There’s lots of economic news floating around this week — most of it bad — but here’s the latest on what’s going around.

§ Cuts at Gemstone Publishing, which publishes Disney licenses, EC reprints and the Overstreet Price Guide. An email to Publisher Russ Cochran got the following response:

We have unfortunately been forced by circumstances to close the West Plains, Missouri office of Gemstone Publishing. This included laying off five staffers here. I personally have worked with these people for over thirty years, so this was a very difficult decision, one that was painful for all involved. Going forward, I am still a part of Gemstone and we will be moving The EC Archives project to our York, Pennsylvania office. We fully expect to be able to get EC books and the Disney titles back on track, I look forward to continuing my association with the great EC material for years to come.

According to a Diamond mailer, Gemstone’s Free Comic Book day offering has also been canceled, due to production delays.

§ In other Diamond news, via ICv2 ,there will be only one Retailer Summit this year, in Baltimore, Oct. 11-13, with the games-oriented Fort Wayne, IN summit canceled.

§ Word is going around that there have been layoffs at Lebonfon, the Canadian printer publisher which specializes in comics, especially from smaller publishers. Whether this is related to less work because of the lesser demand in comics printing due to Diamond’s new policies, or the general downturn in the world economy, is unclear.

§ It was widely reported this week that there were layoffs at Viz Media. CEO Hidemi Fukuhara issued the following statement:

Viz Media is in the process of refining its focus and is restructuring to adjust to changing industry and financial market realities. Viz feels confident that with these changes, the company will be more streamlined to face the current economic climate.

According to Tina Anderson, the cuts involved 12-15 staffers, including two from editorial.

§ Publisher Richard Nash is leaving Soft Skull Press to take on new projects. Soft Skull has offered many comics projects over the years, including David Rees’ GET YOUR WAR ON, and books by Nate Powell and Megan Kelso.

Nash told PW, “This is about the future of publishing. I really want to be engaged in helping figure out a new model for independents. And I am enormously optimistic. I’m not going to do consulting or freelancing, in the sense of eupemisms for ‘I don’t have a clue’ or ‘I’m getting the hell out of publishing,’ but as a way of doubling down, betting it all on the future of publishing, and it’s easier to bet if you have a clean slate rather than a legacy project.” Nash also indicated he looks forward to having time to “play with others,” after working “70-hour weeks for eight years inside the Soft Skull pod.”

§ Kodansha, the Japanese publishing giant, had its biggest annual loss ever last year:

Advertising revenues declined under the effects of the recession, and a drop in magazine and comic sales led to 135.058 billion yen (about US$1.4269 billion) in overall annual sales, a drop of 6.4% from the previous year. This resulted in a loss of 7.686 billion yen (about US$81.2 million) for 2008 — the largest annual loss in the company’s history.

Revenues from the magazine division, including comic magazines, were at 93.7% of the previous year’s levels. The book division’s revenues was 92.1% of the previous year’s revenues, while advertising revenues stood at 89.8%.

The article makes reference to Kodansha’s long brewing plans for an American manga publishing arm, but states there has been no news since the initial announcement.

§ Finally, there’s this.

Editorial cartoonist Brian Duffy was recently let go from his job at the Des Moines Register; after leaving, he discovered that his artwork, which had been left behind, was not going to be returned to him but was planned to be donated to the University of Iowa.

Duffy said he was always under the impression that his sketches were a joint copyright, just like when he published his book.

“Copyright Brian Duffy and the Des Moines Register, not just the Des Moines Register,” said Duffy. “I have no problem donating a large body of work to the University of Iowa. In fact, I’d love to do that.”

But he wants to do it on his terms not on behalf of the newspaper that shooed him out the door.

Now Ted Rall, president of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists, has written an open letter to Carolyn Washburn, the editor of the paper:

Dear Ms. Washburn:

As President of The Association of American Editorial Cartoonists (AAEC), I am writing to express the collective dismay of our membership at reports that you plan to dispose of Brian Duffy’s original political cartoons without his consent.

