Preface to the new Previews Review

I wrote this as a preface to the next Previews Review, which is going up this week. It was going to be a sort of end-of-year thing, to talk about why I found it important to let people know about good work in the face of overwhelming apathy from the majority of the industry. I think somewhere along the way it became a stand-alone piece of writing, but I'm still going to include it. I thought that the blogosphere might like to read it, before it goes live as part of the column on Friday. http://www.previewsreview.com, online soon.

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On its face, ordering something site-unseen based only on hope, hype, and a wing and a prayer is a little bit silly (to put it politely). Rarely in other forms of entertainment media are you, the end-consumer, asked to complete a contract stating that you�d be interested in purchasing a product In February, on December the 17th. Actually, the only medium I can think of where you plop down your money (or complete a written/verbal contract) months before receiving a product is in video-games, where pre-ordering titles is becoming more and more popular, and necessary. If you thought comics was bad, with the mountains of mainstream crap forcing innovative, unique, and interesting works off of the racks, talk to a die-hard gamer sometime.

So why do we do it? Why bother with the Previews Review, where we practically plead with you to order in a copy of DOING TIME or SCHIZO or even ALIEN NINE if you really want it, because chances are it�s not going to show up on your store�s shelf without you doing so? Why put the effort into pre-ordering and dealing with retailers who are at best apathetic and at worst hostile to anything that isn�t from Marvel or DC?

Because comics are worth it, obviously.

It�s the end of the year, and never have I been more convinced that the comics industry is broken, and the people in a position to enact change have gone so far past apathy about the situation that they�re actively hostile towards the prospect of making things better. I�ve been reading it, hearing it, seeing it with my own eyes. The people with the greatest stake in making the comic industry better, the people with the best ability to enact change simply don�t want it, and are fighting against it. Reaching new readers? Conforming to newer and more popular formats? No. There is such an ingrained fear of the new inherent in the nostalgia-peddlars that it�s simply not going to happen. This month, and the next, and the next, greater and greater effort is being spent by the big comics publishers to grab larger segments of a rapidly shrinking pie. New books designed only to appeal to existing readers, to try and steal dollars away from competing superhero publishers, indy creators, and even their own books. Why invest in a (admittedly half-assed) line of all-ages, manga-influenced and new-readers comics when you can just publish 6 new books to appeal to those same 40,000 middle-aged men who believe the hey-day of comics was the late 70�s and early 80�s? Cancel the kids books, cancel the trade paperbacks, flood the market with crap and full-speed-ahead back to 1983 (or �93, if you prefer).

Let me make something very plain here: DC and MARVEL do not have the best interests of the comics medium at heart. They are releasing waves and waves and waves of new superhero material, aimed at the current market only, and using �cheap� independent/alternative talent in an effort to soak up the readers� of those books hard-earned dollars. Within the direct market there is not an infinite supply of money. Readers are not going to buy 6 new Marvel superhero books or 5 new �real world� DC superhero books without dropping other titles. There�s only so much space on the rack, there�s only so much in a retailer�s budget, there�s only so many dollars in your pocket, gentle reader, and something�s going to give. And that something is going to be anything starting on page 195 of this month�s PREVIEWS catalogue.

Comics, as a medium, is better than this.

