Tom Spurgeon has reported that allegedly Wizard has made some more significant personnel cuts.

According to Spurgeon, Vice-President of Production and Circulation Darren Sanchez was fired yesterday, after being given the position in 2007. Meanwhile, in-house staff photographer Dylan Brucie allegedly left the company last week, as well. Spurgeon stated that Brucie did a lot of work for ToyFare.

This is only the latest in some shaky reports from the flagship comic news publication of the ’90s, as over the past year they have cut or pushed back major conventions in Los Angeles and Texas, laid off big names like President and COO Fred Pierce and Senior Vice President - Operations Joe Yanarella, and made moves to close down their Congers, N.Y. location to move their significantly diminished staff into their New York bureau.

If you visit Wizard’s Storefront Feedback at Amazon.com, it appears something bad has happened of late. The 90 day feedback shows 23% negative, but the 30 day feedback shows 53%. Exploring the full feedback, 35 out of the 50 most recent are 1 star out of 5. These have some interesting comments attached to them:

“I ordered a $200+ robot dog and they sent me plastic superman figurine!??!!?? I sent the seller 2 e-mails and received NO response and it’s been over 2 weeks! What a bunch of crooks! AVOID AT ALL COST!! Amazon should really consider banning this merchant from the marketplace!”

“they send the wrong toy plus it was a cheaper version,and charge me original price they never answer my emails ,i had to contact amazon directly,but amazon saved the day, till this day i havent heard from wizard entertainment”

“The seller falsely advertised the LEGO Star Wars Clone Scout Walker. When contacted a couple days later a crushed box with a piece of junk metal arrived. I contacted the seller several times & got no response. Even after filing a claim with Amazon the seller still refused to acknowledge the defect/cheating they performed.”

Most other comments are very similar. There are several reports of people receiving a Superman action figure in lieu of their items, several reports of multiple attempts to contact Wizard via email and phone being ignored, or being sent damaged or overpriced product, complete with the lower pricetag on the box. I contacted Wizard to ask about what seems to be a major case of mail fraud, and received this official response from April Wiggins:

“This is an issue that we are aware of and are addressing. During a recent
inventory move we incurred some damage to parts of our inventory. Since many
of our customers are collectors, these items are not suitable. When this
occurs, we send people a free gift (with shipping at our own expense) to
compensate them for their inconvenience. They also receive a full refund on
their order.

Although we send a note attached, it is confusing to some. We apologize for
any confusion and we continue to clear up any misunderstandings. To date,
anyone who was inconvenienced received a full refund and a free action
figure.”

Now, there are zero out of those 35 cases where the same poster has posted again to say anything like, “I got my refund” or “I re-read the paper that came with the Superman figure and realized they sent it as an apology,” so it still seems like something else might be going on. According to an anonymous source within Wizard, the customer service phone number no longer “goes to anything” and the non-replies to the email address are on purpose.

In addition, looking at Wizard’s Forums, the customer service problems appear to have been harrowing them for a lot longer than the last 30 days. A post dated August 8, 2006 is the first to note the non-answering of email and the phone number that’s very difficult to find. The frequency of these style of posts kicked up in March of 2009, with six and a half pages of comments similar to the Amazon feedback. Most of these include statements like, “I’ve been waiting 3 weeks,” “My order shipped with several missing items,” and “I’ve emailed several times with no reply.” These customers are seeing charges come up on their credit cards days or weeks before anything is shipped. They contradict Wiggins’s official statement, saying that after several months they had to dispute the charges with their credit cards in order to get their money back.

A moderator, “Jerry Whitworth,” has gone on this thread repeatedly telling people, “Don’t order from a company you have problems with,” as did moderator “jaydee74.”

One poster, Chris Underwood, even pasted in his entire customer service email experience. He received order confirmation April 30, 2009. He then sent emails that weren’t responded to on May 1, May 6, May 8, and May 9, all with no response.

With all this evidence, it seems something more than a note that is “confusing to some” is the problem. Wizard’s official statement says they’ve been prompt with refunds, but the customers tell a different story. While one has recently noted a refund, it was a full month after order placement (and credit card charge), and still with no communication.

