Hey, Mom! The Explanation.

Here's the permanent dedicated link to my first Hey, Mom! post and the explanation of the feature it contains.

Sunday, April 12, 2020

A Sense of Doubt blog post #1881 - New Comics Day canceled - what's up with comics


A Sense of Doubt blog post #1881 - New Comics Day canceled - what's up with comics

I had decided a couple of weeks ago to make SUNDAY comic book day, even when it's a world religious holiday, like today, HAPPY EASTER, if that's your thing.

I love comic books. No surprise if you follow my blog, and if it's your first time here just look at the categories along the right margin for comic books, comic book artists, and the two big companies -- DC and Marvel as well as separate categories devoted to characters and creators.

Here's a post full of comic news and the comic love of fans from around the Internet. I have a couple of original posts in the works, either of which was a candidate for posting today, but neither was ready. So, here's a massive share. Happy Sunday Comics Day.

Last two posts in the new SUNDAY sequence. This first one mentions another great local comic shop, in addition to those I mention elsewhere in this post, BOOKS WITH PICTURES in Portland.

A Sense of Doubt blog post #1867 - Stay in, Read Comics, Support Local Comic Shops: Comic book production suspended


A Sense of Doubt blog post #1874 - More comic book stuff - Immortal Hulk and more

STAY IN AND READ COMICS.

I have plenty of comics. I just received my box from Michigan or the month of March, and I am ordering the local books as well. But then, that's it.

No more new print comics.

For now. And it may be a while until we get them.

Or I should say, no new single issues in print or digital in the serial format, though many web comics continue or exist out there for reading, like these below which I have either read parts of or planned to read more.

FIRELIGHT ISLE BY PAUL DUFFIELD

FINALITY by Warren Ellis and Colleen Doran

ILLUMINATION by Cory Bing

At least that's what I thought. Most comic publishers have shut down. Marvel and DC are doing weird things that keep changing.

Maybe there are DC and Marvel digital comics? But I am more of print consumer than a digital one. I like the convenience of digital, but like Hibbs writes in the forthcoming, much of what makes the medium unique is lost in translation.

From Brian Hibbs and the staff on COMICS BEAT. The link and more from this article below.

 it seems pretty obvious to me that the earliest we could assume that new comics could ship again would be May 6th, six weeks later. This also sounds like an overly optimistic time frame to me, and that we’re more likely to be well into June before new comics arrive inside of stores.
This also sounds like a complete pipe dream to me, because there are still whole states in the US whose Governors are still stubbornly resisting closing down, which will do nothing but prolong this problem for everyone.

This image below is the cover for Batman #94 originally scheduled to be shipped in May. Now, that's not happening.



