ComicsPRO '11: Speed Dating

I don't know how many of you have been to a trade show/Diamond Summit, that kind of thing? Generally speaking they're run a lot like comic cons -- there's usually a trade show floor, with normal booth setups, handing out shwag to try and get attendees' attention. There's often also a number of panels, which too often become bitchfests... especially when you get some peeps wasting the global retailer time with "last week my shipment had a 15% damage rate, what are you going to do to make me whole?!?!?!", rather than being more universal like "can you discuss overall national damage rates, and what steps you're taking to lower them?"

ComicsPRO doesn't have a "dealer's room" set up, we're more about the panels, and we try to set parameters for them, going in ("this is the time to talk about digital, this is the time to talk about physical distribution issues" and so on), but even those have morphed and changed over time. In meeting #1 we spent what felt like 3-4 hours discussing "org business", and here at meeting #5 that was down to under 20 minutes. But we still have a *few* relics of a "comic con", like putting 16 publishers up on the dais and giving them each 5 minutes to make a speech (though, like the oscars, that often becomes 10...) as they go down the line... but even that i think will probably disappear next year.

We don't have any "fans" there (well, we're all fans, but you know what I mean), nor any "pros" (Jim Lee and Todd McFarlane were there to speak as Publishers, not sign autographs -- though Chris Roberson turned up after hours on the Boom! RV), and we're not really open to the "press" (though I keep pushing every year for us to figure out a clear way to involve Heidi and Tom, at least)

(Todd, in particular, had some really terrific ideas of things the entire industry could do... and a few that were probably right up on the edge of anti-trust no-nos, but those can all be sorted through later. And Todd was especially gracious with me, despite my buttonholing him the moment he stepped into the hotel from his flight, and talking to me for about 45 minutes or so, hitting many/most of the topics he'd discuss the next day with the entire group. I *think* it was good "prep work" for him?)

But the real push, and the thing that makes ComicsPRO different from any other industry meeting is we're about DIALOGUE, not MONOLOGUE. While we haven't done formal polling, I'd guess that most attendees would say they got the most benefit from things structured around open Q&A, rather than our decreasing relics-of-how-things-are-done-elsewhere.

This year we made on SIGNIFICANT change to structure, and that's that something approaching a third of the meeting time was handed over to "Roundtables", but what is really in truth Speed Dating.

(I saw "we", but it is really clear that the overwhelming majority of  meeting thought and planning and execution squarely falls on the shoulders of Amanda Emmert, and she KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK. All hail 'manda, she's awesome!!!!)

What we did was divvy the retailer attendees into groups of ~5 people, and, over four sessions, had each group spend about 10 minutes with a specific publisher. The 10 minutes were up, and, boom, we get up and move to the next publisher's table, eventually cycling through 20 tables, over two days.

The publishers entirely controlled the conversation -- they were free to use them as "pitch time", or for Q&A, or just "what can we do better/what's working well", and almost all of them used their time very very very wisely.

I think most of them filled up entire notebooks with notes of things to try, things to avoid, things to help everyone sell more comics. It worked very very well, and there was something grandly egalitarian that a smaller publisher like, say, Top Shelf had completely equal weight in this exercise to a Big Boy like Marvel.

I think we're universally agreed that this was a great way to do business, and that, time permitting, it should even be expanded next year.

The other thing that was super-productive this year was BarCon -- the hotel bar had these nice stepped terraces where you could have private conversations in a large group, and they also stayed open late "enough" -- not like Memphis where they shut down at something dumb like 11 PM. Some of my most productive time was in the 1-on-1 that BarCon can allow, breaking down opposing viewpoints to come to a common consensus and reality.

And, after that, we had the Boom! RV out in the parking lot where copious beer flowed after bar-closing time, and everyone who entered left with a big glowy smile on their face.

(though, I have to say, I think I saw more publishers getting falling-down drunk this weekend then retailers...)

(not that there's anything wrong with that!)

(And, no, I'm NOT naming names!)

I honestly and deeply believe that more real and productive retailer business was accomplished at the ComicsPRO weekend than is managed at San Diego, NYCC and Chicago, combined. We were focused in a way nothing has ever been focused before. If you're a retailer, and have only ever been to a comic book convention or a Diamond Summit, you have really no idea what the potential is. Come to ComicsPRO in 2012 and you'll really see something!

This is THE SINGLE BEST venue both for publisher-to-retailer (and/or distributor-to-retailer, and possibly distributor-to-publisher, but I'm not one of those, so I can't say for 100% sure) business in any year, and we're only getting better at facilitating that DIALOGUE.

It's also an epic event for peer-to-peer education -- there's not a single person who probably didn't walk away with twenty ideas to make their individual retailer operations better. Something I think the Summit-style fails pretty miserably at.

Its funny, we have this great weekend, and we come back home to a pair of threads on The Beat which are pretty much "The DM sucks" (though thanks to Kurt and JJM in particular for keeping the level of discourse there high), and how we're all doomed, and print is dead and whatever, but if you'd been there this weekend, you'd really see just how completely crazy wrong that all is. The DM has no where to go but UP, and with the kind of leadership and stewardship on evidence this weekend, I think we're going to get there.

Not smoothly, no... nothing ever works out exactly the way we want it to, but there's so much crazy potential that we've barely began to touch, and it's meetings like ComicsPRO that care going to make these things happen.

More in a bit!

-B

PS: Let's have a moment of silence for Comic Relief. While something will rise, phoenix-like from the ashes of that, a specific shining example of a specific period of time has passed, and we're all a little poorer for it, even if you don't know that.

ComicsPRO '11: CP's Bus Ride of Doom!

Y'know, given that my next TILTING is like 3 weeks away (well, I *could* do something and Jonah, I'm sure would print it, but I like to keep my schedule for sanity), I'm thinking now that maybe I'll just write a series of smaller posts about the ComicsPRO '11 meeting as we go along. We'll see how this goes. Spurgeon characterized from the last post that the meeting was "good", and let me tell you that this is wrong.  The meeting was GREAT. Superlative. Splendiferious. Astounding. Amazing. Spectacular. Web Of.

Honestly, and this is my really-I'm-not-lying-to-you voice, there's not a single more productive weekend of the entire calendar year. I can't tell you a lot of what made it so good because I'm effectively under NDA (not signed, but "these are adults dialoging with one another and not to be shared on the internet", if you see what I mean?), but maybe I can hint around it a little bit.

