Robot 6
Comics A.M. | The comics Internet in two minutes
Stitches
Conventions | ICv2.com reports that although exhibit space and attendance were down from the last New York show, the overall feeling was generally positive at this weekend’s BookExpo America. Heidi MacDonald, Brian Heater and Geekanerd’s AHR also post from BEA, where David Small’s autobiographical graphic novel Stitches apparently was the toast of the show. [BookExpo America]
Publishing | IDW Publishing announced at BookExpo America that it has secured the rights to 100 short stories by prolific writer Robert Bloch, author of Psycho and the Hugo Award-winning “That Hell-Bound Train.” [Publishers Weekly]
Marvel Divas #1
Publishing | Latoya Peterson picks up on the Marvel Divas miniseries, and remembers why she “decamped from American comics in the first place and ran straight into the arms of the Japanese manga market.” [Guardian]
Conventions | Mark Waid blogs briefly from the 27th International Barcelona Comics Fair, where DC Comics’ Batman in Barcelona: Dragon’s Knight received some international attention. [MarkWaid.com]
Retailing | The Beguiling’s Christopher Butcher live-blogs part of his monthly Previews order again: “So what do we have? Another 1 in 250 copy variant on Blackest Night #1. I appreciate that DC is getting behind this one in a big way… Free Comic Book Day, two years of build-up, all of that. But again, this is a program that rewards large retailers and encourages small retailers to take potentially very unhealthy positions on books. Man, if I’ve heard the rumours about Diamond being in a cash-crunch because of the number of comic stores closing (and not paying their bills…) then SURELY DC has heard the same thing… and yet they’re encouraging stores to drop an extra 500-600 bucks to nab an “incentive” cover. Or they’re just shutting those customers out entirely. This is the worst thing in the comics industry right now. The Worst.” [Comics212]
Trinity, Vol. 2
Creators | Alasdair Wilkins talks with Kurt Busiek about DC Comics’ Trinity, which just wrapped up its 52-week: “The one time I talked with Jack Kirby, he told me that it didn’t matter how weird or cosmic or far out anything got, as long as your characters reacted to it the way real people would. Give the audience a vantage point they can comprehend, a place to stand that feels real, and they’ll comprehend the bigger stuff.” [io9.com]
Creators | Tom Spurgeon interviews Bob Fingerman about From the Ashes, apocalyptic literature and his illustrated book Connective Tissue. [The Comics Reporter]
Creators | A profile of Belgian cartoonist Hergé and Belgian painter René Magritte, tied to the openings of museums dedicated to their work. [Time.com]
Creators | Jason Shawn Alexander, most recently the artist for Dynamite’s Dead Irons, reveals he’ll be working on Marvel Zombies. [Blood and Whisky]
Fandom | James Hunt wonders whether readers might be better off buying older comics. [Den of Geek]
- June 1, 2009 @ 06:57 AM by Kevin Melrose
8 Comments
zombied
June 1, 2009 at 7:45 am
A fool and their money are easily parted. Anyone stupid enough to pay orders of magnitude for a limited variant cover deserves to get robbed.
Let’s see…I can either buy roughly 80 comics at $3 a pop, or I can buy one $250 variant, whose only difference is a cover. It reminds me of all those brand spanking new 5 figure print run comics I see on eBay that are CGC graded.
kwaku
June 1, 2009 at 8:13 am
I’m I missing something? Is there anything forcing retailers to buy 250 for a single variant cover? If you only sell 25 copies why not just buy 25 copies?
I would argue that women are treated just as badly in Manga as they are in American comics.
Eric
June 1, 2009 at 9:10 am
No one is forcing the retailers to do anything…
Oh except the customers who demand the variant covers, and throw fits when the stores don’t get them.
Corey Bean
June 1, 2009 at 9:16 am
Regarding the Guardian piece: Why do so many folks act as if japanese comics are some sort of paragon of male & female equality? Are there Marvel or DC (since that’s ALL american comics…) equivalants of lolicon, tentacle rape, etc? There are good comics & bad comics everywhere.
Kirk Warren
June 1, 2009 at 10:13 am
For those complaining about the Guardian link, did you read it? It sounds like you are judging the article based on the blurb and your limited knowledge of manga, which amounts to probably Naruto, DBZ or Bleach.
Divas is being marketed towards females, yet is horribly, horribly out of touch with that audience based on all things we’ve seen so far. The Guardian article talks about the various genres of the manga market that focus on females, something lacking from the North American market.
Yes, we have the occasional indy book, like a Strangers in Paradise, but that is not the norm and that’s all the Guardian article is pointing out.
Aaron Poehler
June 1, 2009 at 11:09 am
Anyone expecting Marvel Divas to be anything but adolescent male-oriented tripe hasn’t been paying attention.
Corey Bean
June 1, 2009 at 11:22 am
I did read the article, yes. I don’t diagree that Marvel made a huge miscalculation… like they always do. I’m pretty tired of the whole manga (all genres) vs superhero comics riff that comes up whenever these issues are discussed.
And how do you know whether or not I have a “limited knowledge of manga”. Have we met? My apologies for not recognizing your name.
BobH
June 1, 2009 at 2:40 pm
“customers who demand the variant covers, and throw fits when the stores don’t get them.”
But I assume those customers are willing to pay for that variant cover, so I’m not sure I see the problem.
Customer wants 1-in-250 variant
Retailer says, okay, that’ll be my wholesale price for 250 copies, $400 (or whatever), deposit due when I place my final order
Either customer agrees, in which 100% of what he sells the other 249 copies for is profit, or customer says that’s too much, in which case retailer orders as normal