Tony’s Column

Tony’s Column

December 30, 2005

A Christmas Poem

Hi everyone. Christmas is here and the weather is pretty nice, for this time of year.  I am going to try setting this column to an old Christmas standard. Here we go:

‘Twas the night before Christmas and through all the cosmos,

Not a creature was stirring, except the three in the pocket universe

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

In hopes that Lex Luthor wouldn’t ruin the affair

The children were all nestled in their beds,

Never realizing they didn’t exist instead.

Wanda creating, and Magneto in back,

Had just settled down, to ruling the world.

Then there arose such a clatter

It was the Hulk in Australia making mutant batter

Away in the wind, the mutants scattered in a flash

Hoping that the Hulk would not bash.

The moon on the computer, maybe fresh fallen snow

Batman couldn’t remember as he sat down below

When what to my wandering eye should appear

But a memory of Dr. Light and how scary he used to be

As the bat started to wonder why his memory was sick

The JLA where thinking about getting rid of it

Faster than the Flash, Pietro did run

To stop his papa from ruling the world

On Lex one, Lex 2 and 3,

On Hawkeye, Antman, whatever dead may be

Now take off, take off and fly

As I sat in my store and said with a sigh

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

I shortened the poem a little but you get the drift. From our house to yours, have an infinitely wonderful holiday season and may no crisis come your way. Tony

December 23, 2005

Rebirth

Hi folks. It’s shaping up to be a blustery Manitoba day. It’s only one week until Christmas and I think I should come clean about something. Seventeen years ago, I killed someone. They had just been beaten up by a homicidal maniac and left in a building, that was then blown up by said maniac. I could have made the call to save his life but instead I made twenty-three calls to make sure that he was dead. When the next issue of Batman was published and Jason Todd was dead, having been killed by a small margin (less than twenty votes), it made me feel good about paying the fifty cents a call to have that whiney little kid gone. The new Robin, and even Carrie from The Dark Knight Returns, were better than that twerp ever was.

           Well, it’s seventeen years later and the dead have come back to life (but they’re not voting Republican, and hopefully not Conservative). Jason Todd is back and I think DC owes me a six-pack of beer. I gave up draft night money to make sure that Jason was dead. I even kept the old phone bill until last year, with the calls I had made to the 800 number in the last half hour of voting. Death really means nothing in the comics’ universe. Captain Marvel has stayed dead, but now I wonder how much longer that will last. I think, after the Marvel ‘infinite crisis’ (and yes,  there will be one, somehow connected with their version of Seven Soldiers), we will see Mar-vell return in all his glory, Phoenix will be back from the dead, and Starbrand will be resurrected.

           Death is now just a cheap ploy to move a series that isn’t selling. What next - will Uncle Ben show up and say “it wasn’t me, but a clone!“ I hear the Changeling is back in X-Men, possibly the same one that was killed in X-Men #42, when he was impersonating Professor X. We have already had the return of Kara Zor-El (a.k.a. Supergirl), the Golden Age Superman, Lois Lane and Superboy. Why not bring back Martha and Jonathan Wayne? When a few people who cry and say ‘we want so-and-so back’, the company does it, as with Green Lantern and Green Arrow. I’ve heard Barry Allen is possibly next. When Phoenix died the first time, I felt moved, and when she was resurrected, it was plausibly done. I am starting to feel cheated. Now, when a character dies, be it a noble death or not, I ask myself ‘yeah, so when will they be back?‘ It makes me sad.

           So, now you know how I killed a whiny young hero, and how he has now miraculously come back to life to wreak havoc on all those that didn’t help him. If he found out about me, he may come off the pages to look for his real killer, not the Joker or OJ. Then again, maybe I will rise from the dead if he does. Although, that’s not something I’m eager to try. Till next week. Tony

 

December 16, 2005

Musical Memories

Hello, everyone. Last night, I went to see BB King, thanks to a Christmas gift from my wonderful staff. I have to say, the man puts on one heck of a show. There were a few times when the audience didn’t get that they were supposed to sing the next line and had to be coached, but BB had fun with it. It seemed like some people had never been to a show before. You can sit in your seat, but at least groove to the music if your feeling it, clap in tune, slap your knee, just don’t sit like a bump on a log.

