batman as a dude who fights crime in Gotham City and sometimes teams up with folks or hangs out with the Justice League and has more outlandish superhero adventures. I didn’t like the Batman who built an OMAC satellite to keep watch over the world and this sounds similar. Having a bunch of Batmen or Batman-esque characters, while playing to the possible future of KINGDOM COME, just doesn’t jive with my sensibilities.
#3 "Read Comics in Public" Day is August 28th! What book would to take to what coffee shop/park/bar/place outside of your apartment?
Gregg: I have a few things in my “to read” pile. Maybe THE ESCAPISTS…possibly the FOUR EYES trade…or more likely a brown bag of single issues, which is usually what I bring onto airplanes when I fly.
Stephen: Issues on the plane are such a pain. I usually carry them in the Heroes Aren't Hard to Find backer board boxes, and in the confined space of an airplane seat it takes some doing to dig it out from under the seat, pop open the box, make the exchange with the book that you just read and the new one and burying it back under the seat in from of you. I blogged about it and everything.
I do think this is a great, simple idea, and Acme customers that want a little added incentive to participate can check out the event page on the site!
#4 Which movie, if it’s inevitable, will start the downturn of superhero/comics movie hype: Thor, Captain America, Green Lantern, X-Men: First Class or Avengers?
Stephen: The Thor trailer looks awesome, so no worries there. Captain America is Marvel Studios, too, so I think it will be solid. The other three might be a little iffy.
Green Lantern should be an incredibly easy story structurally: Hal is a hot shot pilot. Hal finds a dying alien that gives him a ring. The ring shoots Hal into space. Hal has trouble learning how to use the ring with the other recruits. Hal finally gets the hang of the ring with the help of his pal Sinestro. Hal realizes Sinestro is evil. They battle and Hal proves that he's better. The very fact that Hector Hammond is even in the movie worries me.
X-Men First Class seems like Fox trying to keep up with the Joneses/ hang on to their license, even if Bryan Singer does come back.
Avengers is gonna be tough just because it will have the expectations of five other films behind it and people are already grumbling about the departure of Ed Norton. Another 2 years is plenty of time for other stuff to go wrong.
Gregg: I realize it’s almost heresy to say it, but Joss Whedon’s not a guy who makes movies (or TV shows) that win people over.
That said, I’m on the fence about Thor. I’ve always liked that character, and while some of the leaked footage looks interesting, there are elements that seem goofy in the light of day…and I can’t help but remember similar reactions after seeing Kenneth Branagh’s Frankenstein way back when…another thing I was very fond of in its original form.
#5 SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK has a new release day for November under the bright lights of Broad-way. As a Manhattan resident and comics fan, is this something you'd like to go see, maybe with discounts tickets from the TKTS booth, or just an outright pass?
Gregg: I’ll go with an outright pass, sure. But I don’t see myself waiting in line for discount tickets…or paying full price for tickets. I’d more likely see a play than a musical…and if I’m seeing a musical I’m more inclined to the comedy variety than the dramatic. And for anyone taking score, my favorite musical that isn’t Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory or a Disney movie would be “Into the Woods”.
Stephen: I'm actually secretly a sucker for musicals. When Carly and I bought Buffy season 4-7 in one swoop, I skipped ahead to the much-praised "Once More with Feeling". That said, if I were back in Times Square any time soon, I would still go see Avenue Q before Spider-Man.
#6 Celebrities writing comics draws attention to a thing and theoretically increases sales…but also, it seems, those as-a-result high profile books are almost always late to super-late. The question: more good or more harm comes from celebrity involvement?
Stephen: The answer: Umbrella Academy. The ingredients: A writer that's a true comics fan with a deep understanding of the craft with an interest in telling a story rather than inject their own material into comic form. A dedicated editor that's willing to keep the writer on deadline and go the extra mile in helping them break story and push through difficulties. An art team with a great work ethic.
What you don't need is an editor that will give the celebrity writer carte blanche to do whatever they want, i.e. Kevin Smith almost ruining Batman: Year One in Batman: Widening Gyre #6.
Gregg:Ah, so you’re opting for the exception to disprove the seeming rule, eh? On the flip side your Smiths, Heinbergs, Lindeloffs, etc, are off gumming up the works!
#7 You pulled out a Kid Icarus reference during your aforementioned appearance on the Drew & Mike Save the World podcast (ep. 0019). Where you a big video gamer growing up?
