One other thought about "saving the comic book industry"

[WheresRICHARD]

Something I've wondered, and I'd like some input. One of my two jobs is half ownership of a free community newspaper. I've often wondered if the concept of free, advertiser-supported comic books might be feasible. And I'm talking about LOCAL advertising, not advertisements for X-ray specs or Sea Monkeys. The distribution would be handled just like the free community papers and shoppers that most communities have. That is, they're taken to local stores and restaurants and you ask "Can we leave these free publications for your customers to pick up?" But it's not a newsaper...it's just a cheap, newsprint publication full of comics....and area businesses such as restaurants and auto repair stores and antique shops, etc., are asked if they would like to advertise in this comic book with the promise that, more so than any newspaper, when people see the cartoon picture on the front, they can be sure that people WILL pick up this magazine.

So for instance, if I have a comic book concept, I have it drawn and written and I can sell ads to local businesses....but then I can also "franchise" it across the country so that people in cities across the country can sell their own local ads for it...and so on and so on.

[ctc]

Hmmmm....

It's an interesting idea; and not a new one either. There were a lot of books done like that back in the 50's. Usually as promos for some company, often with wider distribution, but the same basic idea.

To a degree, this is also how web comics work. And there are ZILLIONS of those!

Don C.

[kryptosmaster]

The "big guys" probably wouldn't do it but it would be a cool way to read some free comics.
Rich

[samurainoir]

The internet is the easiest and cheapest distribution channel now.

There are so many examples of comics success stories online within the past decade that it makes much more sense to go this route to maximize your exposure and minimize your costs. A local paper has limited geographical audience, the internet gives you worldwide exposure.

A couple of the more successful models...
PvPonline
Penny Arcade - Rightsizing

Although print version of webzines like The Onion have proven successful, so this might be a model to leverage a comics oriented publication distributed into different cities with local advertising for each market supporting it. You might be on to something.

How big is the comics section in your free community newspaper? Could you expand it as an experiment or have a comics section folded into it to start with to gauge reader and advertiser responses?

Lynda Barry, Matt Groening and Bill Grifith have all found success syndicated into free weekly papers over the years. Not sure if they are more the exceptions since I've also seen my fair share of mediocre comics in those kind of papers.