Living Off Your Comics, Letting Go of Your Passion

I've decided, as I do from time to time, that I haven't concentrated on my blog as much as I could have. In reality, I feel the blog is such an overlooked part of my blog that I feel lucky if anyone even looked at it. To be honest, I probably wouldn't even know if someone did take the time to look at my blog. So, I tend to think it is not being looked at and therefore, just like with my message board, I forget to concentrate on it out of apathy for it. Far too often if seems like my message board has become something of a tree falling in a forest type thing. If no one is there to hear it fall, does it make a sound? Far too often I feel that way when it comes to these message boards. Perhaps I can slip another blog post in without anyone noticing. Because if no one reads what I say, does anyone actually get offended? I take the approach of who cares? If they care, they SHOULD let it be known. Either on the message board or the blog. They should come forward and either air their griefs at me or show their support.

I have determined that running a message board is a thankless task and one that leads to tons of frustration. I fully admit I never figured out the secret formula to making a message board work. I think it starts innocently enough. And the people you meet there have good intentions. They often come and show up because they knew you as a poster on another board and may have got wind about your board either from someone else or by you yourself. So they come to your board and give you a nice welcome into message board world and then something happens after the very quick honeymoon. You begin noticing that some begin leaving and you don't know why. Obviously you aren't entertaining enough or informative enough and so you pour yourself further into it trying to figure a way to be more entertaining or informative and you notice a few more people leave.

You bring up topics that will bring up controversy. Assuming controversy will be good for the board and create discussion, you instead get labeled as someone with a sour attitude who is turning off people with your negativity and still even more leave.

I have found that I have ended up with a select few who appear to be your die hards. God bless them, without them your board wouldn't exist. So you tend to try catering to them and what ends up happening is now your members have a sense that you need them more than they need you and begin voicing their opinions at you like you are either really dumb, ill informed or just plaid more stupid and ignorant than they are. I have at times felt hostage by my most loyal posters. Often I feel they hold an upper hand on me. Cater to them and they may come back. But they won't be a great contributor. They may end up posting only to leave for 2-3 months at a time. Even though you responded on the day they posted and hoped for a return reply, what ends up happening is they post, they leave, you reply and they never return. And when they finally do. The posts they last posted on are long gone.

Furthermore, they hold you hostage because if you voice a viewpoint they disagree with, now they are suddenly into it with you. Continue down the path of voicing your opinion and now you have alienated you one of few remaining loyal members. Off they go never to return and gone over something so petty. The cycle never ends. Hopefully you end up not being like me and wishing someone would post even though they don't. They are waiting for you to do it all but instead of contributions after you lay out new material, they leave once they read your latest posts. Sometimes I have felt held hostage from my own members.

Anyway, my life took a wrong turn in 2012. A terrible wrong turn. And next thing I knew, I was without a job. And a couple of months later, my wife and I separated and as of now we are just weeks away from being officially divorced. The world got suddenly difficult for me.

In an effort of trying to maintain at least a lower class standard of living. I started selling my comics on eBay. It's bittersweet. You make money to survive but you let go of books you once held so proudly. Suddenly you are cherry picking yourself in an attempt to keep afloat.

I could write on and one about my successes and failures. I've had a few of each. I have mixed feelings about the results. I am proud I kept myself going when all else was down but also feel shame of not having a real job and feel despair watching my best comics leave me. It makes it hard to run a message board. Especially one as dead as mine.

In any event. The comic message board lives on. Only in this case silently as I watch day after day without someone posting anything. Waiting for me to take the bait again and take another fall.

In some ways, losing my comics is a blessing. It keeps me going. In other ways it involves sadness of not realizing even more money than I have.

Ah well. Anyway. I met to write more and on a different path. I instead just let my thoughts flow and now I'm ready to call it a night. Meant to say so much more and so differently. But alas, this is where life has me.

Perhaps I will further explain my exploits in the coming posts. For now, I will be satisfied that I made another post to my blog. It's been awhile and perhaps it's time. But for now, I want to go to sleep.

