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Does KLAUS bring tidings of joy, or is the series full of coal?

When I was a kid, I wasn’t as well versed in pop culture as I am now.  Thus, I missed out on Beetlejuice and Michael Keaton’s stint as the Batman.  My first experience seeing him in theaters was in his role as washed up actor Riggan Thomson in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Best Picture winning Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance).  What a first experience it was.  His acting blew me away, so I’m glad to say that we’ll be seeing him again in cinemas through an adaptation of Brian Joines’ Imagine Agents.

As announced on The Hollywood Reporter, award-winning publisher BOOM! Studios is excited to reveal that Michael Keaton (Birdman, Batman) will star in and produce a film adaptation at 20th Century Fox of the comic series Imagine Agents, created by Brian Joines.

Written by Joines (Krampus) and illustrated by Bachan (Rocket Salvage), Imagine Agents is the story of two agents who work for clandestine organization I.M.A.G.I.N.E. to keep kids’ imaginary friends under control. Little do they know that an abandoned “friend” from long ago is about to disrupt the status quo and turn everything upside down. The series was published from October 2013 to January 2014, with a collected edition released in December 2014.

“Imagine Agents has been the most rewarding project I’ve worked on and the fact it’s going to be a movie with Michael Keaton, whose work had a huge impact on my teenaged years and indirectly played a role in my decision to become a writer, is just a mind-blowing continuation of that reward,” said Joines.

BOOM! has a first-look feature film deal at 20th Century Fox that includes first-dollar gross on films based on any of its comics, which the publisher splits with its creators.

BOOM! Studios Founder and Chief Executive Officer Ross Richie will produce the film with Keaton and Anonymous Content’s Michael Sugar. President of Development Stephen Christy will executive produce with Anonymous Content’s Eli Selden. Senior Vice President of Film Adam Yoelin will co-produce in cooperation with Anonymous Content’s Ashley Zalta.
Keaton, best known for his roles in Beetlejuice and Batman,  is coming off his award-nominated performance as washed-up superhero actor Riggan Thomson in New Regency Pictures’ Birdman and is currently filming The Founder, a biopic about Ray Kroc, the founder of the McDonald’s fast-food chain.

Note: The distribution numbers used below are estimates, not hard sales numbers.  They’re accurate to the trends, but take the exact unit measurements with a small grain of salt.

Recently, Comichron released Diamond distribution numbers for May 2015.  To little astonishment at the feat but some awe at the scale, Marvel’s Secret Wars #1 took the number one slot for the month with 527,678 copies distributed to stores by Diamond, besting the distribution of DC’s April event book, Convergence #1, by nearly 400,000 copies.  Interestingly, however, Boom’s Bravest Warriors: Tales from the Holo John #1 took the number two slot with 502,737 copies distributed, besting series based on established properties including Star Wars #5 (146,850), Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars #1 (131,839), and Secret Wars #2 (210,807).  In a world where even DC struggles to pull outstanding numbers on event books, which are traditionally considered to be defibrillators for comic sales, it’s surprising that a new title from one of the smaller major publishers pulled such a high distribution volume.  How did Boom pull it off?  Well, as Comichron writer John Jackson Miller notes in his analysis, “nearly 500,000 copies” were bought by Loot Crate, the largest nerd potpourri vendor on the internet.

According to the statistical analysis presented in the article, it is clear that the Loot Crate Effect has begun to not only change, but completely distort the direct market.  Comic sales were up by $5,800,000 compared to May 2014, but $2,500,000 of that was thanks to the mass order Loot Crate placed on Holo John.  That’s nearly half of the distribution growth.  In a superficial analysis, you might think that this doesn’t really matter.  After all, sales are sales, right?  Regardless of who is buying or who ultimately ends up with the comic, greater sales mean healthier publishers.

However, while Loot Crate is definitely helping line publishers’ pockets, they aren’t nearly as helpful as you might expect.

Where we don’t see the distortion is in Diamond’s dollar shares, which only look at the dollars it was paid — and there, Boom is in fifth place. According to Diamond’s dollar rankings, it sold 2.4 copies of Bravest Warriors for every Secret Wars #2 it sold — and yet the distributor made more money on Secret Wars #2. Since Secret Wars #2 and Bravest Warriors cost the same — $4.99 — that would indicate that Loot Crate got a much better deal from Boom at wholesale on its copies than retailers got from Marvel.

What this means is that even though Boom’s market share is rising in terms of quantity, the company’s profit margins aren’t improving enough to match that growth.  Not only that, but there’s no quantifiable proof that readership improves after companies dump large quantities of a single issue into Loot Crate’s hands.  October 2014’s The Walking Dead #132 is one of the best performing single issues of the 21st century with 326,300 copies distributed, over 200,000 of which were purchased by Loot Crate.  Meanwhile, September 2014’s sales of issue 131 are reported to be 69,810 and November 2014’s sales of issue 133 stand at 68,093.  There was actually a net loss of readership following The Walking Dead‘s appearance in the Loot Crate.

