Make the F***ing Comics
Cheryl Lynn of Digital Femme, frustrated by the state of the comics union, nails the solution:
“I can see that I am going to have to make the fucking comics.
…right now I’m doing the second easiest thing. And that is to not-so-politely bitch. Because I suppose I’m still hoping that someone else will make the fucking comics. Because there are a ton of people out there with infinitely more talent and monetary resources than I possess. People who already have an established reputation and a publishing house that adores them. And I don’t. But they don’t give a damn. And I do.”
It certainly seems that way some times, doesn’t it? Not to say there aren’t any capable, well-intentioned writers out there working in comics writing stories that represent a broader range of the American experience (never mind that of other cultures), but there certainly aren’t enough of them.
There can never be enough, really.
“It is because modern education is so seldom inspired by a great hope that it so seldom achieves great results. The wish to preserve the past rather that the hope of creating the future dominates the minds of those who control the teaching of the young.”
–Bertrand Russell
But it’s not just about making the comics, it has to be about publishing them, too, because unless you’re already established like Kyle Baker — or willing to compromise by producing “color” variations of the same old, same old — you’re probably not walking into an Image contract, and even if you are, you’re certainly not going to be handed the keys to Spider-Man, Batman, et al.
“I’ve always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do.”
–Steve Jobs
And honestly, if we’re being serious about doing this right, Marvel, DC, Image, etc. aren’t really the answer because they either don’t get it or aren’t built in a way to do anything about it.
“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”
–Mahatma Gandhi
So Cheryl is right; we’re going to have to make the fucking comics, then we’re going to have to publish the fucking comics and market the fucking comics to make sure that people know about them so we can keep publishing them until retailers have no choice but to take notice and other publishers have no choice but to take notice and eventually posts like these become unnecessary and future generations look back in surprise that there was ever a need.
That’s a serious challenge that requires not just the passion to see it happen but a serious commitment to making it happen, because it’s not going to happen overnight and there are plenty of people who will say it can’t be done. Of course, those people already have their stories being told, so we can ignore them.
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The internet broke in half, you quoted Steve Jobs.
Ha, yeah; credit where due. I can’t stand the guy but he clearly knows what he’s doing.