Joe Casey and Matt Fraction talk about the European comics market in the latest Basement Tapes. It turns out Casey is big in Germany. I don’t know how they can discuss this topic at length and not make a single David Hasselhoff joke.
See how easy that was?
I’ll also take undeserved credit for the plug Casey gives Dan Slott’s She-Hulk.
As usual, the column is a mix of interesting observations, probing questions, and shameless self-promotion, sometimes all at once:
Casey: “So, what does this say about us? What is it about our culture that, in some sense, “anti-promotes” this medium and its presentation to the point where a German hardcover of a piece of my work — that isn’t even available in America anymore — is just the Way Things Are?”
It’s not really similar, but I can’t help thinking about something that happened during a trip to Germany I was fortunate enough to take. My partner had designed a set for a production that was part of an exchange program with one of the regional theatres there, and I tagged along with the company and crew and got to bum around while they all worked.
As part of the itinerary, we went to one of the host theatre’s studio productions, which was neither the best nor worst play I’ve ever seen. At the end, the audience (who hadn’t reacted strongly either way during the performance) gave the cast a standing ovation that I found to be out of all proportion to the quality of the piece. Apparently, that’s just seen as common courtesy when you attend a play — stand and clap until your hands are numb.
Obviously, this was something of a revelation for the American actors. (They’re students, and their audiences generally consist of other students who have to attend to pass their 101 survey courses. These audiences generally are headed towards the doors with their cellular phones out before the lights even dim. Yes, that’s rude, and, yes, the program has set itself up for this by stacking the house with prisoners of liberal studies requirements. Moving on.)
So, during the ovation that would not end, we were standing and clapping behind two student actresses, who were soaking in the experience. One turned to the other, and, with the perfect mix of greed and indignation, hissed “Audiences should do this in our country!”