Today I wanted to take the time to address a very real problem that is finally receiving some notice, and it's long past time. Intolerance is at the highest point it's been in ages, and of course that has an effect on youth. They see intolerance from older people and in the world, and they think it's okay. The misuse of the term 'gay' to mean 'stupid' or 'bad' is as hurtful as any other epithet, but since it's gays, it's largely dismissed.
Because, you see, it's not trendy anymore like it was for a few minutes in the 90s. The American view of reality is distorted; you get 'reality' television that all of its viewers know isn't real, for example. That's not the be-all and end-all of things, but a vast amount of the American population, especially the younger part of that, is heavily influenced by what is trendy or popular.
There have been a huge amount of suicides amongst gay youth who were bullied. This is intolerable. But what's being done about it? The only thing I can find is a video movement called 'It Gets Better', to encourage gay youth and let them know that things improve, down the line.
But is this really true? I don't think so. I want to encourage them like anyone else, but if someone is depressed and upset enough to seriously consider ending his own life, it's not going to help him to basically be encouraged to put it off. If they're that unhappy, it's just delaying the inevitable because it really doesn't necessarily get better. Maybe if you're rich, or pretty, or you fall in with the right crowd; maybe if you're incredibly lucky, or you happen to be in the right place at the right time.
Basically you just get older and the struggles usually get less immediate and more frustrating. You grow into a world where you are a second-class citizen and actually having rights like everyone else is an everyday battle. You're accused of being everything from unnatural to evil. And gay culture isn't that much better -- in a lot of the popular gay culture, your existence might as well end at 30, or if -- god forbid -- you're black.
In the media, gay characters have slowly become included, although it's important to note, it isn't like the 90s, where apparent novelty meant that gay characters could feature on-screen and actually be fully-realised people. Now gay characters tend to be reduced to the status that most characters of colour did in the earlier half of the 20th century: the 'magical negro', a trope wherein the character is basically created to support a more 'acceptable' mainstream character by dispensing advice. And because of the American tendency to see things as media portray them, that's unimpressively where we are.
Lady Gaga and Katy Perry can cry about it all they want, but what have they done besides bemoan it? Them, Ellen, the rest...at least one MMA fighter presented his email address and offered to fly to the school of any bullied gay kid that wrote him, and talk to the bullies about why what they're doing is wrong and what they should do instead. We need more things like that.
If I had the money -- and believe me, I wish I had money -- I would establish a fund encouraging gay youth to hold their school system accountable, to tell them what they need to do and how to do it. One of the most important things here is for them to feel empowered, and they are going to have to start lodging formal complaints about their clearly lacking school systems and start initiating lawsuits against them. The educational system in the United States, as in pretty much the entire rest of the world, is a horrible mess.
This situation can only be improved by hitting them where it hurts, and that is by lodging formal complaints with the schools, the school boards, and going to media like newspapers and making a big stink about it. If necessary, the schools should be taken to court as well. While it is the responsibility of parents to raise their kids right (and chance would be a fine thing), the responsibility of stopping bullying amongst schoolchildren lies squarely with the schools and their personnel. If that isn't being done, they aren't doing their jobs. And when it gets to where children are taking their own lives rather than face another day of bullying, those personnel are being negligent in their duties.
I don't know if it would be helpful to take the bullies to court. It likely would just lead to lives of resentment because they probably are too stupid to understand that what they're doing is horrible and hurtful, or maybe they're just looking for any attention, which they never got from their parents. The parents aren't always responsible for their children turning out as bullies, though, I will admit. Is it a solution to bring the parents to court as well? I can't say. But it is unquestionably a failing on the part of the school systems and their personnel.
There are so many things that need to be improved in this country, and in this world. We need to empower our youth. And when we're talking about bullied gay youth, it's intolerable if they're not supported. They need to feel like they have options, and that they are being supported by something that can accomplish things. A fund to support and to inform gay youth about complaining and getting action from their school system needs to exist, especially now. One of the leading causes of despair is a feeling of futility and helplessness; this is especially strong when trapped in the grasp of the educational sytem. It's unfortunate, but we will need some serious funds for this sort of thing and someone who knows what he's doing to set it up.
I would like to hear others' thoughts about this as well. These are just my personal thoughts on the matter. I would like to encourage everyone, of course, to encourage and to support gay youth, to be there for them, and to encourage them to take action if they are being bullied or being discriminated against. It is never too early to teach social activism, and when you belong to a highly-discriminated-against minority, it is more of an essential life skill. Gay youth need to learn not to accept discrimination or poor treatment, and what they need to do to stop it. They need to learn that the kind of behaviour being allowed by their school system is not acceptable under any circumstances.
Intolerance has cost us so many lives that might have been brilliant leaders and breathtaking artists, people who could have shaped this world into something better. Matthew Shepard is one of countless youths whose lives have been cut short because of irresponsible parenting, ignorance, intolerance, and the predominant American mindset of 'if it isn't trendy, it isn't worth anything'.
Let's try to get out of that mindset. And let's try to be a little more there, and a little more accessible, for gay youth who need that encouragement.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
Indie vs Marvel and DC
I don't usually take time on this particular blog to speak about things like this, but I feel it is important to cover this topic, especially right now.
Marvel and DC, if you weren't aware, are the two largest comic book companies in the United States. They publish primarily superhero-based comics, and it is their output that has a significant effect even on independent comics and creators. Along with Diamond Distribution, they form a triumvirate stranglehold on the market, and it is because of that I come to you now with my appeal.
This is aimed at all of you who enjoy comics as a medium, but especially those of you who come here and are gay, or read my work because it features non-heterosexual characters portrayed in a positive light.
I know some of you still buy Marvel and DC comics. You still want to support your local comic shops, or you've had a subscription forever and have become used to it, or you like the character and are hoping that the title will improve, month after month. I'm not going to tell you to stop buying and expect you to actually do it. That's unrealistic for me to expect.
However, I would like to ask you to consider your purchases more carefully. And there are many reasons why I would like to do that.
The first is that the big two companies influence other comic creators. It can be viewed as simply as 'if you buy their comics, you won't have enough to support the independent, accessible creators that really care about you as an individual'. It's all too common that creators of online and independent comics get the shaft because people spend wads of cash on things they often enjoy less, and when it comes time to donate to their favourite comic or to buy a printed book from them, they don't have enough. Though I might also mention that even $5 is enough for most independent creators. If multiple people are generous, $5 from many adds up and helps them to afford the supplies they need to continue making comics. The big two, on the other hand, don't have these kinds of budget woes. If you don't buy the comics right when they come out, they'll still be there in a month and their staff will still have enough to buy their supplies.
The other and less obvious influence is that good or poor choices by Marvel and DC have a marked influence on the market for comics altogether. Their questionable moves have made many creators suffer, both independent and otherwise, and they keep doing these things because people keep irrationally throwing money at them.
I will be very frank here: things are not going to change. Things are not going to improve. The title you have been following for years in the hopes that it will improve, someday, is not going to get better. In fact, none of it is going to go anywhere until and unless people speak with their wallets and say 'I don't like this' and stop buying it. If you're complaining about it and still paying for it, you're not doing any good. You're still a part of the problem.
They have spent decades alienating all of the fans who were fans during the Silver and Bronze Ages, in the misguided mindset that readers want to see incessant mega-crossovers and visceral violence, where heroes stopped being heroic and every month holds a new, horrible, casual death, thinking that this will sell, sell, sell! And now they're finding that people don't actually like it -- after years of complaining and driving away everyone who had a grievance -- and attempting to get those fans back.
The good series and the consistent series always get put on hiatus or cancelled, and it's not due to lack of support by the readers and consumers, it's due to personal bias by the management. There have been numerous titles put out by both Marvel and DC that have done exceptionally well, especially in the economic climate, and gathered vast, strong followings that were cancelled or put on indefinite hiatus because someone higher-up just didn't want it to overshadow yet another 'dark' or 'ironic' book.
