Man of Industry
1996. The year I graduated from High School was the about the same year the Comic Book Industry collapsed. My luck in a nutshell. Anyway, ever since then, all I've heard about is how the industry is sick and dieing and how someone's gotta figure out how to save it. It's funny how, even now, with Hollywood and TV cranking out numerous successful comic book related franchises, the overall mood in the comic book industry is one of gloom and doom. How do we save the industry?
Yeah, well, I say screw the industry. I've never been in this thing for the money, and I'm sick of hearing about how Marvel and DC and all the rest do stupid ass things cause they're good business decisions. If the whole damn thing went screaming into the Pits of Hell tomorrow, I'd still be sitting around in my studio making comics. Sure, it'd be hard to sell comics to people without the industry in place, but, hell, it's hard to sell comics to people with the industry in place.
Ya gotta understand, I love comics. I love mainstream comics. I love underground comics. Hell, I even love mini-comics and fanzines. And I love making comics. And none of that's got anything to do with money.
But, I've always been a bit of a contradictory fellow, so, here's my theory on how to save the comic book industry.
The problem with the comic book industry is twofold: convienience (spell?) and marketing. Let's start with convienience (I am definately spelling that wrong. Where's the spellchecker...Ah, screw it). The only people who read comics right now are the people who love em enough to seek em out. We travel all over the place to find a little hole in the wall comic shop. We weave our way throught the labrynith of Barnes and Noble or Borders to find the hidden little shelf marked "Graphic Novels/RPGs". We travel entire states away to go to comic book conventions. Comic book fans are a surprisingly dedicated bunch. Most of us go to the comic book shop EVERY SINGLE WEEK, on Wednesday, like clockwork. Hell, I bet the people that run the local (aka two towns away) comic book shop get worried if I show up late on a Wednesday. Now, think about a friend of yours that doesn't read comics. Can you imagine your friend going through any of that crap to find the one or two comics he/she might dig? It's too much effort for most people. (Hell, the act of reading is too much effort for most people, but the point of this Rant is things that can be fixed...)
Second, marketing. We have none. Marvel and DC don't advertise at all really. Or, at least, they don't advertise in the real world. Also, they don't try to appeal to people outside of their fanbase. Making some faux manga comics that are aimed at teenage girls doesn't count, either. In Japan, there is no one major genre, cause the Japanese were clever enough to realize that comics could appeal to everybody. In Japan they've got Sports manga. Sports comics could be really popular in America. What about Poker comics? Poker's really popular right now. Why not a comic about Poker?
So, here's my theory. Every major (and most minor) company should have at least one magazine sized comic that is available wherever magazines AND comics are sold. It should be about 200 to 500 pages, and contain a variety of comics stories, as well as some standard magazine articles and some photo features (more on that in a minute). As long as it was monthly, fairly cheap, and widely available in a visible place, that would solve the convenience issue right there.
Now, waitaminute, you say. Archie and Heavy Metal use similiar formats, and it's not like they're burning up the sales charts. Welp, that's where step 2, Marketing, comes in. DON'T PUT COMIC BOOK STUFF ON THE COVER! Instead, the cover should have a photo of either A) a celebrity or B) A sexy chick in a bikini. Then, there should be a short article inside the comic featuring either A or B. If you make the thing look like Maxim or Vanity Fair people will probably pick it up.
Sounds insane? Sure. But if people are really interested in saving the business of comics, they might have to do a few insane things...
Yeah, well, I say screw the industry. I've never been in this thing for the money, and I'm sick of hearing about how Marvel and DC and all the rest do stupid ass things cause they're good business decisions. If the whole damn thing went screaming into the Pits of Hell tomorrow, I'd still be sitting around in my studio making comics. Sure, it'd be hard to sell comics to people without the industry in place, but, hell, it's hard to sell comics to people with the industry in place.
Ya gotta understand, I love comics. I love mainstream comics. I love underground comics. Hell, I even love mini-comics and fanzines. And I love making comics. And none of that's got anything to do with money.
But, I've always been a bit of a contradictory fellow, so, here's my theory on how to save the comic book industry.
The problem with the comic book industry is twofold: convienience (spell?) and marketing. Let's start with convienience (I am definately spelling that wrong. Where's the spellchecker...Ah, screw it). The only people who read comics right now are the people who love em enough to seek em out. We travel all over the place to find a little hole in the wall comic shop. We weave our way throught the labrynith of Barnes and Noble or Borders to find the hidden little shelf marked "Graphic Novels/RPGs". We travel entire states away to go to comic book conventions. Comic book fans are a surprisingly dedicated bunch. Most of us go to the comic book shop EVERY SINGLE WEEK, on Wednesday, like clockwork. Hell, I bet the people that run the local (aka two towns away) comic book shop get worried if I show up late on a Wednesday. Now, think about a friend of yours that doesn't read comics. Can you imagine your friend going through any of that crap to find the one or two comics he/she might dig? It's too much effort for most people. (Hell, the act of reading is too much effort for most people, but the point of this Rant is things that can be fixed...)
Second, marketing. We have none. Marvel and DC don't advertise at all really. Or, at least, they don't advertise in the real world. Also, they don't try to appeal to people outside of their fanbase. Making some faux manga comics that are aimed at teenage girls doesn't count, either. In Japan, there is no one major genre, cause the Japanese were clever enough to realize that comics could appeal to everybody. In Japan they've got Sports manga. Sports comics could be really popular in America. What about Poker comics? Poker's really popular right now. Why not a comic about Poker?
So, here's my theory. Every major (and most minor) company should have at least one magazine sized comic that is available wherever magazines AND comics are sold. It should be about 200 to 500 pages, and contain a variety of comics stories, as well as some standard magazine articles and some photo features (more on that in a minute). As long as it was monthly, fairly cheap, and widely available in a visible place, that would solve the convenience issue right there.
Now, waitaminute, you say. Archie and Heavy Metal use similiar formats, and it's not like they're burning up the sales charts. Welp, that's where step 2, Marketing, comes in. DON'T PUT COMIC BOOK STUFF ON THE COVER! Instead, the cover should have a photo of either A) a celebrity or B) A sexy chick in a bikini. Then, there should be a short article inside the comic featuring either A or B. If you make the thing look like Maxim or Vanity Fair people will probably pick it up.
Sounds insane? Sure. But if people are really interested in saving the business of comics, they might have to do a few insane things...
1 Comments:
Part of the problem is what every "industry" faces; it doesn't want to change. The upper echelon of most established industries don't like for things to change because a changing business environment means a changing business model, and in most cases a new model means the bosses have to change their day-to-day pracices as well. Nobody likes that, especially not old dudes. A change in leadership might make a difference, but only if the leadership comes from the bottom rungs of the industry or from outside it. In this case, it most likely has to come from outside the nation AND the industry to bring in a different operational paradigm completely.
That's just my take on it with what I've learned from you about the industry and what I know from other large scale business models.
I like your points. I could see it working if the industry switched from focusing on printing its own media to facilitating the incorporation of comic entertainment into other forms of mainstraim media; ie, the major comic companies act as a meetinghouse, connecting Hollywood, larger publishers, and video game companies with creators with a subject or story to explore just looking for an audience.
But that's not really your vision, as that gets a lot of shorter comics put into more sources rather than put into one big, easy to find collection. Solves the marketing problem, but complicates the convenience problem by making it harder to track your favorite creators and meaning a collector or fan ends up with a large assorment of disjointed media. Consequently, your idea works better, but I'm hold and can't stop typing. I derailed. Sorry. I'll go do it on my blog instead.
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