Flashpoint: Tie-ins & Creative teams

[BobBretall]

http://www.ifanboy.com/content/articles ... tive_Teams

FLASHPOINT: BATMAN, KNIGHT OF VENGEANCE
Writer: Brian Azzarello
Art: Eduardo Risso
* Bruce Wayne running a casino, Azzarello/Risso have me sold on this one.


FLASHPOINT: CITIZEN COLD
Covers: Scott Kolins
Writer: Scott Kolins
Art: Scott Kolins
* Focus on Capt. Cold.....I was not not too big a fan of Kolins' solo run on Solomon Grundy, will this be similar?


FLASHPOINT: DEATHSTROKE & THE CURSE OF THE RAVAGER
Writer: Jimmy Palmiotti
Art: Joe Bennett & John Dell
* Deathstroke as a pirate....I generally like Palmiotti, but this is not sounding too captivating


FLASHPOINT: DEADMAN & THE FLYING GRAYSONS
Writer: JT Krul
Art: Mikel Janin
* Deadman & Dick Grayson in a circus..... Sounds kind of interesting, but who is Mikel Janin?? A search shows a sole credit for a stroy in Heavy Metal in 2008


FLASHPOINT: HAL JORDAN
Writer: Adam Schlagman
Art: Ben Oliver
* Could be interesting, but a rookie creative team. Schlagman moving up from being an Editor, Ben Oliver did the Vigilante series in 2005, & most recently has been a cover artist (see the Osborn series at Marvel). Those covers look good, but would that style be used throughout the interior art?

FLASHPOINT: WORLD OF FLASHPOINT
Writer: Rex Ogle
Art: Paulo Siquiera
* Rex is another editor being given a shot at writing, Siquiera has done some art in Spider-Man over at Marvel. Not sure what this series will be, maybe an anthology of stories?


FLASHPOINT: EMPEROR AQUAMAN
Writer: Tony Bedard
Art: Ardian Syaf & Vicente Cifuentes
* Tony Bedard is a solid writer, Cifuentes has been inking Green Arrow, Syaf has been on Brightest Day most recently. The image for this book at the above link was by these artists, and it didn't really do anything for me.


FLASHPOINT: LEGION OF DOOM
Writer: Adam Glass
Art: Rodeny Buchemi & Jose Marzan
* Adam Glass has written a lot of Deadpool. Buchemi's most recent work was on X-Men Forever 2


I must say, other than the Batman one by Azzarello/Risso, I'm not particularly excited by any of these. It seems like DC is giving a LOT of this over to relatively new talent. That could be a good thing, or it could be not-so-good.

What it does NOT do is give me the confidence to pre-order any of this stuff (other than the Batman by Azzarello) unless DCBS has it at a BIG discount.

Given sales lately, these creative teams do not sound like something that will cause most of these books to break 20k (with the exception of the Azz/Risso Batman)

[comicman66]

I was hoping for something cool with this series but whole story seems "almost" like the Trinity weekly that they came out with last year and I wasnt into that either.
I'm in the same boat, these miniseries issues dont look exciting at all. I will be getting the main series and thats it for this. I dont think even a BIG discount with DCBS will make me get these.
David

[comicm]

I am looking forward to them all but the Aquaman and Capt Cold ones are the ones I am most excited for.

[HassanT]

I would disagree with the idea that DC is launching these books with new talent. Excluding Azzarello, you have Scott Kolins, Jimmy Palmiotti, Tony Bedard, and JT Krul. They might not be hot, but they are not new and they are all pretty talented creators. In fact, you guys praise Palmiotti and Bedard on a regular basis on your show.

The other thing is that launching a book that is linked to a cross company event is probably better than just launching the book cold.

[HassanT]

I am looking forward to them all but the Aquaman and Capt Cold ones are the ones I am most excited for.

I am looking forward to them all as well. The ones I am most excited for are Batman, Cold, Aquaman, and Deadman.

[BobBretall]

I would disagree with the idea that DC is launching these books with new talent. Excluding Azzarello, you have Scott Kolins, Jimmy Palmiotti, Tony Bedard, and JT Krul. They might not be hot, but they are not new and they are all pretty talented creators. In fact, you guys praise Palmiotti and Bedard on a regular basis on your show.

The other thing is that launching a book that is linked to a cross company event is probably better than just launching the book cold.

Fair enough. However, I was reacting to the large quantity of names that were unfamiliar to me. 3 writers I have no recollection of reading/enjoying, and other than Risso, no artists whose style comes immediately to mind (for me) even though they have done some work before & I could find it if I dug for it.

It's true that they will no doubt benefit from being part of an "event". If I was not at a point where I'm no longer blindly buying into every event a publisher puts out I may have just tossed them all onto my order, but 15 minis of 3 issues each??? That's 45 books! Kind of a lot to wrap my mind around all in one big blast.

I'm not saying I WON'T buy the books. What I'm saying is (for the most part) I'm not seeing a lot of stuff that has me personally excited enough to pre-order these all blind just because they are part of the Flashpoint event.

