The Fire and Water Podcast Presents: WHO'S WHO: THE DEFINITIVE PODCAST OF THE DC UNIVERSE, Volume XVIIThis time around we chat about WHO'S WHO: Volume XVII, discussing characters such as Nightwing, Northwind, Ocean Master, OMAC, The Patchwork Man, The Penguin, and Per Degaton! We wrap up the show with Listener Feedback!
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5 comments:
Rob, I'm going to leave this comment here on the Shrine as a show of support and because I hate Shag.
I've been thinking about Anthology books and their lack of sales success that's come up in the last couple episodes of the Fire & Water and Who's Who podcasts. It seems like every fan sees them as the last bastion of hope for unpopular characters while wizened cynics dismiss that they would never sell. I have been reviewing Action Comics Weekly over at my Black Canary blog, and while I have no idea how well or poorly the book sold at the time, I think that kind of anthology book could find success today.
I think an anthology book needs an anchor, a big name like Superman, Batman or Green Lantern. So what if ACTION COMICS and DETECTIVE COMICS were bumped up to 48 page books? DETECTIVE would feature a continuing Batman adventure every month and two backup features from a rotating cast of detectives like Martian Manhunter, Elongated Man, Dr. Occult, Slam Bradley, Detective Chimp, etc. ACTION would star Superman in a normal length story and backups with... whoever, Metamorpho, Warlord, Vigilante, etc. I think even Green Lantern is popular enough that one of his books could feature a Mystery in Space style anthology of space-based backup stories like Adam Strange, Captain Comet, etc.
What say you to that?
^I agree. When GL anchored Action Comics Weekly, he was at one of his lowest points as far as popularity. That's not a problem now. A strong character like him, Superman or Batman could keep a book like this on the shelves.
Chris
Count Drunkula is a genius! I bought Action Weekly back in the day, and I'd do it again...it was fun! Did I read every story of every issue? No...but I loved being able to read further adventures of Wild Dog, Blackhawk, Speedy...
I'm sure it has the potential to be a nightmare from an editorial perspective, but as a fan I like the idea of anthologies (and pin-up books for that matter) because I like the idea of being exposed to different artists and writers and characters.
I think the New 52 anthology attempt "DC Universe Presents" and "National Comics" missed the mark because they focused on single characters when it could have attracted a larger audience by giving a variety. Why not do "DC Universe Presents: Deadman" with Challengers of the Unknown and Vandal Savage back ups? Or "National Comics: Eternity" with Madame X and Rose & Thorn back ups?
Tim. I completely agree DC mismanaged the New 52 DC Universe Presents. Focusing the first five issues on Deadman confused some casual readers who didn't realize it wasn't a Deadman miniseries, and also spent too much time on Deadman so that by the time they got to the second story arc, the sales had dipped low enough to be near-cancellation.
However, I still think a Deadman/Challengers/Vandal Savage book wouldn't last much longer without a true A+-lister headlining. Batman or Superman starring in the lead feature (or maybe a rotation with other Justice League bigs like GL, Wonder Woman, Flash and Aquaman) plus a couple of lesser-knowns would be the way to go.
You're right about the bigger names, I was just looking at the characters they did use and thinking combining them could have worked better than the solo stories...I was also probably giving Deadman more "drawing power" than he has. I love the character, but to your point he's not an a-lister and wouldn't bring the audience that Superman/Batman would.
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