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Post by michaelpaciocco on Sept 13, 2008 12:16:24 GMT -8
You know, I had an epiphany yesterday.
Spider-man is the Marvel Universe Osama Bin Laden.
Now, here me out here, let's look at the facts:
1) He was at one point a protege of the head of the Initiative, and was equiped by them.
2) He had a falling out with them over policy
3) He's universally hated and reviled
4) He's thought of as dumb and an underachiever, despite having evaded the Initiative's "Best and Brightest" on at least a half dozen occasions
5) He made a deal with the Devil.
Makes you wonder who's side Marvel is really on, doesn't it?
Michael
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Post by temporis on Sept 14, 2008 20:22:04 GMT -8
Pretty cool insight. I'm a big fan of the first four DUNE books, and it gives me much mirth that it's plainly Herbert's allegory for our dependence on oil (at least Book I is), and that the hero of the story is basically OBL.
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Post by jessebaker on Sept 16, 2008 21:30:05 GMT -8
FWI from the December Solicitations:
1. More variant covers, this time themed to villains
2. We are finally getting answers on the Harry Osborn front; bad news is that Slott's writing it. Couldn't they have given this story to Roger Stern? God knows he's a more trustworthy person to write the explanation than Slott, who seems to be, if the solicitation is to be taken seriously, going to simply say that Harry just rematerialized and that everyone decided to not ask any questions, as if to play dumb about it.
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Post by sinanju on Sept 16, 2008 21:35:54 GMT -8
It would sure help HARRY OSBORN if he could remember the completely logical, non-magical, and totally plausible way he came back from the dead.
That's from an actual Marvel solicit?
Christ! I thought it was snarky commentary from someone who hated BMD/OMD! They actually wrote that?
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Post by jensaltmann on Sept 16, 2008 22:43:31 GMT -8
I've always maintained that if the Goblin Formula made Norman immortal, the same should hold true for Harry.
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Post by jessebaker on Sept 16, 2008 22:46:33 GMT -8
Back when Marvel was originally planning on bringing Harry back as the Judas Goat for the Clone Saga in 1996, that was the big plan. But Bob Harras killed that reveal and ordered Norman used instead, due to him not liking Harry.....
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Post by K-Box on Sept 16, 2008 23:59:28 GMT -8
More variant covers, this time themed to villains Jesus Fucking Christ, how goddamn desperate do you have to get? Okay, that's it, I'm calling it; I fully expect that every single issue will now have a variant cover to boost sales. |
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Post by K-Box on Sept 17, 2008 0:01:56 GMT -8
That's from an actual Marvel solicit? Christ! I thought it was snarky commentary from someone who hated BMD/OMD! They actually wrote that? I keep saying, but nobody ever listens, that at least half of Marvel's publishing is done with absolutely no other purpose than to say "fuck you" to their own audience. Steve Wacker is getting to be as bad as Bill Jemas in this regard, to the degree that he's actually going out of his way to insult even the readers who are simply on the fence about BND. |
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Post by K-Box on Sept 17, 2008 1:24:07 GMT -8
ICv2 has posted its sales figures and analysis for August, so as usual, I'm using those to track the sales trends for the "NuSpidey" era to date, together with previously released monthly sales figures also drawn from ICv2:  Mea culpas: I overestimated the sales drop for the first issue in August, before the first issue of "New Ways To Die." Also, as has been pointed out, all of the issues of "New Ways To Die" that have been published so far have been sell-outs, which means that it's very likely that these same August issues will see increased numbers next month, due to reorder activity. That being said? FOUR COVERS FOR THE FIRST ISSUE, and this is as good as it gets. Add however many reorders this issue gets next month to the 93,395 it got in August, and THIS IS THE NEW SALES PEAK for the "NuSpidey" era. Per-issue sales on the "NuSpidey" era will NEVER get this high again, because between John Romita Jr. on art, the return of Norman Osborn, Eddie Brock, the Green Goblin and Venom, and EVERY SINGLE ISSUE HAVING AT LEAST ONE VARIANT COVER, all in the same story arc, "New Ways To Die" is the absolute pinnacle of what the "NuSpidey" era can hope to offer, either creatively