CCW 3.64: LAST RANTS Part One & CCW 3.65: LAST RANTS Conclusion
Posted: June 25, 2010 in CCW Rant Review, CCW TV, Geek Culture, Last Rants, Marvel, ReviewsTags: Daredevil, Hulk, Jeph Loeb, Mustaches, Shadowland
Comments
Tags: Daredevil, Hulk, Jeph Loeb, Mustaches, Shadowland
The CCW*TV Companion Blog 
I’ve haven’t missed an issue of Daredevil since the Bendis days
I’m 50/50 dropping it next week, just because I can’t be arsed with “Shadowland” – not as a story/concept, but as an event.
The same thing happened with Captain America ‘Reborn’ last year, and I dropped that book then too.
Imagine how fucking well-loved these arcs would be if they were just by the regular creative teams within the regular monthlies at the regular price?
This is the most productive I’ve been all week:
http://www.makeagif.com/FLdR-v
🙂
J.
God damn you Jose.
DAMN YOU TO HELLLLLLLLL!
Elliott
that is awesome
you want to know something weird when E was doing he looked like my dad quite a bit
Hey Elliot what the hell you call that move?
The running spaz man!
Dude it’s the Hater Shuffle, respect.
Hater Shuffle?
Heh!
has anyone sent a copy of this to bendis? you know just as a courtesy
hey everyone lets do the elliot dance 😀
Lets not
Hey guys, I just wanted to tell you that I love the show and this one in particular was really great! This is my first time commenting, and I’ve only been watching for maybe two months now, but what I really love about your show is your unbiased/unfiltered opinions paired with your actual insight into the industry. Definitely the best comic discussion anywhere on the web in my opinion and I hope you guys keep it up!
Your pal,
Krystal
Thanks for the kind words.
J.
HA! You guys are cracking me up.
J.
*facepalm*
AMAZING lol
that’s great hackslash, I watched it about 4 times and it still killed. 🙂
HEAVY E
now that he found love what is he going to do?
diddly…diddly Eeee!
HAH!!!!lol
Word to ya mutha
E looks kinda like Heavy Dee in that
i really woudnt want comics to go digital i much prefer to hold a physical copy in my hand and as for the iron man annual, i wouldnt be surprised if on the 3rd section of the download it had the ending of the story and then added back matter, so you had yo buy it
I think if comics go purely digital, it will kill the industry. I don’t see comics existing as an app, and I don’t see loyal comic readers taking to downloading their pull lists. Call me old fashioned, but I like having the hard copy in my hands to read. Not on my screen.
It might get new readers interested, but it will lose a lot of it’s built in fanbase. Plus, I see it adding to the “event style” of writing. No more ongoing arcs, just stuff that’ll fit nicely in a trade or a $5 download.
Toy Story 3 was really good, and Elliot was right it got me more than a little choked up at the end. GOOD stuff!
Covers that depict images relevant to the content contained in the issue that the cover is for…surely not. Why would anyone want a logical cover to their comics? grrrrrrr
i dont mind illogical covers
if digital comics were a buck i think i would switch over 99% of my buys
right now i have lots comics that arent even worth the cover prices that i cant even give away taking up way too much space in my place
talk in my LCS about red hulk the folks i know that were following that mystery said that loeb specifically discounted ross in the story that at some point his plot said ross couldnt be rulk
then he threw everyone for a loop and lied
because i know someone who said it was ross from day one then one week he told me he was bummed because he was wrong because an issue specifically disproved his guess
i didnt follow it but i heard a few folks complain about that
books i dropped today
avengers
new avengers
avengers academy
jsa
streets of gotham
gotham city sirens
That earns you a white chip. Congratulations, do you have a sponsor helping you with this? 🙂
Speaking of the old time events, I always loved “Casket of Ancient Winters”/”Dire Wraith Invasion”. One or 2 issues of all their series had a big snow storm and had some wraiths running around. So awesome.
Maybe these mini-series events would be downplayed if they still had those 4 part stories over 4 Annuals so the story can be told over 4 months or so w/o intruding on the stories in the main titles.
Definitely like stand alone but still relevant.
The pricing of digital comics at $2.99 and the raising of printed comics prices does not conspiratorial at all, it’s marketing 101. This kind of pricing shenanigans occurs in all markets, just look at the pricing plans from any of the cell phone providers.
Thanks for the shout out Jose!
Guys, I know it sounded a “little” nutty (conspiracy-wise) at the time I wrote that comment about prices but the one thing I do know… The price of printed comics will NEVER go back down. As we’ve seen, the number of pages per book may increase (for a little while) in response to the recent price increase– but as you both have already commented on… The back-up features are already disappearing from certain books and the price is STICKING at $3.99.
