Month: November 2005

I was going to do a write-up on Mid-Ohio Con, which went just fine and it was great to see all the fine folks there. But this just hit my e-mail box so I thought I’d post it:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact David Seidman, Claypool Comics marketing director
davidseidman@earthlink.net

CLAYPOOL IN CRISIS
Independent Publisher Reaches Out to Readers and Retailers

Diamond Comics Distributors has told Claypool Comics of plans to cancel the Claypool titles DEADBEATS and SOULSEARCHERS AND COMPANY, starting with the issues shipping in April, unless Claypool can push their sales up. That move would wipe out much of Claypool’s line.

This news comes as Claypool is in the middle of a group of special issues. SOULSEARCHERS #76 and ELVIRA #153 (shipping in January) and DEADBEATS #76 (shipping in February) are “Jump In” issues written and drawn especially for new readers. Last year, when Claypool inaugurated the “Jump In” issues, they sold very well.

Claypool has asked retailers to order an extra copy of each “Jump In” issue. In addition, Claypool has asked readers to buy Claypool titles now and request that the retailers order the “Jump In” issues. The cover of SOULSEARCHERS’ “Jump In” issue is on the Web at http://www.claypoolcomics.com/uploads/ss76.gif, while http://www.claypoolcomics.com/uploads/db76.gif houses DEADBEATS’ cover.

Claypool is backing up its requests with point-of-sale cards that retailers can put on their counters or use as bag stuffers. The cards tell readers about the issues and include a spot to check off which issues they’d like to buy.

DEADBEATS, by Marvel veterans Richard Howell and Ricardo Villagran, is a punk vampire soap opera that should appeal to fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and 30 Days of Night. SOULSEARCHERS, written and co-created by Peter David, is a super-hero satire featuring a group of supernatural investigators, featuring art by Joe Staton and covers by JSA Classified: Power Girl’s Amanda Conner.

Claypool editor Richard Howell says, “Claypool Comics has always had a dedicated base of fans, most of whom are literate and educated people whose needs aren’t always met by the current comics marketplace. A retailer who puts our comics on the shelves will most likely find that they continue to sell month after month. The consistency of our sales is undisputable, and we have every indication that if our books got more exposure, they’d sell strongly for many, many more retailers. Claypool Comics are and always have been a labor of love — love of comics, that is. We’re committed to good comics, and that makes our readers committed to us. Any retailer who wants to profit from that dedication and goodwill is enthusiastically invited along for the ride.”

Claypool, which has published comics steadily since 1993, is known as “the publisher of hidden treasures” — but it doesn’t WANT to hide them!

PAD

Thanksgiving with an actual family. I have a loving wife, Kathleen, my munchkin, Caroline, and my loving teen, Ariel all here with me in our house…and there was a time in my life where none of those things were assured or even possible.

My dad back home. I hadn’t mentioned it here because I didn’t want to discuss it until we knew how things were turning out, but my dad was recently hospitalized with a minor heart attack. Fortunately everything’s okay now, he’s back home with my mom, and the prognosis is very good.

Politics. If it weren’t for that, this site would have a fraction of the traffic it does.

Fans, whom I’ll be meeting and greeting this week at Mid-Ohio Con.

Bowling. If I weren’t in three leagues, I’d have no social life. Plus at the end of February, Ariel and I are going to be going up to upstate New York to bowl in the Pro/Am along with my brother, Wally (and, hey, have you checked out his website, http://wallydavid.com yet? Beautiful nature photos. He’s having a grand opening sale. Go buy some, okay? Make him thankful.

Turkeys. With all the concern about mad cow disease, thank God there’s no worries whatsoever about contracting any sort of flu from birds.

So read some comics, then go out, take some photographs with your family, give your dad a call and talk about what a dummy Bush is, and bowl three strikes in a row which is, of course, referred to as a turkey.

PAD

Ariel has been anxious for about the last year to see the film of “Rent,” so I took her to a showing right after school. What fascinated me about many of the reviews I read was complaints over how it didn’t work as well as the show.

Well, I didn’t see the show on Broadway, and I liked the film just fine. I think it suffers from the same problem that many modern musicals have: Exactly one memorable tune. Makes you long for the old days when any one show would have at least half a dozen tunes you could leave the theater humming. Other than that, though, I applaud the decision to import most of the original cast members. I particularly regret missing her in “Wicked” after seeing Idina Menzel here, who is easily the show-stopper of the group (although Rosario Dawson and the guy who played Angel are close seconds.)

I’ll tell you something, though: During one establishing shot, there was the Twin Towers, big as life. What kind of commentary on our life is it that a few people worrying about dying from an overshadowing disease as AIDS seems somehow small–even, God help us, quaint–in a world where all people are worrying about dying from anthrax or carbombs?

PAD

She made the bowling team. We got the list of practices and tournaments.

I’ll be sure to let folks know how she does as the season progresses.

PAD

The man can’t even exit a room.

PAD

On oversight on my part: I should have mentioned that “Funky Winkerbean” began the trial last week of the comic book store owner up on obscenity charges. John Byrne makes an appearance as an expert witness, and the strip echoes the Jesus Castillo case (right down to the notorious, “C’mon…everyone knows comics are for kids” comment from the DA which wound up swaying the Castillo jury.) The strip can be found here: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/fun/funky.asp?date=20051120

PAD

So we were channel hopping yesterday, and stumbled over a half hour documentary running on the Independent Film Channel, of all things. It featured a presentation of the recent San Diego Comic Con from the point of view of three different sets of attendees, each going to garner attention for their individual indy project endeavors.

“Maybe you’ll be in there somewhere, daddy!” chirped Ariel. I considered it unlikely: With 80,000 attendees over three days against the odds of my happening to wander on camera…well, do the math.

So we’re watching it, and they have an interview with Tim Leong and Amber Mitchell of http://www.comicfoundry.com. They start talking about having attended the CBLDF get-together, and I said, “Oh. That’s funny. I was at that.”

And then they started talking about me. My jaw dropped. A helpful pop-up appeared on the screen that stated, “Peter David is a science fiction writer” for the benefit of the likely 99% of viewers to whom my name meant nothing. This, of course, delighted Kathleen and Ariel.

“I can’t escape me,” I muttered.

For anyone interested who has the IFC, the half hour is next being broadcast Tuesday at 3:30 PM EST.

PAD