Tuesday, 12 March 2019
Book Scheduling 2019
As posted on the Black Tower Comics and Books Face Book page:
It is correct to state that issues 2-8 of Black Tower Super Heroes are complete -each having 80pp of UK Golden, Silver and contemporary comic strips.
BTSH was supposed to have been published leading up to The Green Skies, which is at 400+ pp but I've not worked on it since last year. Putting it into perspective Green Skies SHOULD have been published in June 2014.
One of the problems is that there are so many books on the online store and adding more when -including parts 1 and 2 of the Invasion Earth Trilogy- nothing sells. People who have read Return of the Gods and Cross Earths Caper love them -but they are reviewers outside of the UK.
The BIGGEST problem is converting the books to pdf. You see, each page has to be opened in a program that converts them into a pdf file. Open program such as Adobe or Nitro and then add pages 1-80 then convert to a pdf you can upload to the Print on Demand company. Both Adobe and Nitro cost almost £200 for a year -then you have to 'buy' again.
I do not have the £200 and I could not honestly defend spending that amount when it is for books that are not going to sell.
I could, of course, produce a Word Doc of 80 pp but the problem there is that you get a huge marge (over an inch -2.5cms) all around the page and so in an A4 book there is roughly 20% of the art page lost.
I don't really need to -I SHOULD NOT need to- go into what is in the store or the genres or that there are prose books, comic albums and graphic novels -all self contained so you do not have to buy multiple issues for a story. The exception is BT Adventure which was designed as an anthology series.
People do not buy and recommend then, basically, not much can be done. But BTSH 2-8 are not scheduled for 2019 release -neither is The Green Skies!
Sunday, 10 March 2019
DC and Crisis Collection -a point proven
Someone on the Perez Face Book page chipped in and agreed with my comment. This was a low IQs response. My guess is that he does NOT have the money and will NOT buy a copy...we'll never know because the coward -like all cowards- used a fake name (I have censored some bad language):
"Astro Medina- ain’t got a mother f----ing thing to do with low iq or greed just stop whining and bitching. Sound hater af. I want to own a collected form of the original crisis like this one here and I got the dough to spend on it and I’m going to enjoy af, eat a dick"
No low IQ there then nor knowledge of how to create a sentence or spell or....well.
Comment is still there on a fan page said to be for a family audience...
Crisis on Infinite Earths -DCs Greed Is Symptomatic of Stagnation in Comics
This was just posted on the George Perez Face Book fan page:
Here is a concept art and additional details about the $500 Crisis Boxset coming in November 2019.
>>>
Since the Justice League of America first met their Earth-2 counterparts, the Justice Society of America, the concept of a world-shaking "Crisis" has been a defining part of DC history. Now, for the first time, DC packs one incredible box set with every Crisis tale leading up to and including the industry defining CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS! This box set combines six previously existing CRISIS collected editions, printed for the first time in hardcover, with eight new CRISIS hardcover collections that spotlight the most important heroes of the 1980s CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS!
Join the Justice League, the Justice Society, the All-Star Squadron, Infinity Inc., Superman, Green Lantern and countless other heroes as they give their all to save the DC Universe!Included in this incredible collection are: CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOL. 1 HC - Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #21-22, 29-30, 37-38 and 46-47; CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOL. 2 HC - Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #55-56, 64-65, 73-74 and 82-83; CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOL. 3 HC - Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #91-92, 100-102, 107-108 and 113; CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOL. 4 HC - Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #123-124, 135-137 and 147-148; CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOL. 5 HC - Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #159-160, 171-172 and 183-185; CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOL. 6 HC - Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #195-197, 207-209 and ALL-STAR SQUADRON #14-15; CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS HC - Collects CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #1-12; CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: ALL-STAR SQUADRON HC - This new title collects ALL-STAR SQUADRON #50-60; CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: GREEN LANTERN HC - This new title collects GREEN LANTERN #194-198, THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #16 and 18 and THE OMEGA MEN #31 and 33; CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: JUSTICE LEAGUE HC - This new title collects THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #41-42, DETECTIVE COMICS #558, WONDER WOMAN #327-329 and THE NEW TEEN TITANS #13-14; CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: LEGENDS HC - This new title collects THE LOSERS SPECIAL #1, SWAMP THING #44 and 46, LEGENDS OF THE DC UNIVERSE: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #1, BLUE DEVIL #17-18 and AMETHYST #13
Update: Amazon has a pre-order price of $350 (https://amzn.to/2UpcW3v ). According to Amazon: "Pre-order Price Guarantee"
Here is a concept art and additional details about the $500 Crisis Boxset coming in November 2019.
