Monday, April 30, 2007
Von Allen Goes APE
:: Posted by Bryan @ 4/30/2007 06:19:00 PM Ottawa's Von Allen, the creator behind the new semi-autobio graphic novel The Road to God Knows, has posted some thoughts on the economics of comics conventions and how these relate to smaller publishers/independent creators. Allan has come up against the wall that faces most self-publishers: lack of resources and massive public indifference, even from other artists and publishers and people who are already regular comics readers and lovers of comic art (and who demonstrate this love by attending conventions like APE even when they don't have a book to sell, etc). Sometimes I'm amazed that non-superhero artists (or cartoonists with book contracts with large mainstream publishers) attend conventions at all --the costs of sitting on your butt, away from your drawing table/computer for a few days, and having your creations judged by random passers-by, in financial and emotional terms, is staggering. APE and conventions like it seem slightly different, in that the audience is theoretically more receptive to the art on display. But it's not like the place is being trolled by reps from big book stores/distribution companies looking for the next Fun Home, buying tons of books on spec. Consequently, the artists are hard-pressed to make up their travel/table expenses, let alone promote their work to a wider audience. At TCAF a few years ago, I was staggered to see cartoonists who I respected and whose work I had considered popular (in alt comics terms) sitting undisturbed for long periods of time. One cartoonist who had made the trip up from the U.S. at great expense only had a worthwhile show because one person bought some art from him. That same buyer, a curator at a big public Toronto art gallery, later told me that he was mind-boggled at how cheaply he could buy original art from major artists for his own collection. The lesson: as the history of comics tells us, even comics fans can be ignorant of the treasures that lay at their feet.
I'm not sure if this is the kinda thing you guys like to cover, but I've
been doing a summation of my thoughts and experiences of the Alternative
Press Expo. It's not really a review of the show itself; rather, it's a
look at what I expected to get out of it. Even if it's not something
you want to cover on Sequential, I'd certainly love it if you took a
peek (when you get a chance) and let me know what you think.
The first one is here: http://vonandmoggy.livejournal.com/267882.html
and gets into numbers (some hypothetical) behind a show like APE.
The other one (http://vonandmoggy.livejournal.com/268203.html) goes more into what I wanted from the show. What my wife and I did leading up to it, APE itself, and the aftermath...
Labels: blogosphere, events, international
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