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When I wuz a kid, we kids used to tear around the neighbourhood on our own, or in little groups without any adult supervision.
Oh, adults knew where we were, and certainly heard about our activities. I knew every corner store in town, and which sold the best candies and comics.

But do kids even do that now, or are they driven everywhere and chaperoned and protected by parents 24/7? Times DO change.

Not being sarcastic here, just wondering if that is one reason why newsstands are not frequented by kids like they used to be; kids with tons of electronic toys, preplanned play dates, and over-scheduled little lives.

Hard to wander off and explore.

I’m only 23 and I still was allowed to go around downtown with friends when I was 10, and that sure as hell included trips to the newsstand to buy Sabrina the Teenage Witch comics.

I think a lot of it depends on the town, but I really hope that by the time I have kids, I’ll have the courage to let them do the same.

In my day, I used to walk a mile uphill to the local shopping center (sometimes in the snow!) to hit the B.Dalton’s, Waldenbooks, and Read All About It (a bookstore specializing in magazines) to get my weekly comics fix! I’d find the nearest stairwell, go to the bottom, and sit and read the two or three issues I’d purchased. (A neophyte Marvel Zuvembie… Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Uncanny X-Men.)

A year later, I began to walk two miles, uphill both ways, to my local comics shop. Every Saturday, usually after Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends finished. If the weather was bad, I’d stop halfway at the Kwik Shop and warm up a little. Sometimes I’d buy copies from their newsstand if my LCS had sold out. (A three-week delay, never understood why collectors never considered newsstand editions “second printings”…)

Now I visit newsstands to pick up foreign comics like Fluide Glacial or Mickey Maus.

I have not seen a newsstand outside of Chicago or NYC in…I dunno…10 years or so? They could be in LA and SF, too, I just haven’t been in those cities lately. But they don’t dot the landscape in the MidWest like they used to.

I don’t think a week of my life has gone by without at least one trip to the newsstand. When I was 6 it was Harvey comics at Store 24, now it’s Batman and the Economist at Hudson. Periodical publishing is one of the greatest cultural innovations.

Photoshop!

Just kidding. But it DOES seem a li’l too good to be true. Anyway: Hurray for the old-fashioned kids of today!

This reminds me: Anyone else notice that the State Farm insurance commercial in front of a newsstand has a sign at the top that reads, “NEWSPAPERS – COMICS – MAGAZINES”?

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Lee Benz, ComicBookCritics.com. ComicBookCritics.com said: Spotted From The Watchtower http://bit.ly/gl1Zrr #comics [...]

“In which case it would be one of the greatest COMICS of all time.”

yeah, i probably should’ve mentioned that too. especially since it totally is!

We should’ve titled the piece “Stunt Casting: Giant cheeto growing out of a snickers bar”.

Great read — thanks for the link. I wrote a long comment, but FO crapped out, so I thought I’d post it here:

I’m so glad to hear other folks having the same reaction I did. I too loved this issue(?), but wondered if I felt the work so strongly because of familiarity — I’ve known these characters for 20 (!) years. But Fiffe’s related comment reassured me that, nope — the book is just that good.

Scarlet by Starlight was B-movie poetry, and I also burst into laughter at the punchline. (And yes, that was Fritz; Guadalupe confirms it later on.) But I was completely broadsided by the Jamie’s contribution. He keeps peeling away these layers of Maggie’s history, revealing who she is and why in a continuing series of resounding heartbreaks. The masochistic “I’m sorry.” slap-fantasy at the end of Chester Square has suddenly acquired whole new resonance.

In lesser hands, we would have Cathy — a fat, whiny, self-destructive loser no one has any real empathy for — but this dude just keeps topping himself. Astonishing! IMHO, his character-driven fiction is among the great literature of our age. Can’t you just imagine Browntown being discussed in a future Freshman Lit class, right alongside Bartelby the Scrivener?

it’s hard to say if that’s jaime’s best work because most of his best work is short (Flies On The Ceiling) to really short (Tear It Up, Terry Downe), but it’s a beautiful story told with masterful, clockwork precision and full of heartbreaking moments. national treasure, that guy.

We haven’t met. It always seems to be one of those things where we’re never quite in the same place at the same time.

Oh dear…

For future reference, there is a branch bank behind the hotel.

Avoid rhe “heaving” huevos rancheros for breakfast. It looks like bad bar food.

7-Eleven also has an ATM, AND throwback Mountain Dew. Every convention center should have one! And Mickey D’s dollar menu if you’re on a budget (or spending your budget on comics)!

A great show. SPX and Intervention (the SF con just up the street) both have a stong craft vibe going on. (Yes, mini-comics are craft if you staple and fold.)

SPX would be awesomer with more space (crowded from opening until…), more pioneers (underground, self-publishers), and a workshop track of programming (paper, digital, legal).

did you get a chance to eat at that kabob place in that strip mall? their bread was so good.

more pics please!

According to J. Bone (long time friend and collaborator of Darywn) it wasn’t a swipe to Bat-Woman, it was a swipe at The Question.

Which makes his comment event more out of touch considering the “passing of the torch” storyarc of the Question identity happened over a year in DC’s weekly 52 series. And was well told, made sense, and not “stupid” or “uncreative” as Cooke wrote. If anything, it breathed a bit of life into the character and exposed the Question to a wider audience than before – especially considering his last “successful” series was in the late 80s.

This has happened twice now in a matter of weeks: creator makes a stand, people revolt, creator returns with “what I meant to say was…”. Perhaps they should get it right the first time?

Sorry – all off topic to the above article. Back to reading…

“If ____ decides to bring back ____, they’d better have a very clear idea in mind of why somone who has never heard of ____ would also enjoy and follow that book.”

Huzzah!

The same goes for guest appearances and crossovers (which isn’t a new problem to the 2000s I’m afraid). I didn’t grow up reading Marvel, but as an adult I’d try reading one of their series from time to time, but they kept getting interrupted by walk-ons (or even takeovers) by unintroduced characters. (DC’s just as guilty, I’m sure, but I’m a 45-year-old insider there, so it doesn’t bother me.) If the reader has to be/consult a fanboy to appreciate what you’re writing… you’re doing it wrong.

Also, in the interest of providing demographic data points, I am a 45-year-old reader, who grew up with DC but currently read only a few of the less crossovery comics from them. Most of ‘em just aren’t any fun.

Strange that you quote Gotham City Sirens, because it seems that it has all the flaws you’re talking about: after Dini left, I felt that the title lost a lot of humour and got as unusefully dark as Streets of Gotham.

Darwyn didn’t change his position at all. He was nice in not referencing a specific character. It’s common for people to “read into” a statement made by a creator and make assumptions based on that. Then attack them based on those assumptions which can be (and often are) wrong.

Personally I’m a 35 yr old male and don’t read very much Marvel or DC anymore. My tastes have changed over the years and it’s no longer in line with who they are selling to. When I do get the urge for superheroes I’ll check out a title if it looks to be pretty self contained. Usually I just pick up an Essential/Showcase and read Invincible.

“More than one comics professional has expressed the idea that all superhero comics are fueled almost entirely by nostalgia, and I have to say, I think that’s a very dangerous position to take. ”
What? Superheroes were originally intended for children. I see that you conveniently left that fact out. What got many people into comics was their exposure to it as kids. Their exposure sometimes constituted of all ages material. That kind of introduction to comics isn’t possible anymore. DC Comics is a company that exisits soley because of the forty plus crowd. What “young person” would read Wonder Woman?

