Comic Books Comic Book • Page 381

Now would be a good time to order some comics from tkopresents.com. You can choose your local comic store at checkout and they'll send 50% of the purchase price to the shop. I rec Sara

 

I came in here to ask the same thing. That 60 day trial has me interested.

 

Yes to ComiXology Unlimited, especially if you’re a digital buyer as is.

Good selection of trades to try series, and then the extra discount you get on books is usually enough to justify the monthly cost for me.

 

Anyone reading/read Farmhand by Rob Guillory?

I'm 4 issues in and I love it!

 

It’s pretty dope. Getting way more epic than you would expect as it goes along.

 

I love his art so much. The whole series reminds me alot of Chew(which I need to finish) and I'm loving all his little Chew tidbits he puts in.


On another note-you read all of TWD right?

 

Chew is another one that gets surprisingly epic by the end. If you like Chew you should check out John Layman’s Outer Darkness. It is fucking amazing, my favorite of the three mentioned, and they are currently doing a Chew crossover, which is just perfect.

And yeah I read all of TWD. Buying new issues is what got me in my local shop in the first place.

 

I'll add it to the list.

I just got Comixology Unlimited and saw TWD on there. I've never checked it out cuz I'm not a big zombie fan but I think I'm just being silly and want to give it a shot. Is it worth it?

 

Oh absolutely, it has its ups and downs, but more often then not great and super addictive. At it’s best it’s more about the characters and the zombies are just setting.

 

I really gotta get more classic TMNT stuff (in its original Mirage Studios form, not the glossy IDW reprints that are unflattering to this material's aesthetic). Only own a couple issues of the original series. Such cool, fun stuff.

 

Yeah @Vivatoto Farmhand Vol 2 was awesome!



I'm starting to realize just how great Image is. Like every book they put out seems to be good to great

 

It's frustrating watching some of these publishers' reactions to the virus, Diamond shutting down, etc.

Particularly annoyed w/ DC, who's gonna try to side step Diamond & get some print copies out there somewhere (not necessarily specifically shops) & still offer online sales of some of their stuff.

Gonna keep an eye on what they do, & also Marvel, Image, etc., & see what publishers do the best at supporting shops. I'm a big proponent of expanding comics out of the current slowly dying model, including outside of shops which aren't always accessible or good, BUT... I still care about shops, & I'm not cool w/ publishers that exist w/in this model screwing shops over.

 

Do you think Diamond and Image are doing well under the circumstances?

Those are the 2 I've seen that actually released a statement

 

I personally think Diamond Comics Distribution probably made the right choice to shut down after this week. Trying to continue comics as usual is a bad decision when this virus mess is going on & shops are unable to be open. I know a lot of shops are still doing mail order & whatnot, but a joint effort across the board to just pause things is probably better than letting some shops get left behind as series just proceed as normal. Feel like a lot of these titles could & should just be delayed. Not sure how this affects comic shops' rent or their employee's income, but that's on the government, etc., to help out with (oh boy).

I've looked at some of the statements publishers have made, but I kinda feel like I don't have a great grip on what that practically is gonna look like week to week. Like, who's gonna sell their stuff digitally throughout the month of April, or however long this lasts? I know Valiant is stopping production until Diamond starts up again & told their creative teams to stop working for now. (Haven't looked into the freelance & self-employed unemployment thing 'cause it doesn't apply to me, but hopefully it helps these creators.) I think Image has talked about staggering their releases & making them returnable; not sure if they confirmed what "staggering" means in light of the Diamond shutdown. Don't think Marvel has said anything to hint at current plans, especially w/ how quickly they pump out books.

 

With everything going on and being in quarantine, I've been reading more comics and getting back into it a bit. Something about all of this just makes me feel compelled to start reading and supporting comics again but only like Image, IDW, etc. I'd still only be able to buy a limited amount a month but it's better than nothing I feel.

Imo DC and Marvel will come out of all this mess just fine due to their parent companies.

 

If you're trying to get back into ongoing comic series just a limited capacity, avoiding the Big 2 is generally a smart idea, lol. I've mostly limited myself to just Spider-titles, & it's still a bit much. Really thinking about making BIG changes to my comics-buying habits this year, though all this virus mess makes me more unsure how I wanna make those decisions.

But, yeah, they'll be fine. Really, Image will be fine, too, & also probably Archie, Boom, IDW, Valiant? All the major publishers. It's more so about how some of these shops will be, imo.

 

A couple updates, for all like 2 or 3 of you in here following along, lol...

One, both Marvel & DC have confirmed that all series that were originally scheduled for this week have been pushed back in every format, including digital. So, now it seems to officially be a unified decision across the industry. The exceptions are collections (which go far beyond the direct market; they'll also still be available digitally), & digital-first comics. (Which, that new Batman miniseries set in the animated universe has its first issue this week; I imagine that'll be a pretty popular read, lol.) DC gave a tentative date, April 29th, for the new onsale date, but I wouldn't be surprised if it fell back further.

Two, Diamond announced they've halted payments for this week to their vendors (as in, comics publishers, etc.) due to the lack of money flow from their customers (as in, comic book shops, etc.).

 

I like what TKO is doing and if Marvel and DC did choose to release things on digital, they should follow suit and let 1/2 go to a shop of the buyers choosing. I know TKO is selling physical but there’s no printing costs with digital (obviously creators need to be paid and fees for the digital store most likely, but it’s still way less than physical I bet). That seems like a good way for Marvel and DC to bring money in while still supporting shops.

 

I'm working through my backlog of DC books. I'm currently reading the books from October 2018 lol.

 

As if the industry wasn't precarious enough, Diamond's payment situation will only compound that.

This isn't totally related to the current news, but one of the things about this industry that kinda baffles me is how it hasn't taken the actions the standard book industry has in order to stay afloat - letting shops do returns on a consistent basis (which would be sobering for the publisher that's releasing 200 titles a month and 300 variants and perhaps they'd cut back on that); opening up digital platforms that work with shops where they receive a percentage of the profit (like what the streaming audiobook service Libro FM does for indie bookstores).

As long as Diamond's going to stay the main distro, some structural issues need to change.

 

So... about a thousand issues per title, based on current mainstream publishing schedules... lol.

 

I was looking through DC's previews for current stuff and I was like they release so many books a month, this is crazy.

 

I have the DCU app and each week is about 6-8 in universe books. I’m trying to read everything that’s in continuity with a few small exceptions (i flat out refuse to read anything by Scott Lobdell).

I like this Hawkman run a lot so far. And Justice League Dark is good.