Year: 2004

I’ve been reading with interest on Newsarama.com the travails and frustrations of Micah Wright, whose “Stormwatch: Team Achilles” was canceled (with numbers that were, frankly, not much different from “Fallen Angel.”) Which gave me an idea, but I’ll get to that later. What struck me the most was that his experiences in boosting readership paralleled my own. He said:

When the monthly book was cancelled a week later, I noticed that a lot of online readers were saying things like “I’ve never even heard of this book… is it really as good as people here are saying?” That’s a bit depressing to hear… that someone’s never seen a copy of the book on the shelves of their Local Comic Store? Interestingly, another group of people expressed disappointment because they were following the book exclusively in trades. A third group of people were saying “Ðámņ, I’ve been seeing the new art team online and I was waiting on that third trade to jump onto the series.”

I’ve talked a lot online about lessons learned from this series… one of them is this: no nine-part story arcs while the book is still young. People whose store didn’t carry early issues can’t find the first part of the story so they wait for the trade.

Fans never heard of it, retailers didn’t stock copies to be seen. Boy, is this familiar. I can assure Micah, though, that the lesson he learned is pretty futile. “Fallen Angel” launched with two done-in-one issues, followed by a four parter, followed by a five parter. Made no difference. People who *found* the first issue said *they* were waiting for the trade.

But speaking of the trade, that’s the most intriguing aspect. According to the article, pre-orders are now very brisk on the third trade paperback of S:TA. In fact, fans are acting in concert to order copies. Only problem: The book doesn’t actually exist. DC cancelled the trade. So the tactic is of questionable effectiveness.

The trade of “Fallen Angel,” however, has not been cancelled. However, the quantity and, even more important, the speed with which the book sells is likely going to determine the future of the series.

If you’ve already bought the issues and don’t want to pick up the TPB in addition, I can totally respect that. If, on the other hand, you want to, so you can give it to a friend or something, hey. Great. Heck, as always, send it to me with a SASE to PO Box 239, Bayport, NY 11705 and I’ll sign it and send it back. And if you’re planning to buy the trade anyway… order it now. Bump the numbers up. Spread the word. Get some buzz going. What can it hurt?

Hopefully our esteemed webmaster will put a direct link to it (so you won’t have to slog through the astounding number of books, CDs, DVDs etc. that are all called “Fallen Angel.”)

Let’s see how high the Fallen Angel can fly.

PAD

How many comic books I’ve written?

Seriously, I was wondering, ’cause I realize I’ve no idea. How many actual comic books I’ve produced in my writing lifetime.

PAD

Anyone following “Gasoline Alley?”

In the April 19 strip, 100+ year old Walt Wallet settles into bed with long-time spouse Phyllis. On April 20, Walt’s adopted son Skeezix is awaken by a late night phone call.

It’s obvious someone’s died.

But it’s unclear who.

Skeezix gasps “Uncle Walt!” into the phone, but it could be that Walt died, or it could be that Walt’s on the other end giving the bad news.

Now I don’t mind suspense in just about anything. And I don’t mind knocking off a long time character in a comic strip. But it’s a week later and they’re still having the characters reacting with shock and mourning and grief and we still don’t frickin’ know who died. To me, the strip has passed beyond the bounds of honest suspense into the range of…I don’t know…tastelessness.

If you’re going to portray a tragedy in a comic strip, or anywhere, then do it honestly. Trudeau did it right. He did it with the classic formula of “three.” The first strip introduced a tragedy involving BD (my God, is he dead?), the second reinforced it and heightened the concern (okay, he’s not dead, but something really bad has happened), and the third was the reveal (holy crap, his leg *and* his helmet are gone).

In this day and age of tons of genuine sad deaths, it’s exploitational to milk death for artificial suspense…even fictional death. Which is what “Gasoline Alley” is doing. It’s bad writing. And it’s kinda tacky.

PAD

Congratulations to David Mack, Star Trek author (including the Zak Kebron story “Waiting For G’Doh, or, How I Learned to Stop Moving and Hate People” in the New Frontiers anthology No Limits) on his marriage this weekend to the lovely and talented Kara Bain, a real Supergirl if ever there was one.

In his honor, we have arranged to have the Boston Red Sox beat the Yankees like Neal Peart’s drum set.

What “haunts Kerry” (according to the AOL newsfeed) is his youthful days as a staunch protestor against war after serving his country in Vietnam.

As opposed to what haunts Bush, is his youthful days as a drinking, partying drug user who disappeared for months on end while serving his country in Texas.

And Bush’s numbers still appear strong while Kerry’s seem soft.

Ohhh, that wacky liberal media…

PAD

Four issues to go, and this one’s out on the stands now. Whad’ja think?

And please, CM fans…stop wasting your time trying to save the book. Marvel simply isn’t interested in keeping it around. It’s never gonna sell like a Spider book, it has no movie optioned for it, and it’s not going to pull in underutilized audiences such as young girls (which is why Spider-Girl is continuing.) So they won’t keep it going. Simple as that.

Please put your energies into reading and spreading the word about “Fallen Angel,” which does have a genuine chance to succeed (especially if the trade collection sells out quickly).

PAD

Nearly a hundred years ago, the head of the Philadelphia Communist party suggested to conscripts for World War I that the draft was a violation of the 13th amendment rights against involuntary servitude. The government’s response for the expression of this presumably despicable notion was to throw him into jail for a decade, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court (it was from that decision that the “cannot falsely shout fire in a crowded theater” dictum came from.)

So now, of course, when we live in a time that’s far more conducive to open discussion, and we have a much more understanding Supreme Court, I’m moved to wonder…*is* a draft unconstitutional? The constitution gives congress the right to “raise” armies, but I didn’t notice anything that specifically said they can commandeer citizens against the will of the citizens. In fact, there’s yet another amendment–the 5th one–that says citizens will not be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law. That is to say, the only situation in which the Constitution seems to say it’s okay to deprive someone of their basic freedom of movement and right to have their own stuff is if they’re paying for a criminal act of which they’ve been convicted.

So…is there a case to be made for a draft being unconstitutional? And don’t tell me it’s constitutional simply because it’s existed before unless you’re ready to argue that African-Americans should never have been counted as more than 3/5 of a person because that was the way it was done before.

PAD