Comments on: Death Nail… http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/ We are your overlords. Tue, 02 Dec 2008 21:04:28 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 By: Schroddfather http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-27013 Schroddfather Sat, 10 Mar 2007 05:32:23 +0000 http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-27013 Yeah, so, the idea that the comics market dropped because of something the publishers did? No. It dropped because there was competition for the consumer's dollar - video games, internet, explosion of channels on cable. Yeah, so, the idea that the comics market dropped because of something the publishers did? No. It dropped because there was competition for the consumer’s dollar - video games, internet, explosion of channels on cable.

]]> By: Etherius http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26957 Etherius Fri, 09 Mar 2007 15:41:59 +0000 http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26957 I find it interesting that they're already muddying the waters about Cap's status. In "Civil War: The Initiative" we see Ms. Marvel insisting to Spider-Woman that Cap isn't really dead, that he's been taken to The Raft and a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors are working desperately to save his life. Yeah, she COULD be lying, but Jessica and Carol have been such close friends that I doubt it -- particularly since Iron Man gets pissed off at Carol later for the apparent security breach. Of course, it's possible that Carol herself is being lied to. It might be in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best interests to keep the image of Captain America alive; we've already seen how they're using Life Model Decoys of Nick Fury to maintain the illusion that he's still around. They might do the same thing with Cap -- orchestrate little spontaneous sightings, build an urben legend a la Batman, and create JUST enough doubt in the minds of Red Skull, HYDRA, et al. that they will be more cautious than if they believed Cap was truly dead. As for the larger ramifications for the comic industry, I hope that they'll learn a lesson from 1990s speculation bubble and NOT reprint Cap #25. A large part of the reason the comics industry crashed was because they overprinted the comics in ludicrous numbers that the industry couldn't support in the long run. Cap #25 sold out within hours at our local comics shop, so there was an upper limit on how much money could be dumped into speculation. Marvel will be smarter if they keep the first-run comics relatively scarce and then sell copies of the trade paperbacks to those who missed the story the first time. Oh, and for everyone talking about how Marvel and DC are crap and indie comics are where the real quality is -- please, give me a break. Yes, there are some really high-quality indie books out there, and I'm very much looking forward to HERO BY NIGHT -- but 90% of the indie market is crap. What the great "Image rebellion" gave us were some fantastic artists who could no longer maintain a consistent schedule, were addicted to T&A as a selling point, and who were backed up by writing that ranged from mediocre to abysmal. Meanwhile, DC/Vertigo was giving us titles like The Sandman, Preacher, and Hellblazer, comics whose writing quality holds up today as some of the best anywhere. In more recent years DC & Marvel have given us great comics like Alias, Batman: The Long Halloween, and Kevin Smith's runs on Daredevil and Green Arrow, while Image continues to publish a lot of flashy, pretty stuff that is frequently late and usually devoid of any memorable content. The indie market will continue to be a place where a lot of new ideas get tested out and a lot of experimentation takes place, but let's not kid ourselves -- the good stuff is a small number of diamonds in a whole lot of rough. Much like DC and Marvel... I find it interesting that they’re already muddying the waters about Cap’s status. In “Civil War: The Initiative” we see Ms. Marvel insisting to Spider-Woman that Cap isn’t really dead, that he’s been taken to The Raft and a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors are working desperately to save his life. Yeah, she COULD be lying, but Jessica and Carol have been such close friends that I doubt it — particularly since Iron Man gets pissed off at Carol later for the apparent security breach.

Of course, it’s possible that Carol herself is being lied to. It might be in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s best interests to keep the image of Captain America alive; we’ve already seen how they’re using Life Model Decoys of Nick Fury to maintain the illusion that he’s still around. They might do the same thing with Cap — orchestrate little spontaneous sightings, build an urben legend a la Batman, and create JUST enough doubt in the minds of Red Skull, HYDRA, et al. that they will be more cautious than if they believed Cap was truly dead.