While your newspaper may claim ownership of Brian’s thousands of original cartoons he drew during 25 years as The Register’s staff editorial cartoonist, there remain compelling questions of what is customary and what is right.

Although it used to be common for newspapers to keep their cartoonists’ original artwork, that practice changed decades ago, and almost universally cartoonists now leave their newspapers with their artwork. These original drawings represent an artist’s life work, and while newspapers pay for the its production, they do so in order to publish the work on its editorial page—not to possess each piece as artwork.

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[Image ganked from Screencrave]

§ Marvel apparently has decided that coughing up enough money for a nine picture deal for Samuel L. Jackson is a very good idea. Jackson will reprise his role as Nick Fury in a flurry of films, including IRON MAN 2, THOR, CAPTAIN AMERICA, THE AVENGERS, and any sequels. An actual S.H.I.E.L.D. movie is also a possibility.,

§ SUICIDE SQUAD is the latest DC-based movie to be announced, with Dan Lin (SHERLOCK HOLMES, TERMINATOR: SALVATION) as producer. Justin Marks (20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, HACK/SLASH, STREET FIGHTER) is on board as screenwriter. The Suicide Squad, for those not versed in DC-ology, are a bunch of villains who are sprung from prison to accomplish a task too dangerous for heroes.

We’d just like to point out again that tomorrow, as part of the Festival of New French Writing , Francoise Mouly will interview Chris Ware and Marjane Satrapi. And it’s FREE. The event takes place at the Skirball Center, 566 LaGuardia Place (at Washington Square South). In other non-comics events through the festival, starting tonight, folks like E.L. Doctorow are also taking part, so you might wanna check it out if you’re into authors.

§ Speaking of books and so on, McNally Jackson Books is launching a Graphic Novel Reading series on March 5 (next week) with WATCHMEN.

§ And speaking of WATCHMEN, MoCCA is hosting a benefit screening on March 5, as well. Details below:

This once-in-a-lifetime evening begins with a VIP reception with special guests at MoCCA for our new exhibition The Art of Watchmen, continues with an advance screening of Watchmen at AMC 19th St., and concludes with a silent auction and an author signing of Watchmen Portraits by Clay Enos.

Tickets are $100, $75 for MoCCA members. Purchase you tickets today and receive a MoCCA membership – a $35 value!. If you are already a member, your membership will be extended. All proceeds from this special event go to support MoCCA programming.

This benefit screening of Watchmen will sustain us and enable our growth. And we want you there! To further our mission of promoting the understanding and appreciation of comic and cartoon art as well as to discuss the artistic, cultural, and historical impact of the art form, we ask for your support.

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I think, given the events of tonight’s show, I have finally found a way to encapsulate the Benjamin Linus vs. Charles Widmore struggle.

More after the jump.
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Okay, just a few after dinner cordials as we close the books on the annual Imbolc rituals:

§ Peerless Peggy Burns of D&Q has the last word on the indie sales matter, by pointing out that comparing apples to sea scallops makes no sense whatsoever:

Bookscan doesn’t provide an accurate report, but it can be helpful in gauging where our sales lie in relation to other publishers. I use it the same way I use an Amazon ranking — very loosely. I admit to logging in every Wednesday to see our previous week’s numbers. I don’t look to see how our books are performing against Naruto or Wimpy Kid, I look to see how our books perform among our distributor FSG’s titles, and I look to see how our books perform compared to our closest publishing peer, McSweeneys, and to make sure our books perform as well as the majority of Pantheon’s graphic novels (Maus and Persepolis are in their own league, of course.) When I see that Bookscan says that Lynda Barry’s What It Is has comparable numbers to Pulitzer Prize winning author Michael Chabon’s Maps and Legends for McSweeneys, I am happy.

Anyone who has read the entire debate here should click on the link, as it’s must reading from a very informed viewpoint.

§ Marc-Oliver Frisch looks at the intertwined economic fortunes of trades and periodicals:

The question of Vertigo’s paperback sales is a classic absence-of-proof case for most series. There is no proof in the available numbers that (a) Vertigo series sell better in the book market than in the direct market or that (b) most current Vertigo series sell well anywhere at all. But just because the limited numbers we know don’t show it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not there, of course, which makes Hibbs’ statement problematic.

