The Twitter account for the Amazon update of The Tick has released a new image of the hero played by Peter Serafinowicz. The image shows off an updated suit, something that was panned when it was first revealed last year.
The first full season of The Tick will be released later this year.
The television show is based on the Bed Edlund comic character who debuted in 1986 and was the subject of an animated series on Fox in 1994 and a live action show in 2001.
I began these articles last year to move some of the discussion surrounding the state of the comic industry away from “opinion” and “anecdotes” and towards facts and data. You can check out what I’ve written before but beyond looking at sales data, the goal is to also look at other data available such as analytics, Facebook demographics, and also talk to creators directly to see what does and doesn’t work.
For this new year, I felt it good to focus on at least one best practice for publishers and creators, building an email list and social networking presence, your own community. But, beyond just going over “how to’s’ as far as building a community or why it’s a good idea, I thought I’d take a different spin and see what we can learn from the data available and answer a question:
There’s no way to really figure out if the folks who purchase comics are loyal to one publisher, many publishers, or maybe a select few. “Sales” data reported is estimated sales from distributors to stores, we don’t know what stores sell directly to customers, whether it’s physical or digital sales.
So what can we look at to figure this out?
First, there’s Facebook data. Twice a month I report on data derived from Facebook looking at the demographics of those who “like” comics. But we can do more than just report on the age, we can also see how many people like two different pages, publisher a AND publisher b.
What I’ve done is look at the amount of US likes a publisher has (I’ve also included Amazon and comiXology because more on that below and why these particular publishers are explained as well) and then also looked at how many likes those two pages shared in the US. Below is the results in percent and I think the results are really interesting.
To read an example 61.90% of comiXology’s Facebook “likes” also “like” Amazon. We can see the percents vary greatly, but what stands out to me tis that the overlap is not as much as you think. This isn’t the same fans liking a bunch of different publishers, it’s clear that in same cases some publishers have really built a niche and audience all their own.
One data point is nice, what about two?
Well, this is how this thought exercise began. My day job is working in email and monitoring deliverability, trends, spam, really boring stuff. But, this also gives me access to see how email programs are performing (opens, clicks) and also how much email lists overlap! So, what do we see when it comes to email lists?
The above were chosen to start because they’re all publishers or platforms I regularly get email from and signed up for (I’m particularly fascinated by Amazon’s email program). So, at some point this will all expand, but you need to start somewhere. Amazon’s emails are impressive and they do at least one weekly email for fans of comics, that in particular is why I’ve watched them. But I digress…
What above represents is how many people are on each list. For example 38% of Valiant’s list is also on comiXology’s. Again, like Facebook we see that the overlap varies and that generally people aren’t signing up for everyone. Valiant’s percents are particularly high due to a smaller list size.
So what does this mean?
It means that each of these publishers have a captive and unique audience for them to talk to. They have people who clearly care about them to pitch their releases each and every week. It’s as simple as that. As a publisher, a creator, you should be doing everything to build your community, because from what we see above, that community is probably pretty unique and want to hear from you, and possibly just you!
So, here’s a resolution publishers and creators should be making this year, build your community! Then use it to sell some comics!
In a world where superheroes have been real for decades, an accountant with mental health issues and zero powers comes to realize his city is owned by a global super villain long-thought dead. As he struggles to uncover this conspiracy, he falls in league with a strange blue superhero, who may or may not be a figment of his own imagination…
Debuting as part of Amazon‘s latest Pilot Season, The Tick has been updated in many ways and some of it works, and some of it doesn’t. I’m a big fan of the comic, original animated series, and first live action iteration, and have been looking forward to this debut.
For those who have might not have seen the previous iterations, the series focused a lot on both The Tick and Arthur with The Tick being the one you’re wondering about his mental state. In this version, it’s Arthur who is the one whose grasp on reality is tenuous after trauma earlier in his life. And that trauma and spin had me wondering if The Tick actually existed, or if he’s a figment of his imagination. That’s an interesting twist, and that coupled with some directorial choices, the episode is much darker than I expected.