With these increased prices, I really feel that the Big Two publishers are setting up readers of floppies, hard copies (whatever you want to call them) to believe that they are now the “CONSUMERS of the PREMIUM READING EXPERIENCE”… Which will make digital be seen as the “budget” (and in most COLLECTORS eyes– the less desirable) read.
I don’t think DIGITAL is meant for us “collectors” at all. We’re already hooked. As Marvel has proven, arbitrarily raise the price by a dollar and the Zombies will make sure the company still makes plenty of money. And printing those Dollar “Try Me” books and aiming them at collectors? Come on! That’s no different than a free FIRST taste from your crack dealer. If you like it (and chances are you will), you’ll be willing to pay MORE to experience it again.
I agree with Elliott that the IDEAL price for a digital issue would be 99 cents… But even the record companies AND the TV/Film companies have successfully banded together and forced iTunes to RAISE the price on most popular songs to $1.29– and individual episodes of a TV show to as high as $3.99. Raising the price of floppies NOW will ABSOLUTELY make it easier to introduce a butt-load of digital comics at a $1.99– or even a $2.50 price point– in the near future. Hell, a ton of less aware people will see these lower prices as a BARGAIN.
Think about when the price of gas FIRST SKYROCKETED. A gallon headed well past $4. Then, the price finally receded to $2.70 to $3.20 a gallon (and lower depdending on where you live). People rejoiced everywhere! And I’m sitting there the whole time mumbling, “Uh folks… You are STILL paying $1.50 MORE for a gallon of gas then you were paying just LAST YEAR. Hello? Monkeys? Hello? Anybody home?”
Like most everybody else, I will not be trading in reading real books for the digital reading experience. Just not interested. But then– almost everyone might have a title or two (or more) that they would like to read but aren’t happy about paying full price for… So digital might seem the way to go for those still wanting to read lesser satisfying titles. Other folks will be like kurumais and say something like, “This shit is simply not worth $3.99 to me. I want to read it but not for $3.99. I’ll read it digitally for less.”
Here a couple of points where I feel the Big Two better tread fucking lightly– or they are truly (and irrevocably) going to screw the golden pooch:
1) I imagine it will be a LOT EASIER to QUIT reading DIGITAL comics then it will be to STOP COLLECTING physical copies of comics. A LOT EASIER. Think of the blogs you USED to read every day… Or even the on-line comics you USED to read– but now, for whatever reason, do NOT look at anymore.
Sometimes things just get lost in the shuffle of life. Other times, something else BRIGHT and SHINY comes along and we take our fickle mouses and click elsewhere.
Without going to the store every week to pick up your books– will you even REMEMBER to check to see if/when the next issue of Iron Man is released? How many times will you be wiling to go back and click on iTunes to see if the issue has ever been uploaded? Do you really imagine yourself clicking on iTunes (or wherever) several times a day (or each week)?
If that is what “collecting” comics is going to boil down to in the future– having to remember when your digital comics are going to be released so you can go to a website and download them… Then every fucking Publisher better be developing apps RIGHT NOW that send you an email whenever the NEW DIGITAL ISSUE of “Captain Heywood Jablome” is uploaded to iTunes. If not, I could see a ton of readers forgetting about it altogether.
I see people going to comic stores so they can look at EVERYTHING– bullshit with friends and shop owners/workers… Feel like they are PART of something. A hobby. If a large number of people STOP doing going to stores, I can see them EASILY DRIFTING AWAY when something NEW comes along and captures their interest.
#2) Jose has been (rightly) complaining over and over that there is LITTLE or NO CONTINUITY in most comics (especially between Marvel titles) nowadays. Comics are, by their monthly nature– serial publications… With stories and themes that often encompass several issues– if not several YEARS worth of issues.
If Marvel basically decides to THROW continuity out the window– while starting their digital business in earnest… Do you know how SCREWED they are going to be?!
Mucho.
With little respect for continuity between books, there will be a hell of a lot LESS INCENTIVE for digital “collectors” to pay for the ancillary titles featuring spin-offs from major Crossover Events or even the “less popular” titles featuring major characters.
Comic purchases, by nature, beget MORE comic purchases. That’s why there are ONE BILLION Deadpool & Wolverine titles published every month. (And collectors used to bitch that DC dared to allow Superman to appear in “Action” and “Superman” & Batman to appear in “Detective” and “Batman every month! Damn! The audacity!)
Collector’s love/need/want for continuity is why Marvel & DC are ALWAYS forcing these MAJOR cross-over events down our throats. Comics cater to the completest. (I should know. I have always been one of them.) If you PHYSICALLY own a copy of #1 in your collection, you instinctively want #2 and so on… Until you are buying all 4 monthly titles your favorite character appears in.
