‘It ain’t braggin’ if it’s true’
… a wise man once said — Google The Great and Powerful tells me it was Will Rogers .. or Dizzy Dean … or Muhammed Ali … or … and then somebody said if it IS true, of course it’s bragging. That is to say, if it’s NOT true, it’s just plain lying, and if it IS true, it’s bragging.
Whatever.
Following up on yesterday’s thought about Marvel Comics’ “World’s Greatest Comic Magazine,” there’s something to be said about setting a high standard for yourself.
By proclaiming their book was the greatest, the creators of the Fantastic Four threw down a measurable standard: You’re about to have the most fun you’ve ever had reading a comic book. For a while there in the mid-sixties, they lived up to the standard they’d set for themselves, month after month.
TV, movie and comics creator Joss Whedon put it this way: “I have a contract with my audience — that I will do better, that I will give them a reason to come in again that is more than the reason we gave them last time.”
In that sense declaring your product “The World’s Greatest Comic Magazine” ain’t bragging — it’s a contract with your audience, and if you breach that contract, they’re not coming in again. If you’ve told the audience to expect your best, you’ve given yourself an incentive to deliver.