“Mainstream and superhero comics have a lot more going for them than simply a long history and great name recognition.”
For some reason, there’s this bizzare notion that comics in general are undergoing some kind of renaissance. I’m pretty sure we stil have the same ratio of good material to not so good material, even though the industry has shrunken in the last 20 years.

“Superhero comics aren’t really some sort of bizarre cult worshipping the desecrated remains of the 1930’s. They’re entertainment, and they’re fun. Forget this at your peril.”
Superheroes are relevent because Hollywood and the gaming industry are so eager to use them. Has that resulted in better comics? More fans? I can’t say. But it’s clear that there are more Spider-Man tooth brushes and tottler versions of Marvel superheroes in liscencing in addition to all the big budget movies.

“The DC and Marvel Universes are one of the most fascinating and multi-faceted experiments in collaborative storytelling ever to see print, and that’s nothing to sneeze at. But precisely because they are so large and complex, it’s short-sighted to expect all of your readers to have to remember a ten year old plot point in order to get the story. A well-written story ought to work for longtime fans as well as new readers. Yes, I know, that’s hard to pull off. But at the very least, it should be a priority to try.”
The last time I bought that line was when I was a child which was coincidently the last time I read superhero comics on a regular basis. DC and Marvel have a short term based business outlook. They only really care about their current fan base who are LONG TERM readers.

Although I haven’t read Batwoman, I will say that its success was probably based on the fact it was a Batman related book with a likeable artist on it. As long as DC can keep the artistic standard on it high, and can avoid keeping readers from getting bored, readers will continue buying it.

Mainstream comic books take themselves very seriously nowadays. Artists used extensive photo reference to the point many comics appear very close to fumetti. (photo comics. Actual photo comics are probably very expensive to make. ‘I paparazzi’ must have cost a small fortune to shoot. ) Mainstream comics are hyper-conscious. It’s still in the “comics aren’t just for kids” mode. With a few very rare exceptions, there’s an industry littered with Bendis’ and Millars’ and others trying to show the world how mature and grown up (but not sophisticated) Spider-man or whatever soon-to-be-optioned superhero. I call it the Keven Smith mentality and it’s what’s dominant. The other mentality is the nostalgia mentality better embodied by older artists and writers who churn out the same stuff over and over again, less interesting each time they churn it out.

Updated*

“More than one comics professional has expressed the idea that all superhero comics are fueled almost entirely by nostalgia, and I have to say, I think that’s a very dangerous position to take. ”
What? Superheroes were originally intended for children. I see that you conveniently left that fact out. What got many people into comics was their exposure to it as kids. Their exposure sometimes constituted of all ages superhero material. That kind of introduction to comics isn’t possible anymore . DC Comics is a company that exisits soley because of the forty plus crowd. What “young person” would read Wonder Woman?

“Mainstream and superhero comics have a lot more going for them than simply a long history and great name recognition.”
For some reason, there’s this bizzare notion that comics in general are undergoing some kind of renaissance. I’m pretty sure we stil have the same ratio of good material to not so good material, even though the industry has shrunken in the last 20 years.

“Superhero comics aren’t really some sort of bizarre cult worshipping the desecrated remains of the 1930’s. They’re entertainment, and they’re fun. Forget this at your peril.”
Superheroes are relevent because Hollywood and the gaming industry are so eager to use them. Has that resulted in better comics? More fans? I can’t say. But it’s clear that there are more Spider-Man tooth brushes and tottler versions of Marvel superheroes in on childrens’ items in addition to all the big budget movies, that are aimed at the 13 and up crowd.

“The DC and Marvel Universes are one of the most fascinating and multi-faceted experiments in collaborative storytelling ever to see print, and that’s nothing to sneeze at. But precisely because they are so large and complex, it’s short-sighted to expect all of your readers to have to remember a ten year old plot point in order to get the story. A well-written story ought to work for longtime fans as well as new readers. Yes, I know, that’s hard to pull off. But at the very least, it should be a priority to try.”
The last time I bought that line was when I was a child which was coincidently the last time I read superhero comics on a regular basis. DC and Marvel have a short term based business outlook. They only really care about their current fan base who are LONG TERM readers.

Although I haven’t read Batwoman, I will say that its success was probably based on the fact it was a Batman related book with a likeable artist on it. As long as DC can keep the artistic standard on it high, and can avoid keeping readers from getting bored, readers will continue buying it.

Mainstream comic books take themselves very seriously nowadays. Artists used extensive photo reference to the point many comics appear very close to fumetti. (photo comics. Actual photo comics are probably very expensive to make. ‘I paparazzi’ must have cost a small fortune to shoot. ) Mainstream comics are hyper-conscious. It’s still in the “comics aren’t just for kids” mode. With a few very rare exceptions, there’s an industry littered with Bendis’ and Millars’ and others trying to show the world how mature and grown up (but not sophisticated) Spider-man or whatever soon-to-be-optioned superhero is. I call it the Keven Smith mentality and it’s what’s dominant. The other mentality is the nostalgia mentality better embodied by older artists and writers who churn out the same stuff over and over again, less interesting each time they churn it out.

I need to see evil dominatrix Mary Marvel.

Saber Tooth Tiger Mike, I’m confused. I’m not saying most comics are that way, I’m saying they should be. If a comic doesn’t do these things, in my opinion, it won’t attract new readers of any age, kids, teens or adults.

When I say superhero comics have more going for them, I mean they can genuinely be entertaining beyond some tenuous connection to nostalgia – not that they always live up to this potential.

Superhero comics should be for kids – and teenagers and adults of all kinds, not that any one comic should be expected to cater to all these audiences at once. There ought to be more exploration of options other than darker and edgier or pure nostalgia fest for whatever era the creators like best. It can be done, I’ve seen it done.

On the other hand.

I remember the first time (and the second time) Kitty Pryde used the word “nigger”. I remember Wolverine gutting Phoenix. When Slaymaster assassinated the telepathes, when the Fury killed and killed and killed. When Captain UK wet herself. That was the eighties, when I was a boy, reading superhero comics.

The exposure to the child of aspects of the adult world through comics is something I appreciated when I was that side of the age divide, and something I’m having to consider in my own children’s development…

Jaime:

He was being passive-aggressive. It’s not wrong (as you seem to imply) for people to read into a passive-aggressive public statement to better understand what the hell the speaker is talking about.

The Batwoman and The Question, are both really good comics from what I’ve seen. They both featured old characters who’ve been recently developed into lesbians. Saying “oh, it wasn’t THIS, it was THAT” misses the entire point. His statements are a shot against BOTH, if you just look at what he SAID. Not what he claims to have MEANT. His words mean what they mean. He can recant, or he can dig his heels in, but he can’t tell me that left means right and north means west.

I don’t understand the J. Bone comments at all. “He didn’t mean to slag that character, he meant to slag this other, similar character.” What. Ever. Just another version of “Person doesn’t mean what they say when they’re confronted.”

I need to see evil dominatrix Mary Marvel.

Here you are.

As you might expect, reactions to the sexy version of Mary Marvel are mixed, but there are also pix of women dressed as Mistress Mary at comics cons.

SRS

Synsidar, you really need to have an irony detecter installed. Sigh.

As a fumetti creator, I can absolutely say that it’s not very expensive to make photocomics at all. There are a bevy of up-and-coming photographers with high-end digital cameras and full photo studios who don’t have monstrous hourly rates. And even more models who have very low fees.

I imagine that a larger publisher would incur larger costs as the production values ramp up, but it’s surprisingly easy to make fumetti on a shoestring budget, if you are willing to be creative.