In the comments of my last thread, or maybe it was one of the two on Heidi's blog (or maybe both!) was one of those things I hear a lot: "The problem with the DM" (he said, paraphrasing) "is that too many stores suck"

Let me actually step back half a step before telling the rest of the story, and mention that, for a number of retailers, I'm <<Booming voice>> BRIAN HIBBS

I mean I'm just a guy with a medium-sized neighborhood comic shop who happened to be in the right place at the right time to get myself a soapbox, and after standing on said soapbox for two decades, I'm, for lack of a better term a "celebrity retailer". If you asked 1000 random comics fans to "name a retailer", I'm fairly certain that my name would be towards the top -- but not because I'm the biggest, or the best, or the smartest, but because I have a long-running soapbox, and I've gotten fairly OK at using it (I still need some work, really!)

But, in reality, I'm just a guy with a neighborhood comics store. I'm not smarter or better than any other retailer, and I'm certainly not holding the keys of the "right" way to run a comics shop.

But, you know, for some I'm <<booming voice>> BRIAN HIBBS, and they take what I say pretty darn seriously indeed.

Even if I share the name of a really lame Spidey villain.

(The Kangaroo, if you didn't know)

Right so, he said, somewhere back in the narrative, on the last night of the meeting, Chris Powell organized a bus trip for about 40 retailers to... well, get on a bus and go tour other local Dallas stores.

I'm not going to specifically name the stores, though each will probably be able to figure out who is who, and if you're in Dallas, you can probably figure it out too. But maybe not, and I'm not trying to write a Yelp review or something, but make a much broader point at the end.

So: four stores. 40 retailers. About four hours. Oh, and beer. Lots of beer.

The first stop is "a typical comics store", in that it was a bit disorganized (it HAD an organization, but you'd need to hang around for a few weeks probably to fully absorb it), was a bit maze-like, clearly had been through several different re-rigging of the store's signage or display, and, y'know, none of them had been completely completed, or maybe even thought-out outside of the context of "hey wouldn't that rack look better over there?" as opposed to "how does this all fit together?", if that makes sense? They had a TON of stock. Really really really diverse, but not, necessarily, organized in a way that you wouldn't walk out of it thinking "Yeah, they're mostly mainstream". I think that would be a fairly shitty conclusion to come to, but it's really more about presentation than anything else. This one is an archeologist's dream -- everywhere you turn you can find something need. Seriously, spin in a circle, and follow where your finger follows, and you'll find something cool.... but one of my traveling partners opined they'd never take their kids in there because they'd be afraid a rack would fall over on them. (that's a bit harsh)

The second stop, well the only word to describe it is "sexy". Sleek, modern, incredibly clean and streamlined. I mean just staggeringly beautiful, and appealing to civilians in every way. Your Mom would shop there. She'd walk across the street through traffic to shop there. Seriously, it's GORGEOUS. Even the staff. Each one was more teeth-achingly beautiful than the next, it's the kind of staff where you know 20% of the customers come just to stare at them and have furtive thoughts. But when it came to the actual product on hand... well, I'd probably rate it as by far the worst store on the tour. There just wasn't a lot of "there" there. Total absence of the "ten books I'm unfairly judging that a store should have", big stock gaps in important series. A close look at their product selection shows that a fair percentage of it, though merchandised like a Goddess, is really old, stale stuff that *I* would have liquidated half a decade or more ago.

The third store is what you'd think of as a comics shop from like 20 years ago, back when it was absolutely common and expected that "comics store" also meant "games store". And that "comics" means "We carry BOTH kinds: Marvel AND DC". This is one of the places that being <<booming voice>> BRIAN HIBBS came in. The owner came up to me and actually apologized for not having enough indy books. "I really really have tried to stock them. We bring them in, we physically put them in people's hands, and we talk them up, and my customers just don't want them." And I'll tell you what I told him: screw that kind of elitism. A store needs to carry what their customers want, not what the internet intelligentsia says they "should". This store, it seemed to me, was really really good at serving their Marvel and DC and gaming customers. The staff CLEARLY cared about what they were doing, and the store was a great example of how you do gaming and mainstream comics and MAKE CUSTOMERS HAPPY. Who cares what "artsnob967" says on the internet? Who cares that <<booming voice>> BRIAN HIBBS wouldn't find a lot of interest -- you're there to service the customers that come in, not the ones that don't.

The last store was a chain store. It looked like a chain store. It just reeked of chainism all over it, but it was also incredibly well organized, stocked in depth with a wide variety of things, and, if you were cool with walking past the first 50 feet or whatever of pop culture knickknacks (very very well merchandised and designed), you'd find out that they're also a very diverse comic book store, too. Not quite as deep or wide as store #1, but absolutely acceptable in every way shape and form. My log line was "I'd certainly shop there, but I wouldn't really feel that great about it, it being so corporate" But, again: who the hell cares what *I* think?

Four stores, each ABSOLUTELY DIFFERENT IN EVERY WAY SHAPE AND FORM from the one before -- An archeological comics store, a sexy showcase, a game/mainstream hybrid joint, a totally chain store. And each and every one of them had something to recommend, something that made them special, and you could tell by looking that all of them were successful, that all of them received a great deal of love and passion, both from the staff and their customers, and that each of them was right for their customer base! Each one of them reflected a vision. Maybe you don't like their vision, but, you know what? Unless you live in Dallas, and are taking money out of your pockets to buy products there, your (and my) opinion doesn't matter.

You don't get to  decide. Did some of these stores "suck"? Well, man, let me tell, I can easily find something in each I don't like, that might earn them that sobriquet, especially from the sneering internet, but the only things that matter are "are they profitible?" and "Do they serve THEIR customers (not YOU, but THEIR customers)?" And judging by what I saw on the tour, they're all looking really good by those criteria.

There's room for a dozen different models of retail, and just because YOU think "the industry" should move past Marvel and DC, exclusively (and you're not going to get me, as an individual, disagreeing with you too much about that), that ISN'T the case for a tremendous amount of readers out there. Readers who are taking money out of thier pockets and buying stuff and making thier own choices, thank you very much.

I think it's fucking awesome that comics can contain the RADICALLY different approaches that we saw on display on the tour -- there's not one right way to do it. And that's NOT a weakness, not by half, that's a crazy strength, and it is among several reasons that comics aren't going to match the exact path that happened in other media retailing when it came to societal changes.

That diversity is crazy wonderful, and it's just one of the reasons ComicsPRO is crazy wonderful, as well.

More to come later...

-B

Arriving 2/16/2011

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I'm still getting caught back up from Dallas, so "pardon the dust" or whatever.

