1. Their Awards program, which is geared to “bring attention to the best, most women-friendly and reader- friendly work in comics and to recognize the work of women comics creators of the past” (which, given how many awards still ignore women, is needed). In 2007, they opened voting to the public, allowing everyone to have their say. The last Awards were given out in 2008.

2. The Empowerment Fund fiasco in early 2007 in which a loose cannon board member announced a money-raising effort that ended in refunds, didn’t accomplish its goals, and made everyone look bad. The situation led to me questioning the need for the group in February 2007 and starting a discussion on how to solve volunteer group problems.

3. The tax-exemption question, which blew up when current Friends of Lulu president Valerie D’Orazio (who took the role in October 2007 and has held it ever since) attacked me for asking a question about the organization. (To be fair, I’ve been tough on her before, so she felt we had history.)

Aside from the awards, the only time I heard anyone talking about the group was in connection to some problem. That brings us to today, where I read at Valerie’s personal blog that she wants to move on and is seeking someone to take the organization over.

If by September 2010 nobody steps forward and shows interest in helping run this organization, I will start taking steps to officially dissolve it as a non-profit. Then I will donate the leftover money (if any) between the other major comics charities, return the donated artwork, and ship the historical records and sketchbooks to a University or MoCCA.

There’s a lot more to this decision, of course, and to the post, which touches on a lot of the problems one is challenged by as the public face of a well-meaning organization.

I find Valerie’s comment, “In this and other initiatives to update Friends of Lulu, I often felt as if I was fighting a constant uphill battle against portions of the organization/membership who did not want change” enlightening. That’s likely true, and I think it encapsulates the two big problems that prevent Friends of Lulu, in its original format, from being truly successful:

1. The women who created the organization in the early 90s were older, and several of them were from an era where activism was possible and had the potential to achieve results. In contrast, today’s younger female creators don’t see the problems FoL was created in response to (in part due to FoL’s actions) and thus don’t see much of a need for the group. These creators have more avenues available to them — webcomics, book publisher graphic novel contracts, online organization and support — and a formal group may seem old-fashioned.

2. In comics, there have never been many successful group actions. Raising the question of a creative union in the 60s got those involved thrown out of work. The only exceptions I can think of were single-creator-oriented and played into the traditional comic fan right/wrong, us/them dichotomies that fuels their thinking: Kirby vs. Marvel and Superman’s creators (lead by Neal Adams) vs. DC in 1978.

That leads to the single biggest problem Friends of Lulu has faced throughout its existence: What can and will they accomplish? They can’t protest or make negative statements, because that will get them attacked by those missing the point and potentially adversely affect their members. On the positive side, they’ve published several anthologies, but that’s an expensive way to achieve what a good website does. (One of Valerie’s main priorities, she mentions, was getting the FoL website updated and running, which was a major, necessary achievement.)

I hope someone with energy and optimism does step forward and take on this heavy mantle. I would like to see Friends of Lulu continue to exist, if only as a recognition-granting body (similar to something like the Inkwell Awards). Reducing the organization’s scope would require fewer people, less effort, and minimal budget.

Alternately, Valerie lists ideas from 2008 that sound wonderful: a magazine, getting back to establishing chapters for local mentoring, and so on. Unfortunately, all of this was put on hold due to the loss of the organization’s financial records, which required halting donations and memberships. And once something’s put on hold, it’s hard to get it running again.

She’s right that this should be a full-time job, not a volunteer situation, dependent on what time and energy someone can give it. But the mess she describes has to be cleaned up first. Are you the person to do it, as a potential new Board member? Or should Lulu as it is end, to be replaced by something else, such as a professional trade organization?

Update: Ok, after seeing how Heidi MacDonald and Laura Hudson both chose to title their articles on this subject, announcing that FoL would “end” or “shut down” in September, I no longer want to hear anything about my headline writing or my supposed agenda against the group. I took the positive tack, y’all. I’m glad to see Heidi and I both agree on the need to maintain the awards, though. And I still believe that there’s someone (or multiple someones) out there who will find this just the right opportunity.

Now, on to what I’d like to buy this week if I only had $15.

Top of my list is always Boom!’s Muppet Show comic. So issue #8 takes the first $3.

My next spend is going to be a Viz manga volume, but at $10 each, which one? There are new installments of several series I’ve enjoyed — Hikaru No Go Volume 20 and Otomen Volume 7 — plus two debuts I’m curious about: Bakuman Volume 1 and Seiho Boys High School Volume 1. But I think my choice will be the second (and final) volume of Flower in a Storm, which I thought was a funny action/romantic comedy.

Thankfully, I’ve already read the $11 Sayonara, Zetsubo-Sensei Volume 7, out from Del Rey.

So that leaves $2, and the new Previews catalog is $4.50. I’ll hope my retailer gives me a price break, since putting all those comics in front of me will hopefully increase sales for him.

At the store, I’d probably flip through Wonder Woman #601, just to see how the new/revamped history continues from issue #600. But in looking at DC and Marvel titles for this week, what’s with all the alternate covers and variant printings? It makes it very difficult to tell when a new comic is available and hard to avoid rebuying something I already have. Wait, I think I answered my own question.

What looks good to you this week?

“We’re gonna be doing some CrossGen stuff … we’re not really prepared to talk much about it right now.”

“But we have started to work on some concepts based on the old CrossGen concepts, trying to strengthen them up, and eventually bring them to Marvel. … I think with the CrossGen stuff you’re going to see us attempt a little more genre publishing, which I think is much-needed in our imprint.”

So Marvel sees the CrossGen properties as a chance to insert some diversity into their output, which is otherwise all superhero comics and a few literary diversions. Not a bad idea. (Odd, though, that they’re “not prepared” to give more details when they had a teaser slide ready and all.)

While the early CrossGen titles were misguided in their emphasis on a connected universe and setting up mysteries that never got resolved, I enjoyed several of their comics (using this Wikipedia list as a memory jogger — I had to use something, since CrossGen was infamous for one-word titles that all sounded alike):

• The Crossovers, about a multi-genre family, the kind of self-aware comedy/parody I expect from writer Robert Rodi.
• Negation, a collection of mixed alien races trying to escape an intergalactic prison. Great character work, but too many unanswered questions from writer Tony Bedard.
• Ruse, Mark Waid’s Sherlock Holmes twist with a great female sidekick illustrated by Jackson Guice.
• Way of the Rat, mystic martial arts adventure from Chuck Dixon.

Tim O’Shea and Michael May play a similar game at Robot6 with their list of six CrossGen books they’d like to see return, including Sojourn, the story of a female archer that featured early good-girl art from Greg Land; the pirate comic El Cazador; and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, the James-Bond-like spy story. If nothing else, all this does demonstrate just how many genres Marvel has to pick from. Which CrossGen comics would you most like to see returned and revamped? (Apropros of nothing, here’s a fun three-year-old post speculating on why CrossGen failed.)

The biggest challenge for Nelson and Johns may be merging the cultures of the Warner lot in Burbank and the offices of DC, which are in Manhattan but may soon move to L.A.

The rumors I’ve been hearing are more specific, saying that this will be happening. Which leads to all kinds of other questions, like who will be invited to go with the offices, and whether long-lasting executives will want to move to the opposite coast when they’ve spent years and built lives in the New York area? Looks like the West Coast Comic Era is coming even more true. And if DC does move, look for even more leadership changes.

Of course, if you’re looking for evidence, you’ll interpret what you find in that light. But DC’s publishing connections, which are the only real argument for keeping the company in expensive New York City, are clearly not nearly as important to the new owners/operators as the movie possibilities.

Update: I was reminded on Twitter that some readers may not know that DC’s WildStorm imprint is already based in California, in La Jolla. And DC has already transferred editorial responsibility for its cartoon kids titles (such as Looney Tunes) to them.

