The iFanboy Letter Column – 10.07.2011

Friday means many things to many people. For some, Friday is all about time to finally garden. For others, it’s all about not thinking anything about gardening. For others still, they have their mom do their laundry.

At iFanboy, Friday means it’s letter column time.

You write. We answer. Very simple.

As always, if you want to have your e-mail read on the any of our shows or answered here, keep them coming — contact@ifanboy.com

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What did you think about Jose Reyes being pulled from the final [Mets] game of the season after safely bunting in order to preserve the NL batting title? Also to relate this to comics. What comic characters would you select for your starting nine?

Jeremy from San Antonio, Texas

Good timing for your question, now that baseball has entered the playoffs (Sorry, Conor. Go Brewers!) Well, I have to admit here, I’m a bit biased in this being a Mets fan as I am, but I had absolutely no problem with Reyes being pulled from that game and preserving the batting title. It was the last game of a forgettable season and the Mets really had nothing to play for in that last game, so why run the risk of jeopardizing the one good thing to happen this year to someone on the team? I can’t remember the last time a Met has won the batting title, in fact Reyes may have been the first New York Met to ever win it, so at the end of the day, I’m fine with it. No one is going to remember that he was pulled in the last game as they look back, they’re just going to look back at the record books and see a career year.

That said, fantastic excuse to bring up one of my favorite games in all of comics, “Who would you draft in your Comic Fantasy Baseball team?” I’m not quite sure why baseball and comics go so well together. They’re both slices of Americana I suppose. It’s been a while since we’ve played this game (I know we’ve done it in the past), but I’m going to go in cold here. Here’s my starting lineup of comics characters on my fantasy baseball team:

1) The Flash – 2B – This is a no brainer. I want a speedster to lead things off, but also someone smart enough to be able to bunt and/or get on base in creative ways. Barry Allen’s knowledge of science is perfect for this. And he’s a natural second baseman

2) Invincible – CF – For my center fielder, I want someone young, with a ton of range and bit of pop in the bat. Invincible fits that bill perfectly. He can hit for average and power, and can keep the ball in play, as well as covering a ton of ground in the outfield

3) Cyclops – 3B – Team captain, Cyclops hits for average, drives in runs and gets on base. On the hot corner, he brings leadership to the field when needed.

4) Red Hulk – RF – Pure power, and that’s what the Red Hulk brings to the plate. He’s the feared bat in the lineup who will be pitched around, but when they do pitch to him, look out. And he was born to play right field.

5) Nova – LF – Still on the younger side of things, but experienced, Nova is on his way to becoming a seasoned vet. He’s going to see a lot of pitches after they pitch around the Red Hulk, and he’ll be underestimated in what he can do at the plate, which will work in his advantage. And he matches Invincible’s range out in the field.

6) Spider-Man – 1B – Ol’ Spidey will never miss a ball thrown to first base. He’s got the agility and range of motion to cover the field, and he’s got a bit of pop in his bat, as well as the ability to get on base. After his time on The Avengers, he’s become a solid team player as well.

7) Beast – C – A solid of a backstop as you’ll ever get. Beast is smart enough to call for the right pitches, and he’s got the strength to throw out a runner at second and block the plate. Plus, at bat, he can knock in a few runs when needed.

8) Booster Gold – SS – The wildcard of the team. He’s the glory hound who’s looking for the game winning hit, but strikes out.  But, don’t write him off, because he’ll come through in the clutch. Plus, he gives a great post-game interview in the clubhouse.

9) Gambit – P – Gotta stick with the Ragin’ Cajun, who can charge the ball with kinetic energy, making his split finger fastball nearly unhittable. Plus, he’s added a sinker to his repertoire, making him that much more dangerous

I had a feeling I’ve done this before, so after writing this, I went into the archives and found this back in July 2010, when I did the same exercise. Funny to see a lot of the same names, but at different positions. Also interesting to see who didn’t make the cut.  Regardless, this is always a ton of fun and a great way to further enjoy the baseball playoffs! Play ball!

Ron Richards

 

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I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist, but I have a germ of an idea that the launch of DC’s online comics page is part of one.

Call me old fashioned, but I like to hold a comic in my hand, feel the paper, smell the ink… even take it to the bathroom! (There, I said it!) However, that is becoming increasingly difficult to do with my DC favorites. I realize that The New 52 is a big deal and that there is a lot of fan interest, but I can’t believe that *every* DC title released on Wednesday is selling out by Saturday. I can understand Action Comics, Detective Comics, or Justice League, but seriously… Nightwing! (Sorry Conor. If it’s any consolation, Dick Grayson is my favorite character).

My theory is this: DC purposely prints fewer books than it’s actuaries predicted they would sell, specifically to force people to resort to purchasing books online.