Below the cut, here's what's shipping this week....

28 DAYS LATER #20 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #654.1 ANGEL #42 ARCHIE & FRIENDS #152 ASTONISHING X-MEN XENOGENESIS #5 (OF 5) AVENGERS ACADEMY #9 BATMAN #707 BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #188 BOOSTER GOLD #41 BOYS #51 BRIGHTEST DAY #20 CAPTAIN AMERICA MAN OUT OF TIME #4 (OF 5) CAPTAIN WONDER 3D ONE-SHOT CHARMED #6 A CVR SEIDMAN CYCLOPS #4 DAREDEVIL REBORN #2 (OF 4) DARKWING DUCK #9 DC UNIVERSE ONLINE LEGENDS #2 DEADPOOLMAX #5 DETECTIVE COMICS CLASSICS DMZ #62 DONALD DUCK #363 DOOM PATROL #19 DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS #4 EDGE OF DOOM #4 FABLES #102 FORMIC WARS BURNING EARTH #1 (OF 7) GARTH ENNIS JENNIFER BLOOD #1 GENERATION HOPE #4 GREEN HORNET YEAR ONE #8 GREEN LANTERN #62 (BRIGHTEST DAY) GREEN LANTERN CORPS #57 (BRIGHTEST DAY) GRIMM FAIRY TALES #55 A CVR EBAS HAWKEYE: BLIND SPOT #1 (OF 4) HELLBLAZER #276 HULK #30 JERICHO SEASON 3 #4 (OF 6) JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #54 LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #10 LOKI #3 (OF 4) MAGNUS ROBOT FIGHTER #3 (OF 4) MARVEL GIRL #1 MEMOIR #2 (OF 6) MICKEY MOUSE #305 MIGHTY SAMSON #2 NIGHT O/T LIVING DEAD #3 (OF 5) OUTSIDERS #36 ROBERT JORDAN WHEEL OF TIME EYE O/T WORLD #8 SHIELD #6 SILVER SURFER #1 (OF 5) SIMPSONS COMICS #175 SONIC UNIVERSE #25 SPIDER-GIRL #4 BIG SPIRIT #11 STAN LEE SOLDIER ZERO #5 STAR WARS KNIGHT ERRANT #5 (OF 5) AFLAME SUPERGIRL #61 SUPERMAN BATMAN #81 TANK GIRL BAD WIND RISING #2 (OF 4) THUNDERBOLTS #153 TINY TITANS #37 TRANSFORMERS INFESTATION #2 (OF 2) TWILIGHT GUARDIAN #2 (OF 4) UNCANNY X-FORCE #5 UPTIGHT #4 (RES) VAMPIRELLA #3 VENOM DEADPOOL #1 WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #7 WOLVERINE #6 WOLVERINE & JUBILEE #2 (OF 4) WONDER WOMAN #607 YOUNG JUSTICE #1

Books / Mags / Stuff ANGEL THE JOHN BYRNE COLLECTION HC BAYOU TP VOL 02 (RES) CAPTAIN AMERICA SCOURGE OF UNDERWORLD TP CURSED PIRATE GIRL TP DEADPOOL MERC WITH A MOUTH TP VOL 01  HEAD TRIP DMZ TP VOL 09 MIA FINDER GN VOL 01 VOICE FRINGE TALES FROM THE FRINGE TP HUMAN TARGET SECOND CHANCES TP INVINCIBLE IRON MAN PREM HC VOL 06 STARK RESILIENT BOOK 2 JUXTAPOZ #122 MAR 2011 MISSILE MOUSE GN VOL 02 MORNING GLORIES TP VOL 01 FOR A BETTER FUTURE NOCHE ROJA HC PILOT & HUXLEY GN VOL 01 PLANE STORY TP STAND HARDCASES PREM HC SUPERMAN BATMAN TORMENT TP TRUE BLOOD HC VOL 01 ALL TOGETHER NOW

What looks good to YOU?

-B

Wait, What? Ep. 27: A Quick One While He's Abhay...

Howdy, everyone. Jeff again with the ultra-quick podcast descript-o. It's ultra-quick because the podcast is itself charmingly bite-sized, spanning barely more than half an hour and discussing such disparate subjects as the press release for Avengers Academy Giant-Size #1, technology and modern memory, and Abhay's Jimmy Olsen story.

Perhaps some of you have already discovered the podcast waiting for you on iTunes--it was certainly there the last time I checked--but you can also check it out here if you're game:

Wait, What, Ep. 27: A Quick One While He\'s Abhay...

We hope you enjoy it (and if you happen to Abhay, I hope you end up neither too mortified nor too appalled) and thanks for listening!

Jim Lee's Digital visual analogy

I'm just back from Dallas, and the 2011 ComicsPRO meeting. It was a very very very good meeting -- there is literally not a more productive weekend in comics on the calendar, though a lot of what happened and was discussed won't, necessarily, interest you the consumer. I will, I think, have a much fuller report in a few weeks in  the next TILTING, but in the meantime I want to share one bit while its still fresh in my mind.

A lot of time was spent on discussing Digital, as you might expect, but early on on the first day, DC co-Publisher Jim Lee made a visual analogy that sort of guided my thinking for the rest of the weekend.

Jim held up two hands. In one hand he had a regular 8 1/2 x 11 piece of paper, and in the other, he had a piece of dental floss. The former, he said, represented the revenues from print comics. The latter? Revenue from digital.

Now, clearly, digital will continue to grow -- heck, maybe with a lot of effort and brain cycles, it might even grow to be the size, say, of an index card, but the actual real on-the-ground reality of digital comics sales are that they are a virtually (heh) insignificant way of making money for the publishers.

This same idea was echoed again and again and again by each and every publisher at the meeting, and even the very providers of digital services: this is not a significant revenue generator as of yet, and certainly NOWHERE NEAR able to match, let alone surpass, the sales from physical print comics.

We're a niche market. A successful niche, to be sure, but a niche nonetheless, and not one that simply putting comics content in front of civilians will INHERENTLY and effortlessly drive sales of any huge value to the overwhelming majority of the market participants. As near as I can tell, most to the evidence says that digital is selling primarily to the lapsed or geographically-unable-to-participate markets (40%, I kept hearing over and over again, of sales are coming from Europe) (40% of a piece of dental floss, remember!)

