James Moore BA(Hons) Illustration 2017/18 Title: What is the current state of comics?
4763 words
Acknowledgements I wish to thank Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou for kindly responding to my questions.
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CONTENTS
Chapter
Page Number
Chapter 1 – Introduction
4
Chapter 2 – Context & Themes
6
Chapter 3 – Case Studies of Practice
10
Chapter 4 – Reflective Practice
18
Chapter 5 – Conclusion
20
Images
21
Bibliography
23
Appendices
25
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CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION
By definition a comic is ‘A magazine or book that contains a set of stories told in pictures with a small amount of writing’. A simple and direct blueprint this may be, but could soon change, advancing to maintain an audience within an ever-changing world. Media consumption, or how it is consumed, is advancing, and may be affecting how people are reading comics.
This essay aims to investigate and research the current state of the comics industry, finding both what has been successful in the past, and what is currently popular within the market. This will also offer an insight as to what may be in store for the medium, and with that, what possible challenges lie ahead for both creators and the market. To achieve this, different aspects of the industry will be investigated, being the current field of comics, questioning sales and statistics. Current advances being made that are challenging the defined parameters of comics will also be scrutinised, examining their validity and lastability as additions. Following that, research in to the distribution and presence of comics online will be applied, questioning how the comics industry is responding to a ever changing landscape. Statements and information given by professionals working within the industry will also be compared and examined.
With this research, a sample for an original comic will be made, utilizing both traditional and digital methods, with the goal of understanding both what makes a comic, and how that may change in the foreseeable future. Alongside the comic, working from the research on advancements in the field, supplementary promotional materials will be made, work that could act as advertising material. The research will also influence certain decisions, if the new advances in the field don’t seem to be taking hold or are proving to be popular within the market, then the attention given to these elements will vary depending on the findings. This could also impact the method with which the comic is made, materials used based on trends or gaps within the market. In order to understand the current state of comics, and the process
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behind releasing them, existing promotional campaigns will be replicated using the work from this project, with the process and its findings reviewed accordingly.
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CHAPTER 2 - CONTEXT & THEMES
Before considering the current and possible future state of comics, it is important to understand where they came from. Stemming from the earliest reaches of human history, people have been etching on walls and drawing scenes to tell all manner of stories, be they historic, fictional etc. There were no boundaries for these works, or even a defined name, other than to call it sequential art. The comic one would think of today, stems from political illustrations found in published newspapers, the first of their kind being created by the likes of British cartoonist George Cruickshank (fig 1) which paved the way for the standard format, that came to be the comic book. Initially finding a home within newspapers, being weekly and sometimes daily additions. By the 50’s humour was the staple genre for comics, but this changed with the advent of superhero comics post world war, aimed towards children looking to escape the horrors of the world around them through these heroes. It was the superhero comic that stuck, and is still arguably the staple genre covered in comics. Two companies clearly hold the torch for the genre, being that of Marvel comics and DC (Detective comics). A time period where these companies flourished, and the medium grew exponentially in popularity is commonly referred to by the comic book audience as the golden age of comics, a very telling indication of the power and respect these companies have garnered.
With that in mind, time advances and changes, so can opinions. This golden age of comics has long since passed, and is yet to see an influx and growth to match it. As stated, the superhero still acts as the staple genre for comics, but the world has changed, and interests seem to be moving away, or growing to include differing genres and ideas that previously would have gone unnoticed. ‘Narrative illustration has steadfastly moved away from simply being a vehicle for slapstick or superheroes. Fundamentally, comic books are a medium, not a genre’ Roanne Bell and Mark Sinclair (2005, p.8)
To question this idea, research will be undergone in to the current field of comics, sales and interest will primarily be scrutinised. Information on this will be gained from 6 James Moore
multiple sources, including Diamond comic distribution Inc., a global distribution network for comic retailers. As well as IDW publishing (Idea & Design Works), recognized as one of comics top four publishers, having over 80 of their titles appearing in the New York times best sellers list. The essay will respond to their released report on the current state of their digital comics compared to physical releases. From this will be gained the knowledge of how popular, and by extension viable, either would be as a means of selling work.
