FCBM6 Day 31

It's day thirty-one of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Dan Marco. The five comics that Dan likes are:

1. Incredible Hulk
2. Love & Capes
3. Ambush Bug
4. NextWave
5. The Boys

And his other thing of interest is Shakespeare.

For Dan I have Marvel Monsters: Devil Dinosaur #1 by Eric Powell & Tom Sniegoski.

For Dan's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Popeye Halloween comic.

Dan's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!


Current FCBM Statistics:
35 entries
92 free comics sent so far
? days remaining

There are still a handful of entries I haven't gotten around to yet, so I'll be extending FCBM for a few days into June. Stay tuned...!

FCBM6 Day 30

It's day thirty of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Mat Dunham. The five comics that Mat likes are:

1. The Walking Dead
2. Preacher
3. Barry Ween
4. Wolverine
5. Crossed

And his other thing of interest is Quentin Tarantino movies.

For Mat I have Giant-Size Wolverine #1 by David Lapham & David Aja, plut the first issue of Jeff Lemire's Sweet Tooth.

For Mat's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Popeye Halloween comic.

Mat's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!


Current FCBM Statistics:
35 entries
90 free comics sent so far
1 day remaining

FCBM6 Day 29

It's day twenty-nine of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from ShoutScout. The five comics that ShoutScout likes are:

1. Warlord
2. Bone
3. Top Ten
4. Zippy the Pin-Head
5. Scalped

And his other thing of interest is playing guitar.

For ShoutScout I have the first issue of Scott Morse's Volcanic Revolver.

For ShoutScout's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Popeye Halloween comic.

ShoutScout's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!


Current FCBM Statistics:
35 entries
87 free comics sent so far
2 days remaining

FCBM6 Day 28

It's day twenty-eight of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Isaac McKeithen. The five comics that Isaac likes are:

1. The Walking Dead
2. Green Lantern
3. Powers
4. Y, the Last Man
5. Batman and Robin

And his other thing of interest is the tv show Dexter.

For Isaac I have the first three issues of Paul Grist's Burglar Bill.

For Isaac's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Star Wars Halloween comic.

Isaac's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!


Current FCBM Statistics:
35 entries
85 free comics sent so far
3 days remaining

Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this morning. All the previous caveats apply.


1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
2 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5 *
3 (-). Troublemaker Book 1: Alex Barnaby Series 3 *
4 (+46). Wednesday Comics *
5 (+1). Instructions
6 (+1). Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1
7 (-3). Kick-Ass
8 (+10). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour *
9 (+10). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 6: Retreat
10 (-1). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
11 (+5). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
12 (+10). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
13 (-). Invincible: The Ultimate Collection Volume 5
14 (-3). The Walking Dead Book 5
15 (-). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
16 (+15). The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel *
17 (N). Hellsing Volume 10
18 (-6). Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 2: 1982-1984
19 (+4). The Flash: Rebirth
20 (N). Negima! 26
21 (N). Naruto, Vol. 48 *
22 (-12). The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
23 (-15). Wilson
24 (-7). Watchmen
25 (+23). Scott Pilgrim, Vol 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
26 (-5). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
27 (+5). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
28 (+16). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
29 (+10). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
30 (R). Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art
31 (-4). Walking Dead Volume 12 *
32 (+4). Batman and Robin, Vol. 1: Batman Reborn
33 (N). The Complete Peanuts Boxed Set 1975-1978 (Vol. 13-14) *
34 (R). Scott Pilgrim Volume 5: Scott Pilgrim vs The Universe
35 (R). Treasury of the Lost Litter Box: A Get Fuzzy Treasury
36 (+3). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
37 (-32). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
38 (N). Scalped Vol. 6: The Gnawing
39 (R). Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead
40 (-7). Batman: Year One
41 (-17). Ex Machina, Vol. 9: Ring out the Old
42 (R). Marvel Encyclopedia
43 (-29). Batman: The Killing Joke
44 (R). Invincible Iron Man Omnibus, Vol. 1
45 (R). Meanwhile: Pick Any Path. 3,856 Story Possibilities
46 (-26). V for Vendetta
47 (-22). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
48 (-20). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
49 (N). Angel, Vol. 6: Last Angel in Hell



Items with asterisks (*) are pre-order items.

