Marc Alan Fishman: Exclusivity Is For the Devils
For those not paying attention, this week Paolo Rivera broke the shackles that bound him to the House of Mouse. That’s right, after a 10+ year career at Marvel, he ended his exclusive contract. Presently, you might know him from his absolutely stunning work on Daredevil. And if you’re not familiar? Go down to your local comic emporium, and partake in a few books bearing his name. You won’t be disappointed.
So why the departure, here in what most critics would dub his “ascension to the A-List?” Ownership. Rights. Long-term gains. As he makes it clear in his blog detailing his decision, it comes down to surveying his body of work and seeing no island on the horizon. Let’s be clear, he’s not mad. Or sad. In fact, he’s very grateful for the decade of work he’s been thrown since the dawn of his career. At the end of the day though, he puts it best:
“…the sum total of that work is not enough to support me in the distant future. My page rate is essentially the same as when I started at 21, so I’ve decided to invest in myself.”
Now, this brings up a debate I know we’ve all had here on ComicMix in the past – that of creators’ rights, and compensation. It seems we as an industry can’t last more than a few months before yet-another-creator is irate over the profits gained on their blood, sweat, and arthritic hands, that never see their own pocketbook. On the business side of things, we know the rub already. To work as an artist or writer in comic books for “the Big Two,” the work you do is theirs. They pay you a fee (and a small percentage of royalties of the sales of the book) for your creativity. Now, when you have a mortgage, insurance, and a rumble in your tummy… do you try to negotiate for the best deal, or do you sign your life away to stay alive? Of course no one is in such dire straights these days, but Marvel and DC certainly have more lawyers and iron-clad contracts than Stan Lee has catchphrases. As Paolo makes clear, he’s done with that side of the business. It’s time to invest in himself.
Certainly there are creators out there who are kicking ass and taking names doing their own creator-owned books. Mike Mignola, Eric Powel, Robert Kirkman, Warren Ellis… All great men who once (and on occasion still do) made a living working for “the man.” But each of those men now can rest on their laurels that their main source of funds comes directly from material they created, they own, and they see to market. Certainly when Hellboy made a second profitable movie, many an indie-creator must have taken note. Yes, Dark Horse had a lot to do with the success of the property on the business end, but Mignola is the crown prince of Anung Un Rama. Without his blessing, nary a product makes its way past a marketing meeting.
The same doesn’t hold true for Mr. Rivera. Should Marvel decide to make a tee-shirt with some of his art? He may see some royalties back from the sale – but he’d get laughed out of the office if he opposed them selling merchandise with his work on it. And when they reboot the movie franchise… he’ll see a blind eye if they use any of his striking work as reference or source material. Blind eye. Heh.
Ultimately, Rivera’s made a move that I hope works out for him. Admittedly I’ve come to the Daredevil party a bit too late, but I plan on picking up the issues as they are collected. Wherever Paolo roams from here on out, may his legion of fans follow. According to his musings, he’s kicking around an idea for an “original story, sci-fi in nature, with primal themes and a compact cast of characters.” He’s also looking into “experiments in both distribution and funding” a la Kickstarter. Thanks largely in-part to the interwebs, this very idea even exists. The last time artists with this much clout left Marvel, they made Image Comics. Certainly that won’t happen ever again, but in its place is something far more rewarding. Not necessarily in up-front hype and profits mind you, but rewarding none-the-less.
With Paolo Rivera setting his sites on the creator-owned market, I see the opportunity for a more level playing field. When the artists and writers have both a creative and monetary investment in a project, there is a passion that simply doesn’t exist on the other side of the aisle. As an Unshaven Comic, I care far more about The Samurnauts than I ever will about Kyle Rayner or GrimJack, even if I’m ever allowed to write or draw either of them. When I put my head to pillow, I know that my creations (made in part with two brilliant co-creators) are my own. And should the day ever come that our creation becomes “something,” it’s only fair that I (we) see the complete fruit of those labors.
Good on you, Paolo. May others follow suit as well.
