It’s called “Scheduling”

OK, so for the past two weeks I've stopped in my local comicbook shop (Heroes Cards and Comics) and attempted to pick up my comics, only, as it turns out, I didn't have any comics in my hold file. Youi see, I'm a big Spider-Man fan, and currently pretty much the only corporate comics I regularly collect star Spider-Man.

Only, the problem I‘m having is that Marvel publishes something like five or six Spider-Man themed comics a month, so the question I ask, is how do you let two weeks go by with no Spidey comics? Seriously.

I mean, Wouldn't it make sense for Marvel to make sure that a Spidey comic hits every week? I don't know if the same thing happens with other other titles containing the same hero (there are multiple Iron Man, Thor, Wolverine, X-Men, Avengers, Captain America, etc.) Seems to me that making sure one of these “multiple title heroes” stories hits every week, but, you know, that’s me.

Sigh.

The life and death and life of Peter Parker

I don't often write about Marvel comics (even though I read them), because they really don't need me promoting their product. However I felt strongly about the whole “Superior” Spider-Man thing, that well, I felt that I had to comment.

 Here are (some of) my thoughts on the matter.

Early in 2013 a tragedy of monumental proportions occurred. Peter Parker (the once and future Amazing Spider-Man) died. Well, technically, since he is only a fictional character, he was actually simply (once again) written out of his own series (the first time it happened, was back in 1994 – 1996 during the so-called Clone Saga). In issue #700 of Amazing Spider-Man (Cover dated March 2013) Peter Parker “died” and his long-time Nemesis, Doctor Otto Octavius (colloquially known as the supervillain Doc. Ock) somehow managed to swap his and Peter’s brain patterns so that the then dying Ock was not the hale and healthy Parker while the hero Peter’s brain patterns wound up in the diseased and dying body of Doc Ock. (Don’t ask how all of this was even possible, this is, after all, a comicbook.) Suffice it to say, that with issue #700 of Amazing, Peter was “Dead” and Ock was now “Superior” Spider-Man

Told ya so!

Peter Parker, fully back in the spider's seat of his own mind, is returning to the pages of a relaunched Amazing Spider-Man #1 in April, by the creative team of Dan Slott and Humberto Ramos. The NY Daily News just officially confirmed the news that we now know was leaked Wednesday evening by the appearance online of a cover to an upcoming free preview book .

The series (and character's) return is no surprise to writer Dan Slott, who will continue his web of intrigue that he started in 2008 as part of the rotating writing team of the "Brand New Day" era of Spider-Man; he knew of Peter's return since before he killed him off in December 2012.

“To do that for a solid year of my life, that’s the hardest thing I’ve had to do — to look small children in the eye at a convention and lie to them," Slott told The Daily News. "Inside, part of me was dying." Slott did, however, on a set visit for Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man 2, tell Andrew Garfield that Peter would be back in time for the film.

[Via Newsarama]

Comic book movies from 2012

Here is a look back on the comicbook films from last year..

“Like the decade that preceded it, the 2012 Box office was replete with films that either started out in comics, or had a long history in comicbook form. Last year was particularly notable as it featured not only the massive blockbuster hit, The Avengers (which finally brought together many of the lead Marvel comic characters that have been popping up in films for the past several years), but because it also marked the conclusion of Christopher Nolan’s epic Dark Knight trilogy, as well as the re-boot of Marvel’s very popularAmazing Spider-Man franchise. These three films were certainly the most anticipated of the comicbook fare to hit the Silver Screen last year, and while many fans did express some disappointments with them, they each did quite well at the box office, landing First, Second and Sixth (respectively) as the top-grossing films from last year.”

 [Via Examiner.com]

I'm Spider-Man

Ten years ago, when the Sam Raimi Spider-Man first appeared, and no one in the fast food franchise world wanted to touch toys tied into a comicbook movie, It was Carl's Jr./Hardee’s (a pair of sister chain that are predominately on the West Coast) that took the chance and went with Spidey toys with their Kid's meals.

