By Britt Schramm
March 6, 2005
It’s been an interesting few weeks here in the world of sequential art.
A couple of new female writers were announced as well as one woman getting a pretty high profile position of power in a major comic publisher. DC’s highly ambitious creative makeover began this week with the release of two One Year Later books. A creator goes off into pre WWII-propaganda mode. The comic convention season starts out very strong. And another comic company makes the news by going six feet under.
With those kinda weighty topics like that going on, you know what that means for you, my dear reader? That’s right; it’s the triumphant return of the Preachin’ from the Longbox Comic News Digest, offering commentary on all of the news that you need to know. And if you already knew this stuff, just pretend that you didn’t and read it anyway.
So, let’s crack open some of the recent industry news to dig further into these interesting on-goings.
Women on the Rise in Comics
After the unfortunate revelation of Lea Hernandez’s reasoning behind her quitting creating comics full-time, there needed to be some good and positive news concerning women in comics to come alone and wash away that bad taste in most of our mouths like that fresh mint wasabe sorbet from Morimoto’s in Philly. Well, there was some news that was very positive for women working in a male-dominated industry but sadly, there was a step back with those news bulletins.
At the New York Comic-con, Tamora Pierce, a highly prolific young adult fantasy author, was showcased by Marvel as the new writer of the upcoming White Panther series that was recently spun out of the Daredevil title. Another announcement was that New York Times Bestselling author Laurell K. Hamilton signed with Dabel Brothers Productions to have her Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter novels adapted into comic books. And lastly, Renae Geerlings was selected to replace departing Jim McLaughlin as Top Cow’s Editor-In-Chief.
All of those things were very positive for females in the industry, wouldn’t you say? So, where was the step back, you say? All I need to do is have you go back to the Top Cow press release.
Now, I don’t know who is directly responsible for creating the press releases for any of the three or if the images were sent with said press releases or not. But I think that using what boils down to a head shot of Ms. Geerlings as part of the release seemed inappropriate; especially in light of what had happened previously with Ms. Hernandez’s issues. It just seems like her looks were totally superfluous to the whole promotion proclamation. Its inclusion seemed to detract from her accomplishments and gave full license to the readers of Newsarama to make commentary on her looks.
To prove my point, you don’t need to look any further than the first comment after the press release.
A poster named Arnout tries to offer some congratulations to Ms. Geerlings but shoot himself in the foot by saying, "Kudos Renae, & best of luck. (plus: she looks hot. That's always a plus, and a definite step up from that McLaughlin guy…"
This comment was not lost on creator Paul Sizer (Little White Mouse) who decided to try to rein in the collective libido of the Newsarama constituency by saying, "Could we please, in this industry, just have ONE compliment directed toward a female creator/editor/professional that DOESN'T feel the need to mention her looks or "hotness"? Even if said in jest, this just makes ALL of us male creators/fans look like the horny 13 year old boys the rest of the world thinks we are."
The rest of the talkback spiraled downward into a somewhat intense argument between the overabundance of political correctness and the unbelievable insensitivity of fanboys in respects to traditional female roles in the comics industry with a few more "She's hot" posts (probably just trying to stir up the already heated pot). And all of this could’ve been avoided if the photo of Ms. Geerlings was not used in the press release.
Look, I’m not trying to be the Politically Correct Police or anything remotely close to that but let's compare the three press releases. If you glance over the other two press releases, there are obviously no photographs whatsoever of either Tamora Pierce or Laurell K. Hamilton.
Yet, Ms. Geerlings is prominantly displayed. It just makes me wonder. What was the reason for the inclusion of the photograph? Was the photo used to try to match a face with the name? Or was it used for reasons that are more salacious in nature? Did Ms. Geerlings know about the photo inclusion? Did she want it there in the first place? Point blank - even if it was harmless, this incident just further perpetuates the idiotic notion that women in comics, whether they're good-looking or not, only get ahead by being something other than excellent at their jobs.
Let me offer this suggestion: just don’t put any pictures of the new hires in the press releases; be they male, female or inbewteen (otherwise known as getting the curbside pickup treatment from the director of Die Another Day). Then, no one will have to worry about their respective hotness being called into question on a message board. The last thing that we need to have is a thread somewhere out there pitting the hotness of a new E-I-C compared to the one they’re replacing. Well, other than the one I’ll create when someone replaces Joe Quesada.
(Kidding, folks.)
The Brave New World at DC
Infinite Crisis #5 was just released on Wednesday, a few weeks later than scheduled. Unfortunately, two titles that are involved with the One Year Later corporate-wide retcon (Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis #40 & Batman: Detective Comics #817) were also released at the same time. Let me just get this out: I’m not the most qualified person talking about IC at DC since my boycott of the whole thing is still in effect. Also, I’m not up-to-date on my books since other responsibilities have allowed my backlog of reading books to reach an all-time high (currently, it’s hovering around two and a half months and that’s being generous on my part). So, considering those facts, I decided to read both books in an effort to give a new reader a very basic idea of what they would be in for if they were indecisive on making the purchase on either book.
First off, I’ll start with the comic that is home to the former Arthur Curry. A:SoA is written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by Butch Guice. Right there with those two guys on board, I hade a good vibe about the book. Unfortunately, that buzz didn’t last. It looks like Busiek threw some weird fantasy element into the mix and it didn’t work, at least for me. While the art was more that capable, I found reading the book hard to get through and the story was rather hazy.
Again, it may make more sense if you’re down with the whole IC storyline but for this out-of-the-loop reader, it didn’t resonate all that well. Maybe, the subsequent issues will make the beginning more sense but it’s hard to grab new readers with a first issue like this one.
