If anyone’s been wondering why I’ve worked so hard to push “Fallen Angel,” I can respond with two words: “Bad Girls.”
Some months ago (as some of you may remember) I discussed how DC was starting up several new books with kick-ášš female protagonists. My feeling had been that they should be launched as a new imprint, collectively called “Dangerous Curves.” My concern was that otherwise they’d get little-to-no retailer support. I’m not even talking fan support here; I’m saying that orders wouldn’t be sufficient for the fans to sample the book. That, combined with two prevalent attitudes–(1) we can always reorder DC titles, so not to worry and (2) I’ll wait for the trade paperback, so not to worry–might provide insurmountable hurdles.
Well, ultimately the new label idea was nixed in favor of a sort of oh-by-the-way mention in the back pages of DC comics after the solicits were already in. Outcome: “Bad Girls,” intended as a six issue series, is canceled as of #5.
Meantime “Fallen Angel” gets sterling reviews, but retailers are freaking over whether to sell it to readers under eighteen (deftly throwing a monkey wrench into sales) even though it features language and material no more extreme than you’d see or hear in the average PG-13 film.
So: No, you can’t always reorder DC titles, and trade paperbacks aren’t guaranteed. So if you’re going to read “Fallen Angel,” do it now.
PAD
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So I went out and bought all four Fallen Angels today (at New England Comics, Cambridge!); there were plenty of #1,3,and 4 but, strangely, only one of #2. I’ve just finished reading #1, and, well, I’m definitely not used to these crazy short reads, but I’m very excited for the next three, and happy that they’re right there so that I don’t have to wait.
Carrie
I wonder if people were buying #2 in particular to find out what the Mature Readers fuss was about? Hope they didn’t feel let down. 🙂