Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Questions--and I would like an answer for the last one

-Dave Campbell, if you're going to be posting to your blog regularly again, might I humbly request that you concentrate mostly on comics, rather than James Bond movies and the like? I just don't care about the action movie genre, and you're really the only "guy with a scanner" type blogger who actually makes me laugh.

-For that matter, does Elayne Riggs ever write about comics anymore? (EDIT: In the comments, Shane Bailey tells me to look here.)

-DC solicitations are up! Oh boy! The excitement is building! Who doesn't love Solicitation Day(s)?

Obviously retailers need these solicitations to determine what to buy, as do consumers who are forced by circumstances to buy via mail order or shops which only order Marvel and DC type stuff. But what do the rest of us get out of them? Hype, obviously--solicitations are something like the second or third step on the Comics Hype Cycle. (I haven't put enough time into studying it, but this seems to be the prototypical Hype Cycle for a Marvel or DC comic: (1) Announcement of the project at a convention (or in an interview with Quesada or DiDio on Newsarma, if it isn't a high profile project). (2) Teaser images on various websites. (3) Solicitations in Previews. (4) Interviews with the principle creator(s)--usually the writer--on CBR, Newsarama, Wizard, etc. (5) Previews of the finished product, usually 4-5 pages long, on various and sundry websites. (6) The book is actually released. (7) Immediate complaints on message boards and blogs from fans of the characters involved. (8) "Post-mortem" of the project; if it's a big deal, this is done on Newsarama. If it's a smaller book, maybe on the creator's website. If it's a really big deal, Quesada or DiDio analyze it on Newsarama. (9) The book lapses into obscurity unless it's really bad (in which case the creator(s) issue a mea culpa somewhere down the line--perhaps while in stage 4 of the Hype Cycle for a new book) or really successful (in which case it becomes the springboard for a bunch of ancillary miniseries, toys, statues, etc.). Otherwise, it becomes just another credit to list in parentheses after the creator's name when hyping a new project.)

Anyway, if you're worried that your favorite low-selling title is on the verge of cancellation (or if you're worried that a low-selling creative team is on the verge of sackage), I guess solicitations are a point of interest. And it's nice to know what older series are going to be reprinted in the near future. Otherwise, the only useful thing I can think of is studying an entire month's worth of covers all at once (especially for someone like me, whose LCS doesn't have the rack space to display each individual cover on the shelf). So yes, I do look forward to Solicitation Day(s), if for no other reason than to see what Brian Cronin is going to say about the cover art.

-Shane Bailey--sarcastic or not? (For the record, I wrote the bit about Dave Campbell before I saw Bailey's post.)

-Quick request: can anyone hit me with a link for a review of Red Eye, Black Eye? I haven't been able to find one. Failing that, can anyone who has read it tell me what they thought of it?

12 comments:

Greg said...

Not that you care because I'm sure it will suck anyway, but I will have a review of Red Eye, Black Eye up on the site within the next few days. Since I usually do more than one book at a time, it takes a while. So look for it over at CSBG, if you can stand reading what I write!!!!

Dick Hyacinth's Ghost said...

Geez, dude, no need to break out the fourth exclamation point. I'll check it out.

Hate Filled Poster said...

As everyone who's ever talked to me online knows, it's really hard for me to be straight out mean to someone. So lean towards the sarcasm if you're ever in doubt.

Dick Hyacinth's Ghost said...

I'm still debating whether or not to add you to the Enemies List, coming soon to the sidebar.

Hate Filled Poster said...

Btw, this is Elayne writing about comic news.

http://comicmix.com/

Dick Hyacinth's Ghost said...

Duly noted, blog updated.

Spencer Carnage said...

More hate in the posts and less back pedaling in the comments please. Thank you!

Dick Hyacinth's Ghost said...

Being acurate is not backpedaling. Do you have something against accuracy?

Spencer Carnage said...

You bet your sweet ass, I do!!!!!!!!

K. Thor Jensen said...

RED EYE, BLACK EYE is the best $20 you'll ever spend - touching, hilarious, and... oh, shit. This thing is going to show my name, isn't it?

Anonymous said...

I'm about as interested in what Elayne has to say about comics as I am interested about what Johanna has to say. That is, not at all. Fannish and self-important, at least they have the saving grace of history. Unlike Matt Brady, who further exemplifies the worst traits of online 'criticism' or 'journalism', they cut their teeth on Usenet. They're as vapid and valueless now as they were ten or fifteen years ago, but I have a grudging respect that they've kept on keeping on, as long as they have, being as useless as an electric razor in Rich Johnston's bathroom.

Dick Hyacinth's Ghost said...

To me, usenet is primarily a place where I can download old prog rock albums. I salute you veterans of the pre-html era, the internet equivalent of a time when books were reproduced by monks working at candlelight in monastaries where Sherlock Holmes analogues were investigating a string of mysterious murders.