PRESS RELEASE — For Immediate Release
Marketing comic books as culture cultivates new readers — Ed Brubaker's Detour is bringing in new comic book readers.
Gainesville, FL, September 28, 1997 — The October debut of Harvey, Ignatz and Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist Ed Brubaker's new series, Detour, is a landmark for this acclaimed creator for more than one reason. Creatively, Detour is remarkable as Brubaker explores exciting new directions. Of even more interest is the unique promotion and marketing of this new comic book series to non-traditional comic book readers. Although Detour publisher Alternative Press, Inc., is counting on the purchases of comic shop regulars to make the new series a hit, fans of music and film are being recruited to make Detour a cultural phenomenon.
"We've made it a point to reach out to those people that I would classify as 'non-traditional' comic book readers to get them involved in comics," said publisher Jeff Mason, "to perhaps make Detour the first comic book, of hopefully many, that these folks have ever read."
Features in mainstream media such as the October 1997 issue of the pop culture Spin magazine are now coupled with the comic book industry's recent endeavors to increase the fan base of comics. "Luckily, when we have over half of a million Spin readers reading about Ed Brubaker, we no longer have to hope and pray that those folks might stumble across a comic book store looking for his comic," explained Jeff Mason. "Diamond Comic Distribution, America's largest comic book distributor, along with a number of the industry's leading publishers, have instituted something called the Comic Shop Locator Service so that fans can dial toll free 888-COMIC-BOOK to find the nearest comic book store. Now those potential readers that may only see a comic book on their friends' coffee tables will actually be able to find comics in a comic book store."
Featured in this first issue of Detour is "Life on the Fault Line" about a man who struggles with his hated roommates and the dystopian world around him as he tries vainly to cling to his moral standards. This hilarious black comedy seamlessly blends the real and the unreal to concoct a frightening vision of the not too distant future. Brubaker also delivers "Get Out of My Head," a poignant piece about a high school girl whose obsession with a cherished 'zine and its creator has gone a little bit too far.
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