For those who missed the latest installment of Retweet Theater yesterday on Twitter, Tom Brevoort on May 27th:
Tom Brevoort on May 31, following DC’s announcement of relaunching the entire DCU line:
He later went on to tell followers that he wasn’t bemoaning DC’s decision, just making sure that people knew that they could buy Marvel Comics while they wait for the relaunch. And adding the hashtag #theonesthatcount. Today, playing the role of “Voice of Reason,” Mr. Brian Wood:
June 1st, 2011 at 7:29 am
We have no idea if Brevoort is right or not, but he does have a point. Titles we like look as thought they will just end abruptly. Some things are bound to continue, but some are not.
That said, I suggest everyone keep buying the books they like because they are worth reading. It’s just too bad that there won’t be a chance for someone to wrap up the current timeline with something like “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”
June 1st, 2011 at 7:38 am
I don’t necessarily agree with someone in his position lowering himself to fanboy snark, but I also don’t disagree with Brevoort’s point. The Flashpoint spin-off minis look even less compelling now, something I wouldn’t have thought was possible a few short days ago.
June 1st, 2011 at 9:44 am
Tom’s point about no DC books “mattering” until September popped into my head as well while reviewing my Ifanboy pull list for the week. I have committed to dropping everything come September, but I’m left wondering “why wait?”
June 1st, 2011 at 10:20 am
What we got here is a case of sour grapes. Sadly, Brevoort being hypocritical is no surprise by now. And his final comment about is typical of him, which is to say ill-conceived and unnecessarily divisive.
Anyone who agrees with him should examine why you read comics in the first place. Is it because the stories are part of a larger continuity or is it because you enjoy the writing and art?
I’m guessing it’s the latter, and that’s unaffected by DC’s future plans. Also consider that many of the great super hero stories (Dark Knight Returns, All Star Superman, Watchmen, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, to name a few) were not part of larger continuity and did not “count”, but were amazing nonetheless.
June 1st, 2011 at 1:24 pm
As I said on Twitter, Tom Breevort has single handedly ended the sales of all pre-Mephisto Spider-man trade paperbacks and back issues.
June 1st, 2011 at 2:42 pm
That’s so silly. No comics “count” in an absolute sense. Comics won’t grow your hair back, get you a new car, woo your true love, or achieve anything else that matters in the world of flesh and bone. They’re just FUN to read, and that’s all they need to be.
If you think the DC comics between now and the reboot will be fun stories, then read them. If not, then don’t. I’m sticking with Flashpoint because it’s been pretty interesting so far. I won’t get all the tie-ins, but that was never my intention anyway.
June 1st, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Those comments aren’t anything new and part of the reason why I’ve washed my hands of anything to do with the current regime over at The Mouse.
The sheer hypocrisy and bs that spills on a normal day from Brevoort is bad enough but whenever he wants to act all high and mighty he comes off as an even bigger douchebag.
This guy has no credibility with me and alot of other comic book fans he’s flat out lied to fans and continues to troll DC while in a position of power. It’s embarrasing really the best thing about all of this is that DC has been doing a great job on the top of the charts and this move will help them even if it’s short term and he can’t stand that. DC has all the buzz right now in comics no one cares about anything having to do with Marvel unless it’s a movie and sales keep going down accross the board for the. That’s what he should be worried about not his competition but as usual he can’t help himself from coming accross as an umproffesional jackass well done Tom.
June 1st, 2011 at 3:34 pm
Twitter isn’t for everybody.
June 1st, 2011 at 4:29 pm
Kyle: Awesome!
I picture Quesada having to intervene with Brevoort, just like Brian Fantana had to do with Champ Kind in Anchorman: “Take it easy, Champ. Why don’t you stop talking for awhile.”
June 1st, 2011 at 4:47 pm
Not a single person here has gotten the joke? Not one?
June 1st, 2011 at 6:07 pm
Yeah, “count” being a reference to the re-numbering doesn’t make it any better…or funny.
June 1st, 2011 at 10:24 pm
“No comics ‘count’ in an absolute sense.”