Oh, there’s no doubt that many kids and teens enjoy the adult aspects of comics, Rich. There’s room for lots of different kinds of comics, it just would be great if it were slightly more obvious what sort of comic you were getting in the vast space between Batman: The Brave and the Bold and The Boys, you know? Surprise, entrails! is not a happy
moment.

Marvel apparently doesn’t do layered stories anymore, unfortunately.

One of my favorite Avengers storylines by Englehart was in WEST COAST AVENGERS. Mockingbird had been trapped in the past, kidnapped by the Phantom Rider, subjected to mind control, and (implied) raped. She eventually recovered her self-control and let the Rider fall to his death after a fight. When she got back to the present, there his ghost was, vowing to make her pay for letting him die.

The storyline presented ethical problems that I, at least, had never seen before. Two heroes had both erred, grievously, and there was no way of undoing the wrongs. The conflict was adult material, but it was a continuing subplot, while the main stories had the usual heroics. The material was still all-ages.

Doing sophisticated superhero storylines is probably a matter of having the proper background, training, and skills. Scientific literacy enables a writer to examine how a power works in detail and how it could be neutralized. Attention to details generally makes a story more involving and enables the writer to make small developments important, even critical, so when a climax or major development surprises a reader, he can be informed that “X” happened because a logical extension of his power enables him to do ____.

Recently, Ben Bova wrote a piece that criticized comics for lacking depth and plot development. He overgeneralized, unsurprisingly, but some commenters proceeded to jump on him without, apparently, realizing what his actual points were. Much of the power of fiction is in the details.

SRS

I’m a 33 year old male and I’ve long been on the side of Alan Moore and Darwyn Cooke on this one. Superhero comics should be all ages appropriate (i.e. content that could reasonably be read by anyone, not kiddie stuff). Chris Giarrusso’s G-Man comics are the perfect example – they’re funny, they’re smart, and none of the characters are taking heroin, talking about which superheroine they lost their virginity to, or bragging about which superheroines they’ve had threesomes with. The manga One Piece is another excellent example of all ages appropriate material.

I don’t read Marvel and DC stuff, but it seems to me the content is largely “superhero decadence,” or taking characters that were constructed to tell stories like One Piece or Bleach and making them “edgy” and “mature.” Swearing, gratuitous sex, and gratuitous violence for its own sake isn’t mature, yet that’s what most of these books seem to have.

I think the whole argument about which lesbian character Cooke was referring to is a bit of a strawman argument. It doesn’t matter – if a character was made a lesbian to appeal to the prurient interests of grown men, it’s an epic fail. (On the other hand, if it was done because someone was like – hey, let’s explore what it might be like to be a superhero who happens to be homosexual, it’s a win. It seems like there could be a lot of stories told about characters like that.)

Synsidar, you really need to have an irony detecter installed. Sigh.

Well, the popularity of Mistress Mary and the existence of Byrne’s Malice (a possessed Sue Storm) point out how writers cater, or pander, to tastes that might be better left unsatisfied. What real storytelling purpose does having a heroine go bad serve?

SRS

@Kate Fitzsimmons:

Hell F-ing Yes to your entire column, btw!! I agree with you 100% on every point you made.

“I’m going to come right out and say it — when you don’t know if a heretofore demure superhero title is going to dissolve into an orgy of rape and disembowelment in the next issue, it makes it that much harder to recommend to a new reader.”

YES!!!

The shame of it is, rape, children being forced to eat rats, explicit sex, and foul language can all be used in honest ways, to make a story more interesting. It just has to be done well. So to me this all boils down to, tell good stories… which in it’s self means different things to different people.

Sorry, if this has already been said in the comments, I didn’t take the time to read them all.

“As we write, Read Comics in Public Day, celebrating the ninth art on The King’s birthday is well underway.”

Um, which “King’s” birthday? Martin Luthor King, Jr. was born on January 15th. Are you thinking of the anniversary of the “I have a dream” speech?

Crap. I meant “Martin LUTHER King, Jr.,” of course.

>> Um, which “King’s” birthday? Martin Luther King, Jr. was born on January 15th. >>

And Nat “King” Cole was born on March 17.

But since neither of them are someone you’d immediately think, “Ah, yes, we should celebrate comics on their birthday,” I’m thinking the King is question is Jack “King” Kirby, born August 28, 1919.

kdb

1917, actually.

Yeah, it was Nat King Cole who was born in 1919. It apparently stuck in my fingers.

Hah! …and I was just about to wiki Elvis’ b’day ’cause I wasn’t sure either until Mr. Busiek slapped me with a brick of common sense.

In his book, MEN OF TOMORROW: GEEKS, GANGSTERS AND THE BIRTH OF THE COMIC BOOK, Gerard Jones gives Kirby’s birthday as August 18, 1917. At the time I posted, I did not realize that the Jones book was in error. Thanks for the correction.

Of course, it didn’t help matters that the BECKAPOCALYPSE: THE BECKONING event in D.C. had brought the MLK speech to the forefront of my mind, either.

Not to be facetious, but shouldn’t EVERY day be Read Comics in Public Day? I know it is for me.

GASP! Read comics? In public?!

Yeah, I do that almost every day. By reading on the subway, I can ignore my fellow passengers!

Let’s take this one step further:
Do it en masse. Have a meet-up somewhere, like a park or a bar. Everyone reads comics, then trades them with each other. Two rules: you gotta read the entire comic, no matter how bad; it’s gotta be suitable for most audiences. No tentacle porn or Marvel Max.

Huh. So Jack Kirby was a Virgo. Gotta go brush up on my horoscope info…

My kids will have no problem doing this. I, on the other hand, will have to combat decades of insecurities in order to do this!

The 28th is my mom’s birthday, too.

I’ll definitely be doing this.

Hmm… this would require going out in public. ;(

Same as everybody, I read comic-books in punlic and let’s say that in the russian subway, I might be the only one even if mangas can be seen sometimes …

Torsten has a great idea to read comic-book en masse.

Does the Kirby heirs accept donations to pay for the lawyers to battle Disney’s suited parasites? That would be a better way to celebrate his birthday.

This is my birthday also!!! I hope to be in Las Vegas. Sounds like the perfect opportunity to sit-back and read my recently purchased Incognito tb.

I read comics in public all of the time, and not just behind my counter.

Do you get bonus points for laughing conspicuously at what you’re reading?

I read comics in public almost every Thursday (taking whatever new stuff I bought that Wednesday but was unable to read Wednesday night into the resataurant I eat lunch at on Thursday).

Not only do I read comics in public every day, but I do so shirtless.

I read Power Girl outside the local school, now I’m on the nonce jotter.

On the 28th I’ll be at Baltimore Comiccon reading in public.

I will totally be reading comics on Aug. 28th. All hail the King!

I’m turning this into my new holiday!

My Acme metal futon finally collapsed after 12 years. After some research, I discovered the Tromso metal loft bed at a very reasonable price. So I took the shuttle to IkeaLand Sunday and walked the floor twice, plotting possibilities. (A flat $99 delivery fee encourages bulk buying… I shall return with my tax refund next year.)

The Expedit is quite versatile, although it has no back. Drawers, doors, and boxes fit the cubicles, and there is even a desk which attaches.

However, the Billy shelves would be a better fit, with adjustable shelves, various widths and colors, and even glass doors for that professional library feel. (Shelf erotica, not shelf porn…)

Here’s the only problem with the Expedit — once it’s built, moving it to another home is an unwieldy, frustrating process. The unit is unsteady as a single piece and must either be disassembled or carried by four-five sturdy folk. We had one in our apartment which was a joy for organization but when we moved to our house, we gave up and left it for the next tenants. Now my books are still in boxes. Alas.