https://www.comicsbeat.com/how-comics-retailing-moves-forward/


Now, virtually every publisher has promised to not ship new comics, in print or digitally, until this crisis is over (Image should get an enormous amount of credit for being first out of the gate here, with Boom! very close on their heels), but there have been two major exceptions: Marvel and DC.
Now we reach the portion of my column that I have had to rewrite at least three times over the course of a week, because things keep changing.
Originally, DC’s official press release statement talked in oblique corporate double-speak. However, in multiple retailer forums on Facebook (including at least one that isn’t “private” as any rational person might understand it), separate DC representatives had both used identical verbiage of “Here’s where we are on digital. All our data shows the digital consumer and the physical consumer are two different audiences. For now, we’re going to continue to release digital comics, but will revisit this if the pipeline for physical distribution continues to be challenged and disrupted.”
Obviously, it’s been an open secret for a long time now that there are factions at DC that pine to get rid of physical print periodicals, in fact I was told that one of the very first questions that was asked by AT&T when they had their first post-takeover meeting at DC, in the pre-plague past, was “Why are we still printing these?”. I even sort of get it a little bit – every other physical media other than prose books has moved wildly significant percentages of their income to digital and streaming, and that’s because in those media the actual difference-to-average-consumers in consumption experience is neutral to significantly better. But it’s my belief that comics are a significantly worse experience when they’re not on paper.
This also appears to be the audience’s belief: all indications from all fronts is that digital is a pretty minor portion of sales (under 15% for most comics), and that it hasn’t changed at all meaningfully in the last decade. In fact, I am reminded of DC publisher Jim Lee’s “dental floss” analogy from back in 2011.
Now, regardless of my personal beliefs about the value and readability of digital comics, it certainly appears that the audience agreed, at least as long as print and the physical object was still an option. But are they going to feel the same if we go six to eighteen weeks (or more) without print comics? Surely at least some will “crack” in the meantime and switch channels. How much “channel bleed” can undercapitalized retailers survive, especially after the gut punch of being forced to close? And how many people are going to continue with the “habit” of comics, if it gets interrupted for any real period of time? Long-term, what if the market loses even 5% of readers? That would be a significant body blow to many stores.
We already know of at least one store that isn’t planning on reopening on the other side of the crisis: Lee’s Comics in Mountain View, and I don’t see how publishers considering digital first wouldn’t increase the number of stores thinking the same. Lord, it’s making me think that maybe reopening won’t be viable, and I’m one of the rah-rah-iest cheerleaders for comics you could possibly find.
Choosing to continue with digital releases seems like the worst possible choice a publisher could make – the raw ill-will they would generate from their single largest market segment, for what seems very likely to be an insignificant gain in revenue sounds like a pure PR and marketing disaster to me.
And, In fact, that seems to be what happened to DC for the 4/1 on-sale books – first they announced (albeit it in a cowardly and under-the-table way) that they were going through with digital-first comics; then the next day, due to what we presume to be massive and sustained backlash, they pulled plans to release them.
.................... skipped.................
As I write this, we just passed the second Wednesday where it wasn’t actually clear what Marvel was doing, on a Tuesday morning – Comixology had a full listing of comics that were scheduled to go on sale… and if I look this second at next week’s list, all of those comics are still listed from Marvel comics as well. Taking this issue “week by week” is absolutely infuriating when the vast majority of comic book stores is completely dependent on Marvel to pay their bills.
How hard is it to reassure your number one market? How difficult would it be to communicate these things through “official” channels instead of us retailers having to find out about these things from comic book “news” websites instead?
.................... skipped.................
Marvel and DC have already lost my faith – the former from not telling us anything directly and plainly, the latter for being weasels in how they informed us about their digital first plans. What kind of “partners” are those?
Let me be clear: I’m not (that) worried about the medium of comics – things were booming before the plague for not-superhero material – but for Marvel and DC to rebuild my trust in their publishing plans, in the raw viability of superhero periodicals in post-COVID-19 America… well, they need to work for those sales starting immediately. Things can’t go back to what they were before, even if we wanted them to.
These are the conversations we should be having, because this “forced break” could actually end up with periodical comics being significantly stronger, more focused, and more appealing to non-readers on the other side if we can rethink and re-position how we do business.
To that end, a number of Direct Market retailers have started a first draft of the kind of post-crisis changes that need to be made. That document can be found here. That’s in no way complete, and maybe some of the points are not-workable, but we should be openly and honestly discussing all of them to figure out How To Make Comics Better when this is finally finished.
Stay Healthy!

My budget is based on monthly purchasing. Sure, I can try to save money. I might be able to buy two or three months worth of comics when they get printed fairly quickly, but in one single limp sum? Probably not.

There's a huge issue here.

As I wrote above, I get most of my comics from the store in Kalamazoo, Michigan that I have patronized most of my life: Fanfare Comics and Cards.

I also patronize local shops.

My local comic book stores are doing shipping and curb-side pick up. Here's the message from the biggest shop in the area: I LIKE COMICS. I have a subscription there, and I miss stopping in weekly to say Hi to Chris and Jerry and pick up my comics. Fortunately, they are both well and still operating.



There's also FLOATING WORLD COMICS in downtown Portland that is shipping me some comics, both my subscription box and an extra.



https://floatingworldcomics.com/






Looking for the way forward
Sorry for the newsletter not going out for a while. A few things came up.
In truth, the last two weeks have been perhaps the most eventful comics industry news-wise since the "10 Days That Changed The World" back in 2009 when both DC and Marvel were radically changed in the space of a week by for DC President Paul Levitz stepping down and Disney acquiring Marvel.
All of the "titans" of the industry - Marvel, DC, Image and Diamond - are facing changed fortunes. We saw the quick rise and fall of the "ComicHub" solution, and both Marvel and DC back away from the idea of publishing comics periodical digitally while stores are shut down.
Personally, I think it's been proven over the course of a decade that digital comics won't kill physical stores. I think the attrition of customers getting used to NOT getting their serial comics fiction is just as bad... if not more serious. But most retailers didn't see that as an equal threat.
The truth is, there are so many questions out there, so many conversations to be held. One of my problems with covering this industry is that retailers don't trust even the most responsible journalists to have access to retailing issues.
When the crisis began, a private group that was open to everyone was quickly formed to talk about solutions. It wasn't an ideal format, but it was where a lot of conversation took place. While I was in it, I learned a lot about the concerns and fears of retailers in a way I never would have otherwise. The brief time I was in there informed my coverage of the issues facing comics in many ways.
However, after a few days it was decided that comics journalists were not welcome and I was removed from the group along with several other journalists I respect. 
This follows along the lines of the many retailer groups on Facebook that are not open to the press -- nor should they be. The annual ComcisPRO meeting is similarly closed to the press. And I respect that. There are many many platforms where retailers can talk about retailer matters in the privacy they need.
However, there is NO place where journalists and retailers can interact on a regular basis. This new group was a place where creators, retailers, publishers and, yes, the press could come together as a community. Anyone who thinks the major comics sites aren't part of the comics community can sit in my chair for a day. You'll quickly learn otherwise. We have a responsibility to get information out, but also a responsibility to be accurate, fair and open-minded. When we aren’t, we hear about it quickly. Those are the foundations that I've always tried to work by, a goal imperfectly achieved but always present.

