ESSAY // 12.19.02

ACTION
By Jason Tocci

This article is not about Warren Ellis, but like SAVANT itself, it starts with him.

Ellis, as many of you know, is the writer of the now-complete comic book series TRANSMETROPOLITAN, and a prominent voice in comics activism. Among other activist efforts, he co-founded Artbomb, a web site dedicated to promoting "alternative" comics to "mainstream" culture, and wrote a regular column for Comic Book Resources titled COME IN ALONE, now collected in paperback by AiT/PlanetLar. COME IN ALONE frequently called for change in the comics world and offered up suggestions for its readers to elicit change, which inspired a few folks to start this magazine.

Recently, however, Ellis announced on his mailing list, BAD SIGNAL, that he would be extricating himself from his efforts in comics activism. He will continue to make comics, to update his mailing list, and to write his regular column on Artbomb. I haven't read anything about this decision other than the couple emails sent to everyone on his list. I don't know why he has decided this, and I don't hold it against him. He mentioned something about being sick of people bugging him to go back to Marvel to write old, corporate-owned characters. Perhaps I'm inferring too much, but it sounds like he's just sick of rampant stupidity and resistance to change in the comics community. I'm just speculating here, but I have to wonder if he's just fed up with activism because it doesn't work as well as he'd hoped. There are still too many people who don't get the point, who aren't listening. There are still too many people who would rather read crappy stories about their favorite characters than good stories about unfamiliar characters. There are still too many people who want comics to stay marginalized.

Ellis's decision doesn't bother me personally. I wrote a chapter in my undergraduate thesis on marketing and activism in comics, and I cited COME IN ALONE left and right. I think there's still value in activism, but I think he's done his part more than well enough. If Ellis thinks that he can best serve comics by making good comics, then I wish him the best in that. Even if he were to decide to leave comics altogether, that would be his decision -- he doesn't owe anybody anything.

You don't owe it to comics to go out and fight for comics, either. You don't have to. Nobody's making you. If you're reading SAVANT, though, that quite likely means that you really want comics to change. You want things to get better. Perhaps you don't want to do anything to make things better, though, or perhaps you feel that there's not much you can do. If this describes you, just remember that the majority of people reading English-language comics are reading the embarrassing, niche-market crap that gives this medium a bad name. Just remember that these are the same folks that brought you HEAT, a group dedicated to harassing DC Comics until the company brings Hal Jordan back as the Green Lantern. These are the folks that refuse to read any comic printed only in black and white. Just remember that these people are vocal, and if they were to be the only ones trying to shape the comics world, then WIZARD truly would be "the guide to comics."

But what can you do? You're not Warren Ellis. If Warren Ellis - a talented and outspoken individual with such widespread influence - has given up, what can we "regular" individuals hope to accomplish? What can be done by comics readers who aren't making comics, readers who still want to help ensure a better future for publishers, creators, retailers, and consumers? There are a lot of us -- readers, creative professionals, and creative amateurs alike -- who still want to get the good word out there.

And just what is the good word? Comics don't have to suck. Comics are diverse in genre, but not on a large enough scale yet. People in general have the wrong idea about comics, and if they had the right idea, talented writers and artists could be making a living off their work on comics. This is not the quest of a bunch of geeks who wish they could mention comics on the first date without embarrassment, if they ever get dates at all. This is about elevating a form of art and entertainment to where it belongs in the context of a culture.

With Warren Ellis quitting activism, I am now wondering who else has given up. More importantly, though, I wonder about those who refuse to give up, who still go out of their way to bring about change, even on a small level. I wonder how many people pester the local Barnes and Noble to carry comics other than Marvel and DC superhero books; how many people write articles for their local newspapers on the Comic Book Legal Defense
Fund's recent attempts to protect First Amendment rights; how many people plan on going to movie theaters when DAREDEVIL opens to hand out flyers listing "Comics You Might Enjoy if You Liked This Movie." Moreover, I wonder what needs to be done so that more people are eager to do these kinds of things.

You don't need to be Warren Ellis to make a difference. You don't need to be a ROLLING STONE or TIME editor, printing favorable articles about comics, to spread the good word (but it can't hurt if you are). Do not under any circumstances believe that there's nothing you can do to help comics. Activism confined to a small community is still activism. The world is made up of many communities, and every community could use a person (or a few) to spread the good word of comics. You can be the person doing this in your community. Plus, it's fun.

I have seen activism work firsthand. I have a slew of stories of successful activism efforts. Consider a small one:

Last year some friends and I put together a list of "Comics For People Who Don't Like Superheroes" using a simple word processor. This list included graphic novels such as SANDMAN, STRANGERS IN PARADISE, ZERO GIRL, and JIMMY CORRIGAN. We sat at a table in our university's campus center with a stack of these flyers. I was shocked at how many people came by and picked up a copy without any prompting from us -- and not just picking up a copy because it was sitting there for free, but picking up a copy because they were curious and interested. One woman even remarked, "Oh, great, I'd been hoping to find something like this!"

I don't know if efforts like these actually boosted sales at the local comic store or turned anyone into a lifetime fan of Chris Ware. I do know, at least, that anyone who glanced at the flyer long enough to read the title now knows that there are comics without superheroes in them. Challenging stereotypes is imperative. Don't assume that people who don't read comics have even the most basic knowledge of the medium beyond Spider-man and Batman. I lost track of the number of people (including close friends) who have said to me in the last year alone, "Wait, there are comics without superheroes?" Consider also an incident from a couple years ago, in which I was reading MAUS by the entrance of my dorm. Passers-by kept asking what it was. When I told them, "It's a comic book about the Holocaust," I was often asked, "Is it funny?" (I flipped to a ghastly image of several anthropomorphic mice hanging in nooses.)

If you want to hear some stories about successful activism efforts, skim the SAVANT archives. There was a great article recently by Al Stuart. He explains the details of his story so that others might duplicate his efforts. If you want to participate in comics activism but you don't know where to start, check out the Activist's Cookbook and other back issues of SAVANT in the archive. Check out SAVANT's online Toolbox, which has flyers you can hand out to spread the good word, among other items you can use.

It's SAVANT's job to give you ideas and resources to go out and set events in motion. I'll tell you this, though: SAVANT is only as useful as its readers and contributors. If you have ideas for activism that the rest of us could be using, tell it to the editors of SAVANT. Write an essay that calls us to action. If you have an idea but are confident that you can't competently write a full article, at least post it in the SAVANT forum and leave it for someone else to expand upon. SAVANT is here for you, and for everyone else who sees a future in which comics don't suck so much. If you don't have any ideas you want to share, but you know what you would like to see in SAVANT, tell the editors that instead. They do their job best when they know what the community needs.

The problem with calling for activism from a web site is that the only people who will find the message, for the most part, are those who are searching for it. If SAVANT readers aren't handing out print copies of SAVANT to people who aren't looking for the message, this magazine's effectiveness is severely limited. Furthermore, if SAVANT readers aren't printing out the flyers in the Toolbox, practicing intelligent buying habits, telling their local libraries which comics to get, and generally making an effort to effect change, then what good is SAVANT? This magazine works best when its readers are inspired to make it work.

Don't forget that there are places beyond SAVANT you can go looking if you're interested in comics activism. Such places include the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, which fights to protect the comic book industry from violations of the First Amendment; the National Association of Comic Art Educators, which provides various resources for those interested in including comics in academia; Friends of Lulu, which works to promote increased participation and readership of females in comics; and Out In Comics, which seeks to increase awareness of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender creators in comics.

Don't give up. There's plenty you can do. There's plenty to be done.

Use SAVANT. It's here for you. Make it work for you.