And if you think they care about you, they don't. While independent creators and labels generally do care deeply about every reader -- we know where our livelihood comes from and do this out of love and desire to create and entertain -- Marvel and DC don't. They don't at all. If you think they do, you're deluding yourself. And if you think they're going to bow to any pressure other than monetary, you're kidding yourself even more.
I'd just like to take the time to cover a couple of examples that illustrate this very well indeed.
The most compelling reason never to buy Marvel comics again is summed up in two words: Freedom Ring. An exciting character who happened to be gay and was given a novel power, he was met with enthusiastic approval and support...
...and killed off in one of the most horrible ways any character has ever met his end, not more than 5 issues later. Many readers were outraged, some put off Marvel permanently. The company was met with several threats of boycott. And why not? The incident was the comic book equivalent of a hate crime. There was no reason to do what they did.
So naturally Marvel immediately tried to backpedal and claimed that they had intended to kill him off from the very beginning, but they only made him gay at the last minute.
And?
Does that excuse that sort of treatment? It doesn't, and it doesn't change what they've done.
They've never backpedalled enough to actually bring him back and give him decent treatment. Oh, and in case you didn't glance over at the ComicVine page I linked, they also had him paralysed almost immediately, for no good reason either. It's not really unreasonable for readers to get the impression that this virtual violence against a gay character was a thin veil for a much uglier reality: the well-known homophobia that has existed in Marvel practically since the beginning.
But wait, you say, they have a policy now that any character can be made gay! They made Rictor and Shatterstar gay lovers!
And?
The policy is nothing more than damage control spin doctor magic in a desperate attempt to reclaim the massive alienated audience. Jim Shooter's policy in the 80s was that of strict homophobia, and the 70s were no different, with several stories openly demonising gay characters. The 90s had a desperate attempt to garner a gay audience with a disastrously tacky coming out story with Northstar, a character whom we all knew was gay and who made it abundantly clear long before then. And the only reason they haven't utterly done away with him -- and they've tried -- is because he's become Captain Gay, poster boy for gay characters and representative of all of them.
They don't care about you. And they especially don't care about you if you're gay. The Freedom Ring story would have been blatantly offensive no matter who they put in it and no matter what their sexual orientation. However, making him gay -- and then handicapped -- and treating him so badly is inexcusable.
Pair that with the overly litigious nature of Marvel, and you have a company that not only doesn't care about their readers, but is openly hostile to them. They are well-known for getting fansites shut down and loosing their overactive lawyers with threats aplenty to readers and fans. Regular readers of the popular Scans Daily community are all too familiar with their stunts.
DC's recent Blackest Night was unspeakably offensive in more or less every was possible, but one of the most offensive actions took place in a tie-in called, ironically, 'Cry for Justice'. One of DC's very few non-heterosexual (and non-promiscuous) characters, Tasmanian Devil, was brutally murdered and made into a rug.
A rug.
That's about as much as they care about you.
Before anyone asks why I should complain about that when characters everywhere are getting killed off, let me say that I disagree with almost every one of the disgustingly casual write-outs comics have been doing in the past 20 years especially. It doesn't matter who it is. But the fact is that they've chosen to do this especially to some of their already minuscule number of characters representing the gay readership, most of whom barely see any appearances at all.
Another classic antic from DC was allowing Chuck Dixon, who is well-known as a homophobe and a bigot in general, to write Connor Hawke, a character created to be different, built up to be the next best thing of DC: a new Green Arrow who was neither a womaniser nor promiscuous. He was presented as a naif essentially, fresh from a monastery and not the type of man to chase skirts, as his father had done.
Praise came in from everywhere, especially the gay community, who were enthusiastic that a hero could be shown that didn't have to be the kind of tiresome collector of sexual conquests as most superheroes had become. Naturally, some wondered if he might be non-heterosexual, especially since DC had not really kept up with the times very well and had a decisive lack of non-stereotypical gay characters. Pretty much the only one even discussed at that point was the Pied Piper, a Flash villain.
Dixon, who had inexplicably been given the reins to the Green Arrow title, did a predictably poor job. As if his bad writing wasn't enough, his bad personality added to that: he lashed out at gay fans and became well-known for his homophobia and opinions that non-heterosexual characters didn't belong in comic books. Drugs, teenage pregnancies, and everything else he wrote, apparently, was a-okay, but in his words, homosexual characters were unacceptable for comic books, especially when they're read by young people.
Kyle Rayner, another character built up to be the next big thing as the new Green Lantern, was a hard luck guy who honestly didn't have much personality. He was an artist, and a comic artist, which enabled most of the writers to write from (idealised) life. As their forebears had done, Connor and Kyle became close friends.
What many people don't know is that DC intended to make an event to remember out of their unique relationship. Connor's pure outlook and Kyle's social awkwardness would come together in a kiss. It may or may not have led to a relationship between them.
However, chiefly due to Dixon's constant remarks and threats, they did not do it. Rather than discipline one of the worst writers in the company's history, they instead allowed the two characters never to have their moment. It is perhaps unsurprising that both of them have been replaced and have faded into obscurity. And it is a very sad thing.
It just tells you where you stand in their esteem. Rather than oppose one obnoxious man, they chose to offend hundreds, if not thousands, of fans, readers, and most importantly, buyers.
I would just like to say that most independent comic creators aren't like that.
Unless you're dealing with someone who is a real homophobe nutjob -- and they're probably going to be that pretty obviously in their work -- most of the time, what you see with us is what you get.
We know where our bread and butter comes from. It comes from the readers who are supportive of our work. It comes from the people who support us not only professionally, but personally, and socially.
It comes from all of you.
So, while I can't tell you to stop buying Marvel and DC and start letting them know why, I can at least encourage you to buy less of their output. But do let them know why. That's important. It doesn't really matter how many do; they don't care about that, clearly, if their actions up to now are any indication. We don't have to be in the hundreds to make a difference. Being hundreds or thousands doesn't necessarily get their attention. If just a few will firmly let them know, maybe they will take notice. Maybe they won't, but the attempt should be made.
But we will take notice. We independents, we creators who care about our readers and their support. We do care, and we do take notice. And while it is important that we stretch creatively and do what we have to do, it is so very, very important that we do right by you.
I just want you to think about this, and I hope very much that you will.
Marvel and DC, if you weren't aware, are the two largest comic book companies in the United States. They publish primarily superhero-based comics, and it is their output that has a significant effect even on independent comics and creators. Along with Diamond Distribution, they form a triumvirate stranglehold on the market, and it is because of that I come to you now with my appeal.
This is aimed at all of you who enjoy comics as a medium, but especially those of you who come here and are gay, or read my work because it features non-heterosexual characters portrayed in a positive light.
I know some of you still buy Marvel and DC comics. You still want to support your local comic shops, or you've had a subscription forever and have become used to it, or you like the character and are hoping that the title will improve, month after month. I'm not going to tell you to stop buying and expect you to actually do it. That's unrealistic for me to expect.
However, I would like to ask you to consider your purchases more carefully. And there are many reasons why I would like to do that.
The first is that the big two companies influence other comic creators. It can be viewed as simply as 'if you buy their comics, you won't have enough to support the independent, accessible creators that really care about you as an individual'. It's all too common that creators of online and independent comics get the shaft because people spend wads of cash on things they often enjoy less, and when it comes time to donate to their favourite comic or to buy a printed book from them, they don't have enough. Though I might also mention that even $5 is enough for most independent creators. If multiple people are generous, $5 from many adds up and helps them to afford the supplies they need to continue making comics. The big two, on the other hand, don't have these kinds of budget woes. If you don't buy the comics right when they come out, they'll still be there in a month and their staff will still have enough to buy their supplies.
The other and less obvious influence is that good or poor choices by Marvel and DC have a marked influence on the market for comics altogether. Their questionable moves have made many creators suffer, both independent and otherwise, and they keep doing these things because people keep irrationally throwing money at them.
