Re: Champions -There was also this TV show..they were kind of like superheroes : https://www.pinterest.com/SaffieRose/the-champions/

with a USAvengers team book also coming out with more of a youth/different type characters vibe, does this mean we’ll be seeing more classic line-ups in the main stream avengers books, ’cause it seems that most of the characters that marvel was moving heaven and earth to get into the main avengers books seem to be moving on into books of their own.

With Ms. Marvel (who can stretch), Spider-Man (who can become invisible) and Nova (who can fly and fire blasts from his hands) and the new Hulk (strong guy) it’s not The Champions, it’s the new Fantastic Four.

If Viv is there um… maybe she’s the H.E.R.B.I.E?

Trippy indeed! Once you’ve seen it, it’s hard to look away!

That thing is actually not great for people with photosensitive epilepsy. For me, it’s painful on the hopefully-not-getting-a-migraine eyes. For other people, it might just be bloody annoying!

This is why I’m reasonably certain that when archaeologists dig up America in 4000 years, they are going to think that we thought superheros were real and we worshiped them as gods.

Eh… it balances the bad karma from this:
http://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/port-authority-jackie-gleason-statue/
Ralph Kramden and Jackie Gleason who both lived at 328 Chauncey Street, in Bed Stuy.
Yes, Ralph drove a city bus (Madison Avenue), not a Port Authority coach. Tell that to Viacom/TV Land…

It joins a long line of fictional character statues, even of comics characters…

Apparently Heidi is learning from the Outhousers with lines like this

When the statue reaches its final destination it can become shrine of sorts for garbage, dog poop, graffiti, flaming dumpsters and other protests over Marvel’s shitty behavior over the years.

Not sure that was necessary in an article about a statue but hey what do I know?

I’m a Captain America fan an all that but really a corporate brand permanently placed in a public park? Plus, I was a bit unsure about the Brooklyn thing, now it turns out Cap wasn’t from Brooklyn anyway. Oh well, no need letting facts get in the way of a good story.

To be a worthy statue it would have to be from the original Kirby design, anyway,

Hallo!

Guys, ned your help or advice just. Question for those who play table games.

What game do you recommend ffor a child with a view to its development?

Many thanks.

Seriously? They think that four of the nine best continuing or limited series were Valiant titles? And four of the six best single issue or story???
Um… I’m glad that they are enjoying the Valiant titles so much, but it makes me wonder how diverse (in terms of taste) the judges were this year. There were a LOT of great comics this past year… some of them were even published by companies other than Valiant!

Oof.
Has Fantagraphics ever been completely shut out before?
Only one nom for Drawn and Quarterly?

#HarveysSoValiant

what a joke. Can we come together as an industry and finally say ‘let’s put an end to this. No more in Harvey’s name.’

That is a lot of nominations for comics that don’t sell very well. I can’t give them away. I don’t know about the Harvey Awards…..

I’m not overly concerned about this one way or another, but since fans can’t vote for the Harvey’s I’m not sure why they are brought up in this situation. This could be an organized campaign or maybe Valiant staff and pro’s voted for their own books and very few people not associated with Valiant bother to vote at all.

[…] Valiant tá dominando o Harvey este ano […]

I wasn’t aware that DC was “scouting” people for its talent workshops. That alone raises many questions.

“I doubt we’ll see a pure comic-con experience on a cruise ship, but a fan-centric event?”

Perhaps of interest, there’s the annual JoCo Cruise, hosted by nerd-fave musician Jonathan Coulton, assembling a bunch of musicians, performers, podcasters, writers and webcomickers to entertain cruise-goers. It’s not a “pure” comic-con, but it clearly ploughs the same kind of fandom seas in its promised appeal and provided experience.

[…] Now, they’ve cancelled the whole thing (via). […]

More info about JoCo here:
http://www.wired.com/2014/12/nerd-cruise/

Interesting that that JoCo Cruise article puts the number of attendees at around 800–presumably, a level sufficient to sustain the business, since it’s continued in the years since that article. If we’re serious about making a business model for a comics-themed cruise, that makes for an interesting data point as to the number of cruise-takers one might plausibly expect to attract.

Of course, that doesn’t help at all with figuring out the expense side of the equation, but knowing that it’s hundreds-to-around-a-thousand customers who might be willing to shell out for the event can be a good starting point. (I also note that the site for the current JoCo cruise seems to indicate pricing rather higher that what the Wizard cruise “starting from” figure was, which wold of course figure into the model.)

Wow! Looks like interesting stuff.

She also spoke (as a super-secret special guest) at the Will and Ann Eisner Foundation Grant Reception at ALA, where her superb deadpan delivery hit all the beats perfectly and had the audience in stitches. She’s such an amazing speaker as well as a fantastic writer.