Take Care!

What was wrong with heroes being straight?

My guess is being a straight super hero is not as profitable as it once used to be. We're living in a day and age where headlines have to grab attention and people no longer have time to read numerous issues to tell if a comic is great or not. Word of mouth doesn't seem to travel far when people say a particular comic is good. I think comic people have become jaded. We've seen it all and rehashed stories have been of the been there, done that variety. Besides that, there haven't been any true Classics in a long, long time. Gone are the days when something like The Watchmen can blow us away. We can rehash it all we want, it doesn't have the same punch the 2nd time around. Same for the legacy that has been known as Valiant Comics over the years. While the current incarnation may be the strongest it has looked in some time compared to other very failed attempts to bring the legend back, its extremely doubtful that even VEI's current launch will grab comic fandom the way the original Valiant Comics led by Jim Shooter did. And also gone are long running sagas in the the vein of the Dark Phoenix Saga. Often seen as a benchmark of comic greatness back during its time, the current crop of fickle comic readers could care less to see a story of that magnitude develop over a 30 - 35 issue arc where bits and pieces played out slowly until the saga climaxed with the Death of Phoenix with X-Men #137. Today's comic readers can barely have their attention held for 4 issues straight, let alone 12. Once we get beyond that, you're left with only die hard fans who loved the character(s) through thick and thin anyway. No, today's fickle bunch of readers want the headline now and grab the issue or couple issues in the coming weeks or months and call it a day. And it can't just be any old headline either. Death is completely played out. No one cares if a hero quits his career or group or joins the fray. There are no turning points the old fashioned way anymore. There is no room for all the normal cliches of comics. We have to find new ways to shock and awe the crowd.

Unfortunately I think it caters to many believing that it is all in the name of their cause. Let's turn Spider-Man black so we can filter out the injustice of an unequal slant of white characters that have held the mantle for decades on end. Albeit we'll do it in the Ultimate line so no one has to take it too seriously if the tradition white audience gets bent out of shape. Hell, let's throw Obama in some comics and look like we've overcome and progressed not only as a nation but as comic creators too. Soon enough, even these headlines start fading in the background. How about, lets reboot and start all these long running comics over at #1? Giving every collector out their a chance to start fresh! Never mind the collector who has collected 30+ years and made it his or her pursuit to try and track down every issue of Batman or Superman. There isn't enough of those guys around anyway. Let's give everyone a new starting point. Hey, most people don't know when a starting point is anymore. Back in my day, a starting point was anytime you picked up a new comic. Whether it was issue #1 or #238, it didn't matter. If you opened the comic, it was a starting point for you. Nah, that's too tough. There is too much back story for most fans to be concerned with history. Lets tell them when they should jump on a comic by creating point one comics (.1). So now instead of holding issue #36 and not knowing anything that is going on. A readier can hold 36.1 and know right away that they are at the beginning dag nabbit.

Unfortunately, just as fast and furious as these ideas hit, they fade away. No one cares now that comics are on issue #12 after being rebooted. The headline is done and over. What now? Well, the power that be are running out of ideas. Except they thought of one they hadn't exploited very much yet. Lets go ahead and play the gay card. I guess it comes down to who played it better? I don't personally find either to be so great but I have to say I appreciate Marvel's method a lot more than DC's. Marvel had outted Northstar a full 20 years ago. Its something we all knew about him and digested a long, long time ago. It would almost make sense in his storyline that he would eventually want to get married. DC on the other hand chose to alter the history of a living legend, Green Lantern. One of comics 1st Superheroes and just recently had his own movie. While the Northstar character was well known and could even be seen as coming, none of us were ready to see DC alter a character like Green Lantern and make 70 years of history being someone we never knew. The question I have for DC is why? Why do this to THIS character? Northstar was a B-Lister on his best day. No, more of a bench warmer C-Lister. Its not that A-Listers are not entitled to be gay, but why do it to someone with this much of a magnitude and history?

