Thoughts on Comic Retail Format

This is basically a sketch for a later post-- in the midst of gathering information.

My main gripe with comics in the U.S. was the lack of a range of the types of stories that were being told. With few exceptions, we've had about 50 years straight of super hero books and humor books. R. Crumb and the 'comix' artists of the 60s and 70s did their own thing and established a far-out alternative, and this was a welcome change that led many creators to tread a different path. Also notable were the works of the artist's involved with Marvel's Epic Comics and several other sci-fi/fantasy anthologies. The market however, didn't appreciate these books for the most part, judging by sales figures. At about 12, I discovered Japanese manga, and with it a world of different genres within the comic format. It's important not to confuse 'manga' with the Japanese comics 'style'. Manga simply means "aimless drawing"-- something equivalent to sketch or doodle, and in recent times, the word "komikku" (comics) has been introduced as a catch-all for comicbooks worldwide. So, without considering the visual style, which is often wrongly stereotyped into a single "big eyes, speed-lines and tear drops" aesthetic, due to the limited range of the type of manga that actually makes overseas, the strength of manga for a comics artist is the freedom to explore a wider spectrum of subject matter.

It's interesting to compare the birth of comics in the U.S. versus that of Japan. The U.S. experienced a surge in super-hero comics during the war years, where these powerful beings epitomized the new American, one on the rise as a world power. Conversely, Japan's comics market was one born out of humility, becoming popular as escapist fare in the wake of nuclear destruction and a jarring defeat; essentially in reaction to being wiped out of contention as a world power. I won't get into this thoroughly, because most books on manga do a better job, but a comparison of Disney and Japan's father of comics and animation, Tezuka Osamu, already draws a distinction between the direction of the two comics/animation formats-- while Disney briefly dabbled in more adult fare, he eventually settled with children's and family content, while Tezuka freely explored children's, adult, and everything in between, paving the way for the future.

I'm not at all sure why comics developed into the current single-issue standalone format here in the States, but the retail format itself is something that I've realized recently is perhaps the largest contributing reason that there is such a lack of variety within the medium. Picture this-- comics have, for as long as you can remember, been limited fairly exclusively to superhero stories, these are what sells, so the majority coming up in the field have loved the subject matter as children and learned from them as artists/writers/creators. So naturally, the genre is continued from generation to generation. There is the idea that books that differ in content will stand out from the rest, which is true, but the key here is that it is only true once you've opened the book. How are you to use the cover to grab the attention of the prospective reader when your quiet yarn about a WW II house-wife is up against 300 action books? It's possible, but it's tough. Action and boobs sell-- and this is just as true anywhere in the world. So why do Japan comics exercise such a wider array of subject matter?

The answer, as far as I am concerned, isn't something explained away as "a difference in cultural background"-- there's plenty of action and boobs in Japan comics too. A bigger element is the fact the comics in Japan are published in a format that enhances both the retail and, more importantly, the emotional and artistic experience. In Japan, comics are published weekly in comic digests. In other words you can go to the comic shop, and buy your favorite action comic digest, or drama, or fantasy, adult-- they even break it further into kids, womens, and teen varieties for many of the genres. What this means for the reader is that you get more bang for your buck and a higher emotional involvement, after all you get to be with your favorite characters every week, not every month. For creator's, this is huge because it starts to become like the music industry-- there's a few headlining comics, which capture the spirit of the particular digest, say, men's action, as well as the fan-base. Then there's a slew of other titles that round out the variety of the digest. This is great for artists with stories to tell that are off the beaten path, because they don't have to compete directly with the more established titles-- they actually benefit because of them, and in time, may become one of them. So the interest in a more niche-variety (think 'independent' here) of comic can grow in a very short span of time. Compare that directly with the American comic market, where growth in terms of subject matter was for the longest time coming at a snail's pace.

The good news is, that with the growing popularity of manga in the States, we are beginning to see light here. Good luck convincing the Big Two to change their ways anytime soon though, from their perspective they'd see the possibility of losing their foothold on the industry. Here's hoping.