It’s harder to determine the effect that Loot Crate has on the readership of series that have their first issue included in the service.  Rocket Raccoon #1 sold 311,000 copies, over 200,000 of which were bought by Loot Crate.  Issue 2 sold 56,597 copies, which presents a steep drop in readership even if you ignore Loot Crate’s wholesale order on issue 1.  That’s not an atypical performance trend in comics, but it does serve as addition indication that Loot Crate isn’t really helping sales in the long term.

Like event books, it seems like Loot Crate has become another sales defibrillator– a way to improve sales in the short term that doesn’t necessarily help the industry grow in the long run.  On the plus side, selling mass orders to Loot Crate has a much lower production cost than the creation of a new event series, where you have to hire writers, artists, and saddle marketing with a lot of additional work.  With Loot Crate, you just pull the trigger and print more copies of the book you already paid to have made anyways.  Unfortunately, this new method doesn’t seem to pad profits nearly as much as event books do.

Giant Days #1

Story: John Allison

Art: Lissa Treiman

Colors: Whitney Cogar

Letters: Jim Campbell

Publisher: Boom! Box

1. Unless you religiously follow web comics, you’ve probably never heard of John Allison.
a. True, but you should be reading Bad Machinery. 
b. False

2. Giant Days is a book about____
a. Three girls beginning their first year of university in England.
b. The angst that comes along with wanting to reinvent yourself in a new place.
c. A bet settled by a cafeteria blunder.
d. All of the above.

3. Susan Ptolemy’s problems begin____
a. At the beginning of page one.
b. When a mysterious boy from her past named McGraw transfers to her school.
c. She catches her friend in a compromising moment.
d. She doesn’t have any problems (No that would be an awful story).

4. Esther De Groot is_____
a. The trio’s drama magnet.
b. A raven haired goth with horrible luck when it comes to boys.
c. A former member of a Black Metal Society with a weird mystical tattoo.
d. All of the above.

5. Daisy Wooton is______
a. Home schooled and naive.
b. Not a pervert, just enjoys watching napkin folding videos.
c. Both A&C
d. None of the above.

6. Lissa Treiman’s art in the book is______
a. Quirky, a mix of newspaper comic strip with the emotional grandiose of Scott Pilgrim.
b. Dark
c. Stick figures
d. Gory

7. What’s happening in the page above
a. An example of Whitney Cogar’s subtle yet distinct color work with the characters.
b. A funny visual gag you’ll see throughout the story.
c. Susan asserting herself as the group’s leader.
d. All of the above.

8. Does Giant Days have any flaws?
a. Yes, it’s too perfect.
b. No.
c. Yes, for a book set against the background of higher education they never entered a classroom.
d. Yes, a slice of life story needs a little more emotional stakes.

9. Should you buy Giant Days?
a. No, you should only read books with capes and tights where nothing relevant happens.
b. Yes, because you’re a well rounded person who can appreciate comical stories with down to earth characters.

10. Extra credit essay:
Giant Days is a book with the feminine voice of HBO’s GIRLS and the charm of the Sunday comics in the newspaper. John Allison crafts characters with genuine yearnings who blend together nicely. Lissa Treiman’s art is the best compliment a cleaver and whimsical story like this could get. Though first issue felt like it needed a bit more build in the tension, the series is worth getting on board for. I can’t wait to see these chicks get into more problems.

Score: 98% 

You’ll need to repeat the course – @bouncingsoul217

By Davey Nieves

BURNING FIELDS #1

Story: Michael Moreci, Tim Daniel

Art: Colin Lorimer, Joana Lafuente

Publisher: Boom!

In 2014, Curse did something I didn’t think possible. It told a werewolf story that didn’t suck. The 21st century has been all about glamourizing horror to some extent. It was awesome that a book like Curse could come along and craft a raw story about one of the monsters that’s never really received their due, the Werewolf. Now in 2015 the team of Michael Moreci, Tim Daniel, and Colin Lorimer are back to work through more of their demons while sending a chill up your spine.

Their new book, Burning Fields is an analog combination of old school horror like The Thing in combination with the geopolitical drama of a Zero Dark Thirty. Where it plants its feet and sets itself apart is in the perpetual insecurity these pages bring and that is far from a bad thing.

Burning Fields is the story of Dana Atkinson, a dishonorably discharged army investigator, who’s pulled back to the Middle East when a group of American oil technicians disappear under bizarre circumstances. Dana is a true badass with the inner demons to match. In the first few pages we see her razor wit in arguing with her former commander and later her toughness as she dispatches would be assassins. The first issue also touches on the unstable political nature of the Middle East as we see both the American Military and Iraqi people’s side of the conflict. Indeed this entire opening issue leans heavy on tensions of various kinds from interpersonal to political and still manages to let the characters build through this tense fog.

