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Are you reading CRIMINAL? (Issue #2 on sale 4/9/2008 - Maybe?)

24

Posts

  • wwtMaskwwtMask Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Go ahead and put it on your list, because it's beyond good.

    wwtMask on
    When he dies, I hope they write "Worst Affirmative Action Hire, EVER" on his grave. His corpse should be trolled.
    Twitter - @liberaltruths | Google+ - http://gplus.to/wwtMask | Occupy Tallahassee
  • CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Jkyle had me e-mail Bru and ask this:
    Some friends and online acquaintances wanted me to ask you if there were any numbers on how well Criminal vol.2 no. 1 has sold since its release.


    I hope it's been selling well.

    He just replied (like 10min ago), and...
    We've been getting decent reorders, but it's still an uphill battle, sadly. Have to see what the orders are for the next few issues to really know how it's doing.

    Crap.

    Crimsondude on
  • wwtMaskwwtMask Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    You people not reading Criminal: you're the reason we don't have nice things. :x

    wwtMask on
    When he dies, I hope they write "Worst Affirmative Action Hire, EVER" on his grave. His corpse should be trolled.
    Twitter - @liberaltruths | Google+ - http://gplus.to/wwtMask | Occupy Tallahassee
  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    If someone promises to buy the second issue, I'll snail-mail my copy of the latest #1 to you. Just PM me if you're interested.

    jkylefulton on
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  • CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    You'd have better luck buying twenty and letting anyone who goes to your local store take one at the checkout.

    Crimsondude on
  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Yeah, I should do that.

    jkylefulton on
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  • CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Just saying. Although if you could get someone else to eat part of that $80, I bet that would be just super.

    Crimsondude on
  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    If I wasn't a starving grad student, I wouldn't think twice about it. Ideally, the book will still be around when I'm employed, and actually have money.

    jkylefulton on
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  • Brian EwingBrian Ewing Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I recently dropped all of Brubaker's books. Not because I don't like them, but because I think they just read so much better in trades. It's hard to be patient and leave the monthly issues sitting on the stands, but in the long run, I'll get more enjoyment of these stories if I just wait.

    Brian Ewing on
    "Remember, always be yourself. Unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
  • MunchMunch Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=92159514&blogID=353102285

    You can read the first chapter of the first trade, COWARD, at that link.

    Sold. Next time I order some books from Amazon I'll be sure to get this.

    Munch on
  • CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I recently dropped all of Brubaker's books. Not because I don't like them, but because I think they just read so much better in trades. It's hard to be patient and leave the monthly issues sitting on the stands, but in the long run, I'll get more enjoyment of these stories if I just wait.

    That's assuming Criminal makes it to another trade.

    If people trade-wait, it's not going to hurt Captain America or Daredevil, and in no way will it matter on Uncanny X-Men. But trade-waiting is going to kill this one. Marvel Icon isn't like Vertigo. It's a ruthless setup: The comics are creator-owned, but it also means pretty much every aspect except physically printing out and distributing the books is in the creators' hands. Hence Bru and Millar pimping the shit out of their respective books. They have financial stakes in the immediate sales of Criminal and Kick Ass.

    BTW, I'll just take this opportunity to say that I hate everyone who reads the latter and not the former. Hate with the fury of a thousand suns.

    Crimsondude on
  • wwtMaskwwtMask Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I recently dropped all of Brubaker's books. Not because I don't like them, but because I think they just read so much better in trades. It's hard to be patient and leave the monthly issues sitting on the stands, but in the long run, I'll get more enjoyment of these stories if I just wait.

    Okay, just letting you know that you doing this is not helping the title stay alive, and you will thus have fewer of these stories to enjoy if others do what you're doing. Bite the bullet and buy the singles, then buy the trade if it's that big a deal to you. The singles seriously are worth it just for the back material. I know more about noir fiction now than I ever would've known otherwise.

    Also, welcome to the club Munch. Go ahead and buy series 2 in singles, since it's not totally required that you have read the first series to appreciate it.

    wwtMask on
    When he dies, I hope they write "Worst Affirmative Action Hire, EVER" on his grave. His corpse should be trolled.
    Twitter - @liberaltruths | Google+ - http://gplus.to/wwtMask | Occupy Tallahassee
  • Brian EwingBrian Ewing Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I buy comics in the format I want to read them in, and that's the only way I'll ever make those decisions.

