Ultimately Off-Topic VII: The Miles Frontier

[Samorai_black]

Vertigo's Hellblazer cancelled with #300, replaced by DCnU's Constantine.

Anyone here upset over this?

I've never read the Vertigo version, but I like the version of the character that stars in JLD. Aside from his popularity, DC's Dark line has taken some hits lately, so I'm not surprised that he's getting his own New 52 title.

I have never read the series or much of the character outside of DC Dark and a random issue or 2 of a cameo in another title. So I cant be upset but I like the New 52 version of the character and I am happy he will get a book and I think I will pick it up.

[RockyBanks]

My online comic book shop dropped Diamond, so it takes a long time to get any comics. I mean I'm still missing the last two issues of AvX and several Amazing Spider-Man issues among other things. So can anyone recommend any good online shops? I tried Midtown, but they won't accept my Visa Wal-Mart card. At the moment I'm ordering from DCBS, but I don't know how long they'll be doing their 50% off of Marvel NOW titles.

DCBS is the cheapest option, and a very popular one, but you have to order your books months in advance.

I used HeavyInk in the past, and they treated me well. Their default discount is 20%--compared to 40% at DCBS--but you can place your orders on the fly if you so wish, and your books ship every Wednesday.

[thecrimson]

DCBS is the cheapest option, and a very popular one, but you have to order your books months in advance.

I used HeavyInk in the past, and they treated me well. Their default discount is 20%--compared to 40% at DCBS--but you can place your orders on the fly if you so wish, and your books ship every Wednesday.

Thanks, Rocky. I'll check into HeavyInk.

[Sinx]

It's on Netflix if you have it. I enjoyed it quite a bit.

I do have Netflix. I'll add it to my queue.

[Plawsky]

DCBS is the cheapest option, and a very popular one, but you have to order your books months in advance.

I used HeavyInk in the past, and they treated me well. Their default discount is 20%--compared to 40% at DCBS--but you can place your orders on the fly if you so wish, and your books ship every Wednesday.

The problem with DCBS is the shipping. $6.95 flat rate sucks. Since I'm an orthodox nerd, I prefer to get my comics each week. But I only get ~10 books a month, so some weeks only have one or two books, so the shipping immediately cancels out any discount. The prudent part of me would see the obvious solution of just shipping once monthly. But even still, that 7 bucks takes a big hit into the discount at that volume. Assuming I get 10 $4 books per month (which I don't think is right, but it'll work for this math problem):

Cover price: $40
DCBS price (-40%): $24
DCBS price, with sipping: $31

My LCS has a flat 25% discount for subscribers, meaning:

Cover price: $40
LCS price (-25%): $30

So is the $1 savings worth having to wait an entire month for all my new comics? Nope. Sure, there's gas costs, but those are minimal and I try to plan my trip out there around other times when I'm in the neighborhood (or better yet, when work sends me over there, so my gas is paid for!!).

The option I'm still considering is direct subscriptions from Marvel. They're 40% with no shipping costs. The big downside there is a 6-week waiting period.

-----

And I suppose this conversation has given me yet another reason to post my pull list (as of Marvel NOW):

Avengers
New Avengers
Manhattan Projects
WatXM
USM
UXM
Ultimates
Captain America
X-Factor
Walking Dead (trades)
Morning Glor (trades)
Chew (trades)

...I think that's it.

So at only 9 titles, my LCS is actually flat out cheaper than DCBS. Also, I only buy Cap and X-Factor a few times a year, when I'm back in Dallas, to continue supporting my old LCS, so I wouldn't change those titles anyway. I'm also still debating switching to trades for the Ultimate books.

So if I do that, I may actually pick up some new books through Marvel, but I'm not sure which ones. Part of me still wants to try out Fraction's FF/F4, but I'm really not looking forward to Bagley, and the new status quo seems like a big step down. I'll more than likely pick it up later when I can get it for a buck an issue; I'm the same way about All New X-Men. Maybe Uncanny Avengers, but I already get two other Avengers books. There's just not a whole lot that really interests me right now, but I want it to. Maybe some new Image books or something.

[Robbie_Jee]

DON'T DROP THE BALLOON!!


I just read Superman: Earth One vol.2. I was very impressed.

[wyokid]

I'm gonna be taking a long break from CBR. Maybe a permanent one. If you want to contact me you can reach me on Twitter @wyokid, my email wyokid99@gmail.com, or if we're already friends on Facebook. You guys were really cool.

[Drz]

Guys, Guys... GUYS!!!! Fearless is getting an ongoing series! Cullen Bunn writing Valkyrie & her Shield Maidens, JAWESOME! Fearless Defenders!

Newsarama: Cullen, based on the title and the presence of Valkyrie, one wonders, does Fearless Defenders tie-in at least partly to the end of the Fear Itself: The Fearless miniseries?

Cullen Bunn: It does, to some degree. The basic idea of the book is that Valkyrie is choosing a new team of Valkyrior, and she's been asked to choose all these women from the heroes of Midgard, instead of from Asgard. She has completely failed in this task. [Laughs.] Valkyrie has been unable to choose anyone that she feels is worthy to be one of the hosts of the shield maidens. So she just hasn't done it. She's dropped the ball.

Because she's not done what she said she would do, nature — or supernature, as it is — abhors a vacuum. The absence of the Valkyrior has opened the door to something terrible. Something awful is waking, and Valkyrie finds that it's really her fault that she's put everything at risk.