           I think my real passion in the world is (this may shock some of you) music.  Music has been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember. Sure, I discovered other things along the way (comics, hockey, girls, movies, TV, books, etc)  but it always comes back to the music. It enhances a lot of my experiences, and like certain smells, it triggers memories. I can still remember where I was when Lennon was shot, when I first saw Kate Bush on Saturday Night Live, my first air concert doing Elton John, and seeing twenty-five out of thirty-five concerts in one year. In recent years, I haven’t bought as much new music as I did in the seventies and eighties, but I always have some form of music with me wherever I go. I have seen three concerts this year and they have all been fantastic. Now it seems every day that there are less bands that I need or want to see (whether due to old age, retirement/no longer touring, death, or the fact that I’ve seen them in their prime) but I am glad I have my memories of all the artists I have seen.

           Some people ask me how I can remember so much about the Marvel Universe. That’s nothing compared to what I still remember about the rock and roll universe. Now that I have let the cat out of the bag, I guess there’s no one out there who wants to play a game of rock trivia, or the up-coming Marvel Universe trivia, with me. I promise I won’t win, the mind isn’t what it used to be……… or is it? Till next time. Tony

 

December 9, 2005

Many (Un)Happy Returns

Hey folks, there’s only three weeks until Christmas.

           It must be copyright renewal time, because the House of M is cranking out the some oldies. Ms. Marvel, Death’s Head, Moon Knight and others are getting there own series’ in the next few months. Those that don’t get there own mini-series will end up in the Marvel Zombies mini series that starts later this month. Dazzler’s back in Excalibur. Can Kazar and Deathlok be far behind? What Marvel has failed to realize is that some of these characters are best as supporting characters, and should not have there own series. I have said for years that the Punisher was at his best when he would show up in Spider-Man once every eighteen months, do his thing and leave. Moon Knight and Deathlok are great in small doses, but giving these characters long series’ doesn’t make sense unless you are going to get a creative team that makes the character come alive and make them sign on for a long term commitment, i.e. Garth Ennis on Punisher. Then put them in guest spots in other series’, or give them a mini series once in a while, when a really good idea pops up.

           They seem to have made the right decision by putting out some romance comics for February, and with the kid-friendly comic every once in a while, although I wish they would drop the price point on the children‘s comics.

           With regards to the superheroes, they have enough of them out there to choke a horse. While some of the stories lately have been quite good, there is still enough mediocre stuff being put out to warrant cutting the numbers of regular series‘.  So if a writer wants to use a character and wants to stay on the series for six months or a year, make it a mini-series, then put the character back in the mothballs until someone else has a great idea or it’s time to renew the copyright. There would be strong, steady sales throughout the series, with the trades afterwards resulting in extra sales. This is definitely better than a big spike at the beginning and then having someone else take over, diminishing all the good work the first team has done, and causing sales to drop. Then no one would want to anything do with the series anyway. That’s all for now. Till next time. Tony

 

December 2, 2005

The Secret to a Successful Holiday Season

Hi folks. As we come close to this magical time of year, I am reminded that not everyone has the wear-withal to make it through this holiday. No, I don’t mean the sick and infirm because it has been proven that this time of year can perk them up and actually help them feel better. I am talking about the people who have never worked in the service industry.

           I have a theory: if everyone worked one Christmas season in the service industry, then everybody would have a better attitude about shopping. In this period of hustle and bustle, it doesn’t take much to show some consideration to the person behind the counter. They are trying to do their job, and it would help if the customer was polite and prepared. We all have bad days, when things are not going right, but a keeping a cool head works a lot better than jumping up and down like a maniac, berating the person who, nine times out of ten, are being calm and are trying to do there best. Also, at other times during the year, you have a chance to chat with the clerks or cashiers, but at this time of year, time is of the essence, not just for you but for the person serving you and the throngs of people waiting behind you. Before you leave home, you might want to organize your wallet with the cards you are going to be use, how much cash you want to carry and spend, and where your change is kept. If you know the teller, you should just keep your talk time to a ‘Hi, how’s it going? We’ll chat another time.’ The name of the game is keep the lines flowing. And flash a little smile to the person on the other side of the counter, it goes a long away. Till next time. Tony.

