As a brief update for the uninitiated: AT&T acquired Time Warner in mid-2018 and promptly showed itself to be somewhere between cool and actively hostile to DC Comics as anything more than a bottomless IP well for use by DC Entertainment.https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2019/07/31/where-does-dc-fit-in-atts-vision-for-warnermedia/#7d38e6e379b7
AT&T proceeded to badly fuck up launching HBO Max and, as of this writing, is in the midst of goof-proof restructuring/re-siloing its ridiculously sprawling holdings - including Warner Brothers Studio, all the Turner networks (CNN, TCM, TNT, Cartoon Network) and HBO - into parcels of territory it thinks it can more ably control. The general industry take seems to be that AT&T is at a loss as to why they are in a dying pamphlet publishing industry and, as no one ever got around to figuring out how to properly monetize digital, they a)want out or b)are happy to deprioritize DC Comics indefinitely.https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/at-t-loses-streaming-pay-tv-subscribers-warnermedia-earnings-drop-1274002 https://www.fool.com/investing/2020/03/04/is-att-getting-ready-to-kill-dc-comics.aspx
In August of 2020, following the layoffs of thousands of people in their direct-to-consumer stores, AT&T fired hundreds of staff people at Warner Brothers and DC including much of the latter's senior staff and editorial.https://www.comicsbeat.com/dc-layoffs-reportedly-a-bloodbath/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/dcs-jim-lee-companys-future-we-are-still-business-publishing-comics-1307413
DC Comics is currently canceling somewhere between a third and half of its currently active books before the end of the year.https://www.gamesradar.com/dc-cancels-teen-titans-young-justice-suicide-squad-hawkman-and-more/
COVID, of course, isn't helping and neither is the life-support system status of the direct market or DC's recent break with Diamond as exclusive distributors.http://www.tcj.com/diamond-comics-to-end-weekly-comics-delivery-starting-april-1st-until-further-notice/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/comic-stores-diamond-distributors-clash-as-industry-reopens-1301472https://screenrant.com/dc-comics-break-with-diamond-a-major-success/
In the midst of all this tumult, DC launched a previously-to-the-layoffs-announced first-time virtual "Fandome" convention this past weekend. What exciting DC Comics info could you learn about at Fandome? Well there was an announcement for a new HBO Batman series, a new Captain Mar - er - SHAZAM movie, more info on The Rock's Black Adam movie, a trailer for yet another Batman movie reboot, the cast for the new Suicide Squad movie, a preview for a Flash movie, news about another new Batman video game (based on a specific comic book run, does that count?), a trailer for the "Snyder Cut" of the three year old Justice League movie, some promise that Sandman on Netflix is still in production... and then waaaaaaaaaaaaay down at the bottom, two very vague bits of information about actual comics at this comic convention: screenwriter John Ridley announcing he's writing a four-issue series about Batman in 2021 that MIGHT have a Black protagonist ("it's probably a little better than a 47% chance," wake the kids and tell them racism is over!) and a planned reboot of the predominantly Black written/drawn/cast Milestone imprint in 2021... on Black History Month... with two one-shot books... in digital format. Maybe put the kids back to bed?https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/22/21397238/fandome-dc-zack-snyder-justice-league-batman-robert-pattinson-black-adam-gotham-knights
All in all, a company and a publishing legacy that seems ripe for shuttering or sale. It's a fucking shame considering that the company has been publishing something more than a handful of very good books as recently as the past twelve months: a wacky meta-Jimmy Olsen book by Matt Fraction and Steve Lieber, Grant Morrison's space-procedural take on Green Lantern, an excellent reboot of Hellblazer by Simon Spurrier, NK Jemisin's stellar Green Lantern Corp spin-off Far Sector, Mark Russell's admirably kooky and cohesively-structured take on the Wonder Twins, Gene Luen Yang's better-in-concept-than-execution but still completely laudable Superman Smashes the Klan, Greg Rucka and Mike Perkin's loopy Ms Tree-influenced Lois Lane miniseries... heck, if you're of the right mindset, the Bendisverse and Tom King's multiple books have been worth keeping up with too! But it's hard to imagine any extended new work of merit blossoming in 2021 from either established or new creators when your grand vision exists only on a month-to-month basis.
Here's a thread to discuss the corporate and creative future of DC Comics and why/if we should care.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Monday, 24 August 2020 14:21 (four years ago) link
Thread title reference btw: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DC_Implosion
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Monday, 24 August 2020 14:26 (four years ago) link
I literally just yesterday finished reading this:
https://twomorrows.com/images/large/books/Implosion_LRG.jpg
Recommended. Good reminder that DC has been punching itself in the face/been punched in the face by its corporate overlords for decades.
― the secret of sucess is to know all rules ...and brake them (Old Lunch), Monday, 24 August 2020 14:33 (four years ago) link
Also worth noting that the original programming on the DC Universe streaming service (which kicked off less than two years ago) are being moved over to HBO Max, in a move that all but guarantees that the service itself will be shuttered in the near future.
― the secret of sucess is to know all rules ...and brake them (Old Lunch), Monday, 24 August 2020 14:41 (four years ago) link
I think they've already talked about moving the comics to a service like Marvel Unlimited.
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 24 August 2020 14:53 (four years ago) link
Great recap, ulysses! Thanks for pointing all those great books that DC actually did publish this past year, too. Love Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane was really solid, sort of a throwback to Gotham Central. Plan to read the rest of those, too; been collecting Far Sector for a good sit.
One I would add to the "great if it's your kind of thing" is the Tom Taylor DCeased books. Yeah, I know, it's like, Marvel Zombies did this already, but I love Taylor's fun pulp since his epic Injustice run (also see his current Suicide Squad series which hopefully isn't cancelled already).
Picking up a bit on the Bendis talk earlier, I must give praise to Batman: Universe, fun tale with great art by Nick Derington. Part of a character swap he did with Tom King (doing Superman: Up in the Sky, not quite so good but interesting) for what was originally a Walmart-exclusive book.
Re: Marvel Unlimited - It's already been built, more or less, for DC Universe streaming, wasn't it? I didn't have any experience with it though, and it seemed under-advertised.
― Nhex, Monday, 24 August 2020 15:21 (four years ago) link
Yeah. It's just that with the shows all moving to HBO Max they'll rebrand it as a standalone thing
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 24 August 2020 15:25 (four years ago) link
I agree that the DCeased stuff is compulsive, pulpy stuff, good toilet reading for sure and it absolutely beats the FOR TEENZ ONLY silliness of the Heavy Metal books.
Batman: Universe WAS good and you're totally correct that Deringer's art is the strongest component there. He hits a sweet spot between Jim Aparo and Darwyn Cooke that really works for me.
I subscribed to Marvel Unlimited for a few years until I got frustrated with the many many technical issues and library restrictions and slow load times. I would honestly pay three times what MU is charging if they would only make the functionality anywhere near the same as torrenting! Can anyone speak to how well the DCU streaming comic platform works? A quick glance suggests the library is anything but comprehensive.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Monday, 24 August 2020 15:42 (four years ago) link
for reference: https://www.dcuniverse.com/browse/comics
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Monday, 24 August 2020 15:43 (four years ago) link
I know it doesn't speak well to my moral character but this is all popcorn.gif to me based on personal history
― and i can almost smell your PG Tips (Jon not Jon), Monday, 24 August 2020 16:40 (four years ago) link
Great summation btw
FWIW, I imagine someone at Disney is probably arguing that they should drastically overpay for the whole shbang with deferred inheritance of the properties for television/movies? Maybe four times what they paid for Star Wars would get AT&T's attention?
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Monday, 24 August 2020 16:46 (four years ago) link
sure do wish i could find ZS's Bat-Sicnal.jpeg
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Monday, 24 August 2020 23:18 (four years ago) link
I gambled on the stupid fucking Three Jokers premium variants and it's annoying that it seems to be an actual hit. At least we won't lose money but this will encourage them.
DC solicits point to them juicing their numbers with incentive variants heavily over the next few months - since Rebirth they'd barely done any but there are 1:25 and 1:100 everywhere. Positively Marvel-esque.
― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 00:47 (four years ago) link
Actually as much as I hate DC right now, they're still much less embarrassing than Marvel on the variant front
― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 00:48 (four years ago) link
if it's a hit, why is that annoying? (and yeah, every single damn DC title has variants now)
― Nhex, Wednesday, 26 August 2020 00:51 (four years ago) link
The variant shit is legit annoying. Catering to the pogs crowd imo.
― the secret of sucess is to know all rules ...and brake them (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 01:56 (four years ago) link
xp - I don't like them being rewarded for pushing retailers hard into ordering 450 covers of 9 "premium variants" that sell for cover. It's bad for shops and the industry in the long run.
― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 02:01 (four years ago) link
also tbh I may be jumping the gun in calling it a hit, we'll see what happens with the last set of five covers in three months.
Based on presold bundles etc. we will at least not lose money so I can't be mad mad I just don't like it
― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 02:02 (four years ago) link
ah, ok. i didn't understand that the pre-order minimums were so high for those
― Nhex, Wednesday, 26 August 2020 03:00 (four years ago) link
Yep, 50 per premium variant x 9 covers, plus the A & B - which were a PITA to order because of the commitment to 150 premiums.
― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 05:50 (four years ago) link
A brief on the past ten years of abuse of power in comics that is about 45% DC focusedhttp://www.tcj.com/the-2020-report-day-seven-finale/
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 14:08 (four years ago) link
Wish that could've been stuck to being an informative piece without so much tortured prose and opinion... but yeah, it's good to know
― Nhex, Wednesday, 26 August 2020 18:09 (four years ago) link
TCJ house style
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 18:10 (four years ago) link
TCJ house style being pretty much the entire reason I eventually stopped buying TCJ but I digress.
― the secret of sucess is to know all rules ...and brake them (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 18:33 (four years ago) link
I wish Abhay had toned down his tumblr's house style about 70% for the series, but I don't think anyone else has ever written for the Journal in its 44-year-history like him (and iirc his only previous credit was the 2015 Spectacufuck, although his drop-ins on Tucker's blog posts were always entertaining) - certainly not in reportage / feature writing, and I'd class this more alongside Groth's '80s op-eds than the factual, asking-questions-on-the-phone news reporting that used to be a hallmark of the periodical version.
Also, all variant covers are an evil in the marketplace, although to a lesser degree on Love & Rockets or Henry & Glenn Forever or Bone.
― erratic wolf angular guitarist (sic), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 18:45 (four years ago) link
my suggestion there was that TCJ house style is "tortured prose and opinion."
i will always cherish my glenn ganges chromefoil variant
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 18:55 (four years ago) link
TBF, my POV on TCJ is based on when I was still subscribing like...what, almost twenty years ago now? Fffffuuuuuuck, I'm old... But yes, interviews/main features were almost always solid.
― the secret of sucess is to know all rules ...and brake them (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 19:06 (four years ago) link
I still think that clarity of prose was a hallmark of TCJ golden age writers (aside from Ken Smith, whose column was solidly ignored by anyone except Groth - iirc the oral history has at least one editor say they didn't even bother to read it when laying out an issue?). Opinions are what you buy a magazine of criticism, columns, editorials and interviews for, but despite clearly ~knowing some words~, the greatest strength of writers like Fiore and Thompson and Macdonald and Spurgeon was an ability to be clear, personable and funny while conveying their opinions. too scared to search "glenn ganges chromefoil variant"
― erratic wolf angular guitarist (sic), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 19:13 (four years ago) link
like...what, almost twenty years ago
*searches to see when Ann3 El!zabeth M00re's brief tenure as editor was*
looks like mid-2001 to early 2002
― erratic wolf angular guitarist (sic), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 19:21 (four years ago) link
Yeah, that would've been almost exactly the time I let my sub lapse iirc.
― the secret of sucess is to know all rules ...and brake them (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 20:05 (four years ago) link
ganges chromefoil was just sicbait, don't fear the variant
current TCJ online writing is kinda all over the place in terms of writing quality; this bizarre hitpiece on Urasawa is the latest headscratcherhttp://www.tcj.com/reviews/mujirushi-the-sign-of-dreams/
That said, they're one of the few places I still read regularly for comic info and the weekly link wrap up is very necessary.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 20:11 (four years ago) link
Got a couple of paragraphs in... *sigh* ok, yeah. This is why I am not a fan of TCJ in general. No thanks.
