I swear by the bristling beard of Odin that I had never even heard of “Electric Dreams” when I wrote this thing all of four years ago. I will, however, own up to totally ripping off “War Games.”

Read Overman - Shane’s the man! :0

Regards,
Thad Branco
Publisher
The Danger’s Dozen

Thanks for the kind words. I’m quite hopeful this will be a unique and rewarding read for you.

Best,

=shane=

No comment on the Batman: False Faces HC?

Missed that one, actually. You’re right, though, as I remember it, it is pretty good. The Matches Malone story by Vaughan was short but very good.

The thing I have a quick question about is marketing. How is the somewhat casual consumer supposed to pick out “Batman: False Faces” from any of the other myriad Batman TPBs and HCs? Why not title this volume “Batman Visions: Brian K Vaughan” or something to that effect, since the only thing uniting the stories is that they’re all written by him?

As a guess, DC wants to market their characters (which they own) rather than their talent (who will often switch sides). Seems kind of stupid, in that you’re absolutely right that a “Batman Visions: Brian K Vaughan” would probably draw in more buyers than “Batman: Random 100th Trade Name” will.

Your point about Johns is well taken. He is one of DC’s big stars of the moment, but you don’t really see his name trumpeted the way they trumpet authors from outside comics like Jodi Picoult, Brad Meltzer, etc.

Marvel isn’t tons better about it, either. Granted, they have their “Visionaries” line that is creator branded, but they also tend to focus a bit more on promoting characters rather than writers, unless the writers are so big (Joss Whedon, etc.) as to bring in more people than just the characters can.

Along with last month’s Batman Brubaker HC, DC is picking some random stuff to collect into HC these days. Except, thing is, the stuff they’re picking is GOOD. I remember LOVING that Batman Matches Malone story written by Vaughan that they are collecting. And as you guys mentioned last month, the stuff in Brubaker’s volume is good too.

The thing I have a quick question about is marketing. How is the somewhat casual consumer supposed to pick out “Batman: False Faces” from any of the other myriad Batman TPBs and HCs? Why not title this volume “Batman Visions: Brian K Vaughan” or something to that effect, since the only thing uniting the stories is that they’re all written by him? I would think it would be certain to sell more in the direct market… maybe even to casual bookstore consumers. Same thing with Brubaker’s volume given the rep his name has recently.

Not only would this provide better marketing, it would also be a nice overture to the writers themselves to market their NAME - seems like a friendly thing for a company to do. I remember when DC used to do this all the time - trumpetng Greg Rucka when he was writing Supes, Bats, and WW at the same time for example.

And this seems like something DC has failed to do recently. One could easily argue the three most loved series at mainstream DC right now are written by Geoff Johns - Sinestro Corps, JSA, and Booster Gold. Yet somehow Johns’ profile FEELS much lower than it was two years ago. (though admittedly I think he burnt out for a bit with too much work going on - glad he seems to have recovered).

Anyway. Would love to hear comments on this.

*Next Issue Project #1 (Image)–Erik Larsen’s pet project to reintroduce and reinvent public domain comics. I figure it’s worth a look for one issue at least. The $5.99 price tag (for 64 pages) was probably a bad idea, as it will scare people away despite the “value” of that many pages…

The book is also going to be Golden Age sized so its also going to be a bigger book for that price tag.

I am really looking forward to this. Erik Larsen has just the right sensibility to make this fun. If this were an SAT questions, it would be

All-Star Superman : Silver Age
Next Issue : Golden Age

Or so we can hope. It look to be a lot better than the Ross/Kreuger Superpowers golden age book, anyway.

C.

Chip do those resolicits also extend to Station and Salvador?

The book is also going to be Golden Age sized so its also going to be a bigger book for that price tag.

Criminal gets it’s second trade. I’m there of course. I really hope Marvel gives it a big HC treatment in the future sometime.

End League sounds really good and the one page preview in Previews had me sold.

Indiana Jones Omnibus has me in a way but it’s one of those I’ve never read before. Big fan of the films(Raiders and Last Crusade in particular) but not sure if I’m willing to take the risk.