Moving from the comic page, technological advancements and additions applied to comics will be investigated. It could be argued that they move beyond being comics when mixed with other media, as Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou stated when questioned on the notion, ‘I personally see that as being something beyond comics. In each of those instances you’re playing with a different medium’ Elhaou (2017) This could call for a new terminology to be applied to comics with technological additions. But alternatively, they could be considered a growth for the medium, thanks to the advances of technology and advent of new media. Some would argue that comics wouldn’t necessarily require are branding per se given these additions. ‘The importance of media as a classifying device seems to have declined. The ability of digital technologies, to facilitate multimedia approaches - has blurred traditional media based distinctions’ Kevin F McCarthy (2006, p.28) This would then look to the work as still being that of comics, but possibly make note that the work has some relationship to other media applied, instead of finding an entirely new distinction. This could be classified as an evolution, ‘People have an existing practice from which they develop an evolving interest in the possibilities presented’ Andrew Dewdney and Peter Ride (2006, p.91) It is under this ideal that the essay will review upcoming works.
Starting by reviewing the advances made by Marvel, who continue to be the most successful publisher in comics, holding above 40 % in overall comics shares. Their motives and techniques will be called into question, to find whether a successful 7 James Moore
company would wish to experiment with the additions if they don’t necessarily need the work to stand beyond promotional extras. This will then be contrasted with the efforts of small independent creators, namely an artist by the name of SUTU who used crowd funding to create his book, and what could be referred to as a personal passion project. When asked on the intentions of the project, he said, ‘I wanted to develop a story that would complement the technology, and the purpose of the technology. I didn’t want it to be a gimmick’ SUTU (2017) In essence, he does want the work to stand out as something different, and considered how he could have the medium of comics mix with other media to strengthen the outcome. These differing approaches and results between Marvel and SUTU should offer a great deal of information as to how smartphone implementation can affect both works on their own merits, and the comics industry as a whole.
Following the technological advancements brought upon by phones and tablets, this essay will cover how the internet has impacted comics, how and why creators are using the web to distribute their creations. Tai Wooden explains that new independent creators are ‘Creating new stories that are innovative and compelling out of love for the comics and to fill niches that are often overlooked’ Tai Wooden (2016) Uploading to the web facilitates a freedom for these artists, that would be bound by the restrictions of what does and doesn’t sell for publishers if they were to work with them. Research will also be undergone in to the process of distribution and what new ways are being used to sell work online, the most prominent method being a process called crowd funding. This is when money is raised for a proposed project, in this instance what will be comics, from the general public. This money will then go towards production costs and the needs of the people running the campaigns. The two most prominent sites used for crowd funding are Kickstarter and Patreon, and will be referred to throughout. In essence they ‘Help creators get their books printed and in to the hands of fans’ Caitlin Rosberg (2017)
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From this an understanding will be gained as to whether the process of distribution and promotion has changed, and whether creatives need to work in a different way for the sake of their creative freedom, dealing with a more direct link to their fan base than previously found post internet, and how this could affect the lifestyle of a creator also.
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CHAPTER 3 - CASE STUDIES OF PRACTICE
Starting with physical comics, the released sales of diamond comic distributors shows that some cracks may be appearing in the industry. As can be seen (fig 2), sales where slightly healthier in august of last year, than they were this year (fig 3). At first glance, the difference doesn’t seem to be that drastic, but when taken as a whole, the figure doesn’t bode well for the industry. Doing so will show that there was 25% less spent on comics this year, a sign of fading interest. As Rich Johnston stated on Bleeding cool ‘Sales have fallen off a cliff’ Johnston (2017). It in fact may be even worse when taken in to consideration that these are figures from a distributor, meaning that it takes in to account how much stores are taking from them, but not what the stores are selling.