― Nhex, Wednesday, 26 August 2020 20:24 (four years ago) link
They're still posting good stuff!Try this: http://www.tcj.com/bd-is-my-beat-a-long-hard-squint-at-manchette-and-tardi/
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 20:26 (four years ago) link
As a DC enthuiasiast, Nhex might enjoy Tom Kaczynski's or Tegan O'Neill's recent essay series on their universes more than a single link to something deliberately pointed to as being bad and incomprehensible
― erratic wolf angular guitarist (sic), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 20:42 (four years ago) link
well i wasn't trying to win him over with the Urasawa link!I found that Crisis piece pretty overwrought tbh.
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 20:44 (four years ago) link
I know, just an observation!
Maybe a bit overwrought but it's enjoying the playful wallow in nerdy nostalgia, and the building thesis about The Event is both fun and meta. Each mention is like another appearance by The Monitor and Lyla!
Tegan's recent-years comics writing has often been too ~personal essay~ for me to fully enjoy the commentary, but re-evaluating the Morrison/Case Doom Patrol in a post-transition perspective is obviously a rich and relevant vein
― erratic wolf angular guitarist (sic), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 20:58 (four years ago) link
This Tegan one on Stan Lee was good: http://www.tcj.com/what-he-taught-me/
― erratic wolf angular guitarist (sic), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 21:04 (four years ago) link
I liked their Doom Patrol piece too.http://www.tcj.com/the-wreckage-part-one/
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Wednesday, 26 August 2020 21:09 (four years ago) link
*searches to see when Ann3 El!zabeth M00re's brief tenure as editor was*looks like mid-2001 to early 2002
That was the worst incarnation of the print TCJ, wasn't it? The number of columns and reviews dwindled significantly and M00re seemed determined to turn it into her own personal zine (there were two Ghost World fumettis starring her which served no purpose).
the greatest strength of writers like Fiore and Thompson and Macdonald and Spurgeon was an ability to be clear, personable and funny while conveying their opinions.
I wish Fiore still wrote for TCJ instead of just hanging out on the Greil Marcus site.
And what happened to classic.tcj.com? It disappeared without a trace. They have always been half assed with preserving their online legacy.
― gjoon1, Wednesday, 26 August 2020 23:13 (four years ago) link
Oy, that Urasawa piece is overlong, overwrought and a pretty terrible reading t'boot
― Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 27 August 2020 14:44 (four years ago) link
The fumetti would have been great if they were funny or representative of any greater push to bring weird and playful material back to the magazine. As it was they just made her look disconnected from the aims of the publication and its other contributors.
Kinda delighted to hear that Fiore has an old-man message baord to hang out on!
Yeah, there's never been the institutional will or funding to have a coherent online strategy - dates and times have disappeared off the comments on the current (a decade or so?) version, and Tucker is aggressive about not wanting to repair them. Even when people try and point out it damages the historical record, makes it impossible to track conversations in eg. the long thread where Dave Sim makes Kim pitch him on the reprint rights for Cerebus. Still, that's a step up from the days when they had to periodically delete every single post on the message board bcz they had such a small hosting plan that it took up room needed to add new books to the shop.
― erratic wolf angular guitarist (sic), Thursday, 27 August 2020 21:37 (four years ago) link
Didn't know these guys started up their podcast again. https://www.factualopinion.com/the_factual_opinion/graphic_novel/McCulloch is my favorite guy who isn't Gary Groth.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Thursday, 27 August 2020 23:20 (four years ago) link
lol at the DC comics thread turning into a Comics Journal thread
Robert, yeah, both that and Travis Bickle On The Riviera are weekly now, presumably due to lockdown
― Daniel_Rf, Friday, 28 August 2020 09:31 (four years ago) link
Interesting that there's been a bunch of reports on Geoff Johns as an abusive boss - well, Ray Fisher's and Abhay's anyway. I wonder if they've been timed to drop now for a specific reason.
