ARTICLE #5: STOP THAT! (Step away from the internet!)

TOP 6 WAYS to identify an individual who is NOT COOL according to the standards of mainstream modern society:
6) - Their value system does not fit into either of two pre-defined categories.
5) - Their cell phone remains starkly un-personalized and is older than 1 year.
4) - They know more about their own thoughts than they do about Oprah's.
3) - They believe in any kind of 'movement' involving 'comics'.
2) - They enjoy music played less than 17 times a day on the radio.
1) - They remember information and events that are not currently being marketed.

How many of these banes apply to you? If you've been keeping up with my articles, you'd better watch it... I'm trying to shove number three down your gullet.
For those who haven't taken a peek at my first four articles, here's the gist; The medium of comics has been slowly crushed into obscurity in America, mainly as the result of an unwieldy spandex-obsessed monopoly rising to power - and staying there. We're on the verge of change, however, and a Creator Revolution is happening. What you're reading now was to be the article where I discuss how to pragmatically facilitate the Revolution.

I told you... Revolution? Comics? It's number three.

So, what exactly is this 'Revolution' about? Will we need guns?

Ridiculous, it does not require guns - they are optional. The Creator Revolution maintains that comics are a great, largely unrealized form of art and storytelling; and instead of being rigidly manipulated and dictated by tactless business monoliths, stories belong to two groups of people only: the storytellers, and the audience - the creators, and the readers. These are the only people who have a valid stake in the equation, and these are the groups that should be guiding the future of the medium. That's what the Creator Revolution is here to accomplish. And it's already beginning around us - comics are blooming online, conventions are thriving with more and more small dealers serving crowds of readers, and print on demand has opened the gateway for all to see their hard work in print.
But before I jump into all the details, ideas, and exhortations of how to start carrying the movement forward, I think there's a question we all need to ask ourselves first...

Who cares?

I mean, really. We're talking about a bunch of wanna-be artists trying quixotically to peddle their wares. How much does it really matter? We've got TV, after all. TV!

I can tell you one thing - someone sure cares about the Creator Revolution... They care about stopping it.

The following may give pause to some readers... It sure surprised me when I discovered it. I think I logged about 42 consecutive incredulous blinks - yet reality, bizarre as ever, remained. Who, pray tell, could possibly have a grim vendetta against unheard of artists and their fledgling efforts? Isn’t that unspeakably petty - and retarded?

Prepare yourself, intrepid reader... You’re about to enter a world. A world of the strange, of the twisted, of the surreal. A world where every corner hides labyrinthine inanities, where business monopolies flounder in the face of absolutely no competition, and where gamma radiation renders health benefits. You’re about to enter... The Direct Market Zone!! Where the enemy - is you!

‘How can this be!’, you ask? ‘Me - enemy? What could I have done?’

Time to find out - with this scientifically formulated test! Just answer the questions below with ‘yes’, ‘no’, or uncooperative silence;

Question #1: Have you ever gone to a comic book convention and bought a... comic book?
Question #2: Have you ever discovered a new artist online or at a convention?
Question #3: Have you ever ordered a comic book online or viewed a webcomic?
Question #4: Have you ever sold a comic in any manner where Diamond didn't get a cut of the profits?

If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, then according to organizations in the Direct Market, you are... the problem.

No, that was not supposed to be a joke. I’m actually serious. The Direct Market has a problem with people enjoying comics beyond their own monopoly-fed system. And this is no vague attitude of jealous hostility - it's an explicitly expressed agenda.
Keeping lock-step with Diamond's dominion, 'brick-and-mortar' retailer groups 'ComicsPRO' and 'CBIA' have issued statements condemning anyone selling books outside of their own organization's stores. Sound just a touch unlikely? Heck, don't take my word for it - read their own press release:

"ComicsPRO asserts that direct-to-consumer sales of material prior to their release to retailers adversely affects potential sales in Direct Market stores belonging to our membership. When customers have already purchased products directly from a publisher before the retail channel is even able to stock these items, the cash flow and bottom lines of Direct Market retailers are noticeably impacted."
-ComicsPro

So, to paraphrase; Anything in the entire world of comics should be sold through their stores, first and only; AFTER they've had their fill of sales (theoretically - we are talking about those meccas of popularity, comic shops), the actual creators and publishers of the book may be granted permission to sell their work through other, less universe-centric venues. But if it's not on their shelves first - they think it shouldn't be anywhere.
Not at conventions, not on the internet, and certainly not in the hands of readers. In the Direct Market Zone, the most important component in the intimate relationship between creator and reader is... The monopoly-integrated middleman.

Yeesh, talk about your entitlement mindsets! These guys could write a book on the subject! ...Well, no, they actually couldn't, they don't 'work' to 'make' books... But they could sure sell the book! (As long as nobody else on earth were allowed to sell it first, leaving them as the only option remaining in our galaxy.)
Bear in mind the fact that, for all practical purposes, these stores obediently suckle from the catalog of Diamond and Diamond alone. If you're not a financially endowed member of the monopoly, odds are they're already uninterested in working outside their comfort zone with you. And if you're not on their shelves, then evidently they want you to quietly stop existing... Saving them the effort of closing their eyes and humming.

My first reaction upon reading ComicsPRO & CBIA's stance was incredulity... They can't really be that myopic. Clearly, I'm misunderstanding the situation. It's like that time with my Boglin in the public restroom, all over again... I needed to see things from their perspective!

"...It's my hope that in the future when you and others are reporting on matters such as this and find yourselves reacting to someone with such incredulity, and the first thought is to belittle them, that instead you will stop and do what you've done here. Present some well thought-out questions and opinions and ask for the same back. Education and respect is how the comic industry will move forward, lack of it is how it will die."
-Robert Scott, Spokesperson of the CBIA (Comic Book Industry Alliance)

Well, there's a breath of fresh air! This guy sounds pretty reasonable - education and respect? Big helpings of both, thanks! And he's the founder of the CBIA. Let's hear some more from him. (And what better way than to haphazardly paste his out-of-context statements across this article?) Understanding how an insider thinks is just what I need in order to dispel my zany notion that the Direct Market and its monopoly are out to get us little guys... Time to take off the aluminum foil hat. There won't be any insane, unjustified entitlement mentality with this fellow:

"I do believe that publishers owe it to me, and other retailers who support them, not to usurp our efforts, especially by taking unfair advantage of their ability to sell direct, uncontested and without notice, to the consumer."
-Robert Scott, Spokesperson of the CBIA

Oh, well... You know, cut him a break. He does work in a monopolized market after all, we can't expect him to latch onto the whole 'competition is healthy' idea right away. But the point is, the CBIA and those it represents are real, thinking people. They want comics to grow, and to surpass the limited market served by the Big Four. Especially after the huge success of 'Bone' and other fresh comics, they understand the value of diverse, new, creator owned ideas, and their potential in attracting new readers to-

"The most important (misconception) being, that increasing creator owned work is somehow going to "save comics", whatever that means. It makes good sound bites but that's about it."
-Robert Scott, Spokesperson of the CBIA

Hmm. O-kaayyy.... Not a big fan of creator - owned work... Well, assembly-line spandex certainly does have its place in the monopoly system. But, working first-hand in the industry, surely he at least agrees that the Direct Market isn't doing so hot with its current fare?

"No, I don't think the DM is functioning well."
-Robert Scott, Spokesperson of the CBIA

Thank you. There, you see? There is some common ground! It's hard to argue with the devastating effect that decades of stagnation under a monopoly has created. Now that we've established there is indeed a problem, we can all work together to-

"...the fault lays almost exclusively with these small press publishers. I am at a loss to think of any other industry where companies regularly form to create product that there is no demonstrable demand for, and whose chances for survival (not success but survival) are firmly attached solely to their ability to leech customers away from an existing consumer pool."
-Robert Scott, Spokesperson of the CBIA

...Leech? Wait, no... No way... I'm getting this wrong. He can't really be implying that Marvel and DC customers are drying up because... Marvel and DC, with their exclusivity deals and corporate backing and unquestioned shelf space, aren't selling well... Due to unheard-of fledglings outside the Big 4? Are these Direct Market loons really blaming the acorns for deforestation?

"...The biggest problem with hobby publishers is that it promotes unprofessional creative efforts and keeps potentially successful efforts from being successful with professional for-profit publishers."
-Robert Scott, Spokesperson of the CBIA

Oh. Oh, my... I think I hear it... The theme music is starting up- DEAR GOD! We're still in - the Direct Market Zone! Aieeeeeeeee!!!
The land of the strange and illogical; where reality meets expectation - and is warped to match it! Stay, brave reader - and marvel! Welcome to the Direct Market Zone!
Where 40,000 superhero fans comprise the sole souls who would ever consider picking up any comic - and millions of Bone readers mysteriously do not exist! Where if mainstream superhero titles don't meet with success - it's clearly because there's no demand for unprofessional independent comics!

Try wrapping your mind around the thought process justifying this - it's like one of those nifty brain teaser games! I'll spoil the surprise for you, though; there's no way to win and have it suddenly make sense. But if you're bored somewhere, give it a go anyways! It's right up there with trying to break the '4 Color Theorem'. Let's delve deeper into the abyss, shall we? Strap yourself in - things are starting to get interesting!

"If I were creating a comic that was not super hero centric, I would invest all of my efforts at reaching out to readers of my particular genre of choice, NOT super hero readers and the retailers who love them."
-Robert Scott, Spokesperson of the CBIA

Okaay... It looks like we're witnessing a lucid moment here. Nobody make any sudden moves. He seems to be saying that... if you're creating a different genre of comic, marketing to superhero comic shops might not be the best option. I'd have to be in agreement there. So - carefully, don't shatter the moment - it should therefore be alright to... Promote our projects... elsewhere? Like... (slooowly now!) ...conventions?

"Stop debuting projects at conventions AND use conventions for what they are really for, OUTREACH... You should know what conventions you're attending in advance, create a flier listing all known area retailers who support your product line and in conjunction with these retailers develop a bounce back reward program that will drive these motivated buyers into those shops."
-Robert Scott, Spokesperson of the CBIA

And the moment is gone.

Finally, we have the inside scoop on what conventions are *really* for! Pay attention, any readers or creators out there planning on attending a con - you may be getting it wrong! Conventions aren't about meeting people, browsing new work, or enjoying a community. That's an easy misconception to have - even I was fooled! But now we know conventions are really about... finding maps!
Heh, what had I been thinking? These ideas I get. Conventions are actually around because that's where people can go to get a map to somewhere else! Conventions are big traveling map kiosks; free, obligatory advertising outlets invented just special for local retailers. Why else would somebody attend a con? They show up so they can find directions to you, Rob!

"Publishers selling directly to consumers has some controversy attached. A lot of retailers in the comic book direct market take a very dim view of direct sales to consumers, especially at conventions. While it may not be a realistic view, it is not uncommon for retailers to view attempts to sell to the consumer as a direct attack on their store, regardless of whether they actually stock the product or if the sales generated actually come from their zip code."
-Todd Allen, Publisher's Weekly.

