The Letters Page

POSTED BY Alex Zalben, 29 February 2008

As we've mentioned before, there's way too much mail for us to answer in the shows, so we'll be answering some of it right here on the blog. As always, thanks for sending in your questions, and please keep shooting them over to tips@pulpsecret.com, call them in to 888-841-7549, or post a video response on YouTube!

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Ian from WI:

What do you believe are Alan Moores 3 best books? Does Pete even like Alan Moore since it is all talky and no fighty?

I can't speak for Pete, but this is a very hard question. It's like trying to choose between my imaginary children (which, given that they don't exist, should be surprisingly easy), but here goes: Miracleman, mainly because I just read it, and it was thrilling; League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, the original, not the F- you 2nd series; and Watchmen, because other-wise I would have to turn in my comic fan card. You guys have Fan Cards, right?

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Canuck306 asks:

This is just something that I've been thinking about ever since they started putting car ads in comics books... With comic companies currently (seemingly) targeting the collector market of 'older' fans, how do you think they can attract younger readers without ostracizing the current fan base? (besides Ultimate-esque re-boots) If they can't, how long do you think comics will last without young readers? I really dig your guys show... your making me poor. Thanks.

There are initiatives to bring in younger readers... The Johnny DC line, and Marvel's Adventure line are specifically aimed at starting the habit early. How effective are they? They're certainly not selling in the millions, but I don't think they're tanking, either. I would say comics are going to continue as long as there are fathers. What I mean by that is, any Dad who read comics as a kid will buy a comic for his kid. And kids are hard-wired to like comics. I wouldn't worry too much.

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Jacob from CU Boulder and Overland Park, KS:

I know that you have been talking about Countdown to Final Crisis and Secret Invasion tie-ins on the show that leads to both DC and Marvel's 2008 Big Events, so what are you excited/nervous about both Final Crisis and Secret Invasion?

I'm actually not concerned at all about Final Crisis. It's Morrison and JG Jones, so it's going to be a delightful little ball of weirdness that subverts the entire idea of events, re-does the entire DC status quo, and then promptly gets ignored for the rest of time by every other DC writer and editor. Secret Invasion is starting to worry me, mainly because it's a lot of build up so far with very little information. For something that's supposed to have been building for the past few years, I think maybe Marvel played their hand a little early. The end of Illuminati, and the New Avengers Skrull reveal should have led right into the cross-over, rather than coming months before. However, again, you have a great team working on it. And I'm a sucker for "there's been a mastermind pulling the strings the entire time!" stories, so there is that.

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Alejandro asks:

I love the show. Please keep up the good work. My question is: What do you guys think about DC's new concept of the weekly series (i.e. 52, Countdown, Trinity, etc.)?

Well, my wallet hates 'em, I'll tell you that. I think like anything, it depends on the quality. In retrospect, 52 was more successful than not, while Countdown is (looking ahead a few weeks), less successful than it was. On a whole, you could compare it to any 52 issue run of a title. You're NOT going to get 52 slam bang amazing issues, but if more than 50% of them are good (as long as it's not the first 26, marked by a swift decline in quality), then I think we're doing pretty well. Having talked to some of the people involved in putting together Trinity, I actually think it has a chance to be a fun, unique series that will hold up better than the previous weeklies combined. We'll see...

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Adam wants to know:

Hey guys, big fan of The Stack. I was just wondering what your favorite comic book movies of all time were? I personally loved Batman Begins and the way it re-ignited the franchise by creating a sense of heightened realism for Batman and also the way it stayed faithful to the source material. I also loved Spider-man 2 and X-men 2. What are your favorites and least favorites (Mine is Batman and Robin) comic book movies and maybe some that haven't been made yet that you would like to see (Green Lantern)? ( Sorry Pete, but Punisher sucked).

The first two-thirds of Batman Begins kicks ass. It's not just one of the best comic book movies ever, it's also a fantastic movie in its own right. Spider-Man 2 was the first movie I saw where I felt like, "Yes! That's the comic, up on screen!" And though not strictly a comic book movie, "The Incredibles" is probably the best super-hero movie ever. As for worst, I'll back up Batman & Robin, which, pretty much, is the worst thing I've ever seen. Ever. I will say that Catwoman isn't much better. What about you Pulp-Heads? What's your most and least favorite comic book movies?