The ‘Avengers’ Aliens: A List of (Un)usual Suspects
I wrote a post over at Screen Rant about those darned mysterious aliens that have been (briefly) popping up in the various Avengers trailers, TV spots, and what have you.
Frankly, I think everyone who cares about this shit is going to be utterly disappointed when they finally find out who these bastards are. It’s clear at this point that the aliens’ identity, whatever the fuck it is, is of little importance compared to everything else that’s happening in the film.
Check out my article below:
There’s been much discussion and debate regarding the so-called “aliens” of The Avengers – otherwise known as Loki’s army – which we’ve so far seen only glimpses of via trailers and TV spots. Initial speculation almost exclusively revolved around Marvel’s most famous aliens, the Skrulls and the Kree, but both of those races were nixed by producer Kevin Feige and director Joss Whedon.
In the most recent TV spot, entitled “Head Count,” we got our best, clearest look at the aliens yet.
Check out the gif below, courtesy of Superhero Hype:
Unfortunately, the glimpses have done little to narrow down our list of alien suspects – and have, perhaps, even extended it a bit.
-
Ord/The Breakworld Aliens
In a webisode of Marvel’s The Watcher, a Lego representative referred to a bad guy in The Avengers as the alien horde (at the 3:50 mark) – but many a comic book fan thought he said “alien Ord.”
Ord was an alien from Breakworld, created by Joss Whedon, that showed up in his acclaimed run on Astonishing X-Men, so it’s not entirely outside the realm of possibility that Whedon would use Ord’s race as secondary bad guys in his own film. Not likely, of course, but totally possible.
-
The Badoon
The Badoon are an obscure reptilian race of alien conquerors, older than both the Skrulls and the Kree. That’s just a vague enough back-story to work with what we’ve seen of the aliens in The Avengers, who have a slightly greenish hue and lizard-like eyes.
-
Beta Ray Bill/The Korbinites
The alien in the (above) picture certainly has a horse-face quality about him, which immediately brings to mind fan-favorite Beta Ray Bill – the first non-Norse character to be deemed worthy of picking up Thor’s hammer, Mjolnir. Bill was a member of the Korbinite alien race, so is it possible that these creatures are the Korbinites, thus leading to the introduction of Beta Ray in Thor 2?
The only problem with that theory is that Bill was the only member of the race to have a horse-face – the rest of the Korbinites were essentially orange humanoids. Still, one presumes that, for simplicity’s sake, the filmmakers would drop that aspect of the character’s back-story and make all the Korbinites horse-faces.
-
The Sons of the Muspell
This was a theory put forth by Brendon Connelly of Bleeding Cool and, frankly, it’s one that has a lot of merit. In Walt Simonson’s Surtur Saga storyline, during his run on Thor, The Sons of Muspell (demons from Muspellheim – one of the Nine Worlds in Norse mythology) were transported into New York City via a portal near the top of the Empire State Building. They then proceeded to attack the city, as Marvel supervillains are known to do.
Click to enlarge:
The images in the comic book are certainly reminiscent of what we’ve seen in the trailers for The Avengers. Now, you might be saying: “But if these creatures are from Norse mythology, doesn’t that make them not aliens – thus disqualifying them from a list of alien suspects?”
Well, if you watched Thor, then you know there’s no real difference between aliens and the Norse mythological beings of the Marvel movie universe. Thor himself is an alien. With a horse. (An alien horse?) So, too, would these Sons of Muspell be aliens, if indeed they’re in The Avengers.
-
Is that Thanos’ head-gear?
Internet speculators have already commented on the resemblance between the alien’s head-gear (up top) and Thanos the Mad Titan’s head-gear (above). While the alien looks nothing like Thanos in any other respect and is almost definitely not the Avatar of Death himself, could these aliens be tied to him somehow?
After all, there has been many a rumor about Thanos’ connection to the forthcoming Avengers film — and the Cosmic Cube in particular. His famed Infinity Gauntlet even made an appearance in Thor.
