Darth Vader and Snoop Dogg selling sneakers together in Times Square
Lily Tomlin was right. No matter how cynical you get, it’s impossible to keep up.
Yes, it’s been one of those days. Why do you ask?
The Mix : What are people talking about today?
More on the ‘iPad: will it save the world… or destroy it?’ debates
I always notice these things when I’m on five different deadlines and really shouldn’t be distracted, but when Dirk Deppey says I’ve missed the point entirely, as he does here, replying to my comments here— well, it catches my attention.
Dirk says: It [the iPad] has to be cheap enough to appeal to the general public, building a large enough pool of potential customers to once again make selling comics to a mass audience feasible — otherwise you’re just trading one limited, stagnant marketplace for another, selling primarily to a fraction of the same customer base that you already had. Which is what I think will happen with the iPad as presently designed and marketed, for reasons already outlined. … Here’s the thing about Google’s strategy: Because it’s both open source and backed by one of the largest tech corporations on Earth, they can make a strong appeal to manufacturers, not only for their operating system’s lack of licensing costs but also because it comes with an already-functioning apps store that sells across multiple hardware platforms, guaranteeing (to the extent that anyone can) a thriving online marketplace for one’s customers. This in turn offers creators and publishers a potential for mass-market ubiquity that Apple will never, ever be able to match.
In order:
The iPhone came out less than three years ago and Apple has sold 33.75 million iPhones sold by the end of 4Q09. That’s a mass market platform, certainly a larger number than the number of people walking in to comics stores. For a point of comparison, Time Warner Cable has less than 25 million cable subscribers.
An even bigger sales platform is the iTunes Store, which has been the number one music vendor in the US for almost two years straight, which has sold over 9 billion songs, over 1 billion HD TV episodes, and downloaded over 2 billion apps, while traditional stores like Sam Goody and Tower Records have pretty much gone bye-bye. I wouldn’t exactly call that a “limited marketplace”.
We already have reports that iPhone editions of some comics from major publishers have been outselling print editions of the books, and that’s on a platform that’s not optimal for reading comics.
If there’s a problem with the platform, it’s the problem of getting lost amidst the huge amounts of stuff other people are putting out.
Dirk, if you’re willing to bet against Apple, which is also “one of the largest tech companies on Earth”, more power to you– I remember the Newton too. But don’t be surprised if these new distribution methods and platforms turn your local comic shop into the 21st century equivalent of Record World.*
*For the youngsters: once upon a time, CDs (remember them?) used to be as big as your head, and they would have so much music on them that they turned black. And when you turned them over, there was more music on the other side!
‘Watchmen 2: The Smell Of Fear’ (and other potential titles)
All right, let’s get them all out of the way…
- ALAN AND DAVE’S BOGUS JOURNEY
- WATCHMEN 2: THE QUICKENING
- BLUE HARVEST
- WATCHMEN: THE SALLY JUPITER CHRONICLES
- BRIDE OF NITE-OWL
- WATCHMEN 2: THE LEGEND OF CURLY’S GOLD
- COMEDIAN’S LITTLE DIVIDEND
- WATCHMEN 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO
- ERNEST SAVES WATCHMEN
- WATCHMEN 2: THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES
- FROM RORSCHACH WITH LOVE
- THE WATCHMEN ALWAYS RING TWICE
- I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU WATCHED LAST SUMMER
- WATCHMEN 2: WATCH HARDER
- NIGHT OWL AND SILK SPECTRE ESCAPE GUANTANAMO BAY
- WATCHMEN 2: BIGGER, BLUER, AND STILL UNCUT
- OZYMANDIAS AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM
- WATCHMEN VS. GHIDRA
- SON OF WATCHMEN
- THE CHARLTON MENACE
- WATCHMEN 2: THE AZURE ARMY
- THE ROAD TO KARNAK
- WATCHMEN 28 WEEKS LATER
- THE WATCHMEN STRIKE BACK
- WATCHMEN 2: THE SECRET OF THE OZY
- A VERY WATCHMEN CHRISTMAS
- WATCHMEN, TOO!
