New Readers Vs Old Coloring

From now on... you may call me Nostradapierre. Using my fantastic Canadian power of precognition, I will make this prediction.

At some point in time, Marvel/DC will re-color their older comics to make newer editions/TPBs/etc in an attempt to please new readers.... or sell the same book once more to some of their older readers.

Why do I say this? There are a couple of reasons.

Whenever I try to introduce someone new to the great comics of yesteryear... I hear one complaint over and over again.

The coloring sux.

Yes it breaks my heart whenever I hear those words. But it would seem that pretty much anything colored before the Image Age... anything colored before the colors started being done with the computer... anything colored before the early 90’s is seen as poorly colored.

I can almost... almost... understand. But not really.

I grew up reading black and white comics... so the colors never bothered me since there wasn’t any color in the comics I read. Although I did prefer my black and white comics to the color ones published by Marvel or DC. Not because of the coloring... but quite simply because the printing was better. We somehow had a better print quality then the US version of the same comics.

But I am always surprised at how most people cannot seem to see past the colors and see or appreciate the great work done by the likes of Byrne, Cockrum, Perez and many others.

The easiest way I found to bypass that aversion to the way that old comics were colored is to introduce new readers to the black and white version of them comics, either with my old comics, or brand new Marvel Essentials or DC Showcases.

But I suspect that at some point... Marvel will come to the same conclusion and will recolor their older comics... and DC will quickly follow Marvel’s lead IF it proves successful.

Already... Marvel is somewhat doing that on some of their TPBs. Look at some of their Marvel Premiere HCs, or the most recent Dark Phoenix Saga HC, or their newer edition of their Marvel Masterworks TPBs. Already they are changing the coloring on the covers or back covers. They also re-colored the Golden Age stories in their recent Marvel 70th anniversary editions.

Mark my word... it is only a matter of time until they come up with newer re-mastered/re-colored/whatever they will call them new editions. Or as some would call it....The George Lucas Special Edition Syndrome. ;)

And you will be VERY tempted in some cases to get some of them newer editions EVEN IF you already own a previous edition.

Mark my word... you have been warned. ;)

Until next time.

- Pierre

Mainstream Comics Too Violent To Show?

Are comics today more violent than they have ever been in the past?

Last week, Marvel may have answered that question when they promoted a new issue of Wolverine with preview which were so violent, that they had censor bars.





Now part of me wants to dismiss this as just a empty marketing ploy to promote the first issue of Wolverine: The Best There Is. I don’t actually think what’s under the bars really merits being barred out (on the internet) Still, the fact that readers are left wondering whether this is or isn’t a ploy sort of supports a recent statement by Robert Kirkman on excessive violence in mainstream comics - NOTE: This is not a direct quote, but rather a second hand account of what Kirkman said on DigitalSpy.com. I don't have a quote to the direct quote at this moment, but will search for it tomorrow. Thanks to Trey for keeping me honest. ;) - JS

According to digitalspy.com the makers behind The Walking Dead in both the comics and the AMC Network reported in GQ magazine that the violence in comics is also damaging not only the society but also young children. Robert Kirkman of the magazine said that he has reading comics since the age of fifteen and he had never come across a comic with rape and dark elements that are present today. He said that such material was inappropriate for children and this is the reason why these comic books were damaging the reputation of the society in front of children today.

Which leads us back to my opening question. I decided the best way to decide this would be to list all the excessively violent scenes from comics within the past 3 years. With the help of several other comic readers, this is the list I came up with:

:: SPOILER WARNINGS ::

:

• Lizard eats his own kid Spider-man 631
• Sentry rips Ares in half in Seige 3
• Blob eats Wasp in Ultimatum 2
• Wonder Dog eating Wendy and Marvin in Titans 62
• Gory beating of Marlene in Moonknight Shadowland 1
• Kryb (a grisly hunchbacked Sinestro Corps alien who only attacks Green Lanterns who have newborn children. After murdering the parents, she puts the children in her sac-like back.)
• Nightcrawler’s death in X-force 26 (vol 2)
• Family at Picnic buzzsawed to death Justice Society of America 7 (vol 3)
• The Cat scene from Rise of Arsenal 3
• Every other issue of Secret Six ;)

I’ve probably missed a few, but as it stands, that’s a pretty damning list of atrocious scenes.