I feel Neil’s pain … 90% of my thousands of books (upwards of 10,000 estimated) are in boxes and have been since summer 2002. We’ve been in the current house since 2004, and now I’m boxing even more stuff (mostly comics and gns) because I have NO shelf space left. And that’s after buying 3 more units.

I was lucky enough to have a previous tenant leave me a 5 x 5 Expedit. I have it away from a wall, so I can access both sides. One side holds comics, and the other side my prose books…. each shelf does double duty. Thank you, Sweden.

always seen NON as more a precurser to Ergot than a companion; but given the crazy amount of money i spent on buying the series a few years ago, i’m jealous of people who stumble across it in their own homes

Damn!! I wanna see your shelf porn Heidi!!

And, I was all for your Expedit, untill I learned it was an Ikea!! My dreaded enemy!! O.O

I find some of the cheaper shelves from Target to be a good way for me and my books now.

Interesting … I was at IKEA this past Black Friday, where I settled on the inexpensive LACK coffee table. I have wrestled with this clutter/collection problem before. Lately I’m winning … the solution … stop buying books for a few months, weed out the ones you no longer want … then ELIMINITE CLUTTER. It took nearly a year, but now my apartment is mildy messy, as opposed to the previous storage unit/landfill appearance.

IKEA’s furniture is giving me wonderful ideas on displaying comic-related toys and busts …

I don’t think it can be killed. A diversity of offerings in a diversity of formats — plus the billions of comics that remain in existence because they have been seen as something worth saving (as opposed to the majority newspapers and magazines) — suggests to me that we’ve got comics content in the world in one way or another, no matter what.

Solely on the print side of things — it’s worth keeping an eye on our performance relative to the rest of publishing, to see whether the ways in which we’re different are insulating us. We’re the magazines that get saved like books and the books that get created as magazines — a mutant hybrid, perhaps, but it may be lending some immunity now.

To continue the milk analogy… we’re still drinking milk out of bottles and cartons which expire in a week, while the Europeans have been selling milk in Tetrapaks since 1984.

I wasn’t aware that Fresh Meat was open to the public. I thought it was more of a job fair, allowing SVA students to present their talent to the industry. SVA should promote this better.

The weekend continues… Guibert has a book signing tonight, and a presentation on Tuesday. http://firstsecondbooks.typepad.com/mainblog/2009/04/the-amazing-remarkable-emmanuel-guibert-and-where-you-can-find-him-in-new-york-city.html

And on the Ninth, Hawthorne (NJ) High School once again hosts a great “school con”!
http://mikelynchcartoons.blogspot.com/2009/04/hawthorne-high-school-comic-convention.html

And there’s stuff at MoCCA!

And on the otaku side of things, you had the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Sakura Matsuri this weekend, a celebration of Japanese culture where manga/anime/J-pop fans have increasingly found a home.

And there was that day about Free Comic Books, too…

Yes, we who are in & around comics and are in & around New York are lucky folks, indeed. Thanks for reminding me; I, too, strive (tho’ sometimes fail…) to take neither this wonderful artform nor this big apple of ours for granted.

Don’t you know, Heidi, comics will never die! Now the business models may change and a lot of the publishers we know today with their heavy investment in a structure for selling physical may well go the way of horse and buggy manufacturers, but people are always going to want to read comics just like people are always going to want to be able to get from Point A to Point B. It’s just a matter of choosing the most effective mechanism.

Oh, and I second the fact that Peggy Burns is an unsung heroine of the world of comics. She was my first boss way back in my DC intern days and at that time she brought a much-needed outsider’s view of our industry, but she swiftly became the truest of true believers and became one of those people who helped change EVERYTHING these last few years.

We can definitely use more like her, though she is one of a kind.

Peggy Burns has a thing for setting up great dinners. I remember one she invited me to where I sat with Neil Gaiman and Frank Miller for hours. She was instrumental in EW’s early comics coverage, back when it was just a black kid and a dream, simply because she made it easy.

[…] […]

Yeah, those giant pillars at Cooper Union made it quite the challenge to find a good seat.

Thanks so much for the plug, Heidi!

One little correction for the historical record: Carousel’s actually been going since 1997. And many of us (including Jim Torok and Brian Dewan) were collaborating on shows, under different names, for years before then.

I found my piece here!! thanks!!^^

“Which isn’t to say anyone I talked to knew what the heck to do anyway — or maybe they do because they’re just doing what they love, making art, telling stories.”

Best news I’ve heard all week! (Even if it is two weeks old by now…)

Thanks for the mention, Heidi.

When I used the term pamphlet it was meant to be derisive. In my mind and the mind of many other creators, comics have been held back by staying in that short format; it doesn’t allow for better paced stories, a wider variety of material, or - most importantly in terms of selling it - a more expensive price tag so (non-comic shop) retailers could make money on it.

Remember, it was coined in the very early 90s when comics were still sold on the newsstands and the price back then was so much lower than any of the other magazines the retailer sold. Back then, if you’re a store and had X-feet of shelf space you can fit X number of .75 cent comics on it or X number of $1.50 magazines on it, which would you prefer to sell?

A larger comic would have made the stores more money which would give them more incentive to display the books. As for the readers, they could have gotten a lot more pages which might have actually worked out to be a better deal financially as well. But back then we were trapped into the 32-page format which was bad creatively and bad for sales.

I have always felt it was a (necessary) mistake to put all our sales eggs into the direct market basket. We may not have had a choice, but for the most part comic shops are only frequented by people who are looking for comics. That doesn’t help grow the market. The newsstand, at least, had people coming to buy newspapers, candy, magazines and more and they might have noticed an intriguing comic cover and bought it. Comics had been an impulse item for many. In the shops it’s the destination.

Comic shops are vital, don’t get me wrong; they’re the best place to buy comics for those of us who are already addicted to the medium, but unless it’s a TV-publicized event, it rarely brings in the outsider who is simply caught by the visual of a great cover. Also, since comic shops are not in every city and readily available to one and all, it should not be the only way to buy them. For good or bad the newsstand, candy store or whatever you called it, was everywhere.

Sadly, those days are gone and they won’t come back. Newspapers, magazines and such are also dying and are being replaced by the ‘net. I know a lot of professionals simply don’t want comics to be net only, but it is very possible those days are coming. May take a decade or so, but it is inevitable. My generation and the several that followed me are book oriented, but the kids who were born in the last decade are net driven. Comics is one of the best mediums ever; it’s story and art working together, and ultimately it doesn’t matter how it’s delivered. If we embrace the tech instead of fearing it, we can grow. And the beauty of the net is stories can be the size they need to be rather than the size of a predetermined pamphlet.
-Marv Wolfman

I’ve been toying with calling them “pamps” consistently, but I just can’t bring myself to do so.

Amen, Marv!

Amen!

Re: that office cleaning tweet

I figured out it wasn’t an employment ending office clean pretty quick. What I did get concerned about was the implication you were throwing away everything but the Humanoids/DC books. DONATE! :p There are plenty of places (especially in NYC) that will take the comic books (be they pamphlets or collections).