If you're a rah-rah digital booster, that's perfectly fine. But I'd ask you not to make the same mistakes of the previous generations of fans-but-not-business-people who have said things like "If only we had comics related movies, that will fix all of our problems!" or "Manga sales are going to solve all of our problems!" or "If only we were in bookstores, we'd solve all our problems!" or any of that. All of these theories have turned out to.... well, not be reality-based is the kindest way to put it.

Digital isn't a magic bullet, and virtually every person with an actual business involvement in the production and sales of comics understands this. Digital is magic dental floss.

-B

Tilting at Windmills #200: BookScan 2011

It is now up at Comic Book Resources -- 15,103 words long! Read it, absorb it, let me know what you think.

-B

Wait, What? 26.2: Too Much of a Good Thing?

I like to think of Episode 26 as a big ol' dish of Sweet & Sour Chicken [or vegetarian chicken-alternative of your choice]: The first installment was mostly on the sweet side (but still tangy); this installment you might find a bit more sour (but also tangy!). I don't know, you will have to decide and let us know.

I checked in and saw it on iTunes so you should be able to get it there with minimal Montgomery-izing, or you can also check it out here:

Wait, What? Episode 26.2: Too Much of a Good Thing?

And because John K(UK) had a point, let me add--we cover the state of the industry, whether there is an inherent value to creator-owned comics, and the mystery of Smilin' Stan.

You know the drill: future sessions should be shorter and updated more quickly, blah blah blah...thanks for listening and we hope you enjoy!

Wait, What? 26.1: Catch Us if You Can

So, yeah. iTunes. It'll be interesting to see what happens with iTunes and podcasts.  As you know, iTunes has been slower and slower to update our podcast, requiring some of us to resort to the B.D. Montgomery method (and god bless you, B.D. for both coming up with the solution and for never saying boo when we all started using your name ---if you wanna send me your snail mail addy to my e acct of pig DOOT latin ART gmail DOOT com, I'll try to send something your way as thanks) to get iTunes to find the path.

So. Unless I thoroughly and permanently befouled the RSS feed as iTunes reads it, this may not be my fault--everything I can find online seems consistent that iTunes is taking a longer and longer time to update its feed.  And, in fact, last night, when I uploaded this podcast, the URL I put in to manually ping iTunes to update the feed no longer seems to work at all.  All of which is to say:  there may be some slight delays in getting this sucker to you but we'll keep working on it.

Like, right now for example!  I waited to post this until ep. 26.1 showed up in iTunes and it is there.  If you have troubles finding it, the B.D. Montgomery method should work, as well as the right clicking update.  There may be a delay for the UK or International accounts, I'm not sure.

But!  If you want to hear Graeme and I talk about Siege, Dark Avengers, Lex Luthor, Flashpoint and Hot Pursuit, Joe Staton, Don Heck, and the webcomics Bucko by Jeff Parker and Erika Moen and Gingerbread Girl by Paul Tobin and Colleen Coover?  You should be able to do so, either there or right here, right now:

Wait, What? Ep. 26.1: Catch Us if You Can

You may note the return of the ".1" in our ep title--we gabbed so much last week that we decided to cut it into two parts.  So there'll be another update in a day or two!  (Or three, maybe, but really probably two...)

We hope you enjoy, thanks for listening, and a big thanks to everyone who continue to chime in in the always-read, always-appreciated comments!

Arriving 2/9/11

Reviews from me should resume tomorrow (or Wednesday evening, latest, since I'll have time to kill on the airplane...), but in the meantime, here's what's shipping this week, below the cut... 27 (TWENTY SEVEN) #3 (OF 4) ADVENTURE COMICS #523 ALL NEW BATMAN THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD #4 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #654 BIG AMORY WARS KEEPING SECRETS OF SILENT EARTH 3 #8 (OF 12) ANITA BLAKE CIRCUS OF DAMNED INGENUE #2 (OF 5) ASSASSINS CREED THE FALL #3 (OF 3) ATOMIC ROBO DEADLY ART OF SCIENCE #3 (OF 5) AVENGERS EARTHS MIGHTIEST HEROES #4 (OF 4) B & V FRIENDS DOUBLE DIGEST #211 BATGIRL #18 BATMAN AND ROBIN #20 BETTY #190 BIRDS OF PREY #9 BLACK PANTHER MAN WITHOUT FEAR #515 BPRD HELL ON EARTH GODS #2 (OF 3) BUCK ROGERS ANNUAL #1 CARNAGE #3 (OF 5) CASANOVA GULA #2 (OF 4) CHARISMAGIC #0 CHIP SECOND CRACK #3 (OF 3) CINDERELLA FABLES ARE FOREVER #1 (OF 6) DARK TOWER GUNSLINGER LITTLE SISTERS ELURIA #3 (OF 5) DC COMICS PRESENTS GREEN LANTERN FEAR ITSELF #1 DC COMICS PRESENTS WONDER WOMAN #1 DC UNIVERSE LEGACIES #9 (OF 10) DEADPOOL TEAM-UP #885 DOC SAVAGE #11 DREAM LOGIC #3 DUNGEONS & DRAGONS DARK SUN #2 (OF 5) ELF #1 FLASH #9 (FLASHPOINT) FRENEMY OF THE STATE #4 (OF 5) GREEN HORNET #13 GREEN LANTERN EMERALD WARRIORS #7 (WAR OF GL) HACK SLASH ONGOING #1 SEELEY CVR HAUNT #13 (RES) HEROES FOR HIRE #3 HOTWIRE DEEP CUT #3 (OF 3) INCOGNITO BAD INFLUENCES #3 INCREDIBLE HULKS #622 INVADERS NOW #5 (OF 5) JERICHO REDUX JOHN BYRNE NEXT MEN #3 JUSTICE LEAGUE GENERATION LOST #19 (BRIGHTEST DAY) KNIGHT & SQUIRE #5 (OF 6) LIL DEPRESSED BOY #1 LOVE AND CAPES EVER AFTER #1 MAGUS #2 (OF 5) NEW AVENGERS #9 NORTHLANDERS #37 ONSLAUGHT UNLEASHED #1 (OF 4) OSBORN #3 (OF 5) BIG POWER MAN AND IRON FIST #1 (OF 5) PUNISHERMAX #10 (RES) RAISE THE DEAD II #3 REBELS #25 RED ROBIN #20 SECRET WARRIORS #24 SHERLOCK HOLMES YEAR ONE #1 SPAWN #202 SPONGEBOB COMICS #1 STAN LEE STARBORN #3 STAR TREK INFESTATION #1 (OF 2) SUPER HEROES #11 SUPERMAN #708 THUNDER AGENTS #4 THUNDERSTRIKE #3 (OF 5) TITANS #32 TRANSFORMERS INFESTATION #1 (OF 2) TYRANNOSAURUS REX ONE-SHOT CVR A ULTIMATE AVENGERS VS NEW ULTIMATES #1 (OF 6) DOSM ULTIMATE COMICS CAPTAIN AMERICA #2 (OF 4) ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #153 DOSM UNWRITTEN #22 VICTORIAN UNDEAD II HOLMES VS DRACULA #4 (OF 5) WALKING DEAD #81 WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #6 WARLORD OF MARS #4 WASTELAND #30 WIDOW MAKER #4 (OF 4) WOLVERINE #1000 WOLVERINE #5.1 WORLD OF ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #4 X-FACTOR #215

