Comic Book Jones Defeats the Evil Print Sales of the Comic Book Industry!

In a world of dwindling comic sales, heavy promotion of digital formats and constant book canceling, Comic Book Jones strives to come out on top using innovative methods to make it stand out as more than just a comic book shop. Comic Book Jones is located on Forest Ave. in Staten Island and is one of the few remaining comic book shops on the island. It is no wonder that Comic Book Jones was voted “Best Comic Book Store in NYC” by Dark House Comic readers and it couldn’t have been more deserved. When it opened four years ago, many were less than hopeful about its future but the storeowners, Socko and Tiger Jones, were fully prepared to go above and beyond the typical standard of a comic book store.

Upon entering, you will immediately feel the cozy atmosphere thanks to spacious lounge area and smell of freshly brewed, complimentary, coffee. The place is colorful and full of character, as are the employees. Although only a handful work of people work there, each one is just as knowledgeable and help as the other and stand out with their very nickname. "The problem with most comic book stores is that they don't care about their customer," Tiger Jones, co-owner of the store said. "We don't want to just stand behind a register waiting for sales. We want to create an environment that people feel comfortable to come hang out."

It looks like they accomplished their mission since at least twice a month, the store host special events from movie tailgate parties to band performances to trivia contests. This is when Comic Book Jones shines as something much more than a store, which is why it's been growing strong for four years thanks to positive word of mouth. “I’ve been coming here for years despite it being so far,” said Kevin Hooper. “There’s one closer to my house but this place is worth the trip. Such a great atmosphere.”

So while the comic book industry struggles to find ways to reinvent the medium, Comic Book Jones will continue to discover ways to reinvent the idea of a local comic book store.

Marvel Tries New Way to Create Buzz for Next Year's Event

Comic Book readers have become a bit jaded when it comes to the "Latest Crossover that Will Change the Universe Forever" due to the fact that Marvel and DC are guilty of using that tagline once a year. So, Marvel used a different tagline for next years crossover event, Avengers VS. X-Men or AvX, by boldly claiming it as "the best comic book story ever." They've also been slowly revealing more details about the event after initially revealing the Phoenix "It's Coming" teaser last month.

Last week, Marvel did something to make sure fans knew this event would be historical by having a live web chat with the various writers that will crafting the story, including some of the industry's biggest names such as Matt Fraction and Jason Aaron. Fans were able to submit questions via twitter and participate in a live chat with other viewers. Marvel's plan seems to have worked as the hashtag #AvX managed to trend in the United States for at least an hour. If they manage to keep this up, Marvel could be looking at a surge in sales once this epic crossover takes over the Marvel Universe this spring!  

It's Coming But Is SHE Coming?

Few things are teased as often as Jean Grey's inevitable return is. Then again, few things excite comic book fans more than the prospect of Jean Grey gracing the Marvel Universe with her fiery red hair and angelic/demonic personality.

One of the original X-Men, Jean Grey, also known as Marvel Girl and Phoenix, is arguably the most popular female marvel character due to her role in one of the most treasured comic book stories of all time, The Dark Phoenix Saga where she destroyed an entire universe before ending her life. Since then, she's been depicted in all X-Men media from the cartoons to the blockbuster movies, where she was portrayed by Famke Jansen.

Jean Grey is also the symbol of the often criticized comic book rule of "Nothing stays dead." Having died in 197 at the stunning conclusion of The Dark Phoenix Saga, a clone of her named Maddie Pryor appeared shortly after. Jean herself returned years later as Maddie was driven insane and killed. Jean continued to have a prominent role in the X-Men universe until her death in 2004. She returned briefly in the 2006 miniseries, Phoenix: Endsong, and fans have been waiting for her to return permanently ever since.

