JohnNevets

March 29, 2012 12:05 am Two of the more interesting things to me to come out of that blog were: That they are taking the risk of letting retailers return unsold copies (my understanding is DC did the same thing at the start of the new 52). And that he wants to make a stronger direct market. I think the first thing is very cool, and I hope it is done more and more often with new books, great way to build up audiences. The later thing I'm not sure about ( honestly), didn't we all decide that the direct market as it is will need to collapse before comics can evolve? Or at best it's a bad compromise, until some one can come up with something to transition away from it. I would think Image would be in a prime position to lead that charge to something new, not reinforce the broken system that typically does put more of the risk on the small business retailers. That being said, I do get it at that publishers can't go back to the days of mass printings and stuffing them on spinner racks. I also don't have a clue for what the thing to replace direct market should be (online is great, but not a full solution yet).

February 21, 2012 7:35 pm What you call being "curious" I call becoming "plot addicted". I call it this, because there are times when I may not be enjoying the writing, or the story telling in general, but I absolutely have to know how it ends. I've done this with TV series, book series, and comic book series. I really should be trimming my pull list, since I haven't had time to read them all these last couple months, but instead (since I'm addicted and lazy) I let the cancellation notices do the work for me. Note that I know this is not a real addiction, and I'm not making fun of those with real problems. On another note. This is one of the reasons I enjoy anime series. The good ones (and most of the bad ones) hardly ever go longer then a single season of 26 episodes. Even the ones that do usually have an ending at the end of the season, not a cliff hanger.

February 10, 2012 8:09 am After reading the article I wonder if any of this has to do with Hollywood's infamous book keeping where nothing gets a "net" profit, even when projects gross $100's of millions over estimated (usually not published) costs. Kirkman could be making the money up front in his roles as producer and writer on the series, and not making much on the "net" on the backend as a creator. Just a though, I know none of the details.

January 19, 2012 10:51 pm Cool list. To be honest I think science fiction (especially hard science fiction) is one of the most undeserved niches in comics. I'm always surprised there is not more crossover with this other "geek" staple. Some of the Manga series have done a great job of filling this gap. Also there was a series (I believe translated from French) a couple years ago that I thought was great called WAR (doing a google search doesn't bring up that title, so I might have that wrong). And another series that scratched that itch was Shrapnel, not the best comic ever, but had a cool plot in the first arc. Waren Ellis's retro sci-fi is also pretty fun. Huh, maybe it's not as undeserved as I thought ;-). I'm also really looking forward to the upcoming Saga series, I could use a monthly space opera floppy. See you later space cowboys, John

January 5, 2012 7:00 pm Yes.., but not in comic book form. He used to do a series of articles (maybe he will again) called "Tuesday Showdown" where he pitted different charcters against each other and left it as a cliff hanger for the rest of us to fill in in the comments. He did one where Batgirl take on Spiderwoman and it was tone perfect for Miller's version. He also did a letter column for Batgirl and Damion that was pretty good.

January 5, 2012 3:55 pm Apparently the odd covers are too odd to be shown ;-) I'm guessing this will soon be fixed.

January 5, 2012 3:42 pm Since I haven't read everybody on the list, I really shouldn't comment, but I'm going to anyway. Based on the little I have read of Mr. Lemire this year, and how everybody talks of him, I was a bit surprised he was only in 10, I would have thought closer to 5-7. Also I understand why Brian Q. Miller wasn't on the list, but I do think he deserves all the love he's getting in the comments plus some. I really hope to see some more stuff from him soon. The only other person I've seen write Steph (and internal dialogue in general) that good has been Paul Montgomery.

December 22, 2011 7:33 pm I'm glad you listed the Int. sales as well, that made it even more interesting. I'm really surprised that both Scott Pilgrim and V did worse internationally then they did domestically, I would have thought those were both movies that spoke more to a broad audience, then our local one. I almost put Watchmen on that list too, but then I started thinking and it really is more deconstructionist of US centric comics, so maybe that is why not the broader appeal. Then you have TLoEG and that did almost double in International sales compared to US, and I would have never guessed it ( the Connery effect?). On second look, Wanted, Constantine, and Surrogates did the same thing, so apparently star power is a big driving force for the oversees numbers. Mind you this is all being said from someone born and raised in the US and who has never been to Europe or Asia.

December 12, 2011 10:23 pm With the caveat that I haven't read the series yet (it's on the list after Starman). Looking at that picture of the smiler, it almost looks like it was based off of a younger Steve Buscemi, and so who better to play a creepy comedic role, with Dramatic chops.

December 12, 2011 5:42 pm My freshman year of college, I went about 9 months with out cutting my hair, and 6-7 with out trimming the bottom of my goatee, and I thought that was a long time. But I only had maybe 2 inches of beard. Then in my late 20's I had longer hair. I decided to cut it short because my forehead seemed to be going backward as fast as the the hair on the back of my head was growing. I thought this made me look too much like a stereotypical pedophile/ cult leader/ 80's character actor for my tastes (not that there is anything wrong with that). I didn't have quite enough length to donate to charity, and because it was curly, it would have been hard for the beautician to get it in one cut. I'm very glad to hear Alec did donate his, it's a very cool thing to do with something he didn't have a use for anymore. And the wigs that get made out of the donated hair really do help people feel better about themselves.