Hailing from the Flint area in Michigan, The Swellers have made quite the name for themselves within the American Punk scene over the last decade. Fresh off of a U.S. tour, and a brand new EP release, I recently had the chance to catch up with lead singer, Nick Diener. Nick speaks candidly about finishing their last tour in their home state, what Michigan bands had the greatest impact on them starting out, what this EP means to him, and even his man crush on a certain WWE wrestler!
DC Entertainment on Wednesday announced three key promotions for its Vertigo arm — the same division from which progenitor Karen Berger recently announced she’d be departing. While we’d like to join in offering our congratulations to new Executive Editor Shelly Bond, Group Editor Will Dennis, and Editor Mark Doyle, we’re far more jazzed about the fact that DC promoted the promotions than the promotions themselves.
Welcome to Comic Rack! My pick of the top five comic news stories in no particular order…
The Superman/DC/Shuster Legal Battle Continues
For those who don’t know, basically DC has said that Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel gave up their rights to reclaim their half of the rights to Superman, and the Shuster estate has fought against that argument for a long time. As far as I can understand, the Shuster estate is appealing against a recent judgement made by a federal judge, who ruled they officially gave up their rights in an agreement made in 1992. It’s a little bogged down by legalese, and the complicated nature of who deserves what rights is what makes it even harder. I think it’s mostly a case of DC as a publisher trying to split hairs over what is or isn’t owed, and while I don’t know all the details, I’m sure the Shuster estate has a valid argument. All I know is I wish this whole court thing would get settled definitively, once and for all, either way. Then we could look back and judge the facts. I’m sure somebody more knowledgable than I could make a great argument for either side, but for now it’s a little sad to see yet another legal dispute in the comics world be dragged on further than it ever should have.
I’m a sucker for time travel stories. They’re practically my favorite genre of Sci-Fi stories, if it could even be called a genre. It’s a storytelling trope that’s always captivated me, and hearing about a new miniseries involving time travel certainly captured my interest. In particular this one is by Ed Brisson, who up until now has only been a letterer, but is taking a step into the fray as a writer. His book, called Comeback, is about a time traveling agency called Reconnect, that provides a very special service. For a hefty price, they’ll go back in time and save somebody you loved/cared about/whoever from dying. As with all time travel stories, the price paid for manipulating the space time continuum is more than just monetary, and can result in lots of bad things happening if things should go wrong. Of course the whole thing is very illegal, and there are certain physical repercussions for traveling in time. The book is sold out at the distribution level, so getting a copy of #1, which is currently out, may be hard for the time being, but that’s why digital comics and back issue hunting exist.
A great interview going into more detail with writer Ed Brisson is here.
A Quick Look at BOOM’s Hellraiser:The Road Below
I’ve been a big fan of Hellraiser for a long time, pretty much ever since I saw the first one as a young lad. Since then that franchise has always held a place in my heart near and dear to me, which is why I was taken by such surprise to see that there was still a Hellraiser comic series going on today. Furthermore, that it’s multiple issues in! I guess keeping up with all the hoopla from the big two, you’ll always have certain titles fall by the wayside, even ones that are based on a franchise you’ve long loved. While I haven’t read a Hellraiser book in years, the comic itself looks pretty interesting from the preview shown. It’s not written or drawn by any big names I recognize, but it deals with Kirsty Cotton dealing with a war between evil forces, and there even seems to be some mention of a Cenobite Queen? Whaaaat? Man, if you’re a Hellraiser fan who is intrigued, (like me), this preview may sell you on picking up this book, and finding it’s older issues to catch up.
Snyder Wrapping Up His Run On Swamp Thing with #18
If you haven’t been reading Swamp Thing, you owe it to yourself to go and pick up every issue you can find and catch up, along with Animal Man. They’re probably the two best books to come out of the New 52, and Scott Snyder has proven himself to be an incredible writer who can tell amazing stories. Swamp Thing is one of those characters who is criminally underrated, and Snyder has managed to take everything about him and do things with his character that haven’t been done since Alan Moore had his seminal run. Hearing Snyder was leaving the book was certainly saddening, but it’s going to be interesting to see his take on Superman, and for me personally, it’s a trade off I’d make every single time. While we still don’t know who is gonna fill in for Snyder and Swamp Thing artist Yanick Paquette, but whoever they are they’ve got big shoes to fill. I can’t recommend Swamp Thing enough to people, and every time people look at me like I’m crazy, but then come back next week telling me how wrong they were about it, I just tell them don’t thank me; thank Scott Snyder.
