Saturday, March 21, 2009

Wednesday Comics Starring Supergirl


DC announced their latest weekly comic idea in a couple of articles over on Newsarama. I bought 52 and thought it was pretty good. I bought Countdown and was disappointed. I shied away from Trinity. But this idea is called Wednesday Comics and I have to tell you, I am pretty interested in the idea ... even before I heard that Supergirl is going to be featured. Here is the link to the first article: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/030919-Wednesday-Comics.html
And here are the interesting parts.

The publisher today officially announced Wednesday Comics, a new 12-part weekly series launching this summer that will be presented in a 14” x 20” broadsheet format and will have to be unfolded and opened to be read. The "Wednesday" part of the title refers to the fact new comic books go on sale at comic book stores nationwide every Wednesday.

In essence, DC is shipping out weekly 'Sunday Comics' except on Wednesday. Oversized, no staples, folded ... just like a newspaper. How the heck am I going to store these things?

It is pretty innovative. I will be interested to see the finished product.

Of course, format is one thing but content is crucial.
Looks like DC knew that it will take some special material to get people interested enough to buy. They have lined up some serious talent here to create stories for a wide variety of characters.

Characters coming up in the pages of Wednesday Comics include: Hawkman (already linked to creator Kyle Baker art for which can be seen here), Batman, Adam Strange, Metamorpho (linked to Neil Gaiman and Mike Allred), Catwoman, Demon, Deadman, Kamandi, Superman, Sgt. Rock, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Teen Titans, Supergirl, Flash and the Metal Men . Each story will have its own full-page installment each week for the 12 issues. The stories may be standalone stories with each installment, or a 12-part serial – the choice was left up to the creators.

DiDio listed off names of some of the other creators joining Baker, Gaiman and Allred on Wednesday Comics: Brian Azzarello, Paul Pope, Walt Simonson, Dave Bullock, Dave Gibbons, Ryan Sook, John Arcudi, Lee Bermejo, Joe Kubert, Ben Caldwell, Kurt Busiek, Eddie Berganza, Jimmy Palmiotti, Amanda Conner and Karl Kerschel. More will be announced at a later date, along with an official pairing of creators and characters.
That is a great list of creators.

Azzarello and Risso are linked to Batman. Andy and Joe Kubert are linked to a Sgt. Rock story. Neil Gaiman and Mike Allred are doing Metamorpho. Paul Pope is doing some sort of sci-fi story.

So bloggers, of the names above who would you like to see do Kara's adventures. I think I would weep if Ryan Sook was named artist for the Kara storyline. I love his art.

But I would also be very intrigued to see Walt Simonson's take on Supergirl I doubt it will happen. Given Simonson's love of Jack Kirby's characters, my guess he is on Kamandi or the Demon.

Another article talked to Mark Chiarello, DCU Executive Editor, and he really sounded passionate about the idea.

http://www.newsarama.com/comics/020920-Chiarello-WEds.html

The publication size is 14 inches wide by 20 inches tall, so it’s big. That’s the front page – so when you open it, it gets 28 inches wide, so it’s an enormous page. So for 12 weeks, that “cover” will be an installment of the Brian Azzarello/Eduardo Risso Batman story. Page 2 will be Sgt. Rock, and so on. So essentially, it’s 12 big-ass pages. Each story takes up one whole page, with no staples. It’ll be just like the Sunday funnies you read as a kid.
He also talked about how the creators all picked the material that interested them rather than DC asking them to write a particular character. Chiarello talked about how that process led to the successful series Batman:Black and White and Solo. Any time the creators are invested in the characters, you know the product will be good.

Anyone else think they are going to get this?

7 comments:

Nikki said...

Well they say it will be 12 pages, one for each character for 12 weeks, yet newsarama name 16 characters. She may be on the superman page and unless she gets some good time there it just doesn't seem worth it.

Heath Edwards said...

this should be fun. i did enjoy the short-lived 'solo' series, and anthologies are mostly a lot of fun...

Saranga said...

I am unfamiliar with the Sunday comics you are referring to, so this concept sounds like a pretty odd way to go about publishing something to me. However, I reckon I'll buy it.
How long I'll buy it for will depend on the quality and how much panel time each character gets - I won't buy something with too much Batman or Sgt Rock for instance, but Teen Titans, Wonder Woman and Supergirl will make it a must for the first few weeks at least. And Neil Gaiman.
I don't know all the writers mentioned but Amanda Connor could do a good Kara. As much as I like Kurt Busiek and Neil Gaiman I don't think Supergirl is quite their style.

Anonymous said...

>Well they say it will be 12 pages

Where does it say it will be 12 pages?

Anj said...

>Well they say it will be 12 pages

Where does it say it will be 12 pages?


In the Chiarello article, he states that it is "12 big-ass pages".

He does say 16 characters, but I wonder if he is counting the 5 Titans we see.

I am hoping for a Supergirl solo feature.

Anonymous said...

You know what would work like gangbusters as a Sunday color feature?
"Supergirl Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade"...I mean it's a no-brainer IMHO.

I like this idea of Wednesday Comics cuz it's so retro, but I fear that there may not be any aud for it per se...but I'll buy never fear.

What DC ought to do is invest in live action on-line serials...via youtube or some other dedicated video-audio site.
And as usual, I think Kara is a natural for such treatment.

John Feer

Anonymous said...

Agreed! :D

Truly looking forward to this now that Supergirl AND Wonder Woman have been confirmed to be featured in this, heh.

Mm, as per the writer/artist for Supergirl being... how about Brian Azzarello with Amanda Conner? I know Azzarello has worked on a Super-family member's title in the past (being the abysmal "For Tomorrow" arc with Jim Lee) but something tells me that he might just be right for Supergirl with Conner doing art. :/