Christopher Butcher's Manga Prescription -- Chris's series of commentaries on the state and future of manga gets better and better, and in his latest post on the subject, he hits the home run.

So what do I want the manga industry to look like then? I think that Drawn + Quarterly has a good idea, with one prestige-format (meaning a format with actual prestige, like a hardcover book with lovely thick paper and a beautiful design, and not those flimsy little 48 page superhero comics with a spine) release of “mature manga” per year. If there were 3 or 4 publishers doing that, each with a nicely designed manga release per season (spring/fall), that’d be maybe 8-10 wonderful books per year, which I think that the market could bear, and that’d be lovely. Currently the number of high-end manga releases in a given year is about half of that, which accounts for the loud noises I make when they manage to drop.

Butcher goes on to talk about watching the tastes and purchases of young manga customers mature over time at his shop, The Beguiling in Toronto, and it's a very realistic and hopeful portrait he paints of how easy it can be to use a comic book store to build the industry you want.

I guess my fear is that the worst instincts of the direct market have already done that, that most comic book stores want a marketplace hinging on ephemeral, hyperhysterical junk like what Marvel and DC generally make their nut on these days (Secret Invasion, anything at all by Geoff Johns), with that precious, lofty 5 to 10 percent of comic book stores like The Beguiling or Modern Myths or Million Year Picnic or, closer to home, Earthworld in Albany, actually bothering to take the risk and spend the capital required to stock a truly full-service comic book store that welcomes the presence and buying power of readers of all interests, ages and genders. Those are the type of stores building the future Butcher describes, and they deserve every goddamned bit of support you can possibly eke out of your wallet.

Anyway, go read Butcher's latest post, there's a ton of great ideas and advice in there for retailers and readers alike, and it's absolutely essential reading.

Labels: industry, linkblogging

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 1:11 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 0 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
Butcher on The Shape of the Industry -- Christopher Butcher's been promising something interesting for a few days now, and he's made good on his hints with a fantastic new thinkpiece on the evolving marketplace for manga and graphic novels:

"[O]lder customers would like a different shopping experience than trying to find the latest Tatsumi or Inoue manga jammed in-between Ultimate Spider-Man and Naruto whilst simultaneously trying to avoid the outstretched gangly limbs of sullen teens thoroughly immersed in the Universe of the Four Gods."

Much more, as they say, at the link. And a little bit more from me about Mr. Butcher and his value to the ongoing discussion about comics, on this blog tomorrow.

Update: Butcher has posted Part Two, and it's even more in-depth and insightful.

Labels: industry, linkblogging

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 3:24 PM [LINK TO THIS] | 0 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
Butcher on Convention Sales -- I've been waiting eagerly for The Beguiling's Christopher Butcher to weigh in on the issue of convention sales, and now he has.

Everything Butcher has to say on the subject (or any other, generally) is worth your attention, but here are some quotes I found particularly relevant to the discussion as it has evolved:

* "It’s actually more advantageous for us–as a local retailer–for these publishers to do big launches of these books...because more often than not, it’s these big launches/pushes that help put the books on the radar of our customers on the first place."

* "I’ve worked on the publisher side of the table...at The San Diego Comicon, selling books that had not yet been released to direct market comic book stores...I would say that the number one question I was asked was 'will this be available in comic book stores?' when confronted with a debut book...customers want to honour their preorders and don’t want to lug around books at a show that they can get at their local store in the next month." [Emphasis mine]

* "I’m actually a lot more concerned, on the release-date front, about Diamond’s continuing inability to process books that they receive as a distributor as fast as the bookstore chains. Most bookstores are receiving manga, “mainstream” book publishers graphic novel releases, and magazines like Giant Robot, between a day and a month before Diamond gets them into my store."

What's fascinating to me about Butcher's observations on the issue is that he is, without question, one of the most experienced retailers in North America, working for what remains, to date, the very best comic book store I have ever shopped in. His thoughts on this particular issue echo my own experience and beliefs exactly, despite knee-jerk criticisms from people like "comics retailer" and CBIA overlord Robert Scott that I, as a mere customer and blogger, have no say in this matter, and no worthwhile opinion to offer, because I can't possibly understand his perspective behind the counter.

Trouble is, Bobby, that my perspective and philosophy about what makes a good comic book store and what retail environment I will choose to spend my money in is formed in large part because of my experiences in good comic book stores like The Beguiling, Million Year Picnic and Modern Myths. It's my bad experienced in low-rent superhero convenience stores that has convinced me over the years that most of the stores within the direct market are hopelessly broken and doomed to extinction, while the good stores -- the ones that operate professionally and welcome the money of any customer who wants to buy any kind of comics in print -- are the ones that will thrive long after the Android's Dungeon/Robert Scott model of superhero pandering has marginalized itself into oblivion, or nearly enough so as not to make much of a difference.

Labels: good comic shops, industry

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 4:13 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 1 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
Retailers vs. Convention Sales: Publishers Respond -- Over the weekend, comics bloggers responded (Comics Worth Reading; The Comics Reporter; Journalista; Comics Comics; Dick Hates Your Blog; and me, here and here) to ComicsPRO's allegation that direct market retailers are losing revenue because some publishers sell new works at comic book conventions before Diamond delivers those works to the direct market.

Their Side of the Story

One good retailer point of view can be found at The Savage Critic; while Brian Hibbs and I don't always agree on some pretty key issues, he clearly wants many of the same things that I do for the comic book stores within the direct market.

Diamond's Policies From the Publisher's Side

A former publisher still active in comics as a cartoonist told me of his discouraging experience with Diamond, asking not to be named, but making it clear that Diamond impeded his efforts at every step along the way to trying to get distribution to comic book stores within the direct market. He spoke of building relationships one by one with good comic book stores that want to serve a base wider than that of aging superhero fans, and said those stores -- what I call superhero convenience stores -- are actively disinterested in carrying non-superhero works. He also noted that dealing direct with stores interested in his product saves time and money, because the small publisher does not have to ship to Diamond, which then (eventually) ships to the retailer. He expressed nothing but disdain for any shop unwilling to build a direct partnership with smaller publishers, and indicated that his future efforts will work around Diamond to get right to retailers wherever possible.

Bloggers Enjoy Commenting on Everything, Even Important Issues Like This

Comics blogger Christopher Allen isn't convinced by the ComicsPRO position paper:

"I don't buy the argument that retailers just don't know what books will debut at conventions. Nonsense. Marvel and DC don't debut books there. Dark Horse and Image may have some sort of preview samplers, and Avatar and other genre publishers may have a convention edition or two every year, but for the most part we're talking about pricey artcomix from Top Shelf, Fanta, D&Q, and a few others, right? Anyone who paid the slightest bit of attention, or who had been to a convention in the past 5 years, could have predicted prior to Diamond order deadlines, that Lost Girls, Flight, Comic Art, and whatever other big books of the year were going to be available at SDCC. I'm sure the SDCC site and frequent update fliers mentioned guests like Seth. Was he going to sign old shit, or, just maybe, the new book of his that was coming out soon? I just think it's a case of retailers not wanting to do the work of knowing their products and their customers."

One Man's Experience with Diamond and Convention Sales

Cartoonist Frank Santoro has had extensive experience dealing with Diamond, beginning in the mid-1990s with his company Sirk Publications. Diamond is the monopolistic distributor that holds most of the power when it comes to getting books distributed within the direct market, and so timing of delivery of any given product to comic book stores is often within their control. He answered some questions for me.

1. Do you regularly engage in convention sales that take place prior to when Diamond delivers your product to comic book stores within the direct market?

Frank Santoro: Yes, of course. We need those sales and that connection with our core audience.

2. If so, what is the primary reason you do so? What is the benefit, and are there any downsides?

Why wouldn't we do that? That is the blueprint. The benefits are endless. There are no downsides.

3. How satisfied are you with Diamond's ability to deliver your product to retailers in the direct market in a timely manner?

