One of the smaller comics featured in my new book, Screw Comics! 5, is an illustrated essay entitled Everybody Wants Manga. In this essay I run through a few key factors about how and why Japanese comics, or manga, are dominating comic sales here in the U.S. And I point out many of those reasons are because the American comics industry simply falls short in specific ways. But, the bottom line is the American public is hungry for nuanced stories and characters.
For the last few years I’ve been listening to comics business podcasts and reading the insider blogs trying to understand this industry, and how to find out where I fit in best. As an independent creator working with my own characters and stories it’s been a paralyzing task trying to calculate if my time is better spent trying to get signed by a widely-distributed publisher, or making calls trying to get stores to carry my books. Because yes, each of those tasks take a lot of time and energy, but I’d rather spend my time making more comics. I already have a day job, a family, and other social obligations. I’d rather not be cold-calling comic stores and chasing down managers so I can collect that $2.50 in consignment profits.
This also raised questions about the viability of making comics in itself: can making comics “professionally” or otherwise allow you to pay your bills? It’s arguable these days that working on “pro comics” on a big label, getting distributed nationally can yield a way to sustain yourself financially. And even then you’re working on somebody else’s stories and characters. I’ve talked myself into believing that IF I did land a major deal, I’d be on the hook to produce a book on a timescale, locked into an agreement to hand something in on a deadline…but without the financial incentive. Sure, I can quit my job to produce comics full time, but will producing comics pay as much as the salary I gave up? Some will say, ‘Yeah, in due time, especially if your book becomes popular.” But I just don’t believe that happens anymore. Sure, books become popular and creators become stars, but does that translate into $$$? If I’m not gonna make any serious money making comics at least being independent allows me to take my time and create the work I want without any pressure of external deadlines.
Maybe I’m jaded, perhaps I haven’t looked into this deeper? It’s not like I took a poll of working professionals to see where they’re at on the poverty scale (someone else can do that). Maybe I’m afraid of success so I’ve convinced myself that doing all the ground work, the submitting, the cold calling, the invoicing is not worth my time. Even then, all this administrative work has one singular goal: to get my comics in comic stores. What if I want to reach those that don’t go to comic stores?
Regardless of what I do professionally or not, all this industry introspection caused me to take a look behind the curtain and try to see how all this works or why it doesn’t. What I uncovered is a quite clusterfuck of problems, some are of a capitalistic nature such as outdated distribution models, and gimmicky sales tactics, as well as social issues such as unmitigated fandoms and jaded audiences. As per capitalism, once something is successful it doesn’t want to change. The American comics industry tasted success through the decades and had a big boom and bust in the 90s, so it’s desperately trying to hold on to that model and recreate that success to diminishing returns, refusing to learn anything from it. Nothing changes.
Instead, more and more creators like me are trying to figure out how to break in and board this sinking ship. We keep wracking our brains about out how to work the system so we can live out our comic creator fantasy of getting paid to make comics full time and getting famous for it, when those days are long gone.
With more and more people aware of comics, comic stores, and going to comic conventions how is it that the American comics industry is failing?
Because, yeah, I think the industry is failing. It’s slow, but it’s happening. I have a better idea. I believe a better system can be built. I say we scrap the system altogether. Radical idea, sure, but there’s seriously too much talent out here, and there’s too much offset printing equipment out there that needs to get used (have you ever thought about what happens to a newspaper printer when the newspaper itself goes under?). There are hungry audiences out there that want to read nuanced stories about eccentric characters set in wildly fantastical places. And much of this audience doesn’t frequent comic stores.
I really get into it in the essay, you can read it here. And seriously, if there are any millionaires or billionaires reading this I do have a whole plan of how I would roll this out. If you wanna change the world, get at me! This is way bigger than any Kickstarter campaign could handle.
I believe that a new analog trend will be emerging soon. People are growing weary of social media and its diminishing reach, they’re tired of streaming fees going up and up as their favorite content gets shelved. Phones are cool and all, but I think people are starting to want their media to be real and tangible, and they want to pay for it only once; DVDs and Blu-rays, tapes, CDs and Vinyl records, and of course books and comic magazines. It’s coming and my idea could be at the forefront of this new media reckoning.
And yes, the comic essay is hosted in a webtoon format on my very own site! I’m still building it out but ultimately MOST of my comics will be hosted here to read digitally for FREE. The cool thing about this site is that it detects your device and displays the comic accordingly. For instance, if you look at the site on a desktop computer with a large monitor it will display the original pages because you have the space for it. But, if you view the site with your phone it will display the webtoon version, which is a cut and edited version displaying one panel at a time. No pinching or zooming needed, you just scroll. Super easy!
But, Jarrod, if you put your comics up for free who will buy them?
Well, there’s a proverb that has been floating around in my head for sometime, and maybe it pertains or maybe not, and I paraphrase: Readers don’t steal, and thieves don’t read. I guess what I’m getting at is if you do read these comics then maybe you will consider buying a book, either now or in the future. If you don’t I still got you to read my work. And if you don’t read nor buy comics then it doesn’t really concern you. But if you’re here reading this then that’s not you. Okay, time to read some comics!