If Mike can turn things around, then good for him. But is it really so unreasonable for me to have slightly lost my patience?

As for Comics International being a fanzine, it didn’t used to be. Dez Skinn liked to wax lyrical about the professional standards he worked to.

I wish the magazine every success. But I will need some tangible sign that it’s problems are behind it before I pick up another issue.

One point I would take issue with you on is your ‘amateurish style’ tag. As someone who has worked in publishing for a very long time I would say that, for an amateur, Mike manages to make CI look a lot more professional that many other fanzines I have seen. Fan publishing, by definition, is an amateur’s pursuit. No one makes a fortune from it but they do bring an enthusiasm that is sadly missing from most professional titles. Mike and I differ in one important way - I would have thrown in the towel by now if I’d had to put up with half the crap he’s had to deal with. Mike, on the other hand, believes wholeheartedly in the future if CI. I’m more than happy to stand in his corner and shout encouragement.

OK, so there was a point after all. Florix grabudnae.

Splundig vur Thrigg!

http://www.amazon.com/Blue-Pills-Positive-Love-Story/dp/061882099X/ref=si3_rdr_bb_product

Comics have got one huge problem which is distribution. There are a number of “geeky” niche business that had or have their own distribution systems. Most of them have either gone into book publishing, which has one of the most open distribution systems available, or have not been able to do so and have really struggled.

For instance, where would you buy a pack of Magic: The Gathering cards? Remember that for that business to work, people have to keep buying booster packs, so you need bulk distribution to stores or the P&P cripples you. You’ll notice that roleplaying games are books only (no boxed sets any more; bookshops and Amazon don’t like them; that does make distributing non-D6 dice difficult, but people only need to buy them once), that the wargames industry has collapsed to semi-pros selling thousand-copy print runs by mail order, and frequently requiring 500+ pre-orders before going to press. The miniatures industry, outside of Games Workshop, is mail-order only, and has the exact same distribution problems as wargames. Games Workshop is still a functioning distribution system, but only for “the Games Workshop hobby”. Even with computer games, walk into GAME and it’s 95% consoles, and the PC games are reduced to a few big hits. Much of even the PC gaming hobby, especially niches, is now direct-order from publisher only.

The comics industry might end up with a small, for-fans distribution system of the actual comics themselves, and a much wider distribution of graphic novels. Plenty of people will buy book 9 of a 17-part series of extruded fantasy product; why not sell them a graphic novel 2-4 times a year? If they buy regularly, then you can sell them on a subscription to the weekly/fortnightly/monthly comic itself.

Comics lost their distribution through newsagents years ago; there have never been enough comic shops to truly fill the gap. Graphic novels are the only way to put comic content somewhere that people can flick through on a shelf.