tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post8093816921144443535..comments2024-03-27T21:12:28.287-05:00Comments on Collected Editions: Trade Perspectives: DC Comics Parties Like It's ... 1994?collectededitionshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-19256724504492173912007-08-08T21:00:00.000-05:002007-08-08T21:00:00.000-05:00I was just thinking this morning how much the trad...I was just thinking this morning how much the trade paperback "industry" has changed, even just in the past two years since this blog started. My feeling is the next big change is just around the corner; I'll be curious to see what the field looks like come December of next year. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for sharing your perspective; interesting stuff.collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-69931908802708453022007-08-07T23:38:00.000-05:002007-08-07T23:38:00.000-05:00Comics as we know them are changing.In my lifetime...Comics as we know them are changing.<BR/>In my lifetime I have seen comics go from multiple stories per issue, to single story issues, two issue stories, and now written for the trade.<BR/>I originally got hooked on Bat-books, I love them all but my young wallet did not. If it wasn't for the trade of Dixon and McDaniel's first couple NightWing issues I would have missed out on a lot of Dick Grayson fun.<BR/>I like what DC is doing with these new characters, they have ongoing series but the trades hook readers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-165699242001084582007-08-06T20:39:00.000-05:002007-08-06T20:39:00.000-05:00"A larger portion of that handful ..." I think yo..."A larger portion of that handful ..." I think you're absolutely right. Thing is, both DC and Marvel know they can strike gold with established character names every once in a while (see <I>Starman</I>) so they keep doing it ... it's, unfortunately, a throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks mentality. And even <I>Starman</I>, I think, never sold gangbusters; DC just believed in it enough to keep it around.<BR/><BR/>I continue to think that the answer lies, somehow, in direct-to-trade series. For a cult classic like Manhunter, for instance, Andreyko just needs to write twelve issues, and then DC puts them out all at once in trade. How it'll work continuity-wise, I don't know, but it seems like the only viable financial option (industry-wise) for these kinds of titles.collectededitionshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14698269790653953645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10945794.post-24734083110834164792007-08-06T11:16:00.000-05:002007-08-06T11:16:00.000-05:00Blue Beetle, Aquaman, Firestorm, Flash, and All-Ne...Blue Beetle, Aquaman, Firestorm, Flash, and All-New Atom<BR/><BR/><I>Firestorm, the Nuclear Man</I> Vol. 2 was canceled a few months ago, <I>Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis</I> has its last issue coming up in a few months, and you already accounted for <I>The Flash: Fastest Man Alive</I>. It's safe to say that, aside perhaps from <I>Flash</I>, they won't be publishing any more trades of these series for you.<BR/><BR/>As for <I>Blue Beetle</I> Vol. 7 (that's right, seven, but I guess that's mostly because Charlton played weird games with the postal office) and The All-New Atom are currently the lowest selling DCU titles that haven't yet been canceled. I never really gave the above series a chance, but I recently picked up the first trade of <I>Beetle</I> and of <I>Atom</I>, and I now count myself a big fan of Jamie and Ryan.<BR/><BR/>Now some people will say that these series are flailing because DC committed blasphemy against Ted Kord (I agree, he did deserve a better end) and Ray Palmer (whose story apparently isn't over, though). Personally, I call bullshit on that. I don't think there's a chance in hell that a new series for Ted and/or Ray would have been anymore successful.<BR/><BR/>To me, it just seems like a direct market thing, which is to say that, as much as superhero-bashers complain that one genre dominates, it's actually worse than that, it's really just a small handful of characters, and what's worse, it seems like Marvel somehow managed to generate a larger portion of that handful (I may be wrong). DC, of course, hoped that they could introduce good new heroes by grandfathering them in through the old names, but people are really just sticking to <I>Justice League</I> and the Bat-books, as far as I can tell; maybe we can add to that the so-called big five.<BR/><BR/>I guess, though, the real question is, why did it work for <I>Starman</I>? And the other question, one that I now wish I had actually asked Gail Simone at ComicCon, is, do either of these series do well enough in trade to warrant continued publication? Trade sales is, of course, the number missing from all this sales speculation, which is a big omission (but it's apparently quite difficult to measure).Carl Walkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10844566112033689884noreply@blogger.com