What If There Was an Anniversary, But Nobody Threw a Party?

2010 marks DC Comics' 75th Anniversary, but you wouldn't know it by anything the company is doing!

Back in 1985, DC made a big deal out of their 50th anniversary, designing a special logo; launching Who's Who; and of course running the big Crisis on Infinite Earths mega-crossover, the comic that set the template for big company-wide crossovers for the next 25 years.

But for #75? Nary a peep!

Chalk it up to several factors, including a management shake-up and also running into the tail-end of Blackest Night, which started back in 2009.

But there some obvious things that could be done, such as marking Brightest Day as the big 75th Anniversary series.

Also, Superman #700, Batman #700, & Wonder Woman #600 will all be coming out within a few months of each other in 2010. Your big three characters, all with anniversary issues, in your 75th anniversary year? That should be an opportunity too big to ignore! A big, massive three-part epic written by Geoff Johns and/or Grant Morrison (or your new writer JMS), drawn by Jim Lee, staring Superman, Batman & Wonder Woman? That would be like printing money.

(Of course, since DC refuse to do a Sugar & Spike reprint project, we know that they must hate money...)

Amazon Top 50

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


1 (-). Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 *
2 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
3 (-). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
4 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
5 (+1). Diary of a Wimpy Kid
6 (+3). The Walking Dead Volume 11: Fear The Hunters
7 (-3). Fables Vol. 13: The Great Fables Crossover
8 (+7). Kick-Ass *
9 (-2). The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
10 (-2). Dark Tower: The Fall of Gilead
11 (-1). The Splendid Magic of Penny Arcade: The 11 1/2 Anniversary Edition *
12 (-1). Watchmen
13 (+1). Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
14 (+5). Star Wars: Legacy Volume 8 - Tatooine *
15 (-2). The Complete Calvin and Hobbes
16 (+7). Naruto, Vol. 47
17 (+22). Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight Volume 6: Retreat *
18 (-). Logicomix: An Epic Search for Truth
19 (R). All Star Superman, Vol. 2
20 (+4). Batman: Year One
21 (-1). Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
22 (-10). Batman: The Dark Knight Returns
23 (R). Starman Omnibus Vol. 4 *
24 (-8). Batman: Arkham Asylum (15th Anniversary Edition)
25 (+6). Stitches: A Memoir
26 (R). The Walking Dead Compendium Volume 1
27 (+13). The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks
28 (-11). Batman: The Killing Joke
29 (N). Dark Avengers, Vol. 2: Molecule Man *
30 (+4). Wolverine: Old Man Logan
31 (R). Simon's Cat
32 (-11). V for Vendetta
33 (-5). The Complete Persepolis
34 (+10). Thor, Vol. 3
35 (+12). The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become
36 (+10). Fables Vol. 12: The Dark Ages
37 (R). Stephen King's The Stand Vol. 1: Captain Trips
38 (N). Garfield from the Trash Bin: Rescued Rejects & Outrageous Outtakes *
39 (+9). Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic in One Volume
40 (R). Stephen King's The Stand Vol. 2: American Nightmares
41 (R). The Long Way Home (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 1)
42 (-16). Predators and Prey (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Vol. 5)
43 (N). Berserk Volume 33
44 (-22). Asterios Polyp
45 (R). Incognito
46 (R). Time of Your Life (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Season 8, Vol. 4)
47 (-15). Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Volume 8 - Destroyer
48 (-7). Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
49 (-14). Vampire Knight, Vol. 9
50 (R). Y: The Last Man, Vol. 10: Whys and Wherefores



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:

* A very good week for Marvel: they place two titles in the top 10 (neither of which, however, are Marvel Entertainment properties), have the highest debut with the new Dark Avengers hardcover, and have 8 titles overall in the top 50.

* Twilight watch: #61 on the overall list, with a month to go before its release. When the date draws closer, expect it to climb back up again.

Cartoon Bullets

(To enlarge this image, click on the Calvin Klein umbrella.)

Bizarro is brought to you today by Gifts.

It used to be that when I would see an old man dressed particularly badly I would wonder if I would one day be that man. Now I think it is more likely that he never cared about the way he looked in the first place, or just has lousy taste. People don't change all that much when they get old. But on many occasions I have pointed at strangers and asked my wife to shoot me if I become that guy.

Here's a bit of oddness: The day after this cartoon appeared in papers, I received the following email.

"I dont like how you put guns in your comics, espically on Valentines Day

- (man's name) for my daughter who is 11"

That was the whole thing. I usually answer all of the mail I get, positive or negative, but this one stumped me. I have no idea what to say to this man and his daughter. I want to ask so many questions.

