[Resource of the Day] – Five Things the Comic Book Industry Is Doing Right (?)

Today’s article: Comicscape: 5 Successes In Mainstream Comics
by: Kurt Amacker
via: Mania.com

A little while back, I posted a commentary on an article about the 5 things wrong with today’s comic book industry. That article promised a followup about 5 things the industry was doing right, so I thought it’d be only fair to go through them.

This article is not nearly as insightful as the previous one, so let me sum up the points with some quick paraphrasing.

1. Marvel and DC are expanding genres while they continue to produce superhero books.
2. Marvel and DC have much better writers than they used to.
3. Comics and graphic novels are generally more available than they used to be.
4. Comic book companies are creating more mature comics now that they’re basically ignoring the comics code.
5. Comics are more legitimate than they used to be, and are showing up in mainstream media a lot more than they used to.

My response to these points? Wrong, somewhat, wrong, you missed something, and definitely wrong. But let me explain why…

First of all, the author of the article argues that Marvel and DC are expanding genres by having superheroes who reflect different types of action. For example, Marvel is breaking into martial arts because it’s brought back The Immortal Iron Fist, and DC has broadened comics with its Vertigo line. But the reality is that Mavel and DC are both stuck in a rut that they can’t seem to get out of; they treat all of their books like superhero titles, and even the best non-superhero titles from Vertigo (Sandman, Y: The Last Man, Fables) are more of a niche experience than mainstream books. Sure, Marvel released some licensed material with The Dark Tower and Anita Blake, but these books are the exception to their strategy, not the rule.

I don’t think anyone can dispute that Marvel and DC are recruiting much better writers than they used to. I think a case can be made, however, that both companies are going after writers who tend to get bogged down in their own fandom and who often forget about making their books accessible to new readers. An even stronger case can be made that many of the writers who have been picked up are better known for the things they’re had a hand in creating than for their actual writing ability. My experience as an editor was that writers were not judged on their merits so much as they were judged on the things they’d managed to attach to their names. That’s not a good way to hire good writers; it’s merely a good way to hire people who are skilled at marketing themselves.

The point that comics and graphic novels are more available is extremely myopic; just 15 years ago, comics could be found at almost every grocery store, drug store, bookstore, toy store and newstand. There were thousands more comic book specialty retailers as well. A hit book at the time sold around 250,000 copies; a hit book today is lucky to break 30,000. Comics might be more available in 2008 than they were in 2003, but that’s not saying much. Bringing up the easy availability of items online also neglects the fact that every consumer good is easier to purchase online now. This has nothing to do with the comic book industry (which has actually been quite resistant to online sales) and everything to do with a cultural shift that’s put more power in the hands of the consumer.

While it’s true that comic books as a whole are certainly a lot more mature now than they once were, it’s because the customers are a lot older now than they used to be. A lot of folks assume kids read comic books, but that’s not a fair assessment; comic book specialty shops are not generally very kid-friendly, and it’s hard to buy books anywhere else. No, the kids are reading manga and webcomics; they’re not really that interested in Batman and Spider-Man these days, because those books are often written above their level. Marvel and DC both have all-ages lines, but you’ll notice that those are typically the dumping grounds for new writers and artists, and they often are lower in quality as a result. Adult-oriented books are being produced because the comics code is irrelevant now and because the core audience has grown up.

As for the issue of comic books being legitimate forms of entertainment… *sigh.* Comic books have always been a part of popular culture, and they’ve influenced the mainstream a lot more than most readers seem to think. Superman was so popular in the Golden Age that it spawned a radio serial, a series of Tex Avery cartoons, film serials, and a television show. Later on, Superman headlined in two blockbuster films (plus two terrible films and one mediocre reboot), starred in a few live-action TV shows and cartoons, and made headlines when he died and came back to life in 1992. Since the Silver Age, Spider-Man has spawned several cartoon series, a live action television series, and at least a dozen video games. Batman and the Joker have had a huge influence on popular culture since the 1988 Tim Burton film, and Wolverine is probably one of the best-known comic book characters since the X-Men finally got their own film series in 2000. Just about everyone knows that you wouldn’t like the Incredible Hulk when he’s angry (even if they haven’t seen the two recent films). Iron Man, Daredevil, Elektra, the Punisher, Blade, Ghost Rider, the Fantastic Four, the Silver Surfer, Hellboy and Spawn have all had big screen debuts as well.

And that’s just the superhero stuff. Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman’s writing has been mined for movies; Frank Miller has even helped direct films based on his work. Good graphic novels like Ghost World and Road to Perdition have been adapted into arty movies, and obscure comics like Men in Black have been turned into blockbusters. The Flaming Carrot saw a cinematic spin-off in Mystery Men, and The Tick got an animated series and a live-action series on Fox. The Archie universe spun off a Josie and the Pussycats film. Bone got an episodic video game, and The Red Star and The Darkness both became console games. Witchblade had a television show. And, lest I forget to mention it, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles went on to become a huge cultural fad despite its humble origins as an indy black-and-white book.

The problem is not that comics aren’t accepted by the mainstream; the problem is that the industry is not welcoming to outsiders. I remember being at the New York Comic Con, and having a buyer from Barnes & Noble approach the Dabel Brothers booth and tell us that they’d love to carry our books in their stores on the spinner racks. They had customers who desperately wanted to buy comics, but who were limited in what B&N was able to carry. We were publishing through Marvel at the time, and we told one of the sales managers about the buyer. The sales manager proceeded to berate the buyer and told him that they wouldn’t be allowing B&N to carry our monthlies. The buyer walked away, miffed, and the sales manager told us not to waste his time like that again.

You see… that’s the real problem with comics. The people producing them are stuck in a frame of mind that they can’t easily snap out of. They keep producing superhero titles because that’s what they know; they keep focusing their sales on established channels because they can’t imagine anything else. The mainstream would probably buy them, if they were easily available, but they’re not, so people don’t make the effort to track them down.

Truth be told, they’re not missing much. 90% of the comics sitting on the shelves are dreadful dreck. Some are so awful that it’s hard to believe anyone put up the money to produce them. The majority are ho-hum titles that can be read and forgotten. And the ones that are really, truly good are often lost in the shuffle amongst all the filler Marvel and DC shove out month in, and month out.

So while this article means well, it’s entirely incorrect. The industry isn’t doing much of anything right; it’s more accurate to say that it’s contributing to its own demise. Fortunately, the medium is still viable, and I firmly believe that a new generation is rising that will realize the power of comics and establish a new philosophy of producing them. But until that happens, comics fans deserve what they’ve got, because ultimately, they’re the ones who keeping putting money back into the system and encouraging the superhero chokehold to continue.

Writing Scraps

by Sean J. Jordan