Episode 76: I’ve Solved the Graphic Novels Problem
OK, that title might be a bit grandiose. In fact, listening back to the podcast now, I don’t think I made a clear case. I wound up talking about three different, though related, things. I’m going to come back to this with something closer to an Action Plan someday…
But there are still some good thoughts in here.
The show notes:
How can Marvel or DC successfully create a line of original graphic novels? How is it that they’ve failed this long at it? What can they learn from both the French publishing model and the Amazon Kindle model?
I’ve solved all of these problems in one short podcast. I should get a consultant’s fee for this kind of work, but instead I give it all away.
See also: Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips Go European
Learning French: I’m using DuoLingo for learning French. Let’s be friends! My streak is now past 590 days! Il chante sous la pluie!
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There are some weird displays on this page, not sure what is happening.
Anyhoo…
This sounds like common sense, doesn’t it? I’ve been saying something similar in discussions with americans for decades, yet they are so set in their ways that they just don’t see it. You’d expect more from professionals in the publishing industry to have a better grasp of what can or cannot be done in this market. Especially the big two, now that they are both part of global media empires, you’d think they want to keep the publishing division running instead of just end up shrinking IP farms… that means taking a leap of faith when you are in front of an abyss. Wait, that came out wrong 😉
When looking at the Japanese market, it’s even more obvious, isn’t it? Those massive inexpensive volumes are a joy for old-timers like me, who misses dearly the Marvel Essentials and DC Showcase series of compendiums. Oh, well…
And the one comment about the spines misalignment… I cringe every time I pass by my LOSH archives, which is several times a week. Even though I’d have to admit that in this domain, Europeans are not exempt of reproach, trying to collect Hugo Pratt first editions, or Moebius, or even someone like Gotlib who had multiple publishers and every new printing was a different size than the one before, that is bound to cause you major headaches as it did me. Sure it’s not the worst thing happening in the world right now, but we sure could do without.