Dork knight Special Report: Together, we will get through this
Together, we will get through this
By Wes Greer
It is a crazy time in the world right now. The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has impacted just about every single person in the world as well as many industries and businesses. The comic book industry has been one of the hardest hit during this time and we have all seen the news titles come across our screens where we feel the gloom and doom. However what we aren’t seeing is what is really going on right now and that is why I wanted to take the time to publish this article because I feel it is important that a story like this comes out right now. There is so many amazing things going on in the comic book world right now and as a lifelong comic fan I can truly say that I know we will make it through this because of all these wonderful acts I am seeing happen every day and I want as many others as possible to see these things so they can jump on and be a part of it as well because if we want comics to be around for years to come we need to all come together like we have in the past and then comics will be unstoppable!
We have all seen the unfortunate things going on right now. Local comic shops were losing business due to fear of contamination, then Diamond who is the largest comic distributor decided they were going to shut their doors which meant that no new books were going to be accepted or shipped which put an even bigger shadow over these local shops and then led to publishers stopping all releases of new books. All of this started causing panic amidst fans and publishers alike, but it also caused something else to happen, It caused creators to step outside of the norm and start reaching out to the fans and shops. It caused die hard comic fans to step up and say well we might not be getting new books that we like but these shops we love and rely on also are full of older back issues of different stories we might not have read so lets start picking up some of those so business stays constant for these shops. Creators started sharing their ideas on how to support shops and even created a worldwide list of shops that were offering delivery services as well as curb side pick up to get it out to everyone. The last twenty years we have really seen a separation of comic creators not only from themselves but from their fans and its even gone so far as writers and artists really separating themselves. Instead of all being a creative team, we’ve seen them separated into writers and artists and one getting more attention then another when all are just as equal parts to a books creation but due to the stigma created as well as credits on covers and social media sites using name drops to help further them even more apart. Comics used to be one of the most amazing mediums because we used to all be more intertwined with one another. Creators and fans used to have so much more interaction before the great divide where some creators boomed more then others and became more and more apart from fans and other creators.
The point of this article isn’t to focus on what I call the great divide however it is important that I mention this because it was an issue that could very well be a part of the end of comics and we need to remember this moving forward. As of the last month or so there has been so much more unity then we have seen in years and it really gives me hope for the future. This isn’t the first time comics have faced what could very well be their end and it probably wont be the last one but the reason comics are still around today is because the entire medium comes together when it is threatened and together we can get through anything. There has been so much more interaction between creators and shops and fans and the wall that has been building has quickly been torn down. I have seen so much more interaction between creators and fans. There has been a lot of creators doing ask me anything on social media and a lot more creators responding to fans. There has also been a lot more creators supporting other creators and that has been so amazing to see. The pact has really been led by comic creator Donny Cates who has been very vocal on doing what he can to help support other creators. Cates has also offered to commission artists who have recently lost projects and at the same time is calling for other creators who are able to do so do the dame. Other creators are also doing what they can to help such as artist Jim Lee who has started a daily art auction where all the money from the auctioned art is going to support local comic shops who are suffering during this tough time. Artist Tony S. Daniel has also stepped up and created an auction of some of his artwork to help benefit different things including a New York Food Bank.
There are plenty of other creators coming up with new ideas to do what they can, and it has truly been an inspiration to see them do so. Comic fans also are doing what they can to help benefit not only these creators’ campaigns but starting their own to help support their local shops. There is an amazing fire rising right now in comics and it continues to spread every day with more and more people jumping on board to lend a hand. This is why comics will survive. I have not seen any other medium even come close to doing what the comic community is doing and its such an amazing time to be involved in the comic world. Going forward from this however we need to remember how divided we were before all of this started. We need to stay as united as we are now forever moving forward. Its almost a shame that it took something like this to get us all to change the way we were doing things but luckily, we were able too. If we go back to the way things were after this, we might not be able to all band back together in the future if anything else was to happen. The most important thing I want readers to take away from this article is not how it was before, but how it is now. Be a part of the amazing movement in comics we have built and going forward keep it going! Let’s change the comic world forever and in a good way where we are always this united because if we do then together, we will get through this and anything else that may come our way in the future!
