All cards on the table.. I don't buy or read DC nemore.. >_>;; Haven't in a couple years b/c I just can't afford it nemore, and I'm sick of shouting at the wind or being angry at something that I should just stop paying money for. I have kept track on stuff going on, various of my friends still rage about what's going on... and as a dislaimer this isn't just about DC, sometimes I hear things about Marvel too... but this DID make me think a lot about the comic industry and what's going on and finally gave a voice to all the things I and others were frustrated w/ in terms of not just the companies but their responses and reactions... and also why fan reaction can't just be dismissed as "it's a business"
The NHL has been having a lot of problems lately, PR problems, financial problems w/ certain teams (thank god for that Canadian Dollar at par eh Gary?) and facing a lot of heat, anger, sponsors threatening to pull out, etc at the problem with concussions and head shots and also they have what's going on in Phoenix, where the NHL is not just stubbornly keeping a money sink of a team there but whining for the Goldwater institute to leave them alone and not block the sale xD But this isn't about what's going on in hockey, or whether I or nebody else thinks the head shot issue is an isue or not... it's about the reaction...
Stephen Brunt, award winning Canadian sports journalist, bestselling author, my personal writing idol, and columnist for the Globe and Mail, is also a co-host on Primetime Sports, a Toronto based sports radio show, and this is what he had to say last Thursday about the commissioner of the NHL, Gary Bettman, and his handling (or mishandling) of the various issues surrounding the league (talking to host, Bob McCown, another personal idol >_> ):
"...everybody's got their owners to deal with, but the job is that even though those guys are your employer, the job is that you are supposed to be the face of the game, the conscience of the game... and I know, he's the owner's commissioner, he's not an impartial observer, we always have to remember that especially when there's a labour dispute, he's not above it all, he's working for one side not the other side. But fans think of commissioners as guys that are custodians of the game, this is somebody who has larger interests, in addition to the interets of making money, who should be able to voice the larger interests of the game, and set a direction for the game.. say "this is important to us, this is fundamental, this is right, this is wrong, this is something we have to fix." But with Bettman it's this continual defensive, back up, petulent, whiny, "there's nothing wrong, no there's nothing wrong here, don't look behind me, there's nothing wrong here." Where's the leadership Bob?"
Does that sound familiar to nebody?
He's bang on, as Brunt usually is, and not just about the NHL and Bettman but by the big 2 and their leadership and lack of leadership, esp w/ Didio and how front and centre he is and the criticisms about the percieved lack of leadership, lack of communication and contempt that seems to come from the editor in chief to serious concerns about the state of the company, the direction or lack of direction, sexism, racism, homophobia, etc.... whether you think it's real or perceived, there have been a lot of criticism from readers and criticism of how they feel their criticism is sluffed off.
Not to pick on him (as I said, Marvel critics might v well feel the same way about Quesada), but Didio, like Bettman, doesn't own the company. He's not the head, and he has his masters to answer to... he works for them, and they're a business, and part of his interests is in making money (which like the NHL you wonder about some of their business decisions too >_> and whether narrowing the alrdy narrow niche of hardcore fans you have is a good idea)...
but there's another thing at play... because while they ARE a business, like the NHL which sets itself up as a public trust, as the custodian of a national pastime, as the custodian of identity, culture, childhood memories and childhood heroes... DC presents itself as MORE than a corporation, and fans see it as more than such, rightly or wrongly, they do see it as a public trust, as holders of their childhood, of heroes and memories, and deep seated cultural stories... and Dan Didio is more than just the editor-in-chief, like Gary Bettman, he's seen as the custodian of the DCU... and the fans expect more from him than defensive "everything is just fine folks!" platitudes. Fans expect more than band aid solutions of resurrecting fan favourites, or a retro comic book. They expect leadership. They expect the editor-in-chief to tell them what the direction is (and honestly when your company presents itself this way, the fan expectation isn't just a random thing, it's part of the JOB), to say "yes this is a problem, this is wrong" or conversely to say "no this is not a problem" but all that they get, all that we get, is whining, distractions, why won't you women read Supergirl!? Things will get better next issue! Just hang on! Everything is fine, everything is great! And have you seen the new issue of the next build up to a super mega crossover!?
