Over lunch today Meggan, my resident HP-geek daughter, and I were discussing the events of That Book and the subject of spoilers drifted into the conversation.

So, we wondered, when will it be OK to discuss the plot of That Book in the open (say like at the Pub where we had lunch) and not have to worry about spoiling it for someone?

Sure at the moment letting slip who kicked the bucket in the recent J.K. Rowling massacre may not be appreciated by the person sat at the next table; but revealing that Darth is Luke’s daddy or that Rosebud was the sled comes as a surprise to no-one.

Or at least I hope it doesn’t.

So how long does it take for a well guarded plot point, or characters fate, to move from being a shared secret among those few in the know to becoming an established and accepted part of popular culture?

And I’ll leave you with that thought as I head out West for the pilgrimage to the Nerd-Prom that is San Diego ComicCon – Back next week.

The nominations for this year’s Wizard Fan Awards have been posted, and does little more than reflect the narrow focus of that magazine and its readership on mainstream books featuring men-in-tights.

But this category caught my eye.

FAVORITE COMIC MOVIE PROJECT

V for Vendetta (Warner Bros)
X-Men: The Last Stand (Fox)
Art School Confidential (Sony)
Superman Returns (Warner Bros)
Casino Royale (MGM).

Sorry, what was that last one again?

Casino Royale !!

Boy calling that a "comic movie project" is one hell of a stretch.

Sure there was a comic strip adaptation done in the UK’s Daily Express newspaper back in 1958, and since translated and reprinted in several other countries, and it was even imported into the US as part of the current Titan Books reprint collection.

But that’s the only time 007’s initial outing has been anywhere near an existence in panel form.

In his editorial at the front of the latest issue of Comics & Games Retailer magazine (#185 – August 2007), current editor James Mishler drops several large hints thet the magazine is headed for its, perhaps inevitable, demise.

Although he doesn’t come right out and say it, reading between the lines it appears that the lack of support and advertising from comics publishers is a large contributing factor.

It saddens me that the comics industry seemingly can’t support a trade magazine designed to educate and inform those very people who work to sell the product. Let’s face it the comics publishers’ customer isn’t you or I, it’s your local retailer.

Yet a quick flick through this latest issue shows the only publisher with advertising is Bongo comics. And if Mishler’s column is to be believed Bongo, along with Dark Horse, and Archaia Press are the only publishers who send them review copies.

Here is a magazine that should be in the hands of every retailer, yet the publishers pass over the opportunity to actively promote their books to the people who are risking their business and livelihoods on those same products. This is one of the most perfect targetted marketing opportunities I have ever seen for print ads, and it appears to be totally overlooked. Maybe I’m missing something here.

Over the years I’ve been reading C&GR it has published many excellent articles on various aspects of retailing and business in general. (And on a few off months even stooped so low as to publish some of my scribblings.) In the days I ran a mail order comics business, and even during the time I was giving serious consideration to actually opening my own store it was an invaluable business tool.

Yes it will be a sad day if C&CR folds, but it won’t be a surprise. Even though it is free, yes FREE, to anyone with even the remotist link to comics retailing, and should be required reading for all store staff, I’ve been constantly amazed of the number or store owners and managers who read every word in PREVIEWS yet ignore their own trade magazine.

In fact I was talking to a couple of store managers a few months ago about the new retailers organization ComicsPRO and mentioned the extensive coverage in Comics & Games Retailer. They both looked at me with blank expressions, followed by the inevitable "What’s that?" question.

I keep reading that the salvation of the comics indutry may be a new generation of store owners with fresh ideas and a good understanding of the retail market. If that’s the case – how are they going to get educated? I know there are various on-line retailer forums and communities that do an excellent job – and maybe I’m just old fashioned, but if we are in the business of selling a printed product, it seems fitting that we should have a print trade magazine too.

I seems that certain people may have got their ideas on foriegn policy from reading comic books back in 1952

From Quality Comics T-Man Comics #3.
Originally spotted on Boing-Boing

It seems that everyone’s favorite Belgian child detective is in trouble with the Britain’s Commission for Racial Equality.

Extracted from the Associated Press report:

This raises an interesting point about our culture of presentism and "cultural chauvinism." It is natural for us to look at works of art within the context of our current environment, rather than in the one that it was created.

Is the problem that the work is available at all, or the fact that it was available in a mass-market outlet?

