Atomic-Robo.com

In a bold move that stuns no one, Marvel is bringing back Cap.

Well, duh.

I first caught the news from Geeks of Doom, where they report the following…

In an interview with Marvel, Brevoort said that from the moment of Cap’s death, they’ve been planning the story of his return.

I mean, everyone knew this was going to happen, it was only a matter of when. So, y’know, being disappointed about another “dead” character coming back makes as much sense as being disappointed that water still flows downhill.

Still. I’m disappointed.

I dunno. To me, killing Cap off was a ballsy move and that made it interesting. He was a character that Marvel had tried and failed to make relevant for years, possibly decades, and they finally got him a solid run with an acclaimed creative team and A-list sales, and what do they do? They kill the bastard. That’s hardcore anti-cookie-cutter thinking. But bringing him back so soon just turns the whole thing into a by-the-numbers marketing decision that we’ve seen a hundred times before: “Hype death, ride that wave for a couple years, hype return, ride that wave for a couple more, figure out the next big hype event by then, keep doing this until the sun dies.”

I have no doubt that Team Cap can make good comics out of the whole thing, they certainly have so far and there’s no reason to suspect they’d stop now, but I just don’t care any more.

It sure took a long time, but here at last for your audio-receptor delight, in full stereophonic dualfluxaphon technicolor is Episode 2 of the Atomic Podcast.

This was pretty unstructured, and it’s just me and Jeff Powell for the most part. Brian was off at the movies seeing UP! so we forgive him. Time permitting we will talk with Ronda this week and get it posted right after HEROES CON. Continue reading

Here’s an interesting article on the responsibility of generating interest and sales from the perspective of a retailer. It’s a reaction to a reaction to Diamond’s new policy.

DISCLAIMER: I don’t know anything about this lady or her shop, I linked to the article because it’s what got me thinking on the topic.

Anyway, it’s a little long, but essentially she’s saying:

“It is the job of the publisher and the creator to promote their comics and graphic novels. Make me want to order them for my store. Get consumers asking for that item or issue.”

I agree with that, but I disagree that it is the sole responsibility of the publisher and creator. Having spoken with readers and retailers over the last couple of years, there appear to be two kinds of comic shops with respect to Atomic Robo: those who promote it where it’s one of their top selling indie books (or top selling books period); and those who do not promote it where it sells to the handful of dedicated Robo fans who order it. Continue reading