Nrama: So of course the "Defenders" name implies that this is a team book, but it sounds like not necessarily in the conventional sense?

Bunn: It is going to be a team book. It'll be an all-female team. But I didn't want to go into issue #1 and say, "here is the team." My goal is to take my time in building this team. I want to build it slowly — even after the first arc, the team will not be formed completely.

Instead, I started looking at characters who make sense, and also can be interesting foils for Valkyrie. And that's when this idea of Misty Knight came up. I put the two of them together in the first issue, and I liked the way they interact so much, and I think they offer something completely different than what you've seen before. They became my core team. They're sort of the window characters — they're the proxies for our readers. The rest of the team will build around them.

Nrama: So Valkyrie and Misty Knight are co-leads of the book?

Bunn: Correct. They're our co-leads, and the rest of the team will build around them. I think it'll be interesting to see how the two of them see things differently. You've got Misty, who's a very street-level character. And you've got Valkyrie, who's a goddess. So you've got very different backgrounds, and I think they will see their potential teammates very differently, and I think you'll see that the two of them have some differences of opinion on who would be the right team for what they're going to be facing.

I'll tell you that Misty Knight and Valkyrie are on the team. The third member of the team, who you'll see really quickly, is going to be Dani Moonstar. She's an awesome character. She has a fanbase. There are a lot of people who really like Dani Moonstar — I'm one of them. Even better, she has such a connection to the Valkyrie. She was on the top of my list when I started putting together who I thought would be the core roster.

I think she also represents what I'm talking about — she has a fanbase, she gets a lot of attention in New Mutants, but New Mutants just came to an end. I think she's a character who deserves some time in the spotlight, and this will be a different capacity for her as a character. I think you'll see Dani in a different light, and for so many reasons, she's a character who deserves that moment to shine.

Nrama: You're paired on Fearless Defenders with artist Will Sliney artist, who has done work at BOOM! and Image, but is new to Marvel. It's fairly early still, but how has working with him been so far?

Bunn: It's fairly early in the process, but the great thing was, I was just at New York Comic Con, and Will was there, so I was able to actually sit down with Will, and talk to him about the series, and really get his take on some things about the book, and talk to him about what I wanted to do. I always enjoy it actually being a collaboration. I don't want to just turn in a script, and then see pages. I want to work with the artist. I think you get a better result when the writer and the artist are both invested in the book. I wanted this to be [Sliney's] book, as well.

I think he's turned in 10 pages so far of the first issue, and it looks pretty great. I think it's a book that'll look unlike any of the other books coming out from Marvel NOW!, in a good way. He's giving it its own distinct feel, and its own distinct vibe.

Nrama: And there will be new villains, too, right?

Bunn: Yeah, in the first issue I'm introducing a couple of new villains. One of them is, in my mind, the nastiest villain to ever come into the Marvel Universe. She is absolutely ghastly. At her very core, she is a horrible, horrible person, and she is capable of some really deplorable things that we'll be seeing.

We're creating a new team, and I felt like it would be important to create this mastermind-type character who's coming in to be the main antagonist for the foreseeable future for the team. She's not the only villain you're going to see, and you'll some other Marvel Universe villains, but she is new, and I wanted people to believe she is a challenge for Valkyrie. Look at Valkyrie — she's a very powerful character. This woman is definitely going to be a challenge for Valkyrie, and she's going to be that challenge without having any powers whatsoever.

I'm pretty pumped for this team line and X-Force, now if only Sam Humphries can prove himself as a proper Marvel writer!

[Plawsky]

I'm gonna be taking a long break from CBR. Maybe a permanent one. If you want to contact me you can reach me on Twitter @wyokid, my email wyokid99@gmail.com, or if we're already friends on Facebook. You guys were really cool.

Wait... but who is going to be my mortal enemy now?! Who is going to keep telling me to read TMNT even though I keep putting it off? WHO IS GOING TO BE WYOKID?!

Tears will be shed for your absence. Well, not real tears, but the metaphorical internet kind of tears. But I assure you, they are just as real. Your return will be anticipated.

Also, I swear on all that is holy*, if you come back and haven't finished Hickman's FF yet - I will kill you. Also, Manhattan Projects.

(Ironically, "all that is holy" refers to the forthcoming Hickman FF Omnibus)

[Drz]

Did some jerk harass Wyokid or something?! Ban that fool.

[sage6paths]

Did some jerk harass Wyokid or something?! Ban that fool.

I think everyone kind of did that on the Ultimate X-men 19 preview thread lol but I thought with the amount of criticism he took from us on hating Ultimatum he would be use to it. I'll be awaiting your return Wyo though who knows I might be gone too.

[Plawsky]

Did some jerk harass Wyokid or something?! Ban that fool.

Well I can't ban ALL OF US, now can I??

[Drz]

Well I can't ban ALL OF US, now can I??

Hey i'm serious, there are some actual jerks out there who truly do insult literally towards others.

[sage6paths]

Well I can't ban ALL OF US, now can I??

Ahh yes the old murder-suicide method. Ban everyone and then ban yourself. That would actually be pretty funny.

[Plawsky]

Hey i'm serious, there are some actual jerks out there who truly do insult literally towards others.

And I do my best to keep that away. For all our bickering, all us regulars typically get along, especially here in our off-topic haven. For everyone else, there's the report feature. The only people in here I don't like are Balfro and his crazy band of Canadians. Because... I mean, do I really need to explain? CANADIANS