There are plans here in Colombia to hold a Comic convention, by some higher-class citizens who have the connections and means to do this. The purpose of this convention would be to show that there is a market to be exploited here.
Now, I can tell you that it’s obvious that there is a market. DBZ is one of the most watched shows on TV, they sell the ‘action figures’ of the show in almost every other street. However, their purpose would be to jump-start the comic industry nationally, to do a ‘supply-side economics’ trick to get comics made.
However, I’m skeptical; the new media seem to be beating back whatever gets printed – except, perhaps, Manga, but that seems like an aberration rather than a trend. What sort of environment would a Latin American comic industry come to exist in? I know comics aren’t just dropping dead, but are they viable in the long-term? Aren’t people shifting out of the media gradually?
From the cultural standpoint, Colombia is a very theatric and visual culture, which would seem to be a perfect match for there to be a comic industry locally, but up until now, it just hasn’t happened…
You know, when I think of cheap entertainment, comic books don’t immediately leap to mind for me. I love me some quality comics, mind you, but at three dollars for 24 pages, you’re probably not getting the most efficient bang for your buck.
I mostly buy from DCBS and InStockTrades (otherwise known as DCBS), so yeah, you can get them at a discount - I was just surprised that people would buy more comics in a recession in theory.
I am kind of shocked to see Marvel, of all people, putting their stuff on iTunes. I’d think that a label like Vertigo with some wider appeal would have hit that first, but more power to them for getting there. I don’t think I’d ever want to ever read ever a comic ever from a screen (ever), but I’m all for other people paying to do it if they want to.
That’s where I get my stuff. As long as I have the presence of mind to pre-order, DCBS gives close to half off the cover price on just about everything.
Ugh, I really dislike those motion comics. They add nothing and take away from the source material. Ugh.
While Asian comics are doing well, NA isn’t. I dunno what’s the blame. The current quality of comics is pretty high (I have to attribute this towards post “Marvel Knights”, Geoff John’s DCU, Karen Berger’s excellent reign at Vertigo, Kirkman and all the other independent work at Image, the excellence of Oni Press, and other small publishers do creator owned stuff). Price is my big factor. $3-4 for a slim 22-34 page story isn’t that appealing when I can get The Club for $13. So I mostly get trades. I do buy at least 1-2 releases a week though so I’m not the problem. I think the perception of comics as silly superhero fare is. Even after you hand someone Preacher, Watchmen, or Maus they tend to still be hesitant. I don’t get it.
There’s also the notion that in tough times, people are more likely to seek out escapism to forget their troubles - hello, comic books! Not that you can’t do serious fiction in comics, of course; but browse your average comics or manga shelf and you’ll see by “hard-hitting drama” they mean Hulk punching Thor in the face.
Trades are where the bargain action is. Tokyopop basically broke the conventional paradigm by flooding the market with those small, cheap, profitable manga volumes.
Unfortunately, that seems to have caught up to them. In the last year, Tokyopop has laid off people, canceled books, etc. The manga market is completely oversaturated.
Your larger point is correct, though. Trades are where it’s at. At least until Border’s goes out of business.
Amusing you’d ask this. I went to the ICV2 Graphic Novel thing before Comicon, and it was interesting to see how they’re reacting.
The best thing I heard was “Flat is the new growth.”
There was definitely a lot of trepidation. Remeber that this is a three part industry: Creative IP, Publisher, and Retail/Distribution. All three parts have to work together to make it happen.
The clear message was don’t look for a lot of original IP this year. Any new direct to GN titles will be sporting licenses from other media.
I consider that to be their own fault: should’ve exercised better quality control in their choices of titles, for one thing. They got greedy and flooded the market with too many titles.