If physical comics are seeing figures like this, the assumption would be that the digital platform may be the cause of the drop. It wouldn’t be hard to imagine the public and core fan base moving to their computers and phones to read their comics, for the sake of convenience. This has been in effect since the introduction of e books (digital variations of books, typically read on a tablet device). A market IDW has been open about in terms of sales. They noted an initial boom for digital comics with the introduction of e book readers, being deemed a great success by the company. But as Ted Adams, CEO of IDW media stated, ‘Sales flat lined around 2015 to 2016. Digital is still a significant revenue stream, but is measured at 11.5% of physical sales’ Adams (2017) This was an interesting development for the industry, who went as far as to give the phenomena a name, screen fatigue. This is a name for when staring at monitors for too long can cause eyestrain. An effect that with time has caused people to avoid this means of reading comics and graphic novels. This would bring in to question how or if they would use a digital platform to increase sales and interest in their product. The problem may lie with their approach to bringing the pages of a comic to a screen, by doing just that and scanning them in, presenting them simply as they already where. As Scott McCloud concluded in his TED talk ‘Understanding comics’
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‘Don’t look at the monitor as a page, look at it as a window, create these comics on an infinite canvas’ McCloud (2009) In essence, why format the story to the scanned comic page, when there is no page. He urges creators to explore new layouts and techniques based on the endless scroll that is a web page.
Marvel did attempt something in this vein, a project called Marvel AR (augmented reality), which utilized the smartphone screen as a window, but only when pointed at a physical comic. Not quite McCloud’s sentiment, but a step in that direction. For this you would point your smart device at comics released with AR tags. These tags are little symbols found on the comic page, that when pointed at using a phones camera and the right app, fill the screen with new elements, as if they were hovering around or on the page itself. With this the screen would interact with the pages, giving them sound, motion/ animations replacing the still panels, or extra information relating to the scenes. Much like the early digital comics, the project was a success to begin with. The first issue to be released in 2013 with the features was a bestseller. Comparing that to now though and you will find that the app doesn’t work/ doesn’t exist for android. Searching video sites such as YouTube brings a great deal of uploads, with people excitedly showcasing the AR features, an advertisers dream. But it seems that screen fatigue struck again and people generally lost interest. This may be explained by the types of content that featured through the app. Timothy Callahan, writer at CBR, noted that when showing his sons the app, ‘They were both thrilled at first, they were both visually excited about the possibilities. But by the end of the issue, they were deflated’ Callahan (2012)
Scott McCloud again may have a reason for this reaction as he stated, “Including motion and sound breaks the continuity of presentation” (McCloud, 2009). If the story is holding the readers interest, surely extra features will distract from that. This is especially true considering that the additions didn’t do anything for the narrative, they mainly concerned behind the scenes materials, such as progress animations for panels, or creators talking about their thought processes when creating the comic. This material may be interesting for fellow creatives, but unengaging to the core fan 11 James Moore
base who don’t relate to such things. Case and point the children of Callahan, who just want to read a story and be entertained.
This isn’t to say that all avenues and approaches were ventured by marvel, as others have attempted to use the same methods, with more of a focus on how it can work alongside the narrative. An independent artist by the name of SUTU tried to do just that. He created a comic called Modern Polaxis, with the AR features being an integral part of the story. It was a project that was crowd funded, gaining around $3,000 over the requested amount from people of the public using Kickstarter, willing to pay for the comic’s production. This meant that, the project could have instantly been considered a success, presented to the niche audience and paid for by them. This also removes any confusion or disappointment that was, for example, found by the children with marvel AR. The audience knew exactly what to expect, seeing the work in progress, receiving regular updates from the Kickstarter page, being told directly by SUTU what was going in to the comic. On top of this, SUTU clearly had different priorities for this project than Marvel would for their comic. In an interview with screendiver.com, he stated as much ‘I wanted to develop a story that would complement the technology, and the purpose of the technology. I didn’t want it to be a gimmick.’ SUTU (2016) The story was completely new, no groundwork or reference to other previous stories, which also made the project more accessible to an entirely new audience. With this he could integrate the plot, having panels/ images subtly move in a way that wouldn’t interrupt the general flow of the comic for the reader. Rather than external videos and stills of people talking, the drawings animated, pulsed with colour, and had ambient musical inclusions to certain parts of the story, playing lightly in the background as to not divert attention. His project uses AR to integrate and strengthen the immersion into the story, much like Scott McCloud would suggest.
