EVERYTHING BUT IMAGINARY #167: BRING BACK THE BACK-UPS

[Blake Petit]

As I was going through some old comics recently, I noticed an interesting trend of the past that seems to have died out. Back in 1938 when Action Comics was launched, this flagship title was not just a book starring Superman. He was the headliner from the first issue, but for the longest time the book was actually an anthology, co-starring the likes of Zatara, Congo Bill and Slam Bradley to fill out the book’s 64 pages. Most comics at the time were anthologies, actually, and it wasn’t until the next year, when Superman #1 was released, that anyone gave thought to the idea of an entire magazine devoted to one character.

As time progressed, the page count dropped and most of the anthologies died out – even now it’s difficult for an anthology title to gain a foothold on the comic book market. But for a long time books like Action still didn’t belong solely to the headline character – it was common for a book to have regular back-up features. Congorilla stuck around for a long time, then he was rotated out and other characters were rotated in – for a while Action actually rotated three back-up features, including Aquaman, the Atom and Airwave. I think there was some sort of postal service alphabetical requirement or something.

But anyway, as I was looking through these old comics, it brought to mind how rare it is for a comic to have a back-up feature these days, and I for one would love to see them come back. First and foremost, there’s the economical factor to consider. Prices on mainstream comics recently got hiked up (AGAIN!) from $2.50 to $2.99, and the skyrocketing prices are causing a lot of people to seriously reconsider their investment in the medium. Is it worth three dollars for a one story they can read in five minutes? Maybe not. But would it be worth two stories? Perhaps. A regular back-up feature would help people feel like they’re getting more for their money.

A regular back-up also makes for a great showcase for other projects – even new creators who may not quite have the cache to carry a regular title yet. The Monolith, unfortunately, didn’t have the pull on the audience to sustain itself as an ongoing series, and we’re all the lesser for it, but what if DC had launched it instead as an ongoing back-up feature in Hawkman, another title written at the time by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray? People wouldn’t be picking up Hawkman to get a Monolith story, but those who pick the book up would still read the back-up, and after a while, when DC tried to spin it off into its own series, it may have built up an audience sufficient to keep an ongoing afloat. It’s happened before – back in 1978, Firestorm’s first series lasted only five issues. Then he was sent over to Flash where he became the regular back-up star for a while… when he was given another chance at an ongoing series in 1982 the audience was there and the second try made it all the way to the century mark.

Back-ups have been tried sparingly in recent years, but they haven’t really been done well. After the year-long “No Man’s Land” storyline ended, Detective Comics brought in a series of back-up stories for a while. It was a good idea, but the execution was lacking. A lot of the back-ups simply featured Batman or other members of his supporting cast or rogues’ gallery – there was really very little chance of the Riddler getting his own series, after all. When Catwoman was cancelled and relaunched with a new #1, there was a prologue series in the back-ups of Detective that worked, but there was really nothing about those stories that couldn’t have fit into a Catwoman #0 or some other book to directly tie into her own series. And the book’s back-ups actually began with a sci-fi comic, Jordan Gorfinkel’s The Jacobian. It was an okay comic, but as the only tentative connection was that the story was a mystery of sorts, it didn’t quite connect with the audience.

The trick to making the back-ups worthwhile is to choose a feature that will appeal to the comic’s existing audience but is still different enough to support its own series without feeling like just another spin-off. Probably the best thing to come out of the Detective back-ups was Judd Winick’s creation Josie Mac, the GCPD officer who has the subtle metahuman power to “speak” to inanimate objects, which she uses to “find” things – from missing socks to missing persons. Josie never got her own series, but she did become a regular cast member in Gotham Central – the street-level book never specifically outlined her powers for readers unfamiliar with her, but it was clear that she had an unusual “knack” when it came to hunting things down.

Comic companies will cry economics when it comes to the idea of installing a back-up feature, but I think that’s kind of a cop-out. Selling a extra ads could help offset the printing costs (yes, I know some people complain about the ads that are in a comic now, but I say that if selling 20 pages of ads for a book with 30 pages of story will give me a reasonably-priced comic, I’m willing to flip past a shill for JuicyFruit), leaving the question of the creative team’s payment to deal with. A back-up feature probably wouldn’t be able to pay as much as a feature, but a lot of creators might be willing to do the work for a little less money in the hopes of getting their characters and ideas on the page and take the chance of spinning them off.

