ANOTHER NAIL IN COMICS' COFFIN!!

Today's posting might be a long one, and it'll be filled with a little bit of "inside baseball" stuff when it comes to the comic market. I will work hard to keep it simple and to voice my anger and frustration as directly as possible.

I HOPE.

First off I LOVE COMICS. Loved them all my life. When growing up I "knew" I HAD to be involved in this glorious combined form of art and communication. I've written them (My writing notation in Overstreets for my War Of The Worlds work has remained there for well over a decade now), I've drawn them (As my notation for Spank The Monkey in Fogel's Underground Guide will attest), I've published them (as a small press publisher of Arrow, Massive, and yes, even WeeBee Comics banners) off and on over two decades worth of time, and I've taught them. I grew up breathing comics, the art form, it's publishing and distribution ins and outs, for most of my life. I started the first comic book specialty shop in my area, I have studied and written about their history to the point that my miniseries about comics(Spank The Monkey On The Comic Market)was very well received and has been mandatory curriculum material for more than one Sequential Art college course. I continue to unofficially teach Middle School and Elementary kids about cartooning after school via The United Way because I KNOW there are kids out there with the same sparks as I had as a child who. like myself, may even use this art form as a way of staying sane (or a reasonable facsimile there of).

Simply put I am passionate about Comics and they are a VERY important part of my life. I have ranted about comics numerous times here on this blog, making suggestions, recommendations, and showing you but a small sampling of Heroes I Miss. Though lately my attentions have been focused elsewhere most of the time I still pay attention to some of what is happening with Comics' "Direct Market", the chain of small outlets that offer comics' mainstream material (though the use of the word "mainstream" in that last sentence has just hit me as an oxymoron. perhaps "mainstream" comics have shifted from the comic shops to the movie screen, but that's off topic).

So yesterday, in my spare time surfing news on the web I came across this item in Rich Johnston's Lying In The Gutters column on the Comic Book resource board. I have high respect for Rich's column and do read it every week, when I have time, and recommend it to any of you readers who may also be interested in the "Inside Baseball" of Comics and the Direct Market. You can read the quote in full context at the address below and you should bookmark this column, and perhaps read over as much of the Comic Book Resource site that interests you, if you're not doing so already. Here's that addy:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=19605

The spot is in regards to Comics' primary distributor (the paragraph above this quote called them "monopoly", which I agree with but unfortunately the Federal Courts do not) Diamond Distributors and how they were dictating which books they would distribute by establishing "minimums" unto the market. This on top of any new comic company having to p[rove their measure by passing three completed issues of their product in front of a "retailer review board" to see if you are worthy of being listed in their (Diamond's) sales catalog in the first place.

These "thresholds" were placed so that it would be worth Diamond's while financially to distribute a creator's work. It seems that Diamond was interested in their sales/cost returns as was afraid of being over run by smaller pressed books taking up too much time and space to fill orders going from publisher to retailer. Like a strainer they were keeping the "lower forms" farther away from a viewing audience of potential buyers and fans.

In order to totally understand the step here you have to know what a Previews Catalog (Diamond's primary selling tool, that they charge retailers and fans to posses in the first place- despite the onslaught of advertising these catalogs hold) actually looks like. There are multi levels of preference here with Diamonds top sellers, that they call "exclusives" which are the top dogs in the market, are listed in front and given preferential treatment. Following each "exclusives" current listing is each companies bound book library of what they have in stock to offer, as well as all of their merchandising: limited edition hard bounds, statues, posters, trading cards, apparel, bottle caps, and whatever current hot button merchandising they can dream up to drain the retailer (the strainer/primary buyer for the consumer)of their money in hopes of cashing in on their icons- THEN comes the rest of the publishers in what everyone calls the "green section" (green being subliminal to "not yet ripe enough for you to bother picking"). It's that "green section" that were originally hit by their imposed "minimums", again these 'green section" books already had to pass retailer panel inspection- the "exclusives" do not and were not included in the "minimum" rule.

It is at this point that I quote Rich Johnston's column:

At the time there were concerns that small press books would falter, not reach the expected figures, and smaller companies would disappear. And those that depended on listing the same item again and again, as "Order Again" would lose a big chunk of their income, as repeated listings of the same item would never have the same amount of orders as the initial listing. To some extent, this did indeed happen. Some companies disappeared, especially the one-man-bands. And the amount of O/As dropped. Some companies chose to cut exclusive deals with Diamond, so that they could list O/A titles without worrying about benchmarks.

In September 2005, the benchmark was set at $1500 wholesale and the threshold at $600 wholesale. That worked out at about a retail benchmark of $3750 and a retail threshold of $1500.