Well, as we all know now, they did quite well, for when the follow-up film came out in 2004, it was McDonald’s that had the toys.

Well, any way. I recall that back in ’04 my good buddy John (“I may be dead, but I still own the T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents) Carbonaro sent me a T-Shirt that was worn by the Carl's Jr. & Hardee’s employees during the Spidey promotion.

That first T-Shirt looks like this (yes, I still have and wear it)!

Well after a couple of rounds of fast food toys from the likes of McDonalds and Burger King, Spidey has returned to Carl’s Jr. and well, there is a new T-Shirt.

And, yep, I wear this one too. Now I just need to get a set of the Carl’s Jr. Toys.

The Amazing Spider-Man is #1

Well folks, in spite of my own tepid review, Spider-Man has ascended to the top of the Box Office heap. He not only had the largest Tusday opening ever, but now he has passed Ted for achieve #1 status for last week.

1. The Amazing Spider-Man: $65,000,000
2. Ted: $32,593,000
3. Brave: $20,162,000
4. Savages (2012): $16,162,000
5 Magic Mike: $15,610,000
6. Tyler Perry's Madea's Witness Protection: $10,200,000
7. Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted: $7,700,000
8. Katy Perry: Part of Me: $7,150,000
9. Moonrise Kingdom: $4,642,000
10. To Rome with Love: $3,502,000

How cool is this?

And ASM V2#25 makes it a full run

That's  right, kids, I now have a complete run of Amazing Spider-Man. Yes, that's including Spidey's first appearance in Amazing Fantasy # 15.

The really interesting thing (to me) is that the last couple of issues I needed to collect to complete my full run of this series were not the lower-numbered (earliest) issues, but the ones that came out in the mid-to-late '90s. In fact the final issue I needed (the one I received today) was actually Amazing Spider-Man Vol 2 #25. For some reason this single issue has proven to be harder to track down than some of the more "exotic" issues.

Near as I can figure (because there really is nothing extraordinarily special about it as far as I can tell), is that it came out at a time when Marvel was playing everything close to the vest and (quite literally) only printed what was ordered. Thus proving that scarcity coupled with demand is what determines pricing, not price guide guides or hype.

I've been looking for this particular issue for well over a year now, but most of the time that I saw it (when I could actually find it), the issue was priced well beyond, not only what I was willing to spend for it, but way beyond what the issues on either side of it were commanding.

Sure I wanted it, but no, I simply was not going to pay that much for the issue. As it turns out, I didn't have to (over)pay for it. Even as I searched for it at conventions, I stalked it online at auction sites. I did see it a couple of times priced lower (and missed the bid), but more often than not, I saw it much higher. Finally, the other day I saw it at a reasonable price (a touch higher than I was hoping to pay for it, but not so much so as to make acquiring it painful), so I snatched it up.

Now I just have to look over the other Spider-Titles to see what's missing and then set about filling in those holes as well.

Spider-Boy, Spider-Boy, does what ever a Spider-can...or something like that

Yep, that’s right, if you stopped by your favorite comicbook shop yesterday you might have seen a very special issue of the Amazing Spider-Man #666. Marvel comics produced a very number of special, limited-edition covers for comic shops around the country. The owner of the shop I go to (Heroes Comics & Cards in Norwalk, CT), put not only the front of his store, but his 5-yr-old son on the cover.

NORWALK -- Ask 5-year-old Ben Kruseski who his favorite superhero is and he presses two little fingers into each tiny palm and thrusts his arms forward. 

"Spider-Man!" he exclaims, imitating the costumed crime fighter with arachnid strength. 
Ben and Spidey share more in common than their web-slinging superpowers -- they both appear on the cover of "The Amazing Spider-Man" issue 666. 

But unlike the masked guardian of New York City, Ben was willing to reveal his true identity Wednesday to sign autographs at his father's comic book shop on Westport Avenue. 

Seriously, how cool is that?

