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Cannabis in comics - A turn off?
jas
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
As most of you know my strip has a smuggling of cannabis storyline. And as I approach print time I am wondering whether to gear it as:
a) A cannabis comic book for smokers and comic readers.
or
b) A comic book adventure for comic readers and smokers also.
My feedback/market research so far is that the cannabis angle/image is a turn off to many comic readers. Why this is I'm not too sure. Maybe they're cultures that unfrequently overlap, or that smoker strips have a bad rep for being bad, or they're predjudged as being about one thing once they have that association.
I'd appreciate some thoughts on this. Is a cannabis association a big turn off to your average (if there can be such a thing) reader?
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a) A cannabis comic book for smokers and comic readers.
or
b) A comic book adventure for comic readers and smokers also.
My feedback/market research so far is that the cannabis angle/image is a turn off to many comic readers. Why this is I'm not too sure. Maybe they're cultures that unfrequently overlap, or that smoker strips have a bad rep for being bad, or they're predjudged as being about one thing once they have that association.
I'd appreciate some thoughts on this. Is a cannabis association a big turn off to your average (if there can be such a thing) reader?
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jas on
0
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I'll be honest, drug culture in comics is kind of a turn off for me. I consider myself the average reader. I spend roughly $50 to $100 a month on books, and I run the gamut of mainly marvel hero titles, with some image and dark horse, and a few indie titles. I don't mind books that feature drug use, nudity, excessive violence, or all of the above, but I like them to be labelled as such so I know what I'm getting into.
One of my favorite new books over the last year has been bomb queen, and another one is freshman. Both of them feature crude sexual humor and drug use, and both of them let you know, on the cover, what you're getting into.
Do your comic the way that makes you happy, but I would tag it as a) a cannibis comic
Also, I like what I've seen so far of it.
I'm not a big fan of pothead culture, and a comic that focuses on it is probably a mild turn-off for me. That said, good writing and art can transcend that for me.
I think you should label your comic as what it is, to a specific crowd, because comics, in my opinion, as a whole, appeal to a younger crowd, and while there's nothing wrong with your comic at all, it doesn't need to wind up on their shelves because of a selling keyword placement, that's all
Who am I? - I'm Jas from England, I've been here on and off, I draw Smuggling Vacation a strip I'm preparing to print but which I'm serialising at http://www.smugglingvacation.co.uk - now preparing the cover and the like and so who and where I am aiming the strip at is now something I need to think about and discuss with those who know more than I. ;-)
I like that they scrapped the comics code in favor of a rating system. So far I haven't seen anything that's not young teen or tween friendly in a mainstream, the more adult themed stuff is labeled, and the marvel adventures younger reader line is awesome.
Ah. Well then.
Best of luck to you.
That's pretty much it in a way. The cannabis is a hook to a lot more I think. I hope that weed smokers 'll see it as getting away for the stereotpical stuff seen to date and have something very human, very criminal and that reflects british culture in a way they can recognise and enjoy. Smoking weed now and then is part of that culture now.
My reservations though are more towards comic readers who carry similar predjudices based on what they've read before and won't give it a look. I am hoping the comic reader who reads about ilegal violent acts and even murder, is in 2008 likely to be less bothered by cannabis and smuggling being a central part to a comic book and will understand that it won't be all its it about just as other comic books aren't just about violence and murder.