-
Chitauri
Arguably, if these aliens aren’t the Skrulls, they could still be the Ultimate universe versions of the Skrulls, A.K.A. the Chitauri — right? But remember what Joss Whedon said about the aliens in question:
“The Skrulls - they can shape change. That’s a whole thing. I’ve already got Loki. He’s got magic. Once you got magic along with your Iron Man and your Black Widow - it’s a real juggling act.”
Hence, throwing shape-changing aliens into the mix would be way too much for one film. So if these aliens doend up being called the Chitauri, then they’ll be a Chitauri that doesn’t shape-change, and therefore a Chitauri in name only.
-
Honestly, I’ve no idea who these aliens are. If I had to guess, I’d put money on either the Badoon – who look and act vaguely enough like the creatures we’ve seen onscreen – or the Sons of Muspell – who have essentially done the things in the comic books that we’ve already seen in the trailers (plus, they tie directly into Loki’s background). Of course, there’s always the possibility that these aliens have been made up specifically for the film and have no connection to any preexisting characters.
Frankly, whatever/whomever these aliens are revealed to be, I think fans are going to be disappointed. Not with the movie itself, obviously, but specifically with the alien reveal. It’s becoming more and more apparent that whatever race Joss Whedon and company are using, it’s going to be obscure to all but Marvel’s most ardent fans, and maybe not even then.
But what do you think, Screen Ranters? Which of these alien options – or any options we missed – are going to appear in The Avengers, in your opinion? Drop us a line in the comments.
The Avengers hits theaters May 4th, 2012.
-
Follow me on Twitter @benandrewmoore.
Source: Superhero Hype & Bleeding Cool
Come Look At My Chest Hair: How to Wear Your Chest Hair in Public: A Fashion Guide
Obviously, chest hair fashions are an incredibly complicated ordeal, as they require subtlety and nuance the likes of which few mortals possess.
Thank the heavens, then, that the internet has provided us with the most comprehensive guide to wearing your chest hair — which is to say, draping cloth about your chest hair — that has ever existed.
Do you know how to wear your chest hair?
Reblogged from Come Look At My Chest Hair:
My favorite idioms, in ascending order, are as follows: One good turn deserves another, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and there are literally one billion known ways to show off your chest hair.
Now, some of you might find this sort of fashion statement — and in the end, that’s exactly what it is, a form of fashion — to be downright detestable. Like death for the eyeballs or visual ipecac.
Frankly, after running the world’s foremost chest hair blog for the past two years, I totally get where these people are coming from. There’re few things more retch-inducing than a weirdo unbuttoning his/her shirt down to his/her stomach so that all his/her curly q chesticles (chest hair+follicles) can spill forth and wreak havoc upon innocent passersby. I, for one, would prefer never to have a stranger’s chest hair runoff randomly waft its way onto my food plate or into my mouth, where it would no doubt wrap around my tonsils a la Curb Your Enthusiasm and slowly choke me to death. But that’s just me!
Having said all that, there are ways in which to wear chest hair — which is to say, showcase one’s chest hair by way of clothing, typically of the v-neck variety — that don’t involve ruining anybody’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Personally, I like to get at least a modicum of vee going on at all times. While I’ve already established in disconcerting detail that there is such a thing as too much chest hair, especially in public, that doesn’t mean a portion of said hair can’t be on display for the betterment of all mankind. After all, if you’ve got it,
flaunt ituhh, sort of, kind of, if you absolutely have to, show it off a little bit. Maybe. (If it’s not disgusting.)-
The Vee (Slight Exposure)
This is hands down my favorite T-shirt primarily because there’s a built-in portal specifically for chest hairs. I think it’s fair to say that the designer for this thing was either a genius or a madman, not unlike Ivo Shandor.
As you can see, there’s not too much chest froth going on here, but not too little either. If I were rating it on a Three Bears scale, I would definitely call this the baby bear of chest hair displays. If I were doing that. Which I’m not. Even though I just did. But only in passing, really.