    Brian Ewing on
    "Remember, always be yourself. Unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    And that's your choice, of course.

    Here's a question - since you're clearly part of the trade-waiting demographic, what do you think Brubaker could / should add to the monthly books that would get you to buy them? I'm genuinely curious.

    jkylefulton on
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  • Brian EwingBrian Ewing Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I don't want him to change anything. I just think the way he paces stories doesn't work well with the monthly serial format. I don't want him to change that, because I really like reading six issues of material at a time with that kind of deliberate pacing. It's different than the books I read monthly, and I like having that variety.

    Brian Ewing on
    "Remember, always be yourself. Unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I was thinking more along the lines of "What material other than the main story" would get you to buy the monthly.

    jkylefulton on
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  • wwtMaskwwtMask Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I'm fine with you choosing to wait for the trades, just understand that by doing so you're contributing to the economic situation that makes it hard or not possible for books like Criminal to continue. You're not going to have a book to buy if a lot of people do the same as you; if they don't hit a certain level of sell-through, Brubaker can't justify continuing the book. Nobody likes it, but you trade waiters hurt the viability of new and independent properties. If you really want to support the title, buying the singles is the best way to do it.

    wwtMask on
    When he dies, I hope they write "Worst Affirmative Action Hire, EVER" on his grave. His corpse should be trolled.
    Twitter - @liberaltruths | Google+ - http://gplus.to/wwtMask | Occupy Tallahassee
  • Brian EwingBrian Ewing Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    A book doesn't have to make money in the direct market to be viable. Books like The Walking Dead and Y: The Last Man never set the world on fire with their monthly issues, but they're powerhouses in the traditional book market. A lot more people read those books that way, and they'll continue to read them for years to come. Y is a book like Sandman or Preacher that will continue to make money for decades after the monthlies stopped being published.

    If Criminal ever got cancelled, it would not be solely because the monthly singles didn't sell well. That would mean the trades weren't doing so hot either. The idea that trade-waiters are the problem is just unfounded.

    Brian Ewing on
    "Remember, always be yourself. Unless you suck." - Joss Whedon
  • wwtMaskwwtMask Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Or it could mean that the threshold for viability is different for every book. The artist/writer combo on the book, in addition to the self-financing aspect, means that Criminal can't just be some niche book that gets by on meager single sales with hopes of gangbuster sales on the trades. Even with Walking Dead and Invincible, by Kirkman's own admission the first year or so for them were slim margins and he nearly pulled the plug, and this was before he was a big name. Bru's said that he's making nothing on this comic and that all the money is going to the artists. If someone on the project is going unpaid, I tend to think that it's not hitting the numbers quite right.

    Trade waiters are a problem because their support for books runs against the economic realities that determine the viability of those books. Monthly sales continue to be the barometer for success in the industry. Trade sales are beginning to be important as well, but for new properties, and independent/creator-owned properties in particular, robust single sales are extremely important because the economics hit the creators directly.

    wwtMask on
    When he dies, I hope they write "Worst Affirmative Action Hire, EVER" on his grave. His corpse should be trolled.
    Twitter - @liberaltruths | Google+ - http://gplus.to/wwtMask | Occupy Tallahassee
  • ServoServo Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited March 2008
    I don't want him to change anything. I just think the way he paces stories doesn't work well with the monthly serial format. I don't want him to change that, because I really like reading six issues of material at a time with that kind of deliberate pacing. It's different than the books I read monthly, and I like having that variety.

    well criminal is one-shots for at least a couple months now, so that's not an excuse!

    Servo on
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  • CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Wait. How does the pacing ... what?

    Punisher (MAX, natch) has been nothing but self-contained arc after arc. In fact, the first seven arcs were all six issues each (as opposed to Criminal's five), then a seven issue arc (Widowmaker), and then five issues (the last Barracuda arc), and now the last Ennis arc. But I don't see many people talking about how they trade-wait it or even about the pacing.

    With regards to Criminal, it's going to be a magazine. That's the difference. The stories will be shorter than Gnarly's, with the rest (about a third of the individual floppies) being stuff that will never be in trades.

