• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, July 15, 2024

In preparation for the release of his new book, "Stan Mack's Real Life Funnies: The Collected Conceits, Delusions, and Hijinks of New Yorkers from 1974 to 1995," I had a series of conversations with Stan asking him -- among other things -- how much he thought the behavior of media consumers has changed since he pioneered his form of graphic journalistic storytelling in the Village Voice.

After publishing a video of Stan walking MediaPost readers through his new book, I asked Stan about that again, and specifically how the book has been received by other media outlets.

He groused that despite his best pitches, many revered publications that would have reviewed such a book in the past -- The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times -- so far have taken a pass, which he attributed to "twentysomething editors" who may not have the same appreciation for the kind of print media Stan made his mark in as editors of the past might have.

He then shared what I think he meant to be a hopeful anecdote about two young men he observed looking at media on their devices during a train ride.

One he said was simply writing code, but the other said he was looking at social media content. When Stan asked him what he liked to look at, the young man said, "Pictures with words on it."

I explained to Stan that I didn't think the young man was talking about comic strips or even cartoons of old, but was referring to social media memes suited for an even shorter attention span generation of media content. I sent him examples like the "Distracted Boyfriend" meme (see my mashup below).

Personally, I would have thought comic strips would be the perfect format for Millennials and GenZers, but I think the truth is even that format is too "long form" for many.

In the video above, Stan discusses a new potential future for comic strips in which they evolve into animated stories.