Time for my semi-regular report on the comings and goings of comic book creations.

First, the item you NEED to see before I hit the break is the all-new Marvel webtoon, “All Winners Squad,” which features esoteric Marvel characters—particularly those created by the mad-genius and comic book intellectual Steve Gerber, who was sort of a Grant Morrison for the 1970s and ‘80s.

The team consists of Gerber’s Howard the Duck, along with Squirrel Girl, Hypno Hustler, Ruby Tuesday, Frog Man, the Walrus, the Unicorn, the Trapster and Mr. Fish.  Don’t know who some/all of them are?  Well, I didn’t either.

Now hit the break for more news about two (more) comic book legends leaving Marvel/DC (when will the big two do something to stop the bleeding?!?), lots of other departures/arrivals, and more!
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So, we’ve talked about what’s going on with DC and what’s new with everyone else who isn’t Marvel.

Now, on to the main event.  But first: An editorial.

I know Marvel scored big with its movie announcements, promises of Winter Soldier, Falcon, and more Thanos (and, remarkably, still no talk of Avengers 2).  But on the comic book front, their panels were underwhelming and underinformative.  And why, with all these movies, do they never mention comic books?  Why is there no kid-holding-a-comic in a Marvel movie?  Why no advertising their print line in a little during-the-credits bump?  I actually though Jonah Hex—a terrible movie by any standard—did one thing right: In the opening credits, his origin was told using panels from the comic book.

Here’s my fear: Marvel’s A-List talent either goes to the screen where the money is (see: Brian Michael Bendis, Jeph Loeb, Joe Casey, others) or decides to go indie (see: Ed Brubaker, Paolo Rivera, Matt Fraction), and Marvel starts giving away its comics like pamphlets used to promote movies.  Kinda like what Mark Millar is basically doing, writing 5-issue comic storyboards for films.

Marvel: Remember who made you (and, frankly, who keeps making you—without comic fans and bloggers, you’re toast).  Invest, promote, and produce the best comic books.  Like you always have, frankly.

I guess I’m just nervous.

Hit the break to find out what’s news for Marvel’s properties…
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By the time I write this article, it may already be out of date.  But I’m not a reporter.  I’m a re-reporter, gossip monger, and opinionator.  About comic books.

And this here column is what I think about the planned Marvel not-reboot/not-relaunch/wave of new #1s coming in October through February.

Marvel never follows DC.  Except when they do.  Both Avengers and X-Men will shake up significantly after the Avengers vs X-Men event…But calling it a reboot isn’t really accuate.  It’s more like a bunch of #1 issues in current continuity.  They’re moving paper to make paper, yo’.

If you ask me, it’s too many shakeups.  We don’t need gimmicks to make comics exciting.  The best Marvel books of the past decade haven’t been brief events that change every couple years, they’ve had longevity: Garth Ennis’ 80-or-so Punisher issues; Bendis and Maleev’s long run on Daredevil (followed by Ed Brubaker’s); Peter David’s X-Factor; Dan Slott’s She Hulk; Brubaker’s Captain America; the rotating “One More Day” crew on Amazing Spider-Man; Bendis’ New Avengers work…It’s not so much “event fatigue” as “why should I care?”  I know in a couple years (or less) they’ll just change it all again. On the other hand, so what?  As long as some good stories and good creative teams are delivered, that’s all that matters.

And, smartly, the Marvel Now! titles will launch over the space of 5 months, giving some of the new #1s the chance to breathe and bask in their increased sales (#1 issues always see a sales spike, even if they’re replacing a book with the same exact title).  Every paper purchase will come with a free digital copy—I wonder if that will impact trade paperback sales?

Right now, much of what will happen is rumor…But that won’t stop me from writing about it.

Hit the break to read about what they’re doing to your Marvel in the coming months…..

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They have totally changed the opening to the Walking Dead.

Now, hit the break for lots more foolishness, including the latest on the “real” Batman movie, the status of the Deadpool flick, Green Arrow’s TV show, new Garth Ennis work, and the latest on The Walking Dead.
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The top 10 things Marvel oughtta consider for 2012.  Look back for my suggestions for DC and indies.

10.  Make Marvel Digital iPad compatible.  This is a no brainer.

9.  Collect the Micronauts.  Whatever the legal bullshit may be, do what it takes.  And donate a huge chunk of it to Bill Mantlo’s medical fund while you’re at it.

9.  More animated movies!  Your Avengers Next, the Ultimate Avengers DVDs, X-Men Anime, and Planet Hulk proved you can do it right.  So keep it up!

8.  You should be having less, not more, Avengers books.  I know they sell, but the quality is slipping, guys.  I have hopes for Rick Remender on Secret Avengers—if that’s good, maybe you’ll change my mind.

