By Jimmy Palmiotti
Right off the bat I want to thank my SUPER talented buddy Darwyn Cooke for filling in for me last week. He did a great job and really, I would read a blog of his weekly as well, but he has better things to do and honestly, I would rather see his work then listen to him go on and on about what is wrong with the country and it’s cheese fascination. I owe you one, buddy!
Been a weird week and a half, lots of ups and downs but this up made my day. I read a single headline in the paper and it made me as happy as a clam. Let me explain.
Amanda and I went to the Emerald Con in Seattle and it was a total blast. Great crowds, fantastic fans and I got to spend some quality time with a bunch of people I haven’t seen in a while.
A shout out goes to Dave Johnson, Joe Jusko, Mike Mignola, Joanne, Mark, Lara, Derrick and all the rest for making it a really fun weekend in spite of all the stop-overs and air time to and from the show. Back into the week I had to play catch up with work, see a close friend leave town after many months here in my life daily [Hey, Marsha… I got your crap celebrity magazines waiting for you, little sister] and also got to celebrate Amanda’s birthday twice, then bash one of my fingers pretty good. Actually I jammed a finger in my left hand and I am still going for X-rays, an MRI, and consultations… but the good news that made my day was this headline…
L.A. JURY CONVICTS PHIL SPECTOR IN MURDER OF ACTRESS LANA CLARKSON.
I was sitting in my favorite burger and brew when I saw the headline and I was in seventh heaven. Why would this matter to me? Let me explain. In February of 2003, Amanda and I were guests at a comic show in Los Angeles and the wonderful couple Bill and Sharon Liebowitz introduced Amanda and I to Lana Clarkson, an actress friend of theirs. She was so full of life, respectful and genuinely interested in what I did for a living that we spoke for a while about what she had done in films and what she does now, the con and so on, and she invited us to be her guests at the House of Blues the next night. We were leaving that next afternoon and heading back to N.Y. and had to pass on the invite but she left an impression, and we thanked Bill and Sharon for the introduction. We flew back to N.Y. and came in on the red eye on Monday morning and by the time we turned on the TV that night we saw, to our shock, that she had been shot and killed and Phil Spector was involved.
I personally followed the first trial and watched some TV shows on it and thought it was totally ridiculous that the defense people were trying to prove that Lana was depressed and suicidal. We had met her the day before, and if any of these things were true, she should have gotten an Academy Award right then and there. Long story short, the new jury has found Phil Spector guilty and he will be getting at least 18 years to life in jail. This news and the smell of justice finally being served made my day. Nothing will bring Lana back, I know this… but maybe her family and friends will find this sentencing somewhat healing on some small level.
Oh, and Phil, I think I saw O.J. eying your ass as you were coming into the prison.
THE RESISTANCEÂ trade book:
Its out we couldn’t be happier with the great job the gang at I.D.W did on the trade book. If your retailer doesn’t have it, yell at them to order it or threaten to get it off Amazon. Either way give it a shot and let me know what you think. When’s the last time you read a real sci-fi, multi-cultured, over-the-top, big budget comic book?
TWITTERING MY FACEBOOK: Yeah, I am on both and you can come say hi anytime. Beware because I post pictures and comments when I am drunk. Really… I warned you. And sorry all those Tori Amos fans out there… I was just kidding.
JONAH HEX NUMBERS: Man, been following the Diamond month-to-month sales numbers and am trying to figure out what we can do to get the retailers to stop lowering their Jonah Hex orders. I say the retailers because I hear from a lot of fans saying their stores run out of the book and don’t reorder it, and for the past year, we have been losing a few hundred orders a month and I can’t honestly believe we are losing that many readers. Maybe you guys know something we don’t, but please, if you can… make the retailer near you preorder the book for you… and be vocal if there are not any, including back issues, on their racks. For the retailers that continue to support and push the book… well, hell, you know I’m not talking to you, so just turn around and go back to being awesome.
JONAH HEX ON THE SET: Not on set yet, but the producer and good friend Andy Lazar promises that Justin and I can visit soon and its something I am really looking forward to. I do know that all the players are in place and they start shooting soon so all is good. Really excited to begin updating everyone soon on this.
