“…At this point (in my opinion) we’re seeing the best times ever for diversity in comics, no matter what your entry level, presentation, or skills. Whether it’s print, or on-line, comics are everywhere and in multiple formats. We see this clearly with the new love affair between Hollywood and comics, or on the shelves of bookstore chains racking Manga. You’d think with so many arrows in our quiver the war of insignificance would be on the run. Sadly, not much has changed in reader buying trends over the decades. Within this small industry we’re fractured and split, drawing lines in the sand against our own, and we’re reaping the cost.

“So, enough complaining and preaching to the choir; what can we do?”

Jimmie Robinson

I wasn’t aware that we were “latch[ing] to Bomb Queen like the new messiah,” but other than that, Robinson’s basically advocating word-of-mouth guerilla marketing. It’ll definitely help, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Wider and better distribution outside the direct market is a necessity if non-comics readers are gonna even see books like Bomb Queen, much less be motivated to buy them.

Counting on Fandom Assembled to go to bat for Team Comics isn’t enough, because let’s face it – many (but not all) of us are creatures of habit and will never drop New Avengers or Green Lantern or whatever no matter how bad the stories get, because Zod forbid we should have an incomplete run after reading it for 20-odd years. Sad but true.

In other news: Capetown, South Africa’s Book Fair will include comics next year.