Released on March 4th, 2020
Kids don't read comic books. Gerry Conway, the writer who famously killed off both Gwen Stacey and Norman Osbourne/The Green Goblin in consecutive issues, said in an article about the future of comic book stores that "as comics began retreating from newsstands into specialty shops in the early 70's, comic readers became older, preferring heavier, more complex fare. But this may have made comics less accessible to newcomers." Everyone seems to say this, although I started reading comics around 1990 when I was only ten (I used my paper route money to buy comics every Friday). Although if you ever go into a comic book store, you get the point. Everyone is around my age (40). Which kind of makes sense, since my generation was young when comics were at their peak in the early 90's. You would think that with all of these blockbuster superhero movies being released every year that it would make the new generation start reading comic books. If it's happened, it certainly hasn't happened in droves. So it's kind of weird to see Marvel making a book like Strange Academy, which is purely for children (although I doubt few children will end up ever reading it). It's basically Harry Potter but instead of wizards its superheroes...although since this is Dr. Strange's school for kids with powers, it kind of is more about wizards than superheroes. Is Dr. Strange a hero or a wizard? Both? Either way, the plot of this book is fucking lazy as hell. Harry Potter was probably the biggest best selling book series ever...so maybe it makes sense to rip it off. So far, Strange Academy is a pretty poor Harry Potter rip off. There are zero compelling characters, teachers, villains, or plot points. Granted, it's only a first issue. The art, by Humberto Ramos, is terrific. The writing, by Skottie Young, who's a terrific cartoonist, is pretty basic and flat (as compared to his writing in Image's I Hate Fairyland...which was wild and balls-to-the-wall). I doubt that this book will sell a lot, or be popular, or turn into something great. Not that it's geared towards children, but the fact that it's kind of boring. It also didn't help that #2 was delayed because of the Corona virus pandemic. And the whole reason I started this "30 Reviews in 30 Days" was to give me something to take my mind off the death toll that keeps rising. But any news related to comic books just kept reminding me about it. Nobody knows when comic book stores here in PA will reopen. DC is releasing a few books next week to stores that are open. I'm not sure if they're going to release them digitally. DC had to find a new shipping company to do this since Diamond isn't opening until the middle of May. While the U.S. government is apparently going to send billions of dollars to small businesses, I'm not sure this will prevent the closure of thousands of comic book stores. I always thought that they should just go digital and give up on comic book stores. Digital is the future, right? Hell, I'd be reading new books right now if they did that. But the industry is still clinging onto the past. As great as comic book stores are, they're an outdated business model. Why not bring comics back to the drugstore, the supermarket, the convenience/gas store? Us 40 year old fans aren't going to keep comic book stores in business forever. So maybe this pandemic will alter the landscape forever. It's too early to tell. When I started writing this I probably didn't think that 30 days later we'd actually be in worse shape. I probably should have written a "500 Reviews in 500 Days" blog instead, as I'll still need something to keep my mind occupied until the Fall, Christmas, next year, or whenever things go back to normal. In the end, though, I don't think comic books, in whatever shape or form they're produced and delivered, will ever disappear. They've been around too long, they're ingrained in our culture, even if it's just now a small little hobby that kids don't really pay much attention to anymore. 1/2*
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