Post by othersummersbrother on Jan 30, 2014 2:36:33 GMT -5
IMAGE Expo is still fresh in our minds and by far the most mind blowing feature was the announcement of so many new titles. While I think we'd all agree more titles, especially variety within genres, is a good thing, I do worry about over saturation.
Let me be clear; (and I don't mean to single out IMAGE alone, since the big two are also guilty of this) when I write over saturation I don't mean six or seven titles under the same umbrella of 'Avengers' or 'Bat' books, though that is troublesome too. What I mean is having creators working on and introducing too many titles simultaneously.
Again, to clarify; I don't mean that creators don't have the right, incentive, or need to create. My worry is that with so many books out monthly, goods ones will suffer from the inevitable critical mass reached. A critical mass of X amount of comic buyers and Y amount of books for sale. We are dealing with finite buying power of comic readers. A number that does not grow in significant amounts, to be truthful. This is of particular importance when it comes to new creator owned work. So, while I like both of the new Rick Remender books (for example) I only have so much money to devote to comics. Fraction, Hickman, Aaron, Kirkman and the list goes on and on.
Honestly, how many titles can an avid comic reader reasonably afford, read, and enjoy? And it doesn't mean these creators aren't writing awesome, original titles worth our time and money. But give us a break. How many albums of your favorite musicians can you buy in a year? So what ends up happening, because there is no slack in the comic book economy (due to our stagnate numbers despite explosive growth in geek culture in the last decade) good books get cancelled. Books that we wanted to pick up and support but didn't have it in our budget because another new title came out from our favorite creator.
And the exact opposite of what that IMAGE Expo represents occurs. Instead a wonderful variety of creators and ideas, we are saddled with the same marquee creators, reworking the same kind of stories over and over and over. I understand its a business. I understand creators aren't printing money, and it's hard and time consuming work. But how can we help support their work when our dollars are spread so thin? Instead, creators should concentrate on less titles, end their respective run successfully for themselves and their readers, and then introduce a new book.
Am I alone in this?
Let me be clear; (and I don't mean to single out IMAGE alone, since the big two are also guilty of this) when I write over saturation I don't mean six or seven titles under the same umbrella of 'Avengers' or 'Bat' books, though that is troublesome too. What I mean is having creators working on and introducing too many titles simultaneously.
Again, to clarify; I don't mean that creators don't have the right, incentive, or need to create. My worry is that with so many books out monthly, goods ones will suffer from the inevitable critical mass reached. A critical mass of X amount of comic buyers and Y amount of books for sale. We are dealing with finite buying power of comic readers. A number that does not grow in significant amounts, to be truthful. This is of particular importance when it comes to new creator owned work. So, while I like both of the new Rick Remender books (for example) I only have so much money to devote to comics. Fraction, Hickman, Aaron, Kirkman and the list goes on and on.
Honestly, how many titles can an avid comic reader reasonably afford, read, and enjoy? And it doesn't mean these creators aren't writing awesome, original titles worth our time and money. But give us a break. How many albums of your favorite musicians can you buy in a year? So what ends up happening, because there is no slack in the comic book economy (due to our stagnate numbers despite explosive growth in geek culture in the last decade) good books get cancelled. Books that we wanted to pick up and support but didn't have it in our budget because another new title came out from our favorite creator.
And the exact opposite of what that IMAGE Expo represents occurs. Instead a wonderful variety of creators and ideas, we are saddled with the same marquee creators, reworking the same kind of stories over and over and over. I understand its a business. I understand creators aren't printing money, and it's hard and time consuming work. But how can we help support their work when our dollars are spread so thin? Instead, creators should concentrate on less titles, end their respective run successfully for themselves and their readers, and then introduce a new book.
Am I alone in this?
