Chris Butcher reports on an interesting case of Diamond’s sudden outbreak of “quality control”:
Shirtlifter #1 is the recipient of the first-ever Prism Comics Queer Press Grant, designed to ease the publication of queer comics (that’s gay/lesbian/bi/trans, not just ‘odd’ by the way…). It’s a great idea and having read Shirtlifter #1, the award was obviously well-deserved.
So what do you think a representative of Diamond Comics Distributors, the primary distributor of comics in North America (and let’s call him Mr. Diamond for short), said when the book was submitted to him for distribution?
”The writing is not yet up to the standards of the comic book industry,” apparently.
Huh. Because the plot, an examination of contemporary gay relationships set against the backdrop of Japanese culture and a stage-performance of the classic kept-woman play ‘Madame Bovary’, was actually very good. The dialogue, moving from bored housewives at a business function to cliques of gay men at a club to the strained conversations of a relationship in trouble, it really resonated with me and rang true. Even the silences were particularly well chosen. So, no Mr. Diamond, I don’t think the writing had anything at all to do with why you decided not to carry Shirtlifter in your catalogue.
(Link is probably not worksafe, by the way.)
At the end of the post, he adds “The easiest answer is really just a lack of taste on the Diamond reviewer’s part, particularly as notable books like House of Sugar and the entire output from Picturebox have recently been denied. But I find the whole situation so particularly galling that I’ve decided to leave the causality up to my readership to decide for themselves.” Now, I’ve not read Shirtlifter, but I have read some of the other things that Diamond thinks meets the standards of the comic book industry, and… well. As Chris said, if Tarot can make it, then I can’t see why this can’t.
November 15th, 2006 at 12:18 pm
“Now, I’ve not read Shirtlifter, but I have read some of the other things that Diamond thinks meets the standards of the comic book industry…”
In that light, I love what Shirtlifters’ creator said on his blog in response to the Diamond reviewer’s rationale: “(It’s) odd, in the sense that I didn’t know that the comic book industry had any standards.”
I love it because it’s true.
November 15th, 2006 at 1:03 pm
That IS true…
November 15th, 2006 at 8:26 pm
I have read Shirtlifter. It’s not exactly earth-shaking literature, but it’s not at all bad. And I’m not even gay, I just appreciate an interesting story. Diamond carrys a great deal of comics that IMO aren’t nearly as good.