Comics andf capitalism
I'm here, as ever, to mention the elephant in the room - its not the fault of self publishers or larger publishers either, but of the wider economic system that they we are all held back by. Most creators and publishers dont want to make poor, cliched, mainstream books that have profit as the key element that needs to be considered, but most of the time they have to - in this capitalist economic system.
So, although we can think of various small ways to improve sales and the money that comics make there are basically only two wide scale solutions: 1. a difficult one: comics somehow start selling a lot more, within the current capitalist system. 2. a very difficult one: we get wise and finally scrap the capitalist system that holds our creative efforts back. and instead organise ourselves within a better system that will place a lot more importance on art, literature, music, etc.
So, which is it, punk?
‘is this really an issue of comic sales?’
- Not at root,no - and i never said it was. It’s about the nature of the capitalist system that requires comics to achieve a level of sales that bring profit.
The key alternative element here being that in a co-operative/anarchist/communist/whatever we call it system this problematic requirement would not be there. In that system the artistic/cultural/social value of the comic would be the benchmark, and creators would make their living based on what the local council they are part of collectively agrees on is something worth doing/supporting. Profit sales of a capitalist type would simply not enter in to it.
Therefore the present low-ish interest in comics, compared to videogames etc, would be far less of a problem. That does not mean that readership levels would massively rise. I didn’t say they would. It means the present level of interest would change in its social role, it would become enough in a way that it is not enough now.
Because even a book that only 1000 people want is enough to provide it with some level of social interest/value/importance. Actually 1000 people is a lot. The average school summer fair/fete does not attract that many and look what social importance is placed on them (and resources and time and organisation given over to doing it). Comics would be seen on the same level as that school fair. The local group that decides these things would say ‘Is your comic (or modern dance performance, or whatever) interesting, useful, fun, good for the community, etc? It is, and 1000 people are interested in it? Great! Seal of approval!’
Same level of ‘sales’ + different social system = different perception/role of the artform.
So you saying ‘Creators would just be able to produce more without the need of a day job ‘ is more close to what im talking about. But its not minus the need of a day job. since that means a job that makes capitalist type profit. it means creating comics as PART of a socially useful role in your area. creating them is part of your main job, not a silly thing you do to avoid real work while living on a grant. in that society it would be a respected example of real work.
And, as to Postman’s point of such writing work being more like a hobby. i have some sympathy with that view. Franz Kafka said something similar and its part of the reason that i did not even try to make money from my writing until my late 20s. But in the system im imagining that too would become far less of a problem. because there the basic working system would be what Michael Albert calls a ‘balanced job complex’, in which most of us would have 2 or 3 roles in our area, that we balance. This is to avoid an elite of doctors/lawyers etc and a low cast of cleaners/janitors etc. In this case all us lovely comic book creators, while getting on with our books, free of the tyranny of profits, would probably also be doing a part time role as the art teacher in our local school or indeed as its janitor. But that in a system in which the janitor next to us works part time as a legal advisor, etc. Where most folk have that kind of work spread.
I'm here, as ever, to mention the elephant in the room - its not the fault of self publishers or larger publishers either, but of the wider economic system that they we are all held back by. Most creators and publishers dont want to make poor, cliched, mainstream books that have profit as the key element that needs to be considered, but most of the time they have to - in this capitalist economic system.
So, although we can think of various small ways to improve sales and the money that comics make there are basically only two wide scale solutions: 1. a difficult one: comics somehow start selling a lot more, within the current capitalist system. 2. a very difficult one: we get wise and finally scrap the capitalist system that holds our creative efforts back. and instead organise ourselves within a better system that will place a lot more importance on art, literature, music, etc.
So, which is it, punk?
‘is this really an issue of comic sales?’
- Not at root,no - and i never said it was. It’s about the nature of the capitalist system that requires comics to achieve a level of sales that bring profit.
The key alternative element here being that in a co-operative/anarchist/communist/whatever we call it system this problematic requirement would not be there. In that system the artistic/cultural/social value of the comic would be the benchmark, and creators would make their living based on what the local council they are part of collectively agrees on is something worth doing/supporting. Profit sales of a capitalist type would simply not enter in to it.
Therefore the present low-ish interest in comics, compared to videogames etc, would be far less of a problem. That does not mean that readership levels would massively rise. I didn’t say they would. It means the present level of interest would change in its social role, it would become enough in a way that it is not enough now.
Because even a book that only 1000 people want is enough to provide it with some level of social interest/value/importance. Actually 1000 people is a lot. The average school summer fair/fete does not attract that many and look what social importance is placed on them (and resources and time and organisation given over to doing it). Comics would be seen on the same level as that school fair. The local group that decides these things would say ‘Is your comic (or modern dance performance, or whatever) interesting, useful, fun, good for the community, etc? It is, and 1000 people are interested in it? Great! Seal of approval!’
Same level of ‘sales’ + different social system = different perception/role of the artform.
So you saying ‘Creators would just be able to produce more without the need of a day job ‘ is more close to what im talking about. But its not minus the need of a day job. since that means a job that makes capitalist type profit. it means creating comics as PART of a socially useful role in your area. creating them is part of your main job, not a silly thing you do to avoid real work while living on a grant. in that society it would be a respected example of real work.
And, as to Postman’s point of such writing work being more like a hobby. i have some sympathy with that view. Franz Kafka said something similar and its part of the reason that i did not even try to make money from my writing until my late 20s. But in the system im imagining that too would become far less of a problem. because there the basic working system would be what Michael Albert calls a ‘balanced job complex’, in which most of us would have 2 or 3 roles in our area, that we balance. This is to avoid an elite of doctors/lawyers etc and a low cast of cleaners/janitors etc. In this case all us lovely comic book creators, while getting on with our books, free of the tyranny of profits, would probably also be doing a part time role as the art teacher in our local school or indeed as its janitor. But that in a system in which the janitor next to us works part time as a legal advisor, etc. Where most folk have that kind of work spread.