This may be indicative of the larger problem Wizard has been facing over the last year or so. With magazine closings, location closings, and layoffs, things don’t look to be getting better. While Gareb Shamus purchased the Big Apple Con and revived the Chicago Comic-Con name, it is interesting to note that both DC Comics and Marvel Comics are conspicuously absent from the list of exhibitors for this year’s Chicago show, which is only about two months away. Image, Dark Horse, and IDW are likewise missing.

After Rich Johnston surprised (or didn’t) the comics community yesterday with his announcement that Lying in the Gutters was ended at CBR and his own comics blog would be taking its place, it seems Warren Ellis just has to one up him.

At which point, I may as well confess that I’ll be returning to writing weekly about comics and things at bleedingcool.com.

At his blog, he posted the news today. This isn’t a first for Ellis, as he has previously held several internet columns about comics and otherwise. The prolific writer maintains a massive internet presence already, with the aforementioned blog, his ever-hilarious twitter stream, a highly successful webcomic that blends traditional style comic pages with a free weekly delivery called FreakAngels, his own message board that has a mostly non-comics focus and boasts several industry members (check out the remake/remodel threads for a real treat), and that’s just his core set of sites. So if all that, plus the Bad Signal mailing list wasn’t quite enough Ellis for you, well, you have less than a week to add another place.

As a small aside, congrats to Rich and best of luck on your new endeavor with BleedingCool.com

I, uh… well, there’s really no good way of introducing this, is there?

No lie, I can’t really put these two icons together without feeling a little bit uncomfortable. But Marvel has done the impossible, making a two-part comic mixing Eminem and the Punisher! The book is due out May 5.

To me, however, this cover of XXL Magazine is additionally interesting because of the weird history Eminem has had with comics: anyone who has read Wanted will know that J.G. Jones specifically modeled the character of Wesley Gibson off of the Great White Rapper.

Yet when rumors swirled around Eminem possibly taking the role in the comics’ film adaptation, he flatly refused, as he accused Mark Millar of exploiting his name to garner hype for the film: as Rap Basement explained, “since the creator of the comic not only lied about Eminem being attached but didn’t even run it by Eminem’s people, his camp didn’t consider the project anymore.” Also, the genre film Jumper apparently also was considering having Eminem star. I can’t even imagine what that would have looked like.

And yet, at the same time, Eminem also wrote NSFW songs called Superman, and regularly references the superhero in other songs like Rain Man (granted, this was probably more due to the Christopher Reeve jokes rather than any affection for Clark Kent). And of course, in his song Real Slim Shady, Eminem has his own Buttman-style character, which you can see here.

Now discuss.

Mmmm, gotta love slut-shaming comic-book characters. Except I don’t. At all. And neither does the author of this post. (via When Fangirls Attack)

OK, but these are awesome.

While we wait for Phonogram 2.2, the boys have an image from 2.3 up on their blog. And it’s gorgeous.

If you didn’t read the latest arc of Northlanders, you missed out. On art like this.

Warren Ellis swears he will die if you don’t read Ignition City. I did. Did you? What did you think?

The latest dirt on the possible-cancellation of Dollhouse? I’ll be sad it if does truly get cancelled–it’s just gotten better and better each week. But Friday night is a damned inconvenient time to watch TV if you’ve got any sort of a social life.

Speaking of Dollhouse, Racialicious looks at the cast and finds non-white characters the most interesting in the lot.

Finally, if we’re going to talk about “Strong female characters” can we talk about finding some “strong women” to write some of them? I don’t have a problem with men writing female characters in general, but I know there have to be some women out there who’d love to write superheroines, right? Gail Simone can’t be the only woman in all of creation who wants to do so…

For our jet-setting readers, as well as those across the pond:

The Bristol International Comic Expo has announced their guest list, as well as a special one-day event: Small Press Expo 2009. The main expo will take place in the Ramada Plaza Hotel on May 9-10, while the Small Press Expo will take place at the Mercure Holland House Hotel. You learn more (and order tickets) by clicking here.

