So some people got laid off today. Specifically, some fantastic editors from Marvel. And god dammit, I am livid. I mean, I understand that the industry is down. I understand that. Despite the sterling quality of comics out there on the stands today, a large majority of the general public treats the medium with a heady mix of ambivalence and disdain. This is bullshit. It is BULLSHIT. There is no reason - no reason at all - that comics should be selling as poorly as they are right now.

And yet.

Within the industry, blame gets tossed around quite a lot. Fans like to blame the comic book companies for “ruining characters”. Retailers like to blame digital comics or what they deem to be “inferior product”. The companies themselves seem to think that the current economy is causing quite a bit of pain. Are these things true? FUCK no. The reason comics aren’t selling as well as they should is simple: comic book retailers are terrible at their jobs.

And yes, I am a comic book retailer. And yes, I know I’m painting myself with this brush. But it’s true. It’s absolutely true. The industry, the way it’s built, and the way it functions, is rotten and decaying. It’s been doing this for quite some time, and the only reason everything hasn’t collapsed in upon itself yet is down to the balls out determination and blind never-say-die attitude of the publishers, retailers and current fans. But know this: if we continue down this same path, we are well and truly fucked. All of us. And I don’t want that. You don’t want that. So let’s fix this fucking thing, yeah? Let’s do that.

ME VS. THE ANGRY MOB

DEATH TO RETAILERS

Before we start with the business of saving the comic book industry, I want to be clear about what all of our jobs are. I’ve gone over this in great detail before, but every now and again, it pays to have a bit of a refresher, because as fans of the medium, we sometimes lose sight of who should be doing what. So to review:

The Reader: It is your job to read the books you enjoy, and to not read the books you do not. The fact that you read superhero comics and only superhero comics does not make you a shitty person, nor does it mean you are doing active harm to the industry. You like the things that you like, and you are buying them. Good for you. Keep doing that.

The Creator: You are making books you would want to read yourself. And you’re not doing it for the money. No, if you were doing it for the money, you’d cash in that motherfucking Hollywood cheque. The one that says, “with this money, you have no creative freedom. You are doing this my way monkey, and fuck your ideas.” You do comics because you love making comics. You love telling stories that are yours. It is your job to tell the best stories you can. You are awesome.

The Critic: You read the comics, and you have opinions about them. But remember: it is not your job to be a dick about things. It’s your job to read a book, and tell people what audience exists for it. Because the audience does exist. For all the rage and anger over Catwoman and Red Hood and the Outlaws, there’s a demographic that loves those books. It’s your job to read the comic, ruminate on the talents of those involved, and to keep your damn personal issues out of it. Not to your taste? Great. But don’t go telling everyone its a shitty book. Tell everyone that it’s a book that is not for you, but could be for some people. The kind of people who would enjoy that kind of stuff. Don’t be an asshole.

(A side note: if you have spent your own money on the book you are “reviewing”, you are not a critic. You are a fan with opinions, and while they are valid for you personally, they are wholly invalid when applied to every god damn person who reads comic books. This shit isn’t about you. Books aren’t specifically made with you in mind. If they were, they would be selling just one copy to you, and the industry would be dead. Again. Don’t be an asshole.)

The Publishers: It is your job to put out product that you believe in, and product that the market wants. It is not your job to put out books that don’t sell, because who does that? Who survives in life by giving people what they don’t want? As much as people pin the blame on you for not making the industry more diverse, you’re not at fault. As long as your putting out the best books you can, and as long as you make the effort to attempt new things within reason, you’re doing your job. Right now, despite what many people say, you are doing this. Keep up the good work.

The Distributor: It’s your job to get comics to the retailers. Admittedly, you are doing a pretty shitty job of this. Can’t you get one god damn order right? You are something that is wrong with this industry, and I hope one day that my heel will be pushing on your throat. I want to see the light go out of your eyes, because you deserve no less than a shitty existence in some sort of bullshit purgatory where you pay for the hell you’ve put this industry through. If you were doing your job, it would make things better. But only a little bit, because there’s still a group out there more fucked up than you…

The Retailer: You. You smug looking motherfucker. You think you’re so rad, with your polybagged books and your over inflated prices. “But they’re selling for that much on E-Bay right now.” Fuck you. You are the worst. And the reason why your business is failing? The reason why you’re only skirting by, paying your lease and your Diamond bills by the skin of your teeth? It’s you. You’re the one who is supposed to sell the comics, and you’re not doing it. You’re the fuck up. You’re the industry killer. You are the worst, and we will all be better off when you are dead and gone, and I’m going to make sure that happens.