Comics is better than corporate owned superhero material. In the past year, in the year since I�ve started this column I�ve gotten a job at a frankly amazing comic book store and seen more of the comics industry than the average North American comic fan will see in his lifetime. �Mine eyes have seen the glory�� Comics, comics is amazing. Not just the potential of the medium, but the execution. Just this year, masterworks have been released into the medium. BUDDHA Volume 1 by Osamu Tezuka, PALOMAR by Gilbert Hernandez, PYONG YANG by Guy Delisle (French Language), PROSOPOPUS by De Crecy (French publisher, wordless comic), LOUIS RIEL by Chester Brown, THE FIXER by Joe Sacco, PERSEPOLIS by Marjane Satrapi, the continuing KRAZY KAT collections from Fantagraphics, BLACK OLIVES Volume 3 by Sfar & Guibert, and QUIMBY THE MOUSE and ACME NOVELTY DATEBOOK by Chris Ware! Even works that you probably couldn�t call �masterworks� are still quite excellent, ambassadors for medium and wonderful on their own merits; BLANKETS by Craig Thompson, LOST AT SEA by Bryan O�Malley, the complete FRANK collection by Jim Woodring, POP GUN WAR by Farel Dalrymple, RIPPLE by Dave Cooper, KING Volume 3 by Ho Che Anderson, SHRIMPY & PAUL by Marc Bell. Alan Moore alone was responsible for not only fantastic comics like LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN 2 and PROMETHEA, but also inspired some of the best and most detailed writing on comics creators and comics creation in North America with the guide to LEAGUE, HEROES & MONSTERS by Jess Nevins and THE EXTRAORDINARY WORKS OF ALAN MOORE, a ridiculously in-depth accounting of Moore�s career. French comics magazine BANG! raised the bar so high on what to expect from comics reporting, journalism, and comics-related periodicals that I weep at my poor grasp of Francais. Japan produced PHOENIX:YAMAMATO by Osamu Tezuka, NO. 5 by Taiyo Matsumoto, UZUMAKI & GYO by Junji Ito, IRON WOK JAN by Shinji Saijyo and PARADISE KISS by Ai Yazawa, to say nothing of their concerted (and largely undocumented) push to digital comics and e-books comic collections (which are going Spectacularly Well). And I haven�t even mentioned any of the anthologies (what the hell: DRAWN & QUARTERLY Volume 5, KRAMER�S ERGOT Volume 4, PROJECT: TELSTAR, to name but three of many).

The medium of comics art is truly astounding. It grows bigger and better every year, and every year the North American comics industry, specifically the Direct Market and the �mainstream� superhero publishers in particular tend to slip further into obscurity, further into irrelevance, further into obsolescence, despite still dominating the North American medium.

And that�s why I do Previews Review. That�s why I try to stem the tide; because I am fortunate enough to see every day the capabilities and potential of the medium of comics art. The divide between where we are in North America and where we could be as compared to the rest of the world is vast, but not insurmountable. By lobbying hard for the good stuff, by hyping and ordering and pushing and buying the work that improves the medium of comics art I like to think I'm helping bridge the divide. By doing the same, dear reader, you are as well.

On behalf of PreviewsReview.com, I�d like to thank you for reading this year. On behalf of the medium of comics, thanks for reading good books and supporting a better medium.

- Christopher Butcher

2003

I probably won't update this for a little while, so here's where you should go in the interim:

Comics
Achewood - http://www.achewood.com - Daily updated comic strip, relentlessly funny and updated daily. It's in your own best interest to read from the very first strip onwards. Also worth noting, this isn't online-nerd-strip-humour, this is the most popular comic strip on the daily-funnies page in a bizarro universe where talent and creativity are actually rewarded.

Penny Arcade - http://www.penny-arcade.com - This one is the online nerd-humour-strip. But it's also the best of that genre, and a really solid strip in it's own right.

Diesel Sweeties - http://www.dieselsweeties.com - The other strip I check every day. Funny stuff, a little abstract, and an enjoyable ADD-style soap opera.

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Other:
Previews Review - http://www.previewsreview.com - This gets updated really frequently now. I am proud of that. Check it for new writings.

Thanks,

- Chris

So I says to Mabel I says

So much pressure.

Dirk Deppey posted a really great little essay over at Journalista about the Direct Market, and although I liked it a great deal I couldn't stop poking holes in it and re-working it (which is what great writing tends to inspire me to do, particularly about comics). The reason I haven't posted anything directly in response to it is because, for the most part, my response would create enemies, and that's honestly the last thing I need right now. I've got too much to do without worrying about pissing off every Tom, Dick, and JamieHarry who are too sensitive to see how they're complicit in the state of the industry. I will keep my strongly-held beliefs closer to my chest, and let everyone else bitch and moan and draw the heat. Occasionally I'll pop in to say something witty though (like now!).

Actually, that's not entirely true. Abhay Khosla, better known as deposed-JesterMonarch AK of Title Bout infamy posted his thoughts on Deppey's essay over at some message board. I wrote a response, I had trouble NOT writing a response, and chickened out and just e-mailed it to him instead. Then he responded and we've been going back and forth for a little while now. I like talking to AK, he's a smart guy who makes observations on the comics industry beyond those of mortal men...

That's one conversation Doane will have a tough time stalking.

Anyway, suffice it to say Deppey's essay is very accurate for what it is, though I think its scope could be broadened a bit and he lets everyone off too easily.

- Christopher
PS: Confidential to LG: You are crazy.