Where Will Clark Kent Work At When The Newspapers Die?

"Truth is, even superheroes couldn't get us out of the mess we're in now. Superman can stop bullets, move mountains and crush coal into diamonds, but he can't help us. He works for a newspaper. He needs a job. He wants to leap tall buildings and then crash on your couch. Batman can't help you. He can't get parts for his big, stupid American car. And Wonder Woman can't help you, because we don't allow gays in uniform."

--Bill Maher, "Superheroes Can't Save California"

Economy Chronic Depression Bear

EDIT: I wrote this on Tuesday night. On Wednesday, I went out on an interview with a potential client for an editing/blogging/PR consulting job.

I start this, another edition of my look at the world's current economic woes (and how it intersects with things of particular interest to the comic book industry, like "digital vs. paper"), with a personal view.

All the places I used to meet up with my friends back in the old days are being closed.

Take Virgin Megastore in NYC. Gonna be closed by the Summer. Now, I'm not saying that Virgin Megastore was the most awesome store in the entire universe, or that it didn't put a lot of its smaller neighbors out of business. But this was the place that me and my friends would meet up at before going someplace else. A place to browse. A landmark. A touchstone.

Now, here are some of the other places me and my buds used to use as meet-up locations:
* Coliseum Books, RIP
* Tower Records, RIP (except online)
* Barnes and Noble on Astor Place, RIP
* Barnes and Noble on Sixth Avenue, RIP
* Toys R' Us on Union Square, RIP
* Toys R' Us on Herald Square, RIP
* Circuit City on Union Square, soon-to-be-RIP
* KB Toys, RIP (they even let the fricking url go)

I should probably switch to meeting at subway stations.

Now for another installment of...BUYING COMICS ON A BUDGET!

I consulted the list of this week's comic books and decided to apply the BF's "three comic maximum" to myself. Speaking from experience, there are many comic books that I would buy on whims that I would flat-out not consider for purchase when I am trying to budget. For example, I like to pick out odd-ball comics to review. Harder to take that leap -- even in the interest of Comic Book Scholarship -- when one is budgeting.

I become far more choosy. I consider at that ad for the latest issue of The Goon, for instance, and ask skeptically: is this in current continuity? I look at that intriguing hardcover edition and immediately decide to not only wait to get it on Amazon, but to wait at least two months until the price drops. And my experimentation with manga? Unless it's Deathnote, it'll probably be on hold. Cuz three regular comix iz wurth one manga. Onlee...not really. And I can buy two of the higher-end cans of cat food for the price I pay for one comic. This is how the logic starts to go.

But one thing I've learned...it can all turn on a dime. Either way. Dangerously, I have an appointment with a potential new client on the same day as when the new comics come in. If I wait until after the appointment to buy the comics...and I get the gig...yikes. I might go overbudget, making an excuse in my mind that I "earned" this little spending holiday. Will I be strong?

This article, about the crisis in Newspaper Land, brings up some interesting basic points that might (might!) be applied to the comic book industry. The first point is that it is important to separate out the "end is nigh" hysteria from the actual situation. Some newspapers, for example, are facing "certain death" scenarios, while others (while certainly hit by the crisis) are not. The writer makes the following distinction:

• Debt-ridden: Debt-ridden companies are behaving as if their very survival is at stake; in many cases, this is true and understandable. Newspapers owned by debt-ridden companies are under enormous pressure to throw off cash and produce profit margins that are unthinkable in this kind of economic downturn. A local publisher of one such company in the United States told me they had to get rid of their plants because they had no money to water them! For debt-ridden companies, there is little long-term thinking; it's all harvesting.

• Recession-ridden: The recession-ridden companies are in pain. The pain is greater than the other two global recessions, combined, from the past 20 years. Yet the pain is scalable. There will be the inevitable balance between cost-cutting and development.

Now, what makes the difference between a debt-ridden ("certain death") and a recession-ridden publisher?

