START // 2.13.03

SHEEP'S CLOTHING
by Al Stuart

Licensed comics.

Or as some people no doubt read it:

'BOOGA BOOGA!'

Licensed comics are the new lepers of the comic industry. "They're ugly, they're stupid, they're pointless," we cry and a lot of the time we're right. I can honestly think of very few things more soul destroying than THUNDERCATS VS G-FORCE.

And that's happening, God help us all. It's especially galling for me because, in a professional capacity, I've got to measure demand for this stuff. And, with the notable exception of ROBOTECH, there really IS a demand for it. We were shifting fifty plus copies of TRANSFORMERS before Hasbro noticed what was being done with their precious license and should anyone remove thumbs from arseholes at some point in the future, I'm sure we will again.

Does this bother me? Yes and not for the reasons you might think. Or me, for that matter because my thoughts on licensed comics have only really crystallised in the last couple of weeks, and even then they've only done so with the arrival of licenses which are

A) Well produced, and

B) Actually something other than an '80s cartoon.

So, why does it bother me?

Because these things, reviled by so many of the comic reading public are an opportunity largely going wanting. The licensing mania has finally moved away from the more obscure '80s toy commercials, thankfully missing a few of the choicer properties (How we avoided GALAXY RANGERS 2003 I will never know) and is now focussing solidly on TV drama. Specifically, IDW's CSI mini-series, the upcoming ALIAS spin off AGENT: BRISTOW and the imminent arrival of a STARGATE SG-1 series from Avatar.

Sniff all you want but these are ready made for non-comic readers. Licenses like this aren't a barrier to readers, they're a bloody great door being thrown open for them. People know STARGATE, they know CSI and they know ALIAS. To the eyes of the public, books like this cease to be comics and start being a brand name. A STARGATE fan won't see the comic, they'll see the title and pick it up. Odds are they may even buy it.

If that is, they can find them.

We dropped the ball on CSI quite badly and from what I can tell, a lot of people in my neck of the woods did. Wires got crossed, orders were placed and before I knew where I was I had been sent precisely five copies of CSI Issue one. At time of writing, Diamond UK have been out of them for two weeks and we're awaiting a further eight on back order. For those of you who don't know, Diamond back order is effectively a lottery. There's every chance you'll get the item, but there's very little chance you'll get it the next week.

This is what bothers me, the missed opportunity and the fact that I'm one of the people who missed it. If I'd made my point more forcefully then we'd have some of these things to play with. Shoot books like this at student unions, record shops, cafes and waiting rooms with a business card attached and we'd get callbacks for certain.

Moving away from a retail standpoint though, the seachange in licensed comics is an encouraging one and one which works on more than one level. Not only has there been a move from cartoon to live action but also, thankfully, a jump forward in time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm as much a nostalgia fan as the next guy (He says, eyeing all those CURE albums nervously) but for God's sake, the '80s wasn't all wine and roses. It was a decade that for every MIAMI VICE gave us a MANIMAL, for every EDGE OF DARKNESS gave us a PORKY'S. This is not a good time to be obsessed with especially for an industry so small that EVERY title is practically a small press title.

Especially when there's an unusual amount of very good TV drama doing the rounds at the moment. Moving 'license in waiting' 24 to one side for a moment, there are countless TV shows that are actually a bit clever. Shows like CSI and ALIAS especially aspire to something more than the standard forty five minute chunk-o-drama whilst STARGATE is one of the most popular genre shows being produced. If these are successful, then it's not too far to go for ER-The Comic or JOHN DOE-The Comic. Promote them right (As IDW have with CSI), get them out on time and whole new fields of readers are opened up in an instant. These aren't shows designed to appeal to people who have every VOLTRON collectible ever produced, there's a modicum of intelligence at work and if there's a market for it, this is where the licensed comic goes next.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating these as the saviour of the industry. When it comes down to it, they're pamphlets produced for an audience of a couple of hundred thousand at the absolute most. They're not durable, they're located for the most part in specialty stores and are being produced through an industry whose reputation is either highbrow, lowest common denominator or terminally inefficient. Everything is stacked against these books succeeding, including public opinion.

So change that. If you're a fan of CSI, give the comic a look it's actually very good. If you watch ALIAS, and if it's ever actually published, give AGENT: BRISTOW a try. They're not WATCHMEN or EIGHTBALL but they were never intended to be. What they are is a fun read for a reader and an opportunity for a retailer.

And it's an opportunity I won't miss again.