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COMICS|OT|October 2017- The only thing scarier than Messi's avatar are Marvels sales

So what I learned today is that, even though I was already planning on it, I really need to read Red Robin.

And that War Games is trash.
Secret empire got very divided opinions probably more bad than good overall, but I actually think there was a lot to like in the sam cap series as a series on its own. I kind of liked the concept of it as sam being the natural progression to take over as cap once steve can't do it anymore but as time goes on sam realises if he's doing it he needs to do it his own way and bring his own views and beliefs to the role. For him that means being a cap with his own poliical views and opinions, a cap who would actually help the people he grew up with. In a way that raises the question of whether steve is actually in some ways a coward for not getting political and taking any sides when he was cap all those years. In the end when he goes back to falcon (which lets face it will have been had to be done for cheap marketing/money issues) its done to show that it not that sams not good enough to be cap, but americas not good enough and cant yet handle a cap with his own beliefs so he gives it up by choice. It also had some cool reinvention of classic villains like the serpent squad. Though I'm not denying it didn't have problems like capwolf lasting too long, a lot of filler issues and issues where the story didn't go anywhere and the issues with the hipster activists were pretty tone deaf.
I agree wirh basically of that, but the problem is that Secret Empire was effectively a period to end Spencer's run and it amounted to nothing. It's just pointless. The whole damn thing.
I thought Remender did a great job with him
Was that in Remender Cap? I haven't read that yet.
Man Red Robin was so good. His interactions with Ras, Bruce, Steph, Conner, Damian, the Teen Titans, etc. were all sooooo good. Hopefully Tynion can get Cass/Steph/Tim back on track.
Tynion did say Tim was his favorite character. Also, I really enjoy what they're doing with Steph and Cass already.
 

Brian Fellows

Pete Carroll Owns Me
tumblr_oov1gkj4nt1qayeymo1_500.gif


Gonna spend the whole day getting drunk and attempting to catch up in my comic backlog

Sounds like a plan to me!
 

VeeP

Member
So what I learned today is that, even though I was already planning on it, I really need to read Red Robin.


Tynion did say Tim was his favorite character. Also, I really enjoy what they're doing with Steph and Cass already.

Honestly, Steph's latest arc really soured me on the character. And I'm a huge fan of Bryan Miller's Batgirl.

Snyder & Tynion have done a great job bringing Cass back, but she still has a ways to go before she matches up to PreNew52 Cass.

I kinda wish they would give Cass & Steph their own book (along with Harper), or have them have a more prominent role in Batgirl & Birds of Prey (I heard they're in the recent arc but I haven't read it).

And BK, once your done reading Red Robin, go read Gates of Gotham if you haven't. It's a pretty great & involves Dick as Batman, Damian, Tim, and Cass.
 

tim1138

Member
Written by SCOTT SNYDER, JAMES TYNION IV and JOSHUA WILLIAMSON
Art by DOUG MAHNKE, IVAN REIS and others
Cover by DOUG MAHNKE

Continued from the pages of the bestselling DARK NIGHTS: METAL! The Dark Knights ride through the farthest reaches of the Multiverse to track down the unlikeliest of teams: The Flash, Cyborg, Raven and Detective Chimp. The mission: keep these heroes from completing their desperate quest to save all of existence! Plus, Challengers’ Mountain crackles with dark energy that will release an army of the world’s worst nightmares into the streets of Gotham City!

This one-shot also answers the question: Where are the Metal Men? And who is the latest addition to the team?

Finally calling in the world's greatest detective I see
 

Some Nobody

Junior Member
Random Metal #3 thought: Shining Knight
had that whole lame-ass heroic speech and wound up with a sword in his fucking head like a clown. Should've just left like everyone else.
 

Aizo

Banned
Cassie is probably going to show up in the future. She was the hero of one of the stories in the workshop group's issue IIRC so DC doesn't hate her or something. Bart might be back sooner than we think because the "Flash War" competition coming up in the Flash annual will see a speedster returned and it's probably not Jay.
Right, I'm hoping that's the case with Flash War :)
 
Are all the Batman v Predator crossovers good? Read the first one is supposed to be surprisingly decent, can't find much info on the other two
 

Sandfox

Member
Brevoort tweeted some things about the anti diversity people using Marvel's "tanking sales" as an argument to justify their views and now I'm waiting for BC to use it for clicks.
 

PsychBat!

Banned
Are all the Batman v Predator crossovers good? Read the first one is supposed to be surprisingly decent, can't find much info on the other two

I think Batman vs Predator is probably one of the best if not the best crossover in the last 50 years. It's great at not stepping over each other's toes when it comes to the titular character's abilities and skills. The tone and style works great for both Batman and the Predator and I think it's rare when combining characters from two very different worlds to have a consistent tone. These are just thoughts at the top of my head.