 

November 25, 2005

Say Goodbye

Hey folks. Well, in this part of the world, winter has hit us with a vengeance.

           This week, baseball officials got tough on steroids and amphetamines with suspension from fifty games for a first offence, one hundred games for a second offence, and then expulsion for a third offence. The National Hockey League has stated that their policy works very well, even though a member of congress has stressed that they have the weakest policy of the four major sports leagues.

           Eddie Guerroro, a WWE wrestler passed away this week, possibly from an aneurysm, after taking a chair shot in a match a week ago.

           DC had their secret retailer meeting, which I never get invited to, in Montreal last week. The are cancelling Flash at #330, Wonder Woman at #226, Plastic Man, Gotham Central, Gotham Knights, Batgirl and JLA. They are cutting Superman to two books and part of 52 will involve the retelling of the DCU history. Hawkman will become Hawkgirl and will be done by Simonson and Chaykin. So, what is going to become of everyone`s favorite futuristic team, Legion of Super-Heroes? Will they be cancelled and then brought back after the retooling of the DCU? Or will they keep going and just revise the history as they go along? This is quite the gamble for DC and I hope it pays off for them. Paring down the Batman books to three and the Superman books to two is a good start, although I know they will release more Superman titles by next summer, due to the movie coming out.

           The problem that could come from this is the same as that of any relaunching: it gives people a chance to jump off. A couple of my customers have stopped quite a few DC titles in the past few months and some of this has started because of DC Countdown.  Marvel has really helped kill sales on X-Men with countless new mini-series and crossing over House of M into all the X books. I’ve also noticed sales for Infinite Crisis tie-ins are slowing down, but not the regular series. I just wonder how DC will look after Crisis, and how Marvel will look after the “Ultimate Decimation of the House of Other Hulk” is over. It could all work out and I hope it does, but only time will tell. Til next week. Tony

 

November 18, 2005

Conventional Wisdom

Hi folks. The weather is still pretty nice right now.

           I did a local comic show for the first time in twelve years, and I was pretty disappointed. In the past, you could bring a mixture of items, and you were likely sell a good majority of it. From what I saw, people wanted specific items, mostly current, “hot” Items that were sold out at most stores. If you did have something people were looking for, you pretty much had to be giving it away before people were interested in buying it. I had action figures (some listed here on the site and some new ones) at 25%-60% off. You could buy five, and get a sixth free. Do you know how many I sold? Four in total. I had comics for a dollar each or fifteen for ten dollars, yet I only sold some of those. I noticed some tables had comics for fifty cents each and three for a dollar and even they weren’t selling a lot from what I could see. A lot of people asked me for stuff that I had at the store, but hadn’t brought to the show. I even brought some of my pricier comics, but people weren’t too interested. I think part of the reason is that I had scanned covers for people to look at and kept the actual comics behind the table, because at one of the most recent conventions I attended, I had the comics out where everyone could see them, and I had a Hulk 181 stolen from my table. However, many people did have their comics laid out on the table.

           Although I had fun and saw lots of people I had not seen in years, I realized that I would have been better off sticking to my store to sell product, rather than trying the convention again. If I was a private guy with an afternoon to kill, it would be worth it to get a table every once in a while and sell off my collection. As a retailer, though, for the time effort and man power to do this, it wasn’t worth it.

           So, there’s my sour grapes for this week. I would like to thank my employee, Lukas and his father, Joe, for helping me out on Saturday, as well as my former employee, Aaron, and his friend, Terry, for letting me use some of there table space to display more of my action figures. Till next time. Tony

 

November 11, 2005

They Keep Coming Back!

Hi everyone. It’s the beginning of November and there’s still no snow, knock on wood.

