Do Not Siege Walled Cities - 223
MY HEAD
This will be a short one, as I’m sick in a way that prevents everything but showering and watching Law & Order. I feel like I’m carrying a sack of wet flour on my neck and I’m coughing in a way familiar to anyone who’s taken public transportation in Los Angeles. There’s always a guy hacking and making everyone around him uncomfortable. I’m that guy today.
MILLAR!
The news this week is Mark Millar. On a livestream he suggested the cure to the Big Two malaise is his generation of (successful) creators coming back for quality-assured runs on big properties.
As you can imagine, this rubbed the Malaise Mob currently working on those books the wrong way. And it excited the more backwards-facing among the fans to start fantasy-casting titles they wish would come to fruition.
To his credit, Millar was wholistic about the problem, and not exclusively self-dealing or corporate ass-kissing. He seems to believe that there needs to be a healthy Big Two to get healthy creator-owned books. I believe the same, but for different reasons. I think we need a healthy Big Two to keep comic shops open while we fight for the hearts and minds of readers. Millar thinks we need a healthy Big Two because it’s ultimately a talent feeder system to successful creator-owned books.
If I understood him: We don’t get SAGA without Vaughn graduating from the School of Marvel/DC Fan Capture. And we haven’t had a big title in a decade because of a failure in that pipeline.
Before I could start staring at my bellybutton, BleedingCool posted a rebuttal or sorts. Their point was that plenty of Image Comics titles have sold big numbers this past decade.
I think that’s fair and should be in the conversation. I understand we can’t just bemoan our failures and gotta at some point celebrate the wins. But we’re talking past each other. Did W0RLDTR33 (or whatever, terrible name) sell big issue one numbers? Maybe it sold huge through issue three. Maybe it’s an ongoing success. I couldn’t say. But what I can say with confidence is that it’s not animating readers. Millar is from the ANIMATE READERS GENERATION. There’s a difference between something that makes the creators money (God bless, I wish you continued success) and something that shakes the market. And maybe it’s unfair to compare ANY book to THE WALKING DEAD and SAGA, but as Anthony Hopkins chants in The Edge, “what one man can do, another can do!” Maybe it’s not SO crazy to say we should have a SAGA at all times.
Back to Millar’s point, it’s a hard pill for me to swallow that I’ve gotta work in the corporate mines before I can make a living in comics. And maybe that’s just what it is- a difficult reality I need to accept. It is what it is. Shoganai. Etc.
But/or maybe this is only the case because we continue to allow it.
Maybe it’s like Nightmare on Elm Street where Freddy’s power over us evaporates once we realize we’re in a dream. And don’t get me wrong, I know it’s not that easy. I’ll have conversations with people who HATE Big Two books in 2023. Think it’s the worst it’s ever been. And when I suggest creator-owned books to them, they act like I’ve tried to buy their wives. The idea that they’d stray from these corporate corpses is treated like a blasphemy of some type. “I just like these characters” is a real type of comic reader. No love for the medium, just for Spider-Man. So I get it. We’ve rarely won that person over and maybe we never fully will. But “do your time in the slurry pit so we know your name” isn’t a solution, in my view. Now Millar is speaking from experience, so I don’t begrudge him his perspective. What I’m suggesting is that we have to change these things moving forward.
It’s annoying when someone says “here’s what it is” because you’re forced to ask “how would YOU know what anything is?” I acknowledge that. Now, here’s what it is:
We can’t hold two conflicting notions in our head at the same time. “The books are bad” and “these companies only hire the best creators.” Do you recognize the dissonance? How can this certificate program idea of “do your time so people know you’re the real deal” sustain if nobody thinks the product is good?
As a creator, you are a small business. This does not mean, “pivot wildly every time something doesn’t work as if you just read some tech idiot’s self-help book.” It means you stand on your work and build off your failures. You don’t go running back to corporate life every time your BOOM! title doesn’t do SAGA numbers. Have some self-belief. Not all money is good money.
Retailers need some belief too. Too many are content to sell the same product to diminishing consumers. I don’t say this because I’m a small creator. I say it because it’s obvious and we’ve known it for decades- if you do not support creator-owned books, you do not support the future of this industry. I’m sorry. I know you guys feel beleaguered and you’re sick of opinions from non-retailers. But we both know Spider-Man can’t carry this shit forever. It’s a ‘for better or for worse’ relationship with creator-owned or we all die slowly. And it can’t just be the scammer creators who promise you the world. At some point it’s gotta be about the books.
