The NY Times has an interesting article about Comics adapting Hollywood tools for comics creation. And granted the information in it is actually reading, but I have to say, what interested me most about the article was that it was in a major metro (national?) newspaper and didn’t use the standard media cop out onomatopoeias that usually pollute comic headlines. Good job, NY Times.

As for the actual content of the article. I find it interesting that people are starting to notice it, but it’s been happening for quite a while. For a long term we’ve referred to Ultimates “Season One” and “Season Two” and constantly refer to the “widescreen action” to portray how the book had more of a action focused mainstream appeal.

I personally love the season approach. Let’s look at one series I really enjoy right now, Bomb Queen.

Bomb Queen, does not take itself too seriously. It’s a fun series. It’s dessert to my Warren Ellis and BM Bendis entree.

Unfortunately, if issue 12 of the Bomb Queen ongoing was coming out, I probably wouldn’t still be picking up this series. But because it releases in these tight little arcs and one-shots. I can pick up the first series, pick up the second trade and jump into the third series without feeling I’ve missed a beat. It facilitates people discovering the series, 4 arcs in, and makes it easier to collect and if I like it now, it’s easier to pick up the trades that keep me in the mix, essentially the same as the “box set” of a tv series.

Top Cow is also trying something interesting, starting next month. In the June Previews you will see what they are calling “Pilot Season 2007.” Essentially they’re going to do a group of miniseries and readers will get to decide what goes to an ongoing series in 2008. Interesting idea, and they’re probably banking on the idea that if people select book X to be an ongoing, they now have an emotional investment in that series and will be committed to keeping it ongoing. But why ongoing. Because things always fade after a while or the creative team changes. Why not just do one season, then in 2008 you can either do Ripclaw season 2 or new series season 1.

The other thing the NY Times article talks about is new people, with new roles in comics. Talking about how Joss Whedon will serve as an executive producer of sorts on the new buffy series, allowing other writers to take the reins, while he just kind of leads the overarching story, just like a head writer of a tv series. For Buffy, this works very well because Buffy works because of Joss Whedon’s voice. Buffy without Joss Whedon just doesn’t work, as the previous Buffy comics have shown us. For any other place, this is just another editor, and when we have too many eyes on the page, it’s like too many cooks in the kitchen, someone gets burned.

Finally, can anyone make heads or tails of what the Platinum Studios’ “Comic Runner” actually does? That part was completley incomprehensible to me.