* By far my favorite set of responses to Heidi MacDonald’s end-of-year/decade survey comes from Sparkplug’s Shannon O’Leary, and not just because she’s a rare voice of sanity regarding Battlestar Galactica‘s breathtaking finale. O’Leary digs in and unpacks the fallout from Diamond’s decision to raise its order minimums in such a way as to essentially extinguish the presence of the small press in the Direct Market. I’m grateful, because it was only after reading Heidi’s survey that I realized I’d all but forgotten that this even happened–that’s how quickly and totally I internalized the notion that unless you’re a really lucky person in a big city or college town, you can’t get those comics in comic shops anymore, it’s just a given. That’s your story of the year, I’d say, much more so than the big moves at Disney/Marvel and Warner/DC, where very little has happened yet and I imagine the main effect will be to cut out some ingrained nonsense.
* What’s more, Diamond’s move has made Internet retail presences, webcomic set-ups, small-press shows, and small-press-friendly websites all the more important to an entire mode of expression. Case in point–I’m not sure you’d be seeing so many excellent altcomix, like this little number from Frank Santoro, online these days if the DM were still open to it at all. The move has made Internet retail presences, webcomic set-ups, small-press shows, and small-press-friendly websites all the more important to an entire mode of expression.
* What I’m most concerned about in 2010 is how Diamond, the economy, and the short-term-profit-maximizing policies of the big companies will jointly shape the fates of the ’00’s new breed of publishers. Bodega’s already taking the year off; whither Buenaventura, PictureBox, Sparkplug, Secret Acres, AdHouse?
* Today on Robot 6: Michael Kupperman’s rejected New Yorker comics and Matt Groening’s music festival.
* I have no brief with Ti West’s The House of the Devil, but releasing a VHS version as a promo item is a great idea, and its mimicry of vintage ’80s VHS packaging is impeccable, as any Portable Grindhouse owner could tell you. It’s the back cover that really gets it over.
* The Sinestro Corps War really was very well done. And it pulled Curt Purcell back from the brink!