THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE!
I sent this message out to comic book industry trade publications like "Wizard," "Comics Buyer's Guide," etc. I present it here for all of you to see. Agree? Disagree? Feel free to discuss the pro's and con's. Thanks! -- Matt
THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE
For years, I have been discussing how the comic book industry seriously needs to look hard at changing the format of comic books with anyone who would listen. In order to get comics in the hands of more readers, and in more retail outlets, I feel some drastic measures must be taken to ensure the market continues to endure in an ever-changing marketplace.
This past weekend, I got in a copy of "Wizard" #179, and noted its' change in format, and thought, "They seem to get it!" You see, the publication, up until now, has always been roughly the same dimensions as a Silver-Age comic book. The new format is more like a magazine-size, like "Time." This convinced me that others may be thinking along the same line as I am thinking.
Basically, I believe that its' in the best interest of the comic industry to change all comics formats to match the dimensions and page count of the standard magazine. This serves a number of purposes. First, the larger size will allow comics to be displayed along with any other magazine at bookstores, newsstands, grocery stores, and the like. Because of this, newsstand vendors will be more than likely to carry comics. Also, a lot of buying and selling is psychological. People who balk at paying $3 for a regular-sized comic book have no problem paying up to $8 for a magazine. It's the whole "bigger is better" mentality.
What I suggest is that a publisher, like Marvel, take three somewhat related titles, say "Avengers," "Captain America," and "Iron Man" and combine them into a magazine, with the same page count for each story that they would've had as a regular-sized comic book. That is to say, roughly, the magazine would have about 74 pages of comic art and story. The remaining content could be filled with paid advertisements, pin-ups, and editorial content. The entire package could run about 100 pages, with a retail of around $7.99, more or less.
This would not be an "either/or" situation, in that the customer would have a choice between a magazine version and a normal-sized comic book version. No, the change in format would have to be total, and across the line. There would be some protest from some quarters, but I honestly think the market would ultimately accept it. And it would be nice if Marvel and DC, and others agreed to make the change, and do so at the same time.
Changing the format would increase the likelihood of broadening the distribution of the product, which would then result in more exposure leading to higher sales and increased readership in the long run. The perception among readers would be that they are getting more for their money. No creative teams would have to be displaced with this solution, either.
Perhaps the biggest change is that the creators would have to actually start meeting the deadlines again. It wouldn't do to have publishing held up because two out of three stories are not ready by the time the book is due to be printed. Fill-in stories may be a way of taking care of some of those deadline issues, but more importantly, publishers and the editors need to crack the whip and have the creators meet their deadlines. Never has the industry been more lax about putting out monthly periodicals on a monthly schedule than these past ten years.
It's a bold move, but the continued survival of this industry requires bold tactics. The biggest problems facing this industry today are distribution, pricing, late books, and marketing. The plan I propose would be a step forward in addressing those issues. I feel that the corporate world these days is way too shortsighted, and the comic book industry is as guilty as another other industry. It's time we look forward and plan ahead with serious intent.
On another somewhat unrelated note: Am I the only person displeased with how comic publishers are making retailers and the fans pay for product that was once the kind of stuff that was given away as promotional materials? I mean, sure, I can see comics like "Batman: The Twelve Cent Adventure," and the quarter comics Marvel was putting out a few years back, but I feel that publishers are starting to take advantage of the concept in a bad way these days.
Dark Horse published a "comic book" full of pin-ups to celebrate its' 20th anniversary, and another publisher put a "comic" that was barely more than sketches with some commentary, and both were sold to retailers to sell at a quarter apiece. Marvel just released a "CIVIL WAR: Daily Bugle" newspaper that retailed at 50 cents! Back in the Eighties, all of these comics would have been distributed for free as promotional marketing materials. While the price point is not extravagant, I still feel that retailers and readers are being fleeced. More of the "let's get the money now, worry about the adverse effects later" mentality that is all-too prevalent anymore.
I hope that the short-term mentality will go away at some point. I care deeply about this industry and want to see it survive for years to come.
Sincerely,
Matthew Hawes
COMICS UNLIMITED
http://www.comicsunlimited.biz/
THE SHAPE OF THE FUTURE
For years, I have been discussing how the comic book industry seriously needs to look hard at changing the format of comic books with anyone who would listen. In order to get comics in the hands of more readers, and in more retail outlets, I feel some drastic measures must be taken to ensure the market continues to endure in an ever-changing marketplace.
This past weekend, I got in a copy of "Wizard" #179, and noted its' change in format, and thought, "They seem to get it!" You see, the publication, up until now, has always been roughly the same dimensions as a Silver-Age comic book. The new format is more like a magazine-size, like "Time." This convinced me that others may be thinking along the same line as I am thinking.
