Tuesday, June 5, 2007

I can't quite bring myself to abbreviate All-Star Superman

-Via Comics Comics: A possible photo of Jack Chick! Man, that is not how I pictured Mr. Chick. I don't know if I expected someone wearing, I don't know, chain mail and a shirt emblazoned with a giant red cross, but I really didn't expect Chick to look so much like, well, a cartoonist. And a wacky cartoonist at that!

-This month's DC sales analysis at the Beat yields a couple of point of interest. First, in his analysis of the surprisingly low sales on All-Star Superman, Marc-Oliver Frisch takes criticism of the All-Star line to a new level:

"...All Star titles garner respectable sales and trigger the occasional rave review or outrage whenever they happen to come out. But they seem to be forgotten immediately after, carrying no impact whatsoever on the rest of DC’s line-up. In retrospect, the publisher seems to have abandoned the All Star line before it was even launched."

I think this is about as negative as I've seen anyone go: Frisch is arguing the line was stillborn, rather than simply mismanaged. I think it's a meaningful distinction, in that indicates that there was no hope of success from the get-go. I'm not sure I entirely agree--the Wildstorm re-launch (which Frisch is even more critical of), was undeniably an abortion. You could look at the schedule and see (a) the entire line was dependent on the buzz which Grant Morrison's two titles would generate, and (b) there was no way these books would ship on time. All-Star, however, had some hope of succeeding; in fact, I would go so far as to say that the incredibly stupid decision to schedule Jim Lee on WildCats, and the ensuing havoc wrought on All-Star Batman's schedule, is really what crippled the All-Star line.

But what if there were no All-Star Batman and we were only talking about All-Star Superman? How different would the conversation be? I suspect that we would still be viewing the line as a failure, in that the relatively light delays on All-Star Superman would have been immensely magnified if it were the only title for the entire line. In retrospect, it really makes DC's decision not to slap the All-Star label on Alex Ross' Justice all the more baffling. That book has shipped pretty much on time (right?), sold well, and generally reflects the spirit of the line. I wonder if Alex Ross was unwilling to adopt the All-Star branding, or if DC thought three titles would be too many for an imprint dedicated to prestige products.

What about future All-Star books? Titles for Batgirl (Geoff Johns and JG Jones) and Wonder Woman (Adam Hughes) have already been announced, but (as Firsch notes), have all but fallen off the radar. I thought I remembered hearing that Neal Adams would be drawing the next round of All-Star Batman, with Frank Miller writing again, but that was a loooong time ago so I might be wrong. Assuming the lack of news reflects a lack of progress on these projects, DC really needs another All-Star series in the interim, or else it runs the risk of fans forgetting about the line altogether. One wonders which appropriately prestigious talents could be relied upon to churn out a mini within the next 9 months. Remember when DC was trying to steal John Romita, Jr. away from Marvel? Boy, I bet Dan DiDio wishes he would have landed that fish. Or maybe kept some of those Seven Soldiers artists who Marvel signed to exclusives--Simone Bianchi and Pasqual Ferry both seem to be able to hit their deadlines, and have distinctive enough styles that DC could probably convince fans of their prestigiousness (if they were paired with the right writers and characters).

In any event, I'll be disappointed if the All-Star line fails. I think it's DC's best chance to insure themselves against event fatigue, and it gives them a chance to reach bookstore readers with attractive, distinctive, and accessible products featuring their most valuable intellectual properties. Hopefully the next wave of titles will launch more smoothly--unfortunately, in order to get a sufficient backlog of issues, DC might have to wait until late next year before resurrecting the line.

-Also worth noting from Frisch's analysis: There aren't a whole lot of books selling in the 75,000-90,000 range. I assume that this partly reflects a talent/money drain, as both Marvel and DC are funneling more resources (talent and marketing) toward the big event comics. This seems like a poor decision in the long run. Event comics bring in the big dough in the short term, but are they big backlist sellers in TPB form? Which do you think sells better right now--Bendis' Secret War or his Daredevil? Furthermore, investing in a (relatively) creator-driven run is essentially an investment in the intellectual property. It strengthens the character as an independent entity, expands its mythos/backstory, and provides material that might later be recycled in other media.* I'm not in any position to make these decisions, but I would certainly take two consistent 80K sellers over a five issue mini averaging 200K.

*I think this will be increasingly important in the realm of video games. We're already seeing some crossover--I was kind of amazed at how much Ultimate Marvel Alliance referenced recent plot developments like the Winter Soldier. I mean, it did so in an incredibly clumsy way, but I expect this sort of thing to get more sophisticated in the very near future.

