RIP: Dick Giordano

An excellent artist and inker and a driving force in the DC Comics of my youth, Giordano passed away this morning at the age of 77.

I'm so glad that he and Roy Thomas completed their adaptation of Stoker's Dracula in 2005 after leaving it incomplete for 30 years. At the time it was simply nice to see that bit of business finally tied up, but now it's a capstone to his career.

First Wave: at least one wave too many

Earlier this month, DC Comics began publishing a six-issue mini-series called First Wave by Brian Azzarello which features a "pulp" version of the DC Universe, using characters like Batman, Doc Savage and the Spirit. But by next month, with First Wave only on its second issue, it's going to be joined by new ongoing titles for Doc Savage and the Spirit. The decision to push the hard launch of a new shared universe so quickly has certainly struck some people as an unusual choice.

The overall verdict?

A few reactions:

"I’ll admit that even after reading First Wave #1, I’m still not entirely sure why DC is publishing this comic. I’m not saying that because of quality, but rather the general idea behind it all." - Greg McElhatton

"Does it make more sense for a publisher to put out a bunch of related material as quickly as possibly and bundled as closely together as possible, and thus it won’t matter if anyone likes it or if a series has buzz or legs or whatnot, because the company will have already sold a bunch of books?" - J. Caleb Mozzocco

"...I can’t for the life of me imagine any of these books now taking off or doing better than, say, 5k-ish by month #6; nor do I think these will have legs in collected formats either." - Brian Hibbs

What history suggests to me is that the current comics market isn't interested in shared universes beyond the Big Two (Marvel & DC). Although Image technically casts their super heroes in a shared universe, it plays by loose rules and lets each creator do their own thing, only coming together every few years to produce something like Image United. Readers of Image titles don't consider themselves as buying into a "universe," they only follow Image books that interest them (and successful titles like Walking Dead are set in separate universes). Attempts to launch new shared universes at publishers like Crossgen & Devil's Due met with failure. Wildstorm's shared universe is fighting for attention. There's probably a market for DC to try and sell Doc Savage & Spirit comics to, but by connecting the two together into a "universe" with First Wave as the "spine," that seems to guarantee fewer readers because they'll be afraid to commit to a single title for fear that they'll have to purchase a second to follow the story.

Like me, for example. I'm interested in seeing what Mark Schultz will do with the Spirit, but knowing he'll only be there for three issues and will be taking his cues from what Azzarello's doing in First Wave makes it appear like less of a creator-driven, story-driven project and more of a company-driven, editor-driven mandate. DC isn't publishing a Mark Schultz Spirit comic because Schultz had a vision, they're publishing it because they needed a Spirit comic in the schedule and Schultz had three months free. Or so it appears.

This June: Handbook Update#2!

OFFICIAL HANDBOOK OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE A TO Z UPDATE #2

Cover by KALMAN ANDRASOFSZKY

The OFFICIAL HANDBOOK continues its 2010 crusade to chronicle the Marvel Universe with 64 pages of ALL-NEW profiles with EXCLUSIVE ORIGINAL ART for dozens of characters! This issue covers the spectrum of the Marvel U… The men: Maximus the Mad! Phil Sheldon! Skeleton Ki! The women: Shooting Star! Poundcakes! Ecstacy! The aliens: Acanti! Dire Wraiths! Quwrlln! The groups: Leatherneck Raiders! Night Shift! Damage Control! Plus many, many more! 64 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

This June: Index#2!

AVENGERS, THOR & CAPTAIN AMERICA: OFFICIAL INDEX TO THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #2

The chronicle of the Marvel Universe returns as the All-New Official Index to the Marvel Universe delves into the history of three more of Marvel’s most enduring titles! Return with us to the Silver and Golden Ages as we launch our coverage of the Avengers (from AVENGERS #63), Thor (from JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #121), and Captain America (from both CAPTAIN AMERICA #156 and 1941’s CAPTAIN AMERICA COMICS #6). Watch the Marvel universe’s history unfold month by month as each issue provides synopses for dozens of individual comics, including back-up strips, introducing the characters, teams, places and equipment that appeared within, providing vital information about first appearances, where they last showed up and where they appeared next! 64 PGS./Rated A …$3.99

Deadpool Handbook & Iron Man Index tomorrow!

Tomorrow is release day for Deadpool Corps: Rank and Foul, the first-ever Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe devoted entirely to Deadpool! Truly, comics have finally come of age. More about this book can be found here.

Tomorrow is also release day for Iron Man: Official Index to the Marvel Universe, which collects all of the Iron Man index material from OITTMU#1-14 under a single cover (with a few extras). The solicitation is here.

X-Factor Forever#1 tomorrow!

Louise Simonson's tenure on X-Factor back in the 1980s led to some of the best writing on an X-Men title outside of Chris Claremont. She's probably best remembered for building Apocalypse into one of the X-Men's greatest threats and renovating Angel into Archangel, but there's so much more to her 50+ run. Other highlights included Cyclops suffering a mental breakdown, Iceman losing control of his powers, Beast becoming dumber each time he used his strength but refusing to stop, Scott and Jean finally putting their emotional baggage behind them and working together and X-Factor's trainees becoming an interesting bunch of characters in their own right.

Tomorrow is launch day for X-Factor Forever, in which Simonson returns to the series right where she left off to tell one last story about the characters, using a separate continuity. It has art by Dan Panosian. It also has a back-up feature by me.

So, bring it home, yeah?

RIP Peter Graves

"He learned almost too late that man is a feeling creature... and because of it, the greatest in the universe. He learned too late for himself that men have to find their own way, to make their own mistakes. There can't be any gift of perfection from outside ourselves. And when men seek such perfection... they find only death... fire... loss... disillusionment... the end of everything that's gone forward. Men have always sought an end to the toil and misery, but it can't be given, it has to be achieved. There is hope, but it has to come from inside, from Man himself."

He's still the only IMF leader in my world. He will be missed.