The CCD Podcast: Episode #61 - Comic Book Sales & The Rise of Digital or "Skynet Is Live In 3...2....1"

The CCD Podcast constantly finds new parts of pop culture to tap for possible episode topics. One that we feel we talk about ALOT but not in its own show is the Comic industry. Lots have changed in the comic industry since DC & Marvel ruled the roost through the 60s/70s/80s. A bunch of the smaller companies (IDW/Image/Dark Horse) have become major players in the print comics game. The Walking Dead is just as well known as Spider Man. And EVERY company has things being adapted for TV & Movies (I never thought I would see a proper Captain America film in my life, let alone a Kick Ass film!!!!) We brought back our two favorite comic book elder statesman Pat & Gary to join up with Jedi Rob to discuss just how huge the sales in the comic industry has become, how large the influence of comics has reached into other mediums of pop culture, and what do digital sales of comics mean for the future of the industry. It's going to be a good one.... enjoy the ride!!!!




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Oh, And For The Record 'Cosmo the Russian Astronaut Dog' From Guardians of the Galaxy Is Pulled From The Comic Pages Too...

Cosmo the Russian Astronaut dog that is seen captured in the Collector's collection in Guardians of the Galaxy is not just a wink and a nod to animal manned space flights of the 1960s. Cosmo himself is a frequent guest in the Guardians of the Galaxy comic, and a few other of Marvel's galactic titles as well (think Nova, Nova Corps, the Inhumans, etc). He actually first appeared in Nova #8 (vol 4) when Richard Rider encounters him on Knowhere (the Celestial skull planet from the Guardians movie) and thinks he is a regular dog. Turns out, he is a powerful telekinetic pup that has played major parts in Annihilation, the Thanos Imperative, and many other storylines throughout the last few years of the Marvel Comics universe. He has even been a member of the Guardians of the Galaxy themselves (issues 15 through 19 of Guardians from 2009 as a matter of fact). A cool little Easter Egg thrown in to the film from James Gunn and the Marvel Cinemtaic crew that comes right off the pages of the comics. Check out some panels and pics of Cosmo after the jump...

Nova #8 (first appearance of Cosmo)

Nova #8

Nova #8

Guardians #15 (2009)

Appearing in the team lineup!!!

The CCD Podcast: Episode #13 - Our Favorite Comic Book Story Arcs or I Don't Know Much, But I Am Fairly Certain That No Rob Liefeld Stories Will Make This List !!!

Hey gang, it is that time of the week again where we check back in with The CCD Podcast for an all new episode! In lucky Episode #13 we jump to the world of comics and explore our personal favorite Top 3 story arcs of all time... not necessarily the best, but the 3 that we each individually enjoy the most. Tommy Lombardozzi revisits The Nerd Cave to sit down with Jedi Rob & Mike D. Lots of  There are some differences of opinion and style of stories, yet one thing is for sure: They are all amazing! Listen for tons of one liners, goofy humor, and good ole comic book talk!!! We are the CCD Podcast... and we are here to stay! Enjoy the podcast and some accompanying artwork after the jump....


So in honor of some of our pics, here is some pieces courtesy of Deviant Art:

Kingdom Come Tribute by Jesse Munoz

The Long Halloween Tribute by Kid Notorious (just inks)

The Long Halloween Tribute by Kid Notorious

Orion vs Beta Ray Bill by James Harren

Beta Ray Bill by Ted Kim

And here's one of the Guardians character posters referenced...

And see.....his butt totally looks like a frog!

Frog Butt!

Stream the episode here, or follow the links below to subscribe or download. Please share on your favorite form of Social Media... we need your help! Subscribe, Download, Listen, Share.... REPEAT!!!!!!!




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A CCD Rant by Joe Esq: Am I The Only Nerd Who Gets Annoyed...

... When they change stuff in the comic book to make it match the movies? Ok look, I understand the corporate robot-think that leads to comic book companies doing this, but I find it contemptible and I'll never agree with it. And that's not just nerd-rage talking, the way I see it, its a really shortsighted and stupid thing to do.

Ostensibly, the (flawed) logic behind this practice boils down to this: more people see the movies than read the books. Some of those people MIGHT see the movie and be curious enough to start reading the books too. So, lets make the books look as much like the movies as possible so that when (if) these potential new readers come along, they're not immediately alienated by things being different than they're used to.  To me, this just reeks of desperate pandering and, if you think about it, its actually insulting not only to the people who were already comic fans, but to these potential new readers as well.

Basically, this practice demonstrates that the publishers' (despite seemingly being desperate for their business) have an underlying belief that these non-comic book reading movie-goers are a bunch of morons. Seriously, "the comic is a little different" or "they changed that for the movie" are concepts any 10-year-old can understand. Why the conceptual red carpet needs to be rolled out for a bunch of people who are only potentially reading the books is beyond me. Is "the X-Men wear blue and yellow costumes in the comic books" really too high-concept for the average non-comic reading movie-goer to grasp? Are the publishers that insecure that the stories and art aren't good enough to sell themselves on their own merits? If  someone is curious enough buy a comic book, the fact that something is different isn't going to make or break their decision to keep buying. Have some self-esteem!

Because, while you're busy pandering to people who aren't buying your product yet, the worse effect of this is that it inevitably alienates the loyal readers YOU ALREADY HAVE!. You know, the ones who are already regularly shelling out 3 bucks an issue, week after week, all these years? The ones whose loyalty was a large part of the reason these characters (and the whole medium) have enjoyed the longevity that made movies about them a viable option in the first? No? Not ringing any bells? Oh, right, screw them. They're hooked, and you're already getting their money.

For me, and I'm sure I'm not alone, every time there's a change in a book I'm reading to match something from the movies, its jarring. And annoying. Sometimes its just a cosmetic change, but other times the storylines have to do gymnastics in order to get things to line up. Either way, it's like a metaphorical record scratch right across the page of the comic. Below, I have a few of the most egregious, off the top of my head examples, but before I give you those, I just want to sum up. Comic Book Publishers, STOP DOING THIS! You're alienating people who already pay you money in order to pander to people who don't. Let them join the club, stop trying to change the club while begging them to join!

In case you're lost, here's some examples of what I mean:

1. Nick Fury is black now (in the Marvel 616 Universe).

Ok, so in the Marvel Ultimate Universe, the design of Nick Fury was based on Samuel L. Jackson. Then they make the Marvel movies and cast Sam Jackson as Fury... which somehow leads to a convoluted story where the Nick Fury in the main (616) Marvel Universe is a black guy that looks like Sam Jackson. Ohh, he's Nick Fury JUNIOR? Yeah, that makes it better. 

  

2. Mystique is a blue lizard:

In 2001's X-Men Forever miniseries Mystique is exposed to dangerous levels of radiation and ends up looking like the ridiculous naked blue lizard they made her in movies. Sure, in the films it was a nice excuse for horny geeks to pretend they were seeing naked Rebecca Romijin or Jennifer Lawrence, but one, you're really not; and two, the visual does not translate well to the comic book page at all. 

3. Toad has cool powers:

Now, objectively this one could be called an improvement. In the comics, Toad was a short fat dude whose power was he could jump real high. In the movie he's a skinny, athletic guy who could jump real high, knows parkour and has 25 foot long prehensile tongue. So of course, again in the 2001 X-Men Forever mini (which may as well have been called X-Men: PLEASE BUY US AND LIKE US BECAUSE YOU SAW THE MOVIE) convoluted measures are taken to make Toad green, skinny, have a 25-foot tongue, adhesive saliva, and pheromone powers (because there's a rule that every non-main character mutant in the X-Men movie universe must have 47 powers). So sure, while the new movie-inspired Toad is "cooler" than the old Toad, it still feels like unneccesary pandering to me.

4. Transformers faces:

I didn't feel like doing photo research for this one. You all know what I mean. They looked shitty in the movie, they look even shittier in the comic. Thankfully, I think they've already stopped drawing them that way.

