Comic books for the week of Wednesday, September 2, 2009:
Supergirl Annual #1 (DC)
I will have to wait until next week for payday, so I will get this issue with the ones for September 9th, so I will use this post to express my opinions on the comics news recently. The Disney - Marvel deal caught me and everyone else by surprise. While the DC news this week was less earth-shaking than the Disney - Marvel deal, it showed that things are not going to stay the same at DC either.
When I found out that Paul Levitz was leaving his position as President and Publisher, to return to writing the Legion, at least at first, it seemed like a consolation prize to make the sting of pushing him out of his job less painful. Paul Levitz's open letter seemed to indicate otherwise, as well as Marv Wolfman's views about the change for his old friend. I hope the change is one Paul welcomed and not a bitter pill that he has swallowed and is keeping on his happy face. I began reading the Legion of Super-Heroes after Paul's run was over, so reading hew Legion stories by him will be welcome.
One thing I hope the corporate changes at DC Comics accomplishes is getting the film side of the company to get their act together. It has taken too long to get a new Supemran movie, of any kind, into development. With the Disney/Marvel merger, and the recent successes of Marvel movies now combined with the strong Disney/Pixar movie powerhouse, DC media properties seems to be in a weaker spot. Superman stories, and DC in general are publishing comics of high quality, like Blackest Night. Except for Watchmen, there weren't any other theatrical release from DC I can think of. This year is slow as far as super hero movies, but the comic book based movie Whiteout looks promising. I would like to see a firmer hand on the Warner Brothers studio to get their act together (either embrace the bright blue, red and yellow Superman and forget the "dark" Man Of Steel, or don;t bother).
One thing that bothers me with the recent press releases from the new DC Entertainment in their mention of all the media the company can tap into, the words "comic books" doesn't seem to be mentioned. While this current fad of super hero movies has generated some of the most popular movies of recent history, it hasn't generated increased readership of these characters' original media, ink and paper. With the emergence of electronic media changes in the print media or developing, to what end is not clear yet.
What is clear is that things are not going to stay the same. I just hope that, in whatever form, super hero comics, and comics in general, can remain a viable media, and grow the readership it desperately needs.
Paul Levitz's open letter: http://dcu.blog.dccomics.com/2009/09/09/a-letter-from-paul-levitz/ .
Marv Wolfman's thoughts about his old friend: http://marvwolfman.com/todaysviews.html .
Kurt Busiek's thoughts: http://www.busiek.com/site/notes/ .
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