Massive Speculation regarding November's Sales

The Diamond Top 100 and the ICv2’s Top 300 actual were posted, and always, there were a number of things I noticed. A lot of people look at the top first. What I see there is that DC knows what to do with its books. They’ve made a lot of mistakes, but they have really managed to come up with an effective expansion strategy. Whereas Batman and Superman were practically the only characters with multiple books, we now have Green Lantern sporting two satellite titles and The Flash prepared to expand. DC is constantly looking to recreate the magic of 52, where all of us were interested in the stories of character we previously had no interest in, andwhere we went out and bought a weekly book. They’re finally get a handle on it with the two bi-weekly titles, though like 52, the stories in Brightest Day have worked themselves into full issues and not just multiple segements per issue.

Marvel has managed to mold the Avengers into a successful franchise, which is fantastic. The X-Men is still doing amazingly well without controlling the way the Marvel Universe moves, and is really a testament to good storytelling that is self-contained with the Marvel mutants. Two things from the top 100 for Marvel: the market is ready for a Young Avengers title, and I expect to see a vampire-centric Marvel U title in the next year. More on that and more later in the week. There’s a lot I want to touch on.

Here’s what I see at the bottom though. First we have the initial “Danger Range” from 20,000-15,000 in sales. For Marvel, two titles are penned for cancellation (as per Alex Alonso): Deadpool Corps and Deadpool Team-Up. Personally I think this is a good move to get the number of Deadpool titles down. Marvel went a bit too far with that, in my opinion, and really spreadout their Deadpool reading viewers. The other is Namor, which is a sad little title due to constantly being tied in to events. This will be touched on later. DC has a few titles in this range: Booster Gold, Power Girl, JSA All Stars, and the Secret Six. Secret Six is going to be plagued by the villains for hire Titans title. I really feel the market is not able to support more than one of these kinds of books at one time, and Titans being tied into Brightest Day isn’t helping Secret Six at all. Honestly, the upcoming Doom Patrol tie-in won’t either. However, for DC titles, these are safe. The sad member of this group is Thunder Agents. Despite everything DC tried to promote this book, it debuts for November at 16,122. It doesn’t bode well for the future of the book.

The next section is the 15,000-10,000 range. Marvel cancels books in this range, typically. I think, and I’m not positive on this, but I think Marvel regularly publishes more mini-series than DC does, which definitely would make the number spread a bit trickier. However, Iron Man Legacy is still running in this range, which I have been continually surprised by after all the other titles Marvel has let go of. DC has a couple of books that live in this range, The Outsiders, Freedom Fighters, Batman Confidential, and REBELS. I’m actually quite surprised that Outisders has better sales than REBELS, due to REBELS having a much higher critical acclaim. But then the acclaim is also given to Thor, the Mighty Avenger, which pulls in at 8,720. To wrap this section, Marvel’s other books in this range are Black Widow, Hawkeye & Mockingbird, and Young Allies. All of which are done and will wrap in minis. I’ll give Marvel that, they usually allow the creator to finish telling his story.

Under 10,000. DC’s First Wave books are here, and I’m not really sure whether that is something that is still considered “safe” for that line. It’s below a lot of the Vertigo titles, and I’m not sure what will happen next with them. Personally I love reading The Spirit, and would be sad to see it go. Doom Patrol and Azrael are both here, with Azrael still chugging along somehow at 7,841. I think that the DP crossover with Secret Six will benefit it more than the other way around. Down at the bottom is the Mighty Crusaders, the wrapup of the debacle that has been The Red Circle stories, coming in at 5,006 for issue 5.

There’s a lot more I want to touch on, so I’ll be doing so in separate segments soon.

Brightest Day

I've been thinking about this one for a while. So I'm pretty late to comment on the obvious: Brightest Day will lead into the main characters getting their own series. The series proper will anyway, I can't speak in regards to the other resurrected characters. But at this point it's pretty obvious, especially since there's been rumors about Firestorm, James Robinson pretty much let slip about Hawkman, and there's no denying that Geoff Johns can't wait to let loose with Aquaman.

