January 11, 2009:

THE BLUEWATER COOLER: Publisher Darren G. Davis rants and raves about the comic industry: ISSUE 4

“Missile to the Moon” – RIP.

Another one bites the dust…after issue #1 you will not get to see any single issues of this title. The orders were really low on this title. This hurts for a couple reasons, one it was a solid title. The second because it was a title co-written by me. Even the titles I m intimately tied to can be on the chopping block.

So far we have had, “Ret Romanne”, “Waterbury” and now “Missile to the Moon” cancelled. This title will see the stars again later this year in the form of a graphic novel. This is not just Bluewater but all over the board. There are tons of titles I see in Previews right now that are just calling out to be cancelled.

So I have over 2,000 friends on Myspace, a ton on Facebook and Comicspace. Where are you people when it comes to supporting the books we publish? I am learning these portholes are just a place for everyone to advertise on each other’s site. I have not gotten a personal message on Myspace in months. As for Facebook, I tend to use this really to connect with people from my past. It is not really a spot for me to promote Bluewater. Don’t get me started on the train wreck of Deviant Art. I will save that one for another posting.

5 years ago, I could of drawn a comic and sold 5,000 copies. For those that do not know my drawing skills, I can’t really draw. So what is the deal? The economy or is that people are growing out of comic books. I am looking this as a fan of the medium, but I do go to the stores each week to pick up my books. Even when I had no money, I would by comics then eat Top Roman. I really think it is a medium that is dying…. I got some weird news this weekend, my brother called me to ask me if I would mind if he sold my comic collection I left at his house. Years ago, I went through my comics giving 10 comic boxes of Marvel titles to my nephew who was 9 at the time. Brett (my nephew), loves action figures, superheroes, video games and books (sometimes). What is missing here – comic books? He has zero interest in comic books. He just got Batman Lego for the Wii, he got the DC Encyclopedia for Christmas, and we bought him a ton of Spiderman action figures too. For god sakes, his uncle owns a comic book studio, his sister wrote some comics, and so did his dad. He should be loving these…. but he does not. So I told Brett that if they get sold off he must get the money. He is 13 now and I am sure he will by the new Spiderman Wii game with some of the proceeds. I did sound like a scary adult when I spoke to him, I told him that he should put part of it away for college.

So even if half of the people who are my friends on Myspace bought “Missile to the Moon”, it would have been saved. So are they really my friends? I have noticed how egocentric the world is becoming in the last couple years. Who really cares if “Joe is going to a new restaurant” or if “Sally is vegging out by the pool”. There are not many people in the world that I care to know every movement of their day. To be honest, I get sick of knowing what I do during the day. When my friend told me about Twittering, I almost choked. I do fall into this sometimes on Facebook, but those that know me that half the stuff I post on there is a joke.

I love Facebook because it has gotten me in touch with a ton of people from my past, but once again I do not care what shampoo they just bought.

I digress…. Where are the core comic fans and what do you want to read???? The Diamond numbers for the top selling books last month were 105,000 for a single issue. Just under that was 80,000 for the 2nd highest selling comic.

Maybe the world is coming to an end with all this weird weather or the fact that last night my father and his wife came over to play Wii bowling. My father hated the fact that I played Atari as a kid but now he’s having the time of his life getting a spare!

Until next time,

Darren