I'll be really curious as to whether or not this ALL-STAR concept has legs.  BATMAN AND ROBIN is incredibly late.  ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, a book I really enjoy, is now months late.  ALL-STAR WONDER WOMAN, as per threads on this board, won't be solicited until 12 issues are in the can which is a good thing. 

* * *

I think it's a killer.  Obviously the books are still selling well, but any momentum DC might have had toward building a brand name (like the Ultimate line) is shot.

It's particularly sad since these series were pretty clearly intended, again like the Ultimate line, to appeal to people who saw the movies but don't have any interest in continuity-laden comics.  Marvel did it right - start the series six months or a year before the movie, and have 1-2 trade paperbacks in bookstores when the movie debuts.  DC's completely dropped the ball on that goal - at this rate they might not have an ASB&R trade out until the NEXT Batman movie.

Andrew W. Farago wrote: So you ask him to go to the post office and mail you copies of comic books that you don't like, or do you ask him to scan and e-mail panels that are going to annoy you? I'm just curious about the whole system here...

So he's damned if he does and damned if he doesn't, eh Andrew? I remember you complaining quite a bit about people judging ALL-STAR SUPERMAN before it came out, saying that people should read it first before forming an opinion.  So Jason, whether he bought the issues himself or was loaned them from a friend, reads them, thus forming an opinion on the work (as it looks like he did with quite a bit of Morrison's work)...and he gets raked over the coals for that too?  Where does one win in this scenario, Andrew?  If Jason comes back and says "Boy was I wrong!  That Morrison is a genius!"  I'm just curious about the whole system here...

Andrew W. Farago wrote: I think that it's always been intended as a bi-monthly book, since they didn't give Quitely enough lead time to do otherwise, given his drawing speed and other commitments, and it seems to be hitting the comic shop every two months or so. I'm not a Previews reader and don't do have a pull list, so I really don't know if it's making its ship dates or not.

It's not.  The next issue will ship at least four months after the last one was published. 

I'm just curious about the whole system
here...

Eh, it's usually more like 'Hey, I know you're into such-and-such, and I never bought that stuff way back when, so mind FedExing me some of those so I can check them out? In return, I'll send you blah-blah-blah.' We have different tastes, so everyone wins. Bonus - I like getting packages in the mail.

And I don't know why I keep trying the 'new' stuff - I'll give just about any creator a one-issue try-out, just to see what happens (most recent 'success story' with this method was CASANOVA). Maybe I'm waiting to see if my preferences change, or if they can convince me / win me over. Maybe I just like throwing away money on a hobby that still makes me feel like I'm 12, even when it's trying its absolute hardest not to.

If you need more than that, I guess I could take some snap-shots of my driver's license, my last girlfriend, proof-of-insurance, and my penis and email (or FedEx!) them to you.

I wouldn't want Sir Andrew W. Farago Esquire to think less of me.

Oh yeah, and I thought ANIMAL MAN was decent (when it wasn't being too preachy), even after the examples I pulled out of it - probably because I had no prior connection to the character. Morrison's FANTASTIC FOUR:1234, on the other hand....not so good.

I also re-read the first three issues of ALL-STAR SUPERMAN, and decided they weren't horrible, provided I turned off the part of my brain that said 'he's making fun of the characters'. It's possible that I'm just predisposed to seeing this stuff in his work at this point.