Sean T. Collins has written about comics and popular culture professionally since 2001 and on this very blog since 2003. He has written for Maxim, The Comics Journal, Stuff, Wizard, A&F Quarterly, Comic Book Resources, Giant, ToyFare, The Onion, The Comics Reporter and more. His comics have been published by Top Shelf, Partyka, and Family Style. He blogs here and at Robot 6.
(Provided that I deem them suitably fabulous, your name and message will be considered eligible for publication unless you specify otherwise.) Review Copies Welcome
* Absolute must-read of the day: Curt Purcell interviews the living shit out of Night Business and Gangsta Rap Posse creator Benjamin Marra. Marra throws bombs left and right, and names are named. Where most "indie comics are wishy-washy autobio crap" provocateurs take jabs at Clumsy or "My Sex History," Marra comes gunning for Maus and Jimmy Corrigan. Shit gets REAL, son. (For the record I strongly disagree with his assertions in that regard, though the stance feels performative, of a piece with his comics themselves.)
* The Expendables trailer! Stallone, Statham, Li, Lundgren, Rourke, Austin, Couture, Roberts...magnificent and utterly '80s. It's like if you added a bunch of ampersands to Tango & Cash. Get it while it's hot--Lionsgate has been yanking 'em down. (Via Topless Robot.)
* Afrodisiac trailer! In the words of Clay Davis, sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit. I've seen the book and it's as good as it looks. It's awesome to see Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca at a publisher that knows what to do with them. (Via AdHouse.)
* Nick Bertozzi talks to CBR's Alex Dueben about a lot of things. Apparently he took his Stuffed! gig as a response to editorial feedback that his own comics are too complex, which is fascinating to me. There's also an update in there about his long-gestating Lenny Bruce bio with Harvey Pekar. And he feels like choosing to do comics at age 27 makes him a late bloomer, which strikes me as a deeply unfortunate consequence of the premium placed on youth in this medium. We could use more late bloomers like Nick Bertozzi!
* I'm really happy that Brian Bendis and Mike Oeming's Powers is coming back--like Ultimate Spider-Man, it's been really good for a really long time even as some of Bendis's more high-profile projects have left me flat, but its erratic schedule has pushed it even further off most people's radar than USM. Here's a report on the books' 10th anniversary panel at the Baltimore Comic Con. Wow, ten years of Powers, and ten years of Planetary too, right? Those two books anticipated pretty much this entire decade. (Well, maybe more The Authority than Planetary.) The modern age of superhero comics is getting old.
You can use academic and critical tools to critique comics, such as close readings, theory, and thorough research. I think, though, that there's a lot of what I dub "bad academia" going on: people who don't bother to learn the material and technological history behind how comics were produced (fortunately, there are now excellent sources such as Men of Tomorrow and The Ten Cent Plague for that), so they don't put comics in the proper context--theory for theory's sake, divorced from the actual comic; bad comparisons based on lack of breadth of knowledge (Johnny Ryan is like Chris Ware, because they're both alternative); people who feel guilty or ashamed for liking comics, and so use their academic credentials and training to justify it, or people who have a pet area of study and use comics to justify it (Blackest Night is like Paradise Lost); etc.
* If you ever want to know why the world is in such shitty shape, just remember that people in positions of authority, like government officials and newspaperreporters, don't have the first fucking clue what they're talking about.
Or it's awesome that a comic described as a mix of 90210 and Archie can't garner retailer support. Remember when you were contrasting "new action" with "new mainstream" by saying that the latter group was working with a specific audience in mind they were trying to appeal to? I didn't think that was true for a lot of, say, Oni's early-aughts output, but I think it's fine that a comic that's supposed to have "mainstream appeal" doesn't find audience support. I was more bummed out by Picturebox trying to get supporters upfront for Powr Mastrs 3 and If N' Oof- But they got that support, and now those books are coming out. So maybe I'm more concerned about the theoretical Cold Heat collection not being out yet- My point is, I'm more worried about the health of comics vis a vis their ability to support idiosyncratic works that I want to read. Adhouse is able to put out Afrodisiac and Jamie Tanner and Joshua Cotter. FCHS could still end up at Viz or somewhere mainstream able to give it a push so it finds an audience, but until then I'm not really worried. I was worried about King City volume 2 and now that's going to come out in a more expensive, but probably more sympathetic format. This isn't a loss to lament.