I even purchased several titles online myself, but have to admit that I don’t like it… I don’t like it one bit. Sure, there are flashy gadgets that teach the novice reader how to follow along and all (it really helped my wife read Aquaman), but it’s just not as fulfilling as getting a brown paper bag full of comics and keeping it by your (ahem) nightstand. I’d appreciate your insight and wonder if you’ve noticed any factual support for my theory.

Troy B.

I was tempted to just write “no” and move on. But I’ll expound a little bit.

The term “sellout” is a little misconstrued. They’re not selling out at stores. They’re selling out at the distributor level. And they’re not trying to drive people to digital who don’t want to be reading digital. They want you to buy their monthly print comics. Previously, DC had a habit of overprinting, and that’s a larger financial risk that doesn’t carry with it the added ability to send out a press release (HEY, LOOK AT THIS, MARVEL!) that says they sold out. They’re just printing less at one time, and building a slight collector buzz for first prints. There are second and third prints all ready for them. Further, the DC #1 issues had a level of returnability that comics don’t normally, so retailers ordered more. They seem to have been rewarded for that as well.

As far as you liking paper over digital, good for you. You get to choose the one you want. You accept the limitations of your choice and proceed. With paper, it’ll be harder to get books sometimes, and they take up space. If you want that, great. Digital comics are not coming for your children. Digital is for people who don’t live near a shop, don’t want to go to the shop, who might not have ever gone to the shop, or went to the shop and found the experience wanting. You obviously aren’t down with that. Great. Your J.H. Williams issue will probably read better on paper. Make sure to pre-order so you never have to wait for your favorite titles. That’s going to be your world soon unless you have an amazing comic shop who likes to keep a high inventory.

I also suspect that a great number of people who don’t like digital don’t have the best devices on which to read them. There’s certainly a cost factor there, and personally, I hate reading comics on a smartphone. It’s tablet or nothing for me. I’ve come around to reading on a desktop, but if you get your hands on a quality tablet, either iPad or something else, that’s where it becomes more acceptable. That’s not the case for everyone, of course.

In closing, there is no conspiracy.

Josh Flanagan

 

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What’s the more impressive iFanboy record? DC getting five Picks of the Week in a row, or Jonathan Hickman getting three consecutive Picks (Fantastic Four #587, 588, FF#1, plus S.H.I.E.L.D. #6 in between)?

Brent

It’s funny, when I first saw this email, this happened in my head: “Well that’s easy! Obviously it’s… I mean… clearly… huh.” A case can be made for either record being more impressive.

One the one hand, DC Comics getting five (now six) Picks of the Week in a row — Justice League #1, Animal Man #1, Demon Knights #1, Wonder Woman #1, The Flash #1, O.M.A.C. #2 — signifies a creative shift, from our point of view, in the industry as a whole. This is the way it works in comics. It was mere months ago when we were saying that Marvel Comics was where all the creative energy was at. Of course, a lot of that had to do with most of DC’s big guns being secreted away to work on the new DC Universe. So six Picks in a row? Very impressive; and important from a industry-wide standpoint.

On the other hand, Jonathan Hickman scoring four Picks of the Week in nine weeks — Fantastic Four #587, Fantastic Four #588, FF #1, S.H.I.E.L.D. #6 — is pretty impressive. Within that period or time he got the Pick for three consecutive issues of a series. That’s indicative of a quality run.

While doing some research for this email response (yes we do research… sometimes) I found out that streaks are nothing new around here, apparently. Let’s take a look at them while I think about which streak from this year is more impressive:

2007

• DC gets the Pick five weeks in a row: 52 #38, Jack of Fables #7, Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil #1, Batman #663, Robin #159.

2008

• DC gets the Pick five weeks in a row: Green Lantern #29, Action Comics #863, Young Liars #2, Hellblazer #243, Justice League of America #20.
• Geoff Johns gets the Pick three weeks in a row: Action Comics #870, Final Crisis: Rogue’s Revenge #3, Superman: New Krypton Special #1.

2009

• DC gets the Pick four weeks in a row, twice: Detective Comics #854, Batman and Robin #2, Wednesday Comics #1, Scalped #30 and The Flash: Rebirth #5, Blackest Night #5, The Mighty #11, Daytripper #1.

2010

• DC gets the Pick five weeks in a row: Blackest Night #8, Jonah Hex #54, The Flash #1, The Brave and the Bold #33, Green Lantern Corps #47.
• Marvel gets the Pick four weeks in a row: Thunderbolts #144, Avengers: Prime #1, Captain America #606, X-Factor Forever #4.

Thinking back on it now, there were probably even longer and more impressive streaks prior to 2007 (when I started keeping records). In fact, in the old days before anyone came to visit iFanboy.com the Pick of the Week used to be dominated by Queen & Country and Gotham Central. In fact, I remember every issue of an entire story arc in Gotham Central getting the Pick. I’d be willing to bet that Greg Rucka is the all-time Pick of the Week winner.

So which streak is the most impressive? I’d have to go with DC’s six Picks of the Week in a row (and counting).

Conor Kilpatrick