-
The Button-Down (Medium Exposure)
Button-downs of all types are the perfect opportunity for your chest hair to say hello to all the jealous, no-chest-hair-having bitches of the world. In fact, unless you’re wearing a tie and thus have no choice but to button your shirt all the way to the top, you would be a fool not to show off your chest hair by buttoning down!
Truly, there’s nothing lamer than a fellow who refuses to unbutton his button-down, just a little bit. Or, heaven forfend, a fellow who wears a plain white T-shirt underneath his button-down because his grandfather told him that that’s what you do to avoid pit-stains. Where’s your grandfather now, Erkel? In the ground? Being ravaged by worms and rot? Because he’s a CORPSE? You’re goddamn right he is. So what does that tell you? UNBUTTON THE SHIT OUT OF YOUR SHIRT ALREADY AND NEVER EVER WEAR AN UNDERSHIRT.
-
The Baseball Tee (Light-to-Medium Exposure)
Baseball tees. Is there anything they can’t do? Well, yes, obviously, but that’s beside the point. The point is, they’re awesome, and they’re also an awesome opportunity for awesome chest hair exhibitions. Por ejemplo:
-
The Baseball Tee x 2 (Light-to-Medium Exposure)
Here’s another baseball tee, same fabric, different color. This time, I’m wearing a coat over said tee, but instead of buttoning that coat up for warmth like Erkel’s grandfather would, I’m suffering for fashion and letting it all hang out. I don’t know if you can tell from just two pictures, but this adds so much fucking coolness to my general coolness aesthetic that I can scarcely describe it. So I guess I’ll just let these pictures do the ‘scribing for me, as well as they can.
-
The Deep Vee Button-Down Tee (Heavy Exposure)
This is about as far down as you want to take your buttons, people. Any further, and you’re wandering into Elvis Presley territory, which, I don’t mind telling you, is just plain wrong. Morally-speaking. (There’s a reason that man died on the terlet.)
-
And lastly, something of my own design:
The Chest Hair Window Tee (click to enlarge!)
I call this The Chest Hair Window because, in essence, it is a window to A) my chest hair and B) my soul, two entirely different entities that are occasionally indistinguishable. At this point, I’m sure some of you are saying to yourselves, “But wait, doesn’t this shirt violate your ‘Don’t show too much of your chest hair in public’ rule, King Chest Hair?” And the answer is: No, because that rule only applies to people who are not King Chest Hair.
The Chest Hair Window, sans King Chest Hair:
If you’re interested in climbing the Mt. Everest of chest hair fashions, this one of kind designer T-shirt — actually worn by King Chest Hair* himself! — is currently on sale for a mere $50 on Etsy.com. That’s right, you heard correctly — a mere fifty U.S. dollars! Talk about a steal, right?
*(That’s, uhm, the fourth time I’ve referred to myself in the third person? I swear it’s not a trend.)
Take it from me, folks, when you wear this shirt, your sternum follicles will be breathing like they’ve never breathed before, not to mention beaming with pride as a result of utilizing customized cloth previously worn by yours truly.
Click the image below for more details:
If you’re wondering why the shirt looks like someone haphazardly chopped a massive hole into the top of it with, like, garden shears, and then crumpled it into a ball and threw it onto the floor next to
hishis/her hamper … well, that’s just the edgy style I was going for as an attire artiste! Trust me, you’ll be grateful for that edge when all the ladies — or the gentlemen — are all like, “Hey there, fella — nice Chest Hair Window you got there. Mind if I … climb on in?”Guaranteed or your money back. Except for the money part.
Until Next Chest Hair.
Reblog: Verbal Pyrotechnics Issue #3 Deadline Extended!
You should probably submit some of your fiction/poetry/nonfiction/comic work to Verbal Pyrotechnics for issue number three. Deadline’s coming up real, real, real soon (imagine I said that with a vaguely southern accent). Like, barely a month from now soon. And remember, nothing gets you closer to fame, fortune, and your own personal harem than being published in Verbal Pyrotechnics, or so I hear.
Click the image below, designed by yours truly, to learn more:
Tick, tock.
