NYCC '08: VERTIGO VOICES PANEL

[MattBrady]

Reporting by Michael C Lorah

Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Karen Berger announced today at the New York Comicon a new initiative by DC/Vertigo to publish more original graphic novels. On the panel with Berger were Senior Editor Jonathan Vankin, who will, with Joan Hilty, be devoting “99% of his time” to acquiring and editing graphic novels to be published by Vertigo, as well as eight creators who have been published or will be published by Vertigo’s graphic novel line. Also on the panel: Jonathan Ames (The Alcoholic), Becky Cloonan (Demo), Joshua Dysart (Greendale), Dean Haspiel (The Quitter, The Alcoholic), Mat Johnson (Incognegro), Jeff Lemiere (The Nobody), G. Willow Wilson (Cairo), and Brian Wood (Demo).

With the stage having only chairs, one dais, and three microphones, the panelists seemed slightly unsure how to settle themselves, as Berger noted that it was “an odd set up for a panel.” She also remarked, “My voice is so shot, and my ears are so shot, so I have no idea what I sound like.” And it’s only Saturday, she laughed.

Announcing that the panel would focus on Vertigo’s new original graphic novels, Berger’s first slide showed the cover of Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece’s Incognegro. Asked how many had read the book, only a handful of the audience raised their hands. Berger seemed surprised, since as she stated, the book has received “wonderful reviews” including in The New York Times, which doesn’t “really cover graphic novels, so it was a huge thing.”

Mat Johnson describes the story as being “a noir tale” about an African-American journalist in the south in the 1920s who is able to pass for white to investigate lynchings. “I used to teach African American lit, and it’s based in part on my own experiences of being an African-American who can pass for white. I’m not sure what else to say: Buy my damn book,” he laughed. Haspiel grabbed the microphone, clearly enthused for the book, and told the audience that when editor Vankin told him about the book, “I said you gotta be kidding me. It’s the best title in the world.”

Vertigo will be publishing a new edition of Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s Demo, a series originally serialized monthly and published in a compact format by AiT/PlanetLar. Vertigo will also publish an all-new Demo miniseries by Wood and Cloonan. Asked how they began their collaboration, Cloonan recalled, “Brian emailed me. He’d seen some of my minicomcs and my work online, and he said, ‘Hey, I’m a writer. W ant to work on something?’” After some laughter, she continued that Wood mentioned Demo to her right away, but she worked on Jennie One first, and enjoyed the experience so they decided to create Demo. Wood noted that the original serialization of Demo started in late 2003, and he feels very close to the series still. “This is the book that launched me,” he believes, saying that it’s a “pretty big deal” and he’s very pleased to have it out again. The new Vertigo edition will be a full-sized comic book trim and there will be never-seen-before extras in it. A couple dozen readers raised their hands when asked if they’d read Demo previously, prompting Wood to say that he doesn’t expect anyone to buy the new edition if they have the story already. He also told the audience that he’d just started writing the first issue of the new series “this month. It feels like going back on tour.”

Previously announced, but coming out this September, Jonathan Ames and Dean Haspiel’s The Alcoholic is a book Berger says she’s “thrilled to be publishing.” Ames’s only other comics experience, Haspiel promoted, was on Smithmag.net, a site publishing true life stories, including Shooting War. A feature on the site, “Next Door Neighbors,” edited by Haspiel, brings together different teams or cartoonists, and Ames contributed to “Next Door Neighbors.”

Ames explained that he decided to write a graphic novel because one day, when he lived in Brooklyn, while sitting in a diner after a game of basketball, Dean Haspiel “sat down and said I’ve read your stuff, let’s be friends. He really came on strong.” After some laughter, Ames continued, saying that for a number of years, Haspiel said “Let’s do something together.” Ames had never really read or thought much about graphic novels, but recalled that he “always liked R. Crumb’s illustrations with Bukowski’s stories.” While reading Y: the Last Man, Ames was impressed by the use of cliffhangers, and he came up with an idea for a six-part story about an alcoholic, where each story would end on a cliffhanger – the alcoholic running naked down the street; what happens next issue?! When Vertigo suggested that, as a novelist, he might want to write a single graphic novel, he focused on a tale of “a guy on a bender after a girl breaks his heart… but it’s also his life story.”

