• Top 5 Movies of 2008 (Part 1)

Let’s jump right into it… My Top 5 Favorite movies of the first half of ’08…

5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I think people use the term “Apatow Film” loosely… it seems like half the comedies coming out today are branded an Apatow Film… and frankly, they aren’t all that good.  He’s only directed 2 films, but somehow his name as a producer gets more attention than the other filmmakers or stars involved.  Well, his only credit on Marshall is Producer.  I am mixed on the “Apatow” films… I loved 40 Year Old Virgin, but only mildly liked Superbad & Knocked Up.  I think the problem I have with a lot of these new brand of comedies is that a lot of times I just don’t like the main character.  But Marshall, written by Jason Segel, was funny, touching, creative, and had a likeable lead in Mr. Segel (Who I was so-so about in Freaks & Geeks, but have come to like a lot in How I Met Your Mother).

4. Iron Man

I know, everyone LOVED this movie, so it should be higher right?  Well, I too loved this movie… it was fun & entertaining, but there is just something keeping me from “having to see it again right away.”  Probably having something to do with the story falling off in the last 1/3rd.  So much has been said about this movie and I know you all have seen it and all loved it… so let’s move on.

3. In Bruges

I actually saw this at Sundance Film Festival this year. (Of course the only movie I see there happened to come out like 2 weeks later in theaters).  And changes are you probably missed this one because it didn’t exactly tear up the box office… Well, go rent it now, because it’s fantastic.  Very funny.  Great action.  And it has an emotional core that is stronger than anything I’ve seen this year.  Very well made from beginning to end.  I know what you’re thinking… and I hate Colin Ferrell too.  But he’s quite good and quite funny in this, surprisingly.  It’s a very unique film with (I think) broad appeal

2. Wall•E

I’m a fan of Pixar movies, but I don’t salivate over them.  The Incredibles is one of my favorite movies of all time, and Monsters Inc. was a fantastic concept done well.  But the rest, I could take or leave.  Well, Wall•E now unseats Monsters Inc. as my 2nd favorite Pixar movie.  It’s just BEAUTIFUL.  Such a wonderful pure story that left me thinking long after I left the theater.  And the animation work, especially in the first 3rd of the movie, is phenomenal.   Like nothing I’ve ever seen before… the way they zoom and focus… and the way dust covers everything.  Beautiful.

1. Speed Racer

I can not tell you why I liked this movie as much as I did.  But it was the most fun I’ve had at the movies in years.  Sure, it’s a little long, and the story is a little jumbled… but man did they make those races fun.  And every character is really fleshed out with a fantastic story.  And from a filmmaking perspective, the Wachowskis just nailed it.  Really a ton of creativity poured out onto the screen.  When I first saw the preview for this movie, I thought it looked horrible.  The graphics were cheesy, the actors were stiff, the dialog was lame… but about 2 minutes into the film, I “got” it and it hooked me from that point on.  It just works.  You really have to check your expectations at the door with this one and just go along for the ride.  It’s so much fun.

• A History of the Direct Market

I’ve been working on a kind of “history of the comics industry” article… but since you can probably just find that on wikipedia… I’m not sure it’d be that interesting.  I certainly don’t have anything new to add.

On top of that, Mike Gold posted a GREAT article discussing why and how the direct market was formed and the mistakes of comics past (there’s a lot of them, by the way).

Check it out here: www.comicmix.com

• Digital IS NOT the Future of Comics.

It seems like everyone these days is talking about the “future of comics” being digital.  After all, everything is going digital.  I myself spend a lot of time in this new digital world… I can’t remember the last time I bought a CD and I watched the entire last season of the Office on iTunes.  I subscribe to a large number of podcasts, videocasts, & blogs.  And I know a lot of people who do the same.  It has taken over nearly every area of entertainment over the past few years, but here’s the thing…

I can’t think of ONE SINGLE PERSON who prefers to read comics online.

At HeroesCon there was a “state of the industry” panel, and as always with these panels, digital comics were brought up.  Erik Larsen stated that he hated reading comics on a computer screen and Mark Waid said something to the effect of “but you’re not a 15-year-old kid.”  And everyone took this as fact.  That us “old guys” will never get the technology of the youth, but if we want to keep that new audience, we have to embrace it.

Well, Mr. Waid, can you tell me the name of one kid who reads comics online?  I can’t.  It doesn’t happen.  And if it does happen it’s ONLY because they can get it for free online, through torrents and what not, NOT because it’s the preferred way to view them.

The truth is that comics are not meant for the computer screen.  Just like novels weren’t meant for the computer screen.  Just because it’s “online” does not mean that a younger generation will all of a sudden eat it up.  If your desire is to capture the “next generation” of comics fans by going online, you’re wasting your time.

The comics industry is not going to get the “Halo” playing, YouTube watching kid.  It’s not going to get the “Iron Man” or “Dark Knight” watching kid.  It’s not going to get the “Lost” or “Heroes” watching kid.  Because comics are not a “new” media.  In fact, sequential art might be the oldest art-form we have.

The comics industry will never get the audience that doesn’t embrace the “classic” art forms.

The quicker we realize this, the quicker we can get onto the good news – We now have a FOCUSED target audience.  The comics industry has a great chance at getting the “Harry Potter” reading kid.  It has a great chance at getting the same mainstream audience who snatches up the latest Stephen King or Dan Brown novel… and these audiences are not reading the latest blockbusters online… they embrace the classic art form of READING, not VIEWING.  It’s a very different thing.