Geoff Johns has ultimately, figured out a winning formula. Bring a character back into the spotlight with a rebirth. Start new ongoing. Start spinning off from there. Green Lantern is 3 books deep right now. Flash is supposed to be getting it's first secondary book in 2011. Both have movies in the works. It's extremely impressive. So now we've got Aquaman (Johns/Ivan Reis, I'm betting), Hawkman/Hawkgirl/Hawkworld/Hawks (James Robinson/Philip Tan), and then Tomasi writing Martian Manhunter, I'm thinking, with Sterling Gates on Firestorm. Maybe even Igle back on Firestorm?

I'm wondering if this pushing back of Tomasi/Gleason's Batman & Robin is actually part of a preparation for a Tomasi/Gleason Martian Manhunter. Give a bit of breathing room, so to speak. Gates is purely speculation, but it'd make sense in regards to his suddenly departure from Supergirl.

More speculation. The single issue one-shots in January. Wonder Girl, Steel, Congorilla & Starman, and Shazam. Eric Wallace is the in house Shazam/Marvel Family man, it seems, so I won't surprised if after Osiris' story in Titans plays out that DC won't roll with the new series. I'd love a new Steel series, but that's just hoping on my part. Having never read any Doctor Who novels, I can speak nothing in regards to the man's work. Wonder Girl, I'm thinking is expansion on the Wonder Woman line. They've mentioned briefly giving a second book to them, and how she should have a secondary. If Krul was the original person offered Firestorm, then it would make sense why he declined as he had "too much on his plate." This is if he was the person who said it in the first place. Here's what I'm thinking with C&S. IF these are all testing for new ongoings AND James Robinson is writing a new Hawkman ongoing, then I would continue my speculation and say that he's off JLA sometime next year. Honestly, he's not able to pull off too many books at once, 2 ongoings and a mini (Shade) is pushing it a bit, historically speaking.

I fully welcome DC to disprove everything I've just said. I'd rather know that I was wrong than find out I've somehow looked at everything on my own and figured it all out.

The Marvel trinity

Many people put stock in trinities, whether it be religious, in film trilogies, or in this case, comics. DC probably has the best known comic trinity in Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. These three have been among their longest running, most popular, and most widely recognized characters. I should point out, this is not a direct reflection of sales. However, the average person knows who they are. Marvel considers itself to have a trinity as well, but it's certainly not as recognizable. At least not yet.

Probably the most recognizable Marvel characters are Spider-man, Wolverine, and the Hulk. Marvel considers its true trinity to be Captain America, Iron Man, and Thor. The core of the Avengers. But just like the Avengers titles struggles, a few years ago these three heroes were far from the most popular titles running. But between Marvel Studios and clever revamps of all 3 books (Iron Man twice!), they are building that image.

The books have been well received, and the Iron Man movies as well. I saw an argument on a form about Marvel's trinity the other day, and I would agree that Marvel's central heroes are not very well known. I feel like this is changing.

To avoid spoiling, I'll be vague, but there is a teaser for the new Thor movie out there that got me very excited. It then dawned on me what was happening. The movies leading up to 2012's Avengers movie are Thor and Captain America, along with the Iron Man movies and the Incredible Hulk. These movies set the stage for these characters to be more household names, for the wider world to have an idea of who they are. Marvel has cleverly made their play to create icons outside of comic fandom that DC cemented so long ago. And if they're not careful, DC could lose ground with their franchises.

While Batman continues to be healthy, Superman's film franchise has been neglected, and the comics excellent but scattered. Wonder Woman suffers from many problems that would need to be resolved prior to any film possibilities. The comics have been well written and fun, but in many ways have gained no ground. So Marvel's trinity may prove to be the one of choice by the casual fan, the comic movie fan. It's an impressive move on Marvel's part that should make DC wary.

Hadji Murad

I just finished Hadji Murad, by Tolstoy. This is the first anything I've finished by Tolstoy; currently I'm also reading Anna Karenina, and have made attempts to read The Death of Ivan Illyitch and The Kingdom of God Is Within You, but have never finished either for whatever reason.

