Articles by mike-gold
Mon Jul 7, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Why Comic Book Sales Suck, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo
Last week, ComicMix commenter Alan Coil and I got into a brief discussion about what constitutes decent comic book sales. It is certainly fair for Alan to compare sales against current trends; I like to compare sales against sales potential in the marketplace.
There’s a market for comic books. This is borne out by the fact that ComicMix, much like Wizard Magazine and other venues over the past decade or so, attracts a bigger audience than the vast majority of all comics published in the United States, as measured by the number of different people who actually read the stuff. Yet despite all the success of comic book product in other media – from Iron Man to Road To Perdition – there has been little if any increase in domestic comics sales. How could this be? Herein lies a history lesson.
Forget about the never-ending über-convoluted and oft-retconed continuity. I’ve bitched about all that before, and, happily, our commenters comment consistently thereupon. To look to the root of this particular evil, we must set our WaBac Machines way back to, oh, around 1948. That’s when the comics publishers started to piss in their own soup.
In 1948, comic book publishers were sailing in dire straits. Average sales were down, the number of titles were up, rack space was getting crowded, and super-heroes weren’t selling like they used to. Clearly, that trend was winding down. Magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post and Reader’s Digest were telling parents that comic books caused juvenile delinquency and promoted homosexuality. Neighborhood candy stores and newsstands started to disappear, as did local drug stores. Bolstered by the G.I. Bill, young adults with small children were leaving for the suburbs – a mysterious land with higher-rent open air shopping strips where drug store owners couldn’t make a buck off of selling high-maintenance items for 10 cents.
Creeping Werthamism aside, comics publishers were not alone in this situation. The diminishing presence of traditional newsstands grossly affected newspaper and magazine sales across the board. Papers raised their price from three or four cents to a nickel; a substantial increase, percentage-wise. Magazines raised their prices in a similar fashion; the dime novel, which by now was 15¢, was being replaced by the 25¢ paperback book.
So what did comics publishers do? Did they follow the other publishers in raising cover price? The other publishers weren’t fighting PTAs and major magazines and, eventually, senate subcommittee hearings as they were. They felt that increasing their price to 15¢ was a bad idea. So they cut content.
Mon Jun 30, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Not Even Close To The News, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo
I did a column a couple weeks ago about the wacky New York Post, spurring a comment from Vinnie Bartilucci about how the rag is merely a return to the glory days of yellow journalism. There’s a lot of truth to that, and I was reminded of statements by the brilliant columnist Jimmy Breslin. He persistently advocates on behalf of the entertainment value of the medium and recently told New York magazine “newspapers are so boring. How can you read a newspaper that starts with a 51-word lead sentence? They’re trying to prove they went to college.”
My first journalism teacher got his start in Chicago’s The Front Page days, and he dazzled me. Here’s a guy who, when he was roughly the age I was at the time, ran with the likes of Ben Hecht and Charlie MacArthur. He worked for William Randolph Hearst’s Chicago American, a paper so yellow they actually printed the front page flat on yellow newsprint – hence the name. He worked in the fabled Madhouse on Madison Street, a building across from the Chicago Civic Opera house (of Citizen Kane fame) that was so ugly that when Hearst saw it, he refused to walk in. Editors would routinely call the wives of murder victims posing as policemen asking the immediately-widowed that she gather a few really “interesting” photos of the deceased for a “detective” who would be showing up at the front door within a few minutes. Within an hour or two, those photos would be on the front page.
I loved that stuff. By the time I was reading newspapers, Hearst died, the American had been sold to the staid Chicago Tribune, and the Madhouse on Madison Street became a commercial office building with a slightly less tacky new façade. Ironically, Hearst’s Midwest advertising sales offices remained headquartered in the facility.
But Hearst and Hecht and MacArthur, and their New York counterparts like Walter Winchell and the amazing Damon Runyon, had nothing on Bernarr Macfaddon. For one thing, back before the Great Depression, Macfaddon invented Photoshop.
Mon Jun 23, 2008 — by Mike Gold
George Carlin: Death and Coincidence
The final truth...
This editorial cartoon was published in the Cincinnati Enquirer, before word of George Carlin's death. I know this is a somewhat different definition of the word "comic" than we usually address here on ComicMix, but Carlin did much – perhaps more than anybody else – to mold and shape our attitudes over the past 40 years. He will be greatly missed. Thanks and a tip of the hat to the Chicago Tribune's Charlie Meyerson. His paper also published this cartoon before news of Carlin's death. And no, I won't say "passing." Carlin hated such euphemisms. 
