On both his blog (no permalinks yet; currently the top item) and the Comics Journal message board, Zack Soto weighs in the possibility of altcomix favorites being published in manga-sized digest formats. Like me, Zack thinks it’s a great idea. The big “if” here, of course, aside from whether the creators want to do this, is whether the publishers (like Fantagraphics) can afford it. But I think it’d pay dividends in the long run–this is the format that young readers want their comics in, and I see little reason that these high-quality books wouldn’t appeal to them if presented in that format.
(NB: Blogger Shawn “Silverthorn” Fumo and cartoonists James Kochalka and Colleen Coover offer interesting and enthusiastic responses on that TCJ.com thread. But be warned, the usual signal-to-noise ratio for that board applies here: There are plenty of people yelling, “DON’T SHRINK THE ART JUST TO MAKE SOME MORE OF THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR, YOU FUCKIN PHILISTINE!” (And there’s a drunk Tony Millionaire, but what else did you expect?) In all seriousness, shrinking art is sometimes a very bad idea, and I’m well aware of that, which is why I suggested the comics I did: They’d work at that size, without question. But some of those posters are reflexively rejecting an idea precisely because it might lead to the artist and publisher making more money and expanding their readership. (This despite the fact that the material itself wouldn’t change, aside from getting a little smaller, which as I said wouldn’t matter in these cases.) “Artform vs commodity. No good can come of this.” Yes, folks, welcome to the Comics Journal messageboard.)