LINK: Making Comics Better

Jason Rodriguez is a man on a mission. Realizing talking about comics doesn't make them better, he's taking action on two different fronts.1) The Hive: A collaborative brainstorming project to create new markets for comics.Yeah, in a way, it's "talking" about comics, but instead of the usual message board whining and gnashing of teeth, Jason's challenging people to come up with actionable ideas to make comics better. And he's leading by example, tossing up an idea every two weeks for discussion and debate, with an eye towards creating a viable template for indie publishers to follow to break free of…

Continue ReadingLINK: Making Comics Better

Buzzscope Comics: Best of 2005

What’s good? What’s worth the money? What will leave you satisfied when it’s done, and not wishing you’d bought a copy of Entertainment Weekly, or rented Batman Begins instead? Fear not, loyal reader, because we here at Buzzscope have read way more comic books this year than, say, Andrew Arnold – plus, we don’t self-consciously spell comics with an annoyingly pretentious “x” – slogging through some of the worst comics to hit the shelves, in order to bring you the Best Comics of 2005.

Continue ReadingBuzzscope Comics: Best of 2005

COMMENT: On 2006, and Some Greatest Hits

Personally, 2005 has been a pretty damn good year, from a comics perspective. CBC’s barely a year old, quickly evolving from being a total lark to something central to reformatting my writing chops post-poetry slam era. (Not surprisingly, the activist angle of my work has transitioned intact.) Plus, I went from contributing reviews and the occasional feature at Buzzscope, to taking over as their Senior Comics Editor and spearheading the upcoming relaunch. As a result, my pull list has expanded from primarily Marvel and DC offerings and the random indie-published license, to a pretty diverse range of material that’s introduced me not just to some great work, but as importantly, to a great community of ambitious creators.

The Buzzscope Drink-up on Wednesday was a lot of fun, finally putting some faces to names, but there were two moments in particular that summed up the year for me. The first came near the end of the night, standing outside talking to Jason Rodriguez, Rich Watson and Jim Salicrup. Each is, or is about to become, a Buzzsco–ah, I mean, PopCultureShock columnist, and the energy between us as we talked about the site and the industry and where we saw things potentially going in 2006 was absolutely electric. The second came a little while later, while talking with Jenny Gonzalez (another new columnist) about how she got into comics, and a specific story about her work with an Aspie, translating his Yu-Gi-Oh!-influenced stories into comic book form. It reinforced my sense that there’s way more to the big picture than the Diamond Top 300 and ill-conceived cutoff benchmarks.

I left Botanica at the end of the night with a similar buzz to what I’d felt nearly 8 years ago to the day, in that very same bar, when a bunch of poets from diverse backgrounds and styles bonded over drinks and debate and formed the foundation of what would later become a little bit louder, the poetry series I founded and ran from 1998-2001, before turning it over to the collective of artists who’d made it their home and have kept it running strong, on the verge of celebrating its 8th anniversary next Spring.

I have a pretty clear vision for where I want PopCultureShock: Comics to go and, similar to how I built a little bit louder (aka louderARTS) over the first two years, it hinges on bringing together a diverse mix of talent and giving them a personal stake in its success, instilling a sense of ownership over both their own contributions as well as the larger umbrella they share, while keeping a firm grip on the steering wheel myself and not losing sight of where I’m trying to go. The proverbial winds of change are blowing through the industry right now, and I think there’s two potential directions things can go: a variation on the boom-and-bust 90s, led by Marvel & DC’s increasing reliance on big events and sales-boosting gimmicks; or, a relative leveling of the playing field, as indies shift their focus from the direct market, developing new audiences and distribution models. The latter direction is as likely to be driven by Marvel & DC’s recruiting of mainstream writers like King, Huston, Dickey and Meltzer as it is by the defection of Craig Thompson and FLIGHT to higher-profile mainstream publishers. The opportunities are there; the question is, which ones will people take advantage of?

(more…)

Continue ReadingCOMMENT: On 2006, and Some Greatest Hits

COMMENT: Who Cares About Journalism?

The response to yesterday's article reminds me a bit of how minorities often tend to be more accepting of a lesser quality product made by one of their own, simply happy to have something they can relate to. (ie: UPN comedies, Wayans brothers' movies, Hudlin's Black Panther, etc.) Because there's such a lack of real journalism in the comics industry, anything resembling it becomes worthy of praise.

Continue ReadingCOMMENT: Who Cares About Journalism?

Late-night Journalism?

I hesitate to call it journalism - though I guess, technically, it is - but last night I wrote up what is now my second favorite contribution to Buzzscope, surpassed only by my Charlie Huston interview (primarily because that was in person and over beers). Check it out: In the Scope: Speakeasy Shakes Things Up Diamond’s stricter policy on pre-orders causing ripples throughout the industry "The independent comic books are just not selling well right now (look at many peoples’ sales)," [Speakeasy publisher, Adam] Fortier conceded. "Printers are changing their policies, Diamond is changing their policies; it means we have…

Continue ReadingLate-night Journalism?

In the Scope: Speakeasy Shakes Things Up

Fledgling independent publisher Speakeasy Comics sent another ripple throughout the industry with their “announcement” of their own internal cutoff policy, raising the bar more than three-and-a-half times Diamond’s 500-copy threshold to 1,750 copies, and, judging from recent sales figures as reported by ICv2, placing the futures of several of their titles in doubt.

Continue ReadingIn the Scope: Speakeasy Shakes Things Up

No more posts to load