10 comments:

Jog said...

The Adams/Miller Batman book is now going to be a miniseries titled Batman: Odyssey... I can't recall if the All Star connection was ever more than a rumor, but maybe everyone got tired of waiting. Adams is plotting and drawing, with Miller on dialogue only (cue jokes about hiring Liefeld on 'feet only' - seriously though, somebody will make that joke when the book comes out). No release date yet...

Anonymous said...

Well, it helped in Marvel: Ultimate Alliance that it was written by CB Cebulski of Marvel editorial.

The game also had Titannus. Only I know who Titannus is!

Dick Hyacinth's Ghost said...

I sure don't know who Titannus is. My first inclination is to say "a giant ape," but I think that's Titano. Obviously I didn't get very far in the game (partly because it's kind of clunky trying to play it with a Wiimote).

I wonder if Miller will actually be the scripter when (if?) that book ever sees the light of day. He seems to have a lot of irons in the fire, and ASB is slow enough as it is. Plus Adams and Miller seems as natural a combination as peanut butter and relish. Please note that I used to eat peanut butter and relish sandwiches as a child, and thus am eager to see this particular collaboration.

Anonymous said...

I also thought Frisch's take-down of DC's Action Comics was right on the money. The situation was crying out for someone of quasi-noteable status to call it for what it is.

As for the All-Star line, I think it's pretty clear that DC's Golden Boy-driven strategy has gone down in flames. As you'll recall, the defining feature of the All-Star line was (as the name implies) stories created by the biggest hot shots in comics. Well, by now we've all realized how unreliable that particular "strata" of comic pro can be...most of whom are either just too busy or lazy to follow through on the commitment.

Of course, alot of the blame has to be laid at the feet of Didio, since I get the feeling that these All-Star deals are schmoozy, open-ended verbal agreements that don't hold anybody to anything as far as delivery dates and productions schedules go. It's sad, because there are literally dozens (if not hundreds) of really talented people out there who are willing and able to create great comics on a monthly schedule...but don't have the "Superstar" wattage behind their names.

Maybe now that we've gone through our little exercise of watching the All-Star line atrophy before our eyes, maybe (MAYBE) it'll dawn on someone at DC that trusting a (potentially) major line of books to pampered ditherers wasn't the way to go.

Leigh Walton said...

I don't understand how anyone can deliver a verdict on a line of comics whose first reprint collection just came out.

Or has everyone forgotten that pamphlets are only a fraction of the industry?

Anonymous said...

Jesus, Dick, you tried to play it with a WiiMote?

Anyway, if you must know, Titannus was a hulking Skrull villain intro'd during Robert Kirkman's run on Marvel Team-Up.

Anonymous said...

I don't understand how anyone can deliver a verdict on a line of comics whose first reprint collection just came out.

You answered your own question. For a line of books to be just now releasing its first trade nearly two years after launching is pathetic by almost any measure...to the point where calling it a "line of comics". That would require something beyond two titles that come out more that three times a year.

Or has everyone forgotten that pamphlets are only a fraction of the industry?

Ah, more of the "pamphlets vs. the New Tomorrow of Trade Paperbacks" talk. Can't get enough of that.

Let's not forget the small detail that the lowly "pamphlets" are the sources for the mighty Trade's content 90% of the time.

Geez....it's like people who wait for the DVD collection of a TV show season sniffing at the people who watch the weekly episodes.

Anonymous said...

"Let's not forget the small detail that the lowly "pamphlets" are the sources for the mighty Trade's content 90% of the time.

Geez....it's like people who wait for the DVD collection of a TV show season sniffing at the people who watch the weekly episodes."

And let's not get all pissy about trades, a proven format that makes money and puts comic books into the hands of people who wouldn't otherwise read them.

Plus, at this point in time, DVD sales are a focal point of television development, so you might wanna cool your jets on that sort of thing as well.

MarkAndrew said...

And let's not forget that pamphlets are archaic dinosaurs who are kept alive by an ever shrinking and basically irrelevant audience. When that audience dies, so will pamphlets.

Which will be wonderful 'cause it'll make way for more cost-effective, portable, and less artistically restrictive formats.

(Like Mark Engblom I too "can't get enough" of this talk and get a profound sense of satisfaction from hearing about the possible transformation of the industry that I love into a vital, worthwhile, element of pop culture.

P.S. Super-heroes are stupid. And gay. Or at least bi-curious.)

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