Before I get to the primary point of this post, I just wanted to ask, does the comicsblogowhatchamafloogle seem kinda angry lately? Seems to be more sniping back and forth going on than usual.
When I was in the comics shop last week, Ken mentioned an article he'd read in a magizine for/about comics' retailers. In it, there were a couple of store owners discussing the sales on Onslaught Reborn, and they brought up that Liefeld is generally disliked by their customers, but man, his stuff sure does sell. Ken added that Liefeld seems to have a pretty lengthy line for his table at conventions as well.
This struck me as kind of odd. It's one thing when people in the blogworld rag on Liefeld. If Civil War has shown us nothing else, it's that bloggers rarely reflect the opinions of the greater comics buying population. But given the retailers were discussing their customers in general, that would seem to suggest a more representative sample. A smaller sample, but perhaps more diverse.
So why might this be happening? My two theories are as follows: One, Liefeld works mostly on mini-series and "events" these days, and those seem to draw in readers for at least a looksee, getting high sales early, then declining gradually as the issues progress. Going by this, one would predict that a Liefeld-drawn ongoing could not sustain sales (putting aside matters of getting issues out on time), as it's easier to hold a completist for only seven issues, rather than for an ongoing. We'd have to see a Liefeld-drawn ongoing, that came out on time to determine that, so it may not be testable in the present. Maybe past numbers could tell us, but I don't know how much comics buyers have changed in terms of likes and dislikes in the interim.
My other theory is that Liefeld really is still popular amongst comic buyers, but that they don't make themselves heard. Reasons could be that people seem more inclined to vocally complain than vocally praise, and so the pro-Liefeld legions simply don't feel like mentioning they like his work. Or, they could be tired of explaining why they like his work. Given how frequently he gets trashed, it's entirely possible that his fans are just tired of dealing with it, and choose to quietly support Mr. Liefeld. Defending him doesn't accomplish anything, so they've stopped trying.
I personally prefer the second option. It implies that Liefeld books sell because he has a large contingent of quiet fans who buy projects he works on. The first option implies people are buying his work, even if they don't like it, because it's an "event", and so they buy at least the first issue.
Your thoughts, insights, theories?
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6 comments:
It goes back to what you said about the comics blogosphere not reflecting the reality of the market. If it did, New Avengers would have fizzled and popped while Nextwave would be selling like Nextwave, because a comparison to hotcakes at this point would be completely meaningless. The blogosphere reflects individuals and, to paraphrase Men in Black, individuals are discerning and refined. Groups are stupid. The public is one such group that don't get tired of Wolverine, Punisher, Ghost Rider, or Lobo.
The blogosphere is fairly elitist. I read Marvel pretty exclusively. Unless Godzilla is involved. I choose my books based on the characters and very rarely the writer. That makes me a Bad Fan according to a recent Comics Should Be Good thread. But if you read the message boards, the people who I think of as the average comic fan are more interested in whether Strong Guy could beat Ice Man than if Grant Morrison's characterization is superior to Warren Ellis's innovation. My future sister-in-law and her boyfriend are psyched about Civil War because it is a big event and don't seem to care that it's not "in-character" for Tony Stark.
Liefield worked with "toyetic" (to quote Ellis) properties and not everybody thinks that "early 1990s" made a comic bad. It was this audience that led to the huge boom in the industry and who probably still buy his stuff. The blogosphere's condemnation of his work is in my mind similar to the critical panning any Michael Bay movie gets as it grosses hundreds of millions of dollars.
I'll end my tangential rant with this thought: there are different circles of fandom. There are those that hearken to the Silver Age and/or the latest indy books. The elitists who mostly comprise the blogosphere. There are the people who like what the companies put out. The unwashed, slack-jawed masses who are the actual butts in the seats, to use a carny term. The conflict of intelligentsia is there, even if it's not always palpable. Liefeld is just a flagrant example.
Well, I believe Liefeld still has his fans out there (like Robert Kirkman, who compares him to Jack Kirby) but there's a greater herd mentality that's attracted to comic-book "events" like moths to a flame.
Although its bad for my blood pressure, I read Newsarama and the number of people who instantly say they'll pick up Civil War: Gas Mask or the latest Geoff Johns dismemberment of an innocent bystander is astounding.
It's big, it's splashy and people like big and splashy. Is it necessarily great for the comics industry in general?
No, because ultimately it restricts American mainstream comics to the ever more appalling topic of weepy, impotent musclemen (and women) in tights.
But it sells, so Marvel and DC will keep selling it.
(Wow, I AM cynical today. Guess all those Civil War solicitations really got me down ... )
Before I get to the primary point of this post, I just wanted to ask, does the comicsblogowhatchamafloogle seem kinda angry lately? Seems to be more sniping back and forth going on than usual.
You're on notice.
May I just say that comicsblogowatchamafloogle is one of the greatest words ever coined? You had me at the "floogle".
kanedoras: That does seem like the simplest explanation. Darn. We need to get our finger on the pulse of the comic buyers!
fortress: So I was on the money about his fans just not being vocal about it. or else they're vocal with their money.
matthew e: Uh-oh. Just don't put me next to the Jane Fonda fantasies.
sallyp: It is a great word isn't it? It follows the principles of German, which says you can make a word just by continuously jamming words together.
Why anybody would plop down their hard-earned greenbacks to drag themselves through an issue littered with Liefeld’s shit draftsmanship, three poses and 1 facial construction is a mystery to me. Jack Kirby – Sal Buscema + Johnny Romita Junior = Liefeld.
Thanks, I’ll pass.
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