When I posed this question on the Bleeding Cool message boards the general consensus was that most of the excessive violence we are seeing these days is used to jazz up weak stories or to pander to the Grande Guignol groundlings that seek out those *Awesome* moments in comics today.

Perhaps this is just a result of all entertainment becoming more violent and graphic. This is a world where Saw, CSI and Grand Theft Auto reign and movies are commonly called into question for being too violent. In my Wild Wild West article, I mentioned the show was eventually removed from CBS because of concerns of violence. Looking at the show today, the mild fisticuffs that raised eyebrows in the 70's make that concern seem absurd.

So with all that, isn't it expected that the level of violence in comics would rise? Perhaps not when they were published under the Comics Code, but those days are gone. Outside of the comics code, there is nothing intrinsically different about comics that would keep the modern levels of violence from seeping in. In some cases, older writers with more nostalgic leanings might shy away from excessive violence, but not this new generation of comic writers. (There are some notable exceptions like Jonathan Hickman and Jeff Parker, but then again, their books aren't tearing up the charts like the more violent ones seem to be.)

What do you think? Do you agree with Robert Kirkman? Have mainstream comics become too violent?

Anyway, as a Pallet Cleanser, let us now enjoy the light hearted adventures of The Little Wise Guys from Lev Gleason's Daredevil Comic



[ Daredevil 65 ]



[ Daredevil 66 ]

- Enjoy!

Little Known Fact(s) about the Flashback Universe

A little known fact about Jim (the Editor & Chief here at the FBU): he's not a fan of the broad spectrum of concepts that make up the Vampire and Werewolf genres. If you've had a chance to read any of our comics here then you'll know there aren't any "traditional" vampires (if you can label vampires that way) in any of our stories.

We have monsters a plenty! A league of them as a matter of fact. You can read about them here.


There are no traditional vampires however. What if we did a story with Vampires or Werewolves in them? Which Vampire or Werewolf would you prefer to see?

"Sparkly" Vampires/Werewolves?










"Light Hearted" Vampires/Werewolves?










"Mutant" Vampires/Werewolves?









"Traditional" Vampires/Werewolves?











Would you feel short-changed if you came to read one of our comics expecting one vampire concept, but got another? Do Vampires and Werewolves have the same impact in genre fiction that they used to have? When a vampire is used in a story is it then a horror story? Is it a comedy story? Is it scifi?

I know a writer can make any story feel like any of those options listed above and more but what would be your knee jerk reaction to a vampire story? Has it changed in the last ten years?

Lets look a little further at BLADE. A vampire (of sorts) who's made a new resurgence in the Marvel U as of late in more than one book. First a little background: Marvel has recently decided to bring the Marvel version of vampires into the new millennium. They started by killing off the Marvel U version of Dracula, dusted off the concept of what a Marvel Vampire was and wasn't, and have let their updated vampires loose in the modern Marvel Universe.

Nowhere is this more prominent than in the X-Men book which has been moved to San Francisco that is now seemingly crawling with vampires. Where there are vampires, there's also Blade...


In the X-Men Comic (above) Blade is very much the way we remember him from the Wesley Snipes movies. He's lethal, on a mission, and not about to let anyone get in his way. With just a few panels they manage to hint at the eventual dual between Blade and Logan. This version of Blade even looks like the character from the recent movies.

This version of Blade can be found both in X-Men and his own new title Blade: Curse of the X-Men but there is yet another style of the very same comic, in another book all together being released at nearly the same time....


The Ultimates3 version of Blade is much more like John Shaft but with fangs and a sword. In fact, Blade's opening scene has him in bed with a couple lovely ladies (I think it's 3) just before all hell breaks loose.

So as a fan you may find your self, as I did, standing in front of the Marvel comic book rack at your local LCS. You begin flipping through comics, your excited that Blade seems to be back in a big way (he's going to be in 3 books). Your so excited in fact that you're going to read a few pages of both X-Men & The Ultimates3 before you take them up to purchase them.

What are the chances that one of them is a let down? If one is, will it sour you on buying both of them? Would you go home with a comic with Blade in it?

With Blade, Twilight, Buffy, I Am Legend, and Dracula, only six of the many different vampire concepts in circulation today it's pretty clear that the vampire genre is a convoluted genre indeed.

