I just found out that comic book publisher Picturebox is closing up shop. This sucks, since Picturebox were the guys publishing all of Brian Chippendale's work. I was a very big fan of the company and their output for a year or two, but the writing did seem to be on the wall this year, as they published nothing that really caught my attention. It's been a bad year for Things I Like. The Extreme Revival, which gave us the brilliant "Glory" and "Prophet" (and my favorite guilty pleasure books, the revived "Youngblood" and "Bloodstrike") ground to a sudden, albiet predictable halt, with only Prophet continuing to limp along. Fantagraphics, the top dog publisher of High Art comics, had to turn to frickin' Kickstarter for financing (not a good sign). My favorite wrestling promotion, CHIKARA, seemingly bit the dust (maybe, it's hard to explain). Tom Scioli recently completed his brilliant "Satan's Soldier" only to announce that he's doing (grooooan) "Transformers vs. GI Joe" (groooan. Sigh. I know it's Scioli, and Scioli will make it awesome, but I still wish he would just stick to his own stuff).
This was the year where I almost ended TORC Press once and for all, too. In previous years, I've considered quitting comics because I was depressed, but this year, I considered quitting because this year sucked for TORC Press. I failed at the small conventions. I failed miserably at the big conventions. People's reactions to my work largely ranged from Utter Apathy to Blatant Disgust. This whole Internet Blitzkrieg Plan has proven to be a complete and utter failure. My Low Moments were so incredibly low this year. At a little convention on the Kentucky/Tennessee border, I watched as people bought sealed boxes full of "Mystery Items" for $10, while people wouldn't even pick up and flip through a copy of my $1.50 comic for free. I watched people spend $6 or more on plastic sleeves to protect a single piece of artwork that cost $1.50 to make and was sold for $10 or more. After spending close to $1000 to get a table at C2E2, I discovered that my table space DIDN'T ACTUALLY COME WITH A TABLE, so I had to rent one for an additional $60. All for the privilege of being in the area of the Con with the worst foot traffic.
On Saturday at Wizard World Chicago I was fully prepared to quit comics forever, that's how bad I felt about everything. But, as you can see, I didn't. Cause the truth is, I make comics for me. I fight for me. I do this for me. If only 10 people in the whole world are interested in my work, then so be it. I hope they continue to enjoy what I do. In the meantime, TORC Press lives because I say it does. And I'm not interested in going the way of the dodo until I'm a shriveled up old man.
No comments:
Post a Comment