Berger said that Ames, an established novelist, adapted to the challenges of working in comics as quickly as anybody from outside of comics that she’d worked with previously. Many other writers, she observed, have trouble getting into the “headspace, thinking visually, writing succinctly,” as required to write comics. She believes that The Alcoholic is a great book to give to someone who has never read a graphic novel or comic, and applauded Haspiel for bringing the nuances out of Ames’s story. Ames joked that part of his success in adapting to comics was because he wanted to give Haspiel fun things to draw, and he found himself “thinking there’s been no action for three whole pages, I better put something in.” Haspiel laughed, calling Ames “a natural and I really hope you decide to write some more comics."

Next, Cliff Chiang’s character sketches for the comic book adaptation of the 2003 Neil Young concept album Greendale were displayed. Chiang “is starting right now” on the art for the book, which will not be published until 2009. Neil Young, Berger said, “loves Cliff’s work.” The coolest email she’s ever received, she told everyone, came earlier this week, from Neil Young. It read: “Dear Karen, these rock.” After touring the album for all of 2003, Young approached Vertigo two and a half years ago about adapting it to comics. “He’s very savvy in writing, politics and what’s going on in the world, and he really respects the form,” Berger said, adding that “Greendale is more than an album. He’s created a mythology, characters that haven’t even seen the light yet.” Young is “very involved on this.”

Dysart joked that the genesis of the project goes back to when he and Neil were doing coke backstage at The Band’s final concert, the movie The Last Waltz, before admitting that he was only six then. Though less than ten people in the audience expressed familiarity with the album, Dysart says that the story will be very accessible. “We didn’t just tell the same story,” he said. The graphic novel will keep to the beats and the characters, but it is a synthesis of his own, Karen Berger and Neil Young’s sensibilities. It tells the story of Sun Green in Greendale, California, and how she becomes a political activist on the eve of the Iraq War. After Vankin offered him the opportunity to work on the script, Dysart was “really excited,” noting that he wanted to tell a “people story.” He laughed that “Neil was really excited to do a comic book, and really wanted to do eco-superheroes.” He’s just started conversing with Chiang about the book, and he already considers Chiang “the smartest artist in comics.” Describing himself as “terribly excited” to see the final pages, Dysart said that Chiang has come up with a very powerful approach to the story and its themes.

Berger added that “Josh, as a writer, has really gone to another level. For Neil Young to be interested in working with comics is a great thrill. He’s a great storyteller.”

Acknowledging that her responsibilities as Executive Editor occupy most of her time, Berger explained that she rarely has time to edit series personally. She’s mostly involved in procuring new projects and helping develop new projects. For G. Willow Wilson and MK Perker’s new monthly series, Air, she said, “Every now and then, I meet a writer and I’m really impressed by their craft” and she’ll say to her staff, “This one I want.” Approximately a dozen people raised their hands to say that they’d read Wilson and Perker’s previous collaboration, the graphic novel Cairo.

Wilson said of the new series: “Air is about a stewardess who’s afraid of heights,” and she is sucked into a hijacking plot where she discovers another side of the world of flight. The series is “kind of wacky and magical and cool, and she has abilities she didn’t know she had.” She amused the audience with a story about a conversation she’d had the night before, in a bar after the show, with 100 Bullets writer Brian Azzarello. Azzarello, she said, described the series as “about a girl who’s drowning but learns to fly. It’s beautiful.” “He’d had a few beers,” Wilson laughed, but “I wanted to use that line.” Wilson and Berger were very excited to have a series with a “kick-ass female lead character.” The first issue ships in August. “If you liked Cairo, come back for more,” Wilson suggested, and Berger let everybody know that Air will be previewed in issues of the current Vertigo monthly titles in the “next month or so.”

Karen Berger then explained that Vertigo will be expanding their graphic novel efforts. Although they’ve published two to four original graphic novels a year in the past, “including terrific, critically acclaimed work, like The Quitter, Incognegro, Cairo and Sentences,” Vertigo wanted to expand this area now. In addition to Jonathan Vankin devoting most of his time to the new initiative, editor Joan Hilty, who started at DC as Berger’s assistant ten years ago before moving into the DC Universe, “moved back upstairs a couple days ago” (to Vertigo editorial) so that she could devote her time to the graphic novel line as well. Berger continued, saying that they want to reach farther into memoirs, semi-autobiographical material, and non-fiction. They’re hoping creators will approach them with work that might’ve previously only found a home with companies such as Pantheon, Top Shelf or First Second. We “want the word out there that we’re in it for the long haul,” she stated.

