The Future of Comics and Other Publishing

You can probably date yourself by remembering how much comic books cost when you were a kid. Was it a dime, a quarter, a dollar? Can you believe they cost $4 now?

As the greenies would say, that’s unsustainable. Comic books used to be common. If you went in any kids house in the 50s or early 60s you would probably find some. Not so much anymore. Comics once sold everywhere magazines were sold. You could buy them in drug stores, supermarkets, seven-elevens, newsstands, even some liquor stores. But the so called “newsstand market” was a hostile place to comics publishers, and a shrinking one.

These days, it’s hard to find comics anywhere outside of the comic book store. That means that comics have become a “destination product.” It’s something you need to know where it’s sold, you have to physically go there and if you’re lucky, they might have what you’re looking for. However, most comics retailers order to sell out. So the odds are, you may be unlucky if you don’t come on “comics day,” the day the books come in from the distributor.

And that’s another problem with comics these days. There is only one distributor. When I got in the business in the mid 80s, there were around ten distributors. But over the years they all went under leaving Diamond Comics as the sole place publishers can distribute through to the “Direct Market,” as we call it. It’s like government run health care, if there’s only one place to go for your needs, you have to like their terms. (more…)

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Tags: "Direct Market", Comic Books, comics, DC, Diamond Comics
Posted Nov 14th 2009 at 6:22 am in Art, Culture, Featured Story | 25654286 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jhudnall/2009/11/14/the-future-of-comics-and-other-publishing/The+Future+of+Comics+and+Other+Publishing2009-11-14+14%3A22%3A37James+Hudnall

Part 2: The Super-Hero’s American Exceptionalism

Editor: This is the second part of a two-part series. You can read part one here.

The 1970s showed the once-invincible comic book super-heroes to be losers, in attitude and sales. Watergate had disillusioned the super-patriot Captain America with a storyline implying Nixon was the head of a terrorist group. The Captain trashes his outfit and becomes Nomad, The Man without a Country. My 11-year-old mind thought this was ridiculous, as Cap was originally a Depression-era 98-pound weakling until given a Super Soldier serum to bulk up and fight Nazis. It was unlikely that one of the “Greatest Generation” would bail on his country so readily. Even then I realized that this development merely mirrored a hippie writer’s attitude more than staying true to a character’s origins. 

Super-heroes became bleaker and even homicidal in the 1980s. The Punisher, a murderous vigilante, has become a top Marvel character. The Dark Knight Returns, a re-imagining of Batman, introduced an elderly caped crusader fighting the corrupt U.S. government represented by a stoogish Superman. Watchmen was set in a dystopic alternate reality where Nixon is still president and the super-group is made up of, among other miscreants, a rapist and mass murderer. It was a transmutation of established super-heroes from the 60s with Steve Ditko’s Objectivist hero The Question recast as the psychotic Rorschach.  (more…)

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Tags: America, American Exceptionalism, batman, Captain America, Comic
Posted Nov 11th 2009 at 2:05 pm in Art, Featured Story, Politics | 259362143 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mtodd/2009/11/11/part-2-the-super-heros-american-exceptionalism-by-mort-todd/Part+2%3A+The+Super-Hero%E2%80%99s+American+Exceptionalism2009-11-11+22%3A05%3A40Mort+Todd

2012

In the meantime….

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Tags: 2012, 2012 election, Barack Obama, cartoon, change
Posted Oct 25th 2009 at 11:41 am in Art, Politics | 25159431 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bfawstin/2009/10/25/2012/20122009-10-25+18%3A41%3A00Bosch+Fawstin

Reporting From Comic-Con: The End is Near

Another great day of selling books, meeting fans, I sold out of my posters and blah blah blah. Tonight I’m officially burnt. Don’t worry, that’s part of the Con too. Sundays are notorious for hosting crowds of The Living Dead staggering around on fumes from media overload. At least tonight I’ll be in bed by 11, which will give me just enough sleep to push me through the final day.

I got a boost when half way through the day Jon Heder and Dan Heder came by my booth. Jon was wearing a Dan costume and Dan came as Jon. I loaded them up with books and Jon told me about his new series he’ll be doing for Comedy Central and Dan is doing CG pre-viz work on a Gore Verbinsky project.

