Less is More, DC Comics!

1 weeks worth of DC comics: too much?

I have enjoyed many of the DC relaunch comics but it would have been better if DC had started with only a few books instead of 52. Fifty-two comics every month is a lot of comics and would leave a new reader beleaguered. It would have been wiser if DC had relaunched with a dozen to 20 comics instead. As it stands you average 13 new issues every week, which will increase as DC unveils various mini-series and one-shots. A smaller number of comics each month also means a better and tighter focus on what you have, increasing the production value. It also means that readers will not be stumped on what to buy, granted due to there being less choice.


But, consider the redundancy. There are a total of four Batman books and another SIX Bat-related books (eg. batgirl); there is definitely room for downsizing! A new reader would have little idea of what Batman book to choose. How would you choose if you've never read a Batman book before but loved the movies and decided you wanted to read the source material!

Compilation of Batman & Batman affiliated comic covers.

DC missed what a lot of the readers were asking for: fewer books and more concise stories. The more books you have for one character, the more difficult it becomes to follow the story arc of that character because inevitably the story crosses over from one book to the next. I will grant you two things: that Detective Comics and Batman have been around forever and it would be sacrilege to cancel either one: and that affiliated books have readers of their own, like Batgirl, and present very different stories and styles of stories. However, I fail to see a reason to publish both 'Batman the Dark Knight' and 'Batman and Robin' when both books discuss concepts already covered in 'Batman' and 'Detective Comics'. It is overkill!

Media Companies Out of Touch

Media companies are out of touch with the economic crunch most people are feeling. Prices for entertainment have gone up while the average wage has stayed the same and the economic fear machine has marched its way inside most people's noggins.

The average new DVD movie costs over $20 and closer to $30 if on blue ray. If choosing to rent it, you will be looking at a price tag of at least $5 for a new release. If you choose to go out and see the movie in a theater then you're looking at between $13 and $18, depending on the type of screening -eg. regular or 3D. The music industry has not changed much either, with concerts and CDs at or above the price level of the 1990's. Sure you can buy someone's music on iTunes, but that only saves you maybe $5 while not actually receiving a physical copy of your purchase.

Even though the media industry complains that their sales are falling they continue to produce a product that they sell for a higher rate than they did previously while so much of the world cannot afford it. If your market audience cannot afford your product and you are loosing money, then the logical step is to produce a cheaper product that can therefore be sold more cheaply. The other side of the coin is to produce a product with additional value for the same price. However, neither step has been taken. I find this odd.

Even Obama is into Star Wars!

The media industry also complains about people pirating their products. To a degree I do not blame them for their complaint. The companies produce a product that is in no way a 'need' for consumers. They produce wants, and they do so to make a profit so they can continue making the things you enjoy. The problem lies in that their product has become a 'need' in our society. Film and music have become integral threads to our society and to be a part of our society one must have some knowledge about this thread. Ask yourself how many people you know have no knowledge about music or film? Secondly, ask yourself how it would be to hold a conversation with someone and never be able to discuss film or music or the entertainment industry as a whole? I myself often use film and music as conversation starters. When meeting someone new the most obvious connection we could have would be found in music and film.

Pirates! Ahr!

Because the product of the media industry has become a need and the prices are high in reflection to what the average person earns, people are turning to stealing the product. I personally do not pirate music or movies for a number reasons. One, I am not savvy enough to know how to download music and movies; I'm a bit of a Luddite really. Secondly, I feel that pirating is stealing and I like to financially support the artists I appreciate. Nonetheless, I understand why some people are pirating media products because they are components of our cultural reality.

What I hope to see is that the media industry begins to lower the prices of their products to reflect the economic climate we are in today. Perhaps this means the industry will need to spend less money on their products, such as slashing movie budgets. This would not be a bad thing as movies of generations ago did just fine with smaller budgets. Secondly, the media industry cannot expect to make as large of profits as they do now when their consumers have less to spend. It makes little sense for companies to be expecting to make more when their audience has remained virtually the same size and has less to spend. Where do they expect their extra revenue to come from?

Prevalence of the entertainment industry in today's culture & society.