           House of M ends this week, Decimation is set to begin and there is another X-Men: the End series coming out soon. I thought that when you titled something “The End”, it was the end. This is more like X-Men: Let’s Keep Going. What they should have done is titled the first instalments X-men: Prelude To The End and when they were ready to do the final storyline, call it The End. By the time the actual end of this series comes along, I think most people won’t even care. I don’t see why they have to drag it out, because we all know that it is going to end up being an alternate universe anyway. They should have just put out the first six issue mini-series and then stopped. This is just going to the well once to often, like killing Jean Grey or a “mutant massacre“. I have even heard talk of another Wolverine: The End series. Origins 2, sure, but another The End series? NO! “The end” means the end, finish, finito, done deal. Till next time. Tony

 

November  4, 2005

A Classic Column

Wow folks, October is almost over and we are coming closer to the end of another year. It seems that the older I get, the faster the days go by.

           I need to get something off my chest. I have been reading a lot of old stuff, and re-watching old movies and TV shows, and I’ve found you just can’t beat the tried and true classics. What are we going to see as the new classics? Will we look back at the Ultimate titles in ten years and think of them as classic stories?  Do we look back at back at Zero Hour now and say ‘Hey, that helped put some of the events from Crisis into perspective’ or do we just dismiss it? Will we look back at Infinite Crisis ten years from now and say ‘Wow’? I say, only time will tell. We hear the term “Instant Classic” being thrown around but, in my opinion, I believe ten years should pass before you can think of calling something a classic. I also think that a classic is something that you feel the same about today as you did the first time you read it, saw it, listened to it, etc.

           There are things from a decade ago that I liked then, but only think of as ‘alright’ today. Have the book, show or music changed? No, I have. A partial list of classics in my opinion might include: The Usual Suspects, Die Hard, Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd, Year of the Cat by Al Stewart, and Beverly Hillbillies. I listen to Public Enemy’s It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back album and I still get the feeling I had when I first heard it. It’s same with Pearl Jam’s Ten, and when I hear Elton John’s Someone Save My Life Tonight, I remember being in the basement, playing the vinyl on the record player.

           I just finished reading Saga of the Swamp Thing and Love and Death and they still bring a smile to my face. So, as I read Watchmen, and listen to Dark Side of the Moon and Wizard of Oz simultaneously, I will remember what a classic is to me. Tony

 

October 28, 2005

Paul and John, Reunited At Last

This is an odds and sods week, so here we go:

 

           Well, it seems like the e-mail that I sent out to all the regular comic buyers about Time’s top one hundred comic stories of all time created quite a buzz, especially when it comes to what constitutes a graphic novel and how literary any of these stories really are. Most of the independent stories that have been picked as best graphic novels are stories that have not appeared anywhere except in that format, as they were originally published. For instance, Watchmen, Ghost World and Dark Night Returns don’t fall into this category because they were published in a serialized form in either finite series’ or short form, as part of another comic. Maybe what we should call Watchmen, etc, is a ‘collected trade paperback’ or ‘collected stories‘.

           Have you ever listened to a Beatles song, then listened to a John Lennon or Paul McCartney song afterwards? If you do, you can tell who wrote what. McCartney writes very catchy melodies but have you ever listened to his lyrics? Conversely, Lennon’s lyrics are great but he has trouble keeping the melody going. If you don’t believe me, listen to the lyrics of Band on the Run or just the music of Double Fantasy. The same argument can be made about Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Have you looked at the stuff they did after they parted company? Together, they were dynamite; Jack came up with the characters and Stan gave them life. Jack created the New Gods, Demon, etc, but did you ever read those stories? Stan gave us Solar-man. It was a great story but the character concept was pretty weak.

           To kill Wonder Woman or not to kill her, that is the question being asked. They killed Barry Allen, gave him a hero’s death, and now there’s talk of him coming back. The brought back Hal Jordan, who didn’t die a heroes death. Then there’s Jean Grey… to quote Buffy, “Hey, I died twice“. Has death in comics become meaningless? The only character you rarely hear them bringing up to whom should be alive is Captain Marvel (the original Marvel one). If the hero dies a heroic death, then we should mourn them and move on. Villains keep coming back, but evil is perpetual and the bad guys always have an escape plan.

           How can there be a storyline that reduces the number of mutants in the universe, followed by new series’ featuring, seemingly, all the remaining mutants? That’s not cutting down, that’s trying to justify your existence.