§ And finally, Dick Hyacinth has the most accurate assessment of all:

Note #1 about recent Bookscan conversations: I think the current debates reveal more about the rivalries and relationships between prominent comics bloggers than anything useful about the numbers themselves. This probably would have amused me more a few years ago.

Over at Robot 6, writer Ken Marcus (SUPER HUMAN RESOURCES) has a long list of marketing tips that, in the Post-Benchmark era, will need to be heeded more than ever, as he faces harsh facts:

People do not care about you. Not readers, not retailers, not the press and maybe not even your publisher. No one gives two turds about your book except for you. (The publisher thing isn’t really true, but regardless, this NEEDS to be your working mindset.) So making other people give two turds about your idea rests solely on your shoulders. That’s another way to say “marketing.”

If you build it, they will ignore it. Look, there are too many baseball diamonds in too many fields in that Previews catalog. And most of them look better than yours. Too many people think they can send their files off to the printer and book their table in San Diego. Nope. You’ve created your book. Now comes the hard part.

You’re getting great press when your comic comes out. AKA, you’re ‘effed. This is the No. 1 thing I don’t get. Creators doing all their interviews and previews the month their comic is out. Indy comics are all about pre-ordering. Getting people to ask their LCS for your comic the month it’s in Previews. This is the already-on-life-support lifeblood of indy comics. You have a few weeks before your issue #1 hits Previews and through the rest of that month. That is your sweet spot for pushing all your press and PR.

There much more, equally common sense advice, but the last bit we quoted is both accurate and frustrating. The disconnect between marketing to the comics shop retailers who are the customers for Diamond and most comics publishers, and marketing to the people who are the customers of the comics shops is still a wide one. In a world of tiny margins, it’s a hard one to negotiate.

Or as someone very smart about comics we were talking to the other day told us, in complaining about the ideas of some publishers, “They think an interview in Newsarama is all they need.”

In all their business news yesterday, a firm opening, title, and other info for the Spider-Man musical was announced. You’ll recall that the musical will be directed by Julie Taymor with music and lyrics by Bono and the Edge, and a book by Taymor and Glen Berger. No casting has been announced, but in red carpet interviews, Evan Rachel Wood keeps hinting strongly that she’ll play Mary Jane.

“Spider-Man, Turn Off The Dark” opens on Thursday, February 18, 2010 at Broadway’s Hilton Theatre, 213 West 42nd Street. And some lucky Broadway goers will get to see the show when preview performances begin Saturday, January 16, 2010.

Stay tuned to Marvel.com to find out about your chance to purchase tickets to “Spider-Man, Turn Off the Dark” before they go on sale to the general public!

[snip]

Group tickets now on sale. Single tickets will go on sale June, 2009. For more information about group tickets, visit the “Spider-Man” website at www.SpidermanOnBroadway.com or by calling 1-800-Broadway.

The NY Times has more info, although it will sadden some:
Mr. Bryan-Brown said that the music and lyrics were largely complete, but that Bono and the Edge would “of course write more songs as necessary.” He said that the subtitle of the musical, “Turn Off the Dark,” is the title of one of the songs, and added that there were no plans to use or riff on the well-known theme song from the television cartoon series about the Marvel comic-book superhero.
Incidentally, despite widespread reports in the New York theater gossip scene that the musical is wildly over budget, according to their earnings call, ever thrifty Marvel is not on the hook at all:

Regarding the Spider-man musical, for 2009 there’s no material financial effects. Just to reiterate, we are not investing any capital into the Spider-man musical and we do have a very significant first dollar gross participation in all the revenues. So for 2009, there should be no financial effects; 2010, again no cost effects, only whatever revenues we get as our gross participation in the show, including merchandise revenues, by the way, which some of these shows do significant business in.

The first four issues of COLD HEAT, the collaboration between Ben Jones (Paper Rad) and Frank Santoro, are now available online. FREE. Future print issues will be available for print on demand. In case you are unfamiliar with the title, the authors describe it as “the story of Castle, an 18 year old girl who embarks on a life altering adventure through anti-depressants, corporate rock ‘n’ roll, globalization and sex.