 It also implies that comics journalists aren't also involved in the sudden implosion of the industry, or that we don't have a stake in fixing things. I can assure you, my advertising revenue shrank before comics shops and printers even shut down. 

 I've always wished there was some kind of new forum that was like the late Robert Scott's CBIA (Comic Book Industry Alliance), where retailers, press, and creators could communicate in an open way. The press was allowed in there, but not allowed to post anything from it without permission. I made a lot of friends and learned a lot about how the industry works from that forum.
These times, more than ever, call for a forum of the same kind, a new comic book industry alliance. 
Ironically, while I was a member of the forum, I was ethically enjoined from posting anything about it. Now that I'm not in it, when someone leaks something from it to me (which is often), I have to judge whether it's news or not. And sometimes it is.
Lest you think that I'm just moaning and whining here... there's a reason the First Amendment of the constitution was about a free press. The free and open flow of information is the lifeblood of democracy. Journalists are subject to the same good, bad and indifferent ethical composition as all humans, but the good ones are essential to any industry or community.
At any rate, I'll continue to cover the retail segment of the industry the same way I always have, reaching out to individuals, spotlighting the voices of retailers like Brian Hibbs and Brandon Schatz and Danica LeBlanc, listening to concerns, and attending meetings that are open to the press, like the annual (though cancelled for 2020) Diamond Retailer Summit. This industry is uniquely interconnected and we all have a part to play. 

-- Heidi MacDonald
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I'll admit, wrestling has been my refuge - along with Pokémon Go and friends and family - during my quarantine. I can't decide which I liked better Wrestlemania's Boneyard match between AJ Styles and the Undertaker or the Firefly Funhouse between John Cena and Bray Wyatt. The former was Roudhouse, the latter was The Prisoner Episode 16. I guess I'll go with Boneyard because both Styles and 'Taker wear gloves when they wrestle, and that is cool!  
























































https://theblackestofsuns.tumblr.com/post/614844933458853888/adrian-tomines-illustration-in-this-weeks-new



https://altcomics.tumblr.com/post/188392904710/adrian-tomine


https://bclaymoore.tumblr.com/post/187400750264/as-mainstream-comics-sank-lower-and-lower-in-the










#BlackWidow v. #Batgirl (scenario) Black Widow is sent to assassinate Anarky because SHIELD considers his radical actions taken against government interests to be a national threat. He was last spotted causing mayhem in Gotham City. While conducting surveillance from atop a building several meters away from her target, Batgirl swings by near the same rooftop and spots BW. Batgirl lands on the rooftop and asks Black Widow what she’s doing in Gotham City, but Black Widow refuses to give an answer. Based on the firearms she is carrying, Batgirl deduces that it is to kill someone on behalf of SHIELD. Unfortunately, that goes against everything Batman taught her and she can’t let her do it. A fight ensues. #HFC #HeroFightClub #WhoWouldWin #MarvelComics #DCcomics #TheAvengers #Batman #Comicbooks #ComicCon #Superhero
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The Doom Patrol is bizarre enough for our times but Gerard Way's run on the series, in particular, brings the pragmatic positivity—the sort that does not hides from absurd dystopic problems but finds ways to not be overwhelmed by them and (sometimes) come up with fixes for them—that we need these days. • It is also excting, funny, trippy, is filled with excellent artwork, and just gets better and better. Good, old fashioned Doom Patrol. I only own the first two volumes but I will get hold of Vol. 3: Weight of the Worlds eventually. The "Existential Crisis" is by Nick Derington, with colours by Tamra Bonvillain, with "special thanks to" Marissa Louise in the credits for the issue. Nick Derington handled the cover art for the volumes in the second slide. • #Bookstagram #Comics #DoomPatrol #ComicBooks #GerardWay #YoungAnimal #ComicArt #CoverArt #NickDerington #TamraBonvillain #MarissaLouise #DCcomics #WillPowerRadioOnComics
A post shared by William P. Erskine (@willpower_radio) on
































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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2004.12 - 10:10

- Days ago = 1744 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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