A lot of gays, sympathizers and liberals will applaud Marvel and DC and claim we are stepping out from the hatred and bigotry and making the world a better place. I call BullShit on this. I don't think Marvel and DC gives a damn how people feel about it. While they drape themselves with an American flag and tell the public they are proud of what they are doing, in reality the main motivation is to make another headline and have another quick money grab. One that will be fast and furious and just like the rest, will be old news in just a few months time. What then Marvel and DC? How many ways do you have left to progress us as a nation? You done forgot how to write epics and classics. You done sold your soul and turned your back to what had been working for comics for all these decades. We now live in a time where comics have 1/10th the print runs they had 20 years ago. While they seemingly seem proud of where they stand, in any other business the leaders of these companies would have been long since fired for having such a horrible track record. It's easy to stand behind movies and digital comics and fluff your way into saying that things have never looked brighter and the world of comics have never been brighter, in reality, the leadership up top has never been weaker and the printed comic itself has never seemed less relevant.

Applaud now if you will. You won't give a shit 6 months from now. That's just the way things are these days.

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Sell your comics for big money

There are too many mini-series and #1's

I can remember when both a #1 and a mini series were special events. I can remember when #1's used to have star exploding caption areas that said "Collectors Item First Issue". Yeah, there was a good amount of first issues back in the day, but nothing like the overabundance of first issues we deal with today. I understand why they exist. They represent a spike in sales. I get that comics are a business and anything that spikes sales will be exploited to the highest degree. But I also remember rock solid storylines with tremendous art catching the wave of consciousness and seeing sales numbers spike simply because a book was great. I also remember when #1's used to represent the beginning of being the main way to follow a character. You may have not had a lot of avenues back then. I remember when I was young, Spider-Man had about 5-7 titles and people were complaining it was too much. Well, I think in just the past year alone, I've been suckered into buying about 10 #1's of Batman titles. Does that make any of these special? Should I look for the "Collector's Item First Issue" on these? I think not.

I also remember when mini-series were a new concept. I remember getting "The Marvel Superheroes Contest of Champions #1". It had never been done before. All the super heroes of the company plus a few new ones in a 3 issue series. Looking back, it wasn't that great. But the concept of mini series held a lot more promise back then. Along came other mini or maxi series that were more "events" and had impact on the entire realm of a comic universe. Wolverine, The Watchmen, Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, The Infinity Gauntlet. I used to be a bit excited to buy these. They were indeed events. Not anymore. Now if a Superhero farts, we can make a mini-series about it.

Try looking at an issue of Previews these days. Notice something that is a constant. You notice that the majority of the books are either an issue of part of a mini or maxi series such as (#4 of 12). Or sadly a #1 of a character that hardly anyone cared about in the first place. However, it's got a #1 on it and dang it, there is a lot of suckers out there that will buy anything with a #1 on it. So even if it is a mediocre or no chance title or character, lets give it a first issue. Or launch another new title, but most likely a title of a character that we've seen launched 10 times over. Anybody else ready for another 1st issue of Wolverine?

This points at a bad problem with comics. Comics are diluting themselves. They are taking moments that used to be special and diluting it to a realm of being nothing more than a yawn. I used to get excited over first issues and mini series. I remember hearing news of a launch of a comic and not wanting to wait until it came out. I can wait now. I can wait almost for 95% of these to end up in dumpsters 6 months after release and buying them at 25% of the cover price. If all these first issues and mini series are winding up there, it must be obvious that it isn't special to comic fans either. Comics need to stop diluting themselves. Comic fans should stop playing sucker.

