http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page ... e&id=26424
Pretty much follows what DC/WB have been doing with animated series for 20 years.
Launch live-action first then follow up with the animated series.
GL is DC's third most popular character now.
IF the Ryan Reynolds film is good and hits big, he'll arguably surpass Superman in popularity...
Green Lantern: The Animated Series arriving in 2012
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According to sales, GL is already more popular than Supes... at least in the comics.
April 2010 comic book sales:
1 Brightest Day 0 $3.99 DC 129,446
2 Flash 1 $3.99 DC 100,903
3 Green Lantern 53 $2.99 DC 100,356
4 Batman and Robin 11 $2.99 DC 84,006
Superman was #32 with 32,000 in sales for the Secret Origin miniseries. Other of his series followed in the same region.
http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicss ... 10-04.html
April 2010 comic book sales:
1 Brightest Day 0 $3.99 DC 129,446
2 Flash 1 $3.99 DC 100,903
3 Green Lantern 53 $2.99 DC 100,356
4 Batman and Robin 11 $2.99 DC 84,006
Superman was #32 with 32,000 in sales for the Secret Origin miniseries. Other of his series followed in the same region.
http://www.comichron.com/monthlycomicss ... 10-04.html
Comic sales are one thing.
Public perception is another.
I've never gone by the comic book sales. Less than 1% of the North American population actually reads comics anymore. There are far more kids that have seen the animated series and live-action films in the past 20 years than have probably read the comics for the cumulative history of DC comics (75+ years). Sad but true.
Batman's been outselling Superman in comic sales since at least the early 1980s (probably a couple of years earlier than that) but I don't think he was cemented as DC's number one character in the general public eye until 1989, the release year of the Tim Burton/Michael Keaton Batman movie.
(Of course, I'll never buy Batman being number one-this and number one-that. There are a couple of reasons I DON'T care for the character in comics now and historically Action Comics #1 is more valuable and more important than Detective Comics #27 is -- no matter what the auction houses or Wizard Magazine says. Superman came first! History probably should trump popularity contests but that's not how people think...!
(That said, I'll grant most people that I think there have been more good comics written about Batman than there have been about Superman.)
We'll see if the GL film pushes Hal Jordan to the Number Two DC character. The film's got to be good and successful first.
The director and script writer in addition to the cast have to get it. I'm a bit leery of the casting of Ryan Reynolds myself but we'll see.
I still don't think live-action has a great track record with superhero adaptations... I still can't count the number of 'good' let alone 'great' adaptations on more than four fingers!
Public perception is another.
I've never gone by the comic book sales. Less than 1% of the North American population actually reads comics anymore. There are far more kids that have seen the animated series and live-action films in the past 20 years than have probably read the comics for the cumulative history of DC comics (75+ years). Sad but true.
Batman's been outselling Superman in comic sales since at least the early 1980s (probably a couple of years earlier than that) but I don't think he was cemented as DC's number one character in the general public eye until 1989, the release year of the Tim Burton/Michael Keaton Batman movie.
(Of course, I'll never buy Batman being number one-this and number one-that. There are a couple of reasons I DON'T care for the character in comics now and historically Action Comics #1 is more valuable and more important than Detective Comics #27 is -- no matter what the auction houses or Wizard Magazine says. Superman came first! History probably should trump popularity contests but that's not how people think...!
(That said, I'll grant most people that I think there have been more good comics written about Batman than there have been about Superman.)
We'll see if the GL film pushes Hal Jordan to the Number Two DC character. The film's got to be good and successful first.
The director and script writer in addition to the cast have to get it. I'm a bit leery of the casting of Ryan Reynolds myself but we'll see.
I still don't think live-action has a great track record with superhero adaptations... I still can't count the number of 'good' let alone 'great' adaptations on more than four fingers!
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As part of starting to clear out and pack up a LOT of "junk" I've collected over my years of hoarding in anticipation of moving house in the next few months, I came across some boxes of old comics, including some great old 1980s Superman titles I'd totally forgotten about. A stopped and had a nice couple of hours going back over some pages, which was fun. Funny how you totally forget something ans the second you see an image you suddenly remember "hey, yeah, I remember that character looking like that!".
My only regret? I didn't keep buying, so at the end of the comic I didn't know what was going to come next!?
My only regret? I didn't keep buying, so at the end of the comic I didn't know what was going to come next!?
My problem now is getting rid of a bunch of stuff I just don't care for anymore.
I've got a serious overflow on some things and have to make some choices.
Need to pay down some debts and just generally clear out to create more living and breathing space.