I will be very frank here: things are not going to change. Things are not going to improve. The title you have been following for years in the hopes that it will improve, someday, is not going to get better. In fact, none of it is going to go anywhere until and unless people speak with their wallets and say 'I don't like this' and stop buying it. If you're complaining about it and still paying for it, you're not doing any good. You're still a part of the problem.
They have spent decades alienating all of the fans who were fans during the Silver and Bronze Ages, in the misguided mindset that readers want to see incessant mega-crossovers and visceral violence, where heroes stopped being heroic and every month holds a new, horrible, casual death, thinking that this will sell, sell, sell! And now they're finding that people don't actually like it -- after years of complaining and driving away everyone who had a grievance -- and attempting to get those fans back.
The good series and the consistent series always get put on hiatus or cancelled, and it's not due to lack of support by the readers and consumers, it's due to personal bias by the management. There have been numerous titles put out by both Marvel and DC that have done exceptionally well, especially in the economic climate, and gathered vast, strong followings that were cancelled or put on indefinite hiatus because someone higher-up just didn't want it to overshadow yet another 'dark' or 'ironic' book.
And if you think they care about you, they don't. While independent creators and labels generally do care deeply about every reader -- we know where our livelihood comes from and do this out of love and desire to create and entertain -- Marvel and DC don't. They don't at all. If you think they do, you're deluding yourself. And if you think they're going to bow to any pressure other than monetary, you're kidding yourself even more.
I'd just like to take the time to cover a couple of examples that illustrate this very well indeed.
The most compelling reason never to buy Marvel comics again is summed up in two words: Freedom Ring. An exciting character who happened to be gay and was given a novel power, he was met with enthusiastic approval and support...
...and killed off in one of the most horrible ways any character has ever met his end, not more than 5 issues later. Many readers were outraged, some put off Marvel permanently. The company was met with several threats of boycott. And why not? The incident was the comic book equivalent of a hate crime. There was no reason to do what they did.
So naturally Marvel immediately tried to backpedal and claimed that they had intended to kill him off from the very beginning, but they only made him gay at the last minute.
And?
Does that excuse that sort of treatment? It doesn't, and it doesn't change what they've done.
They've never backpedalled enough to actually bring him back and give him decent treatment. Oh, and in case you didn't glance over at the ComicVine page I linked, they also had him paralysed almost immediately, for no good reason either. It's not really unreasonable for readers to get the impression that this virtual violence against a gay character was a thin veil for a much uglier reality: the well-known homophobia that has existed in Marvel practically since the beginning.
But wait, you say, they have a policy now that any character can be made gay! They made Rictor and Shatterstar gay lovers!
And?
The policy is nothing more than damage control spin doctor magic in a desperate attempt to reclaim the massive alienated audience. Jim Shooter's policy in the 80s was that of strict homophobia, and the 70s were no different, with several stories openly demonising gay characters. The 90s had a desperate attempt to garner a gay audience with a disastrously tacky coming out story with Northstar, a character whom we all knew was gay and who made it abundantly clear long before then. And the only reason they haven't utterly done away with him -- and they've tried -- is because he's become Captain Gay, poster boy for gay characters and representative of all of them.
They don't care about you. And they especially don't care about you if you're gay. The Freedom Ring story would have been blatantly offensive no matter who they put in it and no matter what their sexual orientation. However, making him gay -- and then handicapped -- and treating him so badly is inexcusable.
Pair that with the overly litigious nature of Marvel, and you have a company that not only doesn't care about their readers, but is openly hostile to them. They are well-known for getting fansites shut down and loosing their overactive lawyers with threats aplenty to readers and fans. Regular readers of the popular Scans Daily community are all too familiar with their stunts.
DC's recent Blackest Night was unspeakably offensive in more or less every was possible, but one of the most offensive actions took place in a tie-in called, ironically, 'Cry for Justice'. One of DC's very few non-heterosexual (and non-promiscuous) characters, Tasmanian Devil, was brutally murdered and made into a rug.
A rug.
That's about as much as they care about you.
Before anyone asks why I should complain about that when characters everywhere are getting killed off, let me say that I disagree with almost every one of the disgustingly casual write-outs comics have been doing in the past 20 years especially. It doesn't matter who it is. But the fact is that they've chosen to do this especially to some of their already minuscule number of characters representing the gay readership, most of whom barely see any appearances at all.
Another classic antic from DC was allowing Chuck Dixon, who is well-known as a homophobe and a bigot in general, to write Connor Hawke, a character created to be different, built up to be the next best thing of DC: a new Green Arrow who was neither a womaniser nor promiscuous. He was presented as a naif essentially, fresh from a monastery and not the type of man to chase skirts, as his father had done.
Praise came in from everywhere, especially the gay community, who were enthusiastic that a hero could be shown that didn't have to be the kind of tiresome collector of sexual conquests as most superheroes had become. Naturally, some wondered if he might be non-heterosexual, especially since DC had not really kept up with the times very well and had a decisive lack of non-stereotypical gay characters. Pretty much the only one even discussed at that point was the Pied Piper, a Flash villain.
Dixon, who had inexplicably been given the reins to the Green Arrow title, did a predictably poor job. As if his bad writing wasn't enough, his bad personality added to that: he lashed out at gay fans and became well-known for his homophobia and opinions that non-heterosexual characters didn't belong in comic books. Drugs, teenage pregnancies, and everything else he wrote, apparently, was a-okay, but in his words, homosexual characters were unacceptable for comic books, especially when they're read by young people.
Kyle Rayner, another character built up to be the next big thing as the new Green Lantern, was a hard luck guy who honestly didn't have much personality. He was an artist, and a comic artist, which enabled most of the writers to write from (idealised) life. As their forebears had done, Connor and Kyle became close friends.
What many people don't know is that DC intended to make an event to remember out of their unique relationship. Connor's pure outlook and Kyle's social awkwardness would come together in a kiss. It may or may not have led to a relationship between them.
However, chiefly due to Dixon's constant remarks and threats, they did not do it. Rather than discipline one of the worst writers in the company's history, they instead allowed the two characters never to have their moment. It is perhaps unsurprising that both of them have been replaced and have faded into obscurity. And it is a very sad thing.
It just tells you where you stand in their esteem. Rather than oppose one obnoxious man, they chose to offend hundreds, if not thousands, of fans, readers, and most importantly, buyers.
I would just like to say that most independent comic creators aren't like that.
Unless you're dealing with someone who is a real homophobe nutjob -- and they're probably going to be that pretty obviously in their work -- most of the time, what you see with us is what you get.
We know where our bread and butter comes from. It comes from the readers who are supportive of our work. It comes from the people who support us not only professionally, but personally, and socially.
It comes from all of you.
So, while I can't tell you to stop buying Marvel and DC and start letting them know why, I can at least encourage you to buy less of their output. But do let them know why. That's important. It doesn't really matter how many do; they don't care about that, clearly, if their actions up to now are any indication. We don't have to be in the hundreds to make a difference. Being hundreds or thousands doesn't necessarily get their attention. If just a few will firmly let them know, maybe they will take notice. Maybe they won't, but the attempt should be made.
But we will take notice. We independents, we creators who care about our readers and their support. We do care, and we do take notice. And while it is important that we stretch creatively and do what we have to do, it is so very, very important that we do right by you.
I just want you to think about this, and I hope very much that you will.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Regarding Pandemonium Renaissance
You know, it's been a while since I worked on Pandemonium Renaissance, which is one of the most cherished works I have ever done. I felt that everyone deserved a little update on what's going on with the title, which is not cancelled or ended.
I actually was about to pick up work on it again before the problems happened with SmackJeeves, but since that happened, the delicate inspiration I have always needed for Pandemonium Renaissance was a little damaged. I certainly didn't want to continue it at SmackJeeves, but at the same time I wasn't up to creating a whole new site at ComicDish and I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with it.
However, I have now decided, and I've begun work on it.
What I will do is, I am going to do full-page, glorious art nouveau pieces and tell the story in poetic language. I intend to colour as many of the pieces as I can and make a gorgeous picture storybook. I plan to release it in paperback and in hardcover. If the response and support are good, I'll also be willing to collect the SmackJeeves run into a comic for you to purchase as well.