Not satisfied at all. We have no choice but to use Diamond if we are to get into certain shops that won't deal directly with us.

4. If retailers were willing to pay to have books direct-shipped to them in order to have product available at the same time they will debut at a given convention, would you have any objection to them doing so? Would you be willing to cooperate with a system in which this is a regular option for them?

Yes, we already do that with many of the larger stores who do sell our work. It's beneficial for everyone.

5. Assuming you will continue to sell at conventions prior to Diamond making product available to the retailers in the direct market, what incentives could retailers offer to publishers to cause you to reconsider your plans?

None.

6. Have other arms in your distribution chain, outside the retailers in the direct market, complained about convention sales? If so, how have you addressed their concerns? If not, what makes them different from retailers within the direct market?

No.

7. Do you believe the direct market serviced by Diamond represents a good portion of your present customer base? If so, what percentage of direct market stores do you believe actively works with you as a partner in getting your books to the readers that want them? If not, do you believe that the direct market will, in the future, be more or less interested in working with your company to grow the market for your product?

No, it represents about 20 percent. But we still need that 20 percent. So we're forced to use them because there is no alternative except Last Gasp and only certain stores use Last Gasp.

Another View

AiT/PlanetLar publisher Larry Young's response to the issue:

"This actually doesn't impact us at all, as we don't sell books at cons that aren't already available from Diamond. We don't debut books at shows, because we're an "evergreen" company. All of our books are awesome and will be so forever, whether you get it on Day One or Year Five. There's just no reason for us to debut books at cons.

"Sorry that's not a sexy soundbite answer, but I think we're in a different comics industry than most other folks. The Latest Outrage™ never seems to much impact us."

A Major Player Responds

One of the major publishers of non-superhero comics in North America asked to remain anonymous, and explained why their company will continue to sell their product at conventions before Diamond delivers the same product to direct market retailers. He told me that ideally books would debut at conventions and comic book stores on the same day, but printing delays and other problems don't always make that possible. He said that it's worth paying the extra shipping to get books to a convention in order to have them available for the cartoonist to sign for readers, and that this is a key marketing tool in building good word of mouth for their books. He doubts most retailers would be willing, as he is, to swallow a $10.00 per book shipping charge to get the books at the same time as they are being debuted at a convention. It's this publisher's belief that convention sales in this way improve sales within the direct market by creating additional demand for a given work. He told me that if convention signings on new books are done away with, there will be less demand for the books, and therefore lower sales for the direct market retailers.

Final Thoughts, For the Moment

As I said in a letter over the weekend to Tom Spurgeon, what's exciting to me about the current convention sales discussion is that it finally brings out the hardcore issues that separate the direct market retail mindset from the real world.

Dirk Deppey picks up on that in his blog post today, when he says "this fight is really just a set of shadows concealing larger and more intractable problems." He's right: this debate has been a microcosm of the divide between the needs of three distinct groups. Readers (represented by the comics bloggers, who despite claims by retailer like Robert Scott, have not only a right but a responsibility to report on their experiences in the comics retail environment and explain how retailers can make their businesses better for their own self-interest, never mind for the betterment of comics as a whole), retailers, and publishers.

Readers will keep reading comics as long as the ones they want to read are available; publishers will continue to publish them as long as they maintain whatever borderline profit margin they have set for themselves, despite the many aggravations of working within the superhero-centric direct market. But what of retailers within that obviously changing direct market?

Seeing the comments by some high-visibility retailers, it becomes clear that they are far from engaged with reality when it comes to what is going on in comics anywhere outside their own front door. The past decade has seen a revolution in how comics are perceived, pursued and purchased by the reading public. But most direct market retailers participating in this discussion these past few days seem not to see the forest for the trees.

You can chalk that up to their dedication to, and focus on, their own business; or you can see it as having their collective heads in the sand; the truth is likely somewhere in-between, although I remember vividly a major retailer telling me a few years ago, in the early days of the manga explosion, that the stuff just doesn't sell; he seemed totally unaware that the Borders a mile down the road had expanded their manga section enormously, and that that same section was populated by interested readers any time you happened to give it a look.

If comic book stores as an entity are to be dragged into professional retail practices and competing in a world in which the direct market is just one piece of the entire comics market rather than its virtual entirety, it's now clearer than ever that they will have to be dragged there kicking, wailing and screaming. Some of them, like the aforementioned Robert Scott, are already doing enough of that to get themselves banned from the Comics Worth Reading comments section, moderated by Johanna Draper Carlson, whose level head and fairness are unquestioned, and who put up with Scott's insults far longer than I would have.

Dealing with this retailer intransigence and inability to face facts, I assume, is part of what Spurgeon's "first thought of the day" was about on Sunday.

This all, this entire debate, is exactly what I was talking about a couple of years ago in my (admittedly) poorly-worded letter to Spurgeon declaring my wish for the direct market to "die." I've rewritten that piece three times now, and I am grateful to Spurgeon for posting it way back when, because the response to it has forced me to really focus my thinking and try to explain what the problem is as I see it, rather than just indulging in gleeful eye-poking. It seems to me a lot of retailers are now poking themselves in their own eyes while the rest of us calmly insist that the retail sector of the direct market grow up, already.

Update: David Wynne has some good perspective and advice for retailers; and Johanna has more as well.

Update 2: I was wondering when Heidi would weigh in on this debate, and now she has. It was worth waiting for. And as is usual these past few days, the comments following the post are worth reading.

Labels: good comic shops, industry

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 7:41 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 1 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
The Upper Echelon of Comic Book Retailers -- In the ongoing discussion with comic book retailers about convention sales happening at Comics Worth Reading (scroll down to the comments following Johanna's initial post), noted comics retailer Rory Root said today:

"I’d be quite pleased if folk would stop judging the upper echelon of comic stores by the bottom feeders. It’s as if the gourmet restaurants in the market were judged by how the greasy spoons operated."

I think this is one of the key issues facing comic book retailers and the direct market today, and here is how I responded to Rory's plea:

It’s up to the progressive stores to separate themselves from the majority superhero convenience stores and their anti-comics policies, Rory. One major step would be to create a list of best practices that all professional businesses should adhere to. Has ComicsPRO issued a paper like this for its members?

Here are some of the practices I personally endorse:

Professional comic book stores are clean.

Professional comic book stores are well-lit.

Professional comic book stores are well-organized.

Professional comic book stores are open on time, all the time.

Professional comic book stores have prices clearly marked and up to date on all merchandise.

Professional comic book stores operate their business in accordance with local, state and federal laws, including labor and employment laws.

Professional comic book stores do not favor one genre or sub-genre over another.

Professional comic book stores recognize that all comics are comics, no matter what country they originate from, or what format they are published in.

Professional comic book stores actively welcome all people interested in buying some kind of comics to shop at their store,

Professional comic book stores recognize the transition from periodical pamphlet comics to more appealing and enduring graphic novels, and accommodate the readership’s clear preference for comics with a spine and a complete story.

Professional comic book stores actively seek to buy from a variety of distributors, not relying on one monopolistic distributor for the entirety of their business, and not settling for receiving books “whenever Diamond ships them,” but rather, as soon as they are available, in order to better serve their customers.

Now, if ComicsPRO as an organization insists its members adhere to standards that meet or exceed these, then I’d agree you and your colleagues are all working for positive change within the direct market. If not, then you continue to allow the bottom feeders to thrive and use quality retailers such as yourself as cover for their shoddy, amateur practices.

Please let me know where online I may find ComicsPRO’s position paper on this issue. If it doesn’t exist yet, please keep us posted on its progress. Because until then, a lack of professionalism in the majority of the direct market’s stores, and impotent declarations like the convention sales position paper, will only work to cripple ComicsPRO and its attempt to build a reputation for its members as professional retailers worth supporting.

I'll have much more on this story, hopefully within the next 24 hours or so. But I thought this exchange was important enough to call it out on its own for further discussion and consideration.