The shop had to purchase a specific number of copies of the issue in question, something that Heroes’ owner, Dave Kruseski was all to happy to do.

"Spider-Man has always been my favorite superhero, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to put my son on the cover," said Kruseski, a lifelong Norwalk resident.  

Diamonds on the souls of my shoes

OK, so I've been reading (and not much enjoying) the Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine (written by Jason Aaron). My reason for not enjoying it much revolve around the fact that it seemed as if it were just another “take two characters out of continuity and screw with them for five or six issues then put them back the way they were, ‘cause nothing that happens here actually matters” kinds of books.

As a rule, I hate these types of books as they don’t seem to do anything but take money out of my pocket.

Then I got to issue #5 (of six), and saw this...

Yeah, it seriously caused me to laugh out loud.

Don’t get the reference? hold on...




Got it now? I mean, really. Just how much fun can you have reading a comic?

I could be a millionaire!

No really, I could be, and I’m not talking about that Publisher's Clearing House junk mail nonsense, I’m talking about this...

Spider-Man Shocker: Highest Graded Copy of Amazing Fantasy #15 Goes For $1.1 Million

The vintage comics scene is in shock this afternoon with the news that the CGC 9.6 copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, the first appearance of Spider-Man by Steve Ditko and Stan Lee, has sold in a private transaction for $1.1 million. This is far and away the highest price paid for a Silver Age comic book, and is indicative of just how strong the SA Marvel market is right now as we enter a huge year for Marvel properties with a full movie slate.

How does this affect me? I own a copy.

You all can call me MR. Millionaire :)

In the January 17 issue of New York Magazine writer Michael Schulman wrote a preview of the Spider-Man Broadway musical Turn off the dark in which he was less than flattering about what he saw:

—at sixty-five million dollars, the most expensive Broadway musical ever staged—those elements have been compounded by death-defying aerial stunts, which, despite safety tuneups by the director, Julie Taymor, have resulted in a stream of ghastly headlines. At a flying demonstration in October, a cast member broke both wrists when he was catapulted across the stage during a slingshot maneuver. (Another actor broke a toe the same way.) Then, in previews, a lead actress sustained a concussion when she was hit in the head by a rope while standing offstage. (She later quit.) And, shortly before Christmas, a performer fell off a thirty-foot-high platform and suffered a hairline skull fracture, internal bleeding, and four broken ribs, among other injuries. He got out of rehab last week

In the article he quoted several people who said that they were going to the technical dress rehearsals in the hopes of seeing someone get hurt. Talk about your bread and circuses.

Needless to say, the latest news is that there have been more injuries and the show has been pushed back, yet again to a March opening.

We don't need no Steekin' book!

So, in a new article, Julie Taymor (the director of the problem-plagued Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark) she went on about how the play is more about the spectacle than about than actual story, “You can do spectacle on Broadway with no book and have a very successful show.” I found this quote particularly interesting, as it was essentially what Tim Burton said about the first two Batman films he directed (I spoke extensively about this in this blog's first post).

Burton had said that there were many great Batman stories, but his films weren't any of them. He then, like Taymor now, are more interested in the “make it look pretty and people will come” school of thought (which of course gave rise to crap like “Reality TV” and shows like Jerry Springer. In ancient Rome it was referred to as Bread and Circuses.

I dispute this soul-killing nonsense, as the stupid-sounding crap that it is.

Of course you need stories, that is what Stan, Jack, Steve, JRSr, and many others since have given us that made us love this medium as much as we do. Story is the thing Ms Taymor, Mr. Burton not spectacle. Spectacle is the the voice that says “fans don't want company-wide crossovers, but we’re going to do another one anyway” (You listening Joe Q.?)

You want to sell more comics? write better stories. It really is that simple. Too bad no one is listening.

First the CCA, now Wizard, what will be eliminated next?

The other day we told you all about the (long over due) demise of the Comics Code Authority. Well, by now everybody on the planet (at least those in the comics industry who still bothered to read Wizard under the mistaken impression that it somehow still reflected what was “hot” in comics), has already learned, Wizard Magazine is also dead.

