So...what to talk about?

I admit to having very little to talk about the last little while - with the cosmic branch of Marvel shutting down, the "Incredible Hercules Saga" about to wrap up, and the JMS-led Superman books continuing to bore me to tears, there isn't much to talk about.

Well, except for PS238, Atomic Robo, Farscape and Love and Capes. And maybe I'll do some stuff on them.

Your input would be appreciated. And until then, I'll probably be throwing up a short posts on various topics.

Cheers,

Atlas Stooped

Ok, today and tomorrow I'm probably going to be killing some sacred cows here, so watch out.

Agents of Atlas is a barometer on many of the things that have gone wrong in the comic industry.

Put the pitchforks down, I can explain.

First, this is nothing against the quality of the series, which has always been decent. In fact, I think Atlas should be the minimum bar by which to measure competent quality corporate comics.

But that's exactly it - it's a minimum, not a high bar, and no praising of Jeff Parker can change that.

It's a series that depends on resurrecting long dormant properties for a new grasp at relevancy, and it's done well.

It's a concept that requires, if not a strong understanding of the fundamentals of Marvel Universe's history, then at least the capacity to care that such a history exists and is important. You have to at least understand what Atlantis is in the Marvel Universe to understand who Namora is and why she's important, and you certainly need to get that the mythological exists in order to appreciate Venus.

This leads to another handicap on the book - this is very much a book about plot, and less about characters. I ask you seriously now - after 3 limited series, one 12 issue attempt at an ongoing, and some one-shots and other tie-ins, what do you know about Jimmy Woo, about who and what he is as a character? What about Bob? Have the characters progressed at all since that first six-issue mini that re-introduced them? Because I don't.

Now granted, that's probably because since the original mini-series, the concept has been used for nothing BUT tie-ins. Whether it was the previous attempt at an ongoing series, which started out tying into "Dark Reign" or the back up stories in "Incredible Hercules" or mini-series guest-starring the X-Men and the Avengers, it'd be easy for an objective observer to believe that Marvel was making a cynical push to get these characters published by featuring them alongside the big names of the Marvel Universe.

And I think that's the real problem here; Jeff Parker has created a concept that eschews cynicism, in a marketplace that contains virtually nothing left other than jaded hardcore fans.

It'll be interesting to see how this new series turns out, but I'm not holding my breath.

Brave New World

You know what game I'm sick and tired of?

"Let's save the Comics Industry!"

I've seen a lot of blog posts, editorials, articles, and heard a lot of podcasts on the subject. And personally? I'm not sure any of it works. I'll just go through some of the shorthand arguments, and my thoughts on them. Follow along!

1) COMICS NEED TO BE MORE FUN!

This is actually two statements - one of them is the surface argument that comics should focus on more lighthearted adventure, and the stealth statement - "Comics need to be more like they were when I started reading them!" Interestingly we've got a couple of samples of both philosophies in action.

In so far as "Lighthearted Fun" comics, we've got the Marvel Adventures line, we've got Incredible Hercules, we've got Agents of Atlas, we've got Tiny Titans, and a few other titles. None of them huge sellers in any market.

As for trying to set things back to the way they were when an earlier generation started reading comics, you've got everything Geoff Johns has done with DC, and the current state of the Spider-Man books, which is steadfastly dedicated to bring back the Spider-Man comics of 1982 or so. Again, no real success here.

In both cases, the same root problem is evident - there are no kids reading comics because the cost is so high per unit of entertainment relative to every other medium out there. $20 US for a trade paperback that will provide 1 hour of entertainment (tops) is nothing vs. a $10 DVD for 3 hours vs. $40 for a video game with over a dozen hours. Comics are always going to lose in that regard - simple as that. Bringing down the cost of a comic is a huge battle, primarily because at the end of the day, paper is expensive.

So sorry, but that line of reasoning holds no water with me.

2) WE NEED TO FREE OURSELVES FROM THE DIRECT MARKET, GET SMARTER RETAILERS, AND GET A LARGER PRESENCE IN THE BOOKSTORE MARKET!

I like this one a little better, but it's hardly a simple matter. Most informed commenters agree on this.

