Highway 62

That’s not to toot my own horn too loudly, mind you. I’m just figuring that people aren’t going to spend a lot of their own time reading something that they disagree with. I know that I don’t. I also try not to spend money and time on comics that don’t look outstanding. I’m not always 100%, mind you. I’ve been sucked in by a promising preview only to find that the comic itself didn’t really measure up. Same with covers. The cover makes promises that the comic inside is woefully unprepared to fulfill. It happens. I just don’t spend time and energy talking about it after the fact. Which is why you didn’t read too many bad reviews by me. It’s also the reason why I didn’t cover a lot of the stuff that gets written up elsewhere. Bad enough that I spend time with a bad book, I’m not going to compound it by spending more time talking about how bad it is. I’d rather talk up the good stuff, or simply make fun of bad policy. Bad policy is infinitely entertaining, until it becomes so bad that all you can do is shake your head and wonder.

Marvel’s just about there. DC’s got some safety padding in that regard. This for those of you at home keeping score.

Consequently, there isn’t time to talk up everything that’s earned it. Maybe if I ran an exclusive reviews column, I could’ve, but probably not. A lot of good stuff is simply and quietly enjoyed, with me taking note of the creators involved and making sure to keep tabs on them and look up whatever they put out later (and find what else they’ve already done.)

Then there are publishers who are doing things right, even if they’re not the biggest publishers out there (or maybe it’s because they’re not the biggest that they can do this. AiT/Planet Lar is one of ‘em. Title for title, I pick up more of AiT’s output than I do of Marvel and DC’s combined (and then some.) Granted, AiT isn’t putting out as many different titles, but much of what they do is worth looking into. And hey, they put out more than superhero/crime/horror (which is about as far as genre diversity reaches in the mainstream right now.) Image also puts out some interesting work beyond those fairly narrow genres. So does Oni, Fantagraphics (publishers of the magnificent Jim collection that I picked up at SDCC this year), and Rebellion (through DC).

But like I said, you already know this, right? There I am, doing it again.

Before I take my leave and go gentle into the night, I thought it might be fun to do a little then and now, based on the duration of my tenure here. I know, it only seems like yesterday that I showed up at the bustling Broken Frontier offices, bright-eyed optimist from Comics Columnist School (in Peoria, doncha know? I took the correspondence course) and cigar-chomping Frederik Hautain took me under his wing, assigning Graeme McMillan as my mentor to show me the ropes in the big city. Ah, memories.

But it wasn’t yesterday. It was about fourteen months ago. How the time flies.

Then: Bill Jemas reigns supreme at Nu Marvel.
Now: Bill who?
He sure shook things up. He also instituted no-overprint. But he allowed New X-Men to be readable again. But he alienated a whole lot of readers. But he picked up some new readers. But he pissed off a whole lot of retailers. But the kids still bought the comics. But do kids really want The Ultimates anyways? No, they want superheroes doing everything but being superheroes. Sigh.

Then: Epic gives newbies a shot at the big time.
Now: Epic? Huh? No, Icon is all the rage now!
What could have been a good idea if taken seriously becomes another laughing point.

Then: Ed Brubaker makes Catwoman readable again.
Now: Aw, shoot. Least I can check him out on Captain America.
And with some more creator-owned projects coming along the pipeline, hopefully he can convince more readers to follow him from franchise character to new story.

Then: Marvel plunders its back catalog wholesale.
Now: They’re down to the bottom of the barrel, folks.
No kidding. A Beta Ray Bill book was just announced. I like space horses and all, but only when Walt Simonson is writing them.

Then: Flex Mentallo is a lost classic
Now: DC reprinting Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol
Hopefully Flex will not be far behind. The above is cause for rejoicing, folks. Pay attention.

Then: Catwoman movie announced.
Now: Catwoman movie flops.
I think I called that one. But it wasn’t a hard one to call, really.

Then: My own comics project just gets underway.
Now: First issue’s worth is done.
Man, this is going a lot slower than I thought it would. Wish I could draw.

Then: Self-publishing is a viable option to get your work out there.
Now: Self-publishing is a viable option to get your work out there.
Not a lot of movement on this subject. It still beats the hell out of waiting to hear back from Marvel or DC.

Then: Only one Maxwell child to care for.
Now: Two. Boy, they really eat your time up. And energy.

Then: Crossgen holds the course.
Now: Iceberg dead ahead, Captain!
Shoulda, coulda, woulda, didn’ta. So much wasted potential.

Then: Sue Who?
Now: Much wailing and gnashing of teeth
Over her death and violation in Identity Crisis.

Then: Comics movies will save us all.
Now: Comics movies are just movies.
I’m thinking that some folks aren’t happy about that.

