I open up the Entertainment Weekly that came in today’s mail, pleasantly surprised to find, in place of its traditional Best-sellers List, a run-down of the top comic books and graphic novels for mid-December. And, also a nice surprise, this list is not entirely dominated by the superhero genre: There’s BKV’s Pride of Baghdad, Miller’s 300, and…ouch, Cowboys & Aliens.
What smarts most is that C&A is listed as the top-selling graphic novel. Yes, Entertainment Weekly crowns it as #1.
First, that’s crap. I think we all know that’s crap. And, by “we,” I mean people who actually go to comic book shops on an almost weekly basis to stock up on the newest, the best, and the guilty pleasures (not always mutually exclusive). Even folks who are only casually aware of the comic book industry — as either a consumer, a producer, or a critic (again, seldom mutually exclusive) — know that this is crap. Entertainment Weekly naming Cowboys & Aliens is the #1 graphic novel is like saying Girls Gone Wild Spring Break Sex Riot is the #1 DVD over Pirates of the Carribbean.
Numbers don’t lie, you say? Sure they do. Entertainment Weekly is quite clear that this report only comes from Midtown Comics in NYC; they list Midtown as the source at the bottom of the list as well as name-drop them at the top. For that matter, EW is actually quietly clear, not explaining to the mainstream reader exactly what Midtown is nor suggesting that, perhaps, this is one source of many. (Hell, why not ask Wizard, for that matter?)
This is the graphic novel that Midtown says they sold the most of that week — and I believe them, because that means very little, in fact. The 112-page yarn was marked down from $4.99 to $.75 in many stores. Think of it this way: If the cashier charged each customer an extra penny and shoved a “graphic novel” in their bag, how easy would it be for that book, even if it was a compilation of infant shitstains, to be the best-selling item that week? It’s simple, it’s sneaky, and it’s, sadly, legit. Worse, it’s practically what C&A did with, admittedly, a slightly higher price-point and (somewhat) better content. Platinum Comics Studios took a playbook from the ’90s spectator market, delivered a shiny product with a high page-count and a low — rather, a “reduced” — cover price, and foisted it upon the masses.
And we bought it. Because…why not? To quote Chris Sims:
Even considering the fact that your purchasing dollars may well go to fund the slightly unsavory business practices of Platinum Studios, that’s pretty much outweighed entirely by the fact that this is an original, 100-page graphic novel written by Fred Van Lente for less than five bucks.
Actually, it’s only $.75. I can’t play a video game or park a car for that little these days, though both of which would be a far wiser investment than Cowboys & Aliens. And, for that matter, during the week in question, at Midtown Comics it was free! Yes, it was the shitstain being shoved in people’s bags, but because it was so thick and shiny, who would say no?
In a way, I applaud comic shop customers for trying out this book and going beyond their normal, monthly pull list. That, in some sense, is a good sign. But it’s ridiculous for it to serve as an accurate temperature of the industry, especially in as high a profile magazine as EW. In fact, it’s quite suspect that the magazine chose this particular week on which to report as well as this particular store — one that was giving away C&A for free and keeping count.
Now, I don’t mean insult or injury to Andrew Foley, Dennis Calero, Fred Van Lente, or Luciano Lima. (Ok, to be honest, maybe just a little to Luciano — no offense, but I didn’t like the art. Just sayin’.) They did their jobs, they created a story, and they sold it. In fact, I hold Fred in high regard for an entirely separate work, the wonderful Action Philosophers! But I’m waiting for a rave review of C&A from anywhere. Is it worth reading because it’s been optioned? Because its from Fred & Co.? Because it’s free/$.75/$4.99? You can answer yes to any of those with a good conscience. Is it worth reading for the story, the art, the storytelling, the message, or even just the colors?
Hell no. Nope. All signs point to nay.
