The Mix : What are people talking about today?

ComicMix Economics: Nielsen Three Screen Report

  • News
  • February 24, 2009

Here’s a piece that might not be caught by the excellent wrap-ups on the ongoing economics watch being done every day by Dirk Deppey, Tom Spurgeon, Heidi Macdonald, and the Robot 6 mechanics: Nielsen just came out with their quarterly Three Screen Report, which measures viewing of of television, internet and mobile devices, and found that the numbers have jumped significantly.

The major findings, as summed up by Cynopsis:

  • The average American watches more than 151 hours of TV per month, an all-time high. This is 5 hours and 13 minutes more per month compared to 145:49 from 4Q07.
  • Americans watch nearly three hours of video via the internet per month and internet usage overall is up by an hour versus a year ago to 27:04 per month.
  • Time-shifted television consumption is up by 33% compared to a year ago to 7:11 in 4Q08 versus 5:24 in 4Q07.
  • Video viewing on mobile devices and DVRs jumped by the largest margin during the quarter (each about 9% vs. Q3) as 11 million reported viewing video on phones or PDAs and 74 million watched DVR programming
  • And while audiences of all ages are watching online video, the trend for younger 18-24 year old viewers – broken out by Nielsen for the first time – suggest a dramatically increased reliance on the internet for video viewing. The demo spent nearly the same amount of time (about 5 hours a month) watching video online as they did watching DVR programming
  • Even younger viewers (aged 12-17) watched less video on TV, DVRs and the internet than last quarter but spent almost 6.5 hours a month watching mobile video.
  • When broken down by gender, females 2+ watched more TV and more online video than by almost 8% points but men consumed almost twice as much video on mobile phones.

Say hi to your new distribution channel for comics. You’re already soaking in it.

(Photo by Aaron Escobar™.)

saga-swamp-thing-book-11-8379962

Review: ‘Saga of the Swamp Thing’ Book One

saga-swamp-thing-book-11-8379962When a comic book gained a new writer, before 1983, they would either keep the status quo, as the writers succeeding Stan Lee did throughout the 1970s, or change the locale and supporting cast (see [[[Supergirl]]] and [[[Wonder Woman]]]’s various careers). Until 1983, no one really rethought the character or series premise.

That is one of the main reasons the arrival of Alan Moore at DC Comics was so pivotal.  He was a long-time fan of DC’s output and had brought his own point of view to the series.  When Swamp Thing co-creator and then-editor Len Wein asked him about taking on the series, Alan had no problem with suggesting his radical rethinking of the premise based on what had been established to date.  Nothing out of left field, but a fresh look at a long-standing character in the DC firmament.

Not only was the thinking fresh, but the writing was also lyrical, something not seen in American mainstream comics.  During the 1970s, “purple prose”, lots of words trying to convey mood and feeling but really just a ton of verbiage, was in vogue and as the 1980s dawned,the state of Americna super-hero writing was fairly mundane.  Once more, Moore stopped everyone in their tracks as he used short phrases and captions to suddenly convey mood, feeling, and foreshadowing.  The repetition helped tie a story together as did his clever use of words to transition from one speaker and scene to another.

The result was revolutionary and propelled [[[Saga of the Swamp Thing]]] to the top of everyone’s To Read stack.  The book was the first true shot in the British Revolution that helped change mainstream comics for the next two decades.

In rereading Moore’s first eight issues in the newly released hardcover Saga of the Swamp Thing, it’s clear to see what Moore brought to the character, the title, and the company. The clarity in thinking, fresh approach to character and captions, and the ability to redirect a title are obvious and stand up after all these years.

Not only did Moore rethink Swamp Thing, he also rethought his supporting characters, building upon what his predecessor, Martin Pasko, did without trashing the work.  He began to explore the greater DC Universe by using Jason Woodrue as the first antagonist, and then brought in Jason Blood/Etrigan showing us he was more than one-trick pony.  In the former, Woodrue had been a neglected Atom villain who was an ideal foe for Swamp Thing and the perfect vehicle for “[[[The Anatomy Lesson]]]”, the aptly titled story that reset the status quo.

For the first time, Moore’s debut issue is reprinted.  While it tidied up some of Pasko’s dandling plot lines, it also really began to set the stage and it a welcome addition to the hardcover. You get a taste of what is to come and works well with the other stories.

Also carrying over from Pasko’s run is the art team of Stephen Bissette and John Totleben.  Fairly fresh to comics at the time, they were an ideal team for the character and quickly improved their work, clearly inspired by Moore’s work and openness to their input. Some pages are overly cluttered while others are beautifully designed and you can watch them grow during these eight issues.  They have as much to do with the title’s resurgence as Moore and should never be overlooked.

The collection comes complete with a nice intro by Wein who explains the character’s birth in real world terms and then we get an essay from Ramsey Campbell that heaps additional praise on the creative team.  Moore deserves his accolades and the hardcover treatment is a welcome addition. If you have never read these stories or no longer have them in your collection, this is a well-priced volume worth having.

