He Said He Wasn't Going to Post Today

Look at me, being good at taking time for myself.

Meanwhile… (02/20/23)

Shared posts, originating from somewhere else.

Well, I’m a liar. I couldn’t stop myself from hopping back here for a quick Monday post, even though I said I was taking the holiday off. If you are the type who has the ability and the means to take a break, I hope you’re enjoying a nice, relaxing Monday. Here’s a couple things that I wanted to buzz your way.

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In this week’s Man with a Hat, Tom Brevoort is asked about impactful first issues, and I wanted to flag that, considering our posts regarding first issues over the past couple of weeks. He had this to say:

In terms of what makes a great first issue, I’ve come around to agreeing with Waid a bit more strongly than I might have in the past—and with Tom DeFalco before him, who advocated for starting off any series with a few stand-alone issues before building out longer epics. I’ve been experimenting with doing this more often of late, and I think it’s no coincidence that the titles where I’ve done this: IMMORTAL HULK, MOON KNIGHT, the current run of FANTASTIC FOUR, have all been embraced by the audience and found some commercial and critical success. But the thing I’m trying to achieve in any first issue is to create a singular reading experience, a story that has something to offer that a reader can’t easily get elsewhere. In other words, i want a book to have a strong point of view and ethos that it conveys right out of the gate. (I also feel that a similarly strong second issue is also mission-critical in making this formula work.) With the high costs of comics these days, readers are almost looking for a reason not to follow a new title, so by giving them a satisfying and singular reading experience, that tends to be enough to get most of them to take a chance on the second issue. And if that one delivers in the same way, you begin to build up an audience.

I think folks looking to launch a book should be cognizant of what Brevoort is seeing traction on in this current market. He’s one of the few people with access to sales numbers and would know.¹ It also features a lot of what we’ve been talking about here: books with a tangible, identifiable and compelling answer to why the story is being told is key. Starting with some self-contained ideas also seems to be compelling, and I’d suggest feels more substantial in this market where you’re usually only getting one complete story over three months at best. Another thing I’ll talk about some day (that Brevoort brings up here) is the fact that any big superhero story that hits is usually a story specific to that character or set of characters. If you can palette-swap the character in play for Batman or Spider-Man, then the story just isn’t going to land. You can get away with more generic stories with those characters, because they largely sell themselves. If you’re looking to connect with an audience, you have to do better for nearly every other character on the roster.

Anyway, you can read more context regarding Tom’s answer (as well as a bevy of other bits an bobs) by clicking this handy link below.

#47: Action and Reaction

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Also something cool that’s happening roughly three months from today: Chip Zdarsky will be at Variant Edition for a signing! We’re currently putting together some logistics so the day isn’t too bonkers. This is our first signing of this magnitude, so we’ve been asking retailer pals for advice on how to handle crowds. We’ll see how that all goes, but I’m feeling confident in our team, and the advice we’ve been given. Now it’s just a matter of checking in with publishers to see if we can’t procure a bunch of stock on a returnable basis for the day - we’d rather have a bit too much on hand then run out at some point during the day! We’ll see how that all goes.

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Alright, that should do it for a “break post”. See you back here on Wednesday for a follow-up to how the Dawn of DC is running with Superman #1 and Nightwing #101 hitting the stands.

1. Also, it’s pretty cool to get somewhat direct confirmation that Ryan North and Iban Coello’s run really is hitting