Quote from: Gisele on July 02, 2016, 01:27:10 PMQuote from: DeCarlo Rules on July 02, 2016, 05:32:40 AMQuote from: Gisele on July 02, 2016, 04:00:49 AMQuote from: DeCarlo Rules on July 02, 2016, 03:24:55 AMQuote from: Gisele on July 02, 2016, 02:40:14 AM
Maybe they never felt they found the right team for it? Comics that feature music are not an easy sell in the States as they are in Europe and Japan, where they are liked and popular there. As a musician myself, my favorite comics that feature music are Beck (Mongolian Chop Squad) and Nana. Both are Japanese properties. Harold Sakuishi, who did Beck, REALLY did his research. I believe he was in bands too. The instruments look great, the stories are believable, AND it's FUNNY. Let's hope we get that with Josie.
Maybe it's because in a comic book, you can't hear the music. That's an inherently limiting factor of the medium, unless digital comics start including soundtracks (too expensive, I know). I've SEEN Jem and the Holograms in a comic book, but I haven't the foggiest idea what the band sounds like. Never saw the animated cartoon. With stuff like KISS, The Archies, and Josie and the Pussycats, I know what they sound like because I've heard the music, but just trying to imagine music that you've never heard before doesn't work. Thinking about it the other day, I wondered why ACP never published a comic book series about The Archies. Maybe that's why, although it doesn't explain why they didn't do it during the time period when the albums were being released. Maybe because they were already on television. The Josie animated cartoon didn't rely on music as much as adventures, and the original comic book tended to concentrate less on their life as a band than on just their day-to-day situations.
In regards to Nana and Beck, they eventually did an animation and a soundtrack for both (highly recommended.) Also, for Beck, they'd include music CDs with certain volumes. These would feature various indie bands in Japan. And it was appropriate since Beck was all about the struggles of making a band, keeping it together, and trying to make a living of it. Making a successful band is quite an accomplishment. In general, not everyone likes each other, but if there's a common goal, and everyone agrees to tolerate each other, they can make it work. And it's not always the best musicians that succeed. It's basically the ones that find the formula that works, and by that I mean, good music, but also people that can work together as a team even if they don't really like each other. It's a business after all at the end of the day. Just finding members is hard (harder if you want to do an all girl band.) It's easy to think "oh, you're a drummer and we need a drummer, let's be in the same band" but that's not how it works. Everyone has their own vision of what band they want to make. So everyone is clashing and have to make compromises for a band to succeed. If they can touch on this with Josie, it COULD be interesting even if you don't head music. We'll see!
Well, if they wanted to get a little crazy with their venture capital funding, ACP could try to start something that might eventually grow into a media phenomenon. Do what the Hanna-Barbera studio originally did, and create a band by hiring talented unknowns to play the roles of Josie, Melody, and Valerie, and hire proven songwriters to write the music. Make some music videos and put them up on YouTube and anywhere else willing to host them. Have the band appear at SDCC and other major comic cons. Offer a downloadable MP3 album to tie into the existing comic book, really try to get some attention and publicity, and maybe they could get some interest going in either a new animated show or a live action one. Maybe include a CD (or just some redemption code) with a trade paperback collection of J&TP.
I see what you're saying about the band experience and putting those kind of details in gives it verisimilitude and makes the characters seem more real to people. At the same time, it can't be about *just* the band experience, because then it seems like you're catering the comic specifically to the audience that can relate because they ARE in a band, have BEEN in a band, or would LIKE to be in a band. That kind of reader probably has her own musical soundtrack in her head as far as what kind of band they are, and what kind of music they're playing. It's a lot harder for the average, non-musician to supply that background soundtrack in her or his head, so it's not connecting as much with those readers. Fans of bands like KISS or The Ramones are going to buy a comic (assuming they read comics) with them in it, and fans of classic Archie will buy it because of that. But unless you're a BIG Archie fan, if you DON'T like the music of KISS or The Ramones, you'd be kind of resistant to buying it. For the people who aren't familiar with the band experience, they need some other stuff in there, probably some unrealistic comedy or fantasy or adventure elements. But it really helps if there's SOME kind of actual music that people can mentally connect to the comic book.
I never really heard of Beck* or Nana (well, not the Japanese manga ones, anyway), but I have the soundtrack (4 CDs) to the Cowboy Bebop anime by The Seatbelts. It's awesome.
* = '90s alternative artist known for "I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me"
I agree that it can't be all about the band experience. It's like watching a show set at the hospital, or at a police station, etc. It's more about the lives of these people. The hospital, the police station, or a stage is just a setting and helps create stories. The Japanese are good at this stuff when it comes to comics. They have comics on everything. Want to become a world famous cook? There's a comic on that, and even if you don't care to become a world famous cook, they make it so interesting to read, that anyone will enjoy it. I think this is roughly what needs to happen here with Josie.
I highly recommend Beck (Mongolian Chop Squad) and Nana. Whether it's via the manga or anime. Be aware going in that Nana is a josei (aimed at the working woman vs the teenage girl.) I know many men still enjoy it, so you still might like it. Beck is a shonen (for boys) but it's pretty mature, and not all about power-ups à la Dragon Ball.
Nana is one of my all time favorites. I even liked the live action movie. You should write a series combining Josie and the Pussycats and Nana!
More please. This bridges the gap between classic Archie and 21st century Archie. 
That would be hilarious if they printed some of the comments/criticisms from this forum in a letters page in the Archie reboot.