Comics Round-Up

Greetings from funnybook-land. It's been a bewildering and somewhat depressing week for the comic-book industry, and as always, I've been covering it in detail at The Comics Journal's weblog, ¡Journalista! — here are just some of the highlights:

• Diamond Distribution is the company that puts the comics in comics shops, and their initial orders are out for March. As with last month the only way to find any optimism is to squint your eyes, wish real hard, and be thankful that the undertaker hasn't run up to you with a tape-measure, getting the specifications ready for your coffin.

  There's nothing dramatic here, but that's as close to optimism as you can get. In February, four titles managed to crack the 100,000 mark; in March that number dropped to three. DC's Jim Lee-drawn Batman managed to hold onto the top spot, while the Marvel titles underneath it shuffled a tad but otherwise just sort of sat there, dropping a bit in terms of over all numbers but not in such a way as to look like an obvious disaster. Given the above, I hope I can be forgiven for thinking that the word "domination" looks a tad out of place in the following quote:

  "Marvel's domination of the best-selling comic periodicals continued, with eight of the top 10 titles and 20 of the top 25. DC and Dreamwave took the other five of the top 25. Graphic novels were a different story; Marvel didn't have a single title in the top ten graphic novels, a weak field. Four of the top ten graphic novels were manga titles and four were DCs."

  All hail the Kings of the Very Small Hill. As always, most of these numbers are inaccurate insofar as re-orders from shops have yet to be factored in, though I should also point out that since Marvel no longer accepts re-orders, the numbers for their titles are considerably closer to the truth — fate's little joke on Bill and Joe, as it turns out.

  Scrolling down the top 300 comics for March, the usual markers of industry malaise continue to stand out, as every comics title that doesn't directly cater to the hardcore superhero obsessive continues to cluster at the bottom of the list. Sing along with me, kids: Powerpuff Girls #36 (7,923 copies), Usagi Yojimbo #65 (7,456 copies), Acme Novelty Library #16 (6,068 copies), Cerebus #288 (6,043 copies), Looney Tunes #100 (5,454 copies), Love and Rockets Vol. 2 #7 (5,356 copies), Metal Hurlant #5 (4,754 copies), Warren Ellis' Scars #5 (3,550 copies), Betty and Veronica #186 (2,801 copies), Raijin Comics #16 (2,223), James Kochalka's Sketchbook Diaries Vol. 3 (1,081 copies). And so on.

  Let's take a brief pause to let the fanboys chirp something about "sour grapes" before noting that initial orders for the fifth issue of the #1 selling comic book in America — Shonen Jump — clocked in at #179 on the list, with just 8,672 copies sold. Retailers whine in ICv2's Talkback section about the lack of kids' comics, while the ones that do get published never seem to get ordered. Retailers whine about the lack of good girl-centric comics, while the ones that do get published never seem to get ordered. Retailers whine about the lack of good alternative comi — okay, that's going too far, I'll acknowledge. Not that you'd know it if they were there anyway, from looking at the outside of most comics shops. "Comics equals superheros," sayeth the retailer, voting with his pocketbook, his advertising dollars, his store's layout. And yet, for some reason, the Direct Market continues to stagnate, in a slow but perceptable decline. Funny, that...

• A week ago in my weblog, I reiterated my prediction that theatergoers attending the movie Daredevil would drop off after a week, based on my reading of the film's quality and how it would affect word-of-mouth. Well here we are, and sure enough, the crowds have thinned considerably. Entertainment Weekly assesses the film's performance:
  

  "Daredevil grossed another $18.9 million, down a discouraging 53 percent from the three-day portion of last week's holiday weekend. Though the film, which also stars Jennifer Garner, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Colin Farrell, has earned over $70 million after 10 days, a drop that large doesn't bode well for its future.

  "Daredevil's decline meant that Old School came quite close to becoming the No. 1 film in the country. Instead, the comedy starring Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, and Luke Wilson placed second with a strong $17.5 million. In fact, Old School did top Daredevil on Friday by a margin of $800,000."

  In other words, Daredevil's fixing up to be another Blade, yet another mid-level comic-book film you'll be seeing on the Starz Channel in two years, and the USA Network in three. Not that you'll catch Marvel admitting this, of course — did you know that this is "The Year of Marvel"?

  " Last year, with the pop culture phenomenon Spider-Man serving as catalyst, Marvel Comics shattered the myth that successful comic book movies don't translate to higher comic book sales.

  "In 2003, The House of Ideas is going to take the remaining pieces of that myth and grind them into a fine powder. This past week, with Friday's release of the DAREDEVIL film, a new wave of mainstream and industry media started in full-force that promises to grow build like a snowball rolling downhill!"

  "Higher comic book sales"? It still looks like a bum market from over here. What sales growth the direct market has seen has come from other publishers; it certainly hasn't come from the X-titles. The release goes on to list a number of chest-thumping accomplishments guaranteed to induce yawns among anyone who knows better. Let's see: Marvel execs ran the bell at the New York Stock Exchange — is that before or after Marvel stock took a dive? There's the Daredevil movie... umm, what else? Oh yes, Marvel got some good press for a change. I realize that there's a novelty factor in such things for Jemas and company, but trust me: a few newspaper articles don't necessarily translate into sunnier economic fortunes, let alone "The Year of Marvel". Grow build this.