So, in the 'Direct Market Zone', there's no significant room for small press in Diamond, and no valid place for them in conventions... I guess that leaves the internet.

"I will not... support a business model (online only) that I feel is harmful to the industry as well as one that the CBIA was founded to help brick and mortar retailers fight."
-Robert Scott, Spokesperson of the CBIA
(Bold font emphasis gleefully inserted by David Lillie)

So the CBIA is here... To fight the internet.

...To Fight...

...The Internet.

I... I don't know what to say. What joke could top that? Rob, I'm sorry... But I think the battle is lost. Unless you were planning on sending a T-1000 back in time to kill Al Gore, it's too late. The internet wins.

'Harmful'?!

Let's just ignore, for a moment, that creator - owned webcomics are luring readers of all ages back to the medium of comics by the millions. Let's forget the affordability and effectiveness that the internet brings to marketing capacity. Let's not think about the enhancement to a readership that online community involvement fosters. Let's overlook the sheer artistic value of having a barrier - free venue for new talent of every stripe. Basically, let's forget the virtually indisputable fact that the internet is the best thing to happen to comics since Gutenberg.
Let's just say, for now, that the internet is bad for comics. Bad, bad internet! Even so, why try to 'fight' it? Shouldn't the Direct Market be expending its efforts trying to adapt to, and grow with the internet? Shouldn't the focus be on moving forward constructively? And even if they're determined to sit back and play victim to the changing times, why not just blame the changing times - why specifically blame independents? When their industry is all but closed to small press, why express hostility towards novice efforts outside the system? Why don't they just literally, you know... mind their own business?

There's a very obvious reason, and one that confirms the gist of my past articles... Their sales suck. They're feeling desperate. Pressured. If their stores were stuffed with customers, and their registers brimming over with cash, they'd be more than happy to mind their own business! They wouldn't care about 'unprofessional' efforts outside their walls. But, they do care. Comic shops haven't magically reversed their long, slow drag into obscurity - collectively, they're still struggling.
And of course they're struggling! They're working under a monopoly being force - fed the droppings of licensing operations, which have no appeal beyond a narrowing range of aging anachronistic readers! They've utterly fumbled the chance to engage a new generation in comics, and missed the train on manga because it fell outside their preconceptions! Their business is so dysfunctional, it's almost more as though the customers are serving their needs, rather than the other way around, with a buying trip to the comic shop being seen as an exercise in charity!

"...this system is screwy, old and broken. It’s almost being run the same way it was run in 1989, with very few improvements. So there… again I have complained or yammered about what a stupid system it is. I’ve used it, I’ve put up with it– but the bottom line is it doesn’t serve the consumer, publisher or retailer at all. Especially in 2009."
DJ Coffman

"I am at a loss as to why the comic industry has allowed Diamond to have a monopoly on its distribution. Geppi can scream that he doesn't all he wants but anyone that owns or has ever owned a comic store knows he is lying... ...As a retailer at the time, I noticed Diamond's customer service was the worse I've ever dealt with in any business and from what I understand, it hasn't changed. Why should it? You have to take what they dish out to stay in business."
-Rock8334

That's right - I'm quoting from rock8334. Only the highest standards of journalistic research and integrity with my articles!

So, there are problems in the Direct Market. I think we've beat that horse into a pulp by now. But rather than deal with the elephant in the canoe who's making them sell that pulp, CBIA and ComicsPro have valiantly leapt to action and decided to blame...

Those damn little guys.

For any psych undergrads looking to write a thesis on the mechanics of collective denial, look no further.
The Beat of Publisher's Weekly comments on the topic:

"They (CBIA & ComicsPro) can’t rail against Amazon, B&N, B&T, the internet, libraries, manga or anyone else, so they just lashed out at the nearest person... New publishers arriving on CBIA are inevitably met with suspicion and the equivalent of a “Are you now or have you ever been a publisher who might have sold a comic outside the direct market?” threshhold that just isn’t logical in today’s day and age."

Dealing with deep rooted problems, innovating, and coping with the changing times are all hard work. But finding a scapegoat? Easy and fun! Especially if it's a small defenseless scapegoat. With leukemia and big sad eyes. And a limp.

So here's a question - with the denizens of the Direct Market Zone screeching at any progress being made which doesn't drag them along with it, what's a young creator to do? Forge ahead through another route, and the gatekeepers of the Direct Market may mark you as an 'outsider.' Should we, the next generation of storytellers, grant the Direct Market precedence above every other potential avenue of sales and growth? Is innovation worth the censure? Is it worth an uphill struggle to try and fit into their limited, rectangular monopolized walls? And, considering the sad state of their market, do they merit the effort?

"Ultimately they don’t owe us anything but the reverse is true as well. If they don’t feel that the DM is an area that they need for their success, trust me, there are plenty of books out there for us to sell.... Have you seen (Diamond's) Previews lately? Its not getting any thinner. "
-Robert Scott, Spokesperson of the CBIA

"I think we will see a thinner Previews, yeah."
Bill Schanes, Diamond Vice President of Purchasing

Editing can be so, so fun. And evil. And fun.

To maintain even the pretense of equity, I need to emphasize how out-of-context all of these Robert Scott quotes are. He's a lot smarter when I don't dice his thoughts into slivers and rearrange them. In fact, he's actually an example of a comic retailer who's doing everything right; His store Comikaze intelligently incorporates manga, is effective at drawing in new customers, and has a layout and genre selection which offers something to everyone, especially to the new buyer. I'm using his quotes to make a point, but don't think that he's actually a clueless caricature outside of my rigged article. I am a storyteller, after all. (I never made any promises of journalistic integrity in here - Er, did I? ...No? Excellent! Forward, ho!)

Back on topic - It appears that Diamond's solicitation magazine, Previews, is slated to lose some weight. Just what's going on? And how does it relate to the Creator Revolution?

Well, strap yourself in. Because pondering whether or not it's worthwhile to placate the gatekeepers just became irrelevant... The gates have slammed shut and locked - from the inside. And there is a tiny Frenchmen perched at the top. Giving you a raspberry.
On January 19th of 2009, Diamond Distribution announced its new "DIE INSECTS!" business strategy. (I think they may have titled it something different - but I'm going for accuracy here.) And if their intent was to wipe small publishers and independents from the face of the earth, they couldn't have drafted a better plan... Unless of course it involved large quantities of sarin gas. Don't hold your breath waiting for that though, I doubt Diamond would ever truly be willing to use... I take it back. Hold your breath.

After years of pushing Marvel and DC crap into the Direct Market, and watching it wither and gag, Diamond's cunning new strategy is... To push even more Marvel and DC crap into the Direct Market, and erect massive financial barriers to blockade access from smaller publications and upstart creators.

Nothing like taking the long view into account.

Cartoonist DJ Coffman predicts the shift will “spell doom” for many current and future titles from small publishers.
So what exactly did Diamond do, anyways? Short answer - doom. Boring answer:

They raised their 'minimum profit benchmark' from $1,500 to $2,500.

Now, I know what you're thinking. 'Minimum profit benchmarks - finally, this article is getting juicy!'

Damn straight! But bear with me - there may be a few straggling, lost souls out there who are sadly uninitiated to the glittering magic of minimum profit benchmarks. Lets share our joy with them, shall we?
So, what exactly is a 'minimum profit benchmark?' Basically, it's an arbitrary quantity of cash that Diamond demands to achieve from every title it carries. If the minimum benchmark were zero, then Diamond would be covering all of its operating costs, shipping expenses, and vendor invoices just fine - but there'd be no extra profit. Those poor shareholders!

To avoid such a disaster, Diamond decrees minimum profit sums, or 'benchmarks' that each individual title must meet. Any titles falling short are dropped and cut off -effectively eliminated from every comic shop in America. Except, of course, for Big 4 titles - they have guaranteed exclusivity deals, don't forget. The rules don't apply to them, only to us little guys.
And with the recent dramatic benchmark increases, the rules have dramatically changed the game, by ending it.
How much of an impact does a $1,000 increase in the benchmark really make, though? For anyone who's not involved in publishing, these numbers and dry conversations about margins can seem a little abstract. To better convey the impending results of this business maneuver, let's hear from some other publishers and industry professionals - the ones without exclusive back-room hookups:

Jennifer de Guzman, editor-in-chief of SLG Publishing, asserts the rising threshold “puts all smaller publishers in a difficult position, and probably means the end of independent serialized comics.”

"What this signals to me is that in defiance of the trends of the culture towards smaller, more creator-owned work, Diamond is just interested in propping up already popular works. They’ve given up fostering the next Dash Shaw or Yokoyama — they’re essentially cutting off the potential for growth or surprise."
Dan Nadel- SLG Publishing

Johanna Draper Carlson, of 'Comics Worth Reading':
"The most likely result is the end of the independent series... I suspect we’re never again going to see something like a Bone or a Strangers in Paradise, a long-running series by a single creator.
Or as non Diamond-exclusive publishers told us in private emails (a sampling):
“It is going to be rough for us Top 20 publishers. It will be epic for anyone smaller. Lots of folks will vanish due to this, even some bigger guys.”
“I expect the new threshold to annihilate many of the smallest publishers and keep a lot of new ones out of Previews.”
and
“This is the single biggest event since Diamond became the monopoly that ruled comics.”

Tom Spurgeon quoted Publisher Dan Nadel as saying- (cover your ears, children!); “If true, I’m fucked.”

Also on Diamond's 'shit to fuck up' list: Shelf life. Simultaneous with their tycoonish benchmark hike, they've announced that they refuse to distribute or deal with any title once it's been released for 60 days. They won't let retailers order more copies, they won't sell editions to customers, and they sure as hell won't order more from publishers. The book is, quite simply, done. And if that title didn't meet their draconian benchmark within the ticking time limit - then it's the last title of that series that Direct Market customers will ever see.

If it's not an instant hit - it's an instant death.

Great news for the soulless speculation collector's market. Bad news for any young artists or creators who were hoping to ever have a place in comics. If your book isn't already at the apex of popularity upon the instant of its release, there's no chance of working up to that point through a quality effort. Strike one - You're out.

"...The amazing, long running successes of books like Bone, Strangers In Paradise, Mouse Guard and many more would be impossible under this situation... These books all generated readers and numbers through word of mouth, eventually becoming best-sellers. But these Diamond numbers effectively stop any possibility of a slow burn success. And of course, less publishers is a bad thing. Less variety means less potential interest from new readers. Which means a shrinking customer base. And that’s always bad news.”
-Richard Bruton

Well, I think that about covers it... Does anyone care about the Creator Revolution? Well, it seems that the entire Direct Market, from Diamond, to the Big 4, to retailer organizations, are doing their damnedest to put a stop to it.
They've collectively blockaded new artists and storytellers from distribution, are lobbying to prevent the sale of comics at conventions, have expressed a desire to 'fight' the internet, and done everything in their power to effectively gag smaller publishers. Except for the whole sarin gas thing... Don't stop holding your breath.

