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X-O was talking about the USM letters pages.
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Jun 17, 2016 13:52
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site posted:Jeeze I'm surprised the recap page is so (relatively) recent. You would think something like that would've been thought of way sooner. The completely bullshit reason Marvel gave for years was that having a whole entire extra page would cost way too much and then they'd have to raise prices! They'd hate to stick it to the customer like that.
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Jun 17, 2016 18:27
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Mover posted:I just opened up the most recent USG on Unlimited and it definitely has the Twitter recaps and a letters page--does the Comixology version drop them or something? I meant for older books like Ultimate Spider-Man, not current ones.
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Jun 17, 2016 18:38
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Lurdiak posted:The completely bullshit reason Marvel gave for years was that having a whole entire extra page would cost way too much and then they'd have to raise prices! They'd hate to stick it to the customer like that. Do you know what finally made them change their tune? Was there a vocal demand from readers going on at the time or something?
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Jun 17, 2016 19:04
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Probably more to do with reduced page counts of content
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Jun 17, 2016 19:11
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They realized that they could cut a page of comics content instead of adding a page for the recap. Then, everyone thanked them for it. Related question: Over the years, I've seen lots of charts showing changes in comic book pricing over time, in both nominal and inflation-adjusted terms. Is there any analysis of comic book story page counts over time? I'm interested to see how both the raw page count and the price/page have evolved.
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Jun 17, 2016 19:22
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If it started with USM I could see it being a Bendis decision. He would have had some pretty big pull at that point and he does love his decompression
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Jun 17, 2016 19:23
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In regards to price, I am wondering if any international goons have ever noticed a difference in price between DC and Marvel in foreign countries? Reason I bring it up was when I was living in SA DC comics were always cheaper than Marvel comics which is what made me read more DC than Marvel growing up. I know now Marvel is $4 and DC is $3 which is again driving me away from trying more Marvel comics because I just can't budget it with the current titles I am reading.
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Jun 17, 2016 19:26
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On the other hand, Marvel has Unlimited and DC doesn't, which means I'm exclusively reading Marvel at this point. Oh, and didn't comixology unveil their subscription service recently? It said it's only available in the States, so I haven't been able to check it out. Anyone try it yet?
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Jun 17, 2016 19:41
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Phylodox posted:On the other hand, Marvel has Unlimited and DC doesn't, which means I'm exclusively reading Marvel at this point. Yeah, its up. It's not in any way a true unlimited service like Marvel does. There are a good amount of volume 1s, not from Marvel or DC but pretty much all the big Image, Dark Horse and Valiant series. Just volume 1s though. I can't see anyone subbing for more than a month, but for $6 it's nice to check out any series you've been thinking about getting into. They do have a lot of great titles (Saga, Wicked/Divine, East of West, Lumberjanes first volumes are all on there) but again, only enough to kinda tantalize and drive sales, which isn't perfect for a paid service. Also there was some controversy because they released all this without consulting or even telling the creators on a bunch of creator-owned titles that are featured.
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Jun 17, 2016 19:51
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Phylodox posted:Oh, and didn't comixology unveil their subscription service recently? It said it's only available in the States, so I haven't been able to check it out. Anyone try it yet? Do you mean comiXology Unlimited? The subscription service automatically buys books for you as they come out. Unlimited is an all-you-can-read service like Marvel Unlimited. A few people have tried the 30 day free trial. I have not. Looking at the library, it's a pretty poor value. They only include 1-2 arcs of every series, so it's only good for looking for new titles to read. Thanks to Image's sales, I already have at least the first few issues of every series I've ever wanted to sample. I don't see how it'd be worth it as a recurring payment as once you've read everything that's available, there's no point on keeping the service. They say titles/issues will cycle in and out, but it's too early to tell how that will work.
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Jun 17, 2016 19:56
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Retro Futurist posted:If it started with USM I could see it being a Bendis decision. He would have had some pretty big pull at that point and he does love his decompression My brain is telling me it was a Jemas thing, but it can't provide citations.
