Ultimately Off-Topic VII: The Miles Frontier

[Balfro]

Is that the print version collecting the first 3-4 digital issues? Because I got the digital version of #1 for $0.99...

Yes, it's the printed collection.

[RockyBanks]

Yes, it's the printed collection.

Speaking of $3.99 books, I'm gradually dropping all of the $3.99 books from my pull list and trade-waiting them instead.

Problem is, I don't know if I can bring myself to drop the last two: Batman and All-New X-Men.

[Drz]

Batman is an awfully mediocore title that brings absolutley nothing new to the Batman tale or moving the character forward, the only good thing is Capullo's art, and thats it. Batman has become an imbecile man child who alongside the rest of the Batfamily are forced to not work as a family, because the writer insists on Batman being the lone wolf character that he isn't.

@Balfro: Injustice #1 is 30 pages of story, hence 3.99$ DC would never raise their cover prices without an announcement beforehand.

Speaking of Injustice, here's the story trailer:


You can see Hawkgirl swoop down Lex Luthor, i hope that makes her a playable character. Also Hal Jordan becomes a Yellow Lantern during the storyline? Jawesome!

[Sinx]

Batman is an awfully mediocore title that brings absolutley nothing new to the Batman tale or moving the character forward, the only good thing is Capullo's art, and thats it. Batman has become an imbecile man child who alongside the rest of the Batfamily are forced to not work as a family, because the writer insists on Batman being the lone wolf character that he isn't.

That's why it's one of DC's best selling comics, if not THE best.

[Robbie_Jee]

Oh crap. I've become heavily addicted to COD: Zombies again.

[RockyBanks]

Batman is an awfully mediocore title that brings absolutley nothing new to the Batman tale or moving the character forward, the only good thing is Capullo's art, and thats it. Batman has become an imbecile man child who alongside the rest of the Batfamily are forced to not work as a family, because the writer insists on Batman being the lone wolf character that he isn't.

On the contrary, Snyder is moving the character forward in a big way. Most writers portray Batman as an omniscient "Bat-god" who can never be tricked, surprised, or out-maneuvered. Snyder subverts that trend by making Batman fallible. Snyder's run on Detective Comics highlights Dick Grayson's optimism as his primary failing, while his run on Batman focuses on Bruce's stubbornness. None of Snyder's stories end with a decisive victory for Batman, and each case weakens his credibility.

[sage6paths]

hey guys i just downloaded the crysis 3 beta for the 360 anyone else playing it?

[Drz]

That's why it's one of DC's best selling comics, if not THE best.

We've been thru this before, your taste in Batman is awful.

EDIT: Or heck, probably DC in all together if you think it's the best, for shame! DC has far stronger Batman titles and comics all together superior to Snyder's story. Wonder Woman, Flash, Batman Incorporated, Demon Knights, I, Vampire, Green Lantern, Action Comics & even the good titles such as Earth-2, Animal Man, Red Hood & the Outlaws, Justice League Dark and so on.

On the contrary, Snyder is moving the character forward in a big way. Most writers portray Batman as an omniscient "Bat-god"

Most writers? Okay, list those writers. Go on. You can easily say atleast 5 to 10 names, if it's mosts. Added bonus would be the stories.

Snyder subverts that trend by making Batman fallible.

Idiot would be the correct word. Snyder can't tell his story without having the villains become Mary Sues nor can't he write the Batfamily without having Bruce being a dick to them, despite raising them and knowing them for years. How is that for a family man?

[RockyBanks]

Most writers? Okay, list those writers. Go on. You can easily say atleast 5 to 10 names, if it's mosts. Added bonus would be the stories.

Sorry, I don't have time now to do that kinda research. Feel free to count this as a win.

[Plawsky]

Interesting article on comic sales in 2012

First and foremost - 2012 was the 4th highest selling year of the decade, and the highest since 2008. That's pretty great!

The biggest thing the article shows is the difference between DC and Marvel's strategies with AvX/Now vs New 52 (this top 1000 list also showcases it well). Marvel's total sales are more, thanks to their big hype and events, where as the New 52 hype helped give DC very consistent high selling books. A few things to note:

-Marvel had 17 of the top 20 selling comics of 2012, thanks to AvX and ASM #700. There's a huge gap between the highest selling Marvel book (Uncanny Avengers #1 at 306k) and the highest DC book (Batman #13 at 171k).
-DC had 19 of the 20 books in places #21-40, all of which were issues of Justice League and Batman. These two series are absolute juggernauts.
-After that, it's pretty much all #1s and hype issues until you get around #80 or so.

The total breakdown for the year in units sold was:
Marvel - 37.59%
DC - 36.75%

Dollars:
Marvel - 34.06%
DC - 31.94%

The bottom line: HYPE WORKS.

AvX was objectively successful because it pushed hype to the limit. All 13 issues sold over 170k, and AvX VS was pretty successful as well. #1 books from both companies proved to be helpful with sales, despite big drops (especially for Marvel) in the 2nd issue. Death of the Family also provided a huge leap for Batman, with #13 selling 45k more books than #12, and gave boosts of 10-25k for all the other books involved. The biggest surprise for me was how poorly Before Watchmen performed. The #1s had a relatively strong launch, despite being eclipsed by AvX, but they quickly fell from there. The highest #2 was under 75k, and they've all now fallen below 50k. I guess the controversy outweighed the hype in this situation.