I don't claim to be a financial or economic expert. What I do claim is to have a solid knowledge of culture, and in this instance pop culture. I understand that the media industry's products are vital to many people's lives but in the end we can always do without them. However, to strip ourselves of this product would also mean stripping a thread out of our cultural milieu; for instance Star Wars has become an important and influential component of our society, much like other products like Twilight, Guns 'n Roses, and the Simpsons. The media industry (I hope) must understand that their products need to be produced with less money, sold for less money, and to recoup smaller revenues from their products. Otherwise more people will continuing utilizing alternative ways of obtaining their products and looking for alternative and hence cheaper forms of media products such as Youtube.

Generations in the Movie Theater

My wife & I recently saw the Lion King in 3D at the movie theaters. We saw the matinee show on a weekday thinking it wouldn't be too busy but would have at least a few families in attendance. Originally, we wanted to see a late night screening of the movie as it would have fewer kids and hence be quieter. However, due to her work schedule we were forced into choosing the matinee.

When attending a family-friendly movie during a matinee time, one should expect children to be also be in attendance. One should also expect child-like behavior. What one should not expect is child-like behavior coming from the parents.

Children can be little shits at times, but it is the role of the parent to teach their child what acceptable social behavior is. My stance here means that I do not blame a child for being a shit but I also do not condone a child being a shit. A child needs to be educated on how not to be a shit. That education comes principally from the parent. If the parent is not providing this education, then I blame them when their kid is acting like a little shit.

Bad parenting comes in many forms.

While watching Lion King, two families with kids in tow sat behind us. There were many families throughout the theater. For the majority of the film the children were very respectful. The children were quiet and still. When the children broke the social rules, such as talking loudly, their parent quietly corrected them. Sometimes a child could be heard loudly asking a question, which often times were pretty damn funny because it was an innocent kid kind of question. This is actually one of the fun aspects to seeing a kid's movie with kids: they ask funny questions that somehow make the movie that much more enjoyable. However, there is a limit to these questions and the way in which they are asked and handled.

The families behind us allowed their kids to do whatever they wanted. The children flailed and carried on as if they were watching a movie at home. But this is not their home! Again, I do not blame the kids for how they were acting, I blame the parents. The father constantly laughed whenever his child did something socially inappropriate and when speaking to the child did so in a loud voice. Often I could hear the father telling his wife how funny the kids were being, in which she also responded in a similarly loud voice.

Are we producing a generation of Lohans?

I won't go so far as to say these families ruined the movie for me, but  obviously it ticked me off. It costs a lot of money to see a movie and it pisses me off to have it soiled by ignorant people who obviously have more money than I do as they don't care about spending x amount of dollars at a theater, only to sit through the movie talking and laughing. The financial aspect is definitely one reason why this upset me, but a second is that I worry for the kids. Yeah, here's my sensitive side dammit. I worry how those kids are going to grow up without a social education. Their parents have failed to teach them social etiquette. This is more worrisome because if the parents couldn't teach etiquette in a movie theater then what about more important social arenas such as classrooms and workplaces? The lack of education in the theater is just the tip of the proverbial ice-berg.

An additional thought gives me a glimmer of hope: much of human behavior is cyclical. Music for instance runs in cycles with rock music being predominant for about 13-16 years and is then replaced by pop music for an equivalent amount of time. This makes me wonder if parenting styles also run in cycles, with one generation being firm and the next loose? If this is so, then we are in a loose style of parenting. However, I have also sensed a level of apathy and 'don't give a shit' mentality that I am unaware of from previous generations of parents. It would seem all too often that current parents, particularly older parents with very young children don't give a shit about actually raising the kids. It would seem they only want the ability to say they have kids and to spend marginal amounts of time with their kids. In these cases I suggest the parents purchase a chia pet as it would be safer for everyone involved; I would have suggested a dog but I wouldn't wish that kind of life upon such a noble creature.

Week 3 of the New DC Comics: Part Deux!

In this post are my brief comments about the other half of the comics released in the third week of the New DC line. None of the six comics discussed below were previous monthly reads, and only one of these was a book I had really read at all. After reading these six comics, four of them were so good I want to continue reading them, while two of them were so God awful I want to ask for my money back!