The Point – February 23rd, 2009

  • News
  • February 23, 2009

This week we not only hit the comic store for our Five Cool Things, but we stick around to meet the staff. Issues the Series is the web feature about Life in A Comic Shop and we hang out with two of the stars, plus comics’ brief shining moment at The Oscars, why funny books aren’t funny and set aside a good three hours now for WATCHMEN. 

PRESS THE BUTTON to Get The Point! 

 
 
 

And be sure to stay on The Point via badgeitunes61x15dark-9723472 or RSS!

 

 

chronicles-of-some-made2-2896377

Review: ‘Chronicles of Some Made’ by Felix Tannenbaum

  • Uncategorized
  • February 23, 2009

chronicles-of-some-made2-2896377Chronicles of Some Made
By Felix Tannenbaum
Passenger Pigeon Publishing, October 2008, $10.25

Tannenbaum received a 2008 Xeric Award for the two stories collected here – in fact, the way of the Xeric, these two stories are collected because they won the award. The Xeric is specifically and entirely to help self-publishers get their work out; to help get more new, different, interesting comics projects to see the light of day and get into readers’ hands. Because of that aid, [[[Chronicles of Some Made]]] is now available via Amazon, and it will be in comics shops in the spring.

There are two stories here: “[[[The Dent]]],” about seventy pages long in four chapters, and the shorter (just under twenty pages) earlier story “[[[Why Doesn’t My Robot Love Me?: A Cautionary Fable.]]]” Both are stories of robots, but Tannenbaum’s robots are very un-Asimovian: they are deeply emotional and as impetuous and driven by desire as any human. (They’re very much, to use Charles Stross’s term, emotional machines.)

“The Dent” is the story of three robots at war. The story begins as they travel together towards a point where battle rages. They know where they’re going, but not why – though they do know that they’re not supposed to question their orders. Seeing the devastation for several hills away, they’re all silently sure that following their programming will lead to their destruction. And yet, when two of them try to break all three of them free from that programming, the results are not good.

(more…)

BOOM! ‘Irredeemable’ trailer debuts

BOOM! Studios has debuted the trailer to Irredeemable, Mark Waid’s new ongoing superhero series that premieres this April. Take a look:

 

If you go to the BOOM! website, there’s also a coupon you can give to your comic store, but really, who wants an Irredeemable coupon?

Happy birthday, Valerie D’Orazio!

  • News
  • February 23, 2009

A happy birthday to the Occasional Superheroine and the President of Friends of Lulu herself, Valerie D’Orazio!

(No, we’re not telling you how old she is. She is timelessly and eternally young– in other words, younger than all the principals of ComicMix. And much cuter than Mike Gold.)

While we wait for Cloak and Dagger to come out, go read her current piece on the Doomsday scenario in comics distribution. And let her know we said hi.

Interview: Fred Van Lente

  • Uncategorized
  • February 23, 2009

incrediblehercules117cover-1235369Fred Van Lente may have one of the strangest resumes in modern comics.

After all, not many writers can give their first claim to fame as writing an award-winning non-fiction comic book series both satirizing and paying tribute to the greatest thinkers in human history; yet that’s his name alongside artist Ryan Dunlavey’s on the cover of Action Philosophers, which won the Xeric Grant in 2004.

Since then, he’s gone on to write what seems like an endless stream of series and miniseries for Marvel: Marvel Adventures Iron Man, Marvel Adventures Spider-man, Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four, Amazing Fantasy, Super-Villain Team-Up: MODOK’s 11, Wolverine: First Class, and more besides.

These days, his most steady gig is co-writing (with Greg Pak) Marvel’s Incredible Hercules, a fan favorite series and critical darling that’s been praised for mixing mythology with good old Marvel superheroics. He’s also writing the X-Men Noir miniseries, a mystery story set in the heyday of prohibition.

And, just to make sure his resume keeps getting stranger, the third issue of Comic Book Comics, his second collaboration with Ryan Dunlavey, just hit the stands recently. As the title suggests, it’s a comic book that chronicles the history of comic books.

Fred took a few minutes out his schedule to talk to us about how he wound up writing for Marvel, how not to kill Jocasta, and how not to get sued when infringing on copyright.

ComicMix: How does the writer of a black-and-white independent series about the great thinkers wind up writing all-ages superhero stories for the Marvel Adventures line?

Fred Van Lente: Well, believe it or not, my working for Marvel and me doing Action Philosophers happened simultaneously. What happened was, for two completely different career paths converged. I was doing Action Philosophers on and off with Ryan [Dunlavey] more or less for fun until we got the Xeric Grant, and I did a color independent comic with a great artist by the name of Steve Ellis, who’s now better known for having co-created the series High Moon over at Zuda. We did a super-crime mob series called The Silencers for Moonstone, and that brought me to the attention of Mark Paniccia over at Marvel. Mark invited me over to pitch for an anthology series called Amazing Fantasy. They ran a poll on Marvel.com for which characters to revamp, and they chose Scorpion. By a bizarre coincidence, Action Philosophers #1 and Amazing Fantasy #7, which premiered the new Scorpion, came out on the same day.

