What's Going On?

So I hear that the Blue Beetle co-feature in Booster Gold is being dropped.

I'm not sure exactly where I read that, but I'm pretty sure I also read that the Wally back-ups in the upcoming Flash series aren't happening either. Is DC reevaluating co-features?

Black Canary isn't going to be sharing a book with Green Arrow any more. The Manhunter back-ups are reportedly being stripped from Streets of Gotham. What exactly is happening? I was a big proponent of the co-feature idea. I still am; I really like getting multiple stories in a single comic. But maybe I'm the only one. Are they not selling? Are they hurting the books?

I need to get more information as I don't really want to watch that interview of with Dan DiDio over at Newsarama. The man's voice makes my ears bleed.

Supersizing Comics

There's been a bit of back and forth in the comics world ever since DC announced that they were adding Blue Beetle and Ravager backups to a couple of books -- and raising the price.

I think everybody (including me) knew that price hikes were coming. It's inevitable, what with inflation and this economy. But what I didn't expect was to actually get something for that extra dollar.

It's a calculated risk, of course. But it's one that really has to be taken. As much as I love monthly floppies I worry sometimes that they've been stagnating. Not in the sense that "everybody will just read trades." I don't think you can do that with comics -- at least not the kind of comics I like. The serlialized nature of the medium is one of the big pluses for me. I'll never give up the weekly grind if I have anything to say about it.

But $2.99 for twenty-two pages has been a forced industry standard for far too long. There's no reason why the page count can't go up (along with the price). I think the people who read comics these days are certainly different from those who used to. By and large, comic readers (and we're talking mostly about superheroes here) are not kids with just a little pocket money. They are adults -- people with jobs and disposable income.

Now, they're going to make choices about what the spend their money on, no question. It'll come down to going to a movie versus picking up a comic book. But I wouldn't imagine that a higher price -- as long as you're getting something for that price -- is going to drive down sales a huge amount.

Indeed, the extra content may even bring some people aboard who might otherwise stay away. Clearly DC has noted Blue Beetle and Ravager as popular characters -- though perhaps not characters popular enough to hold solo titles. So they receive backups that could entice fans of those characters to pick up Booster Gold and Teen Titans.

In the end, we're going to have to wait for sales figures to see what happens. Will the backups quickly disappear and the prices drop? Or will bigger, more expensive books be the wave of the future for superhero comics? Time will tell...

Es Verdad

Know this: I am pleased. I am not entirely pleased, but by and large the comics this week featuring iterations of "Polaris" have pleased me.

The comics in question were Trinity -- which featured an alternate timeline where I, the true Doctor Polaris yet reign -- and Blue Beetle, starring "Doctor" Polaris M. B. A.. In Trinity audiences were thrilled by brilliant dialogue and a raw, emotional display of magnetic power. In this, I was pleased.

Blue Beetle, unfortunately, was not nearly as appealing. Is it possible that that M. B. A. could keep the color of his costume from changing from issue to issue? Perhaps even page to page? And know this, Mister Polaris: I do not need sympathy or tribute from the likes of you.

I will give my pathetic successor some due: his dialoguing is superb. He knows what to say and his word balloons outclass all others. He thinks big (in the aforementioned Green Lantern murdering). But nonetheless, Mr. Nichol, your appearance in Blue Beetle shows how much you pale in comparison to the true Polaris:

Yo hablo español.

Apologies

Though I do not usually tender "apologies," I feel that at this moment it is warranted. You see, I believe that I -- Doctor Polaris -- am indirectly responsible for the cancellation of Blue Beetle.

All of you, my loyal readers, are well aware of the anticipation engendered by covers indicating that Doctor Polaris would be featured as a major villain in the series. I have no doubt that rumors of my appearance are the "firmer ground" and "positive response" that Dan DiDio spoke of in his recent interview.

And so, new readers flocked to the book, eager to witness my triumphant return to comics. But then these patriotic men and women were struck with the horrible truth: it was not Polaris they found within the pages of the book, but rather an M. B. A.!

Disgusted that the great Doctor Polaris would be replaced with a pathetic business major, the masses revolted, canceling their subscriptions to Blue Beetle and dooming the book to cancellation.

My apologies to Blue Beetle fans for being such a charismatic, unstoppable force. I cannot change who I am.

