Notes from the Field: Can I Get A Witness?

So =THE OVERMAN= BOOK II hit your local LCS today! I saw it and was really impressed at the way it turned out. I didn't want to spoil the experience when I get my comp copies, but at the very least I let myself flip through it to make sure it was all there.

During the course of getting the word out you never really know if you're being loud enough. Now two books into the experience and I'm still not sure if loud was the right note. Through my experience as a consumer, I'm a big fan of the underdog, the creator whose got promise and when I see something fresh, unique and well-done I want to be the first to 'discover' just how cool they are and let my friends know too. That's the marketing nobody can predict or plan.

So how does it happen? Are all consumers the same? Who knows for sure, and no we're as different as the number of products out there. That's the tough part of this game.

Take a book like Northlanders by Brian Wood. I don't remember the artist's but he's really good. The reason why I remember the writer, is because he's done a lot of stuff. He's been writing for years. So why didn't I buy DMZ? or LOCAL? I did buy The Tourist, and it was fine, I bought it more for the art of Toby Cypress. But what was the tipping point to get me to buy Northlanders? Oddly enough Vikings are hot this season...with two Beowulf based films on the tale end that Pathfinder movie...and now this comic. It was the first issue, so I made it a point to give it a try. His other stuff, the themes or what I know about them didn't intrigue me enough.

So it comes down to a matter of personal taste and the discretionary dollar really. Advertising I think is more like those carnival games you see at amusement parks. The fat chance that you're money and skill to beat the game for that big stuffed chemically-made animal has wide margins. The rarity is the same that your marketing assault will hit its intended audience.

Before Scott calls me out for being a bit of downer, let me just add this one thought. Wouldn't it be better to get in on the ground floor of a startup with very little risk, to see something grow and become profitable? What fosters creativity for us is that people are enjoying what we're doing...more to the point A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE ENJOYING WHAT WE'RE DOING! And the more that do the more we'll create. It's not like we're looking to run to Marvel or DC...(well I can't speak for Scott but considering the cool projects he's got cooking he wouldn't have the time) we're committed to doing the kind of unique quality books that just aren't out there.

We are floored that sooo many people have been on the forums and contacting us by email to say how much they love the books. My local comic shops ordered just as many copies of =The Overman= as they did Northlanders, hard to believe, right? But it's true, and they sold out of them as of today, when I went to find Book II.

Believe me we're not looking for hand-outs, everyone knows comics make little to no money. We're looking for an audience who isn't afraid of change. Who thinks that comics don't have to repeat themselves and 'fool' you again to believe that the story is going to be different when it's not. We really want to create an outreach program for wayward comic fans who at the very least love a great tale and don't mind coming back for seconds.

Much like theater, when the performance is done the play is only a memory of a moment in time.

=s=