Then there’s the space constraint. How do you tell a story in eight or ten pages, when some writers these days can take up ten pages just showing a character putting his boots on? It’s not easy, but it’s not impossible either. Here’s what you need: a good writer. That’s actually it. A good writer can tell a complete story, or a complete chapter of a serialized story, in that shorter space.

Marvel and DC could both do underused characters a real service with this sort of project. It would be a little more difficult at Image, where the books are owned and produced by the creators and not the corporate office, but it’s still not impossible. Erik Larsen has often run back-up features in the pages of Savage Dragon – Chris Giarrusso’s G-Man or Chris Eliopoulos’s Desperate Times, for example -- and Robert Kirkman fills out each issue of Invincible with his own ancillary feature, Capes.

This isn’t a foolproof idea, of course. A lot of the back-up features that are tried may flop – but then again, a lot of the regular series that get tried out these days flop as well. Wouldn’t it be worthwhile to give these other worthy ideas a chance to find their home? Manhunter has just been renewed for five more issues, five more chances to prove itself, but if the title goes away wouldn’t it be good for her to have a home in the back pages of Checkmate? Or if she does survive, wouldn’t that be a great place for a Suicide Squad feature? If DC is nervous about giving Doom Patrol another shot after the last two failures of an ongoing series, why not run it behind Teen Titans for a while?

Like I always say, diversity in comics will result in different titles, different creators and, ultimately, a wider readership. Bringing back regular back-up features, especially in the most successful titles, is one way to do that. I think it’s time to give them another go.

New Title of the Week:

presented this challenge to myself a few weeks back, to try to find one title each week I’ve never read before, and I must say I’m enjoying it immensely. I think I may extend it past the prescribed one month – I may not do it every week, but you’ll still find it here fairly often. Anyway, this week the title I sampled for the first time was Talent by Christopher Golden and Tom Sniegoski with art by Paul Azaceta. When divers survey the submerged plane that crashed in the ocean, they’re astonished to find a survivor still alive after 12 hours underwater. (Actually, the book seems to disagree with itself here – at one point they say he was underwater for 12 hours, but later that changes to 16 – I’m going to blame that on Superboy-Prime.) As the investigation into the crash continues, an investigation into the survivor begins as well – how Nicholas Dane survive? And why is he beginning to manifest some of the talents and skills of the others who died in the crash? I very much enjoyed this first issue – it’s a bizarre idea and sends off a really entertaining vibe. Can’t wait to read the rest of it.

FAVORITE OF THE WEEK: MAY 31, 2006

I shouldn’t be too surprised that Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre #1 grabbed the “favorite” award from me last week – I loved Infinite Crisis and Day of Vengeance and I loved Gotham Central. This book is essentially an omelet made from those eggs. Crispus Allen, slain GCPD detective, has been chosen as the new Spectre – but he doesn’t want the job. Will Pfiefer did a fantastic job introducing these two characters and setting up the new dynamic for one of DC’s oldest characters. I’m only sorry it’s just a three-issue miniseries.

Blake M. Petit is the author of the superhero comedy novel, Other People's Heroes, the suspense novel The Beginner - which is now available at Amazon.com-- and the weekly “Think About It” humor column at the Think About It Central. He wants a Captain Carrot back-up somewhere. Anywhere. E-mail him at Blake@comixtreme.com and visit him on the web at Evertime Realms.

[chrismozer]

Sorry to say i am not a big supporter of back-up features. The earliest i can remember was in Logan's Run #6. It was the first issue after the movie adaptation and i was excited to see what happened next. Imagine how disappointed i was to see a Thanos/Drax story. At that time, i had no clue as to who these characters were. I just felt ripped off. To this day, i still get the feeling of being gipped (is that correct spelling) when there is a back up.

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by chrismozer

Sorry to say i am not a big supporter of back-up features. The earliest i can remember was in Logan's Run #6. It was the first issue after the movie adaptation and i was excited to see what happened next. Imagine how disappointed i was to see a Thanos/Drax story. At that time, i had no clue as to who these characters were. I just felt ripped off. To this day, i still get the feeling of being gipped (is that correct spelling) when there is a back up.

