posted February 13, 2003 01:17 AM               

1) When I see a screen full of type without a paragraph break or any other form of space, I don't even try to read it, and I'm not alone;
2) Conciseness is one of the highest virtues in communication.

posted February 13, 2003 08:51 AM               

Thanks for taking time from your assuredly busy schedule to read and answer these questions, Bob. You're a true prince among men.

posted February 13, 2003 09:09 AM               

Brevity is the soul of wit. DOn't take in personally. Just boil it down.

posted February 13, 2003 09:10 AM               

Anyway, I read through all the comments here and appreciate the passion and thoughtful debate these questions and answers generate. DC can't satisfy everyone's wishes, hopes and dreams. Some are impractical, some are non-commerical and others are just out and out impossible. I'll keep at this until things turn hostile.

The bat debate has been particularly interesting and some good suggestions have been made by mr. gothamcity. We have selected three more Bat-projects for 2003 and once they're approved, we'll fill you in.

Anyway, we do the Double Features when the issues sell out and it's a way to keep copies available for retailers so the rest of the run doesn't suffer. Marvel does it with the Must Haves (a name I coined) and we do it with selected titles. Power Company had no such sales heat and copies have remained available.

No such plans for Looney Tunes today.

Yeah, it does look like we're all super-heroes in archives for 2003. Just yesterday I circulated my first draft proposal for 2004 candidates and there are some plain clothes guys on the list. Sorry, no Robin on the list, but it was a starting point.

No decision on Phil's WW run.

We haven't discussed reprinting any Flash prior to the Mark Waid run.

Mr. & Mrs. Superman? I don't think so.

The Abe Lincoln one-shot by Scott McCloud was published by WildStorm just before their acquisition by DC and remains a backlist item.

The Ray tpb is out of print.

Off to grab some coffee now....

posted February 13, 2003 10:09 AM               

Recently Batman Year Two was put back in print, this time including the graphic novel Full Circle(its sequel). Do you think if Man of Steel is ever put back in print, it should include those Superman's worlds miniseries that came out around the same time?

posted February 13, 2003 11:23 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob Greenberger:
Actually, I usually read this thread with my second cup of the morning but today I jumped right on line to see the buzz about the recent DCU shake-ups.

---

Well, since you mentioned it....

I'm sad to see Helfer go. Raspler too, though I'm not as familiar with his work (though I'm not sure how I feel about what he's done with JLA. Has he been editor since the Morrison take over?)

Were these handed down from Paul Levitz, or from Carlin before he demoted himself? Or is this part of DiDio's attempt to establish his presence?

I'm glad to see Mike Carlin getting his hands dirty in the creative process again. I only wish he could go back to editing the Superman titles.

I see that at the same time they announced this, they also announced Doom Patrol's cancellation ( ). Is that part of it? is an attempt to "shake out the dead wood" over the entire line? Is all this a reaction to Marvel's "controversy is good; there's no such thing as bad publicity" attitude of late? It seems to me that, while DC remains lightyears ahead of Marvel in terms of quality, DC's more of the "slow and steady" type, with less flash, hence less industry "buzz". I remember an article recenetly that said someone at DC (Didio? I forget) was openly courting "hot" Marvel artists like JRJR and the Kubert kids, and was willing to pay top dollar.

How much do you expect this to effect the DCU in general? Is this really a whole new way of doing buisness?

And what about the Archives and collected editions? If this is an attempt to catch up with Marvel on the Diamond 300, I hope it won't include DC picking up on Marvel's loathing for it's past (don't let the recent Masterworks B&N deal fool you... Quesada and Jemas have shown nothing but contempt for Marvel's history. They see it as a burden, whereas I've felt that, for the most part, DC has done a pretty good job over the years respecting its past (wiht a few notable exections that I won't go into here )).

Also, I notice on Newsarama, DiDio said something about a THUNDER Agents revival. Will that affect the Archiving of those? Speed it up? Slow it down?

posted February 13, 2003 11:34 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by CMCINTYRE3600:
Well, since you mentioned it....

I'm sad to see Helfer go. Raspler too, though I'm not as familiar with his work (though I'm not sure how I feel about what he's done with JLA. Has he been editor since the Morrison take over?)

Were these handed down from Paul Levitz, or from Carlin before he demoted himself? Or is this part of DiDio's attempt to establish his presence?

---

I can't imagine Bob himself being here much longer with people hounding him with questions that it's not appropriate for him to answer.

It's not Bob's position or place to blab abut the firings of other DC employees.

Can you guys give it a break?

------------------
Rock a little,

posted February 13, 2003 11:42 AM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Michael Bise:
I can't imagine Bob himself being here much longer with people hounding him with questions that it's not appropriate for him to answer.

It's not Bob's position or place to blab abut the firings of other DC employees.

Can you guys give it a break?

---

posted February 13, 2003 12:21 PM            

You already know what I want to see (okay, I'll mention it again...Superman/Flash racing TPB, Bat Lash Archive, Silver Age Teen Titans Archive, Atom Archive #2, Doom Patrol Archive #2)

posted February 13, 2003 01:36 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob Greenberger:

No such plans for Looney Tunes today.