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Jun 17, 2016 23:24
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Madkal posted:In regards to price, I am wondering if any international goons have ever noticed a difference in price between DC and Marvel in foreign countries? Reason I bring it up was when I was living in SA DC comics were always cheaper than Marvel comics which is what made me read more DC than Marvel growing up. I know now Marvel is $4 and DC is $3 which is again driving me away from trying more Marvel comics because I just can't budget it with the current titles I am reading. I haven't noticed any significant difference here (Sydney), but I don't really buy enough to make a price difference a significant factor in choosing what I read.
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Jun 18, 2016 03:06
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Are they very many good comic blogs? I like reading about this stuff. The history behind things, the themes behind characters, opinions on whether or not Jason Todd should be alive. Just anything of that nature. Not really reviews. Musings is the word I want to use. I read Chris Sims' stuff, but he's the only guy I even know of. Him and Spidey Kicks Butt, but that stopped years ago.
SonicRulez fucked around with this message at 22:39 on Jun 18, 2016 |
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Jun 18, 2016 22:21
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SonicRulez posted:Are they very many good comic blogs? I like reading about this stuff. The history behind things, the themes behind characters, opinions on whether or not Jason Todd should be alive. Just anything of that nature. Not really reviews. Musings is the word I want to use. I read Chris Sims' stuff, but he's the only guy I even know of. Him and Spidey Kicks Butt, but that stopped years ago. 4thletter was an awesome blog but those jerks stopped updating for some reason. Those handsome jerks.
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Jun 19, 2016 00:32
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Journey Into Misery is kinda sorta what you're looking for. Or, rather, it's the closest thing I can think of to a generalized "history of comics". The Darkseid episode especially is Chris Sims basically explaining the entire history of the character and Kirby's motivations when creating him.
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Jun 19, 2016 00:55
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I at least skim Comics Alliance daily. There tends to be decent articles fairly frequently. I was going to lament The Comics Journal being defunct, but it looks like it's updating again. Gonna have to check that out! http://www.tcj.com
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Jun 19, 2016 02:04
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Comics Alliance is bullshit these days, their last bit of actual talent and integrity left with Andy Khouri.
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Jun 19, 2016 03:53
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Are there any great comics blogs anymore? I've spent the last couple weeks trying to pimp a kickstarter I've got going on, so I've been trying to find every possible comics blog and my god they're all just bubbling morasses of bullshit about the Flash or Supergirl shows, or even worse, dumb listicles that relate to the upcoming movies or marketing events. I think those of us just looking for news and commentary on comics are seriously in the minority. Okay, Comics Journal kinda screws that pooch because it's like 90% what I want. But it's really the only one. I'd say The Beat is okay but it's definitely been bit by the TV bug. Skimming the front page only one or two things make me say "Who gives a poo poo?" out loud (and to be fair they're totally the things that interest tons of people other than me). A lot of their stories could do with an editing pass, but such is life on the internet. Comics Alliance always kinda skewed heavy on the pop culture fluff. Looking at the front page there's like two things I might want to read on it. The only things I consistently read on it are the little tributes to classic creators they let Benito Cereno write when he's pumped out enough listicles about the top ten characters that should show up in Suicide Squad or whatever. Robot6 is drowning in pop culture fluff. Comics Should Be Good are deluged in pop culture fluff, but at least it's all tightly comics targeted. I've probably looked at fifty different Bob's Discount Comics Blogs in the last week. I don't think it's bitter grapes that makes me dislike them. Like, at least when Chris Sims is sperging out about Superman's birthing egg he's writing in an engaging, enjoyable style. Most of the people that try to emulate it don't realize how much it deflates itself and admits straight up that caring a lot about the Kryptonian birthing matrix is super super goofy.