As for the larger ramifications for the comic industry, I hope that they’ll learn a lesson from 1990s speculation bubble and NOT reprint Cap #25. A large part of the reason the comics industry crashed was because they overprinted the comics in ludicrous numbers that the industry couldn’t support in the long run. Cap #25 sold out within hours at our local comics shop, so there was an upper limit on how much money could be dumped into speculation. Marvel will be smarter if they keep the first-run comics relatively scarce and then sell copies of the trade paperbacks to those who missed the story the first time.

Oh, and for everyone talking about how Marvel and DC are crap and indie comics are where the real quality is — please, give me a break. Yes, there are some really high-quality indie books out there, and I’m very much looking forward to HERO BY NIGHT — but 90% of the indie market is crap. What the great “Image rebellion” gave us were some fantastic artists who could no longer maintain a consistent schedule, were addicted to T&A as a selling point, and who were backed up by writing that ranged from mediocre to abysmal. Meanwhile, DC/Vertigo was giving us titles like The Sandman, Preacher, and Hellblazer, comics whose writing quality holds up today as some of the best anywhere. In more recent years DC & Marvel have given us great comics like Alias, Batman: The Long Halloween, and Kevin Smith’s runs on Daredevil and Green Arrow, while Image continues to publish a lot of flashy, pretty stuff that is frequently late and usually devoid of any memorable content.

The indie market will continue to be a place where a lot of new ideas get tested out and a lot of experimentation takes place, but let’s not kid ourselves — the good stuff is a small number of diamonds in a whole lot of rough. Much like DC and Marvel…

]]> By: DJ http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26947 DJ Fri, 09 Mar 2007 12:57:45 +0000 http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26947 No reference. It's a character from my old high school colored penciled comic efforts that were pretty damn terrible. Brainstorm! No reference. It’s a character from my old high school colored penciled comic efforts that were pretty damn terrible. Brainstorm!

]]> By: Schroddfather http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26910 Schroddfather Fri, 09 Mar 2007 07:27:39 +0000 http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26910 So.................is the name of the villainous Dalton a reference to a certain "Ron Malton" ? Well, probably not, but I got a laugh anyway. So……………..is the name of the villainous Dalton a reference to a certain “Ron Malton” ? Well, probably not, but I got a laugh anyway.

]]> By: Jonn http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26887 Jonn Fri, 09 Mar 2007 04:12:59 +0000 http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26887 I second MrForever. That dialog with the cynical reporter blathering on about Nascar and MySpace was terrible, if only because it showed how much she missed *the whole point* of Captain Frakkin' America. I second MrForever. That dialog with the cynical reporter blathering on about Nascar and MySpace was terrible, if only because it showed how much she missed *the whole point* of Captain Frakkin’ America.

]]> By: MrForever http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26816 MrForever Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:41:40 +0000 http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26816 I shudder at what a modern cap that "reflects today's version of America" whould look like. That was the thing about cap, he reflected what America should be not what it is. I shudder at what a modern cap that “reflects today’s version of America” whould look like. That was the thing about cap, he reflected what America should be not what it is.

]]> By: Will http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26815 Will Thu, 08 Mar 2007 11:38:06 +0000 http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26815 Honestly, I'm remaining hopeful in regards to the whole Captain America Dead thing. Yes, they will probably bring him back at some point. But in my mind, this leaves room for so much to happen. If Bucky took over the role of Captain America... or even became his "replacement" without the Cap A. costume, I would be happy. To be honest, I became a comic addict less than a year ago, after my roommate at the time introduced me to the Ultimates (dear God will issue 13 EVER come out?). All I care about right now is being entertained. And thus far, I have enjoyed it all. But whatever happens, I know I am looking forward to one thing and one thing only in the Marvel universe... World War Hulk ;) Honestly, I’m remaining hopeful in regards to the whole Captain America Dead thing. Yes, they will probably bring him back at some point. But in my mind, this leaves room for so much to happen. If Bucky took over the role of Captain America… or even became his “replacement” without the Cap A. costume, I would be happy.

