Absolutely nothing happened today. William stopped by a few minutes ago. Learning HTML amongst the excitement.

I'm going to write something here about how much I like the new Comics Journal interview style. Much less "why do you waste your time on such garbage, you pathetic worm?" nonsense than there used to be...
posted by Deric at 11:14 PM

Some funny nonsense on Barbelith today. Put in a search for your name, followed by 'is' and enclosed in quotes (like: "Deric is") on Google and prepare to be bombarded by the humorous results! You'll wet yourself with merriment! Some of my results are listed here, for your perusal.
posted by Deric at 5:08 PM

Got me a buncha clip art copied today fer the zine. I found a lot of really cool foreign comic info at the IU library.
posted by Deric at 9:24 PM

(Initially an essay/rant that I was working on and slightly reworked to be more coherent as a response to this thread over at Barbelith.)

I was in Barnes and Noble the other day and noticed that the comics (as they had been several years ago when I'd actively sought them out in a Barnes and Noble) were tucked away in the SF/fantasy section. Granted, pretty much all they had was superhero stuff and comics based on movie properties, so the location wasn't terribly inappropriate. If I hadn't seen some Clowes stuff in there, I might've held on to the hope that their more "serious" comis were located elsewhere. Another bookstore stop the day after and I find the comics in the humor section. Because Maus is just the funniest damn Holocaust survival story ever told, don't you know. I am almost of the opinion that I'd rather these stores not have any comics whatsoever rather than having them in completely inappropriate locations, locations that perpetuate the ghettoization of comics.

Some seem to think that comics should be trieated as regular books and placed in the section in book stores with the books that they have the most in common with. Some think that it's great that comics are being taken seriously enough to win serious literary awards, such as Art Spiegelman's Pulitzer for Maus and Chris Ware's recent for Jimmy Corrigan. I've counted myself among this camp's numbers from time to time, but I still have to question whether this is the direction that the medium should be taking. It seems to suggest that comics are books, which seems a bit off to me. Because comics aren't books per se, and shouldn't have to gain acceptance and respect on those terms. "Comics" is a creature unto itself. I mean, nobody thought to popularize DVD's by sticking them in the CD section, even though they look like the same thing basically. This is an instance of confusing the package with the contents. Comics, for better or worse, have to stand on their own merits as an artform, full of potential and worthy of respect.

Should we expect comics to be sold in bookstores, then, if they aren't specifically books? All nitpicking aside, they are awfully similar, and most big "bookstore" chains nowadays sell just about everything under the sun. And the other alternative, direct-market comic book stores, unfortunately afford almost as much respect to "serious" comics as bookstores do. But it's understandable, to an extent. Within any artistic medium that also attempts to assuage the thirst for mass entertainment, 90% of the product available is going to be compromised artistically. Which is a lot of the problem as far as public perception of comics is concerned. Most people can't seem to get beyond the conception of the medium as a vehicle for superheroes. Which is like looking at film as if it were comprised entirely of Jim Carrey flicks. That actually is a fairly apropos metaphor. Carrey has done some quality work, but that doesn't change the fact that most of his stuff is strictly LCD. Or that there's much more quality work (of higher overall quality) than just what he's done. So it is with the superhero genre. There has been some superhero stuff that I've genuinely enjoyed, and some that I continue to enjoy, but that doesn't change the fact that the genre is dominated with garbage, or that there is a great deal of non-superhero work out there of higher (and, admittedly, lower) quality. "Superhero" is a genre, like "western" or "fantasy", but is not the medium. Because it is likely to sell better than non-superhero stuff, though, it dominates shelf space both in comic and in whatever constitutes the comics section in regular bookstores. Which, again, in and of itself is fine.

Personally, the comics that I read and purchase are based entirely on what I find worthwhile and are not at all judged according to genre or whether they are work-for-hire or creator-owned properties. To base my reading habits on this criterion would be exceptionally limiting, I would think. New X-Men and X-Force, for example, are two of the best titles currently being produced, in my opinion.

Basically, I don't think that contributing to work-for-hire properties or to the pamphlet form is going to hold the industry back unless that is all that you contribute to.

You have to look at realistic concerns here. At the moment, direct market retailers depend mainly upon the sales of mainstream titles (specifically, mainstream titles that are issued in the pamphlet form) in order to make a living (am I right, Zoom?). A good number of creators focus their energies partially or entirely on mainstream titles in order to make a living. Whether this is a good or bad thing is certainly up for debate (although I don't particularly think that it's either), but until and unless these people are willing to make serious personal sacrifices, this will probably continue to overwhelmingly be the case for some time to come.

At the same time, you have companies like Top Shelf who eschew the pamphlet format altogether and do respectable business (relatively speaking). The creators and publishers behind ventures like this are probably not rolling in dough. Borders and other large book chains have an ever-increasing selection of graphic novels (many of which are creator-owned). They can support this venture through sales of thousands of other products.
posted by Deric at 8:23 PM

New comics day. Promethea. Atlas rerelease. Last issue of my beloved X-Force. I've been doing an awful lot of re-jiggering to the site, but there's still an awful lot to do (like undeadening the above links at some point). Fantabyaloo.
posted by Deric at 12:31 PM

So I chose the lame route. The really lame route, because I wound up falling asleep at like 11 or something. I suck.

Going out in a few minutes here to get a Javascript book from the library and to pick up Murray Street.

(later)

Actually laming out again, as there is a Sex Tiger show going on as I type this. I walked by it earlier, though, and it really didn't look like it was going to be well-attended. That may be because everyone followed my method of assessing the scene. Ill-attended shows are a real drag...
posted by Deric at 12:12 PM

The Racebannon show is starting as I sit here writing this. So the question is: am I going to peel my oh-so-lazy lazy ass up off this seat and put my feet in motion towards the show, or am I going to start my "weekend" off not with a chaotic bang but with the pathetic whimper that sitting at home all night working on HTML would be? Looking more and more like the whimper is going to win out. I mean, come on. I love Racebannon, but I'm spoilt rotten living in the same town as them. I can go see them anytime. And I have. But why not go see them tonight? I mean...I get out among people so infrequently, really.
posted by Deric at 4:00 PM

Minority Report good. Busy day....thoughts.
posted by Deric at 3:43 PM