Remember ongoing series? They almost seem like forgotten, abused step-children these days. Only the most iconic of icons now keep a long run of comics going anymore. And lets pray to heaven above that you aren't repaid for showing your loyalty by letting your comic company kill the character off, give it a replacement character, change it's costume and reset the number count. You're really lucky if you've followed a character for ages and they haven't slapped you around with EASY gimmicks that didn't provoke much thought from the creators. Perhaps you remember a simpler time when your favorite character looked exactly how you remembered, hadn't died, had the costume you loved, kept it's numbering the same and delivered solid stories month after month with art from your favorite artists. Do you remember can't waiting for the next issue? Of do you just want them to rip your heart out and change everything you know and love about your favorite character because the shock will make you buy that relaunch of your favorite character. I think if your devotion gets slapped around enough, you're more likely to walk away. Remember devoted followers of your titles comic companies? Is this how you repay them???

Let me ask a question. How often do we expect to see a brand new launch of a character in it's debut #1 issue of an ONGOING comic. And having this be it's true first 1st issue of a comic with it's name plastered on the cover. How many more times are we expecting to see brand new characters start with it's initial first #1 and reach what used to be a rather achievable number for a comic that had built itself around a good reputation and following, how many more times are we going to see a launch now eventually reach issue #200? I think the Spawns and the Savage Dragons of the comics world are running out. I feel more likely I will see a comic character launch and see it appear in 10 more #1's before I see even one of it's titles reach 200. To put it mildly, there won't be anything special about all those #1s. There won't be anything special about the all the mini-series that character will be involved in. To put it mildly, the system has diluted the character even before it launched. The comic companies don't have any high hopes for it. The bar is low. The benchmarks and goals are too easy to achieve. Somehow I don't think Stan, Jack and Steve and the other forefathers of comics only wanted to see their characters reach 12 issues. But it certainly seems like all the top staff at top comic companies and creators want it now. If you can be sold 1 story that can be repackaged later and resold again as a Trade Paper Back then they've done their job. That was the goal.You're no longer meant to care for years. We only need your attention for a few months. Don't ask too much of us. Somehow, as usual. I think we, the buying public of comics, have made it way too easy for them. I really think we should demand more. In this day of dying print media, we should be able to sort out what sucks and stop playing sucker. Reward comics that respect it's loyal followers and reward creators for solid work of both story-telling, art and forward thinking without all the usual gimmicks that we've all experienced before. If we don't demand more and stop letting the games work in their favor, we can't expect them to stop doing it. 

I think comics need to bring back imagination

I honestly feel like comics today are capable of so much more than what they are currently achieving. I know a lot of people today will disagree with me, but I feel like someone who's grown with comics and seen things change. I think comics technically today could blow old comics away. But one thing I think old comics blow current comics away with today is with imagination.

Today comics seem to be set in an atmosphere of realism. I think everyone appreciates realism in comics and we want comics to feel realistic. But I don't need my comic to read like movie, tv show or mini series. I don't always need to feel like everything takes place in a modern world where things are humanly possible. Comics always took me to a place farther away than that. Where things we no longer humanly possible. To put it mildly, if it can be recreated in movies or tv shows, then it probably isn't using enough imaginations. It's been feeling like a long time since comics felt like they were taking me away from the real.

How many times today do building come to life? How often do we visit something so unimaginable as a Negative Zone? I don't feel like I'm visiting these kind of realities anymore. Instead I feel like I've been reading believable circumstances with superheroes existing there. And I think it's deadening things just a bit. The imagination side of it seems to be lacking. I used to take this for granted. Now I miss it. Where did it go?

I certainly feel like comics are capable of bringing me there again, but does it really want to? Do the publishers, writers and artists want to go there? Do the fans want to go there? I'm probably in the minority, but I know I want to go back there. And I want to go back there with the talent and technology we have today. Because who knows how far we could go today if we let today's imagination run wild. Unfortunately, I feel like yesterday's creators just had more imagination.

My blog is gonna bitch about comics

Well, not totally. I plan on praising comics a lot when I feel something is worthy of it. And I'm going to say a lot of things I like about comics and have appreciated over the years. But honestly, I feel in this day and age when so much is possible, with such incredible technology and talent we have, I personally think we are underachieving in comics and I'm going to do my best to point things like that out.

