CR Sunday Magazine

A Preview of Beasts and Priests



Update One

Hopefully by the time this rolls out I'll have added what is probably the last round of New York Comic-Con links to its "Collective Memory" entry.

Spot On



Update Two

Also, it's usually debatable how much of the autopsies of a comic book company like Speakeasy is analysis and how much is backseat driving, but there's a lot of good stuff in Steven Grant's take on the situation. I think where I might differ from Steven is that I see business failures as more fundamental -- lack of capital, bad execution -- than Steven's mix of business basics and market no-nos. For instance, I bet the right person with the right business set-up (solid funding, years to invest) could find something interesting to do with periodicals at this moment in time, and comics periodicals have seemingly never been less popular than they are right now.

Chris Butcher has some additional notes here -- although those individual-post links don't work for me, so maybe it's best to go directly to the blog and look around -- regarding a change in printing possibilities and the nature of a Speakeasy deal that fell through in terms of licensing.

I think the best dialogue that's come out of the Speakeasy collapse concerns what creators should expect of a comics company in return for a publisher's percentage of rights and income. The market won't demand anything of anyone, and I think there's a huge potential for exploitation because of the lack of communication, the lack of a creator advocacy guild or its equivalent, and the desire by so many to enter the creative end of comics. If a company -- and I'm talking generally now -- won't print and solicit with seamless execution, expects you to pay for X-amount of unsold copies and expenses, and doesn't provide a glimmer of marketing support, it might be time to look at just what it is you're getting in exchange for the stuff you're signing away.

Missed It: Happy 6th Blogiversary to Neilalien



I Ask You

.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) a non-Fantagraphics 2006 book that's been widely reviewed for the Critical Consensus section? I swear I haven't heard anything widely talked about since Ganges.

Go, Look: Treasury Edition Site



Via Mr. Evanier

Initial Thought of the Day

I find Aaron McGruder's vacation to be a really interesting news story. I still have a hunch it's 50/50 he comes back at all. If he does, I'm interested to see what his newspaper profile is like. The newspaper slot situation seems more volatile than in times past, and I bet there are some editors that would love to see Boondocks out of the subject head of their publication's received e-mail altogether.
 
posted 10:55 pm PST | Permalink
 

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