The comic book world is a tough business.
I'm very distanced from the comics industry. I love the comics medium, but I have no time for the industry.
On the whole, and this comment can get me in a lot of trouble, I find that retailers in the comic book business are not business people. They're fans who've gotten themselves shops.
At this very moment I'm behind on a compilation that Slave Labor is doing for Free Comic Book Day.
The direct market has evolved into a machine that is very good at selling corporate-owned superhero titles published by two main companies: DC and Marvel.
The first time I shopped at a comic shop, it was because I had been published in a comic book. As I became more involved in comics, I started going more and more, usually to support my friends or lady-friendly comics.
I do still read comics since I started writing for DC, but nowhere near as much as I used to, and I'm finding now that it's becoming harder to read comics as a consumer, so I think I'll have to make the call there and stop reading them.
I grew up when comics were only sold in food markets and news stands, so the direct market is vital to me. The best way to make it stronger is if everybody buys my comics in multiple copies before they buy any others.
I think when I first sold digital comics it was sort of on a whim.
Comics publishers are used to looking in a very, very narrow focused prism. It's like when I started writing 'X-Men.' Our 'meat and potatoes' money was made of newsstand sales, while anything that came through the Direct Market was considered gravy.
Comics are printed on paper, which is expensive, making it tough to stay in business.
I love the medium and I love individual comics, but the business is nothing I would be proud of.
For a lot of arcane shipping reasons, new comics, even digital ones, have a long history of only being released on Wednesdays.
