March 19
It’s one of those days where, upon waking up, my brain only thinks in snippets of music I’ve loved for years: Super Furry Animals’ Hermann Lvs Pauline (“I lead my life in a quest for information”) and Who Loves The Sun? by the Velvet Underground (“Who loves the sun/Who cares that it is shining?/Who cares what it does?”), especially. There aren’t any hidden messages from my subconsciousness to be found in these choices as much as an odd recognition of those particular bits of music, more than the lyrics, and how sticky they are.
I hope no-one expects me to make sense today, because I strongly suspect that’s going to be a problem.
What do you think is the biggest hurdle that DC’s Divergence has to overcome in order to become long term successes that can potentially alter the way DC, and possible Marvel, approaches its publishing strategies and not just a short term success story that slowly dies in a similar fashion to something like the Ultimate line?
Lack of commitment on the parts of both the publisher and the readership. I’ve heard tell that DC has committed to a full year on all the titles, which is good, but the books will have to sell (whether in print, digital or collected format) in enough numbers for DC to not decide that it should just revert to old-school superheroics and crossovers in order to make the bottom line.
New York, NY – March 18th, 2015 – Marvel Entertainment is excited to announce that Rickey Purdin has joined Marvel Comics as their newest Talent Manager.
As Talent Manager, Purdin will continue to escalate and bring awareness to the Marvel Comics brand by seeking out and cultivating the next generation of comic book writers and artists as well as working with Marvel’s current pantheon of extraordinary creators. “I can’t express how thrilling it is to join Marvel after so many years of reading these comics and being shaped by the characters, stories, and creative teams,” says Purdin. “Aiding Marvel’s extremely talented editorial team is a dream-come-true and incredible developments are already in the works.”
C.B. Cebulski, Marvel’s VP of International Development endorses Purdin by stating, “Marvel has always made our talent our top priority and with Rickey’s hiring, we know our artists will continue to be in the most capable of hands. With his deep understanding of style and storytelling, and history of identifying up-and-coming artists, Rickey’s role will ensure that everyone from this industry’s youngest guns to the most seasoned of veterans will continue creating the best comics possible for Marvel!”
Prior to joining Marvel, Rickey was able to work with exceptionally gifted creators and also provided a keen editorial eye across various Superman and Batman titles.
Rickey Purdin is another outstanding talent continuing to expand his visionary work with Marvel, the House of Ideas.
This is the entire text of a PR email just sent out by Marvel to announce that former DC employee Ricky Purdin has joined the company. What is kind of amazing – beyond the hyperbole, because that comes with the territory – is that fact that nowhere in the email is DC Entertainment or DC Comics mentioned by name. Apparently, the Superman and Batman titles are published by magic.
Viet Cong have addressed the controversy surrounding their name, claiming that they ‘never intended for [it] to be provocative or hurtful’.
The art-rock band’s moniker, which refers to the military force that fought the south Vietnamese government and the US during the Vietnam war, has been criticised in some quarters for its lack of sensitivity. A recent Viet Cong show at Oberlin College’s Dionysus Disco in Ohio was cancelled because of their name, with the promoter apologising for ‘inviting a band with a name that deeply offends and hurts Vietnamese and Vietnamese-American communities’.
The band have now addressed the controversy in a statement, which admits they were ‘naive about the history of a war in a country we knew very little about’.
What can Marvel and DC learn from Image, besides the obvious “compensate creators well?”
Do you like Saga? Can you convince me to like Saga?
I love Saga! What don’t you like about Saga?
What I enjoy about it, beyond the greatness that is Fiona Staples’ artwork – which is often beautiful, and at the very least wonderfully structured with distinctive and attractive character design and impressive worldbuilding – is Brian K. Vaughan’s grounding the fantastical elements in a very deliberate mundanity. It’s the Buffy model of fantasy as metaphor reversed, in many ways, which I enjoy very much. Plus, you know, he does great last page cliffhangers.
But what doesn’t work for you?