Marvel has acknowledged that no character receives more fan mail than Jean, many of the letters begging Marvel to bring the character back. Marvel writers have enjoyed teasing fans of her return over the years, including their most recent teaser poster for the 2012 company wide event which shows the Phoenix insignia with the words, "It's Coming." Although the Phoenix Force itself has been used in storylines without Jean Grey, Marvel knows full well that fans will associate the fiery bird with everyone's favorite sun-consuming telepath. They are also aware that few things create more buzz than Jean Grey due to her significance, power and overall popularity. But will Jean finally make her anticipated return as the "Heart of the Marvel Universe"  or is this yet another tease in a long line of red herrings. Only time will tell...  

Closeted Gay Character Gets Outed By Marvel's Editor-in-Chief, Axel Alonso!

In a recent interview with ComicBookResources, Axel Alonso, current Editor-in-Chief of Marvel Comics, was asked about the lack character diversity in the Marvel Universe. Axel easily defended the company by listing numerous multicultural characters as well as LGBT characters including Striker, who Axel claimed "Just came out of the closet in Avengers Academy." For readers, this was their first time hearing this detail about the character since the issue Axel refers to doesn't come out for another two weeks...

Could this possibly be a publicity stunt to boost sales of the critically acclaimed series about a group of potentially dangerous young heroes or did Axel truly forget the upcoming release schedule? Either way, Christos Gage, creator and current writer of Avengers Academy didn't seem too upset by Axel's spoiling. The writer quickly tweeted fans saying, "Regarding Striker: Make sure to pick up AVENGERS ACADEMY #23 in a couple weeks. I'll have a lot more to say when the story's out!"


For fans worried that Avenger Academy's resident electric bad boy's coming out story will be played just for shock value, Gage assures them that Striker's sexuality was planned "vaguely since #1" and "solidly since #5." He even urged readers to go check early issues for subtle hints and clues regarding Striker's secret. 


For those of you who want to see what Striker himself has to say about the whole thing, check out Avengers Academy #23 in two weeks! 

Cloak and Dagger, Marvel's Troubled Drug-Busting Runaways, Coming Soon to ABC Family

Readers were introduced to runaway teenagers Ty Johnson and Tandy Bowen, better known as Cloak and Dagger, in the March 1982 issue of Spectacular Spider-Man. This odd pair of street-level super heroes who received their amazing gifts through drugs grasped fans, prompting numerous attempts at limited and ongoing series to spotlight these two unusual heroes. Despite their rich backstory, their gritty story lines that often dealt with drug dealing and their striking designs, Cloak and Dagger never managed to make it past 19 issues.

Luckily for fans, Marvel wouldn't let such a brilliant concept fall into obscurity and Cloak and Dagger have popped up in various guest appearances and one-shot issues over the last two decades, even having a brief stint with the X-Men. Since the current economical situation of the comic book industry doesn't really allow for new risky comic series, Marvel has announced plans to widen their television presence with new shows including a live-action Cloak and Dagger television series on the ABC Family network. No doubt that such experimental television ventures are made possible thanks to Disney's ownership of Marvel but who's complaining?

"I would be more excited if the show was going to be aired on HBO than ABC Family," Michael Leng, a fan of the obscure duo, said. "But I'm just happy in general about the idea of seeing such awesome and little known Marvel Characters getting some exposure."

Leng does have a point though. The thing that made Cloak and Dagger stand out as untypical superheroes were their dark personalities and deep internal struggles. They were two troubled teenagers fighting drug wars, not free-spirits balancing high school drama with over the top super-villains. ABC Family's current lineup of shows include Pretty Little Liars and The Secret Life of the American Teenager. Both shows have been successes for the network but will the millions of preteen girls also flock to a show about brooding drug-busting vigilantes or will Marvel re-imagine Cloak and Dagger as American teenagers to appeal to ABC Family's established  audience? Only time will tell but things are looking favorably for a darker tone since it was revealed that the series will take place in a post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans instead of their usual New York City stomping grounds.

One thing is for sure though, the duo certainly allows for stunning visuals as this beautiful Jae Lee cover can attest. Let's hope a generous budget is in the works...

