Sunday, 30 November 2014
Saturday, 29 November 2014
TIME FOR A TOTAL CHANGE
There will be some profanities for
which I semi apologise.
___________________________________________________________________________
I have been publishing and selling in the UK since
1984. Don’t panis –I am not going into
all that again but if you missed the post:
I’ve mentioned what I am about to write to a few and the
response has been veiled anger –at me.
Well, if you have a high paid job or other income and comics are not
your sole business but a pastime (even if you love it) then okay. Dilettantes.
But if it is your sole business then what you decide to
do with that business is your decision.
No one else has a say in it. You
want to complain or moan at me then my response is simple: fuck off.
You see, the criticism comes from people who have never
supported Black Tower, never purchased a copy. Never forwarded links for new books on their
Face Book page or websites. Yet they get
all of that and far more from me.
They have absolutely no say in my business.
They have absolutely no say in my business.
Every news item of their that gets posted goes to my Face
Book, Google+, Twitter and beyond that –sites re-using my reviews and posts
count for several thousands per day. CBO
is getting close to 2 million views and daily views here are 2500-3000 (sometimes
far more) . Google+ posts have
achieved 967,448 views with around 3-4,000 per day. Excluding all of those extra “feeds” it means
CBO has been viewed well over 2, 698,049
times. I am told that if I included all
the “Spider feeds” the total well exceeds 3 million. However, I do not count these as they are not
under my control.
But it means news and posts get seen by a lot of
people. My reward for this? Grief and total lack of ‘industry’
support. Oh yes, they will get in touch with me when they need to use
myself and CBO for their own ends.
Support the site with advertising?
Please, I have heard every excuse under the sun as to why people “just
can’t” take up very cheap advertising space….”Oh, by the way, our new book is
out next week if you could mention it?”
The same applies to events.
Even though I made my position clear on this and here is the link:
I moved over to the the European comic album (A4) format in
2007. The quality of the printing is top
notch. The covers are solid and also top
quality. I have promoted the online
store, gone to events but people will not even pick a book up to look inside –if
they stop at all. The reasons why I have
gone into (see first link).
However, there are other aspects. I have mentioned before that entries on my
Small Press work and also British/overseas comic work –entries written by others- have
all been deleted from Wikipedia within 48 hours. Because, despite everything I have done in
almost 40 years –pushing and promoting the UK Small Press and the UK SP invasion
of the US,
publishing and getting some well known names into comics plus much more is “not
having made any contribution to the field”.
Whereas I am on several US University data bases and a number in Europe. The all
time (CBO Blogger figures ONLY) views of CBO total 56,003 for the UK views. Outside the UK, where the main views come from
the total is 1,469,628. Apart from China
and the USA my main viewers
are from Europe.
Before I ramble on…..I had the worst event ever at the
October Bristol Comics and Small Press Fair where I was, to be honest, the only
comicker and it has been made very clear that my books “look absolutely nothing like anything else here” and it did not
help that it’s mainly friends of dealers or people who head for certain dealers
(whose smaller, lower quality books were more expensive than mine) –dilettante
Small Press buyers.
Then, last weekends totally unforgiveable disaster of an
event. “Were we conned?” I’ve been asked.
And now I find out people walked past the hotel thinking they got it
wrong because there was nothing to say “come into this posh hotel there’s a ‘comic’
event on the fifth floor”!!
As far as I am concerned artists such as Ben Dilworth and Gavin Stuart Ross have provided top-quality work and so I feel I have let them down. Their books should sell. I see that as my failure.
As far as I am concerned artists such as Ben Dilworth and Gavin Stuart Ross have provided top-quality work and so I feel I have let them down. Their books should sell. I see that as my failure.
Now, I purchased over £300 worth of stock (sorry if that
upsets you but the books are stock because Black Tower
is a business and not a hobby). I was
promised an “international book fair and comic expo” –totally misleading and
downright false description. Take into
account that the events were in Bristol
where support for comic and Small Press events is always high, my travel
expenses were not that big. But table costs and books put me at a loss for 2014
of £400.
If I wanted to attend other comic events in 2015 then, the
prices I am quoted for a table are £65.00, £75.00 and near to £100.00 and to
this I will have to add travel costs as well as bed and board at two events.
Right there I am looking at over £500 before more stock to sell.
Am I seriously going to travel for hours to stand behind a
table where, unless I’m someones mate or selling Marvel or DC comics I am just
going to watch my money flow into a drain?
No. That is not business that is
being so stupid you want to just throw away money. I have bills to pay, I need to eat.
So, I have decided, yes, I will publicise your comic event. But
I get a free table out of it –seriously, you are getting publicity
and reaching an audience that is worth a few thousand pounds via promoters and if I
promote and publicise an event I go all out.
Big convention: “Why should I give YOU a free table?” Quite right. It’s within your remit to do or
not do so. It’s within my remit to
ignore all your press releases and mark you as Spam and if you keep spamming me
I report you to your ISP. See how it works?
I’m nice with nice people and a bastard with bastards.
People have used me too much. Time to give something back.
I can actually feel the seething anger.
But the UK
has done me no favours. As a business, Black Tower
either adapts or dies. No one –no web
sites or blogs- in the UK
will offer support or return favours of posting news of new BTCG books and even those who got asked for review books but never bothered reviewing, then I’ll
go where I do get support –where people know my reputation from the 1980s on.
Europe.
I have already begun looking for outlets for Black Tower
books and a few preliminary events. UK
shops will not touch any Black Tower titles “People just want Marvel and DC”
(fuck your shop and fuck you for using that as an excuse because you have your
head stuck up your asses and just want to keep selling shit and not let your
customers have a chance to see what is out there. Image and Dark Horse are NOT “independent
comics” you jack-asses.
