EVERYTHING BUT IMAGINARY #194: FINDING THE NETWORK

[Blake Petit]

A few days ago, I was bouncing around the Internet, which I know is something utterly shocking to everyone reading this. As I hunted around, someone sent me a link to a new site he’d found called ComicSpace. Being a longtime blogger and total internet whore, I had no choice but to click. Basically what we have here is someone borrowing the basic idea of MySpace – a service where people could build their own little corner of the internet and network with other people all over the world – except that this service would be geared exclusively to comic book fans, pros and press. Considering myself two of the three (and slowly attempting to crack the third), I whipped up my own ComicSpace account in about twelve seconds.

ComicSpace is still pretty new. It launched on Dec. 5, and as of yet it only has a few features – specifically a profile, a comment section, a private message feature and tags. The site promises you’ll be able to use it (once fully functional) to track your favorite comic book series and even host your own comics, but none of those functions are available yet. But here we are, just a week since the site launched, and it already has claimed over 4,200 members.

The real reason for this – I have no doubt – is the “friends” function. Like MySpace and other such online communities, you can add someone to your list of friends (by mutual agreement – the person who makes the request has to get the approval of the person who receives it), and the list then appears on your profile page. A lot of people have hundreds of friends. Even I’ve topped 50 already, and I haven’t even really tried. I’ve hunted around and sent requests to any personal friends I’ve found online and any professionals that I happen to be a fan of. But I also have approved pretty much all of the requests I got, which were far more in quantity. Between the two, I’ve been proclaimed “friends” with everyone from Warren Ellis to our own friend of Comixtreme Jamal Igle to Bomb Queen’s Jimmie Robinson to some dude who calls himself “Reno Black.”

This is one of the things I absolutely love about the comic book world. As much as I think it has the potential to blow up and become a mass-media, as much as I write all the time about how important it is to find new readers and help the artform grow, I’m still enamored of the sense of community that comic book fans have. On MySpace, I’ve traded messages with Geoff Johns and Brad Meltzer. I’ve gotten e-mails from Jimmy Palmiotti and Dietrich Smith about books of theirs I’ve reviewed, and of course here at Comixtreme we play host for great artists (and swell guys) like ChrisCross, the aforementioned Mr. Igle and colorist supreme Chris Sotomayor.

With comic books, there’s a sense of connectivity between the fans and the creators that doesn’t really exist in any other medium. The closest thing I can think of is science fiction fandom – fans of TV shows definitely unite and congregate in much the way comic fans do (let’s face it, there’s a lot of overlap between those two demographics anyway), but even with TV shows, it’s rare to see the stars of the show chatting it up on a web forum, let alone starting threads dedicated to telling jokes or pounding out feature articles about their life-changing experiences.

Comic fans have always had a closer relationship with the creators than fans of other medium. It started with letters pages, back in the days when Marvel comics used to tell the readers that they were the real editors. It continued with comic book conventions, where you could go right up to the pros, get their autographs and talk comics. With the internet, it’s become a full-blown phenomenon, allowing places like ComicSpace to become a raging success overnight. Why do you suppose that is? Sure, for some fans it’s the hope that they’ll get to be friends with someone who will help them break into the industry. As I’ve said before, comics are the only medium where 90 percent of the fans, at some point or another, give serious thought about attempting to “break in.” But let’s face it, just because you’ve got Brandon Peterson on your friends list doesn’t mean he’s going to go knocking on doors to get you an inking assignment, and most people, I think, know that.

Far more important, for the average fan, is the chance to talk to the pros, the chance to tell them what they think (some people go a bit overboard with this, but we’ll talk about the trolls some other time), congratulate them on a great comic, offer suggestions or just blow through their sheer enthusiasm for comics.

I’ve heard a couple of people suggest that if comics ever did become a mass-medium, some of that sense of community – that “special” feeling you get from the idea of being in on something so many others are missing – would be lost. I disagree. The day will never come when as many people are as gung-ho about comic books as they are about their favorite TV shows. But it is possible to expand that casual fanbase to enormous numbers, leaving the community intact for the diehards. It could be the best of both worlds.

That’s what I want. That’s what I’m looking for.

In the meantime, it’s nice to have a place like ComicSpace where we diehards can spread the word. So be sure to friend me and tag “Comixtreme” when you set up your own account. I think you’ll like it there.

Favorite of the Week: December 6, 2006

I’ve enjoyed Paul Dini’s run on Detective Comics so far. He hadn’t quite reached the point of greatness, but each issue has been a solid done-in-one story, which is something you don’t see often. Then last week, Detective Comics #826 cracked that ceiling to becoming one of those all-time great issues. Alone at Christmas, Robin winds up getting captured by the Joker and taken along on a killing spree. Dini’s version of the Joker is fantastic – demented and funny, twisted and evil. Robin isn’t just some “boy hostage,” either – although he is a captive for much of the book, his mind never stops working, and you can truly see in this character a boy who would one day be worthy of becoming the Batman. This is the sort of story Dini could have told on Batman: The Animated Series if he didn’t have network standards and practices people watering him down. Do yourself a favor and get this issue – it’s a done-in-one, so there’s no commitment to get the rest of the story if you don’t like it. You’ll just be treating yourself to one of the great Joker stories to come from DC in many, many years.

