Jerry Ordway, an artist for DC comics, has stated his belief that ComicsGate supporters are being “fleeced for hundreds of millions”.
Which, by the way, is an immensely impressive number which goes to show just how enthusiastically people will get behind independent creators, in the face of established media companies.
Or, to put it another way: “Boo-hoo, people are spending more money on comics they’d rather be reading than on ours.”
If anyone had cared for a “woke, liberal, progressive comic”, they’d buy one of those old-fashioned comic books that’s still being published through print.
But rather than learn the obvious lesson to be had from the fact that comic enthusiasts are willing to spend hundreds of millions on alternatives, Ordway instead complains that it’s the fans who are wrong.
Those alternatives aren’t just independent creators, either. Manga is completely crushing it in sales, with just one manga alone, Demon Slayer, outselling Marvel and DC combined. The fact is, comic fans aren’t reading legacy superhero comics printed on paper anymore, they’re reading manga on their tablets.
Those independent creators aren’t just crowdfunding, they’re also making free webcomics. Ordinary people can just order a Wacom tablet online and proceed to make their own comics to share with the world. Or they can use software like ibisPaint X on their tablets.
One webcomic that might be worth checking out is Dark Science by Dresden Codak. From what I’ve read so far, it’s excellent.
As Bill Watterson (of Calvin and Hobbes fame) was getting out of comics, he pointed out that comics would become abundant and free on the internet. While this would naturally make matters more challenging for syndication, as far as consumers are concerned, it’s a comics Renaissance.
And would you look at who is resisting the comics Renaissance, it’s Jerry Ordway, of the corporate legacy comics industry, who resents that consumers have alternatives to turn to, and are deciding against his employer.
One thing that Ordway can be credited with is strength of conviction. He’s so sincere in his professed beliefs that he’s willing to remain in less-favorable circumstances by reason of them. Unless he’s really unable to compete with the more talented indie artists, in which case, he’d be better off hanging on to what he has for as long as he can manage.
It seems he has chosen the hill that he’s willing to figuratively die on, and at this rate, he certainly will.
Lotus Stew 