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090600: From The Editor... It's September. I honestly can't believe it. It's been 3 whole months (and 10 updates) since we went to our weekly schedule, and August was our biggest month yet. In fact, our visits to the site have been steadily rising, and it really fills me with a lot of pride. I'm glad that we're doing right by all of you (though I wish you'd e-mail us to let us know it, every once in a while). First and foremost among our successes was our GAYS AND COMICS fifth week event, which was largely organized by Scott Grunewald (you go, Scott!). I'm really proud of it, and I'm hoping that as a permanent installation it will grow and evolve. Meanwhile, it's been a really busy month, news wise. We don't really have a news section anymore, so you may not have heard. First up, Brian Bendis got ripped off for a bunch of original artwork from POWERS via FedEx. So if you see any of the artwork from Powers issue 4, or the covers to Powers 1 & 2 for sale anywhere, they've been stolen and you need to get a hold of Bendis immediately. Then, Mark Waid left the freelance world and all of his current assignments to accept a position with CrossGen. Apparently there was an awful lot of money involved… Heh. Oh, and Marvel fired their Editor In Chief, Bob Harras, and put Marvel Knights Editor Joe Quesada in his place. This, is really big news. I was… well, the change itself doesn't impact on me much. Marvel Comics isn't really where my head's at these days. This is a good move for Marvel, but it's a horrible move for Joe Quesada, and creators rights and the rest of the comic industry. I mean, I really want to believe that Joe will change things from the top down, for the better, but… really. Name one creator who's worked at Marvel who hasn't been screwed at least oncein the last 10 years, from stealing their creations and leaving them destitute down to being asked to return paychecks. It's all so pathetic. But you know, that's Marvel, and people who sign on with them know what they're getting. However, I did not keep this opinion, or many other opinions on the subject to myself. In a message on Warren Ellis' forum, I criticized everything relating to the deal, particularly the news coverage of the event, and public perception of it. For you see, this has been (quite shallowly) described as a fabulous, awe-inspiring positive move for Marvel, nay, the comics industry. This opinion spews forth from the upper echelons, from Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada right down, and is swallowed up by everyone who's been reading it. Yes, this is a gross oversimplification, but it's not altogether wrong. I was really upset at the frankly pathetic level of discourse on the subject, and I freaked out a little bit. But, being a journalist, I saw the weak journalism taking place as a personal affront. So the journalists got a special condemnation. "It's disgusting. You have a duty to report all of the news, not just do reprints of what they say. Challenge these people. Ask the hard questions... They are not telling you the whole truth, and you owe it to yourselves, and your readers, and you owe it to me to get in there and make these corporate bastards sweat." And I was criticized by Warren Ellis for holding this opinion. He said that the news-parrots reporting on the story had no responsibility to ask any hard questions, they just have to pass the story along. To quote Mr. Ellis, "It is important to remember that Comics Newsarama, as the main newswire, has as its first duty the task to *get the news out*. The journalism of attachment, if you like, happens in the periodicals (like POPIMAGE and SAVANT), and the dissection of it all happens here. News has a food chain." The Journalism of Attachment. Well, PopImage is definitely intended to be Journalism of Attachment (Savant and Sequential Tart too really), but bugger the notion that responsible journalism ends with passing on a press release. Whether it's the first few moments that the story is going live, or even a day or two after the fact, a Journalist's job is to root through what's being said and draw meaning from it. To see what isn't being said, and find out why. The hierarchy of news does not preclude thorough journalism. For Example. The day after the news broke a press conference was held between Marvel head Bill Jemas, and new Editor In Chief Joe Quesada. The participants in the press conference were told ahead of time that they were not to ask about Bob Harass' dismissal, and they were not to ask about Jimmy Palmiotti, who founded the Marvel Knights imprint with Quesada but had left the company several months ago. So none of them, with the exception of the always entertaining Rich Johnson, did. That's not the difference between journalism of the attachment and being a main newswire. That is cowardice. That is being afraid that asking a tough, important question for fear of getting on someone's bad side. That is not good journalism, of attachment or otherwise. Journalism of the Attachment frightens people, particularly in this day and age. When journalists go out on a limb to comment on something, particularly negatively, it frightens the hell out of the corporations who just want you to listen to what they're telling you and accept it. And it frightens the hell out of the comic industry, because to be honest there really isn't anyone out there doing it. Wizard is a disgusting joke. Newsarama considers the job over when they've passed on the facts. The Comics Journal has been written off as a bunch of old cranks (not entirely undeservedly). The Comic Buyers Guide is so relentlessly positive that you might not have know Marvel went bankrupt, having just read that. And the sites and magazines that have sprung up recently basically fall into one of those moulds; saying a lot but meaning nothing. And the important questions go unasked. That's why it's important that there's a site like Savant, which is all about fucking with the status quo and pushing comics outward. And Sequential Tart, who prove that women are a viable-yet-underserved audience in the comic market, and a audience worthy of a greater attention. That's why the upcoming Ninth Art is so important, because it promises to be nothing but analysis. And that's why I think PopImage is important, because Journalism of attachment is important, and in everything we do strives to find that attachment. Digging into books we review, going in depth in interviews, feature articles by UCLA professors... It's all important, and there isn't enough of it out there. So here's the challenge to my peers, my compatriots, the people reading this and hating me; Be better. That's it. Don't stop at "good enough", get in there and mix it up. Ask the tough questions and don't stop until you get answers. Find out the real reason Jimmy Palmiotti left Marvel Knights. Find out what was really said to Bob Harass when he was fired. Because your readers deserve the best, and they deserve the truth. Ahem. Just before I go this month, I'd like to give a special shout-out to Jim Mahfood, who plugged PopImage in his latest book, STUPID COMICS from Oni, and to Joe Casey, who got a quote from PopImage.com into every Wildstorm book shipping this month. Thanks for helping to get the word out. On that note, take care, and if you want to rant about what I've said, why not hit up the PopImage Message Forum? The link is listed below… Peace, - Christopher Butcher
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