Comic Book Collection News and Updates

As 2007 gets a racing start, it looks as if 2006 did quite well for the comic book industry, Hollywood included. Here are some more interesting bits of 2006 comic book trivia:

"A slam bam year: In 2006, comic books delivered some great tales and artwork Wednesday, January 03, 2007

By Tony Norman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Comic books and graphic novels experienced a creative renaissance last year. Mainstream comics and those published by smaller or independent presses made the weekly ritual of going to the comic specialty shop something to look forward to.

While the spandex-and-fisticuffs brand of superhero narrative still dominates, there was a concerted push by industry titans Marvel and DC for better stories and art.

The independent publishers responded in kind by producing even more interesting and idiosyncratic fare for its far smaller share of the comic buying market.

Part of the impetus toward a better product may be that comic book characters have become a hot property to the creativity-challenged film industry. Hollywood studios are constantly looking for the next "Spider-man/X-Men" movie franchise.

Sometimes, the studios will settle for a more intimate comic-book-related project, like "American Splendor" or "Ghost World," two successful indie comics franchises that were critically acclaimed titles and modest box-office hits.

The more compelling the characters, the more likely audiences will be interested in seeing their adventures on the big screen, according to Hollywood dogma..." Finish comic books in 2006 here!

Hopefully 2007 will see equal or greater strides in the comic book and superhero genre. Stay tuned for more Hollywood blockbusters (I hope). And I have great things in store as I continue to build out this site. Come back often!

Dave

January 8, 2007 12:18 - So You Want to be a Superhero?

Well, it looks like Stan Lee is back looking for more contestants to start season 2 of "So you want to be a Superhero?". It appears season 2 will start in April. In the meantime, here is an update on last season's winner, Feedback:

"Superhero comic to be released in January

By Jenn Kistler Sun-News reporter
Article Launched: 12/27/2006 01:00:00 AM MST

LAS CRUCES - Las Cruces-born Matthew Atherton, aka "Feedback," is on the eve of achieving superhero immortality.

Atherton, 34, won first place on the Sci-Fi Channel's reality television show "Who Wants To Be A Superhero?" on Aug. 31. The prize included a comic book deal and an appearance in an original Sci-Fi Channel movie.

According to Jeremy Atkins, publicist for Dark Horse Comics, the comic book featuring Feedback is scheduled to debut Jan. 17 and will be available for purchase online.

"I can guarantee that fans of the show and fans of traditional comic books will be pleased," Atkins said.

Especially with Stan Lee writing the story and Will Conrad as the interior artist, Atkins added.

Lee is the creator of "Spider-Man," "The Fantastic Four," "X-Men" and the "Incredible Hulk," and Conrad is a comic artist known for the popular "Serenity" series.

Atkins said the comic book will be 32 pages and in full color.

Las Crucen Zach Bracamonte, 12, said he remembers Feedback's electric powers that would blast from his hands and is interested in reading the comic book..." To finish Feedback comic book, click!

If I happen to run across this comic book, I guess I will have to pick it up. I won't go out of my way though. Season 2 ought to be interesting, but as far as I am concerned, it will not be a major downfall in my life if I miss most of the episodes. I will try to catch a few and report back here. But I am most interested in the start up of season 2 for NBC's "Heroes", which starts in a few weeks. Ta.

Dave

January 10, 2007 06:51 - Stan Lee Strikes Again!

Looks like Stan the Man is continuing to turn out product. He has more comic book stuff he is now releasing on a DVD. Read on:

"Lee's mighty Mosaic
Comic book creator releases new animated project on DVD today
By TIM ARSENAULT

STAN LEE does not know the meaning of resting on one's laurels.

The writer began transforming the comic book industry in the 1960s by co-creating with artistic partners such iconic superheroes as Spider-Man, the X-Men, the Fantastic Four and the Hulk.

Decades later, his best work has been transformed into successful movie franchises and it would be understandable if the New York City native wanted to fade into the background.

Well, that's about as likely as Spidey having an angst-free day of just hanging around. Lee, 84, sounds like he's brimming with as many ideas as ever.

"I love writing. I'd rather dream up ideas for stories than play golf. As long as I can keep doing it I can't think of any reason to stop," said Lee during a phone interview from his office in Los Angeles.

"My problem is I think I burned myself out when I was young. I took so many trips during the '70s and the late '60s all over the world. . . . I've done all of that. Right now my biggest pleasure is to have a few minutes to be home with my wife and just take it easy and watch television or just sit and talk, have a drink with her."

Stan Lee Presents Mosaic, a new animated project released today on DVD, is merely the latest physical product of his fertile imagination.