The storybook Pandemonium Renaissance will be more like something that Luceferos and friends put out to tell their story and to show you how beautiful, how glorious Dis really is, and how magnificent the Abyss is. I was always challenged and, to some extent, frustrated by the comic format for the story, and I think the new format I am currently implementing will be much more suited to the story. It will also very likely lead to some new and gorgeous posters being made available for your enjoyment.
Of course, if this idea takes off and is met by significant support, I have other ideas too, like a festive grimoire, and other fun and beautiful things to enjoy. I know Pandemonium Renaissance was and is loved by many, and I never want to disappoint them. The story is my way of conveying to the world what I have seen in my visions and dreams. So I am sure you understand when I try to convey that it must be the absolute best I can do.
My plan is to take this Autumn and dedicate it to creating Pandemonium Renaissance as a storybook for all of you. Ideally I would like to have it available for the holiday season this year, but that may not be possible since it does take significant time, energy, and attention to do each and every piece of art, and I did ideally want to colour them all. I will not rush myself on this, because I don't want anything less than the best I can do, and I'm sure you don't either!
In any case, Autumn is dedicated to Pandemonium Renaissance. I finished inking the first picture for the book today, and I think it's going to be great fun and quite a healing experience to do. I'll be keeping you updated as regularly as possible, and I think you'll be surprised and impressed at what I've been doing lately!
I actually was about to pick up work on it again before the problems happened with SmackJeeves, but since that happened, the delicate inspiration I have always needed for Pandemonium Renaissance was a little damaged. I certainly didn't want to continue it at SmackJeeves, but at the same time I wasn't up to creating a whole new site at ComicDish and I wasn't sure where I wanted to go with it.
However, I have now decided, and I've begun work on it.
What I will do is, I am going to do full-page, glorious art nouveau pieces and tell the story in poetic language. I intend to colour as many of the pieces as I can and make a gorgeous picture storybook. I plan to release it in paperback and in hardcover. If the response and support are good, I'll also be willing to collect the SmackJeeves run into a comic for you to purchase as well.
The storybook Pandemonium Renaissance will be more like something that Luceferos and friends put out to tell their story and to show you how beautiful, how glorious Dis really is, and how magnificent the Abyss is. I was always challenged and, to some extent, frustrated by the comic format for the story, and I think the new format I am currently implementing will be much more suited to the story. It will also very likely lead to some new and gorgeous posters being made available for your enjoyment.
Of course, if this idea takes off and is met by significant support, I have other ideas too, like a festive grimoire, and other fun and beautiful things to enjoy. I know Pandemonium Renaissance was and is loved by many, and I never want to disappoint them. The story is my way of conveying to the world what I have seen in my visions and dreams. So I am sure you understand when I try to convey that it must be the absolute best I can do.
My plan is to take this Autumn and dedicate it to creating Pandemonium Renaissance as a storybook for all of you. Ideally I would like to have it available for the holiday season this year, but that may not be possible since it does take significant time, energy, and attention to do each and every piece of art, and I did ideally want to colour them all. I will not rush myself on this, because I don't want anything less than the best I can do, and I'm sure you don't either!
In any case, Autumn is dedicated to Pandemonium Renaissance. I finished inking the first picture for the book today, and I think it's going to be great fun and quite a healing experience to do. I'll be keeping you updated as regularly as possible, and I think you'll be surprised and impressed at what I've been doing lately!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Stop the Witch Hunts. Take a Stand.
Recently it was mentioned that yet another crusade has been announced, to 'combat child porn'. While I completely agree with stamping out pornography that exploits children, I suspect that -- as usual -- the crusade's announced intention is nothing near its actual goals.
In the past decade, adult entertainment has been increasingly discriminated against and 'ghetto-ised', that is to say, it has been forced into a sort of ghetto, an area where similar things exist in a sort of insular world from the rest. Because of a completely frivolous law demanding ridiculous amounts of documentation for adult film actors, some studios suffered massive losses, and all studios in the US today are forced to file much greater documentation for their employees than practically any other industry.
What especially irks me is that the adult industry is often presented as some sort of mafia-run, crime-affiliated, exploitative, illegitimate business that is conducted in shady warehouses and seedy motel rooms. The adult industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, with some studios that produce films comparable to Hollywood quality, such as Digital Playground's big-budget extravaganzas. Maybe once upon a time, adult films were associated with illegality...chiefly because they were made illegal by the same puritanical sorts that seem to be on the same soapbox now. Even nudity, which is not adult material (and the Supreme Court even said so when a nudist film finally brought it to court), was harshly dealt with, especially male nudity. Double-standard, anyone?
It's always the same buzzwords; adult content is purportedly 'endangering' others. As if it's some sort of a weapon. When I was in middle school, some friends of mine at the time purloined a porn mag and flashed a peek of the centrefold at me. I was nonplussed, but mainly because of the massive airbrushing. I wasn't 'endangered', I didn't shrivel up and require hospitalisation, and I don't even remember what she looked like now anyway. Endangering someone means that you are putting them in danger, which means that they may suffer injury, possibly serious. If you are letting your 12-year-old son drive your motorcycle on a cliffside, you are endangering him. If he discovers your vibrator in your closet, he's just embarrassing you.
Canada, England, and a few other completely insane countries have even gone so far as to outlaw any drawn images that may be considered pervy, which contain subjects who 'look' underage. Considering this includes fictional characters, such as aliens and magical beings who may look 19 for pretty much ever, it's rather ridiculous. How do you apply age to a fictional character anyway? I know people in real life who were late bloomers and looked 15 until they were 25. The creepy types who pushed these laws through apparently would like to restrict these people from engaging in any adult behaviour if they 'look' underage. By what standards are we exactly judging this, though? Art styles vary wildly. I have seen art that has depicted fully adult characters, even 40+-year-olds, who are drawn in a style that makes them seem much younger. I have, conversely, also seen art styles that depict supposed middle-schoolers so that they look like collegiates.
And what about the masters like Caravaggio? Are we going to stamp out masterpieces of art because they have subjects who 'look' too young? And shall we destroy Parrish and his gorgeous oeuvres for the same reason? It's inane and ludicrous.
This isn't about protecting or endangering anyone. It's about lazy parenting and lazy lawmaking. Most of all, this only punishes those who already abide by the law and work to put an end to true exploitation and unscrupulous such activities. This is comparable to running a campaign to have cheese removed from grocery stores because you don't think your children should have it. And it's comparable to actually getting cheese removed, or restricted for purchase, simply for that reason. If you don't want your children to have cheese, how about just not buying them cheese and monitoring them, guiding them, being a parent to them so it doesn't become a part of their lives until they are at a point where they can decide for themselves about it?
I am an adult. I have the right to my own entertainment. I am not saying that adult films should be sold in every store, or that children should be able to go out and buy their own. But I am saying, it's time to take a stand. Lawmakers and fanatics need to back off. It's trickling down to the rest of us; I'm not in the adult entertainment industry, but as an artist, I am affected. Every artist is. It's time for parents to be responsible for the children they just had to have. I am through sacrificing rights and privileges for someone else's inability to be a responsible parent.
The attempt to encourage adult sites towards the .xxx domain suffix should be vehemently resisted. While they cite that it will make filtering those sites easier for schools and parental controls, it will also make it easier to further restrict and eliminate adult sites altogether. Many sites with adult content already work with these filters and controls. And if they do not, it is the job of the people who update the controls to find which sites need to be added. It is simply more laziness, more irresponsibility, and an uncomfortable attempt to place everyone involved in a single place for convenient disposal or further marginalisation.
