Hulu Beats YouTube: "Old Media Strikes Back"

"Old Media Strikes Back" -- not my headline, but that of Newsweek's, in a post dated 2/21/09.

Newsweek's sub-heading:

"Hulu, founded by NBC and Fox, has become a better moneymaker than Web darling YouTube. The moral: better content wins."

My blog, a week ago:

"Authoritative vs. "Amateur" is the general crux of the mainstream media companies's...bid for pay-based content."

"The media companies are going to push "Authoritative" vs. "Amateur" within two years."

Again: my point is not that the YouTubes and Wikipedias of the world are amateur. My point is: big media will start to portray them as such though news reports and advertising.

From the Newsweek piece:

"Unlike YouTube, Hulu had legal access to great content—shows from NBC, Fox and others. And it had great technology—a clean, simple user interface and a smart search engine. Today, just one year after its launch, Hulu has gained the upper hand. "The empire is striking back," says Arash Amel, analyst for researcher Screen Digest. " (emphasis mine)

Now, the point can be made from reading the article that Hulu.com is making great money from their online advertising -- they are making money from *free content*.

But when we look closer at the advertising on Hulu -- it's resembling more and more traditional TV advertising!

"Hulu's team is trying new approaches to advertising that they hope will be more palatable to viewers, and more effective as well. One idea: a viewer can choose to see ads interspersed throughout a show, or can watch a single long advertisement up front. (But either way you can't skip through the ads.) Another example: a carmaker lets the viewer choose to see an ad for a pickup truck, a crossover SUV or a sports car—so the viewer gains some control, and the advertiser doesn't waste a pickup-truck ad on someone who wouldn't be caught dead in one."

Yes, it's placed differently. Yes, it's more "targeted" (which the media companies LOVE). But it's there, and you can't watch your Hulu show without watching it. Just like network TV. We've come full circle "This show brought to you by Lexus."

But then, can't the producers of independent videos -- like the ones on YouTube, for instance -- get these sweet ad deals too?

Big Media news outlet Newsweek pooh-poohs this idea:

"YouTube has lots of content, but from the perspective of advertisers much of it is utterly worthless. Nobody wants to tout their brand amid user-generated videos that could turn out to be almost anything..."

Yeah, nobody wants to see *amateur* stuff, the article is saying. They want to see "The Office." Right?

Newsweek:

"Fun as it may be to watch someone's kitten playing with a piece of string, last night's episode of "The Office" makes for a more compelling experience."

Sure, because...all the clips on YouTube are just kittens playing with string, right? Sure.

One more interesting tid-bit. Again, from the Newsweek piece:

"Hulu insists it's not really competing with YouTube. In fact, its real victim might be cable companies. Why pay $100 per month for a cable subscription when you can get so much great stuff online at no cost?"

And again, from my blog:

"I always told the BF that once another Hulu-type streaming video service comes out, we were going to have to cancel the cable."

"We have media media media (inexpensive media) coming out off our butts. Which is awesome. Sucks to be the cable companies, though."

Next up? Look for sites like Hulu creating separate "premium" channels that you have to subscribe to. Just like the traditional cable model. Full circle.

10 Strategies For The Comic Industry In A Recession

Here are the 10 ways/strategies the comic book industry can use to survive and thrive in a recession/depression:

1. For God's Sake Entertain These People!
In the Great Depression, movie studios thrived, producing entertainment for the masses that made them forget their troubles. A movie ticket is $10+. A comic is less than $4. But you have to entertain these people! You have to create compelling storylines. You can't depend on that same fan base you've been handing lukewarm milk to for the last several years because they're just too blah to change their buying habits. Blah and complacency is out. Your audience: thrill them or lose them.

2. Go Back To The Basics.
Look up Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey. Get down to the basics of what makes a compelling story. Heroes, villains. Protagonists, antagonists. Problem/solution. If you need almost a whole paragraph to explain your story or event, you have screwed up somewhere along the way.

3. They Can't Afford Gigantic Crossovers
They can't. I mean, they did; but now they can't.

4. Lose Your Pride
Whether your pride is not wanting to reach out past your comfort zone in terms of readership, your hatred of digital media, your irrational bias against one thing or another, or whatever -- if it is standing in the way of sales, you are useless. Get over it.

5. Unsure? Make It Digital
If you are unsure about your product -- if you feel it is really iffy -- if you are a small publisher and you are going to risk everything to print just this one fucker -- for God's sake PLEASE put it out digital first. It can be digital with a roll-in hardcopy plan. But make it digital. The direct market won't hate you for it. They hardly got room on their shelves for a lot of that stuff, anyhow.

6. Are You Ballast?
Take a good look at yourself in your job -- especially if you are working for a larger company. Are you expendable? Are there "five" of you? Do you find yourself working on "special projects" that are always put last on the food chain? Do you have no idea on God's green earth why you are at your job, or why they are paying you? Get out on your own terms, and be in a good position to negotiate your next job. Don't just wait for the inevitable. Be proactive.

7. Are Your Comics Ballast?
Take a good look at the comics your company produces. Now, which ones are awesome, and which ones are "filler?" Which ones did you do as a favor for an old buddy which aren't that great but you promised him, and which ones are awesome? I mean, you can do the favor, but make that a one-shot, don't make that a three-issue prestige format. Use your brain. Which comics make you go "wow," and which ones, by your own admission, are "born to die?" You can't afford to put out "born to die" comics. What is it that Obama said? "No more pork barrel." You need to cut your pork.

8. Stop Making Your Heroes Villainous
We don't need heroes that are assholes right now. The assholes are the ones that fucked the audience financially and took away their homes, their jobs, and their X-Mas bonuses. They want real Heroes to help them out of this mess.

9. Have A Hook
If it doesn't have a "hook," don't do it right now.
Examples of hooks:
* awesome artist
* awesome writer
* topical
* controversial
* of superior artistic merit (possible award winner)
* unique

10. Stop Writing These Gloom And Doom Articles About How The Comic Book Industry Is Going To Collapse
You're really scaring the shit out of everyone. I mean, you should write them, it is topical. But it's like feeding this already jumpy nervous ready-to-totally-lose-it climate.