Also, I personally do not react well to DC's tendency for "crypto-marketing" where they tease little bits of stuff. Other people get really excited by it, but it does nothing for me, especially when the majority of the info released is a bunch of creators most of whom I am not automatically excited by the names of.

Azzarello/Risso is an auto-buy for me. I may buy the Palmiotti & Bedard ones on the strength of me liking the writers. I'm personally kind of hit-and-miss on Kolins & Krul, so I'll likely not buy blind on those.

Another thing is that since these are really essentially Elseworlds type stories that don't seem to be strongly tied into any main continuity, it does not really matter if I buy them now or a year from now in a $1 bin. In fact, it will be better for me if you are right & these sell (to shops) really well because they're part of an event, as that will be all the more copies on the market to get down the line.

Just my opinion, but these feel like they're going to be a lot more like the Final Crisis "Run", "Ink", etc. minis than they'll be like the Blackest Night tie-ins as far as general reader interest goes.

[Paul Nolan]

I'll buy Cold, to see Kolins drawing Rogues again. None of the other announced have grabbed me.

[stardog]

I'll probably skip a lot of these. I think there was some speculation that these Flashpoint series would replace some of the ongoings temporarily (so it wouldn't be as big of a financial hardship), but that obviously isn't the case with these creative teams. I was counting on that. I really can't add 8 additional books to my monthly order. Even if DCBS has a big discount, there's still months 2 and 3 to think about.

I'll get Batman based on the creative team and that I'm a huge Batman fan. I like Palmiotti and Bennett, so I'll think about the Deathstroke book. I want to read Citizen Cold, but I wish somebody else was writing. And I have to say, I loved Kolins' art back in his early years on The Flash, but it hasn't done much for me lately (both of his styles). Emperor Aquaman is a possibility with Bedard, and Syaf is growing on me. Everything else is a definite pass.

[BobBretall]

I'll probably skip a lot of these. I think there was some speculation that these Flashpoint series would replace some of the ongoings temporarily (so it wouldn't be as big of a financial hardship), but that obviously isn't the case with these creative teams. I was counting on that. I really can't add 8 additional books to my monthly order. Even if DCBS has a big discount, there's still months 2 and 3 to think about.

You make a good point here. I'll be REALLY curious to see the actual April solicits from DC when they hit the web in a few weeks. Adding all these 3-issue minis IN ADDITION TO the regular DC load will be hard for a lot of people, we'll have to see what DC does (e.g., just dropping a lot of extra books into the line-up of doing some kind of hiatus, which I can't see happening with the regular creative teams for 3 months).

[HassanT]

I'll probably skip a lot of these. I think there was some speculation that these Flashpoint series would replace some of the ongoings temporarily (so it wouldn't be as big of a financial hardship), but that obviously isn't the case with these creative teams. I was counting on that. I really can't add 8 additional books to my monthly order. Even if DCBS has a big discount, there's still months 2 and 3 to think about.

You make a good point here. I'll be REALLY curious to see the actual April solicits from DC when they hit the web in a few weeks. Adding all these 3-issue minis IN ADDITION TO the regular DC load will be hard for a lot of people, we'll have to see what DC does (e.g., just dropping a lot of extra books into the line-up of doing some kind of hiatus, which I can't see happening with the regular creative teams for 3 months).

I think you guys are forgetting that DC has been canceling a lot of titles over the past couple of months.

They cancelled Doom Patrol, Outsiders, Rebels, Freedom Fighters, and JSA All-Stars. Also, two bi-weekly series ended in April; Brightest Day and JL Generation Lost. That is about 9 books (I counted BD and JLGL twice because they are bi-weekly) removed from DC's monthly schedule that Flashpoint and the mini-series could fill a void in.

I didn't include the end of Batman: Streets of Gotham, Batman: Confidential, or Azreal because DC seems to replace those books with more Bat-family books.

It is a lot of new books, but since they cancelled a lot books that I was getting, it won't be a big deal on my wallet.

As for titles on hiatus, I wouldn't be surprised that Flash is suspended for three months, especially since Johns is really busy on Flashpoint and Manpul is really slow. I also wouldn't be surprised if they skip a month or two on the main Green Lantern book, so they could catch their breath after War of the Green Lantern. As for Batman, both the Dark Knight and Inc have been extremely late. I don't think I would consider those books month books

[BobBretall]

I think you guys are forgetting that DC has been canceling a lot of titles over the past couple of months.

They cancelled Doom Patrol, Outsiders, Rebels, Freedom Fighters, and JSA All-Stars. Also, two bi-weekly series ended in April; Brightest Day and JL Generation Lost. That is about 9 books (I counted BD and JLGL twice because they are bi-weekly) removed from DC's monthly schedule that Flashpoint and the mini-series could fill a void in.

I didn't include the end of Batman: Streets of Gotham, Batman: Confidential, or Azreal because DC seems to replace those books with more Bat-family books.

It is a lot of new books, but since they canceled a lot books that I was getting, it won't be a big deal on my wallet.

I'm not forgetting any of that. I'll still be curious to actually see the April solicits (and then May when they drop the other 7 Flashpoint minis....)