One of the new graphic novels announced was Luna Park, by historical fiction writer Kevin Baker and Danijl Zezelj, whose work has previously been seen in Loveless and El Diablo. The artwork shown was just a preview of books that “are really just starting out,” letting readers know that many of them will not be seen until 2009. Baker is a “brilliant writer,” Berger said, noting that Luna Park will be his first graphic novel. Like Jonathan Ames, he took to the form very well. The story is about a Russian immigrant in “a modern-day, sleazy Coney Island.” A hitman for the Russian mob, he lives with his girlfriend, a tarot card reader, and is haunted by ghosts of his own life and Russian history. He relives historical moments that categorize Russian history. Berger also said, “You get to see Coney Island present day and in its past glory. There is some time shifting, but it’s very grounded. Very epic.”

Hate’s Peter Bagge is working on a book titled Second Lives, about college friends who correspond with each other over the years. When they decide to meet ten years later, they realize that each of them has made up stories about their own lives, so nobody’s sure what’s true about the other. With internet and role-playing games, people make up their own lives all the time now, she added. Describing his art as “kind of goofy,” Berger praised Bagge’s writing and the script’s exploration of identity, “what’s real and what’s not.”

Xerix-award winner and recent Eisner Award nominee, Jeff Lemiere is working on a new graphic novel The Nobody, which will take the protagonist of H.G. Wells’ The Invisible Man and “bring him into the modern world.” Lemiere said, “I like to explore small, rural communities. Although his previous books looked at the bright side of small towns, this book gets into the prejudices and claustrophobia of small town life. The core of the story, he told, is about the Invisible Man’s friendship with a teen girl, casting them both as outsiders.

Berger also announced hardcover editions of Paul Pope’s Heavy Liquid and Y: the Last Man. The Y editions will collect two softcover books into a single, oversize volume.

Opening the panel to audience questions, Berger confirmed that Vertigo has no work lined with Y artist Pia Guerra. “We’d like to,” she said.

Asked how editors find new creators for graphic novels, Vankin said that the look online, spread the word amongst the comics community and put out the word in literary circles. Attending panels “like this one” also allows them to reach cartoonists who don’t realize Vertigo is open to new projects. He said that Vertigo is looking for new properties, including works in various stage of completion, “although we like to develop stories from the ground up.” He hopes not to be deluged, but “you never know.” The next pitch “could be the next Peter Bagge, or Charles Burns, or Harvey Pekar. Come to us if you’re an agent, creator, anything.” Vertigo’s mission, he added, has always been to publish the best comics, no matter where they come from.

Asked if you need to have previously published work, Vankin admitted, “I’m open. If you’re working on a project, show me something you’ve done already. It doesn’t have to be a big book from Pantheon. It can be a webcomic. I want to see how good you are and whether I’m interested in what you have to say.” He suggested that it might help to have an agent, but in terms of reading a pitch, he wants creators to “show me what you got. If this is good, let’s talk.” Vertigo’s approach to graphic novels is halfway between comics traditional methods of publishing and traditional book publisher’s procedures.

A fan asked if Vertigo would collect David Lapham’s self-published series Stray Bullets in light of Lapham’s working with the publisher on the graphic novel Silverfish and the new monthly series Young Liars. Berger said, “We’ve talked to David Lapham, but he wants to keep it totally to himself. And we’re fine with that.”

Berger confirmed that Vertigo has nothing else in the pipeline with artists Niko Henrichon (Pride of Baghdad) or Enrique Breccia (Swamp Thing). Dysart noted that Breccia is working on several volumes for a European publisher.

One concerned fan wondered if Vertigo’s focus on original graphic novels meant they will be moving away from publishing monthly titles. “Not at all,” Berger said. Comparing it to television and feature films, she explained that some stories are best told episodically, month to month, and then collected. Other stories work as a great big graphic novel. Vertigo is still “very committed to the monthly form,” and will continue to publish collected editions that reach audiences in bookstores and comic shops.

Citing American Virgin as an example, a reader asked if cancelled monthly series might return as series of graphic novels. Vertigo is committed to finishing American Virgin and collecting the entire series, if the audience is not big enough to support the series in monthly or in trade, “it’s hard to go to an original graphic novel format with that series. We haven’t had large enough orders to support the book as a monthly or as a trade.”

Berger also confirmed that Vertigo has no current plans for any more Absolute editions after Absolute Sandman vol. 4 this fall. Y: The Last Man is getting a deluxe hardcover treatment, but Berger is cautious about committing to a $100 price-tag. After the audience’s loud applause at the idea of an Absolute Preacher, Berger said, “Okay, I’ll take that back to the office,” but offered no promises.