Yep, according to a former employee, on Friday apparently all staff members were sent home and then before the kickoff of the Jets/Steelers playoff game, everyone was essentially notified that they didn't need to show up on Monday, the office had been shut down and moved to a new location, and they would be told when and where to pick up their personal effects. There was also no conversation about severance or unemployment pay.

There has been some talk of converting the magazine to an on-line format and taking the company public, but there still seems to be no clear plan as to how any of that is to happen.

One has to wonder what will be the next comicbook-related company to bite the dust, will be, Perhaps only the Shadow knows for sure..

BND/OMIT (Another Spidey rant)

OK, I finally got (almost) caught up with my Spidey reading, which means that I’ve finally read the travesty that they are calling One Moment In Time. First of all the thing that makes it a travesty is that it took them two years and four issues to tell this story, Second they made us suffer through yet another padded out explanation of why Pete and MJ never got married, and explain away the truly horrible travesty that was Brand New Day and the inexplicable deal with the devil, er, Mephesto that was foisted on us loyal fans as a truly horrendous example of a bad idea followed by flawed writing and worse execution. (I really don’t have the time to go into all the reasons for the preceding, you’ll just have to take my word for it.)

Anyway, let me say this about OMIT, it was a bad story for many reasons, but especially because it was totally unnecessary. Partially because Dan Slott solved Peter’s identity problem as an incidental part of Avengers, The Initiative issue #7, and partially because it simply danced around the entire deal with Mephesto.

I’m willing to admit that I enjoy the return of Harry Osborn especially as he has gone back to being Pete’s best friend. I love that Flash is also back, especially as the returning hero (I’m sorry that he lost the use of his legs), I hate the way the story was told, and I hate that it was a forced story rather than something that was organically grown out of the series as it was progressing. I also hate the fact that setting the clock back to the ’70s is editorial’s attempt at moving it forward.

Personally, I would have done things differently, still, no one asked me.

Anyways, I just wanted to say, that even though I really hated BND, what lead up to it, and OMIT, I did however like aspects of this final arc in ASM #647 (especially American Hero, the story with Flash). Truthfully, while I hated the concept and execution the story itself was much better than most of the past two years. I will also admit that the new storyline Big Time is also much better than most of BND, which is baffling, because, if they had writers that could write this good, and stories this worth telling, why in the name of Steve Ditko did it take them this long to get around to telling them?

It is enough to make me want to read Indie comics...Oh wait, I do!

It's dead, Jim.

In 1954, (due in part to Fredric Wertham's book, Seduction of the Innocent, and partially due to the Senate subcommittee hearings on the matter of violence in comics) the comicbook publishers of the US formed the Comics Code Authority. Over the years it was the CCA’s responsibility to “keep comicbooks safe for kids” as it were, well back in May, June and July of 1971 Stan Lee wrote three issues of Amazing Spider-Man (#s 96–98) that had a subplot dealing with drugs  that was rejected by the CCA, Well, Stan felt that the storyline was important enough to include so, in defiance of the Authority, he published the comics anyway. A few short months later, DC published Green Lantern/Green Arrow #85 (Sept. 1971) that also had a drug reference, but this comic was approved by the code (as it had been altered to allow the depiction of drugs addiction in a negative light).

In 2001 Marvel finally broke with the code, adopting an internal rating system to identify the content of their books, well this January, DC followed Marvel’s lead and abandonded the CCA.

As of January 2011, DC Comics titles will no longer carry the Comics Code Authority Seal of Approval. In 2011, DC Comics will employ a rating system consistent with that of the rest of the industry, as well as with our digital releases, which already utilize a rating system. As for our Vertigo comic books, they will not utilize the rating system, because they will continue to be labeled as “For Mature Readers”.

This leaves only Archie Comics that submits their books to the Authority for approval.