If EW wasn’t complicit in this scheme, then they’re been hoodwinked. Bamboozled. Run amok. Cowboys & Aliens didn’t land on the best-seller list, the best-seller list landed on Cowboys & Aliens — a world of tricky physics and questionable dealings run by Scott Rosenberg of Platinum Studios. Editor Lee Nordling has recently left Platinum, as has Barbara Kesel. It’s like the inverse of rats leaving a sinking ship.
So, in closing, let’s recount the factors:
- Cowboys & Aliens was generally not sold for its $4.99 cover price. In many cases, including Midtown Comics, it was given away for free.
- Entertainment Weekly chose this week and this location, for whatever reason, by which to gauge industry sales (not Diamond’s list, not Wizard, etc.). They chose to include promotional items in their tally and ignore price-point or sales in total dollar amount.
- Platinum Studios paid retailers to order and sell the book. The company cut checks back to retailers for more than the cost of their orders as a ridiculous incentive to have it in stores.
- C&A is being prepared for Hollywood treatment, largely based on these reported numbers and EW coverage. Beyond notoriety, there’s definite incentive for Scott Rosenberg and Platinum to undertake this course of action.
In short, this hurts the comic book industry. Like any industry, shady dealings take place every day — It’s the name of the game. But this is pure, unadulterated scheming for the benefit of nobody but Platinum. Readers of EW now get to enjoy an altogether false impression of comics, retailers are rewarded for valuing kick-backs over customers, and other publishers & creators are overshadowed by a straw man, a catspaw, a terrible abuse of the system.
Rosenberg, credited as the creator of C&A, has pulled a fast one on us. On EW (perhaps), on its readers, on Hollywood, on comic shops, on comic creators, and on the industry. There may be some people who liked the book — That’s fine, there’s no accounting for taste. But to suggest that C&A is the top of the industry in any category other than sleaziness is absurd.
Caught this link through Comics Worth reading’s blog. I think you’re a little naive in coming down on Platinum, aren’t they doing what big companies like Marvel and DC have been doing for years? Or really, any other entertainment industry. Is it right? Wrong? no, i think its just business.
And, you say no disrespect to the writers, but you just called their project a shit stain? Since the “scandal” was brought up I went and looked at their site, cowboysandaliens.net and found almost the entire comic for free to read online. It could have been that they got quite an audience at the free webcomic and it translated into a boost of sales. More people read webcomics now than comic books as it is.
I recently saw where Jim McLaughlin was names their new editor in chief of comics, and now they’re actually putting out comics again. I don’t know much about Platinum, but I’m a fan of Jim’s work and efforts in the comic book industry with his ACTOR organization.
Do you really think that Platinum has the pull to get somebody like Entertainment Weekly to start covering something like this? I understand looking at the actualy selling of C&A with a very skeptical eye, but the EW coverage must be a coincidence. Face it, Scott Rosenberg has been living off his Men In Black success in a town where your 15 minutes sometimes only lasts 12 and is not someone who can tell EW who to call and when to call for their top graphic novels list.
Dave, as I emailed you before you opened this post for comments, I think you’re focusing on a single tree in a much larger forest, and coming off as a bit of a crackpot in doing so.
Not to defend Platinum or Midtown, but while C&A was a freebie and prominently displayed as such in-store, it wasn’t “shoved” in anyone’s bag; the day I was in the Times Square store — the same week it was released — you had to take a copy yourself if you wanted one. A subtle distinction, but considering the vehemence of your post, a necessary one to point out.
As for the quality of the story, while it won’t be making anyone’s Top 10 list for 2006, neither was it an inarguable turd deserving of such a harsh review in the midst of what seemed to really be an attack on Rosenberg and Platinum. I reviewed it positively a few weeks back, noting it was “an entertaining variation on Independence Day: How the West Was Won.” Just saying; you make a few legitimate points that are buried underneath what comes off as a bile-filled, conspiratorial rant against Platinum, Midtown and EW.
As you requested, here’s my responses to your emailed reply to the above, typos included:
> 1. Do you feel that it’s being named the #1 graphic novel in ENTERTAINMENT
> WEEKLY is an accurate representation of COWBOYS & ALIENS?
