Somewhere along the line I miscounted, and discovered after last week’s column that this is the 103rd installment, and next week is the two year anniversary.
So rather than a huge celebration blowout…Really, this week, I’ve got nothing. Nothing much happened in the last week, unless you count Ed Brubaker leaving DETECTIVE COMICS, or Marvel co-head honcho Ike Perlmutter selling off enough Marvel stock to send some investors into a cold sweat, but that kind of thing goes on all the time and it’s just business as usual for the comics business.
So that’s the last week: business as usual. I’ve mostly just been working up pitches, myself. Can’t tell you what, though, so no column there.
Someone did recently bring up the question of what’s the difference between a fanboy and a professional? I was originally put off by it; you think it’d be self-evident. But I understand why maybe it’s not, obvious fanboys being so prevalent in the professional community. Among writers, artists, editors. Not that there’s anything intrinsically wrong with being a “fanboy.” Almost all of us are, to some extent. I can tell you who the Star Rovers were and what’s the difference between a gen-factor and a metagene, I grew up reading comics, and I’ve continued reading them as a professional, and though I originally did it for fun and I do it now regardless of fun, because I consider it part of my job to keep up with what’s being published, as much as possible. I wish more comics professionals felt the same, but the resistance of many pros to keeping up with the market is, in many cases, a combination of just too much out there, too little of real interest, and “inner fanboy” disappointment that the industry hasn’t gone the way the way they would’ve preferred it. Under most circumstances, you don’t really do comics unless you’ve got some fanboy in you, whether that’s fascination with the medium or fixation on specific characters or creations.
You can find the rest of the article at CBR: Permanent Damage.