And now — THE GUEST LIST!

Kevin O’Neill (in association with Top Shelf and Knockabout)
Alan Davis (with exclusive new DR & Quinch print only available at the Expo)
Dave Gibbons
Mark Buckingham
John Charles
Mike Collins
Rob Williams & John Higgins (in association with Com.X)
Gary Frank
Ian Gibson
David Hine
Lee Garbett
John M Burns
Lee Bradley
John Watson
Ian Culbard
Phil Winslade
Hunt Emerson & Gilbert Shelton (in association with Knockabout)
Simon Bisley & Mike Ploog (in association with Reed Comics)
Charlie Adlard
Sean Phillips
James A. Hodgkins
Duncan Fegredo
Neil Edwards
Gary Spencer Millidge
Dylan Teague
Tim Pilcher
Joel Meadows
Shaky Kane
Boo Cook
Al Davison
Laurence Campbell
John McCrea
Dave Shelton
Martin Hayes
Jock
Asia Alfasi
Ian Sharman
Tony Lee
Ferg Handley
Peter Hogan
Steve Cook
Robert Deas
Kris Justice
Kat Nicholson
Liam Sharp
Dan Boultwood
Andie Tong
Emma Vieceli
Ian Edginton
Paul Grist
Graham Bleathman
Henry Flint
Lew Stringer
Lee Townsend
Andy Diggle
Siku
Roger Langridge
Jim Boswell
Gary Erskine
Bambos!
Jon Davis-Hunt
Cy Dethan
David Baillie
Kirsty Swan
Paul Gravett
Ilya
Stephen Baskerville
Jason Cardy
Emily Hare
Mike Carey

Plus SP Expo comics from:
Steve Tanner (Time Bomb)
Howard Hardiman (Cute But Sad)
David Goodman (Zip Gun)
John Anderson (Soaring Penguin)
Paul Rainey (There’s No Time Like The Present)
Tom McNally (Semiotic Cohesion)
Willie Lengers (Itch Publishing)
Tom Meddings (Unedible)
Will Morris-julien (Butternut)
Michael Burness (Unico Comics)
Stephen Paul Coffey (Best of What’s Left)
Luke Paton (The Adventures Of Kez And Luke)
Andrew Cheverton (Angry Candy)
Dan Barritt (Ragadabah)
Nic Wilkinson (Insomnia Publications)
Isaac E C Lenkiewicz (Duh Brain Comics)
Amsel Von Speckelsen (Underfire Comics)
Chris Denton (Massacre For Boys)
Chin-Hsuen Lee (Tpcat Comic)
Steve Tillotson (Banal Pig)
Geoffrey Banyard (Fetishman)
Richard Scott Butler (Cherubs Comics)
Sally Jane Thompson (IndieManga)
Mathew J Pallett (Stir Fried)
Samantha Borras (Inspired)
Chris Lynch (Monkeys With Machineguns)

As you may have read on the Mothership today, there’s an awful lot of discussion regarding digital comics and alternative distribution.  And what you might have already read in the past few weeks is that struggling series — like Spider-Girl or Blue Beetle — are bravely trailblazing new means of reaching out to new readers and retaining the die-hards.

The question is — is it viable?

Let’s look at Exhibit A: Going digital. You probably saw the article which says that, according to an open poll by the Mothership, there’s a great many people out there who are willing — nay, anticipating — making the shift to digital comics. And it’s clear that Marvel is making some progress towards getting that growing demographic. The online debut of Spider-Girl is a great example of all this: this is a title that has been saved several times from cancellation. But of course, resources are limited, and if a book doesn’t work and isn’t tied within the framework of your larger universe, you gotta try something new (even if that something new doesn’t necessarily work). Innovation is the name of the game!

But that said — why lose the obvious zeal of the readership of a Spider-Girl or a Blue Beetle? So you take that character, keep aboard the best of the creative talent associated with the character — and you put a series up with a far cheaper platform. Printing ain’t cheap, and putting books online cuts out the middleman of publishing and distribution, so to speak. If they love the title enough — and, more importantly, you can’t get it anywhere else (so Wolverine, arguably not as great an investment unless done by a top-tier creator) — wouldn’t people flock to the product, no matter what the format?