By Wes Greer
It is a crazy time in the world right now. The outbreak of the COVID-19 virus has impacted just about every single person in the world as well as many industries and businesses. The comic book industry has been one of the hardest hit during this time and we have all seen the news titles come across our screens where we feel the gloom and doom. However what we aren’t seeing is what is really going on right now and that is why I wanted to take the time to publish this article because I feel it is important that a story like this comes out right now. There is so many amazing things going on in the comic book world right now and as a lifelong comic fan I can truly say that I know we will make it through this because of all these wonderful acts I am seeing happen every day and I want as many others as possible to see these things so they can jump on and be a part of it as well because if we want comics to be around for years to come we need to all come together like we have in the past and then comics will be unstoppable!
We have all seen the unfortunate things going on right now. Local comic shops were losing business due to fear of contamination, then Diamond who is the largest comic distributor decided they were going to shut their doors which meant that no new books were going to be accepted or shipped which put an even bigger shadow over these local shops and then led to publishers stopping all releases of new books. All of this started causing panic amidst fans and publishers alike, but it also caused something else to happen, It caused creators to step outside of the norm and start reaching out to the fans and shops. It caused die hard comic fans to step up and say well we might not be getting new books that we like but these shops we love and rely on also are full of older back issues of different stories we might not have read so lets start picking up some of those so business stays constant for these shops. Creators started sharing their ideas on how to support shops and even created a worldwide list of shops that were offering delivery services as well as curb side pick up to get it out to everyone. The last twenty years we have really seen a separation of comic creators not only from themselves but from their fans and its even gone so far as writers and artists really separating themselves. Instead of all being a creative team, we’ve seen them separated into writers and artists and one getting more attention then another when all are just as equal parts to a books creation but due to the stigma created as well as credits on covers and social media sites using name drops to help further them even more apart. Comics used to be one of the most amazing mediums because we used to all be more intertwined with one another. Creators and fans used to have so much more interaction before the great divide where some creators boomed more then others and became more and more apart from fans and other creators.
The point of this article isn’t to focus on what I call the great divide however it is important that I mention this because it was an issue that could very well be a part of the end of comics and we need to remember this moving forward. As of the last month or so there has been so much more unity then we have seen in years and it really gives me hope for the future. This isn’t the first time comics have faced what could very well be their end and it probably wont be the last one but the reason comics are still around today is because the entire medium comes together when it is threatened and together we can get through anything. There has been so much more interaction between creators and shops and fans and the wall that has been building has quickly been torn down. I have seen so much more interaction between creators and fans. There has been a lot of creators doing ask me anything on social media and a lot more creators responding to fans. There has also been a lot more creators supporting other creators and that has been so amazing to see. The pact has really been led by comic creator Donny Cates who has been very vocal on doing what he can to help support other creators. Cates has also offered to commission artists who have recently lost projects and at the same time is calling for other creators who are able to do so do the dame. Other creators are also doing what they can to help such as artist Jim Lee who has started a daily art auction where all the money from the auctioned art is going to support local comic shops who are suffering during this tough time. Artist Tony S. Daniel has also stepped up and created an auction of some of his artwork to help benefit different things including a New York Food Bank.
There are plenty of other creators coming up with new ideas to do what they can, and it has truly been an inspiration to see them do so. Comic fans also are doing what they can to help benefit not only these creators’ campaigns but starting their own to help support their local shops. There is an amazing fire rising right now in comics and it continues to spread every day with more and more people jumping on board to lend a hand. This is why comics will survive. I have not seen any other medium even come close to doing what the comic community is doing and its such an amazing time to be involved in the comic world. Going forward from this however we need to remember how divided we were before all of this started. We need to stay as united as we are now forever moving forward. Its almost a shame that it took something like this to get us all to change the way we were doing things but luckily, we were able too. If we go back to the way things were after this, we might not be able to all band back together in the future if anything else was to happen. The most important thing I want readers to take away from this article is not how it was before, but how it is now. Be a part of the amazing movement in comics we have built and going forward keep it going! Let’s change the comic world forever and in a good way where we are always this united because if we do then together, we will get through this and anything else that may come our way in the future!
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