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Tuesday, May 31, 2005
This post has no babes in it
Every comic blogger in the world is going to link to this article so I might as well get it out of the way. I liked it alright but I must say that I was disappointed that the author Keith Phipps actually had some comic book knowledge under his belt. I was already set to enjoy someone who has little to no familiarity with comics take the piss out of all these old '60s Batman books (remember folks, if someone doesn't read comics you know they made at least one good decision in their life [and guess what, I'm being dead fucking serious when I say that!]) but I suppose if you get a good read that was different than what your expectations led you to believe you still got a good read and you should be thankful for it.
But that's not the latest in the world of Bruce Wayne that I turned on my computer to tell you about. No, instead it’s something I found after I finished reading the first issue of Green Lantern (you read the review, right?). It was this little blurb (something I know The Absorbascon has also written about):
What the fuck!? That's the selling point, at least initially? Is DC figuring, "there a lot of people who love Frank Miller and there are a lot of people that love Jim Lee but what about the legion of readers we have who purchase our modest little funnybooks so they can masturbate to the lovely ladies of the DCU. Ladies, or babes if you will, such as The Huntress, Black Canary and the ever vivacious Wonder Woman. Since Jim Balent isn't drawing the book how ever are we going to entice this bunch to check out our latest offering, All-Star Batman (the Batman equivalent to that fine compilation of tunes, All-Star Jock Jams)? Hmmmm...I've got it! We'll quote the esteemed scribe reassuring all of those young ruffians out there with a healthy four-color libido that this book, in fact, we'll have babes a-plenty!"
Now I know, after reading the Sin City series and seeing the Sin City movie, that Miller sure does like filling his comics with women who don't dress for warmth. A part of me finds this a bit silly of a motif to use again and again, although a much more basic part of me does appreciate it (I must say that I am attracted to works that challenge the guilty middle-class liberalism that is so much a part of me). Still, I can imagine other ways to sell this book that isn't depend upon drawn titties.
No doubt that many of you noticed, as I did, that both DC's Identity Crisis and the Countdown one-shot got a lot of press (I remember hearing sound bites of Dan DiDio talking about Countdown on the radio). While I don't think those continuity-heavy books were the right ones to get the word out about to the general populace, I think it's great that DC at least did some real serious promotion for a comic. With this book, though, they have to do as much if not more. If DC have a book that is written by the creator and one of the directors of a major motion picture and stars the subject of another major motion picture, a character that everybody tuned into pop culture knows at least a little about, and they fail to make sure that it doesn't get at least the same amount of press as Identity Crisis then they are hurting. I know DiDio has said that he wants to create superhero books for a general audience and I think that's great. I also know that they can make any book they want have a very high profile. I'm just hoping they can combine that one hope with that one ability into big sales for this comic. Being a big seller in the Direct Market is not how the overall success of this book will be judged. It has to be bigger than that. I hope DC can do it, but when it comes to these behemoths of comic book publishers you'll forgive me when I appear a slight pessimistic.
Permanent Link: 4:14 PM |
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