But still, I never had a doubt that uber-DC fans like you, Hassan, would grab up all these minis. I'm more curious about the casual fan. All these extra titles has got to put a strain on someone's wallet somewhere.

AND, let's not forget, those series that were canceled were mostly done away with because they were low-sellers, so a lot of the casual fans that buy into event-level stuff were probably not picking them up anyway, so the pile-o-minis tied in to Flashpoint will still be a net gain for some group of people.

[HassanT]

I think you guys are forgetting that DC has been canceling a lot of titles over the past couple of months.

They cancelled Doom Patrol, Outsiders, Rebels, Freedom Fighters, and JSA All-Stars. Also, two bi-weekly series ended in April; Brightest Day and JL Generation Lost. That is about 9 books (I counted BD and JLGL twice because they are bi-weekly) removed from DC's monthly schedule that Flashpoint and the mini-series could fill a void in.

I didn't include the end of Batman: Streets of Gotham, Batman: Confidential, or Azreal because DC seems to replace those books with more Bat-family books.

It is a lot of new books, but since they canceled a lot books that I was getting, it won't be a big deal on my wallet.

I'm not forgetting any of that. I'll still be curious to actually see the April solicits (and then May when they drop the other 7 Flashpoint minis....)

But still, I never had a doubt that uber-DC fans like you, Hassan, would grab up all these minis. I'm more curious about the casual fan. All these extra titles has got to put a strain on someone's wallet somewhere.

AND, let's not forget, those series that were canceled were mostly done away with because they were low-sellers, so a lot of the casual fans that buy into event-level stuff were probably not picking them up anyway, so the pile-o-minis tied in to Flashpoint will still be a net gain for some group of people.

You are correct, I am an uber-DC fan, so I am a little bias

[BobBretall]

You are correct, I am an uber-DC fan, so I am a little bias

I'm probably being a bit hard on Flashpoint of my generally negative reaction to DC's tendency to do early marketing with really sparse information that is intended to build excitement (and probably does in some segment of their fan base) but instead just frustrates me with it's vague nature.

So far we have titles & creators, and beyond that speculation.

Once they release some actual info, I may be more excited.

[HassanT]

You are correct, I am an uber-DC fan, so I am a little bias

I'm probably being a bit hard on Flashpoint of my generally negative reaction to DC's tendency to do early marketing with really sparse information that is intended to build excitement (and probably does in some segment of their fan base) but instead just frustrates me with it's vague nature.

So far we have titles & creators, and beyond that speculation.

Once they release some actual info, I may be more excited.

That is funny. I think Marvel is doing the same thing lately with Fear Itself and the X-Men books.

I do think it is too early to judge either way. However, I tend to be more excited for an event done by Geoff Johns than an event done by any other person.

[stardog]

I think you guys are forgetting that DC has been canceling a lot of titles over the past couple of months.

They cancelled Doom Patrol, Outsiders, Rebels, Freedom Fighters, and JSA All-Stars. Also, two bi-weekly series ended in April; Brightest Day and JL Generation Lost. That is about 9 books (I counted BD and JLGL twice because they are bi-weekly) removed from DC's monthly schedule that Flashpoint and the mini-series could fill a void in.

I didn't include the end of Batman: Streets of Gotham, Batman: Confidential, or Azreal because DC seems to replace those books with more Bat-family books.

It is a lot of new books, but since they cancelled a lot books that I was getting, it won't be a big deal on my wallet.

As for titles on hiatus, I wouldn't be surprised that Flash is suspended for three months, especially since Johns is really busy on Flashpoint and Manpul is really slow. I also wouldn't be surprised if they skip a month or two on the main Green Lantern book, so they could catch their breath after War of the Green Lantern. As for Batman, both the Dark Knight and Inc have been extremely late. I don't think I would consider those books month books

I see your point, Hassan. I was getting a lot of those books too. Part of it is my own situation where I'm trying to cut back a little. I'm enjoying Brightest Day and Generation Lost, but I am glad they're ending just so that will save me some money. (Although I am hoping that we get an ongoing with the Generation Lost characters!) I'm not looking to replace those books or REBELS, Freedom Fighters and All-Stars with a bunch of Flashpoint titles, even though I am excited about and buying the main Flashpoint series. Another part of my problem is as Bob said, the vague nature of these announcements, and the feeling that while even if these books are well done, are they necessary? No comics are necessary, but you know what I mean. More so from Marvel, but I have felt a little burned by these tie-ins over the years. With Fear Itself I'm avoiding everything but the main series and the ongoings I already get. And maybe they'll stagger these Flashpoint minis so they don't all start the same month, but the thought of pre-ordering (essentially 2 months' worth) is kind of scary.

For DC, I guess these Flashpoint books have to outsell the canceled titles (not a major feat), but I wonder if you water down your event? Maybe keep it 3 or 4 tie-ins and give them creative teams on the level of the Batman series. My fear would be that a lot of fans, even those buying the main series, just avoid these minis altogether "No way I'm buying 8 so I'll just skip the whole thing."