Imagine sitting at that table on the first Thanksgiving in 1621. Do you think there was any tension? Pilgrims sat across from the Native American, Wampanoag people and celebrated their first successful harvest together. The Pilgrims were strangers in a strange land and relied heavily on the support given to them by the natives. Their survival depended on their ability to embrace the differences of the two cultures. In the end, their successful harvest was as simple as people helping people despite their differences.
Life in America has changed a lot in the 391 years since that first Thanksgiving and is undoubtedly much more complicated. The hostile tensions that have risen in the wake of our recent presidential election are a sign that we desperately need to sit at our Thanksgiving tables again this year with a willingness to reach out and embrace our differences again.
This is much easier to do when there is a sense of community, when we have a feeling of responsibility toward our neighbor, when we all realize that we re in this together. Big corporations and big government have made us all feel like a number on a ledger sheet that matters little. When big companies like Walmart, Papa Johns and Denny’s threaten or impose layoffs as retaliation to the Affordable Health Care for America Act, Americans need to do what we have done since before that first Thanksgiving and turn to our neighbors for support. Little guys helping each other will be what pulls this country out of the economic mess we are in today.
What does any of this have to do with comics?!
The direction of the comic market has been dictated by big companies for generations. We have all grown up enjoying the adventures of too few iconic characters. In most cases the creators of these characters have been stripped of ownership of their creations by “traditional” business practices in the comics industry. These properties today are worth billions of dollars and their trademarks permeate our culture. They have a grip on our attention and our wallets that offers the corporations that own them the confidence to do whatever they feel to elevate the bottom line.
Comics as a medium, however, has infected our culture. More people create comics now than ever before in history. There is more talent, more diversity and more product than could ever have been imagined. Too much to presumably generate secure careers for the sea of talented practitioners. Too much to be channeled through a few giant corporations who are unwilling to recognize, produce and promote the vast variety of material available.
Are there too many independent “little guys?”
Comic creators shouldn’t have to struggle, especially now that there are so many. There is power in those numbers. They need to realize their strength as a community and work with each other to raise awareness of their work and its value. They need to join forces when combatting injustice regarding their creations. The comic creating community needs to work together to reach a wider audience rather than wait for one of the few major corporations to do it for them or to rely on a single brave sole to venture forth with limited resources.
This Thanksgiving, as you sit at the table give thanks for all the other comic creators that have chosen this vocation, for each is a member of a unique community that only we can fully appreciate. Think of each member in this community as a neighbor that is as dependent as you are on the embrace of the entire comics community. Support your comic neighbors especially those that are pressing the boundaries of the medium and creating something different than what you have grown accustomed to. Broaden your tastes and experiences. Broaden the market. If we can all work together, starting simply by supporting each other, we can hope and expect a bountiful harvest of success as comic creators in the future.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Gerry Giovinco
