Random Comics News Story Round-Up

* Dragon Lady Comics in Toronto is apparently closing its doors.

* in better news, the Eisner Awards are accepting submissions for the 2012 iteration of the program.

* the writer Paul Di Filippo brought to my attention a letter from the latest Bud Plant catalog that says that the company won't just be going on-line, and ending the famous catalog's print iteration, they'll from now on be focusing on the antiquarian and used-books end of their business and are selling the more new-books material at a deep discount to get the company to that place. I'm not sure of the exact nature of the reporting on the status of that company -- I think it had Plant retiring and this facilitating some sort of status change at the company -- but it wouldn't be harmful to repeat the information we have if that's what this is. Plant's importance in the early days of the Direct Market can't be overstated. In fact, it's not in any way an exaggeration to suggest that art comics in North America would have developed in much different fashion if it hadn't been for Plant carrying early issues of The Comics Journal and other seminal publications. For a long while, there really was no other reliable, organizing principle for finding the comics being done off-newstand -- and even some of those books as well! -- except for people like Bud Plant. Hell, the Bud Plant advertisement on the back of newsstand magazines is the first place many young fans like me heard about comics like Cerebus and Elfquest. This crucial role is above and beyond all the times the company served thousands of customers in terms of just putting books they wanted into their hands. So any major refocus or status change is definitely worthy of our attention, and important aspects of that company coming to an end are worth a salute and a thank you.

* Richard Alf, RIP.

* Heidi MacDonald caught something I failed to notice when I read the story in question: the Hollywood Reporter piece on DC Comics' 2011 uses sales figures from DC Comics that seem to be actual sales figures. It's only on their top three performers, so it's not like it's information that's going to hurt the company, but still, that's a good thing even if it suggests the real reason the rest of the numbers aren't released with regularity.

* this looks like some interview with Chris Ware.

* finally, the writer Warren Ellis makes five predictions (non-predictions?) about the immediate future of comics. For me, the takeaway is that an explosion of creator-driven distribution of digital comics material is inevitable, and could have intriguing effects when it arrives. This piece by Dean Haspiel suggests that at the very least the tough market for freelancers -- despite the all-time profits being made from the fruits of their intellectual properties -- may make DIY tools a very valuable thing for each and every creator.
 
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