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks


Commentary:

* Wednesday Comics vaults way up from #50 last week to #4 this week. Meanwhile, last week's inexplicable rise of Persepolis proves to be just a momentary blip (don't worry, it will likely be back up in the top 10 in September...)

* Both Wilson & Crumb's Genesis fall out of the top 10, and rather sharply at that.

* There's a lot of volatility in this weeks' chart in general.

* Three manga make their chart debuts this week, the latest volumes of Hellsing, Negima! and Naruto.

FCBM6 Day 27

It's day twenty-seven of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Paul S. The five comics that Paul likes are:

1. Caricature
2. The Dorman Beast
3. Private Beach
4. Arkham Asylum
5. Death: The High Cost of Living

And his other thing of interest is heavy metal music.

For Paul I have the first issue of Faker by Mike Carey & Jock.

For Paul's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Star Wars Halloween comic.

Paul's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!


Current FCBM Statistics:
35 entries
81 free comics sent so far
4 days remaining

FCBM6 Day 26

It's day twenty-six of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Joseph Briggs. The five comics that Joseph likes are:

1. Batman & Robin
2. Marvel Two-in-One
3. Amazing Spider-Man
4. Daredevil
5. Maus

And his other thing of interest is wine.

For Joseph I have all four issues of Daredevil/Spider-Man by Paul Jenkins & Phil Winslade.

For Joseph's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Popeye Halloween comic.

Joseph's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's less than a week left to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
35 entries
79 free comics sent so far
5 days remaining

FCBM6 Day 25

It's day twenty-five of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Francene Lewis, who enters on behalf of her son Eli. The five comics that Eli likes are:

1. Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures
2. Owly
3. Stinky
4. Mouse Guard
5. Magic Trixie

And his other thing of interest is Star Wars Legos.

For Eli I have all four issues of Lions, Tigers and Bears by Mike Bullock & Jack Lawrence.

For Eli's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Star Wars Halloween comic.

Eli's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's just one week left to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
35 entries
74 free comics sent so far
6 days remaining

What the CMX Shuttering May Tell Us About the Future of Comics Publishing at DC

Last week's abrupt ending to DC's CMX manga line really should come as no surprise. It was always the bastard stepchild of the DC publishing family; a sub-imprint of an imprint (WildStorm) that is headquartered across the country. One imagines that the manga line was originally developed because the powers-that-be at DC saw that manga was becoming popular, and so maybe they should dip their toes in the water and see what the what was.

The only surprises about CMX closing down are a) the suddenness of it all; and b) that it took so long to happen. Most likely once Diane Nelson found out about its existence and figured out that it wasn't making any money, it was very quickly axed.

CMX never really fit in with DC before the creation of DC Entertainment, and it certainly doesn't fit in now. I've made the point previously that DC (and for that matter Marvel) are not in the business of making money from publishing comic books. Nor for that matter are they in the business of trying to get comic books into the hands of underserved readers. No, DC are in the business of exploiting their intellectual property through movies, television, licensing, etc.

Viewed in this light, the decision to shutter CMX was a no-brainer for the DCE suits. Since these were properties that DC was licensing from other entities in order to publish them, there was no chance that they could make any money off of any other exploitations. Should a movie get made based on From Eroica with Love or Emma, DCE wouldn't see one thin dime. (Sure they may see some uptick in sales of the manga, but except in an exceptional case that would not result in much revenue.)

So given this new attitude, what other moves can we expect to see in the coming months?

