So Jimmy Robinson’s piece You Are Not Helping Comics over at CSBG has resulted in a small bit of consternation.
Robinson’s premise – though it’s hidden in a fairly rambling and unfocused column – is essentially that comics are awesome but comic fans should read everything, not jus a few select titles. Not only that, but they should take an active role in promoting the medium by recommending books to friends, family, and co-workers.
He makes a pretty decent point. That the direct market is pretty fucked up is hardly a penetrating insight, but word-of-mouth marketing can be an incredibly effective tool. While some movies get massive advertising budgets, others have to start small and work their way up – Borat is probably the most profitable film of the year, and it didn’t receive anywhere near the promotion of a major studio release. It had its North American debut at the Toronto Film Festival’s Midnight Madness programme, which is typically home to underdog & low-budget films.
Then again, I’m also skeptical of the “street teams” put together by some bands – particularly those targeting a young teen audience – that puts some of the advertising burden on its fans, encouraging them to request songs at radio stations and pimp the band on Myspace or whatever. Enlist a huge, occasionally influential group for the price of a few CDs and t-shirts? Somewhere between sleazy and brilliant.
Still, I try: I recommend and loan books to friends, though I’ve only ever met with limited success; the only sure-thing convert I ever made was an ex-girlfriend. Most people react with interest, but seem unlikely to ever look for something on their own.
But that’s neither here nor there, really. Robinson is right: Fans can help make comics more successful. It goes without saying that having a MySpace page and asking fans to friend you isn’t much of a marketing strategy, but every little bit helps.
The main problem with Robinson’s argument, though, is where he talks about the diversity of the market. Of course, there is no diversity in the direct market. Most comic stores are happy to carry only Marvel & DC superhero books, along with the odd book based on a license from an 80s toy line. That’s not a terribly welcoming environment to new readers. It’s all very nice to ask retailers to carry a wider range of books, but I’ve heard plenty of stories about stores not ordering anything that deviates from their usual slate. What’s more, even if they do order a copy of Historical Indie Adventures, it’s more than likely to be one copy for that one customer; people who work on the assumption that comics=superheroes aren’t likely to change their belief system.
And in this case, Robinson is not helping. I should say that I’ve never read anything by Jimmie Robinson before, so I have no opinion on whether he’s the next Alan Moore or the next Rob Liefeld. But on the face of it, his books don’t seem to be terribly diverse: Bomb Queen is probably one of the most stereotypically fanboy-ish books I’ve seen in a while, Tarot notwithstanding. And while he worries that “too many are walking lock-step to select titles and not taking advantage of everything comics has to offer”, he doesn’t seem afraid to cash in on the completist collector mentality by doing a What If: Wolverine book. I can’t blame him for wanting a solid paycheck, but let’s face it: He’s benefitting from the mentality he says is hurting comics.
Robinson means well, and he’s obviously enthusiastic about the medium. That’s great, and I’m sure he’s a nice guy, regardless of the books he writes. But he doesn’t get his point across clearly, and he doesn’t seem like the right guy to be writing about diversity and the wide world of comics. He’s not hurting comics, but he doesn’t seem to be helping nearly as much as he wants everyone else to.