Archie Superheroes relaunch

[newt138]

So far have read Black Hood 1-8 and loved them. And Shield #1 which was good. I got the first 2 issues of the Hangman just haven't read them yet.

[leonmallett]

So far have read Black Hood 1-8 and loved them. And Shield #1 which was good. I got the first 2 issues of the Hangman just haven't read them yet.

I hope you enjoy Hangman.

I think it makes a nice counterpoint to Black Hood.

I hope for a Dark Circle crossover one day - basically Black Hood as the superhero 'who takes the super out of the hero' face to face with what the other characters represent could work very well IMHO. Basically he would be so far out of his league I think it could make for a great story.

[Captain Craig]

I was hoping to have heard something about the return of The Fox by now.
However, with the delays on Shield and Hangman I guess that now looks like a fallacy.

Has The Web been pushed back I'm guessing? Wasn't that book scheduled for Jan '16 or did I miss it?

[leonmallett]

I was hoping to have heard something about the return of The Fox by now.
However, with the delays on Shield and Hangman I guess that now looks like a fallacy.

Has The Web been pushed back I'm guessing? Wasn't that book scheduled for Jan '16 or did I miss it?

I believe the Web was due this January, and seems beset by the delays that have hurt the other books.

[Captain Craig]

Archie got off to a strong start with Black Hood and The Fox.
Then Shield got delayed, Fox hasn't come back and now The Web.

Has Shield #2 even hit yet? Hangman #2 beat it to the stand.

It's a shame cause the line has promise but mismanagement is going to kill it. I fear it's already hurt The Fox but maybe it's numbers didn't impress Archie suits enough. Shame if so, cause I'd like more.

[leonmallett]

Archie got off to a strong start with Black Hood and The Fox.
Then Shield got delayed, Fox hasn't come back and now The Web.

Has Shield #2 even hit yet? Hangman #2 beat it to the stand.

It's a shame cause the line has promise but mismanagement is going to kill it. I fear it's already hurt The Fox but maybe it's numbers didn't impress Archie suits enough. Shame if so, cause I'd like more.

I suspect Archie has some deep problems.

Each week it seems I get 1 or 2 sales reminder emails from them. Deep discounting suggests a cash-flow problem, which could explain the production delays also.

[Keith]

In this guy's uneducated opinion, Archie is overly focused on where the money is coming in, and that is the relaunched Archie titles.

It's this case of shiny penny-itis that makes me wary about investing in a super-hero universe that is part of a publisher putting out multiple lines of comics. They are more likely to shift focus to what is working, rather than invest in the potential. Project Black Sky, DynaKey, now Black Circle... all have suffered because management/editorial/the publisher isn't seeing the immediate results. I recall the publisher of Dark Horse saying something akin to PBS not working because super-heroes were to difficult to launch and be as successful as Marvel or DC, so why bother. (I think it was a CBR interview? Hope I didn't butcher his intent.)

I think that leaves Valiant, Zenescope, and Double Take as the only Indy companies out there devoted to one line of comics. Well, maybe not Zenescope, I can't get past looking at the covers to actually read the insides. Seriously. The bewbs keep me transfixed. And Double Take... I can't figure out what they're trying to pull off there.

[leonmallett]

Despite Archie's evident difficulties, the latest issue of Black Hood and the Shield were excellent IMHO.

[StarBrand]

Are you enjoying this as much as the Impact line, Leon?

[leonmallett]

Are you enjoying this as much as the Impact line, Leon?

I am in a totally different way if that makes sense.

I know for some fans each new iteration of the MLJ characters has been a somewhat painful experience, moving in each instance a step further form having the 'originals' back. In my opinion, Archie have not made a truly sustainable go of the characters since the 50's and 60's (Fly and Jaguar).

I loved and still enjoy re-reading the Impact era. I enjoyed reading the 40's, 60's and especially some of the 80's MLJ/Red Circle stuff.

I liked JMS' take on them at DC and what the subsequent writers did.

The Dark Circle era is something very different again, which is how I read it. It is dark and visceral at times, but I think that is fine as that was a clean break restart, rather than some kind of continuation of what went before.

Story-wise, I really like the Fox, Black Hood and Hangman, and Shield is warming up with issue 2. Archie are undermining their own efforts through their slipshod publication of the line unfortunately.

Impact on the whole remains my favourite iteration, even if MLJ purists would be aghast at that, but that time has gone, and I will happily take what they are offering within the Dark Circle books - I just wish they were coming out every month.

Anyway, take care and keep reading those comic books.

[Cyberstrike]

I chose not to continue to buy The Shield. I was extremely disappointed by #1 and the constant delays made it an easy book to drop.

[Captain Craig]

I was a bit confused by Black Hood #8 but I loved Shield #2, BH#8 was the first issue I didn't "get" on initial read. I need to re-read it cause something about it didn't feel linear to me.

I'm really liking Hangman as well. Would love for The Fox to return with an issue #6 and am wondering about The Web #1. Web was alleged to debut in Jan but I've not seen it nor heard about it's rescheduling.

I only read a few of these title from the DC Impact line cause I got them in $1 boxes years ago.
It's a shame that Archie doesn't have a higher handle on this cause as VALIANT has shown, if you structure it right and are timely people will show up. Dark Horse tried but weren't as persistent as they need to be, love the Project Black Sky characters.

[whovian]

Black Hood is consistently one of my favorite books. Shield #2, however, didn't work for me at all after a great first issue.

[QUARTZ]

I love Black Hood; it's got real grit. It definitely is the most realistic hero on the stands, at least that I know of. I'm also loving The Hangman. It's more of a supernatural bend but it works with the art and it is definitely feels dark and evil at times.