This discussion surprises me. Every now and then I'm a little shocked at the perceptions some fans have of how comics "work," at least in terms of storytelling.
I grant you that, as a writer, I give the artists I'm collaborating with fairly minimal stage directions, operating under the assumption that they'll find dynamic and engaging shots to be mined from what I do give them. But even scripts with more heavy-handed direction allow for an artist to bring his or her personality to the fore, and impact the pacing, look and feel of the book to varying degrees depending upon their own approach.
My collaborator is the single most important element of any project I take on, and there's certainly nothing "interchangeable" about it.
Oh, and Phil's directorial analogy is a good one in my case. I'd rather tell an artist how a character feels, and let the artist ("director") determine how best to communicate that for the "camera." The impact of the end result then shifts to the artist's shoulders, and no two artists are going to approach things from exactly the same perspective, leaving that end result very much open to their interpretation.
The thing that a lot of people in larger urban areas don't seem to grasp about the comic book market is that, geographically speaking, most of the country doesn't have access to any comic shops, much less good comic shops.
Hastings stores tend to be located in college towns and slightly smaller markets, and I have to think the biggest boon of their expansion will be bringing decent comic book options to these markets for the very first time.
As for MidTown, they probably sell more comics than 3/4 of Diamond's accounts combined (and that's a conservative guess), so the expansion is good news.
And thanks again to Josh and iFanboy for the podcast we did. I had countless people come up to me during con season looking to try the book (and other books) for the first time, citing our conversation as the movitation to seek me out. It's gratifying to see so many of your listeners understood where we both were coming from.
Nice summation of why you do what you do, and how you feel about things. Just wanted to let you know I appreciated you taking the time to respond, and that what you say makes a lot of sense. I wouldn't really argue with anything you say, although I still have issues with anyone placing a broad-based value judgement on the quality of a particular comic book.
Nogs - I think you missed the point, but I appreciate you giving it a try. As for thick skin...It takes pretty thick skin to stand up and be honest in places where people have free reign to take endless anonymous shots at you, and I've been doing that for a long time. As I've said, I wasn't responding to reviews of my work, since most of my reviews are pretty positive. I was just doing what I often do...stating my opinion based on experience, and attempting to give people some perspective as to where I was coming from.
As for whether or not you have the freedom to "say" whether or not my book was "good" or not...of course you do. You have the freedom to say whatever you want. But telling me my book isn't "good" will pretty much get you ignored, since I'm not sure what supernatural powers you have to make such an absolute determination of value. Telling me why you personally didn't connect with the book? That's perfectly fine with me, and I'll gladly listen to your reasons.
In Chicago this weekend, I had a ton of people come up and tell me they heard the podcast and that it spurred them to say hi, thank me for doing the show, and even pick up my work for the first time. I think that goes to prove a point I made during our chat, which was that podcasts are a fine place to probe opinion.
Squeaky (and anyone else picking my books up for the first time) - thanks for giving them a shot, and feel free to email me directly with any opinions you've got!
Much as Powers was a big seller prior to Bendis doing much Marvel work, the Walking Dead was a phenomenon prior to Kirkman making waves at Marvel, and long before Invincible was a "hit." Hell, the Walking Dead was outselling Invincible almost two-to-one before Invincible started to take off. The first Walking Dead trade came out on the same day as Walking Dead #7, and it was a HUGE smash. I was handling PR for Image at the time, and it was pretty awesome to see.
But I think you're basically right about more attention being paid to the book once more people knew Kirkman's name.
Thanks again for all the stimulating discussion, everyone.
Just wanted to drop back by and thank Josh once more. I've received a lot of direct feedback from readers and creators, so people are definitely tuned into iFanboy.
I'll be in Chicago this coming weekend, lurking in the back of Artist's Alley, so drop by and say hi, if anyone's going. Or slap me silly.
Mr Beebs, I love to see conversations related to the "art" of comics.
I guess I just hate to see those conversations dominated by books created with one goal in mind: sell! sell! sell!, when there are a lot of books falling underneath the radar that are more pure expressions of creativity (for lack of a better term before my morning coffee). In other words, some people are aiming for "art," first and foremost. Sure, most of them might fail, but the goal of Dan Clowes (to use an example) isn't to top the Diamond sales charts, so he doesn't have to make compromises that hamstring his creativity.
I can't really wrap my head around comparisons between comics and other media, so suggesting Gone With the Wind is analagous to the latest issue of Amazing Spider-Man doesn't connect. I think the only thing close to an apt comparison is television. So a really good episode of "CSI: Miami" (or, looking at recent ratings, "According to Jim") would be a more logical comparison to mainstream comics.
Then again, I'd call the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko DR. STRANGE "art," or the Miller/Mazzuchelli DAREDEVIL. As stated, it's all subjective, but, sure, mainstream entertainment can enter into the discussion of "art." I don't think it happens as much these days as it once did, due to the stronger than ever corporate control over media (how often do consensus works of "art," or even attempted works of "art" top sales charts these days in any medium?), but it's still possible. I mentioned television earlier, and the shift in focus away from strictly commercial/advertising driven content has resulted in a leap in quality, spurred by HBO and cable channels, and bleeding over into the true "mainstream."
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This discussion surprises me. Every now and then I'm a little shocked at the perceptions some fans have of how comics "work," at least in terms of storytelling.