I really don't buy the rumors of the comic book industry's bust, especially in a world right now which is *starving* for escapism. But things need to be thought of strategically.

The Significance Of The Marvel Comics Thanksgiving Float

To me, the crucial turning-point in the licensing of superheroes, post-Mego action figures in the 1970s, was the first Marvel Comics float at the Macy's Thanksgiving parade, circa 1987. Watching this short segment on my TV as a comic collecting teenager was a rare and unexpected thrill.

First, a little background. The licensing of superhero characters took a sharp nose-dive after the demise of Mego Toys in the early Eighties. Sure, in the early-to-mid 1980s we had the Secret Wars and Super Powers toy lines. But they were relatively slim pickings, with not a tremendous amount of ancillary products or TV adaptations.


Furthermore -- as an X-Men fan, things were even more slim pickings for me. The Wolverine and Magneto action figures from the Secret Wars line. That was it, the only acknowledgment outside of two "Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends" cartoons that the X-Men existed outside of the comic books I was dutifully collecting on a weekly basis.

But enter the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the Marvel float. For the first time, I saw an X-Men character "in real life" -- an actor dressed up like Wolverine. This was *huge* for me.

Plus: Emma Frost(!), Luke Cage (!!), and even Robocop (!!!)!

Was Marvel's deal with New World Studios the impetus for this float? Was this, and the float in 1989, the publisher's attempt to stick its big toe into the wider world of media and gauge the popularity of these characters?

Whatever the reasons, by 1990 a whole new golden age of licensing and TV and movies dawned for both Marvel and DC superheroes. Toy Biz in a way became a more successful version of Mego, producing tons and tons of toys, dolls, playsets, and other products starring Marvel characters both popular and obscure.

Fancy a Wolverine figure? (from Radapaw's Wolverine Figure Gallery)

Some might point to the success of the first Batman movie as the beginning of this new "age of superheroes" -- but I think it started with that very first Marvel Thanksgiving float.

Wow, I'm a nerd.

1987 Float


1989 Float

Why Did "Blue Beetle" Fail?

Fans are mourning the end of the cult comic book Blue Beetle, which is ending its run with issue #36. Though sales have not been huge for the title, it had built a loyal fanbase and has been received with critical acclaim. But what went wrong? Why did Blue Beetle fail?

Well, one issue is the idea of a comic book series having to go 100 or 200 issues in order to be considered a "hit." I think this is an outdated concept. I'll go on a limb and suggest that largely, the comic book buying public and the comic creators do not have the attention span anymore to produce the huge, monolith runs that have defined much of the past. I mean, the current numbering on Detective Comics & Amazing Spider-Man may go on, but I don't foresee most of the series that have been launched within the last three years as going on to last 200+ issues.


Instead, what I believe you will have in the future are more mini-series or "volumes" of certain titles. Books with a planned end-point, extended by new mini-series or volumes if the public demands it. Viewed in this way, Blue Beetle was actually a great success. And quite adept at dodging the bullet. The title had rumors of cancellation swirling around it even in its infancy.

Let's go on to the content itself. I've only read the first two volumes of Blue Beetle trades, so my knowledge here is not all-inclusive.

The writing, by Keith Giffen and John Rogers, was generally very good. The characters were very well-delineated and engaging, and it was very successful in making the reader care about their lives and travails. It also had the trademark "Giffen Funny," which is always a plus. I think in later issues, when they got into the New Gods and stuff like that, things got a little dense and confusing at times. I enjoyed most from the series the unique world of Jaime Reyes, and did not like leaving it to engage in Fourth World and "big event" type stuff.


The art was good, but a little inconsistent. Cully Hamner's work was very striking and emblematic, but there were too many fill-ins. Ideally, you want to have the same artist and style on at least the first six or so issues that make up the first trade. Even though the fill-in artists were for the most part quite capable, this lack of consistency can hurt the viability of a young book. And Duncan Rouleau's art really didn't match the established style of the series at all.

Understand, this quibble about consistency of artists is not a mere nitpick; if we are looking at possible reasons why a book is not doing well, this has to be taken into account. My gut feeling when I see too many fill-in artists in a relatively new title? That something is wrong. That the company doesn't care, or has the title lower on their priorities, and/or that sales are poor and the "star" artist was yanked to work on other stuff.

But in general, the quality of the storytelling was quite high, and Jaime Reyes an excellent new character. So what else could have went wrong?


Did naming the book "Blue Beetle" help or hurt it in the end? Does the name cachet bump up sales -- or does such a drastic reboot alienate your core readership? When some hardcore readers saw it was not Ted Kord as BB anymore, but this new guy nobody has heard of before, did they resent it and stay away? Think about it, three reboots: Atom, Firestorm, and Blue Beetle. Relatively short runs. What if you had the same creative teams, the same stories, but slightly different powers and totally different superhero names?

What if Blue Beetle was instead called "Shellshock" or something?

Does "legacy" hurt or help?

When considering this, we should keep in mind that Barry Allen and Hal Jordan were once in similar situations.


Did the fact that the new Blue Beetle was Hispanic hurt the book in any way? I really don't think that was a factor (outside of those Ted Kord fans who wanted to see "their" BB), and I think most readers are open-minded enough at this point to embrace a well-done comic no matter the race or nationality of its characters. It is fairly obvious that BB/Jaime Reyes is one of the best new characters DC has thought up in the last several years, and that his ethnicity has only enhanced and enriched his comic book. In fact, he was so so popular, he was chosen to be the first guest-star in the new "Brave and Bold" cartoon series -- debuting, ironically enough, during the week of Blue Beetle's announced cancellation.

Finally -- is the mass market of comic book readers accepting of any new comic that doesn't involve a Bat, an "S," a spider, or an "X"? Certainly, books like Captain America, Thor, and Green Lantern do well. But what about brand new concepts? Or reboots that stray too far away from the "established" history? How much of a chance do they really have?


Or did books like Blue Beetle have the potential to reach beyond that traditional market and reach teenagers who might not even read comics? And reach women? Or even, if DC had decided to put out more Spanish-language issues, reach whole new relatively untapped (and huge) markets?

