This publish is Filed Under:
Home page Highlights,
Interviews as well as Columns
Wayne Markley
by Wayne Markley
OK, I am not going to truly repair a hole, however I am going to talk about some random problems in the comic book world that bother me as well as evaluation as well as suggest some recent releases I truly delighted in as well as I believe you ought to take the time to look at also. (And for those of you who are still confused, repairing a hole is a recommendation to a Beatles song). As a guideline of thumb, I try not to be as well unfavorable in this blog, even though at times I do admit my pessimism slips in. I have extremely mixed feelings about the present comic market as I do not see a bright future, for the conventional comic store at least. however on the other hand, it is one of the biggest times to checked out comics or gather them. There are some outstanding present titles, in addition to a seemingly new discovery of the rich history of comics. Plus, so much of this history is being reprinted for the very first time enabling us to see material that we would have otherwise never been conscious of.
First off, I worry that comics are going the method of many print media. book as well as magazine have both been hit with remarkable drops in sales of printed copies as well as are being replaced by digital download. books have made a relatively smooth shift over to digital with e-book sales growing at a stable pace. however as quick as the digital market grows, the print sales fall. magazines are hit harder since because the beginning of time magazines have depended on ad sales as well as subscriptions to preserve profitability, as well as with digital magazines it is far harder to get people to subscribe for any type of genuine money or to offer ads. In addition, what is assisting to kill magazines is practically any type of info you might at one time only discover in a magazine, you can practically always discover for totally free on the web. Over the last six months both marvel as well as DC have been pushing digital comics hard. They are far less expensive than printing comic books, as well as to be honest, on an IPad or an Amazon Kindle Fire, comics look amazing. The colors are spectacular as well as the art truly stands out. personally I still like the printed page, however I worry over time there will be fewer as well as fewer printed comics. This in turn will result in less as well as less printed titles till there are only a few superhero titles left. I suspect there will always be a little hardcore group that will still want the floppies, however like vinyl records, I worry we are going to a little however devoted group.
Steve Canyon Vol. 1
On the positive side, IDW just released the very first volume of the total Steve Canyon. What a gorgeous book. It covers the very first two years of this remarkable strip as well as it shows what a master as well as brilliant Milton Caniff was. By the time Caniff moved over to Steve Canyon he had already ended up being a polished master of art as well as storytelling. While Terry as well as the Pirates was great, Steve Canyon is miles ahead of it. This is experience storytelling at its best. One thing I truly like about this collection is IDW has reprinted both the everyday strips as well as likewise the Sunday strips, which are provided in color. as well as the reproduction is stunning. This is at least the fourth attempt to gather the total Steve Canyon as well as I personally hope IDW gets it done where the others have failed. Editor Dean Mullaney is worthy of a ton of credit rating for the work he puts into these comic strip collections. They are preserving a lost element of the field of comics.
Over the last few weeks, mainly among the DC new 52 books, I have discovered a pattern that truly bothers me. That is the utilize of sprinkle pages. I am for a sprinkle page to make a point, or perhaps a double page spread for something truly cosmic as well as huge, like Jack Kirby utilized to do. however in at least five different books over a two week period there were at least two sprinkle pages in a 22 page story. the worst being Justice league #4 which had 5 sprinkle pages. I will be the very first to admit that Jim Lee is a great artist, as well as a extremely good guy, however when you are paying $3.99 for a 22 page story as well as 5 of those pages are sprinkle pages, I feel ripped off. This goes towards my bigger problem of the pricing of comics, they are as well expensive, as well as the value you get for your money is going down all the time. I can see charging $3.99 for JL because you are getting one of the very best artists available with Jim Lee, however he is taking short cuts to make a deadline, as well as he is the very first one to miss the 52 guarantee of shipping on schedule (JL #5 shipped a week late). Jim is not even drawing Justice league issues# 6-8. I completely comprehend that he has a great deal on his plate as co-publisher as well as his art style is time intensive, however provided that he ought to not be on a monthly book. You are sucked into the story with the spectacular art as well as then they modification artists soon into the run. By this time around you are already collecting the book now at a higher cost as well as not numerous are going to stop purchasing it with Jim being gone (after all we are creatures of habit). even if he does return, I still think about this practically akin to bait as well as switch, which I understand technically it isn’t, however it feels that method to me. let Jim do special jobs than can be arranged when he is done, as well as not utilize him as a gimmick to increase sales in the short term. as well as yes, marvel is guilty of this also.
Justice league worldwide #7
On a positive note I am truly delighted to see some fun returning to comics. Admittedly it is difficult to discover at times, however there are a number of fun books available that are not dark as well as fierce as well as truly remind me of when comics were fun to read. two of the very best of this group is Daredevil as well as Justice league International. I have raved about Daredevil over as well as over in this blog so I am not going to go one any type of much more about it, except to state purchase it! Justice league worldwide is a fun book in a method DC utilized to be. It is not as goofy as the DeMatteis, Giffen, as well as Maguire problems were, however there is a lighthearted feel to the stories. When compared to the rest of the 52 titles, this book practically reads like Dan DeCarlo’s Archie.
Near Death
Also, there are a number of truly great books available that are getting no attention, such as activity as well as Near Death, both from picture Comics. Both of these comics are extremely great reads as well as have absolutely nothing to finish with superheroes. There is Boom’s world of the Apes comics. These are really truly good, especially the miniseries, as well as they get next to no attention. There are likewise some bestselling books that are outstanding as well as worth your time to look at, such as Batman, Aquaman as well as Wolverine as well as the X-Men (which is something I never believed I would write).
Archie: the very best of Dan DeCarlo
In closing I would like to suggest a no brainer, the Archie: the very best of Dan DeCarlo Vol. 3. This is a gorgeous hardcover book with top notch production values as well as it had me smiling from ear to ear with every page. as well as frequently I was chuckling out loud. These are from the very best period of Archie Comics as well as the stories may only be five pages however they entertain me far much more than many of the present 22 page comics do. If you have never checked out an Archie, try one of IDW’s Archie: finest Of collections. I would suggest Dan DeCarlo as well as Harry Lucey collections personally, however all of them are excellent. now that I have cleared out my brain, next time I mean to compose about great artists gone bad. (Subject to change, mind you.)
As always, these are just my thoughts as well as do not show the opinions or thoughts of Westfield Comics or their employees. In truth I understand of a few colleagues who would strongly disagree with a few of my opinions here. any type of comments, complaints or thoughts are welcome to be sent to MFBWAY@AOL.COM.
Thank you.