DC News & Views

Out with the old…

In with the new…

It’s been a weird week for DC news. A huge exclusive contract announcement, a playwright coming aboard for some comic writing, and a brand new logo?! The new logo is the cause of DCNV’s new logo as well, provided by the very generous Mike Zeidler, a former Superhero Shelf columnist around these parts. A thousand thanks to him.

Fertile ground for views, no doubt. Before that though, let me just wish my friend Jordan a very happy 23rd birthday. I couldn’t be there for the festivities, but I am sure much fun was had by all.

Now we bring it!

This Changes Everything

According to a report in Monday’s International Herald Tribune (posted online Sunday, by way of the New York Times) DC will be unveiling a new logo on a comic book on sale May 25th, and then premiere it line-wide the following week. According to the report, the new look will replace the flat, four-star bullet that has served as DC’s logo since the mid-1970s, and is part “face-lift and part marketing strategy.”

Kiss you precious logo (and childhood) goodbye at Newsarama

I now present to you Tim Sheridan and I’s production of a typical message board exchange on DC’s new logo (meant in good fun…we aren’t being serious here). For the sake of our bit of theater Tim Sheridan will be playing the character called DCFan#1! and I will be playing the part of HATESEVERYTHINGNONOSERIOUSLY…EVERYTHING.

DCFan#1!: So, saw the new DC logo.
It’s the best thing to happen to comics since Infinity Crusade!!

HATESEVERYTHINGNONOSERIOUSLY…EVERYTHING: No way man! Comics are doomed!!!!!!

DCFan#1!: But look at those italicized letters! Have you ever seen such beauty?!

HATESEVERYTHINGNONOSERIOUSLY…EVERYTHING: Are you kidding? When I look at those letters I feel like I just looked at my grandmother naked. GROSS!

DCFan#1!: I see hope for comics, but I think we differ in that I feel your
grandmother naked is beautiful.
So that is the real dispute.

And SCENE!

Sadly, no one’s debate on the new logo went down quite like that. Just when you think that you have the online community all figured out, they go and act all civil. I mean, what the hell?!

What is fun to note is that earlier today (Monday) the logo talkback thread had already hit 7 pages, which is about 3 pages more than the first Countdown thread hit in roughly the same time period. Thus, there you have it. Logo equals way more important than Countdown.

From a corporate standpoint, I get this is a big deal. But for fans? I just wouldn’t expect that it would matter one way or another beyond simply noting the change in a “oh, that’s cool” or a “eh” or, possibly, “gosh that’s ugly.”

For the record, I think it’s fine. I liked the bullet, but I have no particular emotional attachment to it, so I suppose I am a well wisher of this logo. In that I wish it no specific harm.

Time to Take a Hammer to the Piggie Bank

Today DC Comics used their weekly email newsletter to retailers to serve notice that they have raised the prices on their last remaining DC Universe $2.25 titles. Beginning with their June issues, Batman, Nightwing, Robin, The Flash, JLA and Wonder Woman will arrive in stores with a new retail price of $2.50. Because they were solicited in both June and July with the previous cover price of $2.25, DC reported the affected issues will be announced as returnable at a later date.

Shed your tears for the end of the 2.25’s at Newsarama

Well, there goes, in part, the “if only they printed on lesser paper, the price wouldn’t have to be raised” theory. These $2.25 books do print on the lesser paper and look, up they’re going.

This is always sad when comics go up at all. A quarter is no big deal, but considering what comics cost when I first bought one (a dollar) til now, the price has risen considerably. Not even gas has posted this such of an increase in Connecticut yet.

As for me, a quarter isn’t really go to affect what I buy and what I don’t. Generally speaking there wasn’t much out there for $2.25 in the first place and most of it I wasn’t buying anyway. I understand that for others this might be a different story and I wish that the price could stay the same for them.

I was pleasantly surprised to see no one resurrect the old chestnut of “now less kids will buy them.” This is not to say the price of comics isn’t a problem when trying to get kids to buy and read them. It is to say that to the parent who picks up a comic for their kids now and again, the quarter price raise won’t much register with them. Realistically speaking, this is a price raise that is far more damaging to the serious consumer. Now if they raised comics by a dollar, then I think that argument about kids and parents has validity.