Ultimates 3 with Joe Mad? I’ll pass thanks.

The first Annihilation:Conquest OHC will be out in January, and contain the prologue, the Annihilation saga one-shot, and the Starlord and Quasar minis. I’m guessing that, along with the Nova TPB, means that there will be only 2 Conquest OHCs.
Oh, and next month’s Previews is also supposed to have the Frank Miller’s Elektra Omnibus: 400 pages of goodness for $50.

Wow. January is going to be an expensive Marvel month for me…

Maybe… you think Wraith and the Annihilation: Conquest mini in the second hardcover? It could also follow the pattern of the original Annihilation hardcovers, if they put Nova and Wraith in the second and the Annihilation: Conquest series proper in the third. But that assumes they’ll reprint the Nova stuff in hardcover as well, which does seem unlikely.

Yeah, without the Nova issues, or the equivalent of the Drax mini, I just don’t see enough material to fill up three OHCs. This time, though, I’m going to be pre-ordering them. I waited a bit to get the Annihilation OHCs, and now 1 & 3 are gone pretty much everywhere.

The first Annihilation:Conquest OHC will be out in January, and contain the prologue, the Annihilation saga one-shot, and the Starlord and Quasar minis. I’m guessing that, along with the Nova TPB, means that there will be only 2 Conquest OHCs.

Maybe… you think Wraith and the Annihilation: Conquest mini in the second hardcover? It could also follow the pattern of the original Annihilation hardcovers, if they put Nova and Wraith in the second and the Annihilation: Conquest series proper in the third. But that assumes they’ll reprint the Nova stuff in hardcover as well, which does seem unlikely.

*Tezuka’s Apollo’s Song (Vertical)–This is also not a new release, but since seeing the Tezuka exhibition at the Asian Art Museum in SF this summer, I’ve been snagging these super-thick books from the godfather of manga. As a “plus” for Americans, I think it reads left-to-right (like regular US comics do).

Apollo’s Song is indeed in left-to-right format, and is a great look at the effects of love (or the lack thereof) and a gripping story. I covered it in Manga Zubon back in June. I also definitely recommend his Buddha and Phoenix series, Adolf (if you can find it- its been unavailable for awhile), and Ode to Kurohito. All are excellent.

Yes. I’m pathetic. I have my October order done already!

Other notables that I’m picking up not covered by you:

*Pride of Baghdad SC (DC-Vertigo)–I decided to “wait for the trade” on this. And what a wait it was! It seems like this has been out in HC for at least a year…

*Next Issue Project #1 (Image)–Erik Larsen’s pet project to reintroduce and reinvent public domain comics. I figure it’s worth a look for one issue at least. The $5.99 price tag (for 64 pages) was probably a bad idea, as it will scare people away despite the “value” of that many pages…

*Danger’s Dozen (A First Salvo)–A new comic with Norm Breyfogle art from a comic company that appears to be run by intelligent businessmen and comic fans (a rare combination). Looking forward to this.

*Freebooters HC (Fantagraphics)–Yes, this is a “Star of the Month” so it’s not new, but it’s new to me since I missed it the first time. This collects the published (and unpublished) episodes of this story from Barry Windsor Smith’s short-lived Storyteller anthology series. If you loved his work on Eternal Warrior and especially Archer & Armstrong, this is where all that great art and wonderful storytelling went after BWS left Valiant. Boy would I love to see BWS put out some new stuff…

*Tezuka’s Apollo’s Song (Vertical)–This is also not a new release, but since seeing the Tezuka exhibition at the Asian Art Museum in SF this summer, I’ve been snagging these super-thick books from the godfather of manga. As a “plus” for Americans, I think it reads left-to-right (like regular US comics do).

World War Hulk is however a total bust for me. I just dont like that a battle with the Hulk boils down to “let’s call Sentry

i thought i was the only one who found WWH boring as all-get-out.

oh and consider me sold on Northlanders (though i’ll hold out for the trade)