So, I will publicise UK events but only for a free table
–welcome to the world of business choice.
No free publicity.
The last two events and the utter shit heap that the Bristol
Comic Expo became before dying has hit me with the truth. I get no thanks and shat on.
This is business. If after 14 years of CBO you do not know
the work I put in through it to promote new comics and events then I have to
return to the “fuck you” response.
Ask me to look at a pdf or file share link you get marked as
spam. You know the policy. Want to criticise me in comments? Do so –you’ll
be deleted and marked as Spam.
There is a change that needed to be made years ago but I
was so stupid and trusting in people that all I got was to be treated as the
dirty rag used to wipe dog shit off boots. No more.
Oh, and as an ender –yes, I will keep praising Chinese
comics. I love Chinese comics and
Chinese people and if you don’t then that’s your own ignorance.
My sincere apologies to readers –you
make this site what it is and my comments are not aimed at any of you! xxx
Edinburgh Comic ConEDINBURGH COMIC & TOY MART
David Gordon: Come
see us today at the changelings tables for a great selection of vintage
toys and some really nice homegrown art/comic books.
STILL READY TO BELIEVE YOU SHOW: This will be performed at 1pm upstairs from the mart. Seating is limited.
GEEK PUB QUIZ: This will take place after the mart, around 5pm, downstairs in the BLIND POET.
Friday, 28 November 2014
Oh Yeah. Sure. Watch Out Cosplay Storm Troopers -or any cosplayer!
Boy left traumatised after street performer points a gun at his head in Birmingham
Eight-year-old Connor May was shopping in Birmingham with his grandmother on Saturday afternoon when he spotted a gold painted ‘human statue’ interacting with the Christmas shoppers.
After the schoolboy gave the man a pound, the performer handcuffed the lad to his belt and pointed a fake gun at his head so his gran could take a picture.
However as soon as Connor was released he burst into tears, and now says he gets ‘flashbacks’ to that moment.
Connors mum Laura, 31, said she was ‘absolutely horrified when I heard what had happened’.
‘I looked at the photo my mum took and I could see that Connor seemed very uncomfortable with what was happening to him,’ she added.
The family now think it is dangerous for street performers to carry toy guns, saying: ‘Who knows who this man could be, he’s just allowed to stand there with an imitation gun and no-one cares because he’s painted gold.’
Birmingham City Council said there is no legislation restricting ‘human statues’, however they said they will be speaking to the performer in question ‘about his conduct’.
____________________________________________________________________________-
Newspapers love this sort of attention seeking because it fills pages. Yeah, make sure to throw in "suffers from ADHD" because then he's a "vulnerable child" and people will go "ahh. Poor thing. And he's got THAT!" (they have no idea what ADHD is...some probably thought it was a type of plasma screen TV.
This has ramifications for cosplaying though.
I could upload 50 photos of con attendees on their knees, hands behind head as Star Wars troopers point guns at them.
Traumatised AFTER? Sue.
This kid is NOT traumatised -look at his face- and also look at the man's gun hand -no finger in trigger guard and holding the handle at the end so it looks totally jokey.
I'm guessing with Christmas looming Mum needs money to go to Iceland (the food chain in case you have no idea)?
IT'S TOMORROW!!! Chang3lings & MyExcess Feature at 2014s Edinburgh Toy & Comic Mart!
Once more, Hero Conventions are bringing their own brand of FREE COMIC & TOY MART to Edinburgh...
VENDORS INCLUDE:
Chang3lings http://www.chang31ings.co.uk/
My Excess Comics/Books http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/myexcess
Hero Comic Shop
Comic Convict
Cosmic Art
Rough Cut Comics
Planet Jimbot
City of Lost Souls
Changelings
Forbidden Planet
Adamsons Attic
Keith Crawley Art
Gnometastic
Chris Teasdale Comics
Rubber Pineapple
Lefay Engraving
Phat Cat
Da Judge
Nathan A Lyon Art
Kukuruzovic Comics
Turn Book Time
Skulls & Cross Stitches
Sands Art Glass
During the mart, there will be a performance of the Ghostbusters tribute 'STILL Ready to Believe You' by Des O'Gorman at 1pm. This will be 100% FREE*, but you can feel free to provide a donation at the end of the show as the poor blighter hasn't eaten in weeks. :p
Also, after the show the legendary Marc Farrimond will be hosting 'The Challenge of the Kingpin' geeky pub-quiz. Entry to this will be FREE, and there will be some rather lovely prizes...
YES!! David "The British Manara" Gordon WILL be at the event with his Chang3lings dolls and MyExcess books including Cosmic Oddity which was reviewed here: http://hoopercomicart.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/my-excess-dave-cosmic-oddity.html
Plus.......
Dave Gordon´s Pin Up Girls Summary
Dave
Gordon returns with an epic volume of new pin up material. 100 pages
of beautifully detailed linework is behind an exceptionally conceived
cover.
One for the collectors for sure as there will be just 100 copies of this book printed and signed by the artist.
Order yours today.
Suggested for Mature readers....and ONLY £10.00?????
One for the collectors for sure as there will be just 100 copies of this book printed and signed by the artist.
Order yours today.
Suggested for Mature readers....and ONLY £10.00?????
Cyborg from Takara 1998
If you have to visit and buy from one table this weekend then it HAS to be Chang3lings and MyExcess....otherwise you may need psychological treatment!
Thursday, 27 November 2014
The Collected Merriwether: God's Demon-Thumper!
