Marc Alan Fishