The Comic Book World

Posts Tagged ‘market’

The Supernatural fan base is undeniably strong, and they serve as a good market for publishing companies who would like to release material on the Supernatural series. In fact, WildStorm released Supernatural: Origins comic book last year, and it was a fair success. This year, fans will again delight in another release, as Supernatural: Rising Son is coming soon. The new comic book is a six-issue miniseries that will tell another tale about the Winchester brothers. To be released on April 23, the series will follow a 7-year-old Sam and 11-year-old Dean as they travel with their father, John.

Writer Peter Johnson, who is also a co-executive producer on the TV show explained that this series focuses more on John and his dysfunctional family.

“We’re really going to explore the differences between Sam and Dean in this one,” Johnson added. “Dean is becoming aware of what his dad’s up to and we’ll see him training and hunting a little bit, while John will start to key in on something different about Sam.”

Despite being another Supernatural project, show creator Eric Kripke, who contributed hugely to the Origins project, was not present in any way in Rising Son, mostly due to the writers’ strike. Although the strike does not include comic book writers, Kripke saw the thin line between writing for the TV series and writing a comic book based on the series, and thus opted to not be part of it this time.

Johnson added that this action packed series includes familiar faces, creepier monsters, fighter chicks and a villain that may be part of the show itself. This will be one hell of a comic book for Supernatural fans to look out for, and just to add to the excitement, there is a third comic book in its conception stage. As for now, let’s await the release of Supernatural, Rising Son, on April 23.

For more resources about Supernatural or for the full story of New Supernatural Comic Book Series Starting in April please review http://www.buddytv.com

Comic book fans have been preaching it for years: comics are not just for kids. This should be old hat by now. So rather than trying to entice non-comic readers to read comics, let’s first explore the medium of comics and what makes it unique.

When you read a book, you are creating images in your mind based on the words. That’s why a good writer can convey a complex image easily and understandably. The beauty of books is that ten people reading the same book may come up with ten different images based on how their minds shaped the words.

Movies tend to be just the opposite. The pictures and dialogue are given to us with very little left to the imagination. Movies are straightforward and to the point. Those same ten people from the book example certainly saw the same images of a film.

Comic books are a unique combination of the two. Forget about content for a second. Comics can do what no other medium can; the combination of words and art in a sequential format tell a story and evoke feelings that other formats, in their attempt to conjure the same feelings, would have failed miserably. That isn’t to say comic characters can’t be in good movies. They can. However, the emotion and feeling from reading Grant Morrison’s Arkham Asylum could not be duplicated on the big screen. Same goes for Neil Gaiman’s Sandman and Kurt Busiek’s Marvels. For further information on this unique medium, I highly suggest Scott McCloud’s Understanding Comics.

Now, with that out of the way, here are five creators who have written several series and/or graphic novels that non-comics readers would enjoy and find thought provoking:

Alan Moore. Yes, Watchmen is on everyone’s list and yes, it should be. A fantastic use of the medium and an entertaining story as well. But Moore has such a rich bibliography that I hate to confine it to just the one classic. League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and From Hell are also classics, and certainly not for children. His entire line of ABC Comics is worth a read. Even finding his individual stories (there are several compilations on the market) is worth it.

Grant Morrison. My personal favorite, he tends to be a little “out there” for some. But I find his stories to be contextually rich with symbolism and sequences that stay with me for days. I highly recommend The Invisibles, We 3, Seven Soldiers mini-series, and his run on Doom Patrol, Animal Man and Justice League. Graphic novels include Sebastian O, The Mystery Play and Arkham Asylum.

Neil Gaiman. Noted mostly for his outstanding Sandman run, which I highly recommend, Gaiman also wrote the underrated graphic novel Murder Mysteries.

Greg Rucka. I include Rucka on this list for his outstanding characterization in the Queen & Country series and the wonderful mystery, Whiteout. Both series have several moments where you realize that the comic medium was the only way to get these stories to work best.

Bill Willingham. A somewhat controversial pick for this list, however I wanted to include him due to his unbelievable work on Fables. It’s one of those concepts that have writers everywhere smacking their heads saying “why didn’t I think of that.” Entertaining and engrossing, this series will have you reading fairy tales to your children in a whole different light.

So there are several titles worth checking out (most available from local libraries), most of them worth reading over and over again. Remember, comics may have initially been directed at a young audience, but those days are over. Open your mind and enjoy the unique feeling that comics offer and you’ll be richer for the experience.