Vankin took the opportunity to engage the audience in a conversation about Vertigo’s efforts to promote their new titles. “You’re the smart readers, and I know you like” our titles, Vankin said, yet he was surprised that relatively few people in the crowd had read several of the books, even books that sold very well for Vertigo. When discussing online promotions in the comic book community, Berger said, “We’ve talked to the Newsarama people more. They’ll be doing an article on this panel.” Fans felt that Vertigo titles were often given passing mention in various places, but lost in the noise of superhero news.

One fan mentioned Vertigo getting coverage in Publisher’s Weekly, which Berger said she appreciates and loves, but because PW is a trade magazine, she’s not sure that the coverage reaches as much of the reading audience as they’d like. Mat Johnson pointed out that he got comic book press before Incognegro came out, but after the book dropped, most of the coverage came from mainstream outlets and blogs.

A young woman explained that she frequents a comic shop and reads bogs, yet she only got into Vertigo’s titles when her boyfriend let her read Y: The Last Man. She added that she was very excited about Incognegro, but had “just heard about it for the first time here.” She continued, saying, “My friends mostly read manga and don’t really know American comics outside DC or Marvel.” Friends, she remarked, thought that Y was a superhero comic, “because all American comics are about that.”

As a means of promotion, Dysart joked that fans should wear sandwich boards at their local comics shops. Incognegro did receive an eight-page preview in several Vertigo monthlies, Berger said. She asked readers to check the Vertigo website for updates and said that they will, as one fan suggested, “consider the newsletter. It’s a cool idea.”

Changing subjects, Haspiel asked how many readers read webcomics. Approximately thirty readers raised their hands. “Okay, that’s all,” Haspiel finished.

Release dates for most of the books are not set, as they are too early in their development, Berger explained. The Alcoholic will be out in early September, and she expects Lemiere’s The Nobody to be out earlier than the other titles “because he’s super fast from what I’ve been told.”

The long-rumored Garth Ennis-Steve Dillon collaboration City Lights is still not on Vertigo’s radar. “We’d love to do the book,” Berger said, “but it’s not something being worked on. Hopefully some day.”

A fan asked why Vertigo titles don’t receive more press in mainstream outlets, saying that she discovered Y through an article in The New York Times. Vertigo does get a lot of coverage in Entertainment Weekly, Berger mentioned, and she praised the publicity department for pitching as many articles as possible, but not a lot of pieces are picked up. Berger said she’d love to see Vertigo covered in Time, Newsweek or Spin every week or every month, but because the industry has grown so large, other companies and books are competing for the same limited space. She expects to do more online promotions.

There is no news about potential movies based on Vertigo properties, Berger let everyone know. “Hollywood is such a crazy place. I have no idea how films every get made. Nothing happens, and suddenly there’s a movie.” Watchmen is happening “in a big way, of course,” but otherwise, several screenplays have been written, but nothing’s been green lit.

A last fan to address the panel told the Vertigo staff and creators that they should be proud of creating a line of comics that can bring new readers into the industry, which Berger felt was the right note to end the panel on.

[swanstand]

Vertigo should collect the Wasteland series from the late 80's. There was some great stuff in there.

Oh and a continuation of the Shade the Changing Man collections would be nice.

And Sienkiewicz's The Shadow.

I could go on.

[CitC]

Although his previous books looked at the bright side of small towns, this book gets into the prejudices and claustrophobia of small town life.

Did you read the same Essex County books that I did? They were heartbreaking and far from hope.

Amazing news for Jeff Lemire! His work has been terrific.

[Doc Nero]

When I saw the face on the Newsarama home page I thought Grant's Doom Patrol were returning.

[Mark Cardwell]

Originally Posted by swanstand

Vertigo should collect the Wasteland series from the late 80's. There was some great stuff in there.

Oh and a continuation of the Shade the Changing Man collections would be nice.

And Sienkiewicz's The Shadow.

I could go on.

The problem with the SHADE THE CHANGING MAN collections is that series didn't really start rockin' until the second year or so, so the two books out there already aren't representative of how good that comic could get. Hell, Chris Bachalo's art in that first year barely shows the guy's potential, but a couple of years later, and he was CHRIS BACHALO, man! It's often forgotten now, but that was the book where he developed from a rather uninspired start to a master stylist.