SUNDAY: John Ostrander
Great article Mr. Gold,once again shinning the light on the struggle of creators in the industry! In your article you mentioned “The last time artists with this much clout left Marvel, they made Image Comics. Certainly that won’t happen ever again” What would prevent something like this from happening again? Is it just not feasible or have the conditions/circumstances that allowed Image to happen not there any more? I have always wondered why there hasn’t been more of an organized effort to duplicate the model for creators.
I think It may have something to do with the creators themselves. What Mike said was key, “their main source of funds comes directly from material they created, they own, and they see to market.” That last part,”they see to market,” that’s what this is all about. I just completed a negotiation that involved a transfer of IP rights where doing the negotiation, the co-creator was willing to just give us the rights without asking for anything in return (that’s the short version), and we refused to do so. First, he’s our brother. Second, We weren’t even asking for that. Third, this is how we get to these sad, pathetic stories of men wasting away and dying while the creative fruits of their brilliant minds and hands are making billions for others who couldn’t do what they did if God himself showed them how.
Many creators who work for Marvel and DC know exactly what they are getting themselves into. Many publishers know exactly what they are getting themselves into when they get involved with Diamond. This is about the FEAR of the risk involved when you have to see your ideas, your characters, and your stories to market. This is about wanting to work and live your childhood dream so bad that you are wiling to sign your soul to the devil. This is about creators not having the courage to realize that the days of Siegel, Shuster, and Kirby are long gone. I mean, even in those days, Bob Kane (if the legend is correct and his father was really that much of a stand-up guy) got a piece of what is being discussed here. I mean publishers can absorb the risks of getting work to market but they cannot come up with the work themselves, and until creators in every industry realize that, this will never change.
Image will never happen again, or not any time soon, because the audience isn’t there for comics. And when Image did do it, they didn’t take it seriously enough and squandered the opportunity of a lifetime. Were they courageous and visionary? AB-SO-LUTE-LY!!! Did they follow through? NO!!!
There’s an answer to this but don’t forget, even Mr. Rivera was making a buck off the fruits of someone else’s labor who will never get to see a dime of the royalties he earned off their work. So, to the creators of the future, show a little backbone, either publish your own stuff, negotiate a deal you can live with when dealing with established publishers (or refuse to work with them), or find something else to do.
For my own edification, when the aforementioned Mignola, Powell, Kirkman (who was recently involved in such a dispute), and Ellis have someone do work for them, do they automatically confer rights to those creators, because if they don’t, then I’d like them to meet my friends, pot and kettle, who both have a problem calling each other black.
Your explanation coupled with Marc’s helped put things in perspective. Thanks for the insight (now just to repeat the mantra over and over again).
Mark,
What would prevent something like “Image” happening again is Image proving how it can’t be done en masse, the way they did it. As it stands right now, there’s smaller “cliques” of artists out there. The comic culture is wider, broader, and still as hard to be profitable in as ever.
Frankly, the issue is, with SO MANY young bucks out there looking for a shot? There won’t be a “freelancers union”, so-to-speak, to advocate for every artist or writer entering the business. We all know what we’re signing away when we start taking checks. Kirkman, and his ilk are proving though, that through word of mouth, and hard work… you can build a following. Simply put? Even with the advent of digital publishing (which is FAR FAR FAR from perfect), it’s amazingly hard to stand out with Marvel and DC dominating the marketplace. There are good “B” and “C” publishers — Dark Horse, Image, Avatar, Boom!, Dynamite… But they seek out who they want. Companies like mine are forced to be “small” and just hope our ship comes in.
In the mean time? Artists and writers are chained to their contracts, and are forced with a choice when DC or Marvel comes a’ callin’. You fall in line and take what they give… Or you get out of the way for the next guy who will.
Thanks for the explanation Marc, sobering, but good to keep in the front of your mind (especially when you are considering getting into the industry).
“…dire straights…,” sorry – “straits”
“…setting his sites…” – encore sorry – “sights”
See? My editor doesn’t pay enough attention to my laziness in my own self-editing. I suq sometimes. But hopefully the message of the article still holds up.
Please note… Mike didn’t write this article. Some silly punk kid did.
D’oh! How’d that happen? Well, your thoughts then Mr. Fishman?
Hey Mark,
Give me a few hours to ruminate on that, and I’ll give you my response tonight. Thank you so much for reading my article!
Yeah, yeah… we\’re on it.