Holli, do you go to Big Planet in Bethesda?

Yeah! Not often, 'cause it's a bit of a journey for me, but yeah.

Yeah! Not often, 'cause it's a bit of a journey for me, but yeah.

OK. This is how weird my train of thought is. I looked at this exchange, and thought how small of a world it is, and thought back about all the times I've asked someone about some place I know in their part of the world--which, considering I've mostly travelled as either a college student or a poet--is bars, but that's neither here nor there. Then I wondered if, when I ask questions like this, if the person on the other end can't help but think I'm stalking them. Which would be bad, but then I get this devil in my ear saying I should post follow-up questions like, "What are you wearing?" Which would be totally inappropriate, so it's a good thing I don't. But once upon a time, I would have done so with impunity. I was reminded of this today at the dollar store, where a teenage girl came up to me and tried to convince me to buy these silly little prints, which are part of an effort for her youth group to combat teen drug and alcohol abuse. She even went so far as to compliment my English accent, the barest traces of which only re-emerge when I'm annoyed and trying to keep my composure. Anyway, I politely begged off, but couldn't help think that, once upon a time, I would have replied, 'I'd love to, but drug and alcohol abuse is the only thing that kept me alive in my teenage years, and why should I deprive someone of the opportunities I've had?'

The moral is: The mind is its own place.

I think we'll see if Holli is right soon. This is one of the few titles I read where I honestly can't wait until the next issue. It seems that most other comics don't take advantage of the serial nature of the medium to drive interest for each month's issue. Nowadays, everything seems to be setting up for the trade.

I'm all for the increasing prevalence of trade paperbacks, but I wonder if the sales of the monthly issues will be high enough to get to the trades. Y - The Last Man is selling well enough, but there are plenty of others that aren't.

I'm all for the increasing prevalence of trade paperbacks, but I wonder if the sales of the monthly issues will be high enough to get to the trades. Y - The Last Man is selling well enough, but there are plenty of others that aren't.

Maybe Bil will re-explain the economics for me, but I seem to remember that it's the trade paperback's sales that actually subsidize the individual issues. Because the TPBs sell far more, but you'll have trouble distributing your TPB if you don't have monthly issues to back them up or some weird thing. As if the three month's lag time in the industry didn't make comic book production risky enough...

What I was trying to mean is that the appearance of TPBs is not entirely dependant on how well issues are selling. They can be used to shore up a not-so-great-seller, in fact.

So you'll probably get your next TPB of Y.

Has anybody heard whether or not Fantagraphics has dealt with their money problems? I'm kinda curious as to whether I should go max out my credit cards picking up the rest of the Love & Rockets & the Woodring collections.

Has anybody heard whether or not Fantagraphics has dealt with their money problems?

Don't know. However...

I'm kinda curious as to whether I should go max out my credit cards picking up the rest of the Love & Rockets & the Woodring collections.

I wouldn't worry about this too much. Especially with L&R, because (a) they kept all the issues in print (b) scads of TPBs (c) Beto and Jaime own their own work including the original art (as you'd expect after the Comics Journal spent decades excorciating Marvel for dicking over Jack Kirby). Consequently some other publisher could put them back into print.

Woodring you might want to nab a few right now.

mearaing

As of yesterday, Fantagraphics is solvent. They sold enough to make their bills.

That being said, they did mention in the press release that if you want to continue to purchase items, please do, if for no other reason it will allow them to retire their debt faster, such as all the back royalties they owe their creators.

Holli, what is your comic shop then? The one out on Rockville Pike that is hidden away on the second story of a strip mall?

There is a balance point where the serial pays for the TPBs, and the TPBs are where the real money is. The thing is the serial has to surive a year or so to get a couple TPBs out to see if it is worth it. I suspect that Y is making enough money in TPBs that the serial would have to be selling very little for it not to be worth floating the serial looking ahead to the TPB payday.

Yes, Y is actually considered a hit for the Vertigo imprint. The last direct market sales figures (for April sales) pegged them at around 25,000 copies. 15,000 seems to be the danger level where DC starts to seriously consider cancellation, at least for newer series. Lucifer, for instance, sold just under 14,000 copies to the direct market in April, but its trade paperback sales have been established enough that DC can carry the monthly at that level. I also think that Mike Carrey has a definitive end for the series, so the company will want to keep the issues going to fill out the trade collection.