| July 3, 2006 07:13 - Are Comics Really for Kids?
Are we always accused of being child like as we read comics and told to grow up? Comic books span a wide age range, maybe wider than most other genres. But with the advent of Graphic Novels, 20 years or more ago, they seem to be targeted more toward mature audiences. I sure don't think it would be appropriate for youngsters to read "Sin City", even though I thought the movie was well done. Here is Ron Cowan's take on Graphic Novels these days:
"GRAPHIC NOVELS
Comics grow up
Area bookstores, a Portland publisher and a Salem author ride a wave of popularity fueled by Hollywood
RON COWAN
Statesman Journal
July 2, 2006
Comic books, with their superheroes, bold colors and simple stories and dialogue, have long been a staple for kids and a guilty pleasure for adults. But that was before "Sin City," "Maus," "The Road to Perdition" and "V for Vendetta" lifted the comic tradition into the realm of graphic novel, with dramatic and often dark imagery, complicated stories and mature themes.
Portland, the home of major publisher Dark Horse Comics, has become a center for graphic-novel writing and publication, and Salem now has its own graphic novelist, Adam Gallardo, who worked at Dark Horse and now writes for the company.
You can find graphic novels at serious bookstores in Salem, such as The Book Bin and Jackson's Books.
A vivid example of the emotive power of graphic novels is Art Spiegelman's "Maus," which depicts the reality of the Holocaust, only with cats as the Nazis, mice as the Jews and pigs as the Poles.
"It's really remarkable," said Tim King, a book buyer for Willamette University. "This is probably one of the most effective things I've read, and it's cartoons."
He understands the resistance in some minds to the idea that a comic combined with serious ideas is not serious." Finish the story at Ron's Graphic Novels.
As the future wanes on and if the Comic theme in Hollywood holds, we will probably see more and more Graphic Novels come to the silver screen.
Dave
July 6, 2006 07:56 - Finally, an Update to the Superhero Contest!
There is finally an update at the sci-fi channel website on the new reality series "Who wants to be a Superhero?" I have seen a few commercials on TV about it. Kind of looks debatable to me. But then I am not real big on reality series either. I will have to follow the programming though and see this contest through.
The first episode airs on July 27, 2006. So I guess I will be planted in front of the tube to check it out. I may even try and record all the episodes if I don't get too agitated with the series. Sure hope Stan Lee doesn't bomb on this one. Guess I had better reserve judgement until I see the first episode.
The eleven finalists have been chosen and it looks like production is well underway. You can check out "Superhero Finalists" to get an idea of who you are going to see and their creative superhero identities. So far, I am not too impressed, but again, I will have to wait and see. I would sure love your comments on this concept if you receive the sci fi channel and happen to catch these episodes. I plan on putting some updates of my own thoughts and feelings in the future on this blog. Hope you enjoy my comments.
Dave
July 10, 2006 07:17 - New Comic Book Passion on the Net!
As I always check my contact me database on a daily schedule, William left this press release for me the other day. Thought you might be interested in checking out his passion:
Thursday, July 06, 2006 *Release Source: William A. Council PRESS RELEASE Of interest to editors and journalists covering: Business, Entertainment, Lifestyles, and Religion Graphic Artist Announces Opening of a Christian Comic Book Company ALBUQUERQUE, NM-July 6, 2006
William Council, a 14 year veteran of the Graphics Arts Industry, forms Zephaniah Comics. (www.lulu.com/zephaniahcomics) The mission of Zephaniah Comics is to produce quality books, art, comics and videos with the Christian Message.
William brings a unique perspective to the industry - he is an Afro-American Marine Corps Veteran with a B.A. in English from Columbia University. William also used to be a Deacon in the United Pentecostal Churches of Christ. "Who I am and where I've been," states William, "plays a huge role in the stories that I create. Zephaniah Comics will allow my voice to be heard from coast to coast." Zephaniah Comics first title-Kinesis revolves around the question: "What would happen to an Earth orphan became the most powerful hero on a distant planet?"
The Kinesis Title will also examine the following questions: What would heroes and villains look like on a planet that was the New York City for an entire galaxy? What would Christianity look like on alien planets? What would it be like to be a teenager in a Galactic Society? Kinesis #1 - "System Glitch" will be released in late July or early August. Zephaniah Comics will publish it's first comic title: Kinesis in conjunction with Lulu (www.lulu.com), the world's fastest-growing provider of print-on-demand books.
