Kirkman, Making the Industry Invincible?

A few days ago, Robert (Walking Dead, Invincible) Kirkman released a video explaining that he was leaving Marvel Comics and becoming a partner at Image Comics to "save the industry". Robert Kirkman, Huh?!

OK, I've occasionally referred to myself as an apprentice savior of comics but RK, seems to be serious. Well here's the video, you decide.



Now while I do sell a lot of Walking Dead and some Invincible and other Kirkman work, proving that a lot of folks think he can write, with all due respect, almost every point Kirkman makes about the industry is just flat out wrong.

The most important being, that increasing creator owned work is somehow going to "save comics", whatever that means. It makes good sound bites but that's about it.

Robert, people do watch movies and aspire to only ever make Pulp Fiction 2 and yes people do read novels and decide to only ever write Moby Dick 2 and yes there are people who have decided that they only want to write the WFH Superheroes. But that is neither here nor there, as it has NOTHING to due with the ills of the industry.

She probably didn't mean it this way but Lea Hernandez proves it with her comment, "Here’s hoping that Kirkman saying what I and others have been saying as long as I’ve been in comics (... twenty-two years...)".

Why, if this was known twenty two years ago, is this STILL an issue? Because it is not THE ISSUE, it is an excuse that has been handed down from small press creator to small press creator like a cherished heirloom. But in reality there has never been more creator owned work commercially available (and viable) in the marketplace than there is now and even more is available online. Book publishers are fighting to lure creators away from comic publishers and establishing their own imprints to publish them.

Jeff Smith, Kazu Kibuishi, Ariel Schrag, Jeffrey Brown, Craig Thompson, Roman Dirge...

So, why are we still hearing the same tired refrain from creators?

I've been in the industry (as a creator, publisher and retailer) longer than Kirkman has been alive and despite the unprecedented level of creator owned work on the market, the one constant remains, the blaming of work for hire, particularly via Marvel & DC and retailers inability to embrace any work beyond the Big 2.

Well, I'm not sure how folks like Lea, Ellis or even Kirkman have missed it for twenty two years but Marvel, DC, WFH or retailers have not damaged the industry nearly as much as creator owned work (and the publishers who love them) has. OK to be fair it's not the work but the lack of professionalism surrounding the work that is the culprit.

From unprofessional and nonviable work by folks with to much cash in hand to fantastic work with untenable publishing schedules and utter lack of business/marketing savvy, this work leaves not only a frustrated consumer with no lack of alternative entertainment options but a also a line of business partners (distributors & retailers) who become increasingly gun shy over such product because it cannot be counted on to pay the bills and not to actively piss off their customers (and to be fair, the Big 2 share some of these same problems).

D&Q, Fantagraphics, Slave Labor, Top Shelf... all produce a staggering amount of creator owned work. Warren Ellis touted both financial and critical success of Fell. And yet the aforementioned publishers have had to go begging hat in hand and must fight retailers for sales at conventions because the work isn't selling as well as needed and who knows if or when Ellis will reward us with more Fell, which now seems to be on an annual schedule.

No, folks, the problem lies not in whether the work is WFH or creator owned. Nor does it lie in whether its interior sports slice of life or brightly colored spandex.

The problem is whether or not creators/publishers want to meet the responsibilities associated with running a business. If, Kirkman wants to save the INDUSTRY, he can start by using his new position as a partner at Image to educate creators publishing through Image Central as to the benefits of having a strong editor, in not rushing product to solicitation, in marketing and PR to build a demand for the work prior to publication and establishing and meeting realistic and appropriate publication schedules.

Creators capable of doing this will not have to worry about anything or anyone else and I can guarantee that they will have distributors and retailers beating down their doors for their work.

Or they can continue to treat the work as a part time job, fail to market it, solicit unrealistically and deliver haphazardly and wait another 20 years or so for the next Kirkman.

The Golden Age... of Excuses

I love the comic industry but sometimes I wonder why? It's dysfunctional, slow to change, needy and belligerent. But it can also be wonderfully creative and loyal to a fault.

Overall, I can't think of another way I would have preferred to earn a living over the last 15 years, than running my shop, Comickaze Comics books and more and I hope it remains as fulfilling for another 15 years.

But, as with the recent dustup between some direct market comic retailers and small press publishers and the bloggers who love them, the seeming inability of folks to empathize with others they disagree with even as they rely on them for their much of their success, I'm not so certain that another 15 year run is going to come to fruition.

While I was looking for some historical context for ;)an interview I recently did with Alan David Doane (Comic Book Galaxy's ADD) I came upon this piece I wrote for ICv2 back in 2004, in response to a few retailers who I felt that, in attempting to safeguard their business, were missing the bigger picture. You know, that forest and trees things.

I was very disappointed to see the comments of Joe Krolik and Ilan Strasser in their recent Talk Back contributions. Partly because they seem to be under the impression that things that don't fit their business plans are bad for everyone else but mostly because of their ironic conclusion that the best way to protect a Direct Market that is too small to support line growth in things like graphic novels, and more specifically manga, is to make it even smaller.

The direct market is finally beginning to emerge from the hole it dug for itself in the early to mid 90's. Much of the reason is because publishers have finally grasped that there is an even larger market for their previously published work than just back issue buyers. Trade paperbacks, the repackaging of previously published work, allow everyone access to classic and/or hard to find stories in complete story arcs at reasonable prices, and the (re)introduction of first run graphic novels allow long form complex stories to be told in a fashion that now makes comics attractive to book readers previously unenamored with the "juvenile" format. Even better for the direct market retailer, stock was easier to replenish (even Marvel's!) than the flighty back issues, the higher unit price really contributed to the bottom line, and it's working as consumers are buying more and more both in and out of the DM.