What Marv says here is the best POV on the issue, I think. A positive embrace of new formats. There is an interesting, analogous discussion happening in the music industry– Blixa Bargeld (a German musician) is old enough–ad successful enough– to be able to outright dismiss digital formats, but choses to embrace them. Blixa makes an interesting point, relates in someway here– in the old days, recording artists could control the track listing on an album, but were limited by built in rules of the album format (a long playing LP side could be– maybe– 24 minutes, a barrier broken by the CD, only to introduce new/other restrictions, as well as offer the listener the option to alter track listing). With digital downloading/listening formats, the concept of song ordering–or for that matter, the long playing album– is gone, that is now entirely in the hands of the listener. The trade off is that the recording artist is now freed from all limitation on track length. That online comics can be as long as the artist demands, and not conform to the old 22 pgs. plus ads– or the xeroxed mini with staples– is a benefit to the medium.

That being said, I still agree with Eisner’s assertion that there is something special in the tactile quality of the reading experience which benefits and suits comics in the printed format, and that isn’t going to go away anytime soon.

Well, I have thrown out the comics of many, many defunct companies, such as…Virgin….Crossgen…but have kept a lot of comics from some companies that I suspect will go under. Now why is that?

This week, I attempted to donate about a dozen recent Comic Journal issues to the local library. They have a budding GN collection.
Well, their donation appraiser calls them “magazines” and will not accept them, even in mint condition.
They WILL deign to sell them and use the harvested coins to purchase more worthy and appropriate materials.
So in the future I will donate books to a less worthy but more accepting cause: a local organization that holds an annual book fair to fund educational scholarships for young women.

Hey Paul, (and others),

Just because you’re not 20-25 anymore doesn’t mean you can’t bring your comics to the World Wide Web. I’m 51 and I’m into it big time. Yes, it’s new and uncertain and therefore scary, and it’s true right now that the vast majority of web-comickers can’t make a living at it.

But I think part of the reason for that is the low entry barrier; the very best web-cartoonists ARE making a living at it, and not just the gag strip guys. Talk to Phil Foglio or Scott Sava or or Spike Trotman or Meredith Gran.

Also, there are developments coming in e-book readers and phones/pdas that may prove a bonanza for comics creators who can get in on the ground floor.

[…] Heidi MacDonald should clean her office out more often, as it resulted in an interesting blogpost and an interesting discussion over at The Beat. First, Heidi explains where the term “pamphlet” came from in terms of describing comic books: […]

[…] Wolfman offers his thoughts in the comments field, saying he meant for the term to be “derisive,” then shares several interesting thoughts about telling stories in longer formats and on the web, where stories “can be the size they need to be.” Paul Pope weighs in as well. Go check it out. […]

Comic shops are vital, don’t get me wrong; they’re the best place to buy comics for those of us who are already addicted to the medium, but unless it’s a TV-publicized event, it rarely brings in the outsider who is simply caught by the visual of a great cover.

At the risk of looking like a fool for arguing with someone who has been in comics a hell of a lot longer than me:

As someone who owns a comic shop, I’m not sure this is true. We do a *lot* of business in families and kids, twenty- and thirty-somethings alike. And while, yes, we do sort of live or die on our regulars, we see casual and new fans every day. Everyone says “new readers don’t generally come into comic shops” like it’s true, but I think it’s a cliche that isn’t really accurate.

Fifteen years ago, when I was just getting onto the Internet and the comics-related portion thereof, many folks were making the point that young readers weren’t getting into comics, and as the current readers died off or moved on, there wasn’t going to be any younger crowd to replace them. At the time, I thought this was a pretty compelling argument.

Now, though? I see a lot of people coming in who were 6-8 years old during that time, who weren’t reading comics because there wasn’t anything for them, and they’re starting in their twenties instead. It’s not that new readers aren’t coming in… it’s that the starting age for comics has moved up. And some of those new twenty-something readers are looking for art comics, alternative comics, etc. but a lot of them, despite not having followed Marvel/DC for ten years prior, want the superhero universe stuff.

I think that the characters and the medium have an innate appeal that many of us long-timers underestimate, because we’ve been in it for so long and we may have gotten a little jaded about the wonder of the first time we stopped into a comics store or grabbed something off a spinner rack at the 7-11.

Also, since comic shops are not in every city and readily available to one and all, it should not be the only way to buy them. For good or bad the newsstand, candy store or whatever you called it, was everywhere.

This, however, I can’t argue with. I think the direct market gets unfairly bashed on the Internet more often than not, but even the most diehard “go comic shops!” guys will admit that we’d be better off with a healthy newsstand comics market as well. I know I was excited to see Boom! Studios’ new kids line getting newsstand distribution.

And more directly on the topic at hand, I’m not wild about the “pamphlet” term either. Nat’s argument that periodical isn’t accurate is true enough, but pamphlet isn’t strictly accurate either, and it’s taken on negative connotations, usually intentionally when folks use it, so that if you use it you’re bringing those negative connotations with you.

I’ve generally liked the term “singles” which I believe Warren Ellis coined way back when for his pop comics. Of course, given the transition of the music market in the past few years, I’m not sure that’s a term that’s relevant anymore either.

The Beat:
[i]Well, I have thrown out the comics of many, many defunct companies, such as…Virgin….Crossgen…but have kept a lot of comics from some companies that I suspect will go under. Now why is that? [/i]

Grant Morrison might suggest it has something to do with sympathetic magic. By not throwing out the comics you hope to keep the company that published them from going under.

Or maybe he’d suggest something else entirely.

Wilson — what you’re describing is a leaflet. It’s a kind of pamphlet, but not the only kind by any means. The traditional American comic book format fits the definition of a pamphlet — it’s a short, loosely-bound set of pages without a book-style binding.

Pamphlets go way back — Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” is a pretty famous pamphlet, and it had more pages than your average comic book.

I’ll continue to use the term “pamphlet” when I want to make a distinction between that format and other formats. But I wouldn’t use “periodical” to describe, say, the ASTRO CITY: SAMARITAN one-shot, because it wasn’t a periodical.

kdb

Certain entities hold wonder. We keep them with us to retain their wonder. Sometimes it is merely the promise of wonder.
It is hubris to believe that something belongs to one generation merely because they grew up with it.

>> Nat’s argument that periodical isn’t accurate is true enough, but pamphlet isn’t strictly accurate either, and it’s taken on negative connotations, usually intentionally when folks use it, so that if you use it you’re bringing those negative connotations with you.>>

Ah, but if you eliminate it, the people who want to deride the format will deride it using whatever term remains. The issue there isn’t that “pamphlet” is inherently derisive, but that there are people who want to deride the format, and that won’t change.

I say let people who want to deride the format do so — better they use a term the average person doesn’t recognize than a term they do.

>> I’ve generally liked the term “singles” which I believe Warren Ellis coined way back when for his pop comics. Of course, given the transition of the music market in the past few years, I’m not sure that’s a term that’s relevant anymore either.>>

Plus, of course, is an issue of MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS, with 4 stories in it, a “single”?

If you simply want to describe the format, it’s a magazine.* But if you want to distinguish between different magazine formats — digests, regular-size magazines, standard-American-comic-sized magazines, tabloids, minis and more, it’s useful to have a term that isn’t as much of a mouthful as “standard-American-comics-sized magazine.”

kdb

*well, technically, to be a magazine it needs to have multiple features, which some comics do and some don’t. There doesn’t seem to be a term for the standard physical magazine format, content aside, aside from pamphlet and booklet.

I tend to use the term “floppies” since nobody remembers when that applied to disks.

Interestingly, “floppies” was coined as a term for that format on the Warren Ellis Forum — specifically as an insulting term, to conjure up the idea of a limp dick.

