Comic Book Editor Exposes Pros Who Want To Destroy Local Comic Shops

Following up on that comic book store owner going viral, now a comic book editor takes to Twitter to expose that comic book pros hate and are trying to destroy comic book shops and the direct market.

Valerie D’Orazio who has worked at the Big Two, DC and Marvel Comics, tweeted in length that, “The goal of a number of comics industry/media professionals has been, for a while, to see the Direct Market finally collapse, making bookstores & libraries the main places to carry comic book material.”

Mark Millar also chimed in and said, “Valerie is a former editor at DC (as well as MTV) and always has amazing insights into the comic book world. Have a read…”

D’Orazio continues and says there is a “class bias” against comic book stores and that “this reflects a longstanding ’embarrassment’ on the part of some comic industry pros.” She continues and says they refer to comic book owners as “‘low class’ uncouth proletariat barbarians” and feel these pros are superior to the “nerds” as they feel they are the “cool” comic book fans.

D’Orazio also says the pro care little about the comics and hope their comics get picked up by Hollywood.

“The hope [is] that the rights get purchased for TV/movies/etc…which these days is LARGELY the *direct* goal of an increasing # of comic creators, ‘comic as literally glorified storyboard/pitch/proposal’ rather than an entity that exists on its own merit as a comic book for an audience to be cultivated,” she says.

Read Valerie D’Orazio’s entire statement below:

The goal of a number of comics industry/media professionals has been, for a while, to see the Direct Market finally collapse, making bookstores & libraries the main places to carry comic book material. They want this to take place for several reasons:

1) From a business perspective, it is much more likely for bookstores and libraries to purchase & support the specific material they produce. And the drive for “numbers” & profits aren’t so much of an immediate issue as with the Direct Market space; rather, the graphic novels & such are treated more like a rarified entity in the “book” space, more like “beautiful ideas” that just exist on their own “merit” & are buoyed by PR. (And then of course the hope that the rights get purchased for TV/movies/etc…which these days is LARGELY the *direct* goal of an increasing # of comic creators, “comic as literally glorified storyboard/pitch/proposal” rather than an entity that exists on its own merit as a comic book for an audience to be cultivated.)

2) There is a “class bias” against Direct Market comic book stores, in favor of the more “dignified” bookstore & library scenario. This reflects a longstanding “embarrassment” on the part of some comic industry professionals & “scholars” regarding Ye Local Comic Shoppes, which they often (mostly in private) cast as being run & patronized by “low class” uncouth proletariat barbarians (the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons is *often* invoked). Part of the reason they feel this way is their *own* insecurities (because, of course, they are the “cool” comic fans, they’re not *gasp* nerds *themselves*). And another part of the reason they feel this way is because they are, to a degree, *snobs*. But (because of course they *can’t* be snobs, because they’re SO egalitarian & enlightened) they will often, especially in public, cast these “great unwashed” comic reading masses as mostly woman-hating close-minded Trump supporters. (Trump, by the way, was one of the BEST things that *ever* happened to this Comics Elite…he was their “Ozymandias Giant Squid.”)

I don’t have a horse to run in this whole debate, I have nothing to “sell” you–no comics, no “pitches,” na-da (not anymore). I’m just telling you this because IT IS THE WAY IT IS. And honestly, these people *may* succeed in seeing the demise of the Direct Market; and if you point-blank ask them about it they will be the *first* to tell you that nothing would give them more joy. Even though…the heart of what made this comic book lore/canon/mythology so rich & vast in the 70s & 80s WAS linked with the fan/comic book shop matrix, a place where fans shared ideas, met other fans in person, and then took that energy & magic to the conventions. And the local comic store has been, especially in many small towns, working-class areas, etc., this traditional hub for the young people who had an inherent interest in fantasy art & literature to discover these characters for the first time, and build little communities of fans on their own.

But what do *I* know? Why even speak? I’ve only been watching this sh*t go on–sometimes in the most personal/direct way possible, talking at length to some of the comic industry peeps themselves–for over 20 years. But you know…I’m not a *fancy* fan. I’m not an *elegant* comics fan or pro or whathaveyou. I come from a very working-class background. Went to a city college. And have spent a great deal of my life, since early childhood, going to the local comic book store to purchase the adventures of the heroes that shaped my life.

Related: Mark Millar also spoke with comic book retailers who confirmed a Marvel and DC Comics downturn and explained how relaunches hurt the business.

Mark Waid also posted a bizarre response and attacked Millar.

The goal of a number of comics industry/media professionals has been, for a while, to see the Direct Market finally collapse, making bookstores & libraries the main places to carry comic book material. They want this to take place for several reasons:

1) From a business…

— Valerie D’Orazio (@TheVallyD) December 12, 2023

…and for that *one* comics industry peep who read this & knew me & was *horrified* that I would dare suggest they were a Snob…you were the BIGGEST snob of all! pic.twitter.com/cQVg2naUop

— Valerie D’Orazio (@TheVallyD) December 12, 2023