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By Filip Sablik

This week is yet another busy one here at TC HQ, so rather than one long form entry I thought I’d jot down a few scattered thoughts. Particularly since I’m already a week behind my normal Blog@Newsarama schedule.

Topic 1: I had an interesting conversation recently where the conversation of what the correct price point for digital comics is. Should it be the same as the printed comic so as to not disadvantage brick and mortar comic retailers? Follow the iTunes model of 99¢ per issue? Or is it free? The person I was having the conversation with made a very compelling argument for the 99¢ price point citing research, which indicates that 99¢ is the threshold of what most people consider “not real money”. In other words, at under a dollar most people don’t even think about it as a buying decision, it’s just an impulse. In the end on a store like iTunes they may spend $5-6 in less than $1 increments. Conversely if you gave them the same items grouped together at $5 you’d have fewer people purchase it. Interesting stuff! Personally I suspect the only correct price point for the internet is FREE. The real question for most publishers is how to effectively monetize what we do while giving away our bread and butter for free. That and how to do it without hurting our retail partners in the direct market.

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As promised (I hope), this should be my last offering related to the recent WATCHMEN release.

In a GQ issue with a little something for everyone (trying to make it in the publishing biz with Lenny Dykstra sounds more awful than any horror story I’ve caught in recent years about the comics industry), the April 2009 issue of GQ has a feature entitled “The 20 Graphic Novels You Should Read (After “Watchmen”).”

The men in tights are kept to a minimum (Batman doesn’t even get a mention that I’m aware of, save for citing Ed Brubaker — Superman and Madman earn high marks one time each), and it’s a respectable look at how comics aren’t just kids stuff, a noble venture by a magazine geared to get male consumers everywhere to buy $300 Hugo Boss t-shirts.

Of course 20 items isn’t even going to scratch the surface, but what additional suggestions would YOU make to a mainstream publication like GQ?

South Park tackled the comic book superhero genre with mixed results on their March 18th episode. Simultaneously taking digs at The Dark Knight, The Spirit, and the up-to-the-minute Watchmen, the concept of a city’s masked hero fighting injustice with an Atlas-like sense of self-importance was mocked rather well despite a rather unsatisfying ending.

Click the link to get the episode in full, and swing back by here to let us know what you thought of “The Coon.”

Joystiq got tipped yesterday that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is testing the waters on a major new addition to their online store: a dedicated section for Comics. The selection process, seen in the video below, shows a system remarkably similar to Apple’s “cover flow” used in iTunes, OSX.5, and the iPod/iPhone family. They also remark on a panel by panel system, similar to how many comics have been presented on the iPhone already, which gives an easier way for readers to view the comic on such a small screen. Sony has been touting that they have big plans for the struggling handheld this year. Would an “iTunes for comics” that’s limited to the PSP be appealing to you? How about if you could also view them on your PS3? It sure seems like the technology world is certainly interested in being the first to mainstream-ize comics on e-devices.

After reading this article at Ain’t It Cool News, I realized I should do a follow-up on the Avengers reshuffling you may have read about (and I commented on) last week.

For those of you who don’t remember, the Marvel film slate got a bit of a change last week, with the Avengers film being pushed back to 2012, and Spider-Man 4 taking the time slot of the upcoming Thor film.

Part of the reason, I speculated in my last Dial H column, was due to the fact that (A) Sony has a lot of leverage to put the gigantic Spider-Man franchise wherever they feel like it, and Marvel and Paramount need to play musical chairs with the other films to accommodate, and (B) the entire slate needed to readjust their stance considering the final Harry Potter film is set to come out the summer of 2011.

But after reading this article, I think there are two other considerations which are just as — if not more — important.

Money and talent.

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So as you might have seen yesterday, Marvel announced a shuffling of its Avengers film lineup, which has been scheduled to put geeks on life support from 2010 to 2011.