^ My dog, Guybrush Threepwood Schumacher-Moore, in the hilarious process of passing out. And yes, that is The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker playing in the background.
Verbal Pyrotechnics: What's Your 2012 Writing New Year's Resolution?
I created a New Year’s Resolutions list over at Verbal Pyrotechnics wherein I detailed my own resolutions as they — for the most part — pertained to writing.
It’s a pretty paltry list, but it provided me with the perfect opportunity to create some Arrested Development screencaps (from Season 1, Episode 15, entitled Staff Infection). And any opportunity to do anything Arrested Development-related is a noble deed indeed.
Check it out below.
Reblogged from Verbal Pyrotechnics:
My four-part New Year’s Resolution for 2012 is as follows:
- Finish my f***ing book. Like, next month.
- Read more g****mn YA/Teen Literature.
- Draw more s**t, like in comic form.
- Be less profane.
Oh, and also to write more VP posts and go to the gym (slightly) more. But that just goes without saying!
Anyway - it’s a tall order, obviously, but I think I can pull it off if I just keep my head down and power through, as Michael and George-Michael Bluth of Arrested Development fame would say:
Do you guys have any writing or YA-related New Year’s Resolutions to share? Resolutions completely unrelated to YA or writing? Share them, please. Share the go***mn, m*****-f***ing s**t out of them.
- BAM
Check Out My Illustrated Batman Infographic Featuring EVERY (significant) BAT-SUIT EVER
So I created this illustrated Batman infographic for Screen Rant containting (<- this was originally a typo, but I liked it so much I decided to keep it) EVERY SINGLE “significant” BAT-SUIT EVER in comic books, movies, television, video games, and even the theater. Every Batman has a speech bubble with dialogue unique to his era, too, so have fun sifting through all that shit.
Check it out below (and click through for the full image):
This thing took me - and I’m not exaggerating in the slightest here - one million years to finish. So please enjoy it as thoroughly as possible.
I’ve already been asked by quite a few bat-nerds (and I use that term endearingly, as I, too, am a bat-nerd) why I didn’t include the [insert Elseworlds/alternate universe/Green Lantern/Sinestro Corps] bat-suit in the infographic. The fact of the matter is, fellow bat-nerds, if you were to ask anyone not completely frothing over with bat-lore what the fuck a Sinestro Corp Batman was, they would just stare you in the face like the crazy person you are. And they’d be right to!
Also, if I started including Elseworlds bat-suits, where would I stop? Huh? Would three Elseworlds bat-suits be enough for you? Doubtful. I’d have been drawing this goddamned thing for years. (Which is to say, more than the one million years it already took to draw.)
Anyway - go to Screen Rant for the full image. It’s also up at io9. Hopefully, it’ll be up on the White House website by the end of the day.
Come Look At My Chest Hair: 'Eco-Friendly Man-Chests 2012' Calendar
My awesome girlfriend and I made an awesome eco-friendly male pin-up calendar for the betterment of the planet. Check it out below (or on Buzzfeed; or on Reddit):
Reblogged from Come Look At My Chest Hair:
Back in April, my girlfriend — who runs the awesome eco-fashion blog, Green House of Fashion — and I decided to combine our blog-powers and create a 2012 male pin-up calendar that celebrates both CHEST HAIR and ECO-FRIENDLY [insert whatever] at the same fucking time.
Yessir, these eco-friendly man-chests are the culmination of months upon months of picture-taking, model/prop-procuring, and graphic-designing out the proverbial wazoo. There are twelve chests in all, obviously, eleven of which belong to human men and one of which belongs to a canine man by the name of Guybrush Threepwood Schumacher-Moore.
Each chest — or, uhh, you know, male model — is adorned with eco-friendly fashion, including but not limited to a vintage scarf, a vintage bandana, thrifted sunglasses, upcycled mittens, organic underwear, a recycled cotton backpack, and so on and so forth ad infinitum. The food featured in the calendar is organic or vegan or natural. And best of all, the sexiness is about as bio-degradable as it gets.