           Eric Larson has been very quiet lately. I guess being editor and finding decent creative talent keeps you from talking too much. I have always said that Eric is a good writer, but every time he shoots off his mouth, I just cringe. I hope he keeps up the good work as editor-in-chief and refrains from too much talk .

           Will we every see another issue of Liberty Meadows? I believe it is one of the funniest comics being produced at the moment, but Frank Cho has taken way too much time off. We understand that he can also do other comics, and lots of covers. We understand that he is one of the hottest artists out there, and a great new father, too. Now, if only he’d get out there and give us another issue.

           Well, that’s it for this week. Till next time. Tony

 

October 21, 2005

But How Do You Really Feel?

Hi everyone. I hope you all were able to survive turkey day.

           The first thing I have to say is I really hate comics. That’s right, the secret is out. Now you probably want to know why I hate them, and why, then, I would even sell these things. My reason for hating them is probably not what you’re thinking. I hate them because they are run by bean counters and corporate suits. I had a person come into my store a couple of days ago looking for Batman reprint comics (not trades or hardcovers). I had to tell him that there isn’t much in reprints for old Batman comics outside of trades and archives. He gave me a quizzical look, and asked if there were any Spiderman reprints. I explained that Marvel did a lot of reprints in the 60‘s-80’s of most of their heroes, and that there were Spiderman ones.

           Why are there Marvel reprints but no DC reprints? In the early days of Marvel, DC was their distributor. They allowed Marvel a certain amount of new titles that they would distribute, so Marvel decided to reprint old stories they had done to give themselves a bigger presence on the racks until they were able to distribute themselves. This worked great for those people who started reading Marvel comics late, and DC thought they had a stranglehold on Marvel. DC has always believed in doing original stories and has stayed away from doing reprint comics but have now been the forerunners of trades. Marvel did reprint trades in the late seventies and early eighties through Fireside Press, but DC took that idea and did it right. DC is still doing it right now with their collections and prices, and the way they offer incentive pricing, like with the new showcase series. One customer this week said it was like crack cocaine: the give you a taste at a low price, then once they hook, you they raise the price on the next hit (my friend Miles always calls me the “comic pusher” man). 

           Most of you are probably wondering why, exactly, this makes me hate comics and the suits running them. Well, they have a plethora of material at their disposal, they have quality comics and characters, and they have new frontiers they can visit, but they keep going back to old concepts! For instance, I loved Crisis on Infinite Earths. I loved the fact that they decide to simplify the DC universe, that when they killed the Flash, Supergirl, and the Losers, etc, it meant something. Why do we need to undo it? I am sure that they are going to come up with something pliable, but just because everyone is screaming for a dead character to come back doesn’t mean you have to bring them back. I mean, how many more times are they going to kill Jean Grey or have some version of the “mutant massacre“?  Right now, at Marvel they don’t seem to know if they want to have an all-Ultimate universe, regular universe, kids universe, keep all the mutants, or move towards something similar to their movies. They have no focus.

           DC currently features the return of the pre-Crisis Superman and Superboy (both of whom are way tougher than the Byrne-created Superman that is showcased in the DCU now), and pre-Crisis Luthor. I hate the fact that they are reprinting stories in black and white instead of doing it in colour like they were originally printed. It’s like old black and white movies; I don’t want to see them in colour, even though now, thanks to Ted Turner’s Movie Classics, that’s all we get. Sure, now we get second printing, variant-covered comics to keep people’s interest in the new story, but what I would really like to see from the companies is this: go down to forty titles a month in total. Ten comics a week, and during months with five weeks, split the last two weeks into five titles each. They could have two mature titles, five regular titles, two kids’ or all-ages’ titles, and one anthology title (new or reprint, or alternate each week between the two). I would like to see the release of two to four hardcover reprints per month, and four during the big periods (pre-Christmas and summer) and three to six trades per month with one or two concentrating on past books and new mini-series. I would like to see them drop the mini series format. Give it to me all in one shot, instead of making us wait an extra month or year (or three years, Mr. Smith) to have the series finished.

           So, I don’t really hate comics, just some of the things that are being done (or not being done) to them. So much for this rant. Till next time. Tony

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