My final assessment: I'm not surprised Blue Beetle was canceled. If anything, I'm surprised books like that and Manhunter lasted as long as they did. I expected them to fail not because I thought the books were crappy, but because I'm cynical. However, I do think DC's decision to cancel the book is shortsighted. Why couldn't they have followed through and start a test program where they put Blue Beetle out in both Spanish and English? Or why didn't they follow Marvel's lead and market the title more aggressively to teens, even down to a more digest-sized format?

In this situation, there is only one person who wins:

September Comics Sales: Commentary

Here is the official list, for reference.

Thoughts:

* Secret Invasion is still #1, with both Avengers books, which closely tie in with the event, at #3 and #5.

* Does Final Crisis skipping a month hurt this title and the event as a whole? Or is there enough FC product out to give the series a sense of continuity?

* I would really like to pin-point the appeal of All-Star Batman & Robin, which is one of the few DC books to make the Top 20 at #4. Is it the Frank Miller/Jim Lee combined name cachet? Or the fact that it is a Batman book that isn't continuity-heavy? Is this book, such as it is, a template for how other successful DC books should be?

* Marvel pseudo-reboots of Hulk, Iron Man, and Amazing Spider-Man still do quite well. Is this a viable strategy for a publisher -- to periodically just come up with a fresh new take on the characters and just push ahead?


* In line with the previous comment, should DC just start doing the same thing with a bunch of their titles? I mean -- for reals, not as a last-minute shuffle.

* I mean my God -- look at the numbers for a book like The Flash -- at #82. This book should be Iron Man/Thor level in sales for DC, if not Captain America level. Because that's how key and iconic this character is to the DCU. It should at least do as well as Green Lantern.

* And Green Arrow -- I mean, that character is classic & edgy & would totally appeal to today's reader -- he even is a semi-regular on TV's "Smallville." Yet the comic is at #85. That's horrible, horrible numbers for a property that is so viable & important.


The formula (and I know I have written this before, so please bear with me):

1. Take your second-tier & some of your third-tier books and apply the Top 50 Test on them.

2. Top 50 Test: are these books starring your best, most licensable intellectual property making it to the top 50? If not: overhaul them.

3. Get top writers & artists for each second tier/third tier book. Carefully talent search for these titles. Pick teams that are willing/likely to stay for at least two complete arcs (if not a full year). <---- this part most important.

4. If the title had been hopelessly mired in bad creative decisions/fill-ins, cancel it outright & start from scratch.

Marvel has applied this philosophy over and over and over again, to good results. Many years ago, when I was just a whelp collecting comics, books like Thor & Fantastic Four and Iron Man were considered "crap" -- all we wanted were "X-Titles" and Spider-Man. But now these second & third tier books are all doing great. This is a formula that works.

I mean, again -- Green Arrow! This should be DC's Iron Man -- there should be a movie out already.

And this is not a slam -- this is a kindness. Trying to figure out what would sell best is a kindness, far more so than a room full of "yes men." A room full of "yes men" can yes you right into bankruptcy. Ask the president.

Arthur: Worst Reboot Of A Children's Character Ever!

When I was writing the previous Dora the Explorer post, I remembered what I consider to be the worst translation of a children's character from book to screen ever:

Arthur The Aardvark.

Okay, here is the original "Arthur" book:


It's a book about how even though Arthur has a big nose, it's totally okay because everyone's beautiful and it's what is inside that counts.

Now here is Arthur after Hollywood got a hold of him:


THEY CUT OFF HIS @$%@&* NOSE!

Can you imagine being the creator of some character like Arthur and being told by TV producers that they totally love everything about this character -- except for the key concept?

But the ears...the ears are still there. Thank God.

An Uncommon World Calls For Uncommon Strategies

I am in yur box, thinking outside of it

When I was in my early twenties, ready to leave college, I was still in a world that believed the best thing you could achieve was the security of a steady 9-to-5 job. This job would be one you could stay in for thirty years and which would provide you and your family everything you needed for the life you have grown accustomed to. Sure, you would start at entry-level at this great Job, but, as the years went by (and you caused no trouble), you could count on steadily moving up the ranks to a higher position, perhaps one day becoming a manager or even a manager of managers.

The old paradigm: Dagwood Bumstead, suburban breadwinner

My father had such a job. It was a job that managed to support a wife and three kids, and provide us all with medical insurance and regular trips to the dentist.

While he struggled for years in the trenches, finally my dad built things up at the job where he could be a Supervisor. Part of this meant that he could have the type of job so many people dream of -- a bureaucratic position which entailed him spending long stretches of time sleeping or doing nothing. I'm not exaggerating this. He often had nothing to do. He had nothing to do but had to stay in that goddamn office.

On one of the days he went back into the field, during an emergency, he had a heart-attack and died. Just days short of his pension. Which his employers saw fit to deny his family. Because while he played the game -- oh, so sorry, you're a couple days too late. Do not win, do not collect $200, do not cross "Go."

But back then, there at least was still a game to be played.

I think that the notion of job security I referred to earlier -- such a staple of life when I was growing up -- was just part of an era. I don't think it's the defacto way things are with working in America, or even should be. This notion of one's employer as the God-like father-figure who provides, who gives food and shelter and health and a future -- as long as you play by the rules and think inside the box.

The new paradigm: Lucille Van Pelt, entrepreneur

I just made a sum of money this week doing two things I enjoy -- writing and blogging. Neither path was a common strategy. The more I let go of my attachment to the common strategies, the more opportunities I encounter. It's as simple as that. It's as literal as that.

Just wanted to share that with you. This week was very very cool for me.

Gothic Tweety Bird

In a New York Times article about character revamps, as pointed out in The Beat:

“You want a dark, Goth version of Tweety Bird? Have at it,” said Lisa Gregorian, executive vice president for worldwide marketing at Warner Brothers Television.

It really seems that all bets are off and these companies will do anything it takes to sell the lunchboxes.

I remember working on Disney licensed comics in the mid 1990s. A writer submitted a springboard about a story in which Dopey temporarily becomes smart. And the story was rejected by the Disney rep because, in her words, "Dopey is sacred here." You can't f**k with Dopey. The Dopey concept is pure.