In the end, it is hard to argue with the knee jerk reaction that comics costing more is bad. I would prefer to pay less, not more. On everything. However, the reality is that I like comics and to me, the extra 25 cents on a few books is worth it to me. To others, it might not be. I don’t think anybody is wrong in that one, just differing opinions.

As I said before, it is those who whom the 25 cents is worth it, but can’t afford it that this decision is truly rough on.

A Master of the Monologue Gets a Case of the Dizzies

Playwright/actor/novelist/performance artist Eric Bogosian (Talk Radio, SubUrbia) appears to be the latest “crossover” creator to take a shot at writing comics. In an appearance as part of the New York Public Library’s LIVE from the NYPL series of lectures Wednesday evening, Bogosian apparently announced that he will be writing something for DC’s Vertigo imprint, this according to someone in attendance of the panel and detailed on writer Brian Vaughan’s message board.

See how the villain of Under Siege 2 gets it done at Newsarama

I have no idea what the plot of this thing will be, who’s drawing, who’s inking it, who’s coloring it, etc, but I am still very interested. Bogosian has done some excellent working during his career, even if his output has petered out in the past few years. You want to see a good film (or two) involving him, check out either Talk Radio or SubUrbia, both of which he had a hand in writing. If you’d like to see some of his…other work, watch Under Siege 2 or Blade: Trinity, movies he had nothing to do with writing. Note the differences.

Good for DC/Vertigo bringing such a talented and respected writer into the comic fold. I hope this is a trend that continues.

Wait…Who is Donna Troy?

Yesterday saw the inking side of the art team of The Return of Donna Troy – George Perez make some news with his five year exclusive contract with DC. Today, we caught up with Donna Troy writer Phil Jimenez to find out more about the upcoming miniseries which promises the return of…well, see the title.

Ahh, comic book humor. Hilarious. For less hilarity, but more useful info, click on over to Newsarama

This is something of a dream project for Jimenez it would seem. The chance to dip back into one of the big characters from his time on Wonder Woman and Titans, working with one of his biggest influences, a high profile gig connected to DC’s new world order, etc. And I like Jimenez so I think that’s great for him.

But me…I just don’t get it. I still hope it’s good and it sells a billion copies, but…I’m just so blah on it personally.

By George! For Five!

Need an artist who can bring a grand cosmic saga to life? Let George do it!

Need an artist who can work with a cast of thousands, giving each of them a distinctive appearance and personality? Let George do it!

Need an artist who can convey subtle nuances of emotion, thereby bringing a script to life on the printed page? Let George do it!

And for the next five years, that’s just what DC is doing!

Peek some sweet looking Hawaiian shirts that will be haunting the DC halls at Newsarama

This is a massive pick up for DC PR-wise. Grabbing any creator for five years is a coup, but a creator of Perez’s marquee value and status is off the charts. Now, I don’t know how much art this will end up translating into for DC, but still…George Perez for five years. That is a pretty big carrot not to go for.

As great as this imagine how much better it will if it means more Crimson Plague!!!!

Actually…don’t imagine that. Please, God, don’t imagine that.

Comics in Libraries? Kooky!

When the American Library Association invited acclaimed comic book artist Jeff Smith and three fellow artists to its annual meeting in 2002, the quartet huddled beforehand and agreed that this was their best —— and perhaps only — chance to pitch comics to an influential group of tastemakers.

Grab you library card and go on over to USA Today. And for God’s sake, keep the noise down!

I’ve said this before, but here, I’ll say it again. I understand the fear that teachers have about kids learning through comics and being “dumbed down” somehow. Admittedly, reading the latest issue of Batman is not the same sort of undertaking as reading Billy Budd (although, I will say, that, for the record, I think the latest issue of Batman is a much more rewarding experience, both mentally and emotionally).

