What a joke.

The industry won't listen to us because it would require them to make concessions they don't want to make, plain and simple. 

They don't want to hold creators accountable for timely books because of their concern that they'll have another 'Image' happening and lose all the top names. 

They don't want to write or market their comics for all ages beacuse it would require them to hold back on some of the more mature and convoluted content found in today's comics, thus "stifling" their creativity.  They've COMPLETELY forgotten that virtually everyone gets into comics when they're around 10-years-old, if not sooner. 

It's a joke.  You have nothing but fanboys running the asylum and writing comics FOR THEMSELVES. 

***
Have you heard of "first look deals" and "vanity shingles" and "pay or play
offers"? The studios do indeed pay top talent for a ton of material that never
sees the light of day. It's part of their system.

...Maybe that's part of Marvel's problem? Could it possibly be they enjoy
"playing Hollywood"?

If what you're saying is true, then I have just done something my cat says i
never will. I have learned.

Mark: Have you heard of "first look deals" and "vanity shingles" and "pay or play offers"? The studios do indeed pay top talent for a ton of material that never sees the light of day. It's part of their system.

----

It's part of their development process. I see nothing wrong there...

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...Maybe that's part of Marvel's problem? Could it possibly be they enjoy "playing Hollywood"?

----

Hollywood really doesn't spend much time/money promoting "first look deals" -- and when Hollywood promotes a film, you'll usually find the film in theaters on schedule. Check out any latest Fall Movie Preview this year -- I'll bet every one of those films will be in theaters the weekend it's supposed to open.

What goes on in the comics field is unlike anything I have ever heard of.

Breevort's comments do not represent the words of a working editor at a top publishing company. If they did, he'd have been slapped down hard by his bosses.

Instead, they represent a cliched cartoon of a fat-cat Hollywood producer, sitting behind his big desk, puffing on his big stogie, as directors, writers, actors, etc, come a'groveling to him, begging for work.

And I, for one, am far too busy producing comic books to play that game.

They don't want to write or market their comics for all ages beacuse it would require them to hold back on some of the more mature and convoluted content found in today's comics, thus "stifling" their creativity

That sounds about right. The thing is, I figure it'd be a really cool challenge to write a sophisticated, timeless super-hero comic that can be read by all ages.

So root cause is, ego's are getting in the way of making quality product, and arguably, money?

Although not privy to the inner workings behind the curtain, money is my guess for the main culprit. The Big Two try gimmicks to produce profitable books while paying everyone in the long production line.

The dwindling sales numbers must be having some kind of effect, otherwise the suits need some serious business training!

I still think they are looking for a quick easy cheap stunt that'll set it all right, instead of hunkering down and actually building something through hard work.

Stan and Jack didn't do it with gimics, they worked.

••

Always.

The switch to the Direct Sales Market as the primary venue was all about money. There, because there were no returns, and publishers needed to print only as many books as were ordered (with a small overage for spoilage), publishing those books became very nearly pure profit. Was it a SMALLER profit? Sure. But it was a GUARANTEED profit.

And has that profit continued to shrink? Yes. But what little is left is still GUARANTEED.

The industry has placed itself in a position wherein making any real, positive, sweeping changes would be effectively the same as starting over as a new business. And rule of thumb for new business is "Prepare to lose money for the first few years." So, to really accomplish anything, the publishers would have to be prepared to give up their guaranteed profits, small as they are, and take some very real RISKS.

You know -- what Breevort apparently thinks is taking the easy way.

I ask this not as an indictment of the people running Marvel and DC, but in
light of the fact that newsstand sales and subscriptions to almost every
periodical in existence have nosedived.

Is it reasonable to expect Marvel and DC to rebound as print publishers when
virtually no other print publication is growing?

Would any of you start a magazine of any kind today?

Edited by Sean Blythe on 02 November 2010 at 9:55am