Dark Knight Oscar, Comics Industry: Comic Book Syndicate

Episode 39 wsg SALGOOD SAM 5 (of 5)

The DARK KNIGHT oscar snub! Plus, we ask Salgood Sam what the blazes is wrong with the comic book industry. He says comics need to grow up!

Hey, Sam, check out the new X-force title, or maybe Ultimates 3. Things aren't so bad!

Category:

Comedy

Tags:

• dark
• knight
• batman
• watchmen
• comics
• spider-man
• x-men
• superman
• wolverine
• movie
• comedy
• comic
• book
• cartoon
• salgood
• sam
• max
• douglas

[hcvang]

indeed, you are wasting your time.

my career in publishing has formed my views on what the audience wants, I'm afraid.

[coydog0]

Of course, Jason Lutes' BERLIN should sell more than Secret Invasion, but superheroes are not an inherently inferior genre. In fact, all genres are equal. The execution of each story should be judged on its own merits. If you think superheroes are 'only' for fanboys, you've obviously made up your mind, so I have a feeling this is a waste of my typing!

[coydog0]

Its the same public that pays $11.00 to see the Spider-man movie,then calls the Spider-man comics reader a geek or a child. They also pay for the Nickelback ticket.

Hmm, maybe this is getting off track. Back to comics.

[coydog0]

If only 'fanboys' buy superhero COMICS, then doesn't logic follow that only fanboys see superhero movies?

The people that paid $1 billion to see Dark Knight were all 'fanboys'. They were regular 'people',

So, its not so easy to group them all under one name and dismiss them as 'the other'.

Why does Pirates of the Caribbean make more money than 'No Country for Old Men'. Why does Nickelback sell more CDs than the White Stripes?

Comics DO need to grow up. But so do films and pop music.

[hcvang]

movies are one thing - i thought you were about comics?

manga outnumbers sales of everything, thanks to japan - in our part of the world it's viewed like all other comics. Unless you're a fanboy.

[coydog0]

Well, either way, "people' bought enough tickets to make Dark Knight, Iron Man, Spider-Man and X-men make a few billion dollars combined at the box office.

Also, the "people" that buy manga out number the people buying Top Shelf buy a few million or so. Just something to keep in mind.

[hcvang]

I didnt realise that "people" were buying them, I thought it was only fanboys who bought them. In the bookstores, the books that sell are Blankets, Persepolis, etc. Why not review them?

[coydog0]

We are guilty of it as well. Our show caters 90% to the output of Marvel & DC, but we're trying to reach a mainstream audience who is more acquainted with comics through the movies. Hence, the glut of superhero reviews.

DC and Marvel (especially) are guilty of making most of their comics not only childish, but embarrassingly mediocre. With rare exception, their superhero lines are simply too terrible to warrant publishing.

So...why are people BUYING them?? That is the true question.

[coydog0]

I agree, the material is out there. I think what Sam is addressing is the average 30 year old + comics reader that asks for comics to be taken 'seriously', then holds up 'X-force' as an example of the medium's potential.

[hcvang]

Why dont you look at Top Shelf, Fantagraphics, Fahrenheit, Dark Horse...?

These are the only companies who publish comics that can be called serious or adult oriented. Men in tights dont see even one drop of ink here.