Gregg: I played plenty of NES and wiled away many hours on a select number of PC games (Quest for Camelot being a favorite at one time), but I’m not sure I was ever what one would call a “gamer”. I like video games, some I like a whole lot – Tetris, Joust, Metroid/Metroid 2, Mario Kart 64, Return Fire (3DO) – but these days I only have a Sega Dreamcast with a bunch of MAMEs and I haven’t fired that thing up in multiple years. And as much as I’ve enjoyed Lego Batman and Lego Star Wars, neither have been enough to get me to buy a game system.
But I’ll play a video game, sure.
Stephen: Dreamcast was just before its time. Such a shame.
And I spent many an hour in college bonding with folks over Mario Kart 64.
#8 We’ve talked about costumes before and redesigns…the “new” Batman costume; thoughts?
Stephen: Personally not a big fan of the yellow circle. The preference probably comes from growing up on Batman: the Animated Series.
Gregg: I dig the yellow oval, but in this particular iteration, as is the trend, something simple’s been made more complicated what with the concentric ovals and the beveling and such…not to mention the stitching or piping or whatever on the costume and I’ll say it, that codpiece looks dumb.
#9 Stan Lee is working with Watson-Guptill Publishing to put out STAN LEE'S HOW TO DRAW COMICS in November. Interesting, since Stan wrote and all. I know you said you studied Alan Davis when learning to draw female characters, but if you could have any artist put together a How To book of their own, who would it be?
Gregg: It’s already been don’t; it’s called HOW TO DRAW COMICS THE MARVEL WAY and despite it being “by Stan Lee” it’s a how-to by John Buscema.
Stephen: I thought HOW TO BREAK INTO COMICS THE MARVEL WAY from earlier this year was a really weak attempt by the company to capitalize on the credibility of the origin, when they probably should have just done a reprint.
#10 How long do you think before Wonder Woman’s back in her traditional/classic costume, or a slight variation thereof; how long will this “New Wonder Woman” story last?
Stephen: I give it a year. I think it will take that long for the #600 pump to completely fall off, maybe even further, and JMS gets the same editorial pressure that he got on Amazing Spider-man to make the character more classic and accessible again.
Gregg: Alright. I was thinking two years.
#11 If someone came up to you at San Diego and offered you a development deal for a Pix cartoon, would you make the move?
Gregg: I’d be willing to consider and listen to any offer, of course. But I’d do so with the knowledge that so often things like that do not actually materialize. But I wouldn’t, sight unseen, say no to possibilities in that arena; now way.
Stephen: Cool. I meant it more from a love-of-comics, developmental-stage-of-the-character way as opposed to business opportunity, though.
Gregg: As much as I love comics and the comics form, I’m not so inclined to cut off my nose to spite my face, if you will. And I’d be lying if I said seeing the Super Friends and Batman on TV as a kid didn’t spark my initial interest in superheroes which led me to comics.
Plus, I’m not above selling out on some level. Like The Million-Dollar Man, Ted Dibiase said, “every man has his price”.
#12 Now that Brightest Day and The Heroic Age have launched, which books are you still following/reading, which have you stopped/never bothered to read, and which are on the fence?
Stephen: Brightest Day - I'm still doing Flash, but I think that's more for Francis Manapul's art than Geoff Johns's story. I dropped both Green Lantern and Green Lantern Corps and I doubt I'll give Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors a shot.
Heroic Age - Still getting pretty much everything. All Avengers, Agents of Atlas, Hawkeye and Mockingbird, Steve Rogers: Super Soldier. Everything.
Gregg: I’m still reading FLASH and GREEN LANTERN, but I was reading GL beforehand. I stopped buying BRIGHTEST DAY after issue 3; now I slip through it in the store. I didn’t continue with LEGION after issue 1. But I’ve liked ZATANNA so far…though that might not be an official “Brightest Day” launch. I’m on the fence with WONDER WOMAN. I’m trade-waiting LEGACY.
I’ve stuck with AVENGERS: ACADEMY and HAWKEYE & MOCKINGBIRD…YOUNG ALLIES is on the bubble.
#13 Some creators like Bendis have spoken for years about how the industry sales figures released by Diamond each month and analyzed by columns like the Mayo Report aren't a real indication of what's selling out in the world. How much attention do you and your circle of friends pay to those numbers?
Gregg: I know we looked at them when I was at Marvel; I imagine that still happens. On my own, I looked at them when X-BABIES was coming out to see where it stood in the rankings…what sold better or worse, etc.