I think Jim, Pierre, and my self would rather have our fans focus on our great comics instead: where the golden age meets the digital age.

Have a great weekend,

Caine

Our League of Monsters Zuda Pitch

Due to extenuating circumstances, I don't have a regular post, but have something different to enjoy today. Before Zuda called it quits, Pierre and I were planning to submit a new League of Monsters story to Zuda. Click the image below to see the first 8 pages.



These first 8 pages were all created without any script or plot by Pierre, who sent them to me to dialogue as a sort of project kickstart. Having to devine a a story and dialogue from sequential pages of art was actually pretty hard, but after sort of letting the pages *talk to me* for a while, the story materialized.

Unfortunately, Zuda is no more, so while Pierre and I won't be able to see how it would have done in the contest (which was always a fickle thing anyway) we have every intention of finishing the story ourselves.

So consider this a preview! I hope you enjoy it!

- Jim

How did you discover the Golden Age?

When did you first become aware of Public Domain and/or Golden Age Comics?

Thinking on that question caused me to retrace my steps as it were to find out where I first encountered Public Domain and Golden Age superheroes. My first kneejerk answer was (wrongly) The Invaders. I think because I have such a love for that series but also because the stories were rooted in the World War II era, so they feel more Golden Age to me.

However, almost as soon as I thought of the Invaders, I realized that was wrong because I had read about the Freedom Fighters in the pages of Justice League of America 106 and 107.

And as soon as I thought of this issue, I remembered Justice League of America 100 where the JLA teamed up with the JSA and the Seven Soldiers of Victory. I bought this issue as a kid off a 7-11 Spinner Rack. This was most definitely the first comic I read which reintroduced Golden Age heroes.

And I somewhere on this timeline I also acquired a copy of Jules Feiffer's The Great Comic Book Heroes. I want to say this was in the fourth grade, so I would have been 9 years old. Still that book, while a great introduction to the Golden Age primarily focuses of heroes from either Timely or National (DC/Marvel) - with The Spirit, Captain Marvel and Plastic Man being the lone exceptions (going on memory here, so bear with me...)

So, to my young 9 year old brain, the Golden Age was this nebulous time when some heroes were created (no more than 12 going by Feiffer book) with newer heroes like Freedom Fighters and Metal Men getting created in my lifetime in the pages of Brave in the Bold or JLA. If I had read the text pages of the book, I would have realized this was wrong, but as a 9 year old, Feiffer's erudite commentary pieces failed to hook me. It would take Stan Lee's similar pieces in Origin of Marvel Comics to convince me that there might be something worthwhile in them.

What sooner corrected my perception of all this was another Justice League of America comic. This one containing all the heroes acquired when DC bought the Fawcett characters - Crisis in Eternity.

By the time this issue came out, I had read how DC was now able to publish the adventures of Captain Marvel because DC had bought the heroes from another, older company. (Not sure where I read this - in the pages of Shazam! perhaps?) This led me to realize that these other heroes appearing with the Marvel Family in this story were most likely from that same company.

So while I still had no idea how many other companies had existed outside of Timely and National, I now knew there *had* been others. When and How I discovered how many others will be the subject of another post. ;)

With that, I am happy to present today's free Comics - two issues of the character who, along with Ibis, really grabbed my attention from JLA 135: Spy Master!

[ Spy Master 5 ]

[ Spy Master 6 ]
- Enjoy!

Comic Book Genre Examination

While doing research for this post I discovered that most readers I'd poled don't collect comics within "comic book genres" the way a person who buys (collects?) mystery, scifi, or romance novels will consume books of the same genre for years.

Based on that research it would seem that comics are generally widely collected by the following criteria. They are listed in order of frequency:

1. Character (Green Lantern)
2. Universe (X-Men)
3. Style (Anime)

Or

1. Writer (Bendis)
   
2. Artist (Perez)
   
3. Company (Dark Horse)

Still, there must be some fans out there who collect comics based on "Style" or "Genre" right?

Anyone? All right, I'm sure you've all ready guessed that it is I who collects comics this way.

With the exception of "tie-in" comics (Farscape) I collect two genres: A.) "street level masked vigilantes" most of whom have little (Daredevil) or no (Nightwing) powers and travel by roof tops most of the time & B.) High-Concept type stories with a twist (Power CO.) usually with some sort of scifi twist to it.