Basically, I believe that its' in the best interest of the comic industry to change all comics formats to match the dimensions and page count of the standard magazine. This serves a number of purposes. First, the larger size will allow comics to be displayed along with any other magazine at bookstores, newsstands, grocery stores, and the like. Because of this, newsstand vendors will be more than likely to carry comics. Also, a lot of buying and selling is psychological. People who balk at paying $3 for a regular-sized comic book have no problem paying up to $8 for a magazine. It's the whole "bigger is better" mentality.
What I suggest is that a publisher, like Marvel, take three somewhat related titles, say "Avengers," "Captain America," and "Iron Man" and combine them into a magazine, with the same page count for each story that they would've had as a regular-sized comic book. That is to say, roughly, the magazine would have about 74 pages of comic art and story. The remaining content could be filled with paid advertisements, pin-ups, and editorial content. The entire package could run about 100 pages, with a retail of around $7.99, more or less.
This would not be an "either/or" situation, in that the customer would have a choice between a magazine version and a normal-sized comic book version. No, the change in format would have to be total, and across the line. There would be some protest from some quarters, but I honestly think the market would ultimately accept it. And it would be nice if Marvel and DC, and others agreed to make the change, and do so at the same time.
Changing the format would increase the likelihood of broadening the distribution of the product, which would then result in more exposure leading to higher sales and increased readership in the long run. The perception among readers would be that they are getting more for their money. No creative teams would have to be displaced with this solution, either.
Perhaps the biggest change is that the creators would have to actually start meeting the deadlines again. It wouldn't do to have publishing held up because two out of three stories are not ready by the time the book is due to be printed. Fill-in stories may be a way of taking care of some of those deadline issues, but more importantly, publishers and the editors need to crack the whip and have the creators meet their deadlines. Never has the industry been more lax about putting out monthly periodicals on a monthly schedule than these past ten years.
It's a bold move, but the continued survival of this industry requires bold tactics. The biggest problems facing this industry today are distribution, pricing, late books, and marketing. The plan I propose would be a step forward in addressing those issues. I feel that the corporate world these days is way too shortsighted, and the comic book industry is as guilty as another other industry. It's time we look forward and plan ahead with serious intent.
On another somewhat unrelated note: Am I the only person displeased with how comic publishers are making retailers and the fans pay for product that was once the kind of stuff that was given away as promotional materials? I mean, sure, I can see comics like "Batman: The Twelve Cent Adventure," and the quarter comics Marvel was putting out a few years back, but I feel that publishers are starting to take advantage of the concept in a bad way these days.
Dark Horse published a "comic book" full of pin-ups to celebrate its' 20th anniversary, and another publisher put a "comic" that was barely more than sketches with some commentary, and both were sold to retailers to sell at a quarter apiece. Marvel just released a "CIVIL WAR: Daily Bugle" newspaper that retailed at 50 cents! Back in the Eighties, all of these comics would have been distributed for free as promotional marketing materials. While the price point is not extravagant, I still feel that retailers and readers are being fleeced. More of the "let's get the money now, worry about the adverse effects later" mentality that is all-too prevalent anymore.
I hope that the short-term mentality will go away at some point. I care deeply about this industry and want to see it survive for years to come.
Sincerely,
Matthew Hawes
COMICS UNLIMITED
http://www.comicsunlimited.biz/
Comments
Spider-Man cannot and should not be changed in any way shape or form. He is Marvel's greatest creation and deserves to be kept in the format Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created, lo those many years ago.
There are so many hardcore Spider-Man fans like myself who have bought and supported this character even with the recent horrible storylines by swine like JMS that it would be a slap in the face to suddenly one day tell us that our beloved Spider-Man would now be part of an anthology magazine that also included horrible Marvel characters like Ironman and Craptain America.
We need to come up with ways to make Spider-Man more exciting so young comic fans can once again enjoy Spider-Man the way we did Matt. A format change won't bring back the magic Spider-Man once gave us on a monthly basis. Back when Gerry Conway and Ross Andru was making this young comic readers dreams come true by showing Spider-Man in all his crime-fighting glory, Wisecracking, chasing tail and mouthing off to J. Jonah Jameson, all while fighting the Scorpion and buying Aunt May's heart medication!
I'm frustrated by Marvel's unwilligness to bring back that Spider-Man and instead gives us abominations like "Sins Past" and Spider-Man growing a second pecker.
I agree with your vision of the future and bringing kids back to comics. But I also feel we have a duty to give kids comics that they would actually want to read and characters they can identify with and look up to. Spider-Man fulfills that idea but only at comic size and with more simplistic stories that kids between the ages of 5 and 8 can understand. Like Spider-Man Chapter One was written. That comic was written for the under 10 comic reader and delivered beautifully onthe promise of simplifying the stories to the extent that adults could give them to their kids and not have to worry about there being any innapropriate material contained within.
Matt, you have gotten things done at Marvel in the past, like getting Jemas fired and allowing John Byrne to finish out his X-Men- Hidden Years run, please talk to Joe Quesada about moving all their books to magazine format, except Spider-Man, and please tell him to hire Roger Stern and John Byrne to bring Spider-Man back to his former glory.