M. B. A.?!

I am incensed. I am enraged. Until a few short days ago I was not entirely sure whether or not I -- Doctor Polaris -- had been replaced. But Blue Beetle #32 has revealed a shameful truth: I have been replaced... By an M. B. A.

It was shameful to discover that one with no medical degree -- nor PhD -- has deigned to christen himself "Doctor Polaris." Know this John Nichol. I may be insane, but never have I been weak. Perhaps I did not spend my time at the "frat" performing "keg-stands" with the other "business" majors. I was too busy earning my M. D. and learning the awesome secrets of magnetism!

Where would you be, Mister Polaris, had you not purchased my best-selling The Law of Attraction or attended my award-winning seminar Health Via Magnetism? You would still be nothing. A pathetic boardroom lackey sniveling to his corporate bosses.

I am no kindred spirit of yours! I am your better in every way. One does not pursue magnetism for profit. One does not engage in crime to make money. Super-villainy is about far, far more than simply taking people's money and hitting Hal Jordan over the head. It is about panache. It is about style.

And from what I've seen of your beard, you are sorely lacking it that.

Blue Beetle #31:

Boo. Yah.

That is all.

Vacation's End

I, Doctor Polaris, have returned!

I will spare you the astonishing stories of my vacation... For now. Instead, I wish to discuss the recent October solicitations for DC Comics.

Behold! Blue Beetle #32:

BLUE BEETLE #32
Written by Matthew Sturges
Art and cover by Rafael Albuquerque
The man behind all the recent mayhem comes out of the Super-Villain closet. Meet the new Doctor Polaris and find out what else he has in store for Blue Beetle!
On sale October 22 • 32 pg, FC, $2.99 US

It would appear that someone -- perhaps myself -- has come out of the "Super-Villain Closet." I do not know where this closet is located. Though I imagine that in addition to storing incognito super-villains and their costumes, it also stores copious quantities of gimicky weapons. (razor boomerangs, umbrella machine guns, etc.)

But I digress. The important point here is that come October Doctor Polaris is featured on the cover of a major comic book. This, gentle readers, is cause for celebration. Let the word ring forth from this time and place: Polaris is pleased.

But know also that I will be considerably less pleased if it is revealed that the "new" Doctor Polaris is not another of my personalities, awakened during alcohol-induced blackouts.

Admittedly, that doesn't happen often. But it does happen on occasion, and I did spend some time in Mexico on my vacation. Perhaps tequila explains my appearance in Blue Beetle...

I Love Guy Gardner

It had to happen sometime. When you spend as much time talking to certain people as I do you start to get... Influenced.

I never really had a favorite Green Lantern. I guess I just sort of latched on to Kyle out of convenience. I mean, he was in my favorite Justice League and he wasn't Hal Jordan. But bit by bit I started to realize that Guy Gardner was more than simply an "asshole."

But still, I was hesitant to call him my "favorite Green Lantern." There were still unresolved issues to deal with. Things had yet to come full circle.

Enter: Blue Beetle #25.

All it took was one page to push me squarely into the Guy Gardner fan camp. All it took was two sentences:

"That's right baby girl. I'm the crazy one."

And bam. That's it. I'm done. Hal Jordan only wishes he could be that cool.

En Español

Some of the April solicits are up. The coolest thing to me? Blue Beetle #26. Why? Because it's all in Spanish.

I don't think an mainstream American superhero comic has done that before. I mean, done an entire story in a language other than English. Of course, I'm almost certainly wrong about that as someone will no doubt point out.

But the fact remains that it's a very cool thing. Usually you only see languages other than English used to make individual characters seem "ethnic." (See 2006's Bushido debacle for more.

But since almost everything about Blue Beetle has been oh so right since the very beginning, I'm hoping they pull this one off too...

Friday Night Fights: Round 10

I so want in on this. And yeah, I know it's barely Friday morning for most of you. But for future men such as I who live in Asia, the night has long been upon us!

So, as Bahlactus demands: my first entry into the world of Friday Night Fights! Our challengers? Why, it's the Ultra-Humanite (a "Mind-hoppin' super-evolved genius with telepathic powers who gets his kicks bein' in the body of a giant white ape. Sometimes he's a chick.") versus Guy Gardner, courtesy of Blue Beetle #14:

"That's all Guy Gardner, baby"