DC and Marvel. Two companies that pretty much define and are synonymous with comics for the general public, but for most comics fans they couldn’t be more different than peanut butter and toothpaste. One thing the two companies, and endless fanboys keep track of, is sales. Recently with Marvel NOW!, Marvel’s been taking the top spot, but that doesn’t mean that DC is doing too shabby either. DC is staying strong, and their books are selling pretty consistently. While it’s interesting to watch DC talk about their marketing strategies, and to formulate your own opinions about what they could be doing better, or are doing just fine, one can’t help but think if all of the competition is a good thing. It’s brought the best out of both Marvel and DC, and we’ve gotten some great books on both sides. As long as they’re both not in a creative lull, the books are selling well, and comics fans are getting great stories, it’s really a win-win for everyone. Comics are more popular now than they’ve been in a long time, and while DC is currently playing catch up over in Hollywood, I have no doubts they’ll be leading the way when it comes to the printed page.
Karen Berger is leaving DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint, it was announced yesterday. Berger, who created and headed the Vertigo division from the beginning, is staying on until March 2013. We can leave it to the industry insiders to question what this means for the future of Vertigo and DC, and we will add our voices to wishing Berger the best in all future ventures once April 2013 rolls around. While we can’t pretend to know exactly how much influence Berger had on each individual work that published under the Vertigo imprint, it’s probably an understatement to say not only has she been one of the most influential people in comics over the past 25 years, but the sensibilities of the Vertigo line during its burgeoning in the 1990s has cast a long shadow of influence that can be seen across all media — not just comics — today.
Welcome to Comic Rack! My pick of the top five comic news stories in no particular order…
Before Watchmen Is Done, Most Likely
J. Michael Straczynski is one of those guys in the comics industry who you either love or hate. I mean, he’s not on any kind of Jeph Loeb level or anything, but most people I know either think he’s a genius or a total asshat. I’ve got mixed feelings, as there are parts of his work that I thought were really smart but poorly executed, though through no fault of his own, (His Back In Black Spidey run), or others were weirdly interesting yet flawed, like his infamously unfinished Superman arc, Grounded. So when he goes out to say something, I tend to listen, if only because I know it’ll be interesting to hear. That being said, he’s not said anything this time that I’ve found that surprising, but it’s good to know.
“Insofar as I know, this is it for the Before Watchmen books,” JMS told PREVIEWSworld. “Dan [DiDio] had a very specific vision of the cycle he wanted to investigate, and never once mentioned anything about this turning into some kind of long-term franchise. Not to say that might not happen someday, but I don’t think it’s on his or DC’s radar at this juncture, and if it’s not on theirs it’s sure as heck not on mine.”
I didn’t imagine the Before Watchmen books expanding into some kind of monthly series or any kind of ongoing, and to be honest if they did it’d be pretty terrible. I’ve yet to read any of the Before Watchmen books, not out of any protest or anything, but simply because I have no interest. Watchmen is pretty perfectly told story, and doesn’t need much expansion or background detail added. I’m glad to find out it’s being put to rest.
Ottley And Howard Talk About Invincible, SUPER DINOSAUR, & More
Invincible was at one time, by far the best superhero book out there. Every week it rocked my socks off and had me anxiously awaiting next months issue. Nowadays, while it’s by no means bad, it doesn’t have me crapping my pants with glee every time I pick it up at my LCS. That’s not to say it isn’t still entertaining or engaging either, it is. I guess at some point you’ve invested enough into a story that you’re just committed to seeing how it folds out, despite lacking its previous passion or intensity. That must be why soap operas still exist. Well, regardless of my ennui about Invincible, Jason Howard and Ryan Ottley are still both very pumped for the book, and for good reason. They’re pretty pumped about getting the years worth of books done, and rounding up to the 100th issue, which has a pretty solid teaser:
Yeah that’s… one hell of a teaser.
