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Byrne Robotics Visitor
Joined: 01 October 2003
Posts: -26
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| Posted: 22 June 2009 at 9:17am | IP Logged | 1
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I love comics i don't care what my age is!
Me too!
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Erik Larsen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 February 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 344
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| Posted: 22 June 2009 at 11:12am | IP Logged | 2
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Joe Zhang wrote:
Some of the shops take virtually zero risk by not ordering a book unless a
customer pre-orders it. So there will be no shelf-copies of something like
Savage Dragon. |
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That's exactly right. It's not uncommon for people to say, "They're still
publishing that?" when there's a news story about Savage Dragon. And
there are stores who will justify not ordering books because "that's an
independent book--I can't depend on those being around." Never mind
that Savage Dragon is on issue #150 and Spawn is nearing #200 and
numerous Marvel and DC books have come and gone including ones
starring such obscure characters as Superman, Spider-Man and Batman.
But it's no picnic being a retailer. These guys want to sell out. If they have
too many unsold books they have to shut their doors. They can't keep
copies of everything so often that means making hard choices-- like
deciding not to order certain books. You've heard the stories. How many
retailers decided, on their own, that none of their customers would be
interested in Next Men or Danger Unlimited or Babe or Lab Rats?
We have a pretty great comic book store nearby the Image office. There's
a book coming out which collects all of Frank Miller's storyboards for the
Spirit movie-- these same guys have sold tens of thousands of Frank
Miller comics over the years. So how many copies of this book did they
order?
Zero.
They decided that since the movie was a bomb and since the Spirit comic
book doesn't sell very well that nobody would be interested in this book. I
could special order it (and I did) but the Frank Miller fan who wasn't aware
of this book would never know it existed.
And that's a big "tough shit" for a publisher who might believe in their
books. Many stores won't even let publishers send them returnable
product if they wanted to because "sending comics back is a hassle" and
they won't allow it.
And then there are the stores with an agenda. Stores who actively try to
talk customers out of buying books or who order them based on their
own taste, regardless of what their customers want.
Thankfully there are some terrific stores out there that really do go out of
their way to inform their customers what is coming up and allow them to
pre-order books and whatnot. There are stores which make an effort to
stock everything, regardless of whether the store owner likes it, and will
order an extra copy or two of a book their customers are enthusiastic
about. If you have one of those near you--treasure it.
Edited by Erik Larsen on 22 June 2009 at 11:15am
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Anthony Frail
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 09 October 2007
Posts: 960
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| Posted: 22 June 2009 at 11:20am | IP Logged | 3
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Just looked up that Frank Miller book, Erik-- it's 50 bucks.
I was thinking of getting that book but 50 bucks is a bit much for storyboards. I can't blame them for not wanting to take ane xpensive chance, especially if no one cared enough to pre-order it.
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Arc Carlton
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 April 2009
Location: Peru
Posts: 3493
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| Posted: 22 June 2009 at 11:43am | IP Logged | 4
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Robert Walsh: Hellblazer sure has some good stories and the first Shade issues were very good.
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Erik Larsen
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 19 February 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 344
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| Posted: 22 June 2009 at 12:03pm | IP Logged | 5
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Anthony Frail wrote:
Just looked up that Frank Miller book, Erik-- it's 50 bucks. |
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This same store has sold numerous Sin City collections at $100 a pop. The
store stocks numerous expensive art books from creators far less well-
known than Miller and don't forget--the store isn't paying $50 for it.
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Arc Carlton
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 13 April 2009
Location: Peru
Posts: 3493
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| Posted: 22 June 2009 at 12:13pm | IP Logged | 6
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I love comics i don't care what my age is!
_________________
Same here. And for some reason I always get people older than me to give comics a try.
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Eric White
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 October 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 1072
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| Posted: 22 June 2009 at 12:37pm | IP Logged | 7
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It's funny how hard Love & Rockets and Sandman fans constantly need
to bring down X-Men to convince themselves both comics were actually
any good.
++++++
Where was this happening? I thought both of those titles were excellent and the X-Men comics of that time were horrendous but I don't know too many Sandman and Love and Rockets fans who even cared about the X-Men or any Marvel comic.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 134911
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| Posted: 22 June 2009 at 12:43pm | IP Logged | 8
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But should comics per se have an overwhelmingly younger audience?•• As I state in the quote you clipped: "Sure, there are comic books that are aimed at an older audience, just as there are movies and TV shows and "real" books. But the general audience for comics has, for most of their history, been kids, teens and preteens." In the years when they have seen their greatest success (excluding the artificial bubble of the speculator boom) American comic books have been targeted primarily at a younger audience.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
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| Posted: 22 June 2009 at 12:47pm | IP Logged | 9
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But should comics per se have an overwhelmingly younger audience? ++ Just about everywhere in the world that doesn't speak English says "No" ... I never have managed to work out quite why that should be. •• There appears to be something in the basic America psyche that cannot grasp "cartoons" as being anything other than kiddie fare. Look what happened when Bugs Bunny came to television. It started as a half hour show in Prime Time, because that was when the audience for whom those cartoons had been made -- adults -- watched television. But it didn't take much time for organizations like Action for Children's Television to start complaining that Bugs and company were "inappropriate" for children -- or for the networks to start butchering the cartoons to make them kid-friendly. Sort of like complaining that a NASCAR racer doesn't have a properly installed kiddy seat. Comics can be for everybody, but their greatest success has been with kids.
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Darren Taylor
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 22 April 2004
Location: Scotland
Posts: 6041
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| Posted: 22 June 2009 at 12:52pm | IP Logged | 10
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Anthony Frail
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 09 October 2007
Posts: 960
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| Posted: 22 June 2009 at 1:26pm | IP Logged | 11
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QUOTE:
| There appears to be something in the basic America psyche that cannot grasp "cartoons" as being anything other than kiddie fare. Look what happened when Bugs Bunny came to television. It started as a half hour show in Prime Time, because that was when the audience for whom those cartoons had been made -- adults -- watched television. But it didn't take much time for organizations like Action for Children's Television to start complaining that Bugs and company were "inappropriate" for children -- or for the networks to start butchering the cartoons to make them kid-friendly. Sort of like complaining that a NASCAR racer doesn't have a properly installed kiddy seat. |
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Americans have a need to change adults things into kids items if kids show an interest. I remember reading that Popeye was originally for adults and then was changed once it was found out kids were attracted to the strip; Superman and Batman were altered to be better role-models for kids-- if kids like it, we better sanitize it for them rather than just say, "No. That's not for you."
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John Peter Britton
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 17 May 2006
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 9129
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| Posted: 22 June 2009 at 2:55pm | IP Logged | 12
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What was that fascination that drew us all to comics as a child i know what it was for me do you?
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