If Comics Don't Change, They "Could Be Dead In 18 Months"

Devin Faraci from the website CHUD has written a article that I find particularly shattering. Granted -- he is really "a movie guy," not "a comic guy," so some may find his opinions a case of "the outside looking in." But as a former comic collector, and especially as an outside observer, I think Faraci's apocalyptic prognosis for traditional comics bears a look.

Faraci basically believes that "the new depression may be the best thing that ever happened to comics." He predicts the death of the "superhero," and gladly welcomes it. He accuses the mainstream comic companies of catering too much to the hardcore fans -- especially by pushing said superhero genre -- and not doing enough to encourage readers outside the "clique." And he feels that the 22-page floppy format, with its relatively hefty $4.00 price tag, is too much for people to pay for in this economy.

He ends the piece with this stark prediction for the future of the medium and the business:

"When Marvel and DC fall (and for me it's when, not if. I guarantee to you that ten years from now the idea of going to a comic shop to buy part 17 of a universe-spanning crossover event will seem as bizarre to readers as it would be for readers today to go to a grocery store to pick up Night Nurse), the world of comic books is going to be in serious disarray. Local shops that haven't already branched out into geek interests beyond comics will be destroyed almost overnight; hybrid stores that offer everything from video games to baseball cards and maybe have a social element - coffee shop for instance - will be left standing, but barely. Spider-Man will go on to star in five more movies, and there will be some sort of comic tie-in for them, but that'll be tertiary marketing. The Big Two will still be publishing something, but it won't be monthly pamphlets in the way we know them today - maybe we'll get endless reprint trades and occasional new graphic novels.

The comic world will seem like a wasteland for a while, but those independent mammals will have positioned themselves perfectly for the next phase. I don't think these books will become suddenly profitable overnight; I know that many creators struggle to make ends meet while producing their books. That won't change. People will still have day jobs and will write and draw on the side. But suddenly, without the superhero choking everything, these books will find the opportunity to grow. The artistic drive that makes people want to tell stories will continue, and a new economic model for these books will be created - hell, it's already being created. And I don't think that this means comic books will suddenly become an endless series of stories about being abused by your dad or about having no luck with girls; there will be adventure and science fiction and horror and romance. Getting into writing and drawing mainstream comics today is like being in a cover band - you want to do your version of Aquaman. When the superhero dies, it's going to be like being in a garage band. You do it because you love it, because you have songs to sing. And maybe somebody will take notice and you'll make some bucks off it."

Finally, Faraci says that if the mainstream comic book industry doesn't radically change its focus and methodology, they "could be dead in 18 months."

What do you think? Is he full of it? Or is he on to something?

Hat tip to Vactor

Vote for RED ICE

Last chance to for for Scott Brown's RED ICE on Zuda!

We have a modest goal here; currently it's in 9th place, let's try and make it at least 5th by tomorrow!

If we all work together, this can be a better world.

(goes back to watch YouTube clips of the opening to Family Ties being dubbed with the theme song to Who's The Boss)

Will Date For Ghost Rider Premiere Tickets

Will Date For Ghost Rider Premiere Tickets

Actually happened:
"Browsing" one of those online community bulletin board types of things -- you know, for research -- and a guy had an ad for the Ghost Rider premiere, he had one extra ticket and wanted to take a lady.

And I was like, "damnit, I want to see "Ghost Rider!"

So:

My e-mail (more or less): "Hi, I normally don't do this sort of thing but I'm a big comic book fan and I would like to go to the Ghost Rider premiere with you. I hasten to mention that I really never answer ads like this, but I really want to go. I'm 5'9", 125, and reasonably good-looking. With a great sense of humor. Also, I'm female."

His response: "The premiere already ended tonight. Sorry."

My response: "No problem. But if you get tickets for Spiderman 3, let me know."

Now, this ad was clearly under the "strictly platonic" section of the bulletin board so it wasn't like I was whoring myself for Ghost Rider premiere tickets. Of course, I gave a description of my physical features, but this was just so he would know what I looked like so when we met up he'd recognize me.

What I'm trying to say is,

I'm a liberated woman and I don't need to turn to bulletin boards to score me some Ghost Rider tickets.

Damnit, after work I'm going to see Ghost Rider!

I'm liberated! I score my own comic book swag!

***

Nick Cage is weird and a little self-important but I'm totally into him. Anybody who names themselves after second-string Marvel characters from the 1970's has a level of self-realization that I am only now starting to achieve.