“Cold Heat is a hypnotically tranced out, maximum volume take on the action/adventure genre that stays out all night and doesn’t come home until the party’s over and it’s time to crash.”

§ Scott McCloud has relaunched scottmccloud.com, and there you can read the Google Comic, THE RIGHT NUMBER, and other early and middle period McCloud experiments in web comics. Above, “The Right Number” ©2003 and TM Scott McCloud.

§ Papercutz, the line of kids comics that publishes NANCY DREW, BIONICLE, TALES FROM THE CRYPT and so on, has launched a creators’ blog.

§ Paul Levitz Has Retired, says Scott Edelman.

§ Jennifer Contino recalls how her late grandmother encouraged her to be a superhero fan.

As I’ve said before, I can’t remember a time when superheroes weren’t in my life. As this picture proves, I was playing with Mego superhero dolls as a toddler. The beautiful woman there is my grandmother. While a lot of my aunts were trying to get me to play with Barbies or some other “girl-friendly” toy, grandma bought me superheroes for Christmas and my birthdays. She never tried to force the blonde bimbo brigade upon me and encouraged anything and everything I enjoyed. In fact, she played superheroes with me, watched Wonder Woman and Bionic Woman with me, and listened to me ramble on and on about my favorite characters and what I loved about each of them.

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Both David P. Welsh and John Jakala take a crack at listing their favorite humor manga. Lots of good stuff mentioned — from Sgt. Frog to Slam Dunk to Club 9 Your and My Secret. We’d advise checking out both lists, but we can’t believe no one mentioned Akira Toriyama, (Dr. Slump) but, you know, humor is subjective.

We just got a copy of the first volume of Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei by Koji Kumeta, and it does for girls schools what Cromartie High does for boys: Parodying the “heroic teacher” genre, the main character is a depressed, suicidal jerk and in each chapter he meets some dysfunctional student and instead of helping her become a better person, encourages her to join him in a suicide pact. There’s a lot of very specific Japanese social satire here, and Del Rey helpfully includes a lot of notes in the back. The art is striking, too.

And one more tidbit of movie news — occasional cartoonist and oft-times director Michel Gondry is supposedly going to direct that GREEN HORNET movie that stalled out when Stephen Chow bowed out as director. Reportedly, Chow is still on board to play Kato, and the decision to replace him with the formally daring Gondry shows that the producers are sticking with their idea of a more idiosyncratic crimefighting film. Slimmed-down Seth Rogen will still star.

Sorry we were so brief on our report on Marvel’s 4Q and year-end reports yesterday. You can read the earnings call transcript right here, and as usual, Publishing is mentioned only a few times:

For full year ’08, our publishing division continues to be a strong performer, with 41% of dollar share and 46% unit share in its primary market, the direct market. Our publishing margins are down slightly due to investment in digital media of approximately $2 million net during 2008.

INVESTMENT. Whoa.

In the actual PR, there’s this:

Marvel’s Publishing Segment net sales increased 9%, or $2.8 million, to $33.1 million in Q4 2008 from $30.3 million in Q4 2007, principally reflecting a larger number of high profile titles being released in Q4 2008, as well as one extra week of sales in Q4 2008. Marvel’s major publishing events in 2008 took place in the final three quarters of the year versus major publishing events in 2007 which took place in the first three quarters of the year. Q4 2008 operating income increased 6% to $13.0 million, an operating margin of 39%, compared to 41% in Q4 2007. The decrease in operating margin reflects investments being made in Marvel’s digital media initiatives.

For the entire year, buoyed by strong DVD sales for IRON MAN and HULK 2, Marvel reported net income of $205.5 million, so that’s one percent of the profits going into R&D for online. A few people have pointed out that maybe Marvel could just set aside an extra boodle so they can afford Mickey Rourke for IRON MAN 2, but you know, Marvel didn’t survive and thrive by throwing money around, which is why that “investment” in digital online is so startling.

Both Warners and Marvel released upcoming movie dates yesterday, and everyone got excited.