Merriwether: Gods Demon Thumper
Terry Hooper-Scharf & Ben R. Dilworth
Paperback,
A4
Black & White
85 Pages
Price:
£8.00
Ships in 3–5 business days
The complete Merriwether
series, originally published in Black Tower Adventure and A Little
Midnight Horror–but with three strips never before published…
including the Reverend’s battle with the ultimate Evil!
From The Horror Of Hob Street to The Village Of Demons and Varney the
Vampyre to The Fallen Angel himself, see how one Church of England vicar
deals hard-fisted [and various spiked objects] justice to the ungodly
...and pays the ultimate price!!!
If you were into Charlton Horror Comics or any horror comic then this
one is for you!
At the end of Merriwether:Gods Demon-Thumper, the Reverend had been
confronted by Satan and as a consequence lay fatally injured.
Star of 1980s comics, Benjamin R. Dilworth, takes us through the
fleeting seconds
before death as Merriwether has flash backs showing just why he took on
the career he did.
Be prepared for horror and a little tongue-in-cheek
humour.
COMIC HORROR FANS WILL LOVE THIS!
Silvermaigne:Knight Ghoul Hunter
Paperback,
A4
Black & White
42 Pages
Price:
£7.00
Ships in 3–5 business days
The Silvermaigne line is said
to go back to the time of the Ancient Britons.
Silvermaignes ancestors
were part of a druidic clan based in the great forest that is today
known as Leigh Woods, overlooking the River Severn entering (today)
Bristol.
All the members of the tribe had white hair from birth and they were
known as the mwng arian (Silver Manes). Even the druids bowed to their
knowledge of demons, spirits and things of the darkness.
But at a point several centuries ago the family split and took two paths
-one embraced magik for its own fight against evil.
For the first time
Ben Dilworth looks at this branch of the family and what one of them
endures to keep the fight Holy!
Before Quatermass There Was....DENE VERNON THE THING BELOW
Writer: Terry Hooper-Scharf
A4
Black & White
Paperback,
53 Pages
Price:
£5.00
Ships in 3-5 business days.
It was the 1940s and he was the first British comics
investigator of the supernatural. Dene Vernon -Man Of Mystery!
Set in the late 1940s, Vernon is recovering from a previous case when he is called upon to investigate mystery deaths in London dockland.
Despite the assistance of one of the Silvermaigne family - famous werewolf, demon and vampire hunters- it looks as though the threat of Lorimed may be the Man of Mystery's last....
In Room Oblivion There Are Cupboard Doors...........................
Bored. Burnt out. I'll repair the camera!!
These are the results.
These are the results.
"So How Long Before we Can Expect To See The Green Skies Book?"
Thank you for asking, Mark. Did you buy Return? Anyway, I need to respond to these things out of old fashioned politeness.
No idea. I have images cramming out my brain but I even think about picking up a pencil to draw -panic. This is total burn out. Can't even read comics.
When will The Green Skies appear? meh
No idea. I have images cramming out my brain but I even think about picking up a pencil to draw -panic. This is total burn out. Can't even read comics.
When will The Green Skies appear? meh
Chang3lings & MyExcess Feature at 2014s Edinburgh Toy & Comic Mart!
Once more, Hero Conventions are bringing their own brand of FREE COMIC & TOY MART to Edinburgh...
VENDORS INCLUDE:
Chang3lings http://www.chang31ings.co.uk/
My Excess Comics/Books http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/myexcess
Hero Comic Shop
Comic Convict
Cosmic Art
Rough Cut Comics
Planet Jimbot
City of Lost Souls
Changelings
Forbidden Planet
Adamsons Attic
Keith Crawley Art
Gnometastic
Chris Teasdale Comics
Rubber Pineapple
Lefay Engraving
Phat Cat
Da Judge
Nathan A Lyon Art
Kukuruzovic Comics
Turn Book Time
Skulls & Cross Stitches
Sands Art Glass
During the mart, there will be a performance of the Ghostbusters tribute 'STILL Ready to Believe You' by Des O'Gorman at 1pm. This will be 100% FREE*, but you can feel free to provide a donation at the end of the show as the poor blighter hasn't eaten in weeks. :p
Also, after the show the legendary Marc Farrimond will be hosting 'The Challenge of the Kingpin' geeky pub-quiz. Entry to this will be FREE, and there will be some rather lovely prizes...
YES!! David "The British Manara" Gordon WILL be at the event with his Chang3lings dolls and MyExcess books including Cosmic Oddity which was reviewed here: http://hoopercomicart.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/my-excess-dave-cosmic-oddity.html
Plus.......
Dave Gordon´s Pin Up Girls Summary
Dave
Gordon returns with an epic volume of new pin up material. 100 pages
of beautifully detailed linework is behind an exceptionally conceived
cover.
One for the collectors for sure as there will be just 100 copies of this book printed and signed by the artist.
Order yours today.
Suggested for Mature readers....and ONLY £10.00?????
One for the collectors for sure as there will be just 100 copies of this book printed and signed by the artist.
Order yours today.
Suggested for Mature readers....and ONLY £10.00?????
Cyborg from Takara 1998
If you have to visit and buy from one table this weekend then it HAS to be Chang3lings and MyExcess....otherwise you may need psychological treatment!
Yeah, We HAVE Been Here Before: ‘Ultron Forever’ assembles time-traveling Avengers team
This posting by Noelene Clark at LATimes caught my eye.http://herocomplex.latimes.com/comics/exclusive-ultron-forever-assembles-time-traveling-avengers-team/
Noelene Clark @NoeleneClark
Visit the site for more images/links
The
color cover for “Avengers: Ultron Forever” No. 1, the first of three
oversized comic issues written by Al Ewing and illustrated by Alan
Davis. (Marvel Entertainment)
The 90-page “Ultron Forever” story, which will unfold in “Avengers: Ultron Forever” No. 1, “New Avengers: Ultron Forever” No. 1 and “Uncanny Avengers: Ultron Forever” No. 1, aims to introduce casual readers to the robot baddie in addition to appealing to devoted fans’ nostalgia. And since comic book newcomers are more familiar with the big-screen incarnations of Marvel’s mightiest than the African American Captain America and female Thor currently in the pages of comics, time travel seemed a clever way to bring more familiar versions of the superheroes to the story, said Tom Brevoort, Marvel senior vice president of publishing and executive editor.
