Obama, Comics, and You

So, I'm sure you've all heard by now that our President-Elect will be making an appearance in the pages (and on some covers) of Amazing Spider-Man. Pretty cool, huh? Pretty savvy move by Marvel, what with the Inauguration coming next week, right? It's going to be a great way to get non-comics readers into comics shops, right? And those people will be forever hooked on our wonderful medium. Right?

Right?

Right?

Uh, no.

Sure, the demand is going to be crazy--heck, it's been crazy since before this past weekend. And sure, people who wouldn't know the difference between The Outsiders and The Defenders will innocently wander into comics shops all over the country asking for the "Obama Spider-Man book...thing...now...and for $.50 cents...please."

And retailers, in an effort to capitalize on this opportunity to gain new customers will happily say, "Here you go, as you can see, we have plenty of them in stock so please--"

Wait, wait. That won't happen. Not even close. And, why won't that happen, you ask? Well, let me hit you with some knowledge (he says, as he punches the air next to his computer and brushes off a strange look from a co-worker).

This Marvelous (ha!) stunt, while a brilliant PR move for the company...ends up being kind of...mean to retailers. You see, the "Obama Spidey Book" will ship to retailers with two covers. One cover will feature Obama, and the other will not.

Guess which one all the "civilians" walking into comics shops today will want. Exactly. Now, to complicate things further, the Obama cover is a variant, and is limited in production. So, quick math here--there will be less of the Obama cover than of the regular cover.

And, to make things worse, in order for retailers to get ANY Obama covers, they had to increase their normal orders of Spidey several weeks ago, being told that, if they do so, they'll get more of this (then) secret cover...which would be to ship several weeks into the future.

Right.

Confusing? I'd say so. In any case, if you're going to the LCS today thinking you'll walk home with an Obama book, well...most likely you won't. But, hey, at least they are on Ebay for...wait for it...$100 bucks.

Now, so as not to end this thing on a down note, the great comics news blog The Beat has reported that Marvel, in an effort to make up for this retailer slight, will be making the collected graphic novel version of Stephen King's The Stand available only to comics shops, and not to book store chains. You can check out the story here.

Also, for more on the Obama Spidey cover mess, check out Rich Johnston's latest Lying in the Gutters column on Comic Book Resources right here.

And, to all of you planning to venture out to the stores in hopes of attaining an Obama cover, I say to thee good luck. And, if you do manage to get one, please leave us a comment and let us know about it. Also, let us know what the scene at your LCS is like today, since there's likely going to be tons of new foot traffic, what with all the hoopla.

Nintendo's "Kind Code" will play your games so you don't have to

The problem: Some people have trouble playing video games.

Nintendo's latest solution: Design video games that play themselves.

Nintendo has designed a "Kind Code" for future video games that will allow players--while playing a game--bring up a video walkthrough that shows them what to do next; watch the game play itself with the ability to take over at any time; or just skip entire sections of the game.

More information here, and reactions from video game developers here.

Like most everything else Nintendo's been doing these days to make games more accessible to non-gamers, this bothers me. In my day, if a game was too hard, you either:

(1) threw the controller at your TV and gave up;
(2) used cheat codes to win, but had to also face the shame of being a cheater; or
(3) kept trying until you succeeded, thus becoming a better gamer (or just proving that you got lucky).

Implementing this into any game will require time, money, and effort, which should be focused on actually making the game rather than showing people how to play it. Enough video games get rushed out the door without being as polished as they could be, and this is one more factor that can take away from a game that is already hurried or running low on budget or manpower.

I think Jonathan Blow hit the nail on the head:

"The proper solution is to start producing games that don't have this kind of problem — not to create the problem, then band-aid over it and hope people still have a good experience."

How do we produce such games? Learning curves. Multiple difficulty modes. Tutorials. Clever hint systems (see: Metroid: Prime). Unlockable extras such as health regeneration and increased damage (see: LEGO Star Wars). These are features of real games that actually work and fit very logically into the flow of the game.

