The Monthly "Issue"
That's a pun, you see.
On Tuesdays, when I’m processing shipments and popping comics into people’s files, I’m usually listening to podcasts. These days, those podcasts have a lot to do with how late stage capitalism is really chewing through our world, but a few comic related podcasts still sneak through.
Years ago, my podcast consumption was almost pure comics. I poured all that sweet nectar into my ears. These days, with most of my life being comics, it becomes a little harder to connect with a lot of comic podcasts, because it becomes adding more work flavour to the work of it all. That said, there are quite a few that still hit the rotation - including Off Panel with David Harper.
It’s a podcast that I rarely miss1 for good reason. Harper is always extremely insightful with his line of questioning, and the guests are always fascinating.
That remained true this week when Harper has John Allison on. Print comic readers probably know Allison best from his run on Giant Days, but he’s been running outstanding comics online for ages, and has built quite an audience.
Anyway, during the interview, Allison had some very interesting things to say. I’ll “throw it” to David Harper for the set up:
David Harper: We've talked a time or two via email, and I've gotten the impression - trying to think of the right way to put it - that you have some uncertainties about the traditional world of comics to some degree, I can be wrong about that. So apologies if I am -
John Allison: No, you're not wrong.
Harper: Okay.
Allsion: You're not wrong at all.
Harper: Do you feel that the past couple years maybe you've been trying to find your fit in comics or in the industry at the very least? I don't know. Like where you belong in the industry that's so focused on the... the grand idea of quote unquote, IP and like variant covers.
Allison: Yeah, I do. Because like, it's very hard. I am somebody who loves serial entertainment, grew up on monthly floppies... absolutely wishes in some way that he was able to just generate a monthly floppy that was in comic shops every month. And the fact that I did it for, you know, for five years2, it was the greatest feeling, seeing my book on the racks, you know, with the number going up every month. But I don't think that world exists anymore. I don't think... I don't think it's a sustainable world.
I love comic shops. And I don't like the fact that the section of monthlies is shrinking. But at the same time, I don't think that world is going to exist that much longer. But I still want to make serial entertainment, I don't want to just make OGNs. And I don't really want to go.
Because I've been asked to write Marvel books. And it's a huge, it's hugely flattering, because again, I'm a Marvel kid growing up.
Harper: Right.
Allison: But at the same time, I don't really want to write a modern Marvel comic, because I don't think they are... they're not serving any future audience. They're just kind of holding on to the existing audience. They don't really speak to new readers, and I don't want to be the guy who tries to bang his head against the wall of what I think a Marvel comic should be for some poor editor who's just trying to get his book out. Because again, the editors I spoke with at Marvel have brilliant, brilliant people, but I do not want to be the... the asshole basically, the jerk who goes like, "your comics are all wrong. This is what I think a Marvel comic should be. And I think they should all be like this," you know?
So I'm just kind of trying to feel out a way like what it... what does a monthly comic look like? If it's one that I made, if there still was a market where you could publish, you know, an issue of, whatever, Concrete3 or... or anything like that every month? What would that look like?
As always in these situations, I suggest you dig into the whole interview for the full context. Allison talks a lot about what he’s been focusing on in terms of serialized storytelling, and how he approaches story ideas and how they interact (or don’t) with his past works. That said, I want to focus on how this creators is viewing the industry right now.
You can see him talk about his trepidation with the single issue market above, and he’s not wrong about the direction of this industry. The impact of single issues is not what it used to be, and there’s good reason for that. The format is a bit insular. It demands a commitment. By and large, new readers aren’t on board for a discovery process that requires homework. They’re also not so keen on having to commit to frequent trips to gather an entire story.
These are problems for folks who like to engage with this medium in a creative capacity. The current structure requires single issues to function. That can not be disputed. And yet the format itself is facing more and more challenges. If it isn’t the fact that engaging with single issues is a big ask for new readers, it is the fact that their production is becoming more and more cost prohibitive. At some point, the object becomes unsustainable, unless it is rethought.
This is something that needs to be addressed. A lot of folks are seeing it. If it isn’t addressed… well, if it isn’t addressed, things will still be fine, but they’ll continue to get a lot harder. They still make vinyl, right? The format will continue. The structure it is build around, might not.
Which is neat.
Anyway, that does it for this week’s content at The Indirect Market. There’s a chance that I’ll be taking this Monday off just because I have a lot of planning to do for other things happening on that day, but the last time I told myself I was taking a day off, I just went and posted anyway, so we’ll see.
Talk with you soon.
-B.
I only skip the ones with his pal Brandon Burpee because hearing David react to a dude that has my name, but nearly none of my opinions is too jarring for me.
He’s referring to Giant Days.
This could be a specific reference to the classic comic series Concrete, or of “something concrete or tangible”. Either sort of works in this situation.