• The email poured in last week here at ¡Journalista! HQ concerning Marvel's revived Epic imprint, and no, there's nothing I can quote on the record. Most of what I was told also found its way to Rich Johnston — here's the relavent bits from his column:
  

  "Mark Millar is believed to be writing the very first, the launch book, but expect to see a lot of very different books from some very different people, creator-owned, creator-participant and work-for-hire.

  "Also look for work coming from the individuals he chose as 'stars of the future', people he promised to help give a leg up. Namely Mark Peyton, Brandon Thomas and Barb Lien."

  The versions I got were less charitable in their descriptions of the deals Marvel was offering. The creator-owned titles are being reserved for big-name creators who've been kicking in with the work-for-hire, as a reward for services rendered; that means Millar, Bendis and maybe Grant Morrison if he wants it. No others need apply, unless they've got "adult" superhero titles that they want to sell to Marvel lock, stock and barrel. Yes, you heard me right — more pervert suits, and Marvel keeps everything. The new Epic will bear little resemblence to the one that came before.

  "Creator-participant"? I've heard nothing about that, but this little euphemism reeks so badly I can smell it on the other side of the continent. Folks, Marvel isn't even honoring its contractual obligations to Stan Lee, for crying out loud. My sources are telling me that the non-Millar deals will be work-for-hire or something so close that it won't make any difference. I smell sucker-bait. If you're a cartoonist being fed this particular line, do yourself a favor and hire a lawyer to look at the contract before you sign that dotted line — it may not save you a screwing, but at least you'll know a little more about what you're getting into.

• Moving away from Marvel — I'd have missed this completely were it not for the sharp eye of Flat Earth weblogger Steven Wintle: illustrator Erich Sokol, whose cartoons graced the pages of many magazines and newspapers worldwide, died last Thursday at the age of 69. From the Google Translation of Austria's Vienna Online:
  

  "Sokol worked among other things for the "worker newspaper" and Playboy, published in Harper's magazine and The Sunday Telegraph and arranged title pages for The Stage and The New Crowns newspaper. In addition it sketched the Cover for the schallplattenaufnahme of Qualtingers 'the Mr. Karl'."

  Umm, you get the gist of it, anyway. A collection of Sokol's cartoons and illustrations can be found on Shane Glines' website.

• The Small Press Expo held each year in Maryland has become one of two big yearly gatherings for indy comics cartoonists and publishers. It also makes something of a splash even with comics fans who don't attend, due to the yearly release of the Expo Anthology, which runs to hundreds of pages and usually costs around eight bucks. Sold as a fundraiser for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the widely-read anthology serves as a showcase for both established talents and up-and-comers looking to widen their exposure.

  With this in mind, cartoonists take note: the submission guidelines for the 2003 anthology have just been posted. For the second year in a row it will be a themed issue, and this year the subject is "travel":

  "Avoid doing first person accounts of travel experiences you've had. However, there's no reason you can't use your experiences to tell stories. Exotic locations or funny stories about travel mishaps are very welcome."

  Ladies and gentlemen, start your engines. The deadline for getting your comic strips in to the editors for consideration is April 25th.

  (Link via Bugpowder.)

• Moco Yardley was an editorial cartoonist for The Baltimore Sun for over fifty years, and by all accounts a beloved figure on the city's political scene. He died in 1979, and his North Baltimore home was since bought by another couple. Now, that couple is giving away Yardley's treasured, custom-made bar to the Baltimore-area person who writes the most convincing essay, in 250 words or less, on the subject of why he or she deserves to be the one to haul it away. Details can be found here.

Finally, I should note that my illustrious benefactors' two latest offerings, The Comics Journal Winter 2003 Special Edition and The Comics Journal #250, are now available in better bookstores, newsstands and comics shops nationwide. You can read previews from these two collections at our website. Specifically:

• The Winter 2003 Special Edition features a long, career-spanning interview with master illustrator and cartoonist William Stout. How long is it? So long that we trimmed a full third of it and published the trimmings on the website, and collectively they practically make up a full interview unto themselves. You can read them here.
• Issue #250 of the Journal features a likewise long, career-spanning interview with cartoonist and illustrator Gary Panter, one of the cartoon geniuses behind the legendary RAW magazine whose other credits include the set-design for Pee Wee's Playhouse. You can read an excerpt here.
• An added bonus: each month we offer long MP3 excerpts from the original audiotapes of classic Journal interviews in our Audio Archives. This month's installment comes from The Comics Journal #137 (September 1990), in which Gary Groth spoke by telephone with cartoonists Steve Bissette (Swamp Thing, Taboo) and Scott McCloud (Zot!, Understanding Comics) on the subject of creators' rights. It was a heady time for the comics industry; hot on the heels of an exodus of top-level talent from DC following a controversy over a proposed ratings system, a group of cartoonists met in Northampton, MA to discuss a document that would eventually become known as the Creator's Bill of Rights. The conversation excerpted in the soundfiles below covers the issues raised in that document — issues which remain as important to today's working cartoonists as they were to Bissette and McCloud when this discussion took place. Please note that these files will be removed on March 21st, to make room for the next archival excerpt.

You can keep up with the latest developments in comics at The Comics Journal's daily weblog, ¡Journalista!. Enjoy.

Article Author: Dirk Deppey

Visit Dirk Deppey's author page — Dirk Deppey's Blog