http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=17705
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On a side note- I apologize greatly if this seems a bit “Inside Baseball” to some, and if you’re REALLY not that interested in the state of today’s comic market I beg you to keep reading anyway, and go see the video, be informed and form your own opinions as to its’ message. There IS a point to all this beyond the points Kirkman raises in his video, and it DOES tie into the very foundation as to why I wanted to do this blog in the first place.
NOW, like I said before, stupid me, I spent a whole day drafting a response to this, calling friends, discussing it with colleagues, and carefully writing my opinions about the opinions expressed on the tape. It wasn’t some knee jerk reaction, but actually a well thought out response pointing out the obvious point flaws in what Kirkman was saying. I would post it here but frankly it expresses opinions best left to dissect and perhaps stretch across a number of blog entries. To paraphrase I remarked that my impression of Kirkman’s statement was that of a rich (mostly republican, but most any RICH) politician who claims that the US economy is still as strong as ever and we’re not in a recession, let alone a depression, and that it’s all nothing more than a little “bump” or temporary “perfect storm”. In other words, they were both too removed from the true reality of the situation that they stated what they BELIEVED as fact other than what really WAS fact. I stated that the REAL situation of those looking to break-in to comics, especially the truly creative ones, are usually chased off by the many trap falls one has to go through in the market (and I have been in the market now for over 2 decades so I have seen a lot of them). Other than that there were no personal attacks (though I had more than one friend suggest making them), it was my intention to inform, perhaps educate, and WAKE UP those who had watched Mr. Kirkman’s tape and decided that he really was, in fact, trying to save comics.
I had gone so far as to send my response to a colleague for evaluation and gotten a rewrite back from him that was better than I had written, more leaning towards my credibility in the market (so I didn’t come off as your typical no nothing who swears they know it all), and a point or two that, to me, reminded me as to why I should be so defensive to Mr. Kirkman in the first place. I made it a point for my response to not be a personal attack, and in fact ended the post (which originally ran past 3 pages) with 5 solid things that need to be done to REALLY “Save Comics”, because I LOVE comics as an art form, but I HATE the cliqued out political system that it operates in.
Again, silly me.
After getting back the rewrite I decided to dig deeper. To me, especially lately, I’ve learned that the only good solid opinion is a truly informed one. I despise “dogma” and blind half-ass fact filled opinions, and I like being as informed on as much of a subject as possible before I make an opinion (My only exception here being critiques of other entertainment pieces, then I generally try to run off of what I see as opposed to what I “know”- witness for example my upcoming review of Clone Wars which SHOULD be my next post). So anyway, I dug deeper, and BOY was I glad I did!!
Surprisingly, I found posted for all to hear, and THANK GOD for that btw, on the WORD BALLOON PODCAST, the COMPLETE soundtrack or the “Mission Statement” that Kirkman made. The statement actually runs over 12 minutes (as mentioned in the audio), and was SEVERELY edited down by the Comic Book Resources folks, who apparently weren’t interested in showing their readers the REAL point to all of this, but REALLY wanted Kirkman to come off as a super-intelligent nice guy, out to REALLY save comics.
The real “point” to the message, the true “Mission Statement” was a “Ha Ha, I’m now a FULL PARTNER with Image and am going to make more off of my stuff than I would from working for the Big 2, and everyone should join me!!” diatribe that in reality comes off egocentric and almost haughty. Sure, all the same points are expressed as from the CBR video, how AMAZING it is to hear the 2 versions one right after the other and how the entire intent was changed from its original recording. In my opinion, NIGHT AND DAY TO SAY THE LEAST.
This is a real “Wake Up” moment for me, and one I felt I HAD to share with all of you, an example of true “spin” in the media, even at the small hobby level, and quite honestly I find it offensive. This sad spin happens in the media all the time, and even more so as fewer and fewer folks get to push their own personal agendas and opinions onto people. That’s why blogs are SO important, even if the occasional fact is horrible skewed, or the blog spin is misleading, it’s almost always putting another opinion OUT THERE for folks to consider.
The older I get the more I realize that everything we THINK we know is wrong, and just because a lot of folks THINK they know something, it really doesn’t make that a fact (despite what the spinners and politicians want you to believe).
I welcome free discussion on these points. As of this posting CBR has yet to try to discourage any, outside of running an edited (softer) version of their buddy’s video, AND there IS a note that the video was "re-edited". I think they should be asked why 3 plus minutes of the tape were dropped and Kirkman’s entire intent of the video (at least to my mind) was alerted. PLUS I think CBR should be held accountable to start a healthy place for discussion on how comics can REALLY be saved as an art form, especially if they care enough to let one voice (no matter how big or who’s status has just been acquired) to have their say. This has renewed my opinion of just how off the mark “the comic elite” is to the TRUE problems that lie within our industry. Problems that as the topic arises, or I think of bringing it up, I will address in future postings here, but I assure you that my voice is but a small one, and my readership only a minute proportion of the amount that the Comic Book Resources board gets every day. I am easily discredited and ignored, so the comics market can rest easy that this small voice in the wilderness, thin informed opinion, will probably NEVER be considered.
For those of you who question my credentials, I invite you to read the Arrow Comics’ history over at http://www,arrowcomics.com, or better still read my 3-part miniseries on the state of modern comics entitled SPANK THE MONKEY ON THE COMIC MARKET and decide for yourself if I’m full of shit or not.
Finally, to punctuate my point and drive home my disgust in the media I give you the address where you can find the UNCUT (as least as far as I know) version of Kirkman’s Mission Statement, as well as a very insightful interview with Mr. Kirkman that follows. Listen to both the video and the podcast and PLEASE make up your own mind about the Mission Statement’s intent, and if you’re as angered as me please share your opinion wherever you can, and if I’m full of shit, or you think that way, please let me know- just make your opinion an INFORMED one:
http://wordballoon.com/
Look under the podcast "Kirkman Explains his Mission Statement".
Some might think this a small insignificant knit-picking point, but to me IF you're interested in "Saving Comics" I can't see how moving from one or two large corporations to a smaller one (even one of the better ones that allows you more creative freedom) will be saving anything more than your possibly expanding bank account- but then again I may be wrong. My real point here isn't the message as much as the intent and the spin of what's being made. If you've done good for yourself and you want to share your good fortune, please do, just don't allow it to sound like you're being a hero and stepping towards a loftier, higher goal other than your financial gain, especially when the art form is SO defiled and crippled when it comes to fostering real creativity.
Next time, my critique of The Clone Wars movie, probably, if nothing else really pisses me off before hand.
WAKE UP!!
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