BATMAN TOPS DIAMOND CHARTS
DC Comics continues to rule the Diamond Comic
Distributors Actual Sales Charts as BATMAN # 614, by
Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee and Scott Williams, hits # 1 on the
Top Comics chart, marking the series’ fourth
consecutive month at # 1.
“It’s a real pleasure to watch BATMAN burn up the
actual sales charts month after month, thanks to the
spectacular work Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee and Scott Williams
are doing,” says Bob Wayne, DC’s VP – Sales &
Marketing.
Upcoming items include:
* BATMAN # 615 is scheduled to be in stores on May 28.
* BATMAN # 616 is scheduled to be in stores on June
25.
* BATMAN # 617 is scheduled to be in stores on July
30.
* The BATMAN STATUE is scheduled to be in stores on
September 3.
The following item is available for advance reorder:
* The BATMAN STATUE is scheduled to be in stores on
September 3.
Also available for reorder:
* BATMAN # 614
* The BATMAN: HUSH HC
BATMAN: HUSH HC HITS # 1
The unstoppable creative team of Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee
and Scott Williams strike again as the BATMAN: HUSH HC
hits the # 1 slot on Diamond’s Top Graphic Novels
chart for April. VERTIGO’s ORBITER HC, by Warren Ellis
and Colleen Doran, soars to # 2 on the chart.
Several DC Direct SUPER FRIENDS! items make their
marks on the Top Toys chart, with the SUPER FRIENDS!
BATMAN MAQUETTE at # 1, the SUPER FRIENDS!: SUPERMAN &
LEX LUTHOR DELUXE ACTION FIGURE SET at # 2, and the
SUPER FRIENDS!: WONDER WOMAN AND CHEETAH DELUXE ACTION
FIGURE SET at # 4.
DC Direct posters lead the Top Posters chart, with the
WONDER WOMAN OVERSIZED POSTER by Alex Ross at # 1. The
CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS POSTER, also by Alex Ross,
appears at # 3 on the chart, while the classic SUPER
FRIENDS! POSTER by Alex Toth is at # 5.
“Between the continuing power of BATMAN, the strong
response to the ORBITER graphic novel, and the strong
sales on DC Direct’s action figures and posters, April
was a very good month for us overall,” says Bob Wayne,
DC’s VP – Sales & Marketing.
These items are available for reorder:
* The SUPER FRIENDS!: GREEN LANTERN AND SINESTRO
DELUXE ACTION FIGURE SET
* The BATMAN: HUSH HC
* The ORBITER HC
Upcoming items include:
* The SUPER FRIENDS!: BATMAN & SCARECROW DELUXE ACTION
FIGURE SET is scheduled to be in stores on November
19.
* The SUPER FRIENDS!: ROBIN & THE RIDDLER DELUXE
ACTION FIGURE SET is scheduled to be in stores on
November 19.
The following items are available for advance reorder:
* The SUPER FRIENDS!: AQUAMAN AND BLACK MANTA DELUXE
ACTION FIGURE SET is scheduled to be in stores on May
14.
* The SUPER FRIENDS! ROBIN MAQUETTE is scheduled to be
in stores on June 11.
* The SUPER FRIENDS! WONDER WOMAN MAQUETTE is
scheduled to be in stores on August 20.
* The SUPER FRIENDS! AQUAMAN MAQUETTE is scheduled to
be in stores on October 8.
AQUAMAN
There’s a production error on the last page of AQUAMAN
# 6. Rick Veitch, who’ll be leaving the writing duties
after AQUAMAN # 12, spoke about it on his web page. The final two panels
on page 22 in the printed comic read like this
(possible spoiler):
AQUAMAN: KAL–I don’t mean to sound like a jerk. Hell,
I wouldn’t even BE here if you all hadn’t saved my
fins in the Obsidian Age.
AQUAMAN: And that’s why I know in the deepest lining
of my gut…
AQUAMAN: I have to face him down alone.
“Which makes absolutely no sense at all,” said Veitch.
He says the way it SHOULD read is:
AQUAMAN: KAL–I don’t mean to sound like a jerk. Hell,
I wouldn’t even BE here if you all hadn’t saved my
fins in the Obsidian Age.
AQUAMAN: But this guy isn’t just another nut job out
to conquer the world.
AQUAMAN: The THIRST is my own EVIL TWIN. And that’s
why I know in the deepest lining of my gut…
AQUAMAN: I have to face him down alone.
“Not sure exactly how this error crept in since its
not just a dropped word balloon but a dropped word
balloon and a sentence lost from the balloon after it.
But I do remember that issue was already mired in a
bizarre rewrite hell when Dan Raspler left as editor
and Peter Tomasi took over,” said Veitch.