Books / Mags / Stuff AIR TP VOL 04 A HISTORY OF THE FUTURE BAKUMAN TP VOL 03 CAPTAIN AMERICA LIVES OMNIBUS HC CREEPY ARCHIVES HC VOL 09 FARSCAPE SCORPIUS TP VOL 02 FLASH DASTARDLY DEATH OF THE ROGUES HC HAUNT TP VOL 02 (RES) ILLUSTRATION MAGAZINE #32 INVINCIBLE IRON MAN TP VOL 05 STARK RESILIENT BOOK 01 KODT BUNDLE OF TROUBLE TP VOL 31 MARVELMAN CLASSIC PREM HC VOL 02 MID-LIFE GN NAMOR VISIONARIES TP JOHN BYRNE VOL 01 NARUTO TP VOL 50 NEMESIS PREM HC PRESIDENT EVIL I HAVE A SCREAM POCKET MANGA TP SHADOWLAND PREM HC SPIDER-MAN ANIMAL MAGNETISM TP STAR WARS OLD REPUBLIC TP VOL 01 BLOOD OF EMPIRE SUICIDE SQUAD TP VOL 01 TRIAL BY FIRE ZITA THE SPACE GIRL GN

What looks good to YOU?

-B

Wait, What? Ep. 25: The Power To Let Power Go

Why, yes, I did yoink this image from Chris Haley's totally awesome Kanye + Comics tumblr, why do you ask?

As I think I mentioned last week, this conversation was recorded before Wake, What? and so some of the things alluded to there will now totally make sense if you listen to this here.  Graeme and I discuss the (at the time super-recent) casting decisions for The Dark Knight Rises, the Thor relaunch, Batman, Inc. #2, and the backmatter discussion between Fraction and O'Malley in the latest Casanova.  We run a little long--okay, more than a little long--but we hope you think it'll be worth it.

Unless I've screwed up my own RSS feed yet again, you should be able to hear it via Itunes.  And of course, we are always pleased to offer you the opportunity to listen to it here:

Wait, What? Ep. 25: The Power To Let Power Go

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoy!

Arriving 2/2/11

You ARE all going to buy Abhay's DC debut this week, yes? SUPERMAN 80 PAGE GIANT 2011 #1. Buy two! I'm allllmost done with the BookScan column, and then next week I have the annual ComicsPRO meeting in Dallas, but after that (and maybe a bit before) I'll be back to regular posting.

This week's comics, under the jump!

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #653 BIG ARCHIE #617 AZRAEL #17 BATMAN BEYOND #2 BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL #53 BATMAN ODYSSEY #6 (OF 13) BLACK TERROR #13 BOMB QUEEN VI #4 (OF 4) (RES) BRIGHTEST DAY #19 CAPTAIN AMERICA HAIL HYDRA #2 (OF 5) CHIP N DALE RESCUE RANGERS #3 CROSSED FAMILY VALUES #7 (OF 7) CYCLOPS #3 DAKEN DARK WOLVERINE #5 DAOMU #1 DC UNIVERSE ONLINE LEGENDS #1 DEADPOOL AND CABLE #26 DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP #19 (OF 24) DOC MACABRE #3 (OF 3) DOCTOR STRANGE FROM MARVEL VAULT #1 DRIVER FOR THE DEAD #3 (OF 3) FREEDOM FIGHTERS #6 GI JOE #26 GOTHAM CITY SIRENS #19 GREEN HORNET STRIKES #6 H2O ONE-SHOT HELLBOY SLEEPING & DEAD #2 (OF 2) HOUSE OF MYSTERY #34 HULK #29 INVINCIBLE #77 INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #500.1 IRON MAN LEGACY #11 IRREDEEMABLE #22 IZOMBIE #10 JONAH HEX #64 JSA ALL STARS #15 JUGHEADS DOUBLE DIGEST #167 JURASSIC PARK DEVILS IN THE DESERT #2 (OF 4) KEVIN SMITH KATO ANNUAL #1 KNIGHTS OF THE DINNER TABLE #170 LAST PHANTOM #4 LEGION OF SUPER HEROES ANNUAL #1 LIFE WITH ARCHIE MARRIED LIFE #7 LOONEY TUNES #195 MICE TEMPLAR VOL 3 #2 MICHAEL AVON OEMING CVR OZMA OF OZ #4 (OF 8) SCOOBY DOO WHERE ARE YOU #6 SECRET SIX #30 SHE-HULKS #4 (OF 4) SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #221 SPIDER-GIRL #3 BIG STAND NO MANS LAND #1 (OF 5) SUPER HERO SQUAD SPECTACULAR #1 SUPERBOY #4 SUPERMAN 80 PAGE GIANT 2011 #1 SWEET TOOTH #18 THOR FOR ASGARD #6 (OF 6) TIME MASTERS VANISHING POINT #6 (OF 6) TRANSFORMERS INFESTATION #1 (OF 2) ULTIMATE COMICS NEW ULTIMATES #5 (OF 5) ULTIMATE COMICS THOR #4 (OF 4) UNCLE SCROOGE #400 WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #5 WARRIORS OFFICIAL MOVIE ADAPTATION #5 (OF 5) WARRIORS THREE #3 (OF 4) WEIRD WORLDS #2 (OF 6) WITCHBLADE #142 WITCHFINDER LOST & GONE FOREVER #1 (OF 5) WOLVERINE BEST THERE IS #3