Marvel sought to use AR as a marketing method to bring more attention to what was essentially a standard superhero comic. Both achieved what they intended, but public opinions on both differ, now that a few years have passed. Searching for Comic AR online will still generate writers speaking of Modern Polaxis in a positive 12 James Moore
light, whereas only old articles appear for Marvel AR, that almost seem indifferent in tone. They speak of Modern Polaxis as an experience, the technology and story working together hand in hand. Marvel AR is now considered a gimmick, implementations that could simply be advertised as different, but not aid the comic’s story.
There is a lesson to be learned from both of these examples, if a comic creator wishes to integrate technology in to their comic, the narrative and flow must be the highest priority. Creating a fully integrated comic takes a lot of time, money and effort, hence SUTUs need to use Kickstarter. But in the long run the work stands out as something different and special. Failing that, having a smaller budget and following, the use of AR can clearly be an effective marketing method, as Marvel showcased, but the AR should work alongside the comic. This can be as an ad/ cover feature, rather than strewn throughout the comic.
Now whilst this seems like advancement for the medium, possibly even the future of comics, there is one fact that can be argued against it. As previously discussed, adding these additions can be considered taking liberties with the definition, and standards of what makes a comic. With additions, comes an alienation of the existing audience, that love the medium for what it is. Whilst this seems to be garnering outside attention currently, bringing in an outside audience, it doesn’t seem to be a solution to the drop-in sales. But this calls into question as to what is causing the troubles for diamond, why is the existing audience dropping out, if not because the medium is falling behind the times. This could simply be an indication of a shifting market. Taking a second look at the sales figures shows that the highlighted golden age companies are losing out, but the smaller, more independent companies are making a slight increase. It is still the bigger companies that have the most prominence, as Hassan Otmane-Elhaou highlighted ‘It is bigger publishers that will get the work noticed, and therefore start to shift markets and the medium’ Otmane-Elhaou (2018) But also believes that this is shifting
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‘I see what we call indie comics getting bigger and bigger, and comics being less confined to the specialist shops’ Otmane-Elhaou (2018) The big companies losing out reflects badly on the industry as a whole, and is by no means a good thing, taking into account the independent companies that distribute both big and small works. But this may be a necessary evolution for the industry as it takes a new form for the future. As Jeremy Melloul has noted for the article why independent comics will win ‘The market is still evolving. The second golden age of comics- a time of greater creative diversity and larger audiences reading comics is coming, but isn’t here yet’ Melloul (2015)
Melloul here refers to a tonal shift in what the industry is distributing, as the market is changing, so is the content and audience. One company that is benefiting from this is image comics, a company that he himself highlights ‘Image have single-handedly served to demonstrate the creative potential of comics, and shined a light on a future in which comics are defined by more than superheroes’ Melloul (2015) Thanks to a unique approach to the business of comics, Image is steadily earning a more prominent placement in the market. Rather than making new stories and characters, Image instead allows artists and writers to pitch their own ideas to the company, who will then in turn decide whether or not to publish the work. This means that the company for the most part cannot become too comfortable with existing series, and is constantly releasing new content. Melloul explains why this makes them stand out. ‘Corporate comics can’t respond to a need because that need hasn’t yet been proven in the direct market – as a result, they can only follow trends, rather than set them.’ Melloul (2015) Taking a chance in new ideas for the golden age companies could result in a misfire, which could then result in a loss of money, jobs, and then their business as a whole. It is understandable why they have come to be in this position, but also after years of
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relying on the same practices and output of content, explains the need for a fresher approach.