SLG Publishing has announced the launch of SLG Works Consulting, a publishing services company.

“Over the years, I have had a number of people come to me for advice or ask me to help them with things as they started their comics publishing ventures,” explained SLG owner and president Dan Vado. “We have always been pretty free with our time, and while I am still open to offering advice, I feel that SLG as a company can be of more use to some people offering up some of our services for hire”.

SLG Works has services available a la carte or all in a bunch, covering everything but content creation. Their options include shipping, storage, barcoding, and order fulfillment, keeping your books safe and getting them to customers. They also can provide pre-press production and design, production consultation, and merchandise creation, among other services. Large publishers may find it helpful to outsource some of these functions instead of staffing up during uncertain times, while small publishers will benefit from not having to make their own mistakes.

This is another cheat week. I talked about the final Scott Pilgrim last week (and I’m a bit annoyed at Amazon for not shipping my copy yet, since I’ve had it preordered for over a month). And I had the pleasure of already reading another outstanding release this week, The Terrible Axe-Man of New Orleans, thanks to the generosity of NBM. If I hadn’t, that would be my $15 purchase (although it’s $16).

So what would I buy this week? I’m not sure. The books I’m most curious about, I would flip through to see if they live up to their promise. Those two titles are Welcome to Tranquility: One Foot in the Grave #1 and Age of Heroes #3. I’d be more confident about them if they weren’t each $4, which just seems like much too much for a periodical comic to me. So they’d need to sell me once they were in my hands… but I’m not the one that goes to the shop, unfortunately.

I’m happy to see a new issue of Tiny Titans, #30, at $3, and I’ll probably wind up with an Avengers issue or two, because KC and I both enjoy them. I’m just struggling with how many Marvel issues are $4 these days, because it doesn’t take me any longer to read them.

Sorry I’m not more optimistic this week. I’ve got plenty of stockpiled manga and graphic novels to cheer me up, though, while much of the industry jets out to California.

Backing it up will be “rarely seen tales exploring the disturbing depths of horror, war, romance, and science fiction by Brian Azzarello, Grant Morrison, Garth Ennis and artists Jim Lee, Phil Jimenez, Bernie Wrightson, and others.” Speculation has it that these may be short pieces previously published in such anthologies as Weird War Tales, Flinch, etc., not banned stories. Some observations:

1. What a definite sign that DC is operating under a changed regime.
2. No matter how shocking something is at the time, ten years later, it won’t be.
3. I’m not sure the younger folks remember how crazy everyone was about hints of school violence at that time, to the extent of holding part two of Buffy’s season finale for three months just because it was set in a high school.
4. A company will eventually publish anything they have paid for.
5. Those observers hoping that this means that we’ll see Rick Veitch’s Swamp Thing Meets Jesus story or a reprint of Finals or other famous banned projects are likely going to be disappointed. There’s mention of this being first in a series, but I suspect DC sees it as a way to capitalize on creator name value, not reverse creative decisions of years past. Although if sales are strong and voices loud, never say never.
6. Is this a cleaning-out of the cupboards in preparation for something else?
7. I suppose this means you won’t be able to read Shoot here for much longer.
8. Why would you title this special something that suggests that you’re coming back from the dead at a time when people are speculating on the future of your imprint? That seems a bit tone-deaf.

There’s a similar DC project called DC Comics Presents that has seven issues announced, including a reprint of Ellis’ aborted Jack Cross series, a Young Justice special that reprints the two-issue JLA: World Without Grown-Ups, and a reprint of the two-issue Batman and Catwoman: Trail of the Gun that is strangely titled “DC Comics Presents: Ethan Van Sciver #1″. In the DC case, it seems to be a way to put out omnibus reprints that don’t quite qualify for trade paperback collection.

If we combine the two ideas and consider the possibility of the DC book printing a cancelled story, I vote for Kurt Busiek’s Krypto story.

A brief aside: one of the things that makes the comic business so difficult (and immature in some of its practices and assumptions) is that retailers are expected to receive, process, and restock hundreds of SKUs (items) on the same day they go on sale. As someone who used to assist with that process, it’s insane-making. You have no time to find damages and report shortages in a timely fashion, nor any time to fix those problems. Those who have worked in other media retail outlets are often stunned to find out that this is how comic retail operates.

Diamond is reportedly still deciding what they want to do, especially since the retailer responses are mixed. Personally, I think moving new comic day to the same day that DVDs and CDs come out is a bad idea. Why do comics need the competition? Some retailers seem to think that people aren’t shopping with them because they’re spending all their money the day before on other media, but that strikes me as a ridiculous justification to avoid blaming more relevant causes, like rising comic prices, alternatives for buying comics (Amazon, digital), and material of less interest to the general audience. Retailers are split on this question, with 43% thinking their business would benefit significantly or modestly, and 45% thinking they would not benefit or their business would be hurt. When asked their day preference, almost twice as many preferred to keep Wednesday as wanted to move to Tuesday.

The most important factor, though, is everyone getting product a day early, as the biggest comic shops currently do.

Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour
Buy this book

The book of the week is, of course, Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour (Oni Press, $12), the final volume in the series and the precursor to the movie, due out next month and eagerly anticipated. However, although Diamond is shipping the book this week, it’s not supposed to be on sale until the 20th, so that doesn’t count.

Manga-wise, the only volume I’m interested in is the 16th book of Inubaka Crazy for Dogs (Viz, $10), but thanks to Viz’s generosity, I’m reading it now. I also read Bighead Press’ Escape From Terra ($13) back at ordering time; unfortunately, I didn’t care much for it.

So that leaves me with periodical comics. Oni has the second issues of two series I’m enjoying, Frenemy of the State and The Sixth Gun, at $4 each. That leaves me with $7, which is enough to get Birds of Prey #3 (DC, $3) and Avengers Academy #2 (Marvel, $3), with $1 left over for tax.

If I was going to the comic shop, I’d flip through Bongo Comics’ Comic Book Guy The Comic Book #1 ($4), to see what kind of approach they were taking. If anyone checks it out, let me know. I’d probably also be curious about Girl Comics #3 (Marvel, $5), just to see who’s in this issue of the anthology.

What does Wonder Woman get for her 600th anniversary issue? How do they promote the female member of the Big Three? They give her a change of clothes. Oh, there’s more to it than that, including implications that her origin has changed as well, and we all know it’s just a temporary thing to get people talking. (It worked!)

Leaving aside the creative bankruptcy of changing the character as soon as new writer J. Michael Straczynski arrives, which suggests a lack of willingness to approach her history honestly or do any research, one of the reasons so many people have reacted to this, I think, is that it’s an ugly costume, with too many bits stolen from other places. For instance, her bracelets have become fingerless gloves where ” if you get hit by one of them, it leaves a W mark.” Wow, just like the Phantom’s ring. Nothing like copying a hero who’s never been all that successful in the U.S. And what’s with the spurs-without-the-useful-bits boot design?

Wonder Woman #99
Art by Brian Bolland

It’s great that, after 70 years, she finally gets a pair of pants. But why are they black? Does someone have fond memories of the biker jacket/bike pants/bra top Mike Deodato era of the mid-90s? At least that outfit had some stars visible. This design is too far away from her classic look, with the wrong colors and generic bits’n'pieces shaken together by designer Jim Lee.

Then there’s the tone-deafness of some of Straczynski’s comments, as when he said, “What woman only wears only one outfit for 60-plus years?” Gee, anyone with a uniform? Nurses? Soldiers? They can be female too. And not every woman cares about clothes or fashion.