5. Spidey's organic webbing:

So, to match the way it was in the movies (and because Peter having biological webbing is more "realistic" than him having invented a webbing and shooters to go along with his other powers), Marvel made Peter develop organic web shooters in the comic. Yeah that's a great idea, take an integral part of classic comic book Americana and discard it so some movie jerk won't feel too alienated by it... on the off chance that that movie jerk actually picks up the comic in the first place. The comic storyline involved Spidey being turned into an actual giant spider and then back. Can we just acknowledge that Spider-Man spraying sticky organic fluid all over his enemies, and the city, is gross? Thankfully, the spinnerettes coincidentally developed in his wrists, instead of his rear end, like a real spider. This mutation of his powers has been ignored since the "Brand New Day" storyline (which I will not discuss here, because its a whole other can of nerd-rage), and Peter is back to using his man-made webbing.

So that's five of the worst. There's more. Hawkeye's costume; the aforementioned cladding of the X-Men in all leather; Coulson suddenly showing up everywhere; I could go on and on. I guess we should just be thankful that there's an even longer list of stuff that was changed for the movies that the comic books have left intact (Deadpool anyone?).

Sigh, nerd rage...... 

Eastman & Laird Both Coming Back To IDW's 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' For A 30th Anniversary Issue ??? YES PLEASE !!!!

One of my favorite NY Comic Con experiences happened about 5 years ago with my good friend Sam James. Sam and I were walking the floor and he is a huge TMNT guy. So he sees Peter Laird of TMNT fame and starts going bonkers. He runs over to the table and buys a lithograph from Mr. Laird, which he is super happy about. As we started around the floor again, Sam mentioned that he wanted to meet Kevin Eastman, the other man responsible for TMNT... who was also somewhere at the show. As we sought him out I wondered out loud why he wasn't near Laird's table, considering how their creations were so related. Sam explained that they had a huge falling out and that they didn't really like each other much. That made the situation funnier and much more understandable. When we found Eastman, Sam asked him to sign the same lithograph... he explained to Eastman it would be an honor to have both guys signatures on one piece. Eastman promptly said "This is the shitty pieces Laird is selling at his table? I ain't signing that...". But he wasn't a complete dick, he did one better... he turned over the lithograph and did a full on Leonardo sketch right there on the spot. When he finished, he looked up at our shocked faces and said something to the effect of "Fuck Laird... now you got your very own TMNT original, not some generic piece of shit". He signed it, and so Sam was faced with the dilemma of getting both signatures on a piece, albeit one on each side... lol. This was first hand proof that these guys despised each other. So imagine my surprise when I opened my email and see that both Eastman & Laird will be working together on a 30th anniversary one shot issue that will feature a bunch of one off stories about the green foursome. I for one couldn't be any happier...

Click after the jump for more info on the release....



The book will be a 48 page full color one off that features some of the creative talent responsible for 30 years of TMNT goodness such as Eastman, Laird, Dean Clarrain, Chris Allan, Tom Waltz and Dan Duncan... the stories will hit on various eras of Turtle history. The book doesn't have an official release date yet, but I am sure that it will coincide with the August 2014 movie release that is rapidly approaching. I am excited, and being a day one comic fan boy of the property I will be pre-ordering my issue. Glad to see that the guys are able to put their differences aside in celebration of the great characters they created all those years ago! You can see the full press release below...

Here is the full press release;

San Diego, CA (February 24, 2013) – The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are celebrating a milestone 30^th anniversary this year and the festivities are ramping up! This May, co-creators Kevin Eastman andPeter Laird karate-kick into high gear with a very special 30^th Anniversary issue at IDW.  Featuring a brand-new cover created by the original team, this issue marks the first time in over 20 years the pair has worked together on the property.
 
“TMNT has been an important part of countless fans' lives, including myself,” said series editor Bobby Curnow. “Getting the chance to celebrate this rich history is an amazing opportunity. Almost as amazing as getting to see new material from these creators again!”
 
"Working on the TMNT Comics with the wonderful and amazing IDW team over the last three years reminded me how much I MISSED and LOVED the four green guys.” said Kevin Eastman, “getting to work with my Co-Creator Peter Laird again is the icing on the cake - and then some! It really took me back thirty years, to the earliest days, with the fondest memories, and why we got into this business in the first place."

