Last week we reported on Mark Millar’s interview with three large comic book retailers. This week John F. Trent interviewed Batman artist and co-creator of Bane, Graham Nolan on the continuing debate over the state of American comic books, and yes, Nolan agrees with Mark Millar – the indie comics scene needs the anchors of Marvel and DC (the “Big Two” in the American comics industry).
Despite what industry shills like Heidi MacDonald of The Beat says about the health and quality of American comics, both Mark Millar and Graham Nolan agree that the big two is in serious trouble. Both Millar and Nolan offered their advice on how to remedy the situation (coincidentally, just today we reported that even Mark Waid has now admitted that the comics industry is in trouble). Not surprisingly both pointed out the low quality of Marvel and DC comics as the main culprit.
They also pointed out something extremely important for independent creators, which went mostly under-reported, and what they both pointed out is that the indie comics scene needs Marvel and DC to survive. Considering the context of Millar’s interview, he was likely only referring to more mainstream and dead tree versions of indie comics, the kind that are sold in comic book stores. Which makes sense, Marvel and DC comics draw foot traffic, eyes in the store, where comic book readers can be introduced to new independently published comic books.
Then there is off course the rich history of the Marvel and DC characters, but Nolan took the discussion a step further. In his view the survival of Marvel and DC would mean more opportunities for creators, or “a rising tide lifts all boats” as Nolan puts it. He added that he relished creative competition, it brings out the best in comics creators.
When asked on how the health of the big two affects his own endeavours, Nolan stated that the worse Marvel and DC does, the better it is for his bottom line. Which is good news for independent creators, crowdfunding their own independent comics.
It has to be kept in mind though that Nolan and Millar (and others like Chuck Dixon) has already made a name for themselves working on Marvel and DC comics, it may be harder for new creatives to get traction in a purely independent and online market.
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So what exactly the demise of Marvel and DC would mean for most creators remains any-ones guess. Comparative yearly sales statistics for independent creators is virtually impossible to come by, making it difficult to tell whether there is a correlation between lagging big two sales and independent comics sales.
Let us know in the comments whether you also agree with Graham Nolan and Mark Millar there’s a correlation between indie comic sales and the decline of the big two.
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Maybe in the short term. But long term, comics need to go the way of manga (and other creative mediums) and be creator controlled, so the publisher can’t just keep passing around the same characters and settings forever until everyone’s sick of them. That’s part of the reason they’re in the mess that they are.
100%
These big corporations controlling the IP is bs
Both Marvel and DC need to shutdown their publishing units and license out their IPs with an eye on protecting the essence and integrity of the characters. Bottom line, fewer comics with better stories that respect the past.