Mon Jun 23, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Sure You Can Go Home Again, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo
I always thought Thomas Wolfe was full of shit. Of course you can go home again. Heck, with the Internets you can bring home with you wherever you go.
As I commence to pack for Wizard World Chicago this coming Thursday through Sunday, I am planning out my schedule to the tunes from WXRT Radio, one of the last of the commercial progressive radio stations, still a comparatively cool experience even though it’s now owned by CBS, or whatever they’re calling themselves this week. I just had a light lunch consisting of imported Vienna Hot Dogs – the awesome ones in the natural casing that even my most chauvinistic New York buddies gobble up – while eating a bag of Jay’s potato chips , the original potato chip created by Leonard Japp at the very specific “request” of Al Capone. No kidding.
I’m playing with my schedule so that we might be able to attend a performance of Bloody Bess, the play written by John Ostrander and William J. Norris (as told on ComicMix). I only saw it about a million times during Stuart Gordon’s original run. I’m also playing around with post-convention amusements for my fellow ComicMixers as we go about our business in the Midwest. The far-famed Taste of Chicago will be occupying the downtown lakefront, and there’re the usual architectural thrills and gangland haunts. There’s also at least a dozen brilliant comic book shops out there the likes of which I rarely see anyplace else. And, of course, there are a lot of people we work with who either live in the vicinity or will be there for the show – Hilary Barta, Andrew Pepoy, George Hagenauer, Len Strazewski, Chris Burnham, Doug Rice, Peter B. Gillis, Jim Engel, Peter David… to name but a very few. I wonder if Dan DiDio will be there?
Wed Jun 18, 2008 — by Mike Gold
New Images of Davros' Return to 'Doctor Who'
Not just your father's Daleks...
A new pair of images making the rounds online would seem to add some color to recent reports confirming the return of Doctor Who villain Davros to the hit science-fiction television series.
While many Who fans had already guessed that the creator of the Daleks would be making a return (citing the final moments of this Doctor Who Season Four preview as evidence), newcomers should know that the the classic villain's return is a big, big deal in the Doctor Who universe. It's a big enough deal, in fact, that the threat is worthy of bringing back Torchwood
The Telegraph recently reported that Davros will make his return in the final two episodes of the season, and be played by Shakespearian actor Julian Bleach.
But, ummmm... what's up with that red Dalek?
Tue Jun 17, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Casper The Old Ghost
Still hanging in...
Sixty years ago next year, the remnants of the Fleischer Studio teamed up with the folks at St. John Comics (Tor, Three Stooges, and the original 3-D comics) to create Casper The Friendly Ghost #1. It lasted five issues. Paramount, owners of the Fleischer operation, took the license over to Harvey Comics and a legend floated off the ground.
While children's comics have been largely ignored in the American marketplace for the past decade or two, Casper stayed alive in movies and on DVD. His present owner, Classics Media, has big plans for the ghost's 60th.
They've got a major Halloween push coming this fall, including clothing and music and games and toys and greeting cards and tattoos.
They've also got a new teevee show which already has been sold in 60 markets, including France, Britain, and Japan.
As for comics, well, Dark Horse recently released a nifty reprint anthology, mostly in black-and-white but still a great value.
Not bad for a small child who's been dead for 60 years.
Tue Jun 17, 2008 — by Mike Gold
DC Comics On The 'Fringe'
Abrams TV to DC, See?
According to USA Today, DC Comics is going to break its long-standing tradition and actually commit to a new series based on a teevee show before it goes on the air.
J.J. Abrams, instigator of the series Alias and Lost and director of the upcoming Star Trek: The Next Damn Movie, has a new show going up on the Fox Network called Fringe, which is supposed to be in the X-Files vein. The show debuts August 27th; DC's book – which reportedly is without writer or artist -- is supposed to ship the first issue August 13th. We're not taking bets on that.
Fringe stars Charlotte Rampling (Zardoz), Mark Valley (Boston Legal), Blair Brown (Altered States) and a bunch of others. Abrams' writing posse of Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who huddled over Mission Impossible 3 and the aforementioned Alias and Star Trek: The Next Remake, have hooked up for the new series.
Maybe they'll knock out the comic book while they're at it.
Mon Jun 16, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Torchwood Season 3 - Longer and Shorter
Well, I guess all the upheavals at the end of the second season of Torchwood sure made fans curious about what's going to happen next season. The fact is, to steal an award-winning word from the next executive producer of daddy-series Doctor Who, if you blink, you might miss it.