>>>
Since the Justice League of America first met their Earth-2 counterparts, the Justice Society of America, the concept of a world-shaking "Crisis" has been a defining part of DC history. Now, for the first time, DC packs one incredible box set with every Crisis tale leading up to and including the industry defining CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS! This box set combines six previously existing CRISIS collected editions, printed for the first time in hardcover, with eight new CRISIS hardcover collections that spotlight the most important heroes of the 1980s CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS!
Join the Justice League, the Justice Society, the All-Star Squadron, Infinity Inc., Superman, Green Lantern and countless other heroes as they give their all to save the DC Universe!Included in this incredible collection are: CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOL. 1 HC - Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #21-22, 29-30, 37-38 and 46-47; CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOL. 2 HC - Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #55-56, 64-65, 73-74 and 82-83; CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOL. 3 HC - Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #91-92, 100-102, 107-108 and 113; CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOL. 4 HC - Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #123-124, 135-137 and 147-148; CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOL. 5 HC - Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #159-160, 171-172 and 183-185; CRISIS ON MULTIPLE EARTHS VOL. 6 HC - Collects JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA #195-197, 207-209 and ALL-STAR SQUADRON #14-15; CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS HC - Collects CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #1-12; CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: ALL-STAR SQUADRON HC - This new title collects ALL-STAR SQUADRON #50-60; CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: GREEN LANTERN HC - This new title collects GREEN LANTERN #194-198, THE LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #16 and 18 and THE OMEGA MEN #31 and 33; CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: JUSTICE LEAGUE HC - This new title collects THE FURY OF FIRESTORM #41-42, DETECTIVE COMICS #558, WONDER WOMAN #327-329 and THE NEW TEEN TITANS #13-14; CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: LEGENDS HC - This new title collects THE LOSERS SPECIAL #1, SWAMP THING #44 and 46, LEGENDS OF THE DC UNIVERSE: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS #1, BLUE DEVIL #17-18 and AMETHYST #13
My response was this:
How long ago was Crisis on Infinite Earths published? It WAS groundbreaking at the time but all it spawned was one reboot after another that just messed things up. Now there is a boxed set collecting collections of collections and special issues and...this is just trying to bleed comic fans for more money for old rope. This is why no one really cares about characters now -how many times has the DC universe been destroyed and all the heroes killed off then been rebooted ? Just plain greed.
in memoriam You Tube Comic Book Videos
Officially announcing the death of You Tube comic book videos.
SJW and anti SJW rants got boring fast and when they all started fighting amongst themselves the falseness was up in 10 foot neon lights.
"I got this comic -it'll be worth a squazillion bucks in a few years!" and "THESE are the new books you need to invest in!" are just idiots who fool themselves that any Silver Age or Bronze age comic will be worth a lot -as soon as the many thousands of other copies vanish...in a hundred years!
People who loved comics and wanted feedback from viewers -gone. Various reasons but what we have left is piss poor. As soon as it gets to worrying about stats that's the end.
The alleged You Tube Comic Community was never a community after the first few years when people drifted away. For five -5- straight years I posted to the YTCC and the responses in all that time....not one. Same with comic blogs.
It was a good run for a few years and it survived spammers, trolls and so on but I think boredom just set in. 5 years ago I had a watch list of 25 channels.
Today there is one left...every few months one You Tuber produces a new video and that is it.
in memoriam You Tube Comic Book Videos
Friday, 8 March 2019
Racism In UK Comics
I need to point out that I am NOT in charge of policing the UK comics 'scene' and have made my position clear that I was only interested in promoting UK comics and trying to see whether all the faults could be repaired.
I am absolutely not -not- interested in emails like this: "That fat baldy sod you had an argument with -you know he's a nasty little racist twat dont you?" Apparently, according to the deleted email things were said in a Midlands public house and "it follows a pattern".
Look, if you hear or see something that is illegal go to the police. I delete any emails like this as unless someone is willing to give out their full name it is just rumour mongering and the reasons for it are suspect.
I washed my hands of British comic 'personalities' long ago. I have also washed my hands of the illegal monopoly on comic distribution in the UK and bullying in the comics 'community'. Everyone had ample time but crawled back into a hole when they had the opportunity to speak out. Find another blogger to moan to.
Not interested, especially since there is no racism in UK comics that I have seen -everyone appears to be white.
I am absolutely not -not- interested in emails like this: "That fat baldy sod you had an argument with -you know he's a nasty little racist twat dont you?" Apparently, according to the deleted email things were said in a Midlands public house and "it follows a pattern".
Look, if you hear or see something that is illegal go to the police. I delete any emails like this as unless someone is willing to give out their full name it is just rumour mongering and the reasons for it are suspect.
I washed my hands of British comic 'personalities' long ago. I have also washed my hands of the illegal monopoly on comic distribution in the UK and bullying in the comics 'community'. Everyone had ample time but crawled back into a hole when they had the opportunity to speak out. Find another blogger to moan to.
