A Comic Book Blog Week 3- Batwing #4 Review

This week, in our look at A Comic Book Blog, we will examine the Blog's review of Batwing #4. For those who do not know, Batwing is a title written by Judd Winick and drawn by Ben Oliver(though this issue in particular has Chriscross drawing) about a Batman type character in Africa fighting against the rule of African warlords. This issue promises the origin of Batwing. Lets see what the blog had to say about it.

-The Blog states that the origin in question was predictable, another in the long line of a loved one dying making the hero take on their role.
-Spending nearly the whole issue on this origin has, in the Blog's opinion, caused the story to "lose steam" and slow plot development to a halt.
-The Blog believes this issue was created just to make Winick's story arc 6 issues to sell in a trade paperback collection, something that DC has promised less of with the New 52

A Comic Book Blog- Week 2

For week 2, we are going to examine a post on A Comic Book Blog that was posted on November 29'th, 2011 on their overall opinion of DC's New 52 reboot now that all of the issue 1's have been released.

-The Blog's position is overwhelmingly negative, saying that the New 52 does not match up to what DC high ups said it would be.
- The Blog qualifies these statements, acknowledging the books that do meet these standards, while using the books that do not as evidence against DC.
-The Blog brings up the point that DC has rebooted little to none in the Batman, Green Lantern, and Legion of Superheroes line of books, requiring readers to know of past occurrences, such as the death of Earth Man in the last Legion arc before the reboot.
-The Blog challenges DC's definition of an icon, citing that the current Robin, Damian Wayne, is the least iconic of all the Robins, and that the new look of characters Harley Quinn and Amanda Waller in the Suicide Squad comic look nothing like their "iconic" interpretations.
- The Blog also notes the abundant use of sex, such as the scene between Catwoman and Batman in Catwoman #1, and graphic violence, such as the bloody cliffhanger of Batwing #1.

A Comic Book Blog-Week 1

For this next couple weeks, this blog will be spotlighting the postings of the blog known as A Comic Book Blog. For this first installment, we will be focusing on the Comic Book Blog's criticism and interpretation of the new costume of Darkseid, one of the biggest villains in DC Comics, designed by Jim Lee for the new Justice League book(image will be linked to). This was posted on A Comic Book Blog on November 14, 2011

-The Blog believes that the images and feel that made Darkseid a great villain to begin with when he was created by seminal comic book creator Jack Kirby are still present.
-Even though he is a bit more colorful than previous interpretation, Darkseid is still big and foreboding and someone who could pose a threat to the League.
-Some of the new designs and insignia's shown on this design may or may not foreshadows future re-designs of the Fourth World concepts that Darkseid came from.

DC Entertainment vs. Barnes and Noble synthesis

• For 4 weeks, this blog has been reporting on the ongoing battle between DC Entertainment and Barnes and Noble over DC's granting exclusive digital rights to Amazon's Kindle Fire. Now it is time to express my opinion. Although I see B&N's logic behind this move, I believe it will only serve to hamper both B&N and DC Entertainment. I can respect Barnes and Noble's commitment to their customers and feeling like they have a responsibility to them to provide all forms of a book. But with DC's New 52 Promotion, there is almost no better time to capitalize on comic books. Without some of DC's flagship titles such as Watchmen and the Dark Knight Returns, there is less opportunity for a new or casual reader too see some of the stories that influenced the current interpretation of the characters they love reading about. For example, if a reader is reading Superman's new origin in Action Comics and wants to read other interpretations that have been done, they will only be able to find those influential comics online or in comic book stores, which are more sparse than Barnes and Noble stores. However, while DC Entertainment and B&N can survive this deal, the creators are the ones who are suffering the most. This is especially the case for non- superhero comics, such as those by Neil Gaiman and Fábio Moon. Some of these creators depend on the availability of their works to keep themselves on the grid and known. This decision has become so corporate that the voice of the creators themselves cannot be heard amidst all the squabbling. 

DC Entertainment vs. Barnes and Noble part 4: "They are the ones caught in the crossfire"

Up until this point, this blog has only touched upon the big picture of the DC Entertainment vs. Barnes and Noble issue. The Executives of DC Entertainment, Barnes and Noble, and Books A' Million all think that their side is right and they are doing what is right for their business and customers. However, one side that often gets overlooked are the creators of the books themselves. They are the ones that will suffer the most from this disagreement. Michael Civina, of the Washington Post's comic division Comic Riffs, interviewed two very influential creators in the comics industry and here is what they had to say.

-Neil Gaiman, acclaimed creator of the Sandman series from Vertigo(DC's mature readers division), feels that Barnes and Noble's decision is very strange as the loss of DC's digital output would not bring the company down. He also feels slighted as a creator as about 12% of the titles that were removed were written by him.
-David Lloyd, artist of comic book turned major motion picture V for Vendetta, feels that Barnes and Noble refusing to sell physical copies of the books is hypocritical to their purpose of giving customers all choices.
-Fábio Moon, Brazilian artist of Vertigo comic Daytripper, believes that non super-hero comics like his have a harder time attracting readers and thus have more of a need for big bookstores in addition to direct comic shops in order to survive.

DC Entertainment vs. Barnes and Noble Part 3: Not the only one

In addition to Barnes and Noble's pulling 100 DC comics graphic novels off the shelves, now 2'nd biggest chain Books A' Million has now also pulled them as well and Publishers Weekly has the story. Here is what information they obtained from BAM officials.