But Bendis is right, those numbers, as I understand it, represent direct market sales from publishers to retailers…so it doesn’t account for how many of the books actually sell to end users/readers. So when a book “sells out” that means the publisher’s sold out of the run to the stores.
Additionally, my understanding is that the younger reader titles, like the WB stuff out of DC, sells in non-direct market outlets and those sales aren’t accounted for in the Diamond numbers.
Stephen: And it doesn't take into account re-orders or second printings either. I don't even think that the G-Man: Cape Crisis #1 2nd printing that we got from Chris was ever solicited through Diamond, and since has sold just as well as the first printing for us, that doubling of sales isn't represented in those figures.
#14 Robert Kirkman’s comments from a recent GQ article about all-ages content in comics from the big two seems to get three reactions: he’s making a valid point, he’s bitter/has sour grapes, or he’s a hypocrite. Do you have a position and/or can discredit those other positions?
Stephen: I'll prefer to just analyze them, I suppose.
The valid point would be that enough comics aren't written with all ages of readers in mind, not FOR KIDS, but rather not something that anyone would read. At this point, the chasm has grown so wide that people just think that if it's suitable for kids, it must only be for kids. It's an uphill battle that many books have to fight.
The sour grapes point would be that Kirkman didn't have a lot of success when he tried to get in the door at Marvel. His run on ULTIMATE X-MEN went widely unnoticed, IRREDEEMABLE ANT MAN got cancelled, and I believe the same happened to him on MARVEL TEAM-UP. If my timeline is correct, shortly afterwards is when he became an Image partner and made his big industry shaking statement. So if you want to look at it from that angle, it might look like he's circling his wagons.
And the hypocritical angle would just be that none of the books Kirkman puts on the shelves right now are for kids. WALKING DEAD and INVINCIBLE are very much made of the things of nightmares at times and I don't imagine HAUNT is much different.
Gregg: I’m gonna refute sour grapes with the very simple fact that it’s like 100% the case Kirkman’s making more money and his “soul”, for lack of a better word, is more properly nourished doing his own books. MTU ended in 2005, I think, which is a good number of years before the Image partnership.
My understanding of his statements revolves around the general interest in keeping comics, specifically superhero comics, a growing thing, which, despite the movies, isn’t. It seems he’s suggesting that the big 2, considering their hold and power over the industry, might do well to “publish responsibly”. I agree that people are misinterpreting “kids” and “all-ages” and the like, for sure.
But that in turn, I think, refutes the hypocrisy. As much as the things he says incite people to talk…in the grand scheme, Robert Kirkman’s as yet still a smaller fish. A man/woman on the street, walking in to a comic store, will sooner pick up a copy of Spider-Man or Superman than a copy of Invincible; it’s almost hard to believe otherwise. And that’s what he’s speaking to. It reminds me of an anecdote from my last weeks at Marvel (if you’ll allow a slightly longer response here):
This is at the start of January 2000. We in editorial were called into a meeting to discuss the content of the books. There was a possibility Marvel books would be stocked in Toys R Us stores. But we were being told the content had to be more all-ages friendly, as the sales dude at the time was pointing out that in an issue of SPIDER-WOMAN, Peter Parker was kissing the under-age Spider-Woman character…and an issue of CAPTAIN AMERICA had swastikas and the Hate Monger running around. I asked the question, “who decided those were the books to use for this test, who chose those specific comics?”. To which the sales guy said he did, explaining that he assumed CAP and SPIDER-WOMAN would be better choices than say, THUNDERBOLTS. Suffice it to say that my boss and editor of T-BOLTS very adeptly said aloud something to the effect of “Wrong assumption.”
But the point of that story is in general, the well-known characters and franchises come with a certain structure…and I think that’s at the heart of the whole thing.
#15 Ben Caldwell, who did the Wonder Woman story in WEDNESDAY COMICS, pitched another story to DC for an ongoing WW title with younger female readers as the target audience, like we talked about in an earlier Regarding Comics. What do you think?
Gregg: I saw that; it looked interesting…and it looked like the kind of thing (format and content-wise) a lot of us out here have thought about or pitched or proposed. And I think Wonder Woman is a perfect example of a character/book that should be explored outside the traditional direct market/audience.
Though I think full-color would be the way to go. Yes, manga is very popular among teenage girls, but I think for something as “American” as Wonder Woman, trading on that recognition and all, something slightly more traditional might fare better.
And I could be very wrong, for sure. The point overall is that it’d be great to see these sorts of things happen.
