An article published today lit more fire under the recent online comic book piracy debate, with many creators solely blaming online piracy for their lack of money. Not the publishers, not the editors, not the rampant and unchecked commercialism of which they are an all-too-willing part, not their own work-a-day "time to make the doughnuts" philosophy toward comic books; just online "pirates." ARR! (Fuckin' pirates!)
And it's bullshit.
If you think, for even one second, I'm going to sit here and listen to someone tell me how the $3.00-5.00 I spend for every comic book I purchase doesn't generate enough money to feed the people who do the real work, all I can say is, "I'm sorry."
Writing "arcs" in ongoing series for immediate reprint in TPB is a great marketing strategy for attracting new readers, but not if the entire title is actually just a series of TPBs. Why would you bother following a monthly title in this case? Especially since the quality of the paper on which monthly comic books are printed is so poor, brief exposure to light humidity causes the covers to crinkle worse than the plastic wrap you'll be fighting for weeks after Thanksgiving. With TPB reprints, the story comes complete and the format is sturdier, more attractive, and easier to handle.
But, if we fans don't support the monthly comic, there won't be any TPB! DON'T WE SEE!?
I do see. And, again, I'm sorry.
Of course, following your favorite superheroes is a lot of fun, but you wouldn't pick-up an entire TPB just for the three pages in which your favorite character appears, so monthly issues are cool like that! Except, you know, when your favorite character appears for three pages in every title, every month. Or, the latest implementation of that gag:
A MEGA-SUPER-DUPER-CROSSOVER EVENT RUNNING THROUGH EVERY GODDAMN TITLE ON THE STANDS, AS WELL AS THREE, SUPER-EXCLUSIVE, WEEKLY MAXI-SERIES THAT WON'T CHANGE THE UNIVERSE FOREVER, BUT WILL LEAVE YOU UTTERLY LOST IF YOU DON'T PURCHASE EVERY, SINGLE ONE OF THEM... AND WILL ALSO LEAVE YOU UTTERLY LOST IF YOU DO!
I so get it, and I'm sorry.
I also get how these are properties -- not characters in the literary or "artsy-fartsy" sense -- and you wouldn't want to do anything to damage those properties (especially in the meta-context of affecting multimedia synergy in an emerging world economotry); you want to make them as accessible, palatable, and completely homo... genous as possible, so that absolutely everyone can achieve the same level of fucking bored.
If a reader disagrees with Black Widow's style or morals, s/he used to have a plethora of somewhat similar, though actually quite unique, female characters from which to choose (many of whom appeared regularly as supporting castmembers in better, more established titles) -- but think of all the money the company is losing if you let the readers choose! Ret-con whatever The Market doesn't like or might affect the chances of spinning the property into a series/movie/Beneatheroos (kids' cereals congenerate a negative market-based impactibility these days), change the name and outfit, and voila! -- a reboot!
We'll ride Black Widow for as long and hard as we can, then -- when we blow the bottom out of her -- we'll introduce a younger, peppier sidekick with a sense of fun and a whole lot of fucking hope -- hope that tastes like goddamn angels! -- then spin her off into her own mini-series to test the pertinent market aptitude before releasing an ongoing title, flanked by an exclusive webcomic to launch her daily animated series, leading-up to the feature film! Whatever -- the superheroines are just for penetrating the little girls' market!
I'm sorry.
Sales on Thor are up, so let's release seven ongoing titles (one biweekly), which we'll kick-off by restructuring an entire team imprint featuring... fucking THOR! And we'll wrap an entire MEGA-CROSSOVER EVENT around the entire Marvel Universe, forcing everyone to pay through the nose just to figure out WTF is going on in the three titles they follow monthly (in addition to the dozens of other issues they pick-up occasionally).
I can't afford that, thus I lost interest in many titles when I started getting only part 3 of a story I didn't give a flying fuck about to begin with, but couldn't follow without purchasing a slew of issues I didn't want, so I canceled a lot of subscriptions and quit purchasing crossover events altogether. I'm sorry. When the bubble burst and they canceled all those satellites and put the character back on ice, they just rebooted some other, past icon and did it again, didn't they? And you went right along with the program, because -- dammit! -- you gotta eat!
"Can't eat -- no food; got no food!" Hahaha! You stamp around. "RRRR! Got no food! Gimme some food!" Hahaha.
I'm sorry.
I collect comic books, not trade paperbacks, and I don't give a shit about your creatively-fulfilling, Beneatheroos-sponsored, motherfucking movie tie-in "story." Here's your paycheck. I would like for you to take some of that money and invest it in your craft -- maybe a class, or maybe just a book -- but I know you need to eat. I'm sorry. Besides, collectors buy back issues, so who gives a shit about us? The Company doesn't make money on back issues. And, for that, I'm sorry. I understand why you refuse to support the back industry: "Can't afford it -- got no food!"
I certainly don't support piracy, but it's disingenuous to suggest that the creators are the "true" victims here because we won't give them more money -- not their employers, not goddamn Disney or Warner, motherfucking, Warner Brothers! -- us!
That's because most of these "creators" are only working for these companies to make money -- not entertainment, not fun. They don't argue with the changes the publishers and executives make, even when they know they are for the worse, because they don't care; they don't want to rock the boat. If my store manager moved the Slurp-It machine to the back counter, I don't think I'd mind too much. I probably wouldn't even mention it -- hell, it's a paycheck, ya know?
I'm sorry that you make comic books for money and not the fans. I'm sorry you cater to markets and opinions instead of individuals, ideas, and ideals. I'm sorry you handle properties and guide directions, instead of write characters and tell stories. And I'm sorry that "pirates" follow the money, but had you been "creating" for the fans, for yourself, I'm confident you would still be making about the same amount you are now -- probably more, because the fans would actually know who you are and wouldn't feel put-upon to support you -- they would feel excited to get something new from you, they would be all-too eager to purchase your products!
And even though I do not traffick in pirated media, I freely admit to having swiped a few comics from the store shelves in my youth. I resell comic books I purchased because I truly wanted to enjoy them, as well as those I hoped would one day be worth something -- comics I carefully bagged, boarded, stored, and oversaw for years and years -- and I don't tithe 10% to The Company when I do so. I did this to you -- me and the pirates (ARR!) -- and I am truly sorry.
I'm sorry you snatched the last available lifeboat and sold seats to "the floaters." I'm sorry you blew the bottom out of a good thing, just like I said you would -- just like you always have -- and refuse to summon the dignity to admit your damning greed and the utter lack of respect you bring to the medium you know only as a business. I'm sorry you don't realize you've been peddling watered-down "ideas" and "concepts" to anyone with a dollar, not making comic books. I'm sorry you intentionally overprint issues to artificially inflate their popularity, then release a succession of "variants," reprints, and TPB collections, thus flooding the market and devaluing my collection. I'm sorry that I don't have any more money to give you and I'm sorry for most of the money I have given you these last few years.
But most of all, I'm sorry that you are not.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010