or sales-wise. And to that end, what's more significant than the FIRST-issue sales of NWTD are its SECOND-issue sales. Add however many reorders THAT issue gets next month to the 77,950 it got in August, and that represents a "peak" all its own, because if sales are dropping THAT much, WITHIN the single-most critically and commercially successful story arc within the "NuSpidey" era so far, EVEN WITH A VARIANT COVER ON THE SECOND ISSUE, then that's not a good sign. Not to fear, though, because Marvel plans on doing variant covers every other issue now, with "Villain Variants" already solicited for issues #579 and #581 in December. I mean, Jesus Christ, if you're having to work that hard to sell a comic, and you're still getting such a relatively low return on your investment, then maybe you should consider that the CONTENT is what's driving readers away, rather than focusing on the PACKAGING? Then again, if I was trying to sell a comic whose contents had already alienated a lot of my formerly most loyal readers, I might not deliberately insult them by releasing solicitation copy like the following:Way to say "fuck you" to your own readers for pointing out your plot holes, assholes. Hey, I'll be generous - with reorders, this thing will probably finally crack the sustained 80K mark that Dan Slott falsely claimed "Brand New Day" would sell above for its first four months, but as soon as NWTD is done, there's no way it's not going back down to the 70K mark, with the possibility that it could still wind up selling BELOW the 70K mark by year's end. This is the money shot in the bukkake of "NuSpidey" - once it's done, there's nothing left.
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Post by joegualtieri on Sept 17, 2008 17:09:04 GMT -8
"WITHIN the single-most critically and commercially successful story arc within the "NuSpidey" era so far"
It's way too early to call it that yet. Sales aren't in for most it, and the critical reaction I've seen has been fairly negative.
The most critically succesful arc so far is the one illustrated by Marcos Martin' everyone but you loved his take on Spidey and plenty of folks seemed intrigued by MJ's appearence. It's pretty low bar though.
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Post by jensaltmann on Sept 18, 2008 0:16:08 GMT -8
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Post by K-Box on Sept 18, 2008 14:44:52 GMT -8
Sales aren't in for most it (...) Okay, this is a fair point. (...) and the critical reaction I've seen has been fairly negative. Really? Because all the critical reactions I've seen have mirrored your own - ie. that this marks the creative high point of the "NuSpidey" era, which is itself precisely the problem to which I was referring. The most critically succesful arc so far is the one illustrated by Marcos Martin' everyone but you loved his take on Spidey and plenty of folks seemed intrigued by MJ's appearence. It's pretty low bar though. Granted, MJ's appearance caused some interest, and Paper Doll was the closest thing we've seen to a decent new villain so far (aside from Mr. Negative, who has become a lot better than his debut appearance suggested he'd be). But still, I'd argue that NWTD has garnered a LOT more positive attention than that arc, much as it pains me to admit ... although, as you say, it's still a relatively low bar to surpass. |
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Post by K-Box on Sept 18, 2008 14:50:06 GMT -8
Amazing Spider-Man writer Dan Slott went on the record stating that the ending of issue #572 would be "just such a fricking cool Spider-Man moment" that "if you’re a Spider-Man fan you’ll experience a ‘Spider-Gasm.’" Fortunately, cyberghostface was good enough to post scans of the "fricking cool Spider-Man moment" in question on scans_daily, so that we could all judge for ourselves, without having to pay any amount of money for it whatsoever. HERE COMES THE MONEY SHOT!!!   ... Wait, that's IT??? Even in spite of my hatred of all things "NuSpidey," I was expecting SOMETHING more than this. I mean, seriously ... there HAS to be more to it than THIS. I don't even LIKE Slott's writing anymore, and I STILL can't believe that this was the "SPIDER-GASM" moment that he thought would knock our socks off. Even Slott at his WORST can't think that this was going to shock or thrill us THAT much ... could he?
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Post by K-Box on Sept 18, 2008 14:54:38 GMT -8
Could you link to the specific thread, please? I can't find anything about it over there. |
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Post by halloweenjack on Sept 18, 2008 15:29:27 GMT -8
ZOMG DRAK SKORPYON  |
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