Category: Comic Musings

All general posts relating to the comic book industry.

Same Shit, Different Writer…

I picked up a copy of the latest issue of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic book from Boom Studios. I was a little late to the game, but apparently they’re in the middle of a major ground-breaking, history-defining storyline.

Again.

Let me guess; new take on an old villain, so let’s make a pre-existing character into a new Ranger form, take our old Rangers on an interstellar journey, and then for shits and giggles, let’s bring back that Drakkon character.

Sure enough, that’s what I got in this particular issue.

Apparently, this series has a new writer – Melissa Flores. I don’t know if she did any prior Power Rangers comic stuff in the past – as in, I genuinely don’t know because I haven’t bothered to check – but if her aim was to simply regurgitate what was produced by the previous two writers of this series, then mission accomplished.

People keep telling me that this stuff is better than it was before… but I just see the same shit that drove me away from this stuff in the first place. There isn’t anything that I’ve seen here that I probably haven’t read in someone’s fanfic years ago. Hell, there’s a couple story bits that were even conceived when I was writing fanfics years ago… and some of that stuff hasn’t even seen the light of day.

I’ll give Boom some credit; I’ve enjoyed a couple of their one-shots from their Power Rangers Unlimited line-up and graphic novels. Those are good, quick reads. Hell, I even enjoyed Kyle Higgins’ Tommy-centric one-shot, Soul Of The Dragon, and gave it a hearty reviews – even if I kept messing up the name of the title.

But as far as the mainline comic series is concerned, I’m sorry, but it’s still no buys for me. Maybe the Pinky-penned series coming out next year might change my tune, but for now… morphin time is some other time in some other place.

OG Pinky To Write New Power Rangers Comic

Source: https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/amy-jo-johnson-power-rangers-comic-series-1235569122/

For the TLDR crowd, Amy Jo Johnson is writing a Power Rangers comic book due next year. And also, her not doing the reunion has nothing to do with money. Strangely, she didn’t mention anything about beeswax.

Well, she might not be doing the special, but she’s there in spirit.

Shazam Underperforms At Box Office… What Did You Expect?

So the new Shazam movie came out this past weekend.

Raise your hand if this is a surprise to you because it sure was to me.

Unlike the first movie, which had a bunch of press behind it, this “Fury Of The Gods” film went under the radar. Nobody talks about it, nobody is promoting the thing, nobody is marketing the thing, and as such, nobody knows that it’s a thing that exists until it’s already out. I didn’t know the movie had been released until someone I subscribe to on Youtube did a review on it. At first, I thought they got an advanced screening or something, but nope. Turns out the movie has been out since Friday.

Well, color me (not) shocked, but apparently Shazam underperformed at the box office. I won’t speak to the quality of the film since I have not seen it – reactions have been mixed, with critics not caring for it, but the audiences enjoying it – but in regards to the film not being an instant money maker without any kind of marketing machine behind it, only one thing comes to mind…

What did you expect?

Listen, you assclowns. If you’re going to spend money on this big blockbuster motion picture, then you need marketing. Yes, that costs some money, but at the very least, people will know about your movie and any failure at the box office can at least be attributed to lack of interest as opposed to lack of marketing. I get that there’s a big reboot of this whole universe coming up and this is being thrown under the bus as a result despite the higher ups claiming that they’d like to retain the Shazam crew for future projects if this does well.

Look, I enjoyed the first Shazam film. I thought it was a fun little superhero movie released during a time when genuinely fun superhero movies from DC were an endangered species. This second film looks to be more of the same – for better or worse – but it’s not high on my list of must-see movies. I’ll wait until it hits DVD.

And no, the Rock refusing to cameo in the movie is NOT the reason for its underperformance. Last time I checked, Black Adam wasn’t exactly a box office winner, either.

Yeah, so… bye.

The Rumored Superman Film And The Trap It Faces

This is a rough transcript of something I talked about on the last episode of the DTM-Cast, but for those who want a more clear descriptor, here it is. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I try my best to explain it, but otherwise, there are places that could bring you up to speed better than I could.

Continue reading “The Rumored Superman Film And The Trap It Faces”

Why Are You Giving Miles Morales Clones?

So apparently, Marvel Comics… yes, they still do comics. Largely terrible ones, these days, but that’s besides the point.

So Marvel has decided that their Miles Morales character needed more classic Spider-Man failures to certify his status as a Spider-Man for all people and are going to give him his very own Clone Saga… because everyone loved the first Clone Saga so much, it drove Marvel into bankruptcy.

Look, I’m largely unfamiliar with the Miles Morales take on Spider-Man. I’ve only read a couple issues and also that Spider-Men mini from a couple years back. Seems like a pretty cool character and I even saw that Spider-Verse movie where he played a focal point and was subsequently the best part of the movie. I’ve got no ill towards anybody trying to give Miles as many Spider-Man tropes as they can, even if I don’t believe it necessary. Let Miles stand on his own and forge his own path.

