DC: A New Beginning...(Again)

As it stands right now, we have just a bit of information about DC's plan to re-number & start fresh with their line of super-hero comics in September.  But since it's always fun to speculate, then why the Hell shouldn't I get in on the fun?

1. Marvel will have no choice but to also Day-And-Digital:  I just don't see any other option.  There is no doubt in my mind that DC will get a huge bump in their market share strictly by making their comics available to the quite-a-few-million people who just will not go to a comic shop.  Advertising that these comics will also feature some familiar faces, but have none of the previous baggage of continuity will be the main ingredient to this particular audience.  Once that happens, while I don't see Marvel scrambling for a massive reboot (despite opinions, their continuity has never been quite as convoluted as DC's), they will have to turn their backs on the retailers and make their comics available digitally ASAP.  This might see the (sound ominous drum roll...) end of the comic shop as we know it, UNLESS....
2. Comic fans will have to put their money where their internet mouths are:  in this small family of comic fans that we seem to have online right now, there seems to be quite a bit of talk about how "if more titles were available digitally, I'd be more inclined to try them out."  Well, here you fucking go.  Clean backgrounds, yet familiar territories, it's going to be up to the hardcore base that we have right now to put aside all their previous reservations and at the very least, take a look at what is going to be offered.  Oh, and we need to pay for it, too.  #notorrents And if we find something that we like, let's not be afraid to recommend it to friends & family.  There seem to be quite a few people out there who have no problem going to super-hero movies that start on the level playing field, so we should have no problem with a) not sounding like a douche comic know-it-all  to "outsiders" and b) being actively excited about the stories/art/packages that are going to be for sale & more available to purchase.  Lord knows the last time DC gave the fans exactly what they "wanted", the flock didn't quite turn out the way they said they would....
3. The Price Question:  As I Tweeted earlier, I gotta imagine that in the middle of all this "NEWNEWNEW", DC will be letting the 2.99 price point go byebye; or at least, more it over to the digital side, which will make it look like the cheaper/better version (since you can't hold it in your hands and it can be taken from you for whatever lawsuit/reason that pops up, I wouldn't call it the better version myself).  Yes, if they want to capture the valuable market share piece that this is all really about, then they will have to drift away from the highly-published Holding The Line plan.  Also, it's the only way to smooth things over will the retailers who are not going to be too happy with one of the Big 2 (soon to be all) selling these things themselves, sans middle man.
4. Finally getting the Reboot Right:  When the original Crisis ended way back in 1985, the plan was to start all their books (which was a much lower count now that what it currently being published any given month) with new #1s to go along with their new adjusted continuity.  But they got cold feet & it didn't happen.  All their reboots limped along, one character at a time and by the time Peter David was getting around to giving us the penultimate Aquaman, the new car smell on the New DC had an 8 year stink to it.  Then they did Zero Hour, which famously did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to change any problems they may have previously had, although they did use that opportunity to put forth new staus quos, new villains, new story lines, etc.  Their hearts were in the right place, but the execution didn't hit with the expectations that were given at the time, and well, let's just say thank God for Kingdom Come, shall we?  But I gotta say, with Geoff Johns running the show (he & Jeph Loeb are the 2 main conspirators the past 10 years to making sure that just about every heroes back story included all the pre-Crisis history, too), I have hard time believing that this may go through the way it's being presented, at least at this moment.  Why would he go through all the trouble of writing Superman: Secret Origin just so he wipe it away a year later?  And I say that as recognizing him as one of the guys "running the show".

Above all this, I believe the main goal of this is working:  People are talking.  People are excited.  People are scared.

Let's just hope they can take this kinda big, huge knots in comic fan's stomachs and carry it 'till September.....

Eargasam (Or My Lack There Of)

This shit is just crazy....

Oh course, my dude Skyzoo is doing the damn thang, rhyming like he don't have a fan in the world & have nothing to lose, but I really think it's this beat (for the lack of a better word) that's got me playing this non-stop for the past few days.  At the start, it seems as though it's like an Advent guard song, with all the different instruments coming with a few notes and apart from each other, then coming to together to create a symphony, almost mimicking the Superman theme from the movies at the end.  Especially those horns hitting those notes, followed by the few piano taps.  Those sounds are haunting me a bit.

Got no solid source right now on who's behind this production, but I think I read Mr. 9th Wonder-ful Tunes name thrown somewhere.  If so... #tippingmyhat

This is the type of thing that gets me a bit excited about music that's coming out, and I ain't felt that way in quite a while.

The thing is, I don't know if it's me or the music.  I WAITED for quite some years before Saigon was able to drop The Greatest Story Never Told;  thinking to myself the whole time "can this guy really bring out the kind of classic that's been lacking in hip-hop nowadays?"; and when he finally drops it earlier this year, I did what a loyal fan did & bought the album.  But I'll be damned if I know if it was worth it....since I STILL haven't sat down & listened to it yet.

My Twitter buddy Shawn Pryor gave me a heads up for this former Kells fan, telling me Love Letter is the return of R. Kelly.  When he told me that, you would think such a announcement would send me running to iTunes, ready to download this bitch, but you'd be wrong.  Jumping into unheard music is one of the things old school Chuck E was known for (hell, it was my middle name), but now the shit just scares me away.  Never the money aspect;  there isn't an album out there that usually doesn't cost less than what I'm spending on lunch today #scarystatement #perspective; but the idea of having yet another huge body of music art-work (see what I just did there?) laying in my hard drive, never to be listened to by my ears causes me to be sad at no end.  Especially when you think of all the different ways to achieve such a goal nowadays.  I'm not limited to making sure I bring my tape Walkman everywhere with me, is what I'm sayin'....

So what is the enemy?  WHAT IS EVIL FORCE THAT DRIVING SUCH A HUGE & MOTIVATING PLEASURE OUT OF MY LIFE?!?....

...well, a normal person on the outside would point to me and blame my total lack of discipline & need to prioritize.  But I'm not going to take that.  No, I'm going to blame time.

I have a job.  And that job requires me to interact with other actual human beings 100% of the time.  And I no longer have a car stereo in my work truck, just the huge amount of noise that comes from actually running the old piece of shit.  That, in itself, may be music to some one's ears, but I prefer a little more DJ Premier in my mix.

Oh, and I bought the new Musiq album the other day & I still haven't listened to that yet.  Sigh.

So when I saw I'm looking forward to the new Skyzoo, what am I saying?  Can't wait to download and not listen?  Ready to give money out so willingly to own, not enjoy, new music? 

Or should I just stop worrying, drop out, tune in & listen?