Growlersworld.com - Growler's State Of The Comic Book Industry

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The Marvel Comics Revolution!, Part Two

From Boom to Bust and Back Again! A Growler's Tale

Growler's State Of The Industry

INDEX

This is where I let loose my views on the current direction of the comic book industry.

I will analyze trends, past, present and future and comment on the latest comic book news stories.

I will also be talking about the business side and introducing you to the personalities creating the comic books.

Taking you behind the scenes of this exciting industry!

Rawle Austin presents...

Enter the New Challenger!

Please note; the publisher detailed below (CrossGen) is no longer in business and serves as a cautionary tale in the Comic Book Industry.

As has been the case for many years, the main players in the publishing arena of comic books are Marvel and DC Comics, the big two.

These two titans have the history, the characters and the money to weather the many changes that have occurred in the comic book industry over time from their inception up to the present date.

However, in 1992, seven of Marvel Comics hottest artists (pencillers) left their employers for greater glory, financial and creative independence to create Image Comics.

Which for a time was the third largest comic book company after the big two! More on this momentous event next time!

Then, in 2000, a new company entered the scene.

CrossGeneration Comics (CrossGen for short) based in Tampa, Florida, USA.

This creation was the brainchild of entrepreneur Mark Alessi and was a breath of fresh air in the industry.

He was armed with a vision of producing comic books that were more accessible to a wider audience that had been in the past.

The mission was not to produce stories featuring traditional superheroes but still using the themes of heroic fiction.

These were explored using fantasy, mystical, sci-fi, mythological and ancient historical settings with more on the way.

The four original titles were Scion, Mystic, Sigil and Meridian and they heralded a new era in comic book history.

The emphasis has always been on writing fantastic stories that were not instantly forgettable but rewarded the reader’s time and provided value for money.

In the relatively short time CrossGen Comics has existed, they have brought in major new initiatives that will benefit the comic book industry in the long run.

One of the earliest was getting its titles published in many other countries in conjunction with local publishers, particularly in China where comic books are called manhua, as opposed to the Japanese manga.

This is made possible by producing stories that are politically and religiously neutral, thus avoiding causing offence.

Diplomacy is truly a virtue.

Also, experimenting with size and format of their comic books they make sure all back copies of their comic books are made available.

This was done by producing regular trades (reprints containing about six issues at a time) of all titles and keeping them in print.

The new leadership at Marvel Comics, which also commenced in 2000, took notice.

Joe Quesada, Editor-in-Chief (EIC) and Bill Jemas, President, proceeded to redesign all their comic books for trade format, thus following CrossGen’s strategy.

This was a great step forward as trades are more appealing to the wider audience who would rather buy a complete story than a mere chapter.

They reproduced trades in a smaller size calling them Travellers.

Comic books of this size have long been popular in Japan and China and increase portability as they can fit in a pocket or small bag.

They are slightly larger than portrait A6 paper size (a quarter of A4, which is standard writing paper size in England) while traditional sized comic books are just smaller than A4 paper size.

Staff wise, CrossGen had the unique idea to go back to the original way making comic books by having all of its employees (creators) exclusively working for the company under the same roof.

The idea was for creators to inspire each other, rather than freelancing and working from home for many other publishers.

They also provided attractive financial benefits such as medical insurance, a twice a month pay cheque, profit sharing from comic book sales and merchandising and a share in the company.

These were things that simply were not on offer at most other publishers at the time.

Recently, the big two have also been offering extensive, exclusive contracts to creators to keep them for as long as possible.

This is great news for the employment of creators as these sorts of contracts are more financially stable than working as a freelancer.

CrossGen has lured some of the great creative talent from the big two publishers including writers Chuck Dixon and Ron Marz and artists George Perez and Greg Land and with superior production techniques their books look fantastic!

Another key goal was to ensure all titles came out on time.

Late and delayed comic books have been the bane of the industry.

The comic book industry relies heavily on readers coming back every month to read the next chapter of a particular story.

If the next chapter isn’t out and is delayed for weeks or months, interest in that title can nose dive spectacularly no matter how good the creators are.

This is a target that CrossGen achieves with flying colours.

CrossGen has had collaborations with schools, libraries and bookstores, which increases the profile of their comic books and is good for the industry as a whole.

Upcoming movie and TV projects will further enhance the company’s name and if marketed right will boost revenues through merchandising, which is where the real money is made.

The best new idea however has to be comic book DVD’s.

Working on the principle that DVD’s are a widely owned format, comic book stories will be adapted to be shown, panel-by-panel, scrolling along with sound effects added.

There will be about six CrossGen comic book issues on one DVD and each will have behind the scenes extras.

These will include interviewing creators about making comic books and creator commentaries on the stories provided.

This is without a doubt the freshest new thing to happen to the industry I’ve seen for a long time and if the idea takes off I can guarantee all other publishers will follow suit.

The potential worldwide audience is massive and will enable comic book stories to be enjoyed on a whole new level.

Look out for these DVDs!

On a more worrying note, CrossGen has been experiencing cash flow problems of late (mid 2003) resulting in some employees (artists and writers) not being paid and understandably up in arms.

This is an issue that needs to be resolved quickly for the good of those creators who make up CrossGen’s lifeblood and for the health of the industry.