"Imagine a publisher who recognizes that the way to attract readers is to give them quality cartoons... and that the way to get quality cartoons is to offer artists a quality format and artistic freedom. Is it inconceivable such a venture could work?"
-Bill Watterson

Sadly - in today's Direct Market - yes.

*Sighhh....*

Storytelling. Using art, to tell a story, with words and pictures. Simple, innocent, and sincere... It takes a special soul to transform something so pure and straightforward into a twisted clusterfuck of crushing greed.

Thank you, Diamond.

It's enough to make me pause and reflect on why I've dedicated myself to comics in the first place.
This wasn't my only artistic option, or a last choice, or something I settled for. I could have been a rodeo clown. A destructive mad scientist. There's my skill at juggling invisible, silent steam shovels. Or, I could have been an animator. I've turned down recurring offers for continued freelance work, as well as an offer to move out for a full - time studio job. (I don't know how on earth they found my resume'... Evidently, there are still some demo DVDs floating around out there from my college days.) I've created professional 3-D and 2-D animation from scratch, had my work on television commercials selling cars, and in concept pitches for prospective TV shows. Whoop-dee-doo.
None of that ignited my imagination. I don't want to spend my life working on what's handed to me. I don't want to be a replaceable cog. I want to tell stories, without limitations, and without business considerations co-opting. In animation, the sheer cost of quality production demands business involvement. But in comics? What could get in the way of a clear fresh story there? In comics, creation is private, untarnished, and potent. In comics, I'd have no barriers to what I could create - only limitless possibilities.
Additionally, there's something intrinsically appealing in the medium of comics... There's a quiet sense of value in personally handcrafting an artistic tale, and delivering that story directly to a reader's eyes. There's something intangible there that even the more sophisticated entertainment forms, like platform gaming or big - budget animation, lack. There's an intimacy, a quiet magic to comics. There's no other medium I'd be happier to work in.
In short, I was drawn by the lure of freedom to make the business of comics my home.

...And then I find this god-awful mess.

A monopoly squatting on everything, new talent brushed to the wayside like garbage, sniping retail lobbies squawking at movement outside of their walls, and the 'mainstream' comics plastering those walls are so stuffed with advertising pages, that their story potential languishes even below their limited physical capacity. And when culture begins to shift, fueling the potential for a Creator Revolution - the established parasites rush to stomp it out.

So, what now? Should we call it quits? Accept the limitations on the business? Bow to the current circumstances? Give up? Abandon our dreams? Go home, forget our stories, grit our teeth, accept reality, and start learning to draw Batman?
Let me see... How to couch my sentiments within the proper context of propriety...

*Author's note; A paragraph has been removed at this point due to innovative and terrifying profanity, duration, and excessive gesticulation. We now return to our regularly scheduled article.*

...From the ass end of SATAN! With a CHERRY on top!

Whew... Sorry if I got a bit carried away there - but there can be no other answer! Quit!? What kind of schmoe quits just because the going is tough? What kind of a choice is that?
Quit.... Kick Ass. Quit.... Kick Ass. Quit.... Hmmm.

"If you don't hurry up and let life know what you want, life will damned soon show you what you'll get."
-Robertson Davies

From my brief endeavors to this point in comics, I know two things for a fact. One - there are talented artists and creators out there with something tantalizing to offer, something that doesn't fit the mold. And Two - there are readers - lots, and lots of readers out there - who are looking for exciting new art to enjoy. They're craving something fresh, something of quality, something original.
Those two ingredients (and coffee) are all we need to launch a creator revolution. They're small - but powerful, pure, unwavering - driven by the limitless force of creative aspiration. There's an inherent magnetism at work that no convoluted industrial conglomeration can smother. No matter how rigid their control over the channels of business in comics, no matter how long they've been calling the shots, the monopoly cannot control what we choose to create, and cannot dictate what will appeal to readers.

"I am drawn to people who choose to zig when the world zags. It is the ultimate form of freedom, and in that place of freedom, greatness happens. If you're locked into convention, if you're constantly measuring yourself against rules someone else has imposed, you've put a ceiling on what's possible. The most successful people in the world are those who separate themselves from the pack and dare to be different."
-Donny Deutsch

And wait just a minute! Is it really disastrous news that Diamond and the Direct Market are rejecting new creators and smaller publishers? Is this really a gloom - and - doom development for comics... Or is it something else? Is this a moldy old leftover squash - or a delicious slice of poundcake?
If you look at it from the mindset that the Direct Market Zone is the only outlet in reality for a comic book to exist, and that they shrivel and dissolve to ash outside of their 'proper' place, then yes. The news from Diamond is a disaster within that meek paradigm.
But the simple fact is... The Direct Market isn't the only place for comics. Not remotely. They'd love for you to think so. They'd like you to forget about the rest of the world. They don't want us to remember Barnes and Noble, independent bookstores, Amazon, conventions, small-town shops, mall stores, mail-order book clubs, libraries, schools, Europe, or webcomics.
Are we really losing the only game in town with Diamond? Or are we being relieved of a misrepresented distraction from true progress?

"For most of the new books we publish these days, the direct market accounts for about one-fourth of our initial sales. Over the last five years, our sales have gone up everywhere but the direct market. We are not costing the direct market sales — the direct market is costing itself sales (whether it be due to Diamond’s increasing inability to stay competitive with the rise of wholesalers and book trade distributors also selling graphic novels, or the 3000+ Diamond accounts out there that still don’t have any interest in diversifying their inventory and customer base by ordering outside of their own narrow tastes for the usual mainstream stuff). Interest in literary graphic novels has grown just about everywhere (in general bookstores, amongst the public, amongst the media, on the internet, etc.) over the last five years except in the direct market. We simply can’t afford anymore to make decisions out of fear of alienating such an increasingly small segment of our market. We could not survive in solely the direct market anymore: Marvel, DC, Image, etc. all ruined that possibility ten years ago with the exclusivity wars (which we fundamentally were opposed to from the get-go, a position which has probably hurt our standing in the D.M., but I have no regrets on that front. It was the right position to take)."
-Eric Reynolds

"...Hot Topic outsold the direct market by a wide margin on the titles it carried. Not only that, but if the chain merely chose to sample a title (carrying it in an unknown portion of its stores), it would still double the sales of the entire direct market. If you figure there are something like 2,500 direct market comic retailers and Hot Topic has somewhere in the vicinity of 700 stores, you can argue that Hot Topic was a lot more successful at placing Vado’s comics with customers. You can also speculate that if sampling a title doubled the direct market numbers, formally carrying a title should have been at least four times the amount of the direct market."
Todd Allen – Publisher’s Weekly.

"...in one weekend at the BEA, the book trade ordered three times as many copies of 'Blankets' as the entire direct market."
-The Comics Reporter – Tom Spurgeon

"This is not to say that there aren't publishers working hard to take chances in attracting new readers, but the smart ones have learned that doing so in the Direct Market is a sucker's game"
-Dirk Deppey

We're living in an exciting time for comics, standing on the shoulders of giants like Will Eisner. For the first time in nearly a century, society at large is ready to accept comics and graphic novels as a serious form of entertainment. They're ready to look past the spandex and see what else is out there.
Libraries are buying up graphic novels with assiduously growing interest. Chain bookstores are servicing growing crowds of manga readers, with entire sections devoted to sequential art. Welcoming comic, anime, furry, and other conventions are growing in popularity, size, and proliferation. And the internet is literally bursting with new comic art; webcomics and more flaring up in a growing starburst of activity - a starburst that is destined to expand along with the reach of the web, invading our phones, our i-pods, our picture frames, our television networks, our personal profiles and communications, in short, everywhere.
The horizon of potential directions for comics to grow has exploded. The limitations have dropped away. There are so many choices for artists of our generation, that quibbling over Diamond's actions is utterly pointless.

Who cares if the Direct Market is difficult to work with? There's the entire rest of the world out there! Including girls! Since Diamond's crushing business blow, the Creator Revolution has become our last viable option - but it can go anywhere!

Now, a brief note before ending this article... Is the Creator Revolution necessarily 'Anti - Diamond' and 'Anti - Comic Shop'? If an artist gets their work distributed through Diamond, are they suddenly a 'sell out', is their work somehow less valid than it was before?
Of course not! The Creator Revolution isn't an invitation for exclusionary snobbery, so we can turn our noses up at the mainstream while sipping frothy cappuccinos and wearing tiny circular shades during the day. (Or, at least, it shouldn't be just that.) It's about moving forward, not about pointing backwards and frowning.
I don't have a problem with comic shops - I mean, I love the medium of comics, so what's not to like about a store full of them? I think the idea of a comic store is great! Intrinsic monopoly difficulties aside, I certainly wouldn't deny comic shops the chance to carry my books in the future. Sure, why not?
I'd even be up for working with Diamond, in theory, if it were ever technically feasible in the real world. It's certainly not my first or best choice at this point... But if Diamond ever made it possible for more readers to enjoy my art, then why not? I'm not going to deny them the chance to do business with me. (I certainly wouldn't give them exclusive distribution rights, because that type of wheeling - and - dealing is how we got stuck with a monopoly. But I'd let them take a shot at competing in the marketplace with other vendors.)

So, despite the inanities of the Direct Market, I'm not drafting plans for a protest outside of Diamond's headquarters, or a march screaming that they should do business more fairly. They can do business however they want. What's it to me? It's a free-ish country, they can conduct themselves in any manner they choose. I hope comic shops find a way to prosper, and pull out of their slump - I hope everyone prospers! But I'm not going to slit my throat in more plausible arenas if that's what it takes for them to glance my way. They shouldn't expect the next generation of comic creators to jump on board their sinking ship, especially when they won't stop drilling holes to let all the water out.
The Creator Revolution is about successfully serving the needs of creators and readers. Entrepreneurs take note - any business that effectively aides in that process will find itself a profitable place in the world. And any business that fails to serve the needs of the market, while demanding arbitrary insertion into the process, well... Best of luck!
I'd advise other young creators out there - don't get worked up about Diamond or the Direct Market, or any of the nonsense I've highlighted in this article. Read it, and be aware of how things work in there... But focus your energy where it will make a difference. After all, it's not like they can actually stop us. Focus on what you're going to do right, not on what someone else is doing wrong.

...Which brings us to the final article in my series.

Enough about problems, obstacles, and limitations. It's getting tiresome talking about things that can't impede us. Now it's time to talk about success - and what we're going to do to create it.

ARTICLE #4: The Creator Revolution

The pen may be mightier than the sword, but most stories and artwork accessible to today's consumers are presented by media conglomerates and their CEO‘s... And the person holding the pen makes all the difference in the world. Genuine individual voices have managed to break through the shroud now and again, but never before have creators and readers had the chance to mandate the overall content of an entire entertainment industry for themselves...