But you can f**k with Tweety. You can even give him black eyeliner.

Five Problems With American Comic Books

Kurt Amacker in his Comicscape column on Mania points out 5 specific problems with American comic books:

1. Convoluted Continuity
2. Crossovers and Tie-Ins
3. Delays and Scheduling
4. Overemphasis on Superheroes
5. The Fans Who Encourage/Put Up With It

I think the mainstream comic book industry's investment in all of the above as a long-term strategy is a mistake. And I think the industry is sort of schizophrenic on the issue, producing a lot of the same old thing while at the same time undermining that with new stuff. Probably not so much schizophrenic as hedging their bets and seeing what shakes out.

Personally, seeing how much Big Media is putting the pressure on their print divisions to create more web content and less paper products -- with traditional print publications like TV Guide all but extinct in favor for their digital counterparts -- I don't understand how the writing on the wall could be more clear. At least as far as digital comics go.

I just don't see the changes in all these things going on in incremental baby-steps anymore. Used to be, at least where I sat, innovations were brought in and often quietly strangled in their cradle -- because they would ruffle too many feathers, cause too much awkward moments in the transitional process.

The traditional model of mainstream American comics is like planet Krypton. It's comforting, we have a lot of real estate there, and we just installed a swimming pool. But it's gonna blow.

Direct-To-Trade: Vertigo Should Do This!

Brian Wood asks on his LiveJournal:

"Let's suppose a book like DMZ stopped coming out monthly and instead you got a 150-page original graphic novel every seven months or so, same production values as the trades, same everything as the trades. But obviously the cover price would have to go up...

So how much would you pay for it? What's the highest that price tag could be before you decide it's too expensive to buy it?"

Of course, this is the model that Vertigo should be doing. At the very most, have 2-3 strong-selling monthly floppies (if any), and everything else would be in graphic novel form right off the bat. Be easier to sell, get them right in the bookstores, easier to market, easier to promote.

6 issues for $20. Squarebound, decent paper, suitable for viewing upon your bookshelf.

This is indeed the wave of the future.

And should this model apply to regular ol' DC and Marvel comics as well?

I'm trying to be conservative about this. Let's just say Vertigo. For now.

Fangirl Fridays: You've Come A Long Way, Baby?

Comics: No Longer A Second-Class Citizen?

"Will one day I really be a real respectable entertainment medium,
Blue Fairy?"
"Only if your movie breaks a hundred mil."

Sometimes I get the impression that comics are to the rest of the entertainment industry the way women are to comics -- or at least, that's the way the media perceives it. Let me explain.

A common post in the comics blogosphere is the "look, a major newspaper/magazine/television show recognizes comics exist." I've done these sorts of posts myself. The posts are well-meaning and informative, but somewhat patronizing. The movie industry blogs don't make posts saying "oh look, Time Magazine paid attention to us. That's significant!" But we do.

The same thing sometimes happens in reporting women in comics stories. "Oh, they're paying attention to us! We're legitimate!" The very fact that women figure somewhere in the coverage, either as the subject of a comic book or as a comic creator, is highlighted. Because it's a woman. It's a "see how far we've grown!" type sentiment. The same type of sentiment I see from the comics newso/blogosphere for the mainstream comics coverage.

I'm not saying that we should stop posting this way. I'm just saying that I feel both comics and women in comics have reached a certain level of success where the fact that they're covered by major media shouldn't be such a shock. "Iron Man" is an over $100 million dollar movie. Don't worry. The media is "on" to us. They're almost going to phase out the "Biff! Pow!" phrases in the articles. It's been over 40 years, but seriously, they're going to stop.

Why I Hate "You've Come A Long Way, Baby"

She's come a long way, baby --
she can wear a man's suit with a baby-pink jacket that doesn't match.
Thank you for 30 years of irony and lung cancer, Virginia Slims

Do we need all-women comic con panels and all-women comic link-dumps? Do we need an organization like Friends of Lulu? I've always envisioned Friends of Lulu as 1) A place to celebrate the achievements of women in comics, 2) A place for women in comics to network with and find support from their peers, and 3) A place to provide young women mentorship in comics creation. Within all that there is another component of promoting all-ages comic book material. But I never saw it as a "You've Come A Long Way, Baby!" Virginia Slims type thing. "You've Come A Long Way Baby" patronizes the hell out of me. I don't need to be told how far I've come. I f**king know how far I've come. I was there!

Glamourpuss #1 Review

I was going to just draw my review by tracing panels from old issues of Cerebus and then putting my review in the word balloons, but I decided against it.

Glamourpuss #1 has two components: 1) A meditation on photo realism in comics and Alex Raymond, and 2) Some fashion model s**t. The former is interesting, the latter is flat. Models are shallow, models have eating disorders, models wear too-expensive clothes that are impractical -- there is nothing new here, at least in terms of how this material has been traditionally presented before. This is coupled with the preconceptions going in based on Glamourpuss creator Dave Sim's reputation.

Yes, I know I shouldn't go into an artist's work with preconceptions based on their reputation. But I see these lifeless pictures of the models, I see how they're presented as empty-eyed self-absorbed materialistic cyphers, I read about "Skanko," and in all honesty I have to wonder what Sim is trying to say about women in all this.

And this page differs from what Greg Land does how???

But then I contrast that with all the reconstructed Alex Raymond panels in the book which also feature women. Most of those women are sympathetic, and ironically have more life in them than the actual real-life women Sim used to draw the models from.

I guess the biggest question I have regarding Glamourpuss -- and the answer would have an impact on how I ultimately review it -- is how much irony did Dave Sim intend for it to have? How much he expected us to laugh at things like sore feet and Skanko and how much did he intended for these things to be ironic would make a difference to me. It would mean the difference between the book being an avant-garde work of art and just an overly-hyped trip through one artist's psyche.

Christina Ricci On "Black Snake Moan" Marketing: "It Exploited Women!"

