DO NOT SIEGE WALLED CITIES - 257
Lex Luthor As President of Argentina
ANOTHER WEEK ON THE BOOKS
Hello, all. Hope you’re well. My right foot is pretty messed up, so I’m wearing Crocs and only leaving the house when I have to. Maybe your week went better.
COMMENTARY SICKNESS
I watched a playoff game with my brother the other day. He’s a lifelong basketball fan, former college athlete, and former scout. I’m not a basketball fan, barely registering a casual interest. When the game was over, my brother stood up and carried about his night. I watched the post-game interviews and commentary.
For my brother, there’s nothing of interest in what these people say. He saw the game. He’s watched thousands of weightless “well, we kept it tight and did what we had to do” on-court interviews. What non-committal media-trained pablum could excite him?
That’s how I felt going into this ICv2 piece. I’m exhausted by circle-the-wagons approach to ‘comics’ that some outlets take. While everyone working in the business is talking about real struggles, the news sites repeated the same about the DOGMAN-to-SPIDER-MAN pipeline. And I’ve done my best to give these outlets some grace. Maybe they believe that reporting bad news is bad for a potential recovery. But that’s not news then, is it? That’s some type of advocacy or charity, but not a reporting of reality.
So, I was somewhat heartened by this short article that said the thing everyone not working for a comics news outlet has been saying for five years.
From the writer’s analysis of the direct market and book market sales figures:
“Certainly there is no clear path from Dog Man to almost anything sold periodically in the Direct Market, despite plenty of hopes and efforts spent attempting to build those bridges.”
I know DOGMAN doesn’t matter for us. I’ve always known that. To be fair, I know very smart people who hoped it might. And perhaps in the very macro “at least a kid learns how to read the basics of sequential art and therefore may be ABLE to read a comic later in life” respect, it is a net positive. But it doesn’t matter.
Manga is a dead end. Scholastic is a dead end. Like it or not, kids see these as wholly apart from what we do. And so must we. American comics are in desperate need of a cool factor. I believe this is not only possible but coming. Will it come in an art-first Image 92 fashion? Dunno. Will it come in a writer-first Vertigo approach? Can’t be sure. Some other thing I can’t even comprehend because I’m old and cashed out and spent? Could be.
But something’s coming. And when it hits we’ve gotta max it out. We've gotta capitalize on that moment and instead of throwing money in the air we’ve gotta normalize what we do. Make ourselves attractive to casuals.
We can’t put our faith in someone else, doing something else, for someone else. DOGMAN may as well be GARFIELD. Has merit. Glad it exists. But it’s not what we do here.
I think we’re all tired of other people’s fortunes or misfortunes. Scholastic is doing great? What about pork bellies? Because they’re both equally germane to my life.
On some level, the bit in the ICv2 article about the corporate publishers doing nothing to exploit interest from other media is just another tired story. Either they don’t care or don’t see the value. That doesn’t look like it’ll change. And, even if it did, they would have to sit and workshop how to make it cool.
Regarding the part about MARCH and THEY CALLED US ENEMY, it was nice to see some acknowledgement of the obvious. I am happy for the success of those books. I think non-fiction and memoir comics are important parts of the landscape. But can we be real? Those are must-buy titles for libraries that will get a push every Black History Month and Asian Heritage Month, and both will get a massive bump every time race dominates the cultural conversation. That’s NOT THE SAME THING AS 99% OF COMICS WHICH ARE GENRE FICTION. The ICv2 writer says this. Can we please send the 9 other comics journalists the memo?
DOGMAN =/= SPIDER-MAN
SCHOLASTIC =/= DIRECT MARKET
BOOK MARKET =/= DIRECT MARKET
TOPICAL NON-FICTION WITH BROAD HOOK =/= GENRE WORK
The majority of comic creators cannot make a living wage, and the guy who does DOGMAN is a false aspiration. We’re finding our own way outta this.
JUST A THING TO THINK ON
This tweet, from what appears to be a very big fan of Lex Luther, had a compelling point.
So many writers in the present moment use these old characters as stand-ins for Elon Musk or Trump, and it just doesn’t work. Largely because that’s tacky and hacky, but also because these characters are essentially real. They’ve been around long enough to have distinct identities and well-established backstories. In many respects, they are more real than Dua Lipa or George Santos. There is more ‘there’ there (or perhaps, more “they’re” there).
Some corporate characters or pulp characters aren’t ‘real.’ They are just costumes a writer can fill with whatever hacky totem they wish. But some are. Some are more than flesh suits.
And lest anyone think I’m one of the Luthwhores who is exercised about Lex Luthor getting done dirty, let me clarify: I’m not invested in that particular character. Or any character owned by someone other than myself and partners. But I do have a brain in my head and can see when my peers are shoveling slop. Further, there’s a funny trick some creators pull wherein they deflect any criticism of their ham-fisted commentary as an attempt to defend the figure they’re mocking. But this is a newsletter for adults. We’re not playing that game.
Let the characters be the characters. You know the difference between Lex Luther and the pulp character The Eye. One exists in all but flesh. The other is just a name. You can only build on one, whereas the other is yours to do what you want.
Parse in accordance with reality.
LATE NEWS (FT POST MALONE)
Vault Comics announced a shared universe line of some type, from the minds of… Michael Bay and Post Malone.
Look, man, I don’t understand anything anymore. And it’s nobody’s fault but my own. I’m not gonna attempt to dissect this one. I might get vertigo.
MEDIA CONSUMPTION LOG
Watching a movie each night in an effort to regain my attention span.
On my Michael Mann jag, I tried the maligned-at-the-time Miami Vice. I’d heard it had a reappraisal and I’m always interested in that type of film. When I think of The Thing being hated on by the era’s critics only to have it be more a classic than its opening weekend competition ET, is my definition of justice. Always rooting for a reassessment.
But, man, this movie stinks.
The film is exactly what I fear being most when I write. Something I think is cool and understated is just all surface and inert. I was sorta horrified watching it.
Also caught Wanted. Fun movie. Really had more proto-John Wick AND proto-Matthew Vaughn elements than it’s given credit for. Was sorta shocked to see how few Hollywood movies the director has done since then. The movie was a hit and very stylish. A couple heavy bricks in his filmography must act as counterweight.
I enjoyed that the movie was mean-spirited. There’s a near-complete ambivalence to civilian deaths, which is where I feel this sorta thing should land. We’re in a moment of tedious moralizing. I’m watching a rap beef playout where the central theme of the disses is “you’re not a good dude.” Tired of this era. Bring back movies with civilians dying en masse without a second-thought from the protagonists.
In comics, I read issue 2 of PENTHOUSE COMICS. I am grateful there’s a new avenue for some of the Euro reprints to get to America. That said, I’m curious to know if race is a fixation of the Francophone world, or just the editors of PENTHOUSE COMICS. 3/5 of the stories in this book have a race angle. I admire the choice to go with grounded stories rather than high fantasy, but I’m a little perplexed by some of the details. It’s additionally odd that all the stories take place in the US and are specifically about race relations in the US, but are written by Europeans (maybe not Steve D? I dunno). Whatever, glad it exists.
Oh, and FATCOP. I read FATCOP by Johnny Ryan.
It’s pure Ryan. If you like his other work, you’ll also enjoy this. If you don’t, there is not a shot you’ll like it. Me? I was in heaven.
Picked up what I thought was issue 1 of the Remender / Fiumara book SACRIFICERS, and couldn’t make heads or tales of it. Then realized my eyesight is going and I picked up issue 7. I need glasses desperately. Art was nice.
HAVE A GOOD WEEK EVERYONE
Get some stuff done. Do for self.