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Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Getting the Word Out
I have seen my essay from yesterday being linked alongside this Paul O’Brien article so I decided to take a look at it (and thank you to all of those who did link to that essay I wrote).
O’Brien writes how critical acclaim does not usually help a title struggling in the Direct Market like Fallen Angel because that acclaim does not get to the fans who have pull lists and make up a lot of the audience Marvel and DC try to reach. O’Brien makes it look like there two different worlds when it comes to consumers in the Direct Market. There are those who are always going to go for all the X-Men, Green Lantern or Batman books because they feel they need all those books for their collection. On the other side there are those who try out books like Hard Time and Plastic Man and champion them on their blogs, website columns or wherever. The important thing about O’Brien’s observation is that there is no communication between those two worlds. The books pundits celebrate still get no rise in sales because it feels like nobody is listening to them.
Of course it’s not true that nobody is listening to us. Perhaps the best way to put it is that not enough comic fans are paying attention to us pundits, certainly us bloggers. I run the danger of sounding too inflated about this little group I belong to, but I would like bloggers to have more sway in the comics industry. I would certainly like enough sway so that books from companies like Marvel, I’m thinking of well liked and original books like She-Hulk and Warlock, don’t face cancellation and/or unnecessary “re-launches.” I haven’t seen the numbers for small press books like Street Angel and Scott Pilgrim but I like to think the good word and contests those books got from the blogosphere helped them out. An important thing about blogs is that we can raise public consciousness about smaller books, not unlike how political blogs can raise the public consciousness about news stories that CNN or the New York Times would probably skip over. So let’s raise the stakes and make Marvel and DC, those who are really controlling the Direct Market, listen to us.
If that is going to happen it will have to be because we bloggers have done some real effort to get ourselves heard. To be honest I don’t know how that could be done or at least I don’t know yet. Perhaps more presence on message boards could do something but I don’t feel those places are the best sources for intelligent discussion on comics. Showing up more in the comic press more could be something, but even then I don’t know if that reaches as many people as it would take to make some real change. A “blogger’s corner” in Previews perhaps? I’d like it but I’m not holding my breath.
All those examples are just off the top of my heads. If anybody can think of more please do not be afraid to share them. Even better, do not be afraid to practice them if you can. If I can let myself sound cheesy for a second: change starts with you!
In other news:
The Onion interviews Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez (link found at Fanboy Rampage). They are two of my favorites, no question. I finished Palomar and wrote about my favorite part of it here. I’m right in the middle of Locas and it’s an enriching experience. I think it’s rare that we’ll see talents like those two for a long time and I’m happy that we can read their work now.
The DC solicits are out for April and there isn't much out there to catch my interest (the books I like get cancelled, remember?) I do have one thing to say about a particular book: fuck yeah.
Finally and most importantly, Chris Butcher writes about auctions put on by Dave Sim and Jeff Smith to benefit the Tsunami relief effort (more info here). A lot of great stuff is there and it’s all for a good cause.
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