So, Eric Stephenson’s speech.
Read it here, if you haven’t: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/02/28/star-wars-comics-will-never-be-the-real-thing-eric-stephenson-publisher-of-image-comics-talks-to-comicspro/
(Note that headline is misleading as fuck – really, Rich?
But we’ll get to that in a bit)
Some context: This was a speech to retailers that went to
the ComicsPro meeting dealie. So when he’s saying we, he means the retailers
and Image. He’s not speaking for or to other publishers, and he doesn’t mean
fans. This is actually important to remember.
Now what he mostly talks about is growing the comics
industry. Not making more money, as such, but actually increasing the number of
people who buy and read comics. This too, is important context.
So when he talks about 4.99 and 7.99 issues, for instance,
or shipping more than one issue, what he’s saying is that those tactics are
designed to bring in more money from existing fans. Likewise, variant covers
and new number ones are designs to get people who are reading comics to spend
more money.
Now I don’t think (and I could be wrong) that this is meant
to be a blanket condemnation of those things in and of themselves. Indeed,
Image does some of them. What he’s condemning is doing those without doing
anything to grow the comics reading base.
Because they don’t.
Don’t get me wrong – comics is a business. Even in my
creator owned work I keep an eye to maximizing the amount of money I squeeze
out. I am actually kind of amazed that ways Marvel (and Marvel seems to better at this than DC) has
found to maximize their revenue. They understand who is reading their books and
how they purchase them, and designed their business to get them to buy the most
product.
But all of the above – expensive comics, variant covers,
double shipping, reboots, hell, events – are things that only service people
who are already reading comics. They are not things that are bringing new
people to comics, and focusing only on getting most milk with the minimum of
moo without breeding new cows is not good for the long term.
(I will push a metaphor until it breaks, yes)
So I agree with him there.
(I may also be wrong – the music industry analogy sort of
sounds like he’s down on the whole practice. Hey, I’m not a mind reader. Not
until I reach level 99 in Jordanology)
I got into comics because when I was a kid, comics where
everywhere. I grew up in a rural county in Pennsylvania with a current population of
around 40,000 people. As you might guess, there weren’t any comic shops around.
But every grocery store and every convenience store and what
not had comics. I could go three miles down the road and but Ninja Warrior and
Thrash at the AP. I got into comics because when I was a toddler my mom grabbed
Popeye comics for me to…well, look at, I couldn’t yet read…when she was
shopping.
I understand why comics aren’t, for the most part, in any of
those places now. I do. But the truth is that thirty odd years ago, comics were
infinitely more discoverable than they are now. And that’s a problem.
Where Stephenson and I part ways, to a certain extent, is on
licensed comics.
A tangent: I said that Star Wars headline was misleading as
fuck. And it is. A lot of people are reading it to say that Star Wars comics,
and licensed comics, aren’t “real” comics
He isn’t.
He’s saying that people reading those comics are reading
them because they can’t get the source material. They read Star Wars comics,
but what they want is more Star Wars movies.
I don’t necessarily agree with that, but it’s a different
notion than implying he was saying they weren’t real comics. He wasn’t. He said
that The Walking Dead TV show isn’t the real thing either, but what he meant
isn’t that it’s the original source material.
Now I’m going to thread that tangent back into my main
point. Stephenson is of the mind that people that read licensed comics want
that thing, and aren’t interested in comics per se, so licensed comics don’t do
anything to grow the comic market.
I don’t think that’s precisely true. For one thing, I think
that people that read licensed comics are, by and large, comics readers who
happen to like that property. Again, this doesn’t really grow the market, so no
disagreement there, I just think he’s mischaracterizing them.
Now some of the people who are reading those licensed comics
surely are people who just want that property. And again, selling comics to
those people doesn’t really grow the market as a whole.
But I do think that some of those people must start buying
other comics. I mean, that has to be a thing that happens. But I also don’t
know that it amounts to much, growthwise. So I don’t entirely disagree with
him.
I do agree with overall thrust, which is that the comic
industry needs to devote more time and energy to expanding their base.
If I were a retailer, I would give free comics to kids. Not
just kids that came into my store, but I’d give out free issues to kids in
schools. I would make sure every school and high school and library in my area
was stocked with trades (and if I could, I’d make sure they all had plates that
said who donated them).
If I were a publisher, I would do the same thing. I would
make digital comics that kids could read on their game platforms or computers.
I would make sure they had an interest in comics, not just toys or characters.
Yes, all of this would cost money. But it’s a relatively
small investment against future gains.
But that’s me.
