The TfC Ramble is a weekly, skimmable smorgasbord of content from the intersection of comics and technology. Enjoy!
NFTs
This week we saw two hugely important classic comics minted as NFTs: The Death of Superman and Uncanny X-Men #101 (The first appearance of Phoenix)! Both drops were virtually instant sellouts.
The Superman #75 drop is intriguing from a thought experiment perspective. Namely, which is a better collectible… a print comic that reportedly sold more than 6,000,000 copies or an NFT with a verifiable circulation total of 4000 (and this isn’t even factoring in the variant numbers). Of course, this depends on the collector, but still, it is an interesting point to ponder.
The queue to get into the sale was long. This drop definitely could have been larger, but from a scarcity marketing perspective, this was genius.
Uncanny X-Men #101 sold for $10 a copy. Commons are currently selling for as low as $5.19 in the aftermarket while the “floor” on the Secret Rare edition is currently $149.90.
On the indie comic side of things, the fifth issue of Star Atlas: Core was released.
On-chain data seems to indicate that sales have dropped off considerably (as expected) compared to issue one. As of this moment, around 600 copies have sold at ~$20 a copy. However, the fact that there are over $10,000 in sales for the comic NFT is interesting given that the entire series is available for free in 50 countries via Apple books.
For the Technically Inclined
Flow Blockchain: Why Hybrid Custody is the next BIG thing
My TL;DR - It will make it easier for customers without crypto experience to purchase and collect NFTs.
AI
Half of the free tickets were gone by Wednesday, but just in case there are tickets left, be sure to reserve a spot now for “The Impact of AI on The Comic Industry.”
This is being hosted by some of my favourite people in comics and includes a brave! machine learning researcher.
Scheduled guests include:
Heidi McDonald: Editor in Chief at Comics Beat (Moderator)
Mark Waid: writer for Archie, Boom! DC, Image, and Marvel
Mike Marts: editor for DC, Marvel, AfterShock, and Mad Cave Studios
Thomas Crowell: attorney and author of The Pocket Lawyer for Comic Book Creators
Andrew T.S.: Machine learning researcher at San Francisco State University
Gamal Hennessy: attorney and author of The Business of Independent Comic Book Publishing
Andy Schmidt: editor for DC, Hasbro, and IDW, Publisher at CEX Publishing
Do not miss this!
There is a good article on what to expect at downthetubes.net.
Business
Brandon Schatz keeps knocking it out of the part in terms of helpful information about the direct market. There is a table in this post that includes “Average copies per title” from 2015 to 2021. Try and guess that number before you hop over to read this insightful article.
Food for Thought
From the “Ideas Don’t Bleed” podcast; Episode 13.
“We can’t fix anything. Art’s never fixed anything. It never has. All it’s ever done is console. It’s consolation. [] It’s not curative. It is palliative. It eases pain. And I think once you sort of view it in those terms [] escapism becomes a really noble endeavour.” ~ Alex Paknadel
“Sometimes you need to stand in front of a crowd and wave a flag so that they don’t feel alone and sometimes you need to hold an umbrella over them so they don’t know that there’s a storm at all.” ~ Matthew Rosenberg
Crowdfunding
Campaigns I’m watching from colleagues doing their thing.
The Ninja Scouts & The Sorcerers' Spat by Kevin Doyle
Writer Accountability
Editing Lump Dog #1 (the next chapter of The Lump Sum Saga) was the priority this week. I finished my initial electronic edits and have printed it out to do my first edit on paper. (I always see new things when I look at the manuscript in a different form.)
Once the on-paper edit is finished, the next
scarystep is getting it into the hands of a few peers for their feedback. I’m actually considering making it available to subscribers. What do you think?
I made good progress on my accounting for taxes this week. The end result could have a significant effect on when
if?I can start production of Lump Dog #1, so my goal is to get my taxes done early.
Just for Fun
I can’t tell you how much excitement the TMNT movie announcement brought to our house. Not that my wife used to know every character and which accessory went with each action figure or anything. Plus Jackie Chan and John Cena?! What?!
🐀💙❤️🧡💜🐗🦏 = 🥳