Media

Commentary on various aspects of publishing and marketing, primarily focused on books, magazines, and social media.

Read more about the article The Death of Captain America

The Death of Captain America

No spoiler warning necessary at this point when it's now the featured story on Yahoo's main page!It was "spoiled" for me on the way to work today thanks to a page 3 article in the Daily News, "Captain America killed!". Even Marvel has now revealed it on their web site, after teasing it with a Daily Bugle: A Hero has been Shot story earlier today that didn't identify the victim. Cute.Of course, despite most not having read the story in question yet, the blogiverse is already cynically chiming in with variations on "So what?" and "Quesada sucks!" in response to…

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Read more about the article On the Shelves: 3/7/07

On the Shelves: 3/7/07

Reading is fundamental. Read what you like; don't waste your time reading bad comics out of habit! My weekly look at select comic books being released Wednesday, 3/7/07. The full shipping list, as always, is available at ComicList. [NOTE: Not all of these titles will actually arrive in all stores. If your LCBS offers a pre-ordering service, be sure to take advantage of it. If not, find another one; or try Khepri.com or MidtownComics.com] PICK OF THE WEEK The Living and the DeadDARK HORSE COMICS Star Wars Legacy #9, $2.99 Legacy has replaced Conan, which I still enjoy, as my…

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Read more about the article Marketing Monday: No-Brainer Marketing Efforts, Pt. II

Marketing Monday: No-Brainer Marketing Efforts, Pt. II

Wrapping up the subject of Marketing No-Brainers from two weeks ago, the final no-brainer is the PowerPoint presentation -- a portable, printable document offering an overview of all relevant information on the publisher and/or product based on the intended audience. This presentation should bring together all of the other elements of the no-brainer puzzle into one informative, visually stimulating picture, and has a number of uses. 1) It should be flexible enough to double as the basis for an actual in-person presentation as well as an informational leave-behind or promotional mailing piece. 2) It should include your "elevator pitch", a…

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Read more about the article Ghost Rider’s Qualified Success and What it Means for DC

Ghost Rider’s Qualified Success and What it Means for DC

Ghost RiderWith the estimates for its third weekend in ($11.5m towards $94m to-date, domestic) it’s safe to consider Ghost Rider a qualified success as it’s quite likely that it will surpass director Mark Steven Johnson’s previous effort, Daredevil — which topped out at $102m after 22 weeks in release — by the end of next weekend, despite receiving even worse reviews; and its final domestic take should, at least, cover its pricey $120m production budget. In doing so, it will also likely match, or beat, the combined box office of Daredevil and its ill-conceived spinoff, Elektra, which bombed two years ago with a mere $24m domestic take.

Did anyone other than Avi Arad, Johnson and Nicolas Cage (for whom Ghost Rider represents his widest initial release and best opening weekend box office ever) really see this coming? Suddenly, the decision to postpone its release from August 2006 and invest in some top-notch special effects seems to have paid off immensely as it’s hard to believe it would have found this level of success in last summer’s crowded schedule, lost in the shadow of the likes of Pirates of the Carribean, X-Men: The Last Stand and Superman Returns.

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Read more about the article Random Thoughts and an Update

Random Thoughts and an Update

So yeah, “minor” surgery is still surgery, and coupled with a drug industry and medical profession that takes “side effects” a bit too casually, I missed the entire NY Comic Con. The whole damn thing. The PopCultureShock party, too, which pisses me off the most, actually, as I was hoping to meet up with some people I hadn’t seen in a while as well as putting some faces to blogs I enjoy.

Ugh.

Anybody out there who did attend the party? I can live vicariously through your feedback!

I spent most of the past week laid up in bed, periodically hobbling around the apartment to take a break from marathon sessions on my rarely used Xbox: Destroy All Humans!, Just Cause and Fable: The Lost Chapters. Not a single comic book tie-in among them, although throughout Fable I was thinking what a great license it would be to adapt for comics. It features a pretty solid storyline that’s ripe for embellishment, especially since the main character is so malleable, by design, but driven towards his destiny by forces beyond his control, that much of the subtext takes place in the player’s head.

I wonder if the rights are available and how ridiculously expensive they might be?

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Read more about the article Marketing Monday: No-Brainer Marketing Efforts

Marketing Monday: No-Brainer Marketing Efforts

Thanks to Adam Kubert, today's Marketing Monday column will be delayed until later this evening.* So far, we've looked at the five basic steps to developing a simple marketing plan and how they specifically relate to marketing comics. Last week, I put forth five specific marketing efforts, no-brainers that every aspiring publisher should be ready (and able) to implement in order to separate themselves from the hobbyists with a Previews solicitation, a blog, and idiotic message board posts** whining about the state of the industry and how stupid superhero comics fans are. (Oh, look! Another one. Sigh...) This week, we'll…

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Read more about the article Comic Book Commentary v2.0 and Other Stuff

Comic Book Commentary v2.0 and Other Stuff

Random, somewhat connected thoughts on the site, traffic and future plans... ITEM: Ever since I got back on the blogging horse late last year, traffic has been on a steady upswing, which is very nice. January was our best month since our peak early last summer, and February is tracking quite nicely. Many, many thanks to Dirk Deppey in particular, who drives a ton of traffic here every time he posts a link on Journalista!. Thanks also to Johanna Draper Carlson, whose Blogs Worth Reading link sends a regular stream of traffic this way, too. ITEM: Speaking of Deppey, If…

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