-The Exclusive deal that DC made with the Kindle Fire creates an unfair advantage to them in the market
- Books A' Million stands by Barnes and Noble's position that they will not sell something in the stores that cannot be distributed in other ways
-Books A' Million has signed a deal with Barnes and Noble to exclusively sell their Nook reader so this may have had an impact on their decision

DC Entertainment Vs. Barnes and Noble part 2

Last week, I talked about a comic blogger, Bleeding Cool's Rich Johnston's response to Barnes and Noble pulling 100 DC Entertainment graphic novels off the shelves in retaliation to an exclusive deal signed to the   Amazon Kindle Fire for these graphic novels. Another comics website, Comic Book Resources, also covered the story, but they actually got some statements from Barnes and Noble representatives. Here's what they had to say.

-If Barnes and Noble does not receive access to books in every format available to customer, then they refuse to sell the physical copies in their stores.
-Barnes and Noble is still selling copies of the books on Barnes and Noble.com and can be specially ordered
-Barnes and Noble claims that this is standard procedure for any publisher that does this, not just DC Entertainment.

DC Entertainment vs. Barnes and Noble

Last week, DC Entertainment announced plans to sign an exclusive deal to put 100 graphic novels such as Watchmen, the Dark Knight Returns, V for Vendetta, and more on to the new Amazon Kindle Fire. Barnes and Noble, who also carries these graphic novels, felt cheated that they could not give their customers the digital experience as well on rival device the Nook. As a result, Barnes and Noble pulled all 100 of these graphic novels from their shelves and won't even allow them in their stores. The only way these books can be ordered through Barnes and Noble is on their website. Among the first to report was comics journalist Rich Johnston on his Bleeding Cool blog and this is what he had to say:

-With chief competitor Borders now out of the picture and Barnes and Noble refusing to carry these graphic novels, there is no common and fast way to get these books other than specialty comic book stores and online.
-Barnes and Noble does not have as much of a chance of attracting the crowd that is brought in by DC's New 52 promotion as they still carry a portion of those #1 issues.
- A majority of the Graphic Novels that are not being taken away by Barnes and Noble are ones that have been plagued with editorial controversy and ones that are not well received by readers such as Superman: Grounded and Countdown to Final Crisis

Action Comics #2 cover visual rhetoric

The cover to next month's Action Comics #2 has been linked to and this image tells us a lot of things that are going to be changed for this revised Superman.

-The fact that Superman is imprisoned by what looks to be government agents who are pointing guns at him shows that Superman is going to be some sort of fugitive from the law. Before this change, Superman worked alongside the police and was loved by all.

-Superman's heat vision eyes, his gritting teeth, and his general angered demeanor tells us that Superman is going to be a lot "edgier" as some people have put it. He's not going to be the nicest superhero and is going to take more of a Batman approach to crimefighting.

-In this cover, Superman's costume is a simple blue t-shirt with the superman symbol on it, blue jeans, and a simple blue cape. This tell us that at least this incarnation of Superman is from the past instead of the armored look that superman apparently has in the present.

The good, the bad and the average of DC Comics' New 52: Week 2 paraphrasing

Week 2 of DC's the New 52 has passed by and here is what columnist Johnathan Hardick has to say about some of the titles.

Batwoman #1- This book was the best of this week, featuring gorgeous art by J.H. Williams III and a story about children kidnapped possibly by a supernatural force. Highly recommended

Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE #1- This book was the shocking hit of this week, unsurprising since it was written by the same writer as Animal Man(last week's shocking hit). This story features a Frankenstein that is based on the indie comic character Hellboy and leads a team of monsters known as the Creature Commandoes. Highly Recommended

Legion Lost #1- This book was a disaster. Writer Fabian Nicieza put a lot into this issue and it was not really clear what was going on. It also did not help that Nicieza failed to point out who any of the characters really were and why we should care about them. Not recommended

Superboy #1- This book takes everything anyone loved about Superboy and throws it out the window. This Superboy is a boring, emotionless, and bland clone and the book is essentially a recycled origin story. Not recommended

Citation: Hardick, Johnathan. "The Good, the Bad and the Average of DC Comics' New 52: Week 2 | Lehighvalleylive.com." Lehigh Valley News, Easton News, Bethlehem News, Allentown News, Phillipsburg News and Lehigh Valley Sports & Weather - Lehighvalleylive.com. The Express-News, 18 Sept. 2011. Web. 18 Sept. 2011. <http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/entertainment-general/index.ssf/2011/09/the_good_the_bad_and_the_avera_1.html>.

DC- The new 52 overview

On May 31 2011, DC Comics(home to characters such as Superman, Batman, Green Lantern etc..) announced that they would cancel all the comics they were currently publishing and launch 52 new #1 issues in September. This move was made by DC due to their competitor Marvel Comics receiving almost half of the comic book market share and DC receiving only about 20%. This initiative began on August 31'st with the release of Justice League #1 written by Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns and drawn by Co-Publisher Jim Lee. Lee has also designed new costumes for all the heroes and some of the heroes(superman most notably) are receiving drastic changes to their personality and stories. The New 52, as DC calls it, is designed to attract new readers and old readers alike to the world of comics.