I find a lot of message boards, blogs, Twitter feeds, etc....they are all too willing to kiss the ass of comics. They are all too willing to pucker up and act like everything that is out is great and every artist and writer who had a book published is great. Hey, I don't begrudge you for loving comics. I love them too! But if you love everything, then you probably can't be relied on for a good suggestion either.

There is a whole lot wrong today with comics and I'm gonna say how I feel when I feel the urge. I don't care if people agree with me or not. I'm gonna say how I feel. I've been collecting since 1978 and I feel entitled to voice my opinion. I appreciate it if you have a differing opinion. But I'm still going to feel free to feel how I do too.

One thing I do know. Although we are small in number, I think we are growing. I think there is others who feel a lot of the same things I do. Yeah, not everything, but we agree on some things that are wrong. And I'm hoping that if enough people start bitching about it openly in known public comic forums, maybe eventually comics will take note and make some changes. Yeah, probably not. But that is the hope.

As I learn more about this blogging stuff I plan to post pictures and any other thing I can do to further my case. I'm gonna just keep going and going and keep at it and hope along the way I get some people to watch and join in on the show.

I'm really looking forward to bitching about comics. And singing it's praises too. I hope you are too!

Gotta Start Somewhere

Gonna give blogging another shot. I gave it a shot one time but I realized just how incredibly weak it was and shut it down. I think I made a total of 2 or 3 blog posts and just felt like it wasn't my time for this yet. Now, I feel like it's time I get with it and that maybe it's just another progression I need to make.

Allow me to give a brief history of exactly how I got here. I have my own message board that is going on it's 4th year now, http://comiccrack.proboards.com/ . It began originally as a message board with no direction. I called it "Gotta Start Somewhere". Yeah, it's a stupid name, but it's how I felt at the time. I didn't know anything about anything dealing with running a message board. I had been one of those people who visited message boards for years. I was following one such board when the admin decided to put it on hiatus. I wanted him to keep it running. I even asked him to keep it up. Instead, he pointed me at a Proboards link and told me if I wanted, I could make one myself. Feeling just slightly insulted, I decided....why not me? So "Gotta Start Somewhere" was born. Trouble was, I didn't know what I wanted to make it about. I had been a near lifelong collector of comic books, but I didn't feel capable of running a site about comic books. Too many out there. I thought those who've done it, would do it better. So in a moment of insanity, I decided to make it about things men would most likely be interested in. You know, Sports, Women, Work, things of that nature. I threw comic books into it because I knew I could easily talk about that. I thought I had built this jack of all trades message board. It officially opened on July 14, 2007. I can still hear the crickets. Amazingly, I had a few good people come aboard. One became someone who helped me create the look and functionality of my board. He has the moniker of Underdog. I am absolutely grateful he came aboard and helped me. The other was the person who got it started in the first place. The man who told me to go make one myself. He is known as defiant1. Some of you may know him. He would end up being my toughest critic, but he would also give me some good advice. Namely, I couldn't make a site about everything. People aren't going to search the internet for just anything. Reluctantly I agreed.

Slowly but surely I turned my board into what I knew best, a board about comic books. Something I had done since the April 1978 issue of Uncanny X-Men #110. Something I felt I could really talk about. That focus changing conversation has led me onto the path where I am now. Since then, I have changed the name from "Gotta Start Somewhere" to "Comic Crack". Bought my own Domain, created a front page landing page which I certainly want to make better one day... http://www.comiccrack.com/, started my own Facebook page and also started a Twitter account. I can't say I'm successful at any of this, but I'm still at it. I'm constantly thinking of how to expand my role and make my tiny piece of the internet, just slightly bigger. I've decided it's time I try this blogging again. I don't know exactly what I'm going to accomplish, but it's time I learned this side of things as well. This time I hope to stick with it much like I have my message board. Just like then, I have a lot to learn. I guess I feel now like I did then, I need to throw caution to the wind and just do it. I just "Gotta Start Somewhere".