Batman vs Predator 2: Guest Starring The Predator is a good Batman and Huntress comic. The Predator isn't as big of a deal as he was in the first crossover and while he is the titular antagonist, his presence is not as menacing or threatening. While we saw what the Predator was doing on his own time in the first crossover, most of the focus of THIS book is on Batman and Huntress. The Predator is delegated to villain of the week plus some other assassins that for some reason are treated as the bigger threats in the beginning. All in all, it's an okay book but uneven and not as good as the first one.

Batman vs Predator 3 is a bit better than the second one but still not as good as the first one. I don't remember much about this one. I know it's Batman and Robin (Tim Drake) vs two Predators that are Father and Son.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
Any thoughts on the new Amazon Fire hd 10 for comics?

Hoping for thoughts as well. I'd like a cheap-ish and somewhat portable tablet purely for comics to throw around in a bag myself without fragility concerns.

Also it's 16:10 right? Isn't there a huge debate or argument that that ratio generally fits better for comic reading?
 
Honestly, Steph's latest arc really soured me on the character. And I'm a huge fan of Bryan Miller's Batgirl.

Snyder & Tynion have done a great job bringing Cass back, but she still has a ways to go before she matches up to PreNew52 Cass.

I kinda wish they would give Cass & Steph their own book (along with Harper), or have them have a more prominent role in Batgirl & Birds of Prey (I heard they're in the recent arc but I haven't read it).

And BK, once your done reading Red Robin, go read Gates of Gotham if you haven't. It's a pretty great & involves Dick as Batman, Damian, Tim, and Cass.
I'm actually enjoying Steph quite a bit in Detective. It's an interesting arc, but I feel like it's not as prominent as it should be.
 

VanWinkle

Member
Hoping for thoughts as well. I'd like a cheap-ish and somewhat portable tablet purely for comics to throw around in a bag myself without fragility concerns.

Also it's 16:10 right? Isn't there a huge debate or argument that that ratio generally fits better for comic reading?

16:10 is definitely the best.

Here's how a comic looks on an iPad (not my photo):
37198-comics_ipad_teaser.jpg


Compared to a 16:10 10.1" screen tablet:
spWBZzn.jpg


Hardly any wasted screen space at all.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
16:10 is definitely the best.

Hardly any wasted screen space at all.

Cool thanks. I currently have an iPad and have gotten used to the side borders(I actually mostly read in zoomed panel view anyway though), but that is a nice comparison. Will likely just nab the Amazon Fire.
 

geomon

Member
I think Batman vs Predator is probably one of the best if not the best crossover in the last 50 years. It's great at not stepping over each other's toes when it comes to the titular character's abilities and skills. The tone and style works great for both Batman and the Predator and I think it's rare when combining characters from two very different worlds to have a consistent tone. These are just thoughts at the top of my head.

Yup, completely agree. That book is just beautiful from front to back.
 

Brevoort tweeted some things about the anti diversity people using Marvel's "tanking sales" as an argument to justify their views and now I'm waiting for BC to use it for clicks.

He isn't quite wrong in his statement, but it's a bit of obfuscation on his part. First, Marvel Legacy was the best-selling book of the month, with a $5.99 cover price. Venomverse was #3 for the month, with a $4.99 cover price. Further, many of the Marvel books are $3.99, so even if they sell less in overall units from year-to-year, the sales numbers stay high. So yes, sales remain high. Still, units sold are down. Sure, this is true across the board, but Marvel isn't holding onto the top spots as well as it was even a year or so ago.

As an example:

Amazing Spider-Man
Sept 2017: #32, $3.99, 58,885
Sept 2016: #18, $3.99, 71,159
Sept 2015: Skip, Secret Wars
Sept 2014: #6, $3.99, 93,564

A clear downward trend, especially on one of Marvel's stronger books.

Now it's worth noting that DC has it's own way to goose the sales. It offers a number of books at $2.99, but double-ships them. This keeps their dollar sales up and it allows their better performers to essentially hold two spots on the chart, instead of one, pushing other books down the charts. Despite that, DC's sales are also down overall and the double-shipping actually seem to accelerate declines, since sales fall issue-to-issue regardless of if they're in the same month.

Batman
Sept 2017: #30, $2.99, 100,083
Sept 2017: #31, $2.99, 98,594
Sept 2016: #6, $2.99, 138,853
Sept 2016: #7, $2.99, 135,585
Sept 2015: #44, $4.99, 135,817
Sept 2014: Skip, Future's End

Marvel's real problem is nothing but Amazing Spider-Man, Star Wars and event books breaks the Top 25 on a regular basis. DC gets by on Batman, and then some drift in Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Justice League. Jump back to 2013 and the X-Men book helped fill out Marvel's spots in the Top 25, but they've fallen on hard times. Avengers was also stronger in 2012-2012 (Hickman's run), but likewise it hasn't been a winner for Marvel since then.