The “Ultron Forever” books, to be penned by Al Ewing (“Loki: Agent of Asgard,” “Mighty Avengers”) and illustrated by comics veteran Alan Davis, will gather the current iterations of Black Widow, the Vision and the female Thor as well as classic versions of Thor and the Hulk, James “Rhodey” Rhodes as Iron Man, and a never-before-seen future Captain America — the daughter of Netflix-bound Marvel heroes Luke Cage and Jessica Jones. They are ostensibly transported through time via Doctor Doom’s time machine in order to defeat Ultron, though there might be more to their arrival than is initially revealed, Ewing said.
The tale is set some 50 years from now in a dystopian future in which Ultron, an automaton hellbent on destroying humanity, has won. The scene was set in the recent Jonathan Hickman-written “Avengers” No. 31, tied to the “Original Sin” story line.
Ewing, who is still in the process of creating the plot for the “Ultron Forever” books, said the new tale will offer an explanation for Hickman’s strange future, which saw future Thor calling Ultron the “All Father” (the name usually refers to the god Odin).
“We find a bit more about why Thor is serving Ultron.… The robot, cyborg-type Avengers are serving Ultron, and we learn there’s a small cadre of human beings,” said Ewing, who got his start at Marvel writing Ultron-related stories for “Avengers Assemble” tie-ins. “Ultron is fun because you can kind of decide how human or inhuman he is. He can either be this completely soulless machine, or he can be this rambling madman who happens to be a robot. He kind of meets the needs of the story that way.”
And in this particular story, Ewing’s Ultron is more than a little mad.
“He’s achieved all his goals, and he’s kind of become this godlike figure,” Ewing said. “It’s almost like humanity is just this resource for him now, but at the same time, he’s enjoying lording it over them.… He’s enjoying pulling the wings off the fly, so to speak, and really taking his time over his final victory.”
Gathering a team of Avengers to face the robotic supervillain was a particular pleasure for Ewing, who had freedom to choose from an expansive roster of larger-than-life characters from all of Marvel’s 75-year history.
“My first thing with teams is if you put two of them in a room together, have you got a story? And I think with this bunch, it’s definitely true,” Ewing said. “There are in the story reasons why they’ve been taken from the particular times and places they have been. It turns out to have bearing on the story.”
A
page from “Avengers: Ultron Forever” No. 1, the first of three
oversized comic issues written by Al Ewing and illustrated by Alan
Davis. (Marvel Entertainment)
“Growing up, I didn’t particularly care who Tony Stark was — it was Jim Rhodes, this guy who was with the rest of the superheroes on this little alien planet fighting each other,” Ewing said. “So yeah, I do kind of want to have him back in the red and yellow, because it’s a nice nostalgic thing for me, and it’ll be good for a bunch of readers who remember that whole era.”
Ewing also chose the iteration of Thor popularized by writer-artist Walter “Walt” Simonson in the 1980s, with a big beard and blue and gold armor.
“It’s what I grew up with,” Ewing said. “I won’t spoil exactly which one, but it’s kind of important the particular time during the Walt Simonson run he’s been taken from.”
Walt Simonson’s Thor will come face to face with the lady Thor from Jason Aaron’s current run, though her identity will likely still be a mystery when “UItron Forever” is published, Brevoort said. And there will be at least one other Thor incarnation, Ewing said, joking, “It’s a smorgasbord of Thors.”
They will be joined by a pre-Avengers, Stan Lee version of the Hulk from the early 1960s — with three toes and a penchant for calling people “palookas,” Ewing said.
From the present are current versions of Black Widow and the Vision, two characters who have yet to interact in any meaningful way, Brevoort said.
“That’s a mismatched pair. For all that, in the comics, they’ve both been Avengers for a considerable amount of time, I can’t think of a lot of situations, circumstances or adventures that they’ve experienced together,” Brevoort said. “So here, they are sort of a strange odd couple duo.… They have a common bond that they’re both from today, and theoretically, that’s the same bond the reader has.”
And from the future comes a brand new version of Captain America, Danielle Cage — the grown-up daughter of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones, who is currently an infant in the comics.
“She’s very strong, and she’s as bulletproof as her mom and dad were,” Ewing said. “She has the Captain America shield with an anti-gravity unit in it, which she can sort of control with a unit on her glove. I’m going back to the days of the ‘60s where, for about five minutes, Captain America worked his shield with magnets. She’s not throwing the shield so much as flying it out, and then it ricochets off of people and comes back to her. It’s pretty cool.”
As the team member from the future, Dani possesses knowledge of the Avengers’ futures and offers some clues throughout the story.
“She keeps calling the Black Widow ‘Madame Natasha,’ and she’s just hinting that in the future, the Black Widow’s this sort of old-school Nick Fury figure, directing the future Avengers. And the last time we would have seen her from Black Widow’s perspective was attending her first birthday.”
Brevoort said the new, half-African-American, female Captain America could stick around in comics if she is well-received.
“Whether or not that infant will grow up to be that character in the course of our stories is part of the ongoing soap opera that we tell,” he said. “What tends to happen is we’ll do a story like this, and if the character clicks with people, we tend to do more of them.… She’s a good character, and if she bounces off the page in the way that we hope she will, then we’ll be able to do more.”