Labels: good comic shops, industry

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 7:23 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 7 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
ComicsPRO vs. Convention Sales Update -- I'm working on additional coverage of ComicsPRO's position paper against convention sales, and hopefully will have something up Monday.

In the meantime, here is Tom Spurgeon talking to Brian Hibbs about the issue of convention sales and how they allegedly affect comic book retailers.

Labels: good comic shops, industry

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 2:31 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 0 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
A Future for Comics White Paper -- You can now download my essay A Future for Comics (Revised January 2008 Version) as a PDF white paper you can read in Adobe Reader or Acrobat, or can print out to read at your leisure. Or print out and leave copies at comic shops that need a little nudge into professionalism.

Labels: good comic shops, industry

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 3:44 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 1 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
A Future for Comics (Revised 2008 Edition) -- What follows is a single essay compiled and revised from a previous five-part series that ran on this blog in 2007. Given this week's direct market news, I thought it might be time to dust it off and give it a shine for the new year.

It is my long-held belief that the direct market network of mostly superhero-oriented comic book stores is headed for extinction. The reason it is passing into history is because it excludes new readers and embraces only an existing “fan base,” willfully ignoring the fact that comics as a vital, living artform are so much more than superheroes. At the same time, a minority of shops within the direct market are reaching out to a broader audience for comics, one nurtured by mainstream media coverage like comics receive on National Public Radio or in print publications like Time Magazine. The question is, will the truly full-service comic book stores that point the way to the future serve as an example to the majority of stores currently dependent on Diamond’s weekly shipments of superhero titles? Or will the backward, pro-superhero (but ultimately anti-comics) policies of such stores destroy the direct market before a transition can be made to a viable graphic novel-dominant marketplace that serves all comics readers?

In the 1970s and '80s, the direct market thrived because superheroes were about all there were in comics, at least in North America. Alternative/ground-level titles like Elfquest, Cerebus and Love and Rockets were curious sidebars to what most readers thought of as comics, but in the 1990s and especially since the beginning of the 21st Century CE, those comics as well as manga and newspaper strips, have come to define what the average person thinks of as comics. Meanwhile corporate superhero comics have marginalized themselves through editor-driven, continuity-dependent, poorly-crafted "events" like Identity Crisis and its descendants. Such titles create a frenzy of interest in the minority of comics readers who value the sub-genre of superhero adventure fiction more than they value the artform of comics as a whole. This is a minority that would much rather watch Heroes on NBC than ever crack open a graphic novel not published by Marvel or DC. It’s not comics they’re fans of, it’s superheroes and all the adolescent power fantasies the sub-genre implies.

Such readers don’t consider actual quality much of an element in the debate over the future of comics at all, and have created an artificial sales bubble that is destined to feed on itself until the direct market itself collapses. The collapse of the direct market in the 1990s was based in large part on the fact that the comics that were selling weren’t very good, and therefore weren’t interesting readers in their contents as quality storytelling. The prime reason people were buying comics before the ‘90s collapse had more to do with issues of collectability and “investment.” But a comic book is worth nothing if it doesn’t contain a story that is well-written and well-drawn, and more importantly draws the reader into its world. And a comic that is worth nothing ultimately will drive its buyers away, however gratifying its short-term thrill of mere possession might be.

Looking at the most successful general-interest bookstores, both independents as well as chains like Borders or Barnes and Noble, I think it’s clear that the only comic shops that are sustainable and viable in the long term are those that cater to readers of all ages, genders and interests. Stores that welcome entire families of readers, as good bookstores do. Increasingly the superhero convenience stores that make up the vast majority of the direct market cater primarily – if not only -- to male buyers interested primarily – if not only -- in continuity-heavy superhero events. But Diamond, and the direct market, are not comics, anymore than one 7/11 on the corner of a main street in a medium-sized town represents the entire market for potato chips. Diamond and the direct market it simultaneously serves and cripples represents only a small fraction of the overall comics market, as demonstrated in David Beard’s revealing piece on Diamond’s distortion of the perception of what is the market for comics, in The Comics Journal #283 (June, 2007):

“There will be no impetus to reform the data collection system upon which the cottage industry of comic sales analysis is built if we keep pretending that the current Diamond data is reliable…as long as we are dependent on Diamond data, our ability to assess the industry, market and medium is crippled.“

Beard is critical of various “Top 300” lists and the like, and rightfully dismisses them as little more than public relations for a functioning monopoly that has every reason to foster the illusion that it is the comics industry, and no reason at all to provide good information about its true place in the overall comics market.

On a regular basis, articles appear online speculating about the sales number of comics and what their ultimate meaning is, and yet those sales figures are almost always based solely on Diamond’s sales to comic book stores (as opposed to those stores’ sales to their customers), most of which traffic virtually exclusively in corporate superhero comic books and associated items like t-shirts, action figures and other “collectibles.” But this “sales analysis” ultimately stands revealed as intellectual nerd-journalism, a blinkered and pretentious iteration of the old “Who’s stronger, Hulk or Thor?” argument. It pays little to no attention to the wider market for comics in mainstream bookstores and other outlets (manga in CD stores, Archie Comics in supermarkets, etc.) and therefore, ultimately, has little value above that timeless debate about Thor versus The Hulk.

In fact, Beard states in his Comics Journal piece that “A strong argument could be made that no data would be better than faithful reliance in the data presented by Diamond.” When one pauses to reflect that good information about the true scope and nature of the whole market for comics is crucial to the health and viability of comic book stores now and in the uncertain future, one sees it is more than a numbers game for superhero fans. The ability of shop owners to sustain their business and provide for their families is dependent on the accuracy of such information.

I have shopped at a lot of comic book stores since the 1970s, and stores that carry mainly the latest corporate superhero comics with a heavy emphasis on back issues increasingly fill me with indifference bordering on contempt. In the past few years, there has been more of an interest in comics among the general public than I have ever seen in my lifetime. And yet 9 out of every 10 comic book stores seem actively hostile to any potential customer that doesn’t reflect back the owner’s interests, attitudes and even appearance. For every clean, well-managed and professionally run comic book store I have been in, there are many more that are dirty, dark, ill-managed and altogether unpleasant places to shop. And if the lifelong comic book reader in me has learned to tolerate such deficiencies, getting married and raising two children has educated me mightily in what is or isn’t a welcoming retail environment. In my 20s, I may have been amused by my wife’s distaste for entering the average comic book store. Here in my early 40s, I not only understand it, I share it.

I do a lot of browsing of comic book stores in the company of my wife and children. That's four people in a given comic shop when we visit, and a savvy retailer should by definition want to generate interest in his wares from everyone that comes through the door. If my daughter can find a new issue of Mary Jane Loves Spider-Man, or even better, a new volume of one of her favourite manga series, then we're in good shape. Perhaps my son will find an issue of Teen Titans Go, or better yet his other favourites, Bongo's line of Simpsons comics. We know we're really in a good store if there are Calvin and Hobbes and Peanuts collections -- you know, comics people have heard of in the real world, outside the narrow boundaries of the mostly insular, unreflective and very likely doomed direct market.

To truly run a professional business, viable comics shops must recognize that manga is comics. The Far Side is comics. Kampung Boy, Dennis the Menace, Archie and Mr. Natural are all comics. And all of these, just a small portion of the breadth of the comics artform.

The very best shops want to sell comics to everybody, but most comics shops – that network of mostly poorly-run superhero convenience stores -- have seemingly abandoned the future of the industry and the viability of their own business. I see elements of racism, hostility, ignorance, stupidity, and/or fear in these attitudes. It's hard to see what else might account for such self-destructive, shortsighted business practices. It’s not like there aren’t professional business models to learn from, and I can’t imagine why one would start a business without making an effort to learn what the best practices are for the industry you want to be a part of.