It's really not awesome, for several reasons. First, the 90210 meets Archie description is a little misleading, because those are two shitty things, and I don't think this book looks shitty at all. It looks good and it's not going to come out and that's unfortunate. It's also not the mercenary effort that a lot of those New Mainstream books are--if it were, AdHouse wouldn't have taken it on in the first place.
Second, I understand that your and my bread might be buttered, generally speaking, by more outre things, but it's just really bizarre and bad that the Direct Market can't support a teen drama. Teen TV does great, teen movies do great, teen music obviously does great, teen books do great, but a teen comic can't get arrested. And it's not because the retailers made some aesthetic judgment that this book isn't as cool as some bonafide weird thing, it's because there's no audience in this medium for the most salable genre in virtually every other medium.
Like you (and Spurge) imply, it could be a case of this material and this publisher not being a good fit in terms of getting this book the attention it could garner with a Viz logo on it. (Or an Oni logo.) But I think its failure to launch has a lot more in common with the problems faced by Cold Heat et al than you're implying--both speak to fundamental problems with the biz right now.
I'm afraid I'm not implying much of anything. I'm more concerned about great and idiosyncratic works, too, but I still have sympathy for creators not getting work off the ground that's personal to them even if it's not what I think of as potentially great work.
I'm also not one hundred percent yell about it on the Internet certain that the inability of a specific part of the market to support something that comes from a generally popular place says something bad about that specific part of the market ever supporting oddball stuff again, but I'm willing to entertain that possibility.
Also, I hadn't heard a thing about FCHS until hearing about how it's not getting published, but now that I've seen the artwork, count me in when it finally sees the light of day.
Was it really necessary toss offhand insults at me and my company in the name of hyping Afrodisiac? Maybe Adhouse knows what to do with Rugg and Maruca because of the chances taken on them by other people.
Walk a mile in my shoes, then you can talk pal.
Dan Vado
Dan, I just remembered the way you talked about the reception of Street Angel in this interview, implicitly comparing it to Snakes on a Plane, being a strange way for a guy who ostensibly believed in the project to speak about it, even in retrospect. Granted tone of voice doesn't come through in print, and maybe I misread it.
In the interview I was asked about internet hype and viral marketing, and if all critical acclaim on the internet surrounding Street Angel translated to better sales, to which I responded that it did not.
There was no implicit comparison between Street Angel and Snakes on a Plane, the comment on the movie was an offhand one meant to illustrate my point about viral marketing.
Seriously, why would I publish and stick with something if I thought so little of it. For the record, I never canceled Street Angel, Jim Rugg stopped doing the book because he could no longer afford to do it.
First up, thanks for the compliments about Afrodisiac! Hopefully others will agree with you!
The reason for this comment is to clarify my relationship with SLG and Dan Vado. It's been great from the start and remains good today (in fact, Street Angel has just been reprinted! So anyone looking for an awesome Christmas gift for that special someone, you're in luck). I sent Street Angel to Dan because I wanted to work with SLG. I thought their audience would appreciate the book, and it would give it the best chance to connect to readers. The response to Street Angel far exceeded my expectations, and I am eternally grateful to Dan and his staff for its success.
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Comments (9)
Or it's awesome that a comic described as a mix of 90210 and Archie can't garner retailer support. Remember when you were contrasting "new action" with "new mainstream" by saying that the latter group was working with a specific audience in mind they were trying to appeal to? I didn't think that was true for a lot of, say, Oni's early-aughts output, but I think it's fine that a comic that's supposed to have "mainstream appeal" doesn't find audience support. I was more bummed out by Picturebox trying to get supporters upfront for Powr Mastrs 3 and If N' Oof- But they got that support, and now those books are coming out. So maybe I'm more concerned about the theoretical Cold Heat collection not being out yet- My point is, I'm more worried about the health of comics vis a vis their ability to support idiosyncratic works that I want to read. Adhouse is able to put out Afrodisiac and Jamie Tanner and Joshua Cotter. FCHS could still end up at Viz or somewhere mainstream able to give it a push so it finds an audience, but until then I'm not really worried. I was worried about King City volume 2 and now that's going to come out in a more expensive, but probably more sympathetic format. This isn't a loss to lament.