If the main feature isn't any shorter, how can a back-up feature be a gyp? And as long as they're good, give me as many stories for my money as possible.

[thetrooper516]

Isn't the History of the DC Universe at the end of 52, a back up feature?

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by thetrooper516

Isn't the History of the DC Universe at the end of 52, a back up feature?

It certainly counts as one, but it's not exactly being used in the way I'm advocating here -- as sort of a springboard for other characters and ideas. There will probably be spin-offs from 52, but I doubt any of them will come directly from History of the DCU.

[Walt Kneeland]

I'm all for backups, so long as the main story's not cut short, and the price stays the same...

After all, that way I either get a bonus story to read just 'cuz it's there, or I can ignore it and still get the same amount of story for the price.

And heck, if it's a well-written story and different from the main story's characters and such...it could be a nice bonus for the people buying the singles...

[Adam Chapman]

Originally Posted by thetrooper516

Isn't the History of the DC Universe at the end of 52, a back up feature?

It is, but an overly convoluted and not very good one. Ultimate Vision was also a back-up story, included in certain Ultimate books during a month.

[thetrooper516]

Taking the companies perspective though, how do you measure how well a backup story is doing to merit its own issue eventually. You can't just go by how well the main comic is doing.

I'm still all for the idea of reinstating the idea. I was always a firm believer in less is more.

At the moment though, I don't mind the preview idea that they did with Countdown to IC and now with Brave New World. Although $1 for 80 pages isn't the same benefit as getting new story every issue, it's still a cheap way for readers both new and old to see what's in store for the coming months.

[Chase Bouzigard]

Dude For the first time in a long yttime you and I are in agreement. I just bought huge lot of comics on e-bay. I am talkeing about 3 boxs worth of stuff, and the back up has not been gone for that long. In the since that you could read about some of your lesser known Heroes it has been gone adout 13 years in my estimation. Bring Back Airwave, Ambushbug, G'nort, Argus, Sleepwalker, the Nightstalkers, Ironfist & and the list goes on and on...

I also miss the Team up books Like DC Comics Presints, or the Brave and the Bold, or MarvelTeam-Up. I am not talkeing about the crap thay clame is Marvel Team-Up, I am Talking about A real Book with TOp of the list Creators, like thay were back in the Old days.
Lets See Superman Hang out with the Ray, Batman busting hades with Black Lightning, Spider_man Get way out of his Eliment Fighting FIng fan Foom with War Michine. I want to see the B-Listers brought back.

How about a book like Showcase, a place not only to highlight Unused caricters but Showcase new talent as well.

Marvel & DC you guys need to get this done.

[Mr Flibble]

I think Blake has a good point here. I've enjoyed the Jason Bard back up stories in Detective Comics recently.

[Liam Creswick]

Well this is certianly a good idea, the most recent backup that comes to MY mind was the Captian Carrot crap in the Teen Titans arc before OYL. (and its not often I actully use crap to describe a comic, as im usually pretty postive on most things I read). I know most backups would be better than that (I don't know how they could be worse) but yeah, when you say back up, I end up thinking of that, and I can't help but feel sick.

My nausea aside, I agree, back ups would be nice.

Also you note that comic prices have gone up. For YOU maybe. From what I can tell, DC has lowerd their Canadian prices, so yay for that!

[JX141]

Originally Posted by Walt Kneeland

I'm all for backups, so long as the main story's not cut short, and the price stays the same...

After all, that way I either get a bonus story to read just 'cuz it's there, or I can ignore it and still get the same amount of story for the price.

And heck, if it's a well-written story and different from the main story's characters and such...it could be a nice bonus for the people buying the singles...

Exactly my thoughts, I already feel gypped do to all the advertisements.

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by Liam Creswick

Well this is certianly a good idea, the most recent backup that comes to MY mind was the Captian Carrot crap in the Teen Titans arc before OYL.

Okay NOW we're gonna come to blows. :P

JX -- if you think ads are "gypping" you, I'd like you to consider for a moment how much an average comic would cost if they sold NO ads. I promise you, you'd would feel a lot more ripped off than you do when you have to go past a Playstation ad to get to the next page. But that's another issue entirely.