With this has come a demand for different content, one that Image is somewhat fulfilling, but not in its entirety as newer avenues are rising for the distribution of comics alongside this, to meet that need. The aforementioned method of crowd funding used for modern Polaxis being one of them. Knowing this, creators are becoming more confident about creating projects that stray from the standards set within comics, independent creators that can rely on their audience to fund their projects. Alongside Kickstarter, a site called Patreon has become an important role in maintaining independent creators careers. Similar to Kickstarter, it is set to fund projects and creators, but on a continuous basis, rather than one large sum to work with at the end of a campaign. This in turn works more like a wage, and encourages continuous projects. One artist successfully using the platform, Jeph Jacques, holds his Patreon following in a high regard ‘My community of patrons is fantastic and I consider them my most valuable readers’ Jaques (2017)
This is understandable when looking at his output. He started his career making single page comics online, which are known as web comics, primarily on the subject of music. With the advent of Patreon, he was then able to expand on his love of music, allowing him to work as a musician alongside being a comic creator. Having that audience who also appreciated the subject of music, paying his salary allowed him to stretch his wings as a creative. This understanding between the artist and following has led to him gaining the most patrons as a comic artist, and a relationship entirely new to the industry. Jacques as thanks to his patrons continually stays in contact with them, sharing music that he finds, responding to questions alongside his web comic releases. Diamond as a distributor for comic stores won’t be taking these projects in to mind when releasing their figures, and might just be the explanation for why things currently look so bleak for the comics industry.
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‘We as both creators and readers, should be pushing the industry towards the second golden age’ Melloul (2015) It would be simple enough to say that the future of comics lies with Jacques and other web comic creators, but this also comes with its own issues. The glaring problem playing on web creators minds is, undoubtedly, a vague future for their works. To get their work out there, they simply upload to a social media outlet or website of their own, a direct and easy method for getting their work to a continually increasing audience. The site will then keep the files, allowing viewers to read the comics whenever they choose, and return to their catalogue anytime. There is no guarantee, however, that the files or even the website will exist forever, an issue that many creators endeavour to avoid. To circumvent this, creators again now have a means of funding physical versions of their comics, thanks to the participation and funding of their followings. It is yet another example of crowd funding playing a role in how comics are distributed.
Could this then be what the comic industry will come to rely upon entirely? A process of levels working as somewhat of a proving ground for creators. The process may be as follows, the work will be made and distributed free of charge. Then, if the work catches enough attention, the creator can make a Patreon to fund the essentials in their lives. If that proves to be successful, and the cultivated fan base enjoys the work enough, they can fund a physical copy of the comic to add to their collection, safe in the knowledge that the work can’t be taken away unlike its online counterpart. This seems like a simple process when laying everything out like that, almost ideal, but there are some issues to consider when relying on the Internet for a career.
Firstly, garnering a following can be a slow process, which could take years to grow, especially if the work targets a specific niche. There then isn’t any guarantee that the following would be giving enough to fund the artist either, so earning enough to survive could prove to be a real challenge. Having the ability to maintain that following would be a balancing act and would add extra work outside of creating the comic itself. This doesn’t even cover how easy it can be to turn off an audience, one wrong word and the following is lost in an instant, especially when dealing with 16 James Moore
people over the internet, which is publicly considered to be a volatile environment. Finally, getting printed versions of the comics will always be a great achievement, but then once the run has finished, the work goes out of print, and future fans won't be able to purchase the work unless they buy someone else’s copy for a no doubt grossly inflated price.
There are groups attempting to address these issues. New social media pages are being crated with the goal of getting new works out there, one example being the likes of social media pages ‘promote indie comics’ and ‘Black Comics Chat’ sharing small projects that they find of note and wish to promote to benefit the creators and by extension promote the industry. These pages are in effect the people mentioned by Melloul, campaigning and pushing the industry towards a second golden age of diversity and independence.
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CHAPTER 4 - REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
These lessons were applied to the project running alongside the essay, an original comic pitch called “walk among the giants”. Having this pitch then allows for the possibility of the work to both be shown to publishers, and in failing to grab attention there, could be showcased through crowd funding sites, alongside the promise of funding going towards the completion of the project.
The comic itself is a physical copy, a decision based on the screen fatigue phenomenon noted by IDW. Admittedly risky considering the drop in sales, but with Image, and smaller companies gaining a slight increase on sales (see fig 2&3) as independent publishers, there may be an emerging market for new content, rather than the barrage of superhero works saturating the market. There are also the cases of physical versions being created from crowd funding, showing that there still exists the market.