And with artist Alan Davis at the helm, she won’t lack for opportunity to pop on the page.
“He’s a world-renowned comic master,” Brevoort said. “He’s been in the business long enough to illustrate some of these characters from when they were new characters from the past. He is an excellent fundamental superhero artist who’s pretty much done it all and can do it all very, very well.”
Working with Davis inspires Ewing to reach for more grandiose moments and ambitious plot elements in planning “Ultron Forever,” the writer said.
“I seem to be writing a lot more expansive vistas and big spreads and big action moments — all the things I’d like to read in an Alan Davis comic — whereas usually I’m not thinking quite so epically,” Ewing said. “I grew up reading his stuff, so it’s a massive honor for me. I’m hoping so far I’m doing all right by him. I send him the plot, and I just get back these wonderful pages of art, which I then have to dialogue in a way that does them some kind of justice, and it’s kind of a dream come true, really.”
Brevoort said the three “Ultron Forever” issues will be released between April and May, “right in the umbra of the lead up to the film,” which opens in theaters May 1, 2015.
“The tremendous success of these films means far, far more people are aware of and interested in these characters and the stories that go on with them,” Brevoort said. “So as people are getting excited and seeing the latest ‘Age of Ultron’ trailer, these comics will be coming out to whet their appetite for the film and to feed their hunger for information as to what the big robot guy with the strings is all about.”
__________________________________________________________________________
Now, yes, I am excited that Alan Davis is working on this but to be honest it is very unlikely I will buy the book. Brevoort....my mother always said I might live to see crap talk. Anyway, apart from that this has to be THE most original storyline Marvel has come up with since Avengers from the past, present and future were adrift in time helping Immortus stop Kang.....oh. Avengers Forever -one of the best ever Marvel series that tied up all Avengers continuity and was very quickly shat on BY Marvel.
Oh come on -Di$ney are rechurning these ideas over and over and the cash cow Ultron is going to be milked beyond belief....I mean, what the feck was Age of Ultron about??? Guess what -there were 13 tie-ins to that four month long piece of crap (according to a lot of readers with brains it was crap and some were die-hard Marvel geeks!). I wonder how many tie-ins there will be for this one.
This is just continuing the Science Fiction bender Marvel is on -time travel, robots, blah blah blah.
Why don't they just get it over with and do the Star Wars-Avengers cross-over? Now, I do not normally give out too much of what I hear from people working in comics (even though I have in the past and I've been spot on every single time and months in advance of "official" announcements but what the heck) but there is a Star Wars-Avengers comic treatment at Di$ney. But can you imagine money leeching executives at Di$ney (please there is NO "Marvel") if there was a Star Wars-Avengers/Guardians Of The Galaxy movie? Forgive the language but even the mere thought of the cash from what would put them in hospital for the permanent erections they'd get.
You folks enabled Di$ney. It's as bad as enabling a junkie, alcoholic or, well, insert your own choice of bad.
The House of Unoriginality cashes in again.
Wednesday, 26 November 2014
I Am Away!
In my mind anyway. Totally and utterly exhausted with comics. Face Book tells me I've reached a new milestone -"100 Likes". I'd much prefer 100 sales.
Might be back who knows.
Might be back who knows.
Antony and the Johnsons - I Fell In Love With a Dead Boy
Used for the fan video of Torchwood when Capt Jack Harkness met the real Capt Jack Harkness in WW 2. This is an incredible song.
I Can Now Breath A Sigh Of Relief!
Yes, it's taken all morning but the online store has been upgraded and all books re-priced.
It's ridiculous to think people have been able to buy 50-60-70 and even 80 and 100 pagers for £6.00-£7.00 for six years or so. That is just so ludicrously cheap and, yes, practically give-aways. I wanted to give potential readers a bargain and a good read.
I just got a poke in the eye back.
Well, all prices have been updated to be more realistic so if you never bought that book you 'wanted' at the old price -tough.
Thinking about it, I really do think that the lack of comic education is why people are scared of even picking up Black Tower Books. They have sturdy, glossy covers and are in the A4 format -standard European Comic Album format. What they generally see are A5/Digest, US comic size or book style publications. Even at last Saturday's disaster, looking around, I could see nothing like my books.
But for Black Tower graphic novels, prose books and others, A4 is standard. I'm not going to spend months re-sizing just to please the eye of the dilettante comic buyers.
I stick by quality and, despite prices changes, a very good cover price for buyers.
Interlude.....Screamin' Jay Hawkins - Little Demon
While I finish repricing books on the online store and sort out the total **** up lulu.com has made of some files and not even told me about (nice) time for an interlude. Normal service will resume as soon as possible.
The Raging River Of Responses.
Well I am guessing that my postings and reviews from Saturday to last night have left the comics industry in a whirlwind of-of......
Let's face it: no one was interested. I try and try and postings on the comics industry -the troubles and tribulations- do appear to be popular. They tend to get very high viewing figures. But thoughts? Responses? Not a one. You do know that I could just as well go sit in the bathroom and say these things aloud to myself which is satisfying but does not take a lot of typing/editing?
Hmm. From now on I am going to review books while seated 'pon the lavvie. You don't hear my reviews then that is your fault.
Honestly. Burned out. Type/post and just watching the visitor numbers climb is boring beyond belief. Should be a lesson there for me. My books go the same way. Years of research, editing, typing, editing and then design followed by publishing and...no one reads them.
Will I be back?
Who knows.
Who knows, indeed.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAkoff koff....oh my throat....
Wonder Woman Movie - Breaking Bad Director Michelle MacLaren
More movie news. Hmmm. Could it be these people flock to the big budget super hero flicks because they KNOW it will mean big bucks and huge publicity?
