Wedc1-8 Copy

Today is the debut of WEDNESDAY COMICS, the amazing newspaper-sized comics anthology by some of today’s freshest creators. To celebrate, here’s the final version (with words) of Paul Pope’s ADAM STRANGE strip. Click for a larger version.

Also, USA Today is running 12 weeks of Superman, with today only, a page in the print version. The rest will run online.

The NY Daily News also looks at the series:

It has been a long time since Superman patrolled the broadsheets, but DC Comics is turning back the clock with “Wednesday Comics.” The first issue of the 12-issue weekly anthology series hits comic book stores Wednesday.

“It’s either old-fashioned or it’s cutting edge, or it’s a little bit of both,” said Dan DiDio, executive editor of DC Comics.

BTW, our own review mirrors Chris Mautner’s: It’s a lot of debut and origin, but it’s still a gorgeous thing to behold.

1 COMMENT

  1. Okay… 16 pages, the equivalent of a 64-page comic. Two pages (half a full page) of ads (Robot Chicken). For $3.99. Not only is this a 64-page comic costing $3.99, it’s a comic CHOCK FULL of great talent, featured in a beautiful format that allows them to do what they do best.

    I am buying two copies, because the pages slide around while reading.

  2. I can’t wait to go home with my copy of WEDNESDAY COMICS, put on my favorite pair of footie pajamas, open up and spread out the comic on the floor and read it while propping myself up on my elbows like a googoo-eyed 10-year old boy!

    And then steal Chiarello’s brilliant idea for ACT-I-VATE and spark ACT-I-VATE SUNDAY COMICS – in print!

  3. Loved most of the content, but the packaging looked like something in a giveaway bin next to an alt-weekly and the coloring requires you to shine a direct light on if to keep the background from being gray. Looks like something you’d pay $2.00 for, not $4.00.

    Where’s the collected edition and what’s the format. I really don’t like the current format. The Superman strip looks better on the USA Today site than in print. (And I held the print version next to the screen to compare.)

  4. The only bad thing I can say about this book, as a comic shop owner, is that it is hard to keep neat looking. I had one customer who ordered it, then stood around reading his copy, then folded it up haphazardly, put it back on the shelf and picked up another, neatly folded copy. I totally called him out on it in front of all the customers and he reluctantly picked back up his original copy. It was a tacky move but then got me thinking that I should really have a “browsing copy” for people to look though. In fact, maybe DC could have sent one free to comic stores that ordered a certain number.

    Either way, I sold a ton of it, got more orders for future issues and had a good time talking with people about how DC could possibly collect it.

  5. to retailers…

    maybe try keeping one or two sample/read copies out and bag and board the others to keep on the racks.

    try that?

    hahaha, and yes, i read mine on the carpeted living room floor. so much fun, and so much gravity.

  6. @Palmiotti Perfect idea! Since most of my customers use “modern” size bags and boards I was offering free “silver” size ones with purchase, might as well bag/board for the shelf.

    Despite my petty complaint, it’s still a very good read that I think will interest a wide variety of comic buyers!

  7. I was thinking it would be cool if DC designed the collection to look like a library bound newspaper collection… but then I could do that myself!

  8. How should DC collect it?
    Maybe they should collect it as twelve separate tabloid sized editions printed on newsprint, folded to the size of a comic. That way they could sell it for about the same price as a regular comic book and real fans could find inventive ways to store it.

  9. It’s fun! I’ve missed gutters since the advent of “widescreen comics”. Doesn’t the bright, white negative space make of that wonderful artwork pop right off of the page?

  10. I haven’t picked up my copy yet, so I’m asking, are there any other type of stories besides super heroes included?

    I guess Kamandi and maybe Adam Strange could be classified as science fiction, but are there any westerns (Jonah Hex?) or horror (Swamp Thing) or mystery included? Maybe a Joe Kubert Sgt. Rock?

    What reactions I’ve read to WC is that it’s getting attention (at least now) to non-regular shop going customers. If this is the case, it’s a shame if DC didn’t dip into their vast array of characters and genre’s to give the readers a real variety to read from.

  11. Wednesday Comics does contain a Sgt. Rock Joe Kubert strip. Deadman has a detective noir vibe. I LOVE the Iris Allen/Flash mini strip, with it’s old school romance comic strip vibe! I hope that continues. So I think they tried to spread out the styles. I’m thinking if this does as well as I think it will, this won’t be the last of Wednesday Comics we’ll be seeing. Which would give them the ability to select other genres down the line!

  12. The featured characters in WEDNESDAY COMICS:

    Batman
    Deadman
    The Demon
    The Flash
    Green Lantern
    Hawkman
    Kamandi
    Metal Men
    Metamorpho
    Sgt. Rock and Easy Co.
    Adam Strange
    Supergirl
    Superman
    Teen Titans
    Wonder Woman

    Each character/group gets one page. I’d guess there will be opinions as to whether some characters were worth featuring (e.g., Metamorpho, Metal Men). One of the local comics shops here in Grand Forks sold all its copies.

    SRS

  13. Everyone here seems to be wondering how DC will collect this. Perhaps, if they’re wise, they won’t bother collecting it at all — at least, not for several months. Get people intrigued with this format (which I have said is long overdue, but no one listens to me). Get them to follow the stories. Then, perhaps a year or two down the road, start collecting them. Seems as though trades of comic stories are appearing right on the heels of the monthly comics, which kills the incentive to follow the monthly comics. Give this format a chance to take a foothold.

  14. I’m surprised (well not really) at the amount of “wah, newsprint” opinions I’ve seen in various places around the net.

    I think it’s part of the book’s charm.