I keep bumping into one of my favorite artists, Eric Powell, who is a great artist and a good family man. He’s living the dream with his “Goon” comic book being developed into a CG animated feature by David Fincher. (more…)

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Tags: "Goon", Comic Con, comics, Dan Heder, david fincher
Posted Jul 26th 2009 at 9:35 am in Art, Culture, Military | 19193045 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/07/26/reporting-from-comic-con-the-end-is-near/Reporting+From+Comic-Con%3A+The+End+is+Near2009-07-26+16%3A35%3A54Doug+TenNapel

Reporting From Comic-Con: Fear and Loathing in Booth 1714

Today the costumed conventioneers started showing up, but it’s not as big as the big event. The Saturday night costume contest that brings out a freak show of innovation and geekdom. I don’t know why but there are always a lot more Boba Fett costumes than Darth Vaders. Perhaps because the isolated nature of grown men who would wear a costume gravitate toward the go-it-alone ethic of a bounty hunter.

In a convention first, I ended up in a meeting at the Warner Brothers booth where I pitched a prime time TV show. The best thing about the convention is that instead of me having to scatter fifty meetings across the year to catch up on the usual folks to whom I pitch, they’re all in one room. Okay, it’s a big room, but somehow we’re managing to find each other.

At the Gotham Group/Darkhorse lunch party I met pals from Sony animation, Disney, Tyler Perry’s company, Warner Brothers, Dreamworks and Universal. Now we’re talking convenient, we got em’ all in a 30′ x 30′ room. I made my way through the mosh pit in front of the bar and ended up having three beers. They were free, and I left pretty wobbly. A few hours later I met with some executives from an unnamed family entertainment company that also has a theme park and rhymes with Schmalt Schmisney where they bought me two more drinks. So now I’m returning to my booth hammered. (more…)

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Tags: Comic Con, comics, graphic novels, Jon Heder
Posted Jul 25th 2009 at 10:29 am in Culture, Entertainment | 19161825 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/07/25/reporting-from-comic-con-fear-and-loathing-in-booth-1714/Reporting+From+Comic-Con%3A+Fear+and+Loathing+in+Booth+17142009-07-25+17%3A29%3A31Doug+TenNapel

Reporting From Comic-Con: The Recession

Well, there you have it. I made my first big mistake of parking at the mall for Comi-Con and after having drinks with my “Ghostopolis” editor I discovered I racked up a parking bill for 54 dollars. That’s because I’m too cheap to pay the surrounding lot fees of 20 bucks. Sometimes it pays to not be so cheap, crafty or to read the small print on the parking sign.

Doug TenNapel (L) and fan at Comic-Con 2009

I got to meet my pals who come back to my booth every year and it’s always a special time to go face to face with my graphic-novel audience. I also do portfolio reviews of folks who are just starting to break into the world of comics. I love seeing good art, clear lay out and epic story-telling from 24 year olds. 24 year olds who can draw circles around me. 24 years who aren’t half way to dead like me. 24 year olds who, ah, heck I hate 24 year olds.

While I got soaked on mall parking it was nothing like what I paid to take my family of six to Legoland. “Wow, 20,000 blocks to make THAT!” is about all one can say during a trip to Legoland. (more…)

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Tags: comics, Earthworm Jim, Ghostopolis, graphic novels, recession
Posted Jul 23rd 2009 at 10:38 am in Art, Culture | 19022217 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/07/23/reporting-from-comic-con-the-recession/Reporting+From+Comic-Con%3A+The+Recession2009-07-23+17%3A38%3A46Doug+TenNapel

Comic Con International Through the Years

It’s hard for me to believe that the San Diego Comic Con International is now close to 40 years old. I’ve been going to them since 1975. Since 1981 I have only missed 2 Cons. Over the years I’ve seen it grow from a small local convention for comic book collectors and fans of geek culture, into a vast industry unto itself. Something that rivals Cannes for cultural significance.

In many respects, Comic Con International (aka the San Diego Comic Con to us attendees), is America’s Cannes Film Festival. But it’s much, much more.