Chase -- I agree with you totally there, I'd love to see a new Showcase-style book to show off new characters and new talent. The problem there is, like I said earlier, "anthology"-style comics just don't sell well in the current market. That's why I think a regular series of back-ups would be a more viable alternative. Anchor the book with a proven property, then work in the new stuff in the back where it's less of a risk for the publisher and reader alike.

Trooper brings up a good point about how you gauge the success of a back-up feature -- you can't tell by looking at the sales numbers whether the readers are enjoying a back-up or not. However, we now have a tool that didn't even exist when the back-up features were in their heyday: the internet. It would be very easy to gauge the reaction by fans on message boards and on e-mail -- is it foolproof? No. But considering the number of times Spider-Girl was given a stay of execution, it's clear that internet reponses do have an impact on how a company does its business. Heck, I think it would even be a good idea to occasionally let fans vote on what characters they'd like to see get a back-up feature, sort of like Marvel did with the most recent "Amazing Fantasy" series, which was sort of a "showcase" type book... but which failed because it didn't have a regular anchor to compel people to come back each month.

[thetrooper516]

Originally Posted by Blake Petit

Trooper brings up a good point about how you gauge the success of a back-up feature -- you can't tell by looking at the sales numbers whether the readers are enjoying a back-up or not. However, we now have a tool that didn't even exist when the back-up features were in their heyday: the internet. It would be very easy to gauge the reaction by fans on message boards and on e-mail -- is it foolproof? No. But considering the number of times Spider-Girl was given a stay of execution, it's clear that internet reponses do have an impact on how a company does its business. Heck, I think it would even be a good idea to occasionally let fans vote on what characters they'd like to see get a back-up feature, sort of like Marvel did with the most recent "Amazing Fantasy" series, which was sort of a "showcase" type book... but which failed because it didn't have a regular anchor to compel people to come back each month.

I agree that the internet is a good tool to gauge fan reaction but in the instances in which it is successfull is when there is a threat to the series being cancelled. It's only when the companies say that they are ending a series to using an outcry over the internet bring titles back to life.

The polling idea is great. I can't imagine how much anticipation I would feel to see if the back-up I voted for was finally made into a series. Plus, it's always good banter for threads.

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by thetrooper516

I agree that the internet is a good tool to gauge fan reaction but in the instances in which it is successfull is when there is a threat to the series being cancelled. It's only when the companies say that they are ending a series to using an outcry over the internet bring titles back to life.

It's true that you tend to get a stronger reaction when people are disappointed than when they're satisfied, but I think there are still ways to use it. We've just got to put our heads together.

[Liam Creswick]

Originally Posted by Blake Petit

Okay NOW we're gonna come to blows. :P

You're kidding right? Seriously, you liked that!? Oh Blake...

Originally Posted by Blake Petit

It's true that you tend to get a stronger reaction when people are disappointed than when they're satisfied, but I think there are still ways to use it. We've just got to put our heads together.

A poll would work well on the publisher website. Run 3 or 4 back storyies in 3-4 regular titles. Then after a few months, poll the masses as to wich they would wanna see as a regular title. Better use of the poll system than "Whose you favorite Wolverine Villian" kinda thing they have on thier now.

[Blake Petit]

What, man, are you new or something? You've never heard my Captain Carrot spiel before? It's one of the great underappreciated comics of the 80s. It was some of Roy Thomas and Scott Shaw's best work, and Geoff Johns did it proud.

[Liam Creswick]

Oh, I've heard of it. I've heard of Leprosy too, but it doesn't mean its any good. Im sorry, but I really didn't like that back story by Johns. And while I've never read one of the original comics, I have seen pannels from it and didn't look much better. So yeah, sorry, not a fan.

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by Liam Creswick

Oh, I've heard of it. I've heard of Leprosy too, but it doesn't mean its any good.

Now that's really a bit much, don't you think?

Not everyone is gonna be a fan of every title, but lemme tell ya, Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew is some of the most pure fun I've ever seen on a comic book page.

[chrismozer]

Originally Posted by thetrooper516

Isn't the History of the DC Universe at the end of 52, a back up feature?

I don't care for the History back-up. To me, it is all redundant. I am wondering how many more issues will it take until i learn something new. If anything, i feel that DC should've made it into another mini-series like they did with the 2 issue History of the DC Universe that was published after Crisis On Infinite Earths.