And yeah, it's also a shame that there's all that great THE SHADOW stuff languishing out of print, top-notch work by Chaykin, and the Helfer-Sienkiewicz/Kyle Baker run, just because the Conde-Nast big-wigs didn't have much grasp of how storytelling has changed since the pulp era.

[Cully Hamner]

Exactly what DC should be doing more of, and Joan's the right person to be in on looking after it all.

[JLE]

Originally Posted by Doc Nero

When I saw the face on the Newsarama home page I thought Grant's Doom Patrol were returning.

I thought the same. What a pity it's not true...

[redsonja]

Actually, just the thing DC shouldn't be doing. Too many great Vertigo titles have been canceled because of DC's "trade mania". The only thing you ever see advertised is the 1st issue for free online and the trades. If there's nothing coming out, there's nothing to collect into trades and comic books at DC will be dead. We already have plenty of publishers that only do OGN's. DC doesn't have to be one of them.

[BoosterGold-]

REPORTS OF VERTIGO'S DEMISE HAVE BEEN GREATLY EXAGERATED


-MICHAEL C

[Ralph Mathieu]

I can't wait for Cliff Chiang's adaptation of Neil Young's Greendale and the Pete Bagge gaphic novel sounds great also!

[Akcoll99]

Yeah, I also got excited there for a second because I saw the image for "The Nobody" and thought "Rebis?" I wonder if they may want to change that...

Also, sign me up for more Shade collections. That series definitely deserves to get a full trade run like it's over pre-Vertigo contemporaries.

And a collection of the DC Shadow stories would be amazing. I would buy that in a heartbeat as well. Nice suggestion.

[matt_haber]

GOD. WHen i saw that pick i also thought it was grants doom patrol coming back.

[PreCrisisDC]

Originally Posted by Doc Nero

When I saw the face on the Newsarama home page I thought Grant's Doom Patrol were returning.

I too first thought of Rebus.

[inventio]

I would like to see some the return of some "adult superhero" material to Vertigo, a la Shade, Doom Patrol and Animal Man. I, for one, would love to see Keith Giffen tackle the Legion of Super Heroes as the adult sci-fi politics comic book it was back in the early 90s.
And yes for all praise to Helfer's Shadow and Justice Inc.

[ShawnMallory]

Add me to the list of "Doom Patrol is coming back and they're bringing Mr Nobody too? YES!!!". Nothing against what Mr Nobody will be, but man was I disappointed.

[batlash]

Originally Posted by Mark Cardwell

The problem with the SHADE THE CHANGING MAN collections is that series didn't really start rockin' until the second year or so, so the two books out there already aren't representative of how good that comic could get. Hell, Chris Bachalo's art in that first year barely shows the guy's potential, but a couple of years later, and he was CHRIS BACHALO, man! It's often forgotten now, but that was the book where he developed from a rather uninspired start to a master stylist.

And yeah, it's also a shame that there's all that great THE SHADOW stuff languishing out of print, top-notch work by Chaykin, and the Helfer-Sienkiewicz/Kyle Baker run, just because the Conde-Nast big-wigs didn't have much grasp of how storytelling has changed since the pulp era.

I agree with continuing SHADE THE CHANGING MAN. I'd love to have those in trades. Howard Chaykin's SHADOW was collected (have it), and I'd love to see the six issues of Helfer & Sienkiewicz, but after that Helfer just took The Shadow straight into the toilet. I know some people really liked it, but I'm too much of a Shadow purist to accept Helfer's version (after those first six issues). I've heard rumors that Conde Nast killed the title. If that's the case it wasn't because of Helfer's storytelling. It was almost certainly because he specifically wasn't writing "The Shadow." Honestly, for a real fan of the Shadow, I don't which was worse: Andy Helfer's comics or Alec Baldwin's movie.

[Hobowatcher]

It sounded as if Karen Berger was somewhat embarrassed Peter Bagge's cartooning.

[Demonight]

Originally Posted by Doc Nero

When I saw the face on the Newsarama home page I thought Grant's Doom Patrol were returning.

I was thinking Newman Xeno from Casanova actually

[Dr. Moo]

Vertigo has 3 Jonah Hex mini series, only one was published in trade, but is out of print.

PLEASE, reprint the 3 Jonah Hex minis !!


Please.
Thanx.