Look for WildStorm to stop licensing properties from movies and tv to make comics. These sorts of comics rarely sell well these days, and they fall under the same non-exploitable category as manga. There may be an exception for Warner-owned properties like Supernatural. And it's likely that DC Kids will continue to publish comics based on Looney Tunes & the various Cartoon Network shows, if only to keep a nominal toe in the comics publishing waters for those Warner-owned items. First Wave? Sales are very soft, so if it makes it out of the year I'll be surprised. Certainly when the various licenses come up for renewal I doubt there will be much reason to maintain them.

In fact, I would wager that WildStorm itself will find its days numbered. I don't think it will fall right away; Jim Lee's position as co-publisher will protect it somewhat. (If Lee had been a champion of CMX, it might have had a more graceful exit...) But when it comes right down to it there's no good reason to have a separate west coast comics publishing arm. The traditional WildStorm properties (Wildcats, Gen13, The Authority, etc.) haven't been commercial or critical successes in a long time; licensed comics days are numbered; and outside of Ex Machina (whose ending is nigh) they haven't had a creator-owned success lately either.

Speaking of creator-owned properties, their days are probably numbered as well. While I believe that most creator-owned works published by DC/WildStorm/Vertigo do have some degree of profit participation for the publisher should the work end up being exploited in other media (and likely Warner has some sort of right of first refusal for producing such things), given DCE's new explicit focus I suspect that they will opt to concentrate on properties for which they would get full participation. So unless you happen to be a creator who is also working on their mainstream company-owned titles and they want to keep you happy (e.g. your name is Grant Morrison), don't expect WildStorm or Vertigo to be terribly welcoming for your creator-owned comics in the future.

And where does this leave Vertigo? I suspect that the imprint will remain for a while. I suspect that existing creator-owned comics will be allowed to stay as long as they aren't losing a lot of money (i.e. Fables is probably safe for the time being), but new creator-owned comics will be few. With creator-owned projects likely being phased out, look for Vertigo to concentrate on the other half of their imprint, which if revamping musty DC-owned properties for an adult (or at least adult-ish) audience. Such new projects will still be tried, but if they don't catch fire don't look for even many of those to last beyond two years. You only need a handful of collected editions to make a suitable pitch for a movie or television series. So for the future of Vertigo, look towards Unknown Soldier.

In the final analysis then, what will DC Comics be up to? Publishing comics based on their existing catalog of characters. Quality, it should be noted, doesn't really matter in the equation. As long as there are comics on the racks that feature Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, etc., then the comics are doing their job of keeping those properties in the comic-buying consumer's consciousness until the next movie or tv show comes out. Expect the comics to be increasingly driven by top-down editorial mandate.

We might still get some good comics. I enjoy Jonah Hex most months, even though its continued existence is mainly due to the upcoming movie (and to some extent Dan Didio's reported soft spot for the character). But unless your comic maintains a minimal sales level, or has a champion at the VP level, or has been optioned for a movie, don't expect it to last for long in its present form.

Prices? DC is quietly instituting the Marvel-esque $4 for a standard comic, or at least testing the waters. I'll have another post about that in the (near?) future...

FCBM6 Day 24

It's day twenty-four of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Edgardo Ortiz. The five comics that Edgardo likes are:

1. Barry Ween
2. Scott Pilgrim
3. Persepolis
4. Alan's War
5. Quest for the Missing Girl

And his other thing of interest is The Matrix.

For Edgardo I have the first issue of John Layman & Dave Crosland's slightly sureal violent amusement park comedy Puffed.

For Edgardo's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Popeye Halloween comic.

Edgardo's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's just one week left to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
35 entries
69 free comics sent so far
7 days remaining

FCBM6 Day 23

It's day twenty-three of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Kristin Munson. The five comics that Kristin likes are:

1. NextWave
2. Daughters of the Dragon
3. Harley Quinn
4. The Plain Janes
5. The Preposterous Voyages of Ironhide Tom

And her other thing of interest is Greek Mythology.

For Kristin I have the first three issues of the Mean Girls-meets-Super Powers comic Bad Girls by Steve Vance, Jennifer Graves & Christine Norrie.

