WILDSTORM UPDATES PUBLISHING PLANS FOR HORROR/MOVIE TITLES, DC NEWS

[MattBrady]

<i>Press Releases</i>

<b>WILDSTORM UPDATES PUBLISHING PLANS FOR HORROR/MOVIE TITLES</b>

<blockquote>Starting in June, WildStorm's titles based on popular horror movies from New Line Cinema - A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, FRIDAY THE 13TH and TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE - will change from monthly comics to a series of specials and miniseries.

"This new approach to these franchises should provide retailers with more opportunities to introduce them to new readers," says Hank Kanalz, VP - General Manager, WildStorm.

The first of the specials will be TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: CUT!, coming in June. Written by Will Pfeifer, with art by Stefano Raffaele and a cover by Darick Robertson, CUT! takes place thirty years after the gruesome events of the infamous "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," as film school grads come to Travis County to document the Hewitt clan. But has the terror really ended? Has Leatherface really faded into urban myth? TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE: CUT! will be solicited in the April Previews.

TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE comes to end as an ongoing series with issue #6 (FEB070342), scheduled to arrive in stores on April 18.

Also in June, the eighth and final issue of the ongoing A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series will arrive in stores. WildStorm will continue publishing A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, starting with a six-part mini-series scheduled for later this year.

FRIDAY THE 13TH comes to an end as an ongoing series with issue #6 (MAR070260), scheduled to arrive in stores on May 9. WildStorm will continue publishing FRIDAY THE 13TH, starting with a two-part Special, "Pamela's Tale" scheduled to begin in July.</blockquote>

<b>CONTENT CLARIFICATION FOR HELLBLAZER: THE DEVIL YOU KNOW TP</b>

<blockquote>The upcoming HELLBLAZER: THE DEVIL YOU KNOW TP (FEB070354) collects HELLBLAZER #10-13, HELLBLAZER ANNUAL #1 and THE HORRORIST #1-2. These issues are written by Jamie Delano and illustrated by Richard Piers Rayner, Mark Buckingham, Mike Hoffman, Bryan Talbot, Dean Motter and David Lloyd.

The HELLBLAZER: THE DEVIL YOU KNOW TP (FEB070354) is solicited in the February Previews and is scheduled to arrive in stores on May 9.</blockquote>

[md62]

Sort of like the Wildcats Annual "series".

[tiso_spencer]

I guess it goes to show that DC should not have bothered getting these properties from Avatar when they handled them horrible.

[Psivage]

I think this is a good move.

[jaimeramirez]

can we get an updated schedule for Wildcats and Authority?

hahahaha.

JR

[idkidd]

I'm really not sure what the point of taking these series from Avatar was. DC (through Time Warner) own tons of well known and diverse properties; why develop someone else's? You know these books won't be around a year from now.

[Kamandi2]

Well, it's a definite jumping off point for me. I absolutely hate the series of mini-series approach. I prefer an ongoing title. Why not do story-arcs in the ongoing title with Part 1, Part 2, etc. on the cover? When they collect them in to TPBs it's not going to matter whether it was an ongoing with arcs or a series of mini-series.

That saves me 9 bucks a month.

[matchesmalone]

I am happy that these titles are being cut back (I imagine they'll vanish fairly soon.) They seem very trashy to me, the worst of the film business translated into the worst of the comics business.

It was a bad sign for the line when Friday the 13th was promoted with "Artist TBD" here on Newsarama...

http://www.newsarama.com/SDCC06/DC/Wildstorm/horror.html

Wildstorm has been pretty half-assed lately.

[Ed Marks]

Frankly, the books were rather good. While the Avatar-garbage by Pulido just went for guts and gore the Wildstorm books try to tell stories too. Just check out "Friday the 13". Jason only pops up about once each book for a couple pages.

[grphxkindaguy]

Wildstorm has been pretty half-assed lately.

yeah, but in their defense they've also had some awesome books come out on a regular basis:

Welcome to Tranquility

Stormwatch PHD

Midnighter

Gen13

[aceatkins]

Man, Wildstorm is a disaster right now. This announcement is pretty much the death of their horror line (which I never really understood anyway --- horror can be conveyed much better through film), and the superhero books they relaunched just six months ago are almost all floundering. Wildcats and Authority are MIA (and what has come out has been a confusing mess). I personally dropped Wetworks, Midnighter, and Gen13 because they all kind of sucked. Tranquility and Deathblow I had zero interest in. The only book I'm even continuing with right now is Stormwatch, and that's seriously on the bubble. These books should have been riding high for at least a year given the reboot and the talent assigned to them. But the books all but imploded within four months. Sad.

[JohnPopa]

It never seemed Wildstorm really had much interest in doing these books anyway -- adding fuel to the rumors that they only got the licenses to get them back under the Warner Bros. umbrella and not for any noticeable creative reason. The numbers would be great for an indie but obviously aren't good enough for a major company.

I have a hard time believing the company is really committed to worrying about these properties long-term, which is a bit distressing as a fan of them. The right publisher could build a strong foundation for a nice line of horror comics off these properties.

