Bad Guys #2 - Out TODAY!

Gargoyles: Bad Guys #2 is out today! After a long wait, it's gonna be great to find out more about Yama's story in Japan, as well as the overall Bad Guys story. Make sure to pick up a copy of BG#1 if you don't already have it, and DEFINITELY grab a copy of #2!

Remember, if we wanna get Pendragon, or Timedancer, it's dependent on whether Bad Guys sells well enough! Let's make it happen!

Greg's Answers, Gargoyles #10 Info!

Greg W. responded to some questions of mine, and in doing so revealed some interesting tidbits about character designs, which I was really curious about. Check out the response, but...

The best part of all this was revealing that Greg Guler will be guest pencilling Gargoyles #10! I found this particularly incredible, because I remember way back when seeing the cover for G#1 and thinking, 'wow, I hope the inside looks like that!' Now, I've always been a fan of David Hedgecock's art, and I personally was never disappointed by it, but in terms of staying on model (i.e. the characters looking exactly as they should) Guler's still the one to beat.

So, all in all, we have a lot to look forward to, Bad Guys #2 is out tomorrow, with BG#3 (by guest penciller Christopher Jones) and G#9 not too far behind. And now G#10, by Guler (w/ cover by Hedgecock), which is the lead-off point for Timedancer. Hope SLG decides to give Timedancer it's own miniseries.

I can't frickin wait.

Bad Guys #2 - Preview Cover Image

Wow, 15 minutes ago I was hoping we'd get a look at this by tomorrow, and now here it is! It's a low quality image from Midtown Comics, but hey, I'm not complaining.

I love it, what do you guys think?

Expect a larger, much better quality version of the image soon!

UPDATE: I replaced the previous picture with one without a watermark. By tomorrow we should have a higher quality image.

Bad Guys #2 - Out Wednesday!

We have confirmation that BG#2 will be out on Wednesday, April 30th, from Diamond Comics' new releases list. Hopefully we'll get a look at the cover image by tomorrow.

As soon as I get any new info, I'll put it up, so keep your eyes peeled!

Post from Robby Bevard

Here's a post from Gargoyles' colorist, Robby Bevard, at the Comment Room over at Station Eight explaining the schedule and process that comics go through. There's also some info about Gargoyles #9, which (crossing fingers) could be out by June.

Since the matters of printing, shipping, and solicitation schedules have come up again, I'll do my best to adress the questions.

First off, Issue 9 is being finished , and is not yet at the printers, but we are shooting to get it out by June. It's gonna be a good one, and there are steps in motion to get the subsequent issues out in a more timely fashion. I should be coloring every issue from here on out, and its my favorite book to work on of the 3 titles I do every month, so hopefully there will be some nice consistency to it all.

As for how the Diamond distributors system works...

I'm pretty sure I've explained this before but... about 5 months in advance, comic companies put together their solicitation material, including text and cover images, and send it in to Diamond. ( September solicits are due in about a week, to give a feel for the timetable here.)

Diamond then publishes the Previews catalouge, which after assembling, printing and shipping time, comes out about two months later. (The catalouge for items shipping in June just came out.) This catalouge then stays in the retailers for a month, where customers can pick out and order items, and books are ordered.

Retailers use their own judgements and customer requests to figure out their order ammounts. These orders then go back through diamond, and get to the comic book publishers, about two months before shipping date. These order numbers reflect the expected demand for a book, and influence the print run.

So for an example, if orders for a book are 4,788, then the publisher might decide to print 5000 copies, or have a little more leeway, and print 5,500 copies for selling later. Obviously, books generalyl don't go to the printer before numbers are in, in order to avoid underprinting or massive over printing.

Print times vary. Black and white books, be they 24 page pamphlets or 180 page trades, take 2 weeks usually. Approvals and problems in the process can extend this to 3 or 4 weeks. Color books in general, take an extra week, sometimes two.

So on average, a black and white book, (Bad Guys) will take 2 weeks to print) while a color book will take 3. This is average, a printer on a slow week can turn around a book in a week if there is nothing else on their schedule or they prepared a spot well in advance, but this is not the norm.

So, on average, it takes 2 or 3 weeks to print a book. Then, the book ships from the printer, to Diamond, which has torehouses around the country. This takes another week. And then, from Diamond, the books ship to comic stores, which takes another week.

So, from the time a book goes into the printer, to the time it arrives in comic stores, is generally 4 or 5 weeks.

