[Peter]

It's a full episode of chatter, including a call to arms from Tony Harris to his fellow comic book creators, a quick look at the new Flash 1, new product from DrawerBox Storage Solutions and more! (1:49:40)

Listen to the show:
http://www.comicgeekspeak.com/episodes/com..._speak-1077.php

[jaydee74]

Great episode. I loved the Flash #1. I love how Geoff gives every aspect of the series life and not just the characters. Central City gets character by being called "The City Always On The Run". He did that with Coast City being "The City Without Fear" and does it again with Central City. Also, looking at the Secret Files, it looks like you might be getting some kind of rivalry between Central and Keystone City looking at how different the twin cities are. Should prove to be interesting. I loved the opening and how the Flash takes care of the Trickster and the getaway car. Very cool intro. I loved the scene at the crime lab. I'm getting a CSI feel from it but at the same time, you have Barry whose been away for so long from the job and is coming back with new methods and attitudes. Barry is a lot like the lead in the show "The Good Wife" who goes back to being a lawyer after so many years away from her work. I dig that. The ending of the issue has me very curious for #2 and it's a great start to a book I'm hoping to get a lot of great enjoyment from.

Speaking of books I enjoy. I read books that I enjoy. I like getting recommendations from people about books that I they think I would enjoy but the fact of the matter is I have a very small budget for comics. I have even less room in my two bedroom, two bathroom apartment and I have a wife who barely tolerates the stuff I have which is a fraction of what I had when I lived at my parent's house. I would love to be able to pick up all kinds of things but because of the above, I have to be fairly choosy about what I follow on a monthly basis. Because of this, I pretty much get DC books because I love DC. I love their history. I love their characters and I love the direction they are in. When I can, I get other things. I finally read the first volume of "Chew" and loved it. I also read the first volume of "Jersey G-ds" and really dug that but as much as those books interested me, I've been reading Green Lantern since I was five years old and it's consistently always been my favorite book. I don't mind going out of my comfort zone every now and again and trying something new but at the end of the day when comics cost what they do and the economy being what it is, I go with what I know and I know that I love.

[mguy1977]

I liked Flash #1 but will wait for trade on the series. I am all Flash-ed out after Flash Late-Birth & will wait for other fans interest of the new adventures of Barry Allen (is it great,good,meh,bad in some parts or crapolla). As for Tony F'ing Harris, yes the colorists (inkers,letters, etc) need a piece of the royalties. As for what I want to read be it Superman, Fantastic Four or Walking Dead--I should decide what interests me. I am very grateful for the geeks opinions of suggestions of new series to read that are outside the normal DC/Marvel same ol' same ol' --RASL,Madame Xanadu,etc. The point I am trying to make is I the reader should decide what titles I want to read & not from the creators themselves unless I ask for their advice on the topic. Just finish Ex Machina & take a chill pill Tony Harris.

Matthew

[popcornsamurai]

There are no original stories left in this world. We are always telling the same story over and over again, making a new Hero and changing the name is not orginal, you make hamburger with turky it is still a Hamburger. If ther is anything they should be ranting about it is how the content is packaged not the content. I think a lot of the content from Marvel, DC and Indy is really good these days.

[BrianBaer]

I'm glad you guys all seem to like Flash as much as I did. That first issue was the first Flash I'd ever read.

I think it's a little puzzling to argue for creator unionizing at the same time as creator-owned titles. Most creator-owned projects won't be released through places like Vertigo or Wildstorm. Most won't even come out through Image. If you're pushing creators to take a hard line on money and benefits, not many basement-run vanity presses can live up to those kinds of expectations.

[blockhead]

On an emotional level, I strongly sympathize with Tony Harris. There are times that I get frustrated with all of the good comics that don't get the attention they deserve (IMO) while any Marvel or DC comic can get lots of love just by changing a character's hair color or bringing back to life some character that maybe five people liked anyway (or so it seems to me).

I feel that way, but I know that it's pointless and maybe stupid to argue with people's tastes. People like what they like. Getting upset about it is a waste of time.

All I know is that comics that are new to me are the comics that excite me most. Batman has been my favorite superhero since I was four, but I'm perfectly happy to skip his comics if they aren't doing something that I like. But I'll spend/waste lots of time trying to figure out which new OGNs or monthlies I can get each month. When I go to HeroesCon, I go to Indie Island first, and might stay there the whole time. It's not that I don't like the big publishers, but I just know that there are going to be very cool things in Indie Island that I've never seen before.

So yeah, I feel what Tony Harris is saying. And I think it's important to promote new concepts, or creator-owned comics, or whatever type of comics you're passionate about. But nobody has an obligation to buy a particular type of comic. Calling people out, while cathartic, isn't likely to work. But, if you have a couple extra bucks, or if something you're reading now isn't doing it for you anymore, try something new!

This post has been edited by blockhead: 10 May 2010 - 10:00 PM

[The Scream Man]

Flash 2 hits this week i think, and its probably the book Im most excited for in my stash.

[jaydee74]

Flash 2 hits this week i think, and its probably the book Im most excited for in my stash.

It comes out this week? Awesome.

[BillDoughty]

Flash #1 was one of the first things I read out of my DCBS box, and while I'll wait for the trade, maybe, I did think it was pretty decent. I hope Johns sticks with the CSI/Cold Case angle, because that was what drew me into Barry's character in this. I love those Silver & Bronze Age stories for the Rogues, but Barry himself, well, I always thought the only interesting thing he ever did was die. But actually giving his day job some focus, and making him the only guy on the force (so far) interested in solving these old cases properly, it gives him a purpose if not a full personality yet, and that's something at least.

