Thing sketch cards, part 4

It's time to look at some new Thing sketch cards that have made their way to my collection.  HOW EXCITING!

Thor: The Dark World card - This lovely signature-less card will most likely forever go without the name of the artist attached, but perhaps someone in the know will one day stumble upon this image and illuminate the rest of us on just whose art adorns this sketch card.  There's a lot to like about this card, starting with the fact that the mystery artist took a card from the Thor movie trading card line and, instead of choosing a character like Odin, Sif, Jane Foster or...Thor...decided to draw the Thing.  This color pencil masterpiece also includes the Thing in a checkered shirt, which is just classy.

Here's the back of the card!  The reproduced signature is of Richard McWilliams, not the artist but from the Upper Deck trading card company.

Duane Redhead - During Duane Redhead's recent stateside trip, he drew a lot of sketches, mostly of the Tick and Arthur (for obvious reasons).  Near the end of his trip, while Duane and I signed some books at Pittsburgh Comics, I twisted Duane's arm enough that he also drew the Thing a few times...including on this Teddy and the Yeti sketch card.  This closeup is, if you can't tell (come on, guys), of the cosmic ray-infused "pineapple" Thing, who totally beat up the Hulk.  Sharp viewers will note that the T&Y trading card is upside down (or is it the Thing?).  Larry walked away from the signing with cards of both the Tick and Arthur, which I'm hoping he'll scan and share soon.

Mark Dos Santos - This Marvel "Heroes and Villains" sketch card comes courtesy of Mark Dos Santos, who for whatever reason decided to forego the villain and just draw two heroes.  At first glance, it looks like the Thing is sharing a moment of camaraderie with Wolverine, but the character is actually D-Man, who couldn't decide on his own costume and instead wore an original Daredevil outfit with a Wolverine mask.  D-Man's alter ego first appeared in the original Thing series, so there's something of a connection between the two.  D-Man was originally called "Demolition Man", and I can't help but wonder if the name was shortened because of the Snipes/Stallone movie.

Heeeyyy...here's the back of the card.

Bub Shehi - This homemade card features lots of action lines!  And it's by "Bub" Shehi.  I bought it for a dollar on eBay, and it came with free shipping.  When I got this in the mail, I noticed that it cost the seller over two dollars to ship it, which means he lost money in the transaction.  Sorry fella.  It's a cool card nonetheless.

Tone Rodriguez - I've been hoping to get some art from Tone Rodriguez for a while now.  Rodriguez has drawn the Thing a number of times before (most notably for the Hero Initiative) and he always manages to impress.  It seems that he really enjoys drawing the Thing and he adds a lot of dynamic energy when he does.  When this card showed up on eBay, I snatched it up right away.  I'm loving the colors that, as you can see below, bled all the way through the card to somehow frame the Kirby Thing printed on back.  It's my second sketch card from the Fantastic Four Archives set.

Well, that's it for now.  More to come...later.

Fantastic Four: Artist Edition from IDW and Marvel

Any time Marvel releases any kind of special "theme" comic, I always wonder how long it'll be before they include the Fantastic Four in on the trend.  This is true for the 2099 line, the "The End" specials, the "Noir" specials, etc.  And while I always feel cheated if they don't come up with some version featuring the FF, a little voice speaks up in the back of my head and says, "hey, at least you didn't have to pay for anything new."

It's with this sense of duality that I always viewed IDW's "Artist Edition" oversized books: they look really cool, but they also come with a hefty price tag.  Artist Editions take a specific writer/artist's run on a particular book and reproduce the artwork in an oversized format, scanning in the black and white production artwork from the original pages, complete with any production notes and stray marks that wouldn't make it into the final product.  It creates a fairly unique experience and has been a success for IDW, so much so that they've released several editions of the series, each reprinting a classic Marvel collection (why Marvel licenses these out and doesn't just create them themselves is anyone's guess), such as Walter Simonson's Thor and Frank Miller's Daredevil.

A little while ago, I found out that selections from John Byrne's lengthy Fantastic Four run were getting the Artist Edition treatment, and I was faced with the conundrum of wanting to see the Fantastic Four get their due but not wanting to shell out too much cash all the time (I can't imagine what it's like for the big-time Batman fans who feel the need to buy up a lot of new releases).  Artist Editions often sell out fairly quickly, and from what I understand, IDW only does one print run.  So I made the decision to pre-order the book, and it arrived in the mail just a few days ago.  The box even has a picture of the book printed on it!

In case you were wondering about the scale of the book, here's some reference.  No, I haven't shrunk down to minuscule proportions (at least I don't think so)...the book is really very hefty.  It's nice and solid and is pretty classy.

The back cover features this iconic image with a reproduction of Byrne's signature.

Printed on the interior front and back covers are Byrne's Fantastic Four character sheets.  These are the first things that the reader sees once he or she opens up the cover, and it gives you some idea of the scope you're in store for.

