So you'd rather have the seventies' Batman?

Is it any wonder the only constructive thing the Bronze Age Batman could do in Crisis [on Infinite Earths] was knock out Calendar Man. Heck, I could knock out Calendar Man. Marsha Mallow could knock out Calendar Man.

...The modern Batman doesn't stand around uselessly during a Crisis ... he causes it. You show 'em, B-man!

This is why I love The Absorbascon.

We chose this rut

COMICON.COM | RUCKA'S GRAND EXPERIMENT: The OMAC Project
Greg Rucka said the plans have been in place for the OMAC Project and the other current miniseries tying things into the Infinite Crisis for close to three years. There was a lot of time in the planning and deliberate placement of certain events to help herald the payoff in Infinite Crisis. "We had to cordon off the DC Universe and decide what we had to do to tell the story we ultimately wanted to tell," Rucka said.

Hm. So, they used the same plot (Batman's contingency plans are compromised: heroes and innocents die) three times on purpose?

That has got to be the biggest, most blatant "that's not a bug, that's a feature" claim I've heard in a while.

I thought I'd be Bouncing Boy

You're Andrew Nolan, Ferro!


Which Legionnaire are you?
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Predictions

Before DC's Infinite Crisis is over, there will be a new Blue Beetle. Yeah, yeah, I know, that's a lot like predicting Mr Haney will show up in a random episode of "Green Acres".

Either: (A) The new Beetle will be a woman, or (B) The new Beetle will be Booster Gold in a new costume, since his old identity is being systematically shredded.

All these fans who are salivating at the prospect of DC re-creating the Multiverse (Earth-1, Earth-2, etc) can just get over it. It ain't gonna happen.

Batman isn't going to change nearly as dramatically as some people think.

Billy Batson will become the new "Shazam", and Mary Marvel will resume operations as the one true Captain Marvel.

Jim Corrigan (from Gotham Central) will become the Spectre. Something about destiny. (Mind you, I'd really rather see Sue Dibny get the job. There's fresh ground for you: a pert Spectre. She and Death can pal around.)

More as I think of 'em.

Why 32 pages?

Steve Bennett, in his column Confessions of a Comic Book Guy, argues that, counter to the whining fans, comic books should be more expensive. And, more to the point, that the traditional format, the 32 page pamphlet, should die.

I agree. In fact, I don't think it should ever have shrunk down to 32 pages, although it didn't seem so bad back when comics had only eight pages of ads. Action #1 was ten cents for 64 pages, and the only ad was on the back cover.

Over the next twenty years, comics shrank in fits and starts, desperate to keep the magic ten-cent price point. By the time of the Justice League and the Fantastic Four (comics' Silver Age), they were at their present 32 pages, and about a third of that were ads. Costs continues to rise, as costs have a way of doing.

I've always suspected that the 80-page giants of the period were a test to see if the market would support a thicker, more expensive comic. Being reprints, the contents cost the publisher nothing (pay royalties? to a cartoonist? why?), and on that basis they must have been viable, but the continuing 32-page titles took a circulation hit when they went from ten to twelve cents.

And they still take a hit every time the price rises.

We're up to a minimum of $2.50-$3.00 for that same 32-page pamphlet. A comic that sold in the hundreds of thousands--or, occasionally, millions--thirty years ago sells in the tens of thousands now. Hard to believe that Batman, a comic featuring a character that almost everyone who speaks English knows, only sells 60,000 copies an issue.

Team-ups that should absolutely happen

The Black Cat and the Black Canary.

What DC should do

DC should revive and heavily promote its version of Thor (since Marvel isn't using theirs anymore). I can think of several ways to do this. Perhaps in a team book with their Hercules and Quicksilver (last seen traveling under the name Max Mercury). Perhaps this would be a logical direction in which to take their new "Son of Vulcan" title.

Or, maybe, a completely different Thor. One of the early Manhunters used to have a dog named Thor. No reason the current Manhunter couldn't have one.

When Marvel complains, offer to cease and desist in return for permission to promote DC's "Captain Marvel" character under his own name.

If Marvel is stubborn, make veiled hints regarding the Sentry's resemblance to a certain DC property who also wears an "S" on his costume. Mention the rumors that Marvel is going to republish Alan Moore's Marvelman/Miracleman series and hint that, difficult as that has been, it could get a lot harder (since the character originated as an unlicensed steal of Captain Marvel).

I'm sure they could work something out if they really wanted to.

Fat Chance Archives, vol 4

Jim Aparo

I don't intend to get into the habit of noting obituaries, but the loss of Jim Aparo seems to have struck a nerve in the comics-commentary community. Aparo was one of those rare artists, like Curt Swan, Jose Luis Garcia Lopez and John Romita, who work continuously from the moment they break into the business to the moment they choose to retire, artists who can draw any damn' thing and make theirs the definitive look for that character.

Aparo was also one of those artists who never achieved superstar status, but in retrospect it's difficult to see why. I chose the cover above, not because it's particularly significant, but because for all its virtues it is utterly typical of Aparo's style. He's taken a situation that would have looked downright silly in other hands and given it an additional layer of dramatic tension. And there's no doubt that in the unlikely event that Robin and Batgirl (as opposed to Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon) ever did get married, that is exactly what they would wear to the wedding.

A generation of readers got their idea of what Aquaman, the Spectre, the Phantom Stranger and Batman should look like from Jim Aparo. Not too shabby.

"The Best of the Spirit"

And in the new year, look for THE SPIRIT, the first issue of a new, ongoing series written and illustrated by Darwyn [Cooke]. This new series is set in modern-day Central City, where The Spirit will face villains both old and new.

Also coming in December is THE BEST OF THE SPIRIT, an affordable trade paperback collecting almost two dozen stories by Will Eisner, with a new introduction by Neil Gaiman.