- THE WATCHMEN SUPREMACY
- TO DAN DREIBERG, THANKS FOR EVERYTHING, SALLY JUPITER
- DIAL W FOR WATCHMEN
- And finally, WATCHMEN: WE DID BLUE CGI PEOPLE FIRST, WHERE’S OUR OSCAR NOMINATION?
In case you haven’t heard, Rich Johnston is talking about the disturbing possibility that there will be Watchmen spinoffs now that Paul Levitz is gone. And in case you want to know how bad this could get, let’s give you a reminder:
Special thanks to Marc Alan Fishman for the art and @miss_sarah_s for extra titles. And if we missed any titles, please add them in the comments.
Crazy Sexy Geeks FAQ 1 – Kryptonite
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‘The Beat’ Goes On, ‘The Beat’ Goes On
Drums keep pounding a rhythm to the brain…
La de da de de, la de da de da…
History has turned the page, uh huh– Heidi Macdonald has officially launched The Beat on its own site. She’s footloose and fancy free. Go over and say hi, and tell her we sent you.
Time to update my RSS feeds…
The 2009 Razzie Nominations: Nerd Core
Some would say it’s been a banner year for us nerds, eh? Star Trek
rebooted with hot and sexy actors. Avatar changed the way people think about 3D technology in use for film, and did it by packaging it in a nougaty nerd-a-plenty environment. District 9 combined great effects work with a great social commentary. Heck, even Iron Man debuted another possible franchise in Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes! And let us not forget other gems this past year, the Watchmen, another decent Harry Potter sequel, Zombieland… I could go on. Feel pretty good there, don’t you nerdlinger?
Well, sit back down, and find some tape for those horned-rimmed glasses… cause the 2009 Razzie list this year might remind you of some of sci-fi / fantasy / comic movie mishaps that keep us just shy of the cool kids parties. Let’s look at some of the nominations:
In the Worst Picture category, painfully acted dreck like Disney’s Old Dogs is joined by the “Joes Before Hoes” cringe-inducing G.I. Joe, the “it should have stayed a rancid TV show” Land of the Lost, and the 2 hour toy commercial, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
(more…)
Review: ‘Whip It’ on Blu-ray
When people get excited about something, they blossom and their affection can become contagious. Such is the case for screenwriter Shauna Cross, who stumbled across the world of roller derby and decided to get her story into print. She wrote it first as a young adult novel, Derby Girl
and then managed to option it to Drew Barrymore’s production company. Barrymore loved the material so much she decided to turn it into her directorial debut.
Whip It [Blu-ray]
opened last fall to generally positive reviews but middling box office, vanishing without much of a splash, which is a shame because the movie is pretty good and worth your attention. Out this week from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, the movie is available in the usual formats with the Blu-ray edition containing a digital copy disc.
Much as Cross, who wrote the screen adaptation of her book, came to love the rough and tumble world, so too does Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page). A high school senior, Bliss is the dorky good girl who goes to school and lets her mother push her into competing on the pageant circuit. Brooke (Marcia Gay Harden) is a former beauty queen now working as a mail carrier, eking out a lower middle class existence with her husband Earl (Daniel Stern) and is somewhat smothering with her love and attention. A chance encounter at a store acts as Bliss’ entrée into the roller derby world and after watching one competition with her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat), decides to try out. Her speed earns the awkward athlete a spot on the team and the beginning of a new world.
Pretty quickly, Bliss, now dubbed Babe Ruthless, is accepted by the team who become a circle of friends despite the disparity in their ages. Now, Bliss has to juggle school, work at the local BBQ joint, the pageants and the derby. Along the way, her arrival acts as the catalyst the team needs to evolve from losers to competitors. And she meets Oliver (Landon Pigg), the somewhat older guitarist in a band. Cue the violins.
