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It’s my dream that the comics industry goes the other way, and that you won’t be able to swing a dead cat in an airport for fear of hitting somebody reading the latest Seven Guys of Justice. But that sort of acceptance is going to take work, and the people best set up for that are too busy mak ing comics. It’s going to fall to the comics fans. Comics fans are gonna have to start getting militant about getting other people to read comics. "Let’s follow that up," said Brian. "Let’s assume that the fire's set, how about Five People in Comics who won't burn? Or have set fires of their own?" OK, let’s assume all the obvious ones as givens, right? Warren Ellis, Steven Grant, Paul Levitz. I’m going to go with some folks whose work you see every day, and may not know it. And these people are saving comics with every breath they draw: 3. Diamond Comics Distributors Comics Team. These poor bastards get hit like a three dollar pinata every day they go to work, and Mark Herr, Jim Kuhoric, Schaff, Leaf, Folland, and all the rest of them still work like dogs to make sure you get the comics you do. 4. Speaking of getting you comics, how about all the good retailers? The guys who run Big Planet Comics, Comicopia, Flying Colors, Titan Comics, Zanadu, Comic Relief, Dr. No’s, Atlantis Fantasyworld, Big Brain, New Dimension, and all the other world-class comics stores. Retailers literally put their money where their mouths are every month with every comic they have for sale. 5. The comic book production folks. The graphic designers, letterers, and colorists who sit staring at a Macintosh for ten hours a day, making sure you have a readable comic book. Sure, artists can’t draw until writers write, but it’s all moot if the production grunts don’t do their jobs. From the guy who lays out the page in Quark to the gal who checks the bluelines to the Teamster who loads the boxes into the shipping container… if any one per son drops the ball, you don’t get a comic to read. And I’ll bet you a dollar everyone except the Teamster is doing it because they love comics. 1. www.wizardworld.com editor Maureen McTigue. Does the Lord’s Work on the Devil’s Own Website. 2. DC Comic Marketing Guru Patty Jeres. If you see something good DC has done, Patty was in on it.

And really, when it comes right down to it, don’t we all?

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