sounding off

This article originally appeared in British comics fanzine Tripwire volume 4 number 9 (December 2001/January 2002) in response to a request from publisher Joel Meadows.

GARY SPENCER MILLIDGE turns in his SOUNDING OFF, where people associated with the comics industry chat about something that's important to them . . .

"Diversity" has been one of the most common buzzwords in comic industry circles over the past few years, usually used in association with discussions about the industry's long-term survival.
So why are most comic stores still overwhelmingly dominated by superhero books? Why are the major comic book publishers (and many smaller ones) still concentrating the majority of their resources in producing even more superhero comics? Even much of what passes for "diversity" today is simply the same old tired superhero format trotted out under a thin veneer of crime, fantasy, western or science fiction.

For much of the last century, superheroes were ideally suited to the comic book format, depicting fantastic settings and outlandish characters that were impossible to convincingly translate to other media. But with the advent of super-fast computers and associated software technologies, comics have been superseded by dazzling computer games, blockbuster movies and quality animated TV shows where superheroes virtually come to life.

But still the superhero comics come, unable to sustain any increase in sales even when movie adaptations of the very same superhero comics hit the silver screen.
Comics' "direct market" today is largely supported by 30-something and 40-something males, spending much of their disposable income on overpriced, garish, glossy pamphlets with multiple covers in a nostalgia-fuelled fear of missing the next "key" issue or surprise "hit."
For heaven's sake, haven't we had enough of "mature," "adult," "dark," "grim'n'gritty" superhero stories? How many more times do we have to endure the endless cycle of "reinventing" characters and taking them "back to basics" with ever decreasing sales and ever rising prices? How many times do we have to kill a character before he stays dead? How many more multiple Earths, parallel universes, "What Ifs" and "Elseworlds" stories in unnecessarily overpriced formats do we really need? What can yet another ironic, post-modern, deconstructed superhero satire or pastiche say that hasn't already been said?
Surely, we must soon reach a saturation point where every possible combination of costume, gender, skin colour, secret identity and super-power has been exhausted.

Watchmen and Dark Knight should have signalled the end of the superhero books for adults, not to serve as a springboard for a continuous stream of darker and darker, grittier and grittier superhero books we have had to endure these past 15 years.

It's probably true that, despite the majority of superhero fanboy retailers who refuse to stock independent comics, we have more true diversity in comics now than at any time in the past -in terms of numbers of titles, if not in terms of sales.
But we're still only scratching at the surface.
If we are going to reach out to new readers in order to truly expand the market (i.e. finding new readers and new markets, not pandering to the same jaded clique buying more and more comics at higher and higher prices) we need to start by massively diversifying content.
Why shouldn't we have several hundred ongoing comics in a period setting (such as "From Hell" for example) rather than superheroes? Why shouldn't we have eight titles featuring Jack the Ripper every month instead of eight titles featuring Superman, eight featuring Batman, et al?

How are we ever going to expand our market if so much of comics' greatest talent is re-treading old ground instead of pushing the boundaries? Our most successful creators, even the most "alternative" and "mature" ones can't seem to help but keep slipping back into superhero mode.
Dave Sim's masterwork Cerebus is blighted by "Wolver Roach," Frank Miller returns to the Dark Knight after his Sin City and "300" books, post "From Hell" Alan Moore writes an entire line of superhero books and, goddamn it, even in Chris Ware's mainstream success Jimmy Corrigan, "Superman" keeps popping up.
Grant Morrison is writing X-Men, Richard Corben is drawing The Hulk, and Peter Bagge is writing Spider-Man, the list goes on.
No doubt about it, these are top creators producing excellent work, but surely, the basic premise of superheroes is tired, juvenile and mind-numbingly repetitive.

Don't get me wrong. I grew up loving superhero comics. But the majority of superhero comics ought to be aimed at a new, young readership, not at an aging fanboy, hermetically-sealed multiple-cover collectors' market.
We should be thinking about publishing mature comics for mature readers. Where else does the mainstream bookstore reader go after getting hooked on comics by such delights as From Hell, Safe Area Gorazde, Jimmy Corrigan or Ghost World?

Of course, superhero domination of the market is not the only thing wrong with the industry (publisher's attitudes, the collector mentality, marketing, format, price-point, packaging, marketing, distribution are some others) but for sure it's one of them.
Now's the time for publishers and creators abandon the "mature" superhero and truly diversify, otherwise, this "industry" will continue inwardly spiralling until it disappears up its own collective arsehole.

Gary Spencer Millidge, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, UK, October 2001.

All text and images (c) copyright Gary Spencer Millidge/Abiogenesis Press All rights reserved.