It has not been a good weekend. The shop’s main computer succumbed to its virus on Saturday and was pronounced dead at approximately 8:45 that evening. The shop computer, also known as that stupid slow ass piece of crap, was diagnosed with a pathogen that slowly drove it and others around it berserker mad. Truly sad is the fact that in its final moments and in a fit of dementia shop computer convinced the POS Point of Sale and Internet Café Software to go with it into the waiting hands of sweet oblivion. Funeral services for the three have not yet been planned.
What I’m saying is I’ve been working long and hard to get this new POS up and running and won’t have much for you this week. That and Ronnie and I drank ourselves into a stooper after losing big on the Bears last night.
Interview with Grant…
Found a great link to an interview with Grant Morrison, writer of Batman and Robin. Give it a read if you have time: comics.ign.com/articles/106/1063765p1.html. Why do I keep talking about this book? Because a) it is better than all the other cape and cowl books on the rack and b) you keep buying it. It is by far our best selling comic (that is not a mini-series about undead ring wielding super-freaks.) It is our best seller by almost double the next comic.
People like Batman and now more than ever one of the caped crusaders books isn’t complete unreadable crap either. So, go read the article and enjoy.
Disturbing news…
I found some disturbing news this last week. Bleeding Cool was the first to post some pseudo official information on a Watchmen 2 comic sequel and/or prequel. I will post links in a bit, but the basic gist of the articles is that with Paul Levitz “stepping down” as President of DC, editor and chief Dan Didio would finally push through this project to make profits and impress his new overlor… er, bosses.
This project has been rumored for some time, even long before a movie was in the works and though financially this sounds like a no brainer, you need to understand some history (and have read the original) to know why this is the worst of comics never ending stream of bad ideas.
Alan Moore, writer of Watchmen, has not had a good history with DC due to issues with royalties, creator rights and merchandising. Obviously there would be no Alan Moore on this project and even though Paul Levitz didn’t see eye to eye with Moore on many an issue, Levitz would never have let this idea of a Watchmen sequel come to pass.
Levitz is one of the great 70’s and early 80’s writers and is most predominately known for his long and beloved run on The Legion of Superheroes. Levitz has been criticized for, lack of better words, not being Marvel and it finally cost him his job. Levitz had a good and stable run as head of DC and though DC may not have ever dominated the sales charts during his tenure, the company never went bankrupt and was always profitable.
If you were paying attention last fall after Marvel was sold to Disney, DC announced some changes in how they would be doing business under their long time corporate umbrella Warner Brothers. Levitz resigned to move back to writing – in other words was pushed out – as Warner wanted one of their own controlling how the comics were being streamlined to make the parent company more money. And yes, you can read that as they wanted the comics to be better turned into movies, TV and other forms of film like animation.
As sad as this all is, it is to be expected. Warner couldn’t sit back and watch as it’s film rivals churned out super hero success after super hero success and they didn’t have to pay a dime for rights. This is not to even mention all the actual potential (and actual quality) that exists in the Vertigo vault. So… of course without the last roadblock a corporate shill like Didio would gladly take marching orders to make more Watchmen. “Yes Sir, Madam. How much, How many and How fast? Quality is no issue here at the new DC!!”
I got to meet Paul Levitz at a comic convention a few years ago. He was THE HEAD of the publisher, President and he was on the floor and greeting customers and retailers, signed autographs and took questions at panels. I was able to spend a little time with him and two of the best people I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting at a con, Louise and Walter Simonson. Levitz was an average guy and I’m guessing will be much happier just writing and not dealing with the crap what I’m sure comes with running a comic company.
It is just very sad that things he fought to keep from seeing the light of day are now the first things to be rolled out only months after leaving office.
Here are some links – YEP, all Bleedingcool.com. Why even bother going anywhere else?:
The Rumblings First:
www.bleedingcool.com/2010/02/03/get-ready-for-watchmen-2/
Rich lists out all the potential of Vertigo for the mindless hordes of Hollywood:
www.bleedingcool.com/2010/02/04/the-untapped-movie-mine-of-vertigo-comics/
Why I use “” around the words News when referring to comic “news”:
www.bleedingcool.com/2010/02/05/watchmen-2-how-modern-journalism-works/
And possible confirmation:
www.bleedingcool.com/2010/02/05/richard-pace-confirms-possible-existence-of-watchmen-2-project/