Anyway, it was a very short and enjoyable read, and you can tell he put alot of research into the book. What is interesting is that very often he speaks about the various people of the Caucaus in a much more noble light than the Russians, who are often rude or caught up in the various issues of Russian aristocracy (which was essentially acting like they were French). It is sad as well, and I can't help but wonder whatever happened to Murad's family.

my prosciutto and me

I don't think my body likes prosciutto. Sure, it has an amazing flavor. The smell and the ribbon of fat, I could do without, but still. It really adds to the sandwich. Which is saying a lot, for one thin slice stacked on layers of meat and cheese.

But sadly, I don't think my stomach has managed to adapt that far with pork products, especially since I didn't eat any for roughly 8 years. I just feel funky after I eat it. Start to feel drowsy and lightheaded. So I reach for my trusty cup of hot tea and burn it away. I guess I'm just not ready for the awesomeness prosciutto is trying to bring.

Things I am reading

Sometimes I overwhelm myself by reading multiple things at the same time. I find this to be enjoyable and fun, as long as I don't think about it too much. The main reason I really overload myself is that I have so much material to read that I've gathered (some of which I was supposed to have read in college), and I feel as though to properly own up to my book collection, I should have read at least half of the books I own, if not having read all of them.

This would also justify new book purchases.

The books I read area also based on where I am at and what time of day it is.

Currently at the house I am reading:
Hadji Murad by Leo Tolstoy
Mushihi vol. 4 by Yuki Urushibara
The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis

On Wednesdays I read one issue each from the following Essential/Showcase volumes of comics:
Essential Doctor Strange vol. 1
Essential Howard the Duck vol. 1
Essential Spider-Woman vol. 1
Showcase Presents Green Lantern vol. 1

At work I read:
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Burmese Days by George Orwell

Philip K. Dick vs. Himself

Today I finally finished Philip K. Dick's awesome book, The Man in the High Castle. I loved the inclusion of the I Ching and the use of it throughout, though a Chinese concept rather than Japanese (the Japanese being a prominent influence in the book, adopted this from the Chinese). And though I've yet to verify the statement's authenticity (as it came from wikipedia), it may be the case that Philip K. Dick used it to write the book itself. Which creates a spiraling bit of metafiction with the book within a book, The Grasshopper Lies Heavy. I would give a description of the book, but I feel like many people might be put off by the concept, as I would have been, had I known it before purchasing the book soley on the name of the author.

In other news, I have been trying to determine what Godzilla/Toho monster film to purchase next. I haven't finished the boxed set Norah gave me just yet (still have some of the Heisei era movies to go through, as well as the 3rd Godzilla release in the Millenium series), and I probably should do that first. However, the ones I've been considering are Frankenstein Conquers the World, the Rodan/War of the Gargantuas double set from Classic Media (who released the original Gojira package), or possible a Godzilla box set of the Classic Media series. There is also a 3 DVD set containing Tokyo S.O.S. (sequel to Mechagodzilla Against Godzilla), Son of Godzilla, and Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla. The relunctance is not actually in the older films, but the newer one. According to many reviews, the current release of Tokyo S.O.S. has a very poor video transfer (for whatever reason), making it difficult to enjoy the movie fully. After all, we're talking about a movie with lots of flying around from Mothra.

Decisions, decisions.

weird loan stuff

A while back I purchased a new bed. I ended up getting a loan for it through the store with a local lender. The interest rate wasn't so bad, so I didn't really worry about it too much. When it came time to pay the bill, the loan place didn't have my information on file at any of their stores. They said that perhaps the store never sent in the loan information, and to come back in a few weeks. When I came back, the info was still not there. Nothing.

Whenever I tried to contact the store around this time I'd never get anyone. So after talking with the main branch for the loan company (who by the way, are the most helpful people ever), they said they were going to have everything arranged, and I should receive one mail notice from them once my loan information is input.

At this point it's been months. I called today, still nothing. They suggested I go ahead and call the place, and find out what happened. I'm not sure myself. I thought I had a copy of the loan info as well, but I haven't seen it since that day. Not sure what happened, and I'm pretty sure I would have caught myself before I threw something like that away. I'm almost relunctant to call them. They seem to be alright that they haven't received money. I know I'm okay with a free bed. The loan people would understand. It's not like they've had to pay the store at this point, what with the loan never finalizing.

I don't know.

King Kong vs. Godzilla

So yesterday I downloaded and watching King Kong vs. Godzilla, in Japanese, with English subtitles. I haven't seen this particular one in years.

