tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837001751311078781.post7685242801905663742..comments2024-03-28T21:17:45.398-05:00Comments on A MOMENT OF CEREBUS: Weekly Update #38: Sitting On A Crumbling LedgeA Moment Of Cerebushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02718525538144698138noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837001751311078781.post-55542324133273890762014-07-09T15:08:21.231-05:002014-07-09T15:08:21.231-05:00Here's an idea!
You know how in packs of Po...Here's an idea! <br /><br />You know how in packs of Pokemon Cards you can get a Rare Foil card? <br /><br />What if in CEREBUS ARCHIVE NUMBER TWO there is a special eleventh BONUS page.<br /><br />It could be a page from WAY later in the series, showing the refined art. Or a colour cover. Or something else that we'd otherwise be waiting 20 years for.<br /><br />I know that kids these days will buy the whole pack of Pokemon cards just to get that Rare Foil.M Kitchenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10295757194810521492noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837001751311078781.post-65411384093275965152014-07-08T09:04:47.477-05:002014-07-08T09:04:47.477-05:00Chris it's called Patreon.com. There is a lin...Chris it's called Patreon.com. There is a link for it on this blog. Go to the top of the page and look over there on the right.Birdsonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09829558355806670311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837001751311078781.post-8962316337972862882014-07-07T23:13:52.357-05:002014-07-07T23:13:52.357-05:00Just as a devil's advocate, how many people ca...Just as a devil's advocate, how many people can we really pull back into the world of "Cerebus"? Even if every Cerebite tries their hardest to find everyone who ever was or ever might be interested? The people who loved the wacky Elrod/Lord Julius/Roach issue, the "High Society" fans, the "Jaka's Story" fans, those who have interest in the words of #186, "Rick's Story" and the Cerebexegis? [And they do exist.]<br /><br />Even if we missed sleep and meals to make this happen, we'd likely alienate anyone who stopped reading 'when Dave went nuts' and not appeal to anyone who could see good things in the later issues. I skim the "manosphere" [Google it, if you don't know.] There are men willing to read Dave's thoughts on women, if only they knew he existed, and there are men and women who believe in marriage and scripture who would be tickled at his thoughts on those subjects, if they only knew he existed.<br /><br />And I don't see any way to make them know he exists. If there was a collection of his essays, or collection of the relevant "Cerebus" issues [Which issues? Relevant to whom? I don't know] and some sort of fan convention that he could at least break even on, by selling books, doing sketches and being his vastly-entertaining self, then maybe.<br /><br />It's easy to come up with ideas, but we're talking about someone who wants to spend as much of his time as humanly possible creating new comic book pages, and as fans, that's what we want him to do. He can't afford to take any ideas - his own or from others - and have them turn out wrong. At least following his path the way he's done so far puts all the pressure on him. He's the idiot who decided to do a 300-issue series and not let Marvel or DC alleviate any of his burdens.<br /><br />We might as well suggest he sell everything to Marvel/Disney now (except the artwork) in exchange for a decent standard of living for the rest of his life and even if a kick-ass "Cerebus" movie is made 40 years from now, the comics will be public domain. At least Marvel would respect the work [I can't believe I just wrote that sentence] and it might be conceivably be better for Dave.<br /><br />See? There's an idea. I'm not pretending it's a good idea, or any more realistic than being bitten by a radioactive spider, but it's an idea. And Dave would be foolish to place all his bet on that idea.<br /><br />But short of an idea like that, I'm not sure what we can really do to help. The "Cerebus" audience that made him famous is far afield from the "Cerebus" audience I first joined, and we're light-years away from that in 2014.<br /><br /><br />Is there some internet concept where we contribute a nickel or a dime or a dollar every day to Dave, in exchange for his survival/creating new comics pages? It sounds like the natural result of a Kickstarter campaign (and something about the idea makes me think I've heard of it before; probably in connection with Dave) but it's the only other good idea I have.ChrisWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18322950015727553689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837001751311078781.post-66202846559844589352014-07-07T08:19:49.586-05:002014-07-07T08:19:49.586-05:00David B: No offense taken. I think there's al...David B: No offense taken. I think there's always a danger with things like the Archives Portfolio project of the cart leading the horse - particularly when it's something we might want on an emotional level. <br /><br />I don't know the full history of it, but I think there's some parallels here with the Animated Portfolio - something that was a passion project that turned out to not have enough market draw, resulting in a huge debt for AV.Dave Koppermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09292071349686573917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837001751311078781.post-26015554106085092952014-07-06T18:13:52.950-05:002014-07-06T18:13:52.950-05:00David Kopperman please accept my apologies if I of...David Kopperman please accept my apologies if I offended you. You do make some valid points about reaching some casual fans that might not otherwise be at all interested. I really should not post on this blog from an emotional place. The emotion in this case was doubt. Doubt that the fans will see this through. Doubt that it will last long at all. Doubt is a child of fear and there is really no excuse for braying in public out of fear.