Until now.

I have a very bright vision of the future for the comic industry - and I don't even use hallucinogens! Now, if you had a chance to read my last article about the business end of comics, you may question my enthusiastic outlook. After all, the entire purpose of the piece was to highlight a creativity-crushing fiscally hostile monopoly, and its utter dead-end consolidation of the Direct Market for comics. Considering that I'm an underfinanced creator on the outside of that citadel, what could my justification for a cheery disposition possibly be?

...Moon colonizing? What are you talking about? Stop being goofy.

I’m happy because there is unprecedented opportunity latent in the current state of affairs. With any extraordinarily bad situation comes equal potential for positive change, as I keep telling Michael Jackson. And in the comic industry, creativity has been crushed to the absolute rock-bottom for so long, that natural balance is just straining for a chance to bring things rocketing back to the surface. And the beautiful part is, the established dead - weight monopoly can’t take advantage of the resurgence - but independent creators can!
Before you peg my enthusiasm as being based on empty semantics or something undiagnosed, allow me to explain further.
When I say that the established companies are incapable of catching the imminent resurgence in comic readership, I really mean that - they literally cannot take advantage of new readers. In fact, they’re actually the reason there ARE so many new, available readers.
As highlighted in past articles, a (once) very big industry has done a very simple thing. The established companies, working together in a monopolized market, pushed out divergent, creative, and new competing ideas. And, long term, that’s the same thing as pushing out all the emerging, new readers. So the Direct Market for comics is now abandoned by readers - there’s nothing there for them to buy! The only fans left that patronize comic shops - Both Clark AND Stanley - are trained and conditioned to buy only the same heroes and same titles they’ve seen in the past. The audience for the Direct Market has, over decades of monotony, become irreversibly insular.
Even if the big comic companies tried to sell something new and creative, their sole surviving consumers in the Direct Market wouldn’t bite.
“It's because Direct Market customers are collectively uninterested in anything that isn't published by Marvel or DC that other comics publishers are in flight from the Direct Market” (Dirk Deppey)
If you want proof that there are masses of readers interested in comics that the Direct Market can’t reach, just look to the explosion of manga. Manga caters to millions of readers in the United States; readers that haven‘t, and have no desire to, set foot in a comic shop. In fact, estimates of manga sales in the US place about 97% of those sales OUTSIDE comic shops - outside the direct market, and away from the merry little monopoly which controls it. That means, effectively, that 97 percent of readers who would be interested in buying some kind of graphic book are staying out of comic shops - the very stores that are supposed to specialize in graphic-based books! What the HELL?! That would be like if 97% of people shopping for groceries never went into grocery stores!
“This is an insane state of affairs. The Direct Market's collective refusal to embrace manga in particular puts the current situation in such sharp relief that I'm simply amazed by the blinders needed to ignore it.” (Dirk Deppey)

The manga phenomenon proves two things -

One: There are tons of potential readers out there, just waiting to see some fun new graphic stuff to buy. Even if they can only get it black and white, small, backwards, and printed in a foreign language - they’re desperate for ANYTHING. Well, with some standards…
Two: ‘Anything’ does not include the stuff in comic shops, and the Big 4 monopoly’s tired product line. Sorry, Savage Dragon... Ant-Woman... But it's time to start having a serious conversation about retirement with a qualified agent.

It’s a fact. (I wrote it, after all - no need to question!) The Direct Market looks doomed. Through their own selfish actions, they’ve marginalized themselves - and the entire medium of comics - into obscurity. As a result, there’s a cultural vacuum to fill... And as experienced readers know, there's nothing quite like picking up a good comic book.

Their loss is anyone’s gain. The Japanese were able to strike it huge with manga in the United States - what's stopping us, the actual United States-ians?

Now, some people may think that only manga could be successful in comic form. I think that’s just a silly idea. I condemn those people to the 'Mojoverse', where they may join their ilk. Manga was a new flavor - the ONLY new flavor. Readers out there are hungry - it’s the perfect time for creators with fresh ideas to step forward. And don’t forget - manga is no longer the hot new thing. It’s beginning to show it’s age, and the early symptoms of HPCP... And Inu-Yasha. I rest my case.

Another success example proves, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that readers out there are really desperate for something new, manga or not - the success of ‘Bone’. The simple cartoonish adventures, initially rejected (of course) by the Big 4 monopoly system, went on to find a readership in the millions! Have you ever read ‘Bone‘!? Keeping in mind it’s endless awards and international medals and multi-million readership? It’s like watching a drag race, but the quadriplegic in the wheelchair wins! The cars are broken, folks! It’s time to get in the running! (Not that Bone isn’t good - but, I mean, geez - if Bone can do it!? Let’s go!)
There is serious potential out there for young creators willing to put forth the talent and perseverance. Just imagine, if someone could ignite the same level of interest as the Bone series - but instead of using their success as an opportunity to sell out and join the Diamond monopoly, they forged ahead independently, blazing the trail for the next generation of creators.

Just imagine what it would be like if the comic industry returned - monopoly free, and controlled only by the appetites of readers and the talent of creators! Change is in the air. To accomplish definitive change, however, a clear and vivid vision to strive towards is necessary. Although our reach may be confined by limitations within the real world, let it not be confined first by a paucity or timidity of imagination. I ask for some tolerance then, while I share my ideal for what could be…

Imagine if independent publishers and creators began to flourish in comics, outside of the monopoly. No licensing-oriented editors nuking original submissions, no impenetrable distribution system shunning smaller publishers, no business interests shielding the marketplace from ideas beyond their own stagnant offerings. What if the middlemen weren’t around to dictate the public’s taste?
Imagine if readers were the ones deciding whether a book is worth buying or not. Imagine, for a moment, what kinds of comics would fill the shelves if nobody were forcing the creators into a dysfunctional mold. What if artistic quality, originality, story, and personal enterprise were the only deciding factors in the success of a series? What kind of books would we see then? A market where the content is decided solely by readers, and creators - the storytellers, and their audience. A market where anyone can make a contribution.
Now, imagine if this revitalized comic market regained it’s position as a component of mainstream culture. Valid, individual creators, standing side by side in the same spotlight as Time Warner, Universal, Disney... Real people - with a voice that no board room could censor, because these would be creators who are not owned.
Originating with the birth of industrial America, comics became the voice for those who had no voice - the haven of expression for the unwanted, the first popular counter-culture media of the country. A frantic nation silenced those voices with the oppressive Comics Code, and the medium has never since fully recovered... Stan Lee, when moving forward under the code with Marvel, stated 'We're not trying to change the world.' Pity - because for a long time, the Diamond monopoly has ensured that nobody else will, either.
Today, comic books have the potential to become the ONLY modern entertainment industry free of control from corporate business interests, the only industry where the artists and writers call the shots. Comics can be created by anyone, read by anyone, and say anything. Imagine the relevence that comics could have in our society! What if - just what if - we could build a new, free market for comics, where the only price of admission is a pencil and some imagination?

If this sounds crazy to you, read some history books - crazier things have happened. Why not this? Why not try? And while we’re in Unicornia, here’s some more things to add to the shopping cart;

* The ability to teleport at will.
* Real Unmeltable ice-cream. (Dippin' Dots do not count)
* A health care system where the bottom line is caring for people's health.
* Blue dogs.


Now, realizing such an ambitious goal will be no picnic. It won't be easy, and it won't happen overnight. There will be hurdles, points of failure, opportunities for quitting... But if we remain steadfast, there are some elements to this equation that stand in our favor. Here are the 3 main reasons that the creator revolution can and will happen for comics:

Reason for success #1: Entry cost. In comic books, the overhead cost for creating a finished product is lower than in any other form of entertainment, aside from watching kids cry at the zoo. Think about it - how much does it cost to produce a quality film? The equipment alone is steep - lighting rigs, cameras, actors, sets, costuming, just to scratch the surface. In music there is recording equipment, musical instruments, rented studio time… In comic books, you just need some basic art supplies, a decent computer, and there. You’ve got everything you need. Anyone with a few bucks, a computer, and the gusto is ready to start creating. In fact, for those on a truly tight budget, a copy machine and a stapler could remove even the need for a computer workstation.

Reason for success #2: Industry competition. ...There isn't any. Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, the Diamond Big Boys have no hold on the vast majority of potential readers, as mentioned above. Just think if you decided to produce a creator owned action movie - you would be directly competing with Hollywood. You wouldn't have their distribution connections, their access to resources and acting talent, or their business hookups. Even if you finished your action movie and somehow released it, guess what? About 3 major studios are releasing big-budget action films the same month, with millions in marketing dollars behind them. There is no reason for the public to take an interest in your unheard of film over the other, better marketed, more professionally produced options.
On the other hand... With comics, who are you trying to surpass? What is the standard of quality to compete with, the other title vying for modern readers? She-Hulk! Do you even know anyone who spends money on She-Hulk? How many normal kids in high school right now would ignore a new comic idea because they just can’t wait for the latest She-Hulk to hit shelves? You’re starting to get the picture here?

Reason for success #3: Advancing technology. Technology is on our side. What are the normal costs associated with publishing books or comics? Well, printing the actual books off, and secondly finding some way to market or promote those books to readers. Ten years ago, you’d have a tough time with all of this, unless you had deep pockets. Today? You’re pretty much set! Rather than be forced into printing thousands of copies of your book on a slim hope, at high cost, you can go to any Print-On-Demand service online, submit your files, and buy however many books you can afford - even just one! At a consistent and even cost per book, no matter how few you order. There’s a lot of these services - Lulu, ComiXpress, and Ka-Blam just to name a few.
And as for promoting your book at low cost - well, where exactly are you reading this article? How much do you think it cost me to post this up? How much does it cost to set up some art accounts to promote your work, join a few forums, a few online comic communities? It’s the Digital Age, you don’t have to cough up cash for expensive magazine ads or costly retail placement. All it takes now is effort and a little thought. The tools we have now would make previous generations livid with envy. With all this emerging power at our disposal, how could we not succeed!?

In fact, to be perfectly frank, the creator revolution is already well underway. It just hasn’t been formally recognized yet! The insanely rapid proliferation and universal acceptance of web-comics has already far exceeded the Big-4 comic dinosaurs in terms of audience and cultural relevance. And among the web-comics, while many are primitive and cursory attempts, there are fantastic, hilarious, colorful, stunning examples of fun and innovative creativity! And, tellingly, virtually nothing that faithfully mimics the ‘mainstream’ superhero genre… Yet readers are surging online in ever-greater numbers to devour this new wave of graphic literature.
Art accounts are thriving with amazingly talented artists and creators, many of whom have their own web-comics, or even more ambitious ventures.
Young creators are finding their own online, and readers are likewise discovering this haven of uncontrolled art and fun. The only thin barrier standing between the growing community of creators and their own successful entertainment industry is public awareness and profitable distribution. Once those hurdles are surpassed, a gold-rush renaissance of art will be at hand! Attempting this revolution will be uphill and unguaranteed - but why live life without striving for something bold and vivid?