Peter Serafinowicz steps into the suit of The Tick and Griffin Newman is Arthur Everest in this version and both are entertaining, though Newman really stands out as Arthur. It may be due to the fact that most of the episode revolves around him, but his acting is really entertaining and he feels like the sad sack he’s supposed to be. Serafinowicz is ok as The Tick, though the dialogue doesn’t feel quite as bizarre as past iterations. There’s not enough of him to really judge his version, but so far, it just is ok.
The outfits of the two are ok though I’m not sure I’m a fan of the textured look of The Tick’s. Arthur’s, which we see at the end looks updated and pretty solid, making more sense than what’s come before.
The episode goes a bit darker as I’ve said, but it doesn’t play with that darkness for humor. There’s a bit there, but it doesn’t quite go far enough to be comical, it’s just a darker version of The Tick.
We don’t get a whole lot in this episode and I’m not quite sure it makes the case to continue, but I’ve missed The Tick, and I want to see more. There’s a lot laid out, but it’s just one episode, so the payoff is thin and few. Still, the groundwork is there for what looks like it could be an entertaining new take on the classic character.
You can watch The Tick now on Amazon.
Overall Rating: 6.8
Amazon has released the first look at The Tick and also released an official description. Check out the images below! Spoon!
In a world where superheroes have been real for decades, an underdog accountant with zero powers comes to realize his city is owned by a global super villain long-thought dead. As he struggles to uncover this conspiracy, he falls in league with a strange blue superhero. The Tick stars Peter Serafinowicz (Guardians of the Galaxy), Griffin Newman (Vinyl), Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen), Valorie Curry (House of Lies), Yara Martinez (Jane the Virgin) and Brendan Hines (Scorpion). The Tick is executive produced by Ben Edlund (Supernatural), Barry Josephson (Bones) and Barry Sonnenfeld (A Series of Unfortunate Events), directed by Wally Pfister (The Dark Knight), and written by Edlund. The Tick is a co-production with Sony Pictures Television.
Cartoon Books, comiXology and Amazon have announced an expanded and renewed distribution agreement to sell Cartoon Books’ digital comics and collections, including the award-winning Bone, on the comiXology platform and expand the distribution of Cartoon Books’ library to Amazon’s Kindle Store. Cartoon Books publishes Jeff Smith‘s New York Times bestselling and fan-favorite titles Bone, Rasl and more. Cartoon Books catalog is available today on comiXology and will be available on Amazon’s Kindle Store in the near future.
This is the latest in a string of announcements by comiXology that renews distribution through the digital comics platform and also expands it to Kindle.
It was announced today that Valiant Entertainment is the latest comic publisher to renew their deal with comiXology and expand distribution to the Amazon Kindle Store. Valiant Entertainment publishes such fan-favorite titles as A&A: The Adventures of Archer & Armstrong, Bloodshot Reborn, Divinity, Faith, Harbinger, Ninjak, Rai, X-O Manowar, and more.
Today’s announcement coincides with the announcement that 4001 A.D. #1 (of 4) has sold out and receiving a second printing that returns to shelves June 29th.
The publisher also held their 2016 Summit where seven new series were announced. The company has consistently focused on easy entry for new readers and new series such as a Faith ongoing, Generation Zero, Britannia, Savage, Bloodshot USA, and Divinty III are focused on not just being that, but also diverse in storytelling and characters.
Thunderbirds Are Go sees a series of cascading equipment failures leads John to realise that rogue A.I. has gained control of Thunderbird 5. The programme is sending false monitor images to Tracy Island to deceive the other brothers. John finally gets through to Lady Penelope and informs her of the situation.
Well, one of the longer stories pays off in this episode as the issue that was raised in the previous episode “Runaway” returns in an episode that riffs on HAL and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The episode is a good introduction to the horror genre for kids. It’s not overtly scary, but there’s more than enough there to get kids to be a bit tense as they watch the episode play out. Hell, as an adult I was a bit tense and wasn’t sure where the episode was going to go throughout.
