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Random Quotes-- Of Iron Man movies, Deadpool comics and Walt Whitman

"... we're not interested in how a movie does at the box office or really even how other people respond to it.  It's just about us expressing our reaction."
                                                Adam Kempenar on Filmspotting #302


In the latest Filmspotting episode, responding to some criticism of their review of Iron Man 2, host Adam Kempenar responds with what he's trying to do on the show;  it's their reaction to a film and not other people's.

I wonder how much Kempenar really believes this. The conversation begins with his and Matty Robinson's pan of Iron Man 2 and some feedback where one of their listeners accuse them of being out of touch and points towards to box office Iron Man 2 has achieved so far as his justification.  Iron Man 2 is what we want and by panning it, Kempenar and Robinson showed just how out of touch they really were.

Well, I agree with Kempenar's statement about how they're not interested in box office receipts; much like the Diamond Comic list, this just doesn't matter.  When we're talking about pieces of art, we shouldn't pay attention to the business the underlies the art.  Business and art are two separate discussions and the joining of them is a third discussion that Filmspotting has never been interested in, other when they're championing smaller independent films like Brick.

This strikes me even as iFanboy is a couple of week's into Jason Wood's more financially-centered comic book articles, such as this week's look into the plethora of Deadpool stories.  It's odd to see an almost clinical look into the business of comics.  We all play arm-chair business man whenever Diamond releases their monthly best sellers but it's so much shooting from the hip that there is hardly anything really worthwhile being said about these things.  The 'net is full of articles that tell us what we already know about Siege and Blackest Night and their affect on the business of comic selling.

Wood, with a financial profession and background that I can barely understand, brings a more seasoned eye to the business of comic selling, even if it is more of a "business" background and less of a "comic selling" one, that lays out the whys and hows of how Deadpool can have 10+ books in a given month as he writes:


Two things worth noting here:
 

1) Every single Deadpool related book sold more than the Marvel average

2) The average sales for DP related titles were 29% higher than overall Marvel sales

 
In Wade Wilson we trust.

We trust Wade Wilson I guess but is that what really matters?  I know Wood would say "no, that's not all that matters" as he'd go on to sing the (worthy) praises of Jim Rugg's Aphrodisiac but I wonder when did we become so interested in the business of comics?  When did it become de rigueur of comic websites and comic fans to talk about this stuff?  "Journalism," some would say.  "Since Marvel and DC became the only game in town," others might suggest.

If we have to have these conversations, I know I trust Wood more than a lot of the other so-called regular commentators about the monthly numbers and the business of comics but I find myself more like Kempenar, I'm just less and less interested in how other people respond to those numbers. More and more, comic websites seem to be less interested in talking about comics; they want to talk about television shows, business deals and creators on-line faux pas but the Newsarama/CBR/Beat/Bleeding Cool carousel seem less interested in being about the comics and more about the aura of comics, the "coolness" and "drama" of comics.

And, yes, with this blog post, I'm just as guilty of it as they are.

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

        Walt Whitman, SONG OF MYSELF