Oh, sex and drugs, well... You know, I meant besides that. Please, there could be kids reading this.

A Creator Revolution is happening right now. I think it's time to take it public - and start turning the dreams of today's independent artists into careers. I see better work online than in comic shops and book stores; It's time to make a market where we can show the world what we can do - and maybe even get paid to do it. It's time to get organized, come together, and start making some plans. Although I've started my own small publishing company with 'Vivid Publishing,' the creator revolution is something much, much bigger than myself, and will have to include the efforts of greater minds than my own.

In my next article, I'll draft a proposal on how to go about building this new market of comic creators. I'll share some brainstorms on how to effectively bring together disparate independent artists under one beneficial movement, and throw out concepts for building a new kind of comic book market - one that works... And one that we are a part of.

ARTICLE 3: Score one for Idiocy (aka the History of Comics and how Wall Street Honchos ruined everything.)

No, seriously, Wall Street actually did have a hand in ruining comics - now mind, this is far before they had a hand in ruining the rest of the economy. Think of it as their practice run. I know it’s conveniently simple to blame the evil rich guys, but in this case, it’s also hilariously true. Somebody could make a Saturday morning cartoon out of this thing. (Hmm…) There’s greed, back-room dealing, corruption, scheming, and colossal failure. It’s like Washington DC, only funnier, because it’s all done over the control of super-powered men in tights and it‘s not spending my tax dollars.

Things begin with the formation of the Direct Market…

Now, don’t stop reading just because that last sentence sounded totally boring. I promise, this comic-book business history stuff is really quite fascinating if you consider the ramifications of… I’m not helping my case, am I?
Alright, listen. There’s something super sexy at the end of this article. Ultra sexy. Crazy sexy. You can’t even imagine how insanely sexy it’ll be. But wait! - no scrolling ahead allowed! Just slog through my ramblings, and it’ll pay off later!

Saying the Direct Market was coalescing in the 1970’s is really just a fancy way of saying comic book shops were coming into existence. Comics were fading out from the news-stand scene and coming into their own. It was a very exciting time. At least, planning on being conceived in about a decade, I thought so.
The insanely puritanical Comics Code was being slowly shrugged off, and with the retail outlets created for comics, the market was growing rapidly. Super-hero comics, reflecting the values of the times, were a popular genre. There were a dozen or so distributors, many smaller publishers getting into the game, and the scope of the medium started to open up.
Rick Veitch writes, “As the 1980’s began, many people were certain that comics had entered a new golden age, at long last poised to rise out of the ashes of censorship and juvenilia…”
The potential was there, but the big guys - Marvel and DC - got a new set of priorities. Instead of striving to create the best stories and books they could, they started striving to dominate as much of the market share as possible. Money became the priority, and they figured the best way to get it was to ensure that there was no competition. “Both (Marvel and DC), now owned by large corporations, swamped the new direct sales market with bloated lines of superhero books and used every means at their disposal to bankrupt the upstart competition…” (Rick Veitch)

Remember that last article, about HPCP? There it is, starting it’s diabolical work in the comics industry. But it’s effects were unnaturally frozen in place after a disastrous power play by Marvel went awry…
The expanding color and fun of the comic industry attracted the attention of Wall Street - but not for the books. They smelled MEGABUCKS. ‘There’s big cash monies in this here comic - stuff!’
Marvel was bought by a financial tycoon, Ronald Perleman - called by some the ‘junk - bond king‘. The top management levels of Marvel were filled with executives from Fox Television, Kenner Toys, TBS, the NBA, for crying out loud - people that had absolutely no clue or passion about comics. But, boy, did they like money.
Jealous of DC’s cozy whore/pimp relationship with Time Warner Communications, the new (publicly traded) Marvel decided it had to become a “comprehensive, global, youth-marketing company.” (McAllister 2001) If that doesn’t sound like a winning plan, I guess it at least sounded good to the stockholders. My plan would’ve been “make really good books and sell them,” but that’s just me.
The big players in the comic world started trying furiously to out-do one another. I guess they felt compelled to match the behavior of the muscle-bound stereotypes they were recycling. For a time the industry utterly forgot about this little thing called the readers. Evidently, these guys adopted their business strategies by emulating the petty, obstinate power plays of monarchies in the Dark Ages. Now if they had also adopted the same dress code, that would be something to see!
Marvel started buying up everything in sight - smaller publishers, sports cards companies, sticker companies, children’s magazine publishers, and then, they made their Big Move. (Gangbusters music begins now.)

In a sleazy ploy, Marvel -well aware of it’s position in the market- decided to take a swipe at seizing control of the comic book world‘s supply lines. The plan was to buy a distributing company, and then use it to distribute all Marvel titles exclusively - refusing to let other distributors sell a single lonely edition. The Wall-Street fat cats planned to stomp out the competing distributors in this manner, since the idea was they would all go out of business if they couldn’t gain access to Marvel merchandise. Then, when Marvel owned the sole remaining distribution network, their nemesis DC would be at their complete mercy! MUAH -Ha - HAH! And all of Comic-dom would be at THEIR COMMAND!
No, I’m not making this up - they really went the whole evil-master-plan route. I think phase two was a volcano island base somewhere, and a Washington lobbying organization…
“Near monopolistic control by one omnipotent company… Has occurred because of the 1990’s attempted industrial coup by Marvel.” (McAllister 2001)

It wiped out the competition, all right… All of it.
There were 10 significant distributors working in comics before the Marvelicious revolution. Within a year of the play, there was only one left. The distributors, working within very narrow profit margins, were unable to survive without the volume of Marvel books feeding their bottom line. They were bought out, bankrupted, or just plain forced out of the industry. Farewell, diversity.

Want to know what’s funny about Marvel‘s little takeover, though? …This is great. It’s hilarious. It’s poetic justice in action… Marvel isn’t the company that wound up in control of the monopoly. Listen to this. (And imagine what it would be like if it were a Three Stooges episode.)

DC Comics and Diamond Distribution, reacting swiftly to Marvel’s vertical integration scheme, decided to up the ante. They held an emergency closed-doors meeting - (TO THE BAT CAVE!) - and came up with their own scheme.

DC announced publicly that it would also be working exclusively with one distributor - Diamond. This hard-ball reaction guaranteed the annihilation of every other distributor in the business, as they were all denied access to both Marvel and DC comics.


But the DC scheme wasn’t just a hard-ball reaction… there was a little more planning involved than that. (Juicy, ain’t it?) As the announcement of further consolidation hit, Diamond sent emissaries to the other major publishing houses, Image and Dark Horse - offering them exclusive deals, as well… The message was simple; “You’re either with us… or you’re not.” The prospect of being locked out on the dying - fields with the doomed distributors wasn’t too appealing, so of course they fell in line. Home of the Brave, after all.

So, the field was down to two: Marvel with their acquired distributor Heroes World, and Diamond with all the other big publishers.
Marvel’s little takeover plan turned out to be a total disaster. Heroes World couldn’t handle the gargantuan task of distributing the endless rank and file of Marvel’s cloned superhero crap. Retailers couldn’t get their orders filled. Shelves sat void of She-Hulk. Phone lines literally overheated at Heroes World headquarters, putting them out of contact with enraged storeowners. The situation deteriorated into a genuine debacle, one of the worst (or best?) business implosions of the twentieth century. Heroes World collapsed in screaming, agonizing failure, shattering Marvel’s hand-rubbing dreams of power.

...Left with nobody else to distribute their work, Marvel had only one choice. Seduced by the Dark Side of the Force, they joined the Diamond monopoly, transforming it into an all - powerful Comic Empire. (Cue Imperial March score.)

With literally no competition, Diamond was free to name it’s own terms. But not wishing to alienate it’s biggest and best customers, it forged exclusive ’brokerage’ agreements with the Big 4...
“These special status agreements… allow the four largest publishers to control their own discount structure (Diamond dictates a higher rate to all other suppliers) and assures them the most and best space in Diamond’s monthly product catalog. The end result is that, not only is it harder for retailers to order comics that aren’t published by the Big 4, but there is less incentive for stores to carry anything but Marvel, DC, Image, and Dark Horse, since those companies get a preferred price advantage built into their discount structure. If you’ve noticed your comic book store is carrying less and less of the good stuff and more and more of the same-old same-old, this is why… Small and self publishers, who have traditionally provided a creative cornucopia of diverse products, are being squeezed out of business - while the Big 4, in monopolistic cahoots with the last distributor, continue to flood the market with lousy superhero books that don’t sell.” (Rick Veitch)

Tell ‘em, Rick!

Of course, operating an exclusive kick-back laden market-hogging monopoly is theoretically illegal in the United States - which is why Diamond was put under investigation by the Justice Department in 1997 to determine if “Illegal trade restraints exist in comic book distribution.”
“…this arrangement gives the big two leverage over the marketplace that other publishers simply cannot match; the cash available to retailers is finite, which means that if either Marvel or DC decide to publish more titles on a given month, correspondingly less capital will be available to retailers when ordering other titles, allowing the big two to literally flood their competitors off the shelves.” (Dirk Deppey)

Luckily, the government never screws anything up. They quickly realized that there were really lots of distributors out there, so there must not be any monopoly… Of course, they listed book distributors - books, as in Charles Dickens and Jane Austin. Evidently, when investigating the comic-book market monopoly, they forgot that it was actually about comic books.. (WTF!?!?!) That, or maybe a now-giant corporation greased the wheels a bit. Who’s to say? I honestly can’t decide if beaurocratic ineptitude or corruption is to blame. I guess it’s a toss-up. Pick your favorite. I like grape!


History lesson over; Now, fire up that Dolorian and flash to the present-

Diamond is now the undisputed industry titan. It is common knowledge that any publisher wishing to see the inside of a comic store had best start begging the tyrant for a bestowment of opportunity.
“Steve (Steve Geppi, president of Diamond) is now in a position to completely control the ebb and flow of the comics market. If he liked a particular comic book, he could promote the hell out of it. If he didn’t like a particular comic book, he could bury it. If a particular publisher offended him (Sure hope he doesn’t read my article!) or proved too troublesome to carry, he could effectively put the publisher out of business.” (Peter David, 1996 - Parenthesis included by David Lillie 2008)

But are things really that bad? So what if the whole industry is controlled by one company? So what if tons of smaller publishers were put out of business forever? So what if the Federal Reserve is unconstitutionally owned by private interests? Who cares? It’s not like Diamond is evil or anything. You’d think having absolutely no competition would be a bad thing, but, come on. They just want to make money and sell some books, right? Where’s the harm? After all, Diamond has promised to value the interests of small publishers and diversity. Whew! Good thing Diamond is all about promoting diversity! Right? They promised! Right?

