It's not a bad suggestion and I found as I have gotten older that my tastes have changed anyway. The history of some of this exploration led me to think about how to fix the entire comic book industry. For the purposes of finding solutions I will use three characters that are currently outside the publications of the big 2 of Marvel and DC to show what's wrong and a potential solution. This is also limited to American comics. Japanese and other asian comics aren't covered here because, while crossover audiences exist, that industry is crushing it and doesn't need fixing.
SHEENA QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE
This character, one of many jungle girls from the pulp era, predates DCs Wonder Woman by about six months and currently occupies an interesting space of media rights controlled by multiple entitites which makes collection of current and past material difficult to navigate.
She's a female version of Tarzan but has her own history that makes her a compelling character by herself. Her supporting cast is usually the one being rescued by her but her male friends are treated like equals. Her most recent comics are a rebooted concept that brings her into the 21st century and, for the most part, does an admirable job respecting her pulp origins while modernizing it.
Unfortunately if you were attempting to collect all this into one place, you'd have to negotiate with multiple companies. Her Golden Age material is technically public domain. The Rebooted version is strewn across three different publishers. The 1950s TV series is public domain and the 2002 Sony TV series is print on demand DVDs. If you're going to get media saturation with this character, say at the level of DCs Wonder Woman, the return on investment might not be worth it.
Keeping things in print, either physical or digital, is a Herculean task. Diamond Distrubtion which until recently was the only game in town for comic shops is a dead platform and the irony is now that we have competition for distribution it's slowed down the very thing that keeps public interest. The electronic or physical tpbs just aren't collected in a timely manner these days.
The independent comic space has found a solution however. They have killed the peridoical version of the story which the Big 2 and most of the rest have continued to use. The major comic book companies that still use the periodical method of distribution--single issues, expensive, incentive rare covers--are dying a slow death.
We need to embrace the small trade version. 96 pages minimum. Quarterly releases. You are getting a book, and a complete story. Think of it as long form pulp. The crowdfunded style independents already do this and do it very successfully.. Dynamite Comics, which publishes Sheena as well as the other two examples I will use, would benefit from this.
VAMPIRELLA
A monster hunter with a very convoluted origin who's been around since the mid 60s has a similar problem to Sheena except all her media rights are under the same banner. So there's no one stopping Dynamite Comics from doing this. And the current people at the helm for her adventures would benefit enormously from keeping her past adventures in print as well as embracing the TPB quarterly to keep up with what's going on.
Christopher Priest (AKA Jim Owsley) has been in the comic book business for decades and he is very good at what he does. Currently he is the longest serving single writer on Vampirella since her debut. His style, unfortunately, requires a lot of re reading and he's made some deep cuts into this character's past that sometimes take a very long time to pay off especially in the current 22 page periodical format release schedule. If there ever was a writer who would benefit the most from quarterly trade releases it's this guy.
One other benefit to the quarterly release schedule, outside of getting a complete adventure in one package, is you get consistent art across this single story. Priests' Vampirella run complimented by Erguin Gundriz's art across about 75% of it is a great example of this. The periodical format sometimes results in fill ins that don't always hit the mark.
RED SONJA
Red Sonja is technically writer Roy Thomas's creation from when he was writing Conan the Barbarian for Marvel Comics. He adapted a short story from Robert E Howard called Shadow of the Vulture. This was not a Conan short story but Thomas made it one. Dynamite Entertainment now has the rights to this character.
I keep hammering on this one but once again this would benefit from my quarterly TPB releases idea. Keeping this stuff consistently in print builds brand recognition.
There is good news with the comic book industry. The independent scene has proven that the business model can be a success if you are consistent with your releases. Collectors will seek out the premium and the general audience will seek out the usual releases to experience the great stories they can find. And, as for content, the market is actually saturated. A friend once said that it is easier than ever to produce content, monetizing it is the hard part.
I have had great success in finding characters to enjoy from the pulp era. Doc Savage leads a great team of professionals. Dejah Thoris's adventures with John Carter from Edgar Rice Burroughs are a lot of fun. But I still have a soft spot for some of the Marvel and DC stuff. I'm always optimistic that I can find good things. It just takes a little while longer to find them.
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