Dover’s got great tastes in getting books back in print (and WANDERING STAR is a shining example), but they seem to be deadly terrible at KEEPING THOSE BOOKS available — of the recent “new wave” of Dover comics reprints (BOZZ CHRONICLES, MERCY, MURDER BY REMOTE CONTROL, NIGHT AND THE ENEMY, PRIVATE BEACH, PUMA BLUES, A SAILOR”S STORY… and, yeah, WANDERING STAR), there are no copies available from Diamond (big shock), nor from Baker & Taylor (who only will take backorders for these books now, usually a sign of OOP, not merely OOS)

Being “back in print” doesn’t *really* help if books are not actually available to booksellers, and actually scare me because it might tie up newer printings of some of this stuff for a few more years — I could easily have sold another 10+ copies of PUMA BLUES in particular, if I could actually order them from a distributor…

“Ms. Wood has been absent from comics since the completion of this series, ”

Except the (unfinished) DARKLIGHT from 2000.

I’m sorry to hear that Dover hasn’t been able to keep the books readily available to retailers. There’s some great stuff there, hopefully whatever the logjam is can be cleared up (though I guess with Ford having left the company the question of whether it’s going to continue to be an active imprint beyond the stuff already in the pipeline from Ford’s tenure is open).

I really liked this series. Such a unique, personal voice. Glad to see things like this survive.

All of these titles are in stock at http://www.doverpublications.com

I’d always intended to read this series, but had difficulty locating sequential issues at the time (I’d find, say, issue 4, but not 1, 2 or 3 on the shelves.) After reading this review I did something I haven’t done for years; I went down to the bookstore, bought the book, and sat down and read it cover to cover in a single sitting. A very unique and compelling work. Typically Sci-fi tends to see-saw between hard science and action, but this was a very character based story whose style was endearing. Millions die, yet most of the blood letting was off-panel so it remained firmly in the YA story space. Like so many small press works of that era you can literally see the cartoonist growing in their skills, chapter to chapter. The early chapters are a bit clunky, the story slow to take off, but once it does she manages some really powerful moments. Thank you for the recommendation. I really enjoyed it.

Would just like to point out that the GREEN ARROW title is virtually the opposite of ARROW right now. GA was most closely aligned with the TV show when Guggenheim wrote an arc a few years back, but they dropped him pretty quick. The aim with this is literally to get it back to the goatee-rocking left-wing Black Canary-loving GA who disappeared after Flashpoint.

@Kris I think you mean Andrew Kreisberg not Guggenheim,

Todd keeps pointing out the thematic return of things if not thier physical (for want of a better word), I’m curious if that’s such a bad thing? Maybe it comes down to how you read the DC Universe Rebirth issue, I read that as a meta apology-promise by Johns promising a better DC future as he jetted off towards hopefully fixing the DCEU. The actual mechanical way in which you “fix” the DCU though is well comic book macguffery, it dosen’t reaaaly matter how so much as the intent and the story being told with it. Comic Book macguffery is a too cherished at times, look at the Cap Steve Rogers stuff people splitting hairs on what is or isn’t “mind control” or someother plot device to the detrement of a pair of really good issues looking at how hatred is built up an weaponized.

Green Arrow has a lot of problems with it. It comes across as self-important and narcissistic, eager to announce to the world that it’s tackling political issues without actually putting forth the work. It also tries too hard to resemble the old Green Arrow without any of the humor or charm from the 2000 series.

Batman was absolutely stellar, arguably the best of the Rebirth books, really. It successfully created a high-tension sequence that used action and spoken dialogue to subtly bring its theme up to the forefront. Detective Comics, on the other hand, feels like a heavily decompressed X-Men book.

Superman could be very interesting, as it follows the growth of Jon Kent as a hero. That’s actually more interesting than the Mr. Oz mystery.

[…] — from A Fix-Up, Not a Reboot: One Month into DC’s Rebirth […]

[…] http://www.comicsbeat.com/a-fix-up-not-a-reboot-one-month-into-dcs-rebirth/ […]

Todd, wait for Dogwelder…

With all that’s happened to the DCU, I think one of the biggest problems in it is a sense of consistency. A lot of people complained about the writing, which I’ll admit was not great. However that’s not a problem that can’t be fixed. Instead, it felt like they would throw in an event that would “change” the universe again. Between the New 52, Forever Evil, Trinity Wars, Convergence, it’s all very confusing. I also believed that they drop series that had a lot of potential. Stormwatch, Static Shock, Voodoo just to name a few. Now, while they weren’t continued for one reason or another I thought these characters were kind of interesting. Not only that, but how many other characters has DC acquired over the years that have been tossed aside without a second thought. Milestone and Wildstorm are names that most people don’t even remember, yet the individuals born into these universes had so much substance and character they would have been a welcome addition and a great contrast to those of the DCU. DC “tried” to integrate these elements in the beginning, with few actually making the cut. But I digress, if DC really wants to become something great again, that’s where they need to start, in my opinion. How can they expect us to care, if they can’t show the same effort?

I want a true ‘identity crisis’ wherein every DC character suddenly “remembers” their pasts in every continuity –a Batman who remembers the TV show and the New 52 and 1938, a Wonder Woman who remembers fighting in WWII and yet also *not* fighting in WWII, a Superman who remembers all the contradictory Kryptons, all the contradictory Legions. I want a crisis that leaves us with *everybody* remembering *everything* despite the contradictions –infinite continuities all converging into one universe where all the heroes remember all their pasts– and then take it from there.