“Singles,” as mentioned above, was the non-insulting term they coined at the same time.

kdb

The Wikipedia entry on comics vocabulary lists the following terms for the classic comic book: Pamphlet, Periodical, Monthly, Floppy, Single, and Issue. I prefer the term “floppy,” despite its questionable origin. “Floppy” is specific without being unnecessarily restrictive, and distinguishes the classic comic book from comics published using other media.

SRS

I’m surprised the list of terms excludes the distinctions a printer would use, stitched versus perfect bound.

Those are distinctions you can use when talking about formats, Stephanie, but they don’t distinguish comics from other things — there are comics that are stitched, comics that are perfect-bound, but there are books and magazines that are as well. But when people are distinguishing among bindings, they come up.

kdb

$60 Million at most.

I wish the indie artists wouldn’t try to replicate the logo, price, date, etc. Just capture the image. If they leave enough room, it might be fun to photoshop the “official logos” later on.

the covers remain interesting, but I still don’t know the point? O.o

I pick up anything Sala does. I first saw his work on MTV’s Liquid Television, and now I get to enjoy his comic work. Nice job.

I like it when someone brings something new to the original. Most of the attempts do not impress me. There’s a lot of potential to this concept to be explored in addition to just doing a tracing of the cover elements in ballpoint pen. Maybe later ones will be more innovative.

I too don’t quite see the point of this exercise. Or rather, as Al says above, most of the examples on that blog don’t seem to live up to the concept’s potential. I suppose that this exercise might potentially serve as some sort of arty commentary on the pop culture of comic books, but there’s not a lot of examples that come anywhere near to doing anything close to, for example, what Warhol did with soup cans and Marilyn Monroe imagery. (That’s a tall order, I know, but you get my drift…)

All that said, I do like what Dash Shaw did with that Trevor von Eden Green Arrow cover:
http://coveredblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/dash-shaw-covers-green-arrow-2.html

[…] First up is a blog where comic artists draw alternate versions of superhero covers. Why not browse these sites tomorrow instead of moping around all day about how you don’t have a date? Of these, Eric Skillman’s Superman is my favorite. Very retro 70’s, And is it fair to include Fred Hembeck in these things? Drawing alternate superhero covers is practically his day job. (h/t to The Beat) […]

….they got pi wrong.

Not necessarily, 3.1415929 is a rational approximation of pi based on the fractional representation of pi as 355/113 . It is often used by engineers who can’t use irrational numbers in their formulas. That is your piece of nerd trivia for the day.

The mess we’re in right now wasn’t caused by just people with bad credit getting mortgages they can’t afford. The people that got subprime loans make up only a small percentage of existing mortgages. The problem is that everyone was getting mortgages they couldn’t afford, not just people with poor credit. Too many people went into these loans thinking they would only live in the home for a couple of years and then they would turn around and sell the home for more money.

Too many people got interest -only loans or loans with an adjustable rate. By the time the rate was scheduled to increase to something much larger – and something totally unaffordable – the plan would be to sell the home and get something new. The problem is, when many of these adjustable rate loans morphed into something that was much higher, the real estate market plummeted. Not only was the home not worth more than what the buyer bought it at, it was worth far, far less. This meant they couldn’t sell the house. It also meant they couldn’t get a new loan with a fixed rate for more than what the home was currently valued at. This is called “being under water”. People realized that it would be much cheaper to just walk away and let the home go into foreclosure.

It was only a matter of time before the real estate market tanked. For far too long the price of homes has risen while wages have remained stagnant. Historically, any time median home prices do not match the increase in median income, there will be a housing bubble. If people were living in homes they planned on living in for the next 30 years with fixed mortgages, it wouldn’t really matter.

My consumption of comics and comic journals is inelastic to a large extent. If I want one, I will forgo purchasing a few coffees, or a magazine. Or I’ll skip seeing a movie.
It is not related to the perception that the global economy is going through a cyclical retraction, or that the Canadian government is experiencing upheaval this week.

It never hurts to be optimistic, Heidi. Being gloomy means we’re not even going to try to make things better, and yes, it truly is in all of our hands, how things will all turn out. To be optimistic means that we have made a resolve to get through this. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m tired of spending my very limited time and energy, worrying about when I’m going to be crushed under the wheel of hard times. I feel like everywhere I turn, that’s what people, the press, friends, family, and politicians want me to focus on. Gloom, means we’re not even going to try. How about finding ways of making things better? It’s not beyond us. I’m not saying any one of us has the solution, but I’m a firm believer that if you can find the good in any situation, you can nurture that situation’s positive aspects into being dominant. I know. I know. “Tell me where the good is in all of this.” someone will say. Well, if that someone is going to come at it with retorts like that, then they’re part of the problem, and should just hold their lips shut, and smile warmly at their friends. Happiness is catching, you know, as much as fear. My friends, turn off the news for a day and get out there. You will find that sunlight and fresh are will show you that the days ahead can still be bright. Easy? No. Nothing ever comes easy, but cower under the shadow of gloom, and you might as well be putting your head on the chopping block. Wasn’t it in Dune that they said, “Fear is the mind killer.”? Well, I will fear no evil. This chicken still has his head on, and he will stand with both feet planted firmly on the ground, and face the foxes down, no matter how mean they flash their dark and merciless eyes at me. Am I crazy for thinking this way? I’m I even crazier for posting it here. Maybe, but I’m going to see brighter days. That is my promise to myself, and if you promise yourself that as well, you will be taking the first steps to making it true. So, chin up people. Things are going to be okay. My love and blessings to all of you.

I see a boom time for DC++ and the pirates - that’s about it.

Xmas is going to absolutely terrible and that’s where the crunch is going to come for comicbooks in the mainstream, where before it was *really* hard to get shelf space for your venture, now it’s going to be *really really really hard*.

Damn… The Des Moines Register is a statewide newspaper, and I remember reading Brian Duffy’s and Frank Andrea Miller’s cartoons during the summers I spent in Iowa. That paper has run cartoons on the front page since 1906, and of the three cartoonists (Duffy, Miller, Jay Norwood “Ding” Darling), two won Pulitzer Prizes (1924, 1943, 1963). The Register is a great newspaper, but less so with this news.

Now, regarding the Doom and Gloom (ooh… good names for villains!) you mentioned. Much of the incredible economic stimulus of the 1990s was generated by the Internet and increased productivity from companies implementing IT departments. (This created a lot of RIFs early in the decade.) I think something similar will happen when comicbook publishers successfully figure out how to make money off of digital comics. What is happening now is very similar to the initial experiments Marvel and DC initiated with Direct Market-only titles in the mid-1980s. The Direct Market saved the industry, and allowed for greater diversity by placing all the risk on the retailer and not the publisher. Of course, the DM started to implode as the system was exploited, but thankfully, the perfect storm of Pokemon and bookstore distribution saved the industry while also creating an influx of new readers. (Manga is to comics as Star Trek is to science fiction. Both inspired an influx of female fans into a previously male subculture.)

The Internet has a low cost of production. Profitability is currently a huge question mark. However, the potential is amazingly huge. (I predict that webcomics will follow the example of syndicated comicstrips currently online. Websites will not have an exclusive on presentation, although one might pay to present the strip a week before other venues. Subscribers to the artist’s/publisher’s website might subscribe to get the strip delivered before it is posted to websites. Comics could be indexed on search engines, showing a small thumbnail or a few panels, with high-resolution images available for download, or viewing online with a subscription, much like a social or membership library.