Books / Mags / Stuff AFTERMATH GN BATMAN THE RETURN OF BRUCE WAYNE DELUXE ED HC BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL TP VOL 23 SCARLET SWORDS CHARMED TP VOL 01 COMPLETE CHESTER GOULDS DICK TRACY HC VOL 11 CREATOR CHRONICLES BILL SIENKIEWICZ DVD CURSED PIRATE GIRL TP DARKWING DUCK CLASSICS TP VOL 01 DAYTRIPPER TP ESSENTIAL THOR TP VOL 01 NEW ED FALL OUT TOY WORKS VOL 01 TIFFANY BLUES TP FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND #254 G FAN #94 GEORGE RR MARTIN WILD CARDS HARD CALL HC GERONIMO STILTON HC VOL 07 DINOSAURS IN ACTION ITS SUPERMAN A NOVEL MMPB IVY HC JESUS HATES ZOMBIES LINCOLN HATES WEREWOLVES TP COLL ED JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE #306 LEES TOY REVIEW #216 DEC 2010 LITTLE LULU TP VOL 26 FEUD & OTHER STORIES NEMI HC VOL 04 PANDORA EYES HC PREVIEWS #269 FEBRUARY 2011 SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN TP VOL 09 SCENES FROM AN IMPENDING MARRIAGE HC SPIDER-MAN BIG TIME PREM HC STRANGE CASE OF EDWARD GOREY HC SUPER FRIENDS MYSTERY IN SPACE TP SUPERMAN WAR OF THE SUPERMEN HC TALES OF A HIPPY KID ROAD TRIPPIN & SKINNY DIPPIN GN TEZUKA BLACK JACK TP VOL 13 THOR WORLDENGINE PREM HC UNSINKABLE WALKER BEAN GN (O/A) VAMPIRELLA ARCHIVES HC VOL 02 VAMPIRES WORLD OF SHADOWS ILLUS HC VIETNAMERICA GN WOLVERINE RECKONING TP WORLD WAR 3 ILLUSTRATED #41

What looks good to YOU?

-B

Wake, What? The Ultra-Topical Line-Jumping Edition

Although I'm really looking forward to posting my conversation with Graeme from last week, we thought it best to just jump the line by an episode and post what we talked about just yesterday since it concerns in no small part news that will seem absurdly ancient a week from now. (In fact, I saw a post on Twitter today and went, "Hmm, people are still talking about that? Huh.")

So, yeah.  Why make you wait?  Plus, if you listen carefully, you'll hear us mention a topic from last week that will hopefully get you psyched to hear that episode....next week!  Or something.  Man, I hate scheduling: it's like god-damned time travel....

It *is* on iTunes (though you may have to right-click and choose "update podcast") and it is also right here for you, right now:

Wake, What? The Ultra-Topical Line-Jumping Edition

Thanks for listening and we hope you enjoy!

Wait, What? Ep. 24: Candyman, Candyman, Candyman!

Yup, Episode 24 is here and it's a "1er," as Graeme calls a done-in-one (I'm sure other people do as well, but it was news to me). Since I'm a little behind there will probably be two of these this week (in part because I think the one after this is an exceptionally strong little entry into our catalog), but after that it should be one solid chunk--sometimes an hour, sometimes a little more--making your weekly dose of Scottish Guy & Laughing Guy that much more digestible.

Anyhoo.  Right here, right now, you can listen to S.G. & L.G. discuss Bagley, Spidey, Sammy, Benjy and more:

Wait, What? Ep. 24.1: Candyman, Candyman, Candyman!

It's also available on Itunes (sooner or later--Itunes, what is up with that?).

[Also, I just got an email from a listener this morning--is anyone else having problems downloading ep. 23.2 from Itunes?  If so, would you mind either shooting me an email or dropping a note in the comments?  Thanks!]

Arriving 1/26/2011

What a strange week: the death of both WIZARD and the Comics Code. What could possibly make that a trifecta, I wonder? Meanwhile, I'm waist-deep in sorting the BookScan numbers (I'm dreaming in Excel, yes) -- guess I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue!

This week's shipping list (and something else!) behind the jump:

ACTION COMICS #897 AGE OF X ALPHA #1 AMERICAN VAMPIRE #11 ANGEL #41 ANGEL ILLYRIA #3 (OF 4) ARCHIE & FRIENDS DOUBLE DIGEST #2 ARTIFACTS #5 (OF 13) CVR A KLEIN ASTONISHING THOR #2 (OF 5) AVENGERS #9 BOYS HIGHLAND LADDIE #6 (OF 6) CAPTAIN AMERICA #614 CARTOON NETWORK ACTION PACK #56 CHAOS WAR #5 (OF 5) CHAOS WAR X-MEN #2 (OF 2) CONAN THE ROAD OF KINGS #2 (OF 6) DARKNESS #89 DARKNESS FOUR HORSEMEN #3 (OF 4) DC COMICS PRESENTS SUPERMAN SOLE SURVIVOR #1 DEADPOOL #32 DEADPOOL CORPS #10 DETECTIVE COMICS #873 DRACULA COMPANY OF MONSTERS #6 FABLES #101 FANTASTIC FOUR #587 THREE FRAGGLE ROCK VOL 2 #2 (OF 3) FUTURAMA COMICS #53 GLAMOURPUSS #17 GREEN ARROW #8 (BRIGHTEST DAY) GUARDING THE GLOBE #3 (OF 6) INCORRUPTIBLE #14 INCREDIBLE HULKS #621 INFESTATION #1 (OF 2) JLA THE 99 #4 (OF 6) JUGHEAD #205 JUSTICE LEAGUE GENERATION LOST #18 (BRIGHTEST DAY) JUSTICE SOCIETY OF AMERICA #47 KATO ORIGINS WAY O/T NINJA #6 KEVIN SMITH KATO #7 KULL THE HATE WITCH #3 (OF 4) MAGNETO #1 NAMOR FIRST MUTANT #6 NEW AVENGERS #8 NEW MUTANTS #21 NEW YORK FIVE #1 (OF 4) ORSON SCOTT CARDS SPEAKER FOR DEAD #1 (OF 5) POCKET GOD #3 PUNISHER IN BLOOD #3 (OF 5) RED SONJA #54 RPM #2 (OF 4) SCALPED #45 SECRET AVENGERS #9 SHAZAM #1 SIXTH GUN #8 SKULLKICKERS #5 SPAWN #201 SPIDER LADY DOMINO ONE SHOT LADY SPIDER SPIDER-MAN #10 STAN LEE TRAVELER #3 STAR WARS DARTH VADER & LOST COMMAND #1 (OF 5) STAR WARS LEGACY WAR #2 (OF 6) TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #66 TEEN TITANS #91 THUNDERBOLTS #152 TWILIGHT GUARDIAN #1 (OF 4) ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS 3 #6 (OF 6) ULTIMATE COMICS DOOM #2 (OF 4) ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #152 UNCANNY X-FORCE #4 UNCANNY X-MEN #532 WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #4 WALT DISNEYS COMICS & STORIES #715 WONDER WOMAN #606 WORLD OF WARCRAFT CURSE OF THE WORGEN #3 (OF 5) X-23 #5 X-MEN #7 X-MEN FOREVER 2 #16 X-MEN TO SERVE AND PROTECT #3 (OF 4) ZATANNA #9 ZOMBIES VS ROBOTS 100 PENNY PRESS ED