I also don’t understand why male writers get so competitive over her. Straczynski said, “Wonder Woman is a strong, dynamic, vibrant character who should be selling in the top 20, and I’m going to do all I can to get her there.” It’s all about the ranking, isn’t it? I’m reminded of when John Byrne had his run on the character, and for him it was all about proving Wonder Woman was second only to Superman in the DC universe.

But you’ve heard all this griping before, multiple times over the past two weeks. The reason I’m bothering to talk about it now is that this event spawned some really great blog posts, and I wanted to make sure you saw them.

• Heidi MacDonald did a survey of WW’s cover looks over the years.
• So does the Newsarama blog, only they also get former WW writer/artist Phil Jimenez to comment.
• DC Women Kicking Ass points out how much it resembles times in the past when Diana has been a pirate!
• J. Caleb Mozzocco found similarities with Lynx, a minor Batman supporting character.
• Johnny Bacardi, in response to JMS slamming on the 60s era, takes a visual tour of Diana’s mod look.
• In response, Alex de Campi shares art from her 2007 WW revamp pitch by Federica Manfredi featuring a teen Diana.
• Chris Samnee makes a discarded costume Aquaman joke.
• In 2006, Jamie McKelvie (Phonogram, Suburban Glamour) came up with a similar (but more elegant, imo) redesign.
• Then there’s Project Rooftop, the superhero costume redesign blog, which has some amusing cartoons.
• Lewis Lovhaug rips apart JMS’ statements about the new direction in a long rant that illustrates how much some people care about the character.
• Ragnell does the same, only she likes the costume, mostly. Her main complaint is how often the company has taken a weed whacker (her metaphor) to the character’s history.
• Tom Spurgeon has a great deal of insight about working with long-established characters. He likes the idea of a costume change, but not this particular one, and asks the key question: “why doesn’t that character have an all-ages title?”

Reading all these reactions, I was surprised at how much I learned about Wonder Woman’s comics history. Why didn’t I remember she’d been a space pirate?

Last year, Rich Johnston reported that they owed a lot of money to their creators — one of whom even won a court judgment against the company — to which publisher Josh Blaylock responded that bookstore returns had been a problem for them.

We’re still dealing with hundreds of thousands of dollars in book store returns that rocked us in late 2008 and into 2009, right in the middle of an already aggressive restructuring. … It’s a reminder to publishers not to be too over leveraged in the book stores.

An unpleasant example that, while sales to comic stores are non-returnable, sales to bookstores may be imaginary, and all your stock has the risk of coming back. Given those circumstances, it’s surprising that Devil’s Due is still in business, but they wouldn’t be the first comic company to stick around longer than expected by the simple expedient of not paying artists. Now comes an unexpected press release that states

Devil’s Due Publishing has pulled its distribution of comics and graphic novels from Diamond Comic and Diamond Book Distributors, effective today. The Publisher will soon be announcing its new book store distribution partners and will offer product direct to comic book retail outlets, as well as distribution through Haven Comic Distributors.

According to Blaylock, Diamond has been taking their revenue to cover debts Devil’s Due owed to the comic distributor. So while Devil’s Due comics were selling, DD wasn’t seeing the money, so they couldn’t pay their creators.

This release raises more questions than it answers. Such as, how is DD going to pay Diamond now? How is DD going to continue to sell comics, now that their tenuous financial position is so visible and Hack/Slash has moved to Image? Why isn’t Blaylock giving up now, if he’s under such financial pressure? Why would anyone order from his company? Does Diamond have the right to seize incoming funds that way?

Graeme McMillan asked Blaylock some questions to clarify, but, well, when the publisher is saying things like this:

If not for [Diamond's] withholding of moneys for the past year, according to my estimates DDP would have been able to pay not only all talent owed, but many other creditors as well, plus a considerable amount paid back to Diamond. Instead, funds have been trickled down to us, we’ve had to slash the publishing, and hence each month the ability to rectify the situation gets smaller and smaller.

