Thursday Morning Superhero: Stop Bad Idea!

The bizarre marketing stunts for Bad Idea have returned alongside their return for another round of incredible looking comics.  In addition to encouraging 200 protestors to picket their booth at New York Comic Con in exchange for exclusive comics, they launched a Kickstarter yesterday that will supposedly lead to the end of Bad Idea as we know it if it raises $2.6 million.

The Kickstarter surrounds one of their titles from the first round from the dynamic duo of David Lapham and Matt Kindt, The Hero Trade. The first issue showed up at comic book stores with no mention of who created or published the comic. Some of these comics ended up in the trash, but people quickly caught on to the stunt.  While the story appeared in parts of other Bad Idea books, and even another promotional surprise with the Passive/Aggressive storylines, the Kickstarter is the only way to get future chapters of the story collected in an impressive looking hardcover.  There is even one tier to get a hand-painted cover by Matt Kindt.

It is important to note that the Kickstarter goods will be delivered even if the $2.6 million stretch goal is reached, but it puts the round two books that have been pre-ordered blindly by myself and others at participating stores.  For the second round of Bad Idea's books, fans were encouraged to pre-order the titles blindly, but given how much I enjoyed the first round I was not hesitant to pre-order these books.  It will be interesting to see how the 20 day campaign goes and I am sure there will be some surprise updates along the way.  

POSTED BY MIKE N. aka Victor Domashev -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.

Thursday Morning Superhero

 It is September and 2021 is rapidly working its way to the end along with the grand Bad Idea Comics experiment.  While I have heard that the burden placed on comic book retailers was difficult, from a reader's perspective I have thoroughly enjoyed the Bad Idea ride and have been fortunate to find ways of obtaining these amazing books online. 

Final Five:

In July Bad Idea announced that readers could prepay for its Final Five books in hoping to obtain an exclusive sticker that would grant them special powers.  This past month it was revealed that it has to do with the Hero Trade Passive/Aggressive.  If you recall, Bad Idea sent Hero Trade ashcans to comic book stores with no information that it related to Bad Idea or was from the all-star team of Matt Kindt and David Lapham.  This built buzz around the title, and it wasn't until readers picked up their copy of Hero Trade Passive/Aggressive that they learned it is actually two titles, and that their local book store only got one.  Stores either received the Passive or Aggressive books, and readers were left scrambling to pick up the other title.  If you were lucky enough to get a golden sticker, you had the option to redeem it for the other title. 

I was fortunate enough to get a golden sticker and it felt a bit like ordering something from the back of a comic book back in the day.  I sent my money order and address and will be waiting until my copy of Passive arrives in the mail.  Readers were mixed on this approach, but sales quickly went up on eBay and it created the typical buzz that Bad Idea has received throughout their journey.  Whether it was clicking a button a billion times, secret ashcans, or announcing that this grand experiment truly is over this year, Bad Idea may have lived up to its name, but if you were lucky enough to pick up some of the books you were treated to some impressive titles.

Cowboy Bebop:

While not related to comic books per say, the internet was abuzz last week when Netflix released some of the first images from its upcoming live action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop.  When John Cho was announced as Spike I had a good feeling that Netflix might be able to pull this off and felt reassured when the early images were released. While it still seems odd to make a live action remake of a series that is nearly perfect, I am hoping that it will bring a larger audience to this amazing series and look forward to checking it out.  Ed is very absent from the early images and I am hopeful that they will remain an integral character, but they stated that this is an adaptation and not a shot-for-shot remake so only time will tell.  

POSTED BY MIKE N. aka Victor Domashev -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.

Thursday Morning Superhero - Happy Bad Idea Day

I am a day late here at Nerds of a Feather, but I would be doing you all a disservice if I didn't take the time to wish you all a Happy Belated Bad Idea Day.  I have mentioned Bad Idea here in previous posts, but after over a year of promotion, an unrelenting button, a surprise ash can, and a whole lot of bad ideas, the first comic hit select comic book stores yesterday.

To get fans even more excited, it was announced that they were including not-first print editions for when stores sold out of the first print that actually had bonus materials.  Each store was given a special button to give to the fan who picked up the first Bad Idea book at their store and some fans even camped out over night.  

Unfortunately none of the stores here in Austin are part of the Bad Idea program so I had to order my first copy of Eniac #1 from Matt Kindt online.  Bad Idea is limiting sales to one book per person and have stated that there will be no digital copies of their books.  I will post my thoughts on Eniac once my copy is delivered, but the early previews have been stunning and I have not read a Matt Kindt book that I didn't enjoy.

The marketing may have been a bit odd, but Bad Idea successfully built up a successful hype train that was able to overcome obstacles due to COVID and I cannot wait to read their other books.  To see if any shops near you are part of their program or to pre-order any of their books online you can visit their website here.

While I may never forget them for forcing us to click on a button one billion times, it has already been a wild ride and I haven't even read a book yet.  Happy Bad Idea Day everyone.

POSTED BY MIKE N. aka Victor Domashev -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.

Thursday Morning Superhero

Bad Idea Comics is the brainchild of former Valiant CEO Dinesh Shamdasani and despite the ominous name, I am quite excited to check out the books that are scheduled to drop in 2021.  That is, if I am able to pick any of them up.  The premise of Bad Idea Comics is to produce limited comic books that are only available at select brick and mortar retailers.   Unfortunately there aren't any locations in my hometown, but a lot of stores will ship and I plan on preordering the books at some point in the near future.  To find out where you can find the lucky stores that will carry these comics you can click here. 