Furthermore, websites that refuse to link to any sites that use the words 'boy', 'girl', 'teen', et cetera are only contributing to the problem. So now words are also endangering? When I say 'I'm going to have a night out with the girls', it means I am going to go out with my friends who happen to be female. I don't mean I'm going to go cruise the elementary school to take some kids to the coffee house. Similarly, when someone says 'I'm going out with the boys', it tends to mean 'I'm going to go out with my male friends'. For example, famous singing group, the Oak Ridge Boys, were well into adulthood and no-one thought the name was misapplied. Sites that advertise 'hot boys' are generally assumed, by most adults with any degree of common sense, to feature attractive adult men. And last but not least, 18 is the age of majority in most places, though 16 is the age of consent in most places. Therefore, some adult stars are teens. Let's not make 'teen' any more demonised than it already is, as a term. What's next? Twink? The more people pre-judge these words to be bad in meaning, the more it will further be promoted.
It's time to put your foot down. The media buzzwords about children being 'endangered' and women being 'exploited' (it's always like this; as if there are no men in adult film) need to stop. We need to make it clear that this is ultimately only detrimental for society and culture, and furthermore lazy and irresponsible on the part of authorities. As an artist, I refuse to be further censored just because someone who had to spawn some offspring can't do his or her job. I already have a more difficult time of things because some of my comics have adult content, meaning I can't use most printers for my work. I am discriminated against because of that adult content, when I have to take measures to make sure this account or that account aren't linked to it. That is, frankly, unacceptable. And I say that it needs to stop. Now.
Please do take a stand. Write your lawmakers, write your representatives, or even phone them and say this must stop. Saying you're doing something to 'protect children' or 'protect women', and so forth, is just a cheap and frankly exploitative way to get votes and support. It also makes it easy to try and demonise anyone who questions your goals, casting them as some sort of criminal or child-hater. News flash: not everyone likes children, and it's not a bad thing if you don't. But just because you don't want to pick up the slack from lazy parents doesn't mean you don't like children. If anything, it means you don't like lazy parents.
Let's take a stand and prevent this from going any further. It needs to stop right here, right now.
In the past decade, adult entertainment has been increasingly discriminated against and 'ghetto-ised', that is to say, it has been forced into a sort of ghetto, an area where similar things exist in a sort of insular world from the rest. Because of a completely frivolous law demanding ridiculous amounts of documentation for adult film actors, some studios suffered massive losses, and all studios in the US today are forced to file much greater documentation for their employees than practically any other industry.
What especially irks me is that the adult industry is often presented as some sort of mafia-run, crime-affiliated, exploitative, illegitimate business that is conducted in shady warehouses and seedy motel rooms. The adult industry is a multi-billion dollar industry, with some studios that produce films comparable to Hollywood quality, such as Digital Playground's big-budget extravaganzas. Maybe once upon a time, adult films were associated with illegality...chiefly because they were made illegal by the same puritanical sorts that seem to be on the same soapbox now. Even nudity, which is not adult material (and the Supreme Court even said so when a nudist film finally brought it to court), was harshly dealt with, especially male nudity. Double-standard, anyone?
It's always the same buzzwords; adult content is purportedly 'endangering' others. As if it's some sort of a weapon. When I was in middle school, some friends of mine at the time purloined a porn mag and flashed a peek of the centrefold at me. I was nonplussed, but mainly because of the massive airbrushing. I wasn't 'endangered', I didn't shrivel up and require hospitalisation, and I don't even remember what she looked like now anyway. Endangering someone means that you are putting them in danger, which means that they may suffer injury, possibly serious. If you are letting your 12-year-old son drive your motorcycle on a cliffside, you are endangering him. If he discovers your vibrator in your closet, he's just embarrassing you.
Canada, England, and a few other completely insane countries have even gone so far as to outlaw any drawn images that may be considered pervy, which contain subjects who 'look' underage. Considering this includes fictional characters, such as aliens and magical beings who may look 19 for pretty much ever, it's rather ridiculous. How do you apply age to a fictional character anyway? I know people in real life who were late bloomers and looked 15 until they were 25. The creepy types who pushed these laws through apparently would like to restrict these people from engaging in any adult behaviour if they 'look' underage. By what standards are we exactly judging this, though? Art styles vary wildly. I have seen art that has depicted fully adult characters, even 40+-year-olds, who are drawn in a style that makes them seem much younger. I have, conversely, also seen art styles that depict supposed middle-schoolers so that they look like collegiates.
And what about the masters like Caravaggio? Are we going to stamp out masterpieces of art because they have subjects who 'look' too young? And shall we destroy Parrish and his gorgeous oeuvres for the same reason? It's inane and ludicrous.
This isn't about protecting or endangering anyone. It's about lazy parenting and lazy lawmaking. Most of all, this only punishes those who already abide by the law and work to put an end to true exploitation and unscrupulous such activities. This is comparable to running a campaign to have cheese removed from grocery stores because you don't think your children should have it. And it's comparable to actually getting cheese removed, or restricted for purchase, simply for that reason. If you don't want your children to have cheese, how about just not buying them cheese and monitoring them, guiding them, being a parent to them so it doesn't become a part of their lives until they are at a point where they can decide for themselves about it?
I am an adult. I have the right to my own entertainment. I am not saying that adult films should be sold in every store, or that children should be able to go out and buy their own. But I am saying, it's time to take a stand. Lawmakers and fanatics need to back off. It's trickling down to the rest of us; I'm not in the adult entertainment industry, but as an artist, I am affected. Every artist is. It's time for parents to be responsible for the children they just had to have. I am through sacrificing rights and privileges for someone else's inability to be a responsible parent.
The attempt to encourage adult sites towards the .xxx domain suffix should be vehemently resisted. While they cite that it will make filtering those sites easier for schools and parental controls, it will also make it easier to further restrict and eliminate adult sites altogether. Many sites with adult content already work with these filters and controls. And if they do not, it is the job of the people who update the controls to find which sites need to be added. It is simply more laziness, more irresponsibility, and an uncomfortable attempt to place everyone involved in a single place for convenient disposal or further marginalisation.
Furthermore, websites that refuse to link to any sites that use the words 'boy', 'girl', 'teen', et cetera are only contributing to the problem. So now words are also endangering? When I say 'I'm going to have a night out with the girls', it means I am going to go out with my friends who happen to be female. I don't mean I'm going to go cruise the elementary school to take some kids to the coffee house. Similarly, when someone says 'I'm going out with the boys', it tends to mean 'I'm going to go out with my male friends'. For example, famous singing group, the Oak Ridge Boys, were well into adulthood and no-one thought the name was misapplied. Sites that advertise 'hot boys' are generally assumed, by most adults with any degree of common sense, to feature attractive adult men. And last but not least, 18 is the age of majority in most places, though 16 is the age of consent in most places. Therefore, some adult stars are teens. Let's not make 'teen' any more demonised than it already is, as a term. What's next? Twink? The more people pre-judge these words to be bad in meaning, the more it will further be promoted.
It's time to put your foot down. The media buzzwords about children being 'endangered' and women being 'exploited' (it's always like this; as if there are no men in adult film) need to stop. We need to make it clear that this is ultimately only detrimental for society and culture, and furthermore lazy and irresponsible on the part of authorities. As an artist, I refuse to be further censored just because someone who had to spawn some offspring can't do his or her job. I already have a more difficult time of things because some of my comics have adult content, meaning I can't use most printers for my work. I am discriminated against because of that adult content, when I have to take measures to make sure this account or that account aren't linked to it. That is, frankly, unacceptable. And I say that it needs to stop. Now.
Please do take a stand. Write your lawmakers, write your representatives, or even phone them and say this must stop. Saying you're doing something to 'protect children' or 'protect women', and so forth, is just a cheap and frankly exploitative way to get votes and support. It also makes it easy to try and demonise anyone who questions your goals, casting them as some sort of criminal or child-hater. News flash: not everyone likes children, and it's not a bad thing if you don't. But just because you don't want to pick up the slack from lazy parents doesn't mean you don't like children. If anything, it means you don't like lazy parents.
Let's take a stand and prevent this from going any further. It needs to stop right here, right now.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Manga Publishers F-Up Again
I am an independent professional who relies on the support of fans and readers. Because of this, I also tend to support creators whose work I enjoy. I lean towards 'indie' sorts and the type that are like me in terms of the way they create, but I have a wide variety of creators that I support.