It's partially what Higgins was talking about: the anchor books actually push the entire line up. When Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash are strong, DC's line is actually up. For Marvel, that's Spider-Man, Avengers, and X-Men. Looking at September's numbers paint a rough picture:

16: Generations Morales & Parker Spider-Man #1, 59,033
17: Amazing Spider-Man #32, 58,885
18: Astonishing X-Men #3, 57,539 (Which is a limited series, mind you.)
26: X-Men Gold #11, 52,623
41: Weapon X #8, 42,476
45: X-Men Gold #12, 41,657 (Bad drop for a double-ship book)
47: X-Men Blue #11, 41,624
55: X-Men Blue #12, 36,607 (Okay to bad drop for a double-ship book)
64: Avengers #12, 33,967 (Jesus, there's no goddamn reason this book should be this low)
86: Uncanny Avengers #27, 28,857 (Same as above)
97: Champions #12, 25,593 (Not an Avengers book, but might as well be.)

Those should all be much, much higher. Here's September 2013 for comparison:

7: Mighty Avengers #1, 101,921
9: Avengers #19, 92,489
11: Superior Spider-Man #17, 89,118
12: All-New X-Men #16, 84,218
13: Superior Spider-Man #18, 80,178
16: Uncanny X-Men #12, 76,790
17: Avengers #20, 74,388 (I have no clue why the gap between 19 and 20, both Infinity tie-ins, is so big)
18: X-Men #5, 73,357
22: Uncanny Avengers #12, 66,353
24: New Avengers #10, 60,682
25: Wolverine And X-Men #36, 59,684

I'm stopping at the Top 25 because I'm tired of typing, but you get the idea. Marvel needs its flagship books to be flagship again.
 
He isn't quite wrong in his statement, but it's a bit of obfuscation on his part. First, Marvel Legacy was the best-selling book of the month, with a $5.99 cover price. Venomverse was #3 for the month, with a $4.99 cover price. Further, many of the Marvel books are $3.99, so even if they sell less in overall units from year-to-year, the sales numbers stay high. So yes, sales remain high. Still, units sold are down. Sure, this is true across the board, but Marvel isn't holding onto the top spots as well as it was even a year or so ago.

As an example:

Amazing Spider-Man
Sept 2017: #32, $3.99, 58,885
Sept 2016: #18, $3.99, 71,159
Sept 2015: Skip, Secret Wars
Sept 2014: #6, $3.99, 93,564

A clear downward trend, especially on one of Marvel's stronger books.

Now it's worth noting that DC has it's own way to goose the sales. It offers a number of books at $2.99, but double-ships them. This keeps their dollar sales up and it allows their better performers to essentially hold two spots on the chart, instead of one, pushing other books down the charts. Despite that, DC's sales are also down overall and the double-shipping actually seem to accelerate declines, since sales fall issue-to-issue regardless of if they're in the same month.

Batman
Sept 2017: #30, $2.99, 100,083
Sept 2017: #31, $2.99, 98,594
Sept 2016: #6, $2.99, 138,853
Sept 2016: #7, $2.99, 135,585
Sept 2015: #44, $4.99, 135,817
Sept 2014: Skip, Future's End

Marvel's real problem is nothing but Amazing Spider-Man, Star Wars and event books breaks the Top 25 on a regular basis. DC gets by on Batman, and then some drift in Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Justice League. Jump back to 2013 and the X-Men book helped fill out Marvel's spots in the Top 25, but they've fallen on hard times. Avengers was also stronger in 2012-2012 (Hickman's run), but likewise it hasn't been a winner for Marvel since then.

It's partially what Higgins was talking about: the anchor books actually push the entire line up. When Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and Flash are strong, DC's line is actually up. For Marvel, that's Spider-Man, Avengers, and X-Men. Looking at September's numbers paint a rough picture:

16: Generations Morales & Parker Spider-Man #1, 59,033
17: Amazing Spider-Man #32, 58,885
18: Astonishing X-Men #3, 57,539 (Which is a limited series, mind you.)
26: X-Men Gold #11, 52,623
41: Weapon X #8, 42,476
45: X-Men Gold #12, 41,657 (Bad drop for a double-ship book)
47: X-Men Blue #11, 41,624
55: X-Men Blue #12, 36,607 (Okay to bad drop for a double-ship book)
64: Avengers #12, 33,967 (Jesus, there's no goddamn reason this book should be this low)
86: Uncanny Avengers #27, 28,857 (Same as above)
97: Champions #12, 25,593 (Not an Avengers book, but might as well be.)

