LET'S GET INDUSTRIOUS...

I'm often amused and amazed in equal measure

when I hear some people claiming there's still a real

comics 'industry' in this country.  I'm having a bit of a

guess here, but I suspect that if you combined the sales

of every genuine British comic available today, the total

would still be lower than a handful of comics from the

'60s & '70s.  One successful title back then sold more
than just about any four or five different ones do
now, so that pretty much speaks for itself.

"But look at all the comic events taking place,"

they bleat.  "That proves that there's still a huge

interest in comics."  Even if that were true, interest

doesn't necessarily equal industry.  Once, comics sold

in large numbers without requiring promotion by spe-

cial events to try and fan a dying spark into a flame.

One could argue that such events prove what dire

straits the so-called industry is in.  Comics never

needed such 'events' in their heyday.

Far fewer comics writers and artists make a

living from the 'industry' now than was once the

case (there just isn't the same number of opportu-

nities), so you can put such optimistic claims by folk

trying to 'talk things up' as just that - which is under-

standable, but not an accurate reflection of reality.  As

somebody once pointed out, if you have a larder full

of food at a time of famine, you may wonder why

some people are claiming to be hungry, but

you're living in a bubble.

I'd find such claims about how healthy the

industry is a little more credible if some of those

making them weren't currently recycling old strips

in self-publishing ventures in order to supplement

their incomes.  Self-publishing is a hobby (or van-

ity-project) - not an industry.  There's no shame

in that of course, but let's call it what it is, not

what some folk would prefer it to be.

Posted in: Cartoons