<br /><br />I stand by my own selfish desire to see these artist editions of CEREBUS ARCHIVE come out in order in large part because of the way we tend to collect comics. We start with issue one and over the years we watch the collection grow and get out that old stack of comics and re-read them from time to time. I see this as a chance to repeat that progress in a way that allows us<br />to see the work evolve over time. Like I said, I would rather see it in strict chronological order, but I will take it as it comes. Birdsonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09829558355806670311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837001751311078781.post-20347329588460622062014-07-06T09:45:39.272-05:002014-07-06T09:45:39.272-05:00David Birdsong - to respond to your surprisingly n...<b>David Birdsong</b> - to respond to your surprisingly negative comment: with 6000 pages of art to draw from and one of the most multilayered narratives ever created, I doubt we'll run out of the <i>'sweet stuff'</i> very soon.<br /><br />Note that my suggestion was in response to Dave Sim wondering about ways to both keep the interest in the Archives project going, as well as ways to access the untapped market out there of non-readers. There is also a third market, to which I belong (as well as others who responded positively to the Themed Archive suggestion), of people who would be more interested in laying down money on later work than the early stuff.<br /><br />I feel you're assuming some sort of 'us versus them' mentality about all this, with the comment <i>"and most likely just about all y'all will give up on it soon enough and kill it anyway."</i> I find this particularly odd, since the stated purpose of these Weekly Updates is to discuss potential ways to generate more income for the restoration and reprint project. You have to know that everyone who comes here to discuss this has a deep interest in seeing that goal be achieved.Dave Koppermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09292071349686573917noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837001751311078781.post-7215001791391395102014-07-05T22:55:18.810-05:002014-07-05T22:55:18.810-05:00How about revisiting the idea of the Cerebus cover...How about revisiting the idea of the Cerebus covers book? I think it would be of great interest to Art fans, as well as Cerebus fans.Jason Winternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837001751311078781.post-13104029568066005912014-07-05T22:09:04.453-05:002014-07-05T22:09:04.453-05:00"Themed" portfolios? Someone please sta..."Themed" portfolios? Someone please stab me in the face. What happens when the sweet stuff is done? A nice bunch of text pages? The way Dave is releasing them now is about as good as it will get. I would be fine with them in strict order, but this way JAKA'S STORY shows up in the fourth archive (unless CHURCH & STATE is two separate volumes in which case it goes to archive number five). Patience please, we will get to that point before you know it and then we can have all the pages at actual size reproduced exceptionally well and complete from issue 114-300 plus the earlier formative moments. <br /><br />Of course on the current schedule we will all be dead before it's done and most likely just about all y'all will give up on it soon enough and kill it anyway.<br /><br />Sorry, it's been a long week, but is it too much to ask to slow down and do this thing in order or sort of in order without just demanding the greatest hits and bailing on the rest?Birdsonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09829558355806670311noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837001751311078781.post-47971038791431538662014-07-05T14:13:45.354-05:002014-07-05T14:13:45.354-05:00I'm another fan who will definitely buy later ...I'm another fan who will definitely buy later Archives. I can't afford to buy every single Archive, so it seems sensible to wait for ones which have artwork I'll enjoy.<br /><br />I like Dave Kopperman's idea of "themed" Archives, but it may be too late to rethink the approach? <br /><br />If it's not too late to consider a different approach, other possible themes could include "Astonishing lettering," "Celebrity cameos," "innovative page layouts" (given Dave's output, there could be a whole bunch of portfolios with that theme), "the seriously bloody pages," etc etc.Barry Deutschhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08796981762797604817noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837001751311078781.post-26237847488480965342014-07-05T02:26:23.445-05:002014-07-05T02:26:23.445-05:00Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing.