But, honestly, what person reads Billy Budd and gets excited about reading? Comics should not be used as a means of mastering literature or critical reading, but why not as a gateway to the experience of reading. Get a kid reading some comics first, then a little Harry Potter or Dark is Rising or Phantom Tollbooth, etc, and so on. I don’t honestly think anyone is putting to comics and saying, “this is it, this is the curriculum” but can incorporating it really be such a bad idea?

I would agree that assigning “Illustrated Classics” to students would be the wrong way to go. However, I didn’t get the impression that this was high school students we were talking about giving comics to and no teacher should ever assign anyone who isn’t high school age or higher the Odyssey to read. And I would argue that even at the high school and college level that is a bit cruel and unusual.

Well, Technically a Hawk is a Bird of Prey, So It Makes Sense

Drawing one monthly comic book series is tough, drawing two seems almost impossible; yet artist Joe Bennett accomplishes both tasks for DC Comics. Bennett is the current penciler of the popular Gail Simone penned Birds of Prey series as well as penciler of the Justin Gray/Jimmy Palmiotti scripted Hawkman. He talks with us about the balancing act, how he got into comics, and what it’s like working with all his collaborators on both projects.

Pull up a peg at The Pulse birdhouse and a-listening to the squaking.

There is a double page Hawkman spread about halfway down the page that is absolutely stunning. And given what I’ve seen of Bennett’s work, that is indicative of his abilities. If he can keep it up, he might just be the best BoP penciller since Mr. Greg Land.

Croc Hunter?!

Killer Croc, Birds of Prey, Catwoman, Batman, Onyx, and Batgirl are just a few of the men and women having part of their destiny shaped by writer Andersen Gabrych. Along with his work on the monthly Batgirl series, this May, he teams Catwoman and Batman to fight one of the Dark Knight’s more dangerous, brute foes, Killer Croc in the pages of Catwoman. He’s also working on series of back-ups in the pages of Detective Comics. Gabrych said, “I just want to re-establish Croc’s place in the Gotham mythos, make him more of a threat to Batman and to Gotham.”

See if Gabrych has the guts to punch Croc in the nose in the bayou we call The Pulse

A return to form for Croc? I’m all for that. He hasn’t been the same since Bane broke his arm during Knightfall all those years back. Since then he’s either been a joke (a post No Man’s Land arc in Robin) or basically animal (Hush). I guess he was a little closer to his roots in Azzarello’s Broken City, but that story so didn’t connect with me that I find it hard to comment for sure on that.

So, yeah…I think this is a good idea.

A Woman Involved in Evil? What Else is New?

Did writer Gail Simone really kill and skin a comic book web journalist to land her new gig writing the six-part DC miniseries Villains United? Is she intrinsically evil? Does she hate kittens? How is the comic like Three’s Company? Find out answers to that and other perilous questions as THE PULSE risks life and limb to step into the villains lair with Gail Simone.

The Nexus’s legal representation would like to apologize for Mr. Stevens remarks above as they could have been construed as misogynistic when he only intended them to be humorous. We urge you to look to The Pulse and accept our most humble apologies on the matter.

There isn’t much here to be commented on that I haven’t already said, but I still included it, because you have to check out the black and white image at the bottom of the page. It is damn impressive.

A Vision in Green

DC Comics has released a few preview pages of the debut issue of Geoff Johns and Carlos Pacheco’s new highly-anticipated Green Lantern ongoing series.

It will take all your willpower not to go to Newsarama to peak this preview.

Hal’s looking a bit purple these days, no?

So how long do we have to wait until the return of Black Hand? Oooh, and Evil Star? I would say sooner is better then later…if you were curious.

Ahh…Pretty

DC Comics has provided Newsarama with the first color looks at the two Jim Lee covers for July’s All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder #1. Cover pencils by Lee, inks by Scott WIlliams, and colors by Alex Sinclair.

I think this Lee kid might just have a chance to go places with this comic book thing. Take a look at Newsarama to see why.

Not much to say on this. Looks like those designs that Wizard carried a few months back have been ditched for a more classic look. For Batman, that’s cool, but it is going to take some getting used to the return to the bare leg era of Robin. I’m sure a few pages in it will be fine and it won’t look silly to me any more, but right now…it feels a bit silly.

