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| Don't Call It A Comeback | by Josh Dahl |
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In the last edition of “Don't Call It a Comeback” I talked about how the relationship that today's creators have with their heritage has resulted in a lot of really good comic books. And it is a good thing, too, because today's readers expect really good comic books. Developments in technology and fan culture have created a fan base that knows what it wants and knows how to get it. I tried to break into comics about 10 years ago, and I am trying it again. I find myself in a very different world than the one I was in back then. Each week (or so) I write about comic books, and how comics culture has changed over the last few years. Consumer based art forms develop and change very quickly. They respond to the whims of their target audiences, which are usually “anyone with money”. While more pure artists have “influences” like trends and intellectual movements, the commercial creator has a “mandate” from publisher with a check book. Since their inception, comics publishers have chased the dollar through many distinct creative phases. Creators and fans are lucky to be in a moment in comics history where the dollar has lead us to quality. It seems that the mandate from the top is something like “Good comics sell, DO GOOD COMICS.” As with Darwinian evolution, these changes never happen like Deus Ex Machina. They come from within. They happen when some random risk is taken and people who have the power to make decisions notice that the risk is paying off. The mandate to do good comics came from the observation that good comics were selling well. And good comics were selling well because fans had raised the standards by which they judged what a good comic was. But how? Did everyone just get smarter? In a way, yes. For reasons that are currently being debated and written about all throughout academia, American consumers have gotten smarter. Don't agree? Ok, remember when MacGyver was the thinking man's A-Team? They were both hit shows made for a broad audience. Now compare MacGyver to CSI or any of the similar shows in the evening line-up. You can argue that Americans are, and always have been, instant-gratification, hedonistic, consumers. But, it would be hard to argue that the standard of that consumption has not gone up. Whatever the cause, this shift in standards has rippled through most aspects of consumer culture. Naturally, it rippled through comics as well. The effect, however, has been magnified in comics. Consumers wanted better comic books, so good comic books started selling well. The people who watch the numbers took notice and declared that there should be more good comics. And yes, that is very reductive simplification of a process which is constantly in motion. And, I don't really know what caused it in society as a whole. So, let's zero in on comics again. I have made the assertion that we are living in a boom time for well written and well produced comic books. Some will argue. Some will say that comics are as good or bad as they have always been. Others will say the de-compressed story telling is just a meaningless trend. While others may contend that de-compression is the worst thing to ever happen to comics. They'll say all that, and they'll say a lot more. They'll say it on the internet, and at their Local Comic Shops, and at conventions, and anywhere anyone will listen. The point is, that they are saying it. Step back and be impressed by that for a moment. For as much as comics debate is still dominated obsessive minutia, fans and creators are also debating on a different level. When they talk about “retcons”, “de-compression”, “bookshelf format”, and bunches of other terms, what they are actually discussing is marketing and storytelling theory. Excuse me, let me rephrase that. They are discussing Theory. Capitol T. Theory. Sure, we are all still talking about the dorky stuff, but now we are publicly discussing all the big ideas that go on behind the scenes. See, fans know what is going on, now. When Iron Fist died the first time around, it never occurred to me that sales had slumped and that the series was being canceled. All I knew was that the guy was dead. Now, when Spider Girl and The Runaways were nearing the chopping block, fans got it together and saved those books. These days, readers look at sales figures and year-end reports. They know who owns the rights to what characters. They know who is under an exclusive contract to what company, and why. Fans have gotten a peak behind the curtains of the craft and the business of comics, and the comics have risen to meet their new expectations. A magic trick alone is good enough until you figure out how it is done, then that magician better be a heck of a showman. Oh, I meant to talk a little bit more about technology's role in all of this. So here it is. All of these ideas were always out there. Somewhere, someone was thinking about this stuff. It was the web, though, that got all of these ideas together. It was the web that put these concepts on public display long enough that their relevance started to sink in. Sure, there is unprecedented gossip mongering and bickering, but there is also a great dissemination of ideas. Having a clearer idea of what has been going into their comics, creatively and financially, has allowed comics consumers to expect more. Sales reflected these expectations and comics, in general, have improved as a result. Visit Josh Dahl at his website www.monolithllc.com
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