Then there are the so-called "professionals" themselves, far too many of which are anything but. People who, as Frank Miller once put it, "do three issues and want a parade." And, alas, these worthless prima donnas are able to find far, far to many brain dead "collectors" who are eager to support them while they are "growing roses." To the point, even, of making lateness a badge of honor, and producing books on time an indication of shoddy workmanship.

*************************

I could not have put it any better... they want there ego's stroked. they are  like little children. if daddy will  not pay attention to them they throw a fit until he does. and who is daddy?  you got it .......wizard the big hype machine because if they say it guess it must be true......i am missing something here?  

Thanks for the kind words.

These days I'm more interested in exploring beyond the lights of the core DCU and Marvel titles. Much of what they're doing now is not familiar to me in any case. Who's the Batman guy these days? Not the one I remember.

The potential for comics in the book and library trade is yet to be realized and white hot right now in comparison to the doldrums and false promises of the Diamond/Wizard/DSM continuum. I've gotten more interested in comics a teaching tool for young readers and have done a lot of work in that area with the promise of more down the road.

In the end, you see, saving comics from cancelation, shifting more and more product to the DSM only weakened Marvel (and the industry as a whole). By the time the decision was made to "pull out of the newsstand" it was kamikazee time. There was no way the industry could survive as a nitch market. There simply were not enough readers, and the move to Direct Only severely reduced what few of them there were. Then came the madness of the Speculator Boom, also fostered and nurtured by the DSM.

*********************

I recently let my subscription to VANITY FAIR lapse (side effect of their constant "chicken little" SUBSCRIPTION COMING TO A CLOSE letters is that you stop taking them seriously). Anyway, while I renewed, I knew that I'd have to get this month's issue on the stands. My original plan was to swing by Barnes & Noble on my way home but while running some errands (drug store, grocery store), I came upon the issue at least twice (finally, I just bought it at the grocery store and saved myself the extra trip).

Comics haven't been this easy to buy in years -- aside from subscriptions, which are nowhere near the deals given by magazines (I get the New Yorker for about $1 an issue compared to the $4 cover price).

It's amazing to think that so many people thought such an incredibly bad idea (pulling out of newstands) was a good one.

Chuck Dixon wrote: That ain't me, babe.

That is why we love you Chuck!  The same reason why we love J.B.  Both of your convictions are so strong that you are not going to kiss someone's ass to stay 'big' in the industry. 

Honestly, I have always been a Marvel guy when reading comics.  Chuck, I promise, for me to read a DC book regularly, which I did with all your bat books, but especially Nightwing, that is saying something.  I actually looked forward to your stories more than anything and I always hated DC.  I hate that you are not writing comics more lately.  When you left Nightwing it was noticable.

But what baffles me is that these "hot" talents are given assignments based on hype rather than performance. Creators whose books are selling steady if not spectacularly are removed so that sexy new talent can take over. More often than not the sales fall below that of the former less-sexy team and never again rise to their former numbers no matter how many rounds of musical creative chairs are played. But those replacement guys maintain their gloss and keep getting books until Gareb Shamus no longer wants to party with them.

And if all of this star-chasing (to clean up the term) resulted in higher sales I'd just admit I'm clueless and go away. But each month's figures prove me right. It's a slow downward spiral but its ever downward.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>

The "stars" should always be the characters. Spider-Man, Batman, Superman. Yes, JB's FF was great, but I never got the feeling that the star of the book was anything other than the FF themselves.

>>>>>>>>>>

I was told recently that to get more work at a major company I would have to "party with" and "buddy up" to certain people.

That ain't me, babe.

>>>>>>>>>>>>

Wow, comics are just like Hollywood. Sigh.

The potential for comics in the book and library trade is yet to be realized and white hot right now in comparison to the doldrums and false promises of the Diamond/Wizard/DSM continuum. I've gotten more interested in comics a teaching tool for young readers and have done a lot of work in that area with the promise of more down the road.

****************************

Interesting story that made me view recent experience in a different light. At a school book fair, my 7 year-old son wanted a Batman book that contained 4 text stories accompanied by illustrations about every other page. After purchasing it, I noticed that two stories were illustrated by JB and I remember thinking that work MUST be slow, if he's doing stuff for kids' books. Now that I think about it more, he probably reached a larger audience with those books than if he'd been doing the Batman comics! Potential, indeed...

Interesting story that made me view recent experience in a different light. At a school book fair, my 7 year-old son wanted a Batman book that contained 4 text stories accompanied by illustrations about every other page. After purchasing it, I noticed that two stories were illustrated by JB and I remember thinking that work MUST be slow, if he's doing stuff for kids' books.---- Chris Marquardt posted.

Hire an Editor-In-Chief that understands that these books are MAINLY aimed at the ages eight and up and not twenty-five and up.

Someone who understands that the characters come first and not which creator happens to be hot at the time.