After learning the ins and outs of rental contracts, insurance, vacuum cleaners, feather dusters and professional shelving, would-be professional comic book retailers should look at what it means to sell comics. What comics should be available in a good comic shop? Borders and Barnes and Noble have not created an enormous expansion of their manga aisles because they want to service non-buying browsers. Despite those deceptive “sales reports,” people out there in the world are buying comics in huge numbers. But the superhero-oriented fraction of the overall comics industry grits its teeth and closes its eyes and re-defines "comics" so that Civil War or 52 are falsely seen as best-sellers by readers unable or unwilling to investigate deeper into the reality of the comics market. The end result is a false sense of security for readers comforted by superhero (and sales) fiction – and more dangerously, a false sense of security for superhero convenience store owners.

Among consumers of American-made corporate superhero comic books, yes, event comics sell pretty well. They did in the early 1990s, too, until the speculators and fanboys deserted the direct market and thousands of stores closed. Given the insecurity evident in catering only to superhero hobbyists, is it not absolutely absurd to ignore manga, artcomix and/or newspaper strip collections that appeal to a staggeringly wider audience than poorly-crafted, spandex-obsessed revenge fantasies? So-called "best-selling" superhero titles are barely a blip on a vast cultural movement toward true mainstream acceptance of comics.

The best we can hope for at this point seems to be that new stores slowly emerge inspired by the few existing good comic shops, to service the new audience before the old guard collapses from within. We can also hope that at least some stores -- it seems definitely to be ten percent or less -- are canny and visionary enough to both explore new readership avenues and expand their product lines wisely, slowly, and in a professional, businesslike manner. Because as nice as it is to have graphic novels widely available at Barnes and Noble and Borders, I personally prefer patronizing stores (and store owners) dedicated to the artform of comics. I think it’s good for the future of comics to have comic book stores, I just want those stores to want to sell comics to everyone that wants to buy them, not just people that look, sound and act like the store’s owner(s) and employee(s).

In an earlier, less considered version of this essay, I concluded by saying “In my darkest moments, I must say that the comics industry cannot die fast enough for me.” Upon reflection, and after the passage of a couple of years, I have to admit I don’t feel that way anymore. I will always value the artform over the industry – anyone who truly loves comics must -- but I don’t want the industry to die. I want it to thrive. And it will only do so through visionary, professional business practices and an ongoing, genuine desire to sell comics to everyone that wants them.

So, what kind of comic book stores reflect the best future for the direct market?

To determine which shops are good, first we must determine what kind of shops are out there. What is the definition of "comic book store?" Diamond claims there are thousands of "comic book stores" in North America, but I would guess they really mean they have thousands of accounts, many of which may be much like the "hobby shop" near my house, which makes its bread and butter on radio controlled cars, accessories, snacks and soda, but has a small selection of comics delivered from Diamond weekly. They have a couple dozen subscribers, they carry comics, but in my view this is not a "comic book store." It is run more as a hobby than a business, and that is one of the key problems in the direct market as it exists today.

Too many shops are run by former fans who have never bothered to learn how to be professional businessmen. As opposed to the hobby shop above, these are actual comic book stores, but they have profound problems (that the people running the store are either not aware of or don't see as problems). Maybe you've been in one of these stores -- perhaps the owner/cashier was eating lunch at the cash register, maybe annoyed that you had a question for him. Perhaps the back issues have no prices on them, or the prices are subject to change because they've gone up in value since the last time anyone bothered to price them. Perhaps you can feel the dust caking on your fingers as you browse the back issues -- or even the new stock (!). And let's not even get into the hours the store is open -- they may be posted, but how often does someone have the door open and the store ready to welcome customers before or at the posted opening time? If it's not 99 percent (allowing for family emergencies and genuine traffic tie-ups), then it's not a professional business; it's a hobby.

These are the very worst kind of "comic book stores," providing a negative impression for customers, potential customers, and the people they may bring along with them, such as their friends or family members, any or all of which, under the right retail circumstances, may be driven to spend their money in the shop as well. But it's extremely easy to lose interest in a dirty, dark pit that your comics-reading friend/boyfriend/husband/co-worker may have dragged you in to. It is almost needless to say that virtually all of the shops that fall under this criteria focus almost solely on corporate superhero comic books, and if there are other interests in evidence, they will be similarly off-putting. For example:

I've been in shops that had bad VHS tapes of professional wrestling playing on a small TV on the counter all the time. Superheroes and professional wrestling, we get it -- whatever your entertainment, it must involve men in tight clothing locked in dramatic conflict. "Not that there's anything wrong with that," to coin a phrase, but when a young mother comes in looking for Persepolis because she heard a wonderful interview with Marjane Satrape on NPR and looked up "graphic novels" in the phone book, don't be surprised when she sees this environment and rightly assumes she probably won't find what she's looking for. I'll go so far as to say that if she asked nicely and the owner was in a good mood, he might order it from Diamond for her, but she'll never get to that step in the process -- the amateurish retail hell she has entered into is something she wants to exit, and try to forget. She may find what she's looking for at Borders, she thinks -- how often has anyone turned and walked out of that or any mainstream bookstore because of the environment they were confronted with upon initial entry?

And while I'm at it, have you ever been able to guess the main interest of the owner or manager of a mainstream bookstore simply by how the books are racked, or by what videos are in stock? Now ask that question about the comic book stores you've been in. If any specific genre dominates, with everything else abandoned to the manga or artcomix ghetto in a dark, inconvenient corner of the store, again, this is not the comic shop of the future.

There are stores that are slightly or significantly better than this, but which are still flawed. The owner or manager may have a more expansive view of comics as an artform, and may even be open to stocking comics from other countries. Certainly he should be, since those comics are building new audiences across all ages, genders and interests, and presumably they want to not only stay in business, but experience growth from year to year. But the limiting factor I see in a store like this is the continuing emphasis on corporate superhero comics, from the window displays to the huge waterfall racks to the posters, action figures and other items on sale.

Certainly superhero comics have a place in even a good comic book store, but if they are obviously favored over every other genre of storytelling within the comics artform, then the store is limiting its potential income and very likely turning people off, if they even walk through the door. I've actually seen a comic shop that carried a decent starter stock of manga, but there was no mention of manga whatsoever in the window display, yellow-pages ad, or anywhere else. If you browsed the shelves in the back for a while, though, you might stumble over them. I submit to you that you should not have to stumble over a comic book store's manga selection. Not that it should be emphasized any more than any other type of comics, but certainly it should be given equal prominence, like in a real bookstore. All of this applies to artcomix/alternative comics/undergrounds, what-have-you, as well. It's fine -- preferable, perhaps -- to have different displays and areas for all the different flavors of the comics artform. But a new customer coming through the door should not be able to guess which one is the owner/manager's favorite, and certainly they should not be hit over the head by such poor management of the store's retail space.

So those are the shops I think we mostly have now -- non-comics hobby shops with a Diamond account for a few interested customers; shops run by fans who are unwilling to create a welcoming, professional retail environment for a wide range of potential customers; well-meaning, more expansive shops that still have an over-emphasis on superheroes for one reason or another. Not as off-putting as the previous two types, but still cutting themselves out of the growing market for all kinds of comics aimed at all types of readers. The chances of these stores continuing to exist in another decade depend, in my opinion, largely on whether they can adapt to the emerging marketplace for comics. The ones that don't adapt may not go out of business --although I think a majority of them will -- but the ones that survive may find themselves doing merely that: Surviving. I think if I owned a retail business I would want to do better than that.

By now you may have a pretty good picture of what I think is the type of shop that will exist in the future, after the superhero convenience stores have mostly burned themselves out. I'll grant you there may always be stores that traffic primarily if not solely in superheroes, but for them to genuinely compete with full-service comic book stores in the same communities, they will have to either clean themselves up and learn better business practices, or they will go even further to seed, looking like nothing so much as that adult book store the town council keeps trying to kick out of town by changing the zoning laws every six months. Either way, those superhero-oriented stores will still be welcoming only one kind of customer, while that customer's family and friends gets its comic fix elsewhere.