In other news, who would've seen it coming that a comics dude with a penchant for writing about limb disfigurement and for remaking every IP in DC Comics history in his own image (even Alan Moore's!) could've been an abusive, narcissistic person to work for
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 28 August 2020 14:12 (four years ago) link
An engaging essay from the proprietors of an Edmonton comic shop about how DC's withdrawing from Diamond has been a stressful net positive for them: https://www.comicsbeat.com/the-coronavirus-journal-dc-comics-distribution-change-aftermath/
― erratic wolf angular guitarist (sic), Friday, 28 August 2020 22:21 (four years ago) link
As it stands, every single graphic novel product I can get through other vendors comes into the store faster that Diamond can turn around, in better condition, and at a better price point.
I can only conclude that his was a small store on a lower discount tier or this is a Canadian issue. (This is the case with a ton of people's attitudes - the retail side of the comic industry is about a half dozen different kinds of specialty retail. Some shops survive entirely on back issues, some are in college/artsy areas and can basically be curated book stores catering to a GN crowd, some are 50/50 comics/games)(currently I'm at 33% games/single issue comics/GNs and I don't do back issues as they're usually done).
Penguin Random House offers free shipping for a $150 minimum order but their discount is 7% lower than my Diamond tier was or my DC initial order tier is (I can't restock GNs from my comic distributor, one of the A+ things about this new arrangement) - shipping does not make up that 7% difference. Their ordering system is also hot fuckin' garbage, from week to week it hasn't worked on one browser or another because of back end issues with security certificates or something. One week I had to find an old version of Internet Explorer to install on an old laptop to place my order.)
Hachette (Marvel, etc.) is even worse - 16% lower until one threshold then 6%.
I find his argument regarding Diamond's shutdown a bit squirrelly - retailers were begging for publishers and Diamond to stop shipping, because they weren't open. Books that you can't sell but have to pay for - I don't think that math works very well. (If you could even get them - my drop point was closed for a month.)
― Donald Trump Also Sucks, Of Course (milo z), Saturday, 29 August 2020 00:54 (four years ago) link
Yeah, "for them" is key there, and the amount of changes they had to do to get to being happier now is significant.
Already having in-city delivery set up was a fascinating wrinkle.
― erratic wolf angular guitarist (sic), Saturday, 29 August 2020 01:07 (four years ago) link
Very strange article to read. Probably the only one I've read praising DC for their actions. I mean, it's clear they're pushing to get DC to have their own Canadian distributor, and stop shipping issues from Canada to the US back to Canada, quite openly.
As milo just quoted, and as someone who has struggled to reliably order GNs from my locals, this rung with me:
As it stands, every single graphic novel product I can get through other vendors comes into the store faster that Diamond can turn around, in better condition, and at a better price point. This was even the case pre-COVID. They became, through their own complacency, the worst place to order graphic novels from, and they are in no condition to make that pivot today.
― Nhex, Saturday, 29 August 2020 03:09 (four years ago) link
weird to me that DC hasn't hopped into the NFT field. Seems like you could sell each individual comic that way and create your own lame ass stock market.― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 05:24 (three months ago) they did NFTs "hand-selected by Jim Lee" four months ago― bad luck banging, or Lorna Doone (sic), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 09:19 (three months ago)
― i cannot help if you made yourself not funny (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 05:24 (three months ago)
they did NFTs "hand-selected by Jim Lee" four months ago
― bad luck banging, or Lorna Doone (sic), Wednesday, 2 February 2022 09:19 (three months ago)
It’s about time we get some Batman NFTs already! DC Comics and Palm NFT Studio will drop a collection of 200,000 Bat Cowls at $300 each. There is no limit as to how many a user can purchase, but there is a $3,000 daily limit on the platform. The collection will be available on 26 April 2022, with more than 2 billion possible trait combinations. Similar to bats, this will be a blind drop, where purchases will only be revealed in May.
Bat Cowl holders will receive access to exclusive products and collectibles, such as the Bat Cowl apparel collection. They will also get exclusive access and benefits at IRL DC fan events. Furthermore, holders will get the first bite of future DC NFT collections.
In addition, the company revealed a two-year roadmap, releasing new utility every 52 days. Basically, Batman will upgrade the Bat Cowl, rewarding holders with greater access within the DC Universe. By the way, these Bat Cowls are already AR ready, in case you want to flex them on your socials. Last but not least, DC plans to use these Bat Cowls in future DC Comics stories.