Now to specifically focus on Krolik and Strasser's concern over the (over) abundance of Manga. Mr. Krolick states it will, "...leave in its wake desolation and ruin in chains and independent stores alike as the boom becomes a bust. A very fast bust. A very big bust." and, "Better a smaller stable market for quality product than no market at all after an indiscriminate glut." Mr. Strasser believes, "product gluts (Magic: The Gathering, Pokemon, comics) lead quite quickly to declining sales."

There's a very simple answer. If you don't like the topic on a talk show, change the channel or turn it off, and if a product line isn't performing for you, don't order it. Quit running around like Chicken Little, raging against the falling sky and essentially asking for the publishers to help keep the Direct Market small. Or perhaps you could study why something that is working so well for many of us isn't working for you and perhaps you could begin to enjoy the success that we are. I also feel that Strasser is doing a huge injustice to comics by comparing them to sales of "collectibles" like M:TG and Pokemon, although that could be a reason for his difficulties with manga. Manga consumers "read" their comics and even share them with others; they are not treated as collectibles and I have never had a manga customer ask which titles were more likely to go up in value.

I for one owe a considerable amount of my growth to the introduction of a wide selection of graphic novels, and most certainly manga, to my product mix. This graphic novel category now accounts for approximately 40% of my comic sales volume and is up 24% over last year's record sales at Comickaze.

Where manga is contributing the most to my store is in helping me capture hundreds of new customers, especially females, who never felt there was a reason to visit comic shops. Manga is a format, not a genre and within the format there are as many or more genres represented as there are in Western comics, but unlike most Western comic publishers (excluding DC Comics), manga publishers offer an incredible range of product from beginning readers all the way to adult. Manga offers us a chance to sell books to an entire family, at increasingly consumer friendly price points and on far a more regular basis than most Western comics. Where customers are complaining about $7/issue for "fan favorite" JLA/Avengers, I have customers flocking in monthly to spend $10 a pop for not just one manga GN but two, three, four+ every week. And its kids, young girls, and moms!!

In other words, new customers, far outside the normal demographic of the Direct Market, and those we so desperately need if we are to increase the customer base and grow this industry. A byproduct of this new business has also been the opportunity to introduce my manga customers to comics like Oni's Scooter Girl, Pounded and Blue Monday as well as SLG's Outlook Grim, Ghouly Boys, Serenity Rose, Lenore and many more.

Look, I'm not unsympathetic to the fact that there is an awful lot of product coming and most of us have very little knowledge in this area but we can't allow that to scare us into submission. It's time to engage your customers, ask them what their favorite titles are and make sure you keep those in stock. If you're not tracking sales so that you know which titles are moving and which aren't, it's time to start. And if your bookshelves are screaming under the weight of trying to carry every volume of every title, try cutting back to the first two or three and most recent two or three volumes and leave the middle volumes for special orders. I'd also suggest talking to other retailers where possible. I get a tremendous amount of info on manga from retailers in the CBIA Forum (www.thecbia.com), where retailers like Chris Butcher of The Beguiling in Canada have offered rundowns of all titles offered in Previews each month. Other CBIA members include manga publishers Tokyopop and ADV Manga and in the past have included Viz, ComicsOne among others. We also have the ability to buy, trade and/or sell overstock with other retail members so even when the best laid plans go awry, it doesn't hurt so much.

Speaking of Tokyopop, I have to thank them for their new layout in Previews, pointing out the demographic, genre and key selling features of each title offered in a quick, clear fashion. They are also offering a fantastic 40-pocket spinner rack, similar to the one being used by a major book chain, for those who meet a minimum order level for backlist titles in the month of October. I haven't seen an offer like this in 10 years, when DC and Marvel had rolling graphic novel metal racks for a minimum STAR System order. These are the kind of things I expect from the Big 3 publishers but am frequently left wanting. Thanks Tokyopop!

One of the best things about owning your own business is that you get to decide how it is run and I would never consider suggesting that your choices are wrong, for you. I just want to let those of you who are frustrated with this or any other category you stock know that there are many ways to overcome those frustrations if you wish, and if not, please don't hamstring those of us who do, by asking our vendor partners to move backwards.

In closing, I'd like to share a bit of wisdom given to me in one of my first management positions. In the world, there are three types of managers. Those that make things happen, those that watch things happen and those that wonder what happened. I believe we are poised to make a huge push into the entertainment marketplace taking back sales that have drifted away to DVDs, CDs and Video Games but only if more of us choose to be the folks that "make things happen" and I challenge each of you reading this to be such a person.

Six months after this piece, as another local retailer whose strategies seem fairly in line with the 2 above, shut down one of his three locations, we decided to expand Comickaze to dedicate more space to what I feel is the best selection of comics and graphic novels in San Diego. Same center but twice the space (and twice the rent!).

Not coincedentally (if you ask me, at least) 6 months later we won the first of 3 consecutive Best of San Diego (Comic Shops)from 2 local magazines. And yet here I stand, making the same arguments that I was 4 years ago and retailers and publishers alike stare at me like I'm a martian. The scary difference is that today, it is no longer a matter of do we all need to make changes in the way we do business but can we make them fast enough to stay ahead of the changes wrought by format changes and the embrace of online and digital content. Oddly enough, that previously mentioned retailer closed another location leaving him with one, at the same time, we began preparing to open a 2nd location!

I remain the eternal optimist. What? Why are you looking at me like that!