For those needing a score card, the original Marvel schedule:

IRON MAN 2 - May 7, 2010
THOR - July 16, 2010
THE FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA - May 6, 2011
THE AVENGERS - July 15, 2011

And now, the revised schedule as it currently stands…

IRON MAN 2 - May 7, 2010
SPIDER-MAN 4 - May 6, 2011
THOR - June 17, 2011
THE FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA - July 22, 2011
THE AVENGERS - May 4, 2012

Now you might be asking — what does that all mean? Well, I’m glad you asked, Gentle Reader! I think a major part of all this is the fact that one of Marvel Studios’ flagship franchises is not like the others: Spider-Man. While the Avengers flicks are all nestled in with Marvel Studios and Paramount, lonely Spider-Man (as always) is an outsider, as Sony will let the rights for the seminal superheroic cash cow revert only after hell freezes over.

For those of you who don’t remember, superhero movies have also seemed to dominate the summer schedules (see Lionsgate’s Christmas time Hail Mary with the Spirit if you don’t believe me). The original Spider-Man came out May 3, 2002, and Spider-Man 3 hit theaters almost five years to the day after the first film came out, on May 4, 2007. Iron Man staked out that same weekend turf a year later on May 2, 2008, utterly destroying its only competitor, Made of Honor. (Sorry about that, McDreamy.)

Well, here’s the problem. With Marvel and Paramount calling the shots for all the movies, the initial schedule seemed fine. But Sony has a little bit of leverage to mess with things: (A) Spider-Man is the biggest superhero film franchise of all time, with the trilogy totaling nearly $2.5 billion in sales worldwide, (B) the three pillars of the franchise — Sam Raimi, Tobey Maguire, and Kirsten Dunst — have been notoriously finicky about doing a fourth film (especially after the disappointingly-reviewed third film), and both Sony and Marvel doesn’t want to screw around with a winning formula.

So with Spider-Man now shoehorned into the schedule, Captain America has been — wait for it — put on ice until July 22, 2011. Curiouser and curiouser — isn’t Captain America a shoe-in for a July 4th opening?

There’s a reason for that, as well. His name is Harry Potter.

Now, would you rather get completely flat-tired by a movie that comes right after you, or would you like a chance to do the flat-tiring? The original schedule placed Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two and Avengers on the same weekend, and this reshuffling certainly had something to do with this. I think Marvel knows that out of all its films, Captain America is the biggest gamble: by operating as a World War II-era prequel, this has few of the familiar hallmarks of a superhero film, and currently doesn’t have big names like Kenneth Branaugh attached.

Indeed, the fact that this movie is meant to be a prequel to a bigger film already shows that out of all the Avengers slate, this is the most expendable. Of course, the further you push back these summer blockbuster films, the less and less likely you’re going to strike gold — so in this case, I think Marvel is making an effort to take the bull by the horns by putting Captain America one week after Harry Potter, but still saving its nest egg for a clearer, franchise-free season. (That said, it could also get murdered the same way that Speed Racer did, coming one week after Iron Man.)

There’s another misconception here, as well — the 4th of July weekend. As I mentioned earlier, most superhero movies have actually taken the early May slot as opposed to the 4th. That said, genre films have had the largest draws when they do come out: Spider-Man 2 still holds the highest 4th of July grosses in history, and Will Smith vehicles like Independence Day and Hancock did quite well for themselves. (Terminator 2 even came out on a 4th of July weekend.) While it’s unclear what will come out that weekend, it’s obvious the studios are circling around something. Whether it’s a Transformers or Pirates of the Caribbean-style franchise remains to be seen. (UPDATE: 3/17/09: Yep, I called it. Paramount just announced that the third Transformers movie is coming out on July 4th weekend 2011.)

