Random Comics News Story Round-Up

* this is for the pair of you that keep e-mailing to ask if I think this material about a retailer that suggests people don't buy certain comics is an example of backseat driving someone's business: I suspect it is. I understand why folks might think that kind of thing worth commentary as an example of comics' twisted values. I'm sure someone has posted "Never tell your customers not to buy something!" somewhere, and I bet someone has brought up some horror stories about being made fun of at the cash register. At the same I also think it's pretty common in retail on a lot of levels. I've even had the owner of a restaurant tell me he didn't particularly like the white fish he had in the house at the moment and I should stick to the crab cakes. It was an owner of a restaurant where my father and I ate -- you guessed it -- every Wednesday night. I have no idea how this retailer conducts business from day to day so I can't testify as to how his telling people not to buy something fits within the overall tone of his establishment. To be honest, I'd rather have the retailer that told the truth about some comic he didn't like as opposed to all the retailers I've had that failed to tell the truth about the availability of books I wanted.

* I'm sure there's an explanation for this picture of Richie Rich with Elvis Costello somewhere on Fred Hembeck's non-permalink having 1996-looking site, but who wants one? Besides, ask too many questions and Fred's incredibly skeevy-looking Master Rich may pay for something horrible to be done to you.

* missed it: a long essay riffing on a snippet of audio from the Final Crisis Management panel at San Diego's CCI.

* some not comics, publishing division: hearing about a half dozen people I know that work in publishing and a couple that don't suggests that people in that industry are either praising this article on how to use social media as a promotional tool, or, if you prefer, how to employ social media as a model for transforming the publishing businessness, or ripping into it. I'm in the latter camp: I thought the article was a prime example of someone taking their own very positive experience and spinning it into a manifesto for everyone without providing any salient details or making a strong case beyond several "wouldn't that be nice?" assertions. Articles like that never consider that one reason these things may work right now is because the industry hasn't changed around them. (I bet the book industry had a much different view of the success rate of book signings when only a few authors, such as Julia Child, were doing them.) The $50,000 as a crummy advance figure isn't a slip-up; it's the unrealistic heart of the article. Still, I have a suspicion that the up-from-the-bootstraps comics crowd will like a lot of what she says.

* finally, some not comics, movies division: Kyle Garret wrote in to make the following point:

Hey, Tom, just something that stuck out to me -- and something I was going to mention way back when the Incredible Hulk numbers started rolling in.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter if the new version makes more money than the Ang Lee version. All that matters is public opinion, which is high, high enough to, say, garner a sequel. Once the movie is chugging along, how many people see the movie isn't so much the issue is how many of those people would see another movie in the franchise. The Norton version lends itself to franchising; the Lee version not so much.

That's the core of what Marvel's doing. They didn't need to make a lot of money on the Incredible Hulk, they just needed people to like it enough to come back for more. Given the reviews from both moviegoers and critics, it seems like they did that.

I think I'd agree with the general sentiment that perception means more than the bottom-line numbers. After all, Garfield made more money than Sin City, but you'd never know that by how each one is perceived. While I'm not sure they'll do more movies based on lower numbers they got with this last Hulk, I could see DVD sequels and the character's inclusion in other movies. Most importantly, Marvel protected its general momentum, although if one or two of the next few movies performs poorly, someone will likely try to reclaim Incredible Hulk as a mediocre performer.
 
posted 12:30 am PST | Permalink
 

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