• How about knives, can I show a person chopping onions with a knife?
  
• Are sticks okay?
  
• Is there a day other than Valentine's Day when a cartoon gun would be less offensive?
  
• Have you ever heard of words like "humor," "satire," "hyperbole," "unrealistic desires to control a world which is essentially a festival of random chaos heading downhill without brakes," "choose your battles"?

My sincere apologies to anyone who finds ink strokes in the shape of a gun in a cartoon offensive. Next time, I'll use a potato.

"If I ever try to leave the house dressed like that, point a harmless tuber at me."

Words, Phones, Beards, Snow, Puzzle

Bizarro is brought to you today by Overly Long Book Titles That Make People Uncomfortable.
Today we have a bit of wordplay in the tradition of my cartoon idol, B. Kliban. This was another collaborative effort with my word-obsessed friend, Cliff.

Speaking of words:
1. Some commentators pointed out in yesterday's post that I have confused the meaning of the term "goatee" with "Van Dyck." I have no doubt you are correct, but I lost my facial hair terms chart the last time I moved and so was utilizing common vernacular.

2. A couple of people wrote in the comments section that they had small problems with one aspect or another of my Bizarro iPhone app. All I can say is that mine works fine as does my wife's and a handful of friends I've talked to, but I will mention your comments to the programmers. Bugs in phone apps tend to float around indiscriminately, depending on how good the 3G reception is in your area, how many times you've dropped your phone, and how hemp oil-stained your fingers are when you push the buttons. My exprience with iPhone apps is that all the stuff works most of the time in most apps, and they're either free or a couple of bucks, so I figure it's just the chance you take.

3. I don't have time to post a contest today because I'm out of town this weekend and trying to achieve some deadlines in early. I'm speaking to a Florida group from the Center for Inquiry, which should be fun and certainly a good deal warmer than Brooklyn.

4. To reiterate in larger type: SORRY, NO CONTEST PUZZLE THING THIS WEEK.

Vote Early, Vote Violently

For those of you living in San Francisco area, I'd like to ask you to visit the link below and vote for Bizarro. The top four vote getters will be shown in the paper in color. Could be fun.

Thanks!

http://www.sfgate.com/comicscontest/

Goat-Mouthed Minions

Bizarro is brought to you today by Satanic Snacks.

My most heartfelt and lugubrious apologies to both of my faithful blog readers for not posting more often of late. I intend to post six days a week but have been up to my eyeballs in extra work lately.

Here is an offering which I enjoy. I've always liked goatees, even as a kid, which is LONG before they were the ubiquitous mouth frame they are today. I wore one in the early nineties, even though my (first) wife hated it and a friend of mine used to introduce me as "my friend, Satan." In contemporary art, the Devil frequently has a goatee but I have no idea why that started or how far back that goes. I've read that his arrow-tipped tail is actually a watered-down version of an erect penis, which in very early Christendom was the way he was routinely portrayed. Like much about Christian mythology, I'm guessing this image is a throwback to the satyr of Greek mythology. This is mostly conjecture on my part, so don't go use this info on Jeopardy! and blame me if you lose.

A lot of totally bald guys wear goatees, presumably because they want to have some form of hair decoration on their head and lone mustaches have come to be seen as "gay". A full beard on a bald guy is fine, but I'm not sure of the best way to handle the end of the beard, where it meets the bald head above the ears. A sharply trimmed end seems too abrupt and can make the beard look pasted on. A fade-out from beard to bald seems best, but that's got to be very difficult to achieve and maintain.

The musician, Moby, has a head undecorated by hair (except for eyebrows) and not only likes it that way but is a little militant about it. He once criticized bald guys with goatees in a conversation with me, which struck me as odd since I was wearing something similar – my current mustache and "soul patch". I'm not completely bald, so maybe that made him feel it was appropriate. Regardless, that experience was in the back of my mind when I wrote this cartoon.

While I like goatees, I know there are those who don't and will likely get a laugh from this cartoon. Or email it to their friends with goatees, in an effort to get their goat.

Why Does Marvel Front-Load Its Release Schedule?

Here's something that's bothered me for a while now:

Take a look at Marvel's release schedule for May, in terms of how many new comics are being released each week:

May 5: 46 titles
May 12: 20 titles
May 19: 18 titles
May 26: 14 titles

There are more than twice as may titles being released on the first week as there are any other week. That's 47% of their total monthly output scheduled for the first week. This pattern is not atypical for Marvel.

Mu question is: why? Do they count on many of these titles slipping a week or two? Are they playing games with FOC dates? Do they want reorders to show up on that month's shipping to game the monthly Diamond market share?