September/October 2023 Edition of Devin's Chicago Comics Book Club Digest

Heartstopper, Volume 1 by Alice Oseman

Hello, everyone! This newsletter continues to grow, much to my delight and surprise. We’re up to more than 300 subscribers! Woohoo! I would like to direct anyone who wants to learn more about me and this newsletter to the About page. We had another small group this month and a fun discussion about video games towards the end. Almost everyone appeared to have enjoyed Heartstopper!

A few people read it on Webtoon. One or two people found the vertical scroll annoying, but many thought it made it easier to continue reading. One wouldn’t expect a slice of life comic to be described as “suspenseful,” but many felt compelled to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next. A couple people even managed to catch all the way up to the current chapter of the story! The art was praised for being very expressive, especially the faces. Those who read physical copies found it translated from digital better than other Webtoon and webcomic collections we’ve read in the past. The word “heartwarming” was used several times, and the parents and psychologist in the group liked that it presented positive examples of behavior and interactions, though we all noted that this didn’t make for a conflict-free story. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, October 18 to discuss Harrow County, Volume 1: Countless Haints.

(I’ll be on vacation at that time, but you will hear from me in three or four weeks! And I promise to read the book and find out what everyone thought of it.)

What We're Reading

October 18 - Harrow County, Volume 1: Countless Haints by Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook

November 15 - Ironheart, Volume 1: Those With Courage by Eve L. Ewing and Kevin Libranda

December 20 - The Perry Bible Fellowship Almanack by Nicholas Gurewitch

January 17 - Always Never by Jordi Lafebre

February 21 - Scott Pilgrim, Volume 1: Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O’Malley

Make sure to read only the volume of Harrow County that collects issues 1-4! Hoopla has an omnibus available that collects issues 1-16, which is perhaps beyond the scope of some of our members. Reading ahead is never discouraged if you’re enjoying a book, of course, but be mindful of spoilers for those who haven’t gotten there yet.

Also, it’s official: Our Big Two selection for November will be Ironheart, Volume 1! And we’ve added Scott Pilgrim, Volume 1 to our lineup for February for Valentine’s Day and in anticipation of the anime adaptation for Netflix.

Shameless Self-Promotion

The pre-launch campaign for CyberSync, the cyberpunk comics anthology I’m a part of, is live! Please follow along. There are a lot of really talented people involved! I have already recorded a podcast episode to prepare for the official launch, which will be Tuesday, October 24 (mark your calendar! Lol). I’m also scheduled to appear on the Keeping It Geekly show on November 11. Click through to be notified!

Also, I was recently a guest on the Monitor Comics YouTube channel to discuss LGBTQ+ representation in manga, comics, and Webtoons. This is a great channel and I had a wonderful time as a guest! Monitor offers a lot of excellent tutorials on different genres of manga and aspects of comic craft that are as entertaining as they are informative. Judging from one or two comments, he may have lost some subscribers due to this video, so feel free to like and subscribe to show appreciation for a true ally!

And I won the caption contest that

Nidhi Chanani

held over at her newsletter. I’m looking forward to reading Super Boba Café!

NEWS

The Netflix adaptation of Heartstopper was nominated for a Harvey Award in 2022 for Best Adaptation from a Comic Book/Graphic Novel and Alice Oseman was named Illustrator of the Year at the 2023 British Book Awards. The New York Times had this really cool feature back in March comparing the page-to-screen adaptation of a pivotal scene from Heartstopper, Volume 1 with input from Alice Oseman, who has a YouTube channel of her own.

The film Red, White & Royal Blue came up in our discussion and this article was written about the book, Heartstopper, their adaptations, and the “controversy” of women writing gay romances. This is a topic that I also broached with Monitor Comics in the video above. Legitimate concerns regarding representation can sometimes get lost in the noise of manufactured outrage, and this is no different.

Ironically, one of the criticisms of Heartstopper mentioned in that article is about how “sexless” it is for a book about teens, but that hasn’t stopped parents in Mississippi from labeling it pornography. Speaking of book bans, Maia Kobabe wrote one of the final comics for The Nib (RIP) about making the most banned book in America, which we read back in 2021.

In awards news, the Small Press Expo and Baltimore Comic-Con both were held on the same weekend this year, and announced the Ignatz Awards and the Ringo Awards, respectively. I’m sure we’ll be scouring these lists for future Comics Book Club selections.

Possibly the biggest comics story this month was that Bill Willingham, the anti-choice Zionist writer best known for Fables at DC Comics, released that comic series into the public domain. Leaving aside questions about Willingham as a person and the fact that most of the characters in Fables (like Snow White and Cinderella) are already in the public domain, many people likened this to Michael Scott “declaring” bankruptcy. Naturally, DC was quick to point out that it doesn’t work like that. This is one of those stories where it’s kind of impossible to root for anybody.

