Ian Gibson: the economics of comics
Down on the sunny Costa Comics (when it’s not raining, that is) sits a grumpy old man at his computer. Quite possibly heading for another inane ramble. But the Denizens of Geekiness request an element of comicism in my rambling...
So, being a good boy, when I’m not being a grumpy old man, I took myself off to do some research. Now, I happen to live in a black hole as far as comics are concerned and, unless I’m willing to travel extensively, I am limited as to what is available. But I found a charming little Indian shop that sells milk at 86p a jug which is cheaper than Tesco!! So they have my attention, and they also have comics!
I dug deep and purchased a couple. What surprised me most was the price! None of your ten pence comics any more. Now they set you back a couple of pounds each! I can’t pretend to be any sort of mathematical genius; in fact, my tax man reckons that if I add two and two I come up with three and a half at best! But I swear he makes it five, so the dispute is still ongoing! ;) But when I think back to the days when I was producing Halo Jones, the cost of a copy of 2000AD was in the region of ten pence. Now it is closer to two pounds!! Yet back then I was being paid around 65 pounds per page for black and white art. What I can’t quite figure in my mathematical muddle is how an escalation in price of 17 times plus only translates into a pay increase of about three?
You do the math.
If my money had gone up at the same rate as the price of the comics I’d be making enough to send my tax man into orbit (which is where he belongs anyway!) or something like eleven hundred a page! Something doesn’t add up.
But back to my research. Because I wasn’t originally interested in price comparisons, I was interested in what was inside the glossy covers. For those of you with an interest in details, the comics I purchased were Batman Legends Collector’s Edition and a Spider-Man 6, again a ‘collector’s edition’.
Happily, the Spider-Man comic had a classic Gil Kane and John Romita reprint in the back pages which was enjoyable to look through. But the main body of the comic, a story called Skin Deep, was unreadable. Bad art, poor layout... I couldn’t even start to read the story as the look of the thing was so appalling!!
I turned to Batman in desperation, but I’m sad to report that I wasn’t much better off! I did manage to read one of the stories: a piece by Paul Dini and Joe Benitez. But that was something of a last resort as I’d paid my fiver for the two comics and wanted to come away with something! The rest of the comic was a similarly unreadable effort like the Spider-Man one: very self indulgent artwork that didn’t invite the reader in, and computer colouring which made the whole thing bland to the extreme!
Now, when I was an avid reader of comics - thinking back to the likes of Jack Kirby, John Buscema and Neil Adams, to mention the American marketplace or over in Spain, the likes of Hernadez Palacios, Victor De La Fuente, Carlos Jimenez and Esteban Maroto - these guys knew how to grab your attention and keep it! Their job was telling the story the best they knew how - getting you sucked in within the first page or two. In fact I reckon the rule has always been, “if you haven’t grabbed your reader by the second page, you’ve lost him!”
Well, these couple of comics I bought lost me entirely. The price is outrageously high and the content is outrageously bad! I’m ashamed to be part of an industry that has so lost its direction. That’s part of the reason I quit working for 2000AD. I’m hoping I’ll find something worth illustrating. I’m writing stuff myself. But finding a publisher I trust is difficult when they’re busy producing rubbish like that!