However, while Marvel may have "won" (if you look at it like that) in the monthly comics sales, DC showed up big time in the trade department. Marvel actually had decent total sales for their trades, but DC's top selling trades were far above Marvel's highest sellers. That said, Image - Walking Dead in particular - still makes both DC and Marvel look like nothing. All 17 volumes of Walking Dead are among the top 28 selling books of the year, with Vol 1 blowing the #2 selling trade out of the water by nearly 30k units.

Anyway, long story short - if your into economics or sales or anything like that, the article is an interesting read.

[RockyBanks]

No kidding about The Walking Dead trades. My LCS can barely keep them on the shelves. They order a stack of TWD trades in every shipment.

[Robbie_Jee]

Found it!

http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=GB#

And that's just a low budget game trailer.

So this + 5-10 years + 150 million dollars = The best Star Wars has ever looked.

(King Kong is also a good example of what motion capture can achieve. You may forget, the tech used in the prequel trilogy of Star Wars is nearly 15 years old. And films motion capture human faces all the time nowadays, without audiences even realising it).

[Sinx]

We've been thru this before, your taste in Batman is awful.

Well that's just hurtful! =p

EDIT: Or heck, probably DC in all together if you think it's the best, for shame! DC has far stronger Batman titles and comics all together superior to Snyder's story. Wonder Woman, Flash, Batman Incorporated, Demon Knights, I, Vampire, Green Lantern, Action Comics & even the good titles such as Earth-2, Animal Man, Red Hood & the Outlaws, Justice League Dark and so on.

Whoa whoa whoa! I didn't say it was my favorite of the New 52! I said it was one of the best selling. My favorite New 52 title is, hands down, Aquaman. Justice League and Wonder woman are close second and third. Batman is probably my fourth favorite New 52 title.

[Drz]

Sorry, I don't have time now to do that kinda research. Feel free to count this as a win.

If you don't recall anything from top of your head, why would you even believe the majority of Batman writers write him as Bat-God? If you need to do research for it, does this mean your opinion on Batman isn't based around excessive amounts of Batman comics? Are you perhaps even admitting, that your compliment on Snyder's Batman isn't based off knowing or reading alot about Batman comics, but how you feel about Batman comics based off word of mouth, which can be taken with a grain of salt looking at it one way or another, arguebly?

Well that's just hurtful! =p

I say mean things because i love you! I want to help you! I'm the abuse boyfriend of the relationship. :( I'm sowrry.
[QUOTE=Sinx;16559328
Whoa whoa whoa! I didn't say it was my favorite of the New 52! I said it was one of the best selling. My favorite New 52 title is, hands down, Aquaman. Justice League and Wonder woman are close second and third. Batman is probably my fourth favorite New 52 title.[/QUOTE]

Well i took the "best" word differently, so 'tis a communication problem. Aquaman, man i really do love the comic book but the slow pace is just god awful, but the Throne of Atlantis has really spiked the speed, i really am enjoying the cross-over between Justice League and how Justice League of America is born out of this. I really loved this week's Aquaman, because it had Aquaman & Justice League both admit their dumbass mistakes and moving forward, i want that. I want an honest friendship, which somehow weirdly seems out of place, what happened exactly in the 5 years post-Darkseid? It seems they barely did anything together outside of Batman and Superman.

Superman: Unbound

Nicolas Cage Superman for the win! Superman vs. the Elite left an really awful taste in my mouth regarding Superman & how a Superman would be, this looks more like your basic Superman just beating the shit out of aliens.

X-Men: Days of the Future Past takes place during 1973 mostly. Decade after the conclusion to First Class.

[RockyBanks]

If you don't recall anything from top of your head, why would you even believe the majority of Batman writers write him as Bat-God? If you need to do research for it, does this mean your opinion on Batman isn't based around excessive amounts of Batman comics? Are you perhaps even admitting, that your compliment on Snyder's Batman isn't based off knowing or reading alot about Batman comics, but how you feel about Batman comics based off word of mouth, which can be taken with a grain of salt looking at it one way or another, arguebly?

Ehh, feel free to do so. I provide my mini-analysis without warranty, either explicit or implied.

I confess that most of my Batman reading has consisted of Morrison, Loeb, and Snyder himself, and IMO, both Morrison and Loeb lean towards a portrayal of Bruce as "Bat-God". (Morrison especially.)

My point is that Snyder's Batman is good reading, and takes an approach that, from my perspective, seems unique: that Batman is not the top of the Gotham food chain as he has believed for so long. Morrison's Batman is so omnipotent and omnipresent that his influence transcends Gotham (see the first issue of Batman and Son), transcends borders (see Batman Incorporated), transcends space and time itself (see The Return of Bruce Wayne or Batman #700). Meanwhile, Snyder's Batman is barely holding it together, his attempts to counter each threat becoming increasingly desperate.