Something else to consider, though, is the Iron Man-Dark Knight Effect. What does that mean? Iron Man was a comparatively lighter, more simplistic kind of blockbuster. It came into theaters about two months before the Dark Knight, which gave it a good eight or so weeks to clean up before getting siphoned by the Dark Knight hype. There is a strong chance that Thor — which, based on Marvel’s comments, seems to be the Next Big Thing for the Marvel movie machine — will do the same, being an underdog to Harry Potter’s obvious commercial appeal. (That said, look at split films like the Matrix or Pirates of the Caribbean — the third films were panned after audience momentum plummeted with a crummy first act.) I think in this case, Marvel is trying to use Spider-Man to alley-oop with Thor before Harry Potter comes out, and then to have Captain America make a token effort to stop the beast before it gets too strong.

(Wow, fantasy novel analogies mixed with sports. I confess, I am a geek!)

So the real questions still remain: is Marvel trying to shoehorn in too much into one summer? Will the time they allot to each of these films give them a chance to shine, or will each film get run over by the one following it? Will Harry Potter pull a rabbit out of his hat and destroy his numerous genre foes? We’ll have to wait and see.

Henry posted the latest Saturn Award nominations earlier today, and I have to say, it strikes that special part of me usually reserved for bogus “parent groups” and pretentious lists (hehe). See, I was under the impression that the Saturn Awards were for SciFi/Fantasy/Horror, with an emphasis on the first two. I was also under the impression that Awards in general were reserved for, well, good things.

Apparently these are wild misconceptions, and instead, the Saturn Awards are in place to reward just about anyone who makes moving pictures, no matter the subject or the quality, and it’s a damn shame.

There are already plenty of awards out there for the general movie/tv industry: Golden Globes, SGA, WGA, DGA, Oscars, BAFTA, etc. The idea of a dedicated Genre award is a great one, but clearly the Saturns have lost their way. Examples, you say? Let’s take a look here. (more…)

This is pretty interesting — while it’s been reported that DC and Warner Bros. have been considering a darker take on its currently-defunct Superman film franchise, but now it seems as though Marvel is following suit.

IESB has announced that the “word around town” is that 20th Century Fox is looking at a darker, less “bubble gum” reboot for the Fantastic Four films. According to them:

The two films previously released never really caught on with the fans and the studio is reportedly looking to completely retool, recast and recrew the franchise. This means no Tim Story, no Iaon, no Julian (thank the maker, he never sat well with me as Dr. Doom), no Chris, no Chiklis and no Jessica.

Keep in mind the first film made $330 million over its run, while the second film petered out at $289 million. (This is just over a third of the total amount the first Spider-Man film’s $821 million, but surprisingly more than the first X-Men film, with only $296 million. Granted, that last movie came out in 2000.)

According to IESB, Daredevil may also receive a reboot — not particularly surprising, given the relative success of reboots like the Incredible Hulk, and considering Ol’ Hornhead was flat-tired with a $179 million payoff, and an underachieving $56 million spin-off starring his girlfriend.

Hearkening back to my recent post about a relatively obscure new Malin Akerman interview, Inked magazine’s website has rolled out a gallery of Watchmen tattoos.

It just occurred to me that a former colleague of ours had a Dr. Manhattan tattoo that needed a bit of rehab. I wonder if he ever looked into that, what with the new coming movie out this week.

Personally, I haven’t touched on any Watchmen material for my own ink needs. Has anyone else here done up some Watchmen ink?

Compliments to USA Today Pop Candy’s Whitney Matheson (an absolute doll, by the way!) for posting the news of a rare copy of Action Comics #1 up for auction starting March 27th. Don’t expect to see that $1.00 starting list price to last very long, it’ll be moments upon the auction’s launch before it fetches six figures.

Good thing I got a tax return coming soon!