Posted by Brian Nicholson | October 14, 2009 8:44 PM
It's really not awesome, for several reasons. First, the 90210 meets Archie description is a little misleading, because those are two shitty things, and I don't think this book looks shitty at all. It looks good and it's not going to come out and that's unfortunate. It's also not the mercenary effort that a lot of those New Mainstream books are--if it were, AdHouse wouldn't have taken it on in the first place.
Second, I understand that your and my bread might be buttered, generally speaking, by more outre things, but it's just really bizarre and bad that the Direct Market can't support a teen drama. Teen TV does great, teen movies do great, teen music obviously does great, teen books do great, but a teen comic can't get arrested. And it's not because the retailers made some aesthetic judgment that this book isn't as cool as some bonafide weird thing, it's because there's no audience in this medium for the most salable genre in virtually every other medium.
Like you (and Spurge) imply, it could be a case of this material and this publisher not being a good fit in terms of getting this book the attention it could garner with a Viz logo on it. (Or an Oni logo.) But I think its failure to launch has a lot more in common with the problems faced by Cold Heat et al than you're implying--both speak to fundamental problems with the biz right now.
Posted by Sean T. Collins | October 14, 2009 10:13 PM
I'm afraid I'm not implying much of anything. I'm more concerned about great and idiosyncratic works, too, but I still have sympathy for creators not getting work off the ground that's personal to them even if it's not what I think of as potentially great work.
I'm also not one hundred percent yell about it on the Internet certain that the inability of a specific part of the market to support something that comes from a generally popular place says something bad about that specific part of the market ever supporting oddball stuff again, but I'm willing to entertain that possibility.
There, too.
Posted by Tom Spurgeon | October 14, 2009 10:52 PM
Archie is underrated.
Also, I hadn't heard a thing about FCHS until hearing about how it's not getting published, but now that I've seen the artwork, count me in when it finally sees the light of day.
Posted by Steven | October 15, 2009 7:41 AM
Was it really necessary toss offhand insults at me and my company in the name of hyping Afrodisiac? Maybe Adhouse knows what to do with Rugg and Maruca because of the chances taken on them by other people.
Walk a mile in my shoes, then you can talk pal.
Dan Vado
Posted by Dan Vado | October 15, 2009 11:40 AM
Dan, I just remembered the way you talked about the reception of Street Angel in this interview, implicitly comparing it to Snakes on a Plane, being a strange way for a guy who ostensibly believed in the project to speak about it, even in retrospect. Granted tone of voice doesn't come through in print, and maybe I misread it.
Posted by Sean T. Collins | October 15, 2009 12:57 PM
In the interview I was asked about internet hype and viral marketing, and if all critical acclaim on the internet surrounding Street Angel translated to better sales, to which I responded that it did not.
There was no implicit comparison between Street Angel and Snakes on a Plane, the comment on the movie was an offhand one meant to illustrate my point about viral marketing.
Seriously, why would I publish and stick with something if I thought so little of it. For the record, I never canceled Street Angel, Jim Rugg stopped doing the book because he could no longer afford to do it.
Posted by Dan Vado | October 15, 2009 2:53 PM
Thanks for clarifying, Dan. As you can tell, I'd wondered about this for a long time.
Posted by Sean T. Collins | October 15, 2009 3:44 PM
Hey, Sean --
First up, thanks for the compliments about Afrodisiac! Hopefully others will agree with you!
The reason for this comment is to clarify my relationship with SLG and Dan Vado. It's been great from the start and remains good today (in fact, Street Angel has just been reprinted! So anyone looking for an awesome Christmas gift for that special someone, you're in luck). I sent Street Angel to Dan because I wanted to work with SLG. I thought their audience would appreciate the book, and it would give it the best chance to connect to readers. The response to Street Angel far exceeded my expectations, and I am eternally grateful to Dan and his staff for its success.
Posted by jimrugg | October 16, 2009 11:37 AM