No cure for cancer Article by aviewaskewed, 01:04 AM 24th Aug Disclaimer: The following column is entirely the opinions of the author (even at that we aren‘t sure), any similarity to the opinions of any other staff or affiliate of theendlesscrew.com is entirely coincidental and unintentional. Unless specifically noted otherwise, all creator comments have been gleaned from other sources and no creators have actually endorsed any aspect of this column. Oh, and today is going to probably be one of the nastier columns, just as a warning. “This book had better cure cancer, I mean, if I have cancer, it should cure my cancer how late it is” --me, over American Flagg!’s lateness in trade form. Eric Larsen decided to comment on the lateness of American Flagg! Sort of, this week. I’ve had an order in for the book since December, and it was solicited for I think last November, however the book was never completed. It’s a problem in this industry that really needs to stop: Late books, but ESPECIALLY, late trades. Now, I understand Larsen’s points about how to approach the work, and all the production headaches that must have gone into it, but I have a question for him, and for the rest of the comics industry when it comes to trades: Why the hell solicit it unless you’re totally sure it’s going to be done on time? Seriously, I know previews works far in advance (not entirely sure how far, I usually just buy my books off the shelf if it looks interesting, or have my pull box for the stuff I know I want), but on collected work, I don’t see why you can’t just get the job done, and then solicit the material, there is nothing that will cost you money, and fan goodwill like a late book, Image should know that from bitter experience. Most trades are easy though, it’s just collecting material that has been previously put out, and recent as well. But for some reasons, publishers have problems meeting the demand, I know some of it is production department problems, but again, why aren’t people being hired? The trade market is getting bigger and bigger, and it’s becoming a staple for almost every publisher, big or small, so why is it that some of them don’t seem to be able to comprehend that they need to staff to meet the demand? I see it happening at my job as well. They want sales, they need sales, it’s all about sales, but one of the core components of selling anything, is making sure that you’ve got people there to get the customer what they want, when they want it. I cannot tell you the amount of times I have seen a customer walk out of the store, or just put down what they were thinking about buying when they couldn’t get someone to help them. Is it exactly the same thing? No…well, in some way, yeah. Granted, most people who are going to buy this trade have put in their orders, and are going to eventually buy it, but they are going to remember this, they are going to remember that they did not receive what they wanted, when they wanted it, and that will make them less likely to buy from the publisher in the future. Which brings me to my next point, if the lateness is at the publisher level, and not the distributor level (because sometimes it’s simply a distribution problem the publisher has no control over), then what would be so wrong with looking over an order sheet, and sending a form letter out to effected retailers, so they can communicate what is happening to their customers? Hey, I’m going to buy American Flagg! When it finally comes out, but as someone who took the time to reserve a copy, I think Erik Larsen owed me, not as a fan, as a CUSTOMER, better then reading his column on a website, what the status of the book was. That’s a big problem in comics, fans are treated like marks, treated like people who can be kicked around and take it in a lot of instances, and not treated like what they are, customers. Not a huge amount in the news this week that caught my eye, though there were a couple of items: Pat Lee and his new company: Rich Johnston today was talking about Pat Lee’s new endeavors at Dream Engine, site wise, and how they’re taking credit for things that were not owned by Pat, or had anything to do with anything. The man is quickly climbing up my list of worst friggin scumbags in the industry at this point. Retailers against Marvel ending: Nice to hear this is finally coming to an end, it’s just not fun to see this kind of fighting, but I can certainly see the necessity in it, as I said above, the big two, but especially Marvel, really have problems treating their customers (and yeah, that includes retailers, since they are buying Marvel product to sell, and for themselves in some cases I’m sure) in a way that in just about any other business would be considered intolerable, but in this wacky industry, it’s just excepted as par for the course. The hell is wrong with us all? The big crossovers: Looks like Wolverine will know his full history soon, good, I think they played out the “I don’t know myself” shit, and it’s time to let him know himself, and deal with it, Infinite Crisis looms, and I’m really interested in whether or not DC can take all the build up, and truly knock it out of the park or not. Stay tuned. The summer doldrums: Seems slow around our forums of late, I’d like to see some more activity, and hopefully those of you who are regular readers of this column, and are members, or haven’t joined yet, will do so. I truly believe in the community and the folks here, I think when the place is really hopping, we’ve got a community that is second to none, we’ve just all gotta contribute to it. That’s all for this week, sorry about the lateness, but it’s just been one of those weeks, which is happening all too often lately. Back to Rants