There are far more Street Level Vigilante books out there than High-Concept books.


I regularly pick up Detective staring Batwoman (soon to have her own book), Nightwing (currently staring in the Batman books as Batman), MoonKnight, Daredevil (both of whom are in SHADOWLAND right now - I'm picking up ALL of that - which has also introduced me to another street level vigilante who fits the bill: SHROUD), Batgirl, The Red Hood and more.

In addition I have plenty of other books staring Night Man, Hawkeye, Solitaire, Ragman, Ronin, Robin, Ricochet, X, Night Thrasher, and the list goes on and on. I'm sooo true to the genre it self that I even own Bruce Wayne: Agent of Shield which has an amalgamated character of MoonKight and Nightwing called MoonWing in it!




So why oh why do I not have boxes and boxes filled with any ShadowHawk comics?

ShadowHawk debuted in IMAGE comics as Paul Johnstone. Paul was an ex attorney and ex district attorney who, through a traumatic time in his life (HIV among other things which was pretty ground breaking at the time), was motivated to become Shadowhawk:

"Johnstone decided to don the suit, christening himself "ShadowHawk" after his favorite superhero (a name that would eventually lure out the psychotic and racist villain Hawk's Shadow, who believed he was the one entitled to bear the mantle of ShadowHawk), and was taught how to fight effectively with the help of Christine, promising to "take back the night." Johnstone also kept the pills needed to slow his reaction to his HIV infection in small pouches on his belt so he could take them as needed. Early on, ShadowHawk's actions against criminals were brutal. He would catch violent criminals in the act and break their spines, leaving them to be discovered by police with no indication that he had attacked them other than hearsay from the criminals. This led to ShadowHawk garnering a reputation as an urban legend as well as being hunted by both criminals and law enforcement alike."~Wikipedia

This character is the exact type of character I collect, and fits nicely into the genre. He doesn't have any powers, he hides his identity, he has one of those "bird" and "shadow" type names, and he's taking to the roof tops by night to get around the city on patrol.


Jim Valentino (ShadowHawk's creator) has been quoted regarding ShadowHawk's origin that Jim wanted to create a "Batman Clone" but wanted to fix the problem with Batman (as he saw it): that his rogues kept getting out of jail/Arkham and causing more pain suffering and destruction on the citizens of Gotham (hence ShadowHawk's breaking of backs).

It would be one thing if I hated the character, I don't. I own a few. I've read a few more. I'm just not compelled to collect this character like I am the others. Why? I mean he's a clone of Batman after all & I think it's safe to say that I collect all of the other Batmanish characters out there.

Lots of the characters I listed above are DC characters, could that be it?
No, I listed other company characters as well: Dark Horse, Ultraverse, Marvel.

Lots of the characters I listed above work in conjunction with each other, could that be it?
No, Night Man, Solitaire, and X, work strictly alone.

Lots of the characters I listed above are rich (or know a rich guy) and can afford gadgets a plenty, could that be it?
No, Night man and X do their heroing on a budget.

I'm not alone in this either, check out these sales numbers from the same month in 2005 (I couldn't find 1992 - 1994 numbers):

18 Batman 646 $2.50 DC 69,931
38 Daredevil 78 $2.99 Marvel 45,042
46 Nightwing 113 $2.50 DC 39,811
51 SP-Nighthawk 2 $2.99 Marvel 35,161
53 Robin 143 $2.50 DC 34,119
223 ShadowHawk 6 $3.50 Image 4,280

The truth is not really such a mystery. Tweeting about ShadowHawk last night brought the answer I was looking for chirping to the top of my brain:

ShadowHawk did die (multiple times) but more importantly it suffered from missed deadlines. There were more than a couple of gaps between issues. Each were significant in time, and more than one coming in between what I'd call "key" issues.




Don't forget that WIZARD magazine was covering Image comics like no other publisher at the time. Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, they didn't get half the page count that Image stories got back then. Every. Little. Thing. Image. Did. It was in WIZARD and I would have been chomping at the bit to get my hands on ShadowHawk in between issues of Youngblood and Wildcats!

What's a street level vigilante comic book genre fan to do when his book isn't on the shelf week after week?

He finds another one!

Thank you Jim Valentino you helped introduce me to the ULTRAVERSE (The Night Man) and Dark Horse's COMICS GREATEST WORLD (X).