Warners:

JONAH HEX (starring Josh Brolin) August 6, 2010
GREEN LANTERN (directed by Martin Campbell) December 17, 2010
And…
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART II July 15, 2011

And here’s Marvel:

IRON MAN 2 (still no final word on Mickey Rourke) May 7, 2010
THOR (directed by Kenneth Branagh) July 16, 2010
THE FIRST AVENGER: CAPTAIN AMERICA (No further deets) May 6, 2011
THE AVENGERS (no further deets) July 15, 2011

Sorry we disappeared yesterday. We had chores to do.

BTW, isn’t a shame that comics don’t have word balloons on the covers any more?

Jim Milliot has a quick analysis of Marvel’s year-end numbers:

Marvel’s publishing division finished 2008 with sales of $125.4 million, virtually flat with 2007 when revenue was $125.7 million. Operating profit slipped to $47.3 million from $53.5 million, which the company said was primarily due to ongoing investments in digital initiatives. Unlike most traditional book publishers, Marvel did well at the end of the year with fourth quarter sales up 9%, to $33.1 million and earnings rising to $13 million from $12.3 million, which the company said benefitted from higher profile releases.

However, ‘09 is expected to be down a bit without the added boost of IRON MAN.

Sales in the publishing segment are expected to be flat at best with sales ranging from $115 million to $125 million with earnings continuing to be negatively impacted by digital media spending.

Kristy Valenti looks at a lesser known facet of George “Krazy Kat” Herriman’s career — his illustrations for archy and mehitabel. Written by journalist Don Marquis, these popular blank verse poems supposed a friendship between a cockroach (archy) and an alley cat (Mehitabel) who liked to dance in the moonlight. The poems had no punctuation because archy typed them out by jumping up and down on the keys of a typewriter:

Though Mehitabel resembles a gendered (Mehitabel is both intensely feminine and pointedly undomesticated), more feline version of Krazy Kat, Herriman’s Archy suggests, more than resembles, a cockroach (if one could pinpoint what kind of cockroach Archy is, in my humble opinion it would be an American one): it may be the hat. Which is not to say that Herriman’s version of Archy isn’t definitive: it is. Other illustrators, before and after Herriman, have tried their hand (including Edward Gorey), but none have matched Herriman: his rendering of Archy is simply a whole other layer of characterization. And, though the font (and the lack of capitalization) is diegetic, Marquis couldn’t possibly have found an illustrator more sensitive to language: when certain lines are transcribed in Herriman’s lettering, they seem especially to sing (they’re so full of life, they’re practically vibrating).

If you’ve never read archy and mehitabel, it’s worth searching out — jangling and whimsical odes to the Bohemian life, as in “the song of mehitabel”:

i have had my ups and downs
but wotthehell wotthehell
yesterday sceptres and crowns
fried oysters and velvet gowns
and today i herd with bums
but wotthehell wotthehell
i wake the world from sleep
as i caper and sing and leap
when i sing my wild free tune
wotthehell wotthehell
under the blear eyed moon
i am pelted with cast off shoon
but wotthehell wotthehell

William Shatner, beloved blowhard, pitchman, voice-over actor, and the man who made the phrase “Get a life!” famous as a nerd icon, would like to run for Prime Minister of his native planet, Canada:

The 77-year-old star said: “My intention is to be Prime Minister of Canada, not Governor General, which is mainly a ceremonial position.”

Shatner revealed his lofty ambition in response to a letter from a fan who urged him to put himself forward for the Governor General of Canada.

The Governor General is appointed by the monarch – which in Canada is currently Queen Elizabeth II – to perform the constitutional duties of the sovereign on her behalf.

In his letter, Shatner regretfully added: “I must, with my deepest thanks, turn down your honourable intent to advance me as Governor General. Besides which, I don’t have time to be Governor General.” Despite his busy schedule, the actor is confident he has what it takes to run the country, explaining: “As Prime Minister I can lead Canada into even greater exploits.”

While there is some potential that this is an errant thought and not a planned career change, the idea of the non-aggressive, harmonious people of Canada being led by Captain Kirk does lead down fruitful paths of reverie. One could imagine Kirk and his exploration team landing on Bloor Street, and the ensuing conversation with Spock over the communicator.

“Captain, sensors indicate a Grade 4 civilization, organized around the concept of a sporting competition involving men propelling themselves on ice while striking a small rubber disk with a curved stick. The game usually involves the ritual consumption of a beverage with intoxicating effects by the supporter of each team.”

“Spock, such a peaceful people should be left unaffected by Federation politics.”

“Captain, according to my data, the people of Canada are also known for their attractive women.”

“In that case, I’d better run for Prime Minister.”

As the swallows return to Capistrano, as the bats return to Colossal Caves, as the wildebeest migrate across the Serengeti, and the alewives return to Lake Damariscotta, so we celebrate the season with the annual Hibbs/MacDonald/Deppey BookScan debate. Here’s last year’s bout from The Beat, with many of the same competitors taking part in this Soap Box Derby of sales figures. TRADITION!

Today, over at Journalista, Dirk offers his annual disclaimer and you can tell he’s serious because he uses words like “proffered.” He also tweaks Hibbs a bit by quoting very, very similar passages by Hibbs vis-à-vis indie/art comic sales from every year since 2003. Dirk finds the smoking gun of Hibbs’s ulterior motives right here in the Beat comment section:

Actually, I’d characterize my argument as “the argument that ‘oh but if only we could get “lit comics” out of the stinky dirty backwards Direct Market, then everything would be light and honey forever and ever, amen!’ is pretty demonstrably wrong”

and then spends a good few paragraphs circling, stabbing, stamping, yelling “Ugga! Bugga” and while still failing to refute anything.

Look, I don’t want to live in a world where L&R #1 sells only 719 copies in bookstores. But before anyone goes any further with all this “It’s a guess, it’s wrong, it doesn’t add up” stuff, let’s look at one fact about the BookScan numbers. While they DO NOT measure all book sales across all channels, they do measure 100% of sales in approximately 70 percent of bookstore channels. So by any standard, it is a metric for comparison, analysis and debate.

In order to prove that BookScan is wrong, Dirk dons his sleuth hat:

Hibbs’ claim that Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 sold just 719 copies, however, motivated me to e-mail Fantagraphics’ Gary Groth, Kim Thompson and Eric Reynolds to find out if they could add some light to all the heat. While I suppose it’s possible that Hibbs’ BookScan reportage might turn out to be true, it struck me as being unlikely. Still, one must investigate, and the resulting email exchanges seemed to produce light and heat in equal amounts: Not because the Fanta staffers were dissembling or in any way less than forthcoming, but because the nature of the mass market essentially makes even the vague sort of instant tallying one expects from the Direct Market to be impossible in the short term. Short of absolute disaster, any attempt to figure out how a given title has done in the returnable booksellers’ market within its first year of release inevitably turns out to be little more than guesswork.

So is that dissembling or not? Sounds like it to me. Dirk goes on to present the Internet version of a school film on the publishing business, explaining how mighty catalogs roll out and orders are placed, and books are sold and returns are made, and it’s all a great unknowable system of terror and awe, but just to reiterate, BookScan sales are via UPC scans, so they are not guesswork at all They are sell through in a certain percentage of the retail market.

That said, of course there are other channels and other markets. It would be interesting to see what Reynolds, Groth, and Thompson all had to say on the topic in a neutral ground, but unfortunately Dirk just quotes them in random bits so it’s hard to see context.

And in the end, what’s sauce for the autobio cartoonist is sauce for the spandex superhero. Groth suggests that

It doesn’t make any sense to differentiate libraries from bookstores; they both buy books from the same wholesaler(s) at the same price. It’s like differentiating chain stores, indies, PXes, big box stores or any other particularized sales destination.

That’s certainly true, but that means you also have to count SUPERHERO and MANGA sales to libraries, and no one wants to do THAT do they?

Another place where I think Dirk gets fuzzy is here:

According to Groth, there are currently over 10,000 copies of Willie & Joe in play outside the Direct Market, while the figure that Hibbs quotes BookScan as giving for it is just 5485 copies. While more returns are likely, we’re nonetheless talking about a title that’s been in the marketplace for nine months and counting. At this point, one could be justified in assuming that it’s a good way over the hump. And if that number winds up holding steady, we’re talking about not a 10% difference, not a 30% difference, but somewhere near a 100% difference between BookScan and the real world. What will the end figure wind up being, do you think? 90% off the mark? 80%? 70%?

That is categoricaly not true. Once again, Bookscan measures sell-through, the number of books that have been purchased by consumers, whether via a bookstore or an online retailer. 10,000 is the sell-in number. It’s the reason why you will walk into a bookstore and SEE a copy of Willie and Joe on the shelf while browsing. That sell-in has not yet been converted to sell-through. Later in the piece, Groth mentions that publishers can expect a third of books sold-in to be returned, which is indeed about industry average. (20 percent returns is considered a very good number.) It is quite likely that many of the FBI books that are on shelves but not sold to consumers are at indie bookstores where the publisher is a favorite and the individual owners believe in the titles. Heroes and visionaries, you might say.

Where I do agree with Dirk is that if selling graphic novels into bookstores wasn’t profitable for Fantagraphics and D&Q, they probably would have gone out of business some time ago. Or as I wrote the other day, 

I can also attest that sometimes selling only 2000 copies on BookScan is perfectly okay. Anything in five figures is probably very profitable, and numbers far lower than that could also make money or break even. I have no idea what the golden number is — it undoubtedly varies from book to book and publisher to publisher.

To me the question is still how to get sell copies of the good stuff to people who would enjoy it? L&R #1 may have sold-in 4000 copies, but can it sell-through more? Can Bill Mauldin sell more copies? Can Tatsumi?  Can Tezuka?

Every year when these numbers come out, there is some bristling from the indie community (probably partially brought on by Hibbs’ taunting on the subject) on the fact that superhero comics appear to sell more in the stores measured by BookScan than indie/art comix do. On the surface it seems bad, but I assure you, there are lots and lots of books from Marvel, DC and book publishers that sell in numbers just as “bad” or worse. As mentioned above, everyone’s magic number of profitability is different. I’m not going to embarrass anyone, but you know who you are.

What needs to be understood by a lot of people (and this is something I myself have only begrudgingly accepted) is that not every comics “classic” is really a timeless classic that speaks to generation after generation. All of the reissues that come out in 2008 really proved that, but this is a subject I hope to return to shortly in a more focused manner.

And this hopefully concludes this year’s installment of The BookScan Debates. Until next time!

Came the Dawn by Al Feldstein and Wally Wood from SHOCK SUSPENSTORIES #9 ~ June-July/1953.

AND

Frank Frazetta’s never finished sketches for a remake of the story.

Damn.

Wait I can’t just go on. Look at that first panel, by Wood. Every panel in the entire story displays a similar mastery of composition and texture. Look at the incredible complexity of the different areas of light and dark. There is more going on in this one panel than in entire Renaissance paintings. As busy as the panel is — there’s even a portrait of an INDIAN CHIEF crammed in — there is no confusion or lack of clarity. The eye is drawn, of course, to the exquisite, inviting figure of the woman, rendered in silky crosshatching, but she stands out against the stark geometric background of the wall covered with frames, and the hard-edged shadows of the man. If I had one cavil, it would be that the cat (the CAT?) is floating in the air, not lying on the floor, but Wood also made the lower left part of the panel more hazy and indistinct to reflect the flickering firelight, so perhaps it is on purpose. Again, I am dumbfounded by the complete confidence of storytelling, design and rendering that this single panel shows — and every other panel is just as strong.

As for Frazetta…the fluidity and liveliness of this drawing astonish me. Again, notice the different line quality that gives texture and form to all the different shapes in the (very busy) panel. The figure of the man is alert, menacing (even if he wasn’t holding a rifle you’d be scared of him), tangible, the unexpected but realistic placement of his feet giving him a solid grounding in reality despite the obvious idealization of the drawing.

Those guys were good.

[Via Matthias Wivel]