Mark Millar has another plan to save comics. Marvel is introducing the original King of the Seven Seas in a new comic. DC Comics is teasing their Trinity of Evil. All on Comic Book Club News for November 10, 2023.
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Episode Transcript:
Mark Millar has another plan to save comics.
Marvel introduces new Sea King.
DC teases Trinity of Evil.
This is Comic Book Club News for November 10, 2023.
Mark Millar Has Another Plan To Save Comics:
Back in August, we told you about a plan writer Mark Millar has to save comics, which boiled down to: bring in former top-name creators to write comics. Well, Millar is back with another plan, and it’s a little more specific this time.
In a thread on X (formerly Twitter), Millar throws out the idea that rather than paying a 2% royalty on comics that sell over 50,000 copies, something he alleges is standard for Marvel and DC, the companies should do a fifty-fifty split of all sales for any books that sell over 60,000 copies.
Says Millar: “A creator can make decent money on even a modestly selling creator owned book, but it would be absolutely dwarfed by a 50% split on X-Men or Spider-Man with sales taken into the stratosphere. They could make literally millions per year again for both both company and talent.”
So, I’m no financial genius, but this plan seems to be that instead of giving a tiny royalty to top-selling creators, DC and Marvel should give an enormous royalty to even more top-tier selling creators?
The genesis of the thread, which this only tangentially addresses, is page rates. Says Millar: “It’s crass to talk money, but it’s also shocking that the people writing and drawing the top books are earning a FRACTION of what my peers and I earned on those titles 15 years ago. I made $1,000 a page plus royalties, but I’m hearing from guys on $90 a page and that’s criminal.”
While Millar is correct that $90 a page, a rate that is often a dream for some creators because those page rates haven’t increased over the decades, is paltry, may I just add: ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS A PAGE? FOR CAPTAIN AMERICA SAYING, “You think this letter on my head stands for France?”
Just pure speculation, but between suggesting former top-tier creators should be brought back to Marvel and DC, and then top-tier writers there should get paid a ton of money… You don’t think… Millar is… Talking about himself? Do you? Nah, couldn’t be.
Marvel Introduces A New King Of The Seven Seas In Giant-Size Fantastic Four:
Call me by your Namor? Marvel is introducing a new King of the Seven Seas in next year’s Giant-Size Fantastic Four. Written by Fabian Nicieza, with art by Creees Lee, readers will meet Natlus, the original Atlantean King.
Said Nicieza via press release: “As a 12-year-old who bought — and still has — the original Giant-Size Fantastic Four run which featured great Marvel creators of the ‘70s like Roy Thomas, Gerry Conway, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, Chris Claremont, John Buscema, Rich Buckler, and more, it was a thrill to write this issue! I tried to follow in the footsteps of those issues by creating something big and new. I came up with a character whose name and history will have Sub-Mariner fans either chuckling and saying, ‘why did no one ever think of that?’ or they’ll want to drown me! I’m excited to see which it will be!”
The new issue will continue the publisher’s celebration of 50 years of the Giant-Size branding and hit stores on February 28, 2024.
DC Comics Teases Trinity Of Evil:
DC Comics has been rolling out their events with some regularity. And now they’re teasing the next one. No, not that one. The one after that one.
In a new graphic, DC shows off that the just finished Gotham War storyline will lead into Titans: Beast World, which kicks off later this month. And then, mysteriously after that is the note “Something Evil Is Coming.”
However, DC gets more specific in their solicit text. Says the publisher: “Titans: Beast World, beginning on November 28, takes the ongoing Dawn of DC publishing initiative and the DC Universe on a thrilling, high-stakes adventure, and is one of several current and upcoming storylines that will shape the look of the DCU in 2024. And a Trinity of Evil waits in the shadows to capitalize on the chaos!”
While there’s no further info on who will be in that Trinity, the main villains DC seems to be pushing hard are Batman’s evil alter-ego, The Batman of Zur-en-arrh, who is currently active over in Batman; The Braniac Queen, a female Brainiac about to get introduced in the Superman line of books; and Amanda Waller, who has been plotting in the background since the beginning of the Dawn of DC initiative. Hey, that’s three villains!
More on this as it develops.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And my plan to save this podcast is start splitting all profits with Mark Millar.
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