It all started with drawing pictures on cave walls (and probably lines in the dirt before that). Even if comics go the way of penny dreadfuls and anthology magazines, there will still be people creating comics. So cheer up, bucko! Big companies have gone bust in the past (Charlton, Harvey) and they’ll go bust in the future. The medium endures.

(And jumping jiminy, remember when there were no comicbook stores? Remember visiting every spinner rack to find the latest issue? Remember walking into a bookstore, and seeing a paltry few titles in the Humor or Science Fiction sections? Remember when the only hardcover editions were costly signed-and-numbered limited editions? Remember the few newspaper articles, almost all of which started with “Pow! Bam!”? We’re living in an ever-loving-RENAISSANCE! Old stuff is getting rediscovered and influencing the new breed! Technology is encouraging cross-pollenization with other media! And it’s now “cool” to be a comicbook fan! *sniff* (sorry… allergies are acting up again…)

I hope people will start to focus on what they have, how to stretch their income and stay positive. I personally think companies are in a panic on some levels…and honestly, corporations have been making so much money for so long, they should have planned better for times like this. I have friends in a panic and am trying to help them best i can by pushing forward and staying positive and lending a hand when needed.

comics will keep their audience, but people will only buy what they really want to read and all that spending on random titles will become more fine tuned. the days of buying only one company are long gone. I go by the writer and artist, then the character. I know i am not like most.

personally, i am spending all my gift money only in comic shops this year and in the supermarket. thats it, they are getting it all.

and now christmas cards are going to be phone calls.

Oh, by the way, Publishers Weekly reports that Bookscan reports that this Thanksgiving week was better than last year’s by 6%.

Kinda ironic how the housing market is repeating the same economic lesson that comics fans learned during the speculation bubble. (Irony… that’s when the joke’s on you, and you laugh and cry at the same time.)

I read somewhere that during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when folks couldn’t afford jack, people relied on entertainment. I think Hallmark Cards were the biggest selling items because people wanted to engender hope and a smile.

While modern folks figure out how to pay off car and house loans and put a damper on bigger investments, I believe entertainment will thrive. The internet will provide great escape and publishing will cut the fat [maybe we won’t have a predicted “graphic novel glut” — which is a good thing].

People still need movies, music, theater, books, and comix. It’s how we cope and thrive. It’s how we survive turmoil and it’s in our our culture and our blood to entertain and consume no matter the cost.

Let’s just keep our costs managable and we’ll be okay.

I think Jimmy has the right idea to try to stay optimistic in light of hard times and live lean. That’s what I’ve been trying to do. But I also agree that publishers are panicking due to the current economic crisis. [I didn’t mean to use the word ‘crisis’ sorry]. Let’s hope things turn around and the new year starts off right.

“…a massive consolidation at Random House that left, among others, “The Da Vinci Code” publisher Steve Rubin without a job”

See. There’s a silver-lining in everything, if you look hard enough.

Comics will survive this. However, like everything else, they’re going to take a beating. Raising the cover price another $1 is not going to help & it couldn’t come at a worse time. *Lowering* the price another buck with the announcement that mainstream books are going back to a cheaper paper stock & perhaps two pages less story might have gone over far better. Expect a move in that general direction should sales take another sharp plummet.

“…the days of buying only one company are long gone. I go by the writer and artist, then the character. I know i am not like most.”

How much better off the industry & its audience would be if more readers had the same basic philosophy.

Personally, I don’t see how the current business model in comics can be sustained as circulations keep dipping.

There are more titles being published than ever before, and more people working in the industry than ever before, but the ratio of copies sold per title published is probably the lowest it’s ever been. In short, despite all the new technology that the industry has taken advantage of in the past 15-20 years, overall productivity might be lower than ever.

Think about it, using Marvel as an example. In 1968, Marvel was publishing about 20-odd titles, and their monthly sales were averaging about nine million comics per month. They had a permanent staff of under 10 people, and had a stable of about 20 free-lancers.

Today, Marvel publishes 35-odd titles a month, sells only about a third as many comics per month as they did in 1968, and employs probably 100 or more permanent employees and free-lancers.

Like any business, it’s tough to make money when costs are high and sales are low.

I think Rick Rottman has perfectly described what happens when a pyramid scheme collapses.
=====
I can’t predict what the comic book market will do in the next few months, but I worry that Marvel is putting out too much of the same thing every month. In most recent months, they put out over 100 new titles in addition to all the other things they make, like posters, busts, Masterworks editions, trade paperback reprints, hardcover reprints, etc.

DC, on the other hand, may have already seen its customers backing off from purchases in recent months. I think DC readers tend to be more conservative financially. DC publishes maybe a few too many superhero books every month, but they also publish 10 different children’s books and several Vertigo titles.

[…] Related: Heidi’s all over the various coverage of publishing layoffs.  Yeeeeesh; it’s ugly out there. […]

Non-comics (or vaguely-comics) publishers cutting back means less competition and more shelf space for comics in bookstores.

Also, during times like these, people tend to like faux investments — things they can dabble in cheaply with the thought that they’re trying to make money. We’re certainly not going to see the madness of 1993 again, with people buying a part of a multi-million-copy print run in the hope that they’ll be scarce.

Will there be comics companies failing? Yes. When hasn’t there been companies failing? So many companies, there will always be ones taking wrong steps, and having to cut back, or entering the field with the assumption that if Marvel and DC can make it, then a company that really understands pop culture should find it easy to take over…

So are comics immune? Not necessarily. But the surest way to court disaster is to assume disaster.

Great blog post, Heidi

The publishing issue is reaching pretty wide. I’m the Art Director at a studio who the big textbook publishers contract to illustrate and compose college textbooks, and we’re getting less work than we were a few years back when I started. Less manuscripts are being commissioned and I’m seeing a lot more ‘retirements’ at the publishing end. Couple that with the increasing trend toward outsourcing to cheaper studios overseas and more frugal designs, and that’s another segment of the market being hit.

Of course, much like with comics, the prices for textbooks aren’t budging (not that anyone at my level sees that money) — as a student at night, I can’t help but laugh at paying big money for the same sort of books I have to work so hard to get the pay us for during the day.

Rick: well, I never said I understood economics. Thanks for your explanations!

I think this economic bust has excelerated what was inevitable for a lot of the industries that are in jeapordy. A lot of these companies, especially print and auto, would probably have faced the same problems they face now over the next ten years. The lack of available credit has forced them to face future realities today. The American auto industry has been in a tailspin long before this financial crisis. And print media was declared dead over 15 years ago.

While I, like just about every other person would have prefer not to have to deal with the economic massacre we are facing, I think in the end it will force a lot of people to do things in a smarter fashion.

While price might be the largest factor for most consumers going forward, I think quality of product, whether it be the content of a comic or the manufacturing of a car, will be a major purchasing factor. There is no such thing as disposable income anymore.

Heidi, great article. It’s not the end of the world, and a wise person once told me, “when a door closes, a window opens.”

To Jimmy, sing it brother!

Cheers,

B

The signs were there, we were too busy enjoying the party. Quebecor World and their publishing woes was the first big sign and still going on. Gasoline prices were the second. Just before the great depression, there was plenty for all. Most were living like kings at the expense of the middle class, till the bottom fell out. People will have to ration and cut from the fat. Comics have to reinvent themselves. Hollywood saved them for now but for how much longer. Time to weed out the abundance and collect the better stuff. Too many people got on the gravy train. Time to unload the caboose and admit that we are in a depression created by government greed all around the world.

WHHOOOOO!!! Skyscrapers of the Midwest!! That’s fantastic!