My wife remarked on how cool the image was, and wondered how much it'd take to own the original artwork.  I got a better feel for the answer a little while ago when I watched this eBay commission of the Thing and Dr. Doom by Byrne go for a whopping $800.  If something like that would go for so much, a really desirable piece like the one reproduced above would go for, what, $5000?  It's hard to imagine.

Here's the title page!

The book reproduces pages from a handful of Fantastic Four issues plus one issue of What If...? (starring the FF, written and drawn by Byrne).  As expected, IDW did a wonderful job with this collection, capturing the production aspects of pages that were created around 30 years ago.

All of the pages in this edition, with the exception of four, were scanned in from the existing originals for this collection.  That's quite a feat, considering how much time has passed since the artwork was actually drawn, and even more so due to the fact that, if I'm correct in my assumption, Byrne had sold most of the original pages from the issues in question.  I say this because Byrne's signature is on a good deal of the original pages, and that usually indicates that the artist parted with the pages, for whatever reason, and signed them before sending them on their way.  I wonder if most of these pages are owned by a single person, or if IDW had to track down a few dozen collectors to see if they could borrow their investments for a while.

The back of the book held a few goodies, including a cover gallery with this great image featuring the Thing!  There was no hint of She-Hulk anywhere, though, which was surprising considering how prominent a character she was in Byrne's FF run.  And I wouldn't have minded a page or two from the Thing series that Byrne spearheaded for a little while.

Overall, though, this collection was well worth the cost.  I understand that it's not for everyone, but for me, it's something that I'm going to enjoy for a good long time.  If you're a big Fantastic Four fan, and you've got a little money to spend, I highly recommend this Artist Edition.

Comic Book Christmas Cards

Ah, the bounty of Google is plenty.  It's almost Christmas once again, and comic books have a long tradition of celebrating the holiday in their own way.  Here are some of the better comic book Christmas cards/greetings from over the years!

Marry Christmas!

2012 Eisner Awards

The nominees for this year's Eisner Awards have been announced, and - surprise! - I got a ballot in the mail recently.  This is pretty cool.  On one hand, I wonder if this is an indication that I have maybe "arrived" and am involved in the comic book industry in earnest.  On the other, I wonder if these things just get sent out to anyone who ever published a comic or had a booth at Comic-Con.  Perhaps I'll just let ignorance be bliss in this case.

The nominees can easily be found online, but here are a few observations on my part:

- Daredevil got nominated a whole heck of a lot, and I'd say the book and those involved deserve the praise.  It's a great, fun book that I look forward to every month.

- Princeless got nominated twice, including for "Best Publication for Kids (ages 8-12)".  The folks from Action Lab press, the studio behind Princeless, were booth neighbors at the Pittsburgh Comicon, so it's cool to have a face to put to one of the nominees that many probably haven't heard of.  I hope they bring home a trophy.

- Sergio Aragones' Funnies wasn't nominated for a "Best Humor Publication" award?!  This title from Bongo Comics is a fantastic book that, while it certainly doesn't push any boundaries, is funny from cover to cover.  I'm a big fan of the title.

- FUBAR didn't land in the "Best Anthology" category, but there is a place to write in your own choice.  I wonder if it's petty to vote for a book you worked on?  It probably is.  To verify "voting eligibility", I'll need to write in some of my credentials, which naturally include FUBAR.  Conflict of interest?  Or just a very strong opinion?

Here's an interesting line from the ballot regarding the ceremony, held on the Friday of Comic-Con International: "As a professional, you will get preferred seating at the event."  Ooo!  Look at that!  My own seat, right up front.  This is something I'll need to consider attending, if only because it'd be fun to do once.  I'll certainly vote...maybe I'll even show up!  Whether or not I steal an award will remain a mystery until then.

Digital Marketing for the Print Medium

Comics have always been a visual medium, but much to the dismay of many within the industry, they are also a print medium and that presents challenges that many similar forms of entertainment are facing: how to stay relevant and profitable in an age of increasing digital competition.

Even though comic book companies have seen and acknowledged an oncoming digital presence for their characters for more than a decade now, most are still struggling to define just how they want to represent themselves in an electronic field, and some attempts to branch out are better than others.

Both Marvel and DC, for example, are experimenting with selling digital copies of their comics in the very comics themselves - that is, if you buy a copy of the book, you can download an electronic version as well.  Marvel is, so far, including a download code for free, while DC is charging an extra dollar for the privilege.

This practice irks me at least a little, because behind this good deal (at least on Marvel's part) is a bit of sneaky marketing.  Both companies polybag their combo books, sealing them in until after they're purchased.  On the surface, this is so someone can't walk into a comic shop, scan the code, walk out without buying anything, have the comic on his or her e-reader, and render the one-time code invalid for someone who might actually purchase the book.

