Hello folks!

This past week, I went out and caught the newest iteration of Clash of the Titans in my local cineplex, and while I thought the film was okay, I spent most of the time wondering why neither of the writers (there were two of them) had bothered to ever pick up any sort of Greek mythology book and do some research. Heck, I would have settled for them just re-watching the original. However, I am not here today to speak on the sadness that was the new CotT script, I wanted to talk about Greek mythology in comics.

Like any form of popular culture, trends are always coming and going, and comics are no exception. One year there will be 10 new westerns, the next year, zombies will be in every other title. This year though, it seems that the fickle lady that is pop culture has made greek mythology cool again. Everywhere you look, there is a Greek god just waiting to say hello. From Percy Jackson to Marvel’s Hercules, Greek is chic. As I am the editor on MYTHOI (a book that also deals with mythology, though not just that Greek stuff), the increase in the popularity of mythology stands out to me. There are plenty of books out there on the subject right now, but are all of them good? I think not. Let’s take a look at some of the mythology heavy comics that are on the market today:

GREEK STREET from DC comic’s Vertigo imprint takes characters like Opedipus, Dionysis, and Agamemnon and retells their stories in a modern setting . Writer Peter Milligan obviously knows his Greek myths, but he takes a great many liberties with the stores.  Davide Gianfelice provides moody art that fits the story well, but just doesn’t do it for me.

THE OLYMPIANS graphic novels by George O’Conner are a series of books that focus on Greek Gods (Zeus, Athena, Ares) and are aimed at educating and entertaining a younger audience. The art is fun, in an Michael Avon Oeming sort of way, but the story is somewhat lacking. I know this can seem critical of a book aimed at children, but that’s just how I feel.

THE AVENGERS only makes this list because of Ares recent involvement with the Avengers. The only way that this relates at all to mythology is that Ares is in fact the Greek god of war (which he reminds someone of every issue he is in). He is a fun character though, and it’s nice to see him get some play.

OLYMPUS by Devil’s due productions is the story of two brothers that are bound to work for Zeus and wind up tracking down a rogue god. Nathan Edmonson has put together a fun script that builds well from the original material, and Christian Ward has a fin and exciting art style that tells the story well. It’s a shame that this book only lasted 4 issues.

PANTHEON by IDW was just announced at Wondercon and sprang from the mind of  The Shield’s Michael Chiklis. The story, writen by Marc Andreyko focuses Greek Gods returning to a messed up Earth to battle for the fate of mankind against the titans. The art will be by Stephen Molner. This series looks interesting, but series that spring from a celebrity are rarely awesome.

GOD COMPLEX by Image looks at the Greek god Apollo living amongst us mere mortals, and the shenanigans that ensue. Michael Avon Oeming co-writes the book with Daniel Berman, and while Oeming knows his gods, the whole “deity living among us” idea is kind of played out. John Broglia provides art that looks so much like Oeming, I wouldn’t know Michael didn’t do it if not for the credits, which is not a bad thing. This book is still fairly new, so time will tell if the book is any good, but it’s off to a good start.

While there might be plenty of books out right now with a focus on Greek myth, finding one that is a) good and b) true to the source material is no easy thing. Eventually the pop culture bandwagon will move on to something else (I would be partial to clowns being cool again), but until then enjoy all the coolness that Greek myth has to offer. Thanks for stopping in folks, I’ll see you next week.

Greetings Semantinkists!

Today I want to take a look at something that has become increasingly important in comics: Promo images. In the last few weeks, all of the Semantink crew has been discussing how best to get people excited about our new upcoming titles. These days (though I suppose this has been true for a while) promotion before a comic is released is integral to it’s survival. If a book doesn’t get a good jump from the get-go, it’s as good as done. This is true for books big and small. Books like Marvel’s S.W.O.R.D. and DC’s BLUE BEETLE suffered premature cancellations due to low initial sales. Diamond wont even pick up small press books if they can’t meet a certain sales plateau. So, it all comes back to getting readers hooked early, and usually before a book is even launched, which brings us back to the importance of promotional images.

Companies have become increasingly savvy about what a promo image should look like, and when to release it for maximum exposure. There seems to be a difference in what kind of promotion a book gets based on what kind of book it will be. Mega crossovers obviously get a much bigger push, as they affect the sales of more books. New series get a particular kind of promotional image, trying to invite readers to try something new. Events within established books target specific audiences (i.e. the people that already read the book(s) involved).

Obviously, the big two have more money and can afford to do a lot more in terms of images. As an example take a look at some of the images that they put together for the latest events, SIEGE and BLACKEST NIGHT:

DC’s BLACKEST NIGHT promotional image shows that while the book might be Green Lantern-centric, a host of recently dead heroes will be involved. SIEGE highlights the re-teaming of Marvel’s big three Avengers, Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor, while showing who they are fighting against. Both pieces are very dynamic and feature a large cast of characters involved to get more fans drawn to the project. Marvel and DC have really cornered the market on the crossover event promotion, as most other companies do not have a shared universe to draw from. Smaller companies like Wildstorm or Crossgen have tried crossover events, but the promotional material is lacking, often using cover art from the books themselves as promo pieces.

Note how while both of these covers are striking images, neither lead the reader to pick up books that they might not usually go for. There is a reason that only Marvel and DC do the big cross over event, and it’s because they are the only ones that can do it well.

Promotional images for new comics are a little more diverse in how they can bring in new readers. Books that are hoping to gain a niche because of the creator(s) involved will often highlight that (those) creator(s). An excellent example of this would be the promotional image for the new Todd McFarlane series, HAUNT:

This title is banking on the fact that people will buy the book simply for McFarlane. The art itself is dynamic, but the name is the focus. Another tactic that a company might employ when banking on creator owned success is to just leak the name of a creator and give a dynamite picture to get people going nuts. Icon’s NEMESIS is an example:

While this isn’t the only promotional image that NEMESIS produced (they would go for a more HAUNT-like image later), the “leaked image” technique is an effective tool in the battle for sales.

For books that are getting a relaunch or feature established characters, the goal for promotional art is simple: remind fans that their favorite character is back. A great example of this would be the recent relaunch of the AVENGERS titles. For the better part of a month, Marvel would release an image a day showing some of the most well-known and well-loved Avengers back on the team. Take a look at Thor here:

Another route to take when launching a new book is to take a more humorous approach. Image comics, in an attempt to parody the rash of Avengers promos that appeared recently (just about all of them look like the Thor image above), launched a series of promotional images for their upcoming series, GUARDIANS OF THE GLOBE. They were hilarious:

Yes, that’s Harry Potter.

Whatever tactic is used in designing promotional art, the end result is the same: get people hooked. Promotional art can be the difference between success or failure for a book, and is something that we all think a lot about here at Semantink. Thanks  everyone for stopping in, I’ll see you next week.