Cannes is basically for film industry people only and the press. Comic Con is for everyone, and it’s becoming more relevant to the entertainment business as the years go by.

When I went to my first convention, I was in high school. I lived in San Diego at the time. I attended Point Loma High, so it was local for me. Only a couple thousand people attended. It was held at the El Cortez hotel which once dominated the San Diego skyline downtown. Now the El Cortez is a converted condo complex, dwarfed by the surrounding super condos. (more…)

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Tags: Chuck Norris, Comic Books, Comic Con, comics, fans
Posted Jul 21st 2009 at 3:25 pm in Celebrity News, Entertainment | 18835826 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jhudnall/2009/07/21/comic-con-international-through-the-years/Comic+Con+International+Through+the+Years2009-07-21+22%3A25%3A20James+Hudnall

Reporting From Comic-Con: Prologue

I’ve packed my car with books and posters to sell at the San Diego Comic-Con. As a comic-creator this is a mandatory part of the business that’s both fun and productive. It’s our journey to Mecca without all that obnoxious stoning and calls to the end of Israel.

In case you’ve been in an Afghanistan cave for the last thirty years, comics are big business. Comics to film projects are in demand at least partially because of the pre-visualization aspect of the medium. Fantasy is an expensive and risky genre and comics offer the cheapest glimpse into the depiction of on-screen events before one dime is spent on production.

Though the medium is gaining visibility, comics aren’t new. They’re simply words combined with pictures that communicate a sequence of events. They’re actually very similar to the silent film where an actor speaks, then his words appear onscreen to read. We’re Chaplin like that. But my favorite part of the medium is due to it’s power, and I love me some power.

What took James Cameron 200 million dollars to communicate on film with “Titanic” or his up-and-coming “Avatar” one could do for 20k in comics. You don’t get the sound, movement or music but the actual story, lighting, acting, character development the logos could be depicted by one man on the cheap. Can’t get your “Star Wars” made for 150 million? With a small group comprised of one writer, one artist and one colorist, we could depict events from the desserts of Uncle Owen’s vaporator farm to the Death Star without resorting to overseas funding. That’s power. (more…)

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Tags: batman, comics, Doug Tennapel, graphic novels, Hulk
Posted Jul 21st 2009 at 8:47 am in Art, Entertainment | 18761859 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/dtennapel/2009/07/21/comicon-prologue/Reporting+From+Comic-Con%3A+Prologue2009-07-21+15%3A47%3A35Doug+TenNapel

“Light Touch”

Inspired by an article in today’s Wall Street Journal.

[click to enlarge]

For more on my work, visit my blog.

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Tags: America, big government, comics, Economy, Obama
Posted Jun 17th 2009 at 6:14 pm in Politics | 1637862 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bfawstin/2009/06/17/light-touch/%22Light+Touch%222009-06-18+01%3A14%3A13Bosch+Fawstin

Steve Ditko’s ‘Toyland’

With all the recent discussion of the Watchmen movie, the most talked-about character seems to be the morally uncompromising Rorschach. Originally intended to be a scathing satire/commentary on Objectivism, Rorschach was based on a character called The Question, whose principles were informed by Objectivist philosophy. The artist who created The Question is the legendary Steve Ditko, best known for co-creating Spider-Man.

Ditko is still very much active as both a cartoonist and as the author of essays in which he discusses such subjects as comics history, “creative” crediting, the media, and the dichotomy of philosophy and politics in comics and popular culture. His writing frequently appears in The Comics, a small press newsletter published monthly by Robin Snyder.

