Missed It: Brian Hibbs Lets Dues Lapse To ComicsPRO

Totally, totally missed that Brian Hibbs has apparently decided to end his relationship the retailer advocacy organization ComicsPRO over the current board's reaction to DC's last-minute announcement they didn't have enough 3-D covers printed to cover orders for their September promotion. Luckily, Bleeding Cool caught it; I guess you really do have to read the comments. ICv2.com also picked up on it.

I think that's a big deal, although maybe not in the way we usually figure these things to be a big deal. Hibbs was very much a booster of putting together a group like that one, and used to a very persuasive advocate in public and in private for the good it could potentially do. Whereas the way we usually figure out the size of a story through the heat generated by the clash of personalities, I would put the focus on the cause for Hibbs to make this move: it's not that Brian Hibbs is unhappy, but why. If ComicsPRO is not working with its membership to do something as straight-forward as taking a company to task for a complete, ugly train wreck and total failure like not being able to cover orders on a heavily-publicized promotion, we're talking a pretty firm identity for that group moving forward that is much bigger than whether any one person is under the tent. In other words, I think if ComicsPRO settles into a more general advocacy role without teeth, an avenue for publishers to promote their books to member retailers, that is bigger news than whether or not Brian Hibbs is a member. Although, hey, it's still pretty big news. Brian was the group's public midwife, or at least the person running around and handing out cigars. They'll miss him.

Update: Hibbs wrote in at about 4:00 PM ET to say that he had let his membership lapse before this issue cropped up. So this is the kind of stance that made him do that, rather than the exact stance. I took the context of his posting this in a thread about a specific instance of the kind of action -- or inaction -- that made him do that as a sign that there was a direct causation. Guess not. I regret the error, but I have to admit -- I'd probably make that same supposition 199 times out of 200. I'm glad to clear it up in this case, though, partly in the hopes that Mr. Hibbs will cite another instance of what he sees as this trend so that I can publish it in another update graph right below this one. Mr Hibbs?
 
posted 8:45 pm PST | Permalink
 

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