On Dwayne McDuffie’s Passing
On February 21, 2011 comic great Dwayne McDuffie passed away due to surgical complications at the age of 49.
For the last few years McDuffie has been among the few creators who’s work I would buy simply because he was involved. His work on Justice League Unlimited is incredible. In my very geeky opinion, JLU is the greatest animated series to ever grace the airwaves. I enjoyed his short stint on Fantastic Four, and his run on the Justice League comic was very deep, even though his hands were tied by DC editorial.
For me, McDuffie represented the struggle between creative talent and the big two comic book companies. This comic by McDuffie which I hadn’t seen until today’s Bleeding Cool McDuffie send off is just beautiful.
To be honest, I’m not really sure where I’m going with this. I’m just kind of sad that the man has died. I will really miss reading and watching his work.
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Fantastic Four 587 & The Death of Superman Bags
A few days ago I wrote about the publication of publicity grabbing comics like this weeks Human Torch death issue of Fantastic Four, and the Death of Superman issue from 1992.
When I stopped by my local comic shop this week I saw another ridiculous similarity between the two issues. In 92, the Superman death issue came in a cheap plastic bag with a bleeding Superman logo printed on it.
Marvel decided to revive the idea.
This bags look and feel exactly like the Superman bags from 92. It doesn’t really matter, but it’s just another example of Marvel trying to make this seem more valuable than it will be.
For more information:
Fact vs. Fiction of Comic Book Value
Buying Fantastic Four 587?
One of the members of the Fantastic Four will die tomorrow. Given comic book characters’ propensity for reincarnation I wouldn’t weep too much.
The death issue is hitting comic shops on a Tuesday instead of the typical comic book Wednesday because issues like this tend to attract massive crowds of people who don’t read comics. If you’re one of those people, here’s my advice:
Don’t buy Fantastic Four #587.
I don’t want to be misunderstood. I think it’s great when non comic fans start reading comics, but that’s not what these media attention grabbing death issues are about. They are about cashing in on ignorant speculation. The demand for this issue will be huge, and for the next month or two, Fantastic Four #587 will fetch a price much higher than what it says on its cover. Then everyone will stop caring, there and there will be a glut of the issue in the secondary market for decades. This kind of stuff has been happening since the Death of Superman; and that comic isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.
If you were thinking about buying Fantastic Four #587 do yourself a favor and go to your local comic shop and ask for a graphic novel like V for Vendetta, Watchmen, Y the Last Man, Sandman, Sin City, Kingdom Come, Pride of Baghdad, Superman: Red Son, or The Walking Dead.
There are so many amazing comics to read. Don’t waste your time and money buying a one-shot comic as an investment, I promise you it won’t be worth much a year from now (Unless you’re looking at a pre WWII comic).
The Adventures of Stan Lee & the Mighty Legal Team!
It turns out that Stan “The Man” Lee does have a superpower! He has the incredible ability to file lawsuits against everyone!
Seriously, when he isn’t running businesses into the ground or hosting a reality show that is bad on an epic level, he is in court suing for ridiculous sums of money ($5 billion here, $750 million there… you know, pocket change). Keep tarnishing that legacy Stan.
To be fair, I have no idea if Stan is in the right or not, I’m just sick of the guy filing lawsuits every five minutes. Unlike many of his peers, Stan made tons of money from his creations – Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, and the X-Men among many other classic characters.
On the other hand, there are so many early comic book writers and artists out there who pioneered the genre like Stan, but unlike Stan, they never made much money because the industry took serious advantage of their talent and naïvety.
Stan, if you win any money in these cases, every dime should go to the Hero Initiative.