Those should all be much, much higher. Here's September 2013 for comparison:

7: Mighty Avengers #1, 101,921
9: Avengers #19, 92,489
11: Superior Spider-Man #17, 89,118
12: All-New X-Men #16, 84,218
13: Superior Spider-Man #18, 80,178
16: Uncanny X-Men #12, 76,790
17: Avengers #20, 74,388 (I have no clue why the gap between 19 and 20, both Infinity tie-ins, is so big)
18: X-Men #5, 73,357
22: Uncanny Avengers #12, 66,353
24: New Avengers #10, 60,682
25: Wolverine And X-Men #36, 59,684

I'm stopping at the Top 25 because I'm tired of typing, but you get the idea. Marvel needs its flagship books to be flagship again.
Think Newsarama posted a report yesterday on the last year. Will see if I can find it.

Comic Book Sales Up 6% In Bookstore Market In Past 12 Months, And 37% Women
 
Random Metal #3 thought: Shining Knight
had that whole lame-ass heroic speech and wound up with a sword in his fucking head like a clown. Should've just left like everyone else.

That was Jim Rook / Nightmaster ,not Shining Knight.
I wonder if he's actually deceased or if this event ends with some kind of reset giving the compete wreck of all the JL heroes cities otherwise.
 
I didn't realize it was going to be a horror movie(I haven't really been paying attention).

They've been talking up as one for awhile but I'm going to be honest, I didn't really expect them to commit to it so hard haha. I really like that Fox has leaned into their movies having a really individual tone to each other, I always found their straight cape stuff way too bland. Guaranteed Hawley's Doom movie will be out there too.
 

Lashley

Why does he wear the mask!?
That was Jim Rook / Nightmaster ,not Shining Knight.
I wonder if he's actually deceased or if this event ends with some kind of reset giving the compete wreck of all the JL heroes cities otherwise.

It has to, surely? Maybe something tying it into Doomsday Clock?
 

Vic_Viper

Member
That New Mutants trailer looked good but totally not what I was expecting. This probably wasn't the place for it, but I really wish Fox would do an X movie with characters actually wearing their costumes lol. We've gotten how many X-Men films already and not a single one has had their actual real suits! (Not counting the hip black leather Morrison suits). Just read Whedon's run for the perfect reasoning for the importance of them! Atleast Deadpool is.

Who is Aryia from Game of Thrones playing and is the blonde girl playing Magik?
 

tim1138

Member
That New Mutants trailer looked good but totally not what I was expecting. This probably wasn't the place for it, but I really wish Fox would do an X movie with characters actually wearing their costumes lol. We've gotten how many X-Men films already and not a single one has had their actual real suits! (Not counting the hip black leather Morrison suits). Atleast Deadpool is.

Who is Aryia from Game of Thrones playing and is the blonde girl playing Magik?

Maisie Williams (Arya) is playing Rahne/Wolfsbane
 
The lady playing Magik, I've forgot her name but she is in The Witch and was really great. I think she'll be able to nail that role. The whole cast looks great, I'm so pumped for the movie haha and I don't even really know much about the new mutants. Fox are probably counting on this appealing to a much broader spectrum of movie goers. IT did just really opened the doors on more character focused creepy horror again over slasher gorey stuff, they've nailed the timing with this movie.
 
Zenoscope may of ended me. I read the princess fairy tales or whatever and...and wow. Gonna finish the five other books from their line in my backlog before I post a full review.

Anyone pick up any Aftershock comics? I saw some in the comic book store, and was curious if it's worth the pickup.
 
Also what is up with the Timey Wimey Ball in Lonely Place of Living 2 ? The issue explicitly establishes that
Future-Tim
isnt
the direct future of our Tim Drake because his timeline was different (it's basically Pre-Flashpoint Titans of Tomorrow Tim Drake)
so how did him stabbing
our Tim Drake cause him to suddenly have a scar ? That shouldn't have happened without his time line being corrected in other ways so he shouldn't have remembered Conner at all and his memories of his future should have adjusted to be that from the Rebirth timeline but clearly they didn't
. So what is going on there ?
 
Also what is up with the Timey Wimey Ball in Lonely Place of Living 2 ? The issue explicitly establishes that
Future-Tim
isnt
the direct future of our Tim Drake because his timeline was different (it's basically Pre-Flashpoint Titans of Tomorrow Tim Drake)
so how did him stabbing
our Tim Drake cause him to suddenly have a scar ? That shouldn't have happened without his time line being corrected in other ways so he shouldn't have remembered Conner at all and his memories of his future should have adjusted to be that from the Rebirth timeline but clearly they didn't
. So what is going on there ?
Conner existed but all memories of him were scrubbed like with Wally. Manhattan’s way of dealing with people is more like taking them off the table while leaving the game still ongoing.
 
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