There was a lot of great journalism and commentary about the inner workings of comics this month. Joe Illidge continued his series “A survivor’s guide to being a working comic book creator” for Popverse. This paired well with artist Francis Manapul’s video “How Much Does a Comic Book Artist Make?” His is yet another YouTube channel I have to recommend. SKTCHD had a story that provided a retailer’s perspective on selling comics, which is always valuable information. They also interviewed TKO Studios’ Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Girner about his new venture, Goats Flying Press.

There was some sad news this month and I was surprised more venues didn’t cover these stories. Gerry Conway detailed the health issues he’s been suffering from lately. Also, Joe Matt passed away. A fixture of underground and autobiographical comix, Matt was eulogized by

Dean Haspiel

over at his newsletter and his work deserves to be back in print.

Finally, one of our official Comics Book Club members shared this article from the New Republic about the work librarians are doing and the targeted campaigns they’re fighting against, particularly from anti-LGBTQ hatemongers. Illinois has a ban on book bans, but that's inspired some to call in bomb threats to libraries. Our own librarian has told some real horror stories. Support your local libraries, everyone! They need it.

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Was all of that too much or not enough? There was stuff I left out, believe it or not! Lol I’ve heard from a few people in the last couple of months that the NEWS section is either too long and they skim it or that it provides insight into stories they’ve missed and consider it a valuable service. I’ve decided to settle this the way we usually do here at the Comics Book Club: with a poll!

This poll will be open for one week. The results will determine how long the NEWS section will be going forward. Feel free to elaborate on your vote in the comments!

Some Thoughts on Comics Distribution

I had a tough time coming up with a topic for this month. I thought about writing about the diversity of Heartstopper (both pros and cons), but I wrote about representation last month. And I wrote about high school the month before that! I considered writing about book bans, but I think my stance on those should be obvious (I’m against them) and smarter people than me already have. I briefly entertained embarrassing myself again by writing about my first kiss, since that was a plot point for this month’s reading.

But then Heartstopper became unavailable on hoopla. Again.

I assume this was done to drive people to read it on Webtoon in anticipation of the new season of Heartstopper landing on Netflix. I don’t understand the logic of making something less available before promoting its adaptation.

This essay is being written out of frustration and off the cuff, with a minimum amount of research as I prepare for an international flight, so don't expect too many statistics or solutions. I’ll try to make this venting entertaining, but I think much of this information might be new for official Comics Book Club members.

The larger issue of comics distribution is the system that exists for monthly comics issues; i.e., floppies, magazine comics, whatever you want to call them. As noted in the SKTCHD article about selling comics linked above, they need to be ordered months in advance in a crowded marketplace with limited shelf space.

Imagine if you tried to buy a ticket for a movie, but could only do that three months before the movie opened and, when you finally showed up to the theater, were told the movie wasn’t showing because not enough people ordered tickets months ahead of time. Sounds crazy, right? But that’s what comics readers are expected to do and are forced to endure.

I know my analogy breaks down under a certain amount of scrutiny because the process of creating a comic and a movie are vastly different. I am not advocating for print-on-demand comics, either. I understand that the cost is prohibitive and that the logistics make it largely unfeasible for certain publishers and retailers. GlobalComix, an underrated competitor to Webtoon, has found some success with it, though.

There are people doing innovative work out there. TKO Studios doesn’t get enough credit, in my opinion, for how they’re revolutionizing the way comics are available in single issues, print runs, and collections. Scout Comics’ NONSTOP! imprint does something similar.

I’ve heard complaints from retailers about such systems. Also, as often as I call Diamond Comic Distributors a monopoly, providing more distribution options only forces seller to go from one phone book-sized catalog to three, which definitely doesn’t help. It’s impossible to please everybody, but listening to the retailers who order the comics in the first place would be a good place to start. Another would be breaking up the vast media conglomerates that wield disproportionate control over who and what gets published. But that’s probably a topic for another essay.

I know there are no easy answers and a lot of moving parts, including punishing schedules for comics creators, an entitled fandom that’s endlessly catered to, and a glutted market that overshadows or freezes out marginalized creators and non-superhero comics. I hope this whole situation improves soon. What do you think? Feel free to share any thoughts or comments below! Remember to keep it civil. Please subscribe if you haven’t already.

Our next reading selection will be Harrow County, Volume 1: Countless Haints by Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook! I’ll be in Thailand, so a proper newsletter will be a little late, probably in early November. This is part of why I use two months in the title. Lol Take care, everyone!