Wagers, anyone? (IMPULSE)
Ahsan S. Kabir
three years, I'd've bought all the back issues, my budget be damned.
Now that's the question: For how long will Impulse continue? (And,
along the stylings it currently flaunts.)
If two years from now it's still being published, I'll be pretty happy.
I guess I'm feeling cynical.
I wager (in the metaphorical (is that the right word?) sense) that
three years from now, Impulse will have ended. :<
Takers, anyone?
Peter Williams
My feeling is that Mark Waid will write it in the same style for as long
as the book lasts. This is a book he seems to really enjoy writing, and
I think for as long as he writes it and it sells it will stay around.
Of course, the way to keep it around is to encourage lots of people to
keep buying it ...
Regards,
Pete - who hopes comics like Impulse, Flash, Starman, LSH/L*, Astro City
(Image) , Bone (Image), Groo (Image) and Replacement God (Amaze Ink/Slave
Labour) can stay around for a long while yet.
--
Peter Williams pet...@mpx.com.au (Microplex) Sydney, Australia.
"If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research!"
Disclaimer: Any opinions lurking above are mine, all mine! Bwahahaha ...
Elayne Wechsler-Chaput
: Ahsan S. Kabir <Ahsan....@dartmouth.edu> wrote:
: >I wager (in the metaphorical (is that the right word?) sense) that
: >three years from now, Impulse will have ended. :<
: My feeling is that Mark Waid will write it in the same style for as long
: as the book lasts. This is a book he seems to really enjoy writing, and
: I think for as long as he writes it and it sells it will stay around.
: Of course, the way to keep it around is to encourage lots of people to
: keep buying it ...
Hear hear, Peter. Although I understand Ahsan's trepidation. These
kinds of things do tend to run in cycles. I've only been reading comics
for a decade, and already I've seen about a dozen trends come and go.
There's another thread in this newsgroup about how suddenly artists are
not seen as "hot" and writers are. The pendulum swings. Personally, I
think Mark has at *least* three more years of good IMPULSE stories in
him, and I know he has a tendency to plot far, far in advance (always a
good way to work if you're a writer with an eye toward the future). But
nobody can predict what the next hot trend might be. Good writers may
fall out of favor in the public eye within that time, in favor of
whatever's hot next. Writers and readers can't worry about that; they
have to just keep doing their best - the writers entertaining us, and the
reader supporting what we love. Keeping on keeping on.
- Elayne
--
"I am de Head of de Fireheads. I Head de Fireheads. I am de #~~
Firehead Head..." (E-Mail me for more information about the )#(
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^^^
CThund
>> Of course, the way to keep it around is to encourage lots of people to
keep buying it.<<
If you really love this title and haven't gotten others to pick it up,
walk in to your kitchen and give yourself 50 lashes with a wet noodle!
CT
lore
What? WHAT?
Boy, there's nothing worse than cruising a group you're behind in reading, and
seeing your name in a subject heading. *boing*
Anyway, it's odd. I was just thinking about Impulse's survivability in its
current state. I came to the conclusion that it will go the way of any book
tied in with a larger "franchise."
It gets to stay off in its own little world while the "hot" original creators
are working on it, and when they leave, the book gets tied so directly into
its "parent" book, you have to start reading the parent book too, or drop the
whole thing. And don't fool yourselves, once it gets "tied in," it never gets
untangled to its previous glory.
Examples? Let's see...the first one I can remember is "Excalibur" from Marvel.
Claremont and Alan Davis took three X-people, teamed them up with a forgotten
British hero and had a nice run with only getting tangled up in one crossover.
Then Claremont leaves, Davis leaves for good, and suddenly you're getting 32
Age of Apocalypse books and you don't know what hit you.
And when did Batman begin to multiply? The "Robin" series never had a chance
because the original team wasn't "white-hot." For every issue that doesn't tie
into some Batman-crossover, there's another one that does. It boggles the mind.
How long will it take to make the "Flash Family" set of titles once Waid
leaves? Flash, Impulse, MAXimum Speed, Tales of Velocity, etc.