• Where to cut: The best ones are right-sizing their editorial and production operations relative to the size of revenues they can generate. The worst ones are cutting across-the-board, depriving managements of the ability to market, sell, understand customers in changing times, and evolve toward digital.

• Transformation: The best ones are turning danger to opportunity by accelerating transformation strategies. The worst ones are sticking their heads in the sand, and hoping the storm will pass.

• Treating employees: The best ones are treating their surviving employees as if they'll be with them for the long-run. The worst ones are treating surviving employees as if they're lucky to have what they have.

Now, I'm no business expert; I just like to read these articles and come up with these crazy theories every once in a while. But it seems to me like Comics are not going to "die" as the result of the crisis. It's going to get a massive pruning and metamorphosis, though. Who makes it and who doesn't depends a lot on matters of:

• Long-term investment vs. short term investment -- of stories, storylines, talent, etc.
• Embracement of new technologies
  
• Maintaining a sense of morale

The last point is really important. I think in this environment, it's really easy to be an Economy Chronic Depression Bear. I'm deciding between comics and cat food, so I know of which I speak. But I think giving into the hysteria is fatal at this point. We need to be realistic. Realistic is being informed and cautious, but it doesn't mean falling into hysteria.

And places close down all the time, that's part of life. That bombed-out old candy store across my street that was a front for drugs? Now it's an elegant French restaurant. Of course, if that restaurant closes and becomes a 99 cent store...well...I'll probably save a lot more money.

EDIT: After the interview, which I aced, I went straight to Forbidden Planet and spent 45 dollars. To be fair, a few of those books were for my BF. But I bought a lot of books, including a $15.99 copy of the Boom Studios "Seekers Into The Mystery" collected edition. I was very tempted to get the Fantagraphics Bible book with the Basil Wolverton illustrations, but this was not the time to go completely insane. I might "Amazon" that one.

One more footnote to this long post. I've been learning to be a lot choosier with clients. The client I talked to yesterday wanted to promote a product and a positive philosophy about life that totally uplifted me and that I deeply agreed with and believed in. It might sound idealistic to wait for these sorts of clients. But it always pays off for me. You have to love what you do.

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

Economy Sad Bear: Wizard Edition

Getting reports on Twitter that there are possibly more firings at Wizard Magazine.

I know a few people there, this sucks.

...

Not Wizard-specific, but an observation. With all these paper magazines and newspapers laying off people and transferring more and more content to the Web, don't they have some sort of protocol for transferring jobs as well for one medium to another? Job training, etc.? Surely, not everybody is ideal for the transition from paper to digital. But surely some of these companies are at least attempting this?

UPDATE: According to unconfirmed reports, the Wizard layoffs, if true, are one of the biggest single-day purges for the company.

...

With the massive layoffs and door-closings in the traditional media over the last six months, we cannot expect things will be any different for comics. I hear sometimes that "comics are recession-proof," and that "the paper comic will never die." Maybe that is true -- but there is absolutely going to be reshufflings and rearrangement and different schemata set up, and that is inevitably going to mean a loss of jobs.

The landscape for comics -- and those media sources that report on comics -- is going to look completely different within five years. Not like, five years ago, we had this comic trend or that, and we called it "change." I'm talking about complete and total revolution in content, format, and delivery. That's why, when some person or another asks me why I am not worked up over this or that DC Comics thing, I say: "in five years everything is going to be completely different anyhow. what does it matter?"

New York Comic Con 09: Doing The Time Warp

Jimmy Olsen gets the scoop on the future of the comic book industry

I suspect to many in this strange uncertain time, New York Comic Con was a welcome escape from reality. Such as it was for me, and mostly how I used the event. I did more "wandering on my own, losing myself in dollar bins" than I have in the last three years. I bought up all the comics of my youth. I opened up these comics and immediately familiar panels, which I haven't viewed in 20 years, stood out. It's funny how these random panels stick in your memory.

