Ryan Daly launches a new series of mini-sodes, wherein he describes what comics he'll publish and what movies he'll produce in the future when he's in charge. On this first installment, Ryan describes the changes he'll make to the format of DC's premiere anthology titles, Action and Detective Comics.
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Music by Neil Daly.
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How does the tutu you sent me figure in all this?
Now this is a great idea for a show. I like all your notions. The rotating back-up ideas in Action take me back to the Seventies, when the comic did just that – Air Wave, the Atom, Aquaman… if you had a name beginning with A, there you were.
Of course, I’m going to throw in other ideas. Superman stays, and the regular second feature would be Hawkman & Hawkwoman. Rotating, we’d have Dial H For Hero, Plastic Man and Hero Hotline… think action with a different flavour.
As for Detective, behind Batman would be Adam Strange (hey, he was always solving mysteries) and, taking turns, Sugar & Spike in the recent mini-series mode, the Human Target and Jonni Thunder.
38pp you say? I reckon that gives us 2pp to play with, so I suggest a couple of Henry Boltinoff-style humour one-pagers, by Chris Eliopoulos or whoever. Heck, bring back Super-Turtle!
Plus, a lettercol with a scan code taking readers to somewhere they could vote on their favourite features.
Bring on episode two!
The last desperate act of a man who is about to have another person bossing him around…a kid. 😉
Seriously, I love this idea. I’m digging the hell outta Action Comics (and Superman) right now, but I’d be down for some backups. You know who I’d love to see more of? The Vigilante. Not the Punisher wannabe, the Greg Sanders, singing cowboy version, who held court in Action back in the 40s. I LOVE that character (so much I made a custom Mego figure of him), and he deserves to have new adventures set in his heyday of the 40s. Maybe rotate it around with your Blackhawk idea. Put Michael Cho on the art chores.
I’m thinking the next episode of Knightfall had some influence on your ideas for Detective, but I’m all down for what you have laid out. Do it DC!!!
Chris
Not that you don’t know your own podcast Chris, but should that be Knightcast? 🙂
Ha! Nice catch! That was a Freudian slip of some kind!
Chris
Actually, I had this plan for DETECTIVE COMICS long before we discussed the characters on KNIGHTCAST, but that discussion is probably what made me want to do this episode.
So, who is in charge again? I must have missed that bit 😉
I loved the idea of this, and look forward to the next episode. I think maybe you should have set out your stall first by stating how many comics you think DC should be issuing a month if you were in charge. This could then be used to inform your choices e.g. I don’t think we will be publishing a Hawkman comic but he would be one of the cornerstones of the Sensation Comics Anthology series.
I think the Detective comics anthology sounds great. For Action, if you wanted to add something different but brings to mind action, the Challengers of the Unknown could be a good fit.
Look forward to the next episode and I love the short, snappy nature of the format.
Oh, would also be cool if you could have given us your creative teams on the other series you were suggesting – Francavilla on Martian Manhunter is an inspired choice!
If particular artists come to me I’ll include them. The problem is I’m not reading many current comics so it’s hard for me to even think of who’s hot right now, who is up-and-coming. It’s more likely to come off like:
“I want Michael Turner on this book!”
“He’s dead, Ryan.”
“You could’ve just said he wasn’t available.”
Francavilla on a 50s’ Martian Manhunter strip? The Blackhawks in ACTION? I’m in!
I’m jealous you thought of doing this first.
Making the EPITHET Comics thicker and more like anthologies (or at least feature different strips) is one I like. My problem with modern comics is that they cost too much for kids to get into more obscure characters or get into the world’s history. Get them in the door with Superman or Batman, and introduce them to the rest in solid back-ups.
But when DC tried that before the New52, it didn’t really work out so… (I say that but I was reading a couple of books mostly for the back-up…)
EPITHET comics?
Action, Detective, Sensation, All-Star, etc.
Too clever for me!
My dream line up for a revamped ADVENTURE COMICS:
Lead: Aquaman
Back-Ups: Captain Fear, Sugar & Spike, The Vigilante (cowboy version)
Teacher, Rob stole my idea!
FW Presents: Whi Ill Nvr B N Chrg Ep. 1
I never really wanted to write Batman or Superman, because I don’t care about the paychecks or fragile fanboy sensibilities or focusing all my attention on the Alphas. I hold Detective Comics and Action Comics in much higher esteem as the birthplaces of the genre of guttersnipe fiction that has defined my life. However, the anthology format remains dead at the majors, and unless they can successfully transition to thick manga-style periodicals at disposable pricing, multi-feature mainstream comics will not return before the print periodical ceases to exist. Further, such bundling doesn’t make much sense in digital, which favors buffet dining. Who wants to be forced to read a Johnny Cloud serial when you can buy individual 8-12 pagers for 99 cents? As much as I’d like to see a Francesco Francavilla on an extra-terrestrial procedural, I’d prefer he do the covers on a Manhunter from Mars (mini-) series with interiors by Nick Dragotta that also fully embraces the science-fantasy aspect that was uncomfortable in ‘Tec.
