A Good Read About The Comic Book Industry - Part III !

[OldGuy]

Part II - http://www.newsarama.com/Nick2.htm

[OldGuy]

A relaited link.

[OldGuy]

Part III

 

http://www.newsarama.com/Nick3.htm

 

This one should [!@#%^&^] some people off.

[OldGuy]

Lighthouse is an industry leader I guess.

 

NRAMA: Now you're channeling Quesada's speech again…

 

NB: But it is true, and Joe wasn't the first to say it. If I remember correctly, Todd McFarlane was saying it for years. But why are these creators repeating the rhetoric? Isn't the answer obvious? Far too many comic shops are virtually designed to keep people out, whether it's the altogether alien atmosphere of the shop just being too weird, or the staff being…less than personable in any variety of ways.

 

You don't work at Wal-Mart with your shirt hanging out, looking like you just rolled out of bed, and act like you couldn't give less of a [!@#%^&^] about your customers. There's a reason why Wal-Mart is bigger than K-Mart. And part of it is because the first thing that you see on a Wal-Mart employee's nametag is "How can I help you today?" And when they turnaround to get something for you, that same sign is on the back of their vest. There's a reason why Jet Blue is profitable and US Airways is not - and by the way, Jet Blue is valued at three times what the next three larger airlines are valued at. There's a reason for all this. Is it just so simple about caring and focus on the customer? Is that all it is? Just the attitude of going out and being a better experience for the customer than the other guys?

 

There are shops out there that are nearly legendary in the industry, and it's not because of luck or location - it's all attitude. The attitude of the entire industry needs to get better. This needs to be said. This needs to be done. We need to grow.

 

Mark Millar has a great idea, that I know will get both of us railed on for being sexist pigs, but hear me out - every comic book shop should have a bar back girl.

 

NRAMA: I gotcha, but you may want to explain that a little.

 

NB: Sure - you go to a bar, and they have a pretty girl, not being the bartender, but cleaning up and taking the glasses off the tables with a beautiful smile that makes you want to drink more. The really good ones make you feel like you're the most special person in the world.

 

NRAMA: But they're not…

 

NB: No, they're not hookers or strippers. Get your head out of the gutter. On high traffic days, stores should try having a pretty girl working. Someone who's dressed appropriately and has a smile for everyone. Get the teenage boys in there. That's the kind of forward thinking that our industry needs.

 

NRAMA: You know you're going to take heat for that suggestion alone, right?

[THE_BEYONDER]

Part III

 

http://www.newsarama.com/Nick3.htm

 

This one should [!@#%^&^] some people off.

 

I think "the fear" that was born in 1993, has some people TERRIFIED to this very day. It's funny.....because I'm not scared at all

[OldGuy]

Part III

 

http://www.newsarama.com/Nick3.htm

 

This one should [!@#%^&^] some people off.

 

I think "the fear" that was born in 1993, has some people TERRIFIED to this very day. It's funny.....because I'm not scared at all

 

I don't feel the fear either. I guess it's a pretty big deal for some (people that make their living in comics?) though. I don't want to see new comics go away, but if they did I'd get over it. It would suck, but I'd be ok. My main interest is in back issues anyway and as long as there is an Ebay I'll be able to get those. It would be to much to say I don't care, but I'm not losing any sleep over it one way or another.

[THE_BEYONDER]

"I don't feel the fear either. I guess it's a pretty big deal for some (people that make their living in comics?) though. I don't want to see new comics go away, but if they did I'd get over it. It would suck, but I'd be ok. My main interest is in back issues anyway and as long as there is an Ebay I'll be able to get those. It would be to much to say I don't care, but I'm not losing any sleep over it one way or another."

 

I agree with you. I don't think one's LOVE for comics...has anything at all to do with the "state" of comic collecting. When I said that "I don't care", I wasn't trying to instill the FEAR. I was simply trying to illustrate a possible perception of comics. I wouldn't mind if EVERYONE collected comics. I wouldn't mind if collecting comics was COOL. I don't mind that large amounts of $$ is being made off of comics. I don't even mind what the FEAR has done to some people. All I was trying to do......was express my right to NOT CARE.

 

 

[garthgantu]

Once you understand this, Pov, you'll admit to your nasty, greedy self that you've never cared about comics at all. Just the money you're constantly getting for selling them. You do constantly slab and sell comics, don't you? Doesn't matter. You're still about greed.

 

No! NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Epiphany! Consciousness RAAAAISED!!!!!! Yes. I am scum! SCUMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Willoughby! Please let my next stop be Willoughby!

 

Ehhe - nice reference, POV ... the train stops here!

[garthgantu]

A few points:

 

Joe didn't feel like attributing this comment:

"But I sure can't top your recruiting efforts - getting 12 new comic book fans into the fold is impressive. If we could all achieve this mark, we'd be guaranteed a market for our comics 20+ years down the road...! "

 

But I'll happily cop to being the author, and stand behind it. As a collector for the past 30 years, I'm not ashamed to admit that I want my comic collection to appreciate in value going forward. Did I get into comics for the $ ? Of course not - in 1975 there was no money in it, to speak of. Am I in it for the money now? Definitely to some extent. But I still appreciate comics on many levels, and if the bottom dropped out of the back issue market, I wouldn't run out and build a big bonfire. Does that make me a "new collector"? I don't think so.

 

As for Joe calling himself "ambivalent," I'd argue that point. Joe seems indifferent, not ambivalent. To each his own - I'm definitely ambivalent on the subject of new comics. The only "new" comics I've bought in the past 15 years were reprints of things like Sugar & Spike and various Barks duck stories. So on the one hand, I have almost zero interest in new comics, in-and-of-themselves. But I do think comics as a medium are cool, and hope that they survive well into the future, *partly* because I think it will help ensure that the 50 cubic feet of comics occupying my home will end up being worth the space they've taken up!

[ninanina]

All I was trying to do......was express my right to NOT CARE.

 

History is filled with individuals who cared for this hobby. If they didn't, VG Silver Age would be a rare find today. People today would get excited about the "poor" Action 1 found in somebody's attic hitting close to $350,000 on e-bay. Comic restoration would be a booming business.

 

So, when we buy back-issues and treasure them in our collections, let's thank the collectors of the past that did care. We are in fact saving this hobby for the next generation, well the ones that care anyway.

 

Not a shot, Beyonder - just something to think about.