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this week I’m mad as hell that we have comics and a waiting audience for them and there seems to be some sort of logjam in the process I can’t see.

Getting the comic books you want doesn’t have to be so hard.

I’m about to set some shit on fire.

Read Me June 22, 2001

I was trading some email with my pal Brian Scot Johnson, the owner-oper ator of www.khepri.com about an interesting new deal he’s doing. Khepri is an online comics retailer; Brian’ll get you your monthly books, sure. But he’s a big fan of trade paperbacks and original graphic novels, too, and thinks that’s where comics’ future lies.

You can see why we get along.

Anyway, he was letting me in on his latest plan, which involved getting libraries to recognize comics as a legitimate form of reading. To this end, he took out a full-color ad on the back of the July issue of a trade maga zine called Today’s Librarian. Johnson said: "Today, the comic book industry is in a state of flux, redefin ing itself with the graphic novel (or trade paperback) format. No longer willing to accept its role as the red-headed stepchild of literature and the arts, the comics industry is looking to increase its readership by compet ing for your entertainment buck. Great for people with money; not-so-great for those without. And as many would-be readers may well know, 'This ain't no library, kid' is an all-too-common (and unfortunate) mantra in most comic book specialty stores. Taking that idea, then, and turning it on its head: what if this was a library, or better yet... What If Libraries Carried Comics? That's a notion I've been kicking around for a couple of years, an idea I was able to set in motion when Today's Librarian came calling, look ing for advertisers." Brian Scot Johnson obviously loves the comics. He loves the Loose Cannon, too, and sent me a few questions to answer. They’re mostly a bunch of things I would never bring up myself, but I think the answers may be unvarnished and telling, so here they are: "One of my customers," said Brian, "likens comics (the floppies) to movies (in a theatre) and trade paperbacks to DVDs. Only the best trades and DVDs are purchased for his long-term enjoyment/collection, though he still

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