I grant you that, as a writer, I give the artists I'm collaborating with fairly minimal stage directions, operating under the assumption that they'll find dynamic and engaging shots to be mined from what I do give them. But even scripts with more heavy-handed direction allow for an artist to bring his or her personality to the fore, and impact the pacing, look and feel of the book to varying degrees depending upon their own approach.
My collaborator is the single most important element of any project I take on, and there's certainly nothing "interchangeable" about it.
Oh, and Phil's directorial analogy is a good one in my case. I'd rather tell an artist how a character feels, and let the artist ("director") determine how best to communicate that for the "camera." The impact of the end result then shifts to the artist's shoulders, and no two artists are going to approach things from exactly the same perspective, leaving that end result very much open to their interpretation.
The thing that a lot of people in larger urban areas don't seem to grasp about the comic book market is that, geographically speaking, most of the country doesn't have access to any comic shops, much less good comic shops.
Hastings stores tend to be located in college towns and slightly smaller markets, and I have to think the biggest boon of their expansion will be bringing decent comic book options to these markets for the very first time.
As for MidTown, they probably sell more comics than 3/4 of Diamond's accounts combined (and that's a conservative guess), so the expansion is good news.
Eddie's technically a criminal, but he's one of the great comic characters to appear in recent years.
THE DAMNED is essential reading.
Byrd would rather drink than worry about his omission from online lists created by nerds.
In fact, Byrd hasn't even heard of "online," since he lives in 1954.
SO THERE!
Thanks for the love, Chris. More on the possible future of Hawaiian Dick here:
http://bclaymoore.blogspot.com/2008/09/new-hawaiian-dick-model.html
And thanks again to Josh and iFanboy for the podcast we did. I had countless people come up to me during con season looking to try the book (and other books) for the first time, citing our conversation as the movitation to seek me out. It's gratifying to see so many of your listeners understood where we both were coming from.
-BCM
Humphrey-
Nice summation of why you do what you do, and how you feel about things. Just wanted to let you know I appreciated you taking the time to respond, and that what you say makes a lot of sense. I wouldn't really argue with anything you say, although I still have issues with anyone placing a broad-based value judgement on the quality of a particular comic book.
Nogs - I think you missed the point, but I appreciate you giving it a try. As for thick skin...It takes pretty thick skin to stand up and be honest in places where people have free reign to take endless anonymous shots at you, and I've been doing that for a long time. As I've said, I wasn't responding to reviews of my work, since most of my reviews are pretty positive. I was just doing what I often do...stating my opinion based on experience, and attempting to give people some perspective as to where I was coming from.
As for whether or not you have the freedom to "say" whether or not my book was "good" or not...of course you do. You have the freedom to say whatever you want. But telling me my book isn't "good" will pretty much get you ignored, since I'm not sure what supernatural powers you have to make such an absolute determination of value. Telling me why you personally didn't connect with the book? That's perfectly fine with me, and I'll gladly listen to your reasons.
In Chicago this weekend, I had a ton of people come up and tell me they heard the podcast and that it spurred them to say hi, thank me for doing the show, and even pick up my work for the first time. I think that goes to prove a point I made during our chat, which was that podcasts are a fine place to probe opinion.
Squeaky (and anyone else picking my books up for the first time) - thanks for giving them a shot, and feel free to email me directly with any opinions you've got!
-BCM
Much as Powers was a big seller prior to Bendis doing much Marvel work, the Walking Dead was a phenomenon prior to Kirkman making waves at Marvel, and long before Invincible was a "hit." Hell, the Walking Dead was outselling Invincible almost two-to-one before Invincible started to take off. The first Walking Dead trade came out on the same day as Walking Dead #7, and it was a HUGE smash. I was handling PR for Image at the time, and it was pretty awesome to see.
But I think you're basically right about more attention being paid to the book once more people knew Kirkman's name.
Thanks again for all the stimulating discussion, everyone.
Just wanted to drop back by and thank Josh once more. I've received a lot of direct feedback from readers and creators, so people are definitely tuned into iFanboy.
I'll be in Chicago this coming weekend, lurking in the back of Artist's Alley, so drop by and say hi, if anyone's going. Or slap me silly.
Your choice!
-BCM
Mr Beebs, I love to see conversations related to the "art" of comics.
I guess I just hate to see those conversations dominated by books created with one goal in mind: sell! sell! sell!, when there are a lot of books falling underneath the radar that are more pure expressions of creativity (for lack of a better term before my morning coffee). In other words, some people are aiming for "art," first and foremost. Sure, most of them might fail, but the goal of Dan Clowes (to use an example) isn't to top the Diamond sales charts, so he doesn't have to make compromises that hamstring his creativity.
I can't really wrap my head around comparisons between comics and other media, so suggesting Gone With the Wind is analagous to the latest issue of Amazing Spider-Man doesn't connect. I think the only thing close to an apt comparison is television. So a really good episode of "CSI: Miami" (or, looking at recent ratings, "According to Jim") would be a more logical comparison to mainstream comics.
Then again, I'd call the Stan Lee/Steve Ditko DR. STRANGE "art," or the Miller/Mazzuchelli DAREDEVIL. As stated, it's all subjective, but, sure, mainstream entertainment can enter into the discussion of "art." I don't think it happens as much these days as it once did, due to the stronger than ever corporate control over media (how often do consensus works of "art," or even attempted works of "art" top sales charts these days in any medium?), but it's still possible. I mentioned television earlier, and the shift in focus away from strictly commercial/advertising driven content has resulted in a leap in quality, spurred by HBO and cable channels, and bleeding over into the true "mainstream."