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Jun 19, 2016 05:55
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I like whenever ComicsAlliance reports a Big Two press release and puts any amount of cynicism/sass into their tone and some uppity commenter just HAS to let CA know they are violating their journalistic honor. C'mon, they have to wade in this poo poo all the time for peanuts, let 'em be cranky at comics' corporate parents. Comic Book Resources has some good columnists, but good lord their funhouse of ads turns me off. There's been a car ad recently that seems to appear last on the page but if you don't see the white X in the top corner of the site to get rid of it, clicking anywhere will redirect you. Opening more than one CBR tab almost guarantees my browser will slow to a chug trying to juggle all the Adobe Flash tasks. (Not everywhere I browse lets me use adblockers) There's an offshoot of BookRiot called Panels that tends to succumb to listicle syndrome, but they seem geared more towards newer comics readers. Every so often there'll be a personal story about the power of comics in someone's life and those make me feel warm inside. Abhay Khosla / Twist Street can bring the mixture of brains, sass, and experience that makes for my favorite comics writing. Bonus points for Khosla marking up pages in Paint to illustrate his critiques, where most comics sites I've seen will just screencap the worst-looking moment and shrug out a, "Can you believe this poo poo right here?" Women Write About Comics churns out good material on a frequent basis. Too Busy Thinking About My Comics stopped updating last October, but there's gold in them hills. Comics and Cola was really good but apparently we can't have nice things. Enthusiastic, smart, and relishes details. Another one worth reading past its prime for good writing.
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Jun 19, 2016 16:48
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What kind of a leader is Doom? Sometimes it seems like he's an iron fisted dictator who lets hi subjects live in poverty and squalor, but other times the citizens of Latveria love him and seem to think he's just tough but fair. Is Latveria a cool place to live or not? And while we're at it, I guess tell me your favorite Doom stories too.
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Jun 19, 2016 17:10
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Unmature posted:What kind of a leader is Doom? The answer to this question depends entirely upon who's writing him. Doom-as-monster vs. Doom-as-flawed-but-benevolent-to-his-own-people is an argument no one has conclusively solved, not even Marvel.
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Jun 19, 2016 18:22
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I sometimea go on Newsarama and IGN but IGN seems to have lost quite a bit of content and stuff I'm interested in over the years and Newsarama doesn't really do anything in depth. Comic book urban legends are always a good read. I still go to comicalliance but it seems like they just publish the same 5 articles over and over again.
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Jun 19, 2016 19:22
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Latverians legitimately believe Doom's a magic benevolent God who never poops because their tightly controlled media doesn't give them anything to compare to. Doom gives you a handful of grain weekly! The Fantastic Four give Americans nothing. Praise Doom!
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Jun 19, 2016 19:54
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The best comics news source for my money is our very own All-New, All-Different Rhyno. He used to just drop names like he was carrying a stack of greased phonebooks, but now he shares really cool rumors and behind-the-scenes stuff all the time. It's  and I for one appreciate what he brings to BSS.
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Jun 19, 2016 20:08
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We've had actual creators sometimes share neat stories in BSS, but their posts were picked up by lovely rumor-mongering comics news outlets so they had to stop.
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Jun 19, 2016 20:10
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I blame Gavok.
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Jun 19, 2016 20:12
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The comics press is extremely British in that it's mostly rumor-mongering yellow journalism trash, and sometimes digs up a sex crime.
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Jun 19, 2016 20:12
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Lurdiak posted:We've had actual creators sometimes share neat stories in BSS, but their posts were picked up by lovely rumor-mongering comics news outlets so they had to stop. Years and years ago that happened in the Star Trek thread in TVIV. There was a guy who had worked on quite a few of the TV series and he would share behind the scenes gossip but had to stop because some shitbag website just mined his posts and posted it as an "interview."
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Jun 19, 2016 20:21
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Assholes always gotta ruin it for everybody.
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Jun 19, 2016 20:26
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I once told a funny story about Ethan Van Sciver and his wife and Rich Johnston ran it as an exclusive story about what a weirdo Ethan was which cost me his friendship.