PAUL GULACY: One of my favorite artists since the days of Master of Kung Fu, one of the nicest guys I have worked with and am proud to call a good friend, and one of those guys that keeps knocking it out of the park each and every time we work together. I figured I would show off a few unlettered pages of Paul’s latest, which is JONAH HEX #43. Please, if you enjoy his work, give this issue a shot. Its quite amazing work and Justin and I are proud to once again be able to work with him. Let me know what you think.
WEEKIE WCHEE: If you live in Florida, there is a good chance you , at one time or another, have visited this famous water theme park. It’s been around since …well, 61 years I hear. Anyway, we took Amanda to it for her birthday and it was a pretty cool thing to do. Its made for kids or lovers of girls in bikinis dressed as mermaids. Here are some photos and a clip from YouTube as well.
That’s it for now and I leave you with a Power Girl page for the hell of it and some random pics as well.
- Jimmy P
April 21st, 2009 at 9:30 am
Weeki Wachee is one of those wonderful old bits of Florida that everyone needs to see at least once in their life time.
They were in danger of closing down a few years ago, I think they turned it into a State Park now though.
April 21st, 2009 at 10:05 am
I don’t know whether or not to be more impressed with the fantasy of live model mermaids or Amanda’s awesome Power Girl picture
April 21st, 2009 at 10:20 am
yeah ken, now a state park and hopefully they will get more business. its really a fun beautiful step into the past. i personally think they should do an adult sat night topless mermaid show and serve booze.
April 21st, 2009 at 10:36 am
Do I see that missing monkey in that mermaid picture?!?!?
April 21st, 2009 at 10:42 am
Sucks about the Jonah Hex book. I buy it via the trade (because I buy everything in the trade). But here’s a question: if a title is doing better in trades than in monthlies, will DC keep the title around?
April 21st, 2009 at 10:49 am
Ouch, I always cringe when I see dropping numbers on a title I love. Jimmy, I know that you told me at a con and have been vocal about DC’s commitment to this book…. but come retailers…… order and promote the damn thing alreay!!!
April 21st, 2009 at 10:55 am
I love how its the retailers fault that Jonah Hex is slipping.
April 21st, 2009 at 11:08 am
YoBo, when customers go into a comic specialty shop and are unable to buy a book they want because the retailer hasn’t purchased enough inventory, than it falls squarely on the shoulders of the retailers. Reorders are also available and so there is no reasonable way to argue that some of the responsiblity doesn’t come down to retailers ordering overly cautiously or simply not that good at what they do. There is no getting around that.
April 21st, 2009 at 11:45 am
Love Weeki Watchee! I took my wife and son for her birthday, back in September. Apparently, they had a comic-book themed underwater show featuring Aquaman during Halloween.
And, yeah, mark me down for the Adult Saturday Night idea. Good man, Jimmy, always thinking!
April 21st, 2009 at 11:47 am
http://aquamanshrine.blogspot.com/2009/01/weeki-wachee-aquaman.html
April 21st, 2009 at 12:57 pm
My LCS is making a concentrated effort to make sure they don’t have back issues of anything on their shelves…not just Jonah Hex but they are ordering just enough of everything but the best selling comincs. Back issues on their shelves mmean wasted money and with the economy as it is, they can’t afford that.
April 21st, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Ah, to know the satisfaction of smashing enough robots to have a pile to sit on. Not just one or two robots, but several. Enough to make you need to sit down and say “yeah, I smashed these and now I need a breather.”
The Power Girl crisis tie-in that Amanda Conner drew is always one of the examples I cite when I refer to her as one of my favorites. I’m really looking forward to this.
April 21st, 2009 at 1:26 pm
I probably sound like a broken record, but it’s the truth; Jonah Hex is the best book on the market. Everyone should do themselves a favour and read at least one issue.
This Paul Galacy issue looks like a good start. What beautiful artwork for such an ugly character.
Jordi Bennett is helping the numbers in Europe, and I honestly believe that when this amazing movie starts it’s promotional tour, the book will be in good numbers.
Once the movie comes out, people will be stepping over themselves to get the newest issue, and back-issues.
April 21st, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Maybe if the retailers had a Hex poster to put up in their story, this might help with the numbers?
April 21st, 2009 at 1:46 pm
Hey, who colored that “Resistance” trade cover? Looks great.
April 21st, 2009 at 1:50 pm
I recently brought one of my friends on board the Jonah Hex trade, which upped my LCS’s ordering from 1 copy to 2…
Yeah, I have more work to do.