The comic book stores that will thrive in the future will have a number of things in common:

• They will be clean


• They will be well-lit


• They will be well-organized


• They will open on time


• They will have prices clearly marked and up to date on all merchandise


• They will operate their business in accordance with local, state and federal laws, including labor and employment laws


• They will not favor one genre or sub-genre over another


• They will recognize that all comics are comics, no matter what country they originate from, or what format they are published in


• They will actively welcome all people interested in buying some kind of comics to shop at their store


• They will recognize the transition from periodical pamphlet comics to more appealing and enduring graphic novels, and accommodate the readership's clear preference for comics with a spine and a complete story


• They will actively seek to buy from a variety of distributors, not relying on one monopolistic distributor for the entirety of their business, and not settling for receiving books "whenever Diamond ships them," but rather, as soon as they are available, in order to better serve their customers

If the place you buy your comics at meets most or all of these criteria, be happy that you are supporting a professional comic shop that represents the best possible future for comics retailing.

If the place you buy your comics at fails to meet most (or all) of these criteria, you should probably start looking for a better shop. Not to punish your current shop, but because their days are very likely numbered. And more importantly, because you are probably missing out on a great many comics you would enjoy but have never seen. There's whole galaxy of worlds to be explored in the comics artform, and comic book stores that exist in the future will be your gateway to new experiences, new voices and new stories in comics. The great news is, some of them are out there right now, pushing comics forward every day.

But their efforts are vastly overshadowed by the superhero-centric stores that continue to live in the glorious past of the '80s and '90s, when it made a kind of sense to emphasize superhero comics, because that's virtually all there were, and all they could sell. But in the 21st century, the world outside the direct market is gobbling up comics in ever-increasing numbers; it’s just that superhero comics are not in the majority of what it is they're buying. Manga and artcomix have both made huge inroads since the century began, albeit in different manners and different numbers, but they're indisputably the comics that sell outside the insular (I always want to say "inbred," but I'm trying to be nice), misinformed (again see that David Beard piece in the Comics Journal #283) and ultimately self-destructive world of the direct market.

One criticism angrily lobbed by hardcore superhero convenience store customers at me when I bring up this subject is the idea that I don't want superhero comics available at all, anywhere. When discussing this in casual conversation, I usually say something like "You could stock all the superhero comics in a dumpster behind the store, and you wouldn't lose one superhero-oriented customer. If it's Wednesday, they know what they want, and they'll do whatever it takes to get it."

Have you ever experienced a superhero-heavy comic book store on Wednesday afternoon? It's quite a lot like watching addicts line up for methadone outside the clinic. All that space -- all that goddamned space – that retailers at superhero convenience shops devote to superhero comics? It's a total waste of their retail space. The vast majority of such shops could easily cut that space in half without dropping a single title, and devote the newly-created space to comics other people would like. People like the wives, girlfriends, children and friends the superhero addict drags along with him to the store. What if those people find something to read? Would it really be so awful to generate income from both your regular superhero guy and his girlfriend?

Believe it or not, the answer in some cases is yes. A lot of retailers are extraordinarily comfortable with the established "Good Ol' Boys" atmosphere of their shop, and they would gladly eschew growing their business if they don't have to deal with women. Or kids. Or, worst of all, women and their kids! Don't believe that’s a real, existing attitude within the direct market? Then you haven't been in many comic book stores.

I admit my standards are high for comics retailing; they’re high for the same reason my standards are high for quality inspection of the food my family eats. I want the best, and I want to be able to rest assured that my family and I will enjoy a safe and viable product for years to come. If your store meets most of my criteria for being a good one, then I have no problem with you. But if women and children feel unwelcome in your shop, if you are rude or deceptive to your customers, if you don't open on time and can't for the life of you imagine why anyone would want to read comics that you don't want to read -- or stock -- then yeah, I am talking to you. Or about you, at any rate.

Because, really, I am talking to people who buy comics. Not "Comics consumers," not "collectors," "fans," or little-z Marvel zombies. I am talking to people who like to read comics, who want to share their passion for the artform with their friends and loved ones, and who want to support stores that have a good chance of surviving the current transition from floppy monthly pamphlet comic booklets to the comics the whole world has definitively said it wants to read: Comics with a spine and a complete story. And what I am saying is this:

Please vote with your dollars. Please support the shops that work hard to present the best face for the artform we love, and who try damned hard to sell comics to everyone that wants to buy them, whatever country they originated in, and whatever format they are presented in. If your dealer presents a sloppy retail environment, or demonstrates unprofessional business practices, or worse, both, then find a better shop. They're out there. We're not really talking about stores that only exist in my imagination; they already exist right now. Some are better than others, but if you are buying from a dead-end retailer, you already know there's a problem. I've just been trying to help you put into words what the problem is, and suggest some solutions. I'm not trying to ban superhero comics, I'm just lobbying for a world in which superhero comics don't continue to alienate readers of other comics, who already exist, and who want to buy more comics -- from anyone who wants to sell them to them, in a welcoming and professional manner.

Labels: culture, good comic shops, industry

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 1:31 PM [LINK TO THIS] | 2 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
ComicsPRO Tries to Bully Publishers -- At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna has details on a bullying attempt by an organization of direct market comic book retailers to tell publishers how to run their businesses. Johanna doesn't characterize it as bullying, but I certainly do.

When ComicsPRO first organized, I guess I thought it might allow the brightest, most forward-thinking retailers to influence the shitty majority within the direct market. Instead, the paper Johanna talks about seems to indicate the very opposite.

At issue are publishers who sell new publications before they arrive at direct market stores, usually through convention sales. This happens a lot during convention season when, say, Top Shelf has their copies of a major new work and wants to make a splash and bring attention to a book that Diamond might not bother to get to comic shops in the direct market until days or weeks later. Johanna correctly notes that ComicsPRO is demanding that stop without offering to better serve these publishers so they don't feel the need to go directly to readers with their offerings. This is key, because usually the books in question are non-superhero titles that the shitty majority of comic shops within the direct market doesn't want to deal with anyway.

Instead of acknowledging the cold, hard fact that retailers need to stop being dependent on Diamond for their bread-and-butter and build better direct relationships with publishers (or at least investigate alternative distribution methods, such as distributors who traditionally work with the mainstream book trade, or the smaller comic book distributors, however many might be left), which would make it easier for shops to acquire non-superhero works sooner, they choose to issue this whiny, bullying declaration that indicates a lack of insight and will to change within ComicsPRO.

I'll say it again. The truly outstanding comic shops I have been in -- The Beguiling in Toronto and Modern Myths in Northampton, Massachusetts, to name two -- have had books in stock earlier than Diamond brought them to the direct market, every time I have paid either one of them a visit. I always come out of stores like those with new books that I don't end up seeing in Diamondcentric comic shops until many weeks later.

So there's clearly a way to get new works from the publishers ComicsPRO is talking to earlier than Diamond delivers them. And if the retailers that make up the organization were listening to the smart, savvy and profit-oriented retailers in their industry, they wouldn't ever have had to embarrass themselves with this impotent, and as Johanna notes, years-old, complaint.

We've heard it all before, boys; mommy's a big meanie because you want milk to go with your cookies but you don't want to get off your ass and go get it yourself.

Well, you're a big boy now. Go get it yourself. It's time to grow up.

UPDATE: There's a good discussion of this issue going on in the comments thread, including input from some ComicsPRO board members.

UPDATE AGAIN: Tom Spurgeon has read the ComicsPRO position paper, and says it's "terrible." Meanwhile, Christopher Butcher promises to weigh in on the subject within the next day or so.

Labels: good comic shops, industry

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 5:50 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 16 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
Quote of the Day -- DC Presnit and Publisher Paul Levitz, speaking to Newsarama's Matt Brady on the state of the industry:

"My suspicion is that there are probably more people reading graphic novels today than there are reading periodical comics."

Labels: industry

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 1:45 PM [LINK TO THIS] | 2 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
Criminal to Relaunch with New #1 -- After two excellent story-arcs, Marvel/Icon is relaunching the title in February with a new Vol. 2 #1.

