§ Inkstuds interviews Jordan Crane and Sammy Harkham about their new website, What Things do.
§ IcV2 checks in on Marve’ls “Lanterns for Deadpool” program, where retailers sent in DC comics for Marvel credit, and David Gabriel says the response has been strong:
Asked to quantify “overwhelming,” Gabriel was guarded. “Let’s just say we’ll be printing more than 50 copies of the variants.”
§ The Cap/Tea Party thing made Keith Olbermann’s show (and many many other political blogs) but it is noted that while he quoted CBR’s Cup O’ Joe feature, he didn’t mention it by name. Bad Keith.
§ Warners has pushed back the release date of THE LOSERS from April 9 to June 4. That would seem to indicate that the studio thinks it’s a winner that can hold up in the summer box office race.
§ Borys Kit has a very good piece on comics artists who are becoming directors:
Canadian artist Kaare Andrews — in postproduction on the indie horror feature “Altitude,” which is likely to debut at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival — puts it best.
“You’ve seen the commercial guys go into directing, you’ve seen music videos guys go into directing; now you’re going to see comic writers and artists,” he predicts. “I think that the one thing we have the others don’t is the sense of storytelling.”
Also covered, Mike Mignola, Troy Nixey, and John Cassaday, among others.
§ And the obverse, Vaneta Rogers looks at five directors who have a huge influence on comics, Chris Nolan, Zack Snyder, Sam Raimi, David Goyer, and Brian Singer, with comments from Hollywood observers.
At last! Secrets of Marvel revealed! We now know whenever Marvel says they have “overwhelming” support for a program, it means at least 50 of the estimated 2500 Direct Market stores support it!
I wonder what “near-universal” support would look like? 100 stores?
Forget Newspeak and L33t! Marvelspeak is the future of language!
I am overwhelmed with joy.
(Was that too sarcastic?)
“Let’s just say we’ll be printing more than 50 copies of the variants.”
And couching the words like that doesn’t mean they had 50 people take them up on that offer. Could be as few as 30 or 40 and they printed extras just in case. I will also concede that there might have been 70 or 80 takers.
But if 50 is the actual number, that’s 2% of 2500. 2% of retailers that didn’t order properly and will taking the time to mail in the stripped covers.
“Let’s just say we’ll be printing more than 50 copies of the variants” could also mean “Only one shop responded but we’re going to sell the other 49 books on ebay”.
Not that I should’ve been spending my time doing this math this afternoon, but according to Marc-Oliver’s latest sales chart, the six titles in the Blackest Night ring promotion shipped a combined 392,195 copies. Now Marvel’s crowing about 2,500 of those that came back to them through stripped covers. Less than 2/3 of 1 percent. That’ll show DC for overshipping!
That’s so generous or Marvel, accepting returns for DC Books. But the ‘cough/BULL$!T/cough’ detector is screaming like a fire alarm.
If Marvel was truly sincere or genuine in their concern for the retailer, they’d modify their own zero tolerance on accepting NO RETURNS for THEIR books.
Instead, they offer fools gold (garbage) for the opportunity to take out ‘DC trash’, to make DC look bad. Which is always so very helpful to all!
Marvel and their brilliant Micky Mouse House of Ideas should clean the slop in their own backyard before trying to clean someone else’s, because that stink they smell is probably their own.