I know I've complained about it before, but I'm doing it AGAIN. Today we got our retailer email from DC Comics. It reads:
ALL STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #5 TO BE RESOLICITED FOR MAY IN-STORE
Orders for ALL STAR BATMAN & ROBIN, THE BOY WONDER #5 (SEP060194) have been cancelled. This issue will be resolicited in the March Previews (Volume XVII #3) with a new in-store date of May 16.
I don't even remember exactly when the previous issue came out, but it was before April 2006. That means that we'll wait over one full year for this comic book's next issue.
Frankly, I'm sick of excuses! I do not care whose fault this is. If I were a consumer of comics I wouldn't even purchase any of these All Star comics. All they are is a book showcasing some of the publisher's top talent. And because they are "top talent" they can do whatever they want whenever they want and who are we, the simple masses, or DC their boss, to tell them otherwise. Deadlines need not apply. Maybe Frank Miller is too busy making movies. Maybe Jim Lee is to busy doing art for other late comics. WHATEVER! It is just stupid to make this into a comic book series and never be able to get the issues out. They should just have had this as one-shot stories (at least that's what they did with All Star Superman) or put it straight into a graphic novel once they were done with the story. I think Jim Lee himself said, in an interview about Wildcats, "It's comics, it's not rocket science." At least if you were a rocket scientist you'd be doing something significant enough to have an excuse for being late, Jim.
Click here to read the Jim Lee interview with Newsarama where he tries to explain away his lateness.
Then there's Frank Miller's horrible variant covers. I know I've ranted on this before too. I just don't get what people like about his art anymore. These covers look terrible! The two above are even more horrible because they clearly treat female characters as sex objects. Black Canary looks like a crack whore and I think that the random rear belongs to Wonder Woman - but she must not be important enough to have a visible face. Seriously Frank - a cover that is just a female butt! How does DC even accept that as a viable cover? Do we see Wonder Woman at all in this issue? Maybe only her backside? And people pay MORE for these than the regular covers. This is just one more thing that serves to make this "All Star" comic book a royal joke. It's a punch line. Only no one is laughing, except maybe these two "all star" creators--all the way to the bank.
4 comments:
I'm glad someone in the blogosphere is making mention of this.
By my count this is the fifth solicit for this book. I'm actually glad it's resolicited, because I order via mail-order, so now I won't have to get this book since my order has been cancelled.
It's funny, but Jim Lee was asked in a newsarama interview a while back about the release date being pushed back to December or January (this interview was late last year), and his response: "I think they are just being super-conservative" (I paraphrase).
This perennial lateness, along with the unsatisfying 22 page mini-chunk, is why 2007 is the year I say good-bye to floppies.
I just went back and re-read that Newsarama interview from November. I'll edit this post to include the link for anyone else who wants to read it.
Unfortunatly more and more people are leaving the "floppie" format every day for reasons just like yours.
Not only is that Wonder Butt cover sexist, it's also terrible lazy art. Look at the stars. Notice how none of them follow the pleats on the skirt? Unless those are ass-mounted ninja stars I would expect them to flow with the rest of the fabric.
You are right, Jeff! I didn't even look at it that close.
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