Starpulse reports that Christina Ricci is apparently still very unhappy with the way the movie "Black Snake Moan" was marketed:

"The way that movie was marketed was probably one of the most disappointing and upsetting things that's ever happened to me in my career. I have no interest in exploiting women any further than they've already been exploited. The whole reason I made that movie was to say, 'Oh yeah, that girl you called a slut probably went through this, so you might not want to use her and throw her away or judge her. All they (marketing bosses) cared about was college-age boys going to see it."

Specifically, she has an objection to the movie posters, which she felt missed the point of the whole film and were exploitative:


The DVD packaging gets it a little more right:

Jesus, how can you have two completely different types of copy like that?

"Everything is hotter down south"

"To save his soul, he must save hers"

Ah, I love marketing... (and badly done Photoshop!)

Online Marketing For The Comic Book Industry Part One: Search Engine Optimization

The following is probably not as exciting as a Skrull turning into a cow, but for comic industry people -- from the biggest companies to the self-publisher -- the advice I am going to give you is invaluable.

In my job I deal with two aspects of marketing online:

1) Search Engine Optimization: maximizing your site's traffic from search engines

2) Social Media: blogs, social networks, forums, Twitter, etc. (very "word of mouth"-oriented)

An understanding of both is absolutely necessary for competing in today's comic market.

And yet, I see definite deficiencies in these areas across the board in the comic industry, the exception being many webcomics who are particularly savvy in the social media department.

That said, let's take a look first at Search Engine Optimization, and why it is so important for your company or website.

If I type "comic books" in Google, the first result I get is the site Comic Book Resources. I get Comic Book Resources before I get the Wikipedia entry for comics -- that's really good. Comic Book Resources is what we call "optimized" for the keyword phrase "comic books."

How did the site get so optimized for "comic books?" A combination of factors, including their name, their content, the frequency of referring keywords, the age of the site, how many people link to the site, techniques built into the site to help improve their search engine rankings, and paid search help via Google.

Now, if I type in "comic book" singular in Google, Comic Book Resources still comes up as #2, this time behind Wikipedia. And, most importantly for the site, if I type in "comic book news," CBR comes in at #1. That means whenever some dude or lady who just wants to get some news on comics types the phrase into Google, the search engine will first direct him or her to CBR. That might not at first seem like something huge. But it translates in a tremendous amount of extra traffic for the site, which translates in more notoriety and more revenue from ads.

Just to cause trouble, let's see where the other comic news sites fall under the Google search rankings for "comic book news" (these are all on the first page) --

#1 Comic Book Resources
#2 Comic Book Resources again, for a different page
#3 Newsarama
#4 Comic Book News
#5 Comics Continuum

In tenth place is The Pulse. Comic Mix is on page two of the search results.

Where is Wizard?

I could not find Wizard Online within ten pages of Google search results for the keyword phrase "comic book news." (at least of the search made as of the date of this post)

That is horrible.

Wizard's site is not optimized for the phrase "comic book news," even though that is a big part of the service they are offering readers.

Neither does Wizard come up in the first ten pages of results for the term "comic books."

In fact, the only keyword phrase Wizard seems to do well in is "comic book magazine," in which it ranks #1. But that is not enough. It should be doing well on the other keywords as well, and it's not.

I would argue that a person is more likely to type in "comic book news" than "comic book magazine."

Now, to cause even more trouble, let's see how the big comic book companies rank on certain keyword searches on Google:

"Comic Book"
Marvel is 4th place on the first page
DC is 9th place in the second page
Archie Comics is 7th place on the seventh page
Top Shelf is 3rd place on the eighth page

That's all the major comic companies that come up after ten pages of search. That's not good.

And it's not good that DC is not more optimized for something as basic as "comic book."

Or how about the term "graphic novel?" DC comes up on page three of search results for that. That's also unacceptable, considering what a big piece of the pie graphic novels are for DC, and their big budget.

Now, surely DC's own website would come up #1 in search results for "Superman," right?

Nope. The Superman Homepage, a fan site, comes up in 1st place. DC itself comes up in 9th place.

Another key phrase would be "comics for girls." Girl-Wonder.org comes in #1 for that. But DC's Minx line doesn't come up, after ten pages of search...

...and neither does Friends of Lulu (grumblegrumblegrumble).

The point is, people are turning to the Internet for information about comics more than ever before. Especially returning or new readers. They are not going to slog through ten pages to get to your site or comic. They will probably choose something on the first page (unless they are looking for something very very specific, in which case you still need to be optimized for that).

In Part Two, I will explain how Social Media can be used to market your comic or company.

Okay, back to Skrulls turning into cows.

For more information on how Search Engine Optimization could work for your company's site, email here.

And remember kids: using Flash is pretty for your site -- but it will kill your search engine rankings!

Vertigo Should Move Away From "Slickness"

This came up a few days ago when I looked at the cover for Vertigo's upcoming original graphic novel, Incognegro.

Now hey, this sounds actually like a very interesting book. But the cover design turned me off a bit. It wasn't that it wasn't designed nice. It was designed great. But it was too slick.

I don't see the trend in the packaging of current graphic novels (originals, now, not reprint trades) as going the way of Slick. Some of the most successful GNs from other companies have a much more original look -- sometimes rough-hewn, sometimes minimalist, sometimes pop-arty. But, the main factor in all these GN's is their originality.

Take, for instance, the cover to Persepolis:


There is nothing on that cover that screams to me a "house style" or the aesthetics of the publisher. It's just the book itself -- a original entity. It also intrigues the reader by its minimalism, the simple design elements directing the onlooker's eye to the book's main character and the "set" art style the book will be using. The cover design is an organic outgrowth of the book itself -- interior and cover working together to produce a whole.

By contrast, the cover to Incognegro itself looks like an ad. Not just an ad -- a DC house-ad. And it tells me nothing about the uniqueness of the look of the GN or its art.


Then consider the case of Sentences, another Vertigo graphic novel. I was enraptured and intrigued listening to the narrative of the novel's writer, M. F. Grimm, on NPR some months back. But, the cover for the GN once again totally turned me off. I see that they were going for an "old skool" high-school notebook/graffiti look, but again -- it's still too slick. It's "old skool" with a Slick brush, "rough edges" rounded out and prepackaged.