All of the characters within Kinesis have been designed for the Heroic Visions Role Playing Game. Characters Sheets for both heroes and villains will be included in each issue. The Heroic Visions Role Playing Game is available at: www.lulu.com Link to Heroic Visions: Superhero Role Playing Adventure Game: http://www.lulu.com/content/130200
ABOUT AUTHOR: Born in Brooklyn, New York; William Council, an Afro-American, graduated from Philips Exeter Academy and then Columbia University where he received a B.A. in English. William is also a Desert Storm Marine Corps Veteran. A life long fan of comics, William also interned at Marvel Comics under editor Gregory Wright. In 1992, William opened New Vision Publishing, a Graphic Design and Computer Consulting Business. ABOUT LULU Founded in 2002, Lulu is the world's fastest-growing print-on-demand marketplace for digital do-it-yourselfers.
Please see www.lulu.com for more information. # # # MEDIA CONTACT: Bill Council Zephaniah Comics 505-842-8823
So, if you get a chance, go see what William is going to be offering up in the near future. Talk later.
Dave
July 13, 2006 12:31 - College Prof. Loves Comic Books
It seems these days, more and more instructors in the field of learning are turning to the comic book concept to get their points across. Here is a neat article about another professor who wants to integrate comic book ideals into textbook instruction:
"Worth a thousand words
Professor merging comics, biology knowledge
By Rebecca Berdar, rberdar@altoonamirror.com
HUNTINGDON - About 30 rookie Japanese legislators got a recent tongue lashing
from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi for reading comic books during legislative sessions.
Juniata College professor Dr. Jay Hosler gets a kick out this story from the other side of the world. What strikes him is not the scolding, but that comic books are so popular in Japan that even the legislature has a hard time putting them aside.
"I just can't imagine that happening here," Hosler said.
Best known for giving voice to honey bees and follicle mites, Hosler is hoping to help make sense of science by appealing to the senses of young readers - and by showing American audiences that comics as a teaching tool deserve some respect.
Hosler, 39, an associate professor of biology, is creating a biology tome that fuses comic style with traditional text book knowledge - an experiment in teaching method he hopes will reel in students otherwise reluctant to study science.
The proposed text book, funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation, is aimed at first-year college students and high school students…" And for the rest of the comic book integration story.
Where were these interesting and provocative instructors when I was in college? Maybe I would have gotten more A's (ha ha). Hope you enjoy the article.
Dave
July 19, 2006 10:10 - The Future of Comic Book Prices: Part One
Well, I thought I might post an article from one of my ezine issues, which could tend to be controversial. I also received back an interesting response from Greg, one of my subscribers. I will post his response in a few days. The article is rather long so I will create two posts. Here is part one:
Future Comic Book Prices
Gene Park
www.lyriacomicexchange.com
Many comic collectors that I know lack perspective when it comes to projecting the probable course of future comic prices. They claim that comics can't decline in value because "they're art, they're culture, they're part of Americana". They can't decline in value because "while trends may come and go, superheroes are forever". They can't decline in value because "they've never experienced a substantial decline to date".
Phooey! It's time for people to take off their fanboy caps and throw out these feel-good catchphrases that masquerade as hard analysis. Ignore the siren calls of dealers and hype-mongers who are only too eager to separate you from your money. These dealers are generally the only ones who can somewhat reliably make money in comics - they buy low and sell high (or buy high and sell higher) and they do it as a business, forsaking emotional attachment to their inventory. In fact, one of the biggest and best dealers in the hobby claims to never have even read a comic book in his life.
The spectacular CGC and Internet-fueled comic book price gains of the last several years, on top of an already huge price rise in the preceding decade for key books, has both collectors and dealers dancing with joy and quick to predict even more easy money to come in the future. "CGC has only been around for a few years! Imagine the gains when things really heat up a few years from now!" How much longer do we have to hear this drivel? Far from being a bullish sign, this kind of blind optimism fueled by hope and greed should tip you off that something is wrong in the marketplace. It is precisely this kind of wild optimism that currently has people speculating in funny books at the expense of long-term savings and investment plans, often taking on high-interest debt and going on extended payment plans to do so (yes, I personally know collectors who fall into this category).
Does any of this sound familiar? It should. We saw a very similar episode at the end of the tech stock bubble of 1997-2000. In fact, this kind of uber-bullish behavior where market participants blindly extrapolate the recent past indefinitely into the future after parabolic price gains have already been achieved has always marked the end of a manic period of price appreciation. It doesn't always happen immediately, but the end result is always the same - a reversal of prices to below the previous pre-bubble price trend. It should be obvious to anyone with a modicum of common sense that the time to buy is before something rises 10-fold, 20-fold, 50-fold, 100-fold, even 200-fold! According to one collector I know, he claims to have picked up 2 NM Amazing Fantasy #15s in 1990 for $600 each. Today's value for true NM copies is probably on the order of 200 times that amount. And yet, people are crying "More! More! More!" Never mind that price appreciation has outstripped income growth by several country miles. Never mind that we don't have the boost from the outsized stock market gains of the 1980s and 1990s, along with the Baby Boomers entering their nostalgic prime spending years.
