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Over at the John Byrne Forum, a discussion is taking place where good ol' JB is asked what he would change about the comics industry, given a time machine and the ability to change whatever he wanted. He responded that he would do away with the Direct Sales Market:
"As originally conceived, the Direct Sales Market was a great idea -- a way for dealers to create a stock of back issues, and for fans to be able to purchase those back issues at reasonable prices. But even back at the very beginning, my spider-sense tingled. I saw in the DSM a great potential for disaster, more and more as the Companies began shifting product to "Direct Only" status. Yes, the DSM saved (or at least prolonged) books like MICRONAUTS, which had reached cancelation point on the newsstand. But, ultimately, was that such a good idea?. . . .
"In the end, you see, saving comics from cancelation, shifting more and more product to the DSM only weakened Marvel (and the industry as a whole). By the time the decision was made to "pull out of the newsstand" it was kamikazee time. There was no way the industry could survive as a nitch market. There simply were not enough readers, and the move to Direct Only severely reduced what few of them there were. Then came the madness of the Speculator Boom, also fostered and nurtured by the DSM."
Veteran comics writer Chuck Dixon joins the party:
"It saddens me to look at old royalty statements and see how many copies I used to sell on the newsstand vs. the comic shops. So many times it was a 10-1 ratio. I could laugh all the way to the bank on books like Savage Sword of Conan which sold like crap at the comic shops but often cracked the 200K mark on the newsstand."
And now JB is on a roll:
"The wound that started it all was the DSM, and the steady shift into that as our sole venue. As if Hallmark had opened their stores -- and pulled their product out of every other shop, and made most cities only had on Hallmark Store."
Then . . . the crotchety old men within both of gentlemen emerges. Such a shame. The medication appeared to be doing wonders. From Byrne:
"There are two forces working in lethal parallel there, Robert. One is an audience which is not only fickle, but which delights in being fickle. Many seem to enjoy a riches-to-rags story even more than rags-to-riches -- especially if they were not part of the rags-to-riches. They did not help create, but they are eager to destroy.Then there are the so-called "professionals" themselves, far too many of which are anything but. People who, as Frank Miller once put it, "do three issues and want a parade." And, alas, these worthless prima donnas are able to find far, far to many brain dead "collectors" who are eager to support them while they are "growing roses." To the point, even, of making lateness a badge of honor, and producing books on time an indication of shoddy workmanship."
Not to be outdone, Dixon also joins in the beatin' on the young whipper-snappers:
"But what baffles me is that these "hot" talents are given assignments based on hype rather than performance. Creators whose books are selling steady if not spectacularly are removed so that sexy new talent can take over. More often than not the sales fall below that of the former less-sexy team and never again rise to their former numbers no matter how many rounds of musical creative chairs are played. But those replacement guys maintain their gloss and keep getting books until Gareb Shamus no longer wants to party with them.. . . .
I was told recently that to get more work at a major company I would have to "party with" and "buddy up" to certain people.
That ain't me, babe."
No babe, I guess it ain't.
Posted by YMB Staff at July 12, 2006 08:00 AM