7.  Except for Black Avengers.  Or were you kidding about that?

6.  The Ultimate universe books are scattered, unfocused, and mostly kind of suck.  Fix that, please.

5.  Instead of cancelling DeadpoolMAX, grow it!  If this book doesn’t have legs, then make it a bimonthly double size book with other satirical takes on heroes.  You could have the X-Statix crew or Madrox, or include NEXTWAVE or even Irving Forbush!  It could be an opportunity for stories like Matt Fraction’s brilliant Punisher tale about the funeral for Stilt Man.  How about featuring some of the odder Morrison characters from New X-Men (like the see-through guy, the floating head, and Beak)?  Even a look back a the old Power Man and Iron Fist rogues gallery, who were largely inane but terrific fun to read (Chemistro!).  This is a book that could, can, and should reward nerds—we’ll buy it, I promise.

4.  But cancel the “regular” Deadpool.  When the horse is dead, it is prudent to dismount.  Put the book on hold for a while and then bring it back when/if the movie gets made.

3.  Contain the X-Verse, at least a little bit.  It’s all over the place.  New readers can’t jump in.  You need a new “Astonishing” title, like the one Joss Whedon did, which rewards long-time readers but doesn’t alienate those of us who don’t have enough resources (or patience) to read 7 mutant monthlies.

3 (tie).  And while you’re at it, leave some money on the table.  Yes, you can probably sell a million X-books or cross-overs with the “events” you hold, but your fans are irritated with you for holding us hostage.

2.  Break the Omnibi! I loved the Byrne and Simonson Omnibus editions you released in 2011, but they’re just too damn big.  For the same price, you could easily print three softcovers and sell them as a set (maybe in a nice bookshelf hardcover sleeve, like they do for DVD sets).  It would prevent breaking the binding.  Of course, reading an Omnibus is sometimes my only form of exercise, so I can’t complain that much…

1.  No more events.  Schism was good, but it really wasn’t an “event,” it was just a good, fairly self-contained X-men story.  Fear Itself, on the other hand, really, really, really sucked.

1 (tie).  And since you’re going to ignore that last one, make events matter.  There really was no fall out after Fear Itself.   Bucky Cap and Thor died, but then came back just .1 and .3 issues later.  And nobody thought they’d really died anyway.  Ho hum.

From Marvel

Celebrating the best of the year….Hit the break.

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IGN published a top 100 comic book heroes that made me crazy, both in its predictability (Hey! Superman and Bats are #s 1 and 2!), overinclusiveness (every single Robin except Damian Wayne (who is the most interesting one by far), as well as Superboy and Supergirl?  Really?) and its attempts to be esoteric without providing sufficient justification (Groo makes the list, but they don’t really say what makes him so essential; James Gordon makes the list, but Aunt May and Uncle Ben don’t–nor does Jarvis; and Nova makes the list, but nobody really gives a shit about Nova).  Maybe it was the list’s sketchy criteria for placement: “Picked by their cultural impact, character development, social relevance, general cool factor, and importance of storylines, these are the best of the best.

It made me so nuts, I made my own list.  Yes, there’s a lot of overlap.  But mine is better.  Because I said so.

Note: If you’re just looking for a list without supporting arguments, you can jump to the last page of this post.  But you can’t tell me I was wrong to put Thor at #33 unless you go and read why.  So, read every page and then tell me why I’m full of $#!+.

Enjoy!

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The lead story has to be the October 2011 sales figures, which still show success vis a vis DC’s new 52. It’s safe to say that the new 52, and the new 52 alone, is responsible for America spending 12% more on comic books than they did last October. Comic-book unit orders are also up—by over 32% from last year. That’s tremendous. They’re also up from the first month of the new 52, but I assume that’s because so many DC #1s sold out in September and were reprinted in October. What does 32% mean? It means a million more comic books were sold. DC’s market share was 42%–a new record for the world’s number two comic book publisher. They haven’t hit that number since December 1999, when Grant Morrison’s JLA came out. In comparison, all indie publishers combined got only 28% of the market.

Here’s the top 10 for comic book sales, October 2011:

10. Superman #2.
9. Fear itself #7.
8. Wolverine and the X-Men #1.
7. Hulk #1.
6. Detective Comics #2.
5. Flash #2.
4. Green Lantern #2.
3. Action #2.
2. Batman #2.
1. Justice League #2.

Rounding out the top 25 were second issues of the other Bat-family books, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Teen Titans, Justice League International, and only three other Marvel titles: Fear Itself: Fearless #1; Amazing Spider-Man #671, and the last issue of Uncanny X-Men. So only six Marvel titles cracked the top 25, in a month where one of its bestselling titles ended and we saw a #1 with the word “X-Men” in it. Amazing.

Things didn’t fare much better for Marvel on the trade front, with only one book, Ultimate Spider-Man: The Death of Spider-Man, managing to crack the top 10 (and coming in at #10, no less). DC had 5 books in the top 10, several of them hardcovers, including Flashpoint. Walking Dead got two trades in the top 10 and worth mentioning is that Alan Moore’s horrendously shocking, disgusting, horrifying and brilliant Neonomicon trade paperback came in at #9 for Avatar Press. You should all go buy it, unless you’re easily offended.
Now for the rest of the news, hit the break.

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