SWEET CHRISTMAS!
Mysterious SEE THROUGH fabric that causes comic book nipples to vanish!
I have been a fan of Zenescope’s from the beginning. Even though the content in their books is often wildly uneven– I’ve always had a soft spot (maybe the opposite is true) for their Bad Girl approach to these children’s fables… The
The sweet, sweet art of Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose-- created by Jim Balent, master draftsman of the female body
main focus of their Grimm Fairy Tales series. Besides Zenescope, only one other publisher– Broadsword Comics– where owner and supreme art talent Jim Balent created and has consistently published Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose for years– seems interested in keeping this once hot comics genre alive.
So when upstart Zenescope appeared from nowhere and attacked the Bad Girl genre with a lust I hadn’t seen since the 90′s– it was both a surprise and a pleasure.
I have no problem admitting that I have enjoyed their hardcovers and trade paperbacks despite many problems with story structure, continuity and production… But then again, I also freely admit to looking at and enjoying the pictures in Playboy first– and only reading the articles if I find the interest (or the time) later.
Plus, overdosing all week on comic books stories featuring steroid pumped heroes can become very tiring… So I welcome the chance to kick back for an hour or two a couple of times a year and look at a buxom woman attempt to teach some equally attractive ne’er-do-wells a few grim “lessons” via some old childhood tales. I also appreciate that Zenescope decided to go back to the darker roots that birthed these fables– as many were written hundreds of years ago to frighten small children into unquestioning obedience. Nobody’s going to mistake Little Red Riding Hood or Hansel & Gretel for romance classics or secret odes to rebellion… Right?
There's more fun to be had in the Zenescope Universe than multiple editions of the same comics!
Oddly, it wasn’t Zenescope’s Grimm Fairy Tales series that first caught my attention. It was their Alice in Wonderland story continuation called Return to Wonderland. Created long before the latest crapfest Alice in Wonderland film was in development, I was all for this series too… As the Wonderland books seemed much more continuity conscious than a lot of the other Zenescope efforts. With Wonderland, I got my cute ladies and a seemingly well thought out story in one package. It was interesting and it was something different that I wasn’t used to seeing within the confines of Bad Girl comics.
And I was as happy as can be… Until the company started bringing out Volume after Volume of the exact same material– reprinting the same books OVER and OVER in completely different editions and trade dress (book designs). The different editions also came out far enough apart, that I actually bought the SAME BOOK– 3 times!
This is a sad admission from someone who takes pride in the care he normally uses when determining which books to buy every Wednesday. I purchase a lot of stuff each week– so it is vitally important to my mental well-being that I NOT order duplicates of books I already have in my collection.
I do not have unlimited funds for my addictions. I also do not return books that I have mistakenly bought extra copies of. I only return books that arrive damaged. I simply feel my comic book retailer is not responsible for my moments of ineptitude… So why should I put them through the hassle of processing a return?
They didn’t do anything wrong. And while I know they would take back every one of the redundant tomes I order… I find it much easier to just give them away or sell them on eBay. Since I am not a comic book retailer by trade or by choice… You can understand how little I enjoy the thought of putting books up for sale on eBay… Preferring to leave that activity to the worthy professionals who do it every day.
A Zenescope collection that doesn't suffer from "variant-itis"
As we amble our way toward the graphic examples below(why waste wonderful art?)… Please understand that I “get” the idea of variant covers. I understand that they often cause completists to buy duplicates (even if we’re discussing expensive hardcovers) or one cover may appeal to someone when another cover does not– triggering a sale that might otherwise not have happened.
What I don’t get– and what I’ll never understand… Is how dissimilar all these Wonderland covers are… Yet how they almost all look the same. Weird, huh?
And before you say, “All Spider-Man covers look the same”… You’re right. Under the aegis of Joey Q the “pin-up” covers on every Marvel comic sort of all seem to run together… Just like these Wonderland hardcover and trade paperback covers do.
The BIG difference? I can discern one Spider-Man logo from another.
It is the familiarity in tone and theme on almost every book cover that makes the whole process so damn confusing. You used to be able look at a comic cover for a book you had already read and know instantly what story was inside. Not now. How many damn covers of Alice bent over do I need to see (and buy) before I throw in the towel?
In my case, the answer was 3. Buying 3 of the same book– just with different covers– made me finally hang up on the Wonderland series of hardcover and trade paperback collections. The titles are so similar, the logos so much alike… I really don’t blame myself for buying them over and over. Yes, I know if I had paid more attention it absolutely never would have happened. But there is only so much effort you can put into your hobby every week before it ceases to become a hobby and transforms into an unhealthy obsession.
I guess I wanted (and needed) a more distinctive design for each series.. A more distinct logo for each book definitely. Maybe numbering the books like they did for their Grimm Fairy Tales editions. (Zenescope, you should also know putting the words Grimm Fairy Tales above the various non-distinct Wonderland logos is also confusing.) It absolutely wouldn’t hurt for you to stop changing the covers every time you print a new edition of each book as well.