Green Lantern CORPS: This was a book I had little idea of what to expect from. I read the monthly Green Lantern series, but none of the supporting GL books. This book centers upon two of the Green Lanterns, Stewart & Gardner, who are the only two GL's from Earth who do not have private identities. The book immediately focuses on the issue of their public identities while to a lesser degree builds up the back story of an entity that is murdering GL's from other sectors. I liked how the two main characters came together over how to maintain a normal life on Earth when it was public knowledge that they are GL's, which is counter to most comics that discuss the problems of maintaining a secret identity. In all, the story was enjoyable and I sense a lot of great potential in the book. The art is also also enjoyable with solidly rendered pages. This could easily become one of the sleeper hits of the New DC line!

Legion of Super-Heroes: Welcome to one of the bigger messes that DC put out! This book made very little sense as the reader is thrown into some kind of covert operation involving characters the new reader has no clue about. The story continually flips between three different groups of people without no explanation as to who they are; and no, a listing of their name and super-hero is not enough to build a character from. The art is also sloppy and does not clearly demonstrate what is occurring in each panel. The book also references a book that came out in the first week of the New DC (Legion Lost) that I had not read, which left me even more confused as to what was happening! This book would have been greatly improved with the story focusing on one or two groups of people and more explanations provided for why these events were taken place.

Nightwing: This was a very enjoyable book with solid art, although it did appear that the artist, Eddy Barrows, gave more attention to some pages over others (mainly the middle pages). This book begins a new chapter in the life of Nightwing, aka Dick Grayson, who had recently left the mantle of Batman. Previously, Bruce Wayne had gone international with seeding the world with his versions of Batman. I'm not sure why, but Wayne stopped doing this and returned to Gotham to reclaim the mantle of Batman which left Grayson to go back to being Nightwing.

This first issue examines Dick Grayson's past and introduces a new villian, while also providing a narrative about how being Batman changed the way he now handles being a super-hero. I really enjoyed the development and introduction of Nightwing's character and I see promise in where this story is going. My only complaint is that I am still confused why some characters in the New DC comics have their origins redone in the first issue while other characters are presented as coming straight off of where they were left in their previous books. This is most evident in the Batman books where it seems very little if anything has actually changed in the character's lives except that a new chapter in their lives is being presented -not a reboot as DC said would happen. Furthermore, as an avid reader of the Batman books, I find it very disappointing that DC is not spending more time on exploring Dick Grayson's departure and Bruce Wayne's return as Batman. If DC is not going to be wiping the slate clean on the Bat books, then they need to at least clean up the issues left unresolved; instead, it seems DC wants us to ignore the whole thing! Nightwing, while being a strong book from DC's new line, is frustrating for there is little reason for the book to have been renumbered and waters down DC's reasoning for the relaunches -to reboot their comics so they become accessible to new readers.

Red Hood & the Outlaws: Welcome to the second book I discuss which was a disappointment. To be fair, this book is far superior to the Legion book and the principle reason this book fails is because of its depiction of the character Starfire. Kenneth Rocafort pencils the book with a loose and angular style that stands out against the other DC books. This is a compliment as I really enjoyed this book's art but did wish that backgrounds were filled in more (too much negative space), and some of the paneling did not use up as much of the page as they could have (again, leaving too much negative space). The story line was fun and I greatly enjoyed the concept of the book and the introduction of the mysterious background of the Red Hood character. However, the character of Starfire is presented as some floozy bimbo with Superman 'esque powers and wish to sleep with any man in a 100 yard radius. This was a weak move by  Lobdell, the writer, as the other two main characters (Red Hood & Roy Harper) are bold, funny, and dynamic. It feels that Starfire was an afterthought of a character and is no way a flattering example of what a female super-hero can be. This is highlighted by how great other female characters have been used in the New DC comics such as Catwoman, Batwoman, and the to be mentioned Wonder Woman and Supergirl.

Supergirl: Holy crap this book blew me away! I read this book in under a minute partially because there was very little text and partially because the introduction of the character Supergirl had me in a headlock of awesomeness! The dialogue was brief for sure, but the combination of the brief dialogue and the engaging art made for a truly worthy read. While the dialogue was brief, the plotting of the book told another side of the story, which was told very well and demonstrated how well the writer, Michael Green, and the artist, Mike Johnson, worked together. The art, by the way, was really incredible. Supergirl's new costume looked really great and is an appreciation of a more modern design that incorporated the classic elements of Superman with a more alien, angled lines. I also appreciated how this book was a relaunch /reboot of the character. The reader needed no previous knowledge of the character when beginning this book and was exactly what expected from DC in their New 52 line of comics. This was a superb comic that I will be adding to my monthly collection for sure!

