Uncanny X-Men #500 Variant

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Terry Dodson is tempting me to buy some X books. Not just because of the cheesecake factor of this comic, but because he draws a damn pretty picture in general.

BSing @ The Spoiler Comic Shop 7/3/08

I wanted to give something a try here. Bear with me.

I get most of my comic books via an online shop these days, ever since MacGuffin closed down. MacGuffin was really the only shop in the area that I felt was worth abandoning a 40% discount to shop at locally. Heroes & Villains is a great shop in many ways, but they're almost exclusively a super-hero comic shop (as the name might imply). The owner is a great guy, but I figured if I had to constantly check Previews or risk missing a gem of a book, I might as well just stick to ordering online.

One of the things I have missed since going exclusively with online ordering is the camraderie of sitting around the shop, bullshitting with the owner and other customers about this week's books or recent developments. In fact, that probably plays a large role in the frequency of my blogging. Nature abhors a vacuum, after all.

So...I thought I'd try something out: a blog created every Thursday where I invite anyone reading to start posting whatever the hell they'd like to about what's going on with comic books, in the pages or outside the pages. Nothing off limits (as long as we keep it fairly respectable). Spoilers are fair game. They'll be kept entirely in the comments section (even if I'm dying to talk about something, it will be in a comment) so as to not spoil anything for people just browsing the front page.

Probably the worst week to try to roll it out, given the holiday...but what the hell...got anything on your mind this week?

Dan Slott: Bet Welcher?

Over on The Beat, people were discussing the performance of Brand New Day Spider-Man when someone brought up the bet that Dan Slott had made with a fan about the book staying over 80k sold per issue four months after the launch.

"Somebody" provided links back to the old Newsarama boards where the bet was made.

justice~!

I'll take your bet - kind of. How about this:

4 months from now, I'll subscribe to Spider-Man if it has managed to keep itself above 80K copies per issue. If not, how about just a little bit of public humiliation or apologies in the way of an "Ode to me" from Dan Slott?

Sucker bet, man. Obviouisly since ASM has legs it should be well above 80K per issue right?

Dan Slott

I'll take that bet. And I will write an AWESOME "Ode to You" if we don't clear 80K on month four. PM me and we'll set this up.

Somebody

I've tried to do a Google search for Dan Slott and "ode to", but it turns up nothing other than references to the bet, with nothing about the outcome.

It has been about a month and a half since the bet was lost. How long does it take to write an ode? ;)

Speaking Of Continuity Problems

Much has been made of the first issue of Final Crisis not matching up with the end of Countdown to Final Crisis. But, on this Wednesday, one writer managed to write two issues that contradict each other on continuity.

Without getting into specifics (out of respect for those who haven't read the issues yet), New Avengers and Mighty Avengers contradict each other when it comes to the timeline of Hank Pym's being replaced with a Skrull. In a big way.

If anyone can give me an explanation as to how it can be explained away as to no longer be a contradiction, please hit me with a message at schwapponline at gmail dot com.

The Knight Who Says Meh

When I started this blog, I originally wanted to make a few harsh comments about Hannibal Tabu's "style" of reviewing over at CBR. It was one of those things that I really wanted to go off about back in the day, but not to the detriment of the Best Shots team.

Interesting fact: Psycho nut Koben Kelly, previously of the Best Shots team, had made a t-shirt for the team that read, "We Could Poop Out One Sentence Reviews In Our Sleep," to wear at last year's Wizard World Chicago (as a shot at Tabu). Of course, he then went on to skip his mental health meds, smoke copious amounts of mary jane, and have a legendary meltdown that required his mom to come pick his 32 year old ass from the hotel. A friendly prank I played on him may or may not have had a role in that meltdown.

Anyway...back to Hannibal.

Once I started this blog, I just didn't get around to reading it nearly as much and, when I did, the problematic bits were nowhere near as noteworthy as the ones I bit my tongue on.