Keeping in mind saturated aspects of the market, the comic was hand drawn using pencils, to stand out amongst a sea of digital works, and also act as a medium that is relatable to the younger demographic. A decision that aesthetically I have no regrets for, but when continuing the project, will consider a merging of both digital backdrops and pencil work characters. The process proved to be time consuming, so this mixture should in turn streamline development. Another issue that arose from this process, was that I drew every element individually (characters, backdrops etc.) This meant that the layout couldn’t be scrutinised throughout, and some compositions flow and read better as a result. Creating backdrop pages digitally together will circumvent this issue, making layout a part of the process.
The decision to make a physical copy doesn’t mean that external technological elements will be avoided though, as there were clear perks of using emerging technologies for both Marvel and Sutu. Lacking the budget to truly integrate the elements within the comic, as mentioned previously, these materials were created 18 James Moore
solely for promotional purposes and to be shared online, through social media etc. A decision made as the internet seems to be the dominant field for getting work to the public for small creators, as Aaron Humphrey highlighted within his book Making publics, Making Places ‘In some ways, sharing links on social media has become the digital version of handing out pamphlets on street corners’ Humphrey (2016)
This was then taken further, in order to truly grasp the process of crowd funding and pitching a comic works, a promotional campaign was created for Kickstarter, selling the comic as a product to be. This was at least the intention, but upon discovering the comic “Let’s Kickstart a comic” by Charlie Trottman, I realised that I was barely scratching the surface, by avoiding both PR and distribution aspects of the process. It must be noted though that thanks to this aspect, limited as it was, I have come away with a more refined understanding of how to both present myself and my work to the world, taking into consideration how the aesthetic consistency between the project and its branding made for a more engaging project to viewers.
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CHAPTER 5 - CONCLUSION
When all is taken in to consideration, comics continue to survive, despite signs of strain due to tired practices and recycled subjects that continue to saturate the market. Technological advances are appearing, challenging the very definition of what a comic is, but aren’t proving to be a solution to the dwindling interest affecting the industry. This doesn’t mean that they should just be forgotten though, as they do act as effective promotional material and are still in the stages of their infancy, they could yet grow to have far more of an influence within the industry. There are also signs of the market shifting, moving from the standard superhero comics, allowing more varied themes to hold the limelight. The public/ fan base now has the ability to directly fund projects that interest them, which is beneficial to those who have managed to garner an existing following behind their work, but poses a challenge to new creators. This also hurts comic stores, actively working to get work out there, but don’t play any roles in the direct process of crowd funding, and therefore are entirely uninvolved. This is an issue that could possibly be addressed by creators post completion of their projects. Once the work has completed and has successfully been published, a company that works to continue the publication of these projects would benefit everyone, and also include shops in the process.
Regardless, comics are in a precarious situation, experiencing what can be compared to growing pains as it continues through this change. Its survival relies upon the continued support of groups sharing new work, fans funding projects, and creatives willing to work within these less than ideal or secure parameters. Continuing as it currently is, allowing the unproven works to shine could prove to be beneficial, attracting a more diverse and wider reaching audience could be what brings comics in to its second golden age. Whether or not this pans out, only time will tell.
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IMAGES
Fig. 1. Cruikshank, G. (1819). Massacre at st peters. [Ink, Watercolour].
Fig. 2. Johnston, R. (2017). Top comic book publishers shares. [image]
Available at: https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/09/08/less-spent-comics2016-market-sales/ [Accessed 14 Dec. 2017]. 21 James Moore
Fig. 3. Johnston, R. (2017). Comparative sales statistics. [image] Available at: https://www.bleedingcool.com/2017/09/08/less-spent-comics-2016-marketsales/ [Accessed 14 Dec. 2017].
Fig. 4. Netbook News (n.d.). Marvel AR in use. [image] Available at: http://www.netbooknews.com/46719/marvel-comics-augmented-reality-appbrings-you-behind-the-scenes/ [Accessed 14 Jan. 2018]. 22 James Moore
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Melloul, J. (2015). Why Independent Comics Will Win. [online] Creator At Large - Helping Comic Book Creators Build Independent Careers. Available at: http://www.creatoratlarge.com/blog/why-indie-comics-will-win [Accessed 14 Oct. 2017]. Ohlheiser, A. (2017). Facing a rebellion of furious creators, Patreon backs away from a new fee. [online] Washington Post. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theintersect/wp/2017/12/13/facing-a-rebellion-of-furious-creators-patreon-backs-away-from-a-newfee/?utm_term=.ddebf0a94263 [Accessed 14 Oct. 2017]. Petty, J. (n.d.). A brief history of comic books. [ebook] Heritage auction galleries. Available at: http://www1.heritagestatic.com/comics/d/history-of-comics.pdf [Accessed 14 Dec. 2017]. Priyashakti.com. (2018). Priya’s Shakti Augmented Reality Art Exhibition | Priya's Shakti. [online] Available at: http://www.priyashakti.com/exhibitions/ [Accessed 13 Jan. 2018]. Rosberg, C. (2016). Self-published comics are changing an aging industry—for the better. [online] Avclub.com. Available at: https://www.avclub.com/self-published-comics-are-changing-anaging-industry-fo-1798249457 [Accessed 14 Oct. 2017]. Sabak, N. (2017). Boom! Pow! Ka-Ching!: Sales of Digital Comics and Graphic Novels - Publishing Trends. [online] Publishingtrends.com. Available at: http://www.publishingtrends.com/2017/02/digital-sales-comics-graphic-novels/ [Accessed 14 Oct. 2017]. Sager, C. (2011). Making your own comic book? Read this first. [online] Geekout.blogs.cnn.com. Available at: http://geekout.blogs.cnn.com/2011/08/31/thinking-of-making-your-own-comicbook-read-this-first/ [Accessed 14 Oct. 2017]. Shutt, C. (2011). Baby Boomer Comics. Cincinnati: F+W Media. TED (2009). Scott McCloud: Understanding comics. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXYckRgsdjI&t=1s&ab_channel=TED [Accessed 15 Jan. 2018].
Trottman, C. (n.d.). Let's Kickstart a comic. [ebook] Iron Circus comics. Available at: https://ironcircus.com/shop/ebooks/27-let-s-kickstart-a-comic-pdf-ebook.html [Accessed 14 Dec. 2017]. Twitter.com. (2018). BlackComicsChat (@BlackComicsChat) | Twitter. [online] Available at: https://twitter.com/BlackComicsChat?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr %5Eauthor [Accessed 14 Oct. 2017].
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APPENDICES
Interview with Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
What are some creators and publishers that you feel are currently switching things up in the medium of comics?
I think with comics in the market as we mostly understand them, it will always be the bigger publishers that will get the work noticed, and therefore start to shift markets and the medium. At the same time though, they’re going to be bound by a certain format. But I do think DC Comics have done some interesting choices with things like Batman: Creature of the Night as a longer length perfect bound comic, or Batman: The Dark Prince Charming, a more bande-dessine approach. otherwise you’d need to look at creators changing the approach.
What are your views on comics that include extra elements, such as Augmented reality, animation, sounds etc.?
I, personally, see that as being something beyond comics. In each of those instances you’re playing with a different art form, or your adding to the experience of engaging with the piece of media. QR codes to read extra features or adding soundtracks to comics, you’re not dealing with the medium of comics anymore, but rather something else. Animation or film or something in between all three of them.
What direction do you see comics taking in the future? Can they survive as primarily a print medium?
Well the graphic novel book market is rising and rising, so I think as long as people continue to buy books, they’re going to be buying comic books. Things like Ghosts, which outsold basically everything, prove that. As for the US comics market and 25 James Moore
specific comic book shops, that’s harder to predict. But I see what we’d call ‘indie’ titles getting bigger and bigger, and comics being less confined to the specialist shops.
What comic do you feel everybody should read, and why?
This is tough! I ask this questions to other creators a lot and it’s always a difficult one to answer. I think, for mass market appeal, things like Bitch Planet and Saga have done very well. To understand what comics can do, maybe Asterios Polyp. For pure, gut-wrenching emotion, maybe Blankets. But it depends what someone is looking for!
26 James Moore