Winnipeg-born actress Anna Paquin, who plays Rogue in the big-screen X-Men projects, voices the character of Maggie, a teenager who accidentally acquires a range of super powers.

The action-adventure screenplay is by Scott Lobdell, a frequent writer for several of Marvel's X-Men titles, based on a story by Lee..." To finish Stan Lee's story, click here!

When most individuals are spending their golden years in quite solitude, retirement homes or internal reflection, Stan keeps his head deep in the comic book genre. He is a true comic book legend. What will he come up with next?

Dave

January 12, 2007 12:06 - Comic Monsters Anyone?

I ran across a little bit of trivia that will satisfy some of the horror fans. It seems horror in comic books, etc is making a comeback. Check out this article:

"Web site of the damned
Bethel man takes love of horror and comics to the Internet

By Donna Christopher
THE NEWS-TIMES

BETHEL -- Interviews with horror film actress Judith O'Dea (Barbara from "Night of the Living Dead") and with Sticky Fingaz (Blade from the TV series), news about the latest scary flick or horror comic book, and lots of information on notorious fictional characters like Freddy Krueger, are all contained on a Web site, ComicMonsters.com .

The site was created by avid horror fan, Bethel resident Rob Caprilozzi, 31.

He snagged the interview in a chance face-to-face encounter with O'Dea at a Chiller Theater convention at the Meadowlands in New Jersey. Caprilozzi wrote the article and ran it on the Web site, along with a news on a new comic book release, "Escape from the Living Dead" (Avatar Press), a prequel to the movie. The story featured an interview with writer John Russo who co-wrote the film

Caprilozzi launched the Web site in 2004; initially it received about 2,000 hits a month. Now it gets upwards of 25,000 hits a day. That is because horror comics have made a "huge comeback" in the past several years.

"For awhile, in the late 90s, you couldn't find horror on the shelves. Now it's mainstream," he said. The site contains "news like CNN for horror comics" and is updated every day..." To finish the horror comics article, do the click thing!There is also a link to the aforementioned website.

If you are a big horror fan, you may want to bookmark Rob's site and maybe even participate in his forums. Talk soon.

Dave

January 15, 2007 12:26 - Is the F4's Fantasticar Really that Fantastic?

Looks like the next version of Hollywood's rendition of the Fantastic Four is due out in June of this year. And they have added The Car to the mix. Hope it turns out as well as the vehicle designed for Batman Returns. Here is a quick article on the fantastic car:

"First look: Fantasticar flows onto film

By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY

The mileage is great, because it doesn't use any gasoline. And traffic isn't a problem, because it can zoom along at 30,000 feet.

About the only problem with the Fantasticar is, well, it doesn't exist - at least in real life. It will, however, make its long-awaited debut in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which gets its first look here.

The vehicle, a staple of the Fantastic Four comic books, ranks right up there with the Batmobile and Ghost Rider's flaming motorcycle as the wheels of choice among comic devotees.

But translating the flying car from the page to the big screen was no small effort, says Tim Flattery, conceptual artist for the Fantastic Four sequel, which hits screens June 15. He showed several designs to director Tim Story, including one based loosely on the Batmobile, which he designed for 1995's Batman Forever.

But Story rejected the designs as "too aggressive," Flattery says. "He wanted something that looked less like a predator and more friendly. That's always been the Fantastic Four theme."

That family-friendly tenor helped the original movie rake in $155 million domestically and $330 million worldwide.

Flattery looked for more tranquil inspiration from the sea. He based the final design on manta rays and stingrays..." Finish Fantasticar here!

Maybe the car alone will be worth the wait for the next movie. Although, I enjoyed the first FF movie, the critics were not so lenient. Here is hoping FF 2 will fair better with them.

Dave

January 17, 2007 09:44 - Devil Water #2 Misprint hit the Stores!

"New Rare Comic Book? Retailers Search for Few Copies of Devil Water #2 That May Have Reached Stores with Error

(PRWeb) January 17, 2007 -- Due to a printing error, nearly two hundred copies of the second issue of the Devil Water comic book was shipped to retailers with incorrect pages. Most were recalled before they hit shelves, though a few may have sold to fans. King Tractor Press is working with Diamond Distributors to ship a new printing of Devil Water #2 to retailers. Fans who received the misprint are directed to return the comic to the retailer from which they purchased the book for an exchange.

"I'm very upset that this has happened," said Shawn Granger, King Tractor Press owner/editor-in-chief concerning the misprint of Devil Water #2 that hit stores this week. "We're not sure what happened since we check and double check proofs, but when the final books were printed they were shipped without the center page. A couple hundred of these issues slipped through to retailers. Of those we're not sure how many got into the hands of fans before retailers were notified to pull and replace with the reprint."

