State of the industry: follow up

Following my post the other week about the state of UK comics in newsagents today, and how scruffy shelf displays could be detrimental to sales, Phil Boyce sent me a few photos of his local shop. These shots are from Easons in Belfast, and, as you can see, the presentation of the comics and magazines are neat and well organised, with logos (and sometimes full covers) clearly shown. 

Phil tells me that he took these photos on a busy lunchtime, but that he's never seen the displays in an untidy state like those I showed from my local shops. It just goes to prove that with the right attitude from retailers, today's comics and bulky bagged magazines can look attractive and presentable with the right sort of shelving design and attention from staff. 

Good on Easons for making the effort to ensure their stock looks appealing and well presented. It's not rocket science that if you have stock, you want to sell it, not put customers off by making them rummage through tightly packed comics where they can barely see what's what.

Thanks to Phil Boyce for letting me use the photos. If you don't already know, Phil runs the superb Oink! Blog which is always worth a visit:
http://the-oink-blog.blogspot.co.uk

The UK comics industry today

John Freeman has worked as a writer and editor in British comics for over 30 years so he knows his stuff! Today, in response to a recent discussion on social media about the UK comics industry, John has posted a long and thoughtful article on his Down the Tubes blog. It's essential reading for anyone interested in comics, and should be of particular interest to those who need to know more about the workings of the industry and how it's evolved. Hop over there and enjoy...
http://downthetubes.net/?p=39393

The Whole Hog

Following recent blogs by Andy Oliver and myself, Phil Boyce has now joined in on his own blog to help promote the British comics industry. 

On The Oink Blog, Phil Boyce says "Just as the music industry has changed so much, just as the TV industry is changing, so too are comics.  Just as I said at the time the UK industry is leading the way and I'm very happy to see this still being reported in the wider comics press."
http://the-oink-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/the-ever-evolving-british-comics.html

It's not the first time that Phil's praised the industry of course. See his post from 2015 here:
http://the-oink-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/uk-comics-alive-and-kicking-butts-of.html

I can understand that some prefer the days of weekly anthology comics, but those days are practically gone, except for Beano, 2000AD, and The Phoenix. Most comics are monthly now, focus on one character, and have been that way for a very long time. (Not that comics like that are new in the UK of course. The 1950s saw an explosion of British independent comics mimicking the American format.) 

It's good to see a genuine comics fan like Phil Boyce helping to spread the word that the UK comic industry may have changed but it's still alive and kicking!

A British comics industry for the 21st Century

Over on the Broken Frontier website today, Andy Oliver makes the case that the British comics industry is far from dead, despite what some may claim. He's absolutely right. This is something I've often said myself online, sometimes to be met with criticism by people too rooted in the past. 

There are some who boldly claim that there is no British comics industry left. How do they judge that against the overwhelming evidence to the contrary? Well, they often move the goalposts, to redefine comics as only being weekly/monthly periodicals that are available in newsagents. (And before certain bloggers kick off, I'm not being specific about any one critic here as I've heard it from several people, so this is nothing personal.)

It seems that for some, if it's not like it was when they were children, it doesn't count. 

Except of course, it does count. British comics have always evolved, from the 8 page tabloids of the late 19th / early 20th Century that only featured 50% or less comics content, through the weekly anthologies of the 1960s, to the present where we have graphic novels and mini-series. 

Ah, but they're not available in newsagents, cynics may claim. Well, so what? Today's newsagents are more interested in stocking booze and greetings cards, and are only interested in licence-based comics or long-established titles. Therefore, most of today's new publishers choose a different route; the specialist comic shop, bookshops, mail order, convention sales, digital, or all five of those options in order to reach their readers. 

Admittedly it's not easy, and sales are a fraction of what they were 50 years ago, but the days of a comic selling half a million copies are long gone. There's no point in being defeatist because it's not 1967 anymore. The British comics industry survives and is in fact more diverse than ever, as a quick glance at all the covers illustrating this post will prove. 

