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I was just reading the new The Comics Journal, and was a little surprised by what I at first took to be a ho-hum story: recent shakeups at DC Comics. But once I read it, I realized that the hiring of Stephanie Fierman, for the newly-created position of Senior Vice-President of Sales and Marketing, not only indicated a possible step forward for DC, but the quotes used in Michael Dean’s story signified the fear and shortsightedness of at least a portion of the Direct Market. It’s hard to make comparisons between the bookstore trade and the DM because of the small scale of the DM—Brian Hibbs as proprietor of Comix Experience is more important than the manager of Borders in Tucson (as a hypothetical), certainly, but less important than the President of Borders or any other established retail book chain. But to call Fierman a “carpetbagger” just as she takes the position is unprofessional and insulting at best. It’s one thing to be paranoid about DC perhaps wanting to develop its bookstore sales further at the expense of the DM; quite another to help shove them in that direction with small-time antics. What’s interesting is that longtime, successful, respected retailers like Hibbs and Rory Root of Berkeley, CA’s Comic Relief don’t seem to see the connections between, or thinking behind, decisions like the hiring of Fierman. Root extols the virtues of Vice-President of Sales Bob Wayne, now under Fierman and losing the “and Marketing” part of his title, as the kind of stand-up guy who could get you more copies of a DC book Root sold out of due to either miscalculation on his part or falsely created rarity on DC’s (my extrapolation, not his), but then goes on to point out that DC’s books have sold poorly in bookstores so far, which to my way of thinking has to partially be Wayne’s responsibility, right? You’re in charge of Marketing, and you’re not growing sales for your products, then no matter what the quality of the work, you’re partly responsible. Even if you disagree with this, you would have to allow that this is how any one in DC’s parent company would see it. Why not bring in someone who’s worked at successful companies? Who within the comics industry can make this claim? Carpetbagger? Well, Bill Jemas was a carpetbagger, coming from a trading card company, and yet for all his faults was able to raise Marvel’s profile and bookstore sales. I guess we should get rid of all these carpetbagging latecomers to comics, like Greg Rucka, Brian K. Vaughan, J. Michael Straczynski, Brad (Infinite Crisis) Meltzer. Let’s do that, and give back any of the money from the books these guys write. Carpetbagger, in case you’re wondering, is a reference dating from Civil War times, referring to Northerners presumptuously moving South, their belongings in bags made of carpet, trying to take over, and while it would certainly be unfair to compare the opinions of Hibbs and Root to the philosophies of the Confederate South. Let’s not get carried away here. But it’s hard to see these fearful, entrenched statements as being what the Tara of the Direct Market needs in order to rise again.
Quick Takes
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Lore Book One by Louise and Ashley Wood. A couple years ago, I talked to Ash Wood at a Comic-Con and learned of this upcoming series, then called Mythica, and supposedly I would be given the scoop on unveiling it to the world. Well, that didn’t happen, and a half-hearted FU to Wood for that, but the collection of the first three (lengthy) issues of the series is out now, and it’s intriguing work. Louise and Wood are presenting a malevolent, more sexually charged take on Fables in which all the myths and fairy tales and boogeymen we were told about as children really exist, and they’re gathering strength and killing people all over the world. It’s something of an odd creative marriage, Louise and Wood, because Wood is strongest in singular, unsettling images, usually two panels to a page rather than concise sequential storytelling, and Louise tries to pack a lot of story into each issue. They find a suitable compromise in that Wood mostly stands aside during the portion of each issue devoted to journal entries of J. Bradley, whom we learn is an effete, wry old conjuror of an ancient order called the Shepherds, whose age-old mission is to keep these mythical malfeasants at bay. One wouldn’t be getting one’s money’s worth from Wood without some sexy women, and indeed there is a haughty Shepherd and Bradley’s heiress to fit the bill, both of whom exhibit more legs, attitude and pointy breasts than real character so far. In three double-sized issues, little has happened but the gathering of the Shepherds and the explanation of what they are, so the $20 price tag may be daunting, but creatures like the Lantern Jack are amusing, and the Bradley journal entries are very droll. I tend to frown on long prose sections in comics, as I automatically see them as laziness, a way to get past the work of breaking down the story into comics format, but truthfully, Louise’s prose is smart and subtle and some of it might have been lost if Wood adapted it to comics. It’s a slow start, admittedly, but I enjoyed it. 
Hank Ketcham’s Dennis the Menace: 1951-1952: Why They Call Him the Menace is the first in a planned chronological hardcover series of the entirety of the comic strips by Ketcham. It’s similar in dimensions to The Complete Peanuts or Walt & Skeezix, but squarer, since Dennis was always a one-page gag rather than three or four panels. And unlike those series, Ketcham doesn’t aim for wry childhood angst or realistic aging and plot development. He’s a gag man, and a very good one, from the first page to the last. Early pages don’t quite have everything
together—the lettering is sloppier, and Dennis’ familiar overalls aren’t always in evidence—but most of it’s there at the start. Ketcham has a calligraphic control over his brush, and takes great care to bring the settings to life with as much detail and dimension as possible. I was a little surprised at just how bad Dennis often is; Ketcham described him as innocent, but no, he often goes past mischief to malice and manipulation, so it’s not something I’d read with the kids for fear some of it will rub off on them. $24.95. 
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