Compare that to First, Second's Notes For A War Story. That's truly rough edges; texture, the life and breath of that volume.


Lastly, there is the excellent Vertigo GN Pride of Baghdad. Now here's a book I recommend to people all the time. However, this cover would have really benefited from a less crowded, lush approach. In my mind's eye I see a far simpler cover with a wide shot of the lions from the book in silhouette walking across a war-torn landscape. It would have far better evoked a sense of their journey and struggle and isolation. But, most importantly -- I think it would have struck a greater emotional chord with the viewer.

I think in all these examples, what Vertigo tried to do was package & design these graphic novels as NOVELS. These designs take the works as far away from their "comic book" roots as possible. But, I think this is a bad strategy. People buy graphic novels because they want graphic novels. If they wanted novels, they'd buy novels. This goes double for the recent packaging of Jodi Picoult's run on Wonder Woman as "novel-like" in design.


To be fair to Vertigo, they do have books that far better reflect the current aesthetics in graphic novel cover design. Take, for instance, Gilbert Hernandez's Sloth. There is no mistaking this as anything other than an organically Hernandez work. It fits in well with offerings by companies like Fantagraphics & Top Shelf. Or Rick Veitch's Can't Get No, printed in a unique horizontal format.


There is also the topic of Vertigo's reprint program, which I think incorporates a very successful book design, one that benefits from more of a "Vertigo" branding and uniform "multi-volume" approach.

The bigger point is, beyond book covers: Vertigo's original graphic novel publishing program, especially in the face of competitors both in comics & traditional publishing, has started to develop a rep for being Slick. Cold, calculating in its creative aspirations. It really needs a rough edge, some juice, some excitement. Or maybe DC has that already someplace else.

Seven Ways To Market Your Comic Book And Yourself

So you have a comic book -- be it from a major publisher, an indie imprint, or self-published.

Any way you slice it, you are going to need to effectively market yourself.

Notice I said "market yourself" -- not market the book.

Hell, of course you have to market the book. But, in such a highly competitive arena in which you have found yourself, You as Creator will be just as important as Your Book.

Here are a few tips:

1. Think Small
Imagine, if you will, how many e-mails a typical online editor of a goodly-sized comic book website must get. A great portion of those e-mails are, "Please feature/review/promote/mention my book."

Now, what you have to ask yourself is, "how am I going to stand out in that crowded inbox?"

One strategy you might find useful is to not depend on the bigger sites/blogs but concentrate on the key smaller ones. A key smaller site/blog may not have as many hits as Newsarama, but would have good writing and a core readership.

This is not to say you shouldn't send your PR e-mails to the large sites. You should definitely cover those bases. But sometimes it is better to be a well-featured fish in a smaller pond than a drop of water in a big ocean.

2. Don't Assume Your Publisher Will Handle the PR
Even if you're with a bigger publisher, it is still up to you to promote your book. Don't assume that your company will do that for you, leaving you alone to concentrate on the finer points of Milkshake Man.

Sometimes your publisher WILL go all-out to promote your book. And sometimes, especially if you're starting out/you are not high-profile/your book is not high-profile, there will be a lack of PR. It's just a matter of how thin the publisher can spread their public relations budget/time.

Bottom line: always proceed as if your publisher is under-promoting your book, and the job is on your shoulders. That said, please mind the individual "disclosure" policies of your editors/companies.

3. You Are Selling YOU.
If you're a freelance comic book writer or artist, there is a good chance that you will need to line up another job after this one. You, as a freelancer, must "sell" yourself PR-wise all the time.

Especially for the bigger/edgier publishers, you as a creative entity are a Package. You are your talent and You. In some cases, with some people, that will be more blatant than others. And there are some publishers and editors who do not care about stuff like that. But, this is becoming more and more the trend.

So, there are certain things you should keep in mind:

• It is important that you have another non-comics stream of income either coming in or immediately waiting in the wings (unless you are already able to comfortably able to support yourself purely on your writing/art). It's important because if you seem desperate, if that next comic is going to be the difference between you paying your phone bill or having to use smoke signals, people are going to pick up on it. That sort of neediness and desperation drives potential editors away.
• In fact, you always want to be in a position where people come to you, and not the other way around. Approaching an editor for work puts you at a disadvantage. To the editor, you are just one more out of the countless people wanting something from them. But, if you conduct a proper PR campaign (and if you have actual TALENT), you can get the word out there and increase the odds that people come to you. Not a guarantee. I'm just describing the ideal situation.
• Do a quick check on your overall image. You certainly don't have to be a Brad Pitt (or a John Cassaday), but you should be able to present yourself well. You should be able to be interviewed well. You should speak clearly. And you should be positive about yourself and your accomplishments.
• If you have conducted an objective analysis of your image and find it lacking, don't kick yourself over it. Image is just a bunch of crap used to help with sales & stuff. It's not an accurate reflection of your worth or who you really are. But if you think that you are standing in the way of your own publicity, consider getting an agent or some consulting.

4. YouTube It.
I have found that that the comic book-related tags on YouTube are very popular but relatively underused. Consider shooting a small videocast about yourself or your comic and posting it. I just post some little vidcasts and I get a bunch of subscribers. If you have a hair's more talent than I do with my crappy little video application, think of what you might accomplish. And you have a comic book to promote! Images! Be creative! (again, if working with a bigger publisher, make sure you know their policies on this and don't piss them off).

5. Educate Yourself On The Internet
There is a lot of inexpensive/free options out there on the Web to promote your comics and you. Educate yourself about them. Make sure you have the basics: a website, a Facebook, a MySpace, a blog. Because you might not have these things -- but your competitors do!