With the episode taking place almost entirely in space, there’s lots of cool opportunity for the series to take advantage of zero gravity and strange perspectives and it takes advantage. There’s some solid action and some good problem solving items shown. It’s just a solid episode that bounces back from the last two which haven’t quite had the excitement from when the show launched.
While this isn’t a “save the world” type episode it has action and excitement, and while there’s not some major message within, there’s probably some lessons about technology that kids can take away.
It’s just another solid episode that’s as fun and exciting for adults as it is for kids too.
Overall Rating: 7.85
The first season of Thunderbirds Are Go will be available for Prime members to stream and enjoy using the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices including Amazon Fire TV, and mobile devices, or online, at no additional cost to their membership. Customers who are not already a Prime member can sign up for a free trial.
Seven Seas, comiXology and Amazon have announced an expanded and renewed distribution agreement to sell Seven Seas’ digital manga across the comiXology platform and extend the distribution of Seven Seas’ library to the Amazon Kindle Store.
The announcement sees the debut of Seven Seas’ continuously expanding digital catalog in the Kindle Store including Magika Swordsman and Summoner, Servamp, Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends and more.
This is the latest in a string of such renewals and expansions announced by publishers, comiXology, and Amazon. The publisher was also one of the first to bring manga to the digital comics platform.
Seven Seas was established in 2004 and specializes in bringing manga to North American audiences and is distributed by Tor/Macmillan.
In this episode of Thunderbirds Are Go, when a trains systems goes offline and it begins to crash, Scott and Brains must work together to get it’s engines back online. Even if it means Brains facing his fears.
Again the series forgoes the big picture political/social commentary instead of challenging different members of the teams to face personal issues much like last episodes theme of relying too much on technology. This one instead is about facing fears and at the same time it continues to build on this ongoing mystery story of the cloaked mysterious bad guy, the Hood.
Much like the last two episodes, we’re continuing to get a bit more of a long form story instead of some issue of the week. There’s a big bad out there and things are clearly building towards something. It’s nice to see the show continue to focus more on that type of storytelling on top of the action of the week. And, it’s clear by the revelation at the end of the episode that there’s more to come in that department.
And the action is solid as usual. There’s some good moments and it feels like a classic action television show with the usual good use of music. I think the series has been nailing it when it comes to that and each episode delivers in that aspect. I’ve never been disappointed as the action keeps on delivering.
While continues the slump from last week as far as quality, it’s still entertaining and shows the strength of the show and its ability to change things up a bit.
Overall Rating: 7.55
The first season of Thunderbirds Are Go will be available for Prime members to stream and enjoy using the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices including Amazon Fire TV, and mobile devices, or online, at no additional cost to their membership. Customers who are not already a Prime member can sign up for a free trial.
Thunderbirds Are Go sees an anti-technology group called The Luddites power up an electromagnetic pulse device underneath London, crippling everything that uses electricity.
Again the series forgoes the big picture political/social commentary instead of challenging one member of the Thunderbirds team with doing his whole world saving thing without the use of all of his cool tools.
The life lesson is about solving issues just using your brains and not relying on the tech and a lesson at the end of choosing between saving an individual or getting the bad guy. It’s all pretty basic life lessons and nothing to crazy, but it’s rather exciting and fun.
What’s interesting is between this episode and the last one, we’re starting to get a bit more of a long form story instead of some issue of the week. There’s a big bad out there and things are clearly building towards something. It’s nice to see the show begin to focus more on that type of storytelling on top of the action of the week.
And the action is solid as usual. There’s some good moments and it feels like a classic action television show with the usual good use of music.
While the episode isn’t the best, it’s still entertaining and shows the strength of the show and its ability to change things up a bit.
Overall Rating: 7.65
The first season of Thunderbirds Are Go will be available for Prime members to stream and enjoy using the Amazon Video app for TVs, connected devices including Amazon Fire TV, and mobile devices, or online, at no additional cost to their membership. Customers who are not already a Prime member can sign up for a free trial.