I know some dismiss these comics as "vanity publishing", but only 5 of the 18 comics shown here are self-published by their creators. The rest are from publishers such as Titan Comics, Walker Books, and Avery Hill etc. It would be foolish and shortsighted to disregard any comic on the basis of that, or even if it was self-published come to that. 

I'm not entirely unsympathetic where the nostalgists are concerned. In an ideal world it'd be fantastic to have an array of weekly comics available from the corner shop again, but that's not going to happen. The absence of the old model shouldn't be used to disparage the new model. Genuine fans of the medium will celebrate the diversity of modern comics, find the ones amongst them that they do like, and support them. 

Yes, the British comics industry of the 20th Century is gone, but we have an industry for the 21st Century that is every bit as legitimate as that which came before. The creativity and incredible talent is out there. Let's buy comics!

- Lew Stringer (Updated 15/4/2017)

A few references:

You can read Andy Oliver's opinions on this matter over on the Broken Frontier site here:

http://www.brokenfrontier.com/british-comics-selfmadehero-avery-hill-breakdown-nobrow-blank-slate/

Aces Weekly digital comic: http://www.acesweekly.co.uk

Titan Comics: http://titan-comics.com

Miwk Publishing: 

http://www.miwkpublishing.com/store/index.php?route=product/category&path=71

Avery Hill Publishing:

http://www.averyhillpublishing.com

Time Bomb Comics:

http://www.timebombcomics.com

The Phoenix comic:

http://www.thephoenixcomic.co.uk/4for1/?r=PC_£1_4_DD_GOOGLEDD5&i=4&t=1&f=28.99&fp=3&gclid=COn-wYPKptMCFcUYGwodVO0EKw

Kult Creations:

http://kultcreations.blogspot.co.uk

BHP Comics:

https://en-gb.facebook.com/bhpcomics/

State of the industry

I was recently contacted by journalist David Barnett regarding an interview for The Independent. It's online today and is a general piece about the current state of British comics for children. Fellow artist Jamie Smart is also interviewed. 

The easy option would have been to bemoan that comics aren't what they used to be but that would be a great disservice to the great work that's around today and would be a mistake to view the situation from inside a nostalgia bubble. We tried to keep things as upbeat as possible and I hope it's a mainly positive article. The focus is heavily on The Phoenix comic but I managed to plug other titles too.

The item is solely about children's comics in newsagents, so 2000AD doesn't get a look in, nor do the many UK indie titles sold in comic shops, mail order, or at conventions. I had mentioned that graphic novels for kids were increasing but that bit was cut out unfortunately (as was a plug for Aces Weekly). 

It's also worth adding here that now Rebellion have bought the old Fleetway comics we'll see some classic material back in print. Not necessarily as comics, but definitely in book form. (Valiant's One Eyed Jack being the first, later this year.)

All in all the journalist did a good job. Have a read and see what you think at this link...

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/how-classic-childrens-comics-gave-way-to-garish-magazines-a7535736.html

Post your thoughts, pro or con, in the comments section below.

Phil tells it like it is

Photo © 2015 Lew Stringer.

The enthusiastic Phil Boyce, webmaster of the superb Oink! Blog, contacted me recently to ask my permission if he could use a couple of my convention photos on his blog. I knew he was writing an upbeat piece on the UK comics industry but otherwise had no idea of its content. Nevertheless, I agreed that he could use them as I respect Phil and his blog. 

Phil has now posted his article and it certainly takes no prisoners! He pulls no punches in championing the current UK comics scene. Some of us who work in comics have been accused of having a "vested interest" whenever we stick up for the industry so it's good to see such positivity from a comics reader. You can read Phil's blog at the following link, and I'm sure he'd appreciate any comments from you on his blog:

http://the-oink-blog.blogspot.co.uk/2015/12/uk-comics-alive-and-kicking-butts-of.html