Chris Mautner: First Second, Season 2

Chris Mautner takes on the second season of comics imprint First Second at his Panels and Pixels blog, which counts as both a series of reviews and checking in on the ongoing publishing story that is First Second's 2006 two-stage debut. The First Second story is interesting not just because of the size of the publisher backing the imprint but because of the type of material involved (a range of ages; translated work) and the counter direct market intuitive way in which the titles are rolled out, in six-book clumps every half-year.

For a bonus review that hits on a wider comics-related subject, you can try Graeme McMillan's review of Marvel's Civil War #4. This is a title in Marvel's current mega-event and the industry's top seller, and it's worth noting because despite being sold to mainstream media as a exploration of America's current political climate -- with explosions and kung fu -- much of the plot seems to be driven by the old-fashioned technique of fooling with the behavior of well-established pop icons in a way that whips dedicated fans into a lather. Call it the Iron Man, Captain America and Reed Richards are acting like dicks and it's not right! strategy. It's kind of like if they sold Tarzan books by coming out with a novel where Tarzan inexplicably tosses Jane off of a cliff and leads some apes to slaughter.

This kind of thing interests me 1) because this strategy generally works, despite revulsion at the edges of the fan base as embodied by McMillan's review (or derision), and 2) because Marvel is essentially playing with fire because a large part of their business is maintaining core character concepts in a way that makes them good licensing and film launch points. History says the comics are so isolated from the audiences Marvel wishes to reach with its movies and coloring books that none of this matters, but it's still odd if you're only casually involved with this material.
 
posted 10:06 pm PST | Permalink
 

---

 
Daily Blog Archives
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
 
Full Archives