Broken Frontier

The world of television would not exist if it wasn’t for the pilot. And one of the busiest times for Hollywood is the pilot season. Hopeful actors, producers, writers and directors gear up excitedly for it and jaded network executives steel themselves for it.

What is a pilot? A pilot is a trial episode of a particular television program. It is the last line in the process of getting a new TV show on the air. Thousands of shows are pitched to networks every year. If the executives like any particular proposal, they want to see how it would actually look on the air.

These executives would order a pilot of the proposed show. This pilot acts as the first episode of the series and sets up the relationships, the backstop and the overall feel of the show.

The pilot is then shown to networks to give them an idea of what to expect. After viewing the pilot, the networks decide whether to order more episodes of the potential series or regretfully decline.

Often times, these pilots never make it to the customer. Sometimes failed pilots are shown to eat up some time on the particular network. Even approved pilots are occasionally reworked per the networks request and are quite different than the one originally made.

A form of pilot season is coming to comics, courtesy of Top Cow. The company is issuing a series of six, one-shot “pilot” issues featuring some of their most popular characters.

And, unlike TV pilots, where the general public usually never has a say on what makes it to the air, the readers are playing the role of the network executives this time. Top Cow fans will decide, with their online vote, which two characters or concepts go on to a regular series of their own in 2008.

While Top Cow might have borrowed the terminology from television, the concept of a “try-out” book is a long-standing comic book tradition. The anthologies of the Golden and Silver ages were fertile breeding grounds for new characters, ideas and concepts. Many of the most endearing and popular characters of all time got their start there.

But anthologies, Marvel’s forthcoming Marvel Comics Presents relaunch excluded, are mostly a thing of the past. New characters and series either get their start as guest stars in another book or star in their own series from the get go.  The success ratio for each is fairly hit or miss.

And, in both instances above, there was a delay in gauging reader response. In the early days, sales figures took up to three months to come back and readers only had snail mail to use to state their opinion. Even nowadays, all first issues usually sell strong but the weaker series tend to die out slowly over time.

Top Cow has taken advantage of the internet age to make the response more immediate. All of the Pilot Season titles will be number ones, therefore should sell fairly well. But instead of investing time and money in a concept that isn’t quite popular with fans, they will be able to focus their energies on the characters and concepts that the fans like most.
 
The Wolverine-like Ripclaw is first up tomorrow, soon to be joined by other of his Cyber Force cohorts, Cyblade and Velocity. They will be followed by former Top Cow headliners Aphrodite IX and The Necromancer and by The Darkness supporting character, The Angelus.

Tomorrow’s Ripclaw Pilot Season #1 will be written by Eisner-Nominated Jason Aaron and with art by Jorge Lucas and will draw on the character’s mystical side as he uses his connection to the spirit world to set things right on our world.

Also out this week:

• Blade #12

This series started around the same time that Spike TV’s Blade series started. And now it has met the same fate as its TV counterpart—cancellation.

I listed the series in my New Year’s Resolution column as a book that you should really pick up. Unfortunately, not enough new readers joined because this issue is Blade’s last.

I liked the series. It was fun, fast-paced and had a good sense of humor. It put Marc Guggenheim squarely on the list of my favorite authors. Don’t feel bad for Mr. Guggenheim. He’s headed over to a title with a little more job security—he’s one of the group of writers on the Amazing Spider-Man relaunch. 

Marc Guggenheim (W), Howard Chaykin (A), Marvel Comics, $2.99. Final Issue.

• Casanova #8

Speaking of recent additions to my list of favorite writers, we come to Matt Fraction. He has been making a splash at Marvel, providing great writing on Immortal Iron Fist, Punisher: War Journal and The Order. He writes richly developed characters, exciting action, and more than your fair share of humor.
If his illustrious Marvel output isn’t enough and you need more Matt Fraction in your life, then you are in luck. His creator owned Casanova returns tomorrow after a brief hiatus. Fraction is once again joined on art by one of Entertainment Weekly’s 100 “The Stars We Love Right Now”, Fábio Moon. The issue starts a new storyline, so it will be the perfect spot for new readers to jump aboard. 

Matt Fraction (W), Fábio Moon (A), Image Comics, $1.99. Ongoing Series.

• Black Adam: The Dark Age #1

Black Adam is one of the most complex and fascinating characters in the DC Universe. Although first created by Fawcett Comics in 1945’s The Marvel Family #1, it has been in recent years that DC creators have shaped him into a character whose motives and actions have at various times made him a hero and a villain.

Black Adam was rendered powerless at the end of 52 (the reason: Billy Batson changed the magic word that Adam used to transform himself—without Adam knowing what it was) but, as we recently saw in the Countdown series, his powers were back, better than ever. How did this happen? This series will tell us the story and also set up Black Adam as a major villain in the DC Universe.

Peter J. Tomasi (W), Doug Manke, Norm Rapmund & Christian Alamy (A), DC Comics, $2.99. Eight-Issue Miniseries. 

• B.P.R.D.:Killing Ground #1

The B.P.R.D. is in a state of flux. New members are joining, current members are gaining objects that will change their lives for ever. This would be an excellent time for the forces of evil to worm their way into the B.P.R.D. headquarters. The shoe is on the other foot now, as the officers of the bureau are being hunted by the forces of the supernatural. The question is: will anyone survive?

This series takes place immediately after B.P.R.D.: Garden of Souls and promises to irrevocable shake up the bureau and its members forever. Bold talk, but Mike Mignola has never been afraid to shake things up. Fans of the Hellboy mythos should make note not to miss this series.   

Mike Mignola & John Arcudi (W), Guy Davis (A), Dark Horse Comics, $2.99. Five-Issue Miniseries.

• The Un-Men #1

At first look, if you take a quick glance, this title might look like an abbreviation of “The Uncanny X-men”. However, what lies inside these pages is anything but.

The Un-Men were created by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson in Swamp Thing Vol. 1 #1 in 1972. They were the gruesomely deformed henchmen of Swamp Thing’s nemesis, Anton Arcane. They appeared to be freakish, Frankenstein-like patchwork creatures who served Arcane with blind devotion.

An albino agent named Kilcrop is drawn to the town of Aberrance investigating a strange and puzzling murder. A sideshow freak by the name of “Gill-Boy” has been murdered. Since Aberrance is home to all manner of freaks, the investigation leads there. But this, unfortunately, puts Kilcrop up against the board of directors for the town—The Un-Men.

John Whalen (W), Mike Hawthorne (A), DC/Vertigo Comics, $2.99. Ongoing Series.

• Army of Darkness: From the Ashes #1

Sam Raimi and comic books go well together. Not only has he created the definitive cinematic portrayal of Spider-Man, almost all of the other properties he has worked on have made it to comics pages. Whether it is his TV shows Hercules and Xena or movies like Darkman, his films have felt right at home in the four-color world.

Perhaps the most successful Raimi movie/comics transfer has to be his Army of Darkness franchise. Ash and company return again tomorrow. Spinning directly out from the Marvel Zombies vs. Army of Darkness crossover, Ash returns to his own world and finds it overrun with Deadites. It’s up to Ash and his hand-picked army to wrest back control. 

James Kuhoric (W), Fernando Blanco (A), Dynamite Entertainment, $3.50. Ongoing Series.

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William Gatevackes is a professional writer living in Mamaroneck, NY with his wife Jennifer. He also writes periodic comic reviews for PopMatters and writes title descriptions for Human Computing’s Comicbase collection management software. Links to his writing can be found at his website, www.williamgatevackes.com.