For Kristin's bonus comic, I'm sending her the Casper/Little Lulu Halloween comic.

Kristin's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
34 entries
67 free comics sent so far
8 days remaining

FCBM6 Day 22

It's day twenty-two of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Andrew Coulon. The five comics that Andrew likes are:

1. Cheval Noir
2. Neil the Horse
3. Keif Llama: Xeno-Tech
4. Astro City
5. Concrete

And his other thing of interest is 80s movies on VHS.

For Andrew I have two comics based on B-grade 80s horror movies: Fright Night #1 and subspecies #1. Hopefully Andrew will appreciate the kitchiness...

For Andrew's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Popeye Halloween comic.

Andrew's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
34 entries
63 free comics sent so far
9 days remaining

FCBM6 Day 21

It's day twenty-one of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Jason Metcalfe. The five comics that Jason likes are:

1. Hellboy/BPRD
2. anything by Paul Pope
3. From Hell
4. Planetary
5. Batman: The Long Halloween

And his other thing of interest is the tv show Breaking Bad.

For Jason I have the first issue of Jonathan Lethem & Farel Dalrymple's trippy re-imagining of Omega the Unknown.

For Jason's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Popeye Halloween comic.

Jason's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
32 entries
60 free comics sent so far
10 days remaining

Amazon Top 50

Here are the Top 50 Graphic Novels on Amazon this morning. All the previous caveats apply.


1 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
2 (+3). Diary of a Wimpy Kid 5 *
3 (N). Troublemaker Book 1: Alex Barnaby Series 3 *
4 (-2). Kick-Ass
5 (+24). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
6 (+3). Instructions
7 (-). Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1
8 (-5). Wilson
9 (+16). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life
10 (+4). The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
11 (-7). The Walking Dead Book 5
12 (-6). Bloom County: The Complete Library, Vol. 2: 1982-1984
13 (-5). Invincible: The Ultimate Collection Volume 5
14 (+25). Batman: The Killing Joke
15 (+7). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
16 (+10). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
17 (+3). Watchmen
18 (-6). Scott Pilgrim Volume 6: Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour *
19 (-3). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 6: Retreat
20 (+7). V for Vendetta
21 (-2). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
22 (-11). Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
23 (-13). The Flash: Rebirth
24 (N). Ex Machina, Vol. 9: Ring out the Old
25 (R). The Sandman Vol. 1: Preludes and Nocturnes
26 (R). Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
27 (+15). Walking Dead Volume 12 *
28 (N). The Last Airbender: Prequel: Zuko's Story
29 (N). Kill Shakespeare Volume 1 *
30 (-13). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
31 (-3). The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel *
32 (+5). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
33 (+8). Batman: Year One
34 (-). Y: The Last Man, Vol. 3 (Deluxe Edition)
35 (R). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
36 (R). Batman and Robin, Vol. 1: Batman Reborn
37 (+7). The Boys Volume 6 SC
38 (R). Predators and Prey (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Vol. 5)
39 (-3). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
40 (R). No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2)
41 (R). American Born Chinese
42 (R). Wolves at the Gate (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 3)
43 (+2). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
44 (+4). Serenity, Vol. 2: Better Days
45 (+1). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
46 (N). Bloom County: The Complete Library Volume 3 *
47 (-15). Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume
48 (-33). Scott Pilgrim, Vol 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
49 (R). The Complete Peanuts 1975-1976 (Vol. 13)
50 (N). Wednesday Comics *



Items with asterisks (*) are pre-order items.

N = New listing appearing on list for first time
R = Item returning to the list after having been off for 1 or more weeks


Commentary:

* Highest debut this week is Troublemaker Book 1, a new graphic novel based on Janet Evanovich's Alex Barnaby mystery novels. It should probably have been on the list earlier, but it wasn't clear to me before that this was a graphic novel and not prose. Mea culpa, and a good reminder to take these list compilations with the appropriate levels of Skepticism and Salt.

