When I asked readers for questions for a 10^th anniversary edition of my Mailbag Q&A, I never expected this. What a slate you all gave me! Now, nearly 9,000 words later, here we are with a monster edition of this Mailbag. It’s a lot, so let’s get straight into it.

David, sometimes I am too tired to even read comics. How have you kept reading, writing and interviews up for so long? Your commitment to the site and discussion has been inspirational! – Greg Peterson

It’s a great question, and the truth is, it’s been hard. I answered a question about this subject — roughly speaking — in the back of SKTCHD BOOK 2024, and in it, I shared how I’ve almost quit multiple times. I even did quit once. But two things opened the door of making it more sustainable. One was actually finding a way to make money from SKTCHD and Off Panel, which makes a huge difference for me. It makes it feel explicable to others and myself, in the sense that I can say, “All this time and effort and money I put in is getting me something tangible back.”

The other important thing I started to do is I began to allow myself breaks. If I have to take a week off, I take a week off. If I have to take a month off, I take a month off. That was my wife’s idea one time I was moaning about quitting, and she proved once again that she is smarter than me. Sometimes I do get burned out and I cannot keep up, so I give myself grace and time.

Beyond those two things, it really just comes down to this: I still really enjoy it. I’m a curious person, I like doing the work, and I’ve met a ton of great people because of it. It’s also dramatically expanded my world, reading-wise, which is a wonderful thing. I wouldn’t be doing it if I didn’t love it, and 10 years later, I still do.

What are your current publisher power rankings? Top 5 or 10 or whatever you think you can manage. This can be based on how you feel about their creative output, how they fit in the industry or some combination. I’ll leave it to you to interpret. – Scott Haselwood

I’m going to judge this in the same way I judge streaming services: based on how consistently good and appealing releases are relative to the number of releases they have. That’s how I ended up in a place where I believe wholeheartedly that Apple TV+ is the best streaming service. It’s all killer, no filler. So, here’s a quick top five for you, but in no particular order:

• Viz Media: I have yet to read a Viz release I have not liked, although I say that as a person who has a very curated approach to manga.
• First Second: They’re incredible at what they do, and getting even better at it if you factor in 23^rd Street as part of it (which is a cheat but I do not care).
• DC Comics: Undeniably at a high point, and they’ve been continuing to deliver in major and surprising ways.
• Image Comics: This stretch does not necessarily meet their apex, but Image has quietly been on a hot streak of late.
• ShortBox Comics Fair: Not a publisher! But not not a publisher! This Fair that hits every October is my #1 resource for new and exciting comics, so I am counting it.

What are your top 5 (or top 10) favorite anniversary issues in comics? (#25, #50, #100, #200, etc.) – Ross Binder

The first and most obvious pick for me is X-Men Vol. 2 #25. That is one of the most important comics from my entire life, and its events haunt me to this day. That leads into my second pick, which is Wolverine #75, the issue that followed X-Men #25. This isn’t a pick for what’s inside, but Uncanny X-Men #300 is up there for me simply because I was obsessed with its shiny X-filled holofoil cover. Superman #75 because The Death of Superman was a massive moment for me as a reader. Lastly, I’ll go with Fantastic Four #600, which is one of my favorite issues of Jonathan Hickman’s run and one that had an all-time great moment.

It’s interesting and predictable and sad that there were very few recent options that stood out. Part of that is the appeal of these comics often stems from the time those moments meant the most to us as readers, but it’s also because ongoings just don’t go for that long anymore and when they do, publishers don’t make those issues feel as special as they once did. Like, Immortal Hulk #25 and #50 are better comics than everything above besides FF #600, at least in my mind, but they felt like regular-ish issues rather than special productions. Publishers need to amp up the excitement of anniversary issues again! It needs to be a thing!

I’ve heard you talk about your love of Stilt-Man on the podcast many times and I’m curious, what is your origin story of loving this character? When/where did you first encounter Stilt-Man? Is there a particular appearance or run that endeared Stilt-Man to you? Do you have a favorite artist or writer that has left their mark on the character? Is there an issue/run that you would recommend for someone new to Stilt-Man? – Bruno Tapia

Bruno, I have no clue. I wish I had a good story for this one. I honestly don’t even remember if it started as a serious thing. I always knew and liked Stilt-Man, but then I think it started becoming a bit to some degree about how much I loved him, and then it became a real thing. The first place I came across the character though was almost certainly some Spider-Man or Daredevil comic from the 1990s, and it wasn’t an epiphany that led to my love as much as it was a slow build, “Will they or won’t they?” type of thing. They would in my case.