One other factor is that three years ago, most independent books cost around $2 to $3. These days, it's $3 to $4. Which means, the benchmarks and thresholds are being reached with smaller sales.

So boys and girls, it's time for it all to happen again. I understand the new expected minimum order, the benchmark, is $2500 wholesale or $6250 retail. Miss that figure too often and your book is dropped.

End of quote.

I have yet to hear of anyone getting OFFICIAL notice of the new minimums, but I suspect that IF Diamond does do this it will be screamed about (or at least SHOULD BE screamed about) by all small publishers who have again had the figurative noose tightened about their necks as Diamond further attempts to lynch the "green section" from their catalog entirely.

So much for "Fair Trade", or even remotely like the "Fair Play" our president just got done addressing in his inauguration speech.

Under these new "minimums" the old Arrow regime would have only been able to produce (and have Diamond distribute) two of our over fifty issues, that being Spank The Monkey #1 (which was boosted by a listing in Wizard Magazine as being "One The Edge" when the contents of the book were yet to even be written) and Butterfly Gunn #1 (which has a rich marketing history all it's own and I refer you over to the history section of the Arrow Comics site for that). That's it. No Oz, No War Of The Worlds, No Wonderland, let alone the other great books we published. I was already our companies "cut off man", not printing titles that were going to kill us financially (two of which I actually printed out of guilt and it did cost us severely- one of which I did not print and it cost me a good chunk of my self respect and drive to print and be in the market at all).

Again, so much for "Fair Trade" as you HAVE to wonder how many current icons of the direct Market (like Turtles, Bone, Love and Rockets) would have had their face slammed in the door and never seen a retailer's pull bag. let alone a retailer's shelf, if these minimums were in place back in the 80's and 90's.

Plus, now you know why the price per issue of comics likes to jump like it does. IF you want to survive you almost have to out price yourself out of the market (and in these economic times eventually WILL), just to hit Diamond's minimums for them to bother to take you out of box "A" from you and put you in box "B" for the retailer that ordered you three months in advance.

This has not been "Fair Trade" or "fair Play" now for many, many years and now it looks like it's all going to get a little harder.

Finally now you also see that the "exclusives" will now be under Diamond's "minimums" noose. and you wonder why you get those "Special Events" every year that fucks your continuity and wallet into buying titles you don't normally buy. It's gonna get worse now. You wonder why the hell Marvel and DC jacked their cover price way up on their comics, when the cost of printing has gone down, especially if they print overseas. Now, it's only going to get worse.

Woe be onto the retailer, who has to make an educated guess three months in advance of the market as to how they'll be selling any comics into their shop- with hard times here and more coming (what, you think gas is gonna stay at 2 bucks a gallon all summer- I'd be SHOCKED if that ever happens), they will be PRAYING that folks WANT to see Batman dead (again), Spidey fall in love with MJ (again!), and Wolverines TRUE origin explained (again!). Best of luck to all you guys.

Me, I ain't playin' and when I can tell you exactly what I'm doing and if it'll work or not I'll let you know. I gave up submitting to the "mainstream" guys a lloonngg time ago (though I STILL have a killer Red Wolf story I'd give my left nut to tell, you ain't gonna read it as Red Wolf most likely). Hope you comic readers like your repetition, stale continuity, big "crisis" events that go nowhere big, and all the sparkle and glitz sleight-of-hand these color companies will be force feeding you in the future as yet another nail in comics' creativity coffin seems to be about to be pounded in by your friendly Diamond Distributors' need for greed.

SPECIAL INSIDE NOTE HERE: There have been many attempts to change Diamond's hold on the market, mostly to no avail because retailers and publishers alike quake in fear of reprisal from said company in one form or another. This "fear" is justified with every new restriction Diamond beings to the market as sharing a bit of the profit margin Diamond has cut for itself could go towards enacting the minimum "noose" and cancel titles for publishers. On the same end not meeting levels of discounts for retailers could in turn inflict severe pain on any already struggling retailer. Frankly Diamond OWNS the market be strangling creativity and any opportunity to make the market better without Diamond's finger in the pie. Despite perhaps higher sales the readership for comics continually keeps shrinking due to lack of creativity on every level of production, and Diamond is a (if not THE) major cause of that. In fact, one of the primary reason I had to stop publishing (outside of flat out loosing the will to do so) was because I realized that Diamond was making more money off of my labor that me- again all for moving product from box "A" to "B".

I rest assured in the knowledge (as I stated in my Comic Market mini-series I mentioned above) that every advance to the art of comics comes after the screwing (or nailing, or lynching) of the previous market, I will be working hard to do my best to be a part of THAT, and not the dismal treadmill running the money machine that is Diamond Comics Dictatorship.

WAKE UP!!