* It's a big week for perennials, leading me to believe that overall GN sales on Amazon were down this week; Assuming that demand for these backlist items stays fairly steady, they will rise and fall on the Top 50 list based on how other items are performing.

* Although there's probably a good reason why Persepolis surged up so high this week. Anyone have any clues?

* I bet we could show a strong correlation between sales of The Walking Dead volumes on Amazon and casting calls for the upcoming AMC series.

* Scott Pilgrim demand continues to show no rational pattern. Some volumes are up, others are down, with often big swings from week-to-week.

FCBM6 Day 20

It's day twenty of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Adam Whitlatch. The five comics that Adam likes are:

1. Astonishing X-Men
2. Y, the Last Man
3. The Walking Dead
4. Ultimates
5. Green Lantern

And his other thing of interest is Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game.

For Adam I have the first issue of David Mack & Pascal Alixe's adaptation of Philip K. Dick's Electric Ant.

For Adam's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Star Wars Halloween comic.

Adam's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
32 entries
58 free comics sent so far
11 days remaining

FCBM6 Day 19

It's day nineteen of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from David Borders. The five comics that David likes are:

1. Rai
2. Magnus Robot Fighter
3. Identity Crisis
4. Batman: The Killing Joke
5. Harbinger

And his other thing of interest is the tv show Firefly.

For David I have the first two issues of Kelly Yates' sci-fi adventure comic Amber Atoms.

For David's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Star Wars Halloween comic.

David's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
31 entries
56 free comics sent so far
12 days remaining

FCBM6 Day 18

It's day eighteen of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Falisha Weatherspoon. The five comics that Falisha likes are:

1. Wonder Woman
2. Batgirl
3. Huntress
4. Amazing Spider-Man
5. Deathstroke

And her other thing of interest is art.

For Falisha I have the mother-and-daughter super-heroes Firebirds one-shot by Jay Faerber & Andres Ponce, as well as Digital Webbing Presents #25 which also features a Firebirds story.

For Falisha's bonus comic, I'm sending her the Casper/Little Lulu Halloween comic.

Falisha's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
30 entries
53 free comics sent so far
13 days remaining

FCBM6 Day 17

It's day seventeen of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from William Burns. The five comics that William likes are:

1. Incredible Hercules
2. Promethea
3. Peanuts
4. Groo
5. Dykes to Watch Out For

And his other thing of interest is The Office.

For William I have the first issues of Age of Bronze by Eric Shanower; and Planetary by Warren Ellis & John Cassaday.

For William's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Casper/Little Lulu Halloween comic.

William's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
30 entries
50 free comics sent so far
14 days remaining

FCBM6 Day 16

It's day sixteen of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Justin Fain. The five comics that Justin likes are:

1. Astonishing X-Men
2. The Walking Dead
3. Chew
4. Incognito
5. Y, the Last Man

And his other thing of interest is world travel.

For Justin I have the first three issues of B. Clay Moore & Jason Latour's espionage thriller The Expatriate.

For Justin's bonus comic, I'm sending him the Popeye Halloween comic.

Justin's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
30 entries
47 free comics sent so far
15 days remaining

FCBM6 Day 15

It's day fifteen of the Sixth Annual YACB Free Comic Book Month!

Our next selected entry is from Brandi Kenyon. The five comics that Brandi likes are:

1. The Walking Dead
2. Choker
3. Transmetropolitan
4. Barry Ween
5. Batman and Robin

And her other thing of interest is cooking and pottery.

For Brandi I have the first issue of Jimmie Robinson's girl-and-her-talking-gun comic Amanda and Gunn.

For Brandi's bonus comic, I'm sending her the Popeye Halloween comic.

Brandi's comics should be in the mail within a week. Enjoy!

There's still time to send in your entry for the YACB Free Comic Book Month; details are here.

Current FCBM Statistics:
30 entries
43 free comics sent so far
16 days remaining