Why I don’t make many videos about indie comics
As we approach the one hundredth episode of Comic Misconceptions, I wanted to take a moment to address a question I am frequently asked. Why don’t I make more videos that feature comics and characters from independent publishers?
Well, there’s no one reason. There are quite a few. So does this mean I’m writing my first listicle? Why does that sound dirty?
I don’t talk about Marvel and DC as much as you think. At least, I don’t think I do…
Firstly, I’d like to point out that there are already quite a few videos that I’ve made which aren’t strictly about Marvel or DC. Like the episodes about defining comics, the Comics Code Authority, secret identities, the different comic book ages, etc.
The problem is that people often overlook those because they aren’t about specific characters, so all they see are Marvel and DC videos.
But I’ll be the first to admit that a majority of my character specific videos are about DC or Marvel characters. Why is that?
Publisher is irrelevant to me.
You have to understand that I usually don’t plan videos by publisher. I say “usually” because there have been certain occasions where I’ve done a month of Marvel videos leading up to Avengers: Age of Ultron, or how I’m about to do a month of DC videos leading up to Batman v. Superman.
The point is that I plan videos solely by the story I want to tell. I’m not going to go out of my way to do a DC episode if I’ve done too many Marvel ones in a row. In the same way, I’m not going to go out of my way to do a Dark Horse or Image video just because it feels overdue.
I tell the stories I want to tell regardless of publisher. It just so happens that the big two have WAY more history behind them that makes for a wider selection of stories.
Which brings me to my next point…
Even your grandma knows who Batman is!
This might sound obvious, but—with a few exceptions—indie comics aren’t as popular as Marvel or DC comics. So when I do dedicate an episode to a comic outside the big two, I have to jump through some hoops.
Think about it. Everyone knows who Batman and Superman are. I don’t have to explain anything before I get into the actual topic of the video.
And because superhero movies and TV shows are huge right now, so many new characters are being introduced into pop culture. This is great, because it means that other people are doing the heavy lifting for me.
When a new Marvel movie is announced, figuratively EVERY SINGLE MEDIA OUTLET makes an article or video or podcast explaining who the characters are, what the story will likely be about, etc. You’ve been primed by popular culture, which means I can get straight into the content of the video!
Then, of course, there are characters like Spider-Man and Batman who are household names which I don’t feel the need to explain at all. I say “Batman” and you instantly know who I’m talking about.
Even still, there are times when I use Marvel or DC characters that I still feel the need to thoroughly explain, like She-Hulk. But I only used her as the example in a video because I didn’t want to talk about Deadpool.
Stop making me talk about Deadpool.
Wait, are you saying that you’re just using Marvel and DC characters because you’re lazy?
Kinda, yeah. Think about the Superman video that explored the idea of shifting baseline syndrome, or the Batman episode about how memories work. I didn’t have to use those specific characters. I’m sure I could have found some good examples in other indie comics.
However, using well known characters allowed me to make my point without having to first set up an indie comic, which would have wasted a lot of time and slowed the pacing of the video down.
Take the Bloodshot video we did recently. A very large portion of the video was dedicated to simply explaining who the character is. His origin, his powers, his mission, etc. I had to spend two whole minutes on that before I even got into the meat of the video.
Get it? Meat. Because Bloodshot constantly has to eat meat to power the nanites in his blood!
I can’t continue with a video unless everyone is on the same page. With Marvel and DC characters, I can usually give what I call a “twitter summary” of the character — 140 character or less—if I even have to give a summary of a character at all!
I bet you’re just greedy for those views, huh?
It’s no secret that videos about popular comic book characters like Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man get WAY more views than anything else we do.
That might sound a bit hypocritical since I said earlier that all I want to do is make a good video regardless of the publisher, yet here I am admitting that I do in fact steer toward the big two so I can get more people to watch my videos.
Here’s the thing. I have never made a video solely to get views. Every video I have made is one that I was genuinely interested in making. Even the Deadpool ones.
But at the same time, views really do matter. The more people watch our videos, the more money we can make, which allows us to continue creating new videos for you every week. That’s how this works.
So yes, this is certainly a factor, but it’s a rather small one for me. There are still so many indie comics that could absolutely get lots of views. The Walking Dead is a phenomenon that would without question garner a ton of views if we made videos about it. But we haven’t. Why? Because I don’t make videos for views.
Now, if we ever found a Walking Dead topic that sincerely interested me, you can bet that I’d make a video about it. (This is me telling you that we’re going to be making a Walking Dead video soon.)
You’re just making excuses! You’re clearly a Marvel and/or DC fanboy!
Boy, these headlines have started to become aggressive.
Yes, it’s true that I write what I know. I myself am much more familiar with the big two than any other publisher. It’s what I grew up on and I’ve had many years of experience with the characters and stories from those universes.
That being said, there are still a TON of things in both the Marvel and DC world that I am not familiar with and am not confident discussing. Like Crisis on Infinite Earths, which just looks like a nightmare to read. Or the origin of MODOK. I think that one is better left to my own imagination. I assume a Jack Nicholson action figure gained sentience after a trip through the microwave?
I wouldn’t be comfortable writing a video about something new unless I spent a long while making sure I fully understood it. That’s partially how I was able to unintentionally do #SpiderManuary last month. I wrote one Spider-Man video, and then had to make another one completely on a whim, since there was all that news about his wall crawling ability making its rounds on the internet.
I was only able to write up that episode on such short notice because I’m familiar with the character of Spider-Man. He’s my favorite character!
So when I come across an interesting topic from philosophy, science, psychology, etc., my brain logically tries to connect that to comic book characters that I know fairly well.
This has gotten super wordy. Can I get a TL;DR version?
Sure thing, imaginary person who I’m pretty sure started out as my own voice at the top of this post!
- The publisher of the comic is irrelevant to me. I just want to tell a good story and make a good video.
- Marvel and DC have a longer and richer history to pull ideas from.
- Most people, including myself, are more familiar with Marvel and DC, and that allows me to streamline the video.
So, are there ever going to be more videos about indie comics?
Of course there are! Like I said, we’ve got some Walking Dead, a lot more Valiant Comics, and an Iron Man video on the horizon!
What? Iron Man is Marvel??
