The Secret Problem In Comics is...the FANS!?
Cool announcements! Drama!? The Secret!?
I have got a CONTROVERSIAL take to give y’all today, and after you get done reading it, I have a poll that I want you to participate in so you can either say “Tyler you’re spot on” or “Tyler you’re way off base! CANCELED!” But before we start, as always I gotta do some kind of self promo.
On November 8th (this Wednesday) at 12pm EST we’re launching BULLET ASSASSIN LIVING IN A FANTASY WORLD on Kickstarter. This is a one-shot, however if we break through a stretch goal, we’ll turn this into a full blown 10-issue series. SO! If you wanna see the larger story we have planned, make sure to check this out:
The Secret Problem In Comics is...the FANS!?
Okay. When I say fans, I’m talking about EVERYONE…like ME included! So before you go canceling me, give me a second to explain, and then you can attack me.
So what are the problems in comics right now?
Bad stories that don’t take us out of reality
Want Manga because of:
types of stories
size and format of the book
price
Political stuff
Here’s the the problem…with these problems. The problem, with these problems, is that comic fans SAY that they want these things, but then completely contradict themselves when things happens. For example, I saw this tweet:
The video is a clip from the new Spider-Man game where Sandman launches Miles Morales through buildings and what not. It looks SUPER cool, and yet this tweet and others liked it criticized it because it wasn’t realistic. Bruh…these are super heroes…let the shot be super cool.
THEN DC Comics says they’re releasing a new line of books that are going to be more manga sized and uniformed in their trade dress, and that the price is going to be strictly $9.99.
And guess what! A shit ton of fans were complaining that they wanted the comics to be normal size, and that everything would be squished and their eyes wouldn’t be able to read the text, not realizing that this is a marketing ploy to get the YOUNGER GENERATION (like we’ve been saying they need to do).
And don’t get me on the political stuff because everyone’s hypocritical about that. The fact is (and I say this for myself as well) you don’t care about politics in your story until it’s politics you don’t agree with. I said it. How do I know it? Because I’m the same way, and even I know I’m a hypocrite.
The biggest problem I think with comics is that fans DON’T KNOW what they want. We keep saying that we want all these changes with Marvel and DC, and yet when these changes do happen, we start complaining, don’t vote with our dollar, and then they stop with their changes because they had no support, and then we the fans go back to complaining.
So. Are comic fans the secret problem to comics? Let me know what you think:
Simplicity Is the KEY to Consistency
This has been a horrible year for me in terms of uploading on Youtube. I used to be SO good at dropping 1-2 videos a week. Now I’m lucky if I drop one video.
What I realized is that I had created too many barriers of entry for me to even hit the RECORD button and spent the last week creating a system that would work for me. The results? Amazing.
The video with the lower views took me 10 hours to make (from script, filming, and editing), and the one with more views took me ONE HOUR to make.
Because of this system, I get to take more time thinking of actual good ideas to make content of, and I can more videos with this system. Because of it, let’s say I make a video and it’s a dud that gets maybe 100 views, it’s OKAY because I can make 3-4 other videos that same week because of how little time they take.
What’s my system that helped me do this?
Just simplifying my gear and process. Before I would spend like 3-4 hours writing my Youtube script so that everything was perfect, then I would film for 30 minutes, and then the rest of the time would be editing which could take anywhere from 5-10 hours.
Here’s my new system that’s working for me right now and making me love making videos again:
GEAR: GoProHero 10 used as a webcam for my laptop and synced with my mic.
PROCESS: Come up with an idea, write my bullet point talking points, hit the record button, talk for 20 minutes, edit my one-take so that it’s useable (which makes the video go from 20 minutes to 8-10 min), and then throw in some basic B-roll shots, make a good 20-second intro, and then BOOM we’re done. This process seriously takes maybe 2 hours tops.
If there is something going on in your life that you want to get good at or at least be consistent at, create a system and process that is simple so that it’s easy for you to hit the GO button.
PROGRESS ON PROJECTS
BULLET ASSASSIN LIVING IN A FANTASY WORLD launches on Kickstarter November 8th at 12pm
SUPER PLUMBER SISTERS #1: COMPLETED! Book sent to the printer on Tuesday, digitals sent out on Wednesday!
SUPER PLUMBER SISTERS #2: first 10-pages being drawn currently
MY SEXY WITCH ACADEMIA #2: only 5 more pages to be turned in
THE GIRL WITH THE MEGA FISTS Vol. 4: I am HARD AT WORK on these pages! Should be finished by 2nd week of December!
THE CTHULHU MURDERS: Kickstarter finished (thank you everyone) and we are hard at work! First 20-pages have been turned in, working on the next 20, should be done by middle of December!
Thank you everyone for the support! On Thursday morning I’ll send an email to you about BULLET ASSASSIN on Kickstarter, and let you read the first 4-pages that we have :)
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns feel free to let me know!
TYLER :)
I semi agree with you. Some of the fans are the problem. There's a vocal minority that just want something and they annoy the silent majority. But also another part of the problem is the people producing the comics and content listening to just the loudest voice instead of getting a true feel for their clients/users/consumers.
And lastly I would also say upper mgmt only understanding/desiring buzzword bingo or current "popular trends" and not truly understanding the product that they are guiding.
Yeah you got a point, and I don’t even feel like you’re complaining about it. Just stating the facts, part of the job is to deal with those issues (especially if you’re a one man show). And I know you get that, people will always something to not like.. just our nature.
Ps It’s really cool to hear about your process! Also awesome because I’m trying to create systems of my own to get back to creating.
As always, best of luck Tyler!!