What I Read This Year Part IV
Creepie Susie by Angus Oblong -- The title's actually longer than that, but I'm going to be lazy. I thought the Oblongs cartoon was sort of amusing, and discovered that it was based on a book. Well, it's only loosely based on the book, and the book is very warped and tasteless. Much moreso than the cartoon. If you like warped, tasteless humor, this
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...the basic culture has changed, and comic books now have to compete against ever more omni-present gaming consoles, online gaming, ipods and music subscriptions, instant access to television via the internet (youtube, torrent, etc), free web comics, a crashing global economy, and a number of other things that weren't relevant factors in the '80's for your average person's entertainment dollar.
On the other hand, I will grant that DC, who are allowing some of their characters to return more to a heroic ideal while allowing others to remain shadier/jerkier, allowing for a large range of comics that has room for both the nice guys and the jerks, is doing stronger against Marvel than it has in decades.
Hnh. People like variety in characterization. Who'd have thunk it?
But seriously. See first paragraph. I think it's unrealistic to expect comics to sell in the same amounts that they did in the 80's. They've got more competition. Hell, cable was only getting started then, and VCRs weren't that common at the start of the decade. Today, instant everything is available for free at the touch of a few buttons. It really is a different world.
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Of course the comic books were a lot worse in the 70's, overall. They were trying to fill the gap that Stan Lee left, and not quite stacking up. There was lots of good stuff, mind you, and plenty that was worth buying.
When TSR (makes of D&D) started to tank, they blamed it on Magic: the Gathering. But the reality was, they just weren't making good products, for the most part. The books were cheaply made, full of filler, and with poor writing and art. There were some gems, but it was mostly junk. I'm seeing a direct parallel here. However, comic books tend to take a lot less time to read, cost more, and are a small piece of an ongoing story anymore (that you may have to wait well over a month to get the next part of): you get less bang for your buck. I once suggested a Shonen Jump-like format, when I started this blog. Still think it's a good idea.
In short, no doubt it's many factors. Kids with short attention spans are surely part of that.
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Next year, Detective Comics is going on hiatus.
I mention this because there are two comics that I honestly believed would be produced at least montly until pretty much the end of Superhero Comicbookdom, and that's Action Comics and Detective Comics. These two titles were the beginning of Superheroes in Comics, and with that much force of tradition and longevity behind them, I just assumed that no matter what sales were like (and DC has been publishing them through some pretty lean years), they'd be there until the end.
Hiatus isn't the same as cancelled, of course, but it still absolutely stunned me when I heard that.
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