Comics Round-Up
Published February 25, 2003
Let's take a brief pause to let the fanboys chirp something about "sour grapes" before noting that initial orders for the fifth issue of the #1 selling comic book in America — Shonen Jump — clocked in at #179 on the list, with just 8,672 copies sold. Retailers whine in ICv2's Talkback section about the lack of kids' comics, while the ones that do get published never seem to get ordered. Retailers whine about the lack of good girl-centric comics, while the ones that do get published never seem to get ordered. Retailers whine about the lack of good alternative comi — okay, that's going too far, I'll acknowledge. Not that you'd know it if they were there anyway, from looking at the outside of most comics shops. "Comics equals superheros," sayeth the retailer, voting with his pocketbook, his advertising dollars, his store's layout. And yet, for some reason, the Direct Market continues to stagnate, in a slow but perceptable decline. Funny, that...
"Daredevil grossed another $18.9 million, down a discouraging 53 percent from the three-day portion of last week's holiday weekend. Though the film, which also stars Jennifer Garner, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Colin Farrell, has earned over $70 million after 10 days, a drop that large doesn't bode well for its future."Daredevil's decline meant that Old School came quite close to becoming the No. 1 film in the country. Instead, the comedy starring Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Luke Wilson placed second with a strong $17.5 million. In fact, Old School did top Daredevil on Friday by a margin of $800,000."
In other words, Daredevil's fixing up to be another Blade, yet another mid-level comic-book film you'll be seeing on the Starz Channel in two years, and the USA Network in three. Not that you'll catch Marvel admitting this, of course — did you know that this is "The Year of Marvel"?
" Last year, with the pop culture phenomenon Spider-Man serving as catalyst, Marvel Comics shattered the myth that successful comic book movies don't translate to higher comic book sales."In 2003, The House of Ideas is going to take the remaining pieces of that myth and grind them into a fine powder. This past week, with Friday's release of the DAREDEVIL film, a new wave of mainstream and industry media started in full-force that promises to grow build like a snowball rolling downhill!"
- Comics Round-Up
- Published: February 25, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Sci/Tech
- Filed Under: Books: Comics and Graphic Novels, Sci/Tech: Internet
- Writer: Dirk Deppey
- Dirk Deppey's BC Writer page
- Dirk Deppey's personal site
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I've still been plowing through the massive Winter Special and would definitely recommend it: in addition to the lon-n-n-g Stout interview, there's informative material on James Thurber as a cartoonist; appreciations of artists like Linda Barry and Mike Kaluta - plus sixty-plus pages of new comics entitled "Cartoonists on Patriotism" that are sure to stoke the fires of poli-blogs everywhere. . .