That includes getting rid of the majority of comics (gonna keep the Who's Who and Marvel Handbooks -- the 1980s series are way better than the jokes DC and Marvel are publishing now) and keep the majority of hardcover reprints and trades I have.
The monthlies just take up too much space and ultimately I'm not a someone that has to have every issue of Batman or Superman. There are certain time periods I like better than others...
I've got a serious overflow on some things and have to make some choices.
Need to pay down some debts and just generally clear out to create more living and breathing space.
That includes getting rid of the majority of comics (gonna keep the Who's Who and Marvel Handbooks -- the 1980s series are way better than the jokes DC and Marvel are publishing now) and keep the majority of hardcover reprints and trades I have.
The monthlies just take up too much space and ultimately I'm not a someone that has to have every issue of Batman or Superman. There are certain time periods I like better than others...
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I'm also in that kind of situation. I have sackfuls of Marvel stuff, mostly the Avengers comics run in the 1980s/90s. The other thing eating up space is DVDs, some of which have never been watched! I guess eBay is the place to go, but my problem is that I collect R1 discs and they just don't really sell on eBayUK.
Maybe I'll look at a way to trade? That might be worthwhile...
Maybe I'll look at a way to trade? That might be worthwhile...
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I've got over 12 longboxes full of comics, some of which cetainly have to go. But few of them will sell on eBay. I've already used eBay to get rid of some of the better ones. I might ended up throwing some into recycling bins. However, they do currntly reside in a space that I don't need too much, so I can keep most of them for that mythical day that I (or my kids) will read some of them again.
A great way to conserve space is going digital. Marvel's digital service is getting better and better, I've heard. Also, I have most of the DVD-ROMs that came out the past few years (but have been discontinued now)--- complete runs of Spidey, Hulk, Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Iron Man, and Captian America, plus the Star Trek one that encompasses all publishers. Great stuff in a tiny package. The same company also just put out Looney Tunes and Scooby DVD-ROMs, but they have just 20 titles each from the 1970s.
A great way to conserve space is going digital. Marvel's digital service is getting better and better, I've heard. Also, I have most of the DVD-ROMs that came out the past few years (but have been discontinued now)--- complete runs of Spidey, Hulk, Avengers, Fantastic Four, X-Men, Iron Man, and Captian America, plus the Star Trek one that encompasses all publishers. Great stuff in a tiny package. The same company also just put out Looney Tunes and Scooby DVD-ROMs, but they have just 20 titles each from the 1970s.
Marvel and DC are reluctant to do DVD-ROMs of their vast backstock because they think they can make more money on trade paperback and hardcover sales.
They're afraid of perfect digital downloads/recreations of the classic comics.
As it is now, people are still doing scanlations of comics and posting them online, torrenting, etc. The legal departments of the Big Two publishers think DVDs --- which are easy as heck to crack --- will only facilitate piracy that much more... Costing both Marvel and DC more money than they've already lost online.
At least that's my thinking...
Given the low publishing figures I've heard for both the $50-and-up hardcover lines of DC Archives and Marvel Masterworks (2500 copies a print run per book average), I don't think they're making tons on older backstock. Newer hardcover reprints selling at $25 and lower are definitely doing well, though.
My main interest now is the 1940s through early 1970s era which is NOT the focus of either DC or Marvel now. They'd rather peddle today's comics (which have a higher quantity of garbage than even the 1990s and 1970s did... Excepting maybe complete decades of Superman comics. Even 1950s Batman doesn't seem as bad...)
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The digital presence of Marvel's backstock online is to put it mildly, PATHETIC.
I had a free one-month subscription to Marvel's online back-issue service and I quickly got bored with it. There were huge gaps in publishing lines. a lot of series weren't even up, and their e-Reader for comics stunk to high even.
(DC does Marvel better here. They have NOTHING online in backstock on their official website. Then again, DC's been following Marvel, for the most part, like a decapitated chicken for four decades now.)
There are tons of comics from the Golden Age of Marvel (1960s) and its Timely predecessor that a ton of people would like to just read, if not collect.
Same for DC. Heck, I have far more interest in DC's Golden Age (late 1930s through early 1950s) than the Timely era. The only Timely characters I care for are Captain America, the original Human Torch, and Sub-Mariner.
*****************
Recently, an online pirate site for comics was taken down. (URL not posted for common sense' sake, but a lot of know who I'm talking about...) The webmaster of that site was fairly blatant since he posted thousands upon thousands of comics from the beginning of the Golden Age to the present. That site was getting something like 1.6 million hits a day! The owner did get taken down by the authorities and all his computer equipment with the digital copies of the comics were seized.
