James McMurtry says it like it's a bad thing, but by the end of the evening you will be drinking beer.
Sometime in the late 80s I stopped collecting comics. I realized then that the men-in-tights show was just a Soap Opera.
The Suits in the room are treated like a bunch of yardsticks, but they are often the smartest people present. I was watching Logan and Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and wondering how Marvel gets the herbs and spices right. I mean it's just a superhero show -- fellas in longjohns beating each other up. And yet DC struggles.
I think somebody at Marvel knows who the smartest person is in a given room and is paid to keep an eye on that person. And that is the person Marvel hires for less -- they are artiistes, after all. They can't be smart about EVERYTHING. And at the end of the day Marvel has gotta sell soap.
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And I would "marvel" at a soap without a hero scent. As I ponder...what would any given hero smell like: gun powder with a hint of tobacco and whisky?
If "Logan" is any indication it's more than just a hint. The soap is probably a good idea.
From time to time I’ll watch/listen to Canadian (natch!) YouTube (mostly-DC-)comics-content maven Sasha Wood. From her you’ll certainly get the impression that comics is straight soaps, nothing but soaps — and you might walk away thinking that of all the varieties of soaps American superhero comics might be the best. Been listening to this recent episode (about characters whose titles I’ve never read and of whom I know next to nothing) a bit yesterday and today.
I can only take this stuff in very brief doses, honestly, but it’s quite a cheery channel on the whole, sardonic notes notwithstanding — and Wood does make me laugh occasionally, which is nice. (New to the show, incidentally, you can easily mistake Wood for being maybe right out of college. I did, basically. She’s a married mom of two in fact, with number 3 on the way. For me that’s endearing. Generally a couple of minutes max, regardless, before I’ll have to hit pause and set whatever she’s finding so amusing aside.)
I'll give it a listen -- thanks!
‘Okay, I’m gonna sleep with your brother though.’
(That’s the weekly new titles livestream with Brandon & Danica of Edmonton’s Variant Edition, another occasional watch/listen. Nice folks. Canadians again, goshdarnit!)
Is that a garbage bag behind them? Such a glamorous lifestyle! We're just lucky they aren't bundled up in Canadian Tire sleeping bags!
What possesses people that they’ll go into this line of work … continues no less than ever to be a fascinating question.
These two have a column in Heidi MacDonald’s Comics Beat, I want to note, to which they’ve just returned after a long break — a little noodling about the peculiar business moment. (Really only him doing most of the writing I think.) They’ve in fact had it pretty good revenue-wise, as I understand it. The pandemic was good for comics / graphic novels, and retailers that survived the first shock three years ago have enjoyed a piece of that. The past year hasn’t been the windfall that 2020 & ’21 were, and my sense is that there’s a lot of nervousness out there about what comes next. Anyway, though, these guys, Brandon & Danica, and their shop have evidently been positioned well.
While I’m at it, something else to note: the notion I’ve had for some time that comics is ripe for a cooperativizing turn seems like it might not be totally off the wall after all.
I will look into your links but it was the nether regions of WEM that I overheard a fellow lecturing his buddy. "I just don't understand," he said, "why would a person go digital when you can hold the artwork in your hands."
Eyeh, I thought, you're still young. You'll sing a different tune when you're older and space is at a premium. I laughed. Turns out he had the last laugh.
Now on to those links...
Comics — everywhere you turn, a can of worms!
Predicting the future yet! "Things are gonna slide in all directions." I think Ste. Leonard probably had it right. Strange how nobody wants to cover that song!
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