If an artist has any confidence in their creation then why not go to publishing by trade only? There is obviously a market for the format and I think that some creators (with all due respect Mr. David) are focusing too much on the negative aspect of TPB buyers like myself instead of adapting to the market and marketing directly to our group of buyers.

I have listed time and time again why I prefer TPB's to monthly, ad laden pamphlets, I dont want to go into them again.

My suggestion is for the comics industry to jump on board and start capitalizing on the trend of TPB only buyers. If you have a good product you will find an audience and make money, it is as simple as that. The format does not make or break the industry, the end product does.

What Mr. David is "pointing out" is, to be frank, bullshit. The trend is damaging to the overall comic industry only if the industry fails to adapt to a changing marketplace. What is that old saying, adapt or die?

Trades are but a small part of the whole. Take any given trade paperback's sales and imagine all of those sales are to new readers. Add those sales to the title's monthly sales. Assume the title's sales are all unique readers, too. Do you think the TPB numbers make a significant difference? I don't.

But I'm getting off point ...

The industry has dealt itself far greater blows than the one dealt by the growing trend towards trade paperbacks. Growth in the world of comics is not stagnant because of trade paperbacks, but for other reasons. Easier for some to blame the consumer rather than look inward? I don't know. But with some there seems to be such a tone, however minor it may be.

It’s impossible to say either way, but I would suggest that trades have helped retain readers overall that would have otherwise been lost to the industry (myself included), as opposed to witling down an already minute consumer base. Trades aren't likely to grow the industry just yet, but they certainly aren't some horried death knell, either. Some monthlies can’t cut it because of trade paperbacks? Too bad. The marketplace has changed. Adapt or die. (I think such blame is misplaced, anyway)

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The problem is that the comic industry is tilting itself toward the "trade and trade only" buyers preferences, disregarding the real and potential damage that will do to itself.

A bigger problem is that for the better part of a decade, the industry has failed to draw in the next generation of readers. Going into 2004, we're moving into our second generation of potential readers the industry has missed out on ensnaring. This has impacted a myriad of issues, but I'll touch on just one: The readership's average age has been allowed to grow; the buying patterns of older consumers differ from those of younger consumers; growing popularity for trade paperbacks is a natural extension of that. The industry made its own bed. Now it must lie in it.

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That puts people like Mr. David in the desperate situation of having to ask consumers to do things they don't want to do, in order to try and save the comic book business as a whole.

I think Peter David overstates his case and misplaces the blame for a stagnant industry.

It's not like people are spending their money elsewhere when it comes to trades. They're still giving their money to Marvel and DC.

What's going to kill the industry is shit stories by mediocre creators not a change in the reading format.

Okay. Now I am a bit confused. Mr. David is basing his views on his, at least, couple of decades of hands on experience in both the creative and business sides of the comic book industry. Not to mention that I'm sure his experience as a writer of actual books (you know, those things that trades are meant to resemble) also informs his perspective.

When you declare his opinions "bullshit", exactly what information, knowledge, experience or practical wisdom are you basing that evaluation on? When you declare that emphasizing the trade format will be good for the industry, what are you basing that pronoucement on? (Yes, I know that's bad grammar)

You want trades. That's fine. There's an arguement to be made that you shouldn't have to care about anything more than your own selfish desires as a consumer. But please don't pretend that what suits you as a consumer is automatically good for the comic industry, or that the industry could even function on the terms you would prefer.

Mike

Selfish needs of the consumer? You state this as if it is a bad thing. I dont go out and buy women shoes because I think that the Female shoe industry will suffer because of my lack of interest in their product.

Some of you have some whacky ideas about how capitalism works.

When you cease putting words on my mouth, we'll pick up the discussion. 'Kay?

Yes, but because the trade is seen as "extra" income and the monthly is seen as a less variable thing, the trades have become the cart that drives the horse. Most monthlies really aren't stories unto themselves at this point; they are mere signatures of the future trade. Publishers seemed to believe that they would not lose the basic direct market pamphlet reader by doing this, and they would gain a hold in the bookstore market. However, it has hurt the quality of the pamphlet as a reading experience. I would expect the drop-off in pamphlet sales is due far more to that perceived loss of quality than to people waiting for the trades.
Perhaps, then, it's being pointed out to the wrong people. The real folks that should be taking note of it are the publishers, who should be made aware of what their customers desire; commerce works far better when the manufacturer serves the customer than the other way 'round.

This is not a unique situation in media. There is certainly some sizable portion of people who see ads for a movie and decide to wait for it to come out on video. Hollywood studios have long since factored the expected income from the video release in on the financial projection for the film. At the moment, most of the top 10 films from the end of July are available on video.

Publishers need to learn to better sense when folks are waiting for the trade. There is little financial difference between selling 40,000 copies a month of a title plus 10,000 of the trade and 10,000 copies a month and 40,000 of the trade; you're tying up your money a bit longer is all. If they base their judgment of how the trade will sell solely on the sales of the monthly, then they are showing a weak understanding of the modern comics market.

Or perhaps it will cause the trade fans to lose their enthusiasm for that particular project, chasing instead after the more recent shiny thing.

There something about the trades are the future argument that has always puzzled me in terms of production schedules, manga gets off this as an exception due to they are reprinting material that can be a year to years old, how would one hire a writer and artist to deliver 224 pages in a lump and have it arrive on time (what is that 7 or 8 months?) I figure (and my numbers can be off) that would give the readership a book a year. (that would suck but it is the new world that we are supposed to get used to) Marvel and DC would be like book publishers giving out advances and delivery and people would order them from Amazon or whatever. How the hell do books like Blankets get made without the monthly income for their creators? Don’t these guys have mortgages to pay?

Consumer selfishness is not a bad thing in many, if not most, situations. However, here are a few questions...

1. Would you buy a product that was made with slave labor?

2. If you had to put your parents into some sort of elder care facility, would you only concern yourself with finding the cheapest possible place?

3. Let's say there are two cars you're interested in buying. One costs a hundred dollars more, but it's also 100% more environmentally friendly than the other. Which do you buy?

Capitalism is an economic system. It doesn't care about morality or ethics or fellowship or family. A world where capitalism was the only standard by which to judge economic action would be a terrible, brutal place to live.

Mike

1. Would you buy a product that was made with slave labor?

Ideally? No. But I don't always look at where a product is made before I purchase it. The questions I ask myself are

1.) Do I want or need this
and
2.) Is it cost effective for me?

Outside of that it doesnt matter. I wish it did, but that is what keeps Wal Mart in business. It doesnt matter that they drive down the economy by purchasing goods from countries that do not have the same wage and living standards as the U.S., all people see is that they have cheap goods. Yes its looking in the short term, but thats America

2. If you had to put your parents into some sort of elder care facility, would you only concern yourself with finding the cheapest possible place?

Cost would be an issue, but I would want them to be in as safe and comfortable place as I could afford. But my Parents and Comics dont even share the same plain of existance in my mind.

3. Let's say there are two cars you're interested in buying. One costs a hundred dollars more, but it's also 100% more environmentally friendly than the other. Which do you buy?

I would buy the environmentally friendly car. If it had a comfortable ride and good gas milage.

Capitalism is an economic system. It doesn't care about morality or ethics or fellowship or family. A world where capitalism was the only standard by which to judge economic action would be a terrible, brutal place to live.

Yes, in the REAL world. But we are talking about the BUSINESS world here. Bottom line is if the comics industry refuses to change with its audience it is doomed to its own failure. I don't buy Peter Davids comics because I want to support Peter Davids family. I will buy them if they entertain me. That is why it is business and NOT charity.

I am a pretty open guy when it comes to the economy (Read my rants on the Poli board), but to assume that consumers should support a product because an industry refuses to change to the will of the customer is just plain absurd!

Now would be a great time for the Comic book industry to start catering to the wants of a changing audience, instead some are trying to change the view of said audience!