COMICS CULTURE SHRAPNEL from CBEM 347
It's finals time. December is a busy month for everyone, what with shopping and decorating, maybe some charity work, and certainly a glut of entertainment. Television programs, blockbuster movies (I got my ticket for LotR already) and for those reading this, comic books. I walked into Jim Hanley's Universe last week and walked away with six titles. That may be nothing to some of you out there, but for me that's a 300% increase. Really!
And then for those in high school and college, December means schoolwork. Lots of it. Long papers, final exams, presentations, projects... dear lord it's a lot. I've already done two papers (6 and 19 pages respectively), a 5 minute speech (and yes, this requires work), one presentation, and a project that involved designing a CD package. And... and... I still have more to do. The Christmas spirit ain't coming anytime soon for me, I just don't have the time.
I mention all this only because I wonder... is there anyway to address this problem? For it is a problem... I haven't had time to read books, watch a lot of TV, really look through my comics. I do so at the cost of less time for homework, meaning headaches and sleepless nights. I'm so tired. But I have to go to work in ten minutes. This is the reality for thousands of students every year. A lot of comic fans are students. Do we really want to add on to the load?
I don't know whether companies should delay their releases, or have them sooner. They can't cancel entirely because businesses should always take advantage of the holiday rush. But then again, this wouldn't be a problem if comics reading didn't feel like such a chore sometimes.
Getting every issue of one title. Keeping up with anywhere between 10- 40 titles, maybe more. I set that number because I've seen guys buy huge stacks of stuff. But they're always much older than me. Ever wonder why kids don't spend that much? It's not just cost... we just don't have the time.
Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if stuff was much better than it is. Some stuff has improved, hopefully raising the bar for the rest. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if stuff didn't cost so damn much. That definitely something that should be addressed. College students trade the most MP3's of any group because they can't afford to buy CD's. That's pretty much it, and yet record companies spout things about high-speed connections and boredom and recklessness and the danger to their profits... stop charging $18 and up for CD's, you morons.
I think lower prices are the thing to shoot for, if anything. Throw us poor and tired students some bargains once in a while. And maybe we'll make time.