Michelle MacLaren has signed on to direct ‘Wonder Woman’ for Warner Bros according to fresh reports.
The Hollywood Reporter
claim the Canadian was always the studio’s first choice, and will guide
the project with Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder and Charles Roven on board
as producers.
MacLaren has had her hand in a
number of major television shows, having directed four episodes of ‘Game
of Thrones’, three episodes of ‘The Walking Dead and eleven episodes of
‘Breaking Bad’, which she also executively produced from season three.
She also produced 46 episodes of ‘The X-Files’ at the turn of the century.
‘Wonder Woman’ is Warner Bros’
first major property to launch following the release of ‘Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice’ in 2016, and will star Gal Gadot as the
Amazonian superhero. Gadot will make her debut as the character in the
‘Man of Steel’ follow-up.MacLaren is the third director
to be brought into Warner Bros’ growing DC Comics Universe after Snyder
and ‘Suicide Squad’ director David Ayer.
THR says Warner Bros had felt
pressure to hire a woman to direct due to Wonder Woman’s theme of female
empowerment, but were concerned that no woman has ever directed a
CG-laden big comic book tentpole movie.
Thankfully they ignored the
pressure and hired MacLaren anyway, who aside from being a woman is also
clearly qualified to handle such a big production.
Recent reports suggested that
the ‘Wonder Woman’ films will act as prequels to the character’s
introduction in ‘Dawn of Justice’ – with solo films set in the early 20th Century, including World War Two.
‘Wonder Woman’ will be released on June 23 2017.
Picture Credits: WENN/Warner Bros/DC Comics
Tuesday, 25 November 2014
Oscar Isaac Lands Villain Role In X-Men: Apocalypse
Yeah, at first I read "Oscar Pistorius". I come from another century!
After
landing a role in ‘Star Wars VII’ it looks as though the up and coming
star will be heading to the ‘X-Men’ universe… as he takes the title role
in ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’.
Not content with nabbing a role
in the galaxy far, far away it looks as though Oscar Isaac is determined
to conquer modern geek culture. And now the actor has reportedly signed
up for the upcoming ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ as the movie’s big, bad
villain.
According to Variety, the 35-year-old Guatemalan-born American actor has nabbed the role of Apocalypse in the upcoming ‘X-Men’ sequel.
“Oscar
Isaac will be playing the titular comic book villain in 20th Century
Fox’s ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’,” they revealed. “[Bryan] Singer has described
the upcoming ‘X-Men’ film, which is expected to feature all cast
members including Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and James
McAvoy, as the most destructive movie in the franchise.”
Of
course, Apocalypse has already taken to the big screen in a post credit
teaser after the recent ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’. But while the
scrawny-looking mutant was busy with his newfound pyramids, it looks
likely that he’ll bulk up a bit for the upcoming sequel.
“‘Apocalypse’
will have more of the mass destruction that ‘X-Men’ films, to date,
have not relied upon,” said Singer in a recent interview. “There’s
definitely now a character and a story that allow room for that kind of
spectacle.”
Reportedly
taking place during the 80s, ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ will feature younger
versions of the classic ‘X-Men’ characters. And while it seems that
‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ has found its villain, the hunt is apparently on for
a young Cyclops and Jean Grey.
But
will they be able to conquer the mighty Apocalypse? For now, we’ll have
to wait and see. Although, if Isaac has to go up against Hugh Jackman’s
Wolverine, I don’t fancy his chances.
‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ heads to cinemas on 19 May 2016.
“The French Laugh At The British At Angouleme –We’ve No Comics Industry!”
And So They Might
Oh, yes. On the old CBO I got the reaction to writing things
like this but not just off the top of my head for controversy but fully backed
up by facts and statistics. I once
suggested that all UK comic
bloggers add a banner to their sites: “Let’s Revive The UK Comic
Industry” and the reaction?
I was told I had “a Saviour complex” and a lot worse. “Oh, so YOU are going to come and save us
all?!!” Really nasty things were written and not just on CBO but on comic
blogs and forums.
Let me make this clear (because ALL the postings and
responses were kept –a full file of all this is with a solicitor “in case”): I
was being attacked because I suggested all of us in UK comics get together and
try to rebuild the comic industry as best we could.
At that point I realised that the main problem was that we
never really had an industry anyway –the comics business was so crooked that it
used to be known to tax people as “the double cooked books with triple layer
mud”. Distributors were no better and
often acted in collusion with publishers.
Once the fan-boy got into comics that was it.
But I was asked why I
do not include the Small Press as the new comics industry? Well, I believe that I have written before
that it is but it does no real
good. It is a dilettante comics industry.
Someone just Googled “Dilettante Comics” to see if they are
collectibles.
Now I know people do tend to misconstrue my words even
though I try to make them clear so hold on to your lederhosen.
I began drawing as a youngster. In school I edited the school magazine Starkers
The Magazine That Tells The Naked Truth which was in…1971/72? The title came from the Deputy Head, Mr.
Wright –an ex-RAF man and one of the most popular teachers at Greenway Boys
School. I do know that there was/is a magazine by
that name from London(?). Never seen it
and I did an internet search recently and cannot find reference to it. I am positive that I did see it advertised in publications such as Fortean Times (in the
old days).
Anyway, one of the school secretaries complained and it was
stopped at printing and burned. Also,
the rather pompous religious Head Master disliked immensely that I called it a
“zine” –it was NOT a magazine and I kept saying it was a “little magazine –a
zine”.
