Marvel Comics

I was reading an article at CBR and found this quote from Peter David:

Peter [David] said in the sixties, if books contradicted each other, Marvel said "Come up with an explanation and if we like it we'll give you a no-prize!" Now, there are threads online about how She-hulk is doing one thing in her own book and something else in the hulk's book, and Marvel clearly doesn't care any more. It was a shock to writers in the sixties that people cared about stuff like that.

It was a shock that readers expected consistent characterization across books? Really?

My perception is that Peter David doesn't pay much attention to what other Marvel writers are doing in their books - he's probably the least attentive writer at Marvel currently where cross-book continuity is concerned. So it is pretty bold for for him to declare that Marvel as a whole "doesn't care" about the area where he most obviously underperforms.

Peter David was speaking on a panel at Wizard World Philadelphia when he made the remarks. Check out the full story at CBR.

The November sales figures are out and the news isn't good for She-Hulk fans. Peter David's second issue on the comic is the second-worst seller in the history of the book, with fewer than 25,000 copies sold in November, according to ICV2.com.

The only issue with lower sales was She-Hulk #14, which was also the only issue not to show She-Hulk or Jen Walters on the cover. (#14 instead featured mute, faceless supporting character "Awesome Andy" making preparations to commit suicide.)

There are a couple things wrong with Marvel's new "Digital Comics Unlimited" archive - a $60/year back issue extravaganza. First off, acronymized it reads "Marvel DCU", which is a bit confusing. Secondly, Marvel apparently crashed its site while attempting to launch the new feature, because Marvel.com has been down all day. Both of those are forgivable.

Thirdly and worst, Marvel seems to intend to make the comics available only through a proprietary web application. Probably the company is doing that to prevent subscribers from sharing with non-subscribers, while also preventing users from creating a personal archive independent of their subscriptions. The net effect, though, will be to encourage pirates to find other ways to scan and share back issues. They'll probably even use Marvel's own high-quality scans from the archive.

A smarter approach may be what DC did with Mad Magazine a few years back - it sold "Absolutely MAD Magazine - 50+ Years", a DVD collection of the magazine for $50.

Check out the Newsarama write-up on Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited.

She Hulk and Thing by ~Jebriodo on deviantART

I just love Jed Dougherty's work.

So lots of people are chattering about a bomb Mark Millar dropped on his forum prior to leaving on vacation, regarding the next Crisis/Wars event at Marvel:

It involves a symbiote at one stage in the story, the death of the greatest Marvel hero, a new President, a blind superhero driving a car 3000 miles and The Hulk as you've never seen them (yes them) before. It's a lot of fun and I have a feeling this is going to be MASSIVE.

With World War Hulk as yet unresolved, it seems possible that Marvel will break the Hulk down into multiple personalities again or even into multiple bodies (again). Obviously the She-Hulk is a "hulk", so she may count as one of "them".