X-23 Gets Cut

X-23, the female clone of Marvel hero and cash-cow Wolverine, was deemed worthy of her own solo series back in November 2010. A year later, X-23 is at issue #16 and is currently the only female character driven title produced by Marvel. Today, Marvel announced that the series will end in a few months at issue #20.

Marjorie Liu, undoubtedly the most acclaimed female writer currently working in the comic industry, has penned the series from the beginning. Being a successful romantic novelist, Liu has a natural gift for heart filled storytelling and poignant character depth. She was the perfect writer to bring to life the tale of a tragic character's struggles to find her soul. Liu's talents combined with the breathtaking yet subtle pencils of artist Phil Noto made the X-23 series a hit with critics and fans alike.

So why the sudden cancellation? Most will point to sales yet while X-23 wasn't a blockbuster hit, it was consistently ahead of books such as X-Factor, Thunderbolts, and its sister title, Daken: Dark Wolverine. So either Marvel made an odd decision of canceling their only female-driven series in favor of others or this is simply the first in a series of announcements about additional cancellations.

Some argue that Marvel never had much confidence in X-23 as a solo character to begin with. Throughout her twenty issue series, she hardly ever accomplished anything alone. The book usually came off as an X-23 team-up book rather than an X-23 solo series with its frequent guest stars ranging from the lovable Gambit to Marvel's finest family The Fantastic Four to fan favorite Jubilee and of course X-23's ubiquitous "father" Wolverine.

Luckily for fans, Marvel isn't completely giving up on the character yet. X-23 is set to become a member of the cast of Avengers Academy beginning next month. 

Alpha Flight Can't Seem To Stay in the Air

Things don't look good for Alpha Flight as Marvel has announced that its latest comic series revolving around Canada's premier super-hero team will end at issue eight. Since the team's debut in the seventies, the quirky team has managed to appeal to a cult audience but have consistently failed to keep an ongoing series on the market.

The latest Alpha Flight series was originally announced as an eight-issue mini series but after strong initial sales, Marvel decided to make the series an ongoing, much to the delight of the team's solid fan base. However, as sales began to wane, Marvel didn't hesitate to go back on their promise and downgrade the series back to a limited one. Luckily, fans of the team must be used to the disappointment since this is Marvel's fourth attempt at giving the team an ongoing series. Excluding the original series, which consisted of 130 issues and attracted readers with its complex, character-driven stories, all other series attempts have barely made it to twenty issues. As the team flies back to Canada for the indefinite future, fans can only hope that there will be a next time.

Avenging Spider-Man #1 Hopes to Swing Readers into the Digital Age!

Marvel's constant promotion of their digital comic book service will reach new heights next week when the first issue of Avenging Spider-Man goes on sale with a free access code to download the issue in digital form through Marvel's comic app. Marvel hopes it will coax readers, new and old, to witness how simple and easy their digital comic system is. Marvel currently has over 3,500 comic book issues in digital form but this will mark the first time that such an issue will be available simultaneously and purchased with the print version.

Avenging Spider-Man, written by Zeb Wells, will feature Spider-Man interacting with some of Marvel's mightiest heroes. While the book boasts a strong creative team, the book seems to be more geared toward the younger crowd. "I love the idea of buying an issue and having a digital form too," Nicole Paganotti, a new but eager comic book fan said. "I just wish it was a book that I actually wanted to read." Although many comic book fans will agree with her, there's little doubt that the promotion will send the book's sales through the roof due to its significance but will it help digital comics gain momentum too? Marvel seems to think so as they announced last week that issues two and three of Avenging Spider-Man will include a free digital copy as well. If this promotion is successful, Marvel may be able to avenge the struggling digital comic book format and help it replace print as the superior and preferred comic ook medium.