It’s pretty interesting to see comics writers and artists talk freely about their projects, especially when one is about A SUPER DINOSAUR. (Truthfully, I just really like writing the words SUPER DINOSAUR!)
American Vampire‘s Taking a Hiatus, Snyder Assures Us It’s Temporary
One of the worst things a comics fan can hear about their favorite book, is that the author is going on “hiatus” and will return to finish the book “soon”. This is code, usually for “I’m sick of working with my editor/publisher/whatever and I am finding a way to weasel my way out of this contract”. At least that’s usually the case in my cynical opinion. However, sometimes that’s not the case, and in this interview Scott Snyder basically assures fans of his book that this hiatus definitely IS temporary, and that he’s committed to finish the popular series. This is refreshing to hear, because I recently bought the first trade digitally and was looking forward to following the series in trades from now on. While I’ve still yet to read it, perhaps this hiatus will give me time to catch up and get current, and the dastardly prospect of waiting for the trade, or buying the issue monthly can come to pass. On second thought, I’ll probably hold off on reading it longer, just because of this reason. My wallet hates me enough already.
While it’s not exactly news here at Comic Rack, it’s still reassuring to find out that our favorite con-man magician, John Constantine will still have his own monthly title at DC. Who’s to say if it’ll be a new, weird watered down version though? Well, the guy who’s writing the book, for one, and he’s pretty adamant that Constantine will stay the same character we know and love.
In March, Venditti and artist Renato Guedes will be launching Constantine, a new solo series for the character that takes place in the “New 52” DC Universe. And according to the writer, fans of Constantine shouldn’t fear that the long-time Vertigo character is going to be drastically different. Younger? Yes. Unmarried? Sure. But otherwise, Venditti says, “I wouldn’t say he’s all that much different from who John Constantine has always been.”
While the sentiment is appreciated, I’m still wary. I can’t say I’m necessarily dreading it, because I’ve more or less liked everything that’s come out of the New 52, but Constantine is a tricky one to handle, and I’m just not sure how he’s going to work when played out against the whole of the New DCU. I haven’t read any of Justice League Dark, but I’ve heard he works pretty well in that, so that’s reassuring, but at the end of the day I still am not entirely convinced. I’ll just have to wait and see how things turn out.
Vertigo has been on a roll lately, especially when it comes to anthologies. There’s the previous Ghosts, which I previously mentioned on this column a few weeks ago, and I’m learning there’s two others, by the names of StrangeAdventures and YoungRomance. I love a good anthology, the fact that this one is called Time Warp #1, bodes well for me. First off it sounds like it’s Sci-Fi, which is by far my favorite genre, secondly it sounds like it’s time travel related sci-fi, which is my favorite kind of sci-fi, and lastly it’s got that #1 in the title, which implies that it’s not just another one shot. Factor in that it’ll include stories from Damon Lindelof AND Jeff Lemire, and it’s almost like they’re trying to make a comic JUST FOR ME! Well, aside from those two big names, there’s plenty of others that any comics fan will recognize and get giddy for:
The issue will feature stories by the likes of Damon Lindelof, Jeff Lemire, Matt Kindt, Toby Litt, Mark Buckingham, Dan Abnett, Peter Milligan, Ray Fawkes, Simon Spurrier, Gail Simone, Rafael Albuquerque and Tom Fowler, with covers by Eduardo Risso (in full below) and Jae Lee.
Congratulations are due for DC Entertainment on account of them fully embracing the future. It was announced a couple of weeks ago that DC is now offering their new releases (and some back library) through Amazon, iTunes, and Barnes and Noble. Not only that, but it was announced recently that starting this week DC is also releasing digital content to these outlets on the same day as print. Amazingly enough, they are the first publisher to do so.
Even though print sales are up 12%, it is obvious that we live in the digital age. Between January and September of 2011, digital sales were up 197%. That is not a typo. Digital sales rose almost TWO HUNDRED percent in nine months. When DC launched the New 52, it was met with resistance, as is to be expected, but combined with their digital outlook, it has been wildly successful. Whether you agree with their move or not, you can’t deny that it has worked.