Back to Millar: His plan to bring back the Name Brand Creators to the Big Two would ‘work’ in the respect it could be sold to retailers and comic press as an exciting idea, promoted to the point fans believe they’re missing out if they don’t read it, and cause a major spike in sales for Marvel and DC.
And then what?
I once asked an editor, “how do they [other editors] find these people with no comics writing credits to write comics?” His answer, “those are their twitter friends.” Nothing changes until THAT changes. You can bring on Mark Millar to write SUPERMAN. Maybe you get a Hickman on X-MEN bump. Maybe you get a Bendis on SUPERMAN slide. Roll the dice. Hope it goes well. But you can’t keep those creators on your books. Because they are too smart and you are too cheap.
So then what?
The change has to be from the ground up. The Prisoners’ Dilemma is real. Creators have to make their focus creator-owned work. Doesn’t mean they can’t do work-for-hire if they’ve got an idea for it. But they must consider it the lowest branch on that tree. The creator-owned publishers have gotta stand by their creators, in career ups-and-downs from sales dips to personal problems. This is A&R at Sub Pop 1989 NOT Atlantic Records 2023. Build names. Commit and build names. And the retailers have gotta let go of feeling exploited and focus on the future. You feel trapped by variant covers. You want publishers and distribution to share more of your risk. I get it. But the 25-year-old creator who is breaking himself or herself to make good work didn’t do that to you.
I don’t believe in solidarity. People are too honest with me. Every movement I’ve witnessed, I’ve had at least some access to the backrooms of. I’ve seen too much. It’s never as it seems, throats are cut expeditiously, and it’s all self-dealing in the end.
BUT THAT’S MY POINT. THIS DOESN’T HAVE TO BE SOME RAH RAH POWER TO THE PEOPLE PICKET-LINE PERFORMANCE. IT’S THE POSITIVE POWER OF SELF-INTEREST. WE STICK TOGETHER WE HAVE A HEALTHY INDUSTRY. WE HAVE A HEALTHY INDUSTRY WE MAKE MONEY. A PRISONERS’ DILEMMA ISN’T ABOUT SOLIDARITY, IT’S ABOUT DOING THE SMART THING.
Lest anyone think I’m shitting on Millar, lemme say: He’s the right guy to talk about this. He’s got his detractors, but everyone understands he loves comics and works hard to sell them. I do not agree with his prescription, but he’s a big name acknowledging there’s a problem. That’s more than we’re getting from the hacks.
COMMIT AND BUILD NAMES
To expand on the ‘commit and build names’ idea: I am doing a line of books with Black Mask because they committed to me. They treated me like an investment. They knew I wanted to work at Image. But they also knew I wouldn’t act like Black Mask never existed once I got there. Image, likewise, has stood by me and I stand by them.
I am very proud to be associated with both companies. Not everyone is so blessed in their relationship with publishers, I know. But I’ve had good fortune and I’m quick to advocate for good partners.
There’s plenty of people who have made great careers stepping over those who helped them. I don’t care to do that. Just as I want a long career that doesn’t hinge on a ten-issue run of THE FLASH, I want a long career that isn’t built on distrust or exploitation.
Creators are terrified to do work for their early-career publishers because the sales at those companies are smaller. It’s a ‘bad look.’
That’s stupid. If money is the issue, fair. But if a deal can be made that empowers you and the people who looked out for you early on, you should consider it.
‘History’ is a term in the music business and it’s exactly what it sounds like. Your band is coming to Tampa. You are more popular than you were last time. You’ll need a bigger room. Promoters hear the tour is happening and make offers on the show. But you have history with Raul the Promoter. So your booking agent deals with Raul. And if Raul can’t get you in that big room in Tampa for whatever reason, a good booking agent will still find a way to do a co-promotion with him. The idea is Raul believed in this band when it sold 300 tickets, Raul should see some benefit when the band is selling 3000 tickets.
Reciprocity doesn’t need to be dirty.
MY HEAD (IN CLOSING)
My head is too heavy with mucus to keep upright. I’ll be on the couch if anyone needs me. Hope everyone has a happy and healthy week. Do for self.
Thank you for the inspiration as always, Patrick. Get well!