April 21st, 2009 at 3:08 pm
There are too many books that could and should be doing better than they do, but for the cautios dealer who buys low and mops his brow in relief when the book sells out. They never go back through their sales charts and notice that the book sells out EVERY month, tho. And it seems to e that if a book sells out every month, you could do worse than increase your number a month or two, and see if the HIGHER number sell out too. I’m sure for every guy who explicitly asks for a title that’s sold out, there’s one or a couple more who just leave and go to the next shop down the street, or just don’t bother at all.
It all goes back to the idea that some dealers see customers as an annoyance, and would be quite happy to have none at all, if it weren’t for the whole needing to pay rent and eat thing.
April 21st, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Very good rap on Lana Clarkson, Jimmy. A tragedy all around.
Also, Paul Gulacy! Yow! Slash Maraud!
April 21st, 2009 at 3:56 pm
amandas power girl rocks
April 21st, 2009 at 3:57 pm
you are still the god among men x
April 21st, 2009 at 7:59 pm
Jimmy (or someone else): What’s a good jumping on issue for Hex? I buy everything in trade nowadays, but I’ll make an exception for a title that needs help that people like.
April 21st, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Jimmy, Jonah Hex is the book my wife and I look forward to the most every month and are huge fans of. We even named our new beta fish after Jonah. What you and Justin do is amazing. We buy every issue and trade. We also try to turn our friends onto the book and have hooked three into being regular readers so far. We’re also big fans of Amanda. We missed you and Amanda back at Pittsburgh Con last year, so hopefully we can catch you guys at a future con. We’re looking forward to Power Girl, and will do everything we can to rally our retailer and our friends to support Jonah. Our retailer is pretty good though, as they always have plenty of copies and keep back issues on the racks for a few months. All the best, and keep up the great work!
April 21st, 2009 at 8:27 pm
Oh hey Jimmy… Any chance you and Justin will do anything else with the Freedom Fighters? My wife and I would love to see another mini-series, especially with the new line up. The first two minis were great. I’ll keep my fingers crossed…
April 21st, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Hey Jimmy,
I don’t know about most retailers but the one I shop at wants to sell through everything. He has no problem ordering as many copies of whatever anyone wants but with tightening the budget with the economy he has opted to order books to sell through on the shelf and exact orders for subs. He used to order extra and recommend stuff all the time but can’t afford to get extras now if people aren’t going to buy it especially with the books going to 3.99 he’s gotten real tight about ordering.
I see him try and talk people into buying what they ordered because they didn’t pay attention to what they were ordering or didn’t notice price increases or just plain want to drop a book and he’s already ordered them two more months of issues.
It might be all these thing that are seeing orders drop on some very good books out there that are little of the generic mainstream.
Amanda’s Power Girl looks awesome.
April 21st, 2009 at 10:49 pm
Is there any chance of there being any more Resistance comics out of you guys? (yeah, I own all 8 issues that came out!)
April 21st, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Those are some mermaids…
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:25 am
Rob, the way Jonah Hex stories play out, every issue is a good jumping on point. Pick up the next issue and see what you think.
Personally, I hope you like it and want to buy more as they come out.
It’s such a beautiful piece of art. Even if Jonah is quite ugly.
April 22nd, 2009 at 9:27 am
I second the thoughts and comments on the Jonah Hex title. I don’t get what is causing the drop since this is, IMO, the best book on the market. It shines in telling compelling stories, great art and thrives by not depending on crossovers or guest stars to boost sales. Yet DC and fans seems to just sweep this book under the rug.
DC, please help promote this book some more!
Jimmy, the rest of the column is great as usual!
April 22nd, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Ha! I posted in just to tell Frank Cho he is hilarious.
Who did color hat thing?
Dar
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:41 am
the resistance cover is wonderfully colored by the amazing and talented brandon peterson. the credit is hard to read on the trade book…which is out now folks…wink wink
April 23rd, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I’m diggin’ the Powergirl art but her eyes make her look like maybe she had a few coocktails before she started the bar fight.
April 26th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
icdeez, she was power drinking.
April 30th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Jimmy, I am so looking forward to Power Girl next week. I hope you really put the POWER in Power Girl. It’s time women got their own hero who is as strong as any man out there. It’s all make-believe so why do the men always have to be the strongest? Please have her prove herself by taking it to someone like the General or Lobo or a possessed Superman for that matter.