Official : Bendis gets both books

[The Dying Detective]

I suspect you're right. But again, it'll be less of a common item and more of a specialty commodity, so presumably most people would only be buying books they're truly passionate about and interested in, and one can justify the extra expense when they really want to. And I'm sure intrepid innovators will find a way to keep the prices manageable. Perhaps they'll start using a durable, thin plastic for pages instead of paper, who knows?

I think the true strength of digital, aside from a wider saturation for less effort, is the variety of methods you can consume it. So I wouldn't single out e-books, but rather digital sales as a whole. Once digital sales outpace print, that's when the shift will really happen.

Wait, you're using "e-books" inclusively, aren't you? If so, yeah, I agree.

That's a concern of mine as well. Dedicating so much effort marketing to established fans has lead to a severe drop in new readers, and now the industry can't take any steps forward without the consent and agreement of us old bastards.....who hate change. It's a bit of a "rock//hard place" situation where comics can't afford to lose us, but our tastes and demands make it harder for new readers to come in, and comics always had a steep learning curve to begin with.

Eh, the world has always been full of asshats who only see what they want to see. They are, and I suspect have always been, nothing more than a vocal minority. Business will never satisfy everyone, and it's wasteful to try. All you can do is be smart about who you try to appeal to, and let the haters hate.

So books could become like how comics are currently? Well that means tracking down a book store would be just as difficult as tracking a comic shop then. And how expensive they will be may be determined by thick the book is. It would make a five dollar comic look cheap in comparison.

You could say that though I didn't really think of the link between e-books and other forms of digital media such as online posts. And with news articles being posted online newspapers and magazines might die out too. They might even become antiques like very old books have become though I'm probably exaggerating.

That is quite the conundrum folks like Shawn James have advocated for scrapping the current DC Universe on the belief that it divides fans. And restore it to a more classic version of the universe. But it might not help as it could annoy people even more as they want something fresh and new. They don't want a rehash of the Death of Superman, Robin Year One, A Lonely Place of Dying, the New Teen Titans or the George Perez run of Wonder Woman. And by doing so it could hurt the business just as badly as the New 52 did. Because even if it's a classic iteration but what can be fresh about it? You have to think hard about it.

No you can't please everyone and even if it sounds like you did there will still be haters. As long as DC sticks to their guns and goes through with their plans for the imprints they should be fine.

[Superlad93]

Sorry for spamming, just a lot of new art. This is from Man of Steel

Whoa, is that Waid's the Quintessence?



Hold on, is Zaar basically gonna be Magog?


I'm game, I guess. Always liked the Quintessence as a concept. That Jose Luis Garcia Lopez art is fire. Hope the colors are on point.

[Lvenger]

"He's so heavy." "Ya think?" "He's wearing the red shorts again." "I saw. Why?"

Not even 5 pages in to his start and Bendis has already delivered on his trademark cringy Bendis speak. Yuck.

[Sacred Knight]

All these pics have me into hype territory. Hope it doesn't let me down.

Lois looks definitely to be MIA and Clark's probably having to lie about the why. IOW its not a normal reason.

And I can't say the "Bendis speak" bothers me that much. I dunno, I've read many writers over the years, and many of them have their quirks in style and tone that of course repeats. Robinson, for example. In fact Robinson-speak I find more cringy, and I still like his work in general. So I'm not thinking that's going to be a big deal for me.

All I know is that I haven't been this excited for a "jumping on point" run since the New 52 started.

[Kuwagaton]

Whoa, is that Waid's the Quintessence?



Hold on, is Zaar basically gonna be Magog?


I'm game, I guess. Always liked the Quintessence as a concept. That Jose Luis Garcia Lopez art is fire. Hope the colors are on point.

Magog? I thought that "pantheon watches" idea was DC's equivalent of the Watcher instead of being specifically a KC thing. There was a similar group that met over Superman at points, at least including Shazam, Zeus, and Ganthet.

[Superlad93]

Apparently Tomasi and Gleason's Action Comics story is about Vandal Savage "weaponizing Hypertime." He transports Superman to a version of the past, and Clark lives out the Golden Age for a while, costume and all. I can tell Tomasi has always wanted to tell a Superman story set in this time, and the effort really shows.

I'm also a fan of Savage as a sort of hand wringing and cackling pulp villain that would put Superman in a good ol fashion death trap. Regardless of how Truth was handled, I think Savage is a perfect Superman villain, and should be used more often.

Also count me in as someone who has no issue with Bendis dialog on those pages.

Edit: it's apparently all the eras. He's gonna live though all of the Superman eras in Tomasi and Gleason's story. So, if I were a betting man, I wouldn't bet on Bendis' story being about how Superman finds out that he's lived since the 30s. This story seems like a one-off love letter to all the Superman eras rather than a plot point.

