moodydoom

September 16, 2011 3:28 pm i'm surprised no one has mentioned piracy yet. Ironically enough, I think piracy is a reaction to the current market saturation. The more comics out there, the more unrealistic the supply, the more people justify not being able to afford it, the more people feel frustrated, the more people grab that shit for free. if we let this problem fester for long enough, people will get so used to getting content for free digitally that it's going to be hard to reverse the habit. i wonder if Netflix has stopped a significant amount of people from grabbing stuff off of torrents, simply by making digital content affordable and easily available?

September 16, 2011 3:16 pm with any media, you have to be careful that you are not spending more time chasing/finding/storing/collecting stuff than you are actually spending enjoying it. i got stuck in this trap with comics, movies, anime, tv... I have things i hunted down years ago that i still haven't even watched/read… What is it about finding something we love that makes us want to strangle it until there's no life left in it? My advice for someone with a kid would be: Try to make a simple, ritual out of the experience. Maybe just read together once a week or visit the comic shop once a month, and only allow them to pick a limited amount. Try to show them the value in having one great thing, even if there is so much else out there. And, also, show them that as long as they are enjoying one thing, they are not necessarily missing out on hundreds of other things.

September 16, 2011 1:00 pm ha! frikkin' well said. that casino buffet after-taste...shivers... i also think we are living in a time where owning things is becoming redundant. It weighs us down, emotionally and physically. The powers in control are fighting to hold on to a dying distribution system. Why can't they just set us free? i want to live in a digital subscription world, where i can read as much as i want at a nominal cost. maybe then i'll actually start reading less, taking my time on new and exciting comics, instead of snatching at the buffet with both fists while the kitchen starts packing everything away.

September 16, 2011 12:35 pm we're living in an incredible media boom. Will it wire our kids differently? Most likely. Will it render our brains obsolete by the time we're old farts. Have you watched your parents try to operate a computer, nevermind a tablet, smartphone or home network? Hell yes. It's not too farfetched to think that future generations will be able to read multiple books at the same time without missing a beat. ...Or alternatively, maybe all comics will become two pages long, all movies 20 minutes long and all TV shows a whopping 3 minutes. Also...some fans might give you shit about being too dramatic in this article but I 100 per cent agree. I've been grappling with this ever since getting back into comics over this past year. Force me to buy only what i can afford and I will resent you for all the great stuff i'm missing. Let me buy everything I want and everything blurs together to form a single massive feeling of numbness and indifference. rock and a hard place i tell ya....

September 6, 2011 5:36 pm i have no problem with a writer from one culture writing about other cultures. I do have a problem with lumping over 47 countries together and labeling them one thing - 'Africa' - and then writing a Batman book set in this 'world'. I hope i'm proved wrong and I hope it's just a subjective thing. (i'm from an african country and it grinds me when people treat it as if it's all one giant neighbourhood). time will tell. ...still, that cover looks lame as hell.

September 6, 2011 2:34 pm i'm not saying we should only have one or the other. Your comment brings up the most important point. different people have different preferences. The market should feed all those preferences rather than force readers into a fixed way of getting their comics.

September 6, 2011 2:26 pm i hope this title fails on the premise alone. i can't get my head around the Batman of Africa as a premise. Africa is a big ass continent! How do you grow a story and a character in such a massive place! it's completely unrealistic. imagine if it was batman of north america instead of batman of gotham. Also, c'mon, you have an american writer on this title, really? i can understand him researching one or two african countries and delivering something meaningful, but this.... All i can foresee is batman fighting 'exotic' enemies in front of a switching backdrop (pyramids, landmarks, bushveld, volcanoes etc. and to me that makes for some fresh manure.)

September 6, 2011 12:58 pm i agree with your arguments for DC not fully committing to Digital. We live at a time in which more media is being produced than ever before, the old modes of consumption simply don't work. these are just some of the reasons why it's outdated: 1: comics/dvds/books are too expensive per item (an average consumer can't financially keep up with the amount of content being produced) 2: we no longer need to own physical things to enjoy them 3: we move around so much more (as someone who travels a lot, it just doesn't make sense for me to weigh myself down with so many physical issues when i could just have them digitally) i wish DC and Marvel would realize that there is room for both print and digital. I envision a world in which you subscribe monthly to a publisher, and for a set fee you can read as much as you want digitally. And I see a world in which, when you find a title you really enjoy, you hoof it down to your comic store and pick up a beautifully printed trade or hardcover or oversize edition (in the style of dapper men, Absolute Super man etc.). Increase the quality of your print offerings, grow your readership by going cheap and digital for the weeklies. am i being that unrealistic?

September 2, 2011 7:41 pm almost time, giggidy giggidy, hope you three stooges bring your A-GAME !

September 1, 2011 6:02 pm Batman has Hal's number in a manner of minutes. you have to love that. and the 'what's this do' line, just fantastic. it's the exact first thought that would pop into the bat's head. Johns is soft and subtle right now, and it's gonna build into a scream. can't wait to be a few issues down the road.