6. Network Network Network
A big portion of the sweet deals in comics in general are made through one's Network. Your Network is made up of all the people you've met and worked with along the way:

• If you want to build or increase your network base, be "cool" about it. Don't seem like an opportunist. Opportunists are talked about behind their back and called Opportunists. You avoid this by relating to the people you wish to network with as human beings and not Editor #5 or Big-Time Writer. Be natural.
• Remember the old adage, "the people you see on the way up are the people you'll see on the way down." Say you're moving up the ladder and you decide to treat Assistant Editor Y like crap. Assistant Y could be the guy in charge of hiring your ass one day. He or she could be in charge of the whole editorial department, even the president of a company. This happens more times than you think. And now Assistant Editor Y, who you dissed eight years ago, tells everyone: "don't work with X." And you're X! Don't be X. Don't even be W.

7. Reach Outside The Comic Book World
The success of comics like Perry Bible Fellowship and Y The Last Man have largely come from outside the standard comic book community. There is a whole untapped market of potential readers out there. Don't stick all your PR eggs in all one comic book media basket. Find other on-comic niches that might cotton to your comic and reach out to them.

Extra-Credit:
Professional Lettering
If you don't have professional lettering on your book, and the lettering looks like crap, you are in a big big big disadvantage. If you are promoting your smaller-pub/self-pub book or shopping it around, make sure you have invested in quality lettering. This is make-or-break stuff. Same thing goes for quality inking.

Well, I hope this little guide to help market your comic book and yourself helped you a little bit. There's a lot more that goes into a successful marketing/PR campaign for a book, but these are some good basics.

Remember, though: you have to have good content to "market." Most of the time.

Are We Headed For Another Comics Recession?

Ye Olde Comick Booke Blog questions whether the current state of the comic book industry is not mirroring the way it was in the 1990s:

Don't you see it? Let me explain. When was the last time the Punisher had two monthly titles? (Uh-huh.) When was the last time Marvel and DC took part in the variant cover fan-scam game? (Yep.) When was the last time we saw Onslaught, and the supposed death of Captain America? (You're getting it now!) When was the last time both Marvel and DC had such a casual disregard for the characters and their continuity that have driven the company for decades? (Bingo!) And do all of you remember what happened then that I fear might be happening again very soon?

God forbid we really return to that halcyon time of lore...

I remember the early 90s. I bought tons of comics a week, read none of them besides Grant Morrison's Doom Patrol. Every comic I bought was for investment. I regularly bought two or three of the same comic at a time. Bags and boards.

I was still actually reading comics in the late 80's. X-Men, Batman, Justice League. Then all the spinoffs started. My plan was always to buy every X-book that came out. But there were suddenly too many and I gave up. Ditto with Batman, a boom spurred on by the movie coming out in '89. And while I loved Giffen's JLA, once he left the title was dry for me (plus the glut of other JLA-inspired titles produced to cash in to something that was no longer there.)

This being said, it should be remembered that the investment fever that gripped the populace at that time had spread far beyond the fanbase and infected the non-reader. Comic books were considered a solid investment, something to stash away and pay your child's college tuition with. In fact, that phrase I heard bandied about quite a lot back then, used to assuage the fears of skeptical wives: "this will pay for our children's college tuition."

There was also quite a bit of small-time crime intertwined with the comics speculation boom of the 90s. Comic shops in Brooklyn were getting robbed left-and-right, either by teenagers shoplifting in bulk or out-and-out heists after hours.

However, I really don't think what we have now is equivalent to that golden time. I think the general comic- and non-comic-reader population realizes that modern comic books are not a "sure-thing" investment. The need for single back-issues have largely been replaced by a healthy trade-paperback publishing program. While there are popular fan-fave artists, none have really inspired the sort of utter hysteria Rob Liefeld or Jim Lee did back in the day.

However, I do agree to an extent with Ye Olde Comick Booke Blog on this point:

...instead of figuring out how to better market their product to the world at large they seem content to wring every dollar they can out of the fans who are still here, bleeding them dry with redundancy. If the sheer number of titles isn't audacious enough there are the dozens of mini-series that clog the racks every week...

I think the biggest way to "kill" a hot property in comics is to bloat it with spinoffs and redundant titles. It's a scattershot, short-term investment business strategy that operates on the cynical notion that if they love the One, they're going to buy the All. Now, if such a strategy was accompanied by honest-to-God awesome creative teams and stories, that would be great. But that's not usually the case. What ends up happening is this:

Original Hot Comic

Second-String Highly Promoted Spinoff Series With Decent Creative Team

Several "Meh" Rushed-Out Tertiary Spinoff Series

Boatload of Crap

After Boatload of Crap comes reader apathy, 25-cent bin, etc.

However, the "glut-the-market" strategy works great if you plan on just getting in, glutting the market, and rushing out.

What comes after the Glut is...

The Recession.

Recession = chaos. Books are cancelled in droves. Editorial & creative teams can change wildly. Scorched-Earth. "Who's in charge here?" Nobody knows. The future is in doubt.

In that sort of environment, some of the best, most original comic book material can sneak through. Because nobody's watching too closely. Because those carefully-laid plans are temporarily shut-off. It's about operating under-the-radar.

Alan Moore wasn't "planned." Grant Morrison wasn't "planned." Nobody sat in a room way back when and said: "we're going to put Miller on Daredevil and it's going to sell a zillion copies and inspire all these people."

Will a Recession comparable to the 70s and 90s happen again in comics? I really don't know; I certainly can't see into the future.

But where might the next "big thing" in comic books come from?

I'm reading a book right now called "The Black Swan: The Impact Of The Highly Improbable." It's about how sometimes the biggest successes and innovations come completely out of "nowhere."

I believe that the next golden phase in mainstream comic books will not come about as the result of a boardroom meeting or writer's summit. I believe the next "hot thing," the next comic book bestseller, is right under our noses. And what the comic book companies need are editors with vision to recognize this when they see it and nurture it and bring it out into the world.

Fangirl Fridays: The "Thank You For Buying Countdown!" Edition

What is it with comic book fans using the word "rape" and "sodomy" in connection to storylines and reboots they don't like?

"You raped my childhood!"

"They committed sodomy on the fans!"

"They're asking the long-time readers to bend down and take it!"

Now, I totally understand the rage and anguish fans have over seeing beloved characters retconned out of existence or shot in the head. But why this reoccurring sexual imagery?

Then there is the phrase "continuity porn" -- one I tend to favor myself.

How did "porn" get in there? It's just Booster Gold talking to that little damned robot.