He came back to mind because of something said at the Cup O' Bendis panel this weekend. Jim McCann ranted a bit on how people who comment on or review an issue by simply saying "meh" get him very angry. Bendis chimed in agreeing, but it didn't seem as possibly pointed at reviews as McCann's statement did. Bendis did say that having "meh" said about a piece of work is just like a kick in the balls for him.

Believe it or not, it took someone else in attendance suggesting that McCann's statement might have been directed at Tabu, who probably uses that more than any other reviewers and sometimes leaves that as his only commentary about an issue.

For those that haven't met McCann, he's one of the nicest guys you'll meet at a convention. He's a personable guy, very friendly to fans and pros alike (from what I could see) and has a love for comics that he couldn't hide if his life depended on it. He seems like someone that would be hard to piss off.

So, that development led me to check out Tabu's column, again. Found this:

This week's Indie Spotlight (a new feature, see the bottom of the column) is also the winner of the "WTF?" award. A Gambit knockoff is driving around, avoiding monsters and carrying the head of Medusa (the myth, not the legendary LA-area rapper) as a weapon ... wait, what?

Funny thing about that spotlight: hardly seems worth a damn when you don't name the book. I will say that his explaining his WTF "award" is an improvement; he often leaves it without any clarification.

Oh, Hannibal! One of these days, you just might have a whole column where you get it right. ;)

Whither Joe Quesada

One thing I heard over the weekend (from fans and people covering the convention, not Marvel artists or writers) was speculation about why Joe Quesada didn't attend the convention.

None of it was of the type floated about Dan Didio a few weeks ago. Marvel is having great success under Joe, so why would there be rumors of him getting fired?

No, some were speculating that he might be considering passing on the mantle. He's said more than a few times, to my recollection, that this wasn't something he expected to do forever. There are a lot of advantages to stepping away during such a good time for the company. Not only do you leave on a high note, but you're letting the new head honcho start out without having to try to repair any damage done by possibly overstaying your welcome.

In all likelihood, Quesada probably just had personal reasons for skipping Heroes & Wizard World Chicago that have absolutely nothing to do with even considering stepping down. I just thought it was worth mentioning.

Incredible Hulk: A Rage In Harlem

Just got back from a midnight showing of the Incredible Hulk. I have a few quick observations:

• The CGI Hulk wasn't horrible. I think it needed a few tweaks it didn't get that could have made it better. The face was a bit off balance, with the head being enlarged but certain parts (most notably the nose) weren't in proper proportion. I'd, also, hazard a guess that the face might have been made too symmetrical.
  
• The best appearances of the Hulk happened during some of the least important moments. Some of the best work could be found in a confrontation in the middle of the film, rather than during the climax.
• For me, this had the best cameos and easter eggs of any Marvel property, thus far. Dialog, images on the TV screen, names of throwaway characters and the inclusion of the TV show theme are all just a taste of the bits fans might enjoy in the flick.
• I was shocked that at least one scene prominently displayed in early trailers and commercials was completely removed from the movie. Norton wound up not having a conversation with the character that was supposedly named Dr. Samson. No idea why it was cut.
• Speaking of scenes on the cutting room floor, I kept having thoughts of Banner's trek to the lands of tundra nag at me towards the end of the film. From what I heard of that scene, I think it would have been a perfect fit.
  
• At least 80% of the audience stuck around past the credits in hopes of another scene like Fury in Iron Man. I guess that shouldn't be so surprising, since 12am showings bring out the die-hards, but it still seems to bode well for what Marvel Studios is doing.
  
• While it may not have done the job as well as Iron Man, the film did a decent job of blending in some humor.
• Oh, I found it interesting that the climax happened in Harlem. If I knew a bit more about the layout, I'd probably have been looking to see if any collateral damage was done to Clinton's office.
  

Punisher: War Zone Teaser

(By way of Kevin Melrose, who got it from IGN)

I Know, I Know...But Still...