As the upcoming Watchmen movie (March 6th) begins its expected rollout of major cover stories, one you won’t readily find at your local supermarket checkout line is with Malin Akerman (Silk Spectre) on the cover of Inked magazine. A relatively new publication that’s become a favorite of mine (I’m so biased), thanks to it’s ability to strike the right blend of tattoo art, pop culture and fashion, Akerman is the latest cover girl. For those not familiar with the monthly magazine (found mostly at specialty shops), they run several interviews per issue with guys and gals of the inked persuasion, and they typical go with a celebrity to grace the cover.
In stores now as well as online, most of the Akerman interview discusses her own personal tattoo history, and the pros and cons of getting work on herself in the particular profession she’s in, but of course the discussion eventually veers toward her current role in 2009’s most high-profile comic book-based film…

You spent a large part of last year making, arguably, one of the most anticipated movies of 2009, Watchmen. How would you describe this movie to the uninitiated? Yeah, that’s a difficult task. It’s so layered and complex. So far I’ve failed at trying to describe it. Every time I say something some fan starts blogging, “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about!” It’s not your typical superhero film. What would it be like if real people, real vigilantes that we call superheroes, lived among us and were just regular people? Watchmen is one of the best novels I’ve ever read. It’s so smart and it’s one of those things you can pick up and read over and over again and always get something new from it. It’s a bit of a thriller and a love story and a conspiracy theory—there’s a little bit for everyone.

Have you had any physical encounters with overzealous fanboys? Not yet. They kept us at a distance from all of them at Comic-Con. You know, I have a friend who is a big comic book geek and he freaked out! All of a sudden, as soon as I got Watchmen, he became a fan instead of a friend. I was like, “It’s still me!” [Laughs.] “I’m not Silk Spectre for real.” It was just amazing to see him get so excited.

Speaking of which, has your husband demanded you bring the latex costume home? I saw in his eyes how much he loved it. He came to the set and I came out in my costume and his eyes popped open—I’ve never seen them as wide as that before. But before he opened his mouth I said, “Listen, it’s never coming home. It won’t be in the bedroom, so just forget about it.”

You know, Jude Law has a Watchmen tattoo—apparently he’s a huge fan. Couldn’t that have scored him a small role? He does? Really?

Yeah, it’s the character Rorschach. Well, then no. If it’s not Silk Spectre, screw it. He doesn’t deserve a scene!

I’ve been perusing the latest DC Comics solicitations (May 2009), and the unfinished cover to Justice League of America #33 caught my attention…

Notice anything familiar?

Two things I’ve gathered from this:
1.  The JLA seem to go down WAY too easy, no matter who they battle.
2.  It never hurts to assign an A-list talent to do your covers if your superhero team is a pretty big deal.

Diamond Comics Distributors released their top 10 sales chart for January 09, and much to no one’s surprise, Amazing Spider-Man #583 was the biggest selling comic of the month with an estimated mid-300,000 copies sold throughout the direct market. Can anybody remember the last time a single issue sold that many copies? Maybe Marvel’s next variant cover gimmick should be President Obama meeting all the Marvel superheroes. It’s certainly a more original idea than monkeys and zombies, or whatever the “Wolverine Art Appreciation” covers are from April’s solicitations.

Of course, the mid-300,000 number is low-balling the issue’s overall sales, because it doesn’t count the number of copies sold outside of the direct market. Back in the halcyon days of yore, comic books were all over the place: grocery stores, convenience stores, toy stores, drug stores and the like. These days, just about the only places you can still find comics hanging around the shelves are in book stores. So imagine my surprise when I came across a stack of Spidey #383’s second printing on the magazine rack of my local Kroger supermarket. It was the only comic book available, but it makes sense that this particular comic would be there, given the astronomical demand and publicity surrounding the issue’s release weeks ago. It’s not like we’re going to start seeing other titles hitting the supermarket stands now, as retailers won’t spare the shelf space for the minimal profits comics bring them. Still, I wonder how many extra copies of Amazing Spider-Man #583 were sold outside of the direct market? I wouldn’t be surprised if the total sales for the issue push the 400,000 copies mark.

I ended up buying a copy at Kroger, even though I wasn’t caught up in the buying frenzy like everyone else when it first came out. Seeing it there made me wistful for the days when my mom would take me grocery shopping, and I would spend the entire time in the store’s deli sipping a can of RC Cola and reading as many comics as I could while Mom shopped. Thinking about it now, it makes me sad that kids today can’t have that same experience. Maybe that’s one of the reasons kids don’t read comics much anymore? Oh well, at least they can still squat in the manga section in the book stores.