If you claimed the free DC Fandome NFTs from 2021, there is some utility after all. Owners will get early access to this Bat Cowl collection. In addition, owners will soon be able to move their assets to non-custodial wallets such as MetaMask.
https://nft.dcuniverse.com/
― Yul Brynner film festival on Channel 48... (sic), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 17:23 (two years ago) link
I like the Frank Robbins issue very much too, but he is the definition of an acquired taste.LOL, I couldn't remember him by name but based on your description I immediately wondered if he was the dude who drew the '70s Invaders series, and wouldn't you know it.
― When the Pain That You Feel is the Bite of an Eel, That's a Moray (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 23:22 (two years ago) link
He had a good style for Sunday strips, not for comic books.
― immodesty blaise (jimbeaux), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 23:37 (two years ago) link
Spent the last month binging all four seasons of Young Justice on HBO Max. Wow - it's really good! Definitely one of the best iterations of the Titans in any medium. They actually took the ambition developed from Justice League Unlimited and ran with it, going much crazier with the sheer amount of characters and years of thoughtful plotting. Hopefully HBO isn't stupid and gives them another season or two to wrap up all the dangling threads.
― Nhex, Monday, 4 July 2022 06:50 (two years ago) link
Last week DC bosses scrapped a $19 million Batgirl movie for a tax write-down.In May they paid $2 million for the DC.com url.
― Vance Vance Devolution (sic), Tuesday, 16 August 2022 21:33 (two years ago) link
Closer to $90 million!
― Nhex, Tuesday, 16 August 2022 21:41 (two years ago) link
Source on the cost of the domain name acquisition?
― Panda bear, my gentle friend (morrisp), Tuesday, 16 August 2022 21:42 (two years ago) link
19 90
― Vance Vance Devolution (sic), Tuesday, 16 August 2022 21:47 (two years ago) link
ha xpmorrisp: Rich J
― Vance Vance Devolution (sic), Tuesday, 16 August 2022 21:48 (two years ago) link
dunno who that is
― Panda bear, my gentle friend (morrisp), Tuesday, 16 August 2022 21:49 (two years ago) link
https://bleedingcool.com/comics/when-dc-com-used-to-be-the-url-for-the-crappy-american-car-page/
― Piven After Midnight (The Yellow Kid), Tuesday, 16 August 2022 23:26 (two years ago) link
Thx. "It is estimated," ok
― Panda bear, my gentle friend (morrisp), Tuesday, 16 August 2022 23:34 (two years ago) link
"No you don't understand, this is as coherent as we can make it"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Crisis
― Andrew Farrell, Wednesday, 17 August 2022 23:58 (two years ago) link
“The heroes disapprove of this”
― Panda bear, my gentle friend (morrisp), Thursday, 18 August 2022 00:13 (two years ago) link
Did not know they officially changed the title to "Dark Crisis ON INFINITE EARTHS"
― Nhex, Thursday, 18 August 2022 00:21 (two years ago) link
The original was a lighthearted romp, needed a gritty reboot.
― Panda bear, my gentle friend (morrisp), Thursday, 18 August 2022 00:23 (two years ago) link
This Wikipedia summary reads like it’s written by one of those AIs that you feed a few lines for inspiration.
― Panda bear, my gentle friend (morrisp), Thursday, 18 August 2022 00:26 (two years ago) link
Well it doesn't help that the contributor doesn't understand basic sentence structure. But maybe that's just what the attempt to summarize modern-day DC does to the language center of one's brain.
― Beautiful Bean Footage Fetishist (Old Lunch), Thursday, 18 August 2022 03:55 (two years ago) link
DC continues its unbroken run of absolute chaos since, what, 2009?
― Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 18 August 2022 15:53 (two years ago) link
I think Flashpoint (2011) was when the freefall began. I was still reading and enjoying like a dozen DC titles up to that point and noped out when that mess began. Still, eleven years of chaos is a very impressive run.
― Beautiful Bean Footage Fetishist (Old Lunch), Thursday, 18 August 2022 18:08 (two years ago) link
I think I tapped out during Blackest Night, except to finish Morrison’s Batman run.
