Every genre of music has it’s clichéd messages- things that, for whatever reason, are staple themes of that type of music. While it’s an oversimplification to say that ALL Classic Rock is about “rebellion,” all Soul music is about “love,” and all Rap music is about the “Benjamins,” there is a reason that an outsider to those musical cultures may think so. That is why when I spoke to a couple of kids who were skateboarding to Iron Maiden the other day, I was told that all Heavy Metal was “the same.” I began conversing with these kids not because I am overtly “friendly”- They were skating all around my car in the parking lot of CVS, and I thought that if I started speaking with them, they would leave rather than have a conversation with an adult. My plan half worked- 2 of the 3 kids skated off without so much as a peep, but the other one decided to tell me why Iron Maiden was suddenly “cool” again. “Heavy Metal,” he said, “is cool because it’s all the same…”

It’s not that this kid thought it all SOUNDED the same… He told me that it all had the same message. What “message” was he getting from Heavy Metal that he liked?

“Never give up,” I was told, “Never… ever… ever.”

Today’s Lesson in Failure is: Know When Enough Is Enough.

Why, you may ask, does Heavy Metal music scream the battle cry of, “Never Give Up?” Part of that may be the fiery trappings of Mythology that so many Heavy Metal bands use as part of their persona. In all the medieval Heroic stories that form the basis for the cover of many a Metal album, there was always that point of surrender that the Hero had to push past to prove himself…

On the other hand, just as many Metal songs are about not giving up on Metal itself as they are metaphors for something greater.

The boss says, “Cut your hair!”

“Never Give Up!”

The Priest at your brother’s wedding says, “It’s not safe OR appropriate to wear a pentagram covered codpiece that wizzes fire inside a church!”

“Never Give Up!”

The wife says, “A 350 lbs. man in his 50’s shouldn’t wear purple spandex in public!”

“NEVER GIVE UP!”

We can all chuckle at the above scenarios- unless you set fire to the church with your flaming codpiece, then it’s not funny…

But in any case, I think you get the point- to say that someone should NEVER give up isn’t always the best idea. Knowing when you should struggle defiantly and when you should make a change or move on to something else is a very important Skill- in both Comics and in real life.

Now, when I say “Make a Change,” it could very obviously mean one of two things- moving on from a specific project to do something else, and leaving comics all together to explore other pursuits. Everyone who has done the Indy Comics grind for any length of time has thought about the latter- throwing in the towel and planting a garden or something and never drawing or writing again. Those of us who are still here, however, have come to terms with the fact that making funny books are in our marrow. We have to make comics, and that is just that…

Some of us may change our way of working, though, such as focusing on writing or penciling or coloring instead of doing everything, but most people who stay in comics over a long period think about quitting at least occasionally. For the purpose of discussion today, however, I want to talk about when you should stop doing one thing in comics and move on to something else.

At what point, you may ask, should I “Make a Change” when it comes to Indy Comics? While I can’t specifically tell you what to do in a case by case manner, I can give you a couple of questions to ask yourself which may help you make the right decision yourself.

First of all, you need to ask yourself if you are thinking about moving on because of laziness or ADD, and not something based on the work itself. The reason that I say you should ask yourself THAT question first is that if you are too lazy or lack focus to finish what you started in comics, then you really need to consider if you are cut out to do comics at all. Yes, I said I wasn’t going to discuss reasons to “retire” from comics, but that isn’t what I am talking about. What I mean is- if you can’t finish what you start in Comics, you suck and should have never gotten into Comics in the first place.

While that may sound harsh (and it is) you need to understand that starting ANYTHING really isn’t an accomplishment. FINISHING what you start is EVERYTHING. Notice I didn’t say “Everything in Comics?” That’s because finishing what you start is the only way to measure accomplishment in any aspect of life, and Comics are just a part of it. While there are many valid reasons to stop doing a particular comics project, if deep down you are quitting out of laziness or lack of focus then you need to walk away from comics and find something to do with your time that you are motivated to complete. There have been enough Comics “creators” who never amounted to squat because they were talented but lazy. We don’t need any more of that mess than we already have.

If, however, you can look into the mirror and look yourself in the eye and know you aren’t a lazy sack when it comes to Comics, then there are a few other things you need to consider before you decide to move on to a new project. One of the valid concerns you need to have to wrestle with is have you, in fact, is do you have more to say with this project? Have you painted yourself into a corner to the point where there isn’t a logical next story to tell?

While every Comics creator wants to create the next Spider-Man or Hulk, sometimes a character is bound to the story he or she is in. Think of Bone, for example- Jeff Smith had a very specific story he wanted to tell, and when it was over it was over. Yes, there have been some “prequel” Comics which have filled in elements of the back story, but Bone isn’t the kind of story that SHOULD go on forever, regardless of it’s popularity. Luckily for us as Comic fans, Jeff knew that and told a very satisfying and finite story with those characters. Maybe YOUR idea is better off being finite. There is nothing wrong with that at all…

Once you have decided that yes, there are still stories you can tell within the Comic project you are working on, you need to look outside yourself and get a sense of your audience. Are THEY still interested in reading more? Have you hit a wall with your audience? Does anybody CARE if you are doing your current project or not? While popularity of a project isn’t the only criteria in deciding whether or not to continue on, it’s something to think about. For example- for every long running, popular Webcomic there are scores of long running Webcomics that have almost zero readership. Maybe that creator is persevering and working hard until people notice, and maybe they are just the Comics equivalent of the 350 pound man in the purple spandex. And that is NOT to say that a person who has been going on for years with no real readership should quit all together- but what it may suggest is that it’s time to try something different. While you may be attached to that long running Comic idea, it could be that you aren’t suited to what you are doing.

Finally, if you have stories to tell and you have a readership that wants to hear those stories, the last thing you need to ask yourself is this: Am I having any fun doing this? Believe it or not, Comics SHOULD be fun. Not every moment is a blast- some parts are hard work, and there are ups and downs to everything, but you need to have some level of enjoyment in what you are doing or it isn’t worth it. If only a handful of people are reading your Comic, and you struggle to figure out what to do next but you really, truly LOVE doing this particular Comic then I say go for it. While it’s hard to quantify or break down into specifics, you can usually tell when someone really loves doing a particular book. It shows on the page and usually gives it “something” that other comics lack. And besides, unless you one in ten thousand, you aren’t making much money from Comics anyway, so you might as well be having a good time.

What if you are on the other end, though- you are doing something people like, there are more stories to tell and you DON’T enjoy what you are doing. That’s a harder decision, because hitting on a popular Comic idea is exponentially harder than winning the lottery, and there is NO way to be sure that people will follow you from your old project to something new. That new Comic might make YOU happy, but it also might flop…

The other side of the coin is, just because you are doing something with a fan base doesn’t mean you have to work on a project forever to make them happy. You can bring a book to an endpoint and walk away to do other things, or you can do something less drastic and try and find out what EXACTLY is making you unhappy and try to fix that. Maybe the schedule you are on is unrealistic, maybe you aren’t crazy about the current storyline or maybe you need to take a break and do something else and come back to your “popular” project. In any case, what is sapping your joy in doing Comics may very well be something that can be fixed- if you can apply that fix and still maintain your following, regardless of how large or small that following is, I would recommend trying it.

You could take the above approach and avoid failure, or you can strap on that flaming codpiece and wear your purple spandex Unitard to your nieces christening this weekend. If you want to fail, I would suggest that you never, ever, ever, ever give up- especially when it’s obvious that a “good thing” has passed you by…

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