Your Friday Funny!
Oct 26OHEMGEE LOLLERS
Downcounting | Funnybook Babylon
(Seriously–these write-ups of DC’s Countdown are must-reads for any comics fan, or maybe even just any breathing human being. Studies are inconclusive.)
"No, Herr Doctor, I'm LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE."
Oct 23So. Late comics.
Today brought one relatively large scheduling “bombshell” and a much smaller one, perhaps snuck out in the late hours of a day like this one so as to glide in under cover of the much larger, more high-profile “bombshell.”
One More Day? The big climax to J. Michael Straczynski’s run on Amazing Spider-Man? Drawn by Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada? DELAYED. Last issue to ship in late December, which will likely push back the debut of the thrice-monthly Amazing to January, I guess, a full month.
Sinestro Corps War? DELAYED. Okay, just by two weeks.
Mighty Avengers? Civil War? Wonder Woman? All-Star Batman and Robin?
All books where DELAYS have crippled fan interest and storytelling…allegedly. At least, that’s what you’d believe if you relied on the fanboy peanut gallery at message boards. In terms of sales, not so very crippled.
So my question to you, dear readers, in a cheap ploy to spark some conversation, is twofold:
1) Do delays matter?
2) Should delays matter?
Optimus Wants You
Oct 19As Chris and Matt are about to learn, this is my new favorite toy. I love how one of the options is for Optimus to tell you to stop “blogging.”
I think the best one of these is still the Alec Baldwin one they had set up for 30 Rock for a bit, but I guess getting a call from Alec Baldwin probably isn’t as funny in light of the whole “thoughtless little pig” incident.
Ellis in…Forbes?
Oct 18Warren Ellis has a new short story in Forbes magazine, entitled The Position.
Next month: Ellis in Cat Fancy!
Fox to Buffy fans – We Don't Need You
Oct 17No, no, they didn’t, but they may as well have said it. It’s October in Vancouver, and that means I’ve been walking around seeing posters for the Buffy Musical Sing-A-Long being held locally. This has been going on for at least a couple years now and it’s a rousing good time (particularly if you’re a guy, because it’s a ten-to-one ratio of male/female. But I digress.) What I didn’t realize is that the posters are useless.
You see, Fox has pulled the plug on the screening of the Buffy TV episode, Once More With Feeling, in several cities. I can’t seem to find a reason why, other than corporate lawyers are always looking for shit like this so they can keep busy.
The reasoning is simple to them – a theatrical showing, organized by fans, is a couple hundred people in a room watching one copy of a DVD, which isn’t as good as a couple hundred fans watching individual copies at home. The enforcement of copyright is easy to reason out from a strict monetary sense. It’s also kind of ridiculous from a broad, franchise establishment and promotion sense.
Reality – though exact numbers are difficult to gauge, since nobody has taking a poll or anything – is that most everyone in that audience already has the DVD. And the other DVDs. And the books, comics, figures, etc. Fox has made money off of them. These gatherings have an important role then – it helps reinforce the love existing fans have for the show or better yet increases that love in some fans. If someone brings along non-fans, you could have new fans. All in all. More. Money.
But lawyers don’t think that way – they are not allowed to think laterally about strategies for building a fanbase. And the marketers and execs who are allowed, never think to give the lawyers standing orders to talk to them before dropping the hammer.
Actually, it might not matter – business culture is a strange beast. “It’s not personal, it’s business” actually means something to them – to them, standard operating procedure is to crush the other side and if it gets worked out, you can do business again. They forget sometimes that a consumer isn’t thinking the same way – to them it is personal. It would be a shame if there actually is an executive strata at Fox that seriously thinks they can shut down the sing-a-longs, then figure out a policy, and then everyone can be friends again. No, no, Fox. They’ll be mad at you. They ARE mad at you, and really you should be thankful you have Joss Whedon talking directly to them. They are not beholden to you, but they are beholden to him and if this gets sorted, it will be Whedon that smoothed their ruffled feathers.
But wait – I have and idea.
