Here’s a blast from the past: Peter David posts the column he wrote for the Comic Buyer’s Guide in 1995, when rumors of Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld taking over certain Marvel books for what would become Heroes Reborn started circulating:

The fans…

How will they react, I wonder?

That’s the really tough question. And, as with all really tough questions, there’s no easy answer.

Well, actually there is if you’re thinking from the point of view of Marvel money men. Because when they’re thinking of fan reaction, what they’re really pondering (much like Pinky in Pinky and the Brain) is: Will the sales go up?

And there’s an easy answer to that: Yes, they will. There’s no doubt in my mind. The curiosity factor alone will send sales through the roof. And to the Marvel bean counters, who wouldn’t know a story arc from Noah’s ark—who think that Ditko is a company run by a guy named Dit, and that Kirby is a little guy from a video game, and Lee—wait, Lee’s the guy who’s taking over some of the books, right?—to these individuals, that’s all that’s important.

And, just think, sixteen years later, Lee can bring in Liefeld to boost sales again at the main competitor… It really is just a big recurring cycle…!

Here’s a random question: What was the original ending of Flashpoint?

If the new “DC All Access” text page that appeared in this week’s DC titles is to be believed, the New 52 really got started at a creative retreat last October, but Flashpoint had been teased at the end of The Flash #1, way back in April of that year – and, as those who’ve read the collection of The Flash: Rebirth, it was even mentioned as part of Geoff Johns’ pitch for that title, from 2009. So, clearly, Flashpoint precedes any idea of rebooting the DCU by quite some time… So how was the story originally going to end? (more…)

Thinking about the fact that, so far, all of DC’s New 52 titles have sold out at the distributor level and gone back for second (and, in Justice League‘s case, third) printings, and about the fact that 10 of the titles have orders above 100,000 – Is it possible that DC will manage to take the entire top 10 of the Diamond chart for September?

Looking at the numbers for July, only one Marvel comic sold above 100,000: Amazing Spider-Man #666, the launch issue of “Spider-Island”. Normally, that book sells far fewer copies, though – #662-665 all sold in the region of 55,000 copies – so it’s not too much of a leap to assume that, by September, that book will be below 100,000. As far as I can see, the biggest Marvel title of September is also the only one likely to break 100,000 copies: Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1 – But, unless orders for Fear Itself made a massive, and unexplained, leap in August, even Ultimate Fallout #4, the much-hyped first appearance of Miles Morales, didn’t break 100,000 copies (UF#4 was outsold by Justice League #1, Flashpoint #4 and 5, and Fear Itself #5, according to the Diamond chart; order estimates aren’t available yet, to the best of my knowledge), which means that UCSM managing it suddenly looks a little less likely.

But, even if Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man does have more than 100,000 orders for September, will that be enough to outsell the 10 top-selling DC books for the month? And if it doesn’t, will this be the first time the 10 best selling comics of any month have all come from the same publisher?

There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel lately thanks to some on-set shots of Superman himself, Henry Cavill, but what of his nemesis General Zod? Well the actor playing him, Michael Shannon, has a few words on what we can expect from one of our favorite villains, including a possible hint at the plot of the film.

Recently, a questionable shot made it’s way around the web showing what looked like Shannon in a motion capture suit on set. He confirmed to MovieFone that that was indeed him in the suit, “It’s one of the most humiliating garments that exists in the known universe, yes.” Shannon also mentioned he felt like a court jester in the getup. “It’s funny because when I met with Zack [Snyder] we were talking about it before it started and he mentioned that there was going to be a lot of CGI, or whatever. I said, ‘Just don’t make me wear one of those silly suits,’ he told the site, “Then I showed up and he’s like, ‘Dude, I swear to God, it’s going to be so bad ass when we’re done. Trust me, it’s going to be wicked.’”

The Boardwalk Empire actor told IndieWire Man of Steel is going to have a different look to it visually than the Richard Donner films and that, in turn, affects his approach to the classic role Terrance Stamp made famous in Superman II. “I found his performance so powerful that I would be overwhelmed by it if I tried to incorporate it into what I’m doing. There’s no reason to try and replicate it cos it’s perfect the way it is. I’m just trying to go down a different road with it, the script’s a little bit different than the original script.”

On a press junket for his latest film, Take Shelter, he also spoke to MTV about the comparisons or lack thereof in the role. ”I’m not going to impersonate Terence Stamp. I’m not going to have a British accent or anything. All I can say is it’s very well written and there’s a lot of great opportunities to reinvent it for myself. The challenge is for me to do that. There’s nothing holding me back. I think they’re counting on me to give my interpretation. I’ll do the best I can.”

