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Greetings from the midwest! April was fast and
frenzied month in comic books. If you skipped a
weekly visit to your local comic book shop, then
returned looking for certain issues, you may have
been out of luck. Here's some observations from
the Chicago area:
* Batman #638 (the revelation of identity of the
Red Hood), with a $2.25 cover price, was priced at
$5, a copy in area shops just a week after its
release. A second printing with an alternate
cover is already in comic shops.
* Fans of Frank Miller/Sin City, take note!
Miller provided the artwork for a Sin City
inspired cover for the May issue of the men's
magazine, Maxim. However, this is an alternate
cover to this month's issue. Actress Brittany
Murphy graces the cover on the other, more-widely
printed cover. I couldn't find any figures on a
distribution ratio, but from what I've seen here,
there are more Murphy covers than Miller artwork
covers by at least a 10:1 ratio.
* A week after the release of DC's OMAC Project,
cover priced at $2.50, prices have already soared
to $8 in the Chicago area. That's priced higher
than the first issue of the original DC OMAC
series by Jack Kirby from the '70s, which I found
at the same store for $7. Very odd.
* Despite the buzz and interest with DC Countdown,
specifically Checkmate, I was able to find back
issues of Action Comics #598 (1st Checkmate
appearance) still reasonably priced at $1.75. As
of this writing, there doesn't seem to be any
interest around here for back issues of the
Checkmate (yes, there was a series) title though,
which ran 33 issues from '88 to '91.
* Speaking of DC Countdown, I'd have to say it was
unquestionably the comic book "event" so far this
year, even garnering a mention in USA TODAY.
Initial opinions I read were VERY positive and
favorable. Subsequent ones I read weren't as
strong. Was it a good story? Yes. Best
story/read so far this year? Yes, without a
doubt. Likely to win some fan press award for
"Best Story" of the year? Yes. Deserving? I'd
say yes. I've certainly read worse stories that
have won a "Best Story" award. It IS a
well-crafted story and collaboration (and the hype
and attention doesn't hurt either).
Was it also a prequel, or a long preview ad within
a story for DC's four forthcoming mini-series?
Sure it was. But hey kids, pimping other books
has been around since the dawn of comic books.
Don't kid yourself. But you do have to give DC
props for how they executed this. An eighty page
comic book for a buck!?! I'd never thought I'd
see that again in my lifetime. Think of that
enormous return on your entertainment dollar. And
it's a decent story to book, too? Hell, sign me
up! Putting up with a "teaser" for another
mini-series wasn't too much to sit through, and an
acceptable trade-off for a very good story.
Honestly, for a buck, I expected at least some
"filler" material (yet more origin retellings,
etc.). There was NONE of that here. This COULD
have been very sloppy, hasty, rushed, willy-nilly,
but it wasn't.
Of course, you have a death of a character (and
let's be honest, a non upper-echelon character at
that). I can't say I was any more moved by this
death than I was by the Sue Dibny death in
Identity Crisis; both struck me. I've read and
heard some say the Sue Dibny death moved them
more. Fair enough. But to me, Identity Crisis
was a comics "mystery," a murder framed within a
conspiracy story (and the murder itself didn't
even have the ramifications that OTHER elements of
the story did. Batman's mindwipe upstaged Sue
Dibny's death. Think about that!) Countdown is a
comics "death" story. And for better or worse,
the "death of . . ." story now is a category of
comic books.
And of all the "death of . . ." stories in comics
(Superman, Jason Todd/Robin, Donna Troy, etc.),
I'd have to saythis was the best one I've ever
read. Geez, I just realized ALL the characters
I've mentioned have or will come back.
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