One last point: You'll try to only buy Impulse (if you don't get "Flash"
already; I don't), but it won't work. You'll swear that you'll only get the
crossover issue so your collection will be complete. But then, a la "Robin,"
it will seem like every issue ends with "find out what happens in Flash # 120!"
Next, you'll get curious...maybe you could just flip thru the Flash issue in
the store; maybe buy just this one...Next thing you know, you're picking up
11 X-titles a month, accounting for 1/3 of what you get - AAARRRRRRGGGGH!
Oh wait, that's my husband.
love, lore
--
_____________________________________________________________
You love too obsessively and you live too fiercely and you
always demand the impossible. Don't ever change babe -
that's the glory and the terror of being you. 10/31
Matthew Gabriel
>Anyway, it's odd. I was just thinking about Impulse's survivability in its
>current state. I came to the conclusion that it will go the way of any book
>tied in with a larger "franchise."
>Examples? Let's see...the first one I can remember is "Excalibur" from Marvel.
>Claremont and Alan Davis took three X-people, teamed them up with a forgotten
>British hero and had a nice run with only getting tangled up in one crossover.
>Then Claremont leaves, Davis leaves for good, and suddenly you're getting 32
>Age of Apocalypse books and you don't know what hit you.
Grumblemumblegrumble. I used to LOVE X-Calibur. Davis was one of
the very few Artist/Writers who could, well, write.
Thanx to Marvel, he's been snookered out of TWO titles, one he
created from scratch, and is now stuck doing DC covers till the day he
dies.
Why doesn't he just go and get a job at Image? Sure, he'll screw
up the bell curve, but mebbe him, Sam Kieth, and Kurt Busiek can kick
everyone else off their arse by setting a sterling example. (Alan
Moore...SNAP OUT OF IT!)
>And when did Batman begin to multiply? The "Robin" series never had a chance
>because the original team wasn't "white-hot." For every issue that doesn't tie
>into some Batman-crossover, there's another one that does. It boggles the mind.
>How long will it take to make the "Flash Family" set of titles once Waid
>leaves? Flash, Impulse, MAXimum Speed, Tales of Velocity, etc.
I'll just wait for the non-continuity, hidden gem. "Legends of
the Fast Guy" or "Flash Adventures", or, all-new for '95, "Flash
Unplugged". These are little throw-away books aimed soley at an already
tiny audience. This leaves them complete freedom to actualllput a little
quality in their work. The correspondant Batman, FF and Spidey titles
bear that out.
>One last point: You'll try to only buy Impulse (if you don't get "Flash"
>already; I don't), but it won't work. You'll swear that you'll only get the
>crossover issue so your collection will be complete. But then, a la "Robin,"
>it will seem like every issue ends with "find out what happens in Flash # 120!"
>Next, you'll get curious...maybe you could just flip thru the Flash issue in
>the store; maybe buy just this one...Next thing you know, you're picking up
>11 X-titles a month, accounting for 1/3 of what you get - AAARRRRRRGGGGH!
>Oh wait, that's my husband.
Didn't work on me. I used the "BIG CROSSOVER!" to jump ship and
swim to safety. After all the hubbub died down, and all the really good
creators quit after their editors burned them out, what was left was
easily catalogged into "Sucked Hard" and "Kinda Cool" categories. I still
get X-and-Uncanny. The quality hasn't diminished enough to earn my utter
contempt. Wolverine is always a strong title. I think Larry Hama is going
for the "Peter David Longevity Award". How long has this guy written
Wolvie's solo book? And how does he manage to come ut of these crossover
messes smelling like a rose? And they managed to use Jeph Loeb paired
with an outstanding artists OTHER than Tim Sale.
(OK, all you Batman fanatics: admit it. Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale
are the BEST creative team to tackle the Dark Knight in LODK! Challengers
of the Unkown was way awesome as well...up there, I believe, with the
greatest of the DC miniseries.)
Anyhow...while expansion is usually a bad thing (Five Superman
books, thirty million spidey titles, and an every incresing irrational
number of Youngblood spinoffs strongly attest to this) it generally does
not mean the death of a good charachter. (Batman Adventures, Wolverine,
FF Unplugged) You just have to look harder. B)
>love, lore
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