I previously wrote about Bad Idea's plan on getting fans to click a button at www.servethebutton.com and wouldn't release their first comic until it was clicked one billion times.  To add further confusion to what Bad Idea's plan is, they secretly mailed an ashcan called The Hero Trade to their retailers with no hint that it was from Bad Idea.  Some stores tossed their copies, while others sold them on eBay once the cat was out of the bag for a tidy sum.  The button reached 1 billion clicks earlier this week and the hype of Bad Idea's first year of comics was soon to follow.

Bad Idea will deliver five books in 2021, starting with Eniac by Matt Kindt and Doug Braithwaite.  In addition, they are releasing Whalesville by Kindt and Adam Pollina, Tankers by Robert Venditti and Juan Jose Ryp, The Lot by Marguerite Bennett and Renato Guedes, and Slay Bells by Zeb Wells and David Lafuente. 

I am always interested in reading any title from Kindt and the two that he is releasing with Bad Idea are extremely intriguing. Eniac is about a super computer that controlled global affairs by pitting countries against one another, but now it has to be stopped. His other title, Whalesville, is about a community that exists inside of a whale. This is discovered after a captain's son is eaten by a whale.  The other title that is a must read, in my opinion, is Slay Bells.  Santa is seeking revenge after a father and son kill Rudolph and try to cover it up.  The preview looks hilarious. 

It remains to see if this will ultimately be a Bad Idea, but Dinesh has certainly captured my attention and I can't wait to try and secure copies of all of these books.

POSTED BY MIKE N. aka Victor Domashev -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.

Xbox 720 to Require Constant Internet Connection

1984 has arrived!

I know there are some aluminum hat wearers out there that have been anxiously awaiting a nightmarish, Orwellian  future where we are monitored at all times by huge, evil corporations bent on world domination, just so you can say, "I told you so." Well, guess what? I've got a surprise for you! The next Xbox is going to never be disconnected from the Internet. Not only will it shut down if it isn't plugged into the net for three minutes, but they're more than doubling the cost of the privilege of subscribing to Xbox Live to $10/month. First of all, let me place the caveat here at the beginning saying this information comes from another blogger. We aren't 60 Minutes or Nightline when it comes to investigative journalism. That said, I feel fairly comfortable posting considering the story has re-run on Yahoo.com and IGN (Read more, I'm not making this up: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/25/next-xbox-functionality-pricing-reportedly-outed).

It's moves like this that make me wonder, are they trying to scare people away? For one thing, every time your Internet goes down, and with some connections this is more of an issue than others, your Xbox is going out, too. Not only is that doubly annoying, it makes no sense.

I assume this is to cut down on people buying used games. Why not just do what Mass Effect 3 and many games before it have done? Have a one-time-use code that must be purchased a second time if the game is to be played on another console. It makes me sick to even say that because personally, I believe you ought to be able to buy and sell legal items pretty much as often as you'd like. However, it's the lesser of two evils. At least with the code you can buy the game used and play it at your leisure, not worried that you're being watched at all times by some sort of sick super-villain.

The blogger that broke the news said the 'always on' rumor, "Isn't as Draconian as many seem to believe." That's funny, I was thinking that was the perfect word for it. While I don't believe Bill Gates sits in a room with thousands of HD monitors showing every last Kinect feed in the world, I don't really want him to have that capability. You won't be able to take your Xbox any place that doesn't have an Internet connection. In some hotels, wifi can cost as much as $20/night. What about the Xbox hooked up in the car to keep the kids entertained in cross country road trips? I guess that one is ground they're giving completely to Sony and Nintendo, although the Wii isn't really back seat friendly. Those controllers make fantastic sister or brother assault aids in a 30-hour car ride, as well. 

are you trying to make me angry?

Don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry. I fail to see the justification and motivation for this drastic measure. Are they really losing that much money in used games? I keep all my games because I figure I'm not being played like a chump for six bucks. It's worth the slightest possibility to me that I might play something again that I'll keep it just out of spite over not giving into Gamestop's racketeering. I have close to six grand in video games sitting on the shelf next to my t.v. Well, sadly they aren't worth that now. Game discs do not, as a general rule, appreciate in value with time like fine wine or artwork. I did the same thing with lots of college textbooks. I paid $129 for it and you're going to try to give me $12? I don't think so! I'm keeping it. I'll probably never crack it again, but it's worth it knowing I wasn't played for a fool by a system set up to con students, the vast majority of whom aren't the richest demographic to begin with.

I'm a bit reactionary and I currently feel like "dealing with it" by picking up a Sony this year. I can get it earlier than November, so that's one plus for the PS4. I may calm down by then and realize I can't live without my Xbox, but I also might not want Bill Gates watching me sit on my couch all day. That's exciting stuff, I know, but that's exactly why I don't want to give it away for free! I should be charging Billy Boy for that privilege. Microsoft Executive Adam Orth resigned shortly after the less-than-sympathetic Tweet above. Nevertheless, it appears Microsoft is going ahead with their plans. Screwing over loyal customers is fine, so long as you don't tell them about it on social media. That's crossing the line, man. Low blow. Dirty pool. Unacceptable. I suggest buying a roll of this, so at least you can give Microsoft the same treatment they're giving you.