Where is the limit between news and paid advertising in the comic book industry? Are the promotional efforts behind DC Comics’ Minx’s imprint a highjacking of legitimate news?
DC Comics announced recently a new imprint called Minx aimed at the teenage girl market. DC Comics, better known for its super hero comic books and horror/ fantasy series under the Vertigo imprint is probably trying to catch up with the manga publishers, such as TokyoPop, Del Rey and Viz. The latter’s sales have generated the most market growth in the North American comic book industry by making products girls would read.
DC Comics is often trying to branch out and cover all markets strategically, although its core niche is super hero comic books. Of the many attempts over the years, only Vertigo seemed to have had a lasting success. One of the last attempts to deliver products for a new audience was DC Comics’ CMX’s line which was filled with translated manga.
To maximize its message with its Minx line, creators involved with series published by the imprint are featured in their own blogs at comic book industry news Web site, Newsarama in May 2007. This type of hosted newscast is not new when it comes to Newsarama. For the 52 series, the DC Comics’ editor had his own weekly column hosted at Newsarama during the series’ duration. Joe Quesada, editor in chief at Marvel Comics also has frequent columns there.
Newsarama is hardly the only comic book industry Web site /news source to host columns and forums for comic book producers and vendors. Comic Book Resources has several forums dedicated to specific creators. Comic Bloc started as GeoffJohns.com, a site about comic book writer Geoff Johns which also hosted forums for other creators. Although the site distanced itself from Johns recently, it still hosts creator forums. The best known case of a vendor involved in a tight relationship with a news source are of course comic book publisher Fantagraphics and its comic book news publication, The Comic Journal.
The problem with these hosted columns and forums, is that the sites hosting them act as if they were independent from the vendors they cover. For many of them, critical observers have long dismissed the editorial independence of these “industry news sites” because of the close relationship they have with the people and companies they are supposed to cover, independently.
Another Minx series
News, business and politics have always had a rocky relation where the lines that separate them are often questioned. How close should newscasters and the people they cover be? Is hosting a column of a vendor without clear indications that the column is paid for or an advertising supplement fair to readers who expect independent news reporting? Is having “exclusive material” on one’s news source worth fooling readers into thinking the news is independent?
The debate about independent news reporting on the comic book industry has been raging for years. Yet, instead of improving, it seems that larger vendors are exerting more control over supposedly independent news sources. Other vendors without similar clout may suffer comparative unfair advantages.
The answers to all these questions must ultimately be answered by market forces. It is up to comic book readers to decide what kind of news they want to read and whether to believe and question authority sites that are embedded with the creators and publishers they are supposed to cover. One thing is certain, about the Minx “sit down” at Newsarama. Newsarama is hardly a convenient site where the young girls targeted by DC Comics will go to find out about comic books marketed to them. It seems that the market will correct itself after all.
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