You can see why Diamond wouldn’t find “but we want to pay other people we owe before we pay you what we owe” a compelling counter-argument. It’s not Diamond’s purpose to keep tenuous publishers going. Blaylock, sadly, sounds like a dreamer who can’t face the truth that his company is unlikely to recover. And just to add insult to injury, here’s a scathing review of Blaylock’s book on How to Self-Publish Comics, which appears to be out of print.

Thanks to my local paper, who did their own version of the story about some charitable tax exemptions being in danger, I found the IRS Master File, which lists all exempt organizations. Now, I am not an accountant or experienced with these files, but they do come with instructions. (I welcome more informed assistance.) From this I found that Friends of Lulu last filed a tax return covering the tax period ending December 2007, and it showed both assets and income of $0.

The article also had more speculation on what may happen with small groups that miss following the rules:

“The IRS has encouraged organizations to go ahead and file if they missed the deadline. They will be issuing guidance on what to do to retain tax-exempt status.”

J. William Gray Jr., a tax-planning lawyer at Hunton & Williams, said the IRS has some constraints on what it can allow. “The law is the law,” he said. “It says clearly that if an organization fails to file for three consecutive years, it loses its exemption and has to reapply. It also says in appropriate conditions it may be reinstated retroactively…. I think they would be inclined to reinstate the exemption retroactively, and they may institute some lower-cost or more streamlined procedures for those types of applicants. You can’t just ignore the law.”

Power Girl #16

Where are the current promo pieces? Between that lack, and the reminder that this concept has flopped several times before, I don’t have high hopes for this title’s longevity. Shame.

The more I see the Power Girl title using standard cruddy superhero imagery — dead women, focus on breasts and hips, covered face (because she’s more interesting to the reader as a body than a character), darkness, shock, sadness, as shown here — the more I miss the fun and humor and good spirits and action of Amanda Conner’s run on the first 12 issues. I don’t understand why DC thinks it’s necessary for every superhero comic to be so down and depressing. Why not put out some alternatives to expand their customer reach? My only answer: Didio means death. That’s all he knows to plot.

Buy the Power Girl collections, A New Beginning and Aliens & Apes, instead.

If the big news of this week is Wonder Woman’s costume change, why don’t I see it anywhere in this catalog? Will it be gone within two months? Speaking of news making these solicits obsolete, there’s another Zuda book, Celadore (JUL10 0206, $14.99, out October), advertised.

Thanks especially to Matt Seneca for a well-timed reminder of the need for capital; Christian Beranek for sharing a couple of example projects; Bradley W. Schenck for doing the math; and Russell Lissau for his general patience. Since we’re talking about the subject, I found this article on what happens when a Kickstarter project is too successful thought-provoking.

I also very much appreciated an email I received from an artist who wished to remain anonymous who wanted to share with me thoughts on the value of unique, challenging, and personal work created out of love. I was reminded how many art forms these days (such as live theater or opera) survive only due to patronage, grants, and similar acts of charity. (I’d rather compare comics to rock’n'roll than chamber music, but that’s a different conversation.) So why not try patronage for unusual comics? Like webcomics or self-published indies, there are going to be some terrible Kickstarter projects, some mediocre ones, and a few very good ones. Since the former are going to need more help, those are going to be the ones I’m more likely to hear about, but I shouldn’t let that color my perception.

From the inappropriate behavior of staff and/or owners — who obviously view women as “other”, not like them or any of their buddies, there to be stared at, not served — to decor that’s off-putting to anyone who’s not an adolescent male, some dedicated comic stores seem to want to be man cave clubhouses more than temples of commerce. (I like to believe, in this modern era, that there are fewer of them than there used to be, but I don’t know if anyone’s actually figured that out.) That’s not a new concept to any woman who’s done comic shopping while traveling, but a few recent pieces have made some great points on the topic.