Gargoyles on top of everything else has the Disney X factor, where, even once the book is completely finished, Disney has to approve it. This is true of most licensed books. I honestly do not personally know how long this step takes, and it probably varies. This can take anywhere from 2 days to two months,

So, even after an issue is finished, from the minute it gets to the editor, it could still be a solid 3 months from time of completion until it reaches stores. And thats nopt even considering if a book is printing overseas, in which case there's another 2 months for shipping time. (Gargs is NOT printed overseas, but it is a facctor in other publications. ) And thats all only if the team producing the book is on schedule!

If the writer or artist or the colorist or letterer or whatever runs late, then obviously, that pushes things back even more. In theory, every comic book should be done a full three months in advance, so that it actually finished when it is first solicited, so that it can go straight to the printers once the numbers come in, but that is often not the case.

So, as you can see, soliciting and printing and shipping is a ridiculously complicated process, started about half a year in advance. With novels, bookstores and dvds, the process is even longer, spanning a solid year or more. Pixar is now annoucning movies they'll be releasing in 2011!

Advance solicitation is just a part of the process, and its not always known that far in advance exactly when or how something is going to be finished, or what the final product will be, just that the intention is there to have it done as best as possible. Its a complicated and massive system, and there's actually a lot more to it that that, but I think thats enough of a summary to get the idea.

So yeah, all that said. Gargs number 9 is being completed. The actual book production is a bit behind schedule, but a June release IS being shot for. Just, as you may have noticed, a great many factors that might or might not allow that to happen.
Robby Bevard

If nothing else, at least this gives us a bit of an insight into the reasons for the many delays in the release schedule. Hopefully G#9 will be out by June, and it's great to know that we've got Robby Bevard on board for the long haul!

Gargoyles #12 - Phoenix

The title and solicitation for Gargoyles #12, "Phoenix," have been released. Here is the solicitation:

Can a Time Dancing Brooklyn change the course of human history - and should he? Can he find his way back to the present? And if so, who will he bring along to the dance? (C: 0-0-2)

While I have no idea what (C:0-0-2) means, I know one thing for sure. We're incredibly close to meeting Brooklyn's family, which will probably happen on the last page of this issue!

That would be some helluva cliffhanger! I cant wait.

Source: GargWiki

Bad Guys #2 - Out NEXT Week

According to Diamond Comics' upcoming release list, it appears that Bad Guys #2 won't be coming out this week as previously expected, but should (hopefully) be out next week, April 30th.

I'm sure it'll be well worth the wait!

Bad Guys #2 - Confirmed Release Date

The release date for Bad Guys #2 has been confirmed by Diamond Comics' upcoming release list. It will be out on April 23rd, which is only a week away from Wednesday! Make sure to pre-order your copies if you haven't already!

And if you haven't voted for Gargoyles as your pick for the Ursa Major Award's "Best Comic Book," what are you waiting for?!?! This is the best way to prove that Gargoyles is wanted. Vote now!

Gargoyles Nominated for an Award!!

A post from Greg over at Ask Greg has informed us that the Gargoyles has been nominated for an Ursa Major award!

You can vote HERE!

What better way to show Disney and SLG that we love, support, and want more Gargoyles, than to make sure that Gargoyles wins this award?! None that I can think of. This is the perfect opportunity for the fans to prove that Gargoyles is a viable, important and successful property!

Voting ends on April 20th! That's 9 days people, Lets make it happen!

Release Date News

SLG has posted tentative release dates for Bad Guys #2 and #3, as well as Gargoyles #9, which are:

Bad Guys #2 - 4/23/08 (it is actually listed as 4/21, but this is obviously a mistake as that week's Wednesday is the 23rd)

Bad Guys #3 - June 2008, and since we know that BG#3 has been complete for some time, it should have no problem staying on schedule.

Gargoyles #9 - June 2008, which is a month late. G#8 came out at the end of March, so if #9 were to keep on schedule, it would be expected by the end of May. Hopefully this is just a tentative delay.

Anyways, it'll be great to get back into Bad Guys later this month! It's exactly TWO WEEKS! Mark your calendars! :)

A Small Gargoyles Mention

It's nothing big, but it is a little something to read while we wait for Bad Guys #2, which (crossing fingers) should definitely be out by the end of the month, there's no reason I can think of why it wouldn't be.

Gargoyles gets a mention in the 3rd to last paragraph of this article about licensed comics. It's only a sentence, so not a huge mention, but still, nice to see people are aware of it, and the more they talk about it, the further the news of its existence travels.

Here's the article at Den of Geek!

Enjoy! I'll be sure and update again as soon as I get news of the release date for BG#2.