Not interested, especially since there is no racism in UK comics that I have seen -everyone appears to be white.
Thursday, 7 March 2019
What Should CBO cover?
I've tried often enough so here is the last time of asking. What would YOU like to see covered on CBO?
Also, I think there was a misunderstanding: I had planned to do videos for CBO but made it clear a few times that because there was no support to keep CBO and projects going I will NOT be going ahead with the videos.
The best way to support CBO and its continuation is to buy my books -link on the right.
Also, I think there was a misunderstanding: I had planned to do videos for CBO but made it clear a few times that because there was no support to keep CBO and projects going I will NOT be going ahead with the videos.
The best way to support CBO and its continuation is to buy my books -link on the right.
Wednesday, 6 March 2019
Yawn! It's a new day but same old story
No, really. I don't want to see who claims you can make a decent living in British comics.
Self deception is a sad thing.
Just ask which British companies produce regular monthly books with an assortment of artists and writers and who come up with new ideas and pay European/US pro rates.
Panini -reprints
Egmont -advertising with the occasional accidental piece of artwork
Rebellion -fail on a couple of points (IF rumours are true then pay for one)
Thomson -not much has changed since 1939 and for every "yes" man you will find plenty who will tell you the truth.
The fact that there is proven artistic talent out there covering all genres and that none of them can get work also proves there is no industry.
Enough already.
Self deception is a sad thing.
Just ask which British companies produce regular monthly books with an assortment of artists and writers and who come up with new ideas and pay European/US pro rates.
Panini -reprints
Egmont -advertising with the occasional accidental piece of artwork
Rebellion -fail on a couple of points (IF rumours are true then pay for one)
Thomson -not much has changed since 1939 and for every "yes" man you will find plenty who will tell you the truth.
The fact that there is proven artistic talent out there covering all genres and that none of them can get work also proves there is no industry.
Enough already.
Monday, 4 March 2019
Egmont UK, Thomson, Panini...companies living in the past?
The big problem with comics in the UK are those former professionals and their hangers-on who do everything they can to spread lies, attack the character of others (a great deal of the time their own 'friends') and they make the term "UK Comic Book Community" easily substituted with the simpler one word "Poison".
Publishers and investors (potential investors) see this and as far as they are concerned the UK is best left well alone. This is not a guess but a fact and I've spoken to these people: one described the 'UK comic community' as "The most toxic thing I've seen!"
The answer is simple of course. Years ago I drew up a list of comic creators that would never be employed by any project I was associated with. That list I freely give to anyone seriously looking at comic publishing.
It is ludicrous that the UK totally and utterly missed out on the massive boom of interest following the Marvel movies. There were reprints but did the UK produce its own home grown action comic or anthology to cash in?
No.
Even now it is possible to start and set foundations for a company that can expand.
Chinese investors do not seem interested.
Indian investors do not seem interested.
Those were the two nations I pointed out could (several years ago now) set up comic publishing in the UK but it seems they do not see much potential. Believe me, before considering the idea their people would have been on all the UK comic forums and groups and seeing what was going on.
Come Brexit things are going to get worse. That said, considering comic prices (US comics in UK shops) are said to be set to become even more expensive maybe now is the time for a home grown company not living in some blurry reality. The problem is that money is needed. Someone with not just the money but able to cut past the monopoly distribution in the UK.
I am looking and have not seen him/her yet......
Publishers and investors (potential investors) see this and as far as they are concerned the UK is best left well alone. This is not a guess but a fact and I've spoken to these people: one described the 'UK comic community' as "The most toxic thing I've seen!"
The answer is simple of course. Years ago I drew up a list of comic creators that would never be employed by any project I was associated with. That list I freely give to anyone seriously looking at comic publishing.
It is ludicrous that the UK totally and utterly missed out on the massive boom of interest following the Marvel movies. There were reprints but did the UK produce its own home grown action comic or anthology to cash in?
No.
Even now it is possible to start and set foundations for a company that can expand.
Chinese investors do not seem interested.
Indian investors do not seem interested.
Those were the two nations I pointed out could (several years ago now) set up comic publishing in the UK but it seems they do not see much potential. Believe me, before considering the idea their people would have been on all the UK comic forums and groups and seeing what was going on.
Come Brexit things are going to get worse. That said, considering comic prices (US comics in UK shops) are said to be set to become even more expensive maybe now is the time for a home grown company not living in some blurry reality. The problem is that money is needed. Someone with not just the money but able to cut past the monopoly distribution in the UK.
I am looking and have not seen him/her yet......
Saturday, 2 March 2019
What Do Popular CBO Posts Tell Us...apart from being grateful to Chinese readers?