Dug the hell out of that Flash ring, though. That was the first thing I opened out of the whole box and it stayed on my hand the rest of the night.

[jaydee74]

Dug the hell out of that Flash ring, though. That was the first thing I opened out of the whole box and it stayed on my hand the rest of the night.

It's quite a nice looking ring.

[DownInAHole]

I'm not following the Tony Harris thing too closely, basically I'm going by what Peter said and the little I've read on CBR but I don't think he is very smart in the way he is going about this. Insulting readers' taste is not going to win people over to his cause. I'm not wrong for enjoying superhero comics from Marvel and DC and people who read indie comics are not automatically "better" than people who do not. Reading his tweets he seems very disorganised and it appears that he's not sure what his goal is or how to go about achieving it. Before he starts pointing fingers at readers blaming us for what is wrong with comics he should get his shit together and present a clear and focused vision for what exactly he is hoping to accomplish.

[Jason Aiken]

Haris needs to stay off twitter and get to work on finishing War Heroes.... which I think he and Millar just put the issues out to establish the IP and get a movie deal anyway.

[Devyn Rodriguez]

There are no original stories left in this world.

Disagree. The story of my life is uniquely mine and mine alone.
Therefore if I put my personality and life experience into a piece of fiction, it is a unique story.

I'm not following the Tony Harris thing too closely, basically I'm going by what Peter said and the little I've read on CBR but I don't think he is very smart in the way he is going about this. Insulting readers' taste is not going to win people over to his cause. I'm not wrong for enjoying superhero comics from Marvel and DC and people who read indie comics are not automatically "better" than people who do not.

We could go on forever on this whole commercialize product vs. art. The people who like art think that the people who "digest" commercialized product are idiots and the other side think that the people who love the art are snobs.

This post has been edited by Devyn Rodriguez: 11 May 2010 - 06:20 AM

[popcornsamurai]

Haris needs to stay off twitter and get to work on finishing War Heroes.... which I think he and Millar just put the issues out to establish the IP and get a movie deal anyway.

Thank you!

I have 3 issues of that book and I have no intention of completeting the series.

[popcornsamurai]

Disagree. The story of my life is uniquely mine and mine alone.
Therefore if I put my personality and life experience into a piece of fiction, it is a unique story.



We could go on forever on this whole commercialize product vs. art. The people who like art think that the people who "digest" commercialized product are idiots and the other side think that the people who love the art are snobs.

No, I agree with you. I think you can take Wolverine and tell the same story over and over again but every writer and artist team will have its own take on it. Thats why I think the whole argument is pointless. It is like getting mad about there being no new rock music, its all just three chords and the truth. I happen to like the way the White Stripes interpret Rock and Blues but I would never call them original. Look at Avatar, it is a completely alien world in the future with fantastic ideas and shown in a brand new format, but if you tried to call it an orginal story people with laugh. I agree that the "unique" presentation is what will keep art going until the end of time but I don't think there are really any truly "original" ideas anymore.

[jaydee74]

I'm not following the Tony Harris thing too closely, basically I'm going by what Peter said and the little I've read on CBR but I don't think he is very smart in the way he is going about this. Insulting readers' taste is not going to win people over to his cause. I'm not wrong for enjoying superhero comics from Marvel and DC and people who read indie comics are not automatically "better" than people who do not. Reading his tweets he seems very disorganised and it appears that he's not sure what his goal is or how to go about achieving it. Before he starts pointing fingers at readers blaming us for what is wrong with comics he should get his shit together and present a clear and focused vision for what exactly he is hoping to accomplish.

Agreed. He's not making his argument by doing it the way he's doing it.

[The Electric Mayhem]

Although things are changing slowly at the big two, it's still not an environment in which creators are necessarily rewarded for creating new characters.

chris

I have haven't had a chance to listen to the episode yet, your comment struck a chord that I have been strumming for a while in the ol' noggin. With the fantastic run of GL lately, does Johns as the creator get to "own" those characters he developed? Like Saint Walker, Larfleeze, the Emotional Entities, even the whole Rainbow Spectrum. If and how would Johns get compensated if other writers used his IP?

[jaydee74]

I have haven't had a chance to listen to the episode yet, your comment struck a chord that I have been strumming for a while in the ol' noggin. With the fantastic run of GL lately, does Johns as the creator get to "own" those characters he developed? Like Saint Walker, Larfleeze, the Emotional Entities, even the whole Rainbow Spectrum. If and how would Johns get compensated if other writers used his IP?

That's an interesting question because when you look at it, Johns has created a few other characters as well like Ms. Martian who he named after the wife of a friend of his and then he created Courtney Whitmore who was created to honor his sister I believe. You also have all the Green Lantern characters like the different colored Corps characters like you mentioned. Larfleeze, Saint Walker and Atrocitus. It would be interesting to know if they own a piece of the character.

[Steeven]

The below was written directly after I listened to Peter read Tony Harris's 1st rant:

All respect to Tony Harris, but when a creator starts complaining about what readers buy, when they complain that there aren't any new ideas out there because readers are still buying the same books they bought for years from the big two, it sounds like sour grapes to me. It sounds like: "Hey, why aren't you buying my book!? Buy my book! It's a new idea! The big two suck and you suck for buying their books!"

Nothing makes me not want to buy a book more then when the creator is telling me that I'm a sheep and that I buy crap.

Comics cost money . . . quite a bit, actually. Not all comic readers are made of money, so when they spend their $20, $30, $40, $50, $100, or whatever a month on books, you're damn right they want to buy something they feel comfortable with.

Tony, I don't tell you how to spend your money, don't tell us how to spend our money, especially when it feels less like you are trying to do something as lofty as saving the industry, and more like you just want us to buy your books.