Guess that’s what tends to make me the grumpy old man? Think I’ll head down to the beach to throw pebbles into the sea! A minor form of Kanutism. ;)
Ian Gibson, long-time artist on Judge Dredd, is the co-creator of Halo Jones, and has also drawn for DC Comics. We think he’s ace. Find his website at www.ian-gibson.com More Ian Gibson on Den of Geek: Advice and observations
Turning comics into films - and vice versaLetter from an anarchistManga, anime, and MiyazakiThank you for the comics
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Ù ÙتدÙات-اÙعاب-شات-دردشة
صÙتÙØ©-بنات ستايل-منتديات
بنات ستايل-توبيكات
بنات-العاب بنات-ارشيف
بنات-منتديات فتيات-منتدى
عام-نقاش جاد-نكت
وطرائف-سياحة وسفر-موضة-اكسسوارات-مكياج-فساتين
سهرة-تسريحات-البشرة-ديكور-عالم
حواء-اطباق رئيسيه-حلويات
و معجنات-سلطات-روايات
ادبية-همس القوافي-قصص-اشعار-منتديات
طبية-عيادات نفسية-منتديات
الامومة و الطفولة-منتديات
الصور-مسجات بنات
ستايل-ثيمات جوالات-برامج
كمبيوتر و جوال-اخبار
الفنانين-منتدى الفتاة المسلمة-صوتيات و مرئيات و اناشيد اسلامية-المنتدى العام-منتدى الترحيب بالاعضاء الجدد-منتدى النقاش الجاد-العاب منتديات بنات ستايل-نكت و طرائف-السياحة و السفر-ازياء و موضة-اكسسوارات و مجوهرات-ميك اب و مكياج-فساتين سهرة و زفاف-تسريحات واخر موضات الشعر-العناية بالبشرة و الشعر-ركن العطور و البخور و مساحيق التجميل-ديكور و اثاث المنازل-اطباق رئيسيه-حلويات و معجنات و عصيرات-سلطات-روايات ادبية-همس الخواطر-قصص و حكايات-شعر و قصائد-المنتدى الطبي العام-المشاكل النفسية و الاجتماعية و العاطفية-الامومة و الطفولة-منتدى
الصور و الغرائب-تصاميم
و ابداعات العضوات-مسجات-ثيمات
جوال-برامج كمبيوتر
و جوال-اخبار الفن و
الفنانين
There are still plenty of great comic writers/artists out there. Robert Kirkman, Jimmy Palimiotti and Peter David all spring to mind as very active writers who know how to tell a damn fine story.
You can pick a cross-section of issues across almost any title and you'll find periods of unreadability and periods of greatness. You mention Neal Adams; when he and Denny O'Neill were doing Green Lantern/Green Arrow, it was fantastic - the best it's ever been, inarguably - but it ran for - what - 14 issues? It would be a terrible representation of Green Lantern's style as a whole, as it sums up such a tiny percentage of the series/mythos. It would also be no excuse for ever buying it again, nor does it mean that the other writers/artists working on it can't produce stuff of worth.
Marvel, under Joe Quesada, is producing some of the most interesting, innovative storylines it's done in about 20 years. I think, if anything, a resurgence in quality comics is looming. The creative lull of which you speak is a thing of the past.
There's an element of nostalgia when it comes to comic pricing. In your mind, comics should be 10p. In my mind, they should be about 90p to £1 because that how much they cost when I started buying them. I think, to some extent, the price you paid when you first started is always going to be a subconscious yardstick. That said, I don't begrudge £2 for a comic; inflation is just a fact of life in any area.
Ever the optimist, me ...
Joe Quesada has kept Marvel going, quite honestly. If it wasn't for him taking over, the company would've gone under long ago.
Hell yeah. I'm all about the Joe Q.
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The only other alternative to early planning is to look for last-minute deals
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it makes a lot of sense to search out cheap travel deals online before you plan your vacation
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If you try looking for something within about 2 weeks of your trip you are going to pay the highest amount possible
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jobs for 15 year olds
It seems everyone is looking for cheap travel ideas these days
just how do you go about finding these cheap travel deals? First and foremost
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There are still plenty of great comic writers/artists out there. Robert Kirkman, Jimmy Palimiotti and Peter David all spring to mind as very active writers who know how to tell a damn fine story.
You can pick a cross-section of issues across almost any title and you'll find periods of unreadability and periods of greatness. You mention Neal Adams; when he and Denny O'Neill were doing Green Lantern/Green Arrow, it was fantastic - the best it's ever been, inarguably - but it ran for - what - 14 issues? It would be a terrible representation of Green Lantern's style as a whole, as it sums up such a tiny percentage of the series/mythos. It would also be no excuse for ever buying it again, nor does it mean that the other writers/artists working on it can't produce stuff of worth.
