Mavrides on Comics Industry Support
Journal: What kind of support have you been getting from the comics industry?
Mavrides: In general terms, there's a lot of companies that have done things that I'm probably not even aware of to help support me. Some individuals have been extremely generous. An immense amount of people have probably contributed nickel and dime into the Fund. Without the Fund's help, I wouldn't have been able to get this far.
However, in terms of solidarity among the industry, there really isn't that much. I see all these people as marginalizing themselves. When there is an issue that concerns the entire industry, half the people stick their heads in the ground and act like ostriches, saying, "Oh, that's just Paul's problem, it doesn't concern me. He doesn't do superhero comics, he doesn't do what we do, so we're not under threat." Who knows? There hasn't been any official statements really. This is just my feelings based on a lot of perceptions without direct contact with people, without direct conversations.
Rick Newcombe is doing a bang-up job of organizing a position of solidarity among all the syndicates. They're all presenting a united front on this issue, and because of that, they're going to have a fair amount of power. If the comic industry had done that, the "real world" might sit up and pay attention to them as a legitimate lobbying force, but because everybody's, you know, basically in business - just runs to their own corner and goes, "I got mine, the rest of you can sink or swim; less competition for me," that makes it difficult.
Journal: It seems to me that now you're getting more support from outside the industry than in.
Mavrides: The adults in the United States understand these issues. The immature people that exist in the comic industry at every level don't have a clue.
I really have been helped by an immense amount of people in the industry, and I should make that clear too. People help me that I don't even know about. And the ones I do know about, I could fill up pages with their names, large and small. So the people are there.
You know, I'm not doing this for myself. Even if somebody at a successful superhero company wants to look the other way, you know, I'm doing it for successful people as well as marginal people.
Original file name: Mavrides Interview Addendum
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