Basically, we tried really hard to make everything in this calendar as eco-friendly as physically fucking possible, including the calendar itself.
-
For those of you who have yet to turn back, there are three ways (that I’m aware of?) to enjoy this awesome calendar.
First, you can experience it in the form of a PDF, if that’s your preferred means of perusing calendars:
If you’d like to save the calendar to your computer and you’re using Safari or Google Chrome:
- Go to the PDF
- Select “File” in your internet browser
- Select “Save Page As”
- Choose your preferred download location on your hard-drive
If you’re using Firefox, the PDF should automatically be downloaded onto your computer. If you’re using Microsoft Internet Explorer … may God have mercy on your soul.
Second, you can purchase the actual, physical calendar that we’re selling on Etsy. (FYI, 20% of the proceeds will go to the World Wild Life Fund. The rest will go to paying for these goddamned calendars.)
And third, you can peruse the many, many images below (click to enlarge):
So there it is. The calendar crossover of the century. You can also check out my girlfriend’s much better blog-post over at Green House of Fashion to see how much better she is at making blog-posts.
Thoughts? Compliments? Hatred-spewings? Kindly (or in the case of hatred-spewings, not so kindly) leave them in the comments below, please, thank you.
Sincerely,
King Chest Hair
Screen Rant: New Episodes of ‘Arrested Development’ to Air on Netflix in 2013
So I’m a massive fan of Arrested Development. To the point that I genuinely want to become an Arrested Development scholar and teach a college-level Arrested Development class as an excuse to just watch Arrested Development episodes day-in, day-out. I’ve seen the show over fifty times. And no, I don’t mean I’ve seen certain episodes over fifty times — I mean I’ve seen the entire series over fifty times.*
(*Figure may not be entirely accurate, but it’s up there, man.)
Long story short, it was announced two days ago that the new “season” of Arrested Development (as a bridge between the first three seasons and the upcoming feature film) will air exclusively on Netflix in 2013. So, due to my embarrassing excitement, I immediately wrote an article about it, which you can read below (or over at Screen Rant):
After the cast and creator of Arrested Development appeared at an instantly sold out New Yorker event to announce plans for a new TV series in the lead up to a feature film, there were still some in the world who doubted those plans would ever come to fruition.
Well, doubt no longer, people, because it was just announced that new episodes of Arrested Development will premiere exclusively on Netflix instant streaming in early 2013 – ten years after the very first episode aired on Fox.
You can check out the entire press release at Netflix’s website.
The announcement comes after months and months of terrible PR on the part of Netflix: first, when they changed (and in some cases, upped) the prices of their various service plans; second, when they divided their instant streaming and DVD services into two entities (the former called Netflix, the latter called Qwikster, both of which would be totally separate services that would require separate user accounts); and third, when they realized how stupid that idea was and scrapped Qwikster altogether just three weeks later.
Needless to say, acquiring Arrested Development is the smartest move the company has made in quite some time. Now, when the company comes up in conversation, instead of hearing “Wasn’t that whole Qwikster debacle just hilariously stupid?,” you’ll hear, “As hilariously stupid as that whole Qwikster debacle was, at least Netflix has new episodes of Arrested Development.”
Previously, the company acquired the exclusive rights to a show House of Cards starring Kevin Spacey as an ambitious politician. While that could be a boon for the show, especially if it turns out to be of excellent quality, it’s unlikely to attract new users in the way that new episodes of Arrested Development will.
Indeed, as a die-hard Arrested Development fanatic, this particular Screen Rant writer will be purchasing the Netflix instant streaming service for at least the duration of the series.
Producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard – who doubles as the show’s narrator – said of the new show:
“Of all the projects we’ve been involved with over the years, we probably get more questions about Mitch Hurtwitz’s brilliant Arrested Development than any other— everyone, ourselves included, seems to feel like the Bluths left the party a bit too soon. Bringing a series back from cancellation almost never happens, but then, Arrested always was about as unconventional as they get, so it seems totally appropriate that this show that broke the mold is smashing it to pieces once again.”