Shannon of course couldn’t give any details as to the plot of Man of Steel but did perhaps hint at what we’ll be seeing of the good General. ”Being a general, to me, that’s a fascinating, iconoclastic character. I can’t imagine being a sergeant, let alone a general,” he said, “He’s in charge of the entire military of Krypton. That’s going to take every little shred of imagination that I have. It’s a good challenge because it’s a big distance to have to go.”

A CGI costume, different visually from the past Superman films and a mention of actually leading a Kryptonian army. Hmm, could we be getting a film that takes place partially in space, pre-Krypton demise?

Back in July, we told you about veteran Marvel writer Marc Sumerak moving to IDW for All-Ghouls School, a lighthearted original graphic novel set in, you guessed it, an all-girls school populated by teen versions of classic monsters. Teaser trailers for comic books — as odd of a combination that may at first — have become more and more popular within the medium, and Sumerak has put an especially movie-y one together for his book (with art from David Bryant) and shared it with us. Here it is:

All-Ghouls School is scheduled for release on Oct. 5.

An Avengers logo with an X crosshaired over it?

…Am I the only person who saw that and immediately thought about the number of times we’ve been told that Fear Itself and Schism ending simultaneously is important, and that the X-Men books are going to be getting more in line with the rest of the Marvel Universe, and so on and so on? I know that it’s being teased as an Avengers event, but what if it’s something else…? (more…)

This roundtable with the publishers of Boom!, Dark Horse, Dynamite, IDW and Top Cow on what effect the DC relaunch will have on them is well worth a read, for two reasons. Firstly, almost all of them argue that their books didn’t see drops in sales in September, despite the massive push on DC’s behalf. Secondly, Nick Barrucci speaking truth:

Do I agree with other publishers that this is generally good news for them? Yes, it is on so many levels. Not on every level, but on so many levels. It’s generally good news for the whole industry because if retailers are making more money they are more stable. The drop in sales have been so bad this summer, that one of the biggest and best retailers in the country was affected. And it hurts the industry. Atomic was one of the top retailers who carried comics, and help “move the needle.” Mike was, and always will be, a mainstay in our industry. If Atomic Comics were still around during this DC launch I would say, not knowing all the reasons why they closed down, that this would have impacted them positively sales wise to where the money would have helped them where they may not have needed to shut down. Would they make all of the money last week, this week, or this month? I don’t know, but over the course of the rest of the year I believe it could have. It’s terrible that they closed down literally a few weeks before they DC re-launch happened, terrible. But DC is going to put more money in retailer’s pockets both from outside the industry and inside. This will help stabilize retailers cash flow. And the marketing that DC is putting behind this, is incredible. It’s unprecedented. Between the news coverage, the advertising they are doing, the co-op, it is historic. This is better than a movie bringing awareness as I feel few movies push the industry, and today do not push comics sales as they may have. On select titles and characters, yes. Across the board, no. DC is working to promote comics. The periodicals. The bread and butter of the industry. They are creating the awareness that only DC or Marvel could. Long-term will it help? Yes. Does a rising tide float all boats in other words? Sure, why not. A rising tide will float boats, but is it today or long term. I’m betting long term. But today, the rising tide allows DC’s boat more than anyone’s, and again, as it should be. They made it happen.

The entire article is a fascinating look at what some of the leading indie publishers are thinking about the state of the industry, and well worth checking out. Go read.

Never mind the (unsurprising) dominance of DC’s Flashpoint and Justice League in the August sales chart – The most interesting story might be what’s going on with Marvel’s Ultimate Comics relaunch. While it’s great news for the publisher that Ultimate Fallout #4 hit the #5 spot on the chart, that still seems surprisingly low considering all the hype that surrounded the issue’s release (A second printing was rushed out within the month, remember, so I’m assuming those orders are folded into the chart) – I’m genuinely surprised that it didn’t beat either Flashpoint #4 or Fear Itself #5 for the month.

Much, much more worrying for Marvel must be that Ultimate Comics: Ultimates #1 comes in at #23 on the chart, behind even Green Lantern Corps #63. We’ll have to wait to see how the sales estimates turn out, but in terms of chart placements that’s not a million miles away from where the first three, non-Miles Morales, Ultimate Fallout issues were charting. Maybe there really wasn’t that a significant sales bump for what’s supposed to be the lead book of the relaunch for the line, which… isn’t a good sign. We can assume that Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man will chart much higher because of the Miles Morales factor, but unless Ultimates and Ultimate X-Men somehow manage to avoid the traditional slippage with subsequent issues, it’s possible that this relaunch will have had almost no effect to the sales of the Ultimate line. Another relaunch or event within a year, then…?