I later did lots of other work with newsletters, magazines,
printers and from the late 1970s on, the Small Press world of fanzines. I have a big collection of Small Press
publications –poetry, prose fiction/sci fi as well as fanzines and comics. Unlike today, the 1980s saw people from all
over the UK
exchanging their zines and if anyone needed a strip to fill a page or so
everyone chipped in. This was in letter
writing days –no internet and phone calls were too expensive.
Also, we all knew comics.
Whether UK weeklies
or the US
comics from Marvel, DC, Charlton or the rather obscure companies. And, of course, we all had our Alan Class
comics. Strange to think how many of us
were into horror movies and particularly some of the classic black and white
movies. Then again, we were working in a
black and white medium. I was very happy
when I also discovered a great many zinesters were fans of Orson Welles because
of his masterful use of angles, shadows and the B&W medium.
In other words we were a community without internet and only
after the Westminster Comic Marts and other one day events became more popular
in the 1980s did any of us meet up.
There is a term you don’t hear these days –“marts” that were, basically,
a hall full of people selling comics and zines and creators meeting up. Going to the Westminster Marts was fun but we
must have looked odd: meeting in a corner or on a staircase feeling different
types of paper we drew on. Checking out
each others pencils, pens (one typo and
a letter “i” there and I could put a whole new slant on things!), brushes,
sniffing inks and pens –checking which were alcohol based or whatever because
certain pens combined with certain papers or boards could be very messy. Most
of all we talked.
Apart from one or two incidents involving certain people I
was never once accused of throwing anyone out of a window or into the Thames. There were
no witnesses. Understand? NO….WITNESSES.
Most of us were starting work in comics or already working
in the medium. We knew about our
subject. Everything except earning big
money!
Mastering a photocopier not to mention paste-ups, removing
ghost-lines and so on was not something you had a choice in. It was what you had to learn if you were
in comics.
In the mid-1990s computers started appearing and before you
knew it everyone new who came along was thinking they were going to produce and
get rich from a Teenage Mutant Turtles or Blade Runner rip off. And the ‘new pros’ –well some were quite open
about using tracing paper to draw their comics.
In the huge stack of news zines and papers I have there are some true
horror stories about this. Stick figures
as “a genuine artistic comic medium”…..no, I really never did throw that man in
the Thames though he deserved to be.
And it only got worse.
Once the wave of mostly untalented creators vanished they were replaced
by those arty farty elitists who believed that only European comics –Bandes
Dessinee matter and that everything else was purile. Those people had been around in the 1980s and we used to call them “bow-tie
*******” (this is a family site). Here
is the problem, though. These people only considered Franco-Belgian BD (must
NOT call them “comics”!) legitimate.
Spain and Italy had comic industries and though Germany had a small
industry that mainly reprinted Franco-Belgian and US comics Bastei Verlag at
least had their books going to more than a dozen European countries.
Alan Clark and the late Denis Gifford –particularly Denis-
were nastily mocked and their work looked at as “low interest” because, unless
it was The Beano, The Dandy, The Eagle were any other publications or
creators not in those comics of any worth? Denis had a life long love of comics
which the alcohol and dope loving new creators didn’t like. Despite the lies and rumours I can tell you
that Denis did receive and
read Small Press publications –including mine.
People who were “names” in the 1980s continued to hang on in
though, and I find it funny, they become media comic luvvies but you go to a Small/Alternative
Press event and mention their names and you get blank looks! But, if as “media luvvies” they get to pay
their rent, eat and enjoy life good luck to them. I have no problem with that.
Now while comic Expos –the new “Marts”- are popping up all over the country it has to
be said that, say, 90% have no interest in the Small Press and have never seen
a SP comic –and if they have they probably grimaced the same way their mothers
do when they find that “odd stain” on the bed sheets (ladies I ask you to
submit your own comic slob image).
One comic geek –because TV programmes such as The Big Bang Theory have made comics
“hip” and everyone wants to be
known or called a comic geek. Bless,
they’ll tire of it after a while. And
everyone is a new comic collector spending money on the ‘cool’ comics that many
do not read and a few think that because they were conned into paying huge amounts for a comic
featuring a character(s) from new movies –which they find out are NOT the movie
characters- they think will make them rich one day….when every other one of the
THOUSANDS of copies of that comic suddenly turn to dust!
Comics toys, cosplay (including those with no knowledge or
interest in comics) and TV/Movie merchandise are their world. Honestly, real old
style comic fans are driven away from events and their passion by hugely
inflated prices of comics and event entry fees.
Then we have the SP/AP people. Never heard of Stan Lee (other than “Is he
that old guy –the character from The Big Bang Theory?”. Never heard (NEVER) of Jack Kirby or Steve
Ditko. John Romita snr (not
Jnr) or John or Sal Buscema? Gene Colan?
John Byrne? No. “Oh, they made a comic out of that Avengers
film?” –it’s at this point that I usually fall to my knees (which hurts) and
raise my fists to the heavens and scream out “KHAAAAAAAAAAAAN!” and some *****
says “Mr Khnan from the TV comedy series? Why –is he okay?”
Honestly, I make a point of talking to these people and
most, let’s face it, are at the oldest in their mid-30s so have never known UK
comics other than the horrendous merchandise crap with toys attached. Big names in UK comics –John Cooper? No. Mike Western?
No. Terry Hooper-Scharf? “Didn’t he used to be held hostage
somewhere?” Yes. I have a beard so I’m
mistaken for Terry Waite.
WHAT THE ***** DO YOU MEAN “WHO?”!!!
Well, I suppose at least he kept the handcuffs and radiator.
But these people move in their own little circles. I never realised that until I started name
checking with people. Some people in
zines today do go to various events outside of cliques. Our own Paul Ashley Brown –doyenne of the Bristol, London and he’s
even known outside the UK.