It’s Like Prelude to a Kiss, but, You Know, Different

Find out just how deep the roots of INFINITE CRISIS extend with the PRELUDE TO INFINITE CRISIS Special, a 96-page collection of the key stories leading up to this monumental event. PRELUDE TO INFINITE CRISIS features a composite cover with images by Ian Churchill & Norm Rapmund, Jesus Saiz, Ed McGuinness & Dexter Vines, and Ivan Reis & Marc Campos.

To see what happens to the formerly happy cou—err—the DC Universe before the Crisis, why not take a gander at Comic Book Resources

This is a great idea for the fan who managed to miss a lot of the hints and buildup moments to the coming Crisis and it’s at a great price too. I have most of the stories already (near as I can tell) so I won’t be snagging a copy, but I am glad to see DC taking the time to do something like this.

And yes, I know, making money is a huge inspiration for this. So what, so is publishing any comic. At least this guy feeds into their huge upcoming project, right?

WATCH DC SELL OUT HUGE!

DC: Popular Even on Other Planets in Other Galaxies

Two planets erupt in battle in RANN-THANAGAR WAR #1, which sold out on April 25, over two weeks before the issue’s in-store date of May 11.

Don’t believe me? Hop a spacecraft to The Pulse planet and all will be revealed.

Well, it’s official. The DC Infinite Crises minis are unstoppable. Your only hope to avoid them is to pray for the sweet release of death.

Sprinting to Sell Out

The excitement surrounding the “Rogue War” story continues to build, as THE FLASH #221 (FEB050277) sold out at DC Comics on April 27, the day it arrived in stores.

There’s the starting gun…and there goes the issues. Catch the replay at Silver Bullet Comics Books

Three Flash issues in a row sold out? Keep the streak alive!

COMING ATTRACTIONS

GREEN LANTERN REBIRTH #6

Finally, here is the exciting/shocking conclusion. I’ve really been enjoying this series and while the lateness is no fun, it has not done much to dissuade my appreciation of it. I don’t know how I feel about the GL-verse going forward from this issue, but I am anxious to see how this mini ends.

Oh, and a word for the future of the GL-verse: More. Black. Hand.

OPINIONS ON THE WORK OF PEOPLE FAR MORE TALENTED THAN I

FIRESTORM #13

I reviewed this baby here and…well…I was less than kind.

LEX LUTHOR MAN OF STEEL #3

This review hits the streets on Thursday, but, cause I like you so much, here’s a sneak peek.

SEVEN SOLDIERS SHINING KNIGHT #2

Still my least favorite of the Seven Soldiers book. While I really liked Guilt (the Mind Destroyer 7) the rest of the book was a bit of a wash for me. The plot is a bit too muddled and the art doesn’t help. I think I could appreciate either more if it was not for the other (example: cleaner art with the story=perhaps better, a less jumpy plot with current art= perhaps better). Interesting certainly, but a bit of a headache inducer in all honesty.

VILLAINS UNITED #1

I’ve been looking forward to this book for awhile and I have to say that I don’t think my anticipation was misplaced. Appropriately dark for a villain book (the Deadshot v. Fiddler moment stands out), but also quite funny (Dr. Psycho, in particular), the book skews exceptions to instead focus on the Six instead of the much larger, more powerful Society. It is a smart choice as it makes the story far more manageable in its opening chapter. I do hope to see a bit more of the machinations of the Society in future issues, but this is a strong debut, no doubt about it.

****REVIEWS FROM THE FUTURE****

Nothing from the future again. Sorry. Time travel is so unreliable these days.

There you have it, the end of another long DCNV. I guess the spring and summer comic rush has indeed arrived. Excellent.

See you next week at which point I’ll be one year closer to death (the big 24 people!) and I’ll have plenty more news too.

In the meantime, don’t forget to e-mail me at parallax2@juno.com (or via the link below) and to stop by the message boards to make your opinions known.

Un Gajje’s Going to Miss 23