"As long as a few people can beat it, it's not too difficult" and "We didn't make this game for you, but we want you to play it anyhow" are simply not the philosophies to embrace if you want to appeal to a broad audience.

The only games I've ever seen with an option to skip a scene entirely are adventure games that recognize that the devoted adventure gamer may not have any skill whatsoever at playing action sequences that involve dodging rocks in a landspeeder or playing several games of poker.

I have no problem with that--the developers identified that they were including an element that, for some, was a welcome break from the endless puzzles, and for others, was an abomination that did not belong in that genre.

I do have a problem with Nintendo potentially making this a prominent feature in who-knows-how-many future games (assuming they can get this to work with anything remotely nonlinear). Pretty soon they'll install a ski lift so that everybody can scale Mount Everest. Before you know it, video games will just be Choose Your Own Adventure books in movie format.

Making a video game that is excessively friendly to non-gamers is fine (see: Super Princess Peach). Making a video game with certain aspects that can make the game easier for struggling players is fine. Widespread implementation of an Easy Button is not.

We'll see where Nintendo goes with this. But I've seen them pump out 3-D titles for the N64 when there was no reason for 3-D other than to showcase the technology. I've seen them apply motion-sensitive controls to games not because they were better than a traditional controller but because they could. I have no doubt that they will exploit this Kind Code to its fullest extent, whether it's welcome or not.

Whatever happens, it better not end up like this.


[Easy Button from www.staplescontract.com.]

Trade Waiting

Before I start in on my regularly scheduled post, I wanted to add a quick (and happy!) addendum to my last post, on collecting original comics art. Towards the end of the post, as those of you who managed to stay awake long enough and/or not go on a killing spree because of my verbosity know, I listed some stores online that I have personally purchased art from in the past.

At the end of the list, I mentioned Space Goat Fine Arts, where I picked up both of my Richard Moore covers, and I noted how they recently closed their doors. Well, as it happens, this weekend I received an email from James Meeley, the guy in charge over at Space Goat, informing everyone that, while Space Goat will unfortunately still close its doors, James will continue to personally sell Richard Moore's artwork in the future, in his Comic Art Fans gallery.

Here's the link to his CAF gallery, with the promise that Richard Moore's art for sale will indeed be up in the future. Also, please note that several of the pieces in that gallery are of an adult nature, so don't go clicking if you're at the office.

Now, that is some very happy news for collectors, and for me personally, since the whimsical, all ages Boneyard series is one of my all time favorite ongoing comics. And, just because it seems appropriate, here's the other Boneyard cover painting I bought from James earlier in the year:

With that said, today I'd like to briefly talk about an issue that's been argued amongst comics fans for nearly as long as "Who's stronger, Hulk or Thing?" Well, OK, maybe not nearly as long as that epic, shining bit of fan insanity, but still. Yes, today's titillating topic: to wait, or not to wait?

For the trade paperback collection of single issues of a comics series, that is.

See, there's a faction of fandom (yes, I know, I'm just in an extremely alliterative mood today...so sue me) that, instead of buying new issues as they come out each month, they wait for story arcs to be collected in the inevitable trade paperback.

Now, not only does this save some money in the long run, but it also eliminates the need to store single issue, floppy comics. Of course, like everything else (especially in the comics hobby) there's a downside to what is commonly referred to as "trade waiting."

And that downside is, Marvel and DC have caught onto the fact that a large number of fans do this, so instead on releasing the trades as softcovers, as they have in the past, with price tags in the $12 to $18 range, both companies have been releasing "Premier Hardcovers" (Marvel) or "Deluxe Editions" (DC), that will run you between $20 and $30 bucks.

Smart for business? Sure. Bad for the fans? Well, maybe. Personally, if it's a series I really like, I don't mind paying the extra $5 bucks or so for a nice hardcover collection with better paper. But, the consumer should have the choice of buying either/or, on the day the collection ships.