Here are my three favorite appearances of or runs featuring Stilt-Man in no particular order:

• Daredevil Vol. 3 #22, which features the greatest moment of Stilt-Man’s life, where Daredevil thinks the words, “Thank god for Stilt-Man.” What a high-end appearance, too! A respectful showcase by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee, and Javier Rodriguez. How lucky are we!
• Chip Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto’s run on Daredevil, which is a very pro-Stilt-Man, not-a-joke Stilt-Man showcase despite the fact that Chip one time said on Off Panel (I believe) that the problem with the character is he has no legs. Ouch.
• Amazing Spider-Man #237, aka the issue where Stilt-Man straight up whips Spider-Man’s ass, saves his life, and then strolls off as the police try to take him out. Good luck, coppers!

If I had to pick a favorite creator related to Stilt-Man, it’s probably Samnee, even though there was just the one appearance. But what an appearance! Shouts to Wally Wood, though, the king who co-created the character and delivered magic in his first appearance all the way back in Daredevil #8.

Oh, and if you’d like a deep dive into all this, my piece that’s a graphical analysis of the character is a great one. I still love it.

As a marketing professional, do you think comics in general are appropriately managing the 4 Ps of marketing (Product, Price, Place, and Promotion)? – Zachary Jenkins

I am so mad at you for making me think of the four Ps of Marketing, something I have not considered for probably 20 years. That’s one of those things like SWOT analysis that is a crucial touchstone in business school but almost never considered in my life as a marketing professional.

I’m not going to go so far into this, because this could be a college paper, but I’m going to go with the highly technical answer of “it does alright.” Many industries would kill to have its answers to “Place,” as who wouldn’t want a dedicated marketplace almost solely designed to sell your material, and the book market is thriving as well. The digital side of “Place” is a wasteland, but it’s a smaller fish (that should be bigger) so I am going to call this a positive.

The others are much more dubious. “Promotion” is inarguably the worst part of the four. Advertising is nearly non-existent, public relations is mostly oriented on very niche websites, podcasts, and YouTube channels, and the vast majority of resources are dedicated towards selling to comic shops and bookstores with little emphasis on the end customer. While that makes sense from a moneymaking standpoint for publishers, it obviously comes with its own problems.

“Product” is a mixed bag. It is a strength in the sense that there are some highly desirable items in the mix, and ones that are aimed at a variety of audiences. But the formats are all over the place, the industry is resistant of upsetting the single-issue applecart, products are created to encourage multiple purchases of the same thing because of that, and little is done to speak to different audiences with the product lines. And because everyone needs to keep raising revenues, the solution has become “more,” something that has proven detrimental to the survival rate of individual titles. The recent format boom is a step in the right direction, but a lot more could be done on this side of things. Fear of losing the past affects the present in a real way when it comes to “Product.” There should be more evolution and diversity here.

And “Product” influences “Price” in a real way. No one wants to shift the focus from single-issues so prices keep increasing to the point the cost-benefit analysis gets a little iffy. Just think of the value propositions of the varying product price points. $9.99 gets you a manga volume or the entirety of Crisis on Infinite Earths, or maybe it gets you one single-issue comic. What in the world?! While I think the downside of the “Price” P is overrated — I truly think every single issue could switch to $4.99 today without meaningfully impacting ordering/in-store sales — that the comic industry continues to test its customers by upping the ante is perhaps not ideal. There are tradeoffs there. I want everyone to be paid what they deserve. But the right answer ranges dramatically depending on the stakeholder when it comes to “Price.”

So, back to my original answer: The comic industry does alright. There are pros and cons, plusses and minuses. Probably more minuses than plusses, to be honest. But given how other markets and mediums have done, its survival suggests that we might underrate its solutions to the four Ps and overstate how bad it is at it. I suspect you would disagree, though.