The period from Gotham Central to Final Crisis was probably DC/Vertigo’s best period since the early 90s imo. Lots of absolute shit, too, but isn’t there always?
Who knew Countdown would turn out to be such a blueprint for the next decade-plus? Depressing
― Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 18 August 2022 21:21 (two years ago) link
Remind me what Countdown did. That was the their lead-in to Flashpoint after 52, right?
― Nhex, Thursday, 18 August 2022 23:20 (two years ago) link
I think DiDio famously said that Countdown was 52 done right. Everything Morrison touched in that period marked the apex of DC's 21st Century output. Leave it to ol' Dan to fail to recognize that. Wotta choad.
― Beautiful Bean Footage Fetishist (Old Lunch), Thursday, 18 August 2022 23:58 (two years ago) link
Countdown was a New Gods-centric multiverse Crisis weekly that never cohered Into an actual story, but featured a lot of pointlessly nasty character deaths in the Geoff Johns/2007-era bad prestige TV style that was “popular” back then. I think a bunch of Legion characters get eaten by rats or something? It’s bad and non-fun. Every event since then seems to have been some violent & incoherent cosmic epic thing and all DC stories seemed to become boring meta stories about themselves
― Chuck_Tatum, Friday, 19 August 2022 00:31 (two years ago) link
Brian Hibbs on why 'Distributor discounts are making it harder and harder to carry DC periodical comics':
https://www.comicsbeat.com/dc-periodical-comics-distributor-problems/?fbclid=IwAR1DcIu34qy9AVY-78ZhtkMRVa39LCO0mNjH1fldmRu-dKWRW94JUhJoIo4
― Ward Fowler, Thursday, 25 August 2022 15:40 (two years ago) link
If it’s of any diminishing interest to anyone, Mark Waid’s new Batman v Robin is good fun, in a 2000s kid of way, the sort of fun and forgettable thing I always want DC to publish but never do
Obviously in my head the mid-2000s we’re just a couple of years ago but never mind that
― Chuck_Tatum, Sunday, 16 October 2022 18:29 (one year ago) link
Has anyone tried DC Infinite's new "ultra" level?
I tried the trial and read The Nice House at the Lake (starts well, ends hopeless) and some 1990-era triangle Superman (which still holds up, pleasingly). Ultra includes collected editions (which are less fiddly) plus most of Vertigo, and the print-to-digital window is only a month.
It's £85/year which is... a lot, but tempting. Anyone else tried it?
― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 1 February 2023 19:17 (one year ago) link
Not a bad price. Maybe this is finally the year I abandon floppies again... if I could get DCUI and Marvel Unlimited for $50 each (that's the typical annual MU deal that pops up) I would probably just pull the trigger, LCS be damned
― Nhex, Wednesday, 1 February 2023 20:21 (one year ago) link
Right now it's USD $120 per year vs Marvel's $69 annual (but that's with the 3 month delay which tbh there are so few comics I buy and read within that time)
― Nhex, Wednesday, 1 February 2023 20:22 (one year ago) link
I finished book one of Nice House and while it succumbs to a lot of Tynion's worst impulses, I will certainly read the next volumeit is SCREAMING to be an HBO series
― POLIZISTEN VERSINKEN IM SCHLAMM (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 1 February 2023 20:51 (one year ago) link
Ha, yes, I will still read the next volume.
I haven't read enough Tynion to understand his worst impulses - my sense was that his restlessness at changing the status quo every other issue (and not in a graceful way like, say, DEATH NOTE) eventually worked against the larger storyline, which is to say, by issue 10 I couldn't figure out WTF was happening or who to care about.
And the characters aren't very exciting. HBO might fix that.
― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 1 February 2023 21:04 (one year ago) link
(Sorry ignore my oblique references to Vol 2, which I just spotted that you haven't read!)
― Chuck_Tatum, Wednesday, 1 February 2023 21:05 (one year ago) link
oh i read the first 12 issues, which i assumed was "book one"you do seem to understand his worst impulses btw
― POLIZISTEN VERSINKEN IM SCHLAMM (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 1 February 2023 21:32 (one year ago) link
Anything in this “Dawn of DC” era worth checking out? I’ve been sort of DC-curious lately, but have no clue where anything stands now.