Stephen: I didn't love the muted coloring on the Wednesday Comics story and I think it would have faired better among critics and readers alike if it had a more traditional red, white and blue color scheme for Diana.
#16 BOOM! publishes Disney/Pixar/Muppet comics to much critical fanfare and acclaim. Meanwhile, DC’s been putting out Bugs Bunny/Scooby-Doo/Cartoon Network comics for years with nary a peep. Fair or unfair?
Stephen: I can't speak to a lot of those from a first-hand perspective because I haven't read any of those except the first arc of Incredibles (Family Matters, I believe it was called). But I think Muppet Show especially has a grand nostalgic effect on comic readership and Roger Langridge brings his own critically acclaimed reputation and talent to the book. The power of Pixar over folks of all ages can't be denied either.
That being said, the Ben Ten collections of the stories that I think originally appeared in Cartoon Network Action Pack outsell Disney, Pixar, and the Muppets.
Gregg: And if I’m not mistaken Sonic the Hedgehog comics (courtesy of Archie Comics) have consistently been strong sellers.
#17 Do you have a comic book charity of choice that you like to work with or donate to?
Gregg: Sadly, because it makes me look like a jerk, I do not. I know there are good ones out there and good people working for them; I’ve just been particularly ignorant and/or selfish (I’ll let you all decide).
Stephen: I can't criticize. The store has given to the Hero Initiative and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, but I've never donated personally. I did encourage Adam the First Man to buy a signed set of COSMIC ODYSSEY issues from the Hero Initiative booth at Baltimore Comic Con four years ago. That's about it.
#18 Slightly out of left field: G.I. JOE and TRANSFORMERS, in their comics resurgence, seem to have kept afloat and done well enough; where did THUNDERCATS go wrong, do you think…fault of the comics, the property, or something else?
Stephen: I'll just say that not every kid was into Thundercats. I think everyone was either a Transformers kid (me) or a G.I. Joe kid (my brother) or a little bit of both. I watched Thundercats, all the way through high school on Cartoon Network, but I don't know that I've ever met a person that claimed Thundercats as their ultimate childhood show. There'll be a movie in the next few years, so we'll see what happens then.
Gregg: And apparently a new animated series on Cartoon Network, too.
Though you make a valid and likely correct point about the ubiquitous-ness of the other properties that Thundercats never had. I guess that means we won’t see comics based on M.A.S.K. or The Wuzzles any time soon…at least not long-term successes.
#19 Can we see your dialogue re-write on Amazing Spider-man #638? Is it SFW?
Gregg: Ha ha…by way of explanation: Marvel released a preview of the first 8 pages, I think, of ASM #638, a series of pages of Peter and Mary-Jane…talking. I’ve always thought it funny when pages used to promote a book are so…plain, to use a possibly inappropriate word. So as a goof I lettered the pages…more a pre-write than a re-write as the book hadn’t come out yet. It’s not the first time I’ve done it and surely won’t be the last. It’s a weirdly fun distraction.
I’m not sure if it’s safe for work…there’s some language and suggestive content. More than that, I’m not sure it’s meant for mass consumption. I mean, heck, I haven’t even put that stuff up on my own web site!
Stephen: Yeah, I'm gonna say NSFW, or at least not safe for a family friendly comic shop, but I did read it and I couldn't stop giggling to the point that Rap was wondering what was going on on the other side of the counter.
#20 You ever read any comics that make you feel dumb? Either because you don’t see the brilliance it’s been purported to have or even more simply, you can’t understand it, despite being someone who’s read many, many comics? Feel free to cite examples if you’d like.
Stephen: When I got hired at Acme, I might have talked about this before, during the "interview process" Jermaine asked me what's something that everyone says I should read and I never did and I said WATCHMEN. He had me bring a copy home and I read it overnight, more because of the pressure I felt over getting the job than because I was completely engrossed in the store. It frankly made my head hurt and it wasn't a very enjoyable or enlightening experience at all. I've since gone back and reread Watchmen under my own motivations and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Gregg: Would it be cliché to say most everything Grant Morrison writes makes me feel like I don’t know how to read comics? Putting FINAL CRISIS aside, Batman R.I.P. lost me about halfway through…the first SeaGuy mini had me ‘til the last issue…I read the first issue of RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE and felt like I was being tested on how much attention I’ve been paying in class.
And as much as I enjoy it, and I do, sometimes I feel like I’m definitely missing something in THE UNWRITTEN…I get that “I should have read more of the classics” feeling.