For those of us, myself included, who missed out on the bargains of the 1990s and before, let's not compound our misery by buying something at 200x its value of 13 years ago. The AF #15 story is not an isolated example. Nowadays, I primarily collect comic book artwork, not comics. There are countless pieces now selling for between 10 and 100 times their price of the early 1990s. The worst thing you can do is to fall for specious arguments like, "if you had bought Book X in 1990, you would have made 100 times your money." That kind of rearview mirror analysis is irrelevant to your decision on where to put your money NOW. In a similar fashion, arguments like, "key issues have never fallen much in value and they've always gone up over time" are to be avoided like the plague. Again, this is purely backwards-looking - just because something hasn't happened yet doesn't mean it will never happen. On the contrary, prices by definition have to reach new highs and the outlook has to look maximum bullish near the end of an extended advance - how else do you think "top-tick" peak prices are registered?
And stay tuned to part two in a day or two.
Dave
July 21, 2006 07:44 - The Future of Comic Book Prices: Part Two
As promised, here is the second part of this interesting controversial article. Feel free to leave your comments down below:
To date, older key books have enjoyed spectacular price gains without suffering significant corrections, but they have never been so overvalued in their history relative to the price of almost any other asset. Furthermore, the U.S. consumer has never saved so little and been so far in debt than at the present time, globalization will continue to put severe strains on job and income growth in this country (I'm 100% convinced that the next generation of Americans will make both less from their jobs and their investments than the previous generation), which will crimp spending at some point on collectibles and other non-essential items, and let's not forget that the comic book hobby is also undeniably in a long-term secular decline! Jim Lee's X-Men #1 sold more copies in 1991 than the Top 300 comic book titles COMBINED sold in September 2003. Despite a pick-up in sales the past 3 years, whether your inner fanboy sees it or not, comics have largely become irrelevant and banished to the periphery. Sure, superheroes are now big business on the silver screen and in videogames, but the major publishers are doing far too little to groom the next generation of readers and collectors of actual comic books themselves. To think that a kid who plays Spidey videogames and liked the movie is going to have a hankering to want to buy an Amazing Fantasy #15 for 6 (or 7!) figures in the future is not even close to credible. There is a collector mentality and mindset that is simply not being developed in today's interactive, disposable society.
Tell me, who do you think will be buying your comics in 20 years at 10 times their current value (as many are hoping/expecting)? Collectors who have a large amount of money tied up in comics will, with metaphysical certainty, be selling off their collections as they grow older. You can't take it with you when you die! The first Baby Boomers, the generation with the most money and with the most collectible holdings, start retiring in only 5 years. Comic values have ridden a virtuous demographic upswing the past 40 years, but in the next 40 years, they will experience what happens when the cycle turns the other direction, when the collectors of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s try to sell their grossly inflated collectibles to a shrinking pool of newbie collectors in order to fund their retirements. Will kids who are largely not collecting comics today be eager to fork over 5-figures for books like Hulk #181 10 or 20 years from now? I don't know how I could sleep at night if my financial future depended on today's videogame-crazed youths to eventually come around to buying my already overvalued comics at even more ridiculously overvalued levels.
So, am I advising people to sell their collections and stop buying comics? Of course not. I have no beef with collectors spending as much discretionary income on comics that they can afford to lose as they want. Most of us buying comics today are primarily passionate fans and collectors, not investors or speculators. Unfortunately, expectations about future prices have become wholly unrealistic, by and large, and some of us have gotten carried away and spent Junior's college fund money on Silver and Bronze Age keys. When everyone believes that buying these books is a bulletproof investment strategy with no potential for serious loss, you know something's wrong - the comic market is not so inefficient that you can make outsized profits with no risk doing exactly what everybody else believes to be a "can't lose" strategy. The very thought is ludicrous.
The key is to only spend money on comics you can truly afford to lose completely. That means no taking on high-interest credit card debt or going on long-term payment plans. If you can't afford it, don't buy it. If you are relying on comics to maintain their value or appreciate wildly to meet your financial goals, you are cruisin' for a bruisin'. Sure, that strategy might have worked in 1973, 1983 or 1993, but I doubt it's going to work in 2003. Sorry, you missed the boat back then and prices rose 100-fold while you were waiting for it to pull back into the harbor. It's simply too late to buy and hold comic books for investment purposes now.