************ADDENDUM**********

Shortly after this story was filed, Archie Comics announced that they too will  be dropping the Code effectively ending the Code’s influence on American comics forever.

And the hits just keep on coming

with the dawn of the new year, thing on Broadway look even worse for our pal Spidey.

You can add Bill de Blasio, the New York City public advocate, to the list of nemeses that Spider-Man will have to battle en route to his much-delayed Broadway opening. In a letter sent to the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs, Mr. de Blasio warned that the Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” may be violating consumer protection laws by not clearly distinguishing its preview period (when the show is still considered a work in progress) from its post-opening performances (when the show is a finished product), and could face fines.

Noting the premium cost of Broadway tickets, which can run $150 or more, Mr. de Blasio wrote: “At those prices, consumers deserve to know what they are purchasing, and there is a real difference between seeing an unfinished show in previews versus one that has officially opened. That many shows do not advertise that they are in previews, either in promotions or at the point of ticket sales, is unacceptable.”

Just wondering if this will ever open.

New Spidey Swag!

OK kids, because I know how much you all love to see what cool Spidey Swag I collect, here is some stuff you may or may not have seen...

Here are some shots of a bag of Halloween cards and lolly pops

Now for some Spidey-themed food containers

I might have added this already, but my buddy Alex scored these wicked-cool Spidey ear-buds for me and gave them to me at the NYCC 2010

Here are a couple of cool Spidey figures

SOme Spidey Washcloths (the to two were given to me by my pal (Hot Pants) Liz

And here is a set of dominoes

That should be it for now, more (oh so much more) to come!

Spidey on Broadway?

According to a report in the New York Times, this past Saturday’s (attempted) full run-through of Spider-Man: Turn off the dark met with all sorts of delays and setbacks as by the dinner hour, only some 15 minutes of the show had been staged as the crew kept stopping to attend to numerous glitches in the tech aspects of the multi-million dollar extravaganza, only — according to all reports — it is just as likely to be the Great White Way’s own version of Heaven’s Gate (the 1980 Michael Cimino's bleak anti-western film that tanked to the tune of over $30 million and is generally considered one of the biggest box office bombs of all-time).

It’s supposed to be the biggest, costliest, splashiest show of the Broadway season, but so far it’s just the most troubled. Executives with “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” said Thursday that the opening of the oft-delayed, $60 million musical would be set back once again, this time by three weeks, meaning it will miss lucrative Thanksgiving week, forgo an attention-getting bow over Christmas, and open during the box office doldrums of January.

Well, this past week New York Magazine did a cover feature on the supposedly “cursed” Broadway musical. Still, director, Julie Taymor (The Lion King) remains cautiously optimistic about the play’s future, “This is a drama–rock-and-roll–circus, or a circus–rock-and-roll–drama; there’s no word for it. And what do they want? Two-character, one-set musicals? How is that helping the theater?”

Interesting enough one has to wonder how Marvel corporate views the controversy swirling around this play.

Marvel, though fiercely protective of its brand, approved many of Taymor’s inventions, not just Arachne but also a “geek chorus” of comic-book fans, a living switchblade of a villain called Swiss Miss, and, indeed, the whole structure of the drama. The bright-colored, plot-heavy first act basically tells a version of the familiar origin story: Bullied boy acquires special skills as the result of a mutated-spider bite; he gets revenge and confronts Green Goblin while bashfully courting the beautiful (and, in Taymor’s version, abused) Mary Jane. But Act Two consists almost entirely of new material. It takes Peter on a more symbolic moral journey, like the ones Taymor came to love in her studies of world theater, in which, as she describes them, enemies are both external and internal, and the gravest danger is hubris.

 Personally, we simply don’t know what to think, but we do keep hearing of  injuries to cast and crew, set pieces that don't work, and an ever-ballooning budget. Needless to say, if this white elephant (golden turkey) ever does get off the ground (both literally and figuratively), then you can fully expect us to be in that audience, thrilling to the new adventures of our favorite spandex hero.