Books / Mags / Stuff ALTER EGO #99 ART OF RED SONJA HC AVENGERS BY BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS PREM HC VOL 01 BACK ISSUE #46 BLECKY YUCKERELLA GN VOL 04 $$$$ YOU A-HOLE COMPLETE BAD COMPANY TP COWBOY NINJA VIKING TP VOL 02 DODGEM LOGIC MAGAZINE #6 HULK END TP ICE HAVEN TP JACK OF FABLES TP VOL 08 THE FULMINATE BLADE TP KILLER HC VOL 03 MODUS VIVENDI KING OF FLIES HC VOL 02 KODT BAG WARS SAGA GN (O/A) LAST UNICORN HC LOCKJAW & PET AVENGERS UNLEASHED TP GN LONE RANGER & TONTO TP MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN SPECTACULAR DIGEST TP OFF ROAD GN OKKO HC VOL 03 CYCLE OF AIR PAJAMA PARTY GN (A) QUESTION PIPELINE TP SAGA OF THE SWAMP THING HC BOOK 04 SANDMAN TP VOL 04 SEASON OF MISTS NEW ED SIEGE NEW AVENGERS TP STARGAZER GN STIGMATA HC TALES OF DRAGON GUARD TP WALKING DEAD OMNIBUS HC VOL 03 WHAT IF CLASSIC TP VOL 07 WIZARD MAGAZINE #235

What was the "something else"? Mm, I have to call an ASSHAT OF THE WEEK, this time -- what the hell is wrong with Marvel comics for shipping ALL THREE primary AVENGERS titles this week, as well as THREE different "Ultimate Universe" comics, as well as TWELVE (yes, TWELVE!!!!!!) X-Men comics? That's BEYOND fucked up. Do they WANT them not to sell? *sigh*

Anyway, what looks good to you?

-B

Tilting #199: ETEWAF

This month's Tilting discusses Patton Oswalt's "ETEWAF" theory -- http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=30428 -- I think I flesh out some of his points. Give it a read and let me know what you think!

-B

Wait, What? Ep. 23.2: A Weird Prejudice Against Fantasy

Here is the grand conclusion to Episode 23--in which Graeme and I talk about the changes to Superman: Grounded, The Walking Dead (not as deliberate a comparison and contrast as putting those two side-by-side might seem), Fables, and Wolverine: The Best There Is.  Also, there's a Kill Your Boyfriend reference in there, praise for Joe Kelly, an opportunity to make money by selling Grit, etc.

Itunes isn't quite as speedy with updating our RSS feed as it used to be but it's either there or it's coming.  And, of course, you are cordially invited to listen to it here:

Wait, What? Ep. 23.2: A Weird Prejudice Against Fantasy

If all goes well, we will have two--maybe even three--episodes as I get caught up and then we should be prepped for our new schedule of an episode a week of approximately an hour or so.  That sounds good, right?

Anyhoo, we hope you enjoy, and thanks for listening!

Wait, What? Ep. 23.1: Keep It Like A Secret

Apart from being a super-smart writer, Adam Knave also has a way with the promo material. Thanks, Adam!

As for us,  I got a little behind so there may be one or more of these coming your way this week before we (hopefully) settle in with our new leaner, lighter on the ears (and time commitment) approach.

Until then, however, you have Graeme and I from the first week of this year, shooting the shiz in extravagant fashion, and discussing Steel, Final Crisis, Grant Morrison's Invisibles, Garth Ennis' The Boys, Jeff Parker and Gabriel Hardman's Hulk, and, of course, Brad Meltzer's Decoded.

You can find it on Itunes or, of course, you can listen to it right here, if that's your fancy:

Wait, What? Ep. 23.1: Keep It Like A Secret

We hope you dig it, and thanks for listening!

Arriving 1/19/2011

Looking a smidge more like a normal week.... (under the cut!)

2000 AD PACK DEC 2010 2000 AD PROG 2011 28 DAYS LATER #19 AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #652 BIG ARCHIE & FRIENDS #151 ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #215 AVENGERS ACADEMY #8 AVENGERS VS PET AVENGERS #4 (OF 4) BATMAN #706 BATMAN STREETS OF GOTHAM #19 BOYS #50 BRIGHTEST DAY #18 BUFFY VAMPIRE SLAYER #40 LAST GLEAMING PT 5 (OF 5) CHARMED #5 A CVR SEIDMAN CRITICAL MILLENNIUM #3 (OF 4) CYCLOPS #2 DARKWING DUCK #8 DC COMICS PRESENTS THE ATOM #1 DEADPOOLMAX #4 DMZ #61 DOCTOR WHO VOL 2 #1 DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS #3 FEEDING GROUND #3 (OF 6) FRAGGLE ROCK VOL 2 #1 (OF 3) GEORGE RR MARTINS DOORWAYS #3 (OF 4) GFT MYTHS & LEGENDS #1 GIRL MEETS TENTACLE #1 (A) GORE #1 GREEN LANTERN CORPS #56 (BRIGHTEST DAY) HELLBLAZER #275  (NOTE PRICE) IDES OF BLOOD #6 (OF 6) INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #500 JURASSIC PARK THE DEVILS IN THE DESERT #1 (OF 4) JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #53 LEGION OF SUPER HEROES #9 LOCKE & KEY KEYS TO THE KINGDOM #4 (OF 6) LUCID #3 (OF 4) MASS EFFECT EVOLUTION #1 (OF 4) MEDITERRANEA #2 MEMOIR #1 (OF 6) MICKEY MOUSE #304 MORNING GLORIES #6 NORTHLANDERS #36 POWER GIRL #20 ROBERT E HOWARDS SAVAGE SWORD #1 SCARLET #4 SECRET HISTORY BOOK 14 SIMPSONS COMICS #174 SONIC UNIVERSE #24 SPIRIT #10 STAN LEE SOLDIER ZERO #4 STEAMPUNK PALIN ONE-SHOT SUPERGIRL #60 SUPERIOR #4 (OF 6) SUPERMAN BATMAN #80 THOR #619 THOR FIRST THUNDER #5 (OF 5) TINY TITANS #36 WALKING DEAD WEEKLY #3 WITCHBLADE #141 WOLVERINE #5 WOLVERINE & JUBILEE #1 (OF 4) X-FACTOR #214 X-MEN LEGACY #244 YOUNG JUSTICE #0