As it currently stands, (and Marvel is especially notorious for doing this) the hardcover collection ships many months before the softcover edition. I'm not real big on that.

But, that's a whole 'nother Mylar bag of issues. (HA! It's a pun!) The real question is, should fans read the monthlies as they come out, or should we all just wait for the collected edition to ship?

Here's my take. The monthlies are what drive comic shop sales, and keep your LCS in business. Remember, comic shops buy their books from Diamond Distributors, and need to pay off their weekly (yes, weekly) comics bills within a set amount of time. So, the sale of single issues is key to any shop.

That said, I have to also add that I find there's just something cool--well, OK, not "cool" like the Fonz, but cool like "I have a complete run of Goon comics" "cool"--about reading a book on the day it ships. Not to mention it allows you to avoid all the wonderful Internet spoilers.

But, as I get older, having comics all over the place really doesn't make much sense. A nice, collected edition on the shelf (or on the floor of the closet) is a much neater, *ahem* grown-up way to collect comics, don't you think?

So, to finish off this stream of consciousness mess (with no real answer on my part), I ask you, our loyal readers: what do you guys prefer when it comes to comics--buying issues weekly, or trade waiting?

Leave comments, and let us know!

An Introduction to Original Comic Art

"Alex," you ask, "Tell me, please. What's WAY more expensive than collecting comics, but brings along with it many of the same obsessive compulsive feelings and hair-pulling quests to find missing links in a collection?"

"Well," I'd say, ignoring the wonderful recession in this country and poo-pooing the insane prices asked (and realized!) for pieces of original, hand-drawn artwork, straight out of the funny books,"Collect original comics art."

Now, before I get into this post, I should say that I am still a novice original comics art (OCA, from now on) collector, and though my collection has grown nicely this past year (my first year of collecting), I am still trying to learn as much about this new (and expensive!) facet of the comics collecting hobby as is possible.

So the crash course goes something like the following: Original comics art is just what it says--the original artwork drawn by the penciller and inker of any given comic book.

So, if the final printed page you see when you break open a comic looks like this (And it goes without saying, that this image is copyright Marvel Comics):

Then the original art, before the digital coloring is laid on top, looks like this:

The above page is pencilled by David Finch and inked by Danny Miki. And, yes, this page is now in my personal collection. And, no, it's not for sale.

(Especially not to you, Nathaniel)

The above page, which is actually page 12 of the first issue of Marvel's Moon Knight relaunch, was one of the first big purchases I made when I started this new, insane hobby.

Since those first few purchases, I've learned a bit about the hobby, and I've scoured the Internet almost daily, on a search for new stores, new Web sites, new anything related to comics art.

So, to start on the course of demystifying this particular fandom for all of our readers, I'll give a few, crucial links to anyone interested in collecting artwork. The first, and most important, is Comic Art Fans. There, you will find hundreds of virtual galleries of collections. Mine, for instance, is right here.

Comic Art Fans is a great place to start, as the site handily (and amazingly, if you ask me) is an emporium of any and all information related to comics art. Besides the hundreds of user galleries, they have a sister site, linked directly from the main site, called Comic Art Shop, which, well, as I'm sure you can guess, is a place for collectors to check out art put up for sale by other collectors, and even by comics industry professionals.

What's more, and this is the really amazing thing, Comic Art Fans provides thumbnail links to every major comics art auction currently going on over at Ebay! So, if you think you might want to start collecting this stuff, Comic Art Fans and Comic Art Shop are really must-visit sites in order to get you going.

Now, as you may have noticed if you've checked out my Comic Art Fans (CAF) gallery, you probably noticed that I tend to have a pretty narrow mindset when it comes to collecting art. And I think that is going to lead me to my biggest pointer for someone who wants to get started in this hobby. And it's a mantra we've all heard before in other fandoms:

Collect what you like.

Especially when it comes to the prices currently being asked for this stuff, it is really imperative that you simply collect the character you love most, or the artist whose work you really enjoy and wouldn't mind staring at on your wall.

