Comics Terminology: “Alternative,” “Indie,” etc.

This question was posted over at the Indie Spinner Rack message board:

What’s the definition (if any) of the various terms such as Independent, Small Press, Alternative, etc. What do you call companies in Previews outside of the Big Four (DC/Marvel/Dark Horse/Image)? Outside of the Established (Fantagraphics, Top Shelf, Drawn & Quarterly, Oni, AdHouse, etc)? What about those creators going through Ka-Blam and ComixPress? Where do mini-comics fit in?

Here’re my thoughts on the matter, which I posted there:

I’ve always found terms like “independent,” “mainstream,” “alternative,” etc. to be problematic because in using them, one is attempting to describe two different things at the same time–things which may or may not bear any real relation to one another. Specifically, when these terms are used, folks are often trying to describe (1) the narrative content of a comic, and (2) the publishing model of a publisher. When someone says something is an “independent comic” (or whatever) what they’re usually trying to put forth is that that comics subject matter is not something like superhero stories. But they’re also trying to describe how that comic is published–what its circulation is perhaps, or whether the creators own the stories and characters.

The problem is that these really don’t necessarily relate to one another. Is “Jack Staff” an “alternative” book? It’s creator-owned… but it’s a superhero book. Is “Swamp Thing” a “mainstream” book? It’s published by DC, but it’s not superheroes. Etc…

I’ve always found it more useful in getting across what you mean to simply take them each individually.

Regarding a book’s content, why don’t we comics folk (like regular old prose book people) simply refer to it by genre? Is it a crime book? A fantasy book? Non fiction? Character Drama? Historical fiction? Autobiography?

Likewise, if what you want to do is describe the publisher, then do that. Is the publisher a corporate publisher who does work-for-hire stuff like Marvel or DC? Is it a publisher who does more cooperative creator-owned stuff like Adhouse or SLG or Fanta? Is it something in between like Image?

The only time this stuff gets contentious it seems to me is when you try to use one term to describe these two different things.