Probably a marketing move, and probably a good idea. More people are likely to pick up a new #1 than a third story-arc beginning in what would have been issue #11.

More details at the very bottom of this post at Warren Peace Sings the Blues. (Apologies for earlier mis-identifying the source).

Labels: industry, linkblogging

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 5:19 PM [LINK TO THIS] | 2 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
Canary in a Coalmine -- The news that Love and Rockets is moving to an annual graphic novel format is more interesting than surprising.

What will be surprising and interesting, is when and if DC and Marvel make the same canny, forward-looking and industry-redefining move.

They should have done this already with titles like The Punisher and Fables, of course.

I wonder which titles and companies will follow suit next?

Me, I'm up for any Love and Rockets in any format I can get it in. Speaking of which, the two new phonebook collections are out from Fantagraphics, Vol. 3 in each series, collecting hundreds and hundreds of pages of some of the very best comics ever. Buy them already, if you haven't yet.

Labels: industry, recommendations

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 6:49 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 0 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
Things Comics Retailers Don't Want You to Know #4671 -- As often as I say the direct market is a broken, inbred environment rabidly committed to its own destruction even as the rest of the universe embraces comics as a viable artform, some retailers continue to champion it as the last, best hope for comics. Here's another reason why I don't quite believe it.

Labels: industry, linkblogging

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 5:09 PM [LINK TO THIS] | 1 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
Roger on FantaCo's FF Chronicles -- Roger Green's been promising some FantaCo related articles for a while, and today he delivers a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of The Fantastic Four Chronicles. Unsurprisingly, Jim Shooter turns up as the turd in the punchbowl.

Roger notes that today is the anniversary of the birth of both FantaCo and Jack Kirby, both sadly gone and much-missed by me. Both loom as giants in my memories and are thought of on a daily basis; I hope you'll take a look at Roger's essay, as well as Tom Spurgeon's wondrous visual tribute to Jack Kirby.

Coincidentally, today is also my wife Lora's birthday. I'd wish her a happy birthday here, but she doesn't read my blog, so instead I'll tell her when she wakes up, and again when the kids and I take her out for her birthday dinner tonight.

Labels: industry, linkblogging, real life

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 7:19 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 2 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
Spurgeon and Butcher on TCAF and More -- Two of my favourite writers about comics join forces to promote this coming weekend's Toronto Comic Art Festival (which I am beyond bummed out about not being able to attend, damn it) and talk about lots of other stuff, including The Greatest Comic Shop in the World, The Beguiling, as well as Butcher's dead-brilliant solution to the sexism and misogyny rampant in corporate comics today.

Tom Spurgeon Interviews Christopher Butcher.

This is one of the best interviews I've read all year, and I hope you've already clicked over and aren't even reading my babbling anymore. But if you are, I'll just finish by saying I wish to hell I had known Butcher needed a Zuda San Diego party invite, because for some strange reason I had one and had zero use for it. I would have overnighted it to him, I swear to God. It's the least I could have done to repay him for the hospitality and kindness he showed me when I visited Toronto back in 2005.

If there's any way at all you can get to TCAF this weekend, I urge you to do so. It's everything about a comic book festival done right, by people who actually have good ideas about how the industry and artform need to be stewarded. Have a blast, everybody.

Labels: good comic shops, industry, movies

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 6:39 PM [LINK TO THIS] | 0 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
A. David Lewis on Autobio -- Comics writer A. David Lewis is bored to tears by the "glut" of autobiographical comics. He acknowledges that there are some good works, but goes on at length about why he will never write an autobiographical story.

As you may be aware, autobiography is probably my favourite genre in comics, so Lewis's mini-rant raises a few contrarian hackles. But mostly I am struck by the fact that I would rather read bad autobiographical comics than any of the fiction of Lewis's that I have read. The Lone and Level Sands was one of the most boring graphic novels I've ever tried to slog through (and I tried two or three times, because obviously some effort had been put into its creation).

I also wonder why Publisher's Weekly would give such valuable commentary space to someone who really has had nothing of substance to offer the comics artform as of yet, other than an obvious and all-too-common desire to be in comics whether his comics are really any damn good at all or not. I'm sure Lewis is a great guy, pays his bills on time and is kind to small animals and children, but, I'd rather read an essay by someone with genuine experience and perspective, and not a glorified wannabe with a half-thought-out grudge against a genre he likely isn't fit to work in.

Give me more experimental -- even failed autobiographical comics any day, and deliver me from fiction writers who just really, really wanna be in comics.

Edited to add: I guess Lewis pissed off Tom Spurgeon, too. Although he does not bring in the issue of the quality Lewis's own comics, which is his right. But I think it's fair game, when Lewis expends so much bluster on a straw man argument and yet has nothing of his own backing up his claims that fiction is somehow superior to autobio. Again, I'd rather read a thousand bad autobio comics before one more dull, plodding piece of Lewis fiction ends up in my lap.

Labels: industry, linkblogging

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 8:55 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 2 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
Tuesday Comics Headlines -- With Dirk on vacation all week, I thought I'd try to cover at least some of his bases. Let's see if I can keep it up all week, shall we? As an actor said to the bishop...

* Despite All Available Evidence, Zuda is A Comic Creator's Dream Come True, This Site Says.

* What Are The Consequences of Cartooning Being Named A Fine Art in India?

* New York Magazine Previews Percy Gloom.

* Funnybook Funk Briefly Brightens.

* Bible Stories in Comics Form.

* Pekar Travels Outside Comfort Zone in Creating New Book.

* Butcher Excited About THEREFORE REPENT. I loved Salgood Sam's Revolver.

* Comic Book Resources Begins Series Titled Homosexuality in Comics. Lengthy interviews with gay creators, and creators who have portrayed gay and lesbian characters in their stories. Also: Mark Millar says Ron Stoppable is gay? I'm going to have to ask my kids about that.

* Johnny Bacardi Rolls Out More Sexist Batgirl Covers.

* Image Founders Reunion Needs Twice the Space Originally Planned. Perhaps they measured the collective egos involved before making this adjustment? I kid because I love. I love Savage Dragon.

* Spurgeon Says Tales From the Crypt Revival is "A Great, Heaving Collapse on All Levels." He's not wrong.

* What Randy Lander's Doing at The San Diego Comicon.

* Comics and More Reviews Dragon Head. People keep saying this is good.

* Rob Clough Reviews Comics Comics.

* Comicbloc.com Interviews Mike Wieringo. He says he'd like to draw The Flash again if Mark Waid were to write it. Mark Waid is currently writing The Flash. Note to DC: Make the magic happen!

* Johanna Says All-Flash #1 Not Magic, Not Happening. And I had it right here to review when I found her review, too. I was going to say something about how the book is more like a flushing away of the turd that was the failed Bart Allen Flash series than the fine meal I had been hoping for from Waid's return to the character. Like Johanna, I think this issue was narratively necessary given the circumstances, but not anything you need or want to read. Wait for August's Flash #231, Waid's real first issue back.

* Mutts Creator Opposes Animal Traps.

* Wildstorm Plans Authority-Related Comics I Won't Be Buying; Where The Hell is Grant Morrison?

* Beetle Bailey Creator's Free Magazine Sells Out.

* Editorial Cartoons "Darker and More Pungent," Says Editorial Cartoonist.

* Adult Filmmaker Who Was Friend to R. Crumb and Hunter S. Thompson Dies.

* Former Marvel Writer Lobdell Writing Screenplay. As long as he's not writing comics, I'm happy.

* Presidential Candidate Creates Graphic Novel, I Think.

* Almost Comics: How to Wrap a Burrito.

* The Pet Shop Boys Are to Kevin Church What James Kochalka is To Me, Apparently.

* Kochalka Posts Vacation Landscape Paintings. I really like me some James Kochalka.

* I Also Like This Andrew Foster Self-Portrait.