It's also, though, a way for companies to boost sales by having some of the more rabid consumers purchase two copies of the same book.  Due to their (perceived) collectibility, some buyers won't want to tear open the bag these comics come in, leaving them with a choice - either seemingly deface their collectible item, or spend twice as much to keep one copy in tact.

Companies obviously are aware of this, and while I won't say it's malicious on their part that they do this, it does seem to me like taking advantage of the psychosis that is collecting (that's consumerism for ya).  In a matter of weeks, Marvel's entire Ultimate Comics line will ship exclusively in polybags with download codes, which will put this practice to the test.

Other practices, however, are more in line with what I think comic book companies should be doing, taking advantage of the new capabilities that technology offers while still remaining true to the spirit of comics.

Marvel's recent relaunch of Daredevil, written by Mark Waid, has been a highlight of superhero comics in 2011.  Not that I'll ever discount Waid's writing, as he's been involved with some of my favorite comics of all time, but DD is really a treat to read every month.

Daredevil has always, for obvious reasons, had a strong following with visually-impaired comic readers, and Marvel finally took advantage of that by releasing an audio version of the first issue, read by Waid and a few others, free for download.  This is both a nice treat for fans in general as well as the aforementioned visually impaired, and is exactly the type of thing that big companies like this should be doing.

The direct link to the file is here: http://marvel.com/files/podcasts/DAREDEVIL_1_edited.mp3.  A little more info is on Marvel's site, here: http://marvel.com/news/story/16485/daredevil_1_audio_edition.

USA Today, while not being my favorite site for actual news, has had a pretty good relationship with comic companies over the past several years.  I still wonder why the paper doesn't print daily comic strips, but every once in a while they'll print comics and put them in front of a substantially larger audience size than they'd otherwise get.  When DC put out Wednesday Comics a few years back, the paper actually printed some to promote the series, and it had a strong web presence as well.

Dark Horse Comics went a bit further and released an exclusive digital Conan the Barbarian comic by Ron Marz and Bart Sears, who coincidentally (a hem) went on to produce a two-issue miniseries, Conan: The Island, another example of a company taking advantage or digital means to promote the physical product.

The full Conan story, "Kiss of the Undead", can be read here: http://www.usatoday.com/life/comics/2010-11-22-kissoftheundead22_ST_N.htm



Lastly, Marvel and Toyota have teamed up for an ad campaign that features short Robot Chicken-inspired videos with action figures and the Toyota Yaris.  It's a pretty bizarre combination, and it's beyond tame, but it's just another example of what a comic company can do when management embraces digital marketing.

This video is, of course, just an advertisement when it comes down to it, but it's still fairly interesting.  You can watch more of the Marvel/Toyota videos here: http://www.earnhardttoyota.com/tag/its-a-car/.

What wouldn't I buy for 15 cents?

I'm currently living in Wilmington, NC, and for all its population growth, it continues to support only one comic book shop, so if there's a book out that I want to get (and don't want to wait for, as a shop near Pittsburgh still holds the majority of my books), I have one choice in the matter.

The comic shop in question is in the process of moving a few miles away to a smaller location, and as such they are having a string of sales which does keep me hanging around to see what I can find.  Recently they had a sale where you could fill up a decent-sized paper bag full of comics for ten bucks - as long as they fit in the bag, you got 'em for a total of one Alexander Hamilton.  So, of course, I took part in the madness.

I ended up scoring a total of 69 books, stuffing them into the bag to the breaking point, and in that total I managed to get some pretty good books - but there's only so many good books that you can find for 15-cents-or-so-per-book.  If you put anyone in a room with a random assortment of comic books and said "oh, pick 70 or so", they'd invariably find some great ones, but they'd eventually run out of books that they wanted and would resort to throwing some in the bag by the end of the day.

This was certainly the case with me.  I found:

1) Books that I was looking for (a few 2099 issues and a recent Daredevil storyline)

2) Books that I didn't know I was looking for until I found them (some old Star Trek back issues and a Flash "Planet DC" annual)

3) Books that were great deals (the Bone holiday special)

4) Books that I was somewhat interested in but wouldn't pay cover price for (Amazing Spider-Man Family #1)

5) Books that I was only interested in for 15 cents (Savage Dragon #1; DC/Milestone's Icon #1...both of which ended up being fairly good for their time)

6) Books that I had no interest in but grabbed because of the urgent need to fill up the bag (see the picture at top?)

As I returned home and examined the spoils of my ten dollar adventure, I started to wonder: why would I buy a copy of Quasar #1 for ANY cost if I didn't want it in the first place?  What was the POINT?!

Then it dawned on me: this is, I fully believe, what is responsible for at least a quarter of all comic book purchases made.  You buy it because...well, you're going to buy it!

I still haven't read the damn thing.