CMix: Really?

FVL: Yeah! And in most stores, because they were both “A” titles, they were racked next to each other. So after ten years of trying to break into the business and not really getting much traction, I not only had two comics come out on the same day, I had them sit next to each. And to add irony to irony, I had broken my ankle. So I was laid up and on painkillers, so I was unable to go to the store and see this magnificence for myself.

CMix: That’s kind of sad.

FVL: Well, my friend sent me cell phone pictures.

CMix: Gotcha. So, my next question is, how does the writer of all-ages Marvel superhero stories wind up co-writing Incredible Hercules, one of the most critically beloved mainstream titles right now?

(more…)

Heath Ledger wins Best Supporting Actor Oscar for ‘The Dark Knight’

  • News
  • February 23, 2009

Yes, it’s official. Heath Ledger wins the Oscar for the Joker. Now I can turn off the show and catch the highlight reel later.

Although, I have to give Hugh Jackman credit for a fearless opening number. Damn, he can work a crowd. And who knew Anne Hathaway could sing?

Glad to see Shanti pegged the Oscar winner for costume design going to The Duchess.

The 2008 Razzies: ‘Love Guru’, Paris Hilton and Uwe Boll big… winners?

  • News
  • February 22, 2009

Yep, while everyone else is obsessing over the naked men tonight– Oscar, not Hugh Jackman– let us not forget the awards handed out last night, the 29th annual Golden Raspberry awards. Here’s the press release:

At least someone loved THE LOVE GURU. Voters for The 29th Annual RAZZIE Awards spread the dis-honors around this year, but gave several of their berry biggest trophies to one of 2008’s most notorious box office losers, Mike Myers’ misbegotten, far-from-mystical “comedy” THE LOVE GURU. In addition to being named the year’s Worst Picture, GURU also received spray-painted gold for its screenplay and Myers as Worst Actor, in intentionally tacky ceremonies held on “Oscar Eve” at the Barnsdall Theatre in Hollywood.

But the former SNL star wasn’t the year’s biggest RAZZIE winner/loser. That dis-stink-tion belongs to “sex-tape-celeb-utant” Paris Hilton, who tied Eddie Murphy’s hat-trick from 2007, taking a record-tying 3 trophies in a single year. For her “starring” performance in Worst Picture nominee THE HOTTIE & THE NOTTIE (which Hilton herself executive-produced) the air-headed heiress was gonged for both Worst Actress and as part of the year’s Worst Screen Couple (along with co-stars Christine Lakin and Joel David Moore). And for her mostly-left-on-the-cutting-room floor cameo in the “slasher musical” REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA, she was chosen Worst Supporting Actress.

Others roundly RAZZed in the 90-minute Oscar parody included Pierce Brosnan as Worst Supporting Actor for his tone-deaf turn in MAMMA MIA! The year’s third-biggest grossing (and most disappointing) movie INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL “won” as Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel and world-class worst movie-maker Uwe Boll took both the 2008 Worst Director RAZZIE® (for 3 titles) and a well-deserved special Worst Career Achievement dis-honor.

For a complete list of this year’s “winners” click here. And congrats, it was a tough field this year.

ComicMix Politics: Zimbabwe’s Mugabe holding missing Dr. Who episodes?

  • News
  • February 22, 2009

This is a weird one. As you may know, Doctor Who has been running since 1963. A number of the earlier episodes are missing, because some bozo at the BBC decided to save money by destroying some old episodes to make room in their library, including a number of episodes starring the first two Doctors, William Hartnell and Patrick Troughton. Once they realized what had happened, massive searches got under way to find what was lost. But despite years of searching, the broadcaster is missing 108 of 752 episodes.

Well, according to the London Sun, it turns out there’s a place where a bunch of them could be– Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe bought the first season of the show when it was still the British colony known as Rhodesia. The BBC suspects the historic series, together with later episodes not held anywhere else in the world, may still be locked away in a vault.

So what’s the problem? The current leader of Zimbabwe, President Robert Mugabe, hates hates hates the British. Mugabe still blames their former colonial ruler Britain for its economic chaos, and last year called the British Government “thieving neo-colonialists”. President Mugabe has banned the BBC from setting foot in the country. On the other hand, Mugabe and Zimbabwe needs money, and there would be a lot of money in DVD sales if copies do exist.

So we’ll have to wait and see. One day, he may really come back after all…

Categories

Archives

Everything you need to make great comics!

comicmix-pro-300x69-2

Nucleus X

Bookshop Zaks