So, What is the Answer?

So, Bro and I were talking about HFSAC 13 (available on Monday) a day or two ago. It's kind of an odd issue, an in-between issue that focuses more on developing characters and advancing the overarching narrative instead of the usual slam-banginess (which is not to say that there isn't a fair amount of smashing and bashing. This is a TORC Press Comic after all). Anyway, Bro said he enjoyed the issue, but he had trouble keeping track of everything. He couldn't remember all of the previous plot threads, and kept wanting to refer back to previous issues. He thought he might enjoy the series in general if he just read it in trade form. I found that a bit odd, because even though I have been telling longer form stories lately and working to move forward my overarching narrative, I personally feel like each issue of HFSAC tends to hold up well on its own (although, admittedly, issue 13 does kinda push its luck in that department).

Of course, it's worth mentioning that Bro's not an inveterate comics reader. He reads TORC Press comics (because he has to) and some Garth Ennis stuff, and that's about it. He doesn't read issue to issue or month to month, so he doesn't have that mindset. He's not accustomed to holding a dozen or more plot threads in his brain at a time.

But the tricky thing is, Bro is Comics target audience. Well, not Bro specifically, the Non-Comics Reader is who we're trying to pick up and indoctrinate. Hell, that's supposed to be half the point of all these big budget, fancy pantsy movies is to pull in the Nonreaders and get them hooked. But the problem is, the Nonreader, like I said, isn't used to the month to month, week to week, grind. They don't have that mindset of keeping track of what's going on in the X-Men and Green Lantern every month and looking forward to it with bated breathe. Even if you can pull in a Nonreader for awhile, how long are they willing to keep up? The first time they realize they missed an issue of the comic they're reading, they may not bother coming back, or digging around trying to find the issue they missed. They'll just move on.

So what's the Answer? You might think I'm gonna try to promote Trade Paperbacks, but I'm not. TPBs are swell, TPBs are great, and TPBs are the model for where we're going, but they're not the answer. And the reason why is because TPBs aren't regular. Referring back to Bro as our example, I can't remember the last time Bro bought a Trade. Since we've run out of Garth Ennis "Punishers", there's not really anything else to buy him right now for Christmas/Birthday. Without something to regularly keep him interested, Bro has went from being a Nonreader turned occasional Reader, back to being a Nonreader.

In fact, this is a running problem with a lot of creators. For example, I really enjoy the work of Paul Pope. But Pope only puts out a new comic once every two or three years. That's a long time to wait for new comics from a guy I dig. It's pretty easy to forget about someone and their work in that amount of time.

Conversely, my buddy Fitchie is also a Nonreader, but he's actually become something of a full fledged reader in the last couple of years. Why? Because he's a fan of "Invincible" and "The Walking Dead", two books that come out more or less monthly and are collected in Trade form on a regular, consistent basis. He's also a fan of "BPRD", another book that maintains a fairly consistent schedule. Although he'll pick up single issues from time to time, he mostly just buys Trades.

So, then, are Trades the answer after all? I dunno. It's kinda like "Scott Pilgrim". Let's say you're a Scott Pilgrim fan, and you go pick up the books in Bor-whoops, they're almost out of business, Barnes & Noble. You pick up the whole series of TPBs, read them, enjoy them, blahblahblah. Now what? The series is over. It's done. No reason to swing by the Graphic Novel aisle anymore, right?

Plus, I don't like the idea of "Writing for the Trade". If you're gonna Write specifically for the Collected Edition, then why bother doing the regular comics in the first place?

Web Comics (New MONSTER KING on Saturday) don't seem to be the answer, either. I mean, some people make a go of it, and there's been a few out there that seem to develop strong, vocal, possibly even non-traditional fanbases. But they're rare, especially when you consider the amount of material out there (not to mention most people would prefer to mindlessly watch Youtube than shuffle through a static webcomic). Hell, I'm a pretty big Tom Scioli fan, and I have trouble remembering to check his new webcomic, "American Barbarian" every week (speaking of which, I haven't checked his site in a week or two...). Bro has told me that he has trouble keeping up with Monster King, and I don't think any of my other Pals are reading it either. Hell, is anyone reading MK?

So, what's the Answer? Is there an Answer? Should I even bother trying to find the Answer?

Hell, don't look at me. I ain't got no Answers.