As reported in Bleeding Cool, North Carolina comic book store The Comic Conspiracy took to Facebook this week to announce a boycott of DC’s New 52 relaunch of Action Comics, written by Grant Morrison and illustrated by Rags Morales. The reasoning being that the above panel — Superman uttering “GD” — was interpreted as taking God’s name in vain, despite a lack of context clues (and vowels). Specifically, the store’s Facebook account wrote, “I however am getting very tired of having comic writer’s liberal agendas force fed to me,” and stated that the shop’s orders for issues #2 and #3 were canceled with Diamond.

Turns out that not exactly what was intended, according to no less of a source than Morrison himself, via DC’s official PR blog The Source:

“It should go without saying that the offending panel and caption, a mere ‘GD’, is a sound effect grunt – to suggest Superman’s breath being forced through gritted teeth – much like ‘DHH’, ‘GNUHH’ or the many others used throughout this book and in general in the comics business. It’s not in any way representative of God or a curse.”

Following that statement, the store issued an apology. To Morrison, at least:

Thank you Grant Morrison. The boycott is lifted. Once again my apologies to Grant for the unwarranted name calling. Thank you to those who supported my stance. To those who didn’t… I respect your opinions. To those who only posted to bash Christians and people with opinions different from yours… grow up and get a life.

In fact, The Comic Conspiracy seemed intent on distancing itself with any possible ill will towards Morrison. The store’s most recent update:

I have no hate toward Scottish people.

Given that it’s a world where Thor saying “ass” causes waves of controversy and debate, would you have objected had Morrison indeed meant “GD” to signify Superman — a young, brash, less powerful Superman who just got blasted by a tank’s artillery — uttering the G-word? Let us know in the comments.

We’ve talked a lot about Star Wars: The Old Republic, BioWare’s upcoming MMORPG, including talking about its tie-ins in novel and comic book form.

Today on the official site of the game, senior writer Alexander Freed, who has also written two arcs of the SWTOR comic for Dark Horse, has an extensive post about writing tie-ins, writing licenses, and just writing in general. Some of his writing rules definitely reach outside of just game comics, especially this one:

Assume Nothing

In addition to having connections to the game, a The Old Republic tie-in also needs to stand on its own. Not every reader is going to be intimately familiar with the game’s background and characters (especially before the game has come out!). For that matter, some may only have a broad familiarity with the Star Wars movies–perhaps they’ve only ever seen the original trilogy and don’t know Jar Jar Binks from Mara Jade.

So how do you write for an audience of casual fans along with the hardcore? You assume no foreknowledge on the part of the reader and you introduce everything he or she needs to know–and you make sure that you have characters and situations that resonate regardless of how they interact with the game.

Does a reader of The Lost Suns need to know that Theron Shan’s mother is a Jedi? Absolutely, and seeing Satele Shan in action during her youth (as we do in both the “Return” cinematic and The Lost Suns issue one) helps establish Theron’s identity and the setting as a whole.

Does a reader of Blood of the Empire need to know that Exal Kressh is the latest child of a Sith bloodline going back to Ludo Kressh (a character established in Tales of the Jedi comic series)? Absolutely not! Knowledgeable fans will spot the reference and infer its impact on Exal’s character, but it’s an extra–not an integral part of the plot.

There is one exception to the rule, however, and that is to always assume that your audience is smart. Give readers a strong story with characters they care about, and they’ll figure out what matters. There is no need to spoon-feed people. Simply make sure everything they need is there and they will put it all together.

Tons more from Freed at the link here as part of SWTOR.com’s weekly Friday updates. And just in case you don’t feel like exploring once you click over, here’s the awesome new Smuggler class progression video for you, too, right after the jump.

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I’m all for metatext in comics. You know, those moments where the comic step outside of itself to offer commentary on itself, or other people’s reactions to it. That might be why the first couple of pages of New Avengers #16 – see the preview here – are just so jawdropping to me:

It’s not revealed within the preview, but I believe the actual title of the story in the issue is “Hey, Fanboys! Stop Complaining About My Choice Of Avengers Already! Signed, Brian Michael Ben – I Mean, Hawkeye.” (The subtitle is “No, I’m not overreacting to some internet criticism by devoting two pages of my comic to it, what are you talking about?”)

On the plus side, now that we know that Bendis has chosen Hawkeye to be his fictionsuit/Mary Sue for the Avengers books, that issue with Wanda becomes a lot more interesting.