The Devil Water #2 comic book misprints were shipped from the distributor to the retailer the first week of January, but the error was discovered that same week. Retailers were informed, replacements printed and shipped to Diamond Comic Distributors a few days later. Most retailers should have been able to pull the misprint from the shelves before being sold. There is no exact number on the few that slipped through.

When Harry Roland, the artist on Devil Water found out about the missing pages he said, "Left out a page? I'll bet it was the one where the old prospector pays the hooker to do her thing with the mayonnaise jar full of leeches. I dunno, sounds more like censorship than forgetfulness to me!"

The King Tractor Press crew worries that they will disappoint fans. "Hopefully those few who bought a misprinted copy of the comic will hear of the reprint and bring it back to their local store for an exchange. We've shipped the replacements back to the stores that originally ordered Devil Water #2." Shawn said..." Finish Devil #2 press release here!

Dave

January 19, 2007 14:36 - CGC & PGX, to Certify or Not to Certify!

I received some comments back the other day from one of my newsletter subscribers on his thoughts about professional certification. This continues to be a controversial topic in the comic book world. So I thought I would post his comments here (hope he doesn't mind) and see if I can generate a few comments from you on your thoughts on the subject. Here goes:

"Hi,

I have about 10 CGC books and about 20 CGG/PGX books. PGX is a far better service than the CGC, and (I think) the only reason PGX isn't better known is because CGC has Wizard in their back pocket. The snobs at CGC will keep your book for months on end, after charging a ridiculous fee. PGX charges a fair rate, they get your book back when promised...and if you call or email, they respond.

I also think grading will at some point will kill the market. Three reasons:

1: When all these retards that are either paying $50-$100 for new release books cherry picked at the press (and sold by, who else...Wizard) or paying 4-5X guide for newer book, find out that their "investment" is worthless, they will sour on comics for good.

2: At some point in the future, a major majority of all the (for instance) ASM #1's will be slabbed. Then these books will be safe from water, bugs, greasy hands, rips, etc. That means the number of books stays the same and doesn't have the natural progression of loss, which increases demand. Right now, there may be 5,000 ASM #1's graded 6.0 or better. But there may be 7,000 potential buyers. As time goes on, the number of buyers will decrease....but the number of books will stay the same. This has never happened, because most unslabbed books will get damaged at some point (take it from me, who ripped a GL #2 putting into a mylar sleeve). At this point...silver age books take a major dive.

3: The "strict" grading of both services, and the emphasis of 9.8 books, is already hurting the after-market. Since when is VF worth only 50% of NM? I own some beautiful books that in the past I would have graded as VF+ and buyers would be happy with the grade. Now, a couple stress lines on the spine and you have a F or F-. Plus the grades are not always congruent. I own similar looking books that grade up to 2 points different! Since when did grading become and "exact" science. Why don't these companies grade in ranges?

OK, that's it for me. Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Joe B"

It sure appears to me that there is need for a service like what these two companies provide (there is also a third that I have discovered). But if things continue on as they are going in the industry, certification may backfire on many comic book enthusiasts. Feel free to post your comments here about certification. I will post my reply to Joe in my next blog post. Carry on.

Dave

January 24, 2007 12:53 - CGC & PGX, to Certify or Not to Certify Con't!

Well, as promised, here is my limited answer back to Joe from my last post:

Hey Joe:

Thanks a bunch for your comments. They are very thought provoking and have very good merit. I do agree with you on a few points. CGC better watch out for PGX. PGX is going the extra mile for their customers and CGC should be doing the same. As a side note, some of the Internet Marketing companies or projects that do the best are the ones that take very good care of their customers and have great customer support. CGC better get back with it, or they will eventually find themselves replaced by companies like PGX who do take care of their customers.

While I do agree with you to a point that professional grading may be a downfall to the collecting industry, I do believe there is a place for a supposed unbiased grading company or companies. Grading comic books is very very subjective. What you call a 9.5, I may call and 8.5. So if you are trying to sell me your 9.5, I will only give you an 8.5 price. We are at a stall point. So if there is a place to get an unbiased grade that we both agree on, then this may break our stalemate. And I think this kind of service is needed more and more with the Internet as big as it is now. And individuals buying and selling comics sight unseen!

You do have a great point about more and more comics becoming slabbed and protected from the environment. There will be less attrition due to damage, which in turn, will probably reduce the investment possibilities.

It still seems to me that there are pros and cons to professional grading and there will continue to be in the near or not so near future. I thank you again for your comments and might use them on my onsite blog, if you don't mind. Talk later.

Again, feel free to leave your comments here about professional certification. And if you are interested in other topics on comic book collection, scoot on over to my newsletter sign up at Comics Galore and sign up for my free newsletter. Thanks.