In the end, I don’t know if you meant to confuse me or not Zenescope. Maybe you did– hoping I would do exactly what I did do and buy extra unwanted copies. But as I have written on this Blog before– if you make it too hard or too confusing for me to buy your books properly… Guess what? I’ll just stop buying books from your company.
Another distinctive title
Luckily, Zenescope was smart enough to number the Grimm Fairy Tales volumes so I can still buy those… And their other titles like 1001 Arabian Nights: Adventures of Sinbad and The Piper are distinct enough so I knew what I was getting into when I clicked the “buy” button.
In the end, I cannot believe this article has led me to this conclusion: I am actually advocating that Zenescope rebrand the entire Wonderland book series again. One last time so they can get it right.
Maybe then, after I’ve had another year or so to cool off– I might (emphasis on “might”) just buy them all one last time and attempt to read them in order again. In the meantime, you can easily stop this confusing crap from happening to other fans by redesigning the entire line while I cool off.
Just a thought. And before you say, “Why not just read the comics! That ought to be easy right?” If you’ve never looked, 90′s Marvel doesn’t have any advantage on variant happy Zenescope. These folks pump out several different covers for seemingly every single comic they publish.
With the frustrating idea of numerous Zenescope editions firmly in mind, here are ALL the cover for all the different editions that the company currently shows for the Wonderland Book Series on their website. Please note that I truly believe there have been more. These are just the ones I can find. Obviously the multiple cover edition ploy has been working– because they continue to do it every chance they get:
Return to Wonderland Hardcover Cover A
One of many
Return to Wonderland Hardcover Cover B
Let's do it again
Return to Wonderland Trade Paperback A
... And again...
Return to Wonderland Trade Paperback Cover B
... And again.
ADDING TO THE PILE…
Tales from Wonderland Volume 1 Trade Paperback
Alice in another harrowing pickle
Tales from Wonderland Volume 2 Trade Paperback
Alice bending over
Beyond Wonderland Hardcover
Oops! She's bending over again! (The better for you to see her cleavage, My Dear!)
Escape from Wonderland Hardcover
This is not the end!
AND COMING SOON…
Tales from Wonderland Volume 3 Trade Paperback
Soon to confuse me at a comic shop near you
Hey, Marvel… Size DOES Matter!
Posted: September 8, 2010 in Comics Commentary, Crap, RIP-OFF!Tags: Andy Runton, Black Widow, Comic Book Digests, Digest, Iron Man, Iron Man II, James Kochalka, Johnny Boo, Marvel Comics, Ms. Marvel, Owly, Secret Wars, Spider-man, Trade Paperbacks
HARD TO SWALLOW… EVEN HARDER TO DIGEST
Good enough to be a Regular-Sized Comic... But apparently NOT "good enough" to stay that size forever.
LET’S JUST JUMP RIGHT IN, SHALL WE?
How would you like to order a Marvel Trade Paperback only to have it arrive and be 1/3 to 1/2 smaller than you anticipated? My guess is you wouldn’t like it. At all.
Happens to me all the time… And I am sick and fucking tired of buying trades that end up being digest sized books. Worst of all? Marvel sorta seems to being doing all this on the sly…. So don’t feel bad if– like me– you end up buying
See the simplistic art? This SCREAMS younger reader.
lots of books you don’t want because Marvel often buries the specs on their smaller format collections in a mountain of hype. Is it intentional? I have to believe it is– at least partially– since their other digest collections– like Marvel Adventures and their Runaways series– are clearly marked as being digest sized.
You might think that’s the only reason I harbor such a dislike for these tiny books. You’d be very wrong. I have many reasons… The 2 most basic being 1) As mentioned, I feel their sizes are often misrepresented in the Marvel Previews descriptions and 2) I don’t believe the smaller publication size is worth the FULL DOLLAR price tags Marvel charges.
How can a digest sized book seriously carry the same price tag as a larger, regular-sized trade paperback? Does Marvel really expect us to believe the smaller size doesn’t save them significant money? Cause it does– both in lower amounts of the paper and inks needed to produce the books and lower shipping costs incurred sending the products to their final retail destinations.
Before I vent any further, I want to state that I understand the bulk of the Marvel’s digest books are meant to be aimed at a younger, more GENERAL audience. I have zero problems with that. After all, you’re reading opinions from a person who proudly collects– (and actually reads!)– all of James Kochalka‘s Johnny Boo: The Best Little Ghost in the World books… And these books are aimed at kindergarten kids!
NO COMIC SNOBS HERE
I’ve always believed that general audience books can be extremely entertaining… And I certainly don’t need to read about ass rape and female decapitation every time I pick up a comic to feel like I’ve fully lived my life as a discerning comics connoisseur.
Johnny Boo is for kids and it is a BIG BOOK with HARD COVERS! How can this be Marvel? Kids only read small, flimsy books... Right?
