by Roger Ash

Recently, my friends Jeff, Kirsten, and I went to see comedian Patton Oswalt here in Madison, WI. Since seating was general admission, we decided to get to the venue early (about an hour and a half prior to the doors opening) so we could get good seats. This paid off as there were only six people in line in front of us. When the doors opened, I made a beeline to the front row in spite of Kirsten calling “Are you serious?” in back of me. My opinion was if we waited in line that long, we were going for the best seats possible. We ended up front row center.

Patton Oswalt

The show was fantastic with opener Kyle Kinane and Patton both being devastatingly funny. Things took an interesting turn when, after he had finished a story, Patton looked directly at me and said something like, “You look like every animator. And I don’t mean anything bad by that.” Since I love animation, I knew exactly what he meant. I’ve seen many interviews with guys like Pixar’s John Lasseter or Disney animator Eric Goldberg, and with my beard and Hawaiian shirt, I’d fit right in. That led to him asking me a couple questions, including “What do you do?” “I work for a mail-order comic book retailer,” I replied. He smiled and said, “Of course you do.”

Treehouse of Horror

I know, at least in part, why he smiled. In case you aren’t aware, Patton Oswalt is a big comics fan. He’s even written some comic stories including the recent Serenity: Float Out (which is excellent),  JLA: Welcome to the Working Week (which DC really needs to get back in print), and a Bart Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror story. He’s also written the introduction to the Justice League of America: Lightning Saga collection. I gave him a topic he knew well and could work with. And he knocked it out of the park. He riffed for around five minutes – with the occasional question to me – on comics, fandom, and nerd culture. He did an angry fanboy rant that was letter perfect and absolutely hilarious. The people around me were loving it as well, and I was surprised to see that the bit even made it into a review of the show.

Last Christmas

This encounter got me to wondering how many of Patton’s fans know about his work in comics. I’m betting there are a number who don’t, and that’s a shame because it’s good stuff. Or to widen the pictures, how many people realize that there are a number of famous comic fans, some of whom have written comics, including (deep breath) stand-up comedian Brian Posehn (Last Christmas), actor Thomas Jane (Bad Planet), novelists Stephen King (American Vampire) and Alex & Janet Evanovich (Troublemaker), SNL’s Seth Meyers & Bill Hader (Spider-Man: The Short Halloween), Go-Go Jane Wiedlin (Lady Robotika), Parks and Recreations’ Rashida Jones (Frenemy of the State), writer/director Kevin Smith (Batman: Widening Gyre, Daredevil: Guardian Devil), actors Samuel L. Jackson (Cold Space) and Rosario Dawson (Occult Crimes Taskforce), musicians Tori Amos (Comic Book Tattoo) and Gerard Way (Umbrella Academy), Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon (Buffy, Astonishing X-Men), the Green Bay Packers’ Ahman Green, G4 and the Daily Show’s Olivia Munn, wrestler Jerry “The King” Lawler, directors Guillermo Del Toro, Sam Raimi, Bryan Singer, and Christopher Nolan, actors Bruce Campbell, Nicolas Cage, Mark Hamill, Bill Mumy, Lynda Carter, and Miguel Ferrer, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, and activist Gloria Steinem? Oh yeah, and the President of the United States, Barack Obama. And that’s just scratching the surface. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was some way we could promote the fact that there are famous people who enjoy – and sometimes write – comics to those outside the comics community? Maybe even get fans of these people into comic shops?

Dark Horse "I Love Comics" ad

I know I’m not the first person to recommend this, but wouldn’t it be great if comics had a marketing campaign like the milk moustache ads to promote comics? Dark Horse Comics has been doing some “I Love Comics” ads in their comics recently that demonstrate exactly what I’m talking about. If you’ve never seen one, they are full page ads featuring a black and white photo of someone, usually a comics creator, with “I Love Comics” written in red across the center of the photo (or “We Love Comics” if there’s more than one person). It’s very simple, very elegant, and very effective. Wouldn’t it be cool to see an ad promoting comics starring Samuel L. Jackson in the pages of Entertainment Weekly? Or an ad with Tori Amos in Rolling Stone? Or an ad with Jerry Lawler in Sports Illustrated? The tricky part in all of this would be to get publishers to set aside their differences and do something that wouldn’t promote their own comics but comics in general. It’s no secret that comic sales have fallen over the years. Something like this could give comics a much-needed jump start. And if you don’t think this would work, I ask you to consider why celebrities are often used in commercials. We want to eat, drink, drive, or read what our favorite celebrities eat, drink, drive and read. When a book is selected as part of Oprah’s Book Club, sales skyrocket. Why not use some of this star power to promote comics?

American Vampire

But until a Comics Marketing Board exists, it’s up to us – the comics fans – to spread the word. Know someone who likes Stephen King’s novels? Make sure they know about his work in American Vampire or Marvel’s Dark Tower books. Have a friend who’s infatuated with Rashida Jones? Tell them about Frememy of the State. Save up a few bucks and buy a comic for a friend you think they might enjoy. There are lots of small things you can do to help promote comics. It may not seem like much, but we have to start somewhere. After all, as the old Lao Tzu quote says, “A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”

Now, go read a comic!

Roger would like to point out that Patton Oswalt is performing in San Diego this Friday at the House of Blues. If you’re out that way for Comic Con, this would be a perfect capper for the day.