Except that both DC and Marvel have flat-out admitted to selling comics that they themselves deem to be NOT good stories — Marvel has admitted that both OMD and OMIT were bad but supposedly “necessary” stories, while DC has done the same with a number of titles that supposedly tied into their various Crises — and their advertising pitch for the past several years has essentially amounted to, “Yes, they’re not actually any good as STORIES, but you should buy them because they MATTER!”
You can’t criticize the audience for adopting exactly the type of mentality that DC and Marvel DEMANDED that they adopt, in order to justify buying their bad stories.
You also shouldn’t trust that we’ll suddenly get GOOD stories from the EXACT SAME people who have given us so many bad stories that they now need to reboot their entire line in order to wash the stink off. Geoff Johns was Chief Creative Officer of DC when a lot of the stories were told that are supposedly necessitating this reboot, and yet, he’s going to remain CCO of DC to “fix” the very same “mistakes” that were made under HIS watch. If you really do need to do a LINE-WIDE REBOOT to fix what’s wrong with a company, then whoever was in charge at the time needs his ass FIRED.
June 2nd, 2011 at 12:42 am
Except Breevort isn’t being snarky. He’s making a valid point; DC’s plan is problematic in this regard. And yes a lot of comic fans are concerned about reading books that “count” in this coninuity-oriented sort of way. Why do you think all these overhyped events like Blackest Night and Brighest Day consistently sell so well for DC? Because of Geoff John’s amazing writing!? Seriously though…one poster above mentioned One More Day as a a point of comparison. That’s exactly the type of mentality that Breevort’s referencing. If you don’t care about continuity and just enjoy reading comics for the story than this doesn’t effect you that much either way. If you’re a Johns fan who loggged on to the internet at any point after One More Day was published to complain how all your old Spider-Man comics “don’t count any more”(yes, we all remember them actually using this argument) than you might be refraining from purshasing any new DC books before September.
Assuming DC’s new initiative is actually as thorough as they’re making it sound(and it doesn’t turn out to be just another Superboy-Wall punch style soft-reboot) then it’s effectively equivallent of publishing 50 OMD’s simultaneously! Regardless of how creatively successful any of this is, I wouldn’t plan on having any discussions about DC comics post-September that don’t include the phrases “slap in the face,” “ruined forever,” “spit on the fans,” or “don’t count any more.”
June 2nd, 2011 at 2:46 am
1. Brevoort isn’t just being snarky he’s being his usual trolling self, his points have zero validity. The fact is OMD didn’t suck because it invalidated some comics from 10 years ago. It sucked because it was a horrible story that was used to undo something that shouldn’t have been undone. Also btw…yes those comics are selling because of Johns writing, Unlike Bendis he actually knows how to write events.
2. Just like with anything the real success or failure with this reluanch will be what they change and what they replace with it. If they pull a Superman isn’t with Lois anymore than yeah people will flip out and it’ll fail. If they keep things pretty much the same like in Green Lantern than it will succeed in the end everything will play out over time. But for anyone to make ridiculous and over the top statements that basically shows them to be full of it.
June 2nd, 2011 at 6:27 am
If I’ve enjoyed reading a comic, it counts. Who cares if it counts, if you didn’t like reading it?
June 5th, 2011 at 6:09 pm
Just assume every story counts…..somewhere. Like the Golden Age one where the Human Torch flies to Neptune. All the crazy Silver Age Superman/Lois Lane stories, like where he and Batman team up to play a joke on her. Or where Superman plays one on Batman. Like where Hercules pulls the island of Manhattan. If you suspend belief then every story takes place somewhere and it’s silly to pretend there are only 52 earths. Heavens, the main Marvel earth is 616. If space goes onto infinity and separately vibrating dimensions spread out across infinity too, then there are an infinite number of planets and a new one every time a new story is completed. Still, it would be fun to read more about the physics and laws on Captain Carrot’s world, or more so, the universe where the Torch can fly to Venus. Meanwhile, I wish more participants here could tone down the anti-DC or anti-Marvel bias, or anti-Johns or anti-Bendis. It’s possible to like a lot of stuff from several companies. (Except maybe Image.) And sorry, say what you will, the top super-hero franchise in comics, long before any movie announcement, has been The Avengers. Who’s been doing the writing. Oh yeah–Bendis. The guy has brought in the $$s, and remember–that is his number one job. So like him or not, he’s doing his job very very well. It’s quantifiable.