Weekly Comic Spotlight

[drew]

March and American Born Chinese are 2 recent examples from top ten of bookscan - , not sure if they are complete flops in the direct market but sure aren’t top ten - March vol 3 at rank 59, vol2 rank194, vol1 rank 169 from diamond;american born chinese doesnt make diamonds top 300 - could be different time frames, not sure

http://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/3 ... hic-novels

I think we are making similar points just to different degrees

[JohnMayo]

In cases like those, when the direct market and mass market differ (and there are a number of such cases), it really shows one of the values of the Diamond data by pointing out what is working in one market and not the other. The direct market and mass market serve different purposes and different (but sometimes overlapping) audiences.

Both markets are important.

The dismissal of the Diamond data entirely is what I was disagreeing with.

[drew]

In cases like those, when the direct market and mass market differ (and there are a number of such cases), it really shows one of the values of the Diamond data by pointing out what is working in one market and not the other. The direct market and mass market serve different purposes and different (but sometimes overlapping) audiences.

Both markets are important.

The dismissal of the Diamond data entirely is what I was disagreeing with.

And while on the single issue side I agree the diamond list is a strong indicator, in fact it is pretty much all we've got; on the trades side it is much less so / other channels are much more significant and I don't see them as equally important

[doctormo]

Drew - I loved Robotech shout out. Did you read the comics published by Comico or Eternity? Or did you just watch the cartoon? Ironically, October 3rd is the 34th anniversary of Macross (the first 36 episodes of Robotech). Are you aware that Titan now has the Robotech license and will start releasing titles in 2017? (http://www.cbr.com/titan-comics-to-laun ... arly-2017/ and/or (http://comicsalliance.com/titan-robotech-art-sdcc-2016/)

[drew]

Drew - I loved Robotech shout out. Did you read the comics published by Comico or Eternity? Or did you just watch the cartoon? Ironically, October 3rd is the 34th anniversary of Macross (the first 36 episodes of Robotech). Are you aware that Titan now has the Robotech license and will start releasing titles in 2017? (http://www.cbr.com/titan-comics-to-laun ... arly-2017/ and/or (http://comicsalliance.com/titan-robotech-art-sdcc-2016/)

I read a few of the comico line - it didn't capture the same Magic the cartoons did when I was young - I really liked the show even though I had no idea what anime was at the time - it was just a fun experience - I've never watched since then so I imagine it wouldn't hold up, like most things from my early days (looking at you dukes of hazzard)

[NiklasJ]

Dear John and Drew, always a pleasure to listen!

I wanted to comment on the latest weekly spotlight (Weekly Comics Spotlight #480: 2016-10-19)

Green Lanterns:

Just to make things clear, I like the title (one of my favourite dc titles now) and the issue was solid too even without appearances from the main characters. Im not very well read in DC history and I dont recognize the Frank character but thats ok you get his story here.

Volthoom I think is the character from the end of the geoff johns GL run? where things started to spiral downward (IMO) for the GL comics. First it was the war of the first lantern crossover, then the big bad Relic (? dont remember much else than i disliked always having lots of crossovers among the gl titles) and then godhead that pushed me away completely from this family of titles.

What I dont like about DCs storytelling/characterisation now (that mirrors your position on marvel stories) is that they seem to be introducing this Volthoom as if he is some big deal with lots of backstory? But from what i remember he just showed up in the war of the first lantern story, never to be heard of again?

The whole DC rebirth change can have something to do with this which might be explained somewhere, maybe later on in this title. Compare to Batman #9

PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER:

where Batman picks his own suicide squad from arkham. Most of the characters I have no clue about, lesser villains from around I can get that, I dont read much dc. But this new Catwoman seems totally removed from where we last had her in the new 52, now a mentally unstable mass murderer?!?

Did we have something similar happen to this Volthoom? Then again I didnt read much of Vendittis pre rebirth run so might have been somewhere there...

I dont read Hal jordan and the green lanterns but shouldnt that one be compared sales number wise with the new52 Green lantern since it stars the main Lantern Hal? And this new Green LanternS title is more comparable to GLcorp (not really but kindof similar)

Infamous IronMan:

I like reading so talky (Bendis) books is ok+, and any book with Doom (or spiderman) in it is great just by association, just being open about my marvel fanboy agenda here.

While Doom is oddly benevolent(?) compared to most of his history here, it is consistent with his behaviour in Invincible IronMan which is running since the battleworld Secret Wars. Is it really that big of a stretch for the reader to work out that "hey maybe something happened there?".

SW ended with the FF staying outside the universe putting all pieces back together. Valeria has always been affectionate to her friend/uncle Victor, might have had a hand in removing facial scars and lifting some angst from his heavy heart. It hasnt been shown (yet) but the pieces from SW are there and everything ended with the Reed vs GodDoom battle. I dont know, its just my take on it... And you never know, they might actually inform us about Dooms turn of temperament later in the Story.

Also Doom has shown a lighter side before (or at least not completely evil), see first secret wars or doom 2099, its just that he has a very ruthless way of doing things

And about the marvel business comments. Cant say I disagree, they seem to have trouble finishing their story work before they start shipping the events with delays to follow and spoilers in comics that should have been released after the events end... Delays and spoilers make noone happy, at the same time I can understand not putting all comic production on pause just because the event title is shipping 3 months late... Only bad choices to pick from, aside from the obviou one to not solicit stuff until they are sure to be ready...

