With Powerful Fans, Come Tough Decisions

A couple of random, rambly, loosely connected thoughts on Spider-Man 3 and the “girls and superhero comics” debate that is raging across the comics blogiverse.

Spider-Man 3
Fandom of any type is notoriously myopic, typically unable to see beyond their own individual perspectives to grasp the bigger picture, and superhero comics fandom is perhaps the worst of them all, particularly given their atypical ability to actually exert some influence over their chosen passion. Worse, perhaps, are the business people who exert control over the creative process with a splintered hammer, playing the sucker’s game of trying to read the metaphorical tea leaves of coffee drinkers.

“Well, my brother and I had written in the story about another woman that recognized Peter and knew who he was at this dinner and that Mary Jane got jealous of her,” [Spider-Man 3 director, Sam] Raimi said. “But Laura Ziskin, my producer, said, ‘Let’s make it Gwen.’ And I said, ‘I don’t think I should, because, … really, Gwen was introduced before Mary Jane in the comic books, and now I’m introducing her later, and … she’s not even in high school anymore. She’s in college. And I’m afraid if I introduce Gwen, the fans will have all these expectations, which we’re not going to deliver in this picture.’ And she said, ‘Well, the fans would much rather have Gwen make an introduction now, and you can do what you need to do or someone can do what they need to do in the fourth picture with her, but at least you’ve introduced her, and they would appreciate that.’”

…As he has discussed previously, Raimi added that it was Arad’s idea to add the villain Venom to the mix. “Avi Arad, my partner and the former president of Marvel at the time, said to me, ‘Sam, … you’re not paying attention to the fans enough,’” Raimi said. “‘You need to think about them. You’ve made two movies now with your favorite villains, and now you’re about to make another one with your favorite villains. The fans love Venom. He is the fan favorite. All Spider-Man readers love Venom, and even though you came from ’70s Spider-Man, this is what the kids are thinking about. Please incorporate Venom. Listen to the fans now.’ And so that’s really where I realized, ‘OK, maybe I don’t have the whole Spider-Man universe in my head. I need to learn a little bit more about Spider-Man and maybe incorporate this villain to make some of the real die-hard fans of Spider-Man finally happy.’”

If a multi-billion dollar Hollywood franchise like Spider-Man is susceptible to creative interference and (arguably) bad decision making based on fandom feedback, it’s not surprising that fans of the comics that are increasingly serving as Hollywood’s petri dish feel a sense of entitlement over their four-color fantasy worlds. It’s also partly encouraged by the “I can do that better!” sensibility that is justifiable on some level thanks to the perfect storm of comics’ relatively low barrier to entry; high tolerance for sub-standard efforts (based on what sells well month-in, month-out); and the widespread “success” of creators of lesser talents compared to most other mediums with rabid fanbases.

Assignment: Contrast and compare the occasional Quentin Tarantino who makes it big in Hollywood, to the laundry list of overrated writers who have been successful in comics. Discuss.

Girls & Superhero Comics
My friend OB sent me a link to Box Office Guru’s Weekend Box Office overview that included this interesting little nugget:

Spider-Man 3 grossed an estimated $85.4M internationally this weekend to boost its overseas haul up to a mammoth $379.6M for a colossal global gross of $622M. Next weekend, the Sandman entry will surpass the international takes of $418M and $410M for the first two Spider-Man flicks to become the top performer of the franchise outside of North America. With the Spider-Man fan base already maxed out domestically, Sony made a strategic move to grow the brand around the world by hosting several star-studded international red carpet premieres and opening the film in most countries days ahead of the United States leading to a substantial increase in moviegoer excitement in all markets. Spider-Man 3 still stands a very good chance of becoming the biggest grossing film of the trilogy on a global scale with the North American shortfall being overshadowed by gains overseas. With a reported production budget of $258M, the super hero film should surpass the $900M mark worldwide this summer.

Note the emphasis there, mine, on “maxed out domestically”? Sony understood that, in order to justify its monster budget and meet financial expectations for Spider-Man 3, they were going to have to change their marketing strategy this time around; thus the focus on international markets.

A seemingly simple and not uncommon problem was met with a non-traditional solution, and it paid off nicely as domestically, Spider-Man 3 looks like it might duplicate the Hulk’s and X3’s huge release/quick plunge at the box office after a 60% decrease this weekend and Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Carribbean looming on the horizon. While Sony took a bit of a gamble on potentially alienating its core fanbase with the international premieres, it was a calculated one that balanced the scales a bit with the Spider-Man Week and five-borough NYC premiere marketing stunt.

The connection to the girls & superhero comics debate should be clear, I think, but just in case it’s not, let me spell it out:

With the superhero comics fan base already maxed out in the direct market, publishers need to make strategic moves to extend their reach into other markets, which in turn could serve to boost interest in all potential markets.

This, of course, is already happening as comics as a medium are arguably more popular than they’ve ever been, most notably thanks to manga’s penetration into mainstream bookstores, and more and more mainstream publishers launching graphic novel imprints in an attempt to carve themselves a slice out of one of the fastest-growing niches in publishing. Even Marvel and DC have gotten in on the action as the former’s Marvel Adventures line of all-ages comics seems to be slowly finding an audience (and more importantly, Marvel seems to be committed to making the line successful), while the latter is investing heavily in its Minx imprint, attempting to target teenaged female readers, a key publishing demographic that dwarfs the superhero-centric direct market’s audience.

But what about the female fans of Spider-Man, Superman, et al? The ones demanding a Supergirl they can respect; a Power Girl with more than two things going for her; a memorial display case for Stephanie Brown? Those offended by the cheesecake collectible statues designed for about as micro-niche an audience as there is, more random and inconsequential than Federal Duck Stamp collectors, which at least have some relevance to the real world?

Some suggest they should move on, that there’s plenty of other comics out there that might appeal to them, even superhero comics from publishers other than Marvel and DC. Others would reject that suggestion, indignant over the thought of giving up a childhood passion that has [debatably] matured along with them.

Whose side are you on?

Me? I say gripe all you want, whereever you want, but if you’re serious about changing things, well, none other than Ghandi said it best: “Be the change you want to see in the world!”

He also said: “You may think your actions are meaningless and that they won’t help, but that is no excuse, you must still act.”

If it sometimes feels like you’re the proverbial tree falling in the woods, it’s because most times, you are.

Most times, though. Not always.

So yeah, speak up and out as often as you like, because one voice in the wilderness can become two, four, and so on, and on the internet, you never know who’s reading along or who will answer the call to arms when it comes. Remember, though, that “money talks, bullshit walks,” and representatives from Marvel and DC have said a million times that they consider internet chatter to mostly be bullshit, because they look at the sales charts of the titles that get the most complaints and they’re generally not translating.

If you’re really serious, you need to put a little elbow grease behind your complaining.

• Support and promote the comics that are doing things the way you like to see them done, not just online, but to your local retailer, too.
• Seek out a community of similar-minded individuals (similar, not like; no one respects the Borg) who can intelligently discuss and debate the issues you have in common and develop a gameplan for effecting a change.
• Organize monthly flash mobs in local comics shops across the country in support of a specific title.
• Organize a letter-writing campaign (not email; put pen to paper, people!) in support of a specific title, character or creator.

In addition to all of this, remember the old chestnut “those who can, do.”

When all is said and done, the best (not easiest; BEST) way to effect change in the industry is to simply “make the fucking comics” yourself.