Dan Clowes Interview
I read this insightful and open interview with one of my comic heroes Daniel Clowes this morning and he has some interesting thoughts about the monthly comic format that I've been thinking a lot about lately.
"...nobody wants to deal with selling the comic format any more in America, it’s just an antiquated format. It’s mainly because it has to be inexpensive, people expect them to be - to not cost a lot. So stores make no money off of them, so they’re not interested in promoting them. And I could do it in that way, but it feels somehow like its time has passed, and it feels like an affectation..."
"I doubt I will ever do another standard, black-and-white, 32-page, pamphlet of that size."
"I think at this point it’s just better to do it in one format and plan it out that way. But it’s sad because I really like the idea of the comic book a lot. It just doesn’t feel right anymore."
If you have a great idea for a comic that works better as comics than as a graphic novel, is there still an audience for it? Are creators only doing it for the love of or a nostalgia for the format, or is it still a viable way to make any money at all from all your hard work? I'd love to hear some opposing opinions about this.