I wrote this to the publisher of Image Comics in response to a
Column at comicbookresources.com.
Erik [Larson],
I've read and respected your work for years. Your column this week seemed very aware of some of the realities of modern comic collecting, and I'm glad of that, because some of the things you're talking about in "One Fan's Opinion" are things we'd never get out of the talking heads from Marvel or DC. Ages ago, I was one of those kids who got parked at the spinner rack while mom did the shopping. Hell, worse than that, I used to spend at least a couple days of every long break from school bagging and boarding at my cousin's comic shop.
But let's talk about comics and availability for a second: I have to drive around 40 miles (about 90 minutes total) to get to the shop closest to my home, a place where "indy" comics are Dark Horse and Image titles and the shelves are half-stocked with moronic manga titles. They won't order anything they don't already carry and the employees are surly goth-types who make it seem like they're doing me a favor to turn away from the the Japanese Animation on their TV long enough to swipe my debit card.
Every week I make the trek over to "my" store, where I spend $25 - $40, and every week I wonder why the hell I do it. I can't skip a week; if I do, the contents of my subscriber bag go back on the shelves, and I'll never see that prized issue of Runaways or Fables, let alone cool comics I'd love to actually SEE in print but which my store doesn't carry, like the Walking Dead.
A lot of comic book fans seem disdainful of buying graphic novels at big corporate bookstores. Talk about a catch-22! My local shop doesn't carry cool stuff like Millar's "Wanted" or Niles' "30 Day of Night" in graphic novel form, and didn't when they were comics, either. Borders does. But my local Borders used to have a 20-foot-long bookshelf of Graphic Novels, and now it has 20-feet-minus-one-shelf of manga and one shelf of graphic novels.
Unfortunately, there aren't many avenues to finding great comics besides browsing and looking at what your local retailer carries. I feel like I'm stuck and my options are becoming more and more limited, especially by the encroachment of manga, which is a sort of black and white divider among comics fans I've talked to. Some fans, and both my local big bookstore AND comic shop, don't see them as anything but more comics. I and at least a few of the other comic readers I know see those books as dangerously limiting our options in the marketplace.
Frankly, that sucks.
I really hate the collector mentality. The "I can't bend the spine because it might decrease the value of my comic!" I've never sold a comic in my life. But I still think that way. Can't help it. Given the option, I'll take graphic novels any day, even the newsprint-type ones, if for no other reason than the fact that there's no future resale value in the bound version.
But then there are the comics I can download.
On a week to week basis, practically every title I want to read is scanned by someone and put on the internet, often the same day it hits the shop. Just about anything I'd care to read has probably already been scanned by someone, and I can keep whole series of comics on my laptop. I can try out a title, or get ancient history from comics I'd be afraid to touch with my grubby hands.
It sounds like you're aware of the phenomenon.
And it does feel like stealing. I've met creators at conventions; I know they aren't getting rich off what they're doing. Hell, you've made that abundantly clear in the letters page of "Savage Dragon". I *do* buy the titles I read (I have the receipts to prove it), but downloading has definitely enriched my world.
And what choice do I have? How would I ever know about something like [Image Comics title] "The Atheist"? My local shop didn't have it! Borders barely sells comics and I haven't seen a spinner rack in probably 15 years.
I've gotten to a point where I'd RATHER read comics on my PC than in print. Not just because of the crap I have to put up with to get them, or because they're "free" that way, but because I can browse, pick and choose like the good old days. I've got nice, big monitors at home and a laptop that's a half-inch thick. I can carry as much of my collection as I want around with me, not worry about what other people think of my choice of entertainment OR how far my comics might be getting from "near mint".
So you're the publisher of Image Comics, a company I respect nowadays for giving new titles, new writers and new artists a chance. I understand your preference for traditional comics, but man, seriously, someone needs to pick up the digital distribution flag and carry it forward. Image really did push digital coloring (I know Dragon was one of the last holdouts for traditional lettering, too) and has generally been an innovator in the comics marketplace. Creator-owned isn't so much a bad phrase any more. But comic distribution as it stands now SUCKS. Paper is expensive, shipping is only going to get worse. The stores suck (look at Johanna Stokes' columns at CBR), and everywhere we go it looks like manga are replacing comics in the marketplace. I'm looking at what you've said in your last CBR column and I understand where you're coming from, but I really hope you ARE thinking about digital distribution. I hope you're looking at what the scanners are doing and trying to find a way to make money off it. Because as unappealing as it may be to you, it really works for some people, and it really might be the only future Western-style comics have.
If you've read this far, or read this at all, I thank you.