The 30^th Anniversary Special will be a cavalcade of all-new short stories by the top talent that has built the rich TMNT world over the past 30 years. Each story is inspired by a different era of TMNT's rich history, and features the unique look, feel and voice of that time period. From Dean Clarrain, Chris Allan, Gary Carlson, Frank Fosco, and Jim Lawson to IDW’s own Tom Waltzand Dan Duncan, the creators showcased in this 48-page full-color special issue spin fantastic TMNT tales from the sewers to the stars!
 
Considered one of the most popular kids’ television programs of the 1980s, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a classic, global property created in 1984 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird.  It first debuted as a successful comic book series and then became a hit animated TV show, a live-action television series and later spawned four blockbuster theatrical releases.  The property also has translated into a significant consumer products business—with DVDs, video games, toys and more--that has generated billions of dollars at retail. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles debut on Nickelodeon in 2012 and ranked as the number-one new boy series for the year in the United States.  In Aug. 2014, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Films' CGI/live-action hybrid will hit theaters.

Why Did It Take So Long To Get A Film Sequel To '300' ???

300 was one of the biggest genre changing movies of the last 20 years... it further pushed the comic book adaptions into the stratosphere and helped jump start the career of visionary director Zack Snyder. Snyder may not be everybody's favorite director, but his techniques and visual effects output is unmatched. 300 actually made Frank Miller & Lynn Varley's original comic come to life, and the action sequences literally are adapted shot for shot. Gerard Butler & Lena Hedley (among many others) had their careers launched into orbit, and it seemed like there would be sequels abound to follow. Talk about a follow up comic from the original creators started immediately, and even talks of where to take the direction of the film franchise were on the rise. But with the delay of 'Xeres' (the follow up comic from Miller & Varley) coming fast and frequent, Warner Brothers decided to stop waiting and start filming. So 300: Rise of An Empire is a film that is set in the world of Miller's creation, yet not the direct of a comic that the first film was. We got a new director (Noam Murro) and a full new cast (with the exception of Xeres, played again by Rodrigo Santoro) to tell another story during the Greek/Persian war. Good lawd, Eva Green is looking right! The movie pops off on March 7th, and I for one can't wait. The previews look good, and if it is nearly as much fun as the 1st film than I will be completely entertained. Check out this clip that was released by the studio, a kind of combo trailer/behind the scenes of things to come. You can see it after the jump...

'Monster & Madman' - A New Comic Series From Steve Niles x Damien Worm For IDW

One of my favorite comic writers is Steve Niles, especially due to his special work on the 30 Days of Night comics. That series, with its debut in 2002, ushered in a golden age of horror comics and made vampires in comics cool again. Niles has gone on to work on a slew of other things including Batman: Gotham After Midnight, Batman: Gotham City Line, DC Infinite: Strange Cargo, Simon Dark, The Creeper, and Criminal Macabre that I have absolutely loved, so when IDW issued a press release for his newest project I naturally got excited. It is called 'Monster & Madman' and features Frankenstein joining forces with the most famous serial killer in history, Jack the Ripper. Yup, that's right... Jack the Ripper and the original man made monster in a period piece. Penned by Niles. Drawn by Damien Worm. Good god... I for one can't wait. They book hits stands around March of 2014. Check after the jump for a full size shot of the cover and the full press release from IDW...

