'The Shadow' coming from Dynamite

Captain Comics August 17, 2011 at 10:52pm

Now I know why they used Batman instead of The Shadow in First Wave. (I had wondered about that.) Strange to think that Street & Smith's Batman and Superman -- Shadow and Doc Savage -- are no longer in the same "universe."

Nice covers, thought!

Philip Portelli August 18, 2011 at 7:31am

Hope it's set in the 1930s and they don't get too "psycho-babble" about it!

Lumbering Jack (M'odd-R8-Tr) August 18, 2011 at 9:34am

Definitely needs to be set in the 1930s. That was, by far, my biggest problem with First Wave.

Dagwan August 18, 2011 at 11:53am

Here's what I posted over on Heidi McDonald's The Beat:

Who is the target audience for this comic? (Hint: existing comics readers don’t count!)

How will Dynamite reach that audience?
(Hint: Newsarama and CBR don’t count!)

What will make this line do any better than the pulp revivals from Moonstone or DC?
(Hint: If any of the other questions can’t be answered immediately by Dynamite, the answer to this one is “It won’t.”)

Why should I order any more than a token couple of copies for the rack?
(Hint: I have 1 sub left for Green Hornet, and he had a movie THIS YEAR.)

These comics could be the best written and best drawn books on the rack, but unless Dynamite can create or find a new audience for this series (or line), it’s only going to draw a handful of sales after the first 2 issues. Even then, most of those sales will come at the cost of other titles already in the market, possibly from publishers that retailers get a better profit margin on.

How about, instead of publishing the Shadow, Dynamite instead pays to put ads for their Red Sonja comics before the Conan movie? Maybe we’ll get some new faces looking at their books, instead of cannibalizing the existing base some more.

And then in response to another poster who said:

Prior to the revival at Dynamite, people were probably asking the same questions. “Why Red Sonja? Who is the audiance?” Now that she’s popular again, everyone conveniently forgets that.

I replied with :

Rich, I chose Red Sonja as an example because it’s a property that’s currently being published, and has a natural marketing tie-in to a major upcoming movie.

DIGRESSION: If I had based it on sales, well, I sell exactly one copy of Queen Sonja when it comes out, and that’s it. It’s a sub-only title, because I haven’t had a single rack sale of any of her titles for 4 years.

Removing something from the rack is not necessarily an easy decision. I LOVE Peter David’s work on Fallen Angel, but except for the mini that guest-starred Illyria from Angel, I haven’t been able to sell copies of the comic off the rack, EVER. I still carry, and occasionally sell, copies of the TPs, and suggest it to people, but I had to cut it from the new comics rack. It’s not about MAKING money on it, it’s about NOT LOSING money on it. I just this afternoon put 20 Fallen Angel comics from my back issue bins into my 3/$1 bins. I spent $2+ each on those, and that money is GONE. END DIGRESSION

We NEED publishers to realize that they need to CREATE an audience for their comic, and it can’t be from among the same ever-shrinking crowd. We need new blood reading these things.

I posed a similar question to the folks at Valiant (on Twitter) about who their intended market was, and they responded directly to me with (I’m paraphrasing from memory here) “I hate to give the cliche answer, but we are making these comics for people who like good comics.”

Wrong. Answer.

People who like good comics are ALREADY READING good comics. That makes Valiant’s answer akin to getting someone to drink Coke instead of Pepsi, when what both need are more drinkers.

I have no attachment to (or bias against) the Shadow, I just don’t see how this series (or line) is going to do anything but cost me money.

(Others had already pointed out that Red Sonja was not a particularly popular comic, selling under 10,000 copies.)

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Travis Herrick (Modular Mod) August 18, 2011 at 12:14pm

Dags, I agreed with you there, and I agree with you here. I asked how many more of these properties Dynamite was going to roll out, and I see today The Spider is on the agenda now as well.

Lee Houston, Junior August 18, 2011 at 1:06pm

"Who knows what new comic book this humble reader will soon be buying?"

Seriously, allegedly DC couldn't get the rights to The Shadow at the time because Conde Nast was negotiating for a movie deal and didn't want them already spoken for.

But as long as the series is done right...

Wonder if there's any chance of Michael W. Kaluta signing on for at least pin ups?

Lumbering Jack (M'odd-R8-Tr) August 18, 2011 at 4:33pm

There is a decent fan-following for The Shadow, but you are definitely asking the right questions, Dagwan. They need to market the hell out of this book (every book by every publisher needs to be marketed, BTW) to the pulp magazine fans. They are a small but dedicated lot who will happily fuss and fume over every inaccuracy they spot- - just like we do.
But beyond THEM? That's the real challenge. That's what Dagwan is asking.
So, let's do a bit of brainstorming ... Who can be compelled to seek out some Shadow comics?

Captain Comics August 18, 2011 at 5:16pm

I'll have to give that some thought, LJ, but I wanted to mention while I was thinking about it what an awesome poster that last cover would make.

Lumbering Jack (M'odd-R8-Tr) August 18, 2011 at 5:35pm

Yeah, those covers are fantastic.

Even though I'm a pulp fan, I really don't know a whole lot about The Shadow. But here's what I do know, mostly culled from the Alec Baldwin movie:

Violent -- He doesn't leave people for the police to pick up, he kills them.
Mystical -- He learned his powers from Tibetan (or close to that) priests. He clouds men's minds.
Appearance -- The Shadow has an extremely distinctive appearance. The wide brimmed hat, the hawk nose, the red scarf, the heavy cloak.
Secret Identity -- He's Lamont Cranston, millionaire/billionaire based in NYC.
Time Period -- His most famous usage was during the 1930s. One can only assume the comic is sticking to that era.
Informants -- He has a vast network of people who owe him their lives, and he makes frequent use of them.
Fanbase 1 -- Though it was originally considered a bomb, most people know acknowledge Alec Baldwin's movie was good.
Fanbase 2 -- Pulp magazine fans are a small, but active fandom. The Shadow is considered one of the best recurring characters.
Fanbase 3 --There was a well known radio program that serialized his adventures.
Fanbase 4 -- Merchandise collectors. There's a small amount of The Shadow merchandise out there. From recent statues to movie tie-ins to records/audio collectors to original toys dating back to his origins.

So that's some information on The Shadow.

MARKETING THE SHADOW (Pt. 1)

Some easy ideas to market The Shadow:

Take out adverts on "audiophile" sites that specialize in old radio programs. Tell them The Shadow is back with new adventures.
Pulp conventions set up displays at the three or four big pulp conventions.

MARKETING THE SHADOW (Pt. 2)

The hard questions we need to resolve to get The Shadow in the public eye:

What new people can we draw into The Shadow?
What do we need to tell the world about The Shadow that will help them understand the character?
Who can The Shadow appeal to beyond pulp collectors, radio fans and the direct comic market?
Which teens and young adults can we target with The Shadow?
What can we do to make the media interested in The Shadow?
What non-comic products would make good promotional tie-ins with The Shadow? (i.e. We give away a Shadow comic with every purchase)
What are the negatives of The Shadow? How can we lessen them?

ClarkKent_DC August 18, 2011 at 5:46pm

Lumbering Jack said:

Definitely needs to be set in the 1930s. That was, by far, my biggest problem with First Wave.

I didn't have a problem with First Wave. I think a not-quite-the-past, not-quite-the-present milieu, like the Batman Adventures animated series, is a fine approach to things.

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'The Shadow' coming from Dynamite

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