There is an unfortunately large number of people online (and offline, for that matter) who come along with the attitude that they are entitled to anything and everything online for free. I agree that it's a problem, especially when they read something, enjoy it, and then don't support it. I always go out of my way to support the things that I enjoy, because I know that the individual, unique voice that created it will never be seen again.
Even if I find something similar, it will never be the same. Each creator is different. Each creator brings something different to anything. And if I allow that voice to go silent, then I am betraying my own love for what it has shared with me.
However, the recent actions by a group of publishers in Japan and the United States have gone much too far. This group banded together for the chief purpose of stamping out scanlations.
'Scanlation' is a portmanteau term of 'scan' and 'translation'. Scanlations are essentially the manga equivalent to fansubs, which are fan-subtitled episodes of anime. Scanlations are, in turn, scans of manga that are translated by fans.
The motivation behind scanlations is to expose a new audience to a series to which they otherwise have no exposure. The translations are done out of a love for the series and an enthusiasm to share it with a new audience. When the series is licenced for official release, scanlators typically cease their work and point interested readers to the official release.
In another parallel with fansubs, this is essentially the same approach that fansub groups have. As someone who has known several fansubbers, I can say that the vast majority of them work very hard purely out of love for a series and, when that series is made available to their region in a quality release, they are only too happy to stop their unofficial efforts and point others to the official ones. The goal of fansubbers, as with scanlators, is to provide something that is not being provided, to broaden the exposure of a series that they love so that it can be shown that there is an audience for it.
The publishers have all but stated that they believe scanlations are the Antichrist. It is their intention to stamp scanlations out entirely, with claims that they have ruined the manga industry and other such hyperbole. There are, naturally, a few things that have been left out of this discussion.
The first is that the exact thing has been attempted before. In the 80s, anime releasing companies invented the 'Maison Ikkoku effect', which they claimed explained how fansubs were destroying any chance of anime retaining a foothold in the US marketplace. Because of fansubs, companies such as Viz asserted, their release of Maison Ikkoku failed to be an overwhelming success.
Then, as now, they failed to consider a few points:
- First, Maison Ikkoku was a relatively obscure series outside of Japan that was also nothing like the only other well-known series from the same creator at that time.
- Second, Maison Ikkoku's pace is slightly slower than that of a Tolstoy book. With an emphasis on iyashi-kei slice-of-life situations, Maison Ikkoku was suited even only to a certain Japanese audience, certainly not the sort of series that would take a US audience at the time.
- Third, Maison Ikkoku's aforementioned tone was completely different from what was wildly popular at the time, which happened to be action-filled, flashy-effects spectaculars, typically with sex and violence. The attempt to release such a series so completely untested shows tremendous lack of foresight on the parts of its releasers.
- Fourth, dubs at the time were a crap shoot. Some were decent. Most were mind-numbingly awful. This period of slapdash dubbing instilled an entire generation with knee-jerk hatred of English dubs, and for good reason.
- Last but not least, a typical anime VHS at the time cost around $20...for a dub. Usually they were priced at $30 for a subtitled version. These tapes were usually an hour long, but some were longer. None ever exceeded two hours in length.
Despite all of this, it was claimed that fansubs had ruined Maison Ikkoku's chances, that fansubs were entirely responsible for its commercial failure, and that long-running series like Maison Ikkoku would never be able to be released to a US audience.
Those of us who knew better suspected that it was a case of sour grapes from a company who had made a mistake and simply looked for the most convenient scapegoat. Fansubbers could hardly answer these accusations, especially as it was before the age of widespread internet access. Companies like Viz could make whatever allegations they pleased, and fansubbers and fans alike had no recourse to answer them.
Now, twenty-something years later, we see how fansubs have completely ruined the anime industry...since one of the most profitable booms in history has essentially integrated Japanese animation and comics into American culture. Long-running series, which would never be able to be released to an American audience, are everywhere.
But now the publishers are saying that scanlations are the imminent destruction of manga. Once again, Viz are at the forefront of these claims; you'd think they'd have learned from the Maison Ikkoku incident. I'd like to bring up a few points to this discussion:
- In Japan, I could go to any given bookstore and be reasonably confident of finding a recently-released tankouban. I could also go online and read others' opinions of that series, or even ask friends if they think the series would suit me. Conversely, in the US, the limited number of titles released, many of which are years old, are often not even available to libraries. I can't always find opinions from anyone who may have read a certain title, even if it is available in English. And although I am at a great advantage because I can read Japanese -- and typically buy manga in Japanese, and can browse the internet in Japanese to find reviews -- most readers in the US do not share my ability.
- In Japan, most tankouban cost somewhere between $4 to $6, with an odd few actually closer to $10 and beyond, an exception rather than the rule. In the US, tankouban prices typically begin around $10, with an odd few dipping under or over that figure. When manga were first released in the US, it was not uncommon to see books priced at $20 or more. Like the high prices for the tapes, the ludicrously exorbitant price tags do not exactly encourage people to take a chance on a series they don't know, haven't heard of, and may not like.
- The creator typically receives little to nothing for manga released in other countries. It's the publishers who really profit from publication outside of Japan. This is why I tend to prefer to support creators whom I can contact directly, and whom I can be certain receive the support I want to give them.
- There are so many companies, like Tokyopop, who are absolutely deplorable in the way they do business. I never want to support their spurious business practices. Because of this, I do support the manga titles, but in Japanese.
- Plenty of companies blithely butcher a series with terrible editing that doesn't even bother to involve the original artist, or they simply flip the panels or pages, resulting in disconcerting layouts. Flipping pages was common practise for some time and is still done by some companies. Some companies will just omit pages they don't like, resulting in a confusing final product, which makes one wonder why they even bothered to licence it in the first place if they didn't intend to release it intact.
- Many companies licence a series and then never finish it, even going so far as to do up to the next-to-last book and then no more. While that's no problem for me -- I can just look to a friend in Japan, Kinokuniya, Celga, and so forth -- not everyone has access to those resources and, as mentioned before, not everyone can read Japanese. Now more than ever, now that these companies are becoming so vehement about obliterating manga scans and fan translations, I want to say this: don't start something if you don't intend to finish it. Licencing something and then dropping the release and whining about low sales is a good way to get people not to buy anything from you again, because they can't be sure you'll see it through to the end. At the very least, scanlators work for free and most who are passionate enough about a project will either see it through or hand it off to someone else who will.
There are so many reasons why this latest witch hunt will only serve as detrimental to these publishers and everyone around them who is tangentially involved.
People aren't going to take a chance and spend over $10 on series they don't know if they like, aren't sure if they can count on, and can't trust to be finished. If anything, this will simply increase the occurrences of people checking the books out from their local libraries (if they can find them) and reading them, then picking them up once the series is finished...much later.
People also are less likely to take a chance on a completely unfamiliar series. If they haven't heard anything, can't find anything online (ideally a preview to read), and don't know the author, they're not as likely to just pick it up. Scanlations provide a way for potential readers to see different works from the author and see if the style suits them. Some of the titles they peruse may never become available formally in their language.
All series, naturally, cannot be licenced. Ultimately what publishers choose are series that they think will make the most profit. For whatever reason, be it age, obscurity, or any other justification, many books will never see the light of day in other languages. Is it really a detriment to the profits of the creator if a work that is never released officially in another country is provided in scanned form? I say it is not. Most readers of manga I know would go out of their way to buy a book they love, even if it isn't in their own language. But they have to read it and understand it first, or else they will never know that they love it.
An additional point I would like to make is that not all manga is collected into tankouban. I dearly love the Yes! Precure 5 and Yes! Precure 5 Go Go manga that ran in Nakayoshi alongside the TV series. Yet they were never collected into tankouban and, likely, never will be. If I had not seen a chapter of the manga scanned, I would never have known it even existed. Even now, trying to seek out the series, I've only managed to collect a handful of Nakayoshi with the manga. Is it really right to obliterate any scans of that existing? Many of the 'telephone book' manga magazines like Nakayoshi are discarded after they are read. That means that these Precure 5 comics stand a good chance of never again seeing the light of day. How is that helpful to the talented creator who composed them?
