Confessions of a Comic Book Guy is a weekly column by Steve Bennett of Super-Fly Comics and Games in
Chalk it up to a combination of the current prevailing conditions and beginning to feel nostalgia for my own past -- that’s a sign you’ve started taking yourself too seriously if ever there was one. But at heart I remain a “Keep Moving Forward” kind of comic book guy who genuinely believes what I’ve written here entirely too often, “There’s Always Something You Can Do,” because there generally is.
That last column included a far from complete list of independent comics I love, but one glaring omission was Mr. Jigsaw; not the puppet from the torture porn movies but the lighthearted superhero created by Ron Fortier and Gary Kato. I have been a fan* of Mr. Fortier’s work for over twenty years, following his writing career from titles like Green Hornet, The Terminator and Popeye to his revival of the pulp hero Captain Hazzard. So it came as quite a coincidence when I got an e-mail from him a couple days ago explaining how Mr. Jigsaw was about to return -- without benefit of being distributed by Diamond.
It’s being printed by Ka-Blam, a Print On Demand printer who also has an online store Indy Planet where you can buy copies of Mr. Jigsaw. Ron has already had a couple of his comics there and while he says sales can be slow that’s ok because you don’t have to pay a middle-man – like Diamond. And of course creator/publishers like him can still sell copies of their comics, by hand, on their own Websites, at conventions or at local comic book shops.
There’s more to the process but you can get the details at the Indy Planet Website. It (rightfully) bills itself as “A Whole New World of Comics!” because you’ll be (at least I know I was) amazed by the incredible selection of comics available (most of which have a several page preview online) from talented newcomers to… hey, cool, they’ve got a new issue of Rob Hanes Adventures!
So clearly there are ways to get around the new Diamond thresholds and creator/publishers are using them, not that it helps us -- but it could. Not to get all nostalgic again but not that long ago comic book shops carried a wide selection of alternative titles, not out of altruism or because retailers felt the need to become patrons of the 9th art, but because they made us money.
Back when I worked at Dark Star Books we literally couldn’t keep copies of Johnny The Homicidal Maniac, Squee, Lenore and Bear in stock. But now "alternative" usually means anything that isn’t Marvel or DC but is still material geared to appeal to your current customers (like, heaven help us all, Super Zombies) who can only buy so many titles (and from what I’ve heard the cost of living has definitely been cutting into that number), so wouldn’t it be nice if you had other customers buying other comics?
I realize things are tough and money tight and the last thing you need is a semi-professional know it all such as myself spending it for you but maybe the next time things are a little slow you might want to surf on over to Indy Planet and see for yourself there are real alternatives to what you’re ordering now and from whom.
Like I need to tell any of you but things are bad and only seem to be getting worse; people are losing their jobs, newspapers and magazines are shuttering their doors and even that American institution Mad Magazine has been reduced to a quarterly schedule. So it might seem silly to continue harping on hope but there definitely seems to be an optimism bandwagon in this country and its gathering speed.
Among all the doom and gloom I read a newspaper article titled “Suddenly, an ‘up’ attitude could be downright cool," by Colleen Mastony, that reports Executive Producer Shonda Rhimes says they’ll be creating more hopeful storylines and more patients will actually survive on Grey’s Anatomy. Rick Cleveland, a television writer who’s worked on The West Wing and Mad Men is quoted as saying, “I think optimism is going to be the new cool.” And finally Saturday Night Live Executive Producer Lorne Michaels predicts viewers will be looking for more positive messages on television.
* To avoid even the appearance of impropriety I have to declare I’ve also been a good friend of Ron's for over twenty years. I know that using this space to promote the work of a friend opens me up to accusations of cronyism (and worse) but I was his fan first and friend later and I have never let the one interfere with the other. Happening to know me has never guaranteed anyone a positive review.
The opinions expressed in this Talk Back column are solely those of the
writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff
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