* Tuesday Reading: Abhay Khosla's Title Bout Archive. It's gonna be great to have him talking about comics regularly again, isn't it?

So, seriously -- Ron Stoppable is gay?

Labels: industry, linkblogging

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 3:52 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 0 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
Saratoga Springs Comicon 2007 -- The first of what is hoped to be an annual series of comic book conventions was held today at the Saratoga Springs City Center. I brought along my digital camera, so here are some images from the event. Click the pictures to open a larger version.



A good-sized crowd browsed the tables all afternoon.



My daughter Kira and her friend Connie meet a local author.



I'm not sure who gave better tips to whom.



Another view of the tables.



My son Aaron browses original art for sale.



Some colourful DC recreations/reimaginings were on sale.



More of those.



Best friends at the end of our day at the con.

The City Center's capacity of 2,500 was not sorely tested by the crowds we saw, but the attendance seemed encouraging to me. I hope the event comes back for a second year in 2008, because our area of upstate New York is sorely lacking in comics-related events, but has plenty of people interested in coming out to socialize and spend money.

Labels: culture, industry, real life

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 6:06 PM [LINK TO THIS] | 1 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
The Business of Comics is Broken -- That's Top Shelf Productions Co-Publisher Brett Warnock's assessment following this week's news about the possible end of Cold Cut as a distributor of artcomics to the direct market:

"[T]he BUSINESS of comics is broken. This is the sentiment with the recent announcement that Cold Cut Distributors are selling their company...in fact my experience would seem to indicate that the glut of Marvel and DC titles currently flooding the market, as well as an overabundance of weak comics everywhere else has created a situation where it's really very difficult to get much support from the retail community for indy comics, except for only the biggest A-List books in a given season."

Few are in as ideal a place to diagnose the current situation as Brett Warnock; he and co-publisher Chris Staros publish both some of the biggest artcomics you could name, such as Blankets and Lost Girls, and some of the very smallest and least likely grab mainstream headlines or score NPR interviews. And more power to them for continuing to support less major (if not virtually unknown) creators, by the way, in the face of the existing market conditions.

Warnock goes on to say:

"Clearly there needs to be more efficient methods of both retail and distribution. I love what i do, so i want a healthy marketplace. And God only knows, i'm NOT a believer in comics' sole future domain being online. I want to hold a book in my hands, feeling its pulpy goodness, the smell of ink on my fingers. And those are the kind of books i want to publish."

So, is there a way for direct market retailers and creators to better benefit from the increased readership for comics out there in the real world?

As I said yesterday, the revolution is over and comics have clearly won. But it takes time and many adjustments before that victory can be fully felt. Clearly a first step is needed.

I wonder how much would change if Diamond initiated a first-phase toward making its product returnable? A first step toward growing up and actually being a responsible, professional book distributor? It would take a lot of unnecessary risk off of comics retailers, and it would force Diamond to take ownership of its own place in the grand scheme of things. The current, dying system obviously allows Diamond to possess all the power and virtually none of the risk -- so much so that operating a comic book store with Diamond as your only source of product is clearly a sucker's game -- if not the ethical equivalent of being the black-eyed wife in an abusive marriage, shrieking at the cops "But I LOVE HIM!" as the cops haul him into the back of the squad car once again, certain he'll be back at home with all forgiven within 24 hours. Wednesday's always just around the corner, after all.

Labels: industry, linkblogging

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 7:04 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 0 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
The Golden Age of Now -- That's what Tom Spurgeon calls the current moment in comics history in this examination of the current comics boom and its lack of immediate benefits to some of the creators and retailers who make it happen.

Revolutions can be painfully slow; it's clear Bush and his cronies are crashing and burning at an ever-accelerating pace, but I've wanted them in prison since December of 2000, so imagine my frustration. What's happening now in comics -- what's been happening for seven years or so -- is a slow but almost-certain transformation from the direct market model of the '70s through the '90s, to a more holistic and global appreciation for and recognition of comics as just another artform.

I think we've long since reached a tipping point from which there is no return -- but that doesn't mean more distributors, creators and publishers won't fall between the cracks as things continue to develop. The best thing anyone in comics can do right now is be as aware and educated as possible about what has happened, what is happening, and what is likely to happen in the near- and far-term. That's no guarantee of survival, but it's the best and most practical way to prepare for an expanding but still-transforming marketplace for comics.

Labels: industry, linkblogging

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 10:43 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 1 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
A Sea-Change for True Mainstream Comics? -- Tom Spurgeon posts an interesting letter from a comic book retailer about the possible end of Cold Cut's role in serving up non-superhero comics to the Direct Market:

"As someone who in the past has relied on Cold Cut in keeping perennial sellers like Blankets, Maus, or Persepolis on our shelves at all times, I now have to look elsewhere for those books."

Spurgeon recently covered the story about Cold Cut going up for sale and speculates on the non-reception to the story.

I sort of mentally red-flagged the news when it first appeared, but having had a day or two to think about it, I wonder what the ultimate impact on artcomics publishers will be. If Cold Cut disappears (or changes its business model enough so as to no longer be a major supplier of artcomics for progressive comic shops), this will have a definite effect on the bottom line of publishers like Drawn and Quarterly, Fantagraphics, Top Shelf and the other major players in North American non-corporate, non-superhero comics and graphic novels.

While the worst-case scenario would be publishers going out of business or severely curtailing their release schedules as a result of fewer orders from within the direct market, the fact of the matter is that the percentage of comic book stores that actively deal with Cold Cut is probably only 10-25 percent of those that get their stock mostly or solely from Diamond, a quasi-monopoly that prioritizes weekly corporate superhero product over the kind of artcomics readers like to buy in regular bookstores, or those progressive comic shops (and how many of those are there across North America? 50? 75? I wish to fuck I knew).

But in the past few years, artcomics publishers have demonstrated a canny knack for dealing with real book distributors, getting their books into mainstream bookstores (both chain and independent shops) sometimes weeks to months before Diamond can be bothered to deliver them to the stores they service.

So with advance warning that Cold Cut may soon cease to be a viable distributor of their product, what will artcomics publishers do? They could encourage a new, independent distributor, one supposes, or, and I think this is the more likely scenario -- they could focus even more of their efforts on dealing with mainstream distributors, who have demonstrated a better understanding of their needs, and certainly have provided better distribution than Diamond has, judging by what I see in mainstream bookstores.

Frankly, the progressive comic shops I have shopped in in the past five or six years, from Modern Myths in Northampton to The Beguiling in Toronto and others, have long since begun dealing with distributors other than Diamond to make sure they have the product their diverse customer base wants. No doubt they have relied on Cold Cut to a lesser or greater extent, but they are already ahead of the curve, in that they have been used to a multi-distributor business model for their stores and are probably far more prepared to deal with the possible end of Cold Cut as a player in the overall comics marketplace than the average superhero convenience shop owner, who wants to deal solely with Diamond anyway, out of either laziness, ignorance or outright hostility to any comics product that doesn't reflect their own narrow, backward-looking interests.

One thing is certain: If Cold Cut does end its distribution of artcomics to the direct market, things will change for certain. I hope they change to the benefit of artcomics publishers and the progressive stores that support them.

Labels: essays, industry

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 5:26 PM [LINK TO THIS] | 0 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
Zuda Doobie Doo -- What, you thought we were finished with this subject?

Over at Comixmix, Glenn Hauman has some extremely apt observations about the non-rollout of DC's new attempt to poach unwitting amateurs in their web of webcomics.

"We have no idea what they'll be launching with, they have nobody lined up that they're willing to talk about. Way to build confidence, guys. You couldn't find anybody? Every other time there's been a launch of a line from DC (Piranha, Paradox, Vertigo, Helix, Minx, CMX) there was content to go with it, to show what they were talking about. Here, nothing."

Also worth noting is this comment from myideais.com:

"I remember reading a longish historical essay about Marvel’s attempt to put out an 'underground' comic in the early seventies, which was called 'Comix Book.'

