I Wanna Be A Pop Star.
PopImage into the future.

When we first started PopImage, back in the day (to misappropriate someone else's culture), the driving question was, "Why PopImage, what's the hook?". For a while, we were working at being comics journalism's gateway to the common man. Making the site accessible to the non-comics reader. That was our goal. To an extent, I think we succeeded there. On the average, all of our features, interviews, and reviews, are very easy to get into, even if you're not a lifetime comics fan. We've got features like "Popaganda" (the former slightly-offensively titled 'Popping Cherries') that is a review/introduction focussing on books that are great starting points for new readers. I think we're doing our part to be a friendly place for a non-comics reader to come. But, that stopped being our sole purpose.

This winter, we went through our first significant re-design (and it really is quite brilliant you know), and our tagline became "Where Comics Come First." Not that you'd know, it really didn't manage to make an impression on any of our advertising or promotional stuff. Just between you and me, I don't even know what that means. It does evoke the notion that we've turned our focus inwards, exploring the comics industry and explaining it and, to be honest, trying to fix it. If that's the case, I'd say we've been pretty successful in that regard. Our columnists have been, in my humble opinion, the best in the industry, boldly predicting changes and upheavals, and prescribing remedies, and were often overlooked. But, with an exiting columnist (we're all sad to see you go Antony, wish you the best) and a somewhat radical shift in our content and presentation next month, I think it's safe to say we won't be navel gazing (or, to mix a metaphor, navel shouting) much longer.

So wherefore PopImage? Why, into the future of course.

PopImage, at it's inception, was imagined as a weekly magazine bringing comics culture AS pop culture to the masses. The weekly thing was ditched early on because, let's face it, no matter how talented and attractive our editorial staff was, there's no way we were ready to jump into a weekly magazine. And our general-audiences-pop-culture-angle has eroded slowly over time. The only thing to do is re-imagine PopImage as a wholly new object, this weekly bit of comics culture that comes screaming out of the gate, and is there for you with more every week. Something that you can point your friends to and go "This is a good place to learn about comics!" This magazine we're imagining is provocative without being offensive, full to the gills with comics reviews and interviews and features and original comics content by a mix of aspiring newcomers and fabulous professionals! Best of all, it's innovative and unique, setting trends and on the cutting edge of philosophy and ideology.

So, instead of just wanking about this mythical magazine, we're going to just start doing it June 6th. All the logistics have been worked out, turbines are up to speed, and we're ready to go. PopImage goes weekly in June. It's the same magazine you love now, plus a whole bunch of stuff that you've been telling us has been missing, and it'll have new content for you to enjoy every week. We want to take the steps necessary to fix the comics industry, and being weekly, bringing a tighter focus to our material, and just spreading the word out there is the best way for us to do all of that.

If, as (patron saint of PopImage) Warren Ellis has stated, the year 2000 really is this absent year, this nebulous void where radical change can spring forth and we can re-build everything from the ground up, then I can imagine no better time for us to take these bold steps forward. If 2000 is the year we're going to change everything, then we may as well get cracking at it.

Oh, and (he said humbly), I'll be the new Editor in Chief. In our ever expanding quest to conquer the world (or at least inform more of it), Scottie Grunewald will be moving into the position of Publisher/Public Relations. He's already started doing his job, and you'll be seeing more than just a few cosmetic changes in June as a result of that.

So, where does that leave us?

Well, our Editorial staff looks a little different than it did at our inception. We've had friends who've left and moved on to better things, but at the same time we've welcomed a lot of talented newcomers into the fold too. I'd just like to take a moment and thank everyone who helped build PopImage, and I hope that they're proud of the direction we're taking the magazine now. The current editorial staff are all very excited about the changes that are occurring behind the scenes here at PopImage HQ (a swank chateau built into the side of a mountain in Switzerland, for the uninformed), and that excitement and enthusiasm is going to translate into a bright future.

But enough self-congratulatory wanking. It's a time for action! I've got schedules to plan, whips to crack, and attractive young Swiss men to… oh, wait. That's a different column altogether. Never mind. Um, enjoy the show! And see you Tuesday June 6th.

Christopher Butcher, Editor In Chief.
Very late in Toronto, May 2000.

Christopher Butcher is the new Editor-In-Chief of PopImage.

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