Wonder Woman: Yet another hit by DC comics! In contrast to Supergirl, Wonder Woman #1 presented a much longer and more involved story, but like Supergirl this issue began a story that the reader needed no previous knowledge base. Wonder Woman was presented as a secondary character who acted as a detective for the character Zola who was attacked by mysterious, supernatural like creatures. Wonder Woman's origin was not divulged in this issue and it seemed to be picking up from wherever the previous book left off, however this book did not seem to reference any previous events of the earlier story lines. The story also featured some great action sequences and some truly grotesque moments that are superbly rendered by the highly capable artist of Cliff Chiang. Again, this was a very strong book that I greatly enjoyed despite it not seeming to be a true reboot.

Week 3 of the New DC

Encouraged with how much I enjoyed the few comics I read of the initial two weeks of the DC comics relaunch, I decided to go for broke (literally) and buy all of the new DC comics that came out in the third and fourth weeks of the relaunch. In this post I briefly discuss 6 of the third week issues. Out of the 6, only one (Batman) was a comic I previously collected on a monthly basis. Going forward I will also be collecting Catwoman on a monthly basis and will try the next issue of Captain Atom as these were the two strongest, besides Batman that I talk about here.

Batman: Written by Scott Snyder and drawn by Greg Capullo, this was a great read that like the previous Detective Comics issue, brought the Dark Knight back to his roots -as a gritty detective! I loved how the book opened with a great fight scene in Arkham Asylum and the narrative text discussed how the citizens of Gotham viewed their city. Their view had become bleak and Bruce Wayne was determined to change that view through the utilization of both his personas!

Interior page.

On a side note, I loved Greg Capullo's art. I remember his art from his earlier days working on Spawn back in the 1990's, but haven't seen anything he's done since. In Batman he's retained his Todd McFarlane (creator of Spawn) inspired style but provided it with cleaner lines. My only negative comment is that Capullo tended to make some of the characters too similar looking, such as Bruce Wayne and the new character of Lincoln March.

Birds of Prey: This book presents more or less what I was expecting from the DC relaunch: a book that starts from the beginning. The above mentioned Batman did not do this, but did present the beginning of a new Batman story. Birds of Prey however, presented the formation of a new team. The team is presented as an entity that had been previously established but has to now find new members.

The story is of a group of female crime fighters that all have ties to other superheroes, which kind of makes the ladies here seem like sidekicks to their male superhero counterparts (eg. Canary is from the Green Arrow comics). Regardless, this team can kick some but and showcases strong female characters. The storyline is interesting but does not stray far from the status quo of comic stories. The artwork is also solid but not too flashy. This is a book I could go either way on for reading again in the future; as in, if it's a slow week at the comic store I may pick up another issue.

Blue Beetle: I absolutely love this character from the cartoons but am not too familiar with the comic book source material. The first issue was great for someone like me who was not familiar with the character as it starts with the origin of the character. The story is told well but lacked the humor I expected from the cartoon, making the story feel dry. In the comic, the main character obtained his power in a happenstance and non-memorable way, unlike other characters such as Spider-Man who was bit by a spider or the Hulk saving a person's life during a gamma bomb test. Those are memorable origin stories and the Blue Beetle origin story was weak in comparison. Additionally, the story was rushed and did not have sufficient build-up for me to care about the characters that were being affected. While a reader would likely expect, and perhaps demand the appearance of the Blue Beetle to appear in the first issue, in the case of this comic I feel it would have worked better if the first issue was spent instead on building the foundation for the characters and storyline and then introduced the Blue Beetle in the second issue.  However, the story has some potential and I liked how most of the characters are Latino, which is a nice surprise to see in a comic book as the vast majority of the characters are white.

In regards to the art, it was solid but more care was needed in inking as the lines were muddled. I hate it when inkers use too thick of brushes when the lines need to be crisper.