[Superlad93]

Magog? I thought that "pantheon watches" idea was DC's equivalent of the Watcher instead of being specifically a KC thing. There was a similar group that met over Superman at points, at least including Shazam, Zeus, and Ganthet.

First I saw of it was in KC, and then rippled out from there like most things in KC. Could be wrong though. That does look like Ganthet and the Thunder Bolt, Yz though.

[Sacred Knight]

I think I can make out Ganthet and Rao, but who are the others?

[Ascended]

So books could become like how comics are currently? Well that means tracking down a book store would be just as difficult as tracking a comic shop then. And how expensive they will be may be determined by thick the book is. It would make a five dollar comic look cheap in comparison.

Maybe? I won't pretend to be wise enough, or knowledgeable enough, to guess what the market will do. But if I had to guess, I'd say that we're likely to see smaller book stores, similar to how music shops were once huge stores taking up aisles and aisles of music, but shrunk after the fall of CD's into these smaller, more intimate things. And it wouldn't surprise me to see a single retailer swing in and take control of the majority of book distribution, either.

Or perhaps physical stores will just fade and we'll have our physical books mailed to us through Amazon or something.

You could say that though I didn't really think of the link between e-books and other forms of digital media such as online posts. And with news articles being posted online newspapers and magazines might die out too. They might even become antiques like very old books have become though I'm probably exaggerating.

Well, as I've said, I expect print to live on as a specialty market. But newspapers and magazines are dying just as surely as other print formats. Newspapers are dying even faster than most, from what I've seen. I myself haven't read a physical newspaper in years but I visit the New York Times site quite often. Papers, like comics, are trying to figure out how to function in a world where everyone uses their phones for everything without completely losing their remaining audience.

That is quite the conundrum folks like Shawn James have advocated for scrapping the current DC Universe on the belief that it divides fans. And restore it to a more classic version of the universe. But it might not help as it could annoy people even more as they want something fresh and new. They don't want a rehash of the Death of Superman, Robin Year One, A Lonely Place of Dying, the New Teen Titans or the George Perez run of Wonder Woman. And by doing so it could hurt the business just as badly as the New 52 did. Because even if it's a classic iteration but what can be fresh about it? You have to think hard about it.

Oh, that's a terrible idea. For so many reasons I'm not sure if I could even vocalize them all.

Whoa, is that Waid's the Quintessence?

It looks like it's similar in concept at least, if not roster.

At least, I hope its the same idea. Always liked that concept.

[Superlad93]

Remember how everyone keeps saying that Superman needs a sort of bible that everyone at DC follows? Well Bendis has written a “seven-page manifesto” for everyone at DC.

"The incoming Superman writer revealed to a fan that he wrote a “seven-page manifesto” about what makes Superman relevant today and forced everyone at DC to read his rants. “There’s so much about him that’s very relatable…and we’re going to dig into that. I love Clark Kent. I love him. And he’s fascinating to write, maybe more interesting than Superman,” he said. “I can’t wait to see how people react positively and negatively.”"

[Ascended]

I think I can make out Ganthet and Rao, but who are the others?

The guy with the goggles looks like Sardath, the Zeta beam expert from Rann. The Viking looking guy with the mask looks familiar as hell but I can't place him.

[The Dying Detective]

Remember how everyone keeps saying that Superman needs a sort of bible that everyone at DC follows? Well Bendis has written a “seven-page manifesto” for everyone at DC.

"The incoming Superman writer revealed to a fan that he wrote a “seven-page manifesto” about what makes Superman relevant today and forced everyone at DC to read his rants. “There’s so much about him that’s very relatable…and we’re going to dig into that. I love Clark Kent. I love him. And he’s fascinating to write, maybe more interesting than Superman,” he said. “I can’t wait to see how people react positively and negatively.”"

That's nice to hear what he does as Clark Kent has been missing for sometime already. In his family life it's a bit of both Clark and Superman.

[Ascended]

Remember how everyone keeps saying that Superman needs a sort of bible that everyone at DC follows? Well Bendis has written a “seven-page manifesto” for everyone at DC.

Well look at that, we were discussing this in private messages years before DC finally caught on.

Sh*t, maybe we really are ahead of the curve. lol

[Superlad93]

Bendis also said that he "won't be rebooting a damn thing." He says he gets frustrated online when people just assume that it'll be a reboot, and in this instance "it isn't even slightly the case." Sounds like he's saying that even a reboot by any other name isn't the case.

Gleason also corroborated Bendis' words. I feel like people keep forgetting that Gleason is staying on.

Well look at that, we were discussing this in private messages years before DC finally caught on.

Sh*t, maybe we really are ahead of the curve. lol

That goes without saying, Ascended

[ross61]

Bendis speak on DC characters... my greatest dream. Can’t wait for the run