I went to a bar, and one of my favorite former bosses from my DC days got up with his crew to leave -- providing my friends with a space. We sat down, and after an hour a former boss from Acclaim -- who always reminded me of that same guy from DC who just left -- sat down and started talking to us. It was surreal. Full circle. Another friend commented that being at NYCC was like having his life flash before his eyes -- people from so many different eras of his life, his career.

Complicating things was the fact that I had moments where I still thought that my late step-dad was still somewhere, living in his home at NYC or Cape Cod. That it was only a temporary absence. It's like you know absolutely that he's gone, but you distract yourself with the convention and talking with your friends, and everything seems normal. And him being around is part of that normal. But he's gone. I managed to process a lot of my feelings about that this weekend -- but perhaps it was more distraction, less process. I don't know.

Batman & Hellboy wait their turn

I also had a number of freelancers tell me that they missed my opinion pieces (a.k.a. muckraking) regarding the industry, as they felt it provided a useful service. This made me feel flattered and also kinda guilty for not writing that stuff anymore (or, at least, not writing it the way I did).

But is punditry truly a force of real change in the comic book industry? In terms of some of the most shocking things I have personally witnessed or heard about -- not as much as I thought it was. That doesn't mean that these things shouldn't be talked about online. But I think the real change -- the shakeups -- are coming from the economy and the move to digital. These changes are like a monolith glacier that is scraping across the landscape of the comic book industry. I feel like a little bean in comparison.

The sea change cannot be overestimated. It is hard for me to concentrate on who slept with who or who screwed who over in the face of this massive change. I watch and track Change, with all its attendant horribleness and wonder, with the awe and focus of an intense 10-year-old with Asperger's Syndrome.

Hordes of unemployed, angry Jedi storm the floor

Some complained about NYCC feeling a little "flat." Not a lot of OMFG moments, stuff to be revved up about. That's because this is the calm before the tsunami. It's not going to be a "bad" tsunami, in terms of being "evil." It's a tsunami of change. To say "Dan DiDio this and that" is irrelevant at this point. Two years from now, and this landscape will be completely altered. And in the shake-up, some will fall away and other, newer people will come out of seemingly nowhere and rise to the top. It's anybody's game at this point. It's not the time for pessimism, but for asking: "where do I fit within all of this?"

This is the time, that if you're smart, you can really build something for yourself. It is not Armageddon, though I know that term has been passed around as of late.

But change can be very painful, and those feelings need to be processed. And sometimes, there needs to be distraction, simple joys, good times with friends, etc. Seeing so many segments of my life on display at NYCC, blending, colliding, having drinks with each other, slinking away around corners or running up to me from across a crowded convention floor...I feel as if I am at a nexus-point in my life, in my career. And I feel the industry is at a similar place.

Economy Sad Bear: The There's No Crying In Comics Edition

"Anonymous" has choice words for those complaining about Diamond's new policies:

"Quit complaining, grow and evolve, or shut the hell up and go away."

cue:




I'm only really following this WOWIO thing because I had considered publishing my memoirs through them and boy I would have been cheesed off now.


Did you know that it would be cheaper for The New York Times to just give their subscribers Kindles than to keep publishing the print edition of the paper?

I still occasionally buy and enjoy the print edition of NYT. But it's not a habit nor is it a necessity -- it's more of a "treat," usually spurred on by long train rides.


Of course, it must be asked -- is this ascendancy of digital over paper necessarily a development in the same league as the economy failing, etc.? Were things going to go down this road anyway as new technologies developed? Is it just a case of really bad timing? Or has the mass exodus away from paper sped up considerably in the face of the recession? In other words: clusterf**k?



On a positive note, Major Spoilers provides promotion tips for the small publisher, referencing chipper Mr. Seth Godin:

"Instead of being pessimistic about business, Seth insists that a different outlook can drastically change the outcome. When my comic shipment didn’t arrive last week as expected, I didn’t curl into a ball, bemoaning the number of readers that would be lost or comics that would not be enjoyed. Instead, I’ve been looking at other sources to see what can be reviewed.