First, there's getting away from a purely direct market model, which in most cases means something other than Diamond Distributing. Thankfully, some publishers are already experimenting with alternative methods and I wish them luck. Of course, there are couple of significant obstacles. The lack of any successful model for a publisher outside the traditional direct market is hard to come by, and getting of the Diamond train requires retailers to be that much smarter and harder working to get your product unless such a large chunk of their market switches over that they feel they have no other choice.

Secondly, really smart and hard-working retailers are a rare beast. Consider that to be a successful retailer (in the truest sense of the term), you have to not only navigate the Diamond Distribution system and get the comics to your shop in some timely and cost-effective way, you have to plan, months in advance, for what your customers want. You have to figure out your market and audience, and find ways to reach them in your community with regularity to keep a rock solid customer base. Sadly, such advanced business skills are rare amongst shop owners, especially those in cities with smaller populations where the market for comic books is already small. This results in comics (at least in their singles format) becoming more and more of an urban feature - restricted to cities with sufficiently large populations (well over 100,000) to sustain a reliable market base. For the trades, it's the bookstores, and that creates a new set of issues.

Bookstores are already facing troubles as it is reaching to people in this digital age where people read less and less (there's a reason I'm not even addressing the issue of newstands - because even the NEWS can't make it on the newstands, never mind comics). To compound that, American comics suffer in comparison to their competition in the manga section. The Manga sections in a bookstore are very clear - there are separate sections for "young readers", "young adults", and "Adults". The series are clearly marked by volume so customers know where in the series they are, and all the books are uniform on a clear shelf. American comics are big clunky things, many of them in slightly different sizes and variations, with a byzantine continuity, multiple different versions, and no clear age distinctions. This makes them a problem for casual buyers that won't be resolved until these companies get a more disciplined act together.

3) GO DIGITAL

Again, the problems are format and price. Sure, you could make a $0.99 download for the iPad, but first you'd have to drop $200 for an iPad to begin with (assuming the price drops down that low at some point). Publishers also feel that making comics in a format that is easy to download onto regular computers carries a risk of piracy, which is a valid feeling. Still doesn't solve the problem.

Now, despite all I just said, I'm not that bummed out about any of this. I do think that we now have a lot of options to keep comics alive. But I'll be quite happy if they aren't going to be a continuation of the system we've had for the last 30 years, because that system has been a failure that has crushed creativity and creators rights.

Here's hoping that the new system provides a few more options. Of course, the only way that'll happen is if people start talking now about the system they want, and one that can work.

Welcome to a whole new world.

Assistance Requested

The usual motivator macro website I've been using up until now has changed some of its features and is no longer optimal for my needs. If anyone knows of other sites to try, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Thirty for 30, Part 3

In my Perfect Comic Universe...

Alright, for those of you whom have been paying attention, you can see that I have a lot of strong opinions on comics, especially the ones getting put out these days by the so-called "Big Two" of Marvel and DC. Now, some of you may think I'm being overly cynical and just an angry crack. Well, there's a reason for that. See, I've spent a lot of time looking over the comic blogosphere, and I had an epiphany: we'd all be much better off if Marvel and DC's characters were public domain. Now, here me out, yes, we'd also have a lot of crap out there by the likes of Millar, Miller, Loeb and...wait a minute, isn't that exactly what we have NOW? So yeah, maybe it would be better if we handed off some of these properties to rabid fans who could do it right.

Here is just a sampling of the comics that would exist if the universe were in any way, shape or form just:

-Christopher Bird’s Legion of Superheroes








-Chris Sims Iron Fist and the Punisher beat the crap out of everyone




-Dave Campbell’s Totally Awesome X-Men

-Mike Sterling’s Swamp Thing

-Dwayne McDuffie's Justice League book with half decent fucking art and not perpetually tied down into crossovers no one gives a shit about!




-Bully the Little Stuffed Bull's P.G. Wodehouse tales staring The Thing!




-Dorian Wright’s Wildcat All-Leather Spectacular

-George Perez's I'm going to draw Superheroines and lots of detailed backgrounds and you are going to LOVE IT!



-Jeff Parker's Agents of Atlas



-Scott’s Hawk and Dove, featuring Dr. Mid-Nite!
-Ragnell’s Green Lantern Corps Swimsuit spectacular starring Kyle Rayner’s butt


What would you like to see in YOUR perfect comic universe? Go ahead and put it in the comments.