Author: Glenn Hauman

DC’s Official #1 Solicitations For September 2011

Making it all official, here are all 52 of the #1 solicits from DC Comics for September.

JUSTICE LEAGUE #1
Written by GEOFF JOHNS
Art and cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS
1:25 Variant cover by DAVID FINCH
RETROSOLICITED • On sale AUGUST 31 • 40 pg, FC, $3.99 US RATED T • Combo pack edition: $4.99 US
Retailers: This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for more information.
Comics superstars Geoff Johns and Jim Lee make history! In a universe where super heroes are strange and new, Batman has discovered a dark evil that requires him to unite the World Greatest Heroes!

This spectacular debut issue is also offered as a special combo pack edition, polybagged with a redemption code for a digital download of the issue.

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POLL: Which New DC Comics #1’s Will You Buy?

All of the DC Comics post-Flashpoint titles and creative teams have been announced. But now the real question is: which ones are people actually going to buy?

A lot rides on the answer to that question. Nobody knows how all of these new titles are going to perform, particularly with DC releasing all these comics day-and-date online as well. Retailers are going to be ordering blindly for a while, even though they’ll be returnable for the first few months. So they need your help.

Please take a minute to answer this poll– the comic book shop you save could be your own. And please, just check off the ones you expect to be buying in paper– nothing against digital editions, lord knows, but this is to try and gauge reader interest in the stores.

[poll id=”82″]

“Uncanny X-Men” ending

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Looks like DC isn’t the only one canceling long-running titles of late, as this October Uncanny X-Men #544 concludes the long running series.

For a while, this was the highest selling title Marvel had, and was the benchmark against which all other titles were measured. But hey, let’s get that first issue sales pop, right?

Yet Another Reason For Comics To Go Digital: 40 Is The New 15

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For years, comics executives have quietly worried that the comics audience is aging out. We’ve been seeing surveys year after year showing that the average age of a comic book reader has been moving up year by year, leading many to conclude that we haven’t been bringing younger readers in– and thereby causing a lot of panic.

But that may not be the conclusion to draw at all.

According to a survey of 1,200 households compiled by the Entertainment Software Association, the average videogame player is now 37 years old, and the average buyer is 41. In fact, 29% of players are over 50. And the average gamer has been playing for 12 years. 42% of them are women.

Those demographics are disturbingly close to the comic book reading audience in general, and to ComicMix in particular– 32% of our readers are between the ages of 35 and 44, and 29% of our readers are over 45. We do tend to skew male, though, with 67% of our readers being male.

The study also notes that as games become ubiquitous on all platforms, especially smart phones, more players could eventually make that demo younger, considering games are now played, in some form, by 72% of American households, stealing away audiences from TV shows and movies, the trade group said.

With such similar demographics, DC’s move to focus so much on digital platforms, both the day-and-date reboot this fall and the DC Universe Online MMORPG, make a lot of sense– they want part of that $25.1 billion on game content, hardware and accessories that consumers spent in 2010.

Something to consider as everybody goes out to E3 this week.

Administrivia: Notice of Server Upgrade and Possible Hiccups

We’re expecting a server upgrade to come sometime in the next 24 hours. We may be offline for a bit here, but we’ll continue to post on our Facebook page and Twitter account in the meantime if there’s any extended outages.

See you on the other side.

ComicMix Quick Picks: June 4, 2011

Today’s artwork is from Miss Matzenbatzen, Steffi Schütze. Closing windows before I head off for a day of wackiness:

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

ComicMix Quick Picks: June 3, 2011

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Closing windows while waiting on line for X-Men: First Class, so here we go as the foreman looks and the sundial on his wrist and pulls the bird’s tail:

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

See Two New ‘Dark Knight Rises’ Viral Videos

Just in time to blunt the release of X-Men: First Class, new Dark Knight Rises teaser videos have popped on up YouTube, uploaded by “The Fire Rises” who posted even more cryptic videos over the past few days.

