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December 15, 2004
Uncovering Batman
The March solicitations for DC went live on Monday so I guess it’s safe to talk a little bit about Batman: Cover to Cover.
Imagine sorting through 500+ first round covers and winnowing it down to about 275 covers, organized by a variety of subject headings. Then try and find loose copies of 275 comics spanning 65 years.
Now think about creating a list of 20+ people to write short pieces about their favorite cover. And then contacting them, getting their picks and getting them paid.
That is the merest tip of the enormous amount of time and effort I, along with several of my colleagues, expended to make this book happen. To anyone in the publishing world, the idea that we got started on this in earnest in August and are sending it to the printer in Hong Kong on Friday, would seem ludicrous.
And yet, that’s what we’ve done. It’s a clean, handsome book, fun to look at, a breeze to read and something I hope people like. If this succeeds, it will show what we in Collected Editions can do, opening the door to new challenges.
There’ll be more about this, no doubt, at Newsarama and The Pulse in the coming months.
And for my Next Trick
Today, according the New York Times, the most eagerly awaited comics event of 2004 comes to a conclusion with the release of Identity Crisis #7.
For some, the journey ends. For me, it continues. I’m already at work assembling the hardcover compilation of the miniseries. This week, Time.com releases their survey of the 4-5 biggest 2005 projects from each publisher. Imagine my surprise to see the collection listed.
No pressure. Nope, none whatsoever.
On Serenity
Over at Ain’t it Cool News, today they post some comments about the earliest test screening of the Firefly movie which comes out in September, Thankfully, the reviews are uniformly positive. Of course, now I want to see the movie sooner than later.
On Pedro
So, the Mets have gone and done it. Snatched Pedro from the Red Sox. Big splash. Makes new GM Omar Minaya look good.
Looking closely, though, the next set of moves he makes will really tell if he knows his team or not. For example, Pedro’s good for 100 pitches then he needs a break. With luck, that gets the Mets through the 6th or 7th inning. Does Minaya have a rubber-armed middle relief corps ready to get to the closer? The trade of Mike Stanton for Felix Heredia gives us a younger but not better arm. The return of Scott Strickland will also be a plus. But is that enough? Is Royce Ring ready to step up to the majors and anchor the pen?
With Kaz Matsui shifting from shortstop to second and learning a new position, that makes the right side of the infield fragile. The Mets need a strong first baseman to take command the way Keith Hernandez did so brilliantly in the ‘80s. Going for Richie Sexson was the right decision. He, instead, chose Seattle. OK, so who else is available? Well, there’s John Olerud, looking for work. He’d be a good steadying influence to the youngsters around the infield (Matsui, Jose Reyes and David Wright) and a superb fielder, okay hitter. He’s my choice. But Minaya, still looking to appease the diehards, is negotiating for catcher-turned-first baseman Carlos Delgado. We tried that last season with Piazza. Didn’t work. Delgado is more comfortable at first but not a Gold Glover by any stretch of the imagination so we’re sacrificing defense for power – a gamble I’m not sure I would take.
We didn’t re-sign Richard Hidalgo so need at least one outfielder, maybe two if we trade Cliff Floyd. Scuttlebutt says it’s Moises Alou, a great player when he’s healthy which may be 40% of the time. Better they look for someone a little younger, a little more healthy. Or, let Victor Diaz prove he’s ready for prime time.
Posted by Bob Greenberger at December 15, 2004 02:03 PM
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Comments
I think Minaya's going to be a competent GM, but if signing Pedro Martinez winds up being a good decision for the Mets I'll start rooting for them.
Martinez isn't good for 100 pitches in consecutive starts, and he really needs five days of rest between starts. He's a head case, too. And he's only going to get older and more fragile. Minaya's hope has to be that Martinez will provide two good seasons, much as George Foster helped hold the fort for the Mets in the early 1980s while they built that great team. (I always thought it was cruel of the Mets to dump Foster in early 1986 just as they were going on to a great season.)
Worse, Minaya's signing of Kris Benson at that price is insane. I'd say the over-under on Benson's wins for the coming three seasons is 30.
As for Sexson and Delgado, they're both questionable (and yet, for some inexplicable reason, atop the Mariners' list). You're right about Olerud. If the Mets can put some young lumber in the lineup around him, there's no better defensive first baseman in the game today, and Mets fans should know, too -- they saw what happened to their infield defense after they let Olerud go the first time.
Right now I'd say the Mets will still be hard-pressed to play with the Braves, but if the Mets can just spend three days not worrying about what Steinbrenner does, they've got a chance.
Posted by: Mike Flynn at December 15, 2004 06:26 PM
The link to Time is not working.
Posted by: Charles at December 16, 2004 01:45 PM
"Uncovering Batman" sounds interesting. I started thinking about outstanding covers from Batman and Detective Comics, and the two that immediately popped into my head were Neal Adams' covers for Batman 227 and 251. 227's an homage to Bob Kane's Detective 31 cover, but it just looks fantastic. And the Joker has never looked scarier than on the cover of 251.
Paul
Posted by: Paul1963 at December 17, 2004 09:10 PM
And, of course, I got the title of "Batman: Cover to Cover" wrong in my reply. Crap.
Paul
Posted by: Paul1963 at December 17, 2004 09:11 PM