Good piece. This is a great sentence: "The basic literary unit now, like it or not, is not the journal or the book, but the writer—a self-branded memeplex distributed across the online platforms."
The comics industry (at least the big two American corps) are making more money than ever so a bit unsure what you mean by it facing economic oblivion.
My impression is that comics in general (inclusive of graphic novels, manga, and YA) are in good shape but traditional monthly superhero comics, which is what I meant despite my over-general terminology, much less so.
I don't think it's that simple. (The article reads like a press release anyway.) People are debating this endlessly on YouTube and elsewhere, what with DC closing offices, flagship monthly titles down in sales, and rumors about Zaslav's restructuring and the like. Here's just one counterpoint:
As some of the political asides in that video indicate, the whole question has gotten caught up in the culture war with each side dug in on a narrative (left: positive, right: negative) over numbers that can be variously interpreted.
Also, my poetic flourish came in the first place from Moore's own book, which represents things as pretty bleak inside his Marvel and DC analogues, and this, in distinction to what I was just saying, from the political left. While I think much in that book is questionable, I'm sure he knows enough people on the inside for that to be credible or at least debatable.
That article reads like a standard report, not a press release. And it’s about comics in general, but you’re just talking about DC. Maybe DC isn’t doing so well; that doesn’t mean comics in general aren’t selling. DC is about to do a big reset with the comics, so it probably is because they’re not doing well, but that doesn’t speak for the whole market.
Anyway, we know manga is killing it; we know comic book stores are doing well, as are graphic novels—I’m sure some of that is superhero stuff. Superhero comics aren’t as big as manga, but the market is there, and the market for buying comics is definitely there.
Good piece. This is a great sentence: "The basic literary unit now, like it or not, is not the journal or the book, but the writer—a self-branded memeplex distributed across the online platforms."
Thank you!
The comics industry (at least the big two American corps) are making more money than ever so a bit unsure what you mean by it facing economic oblivion.
My impression is that comics in general (inclusive of graphic novels, manga, and YA) are in good shape but traditional monthly superhero comics, which is what I meant despite my over-general terminology, much less so.
That impression would be incorrect :) https://www.forbes.com/sites/robsalkowitz/2022/07/05/2021-comic-sales-were-up-up-and-away-at-a-record-2-billion/
I don't think it's that simple. (The article reads like a press release anyway.) People are debating this endlessly on YouTube and elsewhere, what with DC closing offices, flagship monthly titles down in sales, and rumors about Zaslav's restructuring and the like. Here's just one counterpoint:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILE_k22IMRk&ab_channel=ThinkingCritical
As some of the political asides in that video indicate, the whole question has gotten caught up in the culture war with each side dug in on a narrative (left: positive, right: negative) over numbers that can be variously interpreted.
Also, my poetic flourish came in the first place from Moore's own book, which represents things as pretty bleak inside his Marvel and DC analogues, and this, in distinction to what I was just saying, from the political left. While I think much in that book is questionable, I'm sure he knows enough people on the inside for that to be credible or at least debatable.
That article reads like a standard report, not a press release. And it’s about comics in general, but you’re just talking about DC. Maybe DC isn’t doing so well; that doesn’t mean comics in general aren’t selling. DC is about to do a big reset with the comics, so it probably is because they’re not doing well, but that doesn’t speak for the whole market.
Anyway, we know manga is killing it; we know comic book stores are doing well, as are graphic novels—I’m sure some of that is superhero stuff. Superhero comics aren’t as big as manga, but the market is there, and the market for buying comics is definitely there.
As ever, immensely thoughtful, JP.
Thank you, Alice!