You know how politicians always promise to serve their offices with dignity and integrity? Yeah, well, it was one of those kinds of promises, something to paste on a press release and forget about. Don’t believe me?

An honest glance through an average (customer-free) comic shop tells the tale; the Big 4 are still in charge - and, surprise, the store is filled with their shopper-repellent (Superhero comics). Comic sales continue to track their terminal slump, as repetitive material fails to ignite the interest and imagination of consumers. The industry creators are resorting to pathetic gimmicks, struggling to scrape together publicity -
“EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT! Spider-man’s radioactive sperm kills Mary Jane!”
“Hulk was green - but now - but now he’s RED!”
“What if, like, all of the superheroes were also - it’s the popular thing now, right?- were also ZOMBIES!”
“Um, some of the heroes aren’t really heroes - they’re ALIENS IN DISGUISE! Wow - better buy a copy now, right?”

Please.

Now, don’t worry if you’re just reading this article for that super-ultra sexy thing I promised- it wasn’t that Spiderman bit. It’s still coming up, relax.

Besides the obvious zero-competition closed-doors monopoly situation, what are the major reasons we aren’t seeing any fresh new talented creations in the industry? (Key phrase ‘in the industry’…) Well, there are three big reasons, which I’ll only go into briefly; (You can tell I’m lying about the ‘briefly’ part, can’t you?)

REASON ONE: The Big 4 have hijacked not only the entire market share of the comic book industry, they have hijacked the very definition of what comics are. Since they focus on superhero stuff, and it used to be big in the past, (HPCP - guaranteed hit!!) and they aren’t creative enough to think up new ideas, they define the entire world of comics on their terms.
“As DC, Marvel, and the similarly marketed Image establish the marketplace definition of comics (Featuring overly - endowed male or female superheroes itching for a fight), even new publishers, seeking to fit in with marketplace predictability, accept this definition… Publishers who attempt to publish non-superhero comics may find distributors and retailers not supporting their efforts…” (McAllister 2001)
“Anything that doesn't have tights on it has to be literally hand-sold by its creators…” (J. Hues)


REASON TWO: Diamond is a big business, and - let’s be realistic - they’re set up to work with big businesses. Little publishers with original ideas are shouldered out financially.
For this, I don’t even need any references -I’ve got firsthand knowledge. First, a bit of background info on what a distributor is supposed to be.
Basically, in the normal world of bookselling, you can go with a distributor, or a wholesaler to get your books in stores. What’s the difference, you ask? (Because I know you’re interested.) Wholesalers buy your books from you for about half price, so you get to keep 50%-45% off the retail value - which is decent. However, since they give you a good cut, the wholesalers aren’t going to run around and put a lot of effort into selling your books. They’ll sell ’em if people ask for ’em, but that’s about it.
Distributors (Again, in the normal world) take a bigger piece of your action - usually 60%. So you only make 40% off the retail value. But a distributor justifies this cost by actively promoting your book - they have full time sales reps in the field, they promote your line at trade shows, they make calls to stores, and basically, they use that extra chunk of money you give them to bust their ass on marketing to drive sales.

Back to “comic world”, where Diamond is the King, with none to challenge rule:
Diamond takes a HUGE chunk of the pie, leaving publishers (At least, outside the Big 4) with a paltry 35% of the retail value. 35%. So if you go to all the trouble and work of publishing a great book worth ten dollars, you keep a lousy $3.50, before taxes. Keep in mind, this is after the publisher pays their authors, pays their overhead, pays for the ISBN codes, pays for printing cost, and pays to have the books shipped to Diamond. (That’s right - Diamond Distribution doesn’t even cover shipping.)
Now, for a reality check to those who haven’t tried printing their own work before - you lose. Simple as that. With only 35% of the value, the only way you can make back your money is to print thousands (minimum) of copies of your book, and to miraculously sell every copy through Diamond - if you can only afford a few hundred books, you’ll lose money no matter what. Good luck staying in business.
And that’s IF Diamond sells EVERY one of your copies, mind. Fat chance of that - remember those sales services I mentioned up there that normal distributors do? Diamond charges you extra for them - out the nose, to be exact. Here are a few small examples:

Invoice Message service - $150
ReOrder Confirmation Message - $100
Mailings - $20 an hour, plus 20% postage.
Point of Purchase Display - $100
Sales Rep visits- $35 per hour per rep
Phone calls to accounts - $250 a week

So, they charge you if they make phone calls about your book, they charge you if they’re at a convention where you want your book visible on the table, they charge you to remind retailers your book exists, and this is even BEFORE they charge placement rates in their ‘Previews’ catalogue.
Friendly to small publishers, my ass. Patting independence cliché Jeff Smith on the head nonstop doesn’t mean you viably promote independent comics.
Diamond does have the ‘Indie Edge’ blog on their site… The issue I read touted Mike Allred. His featured work included superhero comic Madman and the Atomics (being reprinted by Image), X-tatix (Another super hero book with a ‘Marvel Comics’ logo emblazoned across the top) as well as a random advertisement for ‘Fable’, which isn’t exactly independent - it’s owned by Vertigo, which is owned by DC, which is owned by Time Warner Communications, which now owns a 78% share of God. All in all, their Indie section was a token piece of lip-service plastered with Big 4 ads.
So, Diamond is definitely playing its part in keeping fresh ideas out of the industry.
But here comes the biggest reason for the current, undying stagnation in the Direct Market…

REASON 3: Licensing.
You’d think with terrible sales and receding readership, the Big 4 comic book companies would be driven by the almighty dollar to find something that sells. That if not for creativity, at least for the sake of cash they would try to pick their industry up out of the gutter. Well, they couldn’t care less about slipping comic book sales, because they don’t need the money. They have bigger fish to fry.
Comic book companies don’t stay in business by selling comic books. That would make too much sense. (And result in a moderate concern for quality and reader satisfaction.) The Big 4 stay in business by licensing their ‘products’ (characters) out to other corporations. Movie contracts, TV deals, Toy contracts, clothing lines - big time licensing pads the income of Marvel and DC so well that they couldn’t care less about how their actual books are doing. Have you ever seen any Batman toys in a toy store before? Maybe a couple?
“The revenue from comics was quickly becoming, to use the words of one industry analyst, ‘chump change.’… By the late 1990’s, Marvel management clearly viewed the organization as a licensing, not a comic book, company.” (McAllister 2001)

Take a minute to let the implications of this sink in… The only corporations with a major presence in the field of creating and selling comic books don’t really care if anyone buys their books. There is ZERO incentive for quality. Do you really think these established corporate icons are going to put effort into books that they have no need to sell?
Now, I’m sure the individual creators working in the industry try their best - like Peter David, who was pushed off the Hulk series by pressure from Marvel to write a more marketable, stupid version of Hulk. He was replaced by John Byrne, who was willing to render the stereotypical, same-old same-old shallow version, because “That’s the direction Marvel wants to go.” (Byrne 1998)

Hulk isn’t in comics to make good comics - he’s just there to sell movie deals and plastic Hulk-shaped sippy-cups in Walmart. (Although those Hulk-Smash fists are great - I wholeheartedly support anything that removes the use of opposable thumbs from shrieking children.)
To quote McAllister, “The emphasis on licensing, rather than on comic books, may influence the creation of comic books in a way that may be good for licensing activity but not good for the comic book industry. As the comics industry becomes one link in the chain of media conglomerates, it may set less priority on the creation of good books… Changes in comic book characters reveal the lower status that the comic book medium has in comparison with other windows of revenue.”



You wanted to know what happened to comics - and now you do. Some high-rolling fat cats crashed the industry and set up a monopoly in the mid 90’s, and now we’re stuck with Diamond. It’s rigged so, even though they’re the only interests with the leverage to sell books, they have absolutely no financial need to do anything besides squash competing ideas. New, original, creative work from upstart publishers is deliberately squelched financially before it gets exposure. With the lion’s share of the market reserved via back-room dealing for the big boys, and the fact that the big boys are too high and mighty to worry about little things like good books, we’re stuck in a system that manufactures mediocrity and zaps competition.

Now, after wading through all my high falutin’ self-righteous indignation up there, it’d be easy to get the idea I’m some anti-business, anti-licensing, anti-media idealist who only believes in always being victimized. Not the case! (Yet!) I’m looking forward to the day when I will expand Vivid Publishing, and make some beneficial licensing deals of my own. It would be fun to have some Dreamkeepers merchandise in stores, and maybe a well-done, supervised cartoon out there. Licensing and money are potentially great tools. As long as the quality and integrity of the original characters and story are always the priority, additional success is a good thing. Licensing activity is only bad when it takes precedence over telling a good story - when the characters don‘t act real, but instead act marketable. (Admit it - if Mickey Mouse ever stubbed a toe and dropped an F-bomb, you’d be impressed.)

Another impression you might have garnished is that I’m depressed about the current sad state of comics. Oh no, they don’t play fair! Oh no, comics are receding!

Quite the opposite. I’m good. I’m ecstatic. I couldn’t be happier about the state of things. I’ve got a jack-o-lantern sized grin carving through my face right now.

In the short time I’ve been working in comics, I’ve seen two things - talented young artists without a place in the current system, and surprised, delighted readers enjoying the new material I’m presenting them... Readers that weren’t interested in the existing run-of-the-mill Big 4 selection. Readers that are, so to speak, available.
“Comic shops are reaching just shy of 3% of their potential audience with their current tactics. That's a lot of untapped potential…” (J. Hues)

The established monopoly has complete control, alright… Control over a tiny, dying corner of comics - their corner. And they’re welcome to it.

As for the rest of comics? A dormant giant sleeps, ready to be awakened at any moment. Readers are ready for something new. Readers are ready for something original. They are ready for some fresh, relevant comics - and that’s exactly what today’s young creators have to offer. The comic book market today, the real market awaiting discovery, is unclaimed and desperate for new talent to emerge.

In my next article, I’ll be talking about the imminent comic revolution happening right now. Who cares if the old industry is broken? It’s about to be history. And we’re going to be the future.






…







…What are you still doing here? The article’s over.





…Oh, that’s right. You want the super-ultra sexy thing. You didn’t scroll ahead, did you? If you did, GO BACK! Read your vegetables!

Are we set?

Alright, well, here it is:

You're welcome.

ARTICLE 2: HPCP - The Infection.

In my last article, ‘Comics; the Banished Medium’, I promised I’d have the answer to why comics declined in our society, and that it would be a compelling account of greed and corruption. Well, I lied - the whole greed story is in my NEXT article.

SIDETRACKED!!

I thought it would be good to address a tangential idea, first… The idea that perhaps comics just inherently suck, and that’s why nobody buys them anymore. Here we go - hang on to your hats!

