Post by driver1980 on Oct 29, 2023 6:13:52 GMT -5
In my opinion, Frank Miller’s All Star Batman & Robin is not a good book, script-wise. I like the art, but I honestly don’t know what Miller was thinking with the dialogue, plot, etc. I’ve seen very few positive comments about the story; in fact, I haven’t seen any. The art is praised, though.
But I’m here to talk about its sporadic schedule, how that may have impacted perception of the series, what it reveals about DC, etc. All insight and opinion welcome, including any facts I may be unaware of.
Firstly, late books do suck. Us comic readers are creatures of habit. If we’re used to a monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly schedule, then that is what we are used to. Mess with that schedule - purposefully or not - and we lose interest. It’d be the same with any periodical. I used to buy the Daily Mirror years ago (that was my paper of choice), which was daily. I only bought the weekday editions. But it the publisher had become sporadic, I’d have lost interest. I’d have lost interest if the corner shop owner had told me, “Oh, they didn’t do a paper today, they’ll possibly publish one on Tuesday.” You’d lose interest.
Were late books ever a “thing” in the Golden, Silver or Bronze Ages? If so, I’d wager a filler issue would have been published. Of course, I don’t know about that for sure. It did seem a lot of modern comics - at DC and Marvel - got delayed or perhaps never even finished. And it did feel like we got either excuses or no explanation at all. Now, it’s very much a first-world problem, but first-world problems can be frustrating.
I had some interest in All Star Batman & Robin, when it debuted in 2005. That interested disappeared in 2006 when ONE issue was published in the entirety of that year. Which felt lame. My comic store guy spoke with me about it. Doubly frustrating was how there didn’t seem to be an explanation (I did Google for one). I think the closest I came to one was a forum member - at another forum - telling me Jim Lee’s art was behind due to involvement with other areas of DC/WB. Still, one issue in 2006?
Did they ever finish the series? I don’t know. I never checked.
I thought it was pathetic how the series became plagued by delays. And that is putting it mildly. I mean, was there a historical precedent of a monthly or bi-monthly book shipping just one issue in a calendar year?
I don’t think the optics were good. Suppose someone made that their first book (perhaps they’d seen the Nolan films and wanted to read a Batman comic). I mean, every comic published must be a first title for someone, right? If that happened with this title, how disillusioned would they have been with the delays and the one issue being shipped in 2006? What about a lapsed fan? I believe companies can drive people away, for better or worse.
Perception is everything at times. I had a bad experience using a courier to send a book to someone once. A frustratingly bad experience, both on a courier level and customer service level. I never used that courier again. I also did not return to a pub that gave me the world’s coldest steak - and seemed disinterested in rectifying it. That pub may have been having an off-day, and it’s possible if I’d eaten there again, I might have been served a fantastic meal. But we disappear and move on when we are let down.
How many Batman fans - new, lapsed or regular - became disillusioned with DC over the delays mentioned here? In the comic world, I cannot imagine anything that would have frustrated someone more than a monthly/bi-monthly book being so behind that only one issue ships in a year. It made DC look amateurish. It looked bad. Yes, I should remember that when this was happening, DC was putting out a lot of other books that were on schedule. I just thought it was a bad look for DC.
What do you think?
Now, I don’t wish to tell people what to post, but I am more interested in your views on the schedule/delays rather than the quality of the story and art, but if you feel the two are linked, please post a thought or two.
But I’m here to talk about its sporadic schedule, how that may have impacted perception of the series, what it reveals about DC, etc. All insight and opinion welcome, including any facts I may be unaware of.
Firstly, late books do suck. Us comic readers are creatures of habit. If we’re used to a monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly schedule, then that is what we are used to. Mess with that schedule - purposefully or not - and we lose interest. It’d be the same with any periodical. I used to buy the Daily Mirror years ago (that was my paper of choice), which was daily. I only bought the weekday editions. But it the publisher had become sporadic, I’d have lost interest. I’d have lost interest if the corner shop owner had told me, “Oh, they didn’t do a paper today, they’ll possibly publish one on Tuesday.” You’d lose interest.
Were late books ever a “thing” in the Golden, Silver or Bronze Ages? If so, I’d wager a filler issue would have been published. Of course, I don’t know about that for sure. It did seem a lot of modern comics - at DC and Marvel - got delayed or perhaps never even finished. And it did feel like we got either excuses or no explanation at all. Now, it’s very much a first-world problem, but first-world problems can be frustrating.
I had some interest in All Star Batman & Robin, when it debuted in 2005. That interested disappeared in 2006 when ONE issue was published in the entirety of that year. Which felt lame. My comic store guy spoke with me about it. Doubly frustrating was how there didn’t seem to be an explanation (I did Google for one). I think the closest I came to one was a forum member - at another forum - telling me Jim Lee’s art was behind due to involvement with other areas of DC/WB. Still, one issue in 2006?
Did they ever finish the series? I don’t know. I never checked.
I thought it was pathetic how the series became plagued by delays. And that is putting it mildly. I mean, was there a historical precedent of a monthly or bi-monthly book shipping just one issue in a calendar year?
I don’t think the optics were good. Suppose someone made that their first book (perhaps they’d seen the Nolan films and wanted to read a Batman comic). I mean, every comic published must be a first title for someone, right? If that happened with this title, how disillusioned would they have been with the delays and the one issue being shipped in 2006? What about a lapsed fan? I believe companies can drive people away, for better or worse.
Perception is everything at times. I had a bad experience using a courier to send a book to someone once. A frustratingly bad experience, both on a courier level and customer service level. I never used that courier again. I also did not return to a pub that gave me the world’s coldest steak - and seemed disinterested in rectifying it. That pub may have been having an off-day, and it’s possible if I’d eaten there again, I might have been served a fantastic meal. But we disappear and move on when we are let down.
How many Batman fans - new, lapsed or regular - became disillusioned with DC over the delays mentioned here? In the comic world, I cannot imagine anything that would have frustrated someone more than a monthly/bi-monthly book being so behind that only one issue ships in a year. It made DC look amateurish. It looked bad. Yes, I should remember that when this was happening, DC was putting out a lot of other books that were on schedule. I just thought it was a bad look for DC.
What do you think?
Now, I don’t wish to tell people what to post, but I am more interested in your views on the schedule/delays rather than the quality of the story and art, but if you feel the two are linked, please post a thought or two.
