Gimmick. By Felix Serrano – Robot Dialog #18
There are so many little things floating around and nothing really major going on, so this week I’ll throw in my 2¢ to some of the little things.
This week marks the end of two things. First, and foremost a fond farewell to Wizard Magazine. Wizard was a driving force in keeping companies like Image alive. It catered to the inner geek while poking fun at the hardcore fanboy. For me it was the replacement for Marvel Age which was awesome for it’s time. It’s glossy paper, high production value and exclusive material made Wizard the must have for any comic book fan or pro. We’ll miss you pretty shiny glossy cover comic mag. =(
The most memorable death in comics for me was Jean Grey’s. Claremont and Byrne knocked Uncanny X-men #137 out of the park. There was no press coverage, and if you weren’t reading X-men you had no idea what was going on. Fast forward to 1992. I remember watching the news here in NY on Channel 11 which was Wpix at the time. There was a quick story on the death of superman, but this was a bit different. A comicbook store in the Newport Center mall in Jersey City, NJ decided to hold a memorial service for the Man of Steel. As the reporter reported the video camera panned across the mall and showed the area where the services were being held, then in a flash of surreallity; there they were. Like crying buffoons in a Disney movie, our very own Michael Davis embracing and comforting his former assistant Rick Desilva aka Breez Evahflowin. That’s when I felt comics were starting to push the media and pop culture envelope. The point of this is the not so memorable death of one of the Fantastic Four. If you’ve flipped through any of the larger national papers then you might have come across an article which announces the member who dies in the book. I normally wouldn’t have a problem with this, but I do since THE BOOK ISN’T OUT YET! Granted it comes out tomorrow (Wednesday Jan, 26th) but still, is Marvel that hard up for sales? Or are the deaths of 9 US troops just not good enough for headlines these days? But I digress, ***SPOILER ALERT*** Johnny Storm will be back. Just like Jean grey, Superman, Batman, The Flash, Angel, and Spock; to name a few. In the meantime while they sort out what alternate reality the next Human Torch will come from or why Galactus will reemerge with Johnny Storm as his new herald we’ll probably be stuck with that metal bastard from the 70’s again. Thanks H.E.R.B.I.E, you made the Fantastic Four suck in the 70’s.
Lastly, big news for ladies in comics. NBC has green lit the pilot episode of the Wonder Woman TV series with David E. Kelley attached to the reboot. That should be interesting. And just incase you live under a rock, Anne Hathaway will be Catwoman in the next installment of the Batman franchise. I don’t know about you guys, but I think she’s a perfect fit for an Adam Hughes style Selina Kyle. No?
-F
![[Facebook]](http://mdwp.malibulist.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[MySpace]](http://mdwp.malibulist.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[Twitter]](http://mdwp.malibulist.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Email]](http://mdwp.malibulist.com/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
January 25th, 2011 at 4:20 pm
Felix,
What you may not remember was Rick and I were crying like crazy but right on cue, Soto jumped up and screamed, “The only person who can save us now is…(dramatic pause) ICON!
I also arranged that entire funeral with the Comic Book store just so we would get that Icon line on TV. That’s the year Milestone launched-yeah that’s how the fuck I (still) roll.
Patting myself on the back as I write this…
January 25th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
Soooo when Johnny Storm dies will he go out screaming like a little bitch, “FLAME OFF!!!?”
January 25th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Hahahahahahaha that’s right! I completely forgot about that. Too funny and brilliant!
As for Johnny storm… Butane and a zippo will bring him back.
January 25th, 2011 at 9:03 pm
Yeah, I remember that mall funeral. Damn nice Superman painting too.
BTW, that FF book came out today, and was a special advanced release. It was the only book fans could purchase on a tuesday, while all other books will still be released on Wednesday. Which hopefully means, that anyone who hit the shops today to pick up the FF book also bought something else since they were already there.
January 25th, 2011 at 10:58 pm
Soto,
NO idea what happened to that Superman painting. I would have SWORE I gave it to you.
Wow, time does indeed fly.
January 26th, 2011 at 1:18 am
Last week (Thursday, I believe), Newsarama had a story noting that Marvel was going to make a “special” exception for the FF issue to be released on Tuesday. In response, I posted the following comment: (January 20th, 2011 at 11:35 pm) “If I were really cynical, I’d say that this is early warning for the retailers (and fans) that Marvel plans on letting the cat out of the bag (so to speak) to the media sometime Tuesday.”
And lo and behold, what happened? *SOMEHOW* the identity of the dead character was revealed some NINE HOURS before the book would’ve been available for (legitimate) sale on the East Coast. Then, Marvel released an official press statement confirming the story a couple of hours before the book’s (legit) sale. If only my psychic abilities didn’t derive from a keen cynicism based on years of knowing how Marvel works, I could make billions of dollars in the stock market (or betting on the horses and dogs).
January 26th, 2011 at 3:18 am
JosephW,
Could you give me a few hours notice before you start picking stocks?
Thanks dude!
January 26th, 2011 at 1:30 pm
Did Steve Rogers come back from the dead?
“Flame Off!” that’s great.
January 26th, 2011 at 1:36 pm
Uh, I didn’t mean the first frozen-in-ice time…
January 26th, 2011 at 1:38 pm
I believe Rogers is back as Captain America, no shock there.
JosephW, I’m with MOTU. Please give me a heads up before you start picking.
thanks
January 26th, 2011 at 2:02 pm
I’ve actually heard of retailers doing midnight openings to sell the book, which pre-empted any news spoilers. Not every retailer is that smart I guess. Not their fault.
Steve Rogers is back from the “temporal pocket that the Red Skull put him in, but not as Captain America (yet). They’ve given him a new identity and have him working for SHIELD.
(Dude, you should probably keep up with the business you work in.)
Mike, I would have loved that painting (or the Green Hornet one). I think you gave that to Chuck. You always loved him more.
January 26th, 2011 at 2:19 pm
Soto, part of my rants is that this industry has gotten too convoluted to follow. If I kept up with where Steve rogers went, whether or not Batman was dead or lost in time, who’s currently in the X-Men and what the hell happened to daredevil #1 I’d be broke, #2 I wouldn’t have time for anything else. I yearn for simpler times when there was one title per character (or group). It was a lot easier to follow when companies sent out bundles of everything that dropped that week.
Maybe they can start that up by sending PDF’s to all of their freelancers. That would cost them Nothing other than some space on one of their servers.
but then again, that doesn’t make them money, so I guess it won’t happen.
January 26th, 2011 at 2:23 pm
Actually, all you’d have to do is keep up with CBR or Newsarama. You don’t have to buy anything. Maybe start your World of Warcraft campaign 10 minutes later and check those sites, so you can be all caught up. At least with the Big 2. Y’know, as research for the business you work in…? I’m not reading anything regularly, but I know what’s going on because of those sites. That puts me in a position to know what my editor is talking about if she offers me a “Steve Rogers: Super Soldier” miniseries. All you have to do is be aware.
January 26th, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Hey Sotomayor, are you AWARE that it’s your Birthday tomorrow?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
January 26th, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Soto wrote,
‘Mike, I would have loved that painting (or the Green Hornet one). I think you gave that to Chuck. You always loved him more.’
Nah-I love all you guys equally. But Chuck did take a better picture.
Hehehehehehehehehehehehe…evil laugh.
January 26th, 2011 at 8:39 pm
Them’s fightin’ words, Serrano.
January 26th, 2011 at 10:56 pm
Come on. Hug it out, fellas.
January 27th, 2011 at 5:22 pm
{{HUG}} {{HUG}} Happy 80th Birthday Chris.