Why can’t this work for the smaller publisher? I’m not a print publisher, and will admit that my knowledge of print schedules, minimum orders, and the like, all comes from my conversations with a good friend who’s been a magazine editor nearly all his life. It seems that instead of worrying about canceling titles that have low order amounts, the smaller publisher should work to increase awareness of its offerings to increase demand, thus meeting Diamond’s new minimum limit."

Of course, now this post has come full circle.

Do you have any tales or news for Economy Sad Bear? Or maybe something inspirational to lift our flagging spirits? Let us know! I'm friggin' serious! I'm looking for s**t to write! Just don't libel nobody.

Palette Cleansers:
Pictures of Cute Animals
Tony Robbins Quotations
Bubblewrap Popping

Economy Sad Bear: The Webcomic Edition

Follow The Media Is Dying on Twitter for your daily (hourly?) dose of nail-biting, Rolaids-popping paranoia.

Are webcomics a viable alternative to your recession-plagued wallet? David Gallaher provides a list of his favorites at Blog@Newsarama.

Neil Swaab describes "the end of alternative comic strips," and gives his opinions on webcomics...

"I know there are plenty of web comic artists who are able to subsist on the income they make from their website, but they aren't making money from their comics; they're making money from merchandise. Not to belittle web-only comic artists, but when their income is derived from t-shirts, it makes them salesmen first, artists second. The comics act as a tool to drive traffic to their website and then the sales of their products allow them to continue to make the comics. I know this may seem like semantics and those artists would never see it that way, but I think it's a valid issue, particularly for the reasons that not every comic artist wants to be a t-shirt salesperson."

...and then clarifies those opinions:

"My intent in bringing up the question was that there are a lot of great artists out there whose work doesn’t translate to t-shirts or easily marketable products and who don’t have an interest in merchandising to support themselves. Their work shouldn’t fail because of that and that’s what the current webcomics model thrives on."

So if Swaab is basically saying that "the current webcomics model thrives on" CafePress tees and mousepads, what is the specific objection to that? Is the objection that such a model doesn't generate sufficient cash for webcomickers, or because the arrangement is "gauche?" Is it more gauche to sell T-shirts on your site or have your comic strip supported by an alternative weekly that runs ads (with some of ads, especially towards the back of the publication, being kinda sketchy)? Or are any determinations we make regarding this highly objective and situational?

Also -- I would totally buy a Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles mousepad.

Then there is Brandon Thomas on digital comics:

"If you are a comic book company and are not seriously considering some method of digital distribution, then in the next couple years, you’re likely going out of business. The smaller the publishing house, the more important this ultimately is."

I've been hearing rumblings about the future and viability of original graphic novels as well. Shocking, because two years ago OGNs were the bee's knees and everybody wanted a piece of them, especially the traditional book publishers. Now it's like: "I don't got a &@%$ two years for your book to come out! We might be a Chick-fil-A by the time that happens!"


...and cult-favorite webcomic Achewood goes on hiatus:

"After seven full and happy years, though, production of the strip has had to find space for itself among other projects. Book development, animation development, and most recently, the rapid relocation of my little family to another state. That's the big killer. We lived in Silicon Valley until today. Until three weeks ago, we thought we were going to live here forever. It's a complicated story involving eminent domain, the stewardship of the American financial continuum, and a poisonous dog named Nasturtium. I'll tell you about it sometime."

This prompts Strangeman to muse:

"I don't know what to think. I think an artist has the right to walk away from his art, but it's something to be avoided. That's like leaving your baby at Wal-Mart. If it's ending, I'm going to feel what I felt when Calvin & Hobbes went away. Comics are taken for granted sometimes, be they in the paper, comic book, or online. No one really want to see them go."


Do you have any tales or news for Economy Sad Bear? Or maybe something inspirational to lift our flagging spirits? Let us know!

Palette Cleansers:
Pictures of Cute Animals
Tony Robbins Quotations
Bubblewrap Popping