I just read 1200 posts from my feed. Well, maybe skimmed? I read most of them though. Brain’s a little mushy now, but I stand by the last post. Ugh. Anyway, I feel like I’m kind of getting back in the game here, with the blogging and whatnot. So, here are thoughts on the last 2-3 weeks of comics internet:
Spurge, I think manga is going to stay how it is, but it’s going to be pushed more to the extremes: big sellers (high end shonen and shoujo, licenses/OEL) and boutique products with higher price points (yaoi, art manga, porn). We’re going to lose about 50% of the midlist by the end of 09, imho.
I think the artcomix vs. superhero dichotomy is stupid, and I’m kind of done with binary arguments when it comes to comics. Comics is comics, good or bad. Trying to reduce arguments down to us and them is unevolved. Get with it.
The book industry is worried, but it’s actually a pretty good area for comics still, as compared to everything else. Comics still shows growth, or less loss, and comics is still a boutique product when compared to any other section of the bookstore. Again, the midlist is going to get shaken out (I wish it’d get shaken out HARDER personally), but enh. No big.
Speaking specifically to… someone’s… observation on First Second getting reorganized into MacMillan’s children’s group, and how “comics are automatically considered to be for children”, I think that’s jumping the gun. Children’s book editors and publicists are the only people at a publishing company who have experience editing narrative work with pictures. Graphic novels and children’s books share a wealth of common concerns from acquisitions through production through marketing, it’s probably a smart move… Who knows how it’ll play in the long run.
I’m working on my Best of 2008 list, but I have to finish my best of 2007 list first. Lots of good suggestions on other peoples lists though.
Here’s something: I don’t think I read even one post about the Buffy Season 8 comics from the last 3 weeks, but they were our best-selling comics of 2008 by a really good margin. I know that, 20 issues in, the newness of the story has faded a little, but I actually went and read them and they’re really well done, some of the best “licensed” work I’ve ever read and fans of the television show are totally in love with them… There was a bit of rough patch there for a minute, but people seemed to dig the Dracula and Fray arcs. I think the Buffy and comics like it might be their own little industry, operating underneath the radar but doing a lot of heavy lifting.
AdHouse’s 2009 line-up looks great.
Look for Comics Festival 2009! in the Previews catalog tomorrow. Nice new cover by Emmanuel Guibert.
Okay, that’s it. We’re getting our new comics on Christmas Eve, in Canada, and I need to be at work in a little over 5 hours. Wish me luck.
– Christopher
Photo of Kewpie Doll toys from Japan by me, because it’s weird.
I have, at this moment, 2036 unread posts in my feedreader, which is interesting because a) I obviousloy am subscribed to too many feeds and b) whenever I actually read, or cleanout, all of those posts the number of unread will rush up to somewhere around 2000 but after that it will just hover around that mark. I tried to deliberately wait till the number hit 3000, but in the end I had to subscribe to about 10-15 random feeds to get over that magic – it appears – number. And, yes, you could argue that I apparently have no life.
As for “Best-of” lists, while I have my list for 2007 done (it´s right here should anybody care) – I am still waaay behind on actually reviewing all of my picks, like I had and still have planned. Which means I´ll start off 2008 by reviewing both my “Best-of 2007” and “Best-of 2008” books. Whoo boy…
(And, I just checked, I still have that unwritten “Talking About The Best Comics of 2005” post, started in reply to your 2005 list, sitting in my drafts folder. Try to beat that.)
And; AdHouse´s line-up does indeed look multiple shades of spectacular. AdHouse is da bomb.
Example of midlist titles? I have a feeling 70% of what TP *used* to put out is what you might be talking about but I’m curious…most manga pubs have already cut back on the amount they publish monthly (CMX, TP, even YEN Press aren’t releasing quite as many titles each month as they were at their height), save VIZ.
VIZ always seems to be the exception to every rule, somehow….