Captain Atom: This was a surprisingly great read! I was not familiar with the character of Captain Atom and didn't know what to expect. What I found was some very well illustrated pages by Freddie Williams II and a very interesting story with loads of potential by J.T. Krul. The story throws the reader mid-way through the career of Captain Atom, with the superhero already well established in the world. However, his powers had become unstable. From there the book begins the deconstruction of the hero. I had the impression that the book did not want to start from the beginning of the character's story as the deconstruction of the hero would only be successful if it started off with a pre-established foundation of who the character was, which was quickly established in the first few pages of the book which explains the situation to new readers and notifies older readers that what they previously knew of the character was still true. In all, Captain Atom is a book I will read for a few more issues at least!

Interior page.

Catwoman: Hands down the best book out of the bunch I'm discussing in this post and is one I had not previously collected on an ongoing basis. I was absolutely floored by the beautiful artwork of Guillem March. His style seems as though it's a mesh of Joe Kubert and a sketchier form of Manga. His inks are dripping with style and I loved his usage of perspective; Guillem really thought out how he would illustrate this book! On the side of writing, Judd Winick presents a powerful female character. A woman who is confident, sexual, and loving -a real and well rounded character. I really appreciated as to how Winick gives us a female character that is anything but a stereotype! This is a character who is situated in a very complex story told in under 30 pages. Of these pages, the final few will make you open the window as it gets really steamy! This is definitely one book I will be reading on a monthly basis!

DC Universe Presents: Deadman: I am not familiar with the character of Deadman and was interested to see that DC chose this character as one of their leading heroes in the new 52 line. This book retells the origin of Deadman through narrative flashbacks and starts off a new chapter in the character's life. The character is conflicted and begins to question his role as an individual who must aid the living with their problems in order for his own soul (?) to be saved; kinda reminds me of Quantum Leap actually. The art  by Bernard Chang is clear and straight forward, but the covers have fantastically powerful illustrations by Ryan Sook. The writing is also engaging and I like where they are headed with the character. However there is something missing from the book that didn't draw me in. I can't place it, but I was left feeling very 'meh' about the character and where the story was headed. Perhaps I would have been more favorable towards this book if it had not been for the other comics I read before it. The competition in this group of week 3 books was too stiff, and in particular Captain Atom and Catowman presented much stronger stories.

A Tip to Displaying Comic Books for Sale

On my most recent visit to my local comic book store I decided to wander through the independent comic racks. I have been thinking recently that I have been purchasing too much of the mainstream material, which is not a statement that what DC and Marvel is producing is poor but rather that I was hungry for something a little different that didn't involve spandex and mystical powers.

While perusing the racks of comics I noticed how some areas of the store where not utilized as highly as others, and how people went through the older racks more quickly than the area that held the week's new releases. The principle problem is that comics are placed on racks that have rows too low to the ground. I understand that space is a premium in comic stores and you don't want the racks too high because then it offers privacy for shoplifters. However, most shoppers will not bend over, kneel down, or even glance downward to see what's on the bottom of the rack. This means that roughly 50% of the product is not even being seen!

White shelves help a lot!

The solution? Place larger items on the bottom of the racks. Use large hard covers, trade paperbacks, and toys to fill in the bottom of the racks. Then have the comics on the top. This will leave less room for some of the comics but what does it matter if they weren't selling anyways? Use the comics that aren't selling as: promotional giveaways, discounted books, compiled into sets o be sold, put in boxes with the other back issues, or list them on your online store (or e-bay if you don't have that).

Dark, cramped, & uninviting comic store.

Another benefit of having fewer comics on the racks is that it provides a sense of urgency to the buyer. When you walk into a store with comics spilling out the door the customer will think that a sale must be on the horizon because of the over stock, which also implies the store is not selling a lot of comics and may go out of business. Further, the more issues one sees the less likely they will believe they need that item! Fewer issues means scarcity; the book is popular and must be a good read /investment. So in the end, it will financially benefit a comic book store owner to have fewer comics on display. Take those extra copies and tuck them away in the back until room opens up again on the shelves! It's how every other store in the world works, so why should a comic store be so different?

Most comic covers are dark colored.