DC's New 52 Brings in Huge Sales for September

DC's big gamble of relaunching their whole line of comics to produce 52 issue ones of new series seems to have paid off. DC books dominated September's sale charts, giving much needed hope to the struggling comic book industry. The number one book sold was unsurprisingly Batman #1, followed by Action Comics #1 and Green Lantern #1. DC domination continues until the 8th spot where Marvel finally enters the sales chart with their latest blockbuster crossover, Fear Itself. Usually the sales charts are much more unbiased, such as this past July's sales chart which had Marvel and DC sharing the top ten equally with five books each.

The question now is whether DC will continue to obliterate Marvel. An observer might think so but comic book fans know better. "The only reason the chart looks like this is because DC saturated the market with nothing but first issues," Jason Nygaard, longtime DC comic book fan said. "People go crazy for first issues because they end up being worth more down the line plus every one loves a good starting point. Next month's chart will be closer to normal and then by December, everything will be the same."

Mr. Nygaard may be correct but one must consider the number of hardcore Marvel fans who ended up going outside their comfort zone this past month. "I bought a few DC books a few weeks ago, which is something I never do," James Wepy, longtime Marvel Comics reader. "None of it interested me. New series, same old boring characters." Whether Mr. Wepy echoes the opinion of the majority or minority of Marvel fans who crossed over to the other side this past month will determine just how long the sales chart's love affair with DC will last.

Nothing New for the New Mutants

In a universe where characters don't age, what does the "new generation of mutants" really mean if the old generation never goes anywhere? This is an issue that has plagued the X-Men franchise since the beginning. At the core of it's premise, X-Men is about a school, a school that teaches young gifted mutants to use their powers for good. Since a school always needs a new batch of students, there have been numerous groups of new character who have debuted over the years that are dubbed as the "next generation of X-Men!" However, the first generations of X-Men never left to make room for their replacements resulting in the X-Men's infamous amount of countless obscure background characters.

The first groups of new mutants debuted in 1984 in "Marvel Graphic Novel #4," and were a team of teenagers recruited by Professor Xavier who believed his original team of X-Men had perished on a space mission. Of course, the X-Men were alive and well and the New Mutants team continued to train and eventually went on to become X-Force. However, these new mutants never achieved the popularity that the first two X-Men generations achieved and still hold today.

Marvel has not given up on the idea of promoting new generations of X-Men characters and have tried numerous attempts to sell a book of teenage X-Men students in recent years, with varied success. Meanwhile, the original "New Mutants" star in their own current series, under the name... "New Mutants." "The fact that they're still called the "New Mutants" thirty years after they were introduced is just silly," said James Wepy, a Hofstra University student and long time X-Men fan. "They're still treated like kids and I don't understand why more writers don't shine the spotlight on them and let them join one of the main X-Men teams." However, most writers seem to have a soft spot for them and their current series has held up remarkably well despite fan's frequent worries about its cancellation. Starting with issue #33, the New Mutants will have a new artist, David Lopez, whose new team designs have left many readers unenthusiastic. "Why must the whole team be wearing the same boring costumes?," Mr. Wepy added. "They're not students in training anymore." Below is a picture of Lopez's designs. 

Big Year for Everyone's Favorite British-Japanese Psychic Ninja!

     Skimpy Iconic Costume. Sweet Psychic Powers. Kickass Ninja Moves. What's not to love about Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock, better known as Psylocke, the katana-wielding, mind and mountain crushing mutant and one of the most popular X-Men. Almost a decade after her debut as Captain Britain's sister in Captain Britain #8 (Dec. 1976), Psylocke joined the X-Men family in New Mutants Annual #2 (Oct. 1986) and her popularity skyrocketed, even becoming recognizable by non-readers. Yet, the peak of her popularity may be yet to come as comic fans have noticed that the purple-clad ninja is a member of not one, but two X-Men titles after Regenesis(check my last blog for more information). 