Books / Mags / Stuff AGE OF REPTILES OMNIBUS VOL 01 ARCHIE & FRIENDS TP VOL 08 ARCHIES & JOSIE AND PUSSYCATS BATTLE ANGEL ALITA LAST ORDER TP VOL 14 BPRD PLAGUE OF FROGS HC VOL 01 CHOPPER SURFS UP TP DARK IVORY TP DEADPOOL CLASSIC TP VOL 04 DENIS KITCHEN CHIPBOARD SKETCHBOOK HC DISNEY FAIRIES GN VOL 04 TINKER BELL TO THE RESCUE DODGEM LOGIC MAGAZINE #6 DRACULA THE COMPANY OF MONSTERS TP VOL 01 DRAWING COMICS IS EASY EXCEPT WHEN ITS HARD HC GARTH ENNIS BATTLEFIELDS TP VOL 06 MOTHERLAND GETTING CLOSE (A) GOON TP VOL 10 DEATHS GREEDY COMEUPPANCE HOUSE OF MYSTERY TP VOL 05 UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT JURASSIC PARK TP VOL 01 REDEMPTION JUSTICE LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL TP VOL 05 JUXTAPOZ #121 FEB 2011 MY NEW YORK DIARY GN (NEW PTG) NANCY IN HELL TP PAOLO PARENTES DUST WARS TP VOL 01 RAT CATCHER HC SECRET AVENGERS PREM HC MISSION TO MARS VOL 01 SECRET SIX CATS IN THE CRADLE TP SIEGE MIGHTY AVENGERS TP SMURFS GN VOL 04 SMURFETTE SPAWN ENDGAME COLLECTION TP STAR WARS LONG TIME AGO OMNIBUS TP VOL 03 STARGAZER GN STARMAN OMNIBUS HC VOL 06 STEVE ROGERS PREM HC SUPER-SOLDIER TANK GIRL WE HATE TANK GIRL TP TOMARTS ACTION FIGURE DIGEST #194/195 TOYFARE #163 YESTERDAYS TOMORROWS TP VOL 01

What looks good to YOU?

-B

Wait, What? Ep. 22.2: Greetings From the Fuuuuuuture!

Yes, after some delay, we are back with the conclusion of Ep. 22.2. We hope this has given you a chance to catch up and that you will enjoy our many fine podcasts to come.

The above image *does* get discussed in today's episode, by the way, and I'd like to give a shout-out to Brian Cronin at the always-awesome Comics Should Be Good for doing the heavy lifting on this one. Maybe 2011 is the year where Jeff actually posts relevant images for the podcast posts?  Hey, it could happen, right?

Anyway, for a podcast from the far-flung future of 2012, we covered a lot of old school ground (and most of it very Marvelish as well):  Arcade, Doc Doom, Odin, Man-Wolf, Aaron Sorkin's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip...(apparently, I confused that entire series with the Saturday Night Live issue of Marvel Team-Up but apparently that's common).

It's making its way through the Itunes pipeline now but you can listen to it below, right here, right now:

Wait, What? Ep. 22.2: Greetings from the Fuuuuuture!

Thanks for your patience!  We hope you enjoy!

Look, Up In The Sky: Graeme On The First Post-JMS Superman

From the very first page, you can tell that someone new is handling SUPERMAN #707. After more than half a year of a passive, dickish Man of Steel walking across America and coming across either standoffish and dick-like or curiously naive, the first page of the issue has Superman doing three "super" things - Stopping a bank robbery (with bullets bouncing off his chest!), saving a girl's life (by stopping a train! With his bare hands!) and grabbing a falling helicopter. It's as if new writer Chris Roberson thought, "People might need a reminder why Superman is awesome." The true fun starts on the next page, though; the inescapable point of Roberson's first issue as "scripter" - Although Straczynski's hand is evident in the "We're real people in the middle of America and life is hard for us real people" interlude in the center of the issue, there's enough in this issue that feels at odds with the rest of "Grounded" to feel as if Roberson is rethinking the story as a whole, instead of just writing dialogue for someone else's plot - is that something is wrong with Superman. He says it himself, without realizing it, multiple times ("What good is the truth, Miss Lane, if it just causes suffering?" being the most telling, even moreso than "Everything used to be so clear. Truth. Justice. The American way. But now? Now, I'm not sure about anything" at the end of the issue), and it's pointed out to him a couple of times, as well. We get a potential explanation as to why - mind control of some sort, courtesy the woman who's been following him across the country - and a hint at a possible solution, courtesy of the guest stars on the final page (One of whom seems to be Super Obama, which makes me wonder if guest artist Allan Goldman misinterpreted some direction to draw the presidential Superman from Final Crisis #7), but that almost doesn't matter: By saying "This is Superman when he's broken," Roberson immediately makes "Grounded" into a story that has much more potential than the one JMS seemed to be writing (If nothing else, it begs the questions, "How does he get 'better'?" and "What does it mean for Superman to be 'fixed'?", both of which are more interesting than "Can Superman walk across the country?").

It's not enough that Roberson pulls the story - and the character, and the series - out of a nosedive in surprisingly short time, though; he also demonstrates though a couple of different techniques that he gets what's been missing from the character in recent months, and it's not just Superman saving the day - there's a welcome... I don't want to say "retro," but a welcome use of thought balloons and shout-outs to some of Superman's more obscure powers that suggests that Roberson is ready to bring some of the imagination back to the character, some level of the fantastic and, well, less grounded elements that make the character so worthwhile. There's something genuinely endearing about reading Lois point out that Superman doesn't actually need a cellphone without it coming across as too snarky.

The issue isn't perfect - Roberson leans a little too heavily on the "something is wrong with Superman" thing with three fairly blatant teases in one issue for my taste, and Goldman's art throughout is fairly lacklustre, like a blander Fernando Pasarin but without the acting chops - but it is solidly Good, and compared with what Superman has been suffering through for the last four installments of this story, feels like the franchise is finally back on the right track again. Now, let Superman get back to being Superman, bring on Chris Samnee as artist and you'll have something ideal.