The response to DC's sneak preview of this issue of Brave and The Bold (#32, out in February) has been overwhelmingly positive, and it caused more of a stir than I would've expected.
A couple commenters on the original post mentioned buying more than one copy, as a way to goose sales and send a message to DC that people want to see Classic Aquaman back. That got me thinking.
More than a few of you showed disdain for Dan Didio's comments re: Aquaman in his CBR interview the other day, and I can't say I don't agree in some ways--it kinda seems to me he went out of his way to slam the character, which is odd, considering it benefits DC (and, presumably, him) to boost every character in their stable. "I love all my children--except for you, Timmy, you're kinda slow and you probably won't amount to much. But I'm sure you'll be able to find work in the Custodial Arts."
Anyway, I'm not big on any sort of organized online protest thing, because I try find a way to send a positive message, not a negative one. So I'm thinking about some sort of Shrine-organized drive to buy as many copies of Brave the Bold #32 as possible, and try and see if we can make that particular issue one of the best selling of the series, sending an unmistakable message: More Classic Aquaman!
But I have some reservations about it--I don't want to buy a stack of B&B #32 just to have them sit in my house. Most of the comics I buy are to give away to various nieces and nephews, but since we haven't seen the issue in question I can't be sure it's appropriate for a young audience (don't even get me started on that).
I dunno, what do you all of you think? Any thoughts or ideas please leave in the comments, and vote in our second Aqua-Poll, now up!
13 comments:
I think the "buy multiple and give it away to kids" angle is great, but like you said, until we see the issue in question we won't know if that's a smart idea or not (story content wise.)
Still, a good idea to put on the "wait and see" list.
I have never actually posted a comment on this site but I've been a reader on the blog for a while. Aquaman is without a doubt my favorite comic book character and it really pains me to see the way he's treated by much of the world.
Long story short, I am totally up for buying as many of these as I can. I don't mean 20 or 30, but I plan at least on buying 4 or 5 issues and really reccomending it to some of my comic book reading friends. I know plenty of people I could give the issue away to, plus it would be nice to have an extra issue sitting around in case something were to happen to the original.
I think the artwork here looks great and if it's anything like Brave and the Bold #28 (with Flash and BlackHawks) it will probably deal with some tough scenes (maybe the subject of death a little) but for the most part, any kid over 12 and over would be ideal for it.
That is DEFINITELY a classic-looking Aquaman. As to kid-friendly content, The Demon is seldom a kid-friendly character. We'll just have to see.
Also, I'd like to say that, having been out of work since February, even a job in the custodial arts is hard to come by. I tried.
Oh! and I have an issue of B&B froma year or two ago that starred Aqualad and the Teen Titans. It featured classic Aquaman and Mera pretty heavily.
Of course, that was before they killed Aquaman.
Well, if it isn't suitable for kids when it does come out, we could always take copies and leave them in various places, like waiting rooms, libraries, cafes.
Or maybe even donate them to some overseas soldiers' program?
I am all for the idea of doing a positive protest!
That sounds a great idea!
Maybe if other Aqua-fans were willing, in the spirit of The Brave and The Bold we could make our posting signatures on any comic/entertainment based sites we visit 'The Brave and the Bold: Aquaman and the Internet. Buy copies of B&B #32 and support the King of the Seven Seas'
Just to grow awareness, I don't know about wording though I'm sure you'll be able to nail it if you think its do-able. Maybe even linking back to the Aquashrine for a post that summarises Arthur's plight and a call to action?
Also for those of us with blogs, and facebook pages maybe you could knock up a banner or button ad we could display? Just thinking out loud... will let you know if I think of other things.
Or 'The Brave and the Bold: Aquaman and F.O.A.M. Buy copies of B&B #32 and support the King of the Seven Seas'
That could be better :D
Bubba-
Yeah--I'd hate to find some small element in the book that makes it unsuitable for kids. So far, I think most of the B&B's have been okay, but...
David-
Welcome and thanks for commenting!
Aaron-
I covered that issue of BB with the Titans and Aquaman a while back, but because it was part of another post you can't find it via the labels.
(Yet another reason why I stopped doing multiple-subject posts and started giving everything I want to talk about its own post!)
Sorry about your work situation, too. As a freelancer, my income has definitely taken a hit due to the bad economy. I think you should just buy two copies of B&B #32. :)
Wings-
Yeah, maybe donating any leftover comics to charities would work. I'm guessing B&B would be okay for kids, but you never know.
Dan-
I like all those ideas. A banner for people to use is cool, I'll have to give it some thought.
Problem is, of course, the book might suck (No offense to JMS intended), and I hate the idea of people buying multiple copies of a lame comic. So the whole thing needs a little more thought.
But I REALLY like the banner idea, if only to raise awareness.
Ezcept...
If this plan is publicly known (and it is)
And it only affects one issue (and it does)
Then any Suit/Bean Counter can just dismiss it as a "sure, we saw that coming; doesn't mean long term sales..." thing.
In other words, it can't hurt (except wallets), but I don't think it can help a whole lot?
-Craig W.
You could send a link to this very post to as many comic news blogs as you can find. Most of them exist to link to any comics event happening. I could definitely see PW's The Beat, The Comics Reporter, and maybe even TCJ's Journalista blog running a blurb and a link. They are regularly visited by comic fans of all types.
Craig-
You're a total bringdown, man!
No, you're right--its not like everyone is going to buy multiple copies of every Aquaman comic, so yeah the results don't really match up. Good point, something I missed in my exuberance.
Doug-
Good ideas all! I like the idea of trying to make it an "event" of some sort.
Rob-
Sorry, Boss...
Doug-
Now, trying to raise Aqua-conciousness in general, THAT might make new fans & have a bit more lasting impact...?
We got the Aquaman hoodie, we can do anything ;)
And Aaron, the Demon has appeared in both the past Justice League cartoon and the current Batman Brave and the Bold cartoon, so he's been "all ages" enough recently to assume he could be so in this one.
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