Season three, scheduled to air around January of next year, will consist of one long, continuous story written, at least in part, by creator/producer Russell T. Davies. That's the good news.
The bad news is, this story will only run five episodes. Given the unpredictability of BBC-TV runtimes, that means as far as 2009 is concerned we're probably only going to get about four and one-half hours of Torchwood.
Captain Jack, however, will be playing a prominent role in the last several parts of this season's Doctor Who, as will Torchwood's U.N.I.T.-affiliated Doctor Jones. As for the Captain's appearances in the series of Who specials set for 2009... dare I say it... time will tell.
Mon Jun 16, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Talkin' Annie Warbucks / Pete Seeger Blues, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo
Well, that headline ought to cause some Google searcher meltdown. But the fact is, right wing poster child Little Orphan Annie has a lot in common with mega-leftie songleader Pete Seeger.
This dawned on me because of the confluence of recent events. IDW released the first volume of The Complete Little Orphan Annie last week. American Masters ran its documentary about Pete earlier this month and, yes, it’s PBS so it’ll be rerun forever. Which is fine; both are absolutely first rate. Both are American legends.
Little Orphan Annie was created by Harold Gray, a man who fit in nicely with his boss, the contemptible isolationist Col. Robert McCormack, a man so far to the right when he disagreed with the politics coming out of Rhode Island he removed their star from the American flag that was raised right above his office atop Chicago’s Tribune Tower. Until he was told he could go to jail for desecrating the flag, McCormack and his employees – including Gray – worked right under America’s only 47 star flag. Both Gray and McCormick loathed Franklin Delano Roosevelt to the point of histrionics. Gray’s comic strip fully represented those values; Annie’s Daddy Warbucks even did a little jig on FDR’s grave.
Continue reading Talkin' Annie Warbucks / Pete Seeger Blues, by Mike Gold ›
Sun Jun 15, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Who's A Hooker
Review: Secret Diary of a Call Girl
Actress Billie Piper does not appear naked in Secret Diary of a Call Girl. Well, a bit here and there, actually. Oh, and if you’re a Doctor Who fan, he’s not in this series.
You may have noticed Showtime is debuting a series tomorrow called Secret Diary of a Call Girl. However, it’s possible that you’ve been staring at the promos so closely, you might have missed the forest for the trees, so to speak. Yes, that is Doctor Who companion Rose Tyler as the author of said secret diary. But now she calls herself Belle. Somewhere else in the time/space continuum, she remains British pop singer-turned-actress Billie Piper.
Due to the kindness of not-so-strangers, I have seen the first seven episodes of this program as originally aired in England. For one thing, Showtime is selling it with lots of shots of Piper shopping. If you think this show is another Sex And The City, you’re wrong. It’ll appeal to straight men. But the fashions are nice.
The show will arouse most guys' prurient interest. I was going to say “because there’s nudity and sex garments and stuff,” but SATC had that, too. All I can say is, the show will arouse most guys' prurient interest.
I’ll bet you I just increased Showtime’s ratings.
If, like many of us here at ComicMix, you’re a Doctor Who fan you might find the sexual content of this show disconcerting. If so, please, by all means, get a life. One that actually involves another person.
Sun Jun 15, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Would You Believe... Ditko?
Get Smart got Steve
Let's see. Captain Atom. The Amazing Spider-Man. Doctor Strange. Mr. A. The Question. The Creeper. Maxwell Smart. Yup. That's right. The one aspect all these great characters had in common was artist and demure legend Steve Ditko.
To be fair, virtually every comics artist of the 1950s and 60s did their share of teevee adaptations, but the Spider-Man co-creator was almost an exception. I might be missing a couple, but Steve drew a handful of Get Smart stories published in issues #2 and #3 (Dell, 1966), a total of 66 pages inked by Sal Trapani, according to Ditko biographer Blake Bell. His only other teevee adaptation work on record is an issue of Hogan's Heroes, for the same publisher.
I'll let that sink in for a minute. Steve Ditko drew Get Smart and Hogan's Heroes. Talk about casting against type.
Given his political work (The Avenging World, Mr. A) and the tone of much of his post-Creeper stuff, one might not readily associate humor with the famed artist. Yet these stories show quite a flair for the material while still being Ditkoesque. And I know from personal experience that Steve has quite a profound sense of humor; further, back in his Charlton days he actually had a reputation for being a practical joker.