The characters:

The covers:

The Press Release:

A New Twisted Tale From Steve Niles! Author Returns To IDW To Unite A Monster And A Madman San Diego, CA (December 12, 2013) – Visionary author and celebrated comic creator Steve Niles is returning to IDW in 2014 and bringing the most nefarious fiends along with him. Debuting in March, Niles weaves together a grave team-up between Frankenstein’s monster and Jack the Ripper in the terrifying new series, Monster & Madman. A lost soul, Frankenstein’s monster seeks refuge from his waking life but finds no comfort in the bitter harshness of his surroundings. He sets out to free himself from his lonely isolation and during this journey he finds himself at the doorstop of a creature more sinister than he could have imagined, the madman, Jack The Ripper. “Niles reminds me of Ozzy Osbourne,” said Chris Ryall, IDW’s Chief Creative Officer/Editor-in-Chief,  “In the same way that Ozzy was always finding great new guitarists to bring his macabre visions to life, so too is Niles always finding amazingly talented and dynamically creepy new artists to bring his dark fantasies to life.” Ryall added “And yes, we know Niles is also shepherding another Frankenstein series inFrankenstein Alive, Alive with Bernie Wrightson. That one is still happening, with a third issue coming in April, is unrelated to this one, and happens whenever Bernie’s amazing and meticulous art for each issue is complete. All of us are very vested in that series as well as this one, and we’ve appreciated readers’ and retailers’ patience on Alive, Alive. M&M will nicely fill the gap between those issues, and the entire series will be complete before the first issue is released so there will be no waiting here. Monthly creepiness awaits!” Niles reinvigorated the horror genre in American comics with his lauded IDW series 30 Days of Night,with artist Ben Templesmith. Since the widely successful and Eisner-nominated series debuted in 2002, 30 Days of Night has gone on to spawn 10 additional series and a major motion picture from Sony. "I think this is the 5th or 6th time I've used the Frankenstein Monster in a story. I've always been fascinated with Mary Shelley's creation and I've found the creature lends himself to all sorts of new stories," says Steve Niles, "There were eleven White Chapel Murders. Only five of them were attributed to Jack the Ripper. I became obsessed with the idea of a ‘what if’ situation where these two monsters crossed paths.” Joining Niles in this terrifying new series is Damien Worm, whose macabre style brings the undead to life. In addition to penciling, inking and coloring the covers and interior pages, Worm will also be handling lettering chores on the three-issue series.  Niles added, “I'm very excited to be working with Damien. He has that dark edge to his art I love for horror stories. I'm constantly impressed with just how macabre his images can be." IDW is eager to share the world of a monster and a madman in this twisted tale from Steve Niles,debuting in March 2014.

Variant X-Men Covers By Julian Totino Tedesco

All New X-Men has been a book that has been intriguing me for a bit now. Started about a year and a half ago, it tells the story of the original X-Men team of the 60s coming forward in the future and interacting with themselves (and other current X-Men) in order to help stop a potential disaster from occurring. It has recently lead up to the company wide crossover 'Battle of the Atom' and it is supposed to be fantastic. One of the coolest aspects of the books are the little winks and nods to the original OG series... some subtle, some obvious. So here are a few variant covers of issue #18 that kind of parody an original cover of the old X-Men, except these variants all feature different groupings of mutants to fill out their rosters. Pretty cool stuff, and a book that I plan on checking out now that they have a few issues under their belt (and are appearing in trades!) Check out all the variant covers after the jump...

'Batman: The Deal' - The Greatest Indy Fan Fic Batman Story I Have Ever Read!!!!

Batman has always been my favorite character to read when it comes to comics. It is not even close. While I am very protective over my favorite character and how he is portrayed in the pages of his books, I am always open to seeing a different spin on the Dark Knight... especially if they can add something new to the mythos. Writer Gerardo Preciado and artist Daniel Bayliss have decided to do just that with Batman: The Deal. A Batman work that comes WITHOUT permission of DC Comics and obviously does not take place within typical DC Comics canon, this story delves deep into the dark, twisted relationship between Batman and the Joker. Since this is an un-authorized book, it allows Preciado & Bayless license to take the characters and stories to dark places... the darkest places I have ever seen the World's Greatest Detective go. I was floored by the visuals and the story got my blood pumping in a way that hasn't happened in a long, long time. I hope this opens the eyes of the brass over at DC Comics in relation to the talent of these guys... and if not them, then how about some of the other companies like Image & Marvel take a shot on these fellas? I want to see way more from them. You need to go over to the Blogspot page they set up and show your support, but you can find the whole comic after the jump in full. I really love this story. Check it out for yourself....