Ditko has recently written an essay titled “Toyland,” which I think will be of great interest to Big Hollywood readers. Ditko takes exception to how the popular culture has been shanghaied by the creatively bankrupt and the morally dishonest. I believe Ditko’s essay applies not only to comics, but to pop culture across the board. (more…)

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Tags: comics, Ditko, Joe Quesada, Marvel Comics, Spider-Man
Posted Apr 6th 2009 at 5:19 pm in Media Criticism | 9741446 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/blash/2009/04/06/steve-ditkos-toyland/Steve+Ditko%27s+%27Toyland%272009-04-07+00%3A19%3A59Batton+Lash

Crowded Room, Not a Soul in Sight

I wasn’t always an anti-Jihad cartoonist. Before 9/11, I had a number of stories in mind that I wanted to write and draw, stories that were put on hold or forgotten altogether in the shadow of the atrocity. I was working on my first graphic novel, Table for One, when 9/11 hit, and I liked the idea of portraying how an individualist would fare in the mini society of the restaurant world that I created. I had no desire to scrap the story for a more direct response to 9/11 yet, and so the only mentions of the attacks in the book are in some of the conversations between the New York customers in the double-page spread I post below. (more…)

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Tags: bosch fawstin, comics, graphic novels, pigman, Table for One
Posted Mar 25th 2009 at 10:41 am in Entertainment, Political Humor, Religion | 88446One Commenthttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bfawstin/2009/03/25/crowded-roomnot-a-soul-in-sight/Crowded+Room%2C+Not+a+Soul+in+Sight2009-03-25+17%3A41%3A20Bosch+Fawstin

Pigman: Your Grandfather’s Superhero Takes On Jihad

I think the best way to introduce myself here is to post a modified version of the introduction to my new book, ProPiganda: Drawing the Line Against Jihad.

 
Though I was born into a Muslim family, I became interested in Islam only after 9/11/01 when 19 Muslims murdered 2,996 human beings in the name of Islam. Those who always gave a damn for the truth did their homework and found out first hand what Islam really meant before they said one word about it. But then there were the politicians and the ideologues. Even before the smoke cleared, Western politicians and intellectuals who knew nothing about Islam could not wait to exonerate it by uttering the anti-reality check of our time: “Islam means peace.” This ensured that a rational response to jihad by those in power would be sold out in the name of political correctness and multiculturalism. And though we have come to expect most of our politicians to be unprincipled whores, if enough of us were willing to know what must be known about the enemy and his religion, we could pressure these hacks to actually do their job and protect us without apology. Instead, our culture’s willful ignorance about Islam and its jihad has allowed our leaders to do just enough to give us the impression that they’re defending us. It’s as if they’ve decided that, while the protection of America is optional, the defense of Islam is absolute. (more…)

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Tags: 9/11, bosch fawstin, comics, graphic novel, Islam
Posted Mar 21st 2009 at 1:47 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story, Military, Politics | 8585487 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/bfawstin/2009/03/21/pigman-your-grandfathers-superhero-takes-on-jihad/Pigman%3A+Your+Grandfather%27s+Superhero+Takes+On+Jihad2009-03-21+20%3A47%3A48Bosch+Fawstin

Watchmen: Great Art Doesn’t Preach, It Makes You Think

“Watchmen” opens Friday and we’ll see how well it performs in the theaters, but the graphic novel has been a best seller for DC Comics since its inception in 1985. And not without surprise. It’s been voted the best graphic novel of all time by many people. It even showed up in Time Magazine as one of the best literary novels of the 20th century. The only comic to make that list. Personally, I don’t care much for lists or other popularity contests. They seem too high school to me. A lot of stuff on “best ever” lists tends to be crap. It’s all someone’s opinion, after all. But “Watchmen” is definitely a work of art. One that will stand the test of time and already has.

‘Watchmen’ creator Alan Moore

What makes it an important story isn’t its garish colors or dark and gritty milieu. What makes it so good is that it’s a kind of literary pound cake. The original kind, made from a pound of flour, eggs, sugar, butter, etc. It’s a dense and rich story. One you can read over and over again and pick up new insights from. Whether or not you can accept the idea of superheroes or alternate histories, or even relate to the early 80’s cold war setting, the story has plenty of universal themes running through it. The story is elevated by original takes on the superhero genre that were fresh then and now. (more…)

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Tags: alan moore, comics, watchmen
Posted Mar 5th 2009 at 3:23 pm in Entertainment, Featured Story | 7345486 Commentshttp://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jhudnall/2009/03/05/watchmen-the-graphic-novel/Watchmen%3A+Great+Art+Doesn%27t+Preach%2C+It+Makes+You+Think2009-03-05+23%3A23%3A49James+Hudnall