In case anyone missed them, here's the links to the DC and Marvel August '08 solicitations. I don't usually comment on solicits for comics coming out four or five months in advance, but there were a couple things that caught my eye that I wanted to talk about.JAMES JEAN FABLES' COVER HC COLLECTION
First and foremost was this little gem in the DC solicits, which is technically an advanced solicit for October.
I'm not usually one to buy stuff like this, but, for 208 oversized pages of James Jean goodness, I'm willing to make an exception. He's definitely the best cover artist in the business and I absolutely love his artwork, both comic and otherwise. And, while it says $39.99, I expect it to be going for half that on Amazon or eBay on Day 1.
SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW CASH-IN?
Another interesting thing was the huge number of Spider-Man related titles. Considering it went thrice monthly with Amazing, almost forcing everyone to buy three Amazing issues a month instead of one or two separate titles, like Sensational or Friendly Neighbourhood, you'd think they wouldn't feel the need for eight (!) Spider-Man related titles for the month of August, not including the Ultimate Spider-Man, a new Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane (finally!), Amazing Spider-Girl, Avengers appearances, two Marvel Adventures issues and any other appearances I may have missed.
It's really disconcerting seeing that many Spidey titles flooding the market again. Did I miss a new movie coming out or something? What's Marvel trying to pull with flooding the market with the Spidey titles again after the whole thrice monthly thing?
Y: THE LAST HARDCOVER
Next up is the announcement (finally), of a Y: The Last Man hardcover collection. I'm not sure why it took so long, but now I'm kind of sad that it's not an Absolute version being announced here instead. Time to start upgrading the ol' TPB versions, I guess.
FINAL CRISIS = $$$$?
Last on the agenda is Final Crisis. While not nearly as crossover intensive as Secret Invasion, there is definitely something fishy in the water over in DC Land. Quietly appearing at the bottom of each solicit from DC is the new price for every...single...tie-in. What is it, exactly? Take a look:
I'm not going to leave out the little details, such as these being 40 page issues, but, come off it, every single issue is $4 or more? Also, conspicuous by its absence was Final Crisis #4, which is also a $4 book. Delays already or missing solicit?
CONCLUSION
So, that's about all I found noteworthy in the August solicits. I'm sure I'll be more excited and give it a more thorough going over in a couple months' time, you know, when the books are almost ready to come out, but there wasn't much else that got me excited or curious. How about everyone else? Anything catch your eye?
First and foremost was this little gem in the DC solicits, which is technically an advanced solicit for October.
FABLES: COVERS BY JAMES JEAN HC
WRITTEN by James Jean
Foreword by Bill Willingham
Art and cover by James Jean
Now, for the first time, the exquisite FABLES covers by James Jean, winner of multiple Eisner and Harvey Awards, whose diverse clients include Prada and Pepsi, are collected in one extraordinary volume!
Perfect for any art-book library or FABLES completist, this volume includes never-before-seen sketch material, along with insightful commentary and remarkable insights into Jean’s creative process. Also included is a afterword by celebrated FABLES writer/creator Bill Willingham.
Designed and annotated by the artist, this deluxe, oversized hardcover includes ten vellum sleeve inserts, an embossed case and other fine art details that make FABLES: COVERS BY JAMES JEAN as elegant and unique as the FABLES covers themselves.
Advance-solicited; on sale October 29 • 8.625” x 11.625”
208 pg, FC, $39.99 US • MATURE READERS
I'm not usually one to buy stuff like this, but, for 208 oversized pages of James Jean goodness, I'm willing to make an exception. He's definitely the best cover artist in the business and I absolutely love his artwork, both comic and otherwise. And, while it says $39.99, I expect it to be going for half that on Amazon or eBay on Day 1.
SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW CASH-IN?
Another interesting thing was the huge number of Spider-Man related titles. Considering it went thrice monthly with Amazing, almost forcing everyone to buy three Amazing issues a month instead of one or two separate titles, like Sensational or Friendly Neighbourhood, you'd think they wouldn't feel the need for eight (!) Spider-Man related titles for the month of August, not including the Ultimate Spider-Man, a new Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane (finally!), Amazing Spider-Girl, Avengers appearances, two Marvel Adventures issues and any other appearances I may have missed.
It's really disconcerting seeing that many Spidey titles flooding the market again. Did I miss a new movie coming out or something? What's Marvel trying to pull with flooding the market with the Spidey titles again after the whole thrice monthly thing?
Y: THE LAST HARDCOVER
Next up is the announcement (finally), of a Y: The Last Man hardcover collection. I'm not sure why it took so long, but now I'm kind of sad that it's not an Absolute version being announced here instead. Time to start upgrading the ol' TPB versions, I guess.
Y: THE LAST MAN DELUXE EDITION BOOK 1 HC
Written by Brian K. Vaughan
Art by Pia Guerra & Jose Marzan, Jr.
Cover by Massimo Carnevale
The first ten issues of the award-winning series written by Brian K. Vaughan (EX MACHINA, Lost) are collected in an oversized hardcover with a new cover! Don’t miss the amazing SF epic that Stephen King called “The best graphic novel I’ve ever read.”
Advance-solicited; on sale October 15 • 256 pg, FC, $29.99 US 7.0625” x 10.875” • MATURE READERS
FINAL CRISIS = $$$$?