This all does demonstrate one thing... There is definitely a market for online comics but publishers have to find a decent way to capitalize and deliver at a price people are willing to pay or subsidize it (ads, promotions) so that they don't go out of business online!
The film industry and animation in particular have to figure out the online business, too... ASAP!
They're afraid of perfect digital downloads/recreations of the classic comics.
As it is now, people are still doing scanlations of comics and posting them online, torrenting, etc. The legal departments of the Big Two publishers think DVDs --- which are easy as heck to crack --- will only facilitate piracy that much more... Costing both Marvel and DC more money than they've already lost online.
At least that's my thinking...
Given the low publishing figures I've heard for both the $50-and-up hardcover lines of DC Archives and Marvel Masterworks (2500 copies a print run per book average), I don't think they're making tons on older backstock. Newer hardcover reprints selling at $25 and lower are definitely doing well, though.
My main interest now is the 1940s through early 1970s era which is NOT the focus of either DC or Marvel now. They'd rather peddle today's comics (which have a higher quantity of garbage than even the 1990s and 1970s did... Excepting maybe complete decades of Superman comics. Even 1950s Batman doesn't seem as bad...)
**********
The digital presence of Marvel's backstock online is to put it mildly, PATHETIC.
I had a free one-month subscription to Marvel's online back-issue service and I quickly got bored with it. There were huge gaps in publishing lines. a lot of series weren't even up, and their e-Reader for comics stunk to high even.
(DC does Marvel better here. They have NOTHING online in backstock on their official website. Then again, DC's been following Marvel, for the most part, like a decapitated chicken for four decades now.)
There are tons of comics from the Golden Age of Marvel (1960s) and its Timely predecessor that a ton of people would like to just read, if not collect.
Same for DC. Heck, I have far more interest in DC's Golden Age (late 1930s through early 1950s) than the Timely era. The only Timely characters I care for are Captain America, the original Human Torch, and Sub-Mariner.
*****************
Recently, an online pirate site for comics was taken down. (URL not posted for common sense' sake, but a lot of know who I'm talking about...) The webmaster of that site was fairly blatant since he posted thousands upon thousands of comics from the beginning of the Golden Age to the present. That site was getting something like 1.6 million hits a day! The owner did get taken down by the authorities and all his computer equipment with the digital copies of the comics were seized.
This all does demonstrate one thing... There is definitely a market for online comics but publishers have to find a decent way to capitalize and deliver at a price people are willing to pay or subsidize it (ads, promotions) so that they don't go out of business online!
The film industry and animation in particular have to figure out the online business, too... ASAP!
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The Marvel DVD-ROMs that did get produced are sure sweet, though! I'm just sad they never got to Daredevil, Dr. Strange, or Thor.
Over the next two to three years, I'd be surprised if we didn't see definite digital distribution by the big 2, at least for newer titles. iPads and (maybe especially) their knockoffs will make nice readers. Publishers are just a bit timid yet for not only pirating issues, but also how this will all aftect the comic shops.
Hey, I'd read more comics if I could download them legally for half of what the books cost.
Over the next two to three years, I'd be surprised if we didn't see definite digital distribution by the big 2, at least for newer titles. iPads and (maybe especially) their knockoffs will make nice readers. Publishers are just a bit timid yet for not only pirating issues, but also how this will all aftect the comic shops.
Hey, I'd read more comics if I could download them legally for half of what the books cost.
Last edited by Randall on May 30th, 2010, 10:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Comic shops are going to be dying again soon (possibly in drives) if they don't change things, Rand.
The industry is still contracting in spite of the Big Event comics which I got tired of years ago.
Diamond, the sole direct market comics distributor in North America, is in financial trouble and that doesn't mean good news... especially for smaller companies... and more than a few comic shops who aren't A-list clientele.
I'd rather see more of the older issues be offered up for digital distribution and something even better than the DVD releases. Perhaps offering animation tie-ins and incentives to get the books, too? The first season of the original Spider-Man animated series tied in fairly tight to the Steve Ditko run on the books.
Right now, a Blu ray offering, even just in Standard Def (for the animation), would be a good deal. A lot less piracy is successful with BD just because of the sheer size of the format, limited bandwidth, and the high(er) cost of BD burners and BD media.
It's a temporary media solution better than what the companies are doing now -- which is basically NOTHING. And making no money and sitting on something has to be worse than piracy.
I wish all the media companies would understand that!
