11. The World(s) of Comics
• Mainstream comic books
• Production oligopoly (two
major publishers, owned by
Time-Warner and Disney, and
a handful of “indies”)
• Distribution monopoly
(Diamond Comics
Distributors)
• With development of fast
courier services and internet,
geographically dispersed
creative workforce
• Increased integration—major
publishers as IP farms, many
indies reliant on licensed IP
12. The World(s) of Comics
• Alternative comics
• Artist model (vs. work-for-
hire on corporate IP)
• A few prominent comics
publishers (e.g.,
Fantagraphics and Drawn
& Quarterly) but increasing
participation by major
book publishers and more
indie/alternative creators
working in mainstream
comics
• Minicomics/zines at lower
levels
13. The World(s) of Comics
• Webcomics
• Still emerging field
• New creator/reader
bases, new genres (e.g.,
gamer comics)
• Mainly hobbyist—
supported by ads and
merchandise sales
• Some integration (talent
development) with
mainstream and
alternative comics
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19. Conclusions
• Importance of
cultural
intermediaries:
• “Gatekeepers”
shaping/
configuring scene
• Providing venues
for interaction btw'n
participants
• Art galleries and
20. Conclusions
• Importance of cultural
intermediaries:
• “Gatekeepers”
shaping/configuring
scene
• Providing venues for
interaction btw'n
participants
• Art galleries and
dealers not sui generis
institutions—compare/
contrast with specialty
retailers in popular arts
21. Conclusions
• Social basis of
aesthetics
• Niche media generate
small worlds—most
people working in
comics started as fans
• Connections with
other worlds/
communities within
scene
• Internalization of
“aesthetic reason”
- thanks for opportunity\n- want to tell you a bit about the research I've been doing on the cultural practices of what you might call nerds or geeks, with special att'n to example of comics\n- some lessons for approaching art worlds from the POV of consumption/final use\n
NES buckle story--stress conversion of interest into research program\n
Subculture comprising a group of related cultural forms and practices:\n- comics\n- games (RPGs, CCGs, tactical miniatures, Eurogames, certain genres of digital games)\n- SF&F lit/media\n+ certain conventional features (social awkwardness, obsessiveness, superstandard English etc.)\n\nAlthough there is some overlap of IP, at the level of cultural production, these can be seen as relatively discrete or autonomous art worlds. \n
Aesthetic forms within comics:\n- Newspaper comics (editorial cartoons and comic strips)\n- Comic books\n- Trade paperbacks/graphic novels\n- Webcomics\n- Bandes dessinees\n- Manga\n\nWithin North American comics and given my research interests in nerd culture, three comics art worlds.\n
Aesthetic forms within comics:\n- Newspaper comics (editorial cartoons and comic strips)\n- Comic books\n- Trade paperbacks/graphic novels\n- Webcomics\n- Bandes dessinees\n- Manga\n\nWithin North American comics and given my research interests in nerd culture, three comics art worlds.\n
Aesthetic forms within comics:\n- Newspaper comics (editorial cartoons and comic strips)\n- Comic books\n- Trade paperbacks/graphic novels\n- Webcomics\n- Bandes dessinees\n- Manga\n\nWithin North American comics and given my research interests in nerd culture, three comics art worlds.\n
Aesthetic forms within comics:\n- Newspaper comics (editorial cartoons and comic strips)\n- Comic books\n- Trade paperbacks/graphic novels\n- Webcomics\n- Bandes dessinees\n- Manga\n\nWithin North American comics and given my research interests in nerd culture, three comics art worlds.\n
Aesthetic forms within comics:\n- Newspaper comics (editorial cartoons and comic strips)\n- Comic books\n- Trade paperbacks/graphic novels\n- Webcomics\n- Bandes dessinees\n- Manga\n\nWithin North American comics and given my research interests in nerd culture, three comics art worlds.\n
Aesthetic forms within comics:\n- Newspaper comics (editorial cartoons and comic strips)\n- Comic books\n- Trade paperbacks/graphic novels\n- Webcomics\n- Bandes dessinees\n- Manga\n\nWithin North American comics and given my research interests in nerd culture, three comics art worlds.\n
Aesthetic forms within comics:\n- Newspaper comics (editorial cartoons and comic strips)\n- Comic books\n- Trade paperbacks/graphic novels\n- Webcomics\n- Bandes dessinees\n- Manga\n\nWithin North American comics and given my research interests in nerd culture, three comics art worlds.\n
\n\n
\n\n
\n\n
Nerd culture is articulated together into a "scene" through shared cultural spaces and institutions.\n\nFigure represents the nerd-culture scene I’ve been studying for the last few years. Nodes and connections were entered based on mentions of people, organizations, events, and venues in interview transcripts and fieldnotes.\n\nI used graphing software’s layout and clustering algorithms to organize the network into the sub-fields displayed here. Node size represents centrality (measured by the number of links it has to other nodes). Some manual adjustments were made for the sake of clarity.\n\nFour major clusters within the scene...\n
The largest, in the upper right, might be called the space of media fandom. Its most central nodes are a nerdy film society (ORG1); its president, who is personally heavily connected within the local scene; and the local science-fiction convention.\n
In the bottom right is the space of gaming. One of the three comic-bookstores I studied (STR4) also had significant investment in the gaming market, and so it’s located here because of the role-playing, collectible card, and miniatures games it supports with events. This cluster as a whole overlaps with the first, due to the fact that game store STR1 and gaming club ORG4 were clustered in the first field, and the numerous examples of sponsorship or promotion of game publishers at ORG1 events.\n
In the bottom left is a cluster related to anime and manga fandom, which has a number of ties with nodes related to gaming and media fandom, but which also contains a parallel set of institutions, leaving it distinct from the other clusters.\n
Finally, in the upper left we find the space of comics. This cluster contains two comic-bookstores, coded STR3 and STR5, as well as ORG3, a small, bi-monthly comic convention.\n
Connections observed directly or mentioned in interviews only the tip of the iceberg. \n\nOne could also presumably map how individual participants move between these spaces and access trans-local media resources, such as fan websites and creators’ Twitter feeds.\n\nMoreover, relationships between these media resources could be analyzed.\n\nSo, the figure is in one sense woefully incomplete. Nonetheless, I think it helps substantiate the intuition that comics, their audiences, comic-bookstores, and even the comic-book industry as a whole are embedded in a larger social space.\n