If everyone remembered all their past continuities, who would they be now?

If they could choose/discover their own identities, who would they choose?

Existential Crisis

I feel a lot of the complaints were, “DC’s publishing of trades sucks” more than anything else. If you’re a trade waiter and then jump into reading floppies, then yeah, there are going to be some confusing elements. I don’t understand why the author of the post was complaining so much about that. I do share the annoyance of the Bat-titles being dragged into a crossover with just their second arc.

DC does have a draconian publishing schedule for their trades though. It’s absurd that it takes six months for a trade to come to market. It’s part of being a “book publisher” instead of a “comic publisher.”

Personally, the new Superman titles have been an absolute blast. Having a Superman who isn’t mopey (we already have that in the film version, which a lot do not care for) and cocky. I felt DC had maybe two or three good arcs with New 52 Superman that were ok and the rest were not worth purchasing. There is no mention of how the past Superman died because Tomasi and Gleason said they only wanted this to be about one Superman.

Rebirth was a breath of fresh air, especially with Marvel’s faltering of late. I am so sick of events that are merely rehashes of past events. Secret Wars was good because that was the culmination of Hickman’s run. But Civil War II? Can they do something besides have heroes fighting heroes? DC Rebirth is coming at a great time for me and I’m spending more dollars on DC than Marvel right now. Image is close behind DC.

Don’t hold your breath, Mike. Not only is that idea unfeasible and complicated, it also requires way too much work from this modern era of work-for-hire writers. We’re still living in the Age of Bendis, so don’t expect too much in the way of something like Morrison’s Batman.

If you enter the Fine Arts Degree programs looking to recoup your investment, you’re too pragmatic to make it work. You should be in a Commerce program instead. My experience in pursuing Fine Arts withan (unnamed) institution led me to leave after Foundation Year: I saw too many older students who didn’t seem to have grasped the basics, or show direction toward doing advanced work. Your mileage may vary, but I gave up “the piece of paper” and went for practical experience, mixed with a sauce of night courses, workshops and ‘working till I dropped”, all of which eventually paid off.

” BISAC stands for Book Industry Study Group (I know, I know)…”

To nitpick, BISAC stands for either “Book Industry Systems Advisory Committee” or “Book Industry Standards and Communications” (not sure which name is more correct nowadays…) to denote the subset of the Book Industry Study Group (BISG) that works to create industry standards, including categorization.

What might be nice would be to have a list of comics-specific BISACs?

Thanks for covering this important change, Heidi.

Brian – when you say a list of list of comics-specific BISACs, what exactly are you after? The BISG list the existing comics BISACs on their website – https://www.bisg.org/bisac/bisac-subject-headings-list-comics-and-graphic-novels. When the new codes become official in January 2017, I’m sure they’ll add them to the site as well.

Seems cool. This art is fantastic though! Reminds me of capullo

Calling Alan Moose’s childhood “privileged” runs against what I’ve read elsewhere.

The 1980s were more than just “Watchmen” and “The Dark Knight Returns.” There were absolutely incredible runs on long-standing super-heroes that were entirely within traditional bounds and all of them were produced under the Comics Code. The nostalgic whining about the Comics Code is ridiculous, given that the most infantile stuff ever done with super-heroes has almost all been done in the non-Code era.

And by the way..:

“Iron Man” was a great movie.
“Avengers” was a great movie.
“Captain America: The Winter Soldier” was a great movie.

Mike

Happy Golden Age Of Comics to The Beat!

Congratulations! I read The Beat every day from Chile. You are doing a great job!

…wait, when did this stop being The Pulse?

Congratulations, Heidi and The Beat! I’ve been a reader since the beginning and I appreciate that this continues to be a balanced, passionate and non-snarky forum for news and views. During the past 12 years, the internet has become increasingly crass — thank you for being civil.

Best of all, when my day gets crazy at work, it’s great to come to a place where I can escape for a few minutes and read about the crazy world of comics,

Here’s to another dozen great years!

Congrats. I’ve been reading for 12 years?!

YAY the Beat is nearly a teenager!

Congratulations, Heidi!

Happy Blogiversary, Heidi! And many more! ;-)

Happy Beataversary, Heidi!

Congratulations Heidi, and The Beat contributors for your hard work and dedication throughout 12 amazing years! Hope for many more!

Of the more old school branch of heroes, I think slapstick is one that benefits more from a humorous slash cartoons approach.

If the poll over on CBR is any suggestion, Marvel might have hit their tipping point on soft relaunches post each and every “Event”. The last relaunch was, overall, a disaster, sales wise, so it’ll be interesting to see how this one does…

CBR: Are You Excited For The All-New Marvel NOW! Era?

No – 64.4%
Maybe — I’ll have to see more before I decide – 25.0%
Yes! – 10.6%

Please no more relaunches…I can’t take it anymore.

There’s literally one character in that picture I care about enough to put money down for. If MAC gets a solo series, fabulous. I’ll be there. Otherwise, meh.

Everybody rightly mocks the leather jackets ‘n big guns look of the 90s, but at least it was a recognizable zeitgeist style. So many of those characters just look blah.

Mike