I owe you a debt of gratitude I can never repay. :)

- Caine

Wolverine Omnibus Review

How many times do you buy the same comics??

I must admit that sometimes, I foolishly buy the same comic multiple times.

I bought Crisis on infinite Earths in single issues. Then I got the HC that came out in the late 90s with the beautifull wraparound cover by George Perez and Alex Ross. And then I got the Absolute Edition. Although I gave away the single issues to someone, and I sold the HC to someone else... I still bought the darn thing 3 times.

I often find it very tempting to replace an older copy with a newer edition.... especially when that newer edition has some extras that the previous edition did not have.

A great example of that is the Wolverine Omnibus.

Although I already owned one of the Weapon X TPB, the TPB of the Claremont/Miller Wolverine, and about half a dozen of the other comics we find in the Wolverine Omnibus edition, still I HAD to get mysefl a copy and essentially buy some of them comics once more.

Although I have a Weapon X TPB... the TPB did not include the Marvel Comics Presents covers.

Other short stories were also missing from my collection.

And of course... it includes the Wolverine mini-series by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller... and the follow-up of that tale in a couple of issues of the uncanny X-Men.

And the "second" Wolverine limited series... although that one also includes Kitty Pryde. I had been one of the many foolish fools who passed on the Kitty Pryde and Wolverine series. There are a few reasons why I first passed on that comic when it first came out. Like many... I was not too crazy of Al Milgrom's work at the time. Although I could have said the same at the time of the work of Walter Simonson and Mike Mignola.

Only now am I able to really appreciate Milgrom's work.

But also at the time... I did not really know the character of Kitty Pride.

The X-men published here at the time were around the last issues of Cockrum or the early Byrne issues... so I had not been introduced to Kitty Pride yet. Kitty Pride meant nothing to me at the time. It would take a while until I could grow attached to her character.

So now was a good time to finally read that tale.... and I loved it.

Then you have some of the tales in which Wolverine guest starred... my favorite being the one by Mike Zeck. Loved it... especially the cover. I had a poster of that cover... sadly it was lost or damaged throught the years in one of the times that I moved.

Although I was suprised that it did not included Daredevil issue 249. It essentially features a tale where Wolverine plays a major part... but is missing from this Omnibus. I expected this tale to be included since the Omnibus does include Hulk issue 182 where Wolverine appears for just a single page.

Oh well.

It does not really matter since I own a copy of the DD comic.

And then we have the John Buscema era of Wolverine. I used to own them comics.... but again... one time that I moved... a box of comics seemed to have "mysteriously" dissapeared. I was planning to buy them once more... either as back issues or in TPB. But thanks to this edition... I got them comics once more.

As fate would have it... I was missing the Wolverine comics up to and including issue 10. And as fate would have it... the Omnibus includes the Buscema Wolverine up to and including issue 10.

Coincidence?? or cosmic destiny??

You decide. ;)

And to end the book... we got the Jim Lee Punisher featuring Wolverine. Loved that run of the Punisher.

And then we get various extras, sketches, covers for various editions of reprints or TPBs.... and even the pencilled version and the inked version of Captain America Annual #8. Love that.

Overall... the quality of this edition is great. It is a wonderfull edition that any Wolverine fan would love to own... assuming that you can read older comics that is.

I will probably sound like an old man... but people from the generations after me seem incapable to watch/read/appreciate anything that was done before their time. Whether it is to read some older comics, or watch some older movies... or even reading books.

Although when it comes to reading books... they seem unable to read books period... even current books.

But with movies... don't bother asking them to watch a black and white movie. Or even a movie from an era close to the stone age... like the 80s. The closest you can get to having them watch an "old film" is to have them watch Jurassic Park... or Terminator 2. Anything earlier then that is just too "ancient looking" for them.

And the same goes with comics. Trying to get them to read... and even more... appreciate comics dating from before the age of digital coloring is very difficult. 

Oh well.

So if you can appreciate some older comics... with some older coloring technique. Comics using a color palette from before the "Image Age"... the Wolverine Omnibus is perfect for you.

 It is an edition of great quality with some tales of the past by some of the greats of their time. So if you have a bit of an historian in you... or if you simply like well made comics...

...this book is for you.

- Pierre