Jennifer de Guzman started things off with a piece that began:

Like many women who read comics, I have a “girl in a comic shop” horror story. When I first started working in the comics industry, I told it a lot more often than I do now. I’d since pretty much retired it, thinking it wasn’t relevant anymore, not in this age of manga and young adult graphic novels. But it seems I was wrong…

She attributes it to an over-developed sense of wanting to find and be with people “like you”:

Comics have thrived, in their own way, on being insular and appealing to a closed circle of fans. Comics isn’t just a medium for many people — it is a community. And, unfortunately, a community whose largest faction is very much a clique. … They don’t want to stop using their comic shop as boys-only clubhouses.

de Guzman’s solution is for women to create their own alternatives: comics they like, shops that are friendly. That’s a fine idea, but it doesn’t protect the girls with no other choices, the ones where the only comic stores for miles are run by a troll. How do we educate them?

In response to de Guzman’s piece, Brigid Alverson dreams of an ideal store, one that is clean (sad that we have to start there, isn’t it? but low profits in comics means fewer options available and a willingness to settle for dingy spaces) and staffed with helpful people and not creepily decorated. Actually, Brigid’s suggestions work for most consumers, including adults of all kinds. Except the chocolate — I’m not sure foodstuffs and paper products mix.

I’d add to her suggestions that a store should have enough room for customers to move around and browse without having to touch or brush by other patrons. Nothing disturbs shopping more than being butt-bumped by someone who doesn’t realize how much room they and their backpack are taking up. Also, think about shoppers in wheelchairs or with other assistive devices. Room to move helps them as well.

Note that a shop that concentrates on material with a better profit margin is more likely to have funds to do this kind of design and maintenance. That means a store that carries book collections and well-selected merchandise may be a better choice than one chasing bottom feeders by offering high periodical discounts to capture customers who want to keep their collections complete for the lowest price possible.

I was writing some Archie comic reviews, so I plugged “Jughead 201″ into Google to get a copy of the cover image to run with the post. Here’s what I found (click to enlarge):

Archie needs to work on their website (even though it’s just been redesigned); their site (which provides the cover and preview pages) doesn’t even appear on page one of these results. It’s the third item on page 2, which is also where the first ebay link to buy a copy appears. What we see here, out of nine different sites listed (some not shown in image), are

• three sites that search file upload sites (such as Rapidshare and Hotfile) for the comic and provide direct download links
• one torrent site (that doesn’t actually have the book)
• two links to well-optimized online comic stores
• one shopping comparison site that wants to send me to TFAW.com to buy it
• two digital comic sites (Comixology and iFanboy) that gave me the Previews solicit and cover image; the first also had preview pages and also wanted me to buy from TFAW.com. Dark Horse may not have much in the way of digital comics yet, but they sure know how to promote their online store.

I’m guessing that the file locker services, even though they don’t directly provide search engines, are going to be the next boogieman that companies point to for decreasing sales. Nowadays, the comic file sharing method of choice seems to be putting the files into such an upload service and posting links on a bulletin board. The board isn’t liable; they’re just pointing out locations elsewhere and host no actual files. And courts have recently determined that such services are not liable for what users share. The movie and music industries are already trying to go after such sites, but most of them aren’t located in the U.S. In such an environment, the companies will have to go after individual users, which will cost time and money companies don’t want to spend on such efforts, as well as seeming anti-fan and overly punitive. It’s a tough choice for companies, whether the perceived benefit is worth the extensive costs.

Me, I’m still waiting for more digital choices to be legitimately available. Archie is leading with experiments on that front.

They have every right to plaster their covers and promotional material with these helium hussies, of course, and in a way, it’s helpful to see these ridiculous images featured so prominently, because it makes it easy for me to turn them down quickly. Anyone selling that kind of project isn’t doing the kind of comics I want to read. I reject those pitches out of hand, since the material is clearly not aimed at readers like me.

Why I’m talking about it now is that, in both cases, I got pushback. These guys (and they are always guys) bemoan how quick I am to misjudge (in their opinion) their projects. Their female characters are strong, they say, and they only use such exaggerated pictures because they sell so much better than anything else.