I have a vague thesis floating around in my head that Zuda Comics from DC, an attempt to emulate existing webcomics collectives, might be comparable to Marvel’s effort back then, in that they’re trying to to take on the hip new kids on their own turf. I’d like to read that essay again and see if I can look more closely for parallels."

In my original post on Zuda, I was quite explicit in referencing Epic Comics and DC's New Talent Showcase as other historical examples of the corporate companies trying to lure talented amateur creators more with the promise of greater exposure than any solid offers of a prevailing wage or (Good God, Y'all!) creators rights. There's no question in my mind that Zuda is just the latest, if by far the most under-developed and ham-handed iteration of this somewhat sleazy and pathetic scheme.

Labels: corporate comics, industry, linkblogging

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 4:07 PM [LINK TO THIS] | 0 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
Zuda: Day Twoda -- So Newsarama has posted an interview with DC Comics Preznit Paul Levitz about Zuda Comics, the AOL/Time Warner International Entertainment Megacorporation's online webcomics initiative, the announcement of which broke the internet in half -- or possibly quarters -- yesterday.

Preznit Levitz hardly seems to be any kind of expert about comics and their relationship to the internet and computers. For example, he tells Newsarama:

"I haven’t seen a lot of evidence yet that people want to read 20 pages of a comic book on their computer screen."

Well, Mr. Preznit, I have. Try searching Demonoid or Z-Cult for comics sometime. You might find a few of your own on there, even. Here's some. The fact is, thousands of people read 20 page comics online for free every week. I wonder how much more positive press DC might have gotten out of this story if instead of the still-murky copyright questions and vague plans that have been laid out, DC had issued a bold and definitive plan for competing with BitTorrent sites, offering a legal, low-cost alternative to capture the attention of those who want to read their comics online in downloadable .cbz and .cbr format?

Ah, well. Coulda-shoulda-woulda. At least Preznit Levitz is effusive with his deeply moderated praise for people who blazed the trail Zuda hopes to ride on the coattails of:

"You do have guys like Fred Gallagher or Scott Kurtz that are just terrifically competent at building the business and technological means around that to do something that works not only creatively, but profitably for them."

I hope someday someone calls me terrifically competent. That seems like high praise, indeed.

And I realize that Newsarama's Matt Brady has to go along to get along with the AOL/Time Warner International Entertainment Megacorporation, but Jesus, Matt, you couldn't at least ask about copyright and creators rights? Oh, wait, I found two references to copyright on the page the interview appears on:

Copyright ©2000 - 2007, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright 2006 Newsarama.com, LLC

Well, at least someone understands the importance of copyright.

Update: Tom Spurgeon explains reaction to the Zuda announcement in plain English. Spurgeon wins.

Labels: corporate comics, industry

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 6:09 AM [LINK TO THIS] | 0 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
Internet Officially Broken -- The Zuda Comics story has actually broken the internet in half, just as I predicted. Proof? Here's X-Axis reviewer Paul O'Brien agreeing with my take on the story in the commments thread of the Blog@Newsarama story. I don't have the energy to prove this is the comics internet equivalent of lions lying down with lambs, so if you're new to these parts, just trust me. Longtime followers of me or Paul or both will know exactly what I am talking about. Also eerie: So far all the comments in that thread are more or less civil.

Related: An attorney gives his first impressions of the whole imbroglio at Warren Ellis's The Engine.

Somewhat Related: My review of Ellis's new novel Crooked Little Vein is coming up, probably tomorrow morning.

Labels: corporate comics, industry

// posted by Alan David Doane @ 6:08 PM [LINK TO THIS] | 0 COMMENTS | E-MAIL ADD | SUBSCRIBE

 
The Monday Briefing -- Back to work for me today after being off since the last half of last week. We had no major family events or trips planned, but I knew there wouldn't be much to do at work, and if I'm going to be bored, I'd rather be bored at home, frankly. That's where I keep my funnybooks, y'see.

* Internet-Breaker of the Week: At Casa Spurge, Tom Spurgeon gets the first headline on DC's newest new talent showcase, Zuda Comics. Or is that New Talent Showcase? DC and Marvel never do get tired of coming up with new schemes to let idealistic and untested creators do the heavy lifting for free (or close enough so as to not make a difference). (Maybe that guy in Ohio that did that awful book for Epic Comics before it crashed and burned can revive it online for DC! Yay, comics!).

Tom Spurgeon wonders (with tongue firmly in cheek, no doubt) if DC, a subsidiary of the Time Warner international entertainment megacorporation, will let new creators keep the rights to their work. I don't wonder that at all. Ask Alan Moore about DC's generous rights policies. Then duck.

Of course, nothing will apparently be online for readers to look at until well into this fall. I can see how announcing it now will allow them time to collect material from Epic Comics victims hopeful creators, but that's a long time for a whole lotta nuthin' to be sitting there driving away people who click over thinking there'll be comics to read. It's also long enough for savvy would-be creators to talk to, oh, a lawyer or two about their "deal," so, hopefully they'll do that going in, so they can't claim later on they had no idea that an international entertainment megacorporation might have the audacity to put its own needs and profits before those of would-be creators with stars in their eyes.

You can be sure the comics will be progressive as all hell, after reading this quote from DC's Ron Perazza: "If [creators want to do] a straight-on newspaper strip, like a Doonesbury or something like that, great. If [they] want to do something a little more abstract, like a Family Circus that’s all in a circle, fantastic." That's right folks, The Family Circus is abstract. Is their no boundary to their imagination?

At Journalista, the creators rights angle and chances of making a splash in the already-established webcomics nation are vetted by keen observer Dirk Deppey. I don't normally say things like "vetted," but since the Zuda Comics people like to say it, why not me?

The funniest quote in the New York Times article Spurgeon links to announcing the new initiative comes from DC Preznit Paul Levitz, who must have been shocked to learn: "We’ve seen a real wellspring of creativity [by people posting their online comics], and it’s been a different kind of material than publishers have been putting out." Of course, Levitz means different from the kind of comics superhero publishers have been putting out, because only the direct market is slavishly obsessed with superheroes to the exclusion of all other types of stories. The internet gets out to a far broader and more diverse audience, which is why there aren't many top-of-mind superhero webcomics out there. But don't hold your breath waiting for DC to bring you the new Achewood or Diesel Sweeties or American Elf. Here's a thought: Maybe they would have brought you the old ones if they were all that smart and interested in the future of comics.

* Also at The Comics Reporter, I enjoyed Tom Spurgeon's weekend interview with comics journalist Jeet Heer. Jeet is a fine writer, and even contributed a couple of items to Comic Book Galaxy a few years back. Here is Jeet Heer's review of McSweeney's #13, the comics anthology issue edited by Chris Ware.

* Unlike most comics bloggers, I did not take the weekend off; here's what I was up to: reviews of the new MOME Summer 2007, Douglas Wolk's Reading Comics and the fairly atrocious new Thor #1, as well as my thoughts on Nine Graphic Novels to Read Before You Die.

* Christopher Butcher weighs in on the whole what-manga-sells-and-does-not-sell-and-to-whom issue. Butcher knows more about selling comics than you or I do, so pay attention.

* Chris Allen recommends Patton Oswalt's new CD, and I could not agree more. I gave it a listen after reading his review, and I am not kidding when I tell you that I almost lost consciousness, I was laughing so hard.

* The fine folks at AiT/Planet Lar have posted a kind welcome back to The ADD Blog (thanks, gang!) and a handy roundup of links to my reviews of their books.

* Tony Isabella is back from hiatus with a new Tony's Online Tips. Glad to hear he's bouncing back from recent health problems -- click over for his story of trying to take a sleep apnea test, because I just know that's exactly how it would go for me as well. Get much better soon, Tony.

* By the way, here's a reminder that if you prefer to get The ADD Blog posts in your e-mail, you can subscribe through Google Groups. Also, if you have a blog or website and would like to set up a reciprocal link, e-mail me.

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