Dave

January 26, 2007 11:54 - Heroes is Among us Again!!

Well the second season of Heroes has started this week. I missed Monday, so I will catch it on the Sci Fi channel tonight. Here is a great article I found about Heroes:

"The new avengers

By MUMTAJ BEGUM

MUMTAJ BEGUM presents a theory on how TV series Heroes borrows ingredients from comic books and comes up with an addictive, original product.

For the past three years every TV show has been trying to find a new spin on the premise of Lost and call it their own in order to emulate the kind of success the show has had.

Heroes is nothing like Lost.

Well, other than sharing a few similar traits - a mind-blowing pilot, intriguing episode week after week, a large ensemble cast playing interesting characters (with a high chance of introducing new characters and killing off established ones), subtitled dialogue and featuring a story arc stretched over a whole season, that is.

But here the characters are not stuck on an island and the show does not make the audience wait for answers for far too long as each episode moves the story along while generating new questions and mysteries. And from the reports of how fans and critics go on about the show, Heroes is far more gripping and promises to be even more successful than Lost.

However, it wouldn't do to compare the two because the content of the shows is very different.

Heroes revolves around a group of seemingly ordinary people in different parts of the world who discover that they have extraordinary abilities, and what happens to them after the discovery. Think of a blend of Pixar's The Incredibles and Charlie Kaufman's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, if you will. Seriously. The idea germinating in Heroes' creator and executive producer Tim Kring's mind sort of solidified after watching both movies back to back.

In a conference-style phone call held a few months ago with international press, Kring revealed: "I started to just sort of blend those two things in my mind over the next few days because I so loved both of these movies. And sort of mixing the idea of people who have superpowers trying to struggle with their everyday lives with these sort of Kaufmanesque characters - these highly-hyper, real, anonymous kind of characters, people that you would pass on the street and never think twice about."

The extraordinary abilities the ordinary characters have include (in random order): the ability to heal, read minds, fly, time- travel, and see into the future. On paper, it may sound like a certain comic series that has spawned a string of movies.

Truth is, Kring avoided reading comic books or super-hero stories, as he did not want to be influenced by the ideas out there or be accused of stealing someone else's idea.

Nonetheless, during the development of the series, Kring learned that everything he thought of had been done many times, in many different ways.

So he surrounded himself with people who are familiar with comic book characters instead to advise him on what's already out there. These people included Greg Beeman (a big comic book fan, sci-fi fan and, more recently, the director and producer of many Smallville episodes until Season Five) and Jeph Loeb (who started his career as a comic book writer for comic book publishers Marvel and DC and wrote many Smallville episodes and was the executive producer of Lost)..." Finish the Heroes article here!

Apparently Dr. Who from the first season is throwing his hat into the ring. This should be rather interesting. I did like him as the Dr. Who character. Although, not nearly as mesmerizing as Heroes, that series has its merits and season 3 will be interesting. Later.

Dave

January 31, 2007 10:20 - Ghost Rider, the Game?

Well for all you game freaks and Ghost Rider buffs, Nic Cage is finally presenting us with the new movie, due out February 16, 2007. Here is a little update on the game if you are into video games:

"Ghost Rider Hands-On
We go for a ride with the Spirit of Vengeance.
by Jeff Haynes

January 25, 2007 - Just how far would you go to save the life of someone you cared about? Some people would sell their cars, their homes, or every possession they owned if it would help out. But what if the only way you could lend a hand was by selling your soul? That's the dilemma that faced Johnny Blaze, the human alter ego of Ghost Rider. One of Marvel's niche anti-hero characters, Ghost Rider is now hitting the mainstream with a new movie and video game. We sat down recently and checked out the Spirit of Vengeance's latest adventure.

Unlike a lot of film/game tie-ins, Ghost Rider is not a game version of the movie. Instead, comic scribes Garth Ennis and Jimmy Palmiotti penned an exclusive story that takes place after the events in the film. After selling his soul to save his father's life from terminal cancer, Johnny Blaze is transformed into the Ghost Rider, avenging the spilling of innocent blood. Unfortunately for Johnny, Mephisto plans to use him to recapture a number of demons that have escaped Hell and threaten to start the Apocalypse. Sending his lackey Vengeance to drag Johnny into Hell, Mephisto essentially leaves Johnny with one choice: fight for him and eliminate the demons that are running wild on earth, or watch as Roxanne Simpson is taken by Mephisto..." Check out the rest of the Ghost Rider article here!

Well, as I am not much of a video game person (I hate inanimate objects beating me), you will have let me know how the game fairs. I though, can't wait for the movie and when it comes out on DVD, it will definitely go in my collection.

Dave