Harden and Stern make an odd but effective couple of parents, grounding the film every time it feels ready to speed off track. (more…)
‘Avatar’ Gets 9 Oscar Nominations; ‘Star Trek’ Misses Best Picture
The 82nd Annual Academy Award nominations have been announced with Avatar and The Hurt Locker , racking up nine nominations each.
Quentin Tarantino’s love it or hate it Inglorious Basterds received eight nominations while Precious and Up in the Air got six; Up has five; District 9, Nine and Star Trek with four; and An Education, Crazy Heart, The Princess and the Frog and The Young Victoria with three.
Star Trek had been on many lists as expecting a Best Picture nod given the Academy’s expansion of Best Picture nominees from five to ten; but instead settles for three technical awards. The genre didn’t fare badly with District 9, Up, Avatar, and the parallel world of Inglorious Basterds making up four of the ten films named.
And while Avatar has plenty of nominations, none of its performers received recognition, adding fuel to the motion capture isn’t acting debate.Michael Giacchino’s score for Up, the best part of the movie, is my odds on favorite. (more…)
If the iPod changed the music industry, what will the iPad do to the comics industry?
At the Grammys this past Sunday evening, Neil Portnow, the Academy President and CEO, delivered some interesting and important words. Before the amassed crowd of celebrities, recording artists, and self-important rich people, Neil said words that hit this comic lover right in the bread basket.
“Now, what if someone told you they really appreciated your work but didn’t think they should have to pay you for it anymore. What would you do? How would you pay your bills, support your family? How would you survive?
This evening, you’ve seen performances by the most successful artists today. And you know about their generosity and giving back. But standing right behind them are thousands of unknown and up-and-coming music makers who face the question of survival every day. In the coming decade, unless they can make a living at their craft, the quality and creativity of the music will be at risk.
Well tonight, we’re all fans and music lovers who want to ensure that the future of music is a bright one. New technologies will bring music whenever and wherever you want it.”
The “up-and-coming” musicians he speaks of… the thousands upon thousands of twenty and thirty somethings working night after night in dingy clubs playing for measly covers? It got me thinking… are are they any different than the twenty and thirty somethings slaving over their computers and drawing boards, putting out small press and indie comics? Nope. And just as the indie bands’ survival is questioned based on the continuing movement to an all digital format… so too we must ask about the future of our medium. (more…)
Weekend Window-Closing Wrapup, February 1, 2010
Hoo-boy, I’ve let a lot of windows pile up. Let me close a bunch of them.
- Tom Brevoort: Marvel Vice Prez: Congrats to Tom. A better fit cannot be imagined.
- Apple wants a tablet in every home, a use for everyone
- The best comics of the ’00s | Best Of The Decade | Comics Panel | The A.V. Club
- Poe Toaster tribute is ‘nevermore’
- Charity Artwork Donated for an Upcoming Auction: Some great stuff here, including this Marvel Villains piece by Evan Dorkin.
- French retailers revolt against e-book hegemony: Oh, this will go well.
- HASBRO’S NEW NETWORK MEANS NEW TRANSFORMERS SERIES
- Graphic Novels Challenge 2010
- James Bond At 5-Years-Old [Pic] | I Am Bored
- Brian Hibbs of Comix Experience on the Current Comic Book Market
- ICv2 – ‘Spidey Musical’ Back on Track
- ICv2 – Every Book—10,000 Copies Stolen Uh, no. I call shenanigans. The better number is the one further down, that suggests that 10% of any book’s print run is pirated. And I’d argue that at towards the end of the long tail, a number aren’t even pirated at all because there’s just not enough people buying them in the first place.
- Jonah Hex Headed For Reshoots
- Why the Na’vi Are Making Me Blue: China Miéville has his doubts.
- Russian Moviegoers Tell Cameron and Avatar to Hold on There Comrade…We’ve Already Seen Pandora Harlan Ellison could not be reached for comment.
Anything else? Consider this an open thread.