About the Author:
Gene Park has been a serious comic book collector since 1983 and a licensed investment professional since 1990. In addition, he has spent over a decade religiously studying hundreds of years of market history, crowd psychology, behavioral finance and other aspects of popular delusions and human folly.
And in a day or two, I will post a rebuttal of sorts from one of my subscribers, Greg. And as a quick note, Comic Con in LA is building up with a massive start for the weekend. If you are anywhere close, it will probably be an experience of the year.
Dave
July 24, 2006 08:21 - The Future of Comic Book Prices: A Response Back
Are comic books going to start loosing their collection value? Here is what Greg, one of my subscribers has to say:
Hi Dave,
I guess Gene Park has a dim view for the future of
collecting comics. I would think he has some validity
in his projections, but the art market doesn't agree
with his views.
Those comic strip artists like Picasso, Dali, Degas,
Van Gogh etc. are selling at gangbuster prices.
The Silver and Gold markets are up, so many
other areas are up and there is still a huge
amount of money sitting on the sidelines waiting.
Looking at some auctions in other areas, some are
weakening in the lower quality range and the most
collectible are all up, not to blockbuster levels,
but a sale could yield profits.
Notice in the rea estate market. the cry was the
housing bubble and prices are coming down. I think
the peak has been over for a year or more, but people
are still buying houses in spite of the elevated interest
rates. Where the problem is the perceived momentum
is touted in the media, the market reacts. As an old
ad man, the propaganda often influences not only the
values, but the energy in buying.
Most people are intelligent enough to spot a bad deal,
whether it's a comic or a vintage car. Other people
want what they want, when they want it. Well that's
selling. If I tell you comics are failing in value, you tell someone
else, soon all think that prices will plummet. Why not,
I don't want to buy and lose money. But, like the stock
market, buy as the prices drop, sell on the up side.
There is no guru in any market that is right 100% of
the time. I am on the hold 'em side for a while yet.
There still are value seekers, and they will recognize
a good thing.
Amen,
Thanks for a very interesting article Dave.
Sorry I put you to sleep.
Greg
At this point in time, I wouldn't think the popularity, and therefore comic book values, are on the decline. Hollywood is going ape shit with new blockbuster superhero movies. They wouldn't be doing this if there weren't a market demand.
And apparently, Comic Con in San Diego this past weekend, was a record success. This tells me, that there is a substantially high interest in the comic book world. What do you think?
Dave
July 26, 2006 11:06 - Comic Con 2006 is Now History!
Well, it sounds like this year's Comic Con was the biggest yet. Comic book fans are coming from everywhere and the genre hype was at its peak. Here is one individual's point of view after pulling himself together enough to write a few words:
"Comic-Con 2006: Hobnobbing with Pop Culture's Elite
Written by Eric Moro
Tuesday, 25 July 2006
With Comic-Con 2006 now just a passing footnote on the desktop calendar of life, I thought I'd chime in with a few of my own observations from the event. Sure, my hard-working staff has been blogging all weekend long - commenting on a number of major announcements and happenings coming out of the world's largest pop culture convention… with several juicy tidbits still to come (think exclusive interviews with some of the industry's hottest talents). But this is this first opportunity I've had to check in since launching "The Executive Sweet" back in April 2006.
First off, most of you know Comic-Con as a place where much business gets done - comic book companies make major announcements, Hollywood studios roll out the casts from their latest genre offerings, and anime distributors host round-the-clock screenings. I, on the other hand, see a different side to the event. Not only is it one of the few times each year that my staff - scattered across the country to provide you with the best editorial coverage possible - can get together in one place for a massive party (think of it as the ultimate corporate retreat), but it's also a time when we get to casually mingle with some of the biggest names in pop culture entertainment. And boy, do I mean mingle! As in "I've had too many beers and shouldn't really be talking about this" mingle. Some of the highlights:" Read more on Comic Con 2006.
Makes me wonder what the future of the world's largest comic book gathering will become. Are we ready for the greatest hype in history or the best vacation you can put together for next year?
Dave
July 28, 2006 08:22 - Ghost Rider Motors to the Silver Screen
I have always enjoyed Nicolas Cage as an actor. But he is also a very prominent comic book collector. His collection made headlines several months ago. So as Hollywood decides to bring Ghost Rider to the silver screen, I can think of no one better suited to play the part. And the out takes I saw that were presented at Comic Con 2006, showed some very amazing special effects. Read on below:
"By Fred Topel: 2006-07-25
Most comic book fans don't turn out to be badass movie stars like Nicolas Cage. Maybe they can be cult figures like Kevin Smith, but Cage enjoys the best of both worlds. He's a deep enough actor to delve into the material he plays, but mainstream enough not to turn off the ladies with his intimate knowledge of Ghost Rider. He was right at home when I caught him at Comic-Con talking to the press about playing his favorite comic book character in next year's film.
