My wee ‘ADVENTURES IN DIY GARDENING’ is the post on the blog of our lovely publisher today, in connection to the release our new book, just out:

​ THE GARDEN
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https://liminal11.com/.../05/21/adventures-in-diy-gardening/

​One of the problems with the recent Marvel movie success is that it has not helped comic book sales that much. Now i dont work for Marvel and only know a few people who do, so I have almost no inside knowledge, but from what I’ve seen they have not gone out of their way to channel the movie attention into increasing comics sales. There must have been some effort made, but I think a lot more could be done.

Off the top of my head how about these efforts?

1. They get displays of comics in cinemas, so that when people go in and come out they are encouraged to buy comics related to that movie and other Marvel comics. Have characters dressed up as the Hulk and Captain America etc doing the selling and promotion. Presumably something of that type has been done, but I’m talking about doing it 1000s of times in theatres all over the world.

2. They could have a big visually interesting announcement type clip or even mini documentary at the beginning or end of the movies saying ‘Please check out the original comic books where these characters adventures continue to…’ etc. I haven’t seen anything of that type.

3. Give a free comic with each cinema ticket. Again something like that must have been done a bit, but i mean a lot more, a big campaign.

4. With the cinema ticket give a discount coupon for next purchase of a comic on amazon, etc.

5. Get the ‘stars’ of the movie to do promotional talks, videos, events in colleges etc encouraging folk to read the comics. I have not seen anything of that type (though there may have been some).

6. To broaden the consideration even more: why not GIVE a certain percentage of the huge profits they make to the comic book industry in general? Set up a fund that any creator or company can apply for to help them make their next comic book. Just saw that the Spider man movies made 3 billion dollars. Surely 0.1% of that could go to such a fund, no? Which would already be about 10 times the grant money available for comic creators from various sources. It might mean the hugely rich funders will have a few less sports cars and private jets, though, which is of course a big loss to the world!
But just possibly worth it if 100s of creators get to have a decent living while actually making the comics you get millions from the movies versions of.
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etc… surely there is a whole load more could be done.

A good example of how Marxy boy's writing was a mix of insightful, easy to read and poetic.

'All that is solid melts into air' is a wonderfully poetic line.

'The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society. Conservation of the old modes of production in unaltered form, was, on the contrary, the first condition of existence for all earlier industrial classes. Constant revolutionising of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones. All fixed, fast-frozen relations, with their train of ancient and venerable prejudices and opinions, are swept away, all new-formed ones become antiquated before they can ossify. All that is solid melts into air …'

- The Communist Manifesto. ​