The art page, I mean...not the...artist.

Right.

Anywhatsit, I basically collect art that falls into one of these three categories: art with Batman in it, Goon/Eric Powell art, and art from comics series that mean something to me, such as this cover from the lesser-known indy comic from NBM Publishing, Boneyard, by Richard Moore:

Unlike comics, whose prices rise and fall based on arbitrary (well, I think so, anyway) turns in the market, OCA values have exploded lately and tend to retain their value and actually appreciate as the years pass. Mostly, I think, due to the fact that each page is quite literally one-of-a-kind.

Talk about a limited edition, huh?

As with any other collecting hobby, though, certain pages are worth considerably more than others. Some artists' work, such as Jack Kirby and Jim Steranko's, fetch astronomical amounts. And for good reason, too, as these were two of the true pioneers of comics art in the 1960s and 1970s.

But don't go thinking that it's just the older art that's high-priced. Current artists regularly see their work sold for thousands of dollars, as well. Take Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, for example. His interiors (panel pages from within the comic) fetch in the thousands, while his cover art easily goes for multiples of that.

Not all OCA is gonna cost you an arm and a leg, though. Some interior pages can be purchased for under $100. And, even better than cheap interiors are what we in the business (of ultra-dorky collecting, that is) call pin-ups. These are basically unpublished, single-character drawings by specific artists, usually obtained directly from the artist at a convention.

Here's an example of a Spider-Man pin-up I got from artist Mark Bagley at the New York Comic Con a couple of years ago:

And here's a Batman pin-up by Ed McGuiness I got through an art dealer:

When approaching an artist at a convention with hopes to get a sketch drawn, remember that they are typically not free, especially for more complicated drawings. Many times, though, artists will do quick head sketches for no, or very little charge. Inker Scott Hanna was nice enough to do this Spidey head sketch for free during a signing at my local comics shop:

Remember that artists make their living by drawing, so you should never go up to a creator simply expecting something for free. That said, let's get back to collecting interior pages for a minute.

Most of my collection is made up of interiors, mostly because of price concerns. If I had Nathaniel money, I would be rolling in Gene Colan and Neal Adams cover work, mind you. So, you may be asking, what do I look for when collecting interiors?

What's that? No one was asking that, you say? And 99% of our readership could care less, you say? Huh. Well, to you 1% of readers who give a hobbit, I go about collecting interiors much like an inebriated man would go about finding a bathroom.

Wait, what? Sorry, I thought that would be funnier...and more...sensical. Anyway, what I do is this. If I read a comic I like, see a page I like, I try to find out where that artists' work might be available for sale, and if it's in a certain price range, then I go for it.

Simple, really.

Take that Moon Knight page from the beginning of this (now) epic post. I'm a big Moon Knight fan, the writer of that series, Charlie Huston, is one of my favorite novelists, and David Finch's art has always blown me away. So, when I found that page available for sale on Comic Art Shop, I jumped at it.

Which takes me to my last point--how to actually acquire art that you are interested in. First, see if the artist has a personal Web site. Sometimes, they'll sell their work directly. In most cases, however, artists have art dealers, who in turn sell tons of art on Web sites. For example, The Artist's Choice is one of the most-visited and well-represented of art dealer sites. I've bought art from them before, and I highly recommend them.

Some other sites I can personally say I've purchased from and was incredibly happy with are Fanfare Sports and Entertainment, Anthony's Collectibles, Ed Benes Art, Dave Finch's personal site, and Will's Comic Art. Sadly, Space Goat Fine Arts, where I purchased my two Richard Moore pieces, has just recently closed its doors.

So, now that you are all experts in OCA, and since I really, really need to wrap this up, I'll say this. If you do decide to start collecting art, start small, check out Comic Art Fans and Ebay to gauge prices for certain artists you're interested in, and collect what you like.

And now I'll leave you with this, one of my very favorite pages, drawn by Ed Benes because, well...I really, really like it!



(All characters are copyright their respective owners)