Hub Comics

hey, all,

Since I'm a 'self-publisher', meaning i write, draw, paint, ink, photograph, print, collate, fold, staple, solicit and ship my own comic from my home i have a personal and vital interest in the state of the union so to speak.
Most of us are familiar with the happennings over the last thirty years in the medium and in retail stores regarding the explosion of new, literate, unique voices making comics. It is a wonderful thing to witness first hand, since i grew up reading Eightball, Hate, Love and Rockets, Cerebus, Eddie Campbell's ALEC, Yummy Fur, Dirty Plotte, etcetera. Actually, i grew up collecting Marvel and DC, but they never really made any sense to me. I was lucky enough to reach adolescence and young adult hood at the same time the new independent, mature creators were having their rennaisance with publishers like Fantagraphics, Drawn and Quarterly, et al. I was blown away and realized that there was something to this medium, besides cheap thrills.
i realized what i wanted to do with the rest of my life, and i began to work on my own comic Romero Burruel's EMPTY, a book in the autobiographical fictive vein of Eddie Campbell with the scope of Cerebus, (please check out Romero Burruel's EMPTY on myspace for previews).
This isn't just a plug for my book, but a question and a statement about the importance of retailers in the equation of new, independent voices trying to find an audience in a field where the bread and butter has been 'the usual'.
i suppose what i'm trying find out is 'what do HUB shoppers read?' 'Are they willing to pick up a new indie and give it a try?' 'How much of HUB's shelf space is devoted to displaying and promoting small press new talent?'
Well, i'm going to be sending James an advance preview for my book and an invitation to order copies. I hope he likes it and i hope there are readers at HUB with the gumption to give a new thing a try.
thanks for looking!