"It was wonderful for me because as you know, it's been a long time I've been trying to do it but I'm a big believer that the right character is the one that ultimately happens," Cage said. "While I enjoyed Superman, I enjoyed the new movie, I think Brandon was the right choice for that part and I absolutely think that Ghost Rider is the right choice for me to play. It's a better match. I'm glad it worked out this way. I want you all to see it."
Ghost Rider is the nighttime incarnation of Johnny Blaze, a motorcyclist who made a deal with the devil. When the sun goes down, his face becomes a flaming skull and he wreaks Satan's justice. Even with all of the comic book mythology, there was still room for Cage to bring his own vision to Johnny Blaze.
"I was invited in early on in the process, so I like to think that I was building it from scratch along with Mark [Stephen Johnson]. As he was writing, we would talk, and even right before we went to film in Australia, we were coming up with ideas to add on to the character. I think traditionalists of the comic book will be happy but we did build up the story and add on to the character. There's little, what can I call it, habits that he has. He has a fetish for jellybeans. And he reads a lot. But he's something of a cowboy. Mark was very excited about the western element of the character, harking back to the original Ghost Rider which you're familiar with that Sam [Elliott] plays."
Another one of Ghost Rider's new quirks is an obsession with Karen Carpenter music. "The way I thought of that was, I remember when I was in a dental chair, they always play these very soft, soothing types of music. And Johnny Blaze is sort of like literally sitting in a dental chair every second of the day wondering when he's gonna, when the devil is gonna come and claim his purchase. So I think he's constantly trying to relax. So instead of like the urban drinking, chain-smoking, bad ass, I think he's such a bad ass that he needs to calm down with Karen Carpenter and jellybeans." Finish the Ghost Rider article.
Hope you are anticipating the Ghost Rider movie as much as I am. Admittedly, I am not that much up on the character, but if Nicholas Cage will be there, so will I.
Dave
July 31, 2006 08:02 - Who Wants to be a Superhero?
Well, after months of anticipation, the first episode of the SCI FI channel's reality series, "Who wants to be a Superhero" finally aired. I really had my doubts about this series. I am not real big on reality shows in general. They just don't appear to be worth the time and effort, although most of the rest of the world disagrees with me.
I was pleasantly surprised though. I didn't hate this first episode. I wouldn't have thrown all to the wind just to sit in front of the tube for this, but it was mildly entertaining. In many of the promos, Stan Lee commented that the viewing public would either love this series or hate it. Well, I ran lukewarm.
I have been anticipating this series for several months now, ever since I first learned of its creation. Months ago, I wrote a press release about Superheroes and published it on Prweb.com to hopefully drive a little traffic to my website. Well, that was the wrong thing to do. I received a call later in the day from a NBC (the SCI FI channel must be an affiliate) lawyer kindly asking me to remove my press release. Not wanting to get into any legal hot water, I immediately obliged. So I thought the next best thing would be to watch the series and report about it on my blog.
My first thought before viewing was that the series would be a slap in the face to the comic book world. Well, it turned out to be somewhat entertaining. I will try to make it a point to view the 5 remaining episodes.
Twelve characters started out, or eleven. One was a spy implant. Turns out Levity (Tobias Trost) was eliminated from the get go. Seems he had ulterior economic motives for being on the show. He was a toy designer by profession and had visions of great income by manufacturing and marketing his own action figure. Well, I guess superheroes aren't supposed to figure out how to pay the bills.
The remaining heroes' first task was to inconspicuously don their superhero costumes and beat feet for a pre-determined finish line. Although, little did they know, there was a young lass in dire distress looking for her mother. Well about half the contestants totally ignored the girl. So in the end, Nitro G (Darren Passarello) was eliminated. He also donned his uniform very conspicuously. I do believe he was the youngest of the group also. Guess it pays to be an older superhero.
As much as I enjoy Stan Lee, in my opinion, his acting talents leave something to be desired. He talks as if reading from a script (duh) and he is too melodramatic for my taste. But as serious as he tries to make it sound, this is all in fun, as long as the series stays that way. I hope it doesn't degenerate into the backstabbing, contestant bashing that other reality series resort to. To keep up with what is going on, stay tuned to The SCI FI channel and read for yourself.
Well, I hope next Thursday is at least as entertaining as last Thursday was. By the way, my money is on the male exotic dancer. That is not his superhero, but what used to be his profession in real life. He is now a disk jockey.
Dave
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