Marvel, under Joe Quesada, is producing some of the most interesting, innovative storylines it's done in about 20 years. I think, if anything, a resurgence in quality comics is looming. The creative lull of which you speak is a thing of the past.
There's an element of nostalgia when it comes to comic pricing. In your mind, comics should be 10p. In my mind, they should be about 90p to £1 because that how much they cost when I started buying them. I think, to some extent, the price you paid when you first started is always going to be a subconscious yardstick. That said, I don't begrudge £2 for a comic; inflation is just a fact of life in any area.
Ever the optimist, me ...
Joe Quesada has kept Marvel going, quite honestly. If it wasn't for him taking over, the company would've gone under long ago.
Hell yeah. I'm all about the Joe Q.
Ù ÙتدÙات-اÙعاب-شات-دردشة
صÙتÙØ©-بنات ستايل-منتديات
بنات ستايل-توبيكات
بنات-العاب بنات-ارشيف
بنات-منتديات فتيات-منتدى
عام-نقاش جاد-نكت
وطرائف-سياحة وسفر-موضة-اكسسوارات-مكياج-فساتين
سهرة-تسريحات-البشرة-ديكور-عالم
حواء-اطباق رئيسيه-حلويات
و معجنات-سلطات-روايات
ادبية-همس القوافي-قصص-اشعار-منتديات
طبية-عيادات نفسية-منتديات
الامومة و الطفولة-منتديات
الصور-مسجات بنات
ستايل-ثيمات جوالات-برامج
كمبيوتر و جوال-اخبار
الفنانين-منتدى الفتاة المسلمة-صوتيات و مرئيات و اناشيد اسلامية-المنتدى العام-منتدى الترحيب بالاعضاء الجدد-منتدى النقاش الجاد-العاب منتديات بنات ستايل-نكت و طرائف-السياحة و السفر-ازياء و موضة-اكسسوارات و مجوهرات-ميك اب و مكياج-فساتين سهرة و زفاف-تسريحات واخر موضات الشعر-العناية بالبشرة و الشعر-ركن العطور و البخور و مساحيق التجميل-ديكور و اثاث المنازل-اطباق رئيسيه-حلويات و معجنات و عصيرات-سلطات-روايات ادبية-همس الخواطر-قصص و حكايات-شعر و قصائد-المنتدى الطبي العام-المشاكل النفسية و الاجتماعية و العاطفية-الامومة و الطفولة-منتدى
الصور و الغرائب-تصاميم
و ابداعات العضوات-مسجات-ثيمات
جوال-برامج كمبيوتر
و جوال-اخبار الفن و
الفنانين
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how to loose weight
jobs for 13 year olds
jobs for 16 year olds
don't let a lack of money keep you from your yearly trip
how to lose weight
With people losing jobs and the economy in the state that it is
jobs for 16 year olds
jobs for 13 year olds
puppy training tips
you simply must plan early
loose weight
and it's no wonder
how to lose belly fat
Now
and by last minute I mean literally the last day or two
jobs for kids
kids jobs
lose weight
The worst thing you can do in a time like this is forego your yearly vacation
It's important to continue your family traditions and also to get away from the stress of everyday life
belly fat
Even if you only plan a shorter vacation
puppy training
dog training tips
The only other alternative to early planning is to look for last-minute deals
dog behavior training
it makes a lot of sense to search out cheap travel deals online before you plan your vacation
dog training
If you try looking for something within about 2 weeks of your trip you are going to pay the highest amount possible
lose belly fat
jobs for 14 year olds
jobs for 15 year olds
It seems everyone is looking for cheap travel ideas these days
just how do you go about finding these cheap travel deals? First and foremost
how to loose weight
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