One is a news report from GCN from TV anchor Mike Engel (Anthony Michael Hall), with sketchy TV footage that’s labeled “Arkham Breakout?” There’s also a quick flash of a Facebook page URL, which also belongs to The Fire Rises (aka Warner Bros. Entertainment, according to the user info page).

The second video, titled ‘Outbreak,’ features an Abu Gharib vibe and the same creepy chants.

Am I the only person who is worried that Batman’s heart is going to be ripped out by Mola Ram?

The First Batch Of DC New First Issues

DC Comics has released information on the first ten titles of their September reboot, with creative teams and cover art.

Here we go, kids.

  • We already knew about JUSTICE LEAGUE #1 by our superstar creators Geoff Johns and Jim Lee. The cover to issue #1 is by Jim Lee and Scott Williams.
  • New York Times bestselling writer Brian Azzarello, author of The Joker and 100 Bullets, teams up with artist Cliff Chiang (Neil Young’s Greendale) for WONDER WOMAN #1. The cover to issue #1 is by Cliff Chiang.
  • Geoff Johns reunites with GREEN LANTERN and BRIGHTEST DAY collaborator Ivan Reis to bring you AQUAMAN #1. The cover to issue #1 is by Ivan Reis and Joe Prado.
  • Rising superstar Francis Manapul, fresh off his acclaimed run on THE FLASH with Geoff Johns, makes his comics writing debut in THE FLASH #1, sharing both scripting and art duties with Brian Buccellato. The Flash knows he can’t be everywhere at once, but what happens when he faces an all-new villain who can? The cover to issue #1 is by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato.
  • Writers Ethan Van Sciver and Gail Simone team up with artist Yildiray Cinar to deliver THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #1. Jason Rusch and Ronnie Raymond are two high school students, worlds apart – and now they’re drawn into a conspiracy of super science that bonds them forever in a way they can’t explain or control. The cover to issue #1 is by Ethan Van Sciver.
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ComicMix Six Plus Six: New Changes From The DC Universe Restart

comicmixsix600-300x66-5628087As we’ve reported, DC is restarting all their titles in August… which makes everybody wonder: how is the DC Universe going to change now?

Luckily, we actually received a copy of an internal memo addressed to Dan DiDio about some of the changes (that will help bridge that gap with newer readers looking for more reality and accessibility to the DCU) we’ll be seeing after September. Here are the highlights:

  1. Lois and Clark won’t be married anymore. In the new Superman mythos, Clark Kent ends up with Pete Ross. They live in “Boysville” in the low-rent district in Metropolis. Clark’s newer costume will actually double as his “rave-wear” when he and Pete go clubbing on the weekend.
  2. Lex Luthor will never have been President of the United States of America. He will also sport his red locks once again, as he’s not only the founder of Lexcorp Hair Treatment Centers of America… he’s also a member.
  3. Dick Grayson will be de-aged back to 16, where he’ll once again assume the mantle of Robin… for one day. Jim Gordon figures out that Bruce Wayne, the man seeking to make young Grayson his ward, is in fact Batman… because who the f’ else would traipse around Gotham’s seedy underbelly with a minor in a yellow cape? He quickly arrests Wayne for child endangerment. Grayson is sent to the Gotham orphanage where he’ll befriend a beleaguered Freddy Freeman.
  4. Hal Jordan will continue as Earth Sector 2814’s protector… but the Green Lantern power rings will be prone to weakness against yellow, wood, garlic, and especially plaid.
  5. Green Arrow will now use a sniper rifle, because, face it, a bow and arrow to hunt super villains? LAME. He’ll also sport a Justin Bieber haircut, and ditch the Van Dyke… cause kids these days like a clean cut youtuber to such follicle faux pas.
  6. As part of DC’s new digital strategy, Wonder Woman’s series will be released only on YouTube, as an all “topless” motion comic. It’s been described as “like the Gotham Girls animated shorts, but with a revenue stream.”
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