Of course not, but really, neither is the majority of the ICv2 and CBG sales charts, which don’t note the usage of more accepted but similarly shady retailer incentives to boost their sales numbers. You focusing on one sickly tree in a dead forest.
> 2. Do you feel people would have paid for it in roughly the same number as
> those who took it for free if it cost money?
I think fewer people would have had access to it as retailers wouldn’t have ordered anywhere near as many copies as they did the freebie. Platinum guaranteed maximum distribution of their publication by subsidizing its cost. Same concept as Free Comic Book Day, really.
> 3. Likewise, would as many people have either taken it or paid for it if
> they knew it was being tracked by EW as representative of their consumer
> habits?
I think you’re overreaching here. The EW list isn’t the NYT Bestseller list, and they don’t pretend that it is. Do YOU adjust your purchases because of ICv2′s sales reports? I’d hope not.
> 4. Do you feel Platinum is entirely innocent of the circumstances leading to
> its listing in EW?
Honestly, I have no idea and in the scheme of things, it’s not really important. We’re not talking payola or rigging Bookscan numbers or anything. Hell, this isn’t even on the level of Wizard’s price guide boosting the “value” of back issues they happen to sell.
Now, if Diamond shows C&A as the number one graphic novel for the month, you’d have a legitimate complaint since they supposedly have a policy against listing promotionally priced comics in their sales reports.
> 5. If so, how do you explain the kickbacks offered to retailers?
Platinum coming up with a way to ensure maximum distribition for their comic?
> 6. Why would you pay retailers to carry a book whose merits speak for
> themselves?
Now you’re being willfully naive or disingenuous.
> 7. What does writing to me about this accomplish *except* to defend
> Platinum? (I made no argument against Midtown, I feel.)
I’m not defending anyone. I wrote you because you’re a writer I have respect for who I thought went a bit over the line in trying to make a valid point and came off as a conspiratorial crackpot, ruining said point. In doing so, not only did you put Platinum on blast, you implicated EW and Midtown in your conspiracy theory, too.
> Bring this to the public forum!
I would have left what I wrote you as a comment but your comments weren’t open on that post. I’ll happily repost everything I’ve said in these two emails if you’d like me, too.
Hey, everybody. Ryan Liebowitz here. My family and I have run the Golden Apple comic stores in L.A for over 27 years, and we support Platinum Studios Comics…PERIOD.
People have directed me to the furor this blog has stirred up, and I, for one, don’t get what the big deal is. Platinum’s Cowboys & Aliens marketing campaign is a very good idea I’d like to see replicated MORE in this industry. This strategy is to be applauded. The idea that customers could receive a sizable discount for a new trade paperback is a commendable act. Furthermore, this is similar to what other publishers have been doing for years in our industry. Some publishers do co-op advertising and marketing, some do incentive books, some do overships, some seed the ground with giveaways at cons and trade shows, and of course, Free Comic Book Day follows these same strategies.
The concept that a newly founded comic book publisher would spend co-op dollars to get their product into the hands of loyal readers though their local comic shop is a helpful campaign with a “win/win” outcome. I’ll sell more Platinum books going forward because of this.
These types of promotions are done in practically every other industry in the world. Look at the music industry. Record companies give away tons of CDs to help promote a new group or album. Go to your grocery store—there’s product sampling, coupons, manufacturer rebates, Club Cards, and more.
I only wish more companies would subscribe to this philosophy and this type of promotion. I say “Three cheers for Cowboys and Aliens and Platinum!”
Thanks for your time.
Ryan Liebowitz
Golden Apple
I feel you are being a bit too harsh…first of all on the book. COWBOYS & ALIENS is not necessarily as horrible as you make it out to be. I agree with Guy that it will not make anyone’s best of 2006 lists, but it is far from the garbage you are making it out to be. It is simply a fun little read that you can read on the john and not feel like you wasted your time. It is not a victorious achievement in letrature, but not horrible.