Howard added:
“After a long hiatus, I’m dying to finally get back to the narrator’s microphone…’It’s Arrested…Development.’”
Ron Howard also posted a picture of the announcement on his Twitter account, while star Jason Batemantweeted his unbridled happiness. Check the tweets out below:
Variety cautions that, while the entire cast has expressed interest in returning to perhaps their most beloved roles, no deals have thus far been officially made. After all, Will Arnett is currently on NBC’s Up All Night, which has so far been successful, and Portia de Rossi will be starring in an as-yet-untitled NBC pilot for next fall.
Then again, if an official announcement has been made regarding a TV series and the entire cast was on a high profile panel where each member said, in no uncertain terms, that they were committed to making the new episodes (as well as the film), one assumes that all that’s left to do is figure out how much money everyone’s going to get. (Which, admittedly, can sometimes be the hardest part.)
Still, Mitch Hurwitz, Brian Grazer, and Ron Howard all seem pretty confident, so count me in as not being too worried about it.
The Arrested Development film – which may or may not be in active-development, according to two separate sources – will likely be developed in conjunction with the new series (considering said series is being designed as backstory for the forthcoming film). When we have more news on that, we’ll let you know.
What’s your take on the news, Screen Ranters? Will new Arrested Development episodes on Netflix motivate you to sign up for their instant streaming service? Let us know in the comments.
-
Follow me on Twitter @benandrewmoore.
Arrested Development will air on Netflix in 2013.
Screen Rant: Interview with comiXology CEO
Goddammit, I keep getting behind on cross-posting my articles/blog-posts on my personal blog. I’m such a fucking slacker!
Anyway, last month, I interviewed David Steinberger, the CEO of comiXology (basically the only widely used digital comics reading format) about DC’s The New 52, the way-too-high prices for digital comics, Marvel’s initial reluctance to make the leap to digital, and so forth.
Check it out below (and read the original article over at Screen Rant):
Update: Marvel just announced — by way of Gizmodo — that they’ll be releasing all their important comic books digitally the same day as print by the end of March.
DC’s The New 52, by all immediate measures of success, is doing incredibly well so far. For example, in September, DC books accounted for 17 of the top 20 comic books according to Diamond’s direct market – an unusual feat for a company accustomed to placing second.
The question remains, though – how is the relaunch doing digitally? Are digital sales better, worse, or about what was expected? Unfortunately, we might never know the answer unless DC decides to disclose those details. Which they probably won’t.
We were fortunate enough to discuss a whole host of issues regarding digital comics with David Steinberger, the CEO of comiXology – including The New 52, Marvel’s reluctance to fully commit to digital, the recently announced Kindle Fire, and pricing. comiXology, for those not familiar, is both the number one digital comic book reading app (not that there are a multitude to choose from) and the top grossing iPad app going on six weeks.
Check out our interview below:
Screen Rant: As the CEO of comiXology, can you explain why I should be reading comic books digitally? What makes digital comics so special, besides not having to get up off the couch and walk to the comic book store to buy them?
David Steinberger: Do you mind if I flip this question around a little to “why should you be reading comics?” It’s our belief at comiXology that there are many, many more comic book readers out there than are currently going to comic book stores. That’s one of the greatest reasons to try comiXology. It’s a simple way to try out reading comics, and we have a great range of material in our nearly 15,000 books. Comics are a great American art form, they can be as heavy as Harvey Pekar’s American Splendor, as intense as Alan Moore’s From Hell, or as riveting as Iron Man. There’s a reason all these comics I’ve just mentioned have inspired movies. The storytelling is just that good and the characters are universal. But if you haven’t ever read the original source material for these movies, or ever read a comic… you’re just missing out. Because with comics, the magic is what happens between the panels and also with the way the writers and artist mix the words and images. So if you would like to read a print comic, then go get them at your local comic shop. If you’d like to read it digitally, you can get it from us. Each delivery system, whether paper or digital has its own rewards.