Colin Lorimer’s illustrations are perfect for a dramatic horror story like this one. He’s no stranger to emotional drama having done books like X-Files, Harvest, and of course Curse. What sets Burning Fields apart from his previous works is how he masterfully brings out the necessary emotion on a page and seamlessly shifts it to a different mood without jarring the audience. On one page he can capture the turmoil in Dana’s eyes to evoke distress while on the very next page call forth the restlessness of local Iraqis in a marketplace standoff. To go along with this exquisite line work are Joana Lafuente’s colors. She uses tones similar to what Patricia Mulvihill used towards the end of 100 Bullets and gets the same moodiness on the pages in a very horror friendly way.

If there’s any flaw with the book it’s that it may not feel necessary to have eight issues by the end of the story. My only minor gripe about issue one was that I’d like to have known more about the supernatural evil Dana uncovers in the oil field which could have cut it down to seven issues. Being fully on for all eight issues I hope they allow all the volatile elements in the story to be breathe enough.

Boom Studios isn’t known for the number of original books but the quality of them. Burning Fields has the potential to not only join Irredeemable, Incorruptible, 2 Guns, and Curse but also surpass them.

Talk to Davey on Twitter about Comics, cats, and relationships. He prefers it be about cats. 

Ed Brisson of Sheltered and Sons of Anarchy fame has just announced a brand new project over at BOOM! Studios entitled Cluster. The book follows Samara, the leader of a group of cons. Samara is sentenced to prison for her crimes, and then given an option to join to go kill aliens on a planet called Midlothian or stay in jail. Samara chooses to join the military cause leaving her stranded on a planet with a horde of baddies. Damian Couceiro, who has previously worked with Brisson on Sons of Anarchy and Murder Book, is joining the author with illustrations on the title.

Brisson elaborates further on the premise in this quote from CBR who also announced the title:

I don’t want to give away too much, but will say that a lot of the people serving time have bogus sentences. In the story, you can trade your life sentence in for a tour of duty — get out in 15 years. But, what constitutes a life sentence? In a future where both the military and prison system are privatized, where they feed into one another, is anyone going to get a fair shake?

The author also teased that there may be something deeper going on than meets the eye in Cluster:

Our lead character in the book, Samara, is someone who could have avoided being there. Her father is in a position where he may have been able to prevent her from spending time in prison, let alone serving 15 years fighting aliens on a distant planet. However, she’s there because she has a desire to pay penance for what she’s done, something that we don’t quite learn until much later on.

Cluster #1 is available at finer comic shops on February 4th.

by Zachary Clemente

With SDCC being only a day away – Boom! Studios teased us with their 15th convention announcement on twitter:

We have no inkling what the project will be as of yet, but undoubtedly we’ll hear more about it during the con. Stay tuned!

Close on the heel of the Adventure Time comic empire, Boom is striking again with a comics adaptation of The Regular Show, J.G. Quintel's Cartoon Network hit about Mordecai and Rigby, a blue jay and raccoon trying to make their way in a crazy world. K.C. Green writes and Alison Strejlau draws.

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Hey! It’s one of those dates where American readers can’t shout at me for getting the day and month the ‘wrong’ way round! Hurrah! That’s a relief.

This week was Dennis Hopeless Week, with the writer bringing two new Marvel launches to the world. I’ll be reviewing one of them - the controversy-bathing Avengers Arena - along with two vampire stories and, what the heck, the latest Batman. What better way to wash away all those scary night-loving monsters than with… a third scary night-loving monster. Hm.

This week I’ll be reviewing Batman #15, The Amazing Spider-Man 699.1, Marceline and the Scream Queens #6, and Avengers Arena #1

Batman has proven to be an interesting comic over the last few months. Writer Scott Snyder has thrown an incredible amount of thought and planning into the series, but for some reason none of this seems to be developing into a story. This month’s Batman #15 gives us a short showdown between Batman and the Joker, before setting things up for another showdown which will happen next month. Besides a framing sequence which pauses everything to try and look into the heart of why Batman can never defeat The Joker, the rest of the issue feels rather empty and lifeless.

Surprisingly, this Death of the Family storyline has been dragging almost since the first issue, with The Joker feeling lifeless and dull, rather than chaotic and scary. Beyond the visual image of Joker’s ripped-off face – which itself looks creepy half the time and stupid the other half – there’s nothing to the character here which sells him as a scary villain. His dialogue reads as an homage to Grant Morrison’s super-sexual version of Joker in Arkham Asylum, but without any of the verve or sting. This Joker is simply camp and affectionate, and that doesn’t make the character creepy, rather he seems bloodless and defanged.