You mean you’ll use the phrase?

Fine… all be over here, reading “Supergirl: Cosmic Adventures in the 8th Grade”… (And don’t tell the kids that… they’ll be swarming all over the shelves, reading “adult” literature!)

Can we also ban any articles starting with sound affects?

As in “BAM POW! BATMAN’S DEAD!!”

CAFKA. Right on.
Keep comics off the newsstands, and out of the bookstores. Kids sometimes go to those places. Sell comics by special order through catalogs.
Oh, and supermarkets. Keep them out of the supermarkets.
Okay, I’m feeling cranky today.

Heidi sez:
One further note: in the comments section, someone coins the term “CAFKA” for the phrase “comics aren’t for kids anymore”

That someone wrote:
there’s a reason the graphics community knows that phrase as “CAFKA”– it only ever appears in other media and always, without exception, accompanies every story about comics and graphic novels.

You say he coins it, he says “the graphics community knows that phrase” - who is he talking about? Graphic designers? Graphic storytellers (including graphic novelists, graphic non-fiction writer/creators, graphic novella-ists, graphic short story-ists, etc.)?

I’m just a dumb ol’ member of comic-book fandom (For all I know, I fit into that charming category of “Babymen”). I’ve never heard of that acronym before.

Heidi, are you a member of this “graphics community”? Do they have annual dues, homeowner assesments?

I loved Skyscrapers so much I bought a page.

I loved Skyscrapers of the midwest. have the issues, and the HC collection. and some artwork, too, just like Phil….the book was heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time…really had a unique feel.

I loved Skyscrapers of the midwest. have the issues, and the HC collection. and some artwork, too, just like Phil….the book was heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time…really had a unique feel.

Good list, nice report!

“CAFKA. Right on.
Keep comics off the newsstands, and out of the bookstores. Kids sometimes go to those places. Sell comics by special order through catalogs.
Oh, and supermarkets. Keep them out of the supermarkets.
Okay, I’m feeling cranky today. ”

Whats a newsstand? Are those the dying places with dwindling numbers of print magazines and newspapers? Why are you speaking like its the 80s?

Is it just me or do all of these books seem sort of depressing? Clunky and depressing.

It’s just you.

I second Astro City #1/2. One of these days I’ll get married, and slip it in my love’s luggage when she flies away on business.

The first comic to make me cry was the Death of Superman, the imaginary story where Lex Luthor kills Superman. And Funeral for a Friend hit me hard when I read it again after 9/11.

I started collecting comics with Amazing Spider-Man #254, and was lucky to read the letter column about ASM #248, “The Kid Who Collects Spider-Man”. Probably the best Spider-Man story ever.

As for Peanuts, there is not so much that makes me cry, but much that makes my heart heavy. The story I remember most is where Lucy shows Charlie Brown a slide show of his faults. Me, I would have bludgeoned her with the projector… And then there’s the series where CB wears the paper bag at camp, and everyone likes him…

I like it when CB finally gets his revenge on Lucy with the football gag in Family Guy. Or the really awkward Peanuts reunion in another episode.

“Yeah, that’s right! I sold Snoopy the junk!”

ASTRO CITY 1/2 !!! I second that. Completely forgot about it.

- Tezuka’s Buddha
- The last issue of Starman. Gets me every time! (I make like a banana ans split)
- The last issue of Preacher! (A hell of a vision)
- The last issue of Y the last man (Ampersand!!!)

Family Guy is to Peanuts what McDonalds is to Les Halles. Come on, people, the best you can do is ASTRO CITY and Family Guy?

I have failed.

I got a bit misty over the death of Speedy.

Seriously, reading these responses is making me cry.

-Barefoot Gen FTW.

“Come on, people, the best you can do is ASTRO CITY and Family Guy?”

Get over yourself.

Blue Pills by Frederik Peetersen

Hicksville by Dylan Horrocks

The end of Human Diastrophism by Gilbert Hernandez

Fantastic to see Maison Ikkoku make Shaenon’s list. Sure, there have been plenty of comics that have made an emotional impact on me, but the final issues of that book were the first (and only that I can think of) that made me literally cry, wiping away tears to read the pages. What a powerful, poignant, spectacular ending.

And I second Astro City #1/2.

Shade the Changing Man #50

The Gaiman issue of Hellblazer (”Hold Me”)

JLA #42

Signal to Noise

No love for the issue where Animal Man met Grant Morrison?

Or the last issue of Zot!?

Quimbies the Mouse by Chris Ware.

Preacher #10, ‘How I Learned To Love The Lord’. When Tulip asks if she can kiss Jesse goodbye. Nevermind that I know what’s coming and how it all ends, it still tears me apart.

V For Vendetta, part 2 ch. 11, ‘Valerie’. Every time. I’m a sap.

Doom Patrol #63, ‘The Empire of Chairs’.

Invisibles #12, ‘Best Man Fall’, and #21, ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’.

Stray Bullets #7, ‘Freedom’. It’s a hard life, Virginia.

…and Signal To Noise by Gaiman & McKean. All of it.

the death of scrooges parents in don rosa’s “his life and times”.

the death of the mother somewhere in the early run of fantagraphic’s “usagi yojimbo” (sorry, i only owe the german edition, so i don’t know the correct original number or titel of that issue).

the finale of the first volume of manu larcenet’s “combat ordinaire”.

the finale of ralf königs “jago” (bittersweet, but ultimately sad).

“cerebus”: oscar dies in “melmoth”.

bryan talbot’s “tale of one bad rat”.

Any story by Adrian Tomine.

Is that good enough, Ms. Beat?

* that entire Anders Nilsen book, and all of the other works in other books that reference events in that book.

* that scene in Barefoot Gen where that kid is carrying the remains of his relatives in a bucket.

* the Calvin & Hobbes that ends “what a stupid world.”

* the final Barnaby

* the Joe Sacco comic in Details about war crimes, the sequence where the former prisoners describe what they were made to do

* the part in Death of Speedy not when Speedy dies but the last page when Jaime hits the rewind button and everyone is happy at that wedding and their lives don’t touch yet but you know they will and how it turns out

* Cerebus #186

* that page in Murmur where the narrator is able to see his mother again

* that little boy saying goodbye to his father in Three Shadows and his father is so gigantic the kid is crawling on his face

* Carol Tyler’s “The Bad Seed” kills me for some reason

In the men-in-tights realm, I remember being sad when The Swordsman sacrificed himself for a woman that didn’t love him. Although I don’t remember, I imagine we found out sooner or later she really did love him. But it was better when she didn’t. He was such a loser in a way they don’t allow losers in that kind of comic book anymore.

There are many sad Lynda Barry comics and just thinking about that one Debbie Drechsler comic makes me want to jump off a bridge.

Carol Tyler’s “Hannah’s Story.”

This comic is sad, but the presentation is so over the top it almost makes it hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qb4-3R8FSs0

Hannah’s Story is tremendously sad.

While Alan’s War is a bit light on war action, it has been worth the wait. The aftermath, which most people tend to ignore, is presented here. I will be sending a copy to my uncle, a WWII veteran.

I’m picking Alan’s War as the best graphic novel of the year in a year that has had many great graphic novels. I’ve got my impressions of Alan’s War on my blog Ich Liebe Comics in an entry from last week.

One can’t call Bryan Talbot a one trick pony, as none of his books have resembled other ones he’s done. He’s an artist that always challenges himself and his audience and excels with each new book.

I’m still getting over what anniversary this is for Luther Arkwright.

Thirtieth? Am I remembering that right?

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