As Bob McCown says "there's a fire? He'll try to distract you. "Yeah but look at the cheese we're making over here!" "Your building's burning down." "Yeah but look at the cheese!" "
And people do look at the cheese... not because of faith in the company but because of faith in what they represent, of what we see them as guardians OF, our childhood, our heroes, our stories and our dreams, and those of our parents and parents parents (well not mine, but my family's not from here xD). They may be a business, but they are so much more to their fans, and they themselves play into this, they themselves PRESENT themselves as guardians of superheroes, of Superman and of Batman, as storytellers, and not businessmen. So this isn't just deluded fandom, this is a business model, that takes advantage of that fandom, of the culture. But it cuts both ways, if this is who you want to be, it's who fans will see you as, and they will drop their cynicism that they'd have for Wal-Mart or other corporations, because they want to believe, and because what you hold means so much to them, their identity and is so infused in their culture.
But eventually people stop seeing the cheese (best. random. analogy. evar. xD). And they'll leave, and your building will burn down.
Because the opposite of that is that when you or people who defend you keep using the "it's just a business" thing, your fans, your loyal devoted trusting fans, will BELIEVE IT. They'll realize it, for one reason or another... and you will be a Wal-Mart, or a Gamestop, and if you don't shape up, if you don't put the fire out.. they'll leave, and no amount of appealing to their childhood will help.
And that's what's happening now... in the NHL, in the big 2 tree trunk of superhero comics... ppl, reactionary or not, are calling into sports shows, writing in or just venting to whoever will listen at the office, that they are finally finally done w/ the game that their parents helped them love... and worse than that, more IMPORTANTLY than that, they're not sure they want to teach their children to love the game... and I wonder how many people are questioning that themselves... Superman holds so much to us, but do they rly want their kids to read what's on the shelves? And once ppl start wondering THAT... the quality of your cheese is the least of your concerns. The death of Wizard, at the very least, suggests that the lack of leadership, the lack of direction, the whiny defiance, the dissonance between fan and company, everything might be catching up, that ppl ARE finally moving on, and they're not being replaced. That maybe, just maybe, the faith has been broken.
And I know that's melodramatic, and maybe it's unfair... but the business has never been about fairness. It's never even been about business. It's been about playing to concepts far beyond supply and demand, cold hard profits, and the cynicism of target demographics and uncaring ownership... it's been about fans who truly love not what the company produces, but what the company COULD produce, and what they DID produce... and what they represent and the characters, stories, narratives and little pieces of our memories that they hold. Like the NHL and Canada, that's what DC/Marvel has been selling, and that's what people have been buying... hope... dreams.. memories.
But eventually, for some of us, that's not enough. And if you keep it up, keep the platitudes going, everything is fine, everything is fine, don't look behind me, why do you hate us? hey look at this new thing... eventually, more and more people won't find it enough either. They'll grow up. And they'll see you as the mismanaged corporation you are, as they always knew you were but didn't' want to believe, as you keep claiming you are when it suits you to defend yourself. And you won't just lose them, you'll lose their children.
This isn't meant to be an attack on DC... or Marvel... or even the NHL (well maybe kinda xD ) this is meant as... well I dunno what it is... it's something that's been on my mind for a while, trying to sort out the dynamics between fans and companies, culture and business and businesses that wrap themselves in culture. It's just something I wanted to share, the reasons some ppl might feel for their love of comics and the frustration they just can't put their finger on about why the responses from the custodians of superhero comics just don't cut it. And it's not, at least not meant to be, a call to action, or an indictment of Didio or individual writers or authors, or an attack on ppl who are still fans, who always will be fans, who love the product or who still stay. This is about how they handle the critics, the fans who don't like the direction, and the lack of leadership in dealing with real serious concerns in the industry and in the fanbase. But it's ultimately, obviously my thoughts, and what I've been thinking of on what I've observed :|.. and maybe it doesn't mean all that much, cuz I've been reading Nancy Drew, and Pinocchio Vampire Slayer, and Particle Fiction and other such for a while, and never looked back. Just at least for me, at some point, no matter how hard I try, the only thing I can see is the burning building. And Supergirl and all the cheese in the world, just doesn't cut it nemore :|