Despite the abundance of dialogue and narration boxes, it doesn’t feel like Snyder has gotten beneath the skin of any of the characters involved here, with predictable storytelling and a lot of filler. The majority of this issue is an eight-page sequence where various Batman allies argue over whether Joker once broke into the Batcave a few years ago. This is presented as the core of the story, and something which will drive a wedge between everyone – but there’s no reason for readers to find any of this relatable  It doesn’t feel important or real as a story beat, and as a result the thread is diluted.

Overall this storyline has felt perfunctory, with no surprise or intensity in the way The Joker’s plan unfolded. It’s been a disappointment. There’s a backup sequence here which appears to be setting up The Riddler as the next villain for Batman to face – but again, it’s as though everything interesting about the character has somehow drained away. All that’s left are a few tics and very little character. Forget Batman needing to protect Gotham from supervillains – at this rate they’ll all have faded into bland obscurity by next year.

Amazing Spider-Man 699.1, on the other hand, is the sort of story Batman should be telling. Written by Joe Keatinge and drawn primarily by Valentine Delandro, the issue grabs on to a dark and moody character and presents him as genuinely unsettling – yet empathetic at the same time. Despite the title, this is a prologue to the Morbius series Keatinge will be working on with Rich Elson, and as such we get a look at the character’s past and present.

Delandro’s art does a lot of the work for Keatinge here, providing a distinctive representation of the character which makes him look unworldly even before he becomes, well, a vampire. Sorry, spoilers! But that doesn’t mean Keatinge sits back – this is a fascinating character study, which really gets into the skin of the doctor and works a lot of power into the presentation of the narrative. The feeling of horror grows magnificently over the course of the issue, building up and building up until a climax which feels expected, but in a thrilling fashion.

Just because we can tell what will happen by the end of the issue doesn’t mean that the journey towards it isn’t filled with dread in each word, and it doesn’t make the tragedy any less affecting. I didn’t care much for Morbius before this issue – but the creative team have here put together a very strong case for why the series should exist.

 If you’re looking for a slightly less terrifying story about vampires, I don’t suggest Marceline and the Scream Queens – because it’s just as scary! Although, much funnier, and a delight. Issue #6 wraps up Meredith Gran’s miniseries with a few nice jabs at the state of comics fandom itself… as well as a vampiric rock concert and plenty of hard nudity.

The story wraps in the expected manner, although you’ll have no chance pre-guessing how Gran gets there. Throughout the series we’ve seen Gran having what looks to be a whirlwind of a time with these characters, bringing out excellent jokes from their personalities whilst not being averse to the odd left-field piece of unexpected nonsense. Issue #6 is very very funny, but weighted with character. Her art is a perfect fit for this ‘world of Adventure Time’ style as well, with her use of body language getting across emotion even when half the characters have dots for eyes.

Lisa Moore’s colouring is also superb, and I was particularly fond of the way Princess Bubblegum’s hair seems to grow brighter and more powerful with every panel, whilst Marceline’s grows somehow blacker. I don’t know if that’s a trick of my eye, but it certainly seemed that way. Eccentric in the very best way, this has been a great miniseries, and a great showpiece for Gran’s art and writing.

Which brings us to Avengers Arena #1. Was this really going to prove a crude cash-grab on the success of the Hunger Games, with snuff and misery? No, no it wasn’t. It was a book with a clever, crafty central conceit, as well as great character work and stunning art from Kev Walker.

The real star of the issue may well be Frank Martin’s work on colours for the book, however, which are at once outlandish and crazy, yet keeping touch on the characters and story. The scenes in Murderworld are gaudy but visually striking for it – which plays into the way Arcade sees the venture. Yet the scenes set outside are cosy and warm, without that feeling of artifice. That is all a result of Martin’s colours. Walker also proves once more to have a solid grip on team stories, with a multitude of characters who all stand apart, and dynamic, exciting storytelling.

Dennis Hopeless’ central contribution to this first issue is the feeling that there is a plan for the book. This isn’t going to be an exploitative title (well, it is, but not in a grotesque way), but instead a character study performed in that rarest of locations: a comic where characters can die forever. It’s startling how quickly removing the barrier of ‘comic book death’ pinballs the book into immediately scary, unpredictable territory. We’re so accustomed to nothing actually ‘mattering’ beyond the next big event, that Hopeless’ freedom here to do whatever he wants to these characters is shocking and riveting.

It’d be worthless if Hopeless didn’t make the characters empathetic, however, and on the basis of this first issue he has a solid grasp on every character he voices here, furthering them as protagonists even whilst making it clear that they could be gone by next issue. Taking away the safety net brings us a chaotic series which can do anything it wants – and a creative team firing on all fronts. This could be the big hit of Marvel Now, if they can keep this up. Which is the big question now, isn’t it?

Rob Green