I think the medium has a future as both an art form and an industry, just
not in it’s present form.
The current distribution and retail system are hopelessly flawed and impede
the medium from ’growing up’ and taking it’s self seriously. I don't mean
stuffy and self important, I mean self assured of it’s own potential and
appeal as possibly the most highly evolved form of printed story telling,
not to mention it’s potential as a narrative art form if removed from the
traditional venue of paper and ink (see-Eisenstein:
http://www.tcj.com/messboard/ubb/Forum9/HTML/000010.html ).
Ultimately, no mater what happens in the north american market, Marvel
possibly taking down the whole distribution system with it when they finally
implode under their $250 million debt (see ’come in alone’:
http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=1 ). It will only
force the committed to seek other routs to publication and it will have
little or no effect on the european market, which is alive and well and
light years ahead of us.
- A CARGO of C O N T E N T M E N T in the BOWL of any PIPE -
http://www3.sympatico.ca/salgood.sam/