Cast No Shadow

There is no theme here.

Subjects can be important and real or utter nonsense. Mostly I'll be the one spouting off, but look for occasional guest editorials and visuals from comic writers, artists, novelists, friends and acquaintances. At least that's the idea. This space is for thought. Or not.

The Rest of the World

05.01.2000

I'm guilty.

A website today is a guilty pleasure. It can carry you to a bigger audience and connect you with the world, but will it make or break you? Not yet. It's still a toy to us. But in the future how important will it be to have a website to define who you are? I make comics-- does that mean I'll have my comics released on the web in ten years instead of published on paper? Will fans accept a comic they cannot hold in their hands? Isn't it possible that comics could actually become more popular than ever if they were easily accessed on the Internet? Is the comic industry in a race to catch up with the rest of the world?

Kids don't read comics anymore. They play video games and surf the web. So why aren't we there?

The major companies have official sites and some chat rooms. This isn't a bad start. But stopping there would be short-sighted. I, myself, was involved with "The Secret Adventures of Captain America" on Marvel's Excelsior site. It was a radio adventure with some basic animation to tease the eye. The technology wasn't quite up to the standards I'd hoped for, which is still a big part of the struggle (and why I dropped out fairly early in the series). "How to do it?" "How to make money from it?" "Will fans jump aboard or ignore it?" Big questions.

My partner on PLANETARY, Warren Ellis, has a website and two chat forums, which bring hundreds of fans into countless conversations about comics, films and practically anything. It keeps fans in touch with the talent and they ferociously grab whatever he does right off the shelves (and rightly so, the man is brilliant). Warren seems to understand which direction our road is heading and is now starting several on-line comic serials. I'm eager to see what comes of it all.

But we are such creatures of habit. We can't seem to let go. This industry thrives on the past. The books I enjoy most and even work on look to the past to explore the future. But more often than not, the past is milked and relied upon like a manual for "how to make a comic book." That formula works as long as you have new fans coming in who've never read the comics of ten years ago. But, unfortunately, the fan base now is the same as ten years ago. The kids aren't buying what we've got.

Comic books on the web could destroy the "collectibility" of the comic book, but is that even what drives the industry now? If no one is buying them in the first place, who the hell cares? Some people don't even buy comic books they want because they're waiting for the trade paperback collection. Why not release single comic issues on the net, then collect it in trade paperback form for those holding a spot on their bookshelf for it? How soon will it be before you can download a comic for a fee, such as the music industry is beginning to explore with its MP3 technology? I hope comics are always somehow available in the book format, partly for sentimental reasons, partly for the idea of simply having something substantial in your hands and not from a computer monitor. However, sooner or later, comics, like the rest of the world, have to evolve.

- John