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Jun 19, 2016 20:34
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That's hosed up
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Jun 19, 2016 21:03
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Rhyno posted:I once told a funny story about Ethan Van Sciver and his wife and Rich Johnston ran it as an exclusive story about what a weirdo Ethan was which cost me his friendship. Ethan Van Sciver is a super cool dude. He drew a Flash headshot in my Flash Rebirth hardcover, and another time we ended up talking about the Legion of Super Pets, and tried to figure out what sort of animal Plastic Man would have. I think we agreed on a sloth, but I'm not sure.
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Jun 19, 2016 21:10
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site posted:That's hosed up It was pretty harmless, Ethan's wife used to post in the AOL DC chatrooms along with him. One night he'd climbed between the mattress and box spring and refused to come out and his wife thought it was funny enough to share with the room. Johnston ran it and Ethan was pretty pissed. I owned up to it and he blocked me on Facebook shortly after.
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Jun 19, 2016 21:52
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Die Laughing posted:Ethan Van Sciver is a super cool dude. He drew a Flash headshot in my Flash Rebirth hardcover, and another time we ended up talking about the Legion of Super Pets, and tried to figure out what sort of animal Plastic Man would have. I think we agreed on a sloth, but I'm not sure. Just don't ask him about Joe McCarthy.
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Jun 19, 2016 22:35
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Toxxupation posted:Here's my question, since another thread brought it up: What was the first issue that did the recap page and is there some sort of interview or oral history of who at Marvel came up with the idea and for what reason? Because it's such an obvious idea it's kind of difficult to believe they haven't always been around, even though they're, what, an invention only implemented this century as far as I can tell? Personally, I think of the 00s as the Widescreen or Cinematic Age. The Authority came out in 1998 or 1999, and the Ultimates in 2002, and everything followed suit for a while. Morrison's New X-Men went back to black leather to look more like the movies, storytelling decompressed even more to accomodate longer stretches of silence and facial expressions, and generally everyone tried to make things cinematic. I think we're still in that age, I'm not sure if anything has changed much in the 10s. If anything we're in the early years of an eventual Digital or Inclusive Age, where traditionally uncatered-to groups have a larger voice, companies give more of a poo poo about digital and trade sales, and there's more attention paid to women, minorities, and LGBTQ people, both in creators and characters.
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Jun 19, 2016 23:58
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I truly hate the "ages" talk for comics. If you have to chunk out eras, the only four meaningful blocks worth covering imo are pre-Wertham newsstand, the CCA newsstand period, the rise of specialty shops, and the now-ongoing digital migration. e: I guess you could also talk about creator generations, where the early days were all trained artist types who also worked in, Luke, the ad industry or painting book covers or whatever else workaday artists dis at the time, and writers and editors from other parts of the publishing industry; and now, the writers and artists and editors and even executives are people who grew up loving these characters who were iconic before these people were born, getting a lot of their creative inspiration from the superhero comics they read growing up instead of from outside training/experience. Although that's starting to shift, as well, to the creative decisions flowing significantly from the desire to inspire, mimic, or protect the brand of their own nominal spin-off media. Squizzle fucked around with this message at 00:58 on Jun 20, 2016 |
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Jun 20, 2016 00:19
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Squizzle posted:I truly hate the "ages" talk for comics. If you have to chunk out eras, the only four meaningful blocks worth covering imo are pre-Wertham newsstand, the CCA newsstand period, the rise of specialty shops, and the now-ongoing digital migration.
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Jun 20, 2016 00:52
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That seems dumb though since it's mostly about distribution channels and ratings boards, divorced from content. It's be like saying the only eras of video games are pre-esrb and post-steam
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Jun 20, 2016 00:53
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Squizzle posted:I truly hate the "ages" talk for comics. If you have to chunk out eras, the only four meaningful blocks worth covering imo are pre-Wertham newsstand, the CCA newsstand period, the rise of specialty shops, and the now-ongoing digital migration. Sure, if you are talking about the shape of the industry and not the shape of the medium, or the art form if you want to get pretentious about it. The sorts of stories told and the styles of art used to tell them are drastically different in each of those Ages, even if the exact borders between them can sometimes be fuzzy. That's a much different question from how people bought and consumed those stories.
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Jun 20, 2016 00:58
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