Tuesday, December 07, 2004
MAINSTREAM COMICS ARE THE NEW ALTERNATIVES, BUT NOT IN A GOOD WAY
I just came across a good article by Paul O'Brien at Ninth Art, dealing with the difficulty that comics from the Big Two that aren't about their "core characters" (Batman, Spiderman, X-Men, etc.) have in getting noticed these days, largely because there are so many core character titles. Coincidentally, a few days ago I read the Ed Brubaker interview in The Comics Journal #263, and had noticed a quote which seems to perfectly sum up this issue and the current state of the "mainstream" comic market. I'd been thinking of posting it anyway, so here it is:
"Mainstream comics is just about as small as alternative comics were in 1992. Almost everybody I know who works in mainstream comics has a book they're doing that they're just doing because they really want to do it, and everybody that reads the book loves it but the book doesn't make any money, most retailers don't order it -- and that's just what alternative comics were like. [Laughs.] You'd wish you could get Marvel and DC off their shelves a little bit more so there was room for other books and now it's like that at the major publishers, too." (p. 70)
To be sure, this may be a little exaggerated; I suspect that even in 1992 there were very few alternative comics with sales that could equal the typical second-tier Marvel or DC book of today. But essentially, it rings true to me.
I just came across a good article by Paul O'Brien at Ninth Art, dealing with the difficulty that comics from the Big Two that aren't about their "core characters" (Batman, Spiderman, X-Men, etc.) have in getting noticed these days, largely because there are so many core character titles. Coincidentally, a few days ago I read the Ed Brubaker interview in The Comics Journal #263, and had noticed a quote which seems to perfectly sum up this issue and the current state of the "mainstream" comic market. I'd been thinking of posting it anyway, so here it is:
"Mainstream comics is just about as small as alternative comics were in 1992. Almost everybody I know who works in mainstream comics has a book they're doing that they're just doing because they really want to do it, and everybody that reads the book loves it but the book doesn't make any money, most retailers don't order it -- and that's just what alternative comics were like. [Laughs.] You'd wish you could get Marvel and DC off their shelves a little bit more so there was room for other books and now it's like that at the major publishers, too." (p. 70)
To be sure, this may be a little exaggerated; I suspect that even in 1992 there were very few alternative comics with sales that could equal the typical second-tier Marvel or DC book of today. But essentially, it rings true to me.
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