So why isn’t everyone else jumping on this bandwagon? Mainly, what is Marvel’s deal? They have a subscription service already, Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, that at first blush seems like a great idea. All the comics you can read for $50 a year? Yes please. As the saying goes, if it seems to good to be true, it probably is. That “Unlimited” part of the title? Not so unlimited. In order to read the comics, you have to be on a computer, on the internet. There is no way you can download to your computer to read at a later date, and if you happen to not have internet service? You are screwed. Surely they are watching DC’s numbers surpass their own, for the first time in quite a long time, and have to be asking themselves where they are going wrong.
Perhaps they should take a look at the music industry as a cautionary tale. People don’t buy CD’s any more. It is rare that the average consumer purchases an entire album (I’m an album girl but I realize that I’m in the minority) anymore, choosing instead to pick and choose single tracks to build their music libraries. The music industry refused to recognize this in time and as a result, is hurting. Had they been a little less cocky and had a bit of forward thinking, they could have introduced digital platforms of their own instead letting piracy take over and then having iTunes pick up their fumble and run it in for a touchdown. Unless Marvel realizes the path they have chosen is not the most fitting to the times, they will find themselves in the same situation.
But what about the local comic shop? What about it? Look, I love a print comic just as much as the next girl. There’s something about going in and having that human connection (as awkward as it might be- let’s be honest, we geeks aren’t really the most socially suave people out there) and feeling the actual paper in your hands. Seeing the stack of books to be read on your desk and the collection of carefully preserved editions in boxes lining your dining room walls. I get it. If nothing else, it provides a link to our childhood and past that we are reluctant to give up. Think about it this way though, I am 34 years old and vividly remember going to a record shop and searching through the stacks of CD’s looking for that one that a friend of mine mentioned was good. I’ve spent countless hours with a pair of headphones worn by countless others before me on my head as I sampled whatever the store had on tap that day. People who are even just a few years younger than I, have absolutely no idea what that experience even looks like. Does that make me sad? Of course it does. Much like I imagine people older than I miss the times where you’d go into a soda shop and sit at the counter and the ordering a malted. Does anyone even know what a malted is anymore? Not I. It is the nature of the beast and there is nothing we can do to stop it.
A practice so old, it’s only available in stock photos.
Nostalgia aside, there simply are not that many comic shops around anymore. I live in south Georgia and there is one shop in town. That’s it and there is never anyone else in there when I go in so sadly, I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be around. There are plenty of people who might read comics but have zero outlet to them. Until now. The digital age has opened up the world of comics to such a wider population and surely that’s a good thing right? I think so. The more the merrier and all that. No, I don’t want anyone to go out of business. I want everyone to be able to man a comic shop if they so desire and do so until their dying day, or until they retire, whichever comes first. Frankly, that isn’t a reality anymore. DC recognizes that the print stores still (for however long) have a place in the world though and they have set up a digital storefront that enables those brick and mortar places to place that on their site and then receive 30% of the sales. Better than a sharp stick in the eye I guess.
Another good thing to the digital revolution in the comics world? It has allowed smaller publishers to find success. Even on Comixology you can find small publishers but it’s the small vendors that are finding a small bit of success as well. Sites likes Dark Horse, an outfit that pulls double duty of publishing and sales, are becoming more popular. Dark Horse has a variety of comics, including a personal favorite of mine- The Guild, and has in the last week announced that they too are going to be offering their graphic novels (Hellboy for example) through Amazon. Not only that, but individual artists have set out their own shingles.
Mark Waid, of The Flash fame (at least that’s where I know him most from), has set up a site of his own called Thrillbent and it is comprised solely of digital content. He even makes a point of saying that it isn’t his intent to bury print media but rather that he believes that print and digital can coexist in peace. If someone of his caliber and experience believes so, then who are we to doubt? Want to hear more of his thoughts on the matter? Head on over to GEEK for an exclusive Q&A where he discusses his new site and his current work on Daredevil.
As with so many things today, we find ourselves in a situation where the “future” has collided with the present time. Now if only those hoverboards were to come to fruition, I’d be a happy woman. For now I’ll just have to settle for reading Batman on my iPad.
Grizzly Bomb 