IT COMES DOWN TO THIS.

In terms of quality, the comic book industry has never been stronger. The creators have never been stronger. Fraction, Kelly Sue, Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Jason Aaron, Paul Cornell, Scott Snyder, Joshua Hale Fialkov, Grant Morrison, Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Dan Parent, Fabio Moon, Gabriel Ba, Dustin Harbin, Cris Peter, Chris Samnee, Bettie Breitweiser, Nick Spencer, Joe Eisma…. dammit, I could actually go on like this all day. I won’t but I could.

Comics are amazing right now, and there is something available for everyone. The problem? Retailers aren’t selling books to everyone. They are even trying to. They’re sitting on their laurels, somehow content with the fractional audience that they have, and they refuse to push outwards. Through laziness, through apathy, through a fucking ever present disdain for certain product (yeah, I see you complaining about books that you sell on your twitter account, you useless sacks of shit), you are actively harming the industry.

It is not the customer base. It is not the economy, it is not the new digital market, and it sure as shit isn’t because the publishers are putting out an inferior product. They are doing their job by making books that people will buy. You’re just not selling them.

Shortly after DC announced their New 52 initiative, I began to hear horror stories - horror stories - from people who wanted to buy comics, but were being “turned away“. Every other day, someone would venture into the store, asking about the new books, just looking for someone to talk to. Looking for some support. They had been to other shops, and been greeted with ambivalence, or apathy, or were even outright ignored. Some were given a packet of information at least, but 52 new books? Is daunting as fuck. A person just getting into comics needs a guide. And so when they were turned away by other shops, still just as confused by the news as before, and there I was. I would ask them about their tastes, get a bead on what kind of things they enjoyed, and then I would run through the catalogue with them, helping them pick out books that they would enjoy. It’s a simple, simple thing to do: sell books people will like to the people who will like them. And dammit, I was so angry, so frustrated that it wasn’t being done. I mean hey, as a retailer, I will take that business, and I will take it gladly. But as a member of Team Comics? How many people gave up after being treated like nothing, like nobody at a shop. How many ready and willing readers did we lose because retailers were too fucking lazy? How many are out there right now, but are being missed because retailers aren’t doing their only job.

WHAT’S TO BE DONE.

We need to leave the current system to die. None of this “coddle the retailers” bullshit. Seriously, leave us out in the cold. Because what have we done for you lately? What productive things have we had to offer this industry? We have one simple job to do. One. It’s to sell comics. To sell them passionately, and to a wide range of people. Not just the captive audience. We haven’t been doing that, and most of us never will.

Leave the retailers out in the cold. Price digital comics down to 99 cents. Push out into other markets, markets that want a broader audience, that actively scrape and pull for every sale they can get because they are fucking legitimate businesses. Push the big red button, blow it all to hell. Because the strong will survive. The ones that are actually doing the work, who are searching, who are selling, who are doing everything they can in their power to spread comics to every person, they. Will. Survive. They will. They are strong, and they are savvy, and mark my words, even though sales seem to be in the toilet for the industry at large, they are making more money than in years past. It seems improbable, but I know this to be true. Even before DC’s big “let’s all fuck on blood-stained piles of money” gambit, my shop was raking in the cash. We were pushing and prodding and finding. Growing the customer base. Numbers were up a staggering amount from the year before.

And yes, fuck, look at that asshole, going for the brag. But hey, do you feel like giving me a run down of your numbers? Your exact numbers there, buddy retailer? No, didn’t think so. But I know you’re out there. I know there are good retailers, and I know they are doing just fine. They have an eye for business, they sell and order within their means, and they are pushing and expending, looking at where sales are slumping and beefing up the areas of promise. If we burn the current industry down, they will be fine. We will be fine. We’ll be part of the new thing, the new industry - the one that sees digital sales as a help, rather than a hindrance. Because do you think, do you really think, inside a medium with so much passion and so much love that people aren’t going to want print products? They they aren’t going to want their favourite things taking up space in their lives? They will. There will always be room for print, just not in the current form of monthly serialization. Collections, graphic novels, objects to display rather than to hide in boxes, bagged and boarded, unread and unloved. Fuck that noise. Get with the future, motherfuckers. We have jet packs and fuck on the moon!

IN CONCLUSION

Stop with the god damn doom and gloom. Do you love this medium? Love the books that you read? Then do your thing. Enjoy books and let others enjoy books. Don’t be a fucking clubhouse, and get inclusive. Comics are for everyone and it’s about time they all knew.

Let’s sell some motherfucking comics.

Let’s do it.

For the laffs.