章 30: Chapter 28 Special issue
In the following weeks,
with the serialization of the Superman comic in The Messenger newspaper,
the newspaper's sales began to show a steady upward trend. According to feedback from Jimmy, the newsboy, people throughout the neighborhood were discussing topics related to Superman.
At the same time, fan letters flooded into the corner office of The Messenger newspaper.
The majority of these letters expressed love for the character of Superman, discussing the comic's plot, while also urging The Messenger to speed up the serialization of the subsequent comic content.
Among them, a small portion unexpectedly praised the depiction of the female journalist, Lois, in the comic.
"...I believe Lois Lane is a symbol of modern professional women. She is independent, brave, ambitious, and talented, not inferior to any man. Her relationship with Clark is also a competition between the sexes, and she always has the upper hand..."
In this period of serialized comics, female characters were not prominent, even in comics like "Tarzan," which was adapted from a novel of the same name. The story mainly focused on Tarzan, and female characters often appeared as mere decorations, used to highlight the strength or charm of the male protagonist.
This aspect is even more pronounced in mainstream detective comics.
However, this situation changed in the Superman comic serialized in The Messenger.
In the comic, while Superman, Clark Kent, continued to be the absolute protagonist, using his powerful superhuman abilities to punish evil and help the victims, the presence of the female lead, Lois, was no longer that of a mere decorative character from past comics. She appeared as Clark's colleague, competing with him in their work.
Such a setup may be considered commonplace in the era of widespread female protagonists in the future, or even face strong criticism from certain extremists.
But now, it was the time of the Great Depression in 1931, and the appearance of an independent female character, especially in a comic, was still a relatively rare occurrence. Therefore, the presence of the beautiful female journalist, Lois, in the Superman comic of The Messenger not only became the fantasy of young people but also the aspiration of girls.
They also wanted to become respected professional women, just like Lois Lane.
"Boss, the serialization of Superman in The Messenger has received enthusiastic feedback from readers..."
Inside The Messenger office, little John was sorting through readers' letters and excitedly reported on the contents.
In the past, a small newspaper like The Messenger would rarely receive any letters from readers throughout the year. But now, in just this week alone, the newspaper had already received no less than twenty to thirty fan letters, and according to the delivery staff, there were even more.
[Faith Points: 868/1000]
His gaze swept over the displayed "Faith Points."
Clearly, Colin's decision to serialize the comic in The Messenger was a success.
In fact, with the growing popularity of Superman, the content published in the newspaper gradually shifted from the original "criticism" of Hoover to the serialization of comics. If it weren't for the fact that The Messenger was ultimately a newspaper medium and not a comic publication, it needed to maintain a foundation of news reporting content for readers to obtain information.
Both Old John and Little John almost considered changing careers to become comic editors.
...
"Boss, currently, the newspaper's printing capacity can no longer keep up with the demand..."
Nowadays, The Messenger newspaper was in high demand, with sales exceeding supply.
Ironically, the only limitation to the growth of newspaper sales was the printing capacity of the newspaper itself.
Currently, The Messenger used an outdated rotary printing press. The number of newspapers it could print was more than sufficient for the original newspaper, but it was no longer able to meet the increasing popularity and demand for The Messenger.
Especially this weekend, after the serialization of the new storyline of Colin's Superman comic in The Messenger, the readers' response was enthusiastic, and fan letters poured into the newspaper office like snowflakes.
This made Old John realize that it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"Perhaps we can consider adding a new rotary printing press to the newspaper office?"
The suggestion made by Old John coincided with Colin's inner thoughts.
Increasing the printing capacity of the newspaper would undoubtedly be a good choice to expedite the acquisition of "Faith."
However, considering the fact that rotary printing presses were not cheap, Colin hesitated.
In recent times, with the growth in sales of "The Messenger" he did have some money on hand, but it was far from enough to cover the cost of a rotary printing press.
"If you're concerned about the price of the printing press, boss, I may have a solution... I might be able to help you," Old John said, noticing the hesitation on Colin's face.
Before Colin could respond, Old John pushed up his brass-framed glasses and spoke up.
"I know of a bankrupt newspaper where the owner couldn't pay the employees due to bankruptcy. As a result, the employees have the newspaper's machinery as collateral..."
In this era, newspapers like "The Messenger" that managed to revive were few and far between.
The majority of small newspapers had fallen into unemployment and bankruptcy due to the impact of the Great Depression.
"...I can get in touch with those workers and propose a low-cost acquisition of their newspaper's machinery."
For those unemployed newspaper workers, the machines held no value.
But for the current "The Messenger," those pawned and idle machines were a significant treasure.
"Contact those workers, and once we reach a suitable price, buy the machines from their newspaper," Colin nodded and said straightforwardly.
Furthermore, after the machines are in place, we need to change the publication date of "The Messenger." Apart from the original weekend issue, I have decided to add a special serialized comic, "Superman," every Wednesday to attract readers."
"A special issue on Wednesdays?"
Upon hearing Colin's instructions, Old John and Young John, the two individuals in the newspaper office, exchanged glances.
Colin's decision was undoubtedly bold.
It meant adding a new publication outside the newspaper's regular release schedule.
However, considering the popularity of the "Superman" comic, the two men didn't think there would be any risk of failure with the new addition.
Still, as Old John looked up at Colin in front of him, he couldn't help but worry whether this serialized format would affect the quality of the "Superman" comic.
If Colin were to know what Old John was thinking at that moment, he would surely burst into laughter.
In all honesty, he was the last person in the world who needed to worry about the quality of the comic.
After all, he had over half a century's worth of "Superman" comics to draw inspiration from.
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