SR: The first month of The New 52 has been, by all accounts, a huge success. Print sales are up and comiXology was catapulted to the #1 top grossing iPad app on iTunes in September. From where you’re sitting, would you qualify the relaunch as a digital success?
DS: The relaunch has been an absolute success. There is no question that DC’s The New 52, along with the great 3.0 re-design of the Comics by comiXology app, impacted our performance, helping us top the charts as the #1 grossing iPad app every Wednesday for the last six weeks running.
From ‘Action Comics’ #3 by Grant Morrison, Rags Morales, & Gene Ha, in stores now
SR: Have you read The New 52? And if so, which book or books are your favorite so far?
DS: I can’t pick just one! (Laughs.) I’m a Grant Morrison fan, so I enjoyed his Action Comics. Of course being a big fan of Grant’s means I wasn’t sure Jeff Lemiere would be able to deliver an Animal Man comic that I would like as much, but man did he kill that, huh? I actually challenged myself to read all 52 and I’ve really enjoyed every single one of them.
SR: Word on the street is that comiXology will be partnering with the Kindle Fire to distribute comics digitally. Can you tell us anything about that?
DS: The only thing I can tell you is that our app icon does appear on the Kindle Fire promotion images on Amazon’s website.
SR: What’s the likelihood of day-and-date comics being released digitally at midnight at some point in the future?
DS: We see digital as a separate product and market than print, but obviously there is a fear out there that delivering comics before brick & mortar retailers gives us an unfair advantage. As people feel more comfortable that there won’t be disruption in the print marketplace, I’m sure we’ll see the time frame evolve. But I don’t think you will ever see us releasing 12 hours before West Coast stores open.
SR: Image Comics recently announced that they, like DC and The New 52, will begin to simultaneously distribute all their comic books both in print and digitally (with the help of comiXology and Graphicly). Where is Marvel on this front? What’s taking them so long to fully commit to day-and-date?
DS: Marvel has a ton of books that are same-day-as-print. They just haven’t made as big a deal out of announcing it all at once. Publishers have their own time from for going same-day-as-print. It is not up to us to dictate what publishers do or when they do it.
Print issues of Marvel’s ‘Avenging Spider-Man’ #1-4 will include free digital download codes
SR: I’m of the opinion that digital comics are the only way to significantly gain new readers and turn the comic book industry around. It’s sad, of course, but print is declining, and so, too, are local comic book stores. Where do you see the comic book industry in five-to-ten years? Will comic book stores still be around? Or will digital be the only game in town, with few exceptions?
DS: You know, out of the last ten years, only three of those years have not been growth years for comic sales. Of course, those down years happen to be the last three consecutive years which, of course, coincides with the general recession. We believe the comic book medium is incredibly resilient and that when the economy bounces back, so will general print sales. We are not in the camp that print comic books are dying and that retail stores are going away. On the contrary, we believe the opposite and have invested heavy in tools that help retailers. All of us at comiXology see a vibrant future for both print and digital comics.
SR: One of the biggest complaints with regard to digital comics is they’re just too barebones to justify how expensive they are. For example, upon release, Justice League #1 and Ultimate Spider-Man #1 cost $3.99 a piece (same as print) and could both be read in under ten minutes. Conversely, I can download a videogame for the same price – sometimes less – and play it for months on end. What’s your take on the pricing?
DS: I’d be more worried about price resistance if we had not been the top grossing iPad application for the last six Wednesdays in a row — beating out a lot of the game type apps you mentioned. And let’s face it, people don’t buy comics in print because of some hope of resale value – they love to read the stories, which have value in and of themselves. Not to mention that, if you’re like me, you re-read comics you buy.
SR: On that same topic, I’ve talked to people who aren’t opposed to paying, say, $2.99 or $3.99 for a digital comic if features unique to the digital format are included, thus making them worth the hefty price-tag. For example, the Double Feature comic book app gives the reader the option to remove the colors of a comic down to the inks and then to the pencils on every single page. It also has creator commentary. Another idea is touchscreen, pop-up editor’s notes that could link to the previous issue that’s being referenced. Would you be interested in implementing similar features on comiXology (in conjunction with comic book companies), and are there any plans in place to do this?
