Tragedies (Real and Imagined)

I’ll be the first to admit I know little about Amy Winehouse, other than her smoky, jazz-hued singing voice has won her big record sales, critical attention, and a loyal fan base. Well, that and a reputation—confirmed by Winehouse’s own family—for rampant drug and alcohol use that would make the late Hunter Thompson take notice while en route to his next line of coke.

But this morning, Yahoo posted a story on a recent Birmingham (UK) show by Winehouse which local music critic Andy Coleman called “the saddest night of my life.”

Click here for the gory details, but the short version says Winehouse arrived on-stage both late and hammered, then stumbled through a brief set list as her paid audience of 13,000 began leaving in droves. Then left over then began booing Winehouse’s altered-state performance, prompting her to threaten to sic her husband (currently in jail on battery charges) on the offenders.

Although everyone likes a bit of Schauenfreude now and then, for one who wrote a hit song (“Rehab”) about her refusal to get herself cleaned up, it seems Amy Winehouse is determined to catch a chemical express train to the Great Beyond a la Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin.

Personally, I hope not.

For one as musically gifted as Winehouse allegedly is, it would seem idiotic to trade one’s life for a drug habit – not that this rationalization ever stopped other genuine talents from flaming out so early in life.

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Also, as some of you may have heard, Marvel Comics recently stated its intention to post online versions of its product to draw new readers into the market.

Is it worth it, much less sound business sense? I’m not sure.

For one thing, I don’t buy Marvel’s anxieties that online media is pushing their business into extinction, especially when kids have series like Harry Potter turning them into page-devouring machines. Yes, Potter novels are not comics, but they are derived from the same basic animal (print fantasy fiction). Secondly, manga books are extremely popular with young readers today – as evidenced by a visit I made to a local Borders last weekend where I found its manga aisle jammed with teens.

As such, comic-style storytelling as a medium seems stronger than ever.

However, I do agree with some that a big change in patronage is due between Generation X and Y comic buyers and the current one, as evidenced by the fact that the only young kids I see at my FNCS are those tagging along with their comic-buying parents. Yet I don’t believe this possible drop-off in readership will be fatal to the comic publishing world—meaning all publishers, not just Marvel—which is too busy flogging their latest dead horse (i.e. zombies, Hollywood movie deals) to make long-term business plans anyhow.

If anything, the comics market (near-unrecognizable versus 30 years ago) will continue to morph into whatever readership demands.

And even if Marvel continues to fret over its inability to follow these adjustments—and pushing weak story arcs meant to evoke pathos over Aunt May languishing in ICU just ain’t cutting it; I’m looking in your direction, Joe Quesada—I think we’ll all still find new stuff to read most Wednesdays anyhow.