I'm going to play Devil's Advocate and lay out some online PR strategies I think comic book companies might use to their advantage.

1) Sure, by all means have somebody from your team go on message boards as "fans" and counter the bad press. That should be part of your overall PR strategy. It happens all the time. But make sure they are people versed somewhat in actual PR training or methodology. And I'm talking current PR methodology. You can't go on a thread with your brand new spanking "Newbie" Comic Book Resources persona and counter the sea of negative reactions by posting: "No, BLANK COMIX is awesome! I'm so excited about it! You should buy it!"

First of all, you have no cred in that online community whatsoever. Very few to none posts, not so much as a "hello!" on the Introductions thread. And so you carry your unpopular opinion with you to this board or blog, and just drop it in their laps. It's the equivalent of farting in a crowded room, folks.

Such PR needs far more subtlety and a conversational tone. You should gently explain why BLANK COMIX! is, despite popular opinion, worth buying. Create a slight doubt in the naysayer's mind. Be respectful. Above all, be human.

2) Shutting down threads and fan websites is pretty much the worst PR you could possibly create. I know you feel you are "controlling" the publicity flow. But you control the publicity flow (to the extent it is even possible) by interacting with the fans, especially those who are negatively regarding your comic. Silencing and remaining silent never ever helps. By dialogue you defuse.

3) Some editors and talent are natural PR people themselves. They have sparkling, jovial personalities, are popular with fans, and possess a certain instinct as to what and what not to say. Others, however, are trainwrecks. Learn to distinguish between the two. You give a trainwreck their own unedited editorial page or sprawling Newsarama interview at your own risk.

4) Today's consumers don't like to be "sold" to. They are bombarded by sales pitches in the form of 1 billion commercials and ads every day -- on TV, in the newspapers, pasted on taxis, flashing all over their computer screen. They come to their comic book media outlet to get away from all that, to derive a little bit of pleasure from their favorite hobby.

After a while, your numerous previews on Newsarama, Wizard, and Comic Book Resources lose all impact and meaning. The readers think you are in bed with these websites; that is their perception. This perception hurts both the website and your product. It produces apathy.

You would be far, far more successful by approaching Scans Daily or a specially-selected group of personal blogs and write them a personal e-mail inviting them -- asking if they would be so kind -- to post these exclusive pages.

And then use your connections with Newsarama and the rest to run a completely different type of story on your book. Use an interesting angle. Tie it in to current events. Make a poll or contest. Something. Just make that "something" intriguing and unique.

5) Admit when you've failed. Don't get defensive. Whatever you do, don't get hostile or defensive. Or arrogant. Acknowledge popular opinion and then explain how what you are doing from now on differs from that. Try the "It's A Whole New Era" approach. Even if the distance between eras are a few issues apart.

6) Yes there is a big untapped female market out there, yes you have no clue, yes you've continued to alienate and horrify them, yes even when they buy your superhero comics they are often ashamed to be seen with them in public. No I'm not giving you free insights on how to change this.


Here is a Zen parable for you to consider:


There was a time when this was the biggest selling comic book in the world. Meditate. Then take a bath.

Occasional Links: The Mr. Rogers Lovefest Edition

Heidi Meeley points out in her blog the discrepancies between the original solicited Catwoman #74 cover...
and the final one:
At the risk of falling into a pit of my own hard-won cynicism and cold-blooded marketing analysis so soon after the holidays, I will temporarily keep my mouth shut and invoke the following:



It's never really good when they can Google "Your Name + Hitler" and come up with several pages worth of hits.
I don't feel that Will Smith meant to say that the Nazi dictator was Awesome with an A, but when you're doing a press junket for a so-so I Am Legend remake during Christmas time, there's no need to get into strained metaphors utilizing genocidal maniacs. I don't want a history lesson from Smith, Brad Pitt, or even Sean Penn. Well, maybe one from Ellen DeGeneres, because she's so damn pleasant.



Did you know that Cathy Lee Crosby of That's Incredible fame was the original TV Wonder Woman? I was trying to forget this, personally.


Over at Digital Femme, Cheryl points out that Misty Knight has lost her trademark Afro:

I liked the fact that Misty was a character who was secure enough and loved herself enough that she wasn't going to dump a vat of caustic lye on her head or risk scarring herself with hot metal in order to look acceptable.

This reminds me of when I was twelve and sitting next to an African-American girl at the beauty parlor. She was having her hair straightened, and I was having a perm. Why can't females be loved for who they truly are, dammit?! See, now I'm going to be cranky all day.

Incidentally, when I saw the title of another Cheryl post, "Yo, OS Heads!", I really didn't click the link thinking it was about me.

Really. I'm not that egotistical.

Really.




Fast on the heels of the "Fatgate" controversy, Jennifer Love Hewitt feeds the homeless in a heavily-covered media event. Is this her (or her publicist's) way of symbolically saying, "I don't stuff my face, I stuff the face of others?"

UH-OH!!!! MY CYNICISM IS COMING BACK! QUICK:



Kids, if you don't like the way your current comic books are written, remember:


See, here is where I think DC marketing is brilliant. By currently producing some lackluster titles now, consumers are forced to turn to where the money *really* is -- in the backlist. Monthly copies at your comic shop are mere pennies to a big corporation, whereas Barnes and Noble, Borders, and Amazon.com net the big cash -- and with mainstream audiences, too.

Of course, in several years when the amount of trade-paperback worthy new material dwindles, there may be a little gap in quality backlist. But there will still be plenty of readers who haven't been introduced to Watchmen, Kingdom Come, and Batman tales from the 1940s.

And let's face it, all the mainstream companies are putting out expensive collected editions of stuff whether the sales or quality warrants it or not. It's standard now to, in many cases, plan the collected edition at the same time the original is being produced. If it has a gorgeous cover, beautiful binding, and shrinkwrap it MUST be worth that $25 or $30 or $50, right?

And where will DC's next ground-breaking works of art like Watchmen, Dark Knight, Kingdom Come, Batman Year One, Starman, or V for Vendetta come from? And does it really matter?


And now: THE KINKS!