DS: Features like that are great for comic fans, but – like DVD extras – don’t always appeal to the general user. That’s not to say that we won’t add extra value to comics, but I think that comic books as a medium stand on its own. Since the advent of the computer people have been trying to “improve” the comic book reading experience — adding animation, adding sound, adding creator commentary — and it just has never caught on. I think the real value add that digital has for comic books is in delivery. Scott McCloud, who wrote Understanding Comics, has some interesting ideas with playing around with what he called the “infinite canvas,” but I have yet to see something done with that idea that really blows my mind. Again, that is not to say we are never going to experiment ‑ we give a lot of thought to the future of comics over here and keep an open mind.
-
Big thanks to David for taking time out of his schedule to talk comic books with us.
What’s your take on digital comic books, Screen Ranters? Have you made the jump to digital yet? And if not, why not? Drop us a line in the comments.
-
Follow me on Twitter @benandrewmoore.
Check out comiXology’s website for more details about the app and all it has to offer.
Verbal Pyrotechnics: Halloween Is Coming, The Goose Is Getting Fat, Please Put A Costume In the Old Costume Hat
As a massive, massive, massive (perhaps too massive?) fan of Halloween and all the bullshit therein, I decided to write a Halloween-themed post over at Verbal Pyrotechnics this week.
More specifically, it’s about my search for this year’s costume, as October 31st is just around the corner. Check it out, son, if you’ve got the time and the taste for Halloween-related shit like I do:
Reblogged from Verbal Pyrotechnics:
FYI, this blog-post isn’t directly related to things like “writing” and “teen literature.” Rather, it’s about the pressures of having an awesome Halloween costume by the time October 31st rolls around. So if you only come here for the excellent writing and literature commentary, I suggest you turn around now!
-
I have a long history of caring way too much about my Halloween costumes, stemming back to my childhood and possibly even further (the womb, maybe?). For example:
Ashley J. Williams from Evil Dead 2
Snake Plissken from Escape From New York
Jack Burton from Big Trouble In Little China
The Punisher from Not the Movies
It’s pretty ridiculous, right? It might even be a disorder. I spend all my time and energy creating this really complex costume — I’m in my late twenties! — which I then utilize for maybe six or seven hours by basically doing what I’d do every other weekend of the year. Hanging out. With friends. On the town. I could be volunteering at soup kitchens or picking up trash in parks! What is wrong with me, people? (Haha, don’t answer that.)
Frankly, part of me wishes I could just go back to my hometown and trick or treat with my nephews. There’s something about the smells and the atmosphere and the energy and the candy-giving/eating/throwing that can only be found in your hometown (or a suburb) that’s so much more satisfying than Halloween in New York City. Don’t get me wrong — I enjoy dressing up and hanging out with my friends in New York. I look forward to it every year, which is why my costumes seem to get more and more complicated as time goes by. It’s just not the same as it used to be, or as it would be with my family. And I guess that’s all right…
Anyway! Long story short, right now I’m in the high-pressure process of trying to figure out my costume for Halloween 2011. This is a stressful experience, people! Pathetically stressful!
Here are some options:
Mad Max A.K.A. The Road Warrior from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
Manny Calavera from the greatest videogame of all time, Grim Fandango
Inspector Clouseau from The Pink Panther series
Superman from Grant Morrison’s most recent Action Comics #1
Thoughts? Well wishes? Hate speech? Which costume do you guys think I should go with? Or should I just shut my big mouth and go about my goddamn business because this is about Halloween costumes, not anything of actual import? Any of the above responses would be totally valid.
Frankly, I’ll probably just go with the last one for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it’ll be the easiest one to put together. Plus, he’s got a little baby cape. I would be remiss if I, a grown man, didn’t take the opportunity to wear a baby cape around all night long like it was no big deal.
-BAM