     While appearing regularly in multiple titles isn't unheard of(Wolverine averages about six a month), Psylocke's inclusion is notable for being the sole character that appears on both sides after the X-Men's breakup. While there seems to be logical story purposes behind her double agent status, some longtime X-Men fans are wondering if the writing teams could've shone one of the spotlights on another, less used character. "I wish it was someone else, anyone else really, on Storm's team," Joseph Puccio, a Pace University student and longtime lover of all things X-Men. "There's so many background characters, why should one character take up two spots. Especially a character like her."

     A character like her? What could he possibly mean? Doesn't everyone love Psylocke? Not quite. While most non-readers remark on her cool image, comic readers groan at her nonsensical and convoluted history. Starting out as the kid sister of British hero, Captain Britain, Elizabeth Braddock has been through so much body swapping, deaths, possessions, resurrections, reality hopping and power changes that she is practically unrecognizable as her original character. For example, Betsy once was a British model with slight telepathic powers that manifested as a butterfly aura. Today, she is a Japanese ninja who wields a psychic katana of telekinetic energy. While the latter is definitely her more famous depiction, it doesn't help readers connect to a character who seemingly can't keep track of her own story-lines and history any better than writers and fans can. 

     "Everything about her is confusing, she's the type of character who throws off new readers because of all her history," Puccio added. However, the X-Men creative team seems to think that new readers will follow Psylocke into the books because of her image and deal with her character traits later. And they may be right according to Jorge Jativa, a SUNY Buffalo student who's never read an X-Men comic in his life. "Oh, I know her from the video games. One of my favorites to play as," Jativa said. When asked if he would be interested in picking up a comic issue that featured her, Jativa said, "Sure, she always seemed cool. Always wondered what her deal was."

     Hopefully, Psylocke's "deal" won't have the effect it's had on so many readers, proving that the X-Men creative team's questionable attempts to pull in new audiences may prove worthwhile. 

X-Men Regenesis: Marvel's Plans to Reenergize the Mutant Franchise

     Marvel is currently re-launching the entire X-Men comic book franchise, even ending Uncanny X-Men, a series that debuted in 1963, at issue 544. In the next few months, every X-Men title will undergo major changes in characters, creative teams, mission statements, and more! 

   

     The current X-Men storyline depicts a falling out between the X-Men's determined leader, Cyclops, and the savage but big-hearted second-in-command, Wolverine. Titled Schism, the storyline will conclude with the mutant group splitting into two factions, providing a perfect opportunity for Marvel to launch multiple new series following both sides. The reconstruction of the franchise will be titled Regenesis, referencing the X-Men Genesis event that took place during the golden years of the early nineties, in which X-Men (2nd Series)#1 became the most sold issue to date.

     To promote the new X-Titles, Marvel launched an online section featuring six comic book covers depicting the new teams as silhouettes. Each day, a few silhouettes were revealed, telling readers which characters will be in which book.This has been great opportunity for discussion amongst devoted X-Men followers over who's who. Likewise, new fans must appreciate the simplicity and concrete teams with familiar characters. With an over 50 year history of time travel, clones, alternate dimensions, and of course, fake deaths and resurrections, jumping into the world of the X-Men is a task most new readers shy away from. This relaunching of the franchise gives newcomers an opportunity to start reading at perfect launching points for the all the new and better than ever X-Men titles!

     

     Below, check out the sides of Team Cyclops and Team Wolverine! Who don't you recognize? And which side do you think you'd belong on?


 

- True Believer Tony

Welcome True Believers!

Whether you're a old-school diehard Marvel fanboy or a beginner to comics looking for a good place to start, you've come to the right place! This is such an exciting time to be in the comic book industry. With the current state of the economy and the threat of emerging digital platforms, Marvel is pulling out all the stops in ensuring a bright future for their beloved classic characters. As a result, some of the greatest and most interesting comic storytelling is currently hitting the shelves. As exhilarating as that sounds, it could also be extremely overwhelming to keep up with Marvel's 5,000+ character. But don't worry because i'll be here each week with the latest story-line happenings and news to make sure you're well-prepared to dive into the vast and riveting Marvel Universe!

-True Believer Tony