Okay, this is kind of hilarious. As Bleeding Cool points out, DC Comics appears to have bought “Marvel” as a keyword on Twitter, which means that anyone searching for “Marvel” will find… well, this:

Interestingly enough, it appears that DC only bought “Marvel” – Searches for “Image Comics,” “Image,” “IDW,” “Dark Horse,” “comic” and “comics” didn’t turn up any promoted DC tweets. In other words, this was kind of personal. How long before we see a Marvel retaliation?

DragonCon.

As a native Atlantian and connoisseur of geek culture, there is almost nothing I look forward to more than DragonCon. There’s costumes on parade. Great comic creators. And quite frankly, it’s ruined every other con for me. Everything else seems so tame by comparison. Not dull, but not as exciting. Though, I will say WonderCon this past year and NYCC 09 stand out as really good times. Though DragonCon continues to top itself every year.

I’ve had this discussion before about good ole D*C: it is NOT simply a comics convention, it is an across-the-board-genre convention. Once a year, Anime, Dr. Who, horror, and comic fans all converge into downtown Atlanta. That being said, I do tend to concentrate on the comics area. Probably the highlight for me each year it just to hang out with the slew of talent Atlanta has. For almost 20 years, Gaijin Studios was the studio to belong to. It produced such alumni as Adam Hughes, Cully Hamner, Georges Jeanty, Jason Pearson, Dave Johnson, etc. Early last year, it closed its doors, but rumor has it, there is a Gaijin 2.0 in the works.

So what is it about Atlanta that attracts such top talent? It doesn’t have a huge studio presence of the big two that say New York or Los Angeles has, yet the creators that call Atlanta home is astounding. At DragonCon this past week, I sat down with some of comics’ top names, and some up and comers about Atlanta and what makes the city such a hub bub for comics and comic professionals.

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The short answer is no, but that’s not how one retailer felt after a tweet Kurtz put out into the internets inquiring about Justice League #1. The webcomic creator told the story on his Google+ account, seeming not to be picking a fight, but just genuinely baffled.

“”So wait, can I just buy Justice League #1 on my iPad now? Do I even need to go to a shop?”

Immediately my followers let me know the facts. Yes. I can purchase it via the comixology app. For the exact cost of the print version (no discount). If you want to skip the store today. Fair enough.

And the truth is, I do. I want to skip the store today. I do not want to drive to Lynnwood to purchase a $3.99 comic out of curiosity. I don’t collect floppies. I don’t polybag. I don’t fill longboxes. I’m fine reading this digitally with the idea that I’m kinda only “renting” the comic anyway.

Then, I got a twitter reply from a retailer who said:

“@pvponline with the disdain you seem to have for us brick and mortars, it makes me wonder why I carry PVP books in my shop”

Which I found unsettling and very telling. He followed up to let me know that “the tone of [my] post made it seem as though comic shops don’t provide any value-add or service.”"

Kurtz goes on to analyze the retailer’s statement, and finds that in some cases, the answer is unfortunately, “no, they don’t.”

He told about how personally he makes more money selling PVP books directly than he does selling them through Diamond. He talked about the simple ease of getting books digitally or from an online store.

So it does beg the question: What do retailers need to do to continue providing “value-add” to customers who have an increasing ability to pick up their wares more easily?

Yesterday, I asked what was going on with Rogue in the X-Men: Regenesis Gold teaser images, and today, I have to ask: What is going on with this fight between Wolverine and Cyclops from X-Men: Schism #5?!?

The images, released yesterday to promote the underachieving event book, show what is presumably the fight that the whole series has been leading up to, because ideological debates have to become physical, because these are superhero comics (See also Infinite Crisis, The Dark Knight Returns). And to say it’s a no-holds-barred fight would be an understatement: This is definitely a no-logic-included brawl. To wit:

Wolverine demonstrates that Sentinel hands are, apparently, entirely hollow! Or, much more worryingly… (more…)

We still only have one official shot of The Dark Knight Rises actress Anne Hathaway in her Catwoman costume for the film yet tons of other regular costume shots have been showing up recently.

These first two images come from a few Celebuzz.com caught. I’m definitely getting a Catwoman: When In Rome vibe off of them as well as an Adam Hughes/Audrey Hepburn style Catwoman feeling.

The next two come via JustJared.com who caught both Hathaway and Christian Bale filming at night in Los Angeles. She’s in black again (will she wear anything but in the film?) but still not the Catwoman costume.

Looks like Mr. Wayne made Ms. Kyle angry.

She was also seen filming a fight scene earlier this week as well. I’m beginning to wonder if all the rest of her “Catwoman” scenes are being shot on closed sets. Sigh.