(I’m getting that strange, tingly bad-idea feeling right now… I had it at that anime convention, where I hosted a panel, and told everyone that anime looks repetitive and uniform… And now I’m about to go - on the internet - and discuss why comics suck so much. Maybe I'm honing some subconscious desire to see myself tarred and feathered - wonder what Freud would think about that? )

Some would say that comics, as a medium in general, are obsolete. Hopelessly outdated and outmoded by flashier forms of entertainment. After all, nowadays we have big budget Hollywood extravaganzas, immersive and intense gaming experiences, books with better letters, Paris Hiltons to watch on TV, and ‘American Idle‘. It could be said that comics are dying through natural selection, Darwinian failure - that comics, as a medium, are intrinsically inferior.

I could not disagree more. Nothing is inferior to ‘Battlefield Earth’. It has been scientifically proven that Travolta cavorting as a smug Klingon-knockoff is the baseline of entertainment, or in technical terms, “ the absolute zero of ETV (entertainment value), wherein interest and believability engage in a cessation of movement at the molecular scale.”

The medium of comics is far from inferior! It possesses all the potential strengths of any work of literature, combined with the avid visual appeal of dynamic illustrations and pictorial storytelling. The possibility for great work is literally boundless in a concept as simple and flexible as visual literature. Additionally, all the financially stunning graphics and THX ear-popping sound films offer still can’t compete with the simple charm of holding a book while turning a page in captivation and suspense.
Why, for a totally unbiased random example, just look at the critically acclaimed Dreamkeepers saga, with which I may be circumstantially affiliated! And there you have it - proof that comics can be amazing. We should all applaud, appreciate, and give our business to Vivid Publishing, the bold venture behind Dreamkeepers which may, tangentially, possibly be somewhat completely owned by me.
But hell, don’t take my opinion for fact. (Historically a disastrous idea.) Let’s look at some living proof - manga. Manga hit the US like an avalanche in terms of graphic novel sales and popularity. If better films and glitzier games were really the sole reason for the decline of comics, then how could the gargantuan frenzy of popularity over manga - simple, black and white, ass-backwards manga - possibly be explained? Aside from mind control chips, which the Japanese would never, ever make?
You could claim that manga is only popular because anime is shown on TV; but if you recall, Spiderman, the Justice League, Superman, Batman, and a host of others have all had - and recently, too! - popular television series, yet those shows had little impact on dismal comic sales. (Keep in mind, these shows probably have nothing to do with the fact that DC is in reality an appendage of corporate monolith Time Warner communications.) No, the surge of manga success, admittedly, speaks for itself... And stands as irrefutable proof that the medium of comic art is not some universally inferior, outmoded lark.

So, the decline of American comics cannot be excused by the medium. That only leaves one possibility, ladies and gents… It’s the content. Now, entrenched comic industry geeks like to blame the taste of the public for declining sales, as though people have some obligation to go out and support crappy products. But if your story is something that people can easily drift away from, the problem is not with the readers… Sorry, guys, but the current cultural obscurity of comics is well earned.

So, why is the current content in comics so tepid? Why don’t today’s creators just make good comics? I mean, the Japanese can do it with manga, and we nuked the hell out of them in WWII, so shouldn‘t we be able to beat them again? (With comics - not with nukes... Unless doing so is absolutely necessary to reduce creative competition.)

Well, there’s the whole evil greed story for later, but this article would be a good time to get into another culprit in the gruesome death of comics - HPCP.

Yes, HPCP, the same vile influence eroding the quality and integrity of entertainment everywhere. Not even a condom can protect against HPCP. Not even two condoms. What is this terrifying disease, you ask?
Hollywood Piggyback Clone Phenomena.
Yes, I made the name up. No, it is not a joke. This is serious. In a nutshell, HPCP is what happens when big, soulless business infects the creative stage of entertainment. It’s easier to explain by highlighting an example. (Stick with me through this, I promise I‘ll wander back on the subject of comics)

Disney.

HPCP happened to Disney’s traditional animation program - and resulted in it’s destruction and disbandment. After a series of successful, quality films was topped by the record-smashing ‘Lion King,’ executives and money grubbers took serious notice. The Disney bean-counters suddenly realized how lucrative this whole creativity stuff really was. I mean, Simba just brought in more cheese than their investment portfolios and overseas tax shelters combined!
“Cartoon movies = Megabucks” was the equation that the suits now saw before their eyes. Not content to risk megabucks on the crazy ideas of ’creators,’ businessmen decided to come to the rescue, and manipulate the creative process in order to guarantee a return on their investment. Yeah, I know, it sounds so foolproof.
We all know what happened next. (Well, I do. Was I there? No. Hush.) Using focus groups, demographic studies, and calculators, all-knowing business types picked, edited, and altered the content of subsequent Disney movies, steamrolling over any pesky new ideas from the ‘help‘ (aka artists and creators). The well-oiled suits set up a winning equation from their studies of past hits:

(Main Character w/ love interest) + (Reworked Fairytale / Folktale) + (Goofy animal sidekicks) + (sappy musical numbers) = Megabucks.

The result, of course, was a tired procession of successively watered down plots. Carefully engineered to be inoffensive and universally appealing, the stories started to lose their spine & integrity. All the right ‘ingredients’ were there - but the lack of soul guaranteed failure. The public is actually pretty perceptive at times. Rather than watching characters with real heart and emotion living out their stories on screen, audiences were watching hollow puppets cavort awkwardly through the motions, possessed by hopeful, greedy accountants.
Not only did the clone-movies suck, but they didn‘t make any megabucks. Surprise! Poor shareholders.
Meanwhile, every other major studio out there was trying to grab a piece of the action. Fox, Warner Brothers, Universal, and Uncle Joe’s Film Shack all started churning out 2-D animated movies, trying to piggyback off the successful blueprints of past hits. Anyone who remembers that time period in the mid 90’s will recall these ‘follow-the-formula” animated features that flooded the market, killing the charm of the medium in an explosion of crap. Ka-PLOOIE!
The Disney business-boys handled the declining situation with brilliant insight - by sticking even more rigidly with their heavy handed soul-extracting formula, and avoiding fresh, creative, unproven ideas. The movies got worse, and profits kept slipping. Eventually, in dismal failure, Disney closed down it’s 2-D studio, and cut off production of traditionally animated films; terminating the legacy on which the company had been founded. Meanwhile, Chinese news reported that a furiously spinning coffin erupting from the earth’s crust near Peking was found to contain the body of Walt himself.
The corporate imbeciles responsible for polluting the creative process kept their jobs, but figured they should blame somebody, so they fired all the artists. The workplace was suddenly flooded with broadsided, jobless animators… But that’s a whole other story. Check it out sometime when you’re in a bad mood, it’ll cheer you right up.

The point of the Disney example was to show Hollywood Piggyback Clone Phenomena in glorious action, demonstrating it’s power to annihilate the creativity and value of an entire industry. Luckily they’re not delving into anime, or it could be next on the Endangered List of originality... Key sword? What’s a key sword?

So, here’s the basic HPCP process: Pencils at the ready - there WILL be a quiz!

Once something fresh, creative, and successful happens, the corporate clods smell megabucks and take note. They want to cash in, so they make stuff that mimics past successes, thinking this will give them ’guaranteed’ hits. (Remember all those pathetic novels about teen boys in magic school after Harry Potter hit it big? They were all so good!) Anything original and different is shunned, since it clearly doesn’t fit the success formula. The ‘visionaries’ in charge continue to piggyback off of the older ideas, cranking out hollow clones in pursuit of cash. And, voila! Hollywood Piggyback Clone Phenomena squashes new original ideas out of the industry! Enjoy the dregs.
Ever wonder, after seeing a particularly terrible movie, why these people actually get paid to do what they do? Well, you’ve got it backwards. They do what they do to get paid - period. When cash kicks passion out of the drivers seat, it always shows, no matter how much money they blow on effects.
(PS - Before you tag me as a total moron, let me admit that I am talking in huge, hulking generalities here. There are exceptions that break out of HPCP all the time (Thank God) - and sometimes, if enough talent and critical thinking is applied, imitations can be validly superior to their ancestry. So, just remember, we're talking about a general tendency here, not the whole picture.)

FINALLY back to our original topic! (Cue the applause) …How could this formula - promoting HPCP stuff possibly relate to the vestigial comic industry? How indeedy-doo... At this point, you probably don’t need to be Professor X to piece things together. I’m not the only person noticing this trend, either - industry professionals (and anyone who’s ever seen the inside of a comic shop) have picked up on it. Several have noted;

“..the formula is what took root as soon as it became generally believed there was money in it.”(Steven Grant 2008)
“ Such a marketplace hegemony turns away potential readers, publishers and creators… By limiting creator innovation, the ‘superhero mindset‘ of the Big Two may have squelched reader attention..”(McAllister 2001)
“The current market is not a comic-book market; it’s a superhero market .”
(Jim Valentino 1998)
“The alternative to your standard Marvel superhero comic is... another Marvel superhero comic, only different. X-Force isn't a bad title by any means, but it's absolutely symptomatic of the kind of comic we all too often see posed as the alternative worth pursuing -- a comic book about fame, but with superheroes in it. Or maybe we should look at Joe Casey's Wildcats 3.0, a comic book about corporate politics, but with superheroes in it. How about Stormwatch: Team Achilles, a comic book about covert operations and military combat in the modern world, but with superheroes in it? To the diehard faithful, these books sit in three different genres, but to anyone else, they're watered-down superhero comics.” (Dirk Deppey 2003)

So, yup, it’s going on with comics alright - but it’s unusually bad! HPCP is far more prevalent in comics than in any other industry - it’s so rampant, that the ’Big 4’ (Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse) are still imitating stale formulas, even though doing so doesn’t even make money anymore! A diabolical, greed-mongering situation has colluded to sink the entire creative industry into mediocrity… Although, at this point in history, I have to admit I’m using the term ’industry’ very loosely. Play along with me, won’t you?

In my next article, I’ll be talking about why comics are so uniquely and severely crippled by HPCP. There’s something very grotesque that has made a bad tendency far, FAR worse for comics than for any other form of media in history - and no, I’m not talking about Rob Leifeld.

A Note on Articles:

After posting the first of my four articles up recently, something rather odd began to occur. People started posting comments about it - smart comments. Being as internet-savvy as I am, I hadn't actually anticipated this phenomenon. Some of the thoughts posted shed more light on the article's topic, and some went so far as to disagree with my content- Which is excellent!