Last on the agenda is Final Crisis. While not nearly as crossover intensive as Secret Invasion, there is definitely something fishy in the water over in DC Land. Quietly appearing at the bottom of each solicit from DC is the new price for every...single...tie-in. What is it, exactly? Take a look:
FINAL CRISIS: REVELATIONS #1
$3.99 US
FINAL CRISIS: LEGION OF THREE WORLDS #1
$3.99 US
DC UNIVERSE: LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT #1
$3.99 US
FINAL CRISIS: SUPERMAN BEYOND #1
$4.50 US
FINAL CRISIS #1: DIRECTOR’S CUT SPECIAL
$4.99 US
FINAL CRISIS: ROGUES’ REVENGE #2
$3.99 US
I'm not going to leave out the little details, such as these being 40 page issues, but, come off it, every single issue is $4 or more? Also, conspicuous by its absence was Final Crisis #4, which is also a $4 book. Delays already or missing solicit?
CONCLUSION
So, that's about all I found noteworthy in the August solicits. I'm sure I'll be more excited and give it a more thorough going over in a couple months' time, you know, when the books are almost ready to come out, but there wasn't much else that got me excited or curious. How about everyone else? Anything catch your eye?
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8 comments:
Final Crisis takes a two-month break or something like that.
According to this thread from Newsarama Final Crisis only costs around $110 for all the tie-ins, including the main series.
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=157536
You forgot this BND gem: SECRET INVASION: SPIDER-MAN - BRAND NEW DAY # 1. Its basically a SI tie-in staring the BND cast, with minimal Spider-Man appearances.
i dont know why you keep ripping on Final Crisis for having tie-ins, it has the most minimal tie-ins of any major event...You would expect there to be twice as many considering that this is the "last of the trilogy"...i think you should spend more time bashing Secret Invasion and its many tie-ins...Especially since SI hasn't really done anything special yet at 2 issues in
@rawnzilla - Hmm, didn't hear about that. Good to know.
@eric - Ya, I did miss that SI tie-in. Have to add another one to the total.
@anon - It's not that I'm ripping into Final Crisis. I actually believe it's going to blow away SI and anything else Marvel has this summer and actually wanted to read most of the tie-ins.
I believe I commented on it once before when they started piling more and more tie-ins onto the event that I last said anything about it, so it's not like I've been harping on it every day.
Maybe it comes off more negative towards the actual event and story instead of just a fan that buys a lot of monthlies being upset that he's going to have to tack on another $30 (or more) for the $4 tie-ins PLUS the regular monthlies I buy, just to get the story I want.
For instance, why isn't the Rogues' Revenge in the regular Flash book or the Superman titles in the Superman books or the Legion stories in the Legion book? I'd be pretty happy over those stories being in the regular books, as I expect most will be great.
Instead, I'll probably end up buying the monthly and the tie-in and spend $7 a month instead of $3.
The major SI tie-ins seem to take place in the actual monthlies, like New and Mighty or Incredible Hercules. Yes, they have SI: Spider-Man and FF and X-Men, but, aside form curiousity about the FF, I have no intention or inclination to pick up the other random specials as the monthlies, as I mentioned earlier, seem to have the bulk of the "essential" tie-ins.
With FC, I'm stuck buying extra, overpirced books that I actually want instead of getting them in my normal monthly output.
So, no, I'm not upset with FC and I'm not bashing the story. I'm looking forward to FC and think it might actually make up for having blown all that money on the garbage that was Countdown. I'm also looking forward to, as I said, just about every tie-in, which makes the increased price that much more painful for me and I'm saying this as someone who, as you can tell from my numerous reviews, buys a tonne of books as it is.
exciting things for me
like you said
-spidey loves mary jane
finally coming back. yay, can't wait
-fables james jean cover book
-y hardcover
awesome. still waiting on announcement of fables HCs.
-x-factor one shot
like you, anything x-factor is great to me
-spidey mary jane HC vol. 2
-might grab those batman black & white vols.
Kirk, if you do the math, it only costs $14 bucks a month for all the Final Crisis tie-ins. While the price is weighted towards the end of the series, there are few tie-ins until August giving you time to save money.
While I agree that the Legion and Flash stories could be told in their respective titles I assume DC has a reason to make them tie-ins. They have earned a little lee way with Sinestro Corps and the fact they want to use as a model for future events starting with Final Crisis.
final crisis goes on for 3 months and then takes a break for a month because in issue 3 evil wins. During the break is when all the spin-offs and oneshots start, then final crisis #4 comes back in september.
I'm approaching the point where I don't care about final crisis anymore, feeling like I'm being set up to get burned on it from tie-in fever.
Yes, I know it has fewer than Marvel, but I can't help but think that that should have an '*' next to with 'For Now' being the meaning.
When they announced Final Crisis, they said it had 2 Tie Ins(Legion of 3 worlds and Revalations, I think). Then Rogues Revenge was announced, and they sid they tied it in because the timing was right for the creative team, the material, and that it was going to be non-essential reading, so that it would have two MAJOR tie ins, and Rogues.
Then they added Last Will and Testamanet because it's a 1-issue and end caps what Meltzer started in Identity Crisis, which got all this rolling, but that was a special circumstance of the stars again aligning correctly, etc, etc.
Now, there's suddenly Superman Beyond, the Director's Cut Cash-in, plus every so often DC mentions that Rann/Thanagar Holy War and Reign In Hell have parts to play in Final Crisis and I can't help but think that by the end of Final Crisis, we're going to the have Countdown meaningless tie-in bloat.
And that makes me not want to buy it, because I don't want to start getting myself emotionally and psychologically invested in the story only to find out, one day, that there are an extra 10 titles I'mna need to have.
To be fair, I felt exactly the same way with the 'while we stall...Tie Ins!" books for Civil War.
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