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It occured to me, while discussing the failings of the comics industry and its attempts to gain new readership, that one of the biggest problems with modern comics is their lack of content. Many of the hardcore fans seem to feel that art matters more than writing, and that the lack of lengthy dialoge and the removal of the informative editors boxes of the past are both good things. Comics can, assuming minimum proficiency in reading, be finished in 15 minutes or less, and stories are less intricate than ever before in hopes of being "less complicated" and "more accessible"(a few of the more recent stories are proving exceptions to this, but as it has been a trend for the last decade, I'm not counting my chickens yet). Far fewer individuals are picking up comics as a hobby depsite the increase in publicity from wildly successful movies based upon comics, and the demographics of the industry, while they have broadened a bit, are still dominated by white males, with the average reader base growing older each year.

Interestingly however, we have a similar medium, manga, that has grown immensely since its mainstream introduction to the US in the late 90's. At the time when comics were downsizing, inflating prices, and reducing plot, manga gave readers access to longer stories for less money, dialogue driven stories, and intricate plots. Female readership of manga skyrocketed, and many younger readers of both sexes jumped on the manga bandwagon. Is it just coincidence? I wonder.

Many of the older comic fans that I speak to can't stand the place the industry has been in for the last decade, and have quietly jumped ship. Of the females that I speak to on the subject, I get the same comments repeated continuously regarding comics: "the characters aren't interactive enough, there is no dialogue, the stories are too short, the distribution too confusing." Does manga have these problems? No, of course not, as manga is, as a genre, almost the exact opposite of those criticisms.

What does this mean for the comic industry? Well, personally I think it means that the industry will have to evolve or die. In my opinion, consolidation is the way of the future. X-men needs to be a compilation book detailing all the x-universe, all the bat family needs to be together in one or two books, perhaps like a graphic novel, perhaps like a compilation of short stories. But the characters need to be consistent, the length needs to be increased dramatically, and the universe needs to be regulated by a team of dedicated artists and writers, rather than a bunch of guys itching to make their mark on characters that have a significance far beyond a 6 issue run of a given writer/artist. This new set up would also solve other problems that have been plagueing the industry. Continuity? Simple. Buy back issues of X-men, you find out about X-men; no more hunting through 18 different series and re-starts of the same series, staring at four different copies of X-force #1 wondering how on earth one is supposed to catch up with such a convoluted system of telling stories.

Having a consolidated book allows for better quality control, better and faster production, increases sales (charge more for the supersized meal and everyone wins right?), lowers operating costs (fewer different books to ship, fewer writers/artists to pay), and increases back issue sales. The books become far more appealing across a wider base, especially those that were alienated by the closed nature of the hobby. And, because of the simplicity of the model, one a consumer that has just veiwed the newest batman flick only needs to walk in to whatever bookstore they prefer, and purchase a copy of batman to be instantly involved in that universe and know everything going on in it, making new fans much more easily acquired. Also important, back issue sales increase dramatically, providing another income stream for the industry, and with the consolidated nature of such back issues, continuity is more effectively maintained by the writing staff.

Sure, new books won't be as numerous, and artists/writers will be out of jobs, but that is a sacrifice I'm personally willing to make. And really, if some of the books are done compilation style, kind of like the old Unlimited books marvel used to put out, most of the current artists and writers will still have a job, and such compilation books provide a venue for introducing new and interesting stories without as much business risk as producing a whole comic line. There could even be whole compilations devoted to new ideas.

Really, where's the catch?

Well, I'll be damned....I don't know what disaster this portent fortells but I am sure that somewhere in one of the books of prophecy somewhere there is a statement that something horrible is going to happen when Cheyne wants comics to be more like manga.

We've discussed this a lot before. I have been reading reviews of books I like lately in hopes that they won't be canceled. People are not digging X-Men Legacy, calling it too dense and too burdened with the past. I can't even argue with these people. If they feel that way, then there is little hope for the type of books I like sticking around. Thunderbolts, which has always been a great book, is changing hands and direction. Legacy should last for a while, but is likely to have a change within a year or so. Cable Deadpool got screwed by editors. Guardians and the cosmic stuff is blowing me away. The other X-books are better than they have been in over a decade. I am happy at some current trends, then saddened by fan response. The editor changes in the X-Department seem to have shifted the direction and priority toward these books. They've always been best-sellers. Now they have top talent on them, whereas before the art was ass and writers were...well there was Austen. For the first time in a long time, I think Marvel is better than DC. Dc's direction and all that has happened in the last year and a half were crapped away and Morrison was given control. Dumb. A year and a half worth of stories in multiple titles, including every tie-in ot the Crises are being ignored or contradicted. And, final Crises 3 is running late. there is great stuff going on in Action Comics, though the pacing is still stuck in the 6 issues for the trade phase. Batman is incomprehensible at the moment. Thanks Morrison. Detective Comics is good. JSA is the best ever. Gog. Gog is good. JLA keeps retelling the same stories. Sure, fighting Amazo is cool, but this is the third time since the relaunch.

Book sales are higher than they have been in years, but a mere shadow of what they were. Books are slim on content and pacing is an issue still (though some are moving away from this, slowly). Fans are aging. these are the same people that have been reading since the late 80's to early 90's. Men 20-35 is the range. The popularity of the movies is not being capitalized on well. Iron Man sales aren't really improving. They relaunched so that the issue 1 sales would roughly correspond with the film so they could say otherwise. But people watching these movies aren't picking up books, unless they already were. People don't want to read and if they do (rare), they don't get much of a chance with these mostly picture books. Sure, it was lame when Wolverine would speak 22 lines of dialogue in one box while slashing someone with his claws. The villain would go on and on about their plan while fighting off the heroes. But what about the exposition boxes that set up the scene, mood, etc? What about thought bubbles? Those have been absent for a while. Bendis has made some clever use of them lately. Bendis, of all people. He is largely responsible for the death of exposition. The two page spread of the helicarrier landing. My most hated comic moment.

Digital books seem to be growing in popularity. I have a digital reader. Unfortunately, it doesn't display my comics well. With the removal of comics off retail shelves, tucking them away in corners of bookstores and comic specialty caves, it seems that they are forever doomed to underground geekdom.

pretty much. the problems:

>comics need new blood, but writing must change and apeal to a broader base to attract customers and maintain them. This is not possible without alienating current fans and taking a risk that they will permanently lose money.

>comics needs to be more visible. Internet sales and digital subscriptions are, imo, the answer. but the old model of $3 for 15 minutes of fun has to go. WoW charges you $15 a month for all u can handle. comics need to do the same, and depend on mass sales to make up for the loss in individual books.

>the manga similarities need to increase in the ways listed above. not the shitty ways that we've been complaining about for years. and like i said, manga as it is in america. other people have pointed out to me that in japan they are serial format and blah blah blah. but they have been a success i america b/c of the way they have been marketed here, not japan.

i need to send them a letter saying these things. maybe they'll hire me as a consultant.

oh, and btw, it is unsurprising that legacy is not well recieved. the fanboy base is shitty. but those are the people that are going to have to be ignored if comics are to continue into the future. i love legacy. it is actually worth buying.