This may be the single greatest thing to happen to my generation. I’ve been waiting since 1989 for Nike to come through with the power lacing high-tops Marty McFly wore in Back to the Future II. It’s been teased a lot over the years but…the future is now. Sorta.

I give you the Nike MAG, a replica of the sneakers from Back to the Future II. One catch, they don’t actually power-lace, they only look like the real deal and light up. They also aren’t designed or intended for normal wear and use as footwear. Still interested? If you aren’t rich, you probably aren’t going to get a pair. Not because they are so expensive to produce but because these babies are incredibly limited in quantity and are being auctioned off on Ebay instead of sold in stores. Don’t yell foul just yet – the proceeds from the sales of the Nike Mags are going entirely to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

“It’s about time,” reads the Foundations’ website. “For 22 years they have existed only in the year 2015 on Marty McFly’s feet. Today they finally become a reality. Famed Nike designer Tinker Hatfield and footwear innovator Tiffany Beers have returned to recreate the footwear legend. Based on an original movie prop used in Back to the Future Part II, the 2011 Nike MAG shoes have been rebuilt to the exact specifications of the originals. It features an electroluminescent outsole, space-age materials and a rechargeable internal battery good for 3,000 hours.”

Starting today, 150 pairs of 2011 Nike MAG shoes will be auctioned on eBay and the fact that they aren’t quite the futuristic item we’d like them to be hasn’t dampened anyones mood. As of publishing this piece, a pair of size 11s are going for $75,100. Holy. Crap. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of these shoes went upwards of $100,000 when all is said and done. (See the full list here) UPDATE: Those size 11s have now been bumped down to $8,200 and a size 10 is in the lead with $11,100. I wonder if those bidders didn’t initially read the fine print of them not actually being power laces and they let them out of the bids.Bidding is still restricted to pre-qualified bidders only.

The Foundation is also using the Back to the Future auction to help meet the $50-million Brin Wojcicki Challenge. “Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, and his wife Anne Wojcicki, co-founder of personal genetics company 23andMe, are matching up to $50 million in funds raised by the Foundation between now and December 31, 2012. Net proceeds from the 2011 MAG auctions on eBay will be matched, so please bid generously,” asks the Foundation. Indeed they are.

Even if the shoes won’t tie by themselves, this was still a great idea to raise money. My only problem is there aren’t any women’s sizes. Not that I could afford a pair anyway but my tiny feet aren’t fitting in a men’s 7, which is the smallest they’re offering, 13 is the largest. Guess I’ll just wait for my hoverboard. The real one Mattel.

Christopher Lloyd never ages, I swear to god.

By now, you’re probably very familiar with variations on this image:

It’s Nick Bradshaw’s teaser image for the X-Men “Gold” titles, post-Schism this November (It’s also going to be split into variant covers for each series), and even though the obvious focus is supposed to be “Who is on each team?” with new characters unsilhouetted every couple of days, every time I look at this image, I end up focusing on this:

What is Rogue actually doing in this image? (more…)

Here’s some good news for digital comics industry watchers: Three of the five most popular iPad book apps of the last week were comics apps. Here’s some bad news for DC, though; their app was downloaded less than Marvel’s, and that was the week when Justice League #1 debuted, and the publisher’s digital push was given a lot of press.

According to the eBookNewser blog, ComiXology’s Comics app was the second most popular iPad book app of the week (behind Al Gore’s Our Choice app), followed by the Marvel app and the DC app at #3 and #4 on the chart. The Bible app slips in at #5, which means that – for one week, at least – comics are bigger than Jesus, in the same way that John Lennon once claimed the Beatles were (Insert your own outrage here – and comics publishers can always feel good about the idea that someone will have to buy their comics in order to burn them, if it came to a worse case scenario).

Now all we need is a digital sales chart, to see who’s buying what books…

The spectacular Sonia Harris addresses sexual objectification in superhero comics:

When I recommend comic books, or explain that the earliest, strongest female role models I had were female superheroes, feminist friends often tell me that comic books objectify women and ask why I’m not uncomfortable with this. This shocks me, how can they be missing the half-dressed, overly muscular, totally unshakable men in these comic books? Surely no woman thinks that men are realistically portrayed in super hero comic books, at least no more than women super heroes are? I frequently explain to feminist friends that comic books have objectified men for longer than they have objectified women. While the early super hero comic books might have given men more action-oriented roles, those men were always physically perfect and wearing something skin tight. Who’s the sex object in Action Comics #1 (1936)? Is it fully-dressed Lois Lane or that big guy in the tight clothes?

Go read the whole thing.