I understand that someone at Marvel assumes their general audience releases need to be made smaller– for smaller hands. But here’s the problem with that frickin’ assumption: Most of the concepts and plots in the “general audience” Marvel comic books are much more complicated than, let’s say, the plots found in Andy Runton‘s excellent Owly series… or Kochalka’s aforementioned Johnny Boo. And the crazy thing about Boo? Those books are hardcovers printed in a larger size format than the Marvel digests… For kids in kindergarten! Where’s the logic in that, Marvel?
Doesn't LOOK like a kids' book either
Here’s just some of the plot for Black Widow and the Marvel Girls– transcribed word for word from the back cover of the recent Marvel digest release: “While removing a rogue weapons dealer from an impregnable safe house, the Black Widow remembers her escape from the brutal KGB training ground known as the Red Room…” Cone on, does that sound like the plot of a “kiddie” book? It is my firm belief that any child that can understand that story has to be old enough to hold a larger book.
How do I know this? Well to start, I wasn’t spit out of Hell’s foul embrace like an ignorant Hellboy. (At least I don’t think I was.) I grew up reading comics after I basically taught myself how to read… Conquering the thick Charlotte’s Web novel by the time I was five. If I could hold a book like that, I also held a comic book or a comic trade paperback (they were called “Annuals” back then) with ease. I have no doubt that I would have found these miniature comics just as irritating back then as I do today.
OKAY, SO I’M A “SIZE-IST”
The other reason I can’t stand these little buggers– besides the misrepresentation, over-priced volumes and too small sizes?
Easy to read my ass! And this was one of the MORE STEALTHY, LESS VERBOSE pages
The artwork reprinted in these collections was originally rendered in a STANDARD SIZE– meant to fit in a “regular-size” comic book. The art is not drawn for Manga-size books (the format these Marvel digests most clearly ape)– where the artists tailor their work and storytelling techniques to favor the smaller format. These are regular comic pages reduced to fit into a pitifully small area. You can’t really enjoy the art… As the pages were never drawn in consideration of the digest format.
What thought– other than greed– could Marvel be using as they take all these great stories (that were once printed regular comic size) and reduce them to digest size? Are they that desperate to shave their margins on these books? I would have loved to read the collections for Spider-Man Secret Wars, Iron Man: Armor Wars or Dr. Doom and Masters of Evil in “normal” trade paperbacks. Not so interested now that the publishers have insisted on squeezing these stories into books one might easily find stuck in a McDonald’s Happy Meal box one day. I’m exaggerating, of course… But not by much.
Plus, why are almost all of Marvel’s recent female-centric books being almost surreptitiously released in this shitty format as well? Why am I paying regular sized trade prices for small books featuring these popular women as lead characters? Here are just a few of the titles (and prices) of some of the female led books I won’t be reading: Black Widow and the Marvel Girls ($14.99 USD), Models, Inc ($14.99 USD) and Nomad, Girl without a World ($14.99 USD). Only Marvel Divas (and monthly titles like Ms. Marvel) seemed to have escaped this sad reduction binge.
I have a WHOLE STACK of digest sized trades that I unwittingly purchased at
Tim Gunn-- obviously pissed to be regulated to such a small format
one time or another. Now I have decided NOT to read them because of their cramped art and pitifully tiny word balloons… And that just sucks.
Since I am finding it increasingly hard to determine what any Marvel book is actually going to look like until it arrives in the comic book stores– I have specifically requested that my retailer let me know if any of the books I have ordered suddenly turn up digest sized. I hate to ask– to burden them with yet another one of my idiosyncracies… But I really, really, DON’T want any more of these Marvel monstrosities entering my home ever again. Since I receive my books via mail order, I cannot look at them and reject them due to their small size… So I must rely on the fine folks at the comic shop to do it for me.
I really don’t enjoy feeling poorly fucked by Marvel when I open my box filled with comics. I want to feel joyful (or at least happy)– especially since I seem to spend over $200 on books every week. That’s a lotta moola to pay out– only to feel jerked around.
I’ve been wanting to type the following sentence ever since I started writing this Blog: I may want to read like a child but I don’t want to be treated like a child.
Hey Marvel… Be up front with me. Don’t distract from the sizes of your trades with razzle-dazzle bullshit or miraculously forget to mention your trade trim sizes in a lot of your product descriptions. The majority of your readers are not children. I know you know this… So even though a book’s content may skew a little younger– please stop printing them in digest size.
At the very least, print them in both large and small formats (like the Runaways series) so your customers can pick the format they want to purchase. I certainly wouldn’t mind paying a couple of dollars more for a larger book… And we all know that a “couple of dollars more” would actually be a big premium for us to pay just to receive slightly larger book.
At the end of the day, I would like to think that somebody– ANYBODY– at Marvel would give a shit about this… But the haphazard, bone-headed way they arbitrarily choose their Trade Paperback printing sizes would say otherwise. Just more crap from the former House of Ideas.