But if I don’t have that first issue of “Brightest Day” sitting IN FRONT of me– where I can hold it, flip through it and take PRIDE in POSSESSING the book in my collection… I could see how it would be A LOT EASIER to just buy the MAIN book and skip (or “cherry pick”) the other DIGITAL spin-off issues… Or even just DROP the main title when it no longer interests me.
I mean Hell… I don’t OWN an ACTUAL COPY of the book, right? It’s just a DRM FILE sitting on my computer or iPod/iPad. What’s my REAL attachment to that? Do I have to sit in front of my computer ALL DAY to ENJOY everything I like now? Plus, I might let you borrow my copy of “Brightest Day” but I damn well will think long and hard before I let you borrow my $600 iPad for the weekend!
It’s cool watching people post their different feelings about their collections here on the blog. Even folks who have the balls to drop a title when they are not being entertained (one of Jose & Elliott’s main video themes lately)… Even you folks can describe the “runs” NOT in your collection with a RAZOR SHARP familiarity… As if you understand WHY they are MISSING but Gosh Darn It– You REALLY WISH those issues had been better so you could have a COMPLETE RUN of the title for your collection.
And there is nothing wrong with that. It’s the way most of us ALWAYS feel.
But with the ONSLAUGHT of digital comics– and if the price of hard copies stays put (or continues to rise outrageously)… Once people NO LONGER hold comics in their hands… I do NOT see the SAME BOND forming between the book and the “collector”. In fact, I see the ATTACHMENT to comics actually LESSENING… To the point where even die-hard fans will stop collecting. Casual digital readers will be just that: CASUAL. The minute some other media captures there interest– it’ll be “Bye, Bye, Comics!” in a heartbeat!
And why? Well one MAJOR REASON will be because– as Jose said– some major Comic Book Companies feel that they no longer need to bother with CONTINUITY anymore. If they continue down this lonesome road, I can GUARANTEE that more and more CURRENT readers and collectors– even company ZOMBIES– will NO longer feel the need to read ALL BOOKS to get the full, overall Marvel “through line” or “story line”… Because there WON’T BE AN OVERALL STORYLINE ANYMORE.
If these companies then mix a digital push with no continuity between their titles– they are really going to screw themselves. New readers will NEVER even get a chance to form an attachment to VARIOUS/DIFFERENT company characters because there is little or no continuity between titles. Hell, collectors will even quit buying DIFFERENT books featuring the same character because in one book Wolvie will hate everyone and everything to do with “Hero Registration” and in another book he will fellate Tony Stark every day before breakfast.
In short, if the company NO LONGER CARES ENOUGH about their books and characters to make them at least make some kind of sense as the co-exist in the same universe… WHY SHOULD WE CARE? Why should we buy ALL of their books– or all the books in one of their cross-overs when the fucking things often CONTRADICT and/or CONFUSE the issues examined in the main titles?
Take away the PRIDE OF PHYSICAL OWNERSHIP… And continue treating continuity like your red-headed bastard stepchild… And sooner or later even die-hard enthusiasts will cease to give a damn.
God, that would have been so much easier to say– rather than type. 🙂
lol welll said its going to take a while to read too inside but im on it
thanks for the effort
Thanks kurumais!
I desperately need an editor… I hear a bunch of Marvel Editors are sitting around with nothing much to do. 😉
nicely dont inside you summed up a i think just about every issue on digital comics
for 99 cents i think i would buy most of my monthly pull list digitally just to save money and space
plus i think it would be great to have those issues ready at the click of a mouse instead of in a box in my closet
but number 1
i would still buy the books i love most in comic book form cap atlas
but number 2
for 2 bucks or higher they can go scratch
Now THAT’S a fucking comment!
J.
I wanted to give you a feel of the what it would look like if you guys transcribed your discussions– and then put them up as text on your next video.
Be ready to give up at least a day to transcription if you ever decide to actually do that. 😉
I’m still excited for SHADOWLAND. Fuck Marvel and their attempt to corrupt this event. Diggle will help make it worth the while.
Birds of prey 2 jose you mentioned it in one of the vids
why are you thinking of dropping it?
ed benes needs a fill in artst to help him finish issue number $%^ing 2??? really ed?
if i was editor janelle seigel id be hiring a new artist
Well, not having consistent art on only the SECOND issue doesn’t help but I am not really feeling this story. The brutality being shown in this book does nothing for me. This is a dark book and not at all what I was expecting from a BOP relaunch. Brightest Day my ass.
J.
i posted about the brutality last week hows its almost as brutal as secret six the only thing i can think is gail was in some sort of intense catman secret six zone when she started writing the birds again maybe she will start separating the books a little more as she gets back into the BoP and now that catman storyline is done
but honestly i think this might be gail’s style now