But… if you are going to recycle old Spidey bits, can’t you do recycle something that isn’t total shit? The Clone Saga was one of many, many, MANY stupid decisions that Marvel made in the nineties and none of that stuff was ever any good. So to give Miles that similar idea (if not execution) is just… well, it’s so Marvel, I guess.

I don’t know. Maybe it’ll be good, but I doubt it. Like I said, a lot of Marvel stuff these days outside of their earliest MCU flicks have been kind of trash and I don’t have high hopes for this one.

Oh well… good luck, Miles. You’ll need it.

Boom Studios' Kickstarter… To Sell You The Same Crap They've Sold For Years.

Source: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/boom-studios/mighty-morphin-power-rangers-complete-comic-book-collections/description

Well… that’s something.
The link above will take you to Boom Studios’ Kickstarter campaign in order to fund their (already funded) campaign to produce hardcore editions of their Mighty Morphin Power Rangers comic book. Sounds totally fine… until you realize that these volumes have been available for some time and cost hundreds of dollars per volume for stuff you can already get for far cheaper by purchasing the appropriate trade paperbacks.
I won’t completely poo-poo this off the bat; the hardcovers are a bit of an uncommon find and for those folks with plenty of disposable income who want a nice way of getting six hardcovers of the comic run have a great opportunity to do so here, along with some interesting perks, including your very own Megazord stand to house all these books.
Still, you can’t help but admire Boom Studios for finding new ways to pedal the same crap over and over again over the course of several years. Multiple covers, multiple trades, multiple hardcovers, and whatnots in different shapes and sizes. Not a new thing in comics, mind you; there was a time when such practices was fairly common a couple decades back and it damned near killed the entire industry, but sure, why not bring this practice back to fool the dimwitted masses who can’t help but buy this stuff.
Interested? Click the link and check it out. Campaign ends February 4th.

Welp… Here We Go Again…

You know… I whipped this banner up a year or so back when an issue of the now-cancelled Go Go Power Rangers comic book teased this image of Lord Drakkon – Boom Studios’ woefully uninspired and hackneyed take on the whole “Evil Tommy” idea that had been the subject matter of most of the wankiest of wankfest fanfiction. My disdain for this worthless character was such that when his presence was teased as such, I ceased giving these people my money and stop reading the comics altogether.

Continue reading “Welp… Here We Go Again…”

BOOM Studios Staff Says There's Too Many Comics On Shelves

Source: https://www.newsarama.com/49124-boom-says-too-many-comics-in-direct-market-publishers-need-to-earn-space-on-shelves.html

Came across a rather hilarious piece of business recently that I thought was worth talking about briefly here.

A Newsarama interview with BOOM! Studios’ President of Publishing & Marketing Filip Sablik and Retail Sales Coordinator Morgan Perry revealed their beliefs that there are too many comics on direct market store shelves and that publishers need to earn their space on said shelves. Now, to clarify, the interview itself isn’t too bad – they did mention that BOOM had to reduce the number of titles they have in the works to focus on the quality of their remaining books. That’s actually something to be commended upon and an attitude most publishers should take on. Instead of releasing a billion books to the market, just release a few that are going to sell and focus on those.

However, BOOM! Studios is also the company that has a billion variant covers for each issue of their Power Rangers comic, which no doubt contributes to there being too much product occupying store shelves. Quite frankly, there’s no reason to have a billion variants to what would’ve been an otherwise run-of-the-mill comic when one or two would suffice. And some of these alternate covers are just the laziest things ever conceived, whether it’d be the “action figure” covers or the Cardzillion-based card covers. Not to mention… are the stuff they’re currently running with really worth occupying that precious yet overcrowded direct market shelf space?

As an aside, I want to also post a transcript of a speech given by Image Comics publisher Eric Stephenson during the annual ComicsPROl membership meeting. He’s got an interesting and refreshing take on the ailments of the comic industry as well as offering some possible solutions on how to fix it. There’re some points that I agree with and some points that I don’t, but it’s a fascinating read, regardless.

Said transcript can be found here:
https://www.newsarama.com/28069-image-publishr-talks-at-comics-pro.html

Superman #19 Delayed By Two Weeks To Try And Not Suck

Source: https://www.supermanhomepage.com/superman-19-delayed/

Originally intended for release on January 8th, DC Comics announced that Superman #19 will be delayed by two weeks… presumably because they have to find a way to convince people that letting that fucking hack BENDIS out Superman last issue isn’t the stupidest idea ever. I’ve got more passing thoughts on the matter, but I’ll save those for a certain list due next week.

There’s your tease, kids. Have fun.