---

Darn, ever since I got the Bugs Bunney and Friends TPB I've been getting into this series. Great stuff and this should be great for the book store market.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob Greenberger:

Yeah, it does look like we're all super-heroes in archives for 2003. Just yesterday I circulated my first draft proposal for 2004 candidates and there are some plain clothes guys on the list. Sorry, no Robin on the list, but it was a starting point.

---

Bob what do you mean by plain clothes? I'm thinking Starsky and Hutch. Seriously, do you mean any non-superhero stuff? Maybe some more war Archives?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob Greenberger:

We haven't discussed reprinting any Flash prior to the Mark Waid run.

---

I would like to see the early Mike Baron stuff repinted also. Walley wins the lottery. Who could not love that?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob Greenberger:

The Ray tpb is out of print.

---

Will it ever be put back into print?

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob Greenberger:

Off to grab some coffee now....

---

Good idea. Grab me a cup to will ya? Black, no sugar!

Thanks Bob!

posted February 13, 2003 01:42 PM               

It seems like most of the new Archive lines have black covers -- the covers, not the jackets -- with colored foil designs. Some of the older lines -- Superman, for example -- have colored bindings. Have the colored bindings ben phased out in favor of the black, or is this just a coincidence?

And can questions even GET more esoteric than this?

Thanks for keeping us informed, Bob,

posted February 13, 2003 03:35 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob Greenberger:
Just yesterday I circulated my first draft proposal for 2004 candidates and there are some plain clothes guys on the list. Sorry, no Robin on the list, but it was a starting point.

---

Please, oh please, Bob, tell me your first draft for 2004 included GA Flash #2.

posted February 13, 2003 03:44 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Bob Greenberger:
Yeah, it does look like we're all super-heroes in archives for 2003. Just yesterday I circulated my first draft proposal for 2004 candidates and there are some plain clothes guys on the list. Sorry, no Robin on the list, but it was a starting point.

---

Bob, I had a dream last night that I was holding all of the volumes DC has published of the G.A. Green Lantern Archives. Now you were in this dream and I asked you if DC was going to publish any more G.A. G.L. Archives. You laughed and said "not for a long time". The funny part of this dream is that I was holding THREE G.A. Green Lantern Archives. Is this a prophetic vision?

What do you mean Robin was a starting point?

posted February 13, 2003 05:45 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by Marty Raap:
P.S. -- And, if GA Green Lantern #3 doesn't come out in 2004, when I leave that 3 page Batman post I will forsake proper spelling and punctuation and I will avoid capital letters as if threatened with death to do otherwise.

---

posted February 13, 2003 05:55 PM               

------------------
N. Franco
aka Thanagarian

posted February 13, 2003 06:44 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Mike Falcon:
What do you mean Robin was a starting point?

---

Robin isn't a starting point. Bob's list is a starting point for discussion. Robin may or may not be added to the list when that discussion occurs.

And about that list...
I think the plainsclothesmen are westerns. I think you said that the war titles were not as successful as you had hoped they would be, so it's probably too early for more. I'm not sure sci-fi charcaters wear plain clothes. So, westerns seem to be next in line.

In any case, I hope you will discuss All-Star Western as an anthology. I don't really care if it gets on the 2004 schedule, but I'd like you to seriously discuss both westerns and anthologies.

Wait a second. How did I forget The Brave and the Bold?????? They all wore plain clothes for their time. Just in case you missed it the last billion times I requested it: The Brave and the Bold volume 1 of 3 featuring issues 1-8 of 24.

Funny you should mention the shakeups. I'm usually out of the loop on this kind of stuff. Doom Patrol is one of my favorites and I can't help but think that its fate was tied to Helfer's.

I hate to see anyone fired, even if I don't like their work. Everyone needs to eat. I'm always a little disturbed when people who appear to have been valuable to a company for a long time are suddenly not considered valuable anymore.

However, I appreciate the fact that the article that I read used the word "fired". I'm tired of hearing that people have "moved on" or "decided to pursue other interests". I don't think you have to discuss the gory details, but I hate to see companies fire people and then pretend it didn't happen.

posted February 13, 2003 07:00 PM               

Rip Hunter?
Secret Six?
Slam Bradley?
Roy Raymond?

posted February 13, 2003 08:06 PM               

quote:

---

Originally posted by BillNolan:
I thought the first thread had almost lost it's usefullness when people started coming on and writing something along the lines of "I don't really want to read through this entire thread, so I will ask my question even if you've already answered it three times before."

---

Fear and laziness keep me from asking questions of Bob.

I fear the question has already been asked, but I'm too lazy to wade through the impossibly long backlog of posts on the two threads.

So, I just sit here, try to keep up with reading just the pile of new posts each day, and on occasion jump in with a snarky comment.

*************

Gotta have an Adam Strange archive!