On the other hand, it was back to basics with Batman and his Gotham crew. DC uses another team of superstar caliber with James Robinson of Starman fame and Leonard Kirk of JSA and the prematurely departed Bloodhound series. And this one works. Maybe because the source material is not being totally redone; unfortunately, Aquaman has a history of being yanked around from being a regal and surely full-time water breather or the polar opposite which would be his lame Superfriends-ish limp fish.
Or maybe that Robinson gets to introduce some familiar characters back into the Bat-mythos, like back-on-the-job joes like Harvey Bullock and Commissioner Gordon. And seeing the modified Robin costume is one puzzles me as I’m sure that there is some history in IC about it. Either way, this book definitely set the table for things to come in the One Year Later world for everything Bat-related.
The Big Deal in the Big Apple
The con season started out with the New York Comic-Con and the one word that could be associated with this opening salvo would be: Massive (as in turnout). I’ve talked to a couple of people who went and whose pictures I’m using here as well as a creator who attended and all of them said that the attendance was almost literally through the roof.
Two of my homies from the KFR posse both gave great first-person accounts (as well as the pictures that I decided to use below) of how insane the size of the throng of fanboys and fangirls that attended. From what I heard of them and a couple of others, the lines were ridiculously long and the floor space was extremely overcrowded. I’m sure that the concoction of smells that were wafting through the air must’ve been intoxicating. Actually, it was so bad that on Saturday, Reed Exhibitions and the management team of the Con had to turn away buying ticket holders to help with crowd control.
I talked to a local creator and friend of mine, John Gallagher of Buzzboy fame, and he told me some stories of how the new money was stuck above and couldn’t get down to the floor because of still milling around masses. He also said that Sunday was more sedate but still brisk which helped him make the bulk of his sales to make up for the day before.
This unexpected high turnout is a double-edged sword for the comics biz. On one hand, this is good news for comics to be well represented in its home court. (So sorry for the sports analogy but it is the start of baseball season and March Madness is right around the corner. So, thank you in advance for indulging me). The cons are getting more publicity and as a result, attendance around the country is growing. And to start off the 2006 season strong is music to many people’s ears.
On the other, it’s not good business to have paying customers stand in more than an hour long lines just to get to the floor to spend their money on those latest toys/books or to talk to their favorite creators. That fear of over-crowding might affect the attendance of next year’s con, which could reduce the opportunity for moneys to be made by all of the exhibitors. Hopefully, the organizers of the other relatively newer cons this year will learn from New York’s mistakes.
Going Back to the Future in Miller Time
Frank Miller, ever the renegade, announced that he was working on a new Batman title (outside of writing the oft-delayed All-Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder). Titled “Holy Terror, Batman!”, Miller goes back to the earlier days of comics by creating a propaganda piece pitting Batman against Osama bin Laden and al-Quaeda. In an interview at Spacecast.com done at Miller’s studio, he stated, “It’s a propaganda comic that might’ve happened in the’40s that DC wouldn’t do now. It’s Batman versus al-Quaeda, and it’s pretty direct and abrupt and rough and tumble. I see Holy Terror! Batman as a relic from the first years of World War III, and I’m setting the whole thing up that way.”
I’ll be the first to admit it that I’m very weary of what Miller was planning on this book. Having read the train wreck that was DK2 and currently suffering through All-Star Batman, the possibility for this book to be awful is very high. The whole real world invasion of al-Quaeda seems to be in direct conflict with how Batman seems to operate (more concerned with Gotham than other areas). And the possibly of a rash mob mentality against anything associated with Muslims or their beliefs is a very real concern in some areas of the country.
However, after seeing the video interview and mulling it over, I’m not as down on the book as I was previously. Miller seems really into making this comic almost a retro affair and his take may not be as extreme as it could be. Still, the hype that will surround the finished product might be too much; even for an iconic figure like Miller. Until it’s out and circulating, I’m still gonna be wary of this book.
Speakeasy goes six feet under
Unfortunately, the comic community felt another loss as Speakeasy fell victim to financial problems that forced them to close its doors on February 27th. The comic book message boards all over the Internet were ablaze about this surprise announcement that marked this once promising company’s demise.
Most of the posts offered their views on why Speakeasy failed. Speculation ran the gamut from the lack of implementing a proper and successful business model to Speakeasy’s lack of promotion outside of Previews to the chokehold that the Big Two currently have on the industry now.
And I could rehash everything that was said on either Newsarama, the Bendis Board or Warren Ellis’ The Engine Board but I thought that I would go all Bizarro Marc Anthony on Speakeasy and come to praise the failed publishing company rather than help pile more dirt on their shallow grave.
I was just beginning to dig some of the work that Speakeasy was publishing. Rocketo was the "Gateway" book into their publishing line for me. Then, I moved onto last months's new relase Athena Voltaire, which I scanned quickly prior to buying (although, like I’ve stated previously, I’ll probably get to actually read the book during my Memorial Day weekend at my current rate of reading). Then, this past month’s Previews had the solicitation for The Black Coat, which looked like a lock for me to pick up.
Truthfully, to have the bottom drop out of Speakeasy is definitely a sad thing; not just for the readers that were along for the ride but for the creators as well since some of them didn’t hear about this news until they saw it online and are now scrambling to find homes for their creations.
So, I’m always thinking of you guys (and gals) out there, I’ve decided to compile a list of the titles that were hung out to dry by Speakeasy and whether they’ve found new homes or not. Hopefully, the readers who were dedicated enough to buy the monthly titles will get to see the books continue to live on elsewhere in the world of sequential art.