“The convoluted tale goes like this: Dan wanted me to
set up a crossover so AQUAMAN could leave to visit JLA
at the end of the issue. That’s why I wrote the
Superman sequence. Unfortunately it turned out that
Dan had his scheduling screwed up and at the last
minute asked me to rewrite the last page so Aquaman
DIDN’T leave to visit JLA. I did so and went on with
my other work. After Dan left and Peter took over I
got the proofs for the finished art to # 6 and, horror
of horrors, Sal Velluto had drawn the FIRST final
page, not the revised one and no one noticed because
the editorship was in transition. So, I revised (for a
third time) the dialogue to reflect what Sal had drawn
with as minimal art corrections as possible (since the
book was screamingly late by this point). What I wrote
and passed on to DC somehow got truncated along the
production line and no one caught the error. Apologies
to all readers! Please pass the word about what
happened!”
FIRESTORM
According to Mike Carey, the creator who was supposed
to be writing the new FIRESTORM series, the project
has been shelved for the immediate future. Carey told
THE PULSE, “I’m off the book. I got a call from Peter
Tomasi a couple of days ago to tell me that a decision
has been taken higher up to put the project on hold.
If it goes ahead at all, it will go ahead with a
different creative team.” The series original editor
was the recently DC departed Dan Raspler.
Carey later had this to say to Firestorm fans on the
DC Message Boards:
“Sorry it came out this way. What happened was that
Jen Contino (of THE PULSE) emailed me about an
interview we were trying to arrange, and I’d just
heard that I was off the book so I told her the
interview was sort of moot. I intended to come on the
board here and explain the situation to everyone –
which is basically that a decision has been taken to
jettison the series concept that we had up to this
point and take the entire thing back to review from
the ground up. This means that there could still be a
Firestorm book, but it looks as though if that happens
it will be a different creative team and a different
take on the character. I’m sorry – sorrier than I can
say – because this was a book I really wanted to do,
but there had been problems and delays that were
nobody’s fault, and I guess somewhere along the way
the line just snapped and we ran out of time. There
are no hard feelings, and I don’t feel as though I’ve
been badly treated: both Peter (Tomasi) and Steve
(Wacker) have been great to work with, as was Dan
(Raspler). I just wish we could have made it happen.
And I hope somebody else can, because Firestorm is too
good a character to waste.”
SPIRIT ARCHIVES VOLUME 11 USHERS IN POSTWAR ERA
In 1945, following his discharge from the U.S. Army,
Chief Warrant Office Will Eisner returned to the U.S.
and his classic comics creation The Spirit. Now, the
first postwar Spirit tales are collected in THE SPIRIT
ARCHIVES VOLUME 11, a 216-page hardcover featuring
stories from July 1 to December 30, 1945.
As comics historian and writer/artist Michael Gilbert
writes in his introduction to this volume, “Readers
who’d forgotten why they originally fell in love with
The Spirit were quickly reminded. No doubt about it,
Will Eisner was definitely back – ready to create
comics history!”
Eisner returned with “The Christmas Spirit of 1945” –
the penultimate episode in this volume. This
warm-hearted tale signaled the beginning of a comics
renaissance that would continue into the 1950s,
ensuring THE SPIRIT a place in history as one of the
greatest comics of all time. Also among the 26 stories
in this volume are: “The Kuttup Shop,” where murder is
not a novelty; “The Vicram Forgery,” which is anything
but a pretty picture; and “The Alibi Factory,” where
innocence is made to order, as well as a second
Eisner-penned tale!
THE SPIRIT ARCHIVES Volume 11 is a 216-page hardcover
scheduled to arrive in stores on August 6 with a cover
price of $49.95. It will be solicited in the June
issue of Previews (Volume XIII # 6).
JLA
John Byrne and Chris Claremont are reuniting for the
first time since THE X-MEN for 5 issues of JLA. Byrne
will plot and draw, while Claremont will be in charge
of the dialogue. Editor Mike Carlin was looking for a
fill-in team to give him some time while he searched
for the new permanent team, and offered the book to
Byrne. THE PULSE caught up with Byrne for a peek under
the hood of what’s coming up.
You can read it here
HARDCOVER COLLECTED EDITIONS
This summer, DC will solicit several new hardcover
collected editions, including new archives and the
final volume in a series by one of comics’ true
masters.
One of the comics’ most memorable super-teams returns
this August in SILVER AGE TEEN TITANS ARCHIVES Volume
1. This fast-paced collection includes stories from
THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD # 54 and 60, SHOWCASE # 59, and
TEEN TITANS # 1-5. Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Speedy
and Wonder Girl join forces in adventures written by
Bob Haney with art by Nick Cardy and, on the team’s
debut tale, Bruno Premiani. Cardy also contributes a
new cover and foreword. SILVER AGE TEEN TITANS
ARCHIVES Volume 1 is a 204-page hardcover. It will be
solicited in the June issue of Previews (Volume XIII #
6) and is scheduled to be in stores on August 27 with
a cover price of $49.95.