I should probably make a brief mention here on where I'm coming from in terms of the comic industry...
Growing up, I could never find quite what I was looking for in comic shops. It's not that I had something specific in mind - only that the titles on the shelves didn't catch my imagination. They all seemed to be variations on the same old superhero theme... I'm sure there were exceptions, but as a neophyte browsing the shelves, none were overly evident.
As a result, I never really got into comics much, and knew relatively nothing about the world of fandom for most of my life. I would draw my own comics for personal entertainment as I grew, despite my lack of interest in professional fare...
That artistic inclination, combined with the desire to tell stories, brought me back to comics during college. This time not as a reader, but as a creator - a creator determined to make the kinds of books that I was never able to find.
The reason I relate my back-story is this: although I have done research into the comic industry and it's features, I don't actually have the experience and familiarity that many of you possess. Just because I enjoy making books and did a bit of reading doesn't mean I have a monopoly on the topic of comics and publishing. There are certainly those out there whose expertise exceeds my own. I would ask then, if you would:
Anyone who would like to share their thoughts on my articles, provide additional information, and -especially!- anyone disagreeing, please feel free to post up your comment! Let other readers have the chance to hear what you think - if I'm wrong or uninformed about something, then speak up! Others browsing the article should hear your opinions, and besides that, I can learn more without actually taking the effort to do more research. Score one for laziness.

It seems terribly obvious, but I hadn't actually realized that posting articles could bring other opinions and information to light. Chalk another one up for internet inexperience.
I did consider rewriting the articles before posting them up, upon reading and learning from the various comments included by others. I wrote these articles last spring, on my own, without really anticipating what it would be like to throw them up for public scrutiny. Now that I’ve had a taste of displaying my opinions in front of an informed audience, I almost have an itch to go in and tone some of my rants down... Soften some of my opinions.
I’ve decided not to, though. The articles are more fun to read in their original form - spicier, I guess you could say. I’m hoping this will make them more entertaining to read, cause them to become more widespread, and instigate reader feedback more effectively, if only to correct my more slanted posits.

That said, thank you again to any who are taking the time to browse through my thoughts! Once again, feel free to share your opinion in here, and to invite other readers you know who may find these articles amusing or informative.


-David

ARTICLE: Comics, the Banished Medium

Fact: Comics are a marginalized medium in our society.

Now, before you dash to your coffee-table stack of ‘Savage Dragon’ to prove me wrong, keep in mind you may not be representative of the rest of society. Believe it or not, there are people out there who don’t give a hoot over steroidal, midget-legged, jaw-clenching, head-finned compensations for masculinity.
Just think - how often do you see television ads for upcoming gaming platforms, or movie actors interviewed on talk shows? How many newspapers have regular sections devoted to reviewing new novels and literature? When was the last time you saw a trailer for a new film? Unless you live like Osama Bin Laden (or a devoted ‘Green Lantern’ fan), all this stuff is commonplace.
Now, compare the constant publicity of films, books, and TV shows with the mainstream attention paid to comics. (And remember, Wizard magazine is only considered mainstream by it’s editors and the staff of Marvel.)

Quite the contrast, isn’t there? Comics and graphic novels today are the invisible shunned runt of the entertainment industry. Kind of like Ron Paul in the ‘08 elections. The only time comics are noticed is when smarmy Hollywood executives, paid to think up ideas, need to find some. Sequential art wasn’t always the underdog in culture, however.

Once upon a time, comics were overwhelmingly prevalent in the U.S. In fact, they were so wildly popular, that Congress took it upon themselves to consider laws censoring their content and restricting distribution (If Congress is trying to abolish it, you know it’s something popular like alcohol or the Constitution.) The sensational spread of comics was so feared and resisted by the establishment of the day, that public book burnings were organized across the nation. Long story short, comics were everywhere, the emerging generation was charmed with the stories being told. Icons were born - Batman, Superman, Captain America - icons that were recognizable before debuting in TV or film.

That prevalence is gone, G-O-N-E.

Now, I know what you’re saying… ‘Dave, you must be mistaken - I read in WIZARD that Marvel is SOLD OUT of their latest printing of blah-muscle-breast! They’re selling out of their books, they’re so popular! You must be out of touch Mr. Dave, because readers are clearly going crazy buying up comics if they’re selling out!’
First off, why is your voice so high pitched? Have you ever heard a recording of yourself? And second off, well, I hate to burst your bubble, but Marvel is a big fan of this little thing I like to call… What is it? You know, it piles up, and - oh, that’s it! Bullshit.
In the 1970’s, a monthly edition of a typical Marvel comic would sell many hundreds of thousands of copies, no sweat - millions if it were popular. These days, a comic is considered extraordinarily, exceptionally popular if it sells close to 30,000 copies. 30,000. That means pedophiles outnumber our current mainstream comic audience by, like... Well, I didn't even know there were that many kids in the United States.
Then how does Marvel magically sell out of its oh-so-demanded issues, you might ask? Well, there’s been a lot of selling-out going on, but not the kind you’re thinking of.
Have you ever heard of Diamond Distributing? No? Basically, they have a complete monopoly on the comic distribution industry. (Jealous yet?) They pre-sell retailers on all their comics, and the publishers tailor their print runs to fulfill only what’s been ordered. When you only print off enough books to fill your orders, it’s pretty easy to sell out. And even easier to fabricate false publicity from it, in the desperate hope of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Well, the tactic doesn’t seem to be working so far. Even though graphic novel sales are slowly rising, the plummeting monthly comic issue sales are dragging the entire industry’s numbers down. The downturn isn’t just some abstract idea on paper - since the mid 1990’s over half of the comic shops in the nation have closed their doors, and all but one distributor has crashed spectacularly into bankruptcy.
“Finally being able to glance at the 'actual sales' of the direct market has turned the low speed train wreck of the previous figures, which only calculated pre-orders, into a high speed one.” - Brandon Thomas
In fact, the mega-comic publishers like Marvel, DC, Image, and Dark Horse are surviving exclusively by licensing out their ‘properties’ (That‘s what they call their ‘characters‘) - hawking off deals like a peddler in a fish market. Merchandising rights, movie rights, Halloween costume rights, undergarment decoration rights, dishware rights - selling off ANYTHING, namely, except for their books. If these companies had to support themselves on their actual book sales, they’d implode faster than the Soviet Union during the 'Popples' era.
This isn’t just generalization - let me hit you with some numbers: In 1991, 86% of Marvel’s revenue was from publishing (i.e., selling books.) Just 5 years later in ‘96, publishing only brought in 15% of it’s revenue. Obviously, something besides making quality books was taking precedence for the industry bigwigs. (McAllister, 2001)
“…Because the fact is, month on month, comics sell less. There is no comics sales graph that goes up -- they may start high, they may get boosts along the way, but they trend downwards. Always.” - Alisdair Watson.

Although the ’Big 4’ (Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse) have a stranglehold-death grip on the public perception of comics, nobody actually wants to read their repetitive pulp. Well, except for the 30,000 strong (and dwindling by the day) pack of humans remaining on earth who still possess the mental conditioning necessary to survive the experience.
"The bottom line is that there is something fundamentally wrong with the comics industry as it is being run right now. Numbers have been on the decline, shops are closing up and no one seems to know why.” - J. Hues

So, here’s the Golden Question, the crux of the matter: Why did comics go from the pinnacle of popularity to the cultural dumpster? How did they transform from a cherished house of American heroes into a mildly embarrassing fringe medium? What happened!?

No, before you answer, it wasn’t global warming. Good try though.

My next article will have the answer to that question - as well as a fascinating story of greed, dirty deals, and idiotic corruption.

…And, good try again, but I’m not talking about the IRS. Try to stay on topic with me here.

Holding Pattern

Commissions have officially taken over! Looming in unforeseen quantities, I now officially have my hands full. It’s loads of fun, though - every idea is different, every character unique to it’s owner. It’s really exciting being able to participate in the creativity flowing out from the readers. And financially, this is helping grow the funds that I’ll need to print off Volume 3.

Ah yes, Volume 3... As engaging as commissions are, I do need to see a light at the end of the tunnel here. As such, I had to announce a close date for new commission orders, right at the end of MFF this November. Thereafter my goal will be to complete and fulfill all commissions by Christmas, leaving 2009 clear and free for total focus on Volume 3 production! 8 )

Contributing to my decision for a close-date, deadlines in October slowed my pace on commissions considerably.
I had a presentation at a local high school here in Columbus, which turned out to be a blast! It was held after hours in the school library, and I got to give a speech about my career path, and college, and life lessons which school fails to cover. I managed to make the speech entertaining with stories and some video - segments, and talking with high-schoolers was fun. It’s odd realizing how far out from high school I am, it seems not so long ago that I was walking the halls with a bulging backpack and a briefcase full of drawings…

Preparing for the presentation took some time, especially as the date drew near. Immediately afterwards, I had to get moving on the Halloween Fanart Contest. Entries were coming in, and I wanted to display the results on a new gallery page, in keeping with the revised web design. Putting that together proved to be challenging, and I was actually de-bugging bits of it even after I threw it up for the midnight showtime.
Whew! It was good to get done, but also frustrating that I had such a standstill on commission work - while new ones were still adding themselves to the stack.

It can be vexing sometimes, having productivity delayed - even when it’s only so I can advance on other fronts. I just have so much I want to accomplish, and production capacity is the sole resource available to me. The only hope I have for attaining my goals is the ability to work hard for them.
That’s why sometimes I can be very jealous of nullifying demands on my time… I’m not talking about commissions here- those are fun & they help with printing costs, they contribute. I’m talking about my work work..
I think I’ve mentioned it before, but many people might not be aware that I actually work a full time job for a living. All money from Dreamkeepers - book sales, convention sales, commission purchases - everything goes straight back into printing costs, and company savings. It supports itself, but not me.

I work every night at as a security guard to pay my bills. Living nocturnally was a surprisingly easy transition after my experience with late - night college work sessions. Patrolling the building site for leaks or fires every few hours isn’t exactly the most demanding job in the world, so I have healthy spots of time where I can get some artwork or writing done. But I could accomplish much more, with greater efficiency if I had all of my time available. I only get one life - it gets closer to the end, day by day, and having it less than optimal is an irritance.
Of course, I have plans in place to support myself with Vivid Publishing and Dreamkeepers… But, realistically, the company cannot make enough profit to support me. Not until it has enough cash to print off a huge quantity of books all at once. (I can only afford to print books in small, expensive batches currently.) Without the price advantage of greater quantity, distributors and stores can’t carry my books, and I’m limited solely to what I can sell in person, or from my website. There’s a tiny bit of profit with each book sale, but building up a real company this way is like trying to build a house one toothpick at a time.

It’s not something that I should be dwelling on, but it’s so excruciating; Needing such a relatively small sum to start things rolling, and feeling the need to cherish and deliberate upon the use of every company dollar. Especially as the Congressional powers-that-be lavish billions in reward for gluttonous, responsibility-decrying failure. What I have been working and striving for through the years is, to them, nothing but a pathetic pittance. It’s like dying of thirst for want of a drop, while above the glass ceiling they’re shitting in the pool. (Isn’t that analogy palatable, yet apt? I thought of it myself!)

If anything, such frustration is useful in cementing my resolve to never quit, to work harder and be better, to earn what I want, regardless of obstacles and difficulties. Relentlessness is a highly undervalued trait.



-David