In the broadest terms, comics are literature (apologies to Douglas Wolk). No one is going to flock to comics just because you put them online.  Just like books, comics are not made for online viewing.  Do you know anyone who read the latest Stephen King book online?  The mass-market is never going to embrace that.  Even the younger, fringe market is never going to embrace that. To use a bit of a stretched analogy, watching someone cook a meal on TV is never going to be the same as cooking one at home.

Once someone comes out with a high-quality, cost effective digital reading device (such as Amazon’s Kindle) things will certainly change.  But only the DELIVERY of the comics will change (as the delivery of books changes).  This is no different than going from VHS to DVD for movies.  Instead of buying comics from your local store, you download it to your device.  But if you didn’t previously watch movies, you’re not going to start watching them just because they are now on DVD.  Even if one of these readers comes out, you’re only KEEPING UP with your existing audience, NOT creating a new one.

So, armed with this new realization, let’s focus our marketing efforts.  Comics will NEVER be as popular as movies or television or video games.  So, why try to compete with those markets?  A comic has a good chance, however, of selling as much as a popular novel.  I really believe that.  I think that if “readers” had an opportunity to check out some graphic novels, they would be surprised by how much the entertainment value competes with the best-selling novels in the market.  The audience is no longer “everyone,” it’s “readers.”  And as this market is shrinking, it should be getting easier to target

Also, a HUGE related target audience is young kids who are just learning to read.  This is where the movies & games industry can intersect the comics industry.  If a little kid is into all the Iron Man toys, it could very well be that he learns to read with an Iron Man book.  Or if a kid watches the Batman on Saturday mornings, there’s no reason why he wouldn’t go crazy for an all-ages Batman book.  The key here is getting parents to realize comics are a great way to get kids reading.  But again, even kids will only embrace this as a READING art form.

• Top 5 Things I Learned at HeroesCon.

Back from HeroesCon… Back to the blog… Not quite back from the dead, but here goes..

Heroes was my first comic book convention, and it was an eye-opening experience in a number of ways. Going to a convention definitely gives you a new perspective on the industry. And I must say that after seeing footage and hearing stories of other cons… Heroes seems to be one of the cooler ones. The “dress-up” was kept to a minimum… lots of cool creators that were very approachable… a manageable size… lots of indie books.

Among the things I learned:

1. For the most part comics creators are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met.

I was blown away by how nice and supportive everyone was. There is something unique about the comis industry… and I believe it’s due to it’s size. No one is in comics to become famous or rich (because it doesn’t happen)… they are there because they LOVE it. And there is an immediate connection over that. Creators want other creators to become successful. They want to embrace new readers… to grow the industry. There is a love of craft that I haven’t found in any other industry. It reminds me of the local music scene growing up. Special thanks to Kevin, Dennis, Chris, Ray, Renae, Margeaux, Jared, Erik & Van for letting me hang out & get to know them over the weekend.

2. The industry takes the online vocal minority WAY too seriously.

I sat in on a few panels over the weekend, which were mostly enjoyable. But one thing I realized after a Comics Journalism panel & a “state of the industry” panel, is that the journalists take themselves too seriously and the companies listen way too much to the online community.

In the state of the industry panel, I saw Dan Didio being VERY defensive about his decisions at DC. Who is he defending against? He clearly listens to the online community, which is great, but he gives them way too much power. The truth is, with all business, that sales speak louder than words. Dan, if you want to know if a book is successful, stop listening to the vocal MINORITY of the internet, and start looking at sales. I know that DC ultimately does this, but man, did I get a sense some bitterness from him. If reading how much people hate your crossovers makes you angry and bitter, maybe you need to stop reading it. Someone’s always going to hate what you do. What these big publishers need to be looking at it sales. If an event is successful, do it again. If the comics community thinks it sucks so bad, why do they keep buying it? I stopped buying the big crossovers because I haven’t read one yet that truly impressed me.

Now, there is a use for the online community, but I think this has to do more with smaller titles and smaller publishers. These publishers can’t exist without that small community. And with smaller titles, the online community is a great way to get feedback and see which books are hits or misses based on quality and not just sales (because there are some titles that just due to the state of the industry, aren’t going to sell well, but they may be the book that helps push the envelope of what a comic book can do.)

(More on journalists in a future post)

3. The independent comics industry is even smaller than I thought.

There is a LOT of product out there, and NOT that many people to buy it. When I visit my local comic book store, it’s easy to be fooled into thinking that there are only a handful of books outside of the top 4 or 5 comic book companies… but at Heroes, my eyes were opened to a world of DIY creators & much smaller publishers. And the thing I had to realize is every idea that I’ve had to “grow” the industry or market comics in a new way… it’s already being done.

4. The comics industry is not all 30-something white males.

It was very refreshing to see a crowd that ranged from male to female, toddler to elderly, black to white, & everything in between. I did not expect this as I’m constantly told that this is an “issue” that needs to be overcome in comics… but I would have a hard time finding a voice that wasn’t represented at this convention.

5. Disney’s Kingdom Comics are going to kick ass.

I sat in on a panel for this with the guys running the company, Ahmet Zappa & Christian Beranek. Here’s the company in bullets:

• 9 books re-imagining some of Disney’s live-action films from the 70′s & 80′s.

• They are also looking to do new original books.

• Scott Lobdell & Steve Niles are both on board to write one book each.

• All the books will be PG-13 adventures with eccentric adult heroes (think Pirates or National Treasure)

• Yes, they are looking for potential film franchises if any of the books are successful, but that’s not the driving force behind the company.

• They will have the full force of Disney marketing behind them, but exist on their own.

• The first book will come out in late summer 2009.

• No titles have been announced but Zappa teased with “What is Disney’s Batman?”

My guess? Condorman.