    Crimsondude on
  • ServoServo Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited March 2008
    yeah, the criminal books have great extras that totally make singles worthwhile

    widowmaker wasn't that great though

    Servo on
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  • WildcatWildcat Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    You know, I'm not sure that I've ever seen a copy of Criminal in my LCS.

    Wildcat on
  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Then your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to get your LCS order person to order the book.

    jkylefulton on
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  • WildcatWildcat Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Ha, not likely. They don't even order in stuff they're meant to be getting, like Suburban Glamour.

    Wildcat on
  • CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Okay. Plan B.

    Destroy the LCS and its owners with fire. It's the only way to be sure you rid the Earth of such evil.

    Crimsondude on
  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    It's always weird when retailers refuse to order books that their customers want. No, I'm not interested in your money, thank you very much.

    jkylefulton on
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  • WildcatWildcat Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I guess I'm being overly cynical. I'm assured that they do order the niche books, but have the devil of a time getting their orders fulfilled - one of the joys of being UK-based, perhaps?

    Wildcat on
  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Ah, I bet that's it. Sometimes, it's easy to forget that America!=Internet. Sorry about that!

    jkylefulton on
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  • WildcatWildcat Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Hey, no problem - lately I've been turning to Ebay to complete my weekly purchases anyway. Speaking of which, I must look for Criminal on there next time.

    Wildcat on
  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I wonder if Bru and Phillips do overseas translations of the TPBs? I'm not too familiar with the overseas market, but I have to think the book would do a killing over there.

    Have you tried http://www.dcbservice.com/ , Wildcat?

    jkylefulton on
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  • WildcatWildcat Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I wonder if Bru and Phillips do overseas translations of the TPBs? I'm not too familiar with the overseas market, but I have to think the book would do a killing over there.

    Have you tried http://www.dcbservice.com/ , Wildcat?

    No, I haven't. Would there be much benefit for an international buyer?

    Wildcat on
  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Guaranteed pulls, I think 30-40% off cover is fairly standard, and you'd only be paying shipping on one package per month. That's the downside, though - waiting until the end of the month (I think they have more frequent options, though). But it might be a solution to the issues you're having.

    jkylefulton on
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  • CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I wonder if Bru and Phillips do overseas translations of the TPBs? I'm not too familiar with the overseas market, but I have to think the book would do a killing over there.

    Have you tried http://www.dcbservice.com/ , Wildcat?

    I could ask, but fron everything I've read I'm almost certain that the answer is no. I'm sure they see the potential too, but again... Icon makes big risks just that. Risks.

    That sounds like a good option, though. Especially since the dollar sucks ass compared to the Pound Sterling (even more than usual).

    Crimsondude on
  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Man, I really wish ICON had the same setup as VERTIGO. Quesada needs to bite the fucking bullet, and do whatever he has to to keep this book going.

    jkylefulton on
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  • WildcatWildcat Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    It certainly could, actually, especially given the pound-dollar strength at the moment. I'd stick with the LCS for most titles, but picking up the more obscure ones from DCBS is tempting, thanks!

    Wildcat on
  • ServoServo Registered User, ClubPA regular
    edited March 2008
    so the extremely hard-to-find noir blast of silence, which has on occasion been mentioned in the backmatter as a particularly brutal little noir (patton oswalt in particular likes it, if i remember correctly) is getting a very nice criterion release, complete with a sean phillips drawn little comic adaptation as an extra.

    just thought i'd point it out to interested parties

    Servo on
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  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Crimson, do you know if Bru has thought about putting those previews on Wowio? On one of the other boards I frequent, one of the main Wowio infastructure guys brought it up, and it seems like a good idea. Also, Wowio is turning out to be a decent revenue stream for lots of creators.

    jkylefulton on
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  • CrimsondudeCrimsondude Registered User regular
    edited March 2008
    I don't know.

    Crimsondude on
  • jkylefultonjkylefulton Squid...or Kid? NNID - majpellRegistered User regular
    edited March 2008
    Upcoming Cover to issue #4 and #5 (Jake's story), spoilered for size and beauty:
    crim024cvric7.jpg

    crim025cvrpr3.jpg

    Also, issue #2 might be coming out tomorrow. It's supposed to, but it's not on the list.

    So maybe.

    jkylefulton on
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This discussion has been closed.