Then: Blogowhat?
Now: I’m running a comics blog, the ever-mysteriously named Highway 62.
Which is the best place to catch my flavor these days.

Then: “Wait, you want me to limit my freelance options? Are you nuts?”
Now: The exclusive to everyone but the other member of the Big Two.
Exclusives rule the land. I’m not entirely sure this is all that different than the way things used to run, given that creators would work for one house or the other depending on how things went. But hey, it’s great for a Newsarama headline, right?

But a lot really hasn’t changed. And when you look at it, not a lot changed from the bad ‘ol days that Bryan Hibbs wrote about in Tilting At Windmills. Change some of the numbers by an order of magnitude or so, but the substance is frighteningly contemporary. By that token, though, what Larry Young wrote about in True Facts also holds true, in that you can pick up and do it yourself (if you’re smart about it). I’m not so sure that the industry wants to change all that much. There’s people who are fighting the good fight and giving us readers a shot at something different (my jester’s cap off to them), but there’s a whole damn lot of the same old same old.

Maybe I haven’t even changed all that much. I went into this with just about the same opinions I went into it. I’ve certainly learned a lot in the last year, not only about how comics are marketed but how they’re created. As I noted awhile back (and wiser beings than me have said), if you want to learn how to write comics, then write them. There’s no substitute for experience.

And another thing that there’s no substitute for is love. One thing that I’ve found that’s common to a whole lot of folks who are serious about working in comics (whether that’s writing a column or creating or retailing or blogging or marketing or even getting the energy and thought together to post online) is that they love comics. They may all love them for different reasons and love different things about them, but it’s there. People who would likely not be able to stand being in the same room at the same time can be united in their love of comics (even if they’d never admit it.)

Though I’ll say that using that love as an excuse to be a jerk is pretty boneheaded. Hopefully I’ve not crossed that line. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m opinionated to a fault, but I’ve tried not to let that turn me into a rampaging asshole. Nobody’s come out and say it, so I figure I’ve done an okay job in that regard. But then one man’s bonehead is another man’s prophet, so maybe I missed a shot at being the temporal figurehead of a new religion. That’s okay. I can take a pass on that.

Anything else I want to leave you, gentle readers, with? Maybe this. If you take nothing else away from your reading of Full Bleed, then remember this. You have a right to demand quality storytelling in your comics. You don’t necessarily have a right to demand creators how to give that to you, though. If you don’t like the comics you’re reading, feel free to let the creators know, but don’t expect them to turn everything around on a dime because you’re not happy with it. Look elsewhere if you have to. Expect great stories from your reading. Don’t buy something halfhearted just because it has a great cover or eye-catching art. Does that cover or the art serve a greater purpose? No, I’m not suggesting that you restrict yourself to a diet of black and white art comics (or even the color ones.) It’s often the case that they’re just as restrictive in their genre trappings as the most offensive of the spandex books are.

Remember, people, you can’t simply judge a book by its publisher (though I’m the guy who wrote that I was never buying a Marvel comics again, a hyperbolic oath that was broken awhile ago) or by its color or lack thereof (sometimes it’s just cheaper to print a book black and white and you have to give the little guys a shot) or by whether it’s superheroes or not ( though the first Batman/Superman story arc was the biggest big fun I’ve had in awhile). Don’t buy licensed books simply because you used to love Starscream when you were a kid (Starscream was a pushover) and don’t buy that Batman book because you’ve always bought Batman books. Demand quality. Demand quality beyond the surface trappings. Quality is what lasts and will demand that you return to those books like a thirsty man in the desert. Quality alone is what trumps three dollar cover prices or waiting for the collection or taking the chance on a twelve dollar OGN or watching the characters you once held dear wander uselessly, ciphers spouting sub-Tarantino dialogue. Quality alone is the anodyne to wash all the rest of it away.

Before I turn out the lights, let me thank a few people. Firstly, thanks to Graeme McMillan, without whom, none of you would be reading this. Thanks as well to Frederik Hautain, head BF cigar-chewer (I have no idea if he actually chomps stogies or not, but it’s a good image). Thanks to my editors, firstly Chris Hunter and to Shawn Hoke more recently. My thanks also to Ed Brubaker, who gave a nobody column an interview (and a damn good one at that) and started things off with a big bang. A round of thanks (and single-malts) to both James Sime (he of the Isotope and Comic Pimp fame) and Larry Young (head AiT honcho) for the encouragement. Thanks also to the following people (they all know why): Kevin Melrose, John Jakala, Joseph Rybandt and Ed Cunard. Finally, thanks to everyone who’s read the column. You all deserve a medal. Each and every one of you.

-Matt Maxwell