DC’s pliable hero faces a parade of colorful foes in
PLASTIC MAN ARCHIVES Volume 5, a new hardcover
collecting wild, off-the-wall Golden Age stories from
POLICE COMICS # 50-58 and PLASTIC MAN # 4, along with
an introduction by comics historian Bill Schelly.
These wild, off-the-wall stores are written by Jack
Cole with art by Cole and others. PLASTIC MAN ARCHIVES
Volume 5 is a 224-page hardcover. It will be solicited
in the July issue of Previews (Volume XIII # 7) and is
scheduled to be in stores on September 10 with a cover
price of $49.95.
Joe Kubert fans will take their final trip back in
time this September with JOE KUBERT’S TOR VOLUME 3.
This lushly designed hardcover includes stories from
TOR # 1 (1975) and TOR # 1-4 (1993). Also in this
volume are a foreword by Kubert and an introduction by
Roy Thomas, plus a special sketchbook section
featuring never-before-seen developmental art by
Kubert. JOE KUBERT’S TOR VOLUME 3 is a 144-page
hardcover. It will be solicited in the July issue of
Previews (Volume XIII # 7) and is scheduled to be in
stores on September 24 with a cover price of $49.95.
DC WEBSITE PREVIEW LIVE AT DCCOMICS.COM
Visitors to DCComics.com now can catch a glimpse of
the site’s new look with a special preview of the
exciting new DC Universe, VERTIGO and WildStorm pages,
along with the DC Message boards.
To view the new webpages, go to:
* DC Universe
* VERTIGO
* WildStorm
* Message boards
The preview pages also may be reached by clicking on
the window on the main page at DCComics.com. Watch for
the fully revamped DC website next week.
CATWOMAN HONORED BY PRISM AWARDS
The 7th annual PRISM Awards has honored CATWOMAN # 1
and # 6-9 in the “Comic Book Issue or Multi-Issue
Storyline” category. The PRISM Awards recognize
accurate depictions of drug, alcohol and tobacco use
and addiction in television, feature film, music and
comic book entertainment.
REMINDER
The offices of DC Comics and WildStorm Productions
will be closed Monday, May 26 in observance of
Memorial Day. The holiday weekend also pushes back
that week’s in-store date to Thursday, May 29.
ED BENES SIGNS EXCLUSIVE WITH DC
Ed Benes, the acclaimed penciller of a series of
sold-out issues of SUPERGIRL, as well as THUNDERCATS:
THE RETURN, GEN13, and CODENAME: KNOCKOUT, has signed
a two-year exclusive with DC Comics. Benes is the new
BIRDS OF PREY penciller beginning with issue # 56.
“I’m very excited about this new stage of my life and
career, and I’ll give DC my best,” says Benes. “It’s a
blast doing BIRDS OF PREY! Gail is a great writer, and
I owe a great deal to Lysa Hawkins, my editor.”
“Ed Benes has been a real talent for WildStorm,
VERTIGO and the DCU,” says Dan DiDio, DC’s VP –
Editorial. “He brought renewed energy to SUPERGIRL,
and based on the work he’s doing, we expect him to
help bring BIRDS OF PREY to the next level. We’re very
happy to have him on board.”
Benes’s run as penciller of BIRDS OF PREY begins with
issue # 56, written by Gail Simone with inks by Alex
Lei. This issue is solicited in the April issue of
Previews (Volume XIII # 4) and is scheduled to be in
stores on June 18.
Some of Benes’s recent work on SUPERGIRL is collected
in the SUPERGIRL: MANY HAPPY RETURNS TP. This item is
solicited in the May issue of Previews (Volume XIII #
5) and is scheduled to be in stores on July 9.
Backlist titles featuring Benes’s work include:
* GEN13: WE’LL TAKE MANHATTAN
* GEN13: SUPERHUMAN LIKE YOU
* GEN13: MEANWHILE…
BACK TO PRESS
The following titles have been reprinted and are
available for order: TRANSMETROPOLITAN: SPIDER’S
THRASH TP (2nd printing)
V FOR VENDETTA TP (6th printing)
ABC UNIVERSE
Peter Hogan is taking on Alan Moore’s ABC Universe,
with two new projects, THE MANY WORLDS OF TESLA STRONG
(on sale now), a 64-page one shot drawn by many of
comics’ greatest stars, including Chris Sprouse, Adam
Hughes, Michael Golden, Jason Pearson, José Luis
Garcia-a-Lo3pez , Frank Cho, Claudio Castellini, Phil
Noto, J. Scott Campbell, Arthur Adams, and Karl Story
and TERRA OBSCURA, a mini-series drawn by Yanick
Paquette. Hogan told THE PULSE all about them.
You can read it here
SOLD OUT
The following items are now sold out at DC:
BATMAN DOUBLE FEATURE
BROOKLYN DREAMS VOL. 2
WILDC.A.T.S # 50
