Comics should be sold in bookstores. It's as simple as that. In order for this industry to achieve the market presence that has for so long eluded it, we have to find a way to get the product into the bookstores and in front of the masses.

Let's face it. The casual window shopper is not likely to wander into a comic store to browse. No matter how many quality titles we cram into a comics store or onto the pages of a distributor's catalogue, the average person will pass by, oblivious to the entertainment potential a scant twenty four pages away.

What we have to do is place the product where the target market is likely to graze. Comics have done well in record stores and coffee shops. They may do well in video arcades and video game shops, too. But these still provide only limited access to the real market.

My favourite option by far is to put comics into bookstores. Not in the comics and magazines section, either. I'd like to see comics right up on the shelf. The only difference between comics and books would be the number of pictures printed inside.

In order to gain acceptance in bookstores, comics would have to be retooled to more closely resemble books, both in appearance and content. That means one complete story between the covers. That means those covers are printed on stock heavier than the interior pages and are bound by something other than staples. It means that the characters and situations in the story are explained to the reader's satisfaction within that story.

Comic books like Asterix and Obelix have succeeded in penetrating the book market because they read like books, despite their comic book appearance. Books like The Dark Knight Returns or any other collected trade edition would not likely be as well received, despite their high quality, because they still read like monthly comics. They demand a more serial knowledge of an ongoing mythos, and this demand alienates new readers. Anyone can pick up one issue of Asterix and Obelix and understand the situation within one reading. We need to start producing similarly self contained comic books.

Obviously, these books would usually be sixty to a hundred or more pages long and sell for ten to twenty dollars or more. They might even be hardbound as first editions, with subsequent editions softbound.

Further, we should approach these comics projects the way a book project is approached. The creators create, the editors edit, and when the project is complete it gets promoted, produced and delivered to stores nationwide. If it sells, we print more. If it flops, they ship it back and we (or more likely the publisher) take a hit. Popularity, rather than a cover date, determines the shelf life of the comic book. A good comic, like any good book, could be available in a newly printed edition years after its initial conception. Regardless, we'd be working on the next project, just like any book writer (or artist).

This sort of project development would resemble the way many children's illustrated books are produced. Writer/artist teams with a proven sales record would have an easier time of pitching the next book to their publisher. They might even have a contract for a number of books. Newer teams would, as always, have to make the rounds and climb a very steep hill to get their projects published, possibly approaching smaller boutique publishing companies initially.

We might create stories that use a consistent cast of characters or setting (like Winnie the Pooh, the Darkover novels, the James Bond series, etc.) or create a new story every time. And we'd take as long as necessary to create these projects.

This is a far cry from the monthly production methods of most current comics, which are more similar to magazines than books. There is something disposable about magazines. With a few rare exceptions like National Geographic, most magazines are read and discarded, and as long as comics are regarded as magazines, they will never enjoy the status of books.

This is not a call to abandon production of monthly comics. They still represent a vital industry. But I think it is time to look beyond the immediate comic book market. And I think putting comic books into bookstores is a good first step.

Yes, it is riskier and more expensive than conventional comics ventures. But we have to think of this on a book level rather than a comic level. And in book publishing terms, the costs and risks are not exceptional.

I don't pretend that this will save the industry, either. This won't end the production of shoddy stories, and it won't guarantee the production of great stories. It won't curtail publishing industry corruption. Evil companies will still get rich and a lot of good people will always get hurt. But it does create more opportunity. Opportunity for monetary rewards and, more importantly, opportunities for creators to have their work seen and appreciated.

Derek Mah
January 1, 1996