The Explanation for BtB

[dave]

First off, welcome to Beyond the Bleed. Great to have you here.

Secondly, it's important that you don't talk about comics here. Seriously.

Or, rather, you should talk around comics -- outside of them, in their wake, off the page -- instead of focusing on the print comics material itself. That's for other sites and board: fanboy debates over different colors of kryptonite, continuity struggles with the Vision and the Human Torch, venom for the art stylings of Rob Liefeld, etc.

Plenty of call and interest in all that...elsewhere.

Here at BtB, though, we wanted to create a space where the impact of comics is considered. What do comics do in culture? To culture? For culture?

How are comics used? Why are they used? When are(n't) they used?

Further, what affects creators? Why become a creator? Can one stop being a creator?

What do comics mean to you? What do they mean to your community (even if you're the only member of that community actually reading them)? What have they done to you? Done for you? Done after you?

How do comics operate in our economy? How do they operate in other economies? In micro-economies? In digital economies? In thought economies?

The comics page -- that hand-drawn minicomic or that mult-volume, reprinted, summer crossover event set of trade paperbacks -- is the stone dropped in the lake. At BtB, we aim to consider the lake itself and the ripples comics create, not the stone itself. It's an attempt to get beyond the gushing hero worship or the bleeding creative struggles. It's about what's not on the turning pages and, instead, what the pages are turning on.

Or off. Or away. Or toward. Whatever.

So, welcome. Start hitting the keys.

Sounds like fun. Signed up and then noticed something that always gets my goat.
"Simply, comics and graphic novels in culture..."
I would assume you mean "comic books and graphic novels" or just "comics", since, as we all know very well, graphic novels are just one type of format within the medium of comics.

[dave]

First, sorry about your goat.

Second, search engine terms aside, you're saying that "graphic novels" is redundant in the header after "comics?" Does that same argument with a site focused on "books and novels?"

you're saying that "graphic novels" is redundant in the header after "comics?" Does that same argument with a site focused on "books and novels?"

Somewhat redundant as "comics" is the term of the medium where "graphic novel" is a format within the medium. It would be like saying a site is about "music and records". While I guess there's nothing wrong with that, it does seem unnecssary and in our hobby, a tad confusing. I find that people mostly use the term graphic novel to either try and establish a certain distance from comic books or they use it incorrectly (like people asking for the new Archie MArries Veronica graphic novel). As a retailer, it's a pet peeve to see how the term has been co-opted to mean something other than it really is (though, in fairness, the term was created to misguide publishers into buying comic work so we really have no one to blame but ourselves).

And I would never use Internet search engines as a backup to any arguement

I'm sorry about your goat too.