Also, I see Action and Detective as having a broader mandate to cover the systems of satellites that rotate around those suns. The eponymous titles should decide the course of the titular characters and their closest supporting casts’ lives, while their original publications should have the icons as their protagonists, but not necessarily their primary subjects. The writers of AC/DC should have their own core of players that they reign over. Say Batman has Alfred and Jim Gordon or Superman calls dibs on Lois Lane. That wouldn’t stop Action Comics from doing a story arc focusing on Lois Lane that doesn’t fundamentally alter her life, but that story could be in the title that has guardianship over Maggie Sawyer. Then it’s Maggie who gets aged ten years by Parasite, a villain also used solely at that Superman title’s discretion, and we see how that impacts her personal and professional life. That way, you incentivize creators building up “their” characters, like Renee Montoya or Mad Hatter or whoever, instead of giving us Joker Job Title #Q-573Z. You can tell big, involved, consequential epics or small quiet character pieces buoyed by star power but without tripping over other writers.
So, in summary, I’m vetoing your anthologies in favor of something more akin to Superman/Batman Family, not that it matters, because I’ll Never Be In Charge™
How did I know you’d nix my hypothetical situation for your own?
Technically, I nixed our purely hypothetical, never to be realized pipe dreams. It was a metaphorical murder-suicide.
Hi Ryan – loved the episode; the short format worked really well.
I think your idea for the two anthologies was a good one, and your description of your plans for “Detective” might even make me buy a copy. (Batman has never really done it for me.)
If I were to offer one criticism, it’d be the selection of Slam Bradley. I think his star has faded just too much to be viable, even as the third pick in the ‘C’ story. You could “New 52” him, and reimagine the character for the 21st Century, but allow me suggest some alternatives to fill the third slot in the rotating ‘C’ story.
*Christopher Chance, the Human Target.
* Renee Montoya, The Question (a great character and a much needed female presence in the book) or
*A DCU version of The Dead Boy Detectives for some more supernatural mysteries.
I’d give your suggestion for “Detective Comics” an A-, but I have more of an problem with your wishes for “Action Comics”. An anthology based on dangerous, exciting all-action adventures I completely get… but if you want to dispose of backstory and exposition to focus on the action, 19 pages for a Superman story seems to me to be a lot of space to fill.
Superman vs the Space Dinosaur: Page Breakdown.
Page 1: Splash page: Alien T Rex in a spaceship heading for crash down on Earth.
Page 2: Alien T Rex emerges from crashed ship and growls / inflicts lots of expensive property damage
Page 3: Flashback: Alien T Rex’s motivation for crashing Earth!
Page 4: News reaches the Daily Planet and Clark mysteriously excuses himself…
Page 5: Superman shows up to ask Alien T Rex: “WTF is he up to?”
Page 6: They are unable to negotiate a reasonable and mutually satisfactory accord, so they fight…
Page 7 – 18 Errrm…. they fight? And then they… fight some more..?
Page 19: Superman escorts Alien T Rex off world before going back to tidy up the property damage, whilst Alien T Rex vows he’ll be back some day.
And there’s your problem – Pages 7 – 18. Focussing on action without permitting much exposition or back story could make for an interminably long fight scene. so long that it would be difficult to maintain the requisite pace & momentum for all of that time. There’s a risk that – by wanting all-action – you might actually make such a long story a bit – well… dull.
So here’s my suggestion. Instead of wondering how to fill 10 pages of soul-seaching Alien T Rex internal monologue, we have 4 shorter, pithier stories of equal page count and equally high octane action.
Superman – Sure! Blackhawks – Yes Please! The rotating trio of Black Lightning, Metamorpho & Congorilla – Great Idea! And… for the new fourth spot? Well, what about Blue Beetle? Or Adam Strange? Or The Atom? Or even Black Canary? (See what I did there?)
So an A- for “Detective”, but a solid B for “Action”. I must confess, I’m not too sure about the economics of hiring four seperate creative teams for one 40 page book… but as you were so fond of saying – “You’re In Charge!”, so I’ll let you be the one to worry about getting it past the Finance Office! ;o)
I knew everyone who listened would have their own ideas for what to do with ACTION and DETECTIVE. That was part of the fun of this episode, the anticipation of what ideas other people would have.
As for Blue Beetle, Atom, Adam Strange, Black Canary, etc… I’ve got other ideas for them. 🙂
That was fun, Ryan! I agree with Jimmy, Challengers if the Unknown would be a great feature in a book called Action! Also, Martin, great suggestion of Hero Hotline! As the guy in charge, though, you should consider a new, contemporary character. A soldier, P.I., G-Man, CIA agent, who could engage in global action. Most importantly, for marketing reasons, a character who is NOT of Northern European ancestry. That doesn’t mean other planets, either.
I started buying comics in 1977, right at the beginning of DC’s Dollar Comics 80-Page Giant anthologies, so I am definitely down for this. A couple thoughts….
* Each issue of Detective Comics should have at least one “fair play” mystery, perhaps with a rotating lead character.
* How about having short, stand-alone text stories for Superman and Batman, leaving additional space for another feature?
I like the idea of text stories, but part of my thinking was to keep the more-or-less full-length Superman and Batman stories undisturbed. For the collectors and readers who come to ACTION for the Man of Steel, I want as little disruption of their service as possible.
When you’re in charge, can I work for you?