#21 The Batman: Brave and the Bold comic is canceled as of #22, but the All-New Batman: Brave and the Bold will follow it up shortly with Sholly Fisch and Rich Burchett talking over. Have an opinion on the shift of Johnny DC or the book?
Gregg: I really liked what Landry Walker and Eric Jones were doing on that book and I’m sad to see they’re not continuing. I have no problems with the new team, but I thought Walker and Jones were doing great work.
I’ll wait and see how the re-launch looks/feels/reads until it’s out.
Stephen: For a second I was hopeful that the Brave and the bold TV series, which I also heard was cancelled, was bring renewed, but I guess TEEN TITANS GO! outlived Teen Titans by a couple of years and I think BATMAN STRIKES beat out the Batman.
#22 What were the best and worst costumes you saw at Comic-Con this past year (ones you actually saw, not in photos on blogs and such)?
Stephen: They'll come within the same hour at the same event.
BEST - The Roxy Ritchter and Ramona Flowers that I took a picture with in line for the Scott Pilgrim Experience.
WORST - The Roxy Richter that was four or five people ahead of me in line at the Scott Pilgrim Experience.
Gregg: Best for me was the dude dressed as Finn from Adventure Time, complete with two-tone green backpack, if only because I’d never had expected to see it (and I’m clearly moderate obsessed with that show). I was also impressed with one dude’s Green Lantern mask, and in the “sexy character” department, I saw a distinctive lady Boba Fett who tramped it up without being trashy or gross.
Worst would be “Zombie Aquaman”, which amounted to a dude in a Speedo and body paint that, by the time I saw him, was smeared and creepy and gross. I also saw a lady dressed as Vampirella who was barely contained…and on a similar track, another lady in “midievel garb” wearing, above the waist, only a “nude” brassiere with what I can only describe as pasties over-top of it, you know, to indicate bare breasts. It wasn’t working.
#23 Marvel has announced a…either third or fourth Thor mini series (ASTONISHING THOR by Rob Rodi and Mike Choi) to accompany Thor: the Mighty Avenger and the normal Thor ongoing titles. Do you think expansion of a brand like this actually increases public awareness of a character or just over-saturates a market that is already in the know?
Gregg: I hold that multiple titles does nothing for public awareness, assuming the public means the actual general public. Insofar as the comics public goes, well, more titles means more rack space means more exposure, so yes.
But, it also means less space for other, less mainstream books, less chance of someone buying something new or different (especially as it appears this new mini deals with “Siege” in some way?)…
And since I’m of the school that believes the current direct market climate is one of selling more and more product to a finite if not shrinking audience, I’d say it leans more on oversaturation than building awareness.
But Thor and Cap are the next big pushes, so hang on, folks.
Stephen: I think they're answering with more quality creative teams and more definable concepts on the Thor minis that have been announced thus far than they did on Iron Man. Nothing against Fred Van Lente or Steve Kurth, but even after reading solicitations, much less the first issue of IRON MAN LEGACY, we couldn't figure out how to sell that one to fans of INVINCIBLE IRON MAN.
#24 What genre of type of content/story would you like to see more of in comics, or at least attempted, that’s not currently?
Stephen: I think part of the success of Scott Pilgrim is the blending of genres and construction of the world. It used nostalgia and fun and love and music and brought it all together. So I'll cop out and say that I wish there were more genre-bending comics than from any particular area.
Gregg: I’m gonna go ahead and say I’d like to see people try some things that aren’t traditionally “genre”…like comic format cookbooks.
And a part of me would like to see “funny animal” comics done in a unique, interesting way.
#25 GREEN HORNET becoming a movie is kind of strange in that even though it is an established superhero concept, it hasn't been in publication for years and not much is known about the character, at least among modern comic fans. What do you think might be the next golden age concept that they'll blow the dust off of for the Hollywood treatment?
Gregg: I always thought, after the initial success of the first Antonio Banderas Zorro movie, a Lone Ranger movie wouldn’t be too far behind. I remember thinking the Lone Ranger was pretty cool in my younger days, so I’d like to see something done well with it…maybe something like the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, or the aforementioned Mask of Zorro.
Gregg Schigiel is a cartoonist, illustrator, and writer. He's worked as a penciller, writer and editor for Marvel Comics and an illustrator and cartoonist at Nickelodeon. In addition, he's in various stages of cooking up new comics-related works, unless he's too preoccupied actually cooking. Check out his website at Hatter Entertainment.com.
Stephen Mayer by typing in this chair even though it makes his back hurt and eating all the extra avocado that fell out of his sandwich.
