Making Sense of Smallville’s “Haunted” Digital and Print Editions

For DC Comics’ same-day print-and-digital releases (i.e. most of their line), the print and digital editions line up exactly. But things get a bit confusing with their digital-first comics, because they run smaller weekly chapters online, then collect them together for the print editions.

In the case of Smallville Season 11, currently running a storyline guest-starring Impulse, every three digital chapters are collected in a print issue the following month. Each digital page is the top or bottom of a print page, run landscape to make it easier to read on a desktop screen or a small tablet.

The numbers get a little confusing because, starting with #28, instead of taking one week off each month to keep the print and digital runs in sync, DC started running a side story during those formerly-skip weeks, which is being collected separately.

Here’s how the digital and print chapters of “Haunted” line up.

Digital Chapters Print Issue
Chapters 25-27
Smallville Season 11 Chapter 25
Issue #9
Smallville Season 11 #9
Chapters 29-31
Smallville Season 11 Chapter 29
Issue #10
Smallville Season 11 #10
Chapters 33-35
Smallville Season 11 Chapter 33
Issue #11
Smallville Season 11 #11
Chapters 38-40
Smallville Season 11 Chapter 38
Issue #12
Smallville Season 11 #12

Two things stand out about the different covers that suggest different target audiences:

  • The digital covers by Cat Staggs go for a realistic look and focus more on the TV show’s cast.
  • The print covers by Scott Kolins go for a more stylized, comic book look, and focus more on the guest star and super-heroic elements.

This suggests to me that DC is aiming the digital editions at fans of the TV series and the print editions at more traditional comic book fans. It certainly makes sense — by numbers alone, a lot of people who watched Smallville don’t read comics, and it’s going to be easier to get them to buy online than walk into a comic store. I really wonder what DC’s market research has turned up as far as the digital/print audience breakdown.

Reverse-Flash & Trickster Hints from Emerald City Comicon

CBR reports from DC’s New 52 panel at Emerald City Comicon:

“The Flash” will focus on the Reverse Flash for a long arc that will take most of the next year, but he’s not the only character who will be showing up. Trickster will be involved in a two-part story before that. When the Reverse Flash appears, he’ll be different in both secret identity and power set than any version of the character to appear before. Buccellato joked that “Wally West questions are off the table” for the rest of the panel.

I wasn’t aware that the Trickster appearance in #18 continues into #19 (which will feature the April we’re-not-calling-it-WTF-Certified-anymore fold-out cover), and it’s interesting that the Reverse-Flash story will be so long. I’m a bit concerned, though: pacing is very important when you’re dealing with a story about a speedster, and just about every long Flash story since Infinite Crisis has felt slow.

Update: According to @SpeedsterSite, Buccellato said the Reverse-Flash story would be “8 or so issues.”

The comment on Wally West is likely a response to the previous day’s All Access panel, when writer Josh Fialkov told fans who wanted to see Wally to, in CBR’s words, “track down Flash writer Brian Buccellato on the floor and demand he write Wally into the book.”

The Flash in Video Games, Part 2: Justice League: Earth’s Final Defense

Today’s guest post is by Colin Crebs.

We are running right along, looking at the appearances of the Flash in video games, as rare as they are. In review from Part 1, the Flash does not get to appear as the titular character in games anymore. He’s lucky if he’s even mentioned by name as a member of the Justice League. See this travesty.

Today we are looking at the Flash in Justice League: Earth’s Final Defense, available on iOS and Android.

Justice League: Earth's Final Defense (Title Screen)

Pictured Above: He even made it on the title screen! I’m so proud.

I highly recommend Justice League: EFD for all you Android or iOS gamers out there looking for more Flash-action on their phone, perhaps in between your digital comic reading app and your digital copy of The Flash: Stop Motion. Continue reading

Quick Hit: Superman Unbound to feature Flashpoint Sneak Peek

Flashpoint #1 Cover (first look)Spinoff Online reports that among the special features included in the upcoming Superman Unbound animated feature is a preview of the next film in the series, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox.

I’m still of mixed feelings on this. On one hand, we finally get a Flash-centric animated feature. On the other hand, it’s basically a Flash/Batman story (and personally I didn’t like Flashpoint itself much), and now the Flash has even been demoted from the title.

As far as adapting a reboot? Most of the story isn’t about rebooting, and I still think that the conversion to the New 52 was tacked on at the end. Back when this was first hinted at last April, I noted that if you take out that double-page spread with Pandora and change the costumes in the epilogue, Flashpoint is back to being a standalone story.

New Flash in the Beyond-verse (and Wally, too!) (Review of Justice League Beyond Ch.20)

JLU 20The latest digital-first chapter of Justice League Beyond continues the introduction of Danica, the new Flash of the Beyond-verse.  She finally fights alongside the Justice League…but can she succeed where the rest of the League has failed?  And, where does Wally West fit into this?

MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD – PLEASE READ THE ISSUE BEFORE CONTINUING! Continue reading