It was one of the ones we watched alot when I still lived at home, and I want to say my cousin Stephanie frequently watched it with us as well. We never one of those families with a whole series of VHS tapes of recording shows. So we just had the one Godzilla VHS that we had gotten from Fred's (the one time we went to Fred's) for 5 dollars.

I think at the time that we watched it then, we were a little disappointed that King Kong didn't look the "same" as we were used to from the original black and white film. I think we were also a little confused (and bored) by the jumps from the Japanese to the American additions, but didn't care. Monsters fighting would be happening any moment. Aaaany moment. Also we were always able to notice the shadow of the spears thrown during the giant octopus scene.

Anyway, I remembered most of the Japanese characters watching it this time around, and their awkwardness made more sense with the original dialogue. However, more things stood out this time. For whatever reason, the suit for the King Kong face closeups is different than the full body suit. Like, completely different. And seriously, this has to be the saddest looking Godzilla ever. He barely makes an appearance as far as I'm concerned. And while the wikipedia article on this movie states that it was one of the more popular suits (yay wikipedia), I'd say it's the most crumpled and squishy-headed looking one of the series.

I kind of get the impression that the people making this one didn't feel like putting a lot of effort into the minatures sets for whatever reason. I will say that the Godzilla rampaging through the city scenes were fairly decent, and that the actor in the King Kong suit does a good job of acting like an overgrown ape. Probably the more redeeming quality of this movie is actually the goofiness of the characters from the Pacific Pharmaceuticals company. Most of their actions are actually funny, and I'd swear I've seen charachatures of them in anime.

However, I think the worst part of the movie is actually the fight. Because it seems that King Kong's ultimate weakness is (DUM DUM DUM DUUUUUUM) ROCKS! I actually fell asleep around this time because I was a) tired, and b) bored of Godzilla kicking rocks onto King Kong. It was just ridiculous.

Anyway, I'm looking into acquiring for the near future the main movies that came before this in the series, which are Godzilla Raids Again, Rodan, Mothra, and Frankenstein Conquers the World. In the meantime, I can finally finish The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick.

Godzilla in 3 parts (all in one blog!)

For Christmas, my beloved got me the amazing Toho remaster of the original Godzilla (usually found in stores as Gojira). The DVD pack contains both the original film in Japanese w/ English subtitles and a second disc with the English dubbed, Raymond Burr starring Godzilla: King of Monsters. Not feeling like reading at the time, we watched the American re-edit. It moves so slowly with Raymond Burr. And much of the Godzilla stomping around reused the scenes from earlier, or reused a particular cut (I saw him roar over the same power lines about 5 times). I decided to watch the Japanese original later on, and the difference was amazing. The pacing is better, all the repetitive monster scenes were entirely from the American cut, and the storyline with the main characters is much more interesting. I was very surprised at the dramatic difference between the two versions.

In addition to the Gojira pack, Norah also got me a multipack of Godzilla DVDs, which include two dual packs of Heisei era Godzilla films (Godzilla vs. Mothra w/ Godzilla vs. Ghidorah and Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla w/ Godzilla vs. Biolante), the 1998 Matthew Broderick Godzilla, and the first 4 of the Millenium series (Godzilla 2000; Godzilla vs. Megagirus; Godzilla, Mothra, Ghidorah: All Monsters Attack!; and Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla).

I just watched Godzilla 2000 all the way through today (which I only have the dubbed version). The English dubbing/script is often peppered with the types of exclamations found in silver age and early 90s comics. Additionally, the main antagonist (not Godzilla?) has an extremely overdone voice, which amused me. Regardless, the story was pretty good, and emphasized Godzilla's efforts to protect Japan, despite his continued attacks on it. My favorite part was at the end, though. Someone asks, "Why does Godzilla help us, when since he's arrived we've only tried to kill him?" The response is, "Maybe it's because... we've all got a little bit of Godzilla in all of us." Godzilla then proceeds to romp around the city a bit more and make a huge sweep with the fire breath, before standing looking straight at the camera, flames leaping high around him. Then the credits roll. I just thought it was hilarious.

Also, the guy in the suit had to be hot right then.