Blake Bell's biography of the reclusive artist, Strange and Stranger: The World of Steve Ditko, will be released next month. See the movie, read the book!
Sat Jun 14, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Warren Ellis Now A Hollywood Red
DC mini goes to the Summit
Our step-brothers over at Cinematical report Warren Ellis' Red has been optioned by Summit Entertainment. It will be written, or at least first-drafted, by Whiteout's Erich and John Hoeber.
It seems DC Comics owner Warner Bros. (well, DC is a division of Warner Bros, which is a division of Time Warner, which ate the cow that ate the dog that ate the cat) has permitted Ellis to join Max Allan Collins' Road To Perdition (you know; the one with Tom Hanks and Paul Newman) as a DC Comics-published movie handled by another outfit. They seem to focus on capes.
Reports about the faithfulness of the adaptation differ; we'll see when the movie is cast, re-written, filmed and edited. But every non-cape comics adaptation is a victory, ergo kudos to Ellis.
Sat Jun 14, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Archer, Armstrong & Shooter
The Dyspeptic Duo return!
One of my favorite superhero buddy teams is coming back -- well, sort of. The recently resurrected Valiant Entertainment has been busy publishing hardcover collected editions of their Shooter-era original titles (in other words, not the Gold Key licensed stuff like Doctor Solar and Turok), each with an original story.
Third up is Archer and Armstrong, created by Jim Shooter and Don Perlin with input from Valiant stalwarts such as Bob Layton and Barry Windsor-Smith. The first volume reprints issues #0 through #6 and includes an original origin story by Jim and artists Sal Velluto and Bob Almond – all under a new cover by Michael Golden.
Archer and Armstrong Volume One is expected to ship September 24, 2008.
Mon Jun 9, 2008 — by Mike Gold
Not Necessarily The News, by Mike Gold
Whizzy's Wazoo
I have previously opined my regrets that America’s most reliable newspaper – some might say only reliable newspaper – the Weekly World News, bit the dust. It was a hoot.
Because the New York Post cloaks itself in the shroud of legitimacy, it may very well be America’s most unreliable newspaper. It is the hairy wart on Rupert Murdoch’s considerable media ass, which is saying something. The Post is completely bereft of credibility.
But they’ve got a sense of humor about it, and I’ve got to give them credit. Rupert’s book publishing division Harper Collins came out with a volume reprinting many of the, ahhh, more interesting front pages published in the Post since he bought the staid, boring tabloid and converted it into a daily joke. But at least it’s a good joke.
Entitled Headless Body In Topless Bar, the book was named after what may very well be the most memorable front page headline since Variety’s “Wall Street Lays An Egg.” That one set the standard for both the rag and for journalism itself: rarely has an entire story been reduced to five words. They did that back in 1983 and haven’t beaten it yet.
They reprint over 150 front pages in black and white (most were published in black and white, but the paper went to color several years ago) – from “Crowe Flies” (Russell; get it?) to “Good Noose” (about Saddam’s sentencing), from “Bowling For Palestine” (Arafat’s theft of pro-Palestinian funds) to my second-favorite: “V-D Day!” The sub-head, which does nothing to illuminate the story, is “Paris liberated, bimbos rejoice.” You couldn’t mix that many messages in a blender.
Fri Jun 6, 2008 — by Mike Gold
John Ostrander's 'Bloody Bess' Retakes The Stage
Well, Ostrander, Norris and Gordon's Bloody Bess
Way back in the dark ages, Stuart Gordon directed a play for his Organic Theater written by ComicMix’s own John Ostrander and our pal William J. Norris called Bloody Bess. It starred Dennis Franz, Joe Mantegna and Meshach Taylor along with writer Norris – writer Ostrander was pressed into service once when he wasn’t performing at the Goodman Theater with Del Close. The play was about this lady pirate’s revenge on her kidnappers and had lots of swashbuckling and mystery and terror. I saw it only about nine times.
It toured all over the world, but eventually, like all stage plays, it faded. And like all good stage plays, Bloody Bess is making its triumphant return.
Between June 13 and July 20, Chicago’s BackStage Theater Company will be presenting Bloody Bess at The Storefront Theatre Gallery 37, 66 East Randolph Street, downtown near Lake Mighigan. It stars Eva Swan, Ron Kuzava and Scott Graham. They work on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm and on Sundays at 3 pm.
Hmmm… This will be going on during Wizard World Chicago. If you’re around, check it out.