The scanlators are not all pure, blameless entities, just like the fansubbers are not. People are people. But by and large, the majority of the fansub community, just like the majority of the scanlation community, are people who have a passion for what they do, and what they do is done out of love and admiration. Once the titles are licenced, to be made available in their region, they stop doing what they do because they don't have to now; their goal is achieved. A wider audience will be able to share their appreciation, and easily.
mp3s were not wiped out. Fansubs did not vanish from the face of the earth. And scanlations will not go away. All that has happened is that now, people who want them will have to look in different places. And now, all these manga publishers who were so concerned about profits and revenue will receive even less because people will be less willing to take chances on things they can't be sure they will enjoy. All they have done is create yet another inane buzzword. I am reminded of a friend who worked professionally in voiceovers and struggled to find a host for his website back in 2001, because many hosts refused to host him due to him using mp3s for his portfolio samples. The mp3 format, at the time, was the most economical combination of space and quality. And yet, because it was another stupid industry buzzword, everyone was put through tremendous inconvenience simply because an industry could not get over itself.
I encourage people to support the things they enjoy. There are too many people online who think that everything is theirs for free, and they need not support creators who give them enjoyment. It is not an infinite resource, and each voice is unique and deserving of support if it touches you. I agree that there is a problem with some people online, and that they have caused the rest of us to suffer. I am not endorsing rampant free everything. But I am endorsing being able to make an informed decision since the majority of consumers all have a limited amount of space for things we buy.
Essentially, there must be a middle ground. If publishers are going to insist that scanlations and manga scans in general are made pariahs, they must provide something to compensate for that. If they refuse to allow unofficial product, then it is their responsibility to provide official. That is a fundamental aspect of capitalism. If they can't provide something that is desired and someone else does, then that someone else will receive the support they deserve, which the original party lost.
I might also mention that, as per usual in both Japan and the US, many of these publishers completely flooded the market during the Japanese culture boom that occurred years ago. Japanese animation and comics have become an integrated part of American culture. They have lost their novelty. Because of that, companies can no longer just put out whatever they can licence cheaply and rely on it selling simply because it's Japanese. And yet, actions like this attempt to sweep away scanlations are the kind of thing that such overconfident firms tend to do. They think that they can do anything, produce anything, make any move, and have no end of support. It is actions like this that communicate a belief that even if they lose customers from this, there are always as many customers just waiting to replace them. But that is a fallacy in reasoning. Customers are now a very finite number for larger manga publishers. Antics like this only alienate increasing portions of that finite number.
Essentially the publishers are using scanlations as a scapegoat for declining sales, rather than looking to themselves for the much larger reasons. Manga have lost their novelty. Many series in the past 10 years have become homogenised and formulaic. A consumer public more familiar with the medium will no longer buy arbitrarily and blindly, but instead will become more discerning. That is what has happened.
It's the same thing that happened with Maison Ikkoku, essentially. And in twenty years' time, I would imagine we will see a more completely integrated medium of sequential art, with manga, American comic books, and European comics, all melding together into a cohesive whole...and all who are surrounded by this looking back and laughing at the idiots who tried to blame their own poor business sense on the most convenient scapegoat. It's one thing when you're a sole proprietor and don't have a lot of money. It's quite different when you're a multi-million-dollar publisher who should know better.
Shame on everyone involved in this.
There is an unfortunately large number of people online (and offline, for that matter) who come along with the attitude that they are entitled to anything and everything online for free. I agree that it's a problem, especially when they read something, enjoy it, and then don't support it. I always go out of my way to support the things that I enjoy, because I know that the individual, unique voice that created it will never be seen again.
Even if I find something similar, it will never be the same. Each creator is different. Each creator brings something different to anything. And if I allow that voice to go silent, then I am betraying my own love for what it has shared with me.
However, the recent actions by a group of publishers in Japan and the United States have gone much too far. This group banded together for the chief purpose of stamping out scanlations.
'Scanlation' is a portmanteau term of 'scan' and 'translation'. Scanlations are essentially the manga equivalent to fansubs, which are fan-subtitled episodes of anime. Scanlations are, in turn, scans of manga that are translated by fans.
The motivation behind scanlations is to expose a new audience to a series to which they otherwise have no exposure. The translations are done out of a love for the series and an enthusiasm to share it with a new audience. When the series is licenced for official release, scanlators typically cease their work and point interested readers to the official release.
In another parallel with fansubs, this is essentially the same approach that fansub groups have. As someone who has known several fansubbers, I can say that the vast majority of them work very hard purely out of love for a series and, when that series is made available to their region in a quality release, they are only too happy to stop their unofficial efforts and point others to the official ones. The goal of fansubbers, as with scanlators, is to provide something that is not being provided, to broaden the exposure of a series that they love so that it can be shown that there is an audience for it.
The publishers have all but stated that they believe scanlations are the Antichrist. It is their intention to stamp scanlations out entirely, with claims that they have ruined the manga industry and other such hyperbole. There are, naturally, a few things that have been left out of this discussion.
The first is that the exact thing has been attempted before. In the 80s, anime releasing companies invented the 'Maison Ikkoku effect', which they claimed explained how fansubs were destroying any chance of anime retaining a foothold in the US marketplace. Because of fansubs, companies such as Viz asserted, their release of Maison Ikkoku failed to be an overwhelming success.
Then, as now, they failed to consider a few points:
- First, Maison Ikkoku was a relatively obscure series outside of Japan that was also nothing like the only other well-known series from the same creator at that time.
- Second, Maison Ikkoku's pace is slightly slower than that of a Tolstoy book. With an emphasis on iyashi-kei slice-of-life situations, Maison Ikkoku was suited even only to a certain Japanese audience, certainly not the sort of series that would take a US audience at the time.
- Third, Maison Ikkoku's aforementioned tone was completely different from what was wildly popular at the time, which happened to be action-filled, flashy-effects spectaculars, typically with sex and violence. The attempt to release such a series so completely untested shows tremendous lack of foresight on the parts of its releasers.
- Fourth, dubs at the time were a crap shoot. Some were decent. Most were mind-numbingly awful. This period of slapdash dubbing instilled an entire generation with knee-jerk hatred of English dubs, and for good reason.
- Last but not least, a typical anime VHS at the time cost around $20...for a dub. Usually they were priced at $30 for a subtitled version. These tapes were usually an hour long, but some were longer. None ever exceeded two hours in length.
Despite all of this, it was claimed that fansubs had ruined Maison Ikkoku's chances, that fansubs were entirely responsible for its commercial failure, and that long-running series like Maison Ikkoku would never be able to be released to a US audience.
Those of us who knew better suspected that it was a case of sour grapes from a company who had made a mistake and simply looked for the most convenient scapegoat. Fansubbers could hardly answer these accusations, especially as it was before the age of widespread internet access. Companies like Viz could make whatever allegations they pleased, and fansubbers and fans alike had no recourse to answer them.
Now, twenty-something years later, we see how fansubs have completely ruined the anime industry...since one of the most profitable booms in history has essentially integrated Japanese animation and comics into American culture. Long-running series, which would never be able to be released to an American audience, are everywhere.
But now the publishers are saying that scanlations are the imminent destruction of manga. Once again, Viz are at the forefront of these claims; you'd think they'd have learned from the Maison Ikkoku incident. I'd like to bring up a few points to this discussion:
- In Japan, I could go to any given bookstore and be reasonably confident of finding a recently-released tankouban. I could also go online and read others' opinions of that series, or even ask friends if they think the series would suit me. Conversely, in the US, the limited number of titles released, many of which are years old, are often not even available to libraries. I can't always find opinions from anyone who may have read a certain title, even if it is available in English. And although I am at a great advantage because I can read Japanese -- and typically buy manga in Japanese, and can browse the internet in Japanese to find reviews -- most readers in the US do not share my ability.