The way they teased the next issue was funny, though. Can't wait to see if anyone gets their panties all in a bunch over that. ;)

Quesada Still Saying Its Magic

From the Wizard World Philly coverage of the BND panel over on Newsarama:

Asked if the "missing time" between OMD and BND will also address what was going on with Spider-Man in other titles, Quesada said that the more detail that you go into, the more complicated things can become. As a result, the plan is to keep things as clean and as simple as they can.

If that doesn't reaffirm JMS's statements that Quesada wanted to fall back on "it's magic, we don't have to explain it", I don't know what does.

There continues to be inconsistency in their statements regarding the Spider-Man changes...inconsistencies that only get worse with each time they open their mouth to answer questions.

I think they've taken the worst approach possible in their attempts to have their cake and eat it, too.

Marvel decided they wanted to make some significant changes to the character. That's great. That's their right. Take it and run with it.

But when you make significant changes like this, you're going to invalidate some stuff that went before and piss off some fans. Accept that as the cost of doing business instead of trying to say everything happened (when it couldn't possibly) and that you didn't really change anything other than the wedding not happening (when, again, that isn't possible).

As long as they continue to try to make it be everything to everyone even when that flies in the face of logic, they're going to find that this continues to be thorn in their side. Just make what sense of it that you can...cutting out what really can't fit in continuity...and move on.

And, for God's sake, don't try to compare the unanswered Spidey questions to how things are done in LOST...

SCHWAPP!!!: Beats Of The Week Volume 1

Introducing a new vlog angle. I'm going to attempt to just touch upon the story "beats" of the week, both good and bad. It will, unfortunately, never be all inclusive of what comes out in a given week. I can only read so much. If something big happens that I haven't already bought and read, I'll definitely try to get my hands on it.

Without further ado...

Terry Two-Fer...ummm...Thursday

Terry Dodson has shared two upcoming X-Men covers he put together.

Secret Invasion X-Men #1


Young X-Men #5

ASM BRAND NEW DAY SPOILERS: Dig? Thumbing Of The Nose? Or Just Being Cute?

As discussed, the last page and a quarter plays on the JMS saying that Quesada's answer for everything OMD was, "it's magic; we don't have to explain it!"

Is it a dig at him? Is it kind of thumbing their nose at the situation? Or is it just meta-cute?

You make the call!

The New Runaways Team?

Terry Moore and Humberto Ramos are doing the rounds to publicize their new Runaways work. But you know what? I care more about what Christina strain has to say about it to Vaneta Rogers back in March:

"I'm very excited about it because Humberto's work looks fantastic," she said. "He's drawing it similar to how he was doing X-Men, but he's doing a really good job of getting the characters' personalities down. Everybody's really distinctive. He captured their personalities really well. So I'm very excited, and I have some interesting ideas about how I'm going to do it. And I'm kind of referencing Carlos Meglia for the coloring stuff. So I'm going to go for this kind of animated look."

Strain is a hold over from all of the previous Runaway "regimes"...and a valuable one at that. She's quickly become one of the colorists you can quickly spot the work of.

SCHWAPP!!! Comics Week 28: Secret Invasion #2

Brand New Slott

Back in March, Dan Slott said the following over on Spider-Man Crawlspace:

On a personal note, I want to profusely thank jeffgamer for his support around the net. Back in December, jeffgamer's internet-wide dissent of OMD got the notice of NEW YORK POST writer Dareh Gregorian, who wrote an online piece about it: "Spidey Swings". http://www.nypost.com/seven/12292007/news/nationalnews/spidey_swings__153114.htm The article even wrapped up with a quote by jeffgamer: "jeffgamer, wrote: 'The Spider-Man I've loved and read about for 34 years is dead now. No matter how well written or well drawn what comes next may or may not be, it is being built upon the corpse of something that I, and many other readers, cared about deeply.'" That put this phenomenon on Mr. Gregorian's radar. And on January 7th, Mr. Gregorian wrote a follow up story which appeared on PAGE 3 of the actual NEW YORK POST, "Spidey's Smooch Scandal", which showcased the cover to the first BND issue, #546, and plugged it two days before its release! You can't BUY publicity like that! The next day USA TODAY, the wire, and, in turn, local papers around the country picked up the story. The USA TODAY piece was what caught the attention of Howard Stern. The buzz from there grew and led to BND stories on ABC, CBS, CNN, NEWSWEEK, and local evening news shows around the country. So to jeffgamer I say "THANK YOU!". You might just be the butterfly who flapped his wings on the internet, caused a hurricane in the real world, and gave ASM #546 the attention it needed to spike and reach the #1 spot in January! You might just be the guy who brought new readers in off the street, helped major retail chains sell out, and made us go back to press for a second printing on #546! Keep up the good work!

After some negative reactions from posters on the board (which really wasn't worse than anything Joe Quesada used to say on New Joe Fridays), he followed it up a week later by deleting that message and replacing it with the following:

It's been pointed out to me how "snarky" my original post sounded. And if that's the case, then I'm sorry. At the same time, I'd also ask for a little understanding and for you to try to imagine how things look from this side of the equation. After a few months of being on a book like ASM , I'm starting to understand how this works. Passions are always going to run high with fans-- both for & against. Here on the internet it can get pretty vocal. And in the past, I've seen myself as a fan too-- able to spout off just as much as any of you guys. I think I get it now-- that's NOT the case. I get paid to do this. I get the privilege of working in this industry. And part of being a "professional" is that you have to act like one. You guys can say whatever you want and goof up from time to time-- and no one's going to shine a light on it. The trade off is-- I don't get to do that anymore. I think I can live with that. So again... Sorry for being a little too "human" back there. It won't happen again. In the future, when posting here and around the net, I'll strive to take a more professional attitude-- one that you, as consumers, deserve from the people whose work you support.

In another thread on that board, he doesn't seem to deal well with a BND colleague getting praise where he isn't receiving the same:

Seriously? If you liked Zeb's issues of ASM (which kicked much ass), something to keep in mind, was that Zeb got to play with BND when all the pieces on the board were already set up.

Funny that backhanded compliment thing there. Or, if you prefer, trying to make an excuse as for why people might think Zeb's arc kicked more ass. There is the fact that, from what I'm aware of, the arc didn't really have anything that would make it stand out as being a BRAND NEW DAY story versus a plain ol' Spidey story.

Shame that Zeb wound up off the book and never seemed to have been highlight in the promotions for BRAND NEW DAY as much as the others involved in the book.

I think that comment came before Slott's epiphany about watching his words over the internet. Of course, I have documented irrational behavior from him directed at me after his supposedly coming to the understanding of how a professional is supposed to act. Professional or not, he does slyly try to invite people from that board to come over to his spot on 606studios.com (where he can, you know, delete or edit anything he doesn't like).

This ain't exactly bitching and moaning with fans, but it's a bit unprofessional to try to defend your own work from poor reviews that you suggest came from people just flipping through in the store and then slide a few digs in at a competitor's book and the creators involved.

From his message board on 606studios.com:

Thought for the day...

---

Reading a comic in the store is like trying to watch an entire movie on the display monitor at Blockbusters. Reading a comic in the store on Comic Day is like trying to watch an entire movie on the display monitor at a crowded and noisy Blockbusters. Reading a comic in the store when the store owner or manager is there... (Because you KNOW they don't like you doing it. And NO, you're not their favorite customer that they have a "special relationship" with. And No, they're not cool with it. That's an urban myth. Like your girlfriend from... Canada.) ...well, reading it like that means that you're reading it as quickly as humanly possible. Wonderful. Now you're the guy who's not only trying to watch an entire movie on the display monitor at Blockbusters, you're also the guy who's flipped open the control panel, hit the FAST FORWARD button and is watching that movie at 16X speed. Awesome. I'm sure you're totally following the plot, the snappy dialogue, and all of the extra little touches. Meanwhile... On the same trip, you've purchased a copy of ALL-STAR SUPERMAN #whenever-Grant-Morrison-and-Frank-Quitely-felt-like-finishing-it. But with this book you've cradled it in your arms all the way home, read it in your Queen Anne chair in front of a roaring fire, and all while enjoying your snifter of port. Jeepers, I really wonder which comic you're going to like more?