[BamaRainbow]

Man, Wildstorm is a disaster right now. This announcement is pretty much the death of their horror line (which I never really understood anyway --- horror can be conveyed much better through film), and the superhero books they relaunched just six months ago are almost all floundering. Wildcats and Authority are MIA (and what has come out has been a confusing mess). I personally dropped Wetworks, Midnighter, and Gen13 because they all kind of sucked. Tranquility and Deathblow I had zero interest in. The only book I'm even continuing with right now is Stormwatch, and that's seriously on the bubble. These books should have been riding high for at least a year given the reboot and the talent assigned to them. But the books all but imploded within four months. Sad.

Yeah, "horror can be conveyed much better through film". I guess that's why horror STORIES didn't come along until the medium of film was developed. :rolleyes:
Elements of horror have appeared in tales throughout history (the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Bible, Beowulf, just to name a few) while the modern horror story was developed in the 18th century ("The Castle of Otranto" is usually attributed as the first modern-style horror story; it really is more specifically the first gothic horror story--being the first to utilize the conventions of the spooky castle and the heroine-in-distress). The 19th century featured the real Classics of horror: Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, Varney the Vampyre, Carmilla, The Invisible Man, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Dracula, and, of course, most of Edgar Allan Poe's stories. Somehow, Stephen King sold millions of BOOKS (earning a very devoted following) before even one of his stories made it to the screen.

[idkidd]

I keep forgetting these are TW properties. Oh well, at least some beautiful covers came out of the whole thing.

[BamaRainbow]

At least, this helps to explain this month's missing solicits for "Elm Street" and "Chainsaw Massacre".
I'm somewhat mixed about the series of mini-series idea, though. An ongoing series makes it much easier to file in a collection (and a heck of a lot easier to enter in a database), but since the books are already in the story-arc format anyway, I guess there's not much difference. The biggest plus I can see: Wildstorm/DC really won't have any excuse for late releases. The company SHOULD now be able to hold the solicitations until the books are nearly complete and ready to release. (Granted, the books have been pretty well on schedule as far I've seen.)
And, to those people who've been badmouthing DC/Wildstorm for their handling, I'll make two comments regarding this:
1--These series haven't had a gazillion covers for each issue (unlike Avatar's series).
2--At least DC/Wildstorm didn't yield to outside pressure and cancel the books completely (unlike Marvel back in 1989/1990 when Marvel cancelled its B&W non-code-approved Elm Street magazine after a mere 2 issues).

[Dave Accampo]

Yeah, "horror can be conveyed much better through film". I guess that's why horror STORIES didn't come along until the medium of film was developed. :rolleyes:
Elements of horror have appeared in tales throughout history (the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Bible, Beowulf, just to name a few) while the modern horror story was developed in the 18th century ("The Castle of Otranto" is usually attributed as the first modern-style horror story; it really is more specifically the first gothic horror story--being the first to utilize the conventions of the spooky castle and the heroine-in-distress). The 19th century featured the real Classics of horror: Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, Varney the Vampyre, Carmilla, The Invisible Man, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Dracula, and, of course, most of Edgar Allan Poe's stories. Somehow, Stephen King sold millions of BOOKS (earning a very devoted following) before even one of his stories made it to the screen.

hah! You've got a good point, but to be fair...comics are not prose novels either. Even artists like Mike Mignola have come out saying it's hard to do "horror" in comic form. There are elements of horror, the jump-out-of-your-seat stuff that film can do better. And since these are books BASED on movies that were DESIGNED to do that, the poster has got a bit of a point.

Plus...are the older stories you mentioned now considered horror? I mean, I know where you're coming from -- they've been grouped under that umbrella. But I'm pretty sure Poe didn't say he wrote horror stories. So it may be fair to say that the "horror" of Jason or Freddy and the horror of "The Telltale Heart" can't fairly be lumped together.

But maybe I'm just splitting hairs. I just find it interesting to note.

[david r]

Friday the 13th was actually a well-done comic series. Palmiotti/Gray as writers have done a remarkable job fleshing out the characters and creating a true sense of suspense in that book. They know when to go for the blood-and-guts, and when to hold back.

I'm saddened to see it go. They were starting to explore the myths of Crystal Lake and the camp a little, and now it'll never get anywhere.

[Botch]

I agree with those who were defending the Friday the 13th book. I'm a real fan of Jason Voorhees, and I have to say I thought the Avatar books were (at best) kinda fun but mostly freakin' stupid. Pulido is crap.

The current F13 comic is easily the best one that has ever been put out. I hope it sticks around a long time.

~ Botch

The Monster Project
Rock arrangements of horror movie themes
www.themonsterproject.com

[fpgs2]

At the retail level, I can honestly say that in our area, sales on each of these titles was less than spectacular. The quality was there. The Tony Harris covers on the Nightmare books were fantastic as were the Sook covers on the Friday the 13th issues. Note that these titles will most certainly maintain a high level of back issue sales...especially at horror based comic shows like the Pittsburgh Comicon.