Another benefit is that less product makes a brighter and more inviting store. All too often comic book stores are crammed with product. For one, it makes it difficult for staff to keep clean when there is tons of non-moving product constantly collecting dust. Secondly, most comic books have dark colored covers. With all of this dark colored mass comes a dark looking store. Dark looking stores are not inviting, unless you're a Goth (no insult intended). Brighter and cleaner stores means people will feel more welcomed. It also has the effect of keeping people in your store longer because they feel invited. Just because some comic fans still live in their parent's basement does not mean they want to also shop there! Also, a brighter and cleaner store is more attractive for that new audience /shopper which every store owner wants to see more of. If a comic fan brings a non-comic reading friend into the store, that friend will be more inclined to return on their own if they have a positive experience. How can you expect someone to have a positive experience when they enter a store that is dark and overcrowded?

Model your store after the Simpsons!

I suggest these thoughts because I earnestly wish nothing but continued success for the comic book industry. I love reading comics and want to see more people reading them too! I also know that the chances of me opening a store are slim to nil, so I share my ideas on how I would I would run a successful comic store in the hopes that a shop owner will read this, take my advice, and become more profitable. A more profitable comic store is a place that will thrive and support the industry, which in turn means I will be able to continue buying the comics I love!

Trip to Jamaica: prt I

A little over a year ago I had never been outside of Canada or the States. That all changed with a trip to Jamaica back in October of 2010.

This trip was realized through my wife winning a contest at work, allowing for an affordable and quick trip to a resort at an island destination of our choice. However, I had never yearned for tropical destinations. Sand between the toes was fine but not in my thoughts. I had never made friends with water. The carnival atmosphere of the gluttonous and sloth filled resorts had also never been in mind. Yet, there I was to embark on a trip that involved all of these.

Lifting off from Calgary we flew through the murky skies towards Toronto. From there it was a continual flight to Jamaica, touching down in Montego Bay. We entered the run down airport, meandering through the long hallways towards customs. The air was cool and damp, with murals adorning most of the walls. A large group of people pooled at the customs area. Customs was fairly quick and the biggest hassle was figuring out how to fill out the paperwork for entering the country.

view from bus

Upon leaving customs we entered another area with even more people. The area was filled with kiosks for the various resorts and transportation companies. Our resort, Bahia Principe, was sussed out and we were told that a bus was waiting outside. A man came up to us to carry our bags to the bus. Once at the bus he demanded to be paid for this 20 foot-long carrying service; I refused and he left begrudgingly. We felt awkward.

crafts sold on roadside

Once the bus was boarded we again flew, this time a little closer to the ground. Our resort was located in Runaway Bay, which worked out to be about an hour's drive from the airport in Montego Bay.

The highways in Jamaica are narrow and lined with a mosaic of inspiration. Hillsides drenched in green and studded with small hand crafted buildings. Vehicles passed each other along the turns with their pedals perpetually stuck to the floor; the bus was no different. The exotic-ness was intoxicating. We rapidly approached a pre-arranged stop with the driver's hopes you would prematurely begin your Western spending practices. A tall shack with an odd bar /jerked foods emporium was pointed out to us, along with a pleasant gentleman trying with sweat on his brow to sell us hand crafted goods. I gravitated towards a ginger beer and browsed the man's crafts, later on regretting I did not pick up anything.

After our stop it was roughly another 30 minutes of driving before we reached our resort. Exiting the bus we kindly tipped our driver. We walked into the main foyer to check in and were greeted with tropical alcohol based drinks. The large foyer had an open concept, with an absence of doors and a large plants adorning the corners. A large oddly shaped white sculpture stood at the room's center, commanding attention and tranquility. Bus boys ran about busily and fat tourists waded through the thick humidity.

Our room was splendid, with a picturesque four-post bed, tiled floors, a large bathroom, a small fridge and an outdated tv. The balcony was of a moderate size and had a table with a few chairs. From the view of our second story balcony (which also happened to be the top floor), we had a west facing view of the mountains. The highway came down from the side of the mountain but hardly made a noise from where we stood. The resort's beach could also be easily seen from our room. The large pavilion area where the resort nestled its gift shops and late night dance area was directly in front of our room, but like the highway we rarely noticed the noise.

After the flight and drive, we slowly unpacked and continued to poke through the room. Opening the fridge I found cans of local beer and a bottle of water. With beer in hand, my wife & I relaxed on the balcony. Soaking in the sun and beauty we knew right away that Jamaica would make a perfectly fine place for a vacation.