The industry is still contracting in spite of the Big Event comics which I got tired of years ago.
Diamond, the sole direct market comics distributor in North America, is in financial trouble and that doesn't mean good news... especially for smaller companies... and more than a few comic shops who aren't A-list clientele.
I'd rather see more of the older issues be offered up for digital distribution and something even better than the DVD releases. Perhaps offering animation tie-ins and incentives to get the books, too? The first season of the original Spider-Man animated series tied in fairly tight to the Steve Ditko run on the books.
Right now, a Blu ray offering, even just in Standard Def (for the animation), would be a good deal. A lot less piracy is successful with BD just because of the sheer size of the format, limited bandwidth, and the high(er) cost of BD burners and BD media.
It's a temporary media solution better than what the companies are doing now -- which is basically NOTHING. And making no money and sitting on something has to be worse than piracy.
I wish all the media companies would understand that!
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There are a lot of things they don't understand. Anytime a pirating site is taken down, two more pop up to take its place. They can't win.
On topic, it's about time! I would have loved to have seen a GL series during the Bruce Timm years (and in fact the Superman episode featuring him seemed an awful lot like a backdoor pilot for one). Let's all hope it runs for more than one season.
On topic, it's about time! I would have loved to have seen a GL series during the Bruce Timm years (and in fact the Superman episode featuring him seemed an awful lot like a backdoor pilot for one). Let's all hope it runs for more than one season.
The Official Lugofilm Ltd Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/bartsimpson83
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So call me old-school!
No matter how much space is saved, there's nothing like holding the printed copy of a comic book in your hand. The feel of the paper, the quality of the print. Just like I like my films to have a bit of their "film-ness" not totally blanded out in the trip to digital (and still prefer to watch them on a big screen as opposed to a monitor or hand-held device), it's gonna take me a while to get used to "reading" visual material like a comic book from a screen.
I know I'm doing it already via the websites I visit and the e-publications I subscribe to, but when there's a printed, in-your-hand alternative, I'm afraid I'm not ready to drop them yet.
No matter how much space is saved, there's nothing like holding the printed copy of a comic book in your hand. The feel of the paper, the quality of the print. Just like I like my films to have a bit of their "film-ness" not totally blanded out in the trip to digital (and still prefer to watch them on a big screen as opposed to a monitor or hand-held device), it's gonna take me a while to get used to "reading" visual material like a comic book from a screen.
I know I'm doing it already via the websites I visit and the e-publications I subscribe to, but when there's a printed, in-your-hand alternative, I'm afraid I'm not ready to drop them yet.
I agree with you on at least part of that, Ben.
My main complaint about digital film is that it looks too much like home video and lacks the old film grain. I prefer some grain to a sterile, pure look.
As far as old comics are concerned, I'd almost rather see them photographed and retouched slightly for reprints rather than the route Marvel and DC currently take => full restoration plus modern coloring techniques which are NOT faithful to the original printed version.
A couple of recent trade paperback reprints of older comics have gone the retouched route but kept the old four-color/'dot matrix' look of older coloring styles.
I prefer that myself to "solid recoloring" that looks like good PhotoShop but still is PhotoShopped...
My main complaint about digital film is that it looks too much like home video and lacks the old film grain. I prefer some grain to a sterile, pure look.
As far as old comics are concerned, I'd almost rather see them photographed and retouched slightly for reprints rather than the route Marvel and DC currently take => full restoration plus modern coloring techniques which are NOT faithful to the original printed version.
A couple of recent trade paperback reprints of older comics have gone the retouched route but kept the old four-color/'dot matrix' look of older coloring styles.
I prefer that myself to "solid recoloring" that looks like good PhotoShop but still is PhotoShopped...
http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/ ... antern.htm
More information about the GL animated series.
Obviously not going for realism but a stylized look. Check
Premiering in 2012 but there will likely be a sneak peek in the fall on Cartoon Network... Check
No Sinestro first season.... Whhhhaaa?? Check
Saint Walker, a new character in the comics, will appear... Check
Obviously a lot of influence from GL: Rebirth onward. Check
Hal's costume is the classic Gil Kane version. Check
More information about the GL animated series.
Obviously not going for realism but a stylized look. Check
Premiering in 2012 but there will likely be a sneak peek in the fall on Cartoon Network... Check
No Sinestro first season.... Whhhhaaa?? Check
Saint Walker, a new character in the comics, will appear... Check
Obviously a lot of influence from GL: Rebirth onward. Check
Hal's costume is the classic Gil Kane version. Check