To be honest, I became a comic addict less than a year ago, after my roommate at the time introduced me to the Ultimates (dear God will issue 13 EVER come out?). All I care about right now is being entertained. And thus far, I have enjoyed it all.

But whatever happens, I know I am looking forward to one thing and one thing only in the Marvel universe… World War Hulk ;)

]]> By: MrSparkle http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26796 MrSparkle Thu, 08 Mar 2007 08:03:01 +0000 http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26796 Y'know, when Marvel killed off Spider-Man awhile back before giving him those stingers and the Tony Stark spider-suit, all I could muster was, "Eh, they'll bring him back." Lo and behold, a new Peter Parker somehow emerged from some magical spiderweb sac just a few issues later. I have a feeling they'll be bringing Cap back through a mystical Deus Ex Machina just as well. The "No, see, he's dead for realz, <i>pinky swear</i>" bait just doesn't work for me anymore. Maybe they should kill him off permanently and replace him with a Captain America 2.0 that reflects today's version of America. But I'm guessing that 20-30 pages of a fat man staring at clips of Paris Hilton on YouTube while eating Funions probably wouldn't sell too many copies. Y’know, when Marvel killed off Spider-Man awhile back before giving him those stingers and the Tony Stark spider-suit, all I could muster was, “Eh, they’ll bring him back.” Lo and behold, a new Peter Parker somehow emerged from some magical spiderweb sac just a few issues later. I have a feeling they’ll be bringing Cap back through a mystical Deus Ex Machina just as well. The “No, see, he’s dead for realz, pinky swear” bait just doesn’t work for me anymore.

Maybe they should kill him off permanently and replace him with a Captain America 2.0 that reflects today’s version of America. But I’m guessing that 20-30 pages of a fat man staring at clips of Paris Hilton on YouTube while eating Funions probably wouldn’t sell too many copies.

]]> By: Matt http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26785 Matt Thu, 08 Mar 2007 05:42:00 +0000 http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26785 DJ, I take it back. If "hardbaked, gritty old guy at a pioneer funeral" uttered it, then in my book it should be a euphemism even if it isn't. Was there a vulture somewhere, maybe on the crooked limb of a dead tree? I bet there was. I like your thoughts on superhero "death", and to the discourse I'd like to add the device of "alternate universe" (be it another dimension, a warring timeline, what have you). It must be nice to write for a world which expands geometrically whenever a writer needs to fix a continuity error/revive a character/make characters related who weren't before/pretty much any goddamn thing they're too lazy to explain in a creative way. DJ,
I take it back. If “hardbaked, gritty old guy at a pioneer funeral” uttered it, then in my book it should be a euphemism even if it isn’t. Was there a vulture somewhere, maybe on the crooked limb of a dead tree? I bet there was.
I like your thoughts on superhero “death”, and to the discourse I’d like to add the device of “alternate universe” (be it another dimension, a warring timeline, what have you). It must be nice to write for a world which expands geometrically whenever a writer needs to fix a continuity error/revive a character/make characters related who weren’t before/pretty much any goddamn thing they’re too lazy to explain in a creative way.

]]> By: DJ http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26783 DJ Thu, 08 Mar 2007 04:47:17 +0000 http://yirmumah.net/death-nail/#comment-26783 Weird.. I didn't know that. I saw a Western when I was kid, I can't recall which one, but I clearly remember-- and this old bastard holds up a nail and says that's why it's called the "Death Nail" , the last nail driven into a coffin before they put your ass in the ground. Then the cowboy hero takes that nail with him to put it in the coffin of this guy who shot his brother. Silly me... you learn something new every day! Weird.. I didn’t know that.

I saw a Western when I was kid, I can’t recall which one, but I clearly remember– and this old bastard holds up a nail and says that’s why it’s called the “Death Nail” , the last nail driven into a coffin before they put your ass in the ground. Then the cowboy hero takes that nail with him to put it in the coffin of this guy who shot his brother.

Silly me… you learn something new every day!

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