Yeah...people enjoy someone else's work more than yours because of the ambiance. Right.

I've heard about a little bit that will be appearing on the last page of tomorrow's Amazing Spider-Man. It comes off as a dig at JMS's recounting of how Quesada said OMD made sense (it's magic), from what my sources say. This points out that either the full script went in after a certain date or scripting was done after the finished art.

That's important because I thought for a second the following panel was taken from my interaction with Slott...then I said, "nah...the script had to have been in long before that!" Maybe not...

That's something that was expressed to me by Dan several times. Like when he was stalking me for a phone call and I indicated I'd only call him if I could record it and put it up on the blog (because he was trying to twist anything he could to attack Newsarama at the time and continues to try to twist facts in any argument). But maybe there are other people he had a mad-on for that he said the same to...given how far gone he was for a month or so there.

Marvel Loves Sexually Controversial Images

Yeah...THIS won't get a lot of negative attention (that will likely just help Marvel advertise it). I've run this by a few friends and the general consensus is the fourth panel (top right) is meant to evoke images of a facial/money shot. That doesn't even get into the potentially sensual depiction of all the girls gathering around to "help" in the rest of the panels...

SCHWAPP!!!@TheMovies: Iron Man

DC Vs Marvel @ The Movies: Much Ado About Nothing

OK...it has become chic to suggest that Marvel does better with their properties in the movies because they are not adverse to creating a cohesive universe where their characters cross over in the movies.

What?!?

Does anyone pointing this out as a strategic advantage realize that Iron Man is the only movie that has been released thus far that is starting that trend? And that means there has effectively been NO CROSSOVER BETWEEN MOVIES YET? How can that be a sign of the strategy being a success?

Some people (cough...linked above...cough) just love to find any possible angle to bitch about DC Comics. I'm sure that's not true of ALL of the people putting forth this idea, though.

For the record, I do think that the Marvel Entertainment approach is a helluva lot stronger than Time-Warner's history of giving too much of the control to individual filmmakers. But I do find it hard to argue decisively against giving such control to previously proven artists like Singer & Nolan. If I had to bet on the abilities of Favreau, Singer, and Nolan to helm a super-hero franchise prior to the release of their respective movies, Favreau would have the worst odds of winning.

But the biggest flaw here is thinking the cohesive universe is why Marvel's succeeding when it hasn't even occurred in the market yet to have contributed to their success.

Mike Choi: Voice Of Reason

Mike Choi comes with the logic that most fanboys always want to ignore when arguing against Wizard's practices (linked above).

Now, I'm all for being giddy about Wizard possibly going the way of the dinosaur if you project them selling their property as a sign of the end (with all sympathy to those that would be out of a job, naturally). But you can't blame Wizard for producing a magazine that people buy. It's like knocking Marvel for putting Wolverine in so many books when so many keep buying anything he shows up in (as Choi pointed out) or knocking DC for having so many books featuring Batman & Superman.

I said I'd be giddy for them to go, though, and that's definitely true. It's part the hope that whoever fills the void will be more like Comic Foundry (who Choi praises even in his defense of Wizard) and part because the fallout from Wizard disappearing would be damned interesting to observe.

• Where would the Big Two turn for print coverage of their events and major properties?
• Would CBR or Newsarama attempt to come out with a print publication?
• Would there even be an attempt to fill the void or would coverage just get that much more focus online?

I know I'll stay tuned to see how it all shakes out.