***

In an interview, Cage credited Karen Carpenter as one of his inspirations for "Ghost Rider." I immediately thought this was because she was bony. Sometimes, I'm a frickin' idiot.

***

Will date for "Supergirl" comps. But only if they are of good quality and paint a picture of blond blue-eyed alien adolescence that squares away with my own set of values. If they are generally exploitative and have all the depth of a later episode of the the "Saved By The Bell" canon (after Mario Lopez left), am only willing to talk on phone for ten minutes about weather and politics.

"You Had Me At Goodbye" -- The Stalker And You

"You Had Me At Goodbye" -- The Stalker And You

I was trying to come up with an appropriate theme for Valentine's Day, and...

In my experience, stalking is not a phenomena particularly endemic to the comic book industry or fandom. I have never had a comic book fan stalk me per se, though I have had some close calls.

There was the jail-bait chaser (the Occasional Superheroine drinking game -- every time I write "jail bait" you take a shot) who loved Phantom Girl (classic, mind you, none of this post-1980 bullshit) so much he apparently wanted one for himself. I'm not sure when I realized he had crossed the line from friend to potential John Hinckley, though finding out that he told his mother we were going steady and near marriage was a clue. This fellow, sort of a Philip Seymour Hoffman on evil pills type, apparently had some idealized vision of me in his mind as this etherial, fucked-up teenager -- his comic book collecting Ophelia.

Here a point must be made. Women with stronger personalities -- aggressive, outgoing types -- get stalked much less. They get sexually harassed less. This is not to say that more soft-spoken, passive females are at fault when they are stalked & harassed. But this is just my general observation. The flip-side is that while a Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, or Nancy Grace type might get stalked and harassed less, they also are more likely to be hated for demonstrating the very same characteristics that would be praised in their male counterparts. I have dealt with such frustrating Catch-22s in life by watching a lot of old Ronald Colman movies and eating Lindt truffles.

To the stalker, "no" never just means "no" -- it means "I am secretly deeply in love with you because I realized that you were really my reincarnated soulmate from the time I was a Carpathian noblewoman."

To the stalker, "goodbye" simply means "try harder."

And so the stalker tries harder.

I've been stalked by some really grade-A stalkers. Tree-climbers, ersatz private investigators, and amateur riflemen. My run-ins with such creatures have been relatively milid, as I never had to get a restraining order. I've known many women who had to go the extra mile in this department.

I met one of my best friends in college through a professor who stalked both of us. She was into something called "big ass buddha-tits hard core witchcraft." A petite woman with long, Ophelia-esque blonde hair and her own Little Red Riding Hood cloak, she used to get stalked a lot. She had even got attacked. Then she encountered the wonders of the female spirituality movement and sort of went off on her own way with it. Of course, there is no need to go to such extremes as my friend, though her particular methodology for handling stalkers was rather colorful.

Stalking is a phenomena not bound by gender, looks, or economic/social status. For example, 2007's "Runaway Bride," Astronaut Lisa Nowak, is female, reasonably attractive, and...a freakin' astronaut! She was so obsessed with her sweetie that she wore diapers on her race to intercept his alleged girlfriend and "just talk" to her while carrying all the equipment necessary to theoretically rig up this chick's car so it looked like she killed herself with the exhaust. What dedication! What ingenuity! What stinky diapers!

The only real sort-of stalker I had in comics was a well-known freelancer who eventually had to be told by my boss not to call me anymore. This man was attractive, outgoing, talented, and extremely successful. He could also apparently read my brainwaves with his psychic powers and empathically "feel" when I was in distress. Of course, he was causing the distress, but why split hairs in the face of the miraculous?

My favorite cinematic example of the stalker is Bill Pullman from "Mr. Wrong." Yes, there is a certain allure about having the Han Solo guy from "Spaceballs" chase you across the country, " I Want To Know What Love Is" blaring, but his pseudo-Harrison Ford mystique can only be carried so far. Also, if you're Ellen Degeneres in that movie, you most probably have other issues going on besides terror over hearing "Foreigner" at a Mexican rest-stop.

So as you tote your bundle of roses and enjoy a romantic night eating stale twizzlers, getting felt up, and watching "Norbit," please do not forget that much-maligned flava in Cupid's stable o' love -- the red-blooded American stalker. And if you are having any problems with such dedicated individuals, there is a certain witch I can put you in contact with.