I’m that man on the hill The Beatles sang about. “Who are the Beatles? What man –Stan
Lee?” Do not
try my patience……..grrrrrrrr
At events you note that exhibitors, if I may call them that,
have their own entourages. Their friends
and others go to their tables and talk, buy a zine, talk….Twenty tables in a
room with twenty different groupings of mates who might –might- look around and possibly buy things.
These SP/AP people are producing their own comics or zines
(some really do have no idea their books are classed as comics!) without having
read comics. Some may have seen what
friends have produced and decide to have a go.
Others may have seen something about European comics. A good few start at art college. But they have no knowledge of the history of
comics and I have genuinely had these young folk say “Well, when did they start
comics -1970s or 1980s?”
So we have an ever increasing number of SP/AP events around
the UK
–in London Dimitri Pieri is a human dynamo at organising events- but most are independent of one another and
some have no knowledge of the other events.
I meet the occasional creator who knows about comics but to
a limited degree because, again as I found out from personal experience, most
were not born until the 1980s (by which time the UK
comic scene was dead) so if they are “doing comics” it is in the US format. These days I just introduce myself –“I come
from the comics world of another century and you may call me…..Methuselah!”
You are getting some of these nuggets of gold, aren’t you?
Most AP/SP people have been to Art School/college or
whatever –some are still students and others have full time jobs. The idea –if it is ever there as anything
more than a dream- is to make zines, have fun and if you sell a copy or two –great!
Very few actually get to go on to make a living out of their work and when I’ve
asked about this in the past I get a furrowed brow and “make a living out of
it? “ and they look at me oddly or laugh –and I am fully clothed.
Independent Comics are the same in a way. A LOT of vanity publishing –you should never
pay any publisher to have your work printed.
If it is that good, even if they don’t pay: they should shoulder the
costs. But I did wonder how the same
publishers could attend one event after another throughout the year while
claiming thay they do not sell enough books to earn a living or pay their
creators? Some do make money but there
are a lot of gullible creators out there.
Here is the thing and I observe these things because “its
what I do”: the Indie publishers are the same as the AP/SP people. True most hope for that comic that is going
to make them huge sums of money but they, too, have their groupies/entourages
who do follow them to events.
You see, Print On Demand (POD) makes it possible for anyone
to publish their own comics. Good
quality production in both hardback and paperback. For Indie/SP/AP there is the buzz of seeing
the books printed. Books with your work
in. You don’t even have to learn all the
old skills just use your computer –even print limited runs of zines on your own
printer.
Do I get a buzz from publishing my books? No. It’s hard work and I do it to try to make a
living. At events I tend to be the only
person who is doing so professionally. The fact is that everyone else is doing
this as a past time because they like doing it and have paying jobs so the “tomato
ketchup on toast” meal is something they don’t have to face.
Do you know that back in the 1980s I regularly went without
food for days? Usually three to four
days and a maximum was six days –publishers didn’t care because they tried to
hold back your earned cheque as much as possible (Fleetway/Egmont owe me over
£5,000 from the 1990s but I’ll never see that!). Trick is that you drink fluids and when you
get food eat lightly. The idea of a slap-up meal after days of no
food is dumb because you will be spending a lot of time in the toilet
afterwards!
I’m meandering in my textual …..what am I writing? I should
make notes. And before you ask: NO, printing
off copies of bank notes on your printer is no good. Shops do not accept them and they are illegal….that’s
what the police told me.
You pay £25 for a table.
Sell one zine or nothing but you’ve had a good day and met your mates
blah blah blah. Really? That £25 loss cuts into me.
The attitude is not a professional one it is an amateur one.
I like a lot of these people I meet.
Some are really lovely. But they
are dilettantes. Nothing wrong with the
attitude but it creates a major problem.
You see, if those attending events just go to see their
friends and buy their books but do not look around at other tables, maybe a
glance of a few seconds, then the people who are selling books to make a living
are not. You carry that over to a hundred
events a year, small or large, then you are talking about many thousands of
people who, were they more widely interested in comics as in the “old days”,
would be looking around, checking other tables and books out (most will not
even lift a book off a table let alone look inside) and chatting with creators
they do not know. These days they do
not.
And at a comic event you will find “dilettante fan” who only
goes for cosplay but not to buy books.
Or the “Nuevo geek” who is only after the “cool” Marvel or DC comics or
the merchandise collector.
“Comics” has splintered into factions –one not knowing the
other. In the 1980s/early 1990s, we
would buy our Marvel and DCs at a mart or convention but we would also check
out and buy SP books. None of the
factions really knows of one another or cares.
Its not “their scene.” If all of
those factions did combine we would have one hell of an industry in the UK.
But that will never ever happen.
The comics background and mindset is now gone and comic ‘geeks’
make fun of or stick up their noses when the SP/AP is mentioned and vice
versa. Totally and utterly ridiculous.
Try to make a living out of comics in the UK gets you no real respect.
So maybe those French BD people have a point –except they
are also suffering from a stuffed shirt attitude. For decades BD publishers and collectors have
looked down their noses at the “poor relations” publishing US comics in French
or original French books as now published by Hexagon Comics. They just ain’t arty. But the huge success of
movies tied to Marvel and DC has made a few BD publishers sit up and take
notice because there is nothing more “arty” than the smell of money. So now they repackage some BD to take
advantage and make money from this.
At least, though, they do have a comics industry. And I so wish Germany would wake up and get in on
the act.
For the UK
the dilettantes –however sweet- have taken over and it has killed us.
A more happy, warm ending to a miserable depressing posting?
Okay. A
butterfly. Let’s smash a butterfly on a
wheel (5 kudo points to whoever got that 1980s music reference).