― Nonhuman biologics enthusiast (morrisp), Sunday, 6 August 2023 06:46 (one year ago) link
Yes, every time I take a look at new DC releases they’re all bannered with some impenetrable crossover dressing and it’s extremely offputting. Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths! Knight Terrors! lazarus Planet! Interest lost!
― Tsar Bombadil (James Morrison), Sunday, 6 August 2023 10:33 (one year ago) link
Much like Future State I like the concept and effort, but geez sooo many books that I won't bother.
Hope that The Golden Age/JSA revival turns out well, will check it out in trade
― Nhex, Monday, 7 August 2023 00:56 (one year ago) link
I don't follow regular DC but if anyone here likes the Batman family or "one last job" comics and hasn't read Catwoman: Lonely City by Cliff Chiang, rectify that.
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 7 August 2023 07:45 (one year ago) link
have been checking the library catalogue once a month and no go
― serving bundt (sic), Monday, 7 August 2023 08:17 (one year ago) link
Not DC but this month’s Fantastic Four 10 is a great one-off if you dig that sort of thing
― Chuck_Tatum, Tuesday, 8 August 2023 17:45 (one year ago) link
Another month, another Fantastic Four #10
― serving bundt (sic), Wednesday, 9 August 2023 01:59 (one year ago) link
it's good. the North run's been pretty decent imo
― Nhex, Wednesday, 9 August 2023 16:55 (one year ago) link
Has anyone read these Teen Titans books? I guess they're meant for the YA crowd, but they look kinda appealing to me: https://kamigarcia.com/books/teen-titans/beast-boy-loves-raven/
― Nonhuman biologics enthusiast (morrisp), Wednesday, 9 August 2023 17:01 (one year ago) link
don't let that stop you from trying them! lots of great stuff in the YA space nowadays
― Nhex, Wednesday, 9 August 2023 20:07 (one year ago) link
^I did end up buying the set, have read two of the three... they're good
― Stoned Wheat Thing (morrisp), Wednesday, 30 August 2023 17:31 (one year ago) link
Yeah, really good (just finished Book 3, and ordered the next one – Robin). I like the tone better than most of the Marvel stuff I've read lately... not so aggressively jokey. These characters obv have some miles on them, but this feels like a genuinely fresh take.
― Disappointing cantaloupe (morrisp), Monday, 4 September 2023 23:23 (one year ago) link
Read another recent-ish, YA-ish book that I enjoyed a great deal – Supergirl: Being Super, by Mariko Tamaki. Her dialogue is particular strong; some of the best I've seen in a Big 2 comic. It's a Kara origin story, of sorts; though I don't think it's "canonical" or connects with anything in the mainstream continuity (...although the way DC changes it up, who knows).
Btw – I didn't know that Kara goes by "Kara Danvers" these days... as more of a Marvel reader, that's kind of funny, given similarly-named (and -powered) hero on that side of the fence.
― Chavez video on MTV, July 1995 (morrisp), Saturday, 7 October 2023 18:41 (one year ago) link
Seeing a lot of talk about a new Supergirl one-shot special, also by Tamaki. Anyone here read it? Seems to be generating a (strongly) mixed response.
― Girl (1956) (morrisp), Wednesday, 1 November 2023 19:23 (eleven months ago) link
DC might need to tighten up the word spacing in the marketing for their new publishing initiative. The first thing I thought when I saw this was 'oh cool we finally get to see our favorite DC heroes running around in the nude and covered in their own feces'
https://mlpnk72yciwc.i.optimole.com/cqhiHLc.IIZS~2ef73/w:600/h:923/q:75/https://bleedingcool.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/0.jpg
― Great-Tasting Burger Perceptions (Old Lunch), Friday, 19 July 2024 16:41 (two months ago) link
Haha
(Wow, the DCU is changing forever – has that ever happened before?!)
― Stockton Asparagus Festival (morrisp), Friday, 19 July 2024 16:46 (two months ago) link
Huh, is one of the Robins finally running around basically as Batman?
― Andrew Farrell, Friday, 19 July 2024 23:55 (two months ago) link