CBR: Pipeline - Apr 20, 2010

[CBR News]

Lost in all the $3.99 an issue talk is the current increase in bi-monthly titles at Marvel. Augie's betting they'll still be late. Also: More discussion on the practice of phototracing and "The Uncanny Valley."


Full article here.

[Jordan]

You forgot a couple Augie. Astonishing SM/Wolverine by Kubert and Cho on New Ultimates

[Brother Justin Crowe]

You forgot a couple Augie. Astonishing SM/Wolverine by Kubert and Cho on New Ultimates

And with the announcement of Scarlet, Powers is officially going bi-monthly (not that it really needs to make that announcement anyway, as it will still be late).

Thanks for doing a bit on this. I've been wondering when someone would.

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

You forgot a couple Augie. Astonishing SM/Wolverine by Kubert and Cho on New Ultimates

Yikes! I figured I had missed one somewhere, but TWO? Remember when artists were capable of drawing on a deadline? So sad. I mean Cho used to have a DAILY strip he had to keep up. Kubert drew a regular monthly title or two, didn't he?

I'll be sure to update this in the next column. But, man, looking at the artists involved in these two titles, it's hardly a surprise.

-Augie

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

And with the announcement of Scarlet, Powers is officially going bi-monthly (not that it really needs to make that announcement anyway, as it will still be late).

Thanks for doing a bit on this. I've been wondering when someone would.

I missed the Powers announcement, but you're right -- it'll be tri-monthly inside of a year, too.

That'll give Oeming more time to produce more tedious mouse books...

-Augie, in quite the mood tonight....

[Kick-Ass]

Very well written article.

I'd love to see a Stuart Immonen or Ryan Ottley draw Powers!! COME ON!!! Stuart, a guy who can draw incredible things in a quick pace!!

Also, the annual where Oeming wrote the script was indeed inferior. I want Bendis's scripting vision, not the artist. That's like saying, "Let's switch the drummer and guitarist of Led Zeppelin for this album. They can do it, it's cool!" Of course they could do it, easily. But why the hell would you want to listen to that crap? When you have A listers good at one thing, you don't switch them. They should stick to what they're best at.

Just saying, if Oeming is not interested in Powers anymore. Or is more interested in something else (Which it seems like) then let's get Stuart Immonen on Powers! It's an amazing tale. And I truly feel it's Bendis's vision with really good art. Let's get 50 more issues quickly and get to the end already. Bendis said he has an ending, but that it's a looong way away. We'll NEVER get there at this rate!!

[Brother Justin Crowe]

I missed the Powers announcement, but you're right -- it'll be tri-monthly inside of a year, too.

That'll give Oeming more time to produce more tedious mouse books...

-Augie, in quite the mood tonight....

To be fair, Oeming only co-writes Mice Templar. After the first volume wrapped up, he handed the art reigns over to Victor Dos Santos. To be fair, though, he's been clouding his schedule with far too many books lately, including Rapture (a vanity project if ever there was one) and a few others that have slipped my mind.

I'd also like to point out that only one of these bi-monthly books is three dollars and is ten times as awesome, if not moreso, than the other bi-monthly books that have been released thus far. So, uh, buy SHIELD, everyone.

[alemander]

Nice postscript. Totally unnecessary. What about Gary Frank and drawing Superman as Christopher Reeve or is that okay because he actually played the character in movies? Can Iron Man look like Robert Downey Jr. or is that wrong? Is DC allowed to do this only? Looking at all the examples used it appears that this is a Marvel issue, so I guess DC gets a pass.

Looks like there are a whole lot of issues involved here, which is too many for me. I will just take the art for what it is and either like or not.

[Pennyforth]

Let's be fair where Avengers: The Children's Crusade is concerned, shall we? It's just as likely--in fact, it's more likely that Allan Heinberg will be responsible if that series ends up delayed. He'll once again be offered some TV script, look at his Avengers script in progress, think to himself, "Oh well, it's just comics", and push it aside to work on the TV script. It happened with Young Avengers, it happened with Wonder Woman, and there's every chance he'll do it again here. For a professional writer, he's pretty much an unprofessional *ss when it comes to finishing a job if it's not going to make him some Hollywood-level bank.

As far as the whole "phototracing" thing, I'm curious as to why Greg Land didn't even get a mention--or have other sources proven him so conclusively guilty of this infraction that it would have essentially been whipping a dead horse?

[DevynRodriguez]

Nice postscript. Totally unnecessary. What about Gary Frank and drawing Superman as Christopher Reeve or is that okay because he actually played the character in movies? Can Iron Man look like Robert Downey Jr. or is that wrong? Is DC allowed to do this only? Looking at all the examples used it appears that this is a Marvel issue, so I guess DC gets a pass.

Looks like there are a whole lot of issues involved here, which is too many for me. I will just take the art for what it is and either like or not.

Actually, every time I bring up the Gary Frank thing everyone thinks I'm a dick, so I'm glad you brought it up.

I personally think its kind of creepy, but to each his (or her) own.

[dancj]

As far as the whole "phototracing" thing, I'm curious as to why Greg Land didn't even get a mention--or have other sources proven him so conclusively guilty of this infraction that it would have essentially been whipping a dead horse?

He got mentioned in last week's column

[pmpknface]

Back on the not-so-reliable shipping...

did you see what BelldingCool had on Millar's WAR HEROES? Started 2 years ago, won't be done in 2010.

This is why I hardly EVER buy non-Marvel issues monthly. So far CHEW has been reliable, so I'm sticking with it in singles. There was 1 skip month to catch up, but that's it so far. And you may not like the content of TAROT, but Jim Balent hasn't missed a bi-monthly schedule in 10 years. Sounds a bit of a cop out, but he's running his entire company and is in charge of it all, so that's quite an accomplishment.

Seige #4 was put off to account for delays too. That's why we're getting all the 1-shots, because they found they had time to fill us in with some side stories while there was a "Seige-hole" this month.

Also... look at how many friggin' books Marvel is putting out! The new solicits are out of control!!!

[Augie De Blieck Jr.]

Nice postscript. Totally unnecessary. What about Gary Frank and drawing Superman as Christopher Reeve or is that okay because he actually played the character in movies? Can Iron Man look like Robert Downey Jr. or is that wrong? Is DC allowed to do this only? Looking at all the examples used it appears that this is a Marvel issue, so I guess DC gets a pass.

Looks like there are a whole lot of issues involved here, which is too many for me. I will just take the art for what it is and either like or not.

There's a line to be drawn between characters looking like actors, and drawings of characters that are just traced publicity stills of actors, or freeze frames from the movie DVDs.

For example, when the first X-Men movie came out, Wolverine in the comics started looking more like Hugh Jackman, but not ever artist was explicitly copying Jackman's image from pausing the trailer and tracing over an image.

And, yes, the Gary Frank drawing Chris Reeve as Superman thing is creepy. I'm not reading it, though, so it didn't jump to mind quickly.

-Augie