- In Japan, most tankouban cost somewhere between $4 to $6, with an odd few actually closer to $10 and beyond, an exception rather than the rule. In the US, tankouban prices typically begin around $10, with an odd few dipping under or over that figure. When manga were first released in the US, it was not uncommon to see books priced at $20 or more. Like the high prices for the tapes, the ludicrously exorbitant price tags do not exactly encourage people to take a chance on a series they don't know, haven't heard of, and may not like.
- The creator typically receives little to nothing for manga released in other countries. It's the publishers who really profit from publication outside of Japan. This is why I tend to prefer to support creators whom I can contact directly, and whom I can be certain receive the support I want to give them.
- There are so many companies, like Tokyopop, who are absolutely deplorable in the way they do business. I never want to support their spurious business practices. Because of this, I do support the manga titles, but in Japanese.
- Plenty of companies blithely butcher a series with terrible editing that doesn't even bother to involve the original artist, or they simply flip the panels or pages, resulting in disconcerting layouts. Flipping pages was common practise for some time and is still done by some companies. Some companies will just omit pages they don't like, resulting in a confusing final product, which makes one wonder why they even bothered to licence it in the first place if they didn't intend to release it intact.
- Many companies licence a series and then never finish it, even going so far as to do up to the next-to-last book and then no more. While that's no problem for me -- I can just look to a friend in Japan, Kinokuniya, Celga, and so forth -- not everyone has access to those resources and, as mentioned before, not everyone can read Japanese. Now more than ever, now that these companies are becoming so vehement about obliterating manga scans and fan translations, I want to say this: don't start something if you don't intend to finish it. Licencing something and then dropping the release and whining about low sales is a good way to get people not to buy anything from you again, because they can't be sure you'll see it through to the end. At the very least, scanlators work for free and most who are passionate enough about a project will either see it through or hand it off to someone else who will.
There are so many reasons why this latest witch hunt will only serve as detrimental to these publishers and everyone around them who is tangentially involved.
People aren't going to take a chance and spend over $10 on series they don't know if they like, aren't sure if they can count on, and can't trust to be finished. If anything, this will simply increase the occurrences of people checking the books out from their local libraries (if they can find them) and reading them, then picking them up once the series is finished...much later.
People also are less likely to take a chance on a completely unfamiliar series. If they haven't heard anything, can't find anything online (ideally a preview to read), and don't know the author, they're not as likely to just pick it up. Scanlations provide a way for potential readers to see different works from the author and see if the style suits them. Some of the titles they peruse may never become available formally in their language.
All series, naturally, cannot be licenced. Ultimately what publishers choose are series that they think will make the most profit. For whatever reason, be it age, obscurity, or any other justification, many books will never see the light of day in other languages. Is it really a detriment to the profits of the creator if a work that is never released officially in another country is provided in scanned form? I say it is not. Most readers of manga I know would go out of their way to buy a book they love, even if it isn't in their own language. But they have to read it and understand it first, or else they will never know that they love it.
An additional point I would like to make is that not all manga is collected into tankouban. I dearly love the Yes! Precure 5 and Yes! Precure 5 Go Go manga that ran in Nakayoshi alongside the TV series. Yet they were never collected into tankouban and, likely, never will be. If I had not seen a chapter of the manga scanned, I would never have known it even existed. Even now, trying to seek out the series, I've only managed to collect a handful of Nakayoshi with the manga. Is it really right to obliterate any scans of that existing? Many of the 'telephone book' manga magazines like Nakayoshi are discarded after they are read. That means that these Precure 5 comics stand a good chance of never again seeing the light of day. How is that helpful to the talented creator who composed them?
The scanlators are not all pure, blameless entities, just like the fansubbers are not. People are people. But by and large, the majority of the fansub community, just like the majority of the scanlation community, are people who have a passion for what they do, and what they do is done out of love and admiration. Once the titles are licenced, to be made available in their region, they stop doing what they do because they don't have to now; their goal is achieved. A wider audience will be able to share their appreciation, and easily.
mp3s were not wiped out. Fansubs did not vanish from the face of the earth. And scanlations will not go away. All that has happened is that now, people who want them will have to look in different places. And now, all these manga publishers who were so concerned about profits and revenue will receive even less because people will be less willing to take chances on things they can't be sure they will enjoy. All they have done is create yet another inane buzzword. I am reminded of a friend who worked professionally in voiceovers and struggled to find a host for his website back in 2001, because many hosts refused to host him due to him using mp3s for his portfolio samples. The mp3 format, at the time, was the most economical combination of space and quality. And yet, because it was another stupid industry buzzword, everyone was put through tremendous inconvenience simply because an industry could not get over itself.
I encourage people to support the things they enjoy. There are too many people online who think that everything is theirs for free, and they need not support creators who give them enjoyment. It is not an infinite resource, and each voice is unique and deserving of support if it touches you. I agree that there is a problem with some people online, and that they have caused the rest of us to suffer. I am not endorsing rampant free everything. But I am endorsing being able to make an informed decision since the majority of consumers all have a limited amount of space for things we buy.
Essentially, there must be a middle ground. If publishers are going to insist that scanlations and manga scans in general are made pariahs, they must provide something to compensate for that. If they refuse to allow unofficial product, then it is their responsibility to provide official. That is a fundamental aspect of capitalism. If they can't provide something that is desired and someone else does, then that someone else will receive the support they deserve, which the original party lost.
I might also mention that, as per usual in both Japan and the US, many of these publishers completely flooded the market during the Japanese culture boom that occurred years ago. Japanese animation and comics have become an integrated part of American culture. They have lost their novelty. Because of that, companies can no longer just put out whatever they can licence cheaply and rely on it selling simply because it's Japanese. And yet, actions like this attempt to sweep away scanlations are the kind of thing that such overconfident firms tend to do. They think that they can do anything, produce anything, make any move, and have no end of support. It is actions like this that communicate a belief that even if they lose customers from this, there are always as many customers just waiting to replace them. But that is a fallacy in reasoning. Customers are now a very finite number for larger manga publishers. Antics like this only alienate increasing portions of that finite number.
Essentially the publishers are using scanlations as a scapegoat for declining sales, rather than looking to themselves for the much larger reasons. Manga have lost their novelty. Many series in the past 10 years have become homogenised and formulaic. A consumer public more familiar with the medium will no longer buy arbitrarily and blindly, but instead will become more discerning. That is what has happened.
It's the same thing that happened with Maison Ikkoku, essentially. And in twenty years' time, I would imagine we will see a more completely integrated medium of sequential art, with manga, American comic books, and European comics, all melding together into a cohesive whole...and all who are surrounded by this looking back and laughing at the idiots who tried to blame their own poor business sense on the most convenient scapegoat. It's one thing when you're a sole proprietor and don't have a lot of money. It's quite different when you're a multi-million-dollar publisher who should know better.
Shame on everyone involved in this.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Appearing at Knoxville Comic and Anime Con!
I just want you all to know, I'll be appearing at the Knoxville Comic and Anime Con on 26 and 27 June 2010. That's in a couple of weeks! It's at the Knoxville Expo Centre, which is easy to find, and admission is only $5 a day. I'll be there peddling my wares and meeting people, and doing art for them too! Please do come by and get a sketch!
I hope I'll see some of you there. :)
The official site is at http://www.knoxvillecomicanimecon.com/ and it lists all the particulars such as hours and more information about guests and vendors. I'm sure it's going to be great fun!
I hope I'll see some of you there. :)
The official site is at http://www.knoxvillecomicanimecon.com/ and it lists all the particulars such as hours and more information about guests and vendors. I'm sure it's going to be great fun!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Incubus Tales has moved!
Just so you're aware, if you weren't aware before, because of SmackJeeves administration being idiots in general, Incubus Tales has moved to ComicDish. Please update all your links and bookmarks to the following address, to continue to follow and support Dhiar and all his adventures:
Thanks very much for your continued support!
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