Hello True Believers! On the eve of my 58th birthday I feel it’s time for a “State of the Industry (MY Industry, anyways) Report.”
Times are tough for the comic book and graphic novel industry. High prices, declines in younger readers, distribution issues, over-saturation of products, pay issues… blah blah blah…
Yes, I have read it all and, more importantly, LIVED it all for these past 35 years that I have worked as an industry professional. And it’s all true. The industry is at a crossroads.
With the recent collapse of Diamond Comics Distributors (right as I have a new book, of course) the industry is, once again, thrown a MASSIVE curveball. Suddenly, MANY publishers and creators have lost their ability to get their books into the stores. They have been cut off at the knees and left scrambling. Kickstarter used to be an excellent, fresh vehicle for so many of us but that avenue seems to have lost some of its steam. I think it has been over-saturated and there have been too many inferior products shilled through that site. “The Bloom is off that Rose.”
My publisher, IDW/Top Shelf Productions distributes almost exclusively through Penguin/Random House so the Diamond collapse didn’t effective them/me too horribly but it still did. My current sales are definitely down compared to past releases.
It’s sad about Diamond. I had great experiences distributing my The 3 Geeks series with them! All the people I worked with there were absolutely amazing–passionate about their jobs and comics! Those were incredibly exciting days for me as a creator/publisher and I sincerely miss them. Mark Herr and Steve Leaf were my reps and they were stellar champions of my work. Mark writes daily FB posts about his experiences then and now that are very insightful–check them out.
Another sad fact is that we’ve kind of seen it all at this point. There are very few “new, fresh ideas” in comics. Especially over at DC and Marvel. I love me my super-heroes but very rarely does anything come out these days that I find exciting. And, dear lord, how many Bat-titles and X-Men titles are there every month!!! It is ridiculous, overwhelming, defeating, and absurd. I have no idea where to begin, so what’s a potential 12-year-old buyer expected to do? I just shake my head, turn away, and head to the back issue bins. Or, sadly, dismiss the super-hero options entirely.
I almost entirely find myself looking for Independent, Original Graphic Novels these days. These seem to be the only “fresh” ideas being published. And there are still the occasional gems but even there I find a whole lot of “meh”. Every creator (myself included) seems to be desperately searching/reaching for “the next big thing” and so do the publishers–to land that movie deal or streaming show. The Hollywood BOOM of super-hero movies was great, at first, but now it’s a turdfest and I fear the heyday is coming to a quick end.
The industry feels “tired” to me. “Exhausted,” in fact.
Last week I read a Facebook post from a peer I admire in the industry that just about knocked me over. They stated that “They felt that they’ve wasted the best 25 years of their life pursuing this dream of being a comic book professional. They’re exhausted, disappointed, defeated…” I am paraphrasing here, and abbreviating, but that’s the main gist of it. And this person is someone with ridiculous abilities as an artist! Insanely talented. After reading this I reached out immediately to say, “Same. I feel the exact same way.”
The industry is most definitely at a Crossroads and so am I. But, as I turn 58, I find that this is what I do. It’s who I am as a working professional. So I shall carry on.
I have a few more stories to tell. I hope that they’re original, fresh and fun.
Excelsior,
Rich