I think it is very interesting when you look at The Most Popular Posts (over to the right below the invisible "Donate to keep CBO going" box).
The Chines language post 您好！ was posted on the 5th March, 2014 and has never been surpassed yet, however, Goodies From David ("The British Manara") Gordon was originally posted on the old WordPress CBO in 2010 and reposted here on the 2nd February, 2011 and apart from a stint at number 1 has never been pushed out of the most popular English language post since!
On the 27th Agust, 2014 I posted I Would Like To Point Out That Deadpool Sucks Like A 97 Year Old With No Teeth And Only A Melon To Eat and proved not just the low IQ of some comic readers but also that a large number of Deadpool fans had no sense of humour! I got comments such as "Deadpool is the greatest I hope you die of something nasty!" and the old time favourite "You talentless ****! Can't cut it so you mock others like a ******* pisser!" (and before you ask, yes, I did ban my mother after that).
Of course, it is extremely rare that regulars would see the constant abusive comments as they are reported and deleted straight away.
went out and has remained firmly in third most popular post position -showing how powerful a presence Chinese readership of CBO is. This was proven on the 13th April, 2014 with 我会推荐什么漫画书？ - 更新 the Chinese language Avengers post. Again, never budged a place in all that time.
Titan Books:The Secret Service -Kinsman was posted on the 24th March, 2014 and is still a popular post.
On 10th March, 2012 I posted a sketch I had found in a box -Reality Check Controller circa 1998 it is still popular and being viewed...today!
8th April, 2017 and the last of the big Favourites was posted: T-Shirts, Mugs, Caps, Comics and more -Black Tower Stores and it highlights a problem. I have heard from comic fans who buy based on reviews and Titan Books noted orders for books pick up after featuring here. Yet, neither David Gordon or Black Tower has ever benefitted. No orders or sales.
2014 is a popular date and 2014-2017 was the high point of the comic craze. In fact, by 2017, as I noted at the time, interest in comics and the power of the crooked dealers was on the wane. Oh, the crooked dealers -including the dubious store owners who want to rip everyone off are still there but in lesser numbers as their pals moved elsewhere. 2017 saw the gradual disappearance of You Tube comic channels, comic blogs and the only real presence was the fake SJW/Anti SJW War: which has declined tremendously when it comes to people being interested -I mean you can only listen to so much racist, homophobic name calling and lies and counter lies.
You can chart by blog stats the peaks and troughs but at least with CBO the interest has remained constantly high despite Blogger and Google messing up time and again.
All I need now is for people to buy my books or help fund CBOs continued existence.
Friday, 1 March 2019
Hanes A Breuddwydion....so there!
I found, by accident, this afternoon a Welsh language zine by Christopher Reynolds -the other one I was looking for was also by him.
Anyone know what happened to him?
Anyone know what happened to him?
Welsh, Scots and Irish Gaelic and...Cornish Comic Albums DO exist -ask Dalen
McScotty commented on the Welsh and Gaelic language comics post:
Not a Scots Gaelic speaker myself but there was a TinTin Scots Gaelic version of "TinTin in Scotland" that sold very well a few years ago so there must be a market. I suspect Welsh must be have a much larger market as lots of Welsh speak their native tounge. Scots Gaelic only has about 70k users mostly in the highlands, although it is rising in the Lowlandand/ central belt as families use it as an access language for their kids to other languages ( mostly well off families though) and is also used in other countries. I think the lowlands Scots were as keen to help the English to stop Gaelic and clear the highlands of people . They succeeded in both.
In fact, the Scots Tintin was probably Dalen Books. They produced comic albums in Scots and Irish Gaelic as well as some in Cornish (a language that really needs preserving). Alun Ceri Jones is the man behind Dalen and I think the company needs a much better public profile and recognition.
I know I have scans of just the covers of some old Welsh and Gaelic covers somewhere -and at least one glossy zine published in the 1990s in Welsh. A future project maybe!
Not a Scots Gaelic speaker myself but there was a TinTin Scots Gaelic version of "TinTin in Scotland" that sold very well a few years ago so there must be a market. I suspect Welsh must be have a much larger market as lots of Welsh speak their native tounge. Scots Gaelic only has about 70k users mostly in the highlands, although it is rising in the Lowlandand/ central belt as families use it as an access language for their kids to other languages ( mostly well off families though) and is also used in other countries. I think the lowlands Scots were as keen to help the English to stop Gaelic and clear the highlands of people . They succeeded in both.
In fact, the Scots Tintin was probably Dalen Books. They produced comic albums in Scots and Irish Gaelic as well as some in Cornish (a language that really needs preserving). Alun Ceri Jones is the man behind Dalen and I think the company needs a much better public profile and recognition.
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