I’m sure they do. There are still enough adolescent (in mind if not in body) males buying comics that that kind of pitch will get a certain amount of attention. But if I put a naked man on the cover of my “serious” novel, you’re going to jump to certain conclusions about who the audience is likely to be. And you’d be justified in doing so — packaging is chosen to send those kinds of messages. If you put one of those “couldn’t exist in nature because her breasts are larger than her head” girls on the cover of your comic, I don’t care what’s inside it. I’m going to be too distracted and annoyed by your marketing to go any further. It’s not “prejudice”, as one affronted publisher put it — it’s being selective about what I’m willing to read and promote to my readers.

In my case, it is right to judge a book by its cover. Either that cover accurately represents the contents — in which case, yuck, I’m not interested in that kind of badly drawn crap — or it doesn’t, in which case you’re engaging in false advertising and I don’t want to reward that. I know it’s tough to get attention in comics, where most new projects are ignored, but there are many better ways to catch the eye. They involve more hard work than taking the low road of pitching to the groin, though.

Spitfire #1

Spitfire #1 (JUN10 0518, $3.99) is a one-shot about Lady Jacqueline Falsworth, vampire, and guest-star Blade. I loved seeing the two interact in Paul Cornell’s Captain Britain and MI: 13, but I wouldn’t be interested now if Cornell wasn’t writing this one too.

When does the Deadpool joke run out, please? Four books plus an additional 100-page special just seems ridiculous. Maybe that’s part of the gag. Or Marvel thinks it’s printing money, whatever.

There’s something poetic about Spider-Girl: The End! (JUN10 0551, $3.99) featuring a clone of the title character, since that’s how that whole alternate universe began, spinning out of the much-despised Clone Saga. For them to finally kill this zombie title, Tom DeFalco’s contract must be up.

Invincible Iron Man #29

I think I’m actually enjoying the relaunched Avengers titles, but I’m behind on reading them, so I’m not sure. (Oh, and Thunderbolts, too.) Anyway, the way comics today are written, I need to give them more than one issue to get a feel for the approach and characters. But I’m positive about them, and looking forward to reading more. Nifty!

It’s also kind of neat that the catalog page for Captain America #609 (JUN10 0572, $3.99) has a “Nomad: Girl Without a World” promo logo for the backup story. I like her, and I like the way Sean McKeever writes her. Marvel’s newer, younger generation characters (I don’t want to call them teens, because that never bodes well) are really interesting to me. Which feels kind of strange but refreshing.

I was thinking of trying Invincible Iron Man #29 (JUN10 0598, $2.99), because it promises a new identity for Rescue (the Iron Woman), and then I noticed the cover. Where the artist, Salvador Larroca, has drawn the female Iron Man armor curved around her thighs so it can gap at her crotch. This is not how metal should work. Unless Tony is even more of a twisted fetishist than I thought.

Exiles Ultimate Collection 5

Are there any rules for content for Previews? Because I really didn’t need to see hero heads on sticks as the centerfold promoting Marvel Universe vs. the Punisher. Didn’t they do that already? Only without being quite so explicit?

I’m not going to buy any of the Exiles Ultimate Collections, especially not starting with the fifth of six, but seeing this listing did remind me how much I missed the series. I know I shouldn’t be in the audience for a book of alternate realities, but I liked it for just that reason — I didn’t have to know ongoing continuity, and it had some playful characters that were all the more appreciated for being put in often grim surroundings.

Marvel certainly has some weird collected book choices, don’t they?

Style Weekly, the alternative weekly newspaper in Richmond, Virginia, is holding a “comic strip sweepstakes“.

The winner will receive $100 in art supplies and be printed in the upcoming Comic Strip Issue, scheduled for July 21. Strips must be Richmond-related and are due by July 12. Full rules are in the link.

It’s a minor contest, but I’m intrigued to see what the focus issue looks like.