Tag: Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman Regarding Internet Piracy and Books

I recently found this post on author Neil Gaiman’s thoughts on Internet Piracy. I feel that a lot of artists have expressed this same sentiment. Unless your Metallica, I think you will enjoy this.

You’re not losing sales by getting stuff out there. When I do a big talk now on these kinds of subjects and people ask “What about the sales you are losing by having stuff floating out there?” I started asking the audience to raise their hands for one question — Do you have a favorite author? And they say yes and I say good. What I want is for everybody who discovered their favorite author by being lent a book put up your hand. Then anybody who discovered their favorite author by walking into a book story and buying a book. And it’s probably about 5-10%, if that, of the people who discovered their favorite author who is the person they buy everything of and they buy the hardbacks. And they treasure the fact they’ve got this author. Very few of them bought the book. They were lent it. They were given it. They did not pay for it. That’s how they found their favorite author. And that’s really all this is; it’s people lending books.

Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?

BatmanThe same NPR article that made me what to read “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” also had a link for an older NPR peace on “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?”.

Gotham City is plagued with crime and corruption in places high and low, but one man has taken a stand against evil of all forms: the dark avenger known as Batman. But now the Dark Knight is dead. “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader” is a captivating and mysterious tale, the likes of which Batman and friends have never experienced before. Delving into the realms of life, death and the afterlife, no stone is left unturned in this exploration of every facet and era of Bruce Wayne’s life. Neil Gaiman, the multiple award-winning author of “Sandman” and “Coraline”, is joined by legendary artist Andy Kubert (“Batman and Son”) for the ultimate Batman story!

The hardcover edition I picked up also came with other Gaiman stories from Secret Origins #36, Secret Origins Special #1, and Batman Black And White #2. I felt that some of these stories where on par, if not better then “Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?”. One is a story on Poison Ivy which really lets you see her true side. A side I had never seen before.

Another story focused on the Riddler. I found this one very interesting because the Riddler is a character from the early days of Batman villains like King Tut, Book Worm, and Egg Head. The Riddle still exists today but (at least in my opinion) never really has found a nitch in the comics like the Joker, or Catwomen. In the comic it’s brought up by the Riddler and he comes off as depressed by it. It was just a good a good read.