Secondly, regardless of how PLatinum did it, they sold 17,000 copies of C&A. Whether they paid people to buy or not (and I am not charging one way or the toher here) they still sold 17,000 copies of the book. Who cares that they lowered the price? Who cares that it was a giveaway? It was still sold the most. Even if it were as bad as you say, I have read worse trades and OGN’s that have sold more.
Come on, man…you come off as having an axe to grind against Platinum. Like them or hate them, they sold 17,000 copies of a $5.00 book. Like them or hate them, they clearly state the deal they offer to creators and it is up to the creator to say yes or no.
I think you could be a little less harsh.
Dang, man, what’s with all the hate? I just read about this yesterday in a link Ronee put in her blog, & I was surpised. First of all, I have this book. I was ordering a couple of comics off of midtown last month, and I saw that they were offering this free with any order. So I figured, why not? It’s FREE! So I added one. I only just got around to reading it this past weekend.
First, what’s the main problem? That you don’t like the book? That’s fine, but so what? Why does that make this shifty. If this very same thing happened with Pride Of Baghdad or 300 would that make it okay? I thought it was an alright book. Not something I would’ve bought on my own, but it didn’t suck. And I could see how it would make a decent live-action movie or TV series.
But “shitstain being shoved in people’s bags?” Like you said, there’s no accounting for taste, but if this is a sample of the kinds of reviews you write here, I think I’ll just stick with Ronee’s columns on this site.
Seriously, I DON’T GET the problem. You admit that this was given away, or sold VERY cheaply, and yet you’re comparing it to 90′s Speculators? That doesn’t even remotely make sense. If they were selling this book with 19 varient covers and a polibagged trading card, and retailers were marking up the price by $70% the day after it was sold, and then doubleing it the day after that, and encouraging customers to buy mutliple copies, THEN I could see the comparison, but I don’t here.
Hyping is a part of this business, especially now with the internet. Look & someone like Mark Millar, and all the hype he got for WANTED months before it even came out, by claiming that Eminem was considering starring in a movie version (& then drawing the lead to look @ him). Or check Rich Johnston’s recent column where he shows how Millar’s repeated claims of his #’s for Civil War don’t QUITE mach up to what’s actually being sold.
And personally, I think Civil War is stupid, but that’s me.
I’ve heard of Platinum before, but never saw any actual comics from them. From what I understand, they’re upfront about they’re goal. They’re interested in properties that can be adapted from comics into movies/TV. They say straight-out that they’re not interested in publishing comics in the traditional sense. Comics, for them, are used as R&D for potential films. The folks who go to them know that. So they have this property that they want to shop around, so they did all they could to get into as many hands as possible, including selling it extremely cheaply and just giving it away. And it’s worked. I think that’s great! What’s the problem? I’m sure that the creators involved got paid for their production of the comics, and have a cut of any potential film that materializes. So it’s not like they’re sitting @ home complaining about lost comic-royalties due to the book being given away instead of sold @ full-price.
Heck, because of this, I’m now thinking of some ideas I have that I may want to try to submit to Plantinum. I think that this is a great strategy &, like Ryan said, more companies need to try that.
Free Comic Book Day has been a joke. What if Marvel, DC, Image, & Dark Horse, actually created OGN’s like this, starring their most popular characters or licensed properties and tried giving them out? MAYBE that would help get more interested in comics?
I mean, if you’re just upset that EW is covering comics, and that they’re talking about C&A instead of some other comics that you feel is more “worthy,” well, get over it.
Just my opinion.
Overreact much?
All I’ll say, folks, it to have a look at my more recent posting dated just yesterday (1/11/07). This initial posting certainly wasn’t a review of COWBOYS & ALIENS nor was it meant as a journalistic piece: I was blowing off steam and crying foul. It got people’s attention, and they’re looking into it objectively. The fact that I didn’t like the book is beside the point: I felt there was something shifty going on or, at least, something wrong-headed. For the most part, I still think this is true, but my posting was, in its truest sense, a rant or a diatribe. That’s okay to do on a blog, innit?
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