Or is this part of the "comics are for kids" mentality, and the general ignorance of book store employees as to the contents of what they sell?

(And yes I’ve worked in a large book store and know it’s impossible to know the contents of every book in the store – but I also know that senior book sellers are given responsibility for certain sections and it’s not beyond them to get themselves educated about the genres in their care.)

The story also made me wonder if anyone at The Commission for Racial Equality has read Tarzan of the Apes recently?

In no way am I condoning the content of this particular Tintin story. I have read it in the past – and yes it is horribly racist. But so are many other books you can find in major book stores – Mein Kampf is openly on sale in my local Barnes & Noble for instance. If books like that, and Tarzan, are allowed to be shelved and sold as products of their time and placed in historical context, then why not a comic?

Is the reaction of the Government body just because it was a comic? Or because it was a comic in the kids section?

UPDATE: An excellent reaction piece on the Tintin incident from the UK’s Sunday Times.

One part of my day job is checking on any possible misuse of the company’s registered trademarks. As part of that process I set up a Google Alert for one of the trademarks; which is made up of two fairly common words compounded into a single new word.

When I do get hits its usually people in a similar area of business who have just run the two words together because it "looks cool" rather than any real attempt to misrepresent themselves. (Although there are a few of those around).

Today I got a hit marked as coming from Dark Horse Comics !

Turns out that one of the registered trademarks was included in their solicitation copy for the manga PATH OF THE ASSASSIN VOLUME 10.

Now the usual "cease and desist" notice may be taking it a little too far – but some free comics in recompense? – That may be worth a try.

Thor #1
Marvel Comics (24 pages/$2.99)

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski
Artist: Olivier Coipel

Following on from his excellent runs on Amazing Spider-Man and The Fantastic Four, Babylon-5 creator JMS turns his attention to arguably the Marvel Universe’s most clichéd and one dimensional character. I know some writers who would love to write Thor, but I’ve never really felt that the Thunder God was much more than a one trick pony. Even Walt Simonson’s classic run on the title focused more on his supporting cast than the titular hero. The one thing I felt was missing from most tales of Odin’s favorite son has been any real sense of humanity.

That humanity was always anchored in Thor’s original alter-ego, the lame physician Dr Donald Blake. In this relaunch issue JMS takes the concept that Blake has been in “limbo” for many years and uses it as a platform to spin the series focus through 180 degrees. The tone and underlying theme of the book is best summarized by the following dialog from Donald Blake:

This is one of the strongest title launches I’ve read in a while and the combination of JMS’s powerful scripting and Olivier Coipel’s excellent artwork pulled me in from the first stage. This one has everything from cosmic grandeur to human pathos. Let’s hope that it stays the course and what could easily have been a one-note power trip fulfills the promise of developing into a compelling human drama.

Review copies supplied by Austin Books & Comics

In a Press Release dated today, DC Comics announced the creation of Zudacomics.com, a new web comics imprint.

According to the release:

The comics blogsphere, as well as the media in general, has been quick to react. Calling it everything from a "virtual slushpile" to a "webcomics reality show."

It appears that the model is aspiring webcomics creators can submit 8 panel webcomic ideas, and each month, starting in October, DC editorial will pick 10 entries and award them with a one-year contract to produce a full webcomic.

Many are viewing this as a way for DC to acquire intellectual properties, and answers to questions posed to DC to date have been vague in terms of IP ownership.

So last night I took my two daughters to see that movie about shape changing robots. (Should I be worried by the fact that my two didn’t ask what masturbation was – but actually laughed at the "Sam’s Special Time" line?)

Before the movie we were bombarded with the usual parade of stupid quizzes and placards telling you to hold your next corporate meeting at the movies (Does anyone actually do that?). Amongst them was one extolling the virtues of advertising your local business to the captive movie audience. That prompted a conversation along the lines that it would be great if local comic-book stores took advantage of opportunities like that, and placed ads before comic book related movies.

Lo and behold 5 minutes later what appears on the screen? Not just one, but two ads promoting two different stores.

So kudos to John at Capstone Comics and Randy at Rogues Gallery for an excellent piece of cross-marketing. Both are excellent clean, family friendly well organized stores and perfect examples of the sort of progressive retail thinking the industry needs to grow.

It’s not often these days I agree with John Byrne’s views on comics. Let’s face it, it’s a long time since he said anything of value on his forum…

But amazingly I find myself agreeing with the sentiments (if not exactly the tone) of this post.