[Virgule]

I don't think too much trade kills vertigo..it's known trades keeps ongoing afloat with their sales.. no, lack of readers in both forms kills series..if 8000 people would have bought the un men trade I guess it would have kept going... you may blame tradewaiters..that wait to buy the trade !
Though i''d love shade trades i'm not quite sure they'll try a third printing of the first... i'd be glad though if they finish human target.. but hey no project from chiang or milligan so...

What would be great was if vertigo would publish Big fat showcase like trades in black & white of series from DC characters (swamp thing, human target , doom patrol, animal man, books of magick, black orchid) or even series they have still the rights (american century, deadman, house of secrets)..that would be cool and i'll totally buy them.

[Johnny Bacardi]

Originally Posted by Demonight

I was thinking Newman Xeno from Casanova actually

Or the Unknown Soldier on vacation.

Actually, I thought of Rebis first, like everybody else.

And I thought the Helfer/Baker Shadow was a masterpiece of black comedy disguised as action thriller. It would be great to see it reprinted, but ultimately frustrating because they never got to finish the damn thing! Yeah, sure, it wasn't "THE SHADOW"...but the character survived Dell's purple spandex version, and this was smart and sharp enough to, most importantly, never hold the Mon in Block up to real ridicule. I always thought the character was established and strong enough to withstand a bit of intelligent satirization. Fortunately, most people seem to agree with me.

And while we're at it, I've always thought Thriller would have worked well as a Vertigo book. I don't know if I want to ever see it return under less sympathetic hands, but a trade collecting issues 1-8 would be nice...

[fast eddie]

Ditto for me on the whole Doom Patrol thing. I thought for sure that was Rebis. Oh well, we can dream can't we? I would love to see Doom Patrol back, but only if Morrison were involved.

You can also add me to the list of Shadow enthusiasts who absolutely loved the Helfer/Sienkiewicz/Baker run. Man, would that be great to see collected with new material. Highly underrated stuff.

As far as Absolute editions go, I would have thought Preacher was a no-brainer. It sounds like it still may be a possibility.

And to whoever said Shade began to rock in it's second year, I tend to agree. I would actually say it was more like the third year, but it definitely had it's moments. A bit hit and miss, but when it did hit, it was great.

[Sparvid]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

Berger also confirmed that Vertigo has no current plans for any more Absolute editions after Absolute Sandman vol. 4 this fall.

What about the two Death miniseries and Endless Nights and so on?

[Patrick Sauriol]

Count me in as a guy that clicked on this thread because I thought Rebis or Morrison's Doom Patrol were coming back. So that makes what, half a dozen of us?

Hey Vertigo, you paying attention?

[Danny Donovan]

Originally Posted by redsonja

Actually, just the thing DC shouldn't be doing. Too many great Vertigo titles have been canceled because of DC's "trade mania". The only thing you ever see advertised is the 1st issue for free online and the trades. If there's nothing coming out, there's nothing to collect into trades and comic books at DC will be dead. We already have plenty of publishers that only do OGN's. DC doesn't have to be one of them.

I'm sorry, but I don't understand the reasoning to this. By producing original graphic novels they are not limited to just the comic book stores and able to service both the direct market AND the book store market.

The thing is, if there were more series made in OGN form, they probably wouldn't have been cancelled. The market can only sustain so many monthlies a year, with the OGNs you have a secondary market (which in my opinion should be the primary market and the direct market should return to its secondary roots)

Barnes and Noble won't carry Vertigo COMICS, it's too easy for parents to confuse an adults only vertigo comic with a general audiences DC comic. It'd be a pain in the ass that no store wants and not the PR DC needs.

However, there are DOZENS of properites that extend past the comic shop fans, but those audiences aren't going to dig in the comic shop to seek them out, if they even know where the local comic shop is.... But, they'll browse the GN rack at B&N...

The reason you see more people focusing on OGNs is because you have a higher return on them because of the various outlets you can sell them in. It's a great way to keep a property alive (ala a manga serial, produced in regular quarterly gn format) What makes more sense buying a big 160 page Graphic novel every four months for $15.00 or a monthly 22pg comic for $3.00? You're paying more for monthlies and not having anywhere to put them.


If you're not a collector and just want to read a story, like you would any book you purchase, it makes more sense to wait for the trade. So having some of the less viable monthly properties being strictly trade only opens them up to a wider audience AND is easily accessible to people just catching on. It's much easier to track down previous volumes of a trade than individual issues you miss.

There will always be a place for the monthlies, but it doesn't actually make financial sense for ALL properties.