Blake M. Petit is the author of the superhero comedy novel, Other People's Heroes, the suspense novel The Beginner and the weekly “Think About It” humor column at Think About It Central. E-mail him at Blake@comixtreme.com and visit him on the web at Evertime Realms.

[Liam Creswick]

A. Agreed on the Detecive comics, blew me away.

2. Good find Blake, and this is a great idea. I dig the creator/fan relationship of comics, and this should be an awesome way to facilitate that further.

@. Heres my comicsspace, under Nerkonaut

4b. Remeber to put Comixtreme in your tag. When you click the tag, anyone else with that in thier name will appear in a list. We can all make sure we get together!

[Adam Chapman]

That issue of Detective Comics was absolutely brilliant. One of the best Joker stories I've ever read, and really epitomized the character in all his manic, insane glory. Incredible read.

I'll have to give this new site a try...

http://www.comicspace.com/adamchapman/

[Andrea Speed]

Jimmie Robertson

Blake, his name is Jimmie Robinson ...*cough*

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by Andrea Speed

Blake, his name is Jimmie Robinson ...*cough*

Oh, fine.

[Mark Blicharz]

Dini is an amazing Batman writer. You can tell how much he loves the character just by reading the issues he writes. I have a comicspace but forgot the link heh. I'll post it when I get home.

[Dirge]

I agree with you about that connection between creators and fans. I remember in college, I had a Deadpool site where I reviewed the issues. Once Shannon Denton mailed me to about my critique of the issues he worked on. I thought that was pretty cool.

[Walt Kneeland]

cool stuff...

I'm trying to figure out what the heck happened to my confirmation code or whatever.

Hoping it's not another 4-5 day "victim" of internet slowness (already checked spamboxes, so it didn't get tossed there by a filter on MY end).

[DocOrlando]

Joker tooling around in a minivan is indelibly etched on my psyche. Right now this is my book of the month. It also helps that I'm a huge Marx Bros. fan.

[cv_otaku]

Great column, Blake. I have looked into Comicspace before, but it was the first week it started and it only had a few hundred members. It's quite amazing how much its grown in that amount of time.

Anyway, I decided to make one for IC. Since our goal was to utilize the internet to the fullest for solicitation, marketing and networking, we'll take all the help we can get.

http://www.comicspace.com/idealcomics

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by DocOrlando

Joker tooling around in a minivan is indelibly etched on my psyche. Right now this is my book of the month. It also helps that I'm a huge Marx Bros. fan.

EVERYONE should be a huge Marx Brothers fan.

[Terry Verticchio]

I've created an account under "estee"

Feel free to become my friend...I'm so lonely.

[cv_otaku]

Originally Posted by Terry Verticchio

I've created an account under "estee"

Feel free to become my friend...I'm so lonely.

Wow, haven't seen that name in a while.

EDIT: Oh, and that's an excellent picture...I guess. What is it?

[Terry Verticchio]

I'm still "estee" everywhere but here.

And I'm glad the image worked.

It's a nun from the nunsploitation movie "Satánico Pandemonium"

[edit]I wonder where Andy's account is? I gotta stalk her wherever she goes, you know.

[Adam Chapman]

Originally Posted by Terry Verticchio

I've created an account under "estee"

Feel free to become my friend...I'm so lonely.

Took me a minute to realize that Estee was you Terry... I forget these details... I mean, I used to be Murdock427, but that honestly feels like years ago... 2 to be precise.

[Andrea Speed]

[edit]I wonder where Andy's account is? I gotta stalk her wherever she goes, you know.

Oh, I haven't signed up yet. I'm almost afraid to. I assume people are as sick of my ubiquity as I am. Except Terry, of course - he's never sick of me, bless him.

[Blake Petit]

Hey, if people still deal with MY ubiquity, you're plenty safe.

[Mark Blicharz]

Originally Posted by Andrea Speed

Oh, I haven't signed up yet. I'm almost afraid to. I assume people are as sick of my ubiquity as I am. Except Terry, of course - he's never sick of me, bless him.

We all wanna see our pal Andy!

[Little Barda]

I got one but it's kind of boring as there isn't much to do...which is good because I sign up for an awful lot of forums.

Oh and Andy, I added you to my Friends list so that should make you happy!
I think I have pretty much everybody here who has a Comicspace on my Friends List, even met some fellow Legion fans like omicrom & mattereaterlad.

[cv_otaku]

Originally Posted by Andrea Speed

Oh, I haven't signed up yet. I'm almost afraid to. I assume people are as sick of my ubiquity as I am. Except Terry, of course - he's never sick of me, bless him.

Of course, that assumes that we know what ubiquity means. Not saying that I don't, but someone...might...not...know. Perhaps, someone could give an explanation. You know...for those people?