Percy Carey: Comic Industry Guru John Mayo

[Each Wednesday, Complex columnist Percy Carey a.k.a. MF Grimm dives into the world of comic books with industry interviews, reviews and more. This week, he kicks off his "Strictly Business" Q&A series, where he will be interviewing executives, retail employees and anyone else involved in the business of comics.]

John Mayo, the founder of Comic Book Page, is a hard hitting number cruncher and considered the analytical comic book version of Warren Buffet. He’s also one of the few professionals in comic book industry that still has professional journalistic intergrity. John Mayo is a man who I have the utmost respect for and trust his perspective and am honered to have an opportunity to interview him. Not just for my personal satisfaction, but I’m thankful to be in a position to assist the Complex readers who want to write, create, market, sell, and distribute comic books but didn’t know how to get started. I feel good introducing a new audience to a very humble and honorable man. If you want to make it in the comic book industry, then you better listen to John Mayo…I know I do, and look where it got me…cough *Eisner nomination* cough…

Percy Carey: Tell us a little bit about yourself. Where were you born and when did you know you wanted to be in comic book industry?

John Mayo: I was born in Virginia and my family moved to San Diego when I was seven. Growing up in San Diego had a huge influence on my love of comic books. Not only did San Diego have some great comic book shops but there was also the annual San Diego Comic-Con. My Dad first took me to Comic-Con once in the late 1970s back when it fit in the basement of one of the hotels downtown. I started going to the Comic-Con ever year in the early 1980s and have only missed one since. I think I’ve always known that I’ve wanted to be in the comic book industry.

Percy Carey: Please tell the readers about the Comic Book Page. What gave you the idea to create it?

John Mayo: The Comic Book Page is my website and podcast. The website started back in late 2001 and it was a place for me to post on the web about my interest in comics. Initially, it was a replacement for my personal website and a place for me to learn more about web programming.

One of the main features of the site early one were my reports on Comic-Con. The ones for 2001 and 2002 featured the thousands of photos I took at the convention. Of course, back then, I was younger and more energetic and Comic-Con was also a lot smaller back then. I was able to take photos of nearly every booth and post them on my website. I only did that for a few years as it was fairly time intensive both during the convention and afterwards. Doing that level of photo coverage of Comic-Con these days would be much more challenging.

Another feature that the site is known for is the comic book sales estimates. I got interested in how comics sold back when I worked at a comic book store in San Diego as a kid. Occasionally, I worked in the store while the owner of the store put together the order and he walked me through the process. Keep in mind that this was back when the level of technology readily available to comic book store owners pretty much consisted of a handheld calculator and a pencil. It was a very educational experience and one that I really enjoyed. Tracking comic book sales is something that I enjoy doing and helps me to understand why publishers and creators are doing things that might otherwise seem incomprehensible.

The most recent key addition to the site is the podcast. I had been doing guest segments on a few other podcasts start back in January 2006, and that grew into me starting my own podcast in January 2007. Initially, much like the website, it was just a place to experiment with the technology and put my thoughts out for others to hear.

I took on a co-host, Bob Bretall, in August and the podcast really started to turn into something cool at that point. Bob and I both read well over 100 new comics a month, actually closer to 150 or more these days, and we love talking about comics. Each week we discuss at least three comics on the Weekly Comics Spotlight on the Monday episode. We always pick one from DC, one from Marvel and some other comic to ensure that we cover a good cross-section of what is being published. Our other two episodes a week cover things from the sales estimates on the Mayo Report episodes. We also try to discuss older comics in our Back Issue Spotlight episodes and upcoming comics in our Previews Spotlight and Previews Spotlight Interviews episodes. All in all, I’d say it is the podcast that is the main draw on the site these days.

Percy Carey: What is the most common feedback you receive from the supporters of the Comic Book Page?

John Mayo: Most of the feedback for the site centers on the podcast. We’ve gotten a lot of great suggestions for what comics to cover on the Weekly Comics Spotlight and Back Issue Spotlight episodes. But the feedback I enjoy the most is when a listener thanks us for recommending a comic that they then got and enjoyed. The whole point of the podcast is for Bob and I to share our enjoyment of comics with other and based on the feedback we
are getting, we seem to be succeeding in that.

Percy Carey: What are your views on the current state of comic books?

John Mayo: On a creative level, this is one of the best times to be reading comics. There are great comics coming out from most publishers these days and if you can’t find a comic book to enjoy, then you aren’t looking hard enough as there is something out there for everybody. Part of what Bob and I are trying to do on the podcast is match people up with the right titles for them.

On a sales level, while the aggregate sales for the top 300 comics gives the illusion that comics are selling well, the unfortunate reality is that most individual titles are dropping in sales. Comics used to have “Event” titles that were kind of like sweeps week for television. The publishers would pull out all the stops and really wow the readers. As a result, these things would sell great. Now imagine if every week was sweeps week on television. That is the state comics are in now. It is “Event” after “Event” after “Event” and while they are entertaining, they stop being special when they happen all the time.

WE INTERRUPT THIS INTERVIEW FOR A SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM PERCY CAREY:

We all know how well the Dark Knight did at the box office, so I have a question how can a comic book company create a comic bigger than Batman?

I personally feel there needs to be more micromanagement involved at some comic publishing companies, stores, agents, and I’m not talking about creator control situations, I’m talking about the hired employees that do not care about the best interest of the brand itself, no matter the department, everyone should have the same agenda when representing the brand and the characters. When a company no longer cares about the actual character or no longer cares who writes the story for that character (and lately a few writers have stated how they didn’t really don’t follow or care for the characters they’re currently writing for ) that spells trouble to me.

I have been going out and listening to the people'yes the actual people who take their hard earned money to go out and buy your product. With the combination of blatant disrespect for the comic book character, marketing teams with no clue on how to do marketing or care to do their job, publicists that are too busy promoting themselves and not the actual writer and illustrators (when their job is to SELL the actual comic not just say they have read it), how can you expect people to continue to support your product when the company doesn’t care about the product, only it’s own ego? Since the beginning of time, the ego has been the reason that greater empires than comic book companies have crumbled, so why would the result be any different now ?

Oh, I didn’t forget you “oh, look at me I make comics because I’m cool, and not for the money” guys. You guys crack me up the most, and when you’re attached to a project, you’re one of the biggest reasons for lack of success at the retail sector. I’m personally calling for a clean up and to tell all companies to get rid of all employees (from President all the way down to the janitor) that don’t care about the success of your brand, and care even less about your consumer, because ten out of ten times they don’t care about you either. And to all companies, if you don’t have the courage to man up and fire whoever needs to be fired, then look just call me, I’ll will do it for you, and I won’t discriminate. I will fire an employee at a independent publishing company the same way I’ll fire one at a major publishing company.

I thought some of you comic book guys didn’t like to make money, but now I realize that is not the case, you’re just allergic to money and it’s not your fault. Money Money Money that’s all he talks about? (you’re damn right!). For those who work in the industry and take their job seriously, please continue the outstanding service. But to the ones who take the comic book industry as a joke…this is the 4th quarter 2008 and some of you won’t be around when 1st quarter 2009 comes around, so I’ll say my goodbyes to all of you now in advance. I’ve been blessed to be around some energetic students who you guys will be working for in the future, and maybe if you pay attention to this interview with John Mayo, they just might decide not to fire your sorry asses. Good luck on the new job search.

P.S.: I think they’re hiring at Virgin Comics.

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