It mig...Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. <br /><br />It might be worth considering the themed approach suggested above as that would allow you to offer some of the later pages straight away while the "first splash" awareness of the Archive project is still there.<br /><br />Or how about just letting people choose whichever ten Cerebus pages they want from the entire 300 issue run and sell them that little bespoke portfolio in the Archive format? People might be prepared to pay a higher price for a bespoke portfolio like that, which could provide some valuable extra cash.Paul Sladehttp://www.planetslade.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837001751311078781.post-74206945416313668842014-07-04T23:45:14.775-05:002014-07-04T23:45:14.775-05:00The Archives do sound like a great idea, but it...The Archives do sound like a great idea, but it's not going to be until at least Jaka's Story that I'm going to be interested in getting them. And I'd assume that there's going to be at least a few other people like me out there where the draw is the quality of the art itself rather than the importance of the selected pages story-wise.Tony Morrisnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2837001751311078781.post-60755402966060443882014-07-04T17:34:37.707-05:002014-07-04T17:34:37.707-05:00I'm not sure how viable an email campaign woul...I'm not sure how viable an email campaign would be, but perhaps a Facebook campaign? I've certainly posted about Cerebus enough, and people who know that I'm a fan of the book and the artists send me links as they appear. <br /><br />Of course, of the five friends I have who are serious comics readers, all of them are more than passingly familiar with the book, and all have read about as far into it as they enjoy it (including one who actually had a backup story appear in the book). These are also the friends that I bought copies of #300 for, when it first came out.<br /><br />Nevertheless, if there were a concerted campaign of some kind that had enough legs to be considered true new reader outreach (which the Archives are decidedly not), I'd post about that on a daily basis.<br /><br />I should note that I am one of the Constant Readers (as Stephen King refers to his audience) who has not pledged for the first Archive. This is for the very specific reason that I simply don't have enough interest in the art that Dave was producing back then as art. It has historical significance, but it's going to get pretty far along in Portfolios before we hit one I gotta have just because I gotta have. <br /><br />Speaking only for myself - the major Cerebus fan who simply doesn't have the collector mentality - what would get me interested in the Archive Project would be themed portfolios. Let's say selected Odd Transformations pages? That would be a portfolio of some of the most sumptuous art the title produced. Or a folio of the best instances of specific characters throughout the run - like, say, the Cockroach, in all his iterations. That could work on two fronts - something for the longtime readers, and something to generate non-reader interest.<br /><br />This might be a crazy question, but has the possibility of applying for a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts come up? THAT could be a good potential for a public outreach campaign - one that focuses on the contributions Dave has made to the medium both as an artist, but also as philanthropist and (for lack of a better word) philosopher. There are a couple of stumbling blocks to overcome, not least of which the unwillingness to do conventions - but there has been enough of a groundswell of interest in revisiting and reevaluating the work in recent years in serious, scholarly ways that I think a very serious case could be made that the board would consider.Dave Koppermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09292071349686573917noreply@blogger.com