They mention the fate of Stark but one can wait until actually reading it to say for sure, compare to the latest death of Bucky in (was it) Fear itself? when he was supposedly dead one issue and not so much dead the next. I seriously doubt anyone at marvel feel that they have no more tony stark stories to tell. From the small appearance we get here we will probably see at least the Tony-program in the new ironman/ironheart series. It could also just be a way for Bendis to write more MJ without having to romantically connect her to Tony! Kill Stark off, MaryJane is the hero in the story, who could argue with that??

Much worse imo is the fact that while Marvel publish a lot of good books they push out too much new stuff out all at the same time. Who will buy all of the current Deadpool comics and also try out all the new merc books?? solo, foolkiller, slapstick... just as one example.

The Prowler comic was quiet nice, but who remembers that character from the 80/90s? some few that might be willing to try the title out for nostalgic reasons and some for the spiderman tie in? Are ppl supposed to buy it because its about a man of color as a main character? Maybe not so smart to have him all covered up by his suit, anyone that doesnt know about the character have no idea who Hobie is...

And I am aware that im giving DC more of a hard time than Marvel for similar issues in characterisation here but "It was never a reboot" they said about Rebirth which one could take means everything is the same except ppl remember wally now and we have some compressed time issue. While after secret wars we have explicitly the Richards family and Owen putting the pieces of the universe back together again from memory and we see actual change like ultimate spider man in 616 now from the outset => implies there might be other not yet seen changes.

Just my few cents by way of wall of text, opinions, conjecture, jumbled muddled thoughts are all on me and i have been known to be wrong (once).

Wow that was one big post, sorry...

[JohnMayo]

...they seem to be introducing this Volthoom as if he is some big deal with lots of backstory? But from what i remember he just showed up in the war of the first lantern story, never to be heard of again?

Volthoom does have a long backstory. Maybe not this version of Volthoom but a Green Lantern related Volthoom. I think the first mention of him goes as far back as the Crime Syndicate's first appearance in Justice League of America #29 (August 1964). So, in some sense, he is kind of a big deal. In another sense, yeah, not so much.

From the small appearance we get here we will probably see at least the Tony-program in the new ironman/ironheart series. It could also just be a way for Bendis to write more MJ without having to romantically connect her to Tony!

We've had teen Tony now we get virtual Tony? We've gotten AI versions of Tony before and it never ends well. Why didn't he just back up his brain onto a hard drive again like he did around Secret Invasion.

Who will buy all of the current Deadpool comics and also try out all the new merc books?? solo, foolkiller, slapstick... just as one example.

I agree with your point here. And, yes, I am getting those titles...


Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate hearing what listeners think about what we discuss in the episodes.

[drew]

I dont read Hal jordan and the green lanterns but shouldnt that one be compared sales number wise with the new52 Green lantern since it stars the main Lantern Hal? And this new Green LanternS title is more comparable to GLcorp (not really but kindof similar)

yeah I was thinking the same thing

Much worse imo is the fact that while Marvel publish a lot of good books they push out too much new stuff out all at the same time. Who will buy all of the current Deadpool comics and also try out all the new merc books?? solo, foolkiller, slapstick... just as one example...

It drives me crazy when they flood the market and try to drown out the competition, it really limits the quality and of titles

[JohnMayo]

I dont read Hal jordan and the green lanterns but shouldnt that one be compared sales number wise with the new52 Green lantern since it stars the main Lantern Hal? And this new Green LanternS title is more comparable to GLcorp (not really but kindof similar)

yeah I was thinking the same thing

I get what you guys are saying but comparing Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps to Green Lantern Corps makes as much or more sense than comparing it to Green Lantern. The problem is there is no crystal clear single comparison titles for some of these.

[drew]

I would think all the avengers and x titles would also make it tough to compare apples to apples

[JohnMayo]

I would think all the avengers and x titles would also make it tough to compare apples to apples

It does. The constant rotation of titles at Marvel makes doing comparison over multiple years challenging.

[NiklasJ]

Read the first Vision tbp, very good, cant wait for the conclusion.

And echo the drib-and-drab sentiment on the overarching dc rebirth story... very small crumbs that can appear in any book without solicits giving a clue. Gives me the feeling that DC wants us to either to read ALL titles or the crumbs that are being doled out arent very important.

[MichaelCastle]

There is so many good books coming out these days. DC twice shipping has caused my pile to double so I'm quickly dropping books because of time and money. I agree with Drew that Moon Knight has quite literally gone off the rails so much so I'm dropping it as well. I do lean heavily towards the indie side so I'm much more willing to give it more issues to capture me as a reader. The big two better knock my socks off or I'm out, mainly because I feel like the world building and character building has already been done so they need to have an awesome story. Couldn't agree more on Vision. This and Spider-Man/Deadpool are my two favorite Marvel books of the year. Not sure which will get my vote for Marvel series of the year yet.

[drew]

I agree with Drew that Moon Knight has quite literally gone off the rails so much so I'm dropping it as well. I do lean heavily towards the indie side so I'm much more willing to give it more issues to capture me as a reader. The big two better knock my socks off or I'm out, mainly because I feel like the world building and character building has already been done so they need to have an awesome story.

they gotta stop going to the event well so often, nobody likes them except the accountants...

[victorvondoom]

In regards to Weekly Comic Spotlight 482.

There was discussion about some of the DC titles and Drew commented that he is enjoying the Superman books more than the Batman books, maybe for the first time ever. I feel the exact same way. Not that there is anything wrong with how the Batman line has been doing, but since Rebirth I find myself enjoying Superman and Action Comics much more than any Superman books that I have read in a long time. These are the kinds of Superman stories I am interested in. Hats off to Dan Jurgens, Peter Tomasi, and everyone else involved.

-Jerry