Broken Frontier

Hello, everyone! William Gatevackes here, offering an advance look at the new releases arriving in stores tomorrow, May 17, 2006.

Shadowpact #1 is the latest title to spin-off from Infinite Crisis. Well, technically, it spins off from the Infinite Crisis prequel mini-series Day of Vengeance, but I’m not one to split hairs.

These events don’t come alone anymore, they come in battalions. No longer is it enough that these series cross over with almost every title the company publishes, but now they come out with one-shot specials, prequels and concurrent mini-series, and a number of spin offs to boot.

Shadowpact is just one of many new series to hit the market from DC in the last several months. When you release this many new titles, how can you expect each of them to succeed? How can Shadowpact separate itself from the crowd? Well, for me, it’s the characters that make up the group.

I am a big fan of the heroes in the book. I have been a fan of Blue Devil since his solo book came out back in 1984. Nightshade and the Enchantress bring back fond memories of the Suicide Squad book of the late 1980s. I haven’t read many stories featuring the character of Ragman but I dig the concept of the character. And Detective Chimp! How can you not love a talking chimpanzee that solves crimes!

Trouble is, I am more than a little weird. Yes, I find a simian private eye with a drinking problem hilarious. Other readers might find the concept stupid. All the members of the team were safely ensconced on the D-list before Day of Vengeance, and some might say rightfully so. It’s safe to say that no one was clamoring for a title focusing on this team.

It appears that DC—and Marvel too—is using a “let’s throw it against a wall and see if it sticks” philosophy with these spin-offs, using these big crossover events to hopefully spark interest. Like I said, I am looking forward to this title, but DC doesn’t seem to be promoting it as much as it does with some of its other new books. The brunt of the focus is being placed on 52, and the new Justice League of America, Flash, and Wonder Woman. It seems that Shadowpact will only get the audience that seeks it out, though that might not enough to support it for long.

At first glance, Haunt of Horror: Edgar Allan Poe #1 seems out of place on Marvel’s schedule. Still, Poe’s work is adapted by horror legend Richard Corben, so you know it is going to be a quality book. But will releasing this series in the summer, and not at the more appropriate Halloween season, cut into its audience?

Some of you might not think that when a book is released has any bearing on its success. Others may argue that an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe will garner an audience no matter when it hits stores. Fans of Poe (or Corben) will buy the series no matter when it comes out, and non-fans won’t be swayed to pick it up by the spookiness of Halloween. I beg to differ.

Hollywood releases horror movies throughout the year, but the most successful ones are released around October 31st. When the comic industry is constantly looking to increase sales, perhaps they could follow Hollywood’s tactics. As illustrated above, people do look towards the macabre during this holiday—hence, releasing this title at Halloween might increase sales.

Yet, there might be a method to Marvel’s madness. Starting the monthly series now might mean that it will be collected in trade paperback by October. So instead of starting a three part series at that time of the year, Marvel can market the entire collected series then.

X-Men: Fairy Tales #1 draws inspiration from a classic X-Men story. In 1982’s Uncanny X-Men #153, Kitty Pryde tells young Illyana Rasputin a fairy tale containing thinly veiled versions of the X-Men. It was a sweet and gentle story with great humor and rates as one of my favorite X-Men tales.

Marvel now revisits this concept. X-Men: Fairy Tales retells the X-Men mythos through folktales, myths and fables from across the globe. Marvel compares the title directly to Uncanny X-Men #153 in its solicitation, which is bold. I’m sure I’m not the only one with fond memories of that issue, so for those like me, the series will have to be quite good to not pale in comparison.         

Of course, for younger readers who have never read that issue, the concept will have to stand on its own. Will these fans be interested in seeing their favorite characters portrayed in this way?  Will this mini-series be as fondly remembered by these new fans as Uncanny #153 is with us older ones? As always, the sales will have to point that out…

Finally, adapting movies, and other media, has been a long standing tradition in comics. Two movies are being “continued” by two independent companies, and these two adaptations show the varying approaches companies take towards this trend.

Moonstone gives us Buckaroo Banzai #1 tomorrow. This is the first issue of a three-issue series that continues the adventures of the character starring in the 1984 cult film. If you are wondering if this comic will be faithful to the movie, something tells me it will be. This ‘something’ is the fact that it is written by Earl Mac Rauch, the same man who wrote the original film—you can’t get more authentic than that. To have the character’s creator follow him or her from the films into the comics is extremely rare. The fact that Buckaroo Banzai will be written by the same person who wrote the movie offers an assurance to fans. What they love about Buckaroo will be in the comic, so there should be no hesitance for them to pick up the book.

A slightly different take on movie adaptations is Slave Labor Graphics’ Wonderland #1. Produced as part of SLG’s licensing agreement with Disney, this series takes place after the Alice in Wonderland movie ends. While the Buckaroo Banzai series appears to follow closely in the style of the movie, Wonderland takes an opposite approach.

As you can see by the cover, artist Sonny Liew has remade Alice in a sort of goth way. Black hair and the black dress, unless my memory betrays me, is not the way Alice appears in the Disney movie. As a matter of fact, the entire artistic style seems to diverge from the film. It still looks pretty, but it’s not at all like what it’s supposed to be adapting.

One could ask why this change was made, since SLG is promoting the title as being inspired by the Disney film. Perhaps the writing follows the movie, but since the artwork is so divergent I wonder why they based it on the movie at all. After all, the original Alice in Wonderland novel is in the public domain. If you wanted to make an adaptation of that work, they wouldn’t have to pay a thing. That way, if the story was drawn in a unique style, it would cause no controversy.

But if they are trying to sell the series as a continuation of one of Disney’s most beloved movies, wouldn’t this effort be better served by having both the writing AND the art match the original animation?  Having the cover feature the blond haired, blue dressed character from the movie would better alert fans that this was a continuation than a tiny blurb in the corner does.

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William Gatevackes is a writer living in Mamaroneck, NY, where he lives with his lovely wife Jennifer. He writes the periodic comic review at PopMatters.