abstractgeek

May 21, 2012 2:51 pm That particular issue of Marville was the last one and was not actually a comic. It was basically the submission guidelines for the Jemas version of epic comics, which was going to be targeted at newcomers who would pitch stories and assemble the creative teams and submit finished print ready digital files. It was a strange experiment, but even stranger ALL of the content, the guidelines, everything in that issue was available for free on Marvel's website along with digital file templates, the submission forms, contracts and even the standard Marvel house font for lettering.

May 21, 2012 2:34 pm marvel, dc, image, dark horse, idw and the premier publishers are all exclusive to diamond. They offer a smaller discount to diamond (and there for more $$ for them) than they did when there were more distributors, but since diamond services all comic shops who want those books (i.e. ALL comic shops) they make up for it in volume. There is nothing to prevent anyone from starting a distributor and carrying all the non exclusive books and all the books diamond doesnt carry. and this has been tried, the problem is those books dont generally generate enough money to keep the doors open on any distributor. and most stores would rather deal with one distributor, as its less work and the more they order from diamond, the higher the discount.

May 21, 2012 12:53 pm daredevil directors cut is vastly better than the theatrical, but still not good. It does move the movie well into watchable territory for me though so its got that going for it, which is nice.

May 21, 2012 12:51 pm i am not a Land fan in that i dont buy a book because he's on it, but i dont stay away either (and there are plenty of people who will drive me away) I have never really understood the problem people have with his work. The compositions and storytelling are still all him and i think they serve their stories well. There are many artists, some of which are favorites around here that i dont get why anyone would read them. As far as im concerned Hickman has never had a good artist outside of Marvel and everyone here seems to adore Pitarra.

May 18, 2012 1:23 pm looks like infinity gauntlet hit #1 on the amazon graphic noivel chart and amazon already has a listing for essential warlock and a second essential captain marvel with a lots of fols expecting a thanos omnibus too. all this from a quick smile, thanos is powerful indeed!

May 17, 2012 2:34 pm throw in post coital thor and we have the best comic ever.

May 17, 2012 2:29 pm this was a great issue (id probably have gone saga for my pick, but i may be caught up in the buzz and the newness where this book suffers from being awesome for too long to get my mojo up as much as the shiny new stuff) this is my favorite of hickmans works, while i love his creator owned work, he is very much a big idea guy and his characters often seem more like cyphers to move the story along. i never think of his characaters when i think of his work. i think of the concepts. this is not a bash in any way, just to me it shows hickmans priority. with the FF, he doesnt have to build characters, decades of other creators have done that heavy lifting for him, and figured out who these people are. all hickman has to do is understand that, build on it and craft stories that use those characters. this issue is a great example. it works so well because we know who these people are in the 616 universe. if this was the first ff i ever read it wouldnt resonate as well as it does when i know who these people are, and really understand the tragedy of how it plays out. i really genuinely feel sorry for whoever follows hickman on this book. in all honesty, if i were marvel id hire someone terrible next. let them ruin the book, so whoever follows them will be a vast improvement. while the art in hickmans run has had soft spots (never bad in my mind, just some not being as strong as others or the writing) i feel this run is easily in the top 5 runs on ff, and probably not in the number 5 spot.

May 17, 2012 2:16 pm we do need a kirk, someone with the insight to think outside the box, to do what no one else has thought of. it really is the only way to beat a no win situation, to change the situation to one you can win rather than just trying the same things. or if the newest star trek movie is to be believed (alternate timelines can be tricky) we need someone to have sex with a hot green chick, and have her fix the situation. i volunteer for that mission

May 17, 2012 1:33 pm wow, im writing a lot today. i really should be working. i think im writing so much today because i reaaaallly dont want to be working right now, but ill pay for it by staying late to catch up on all the work i should be doing.

May 17, 2012 1:29 pm @comichron I think i overstated an issue with methods, i shouldn't have implied they are wild guesses, i shouldn't have said "make up numbers" they as you point out are estimates based on available data, and they are remarkably consistent but also most of the people with actual numbers do agree the estimates are lower than the actuals. maybe its in the math maybe the numbers you get arent as accurate as you hope. i dont know. perhaps saying the numbers are accurate representation but not exact. good enough for us to get an idea of trends and stores to get an idea of whats selling, but not accurate enough to base royalty statments on if you are a creator or publisher, but then again creators and publishers dont need to, they have the real numbers I think i let my frustration with the fact that people continully treat these numbers as actual numbers from diamond or publishers instead of what they are, maybe thats a nitpick on my part. real numbers are real numbers estimates are estimates. they each i work in the dvd business and i see the videoscan numbers every week, and i also know our internal numbers and again they arent the same. then again they really dont need to be. we and those we do business with have the numbers we need. thats really my frustration is that so many people seem to think they are entitled to this information and how they use it. i would love to know what ifanboys numbers are, like how many hits, how many podcast downloads, how many uniques, how many registered users, how many paying users. but they are under no obligation to share that and i have no right to it. even if they did or somehow we could get estimates, it would be inappropriate for me to the go "suck it newsarama and comic geek speak, i fanboy is the best" i apologize if i made it sound like you were pumping out bullshit. You clearly explain you methods and the possible errors. People dont always read the fine print (i dont, god know what i signed away when i joined this site) and misunderstand or misuse the info they get. I think your site is a great resource, especially where you track the numbers for older books based on the old statement of ownership info, which no one else does, as far as i can tell.