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Stan (ley)'s Soapbox
Christmas 1996

By Larry Stanley


Well, here it is, Christmas 1996. Did it shock anyone else how fast this year went, or is it just me? Anyway, this soapbox I am resolved not to talk about the election or the state of the nation. Maybe.

In fact, let's talk about the comic industry. According to a source (I love newspaper terms) from Marvel, the comic industry is down almost 30-35% nation-wide, and they are looking at another 5-15% loss before it gets any better.

Here's the shock...I am not surprised. Not a bit. Look at the quality of work on the market today. Outside of Astro City, Shi, Kingdom Come and maybe one or two other quality books there is nothing worth a darn.

Imagine someone who goes in, buys a copy of one of these high quality, good books, then a few weeks later, comes in, buys a copy of standard comic number 223, realizes it is basically crap...does he come in next week? Not a chance. And there goes another potential customer and fan.

Sure, that is just one time. But add that up over several thousand or million potential buyers and that is a butt-load of cash lost to the industry. But, what does one major publisher do? Instead of trying to fix what is wrong with it's top selling and longest lasting characters, it destroys them (sort of) and re-creates them in another universe.

Why didn't they just work on those books with decent writers and artist's and make these books fun? Who cares about the new Marvel whatever universe it is this week? Next week, it will still be the same problems.

And, as for the creative team, don't I recall something about "Liefeld and company" never working for Marvel again? What about the fact that most of the stuff these creators have worked on over the last few years has been at best mediocre, and at worst, less then mediocre? According to many, Liefeld has talent, but he also seems to have a few problems with authority and handling a deadline, as well as working with other people.

What happens to the character when ego gets in the way of delivering a good story and art? Who usually looses? The fan that's who. But, now a days it seems like the fan is usually the last one thought about in this industry.

I don't mind paying $2.00 for a comic. Heck, if I like the character, or the creative team, I would pay even more: for example, I paid much more for Kingdom Come and Astro City then I would normally have done, because I was pleased with the rendition of Superman in K.C., and the work done of the team behind Astro City. This is quality, stylish work, done by people who love the industry and what it means. Work like this is worth extra.

Sure, everyone has different standards they use to judge a "good" comic. Opinions, standards and rear-ends. We all have them and some are better then others. That is what makes life and the comic book industry interesting. But, that does not mean that our industry and hobby is not going to be in trouble for a while. I think over the next year, we are going to see lot's of characters changing, being "killed", coming out of the closet or maybe even being totally canceled. I think that by this time next year, we will see about half the books on the rack that are there now, and less companies then there are now.

Lots less.

Is this bad? No, not really. In some ways, it will be the best thing that could happen to this business. It needs to be pared down to a level that can be enjoyed and afforded by everyone involved. Like I said. $2.00 is not much. $2.00 times 40 books a week for mostly garbage that tries to promote a new 'guest star' each issue is not only a waste, but a crime in some ways.


Well, I guess that is all. Sure, I could have griped about the people in Stockton who want to burn the library, or at least most of the books. Or I could have talked about O.J. Maybe even the fact that

President Clint waited until after the election to send thousands of American's overseas again, while he also gets a nice trip as well. Of course, the soldiers get sent to a war-zone; he goes on a jaunt to

Australia.

It's Christmas. I decided to be nice. Happy Holidays.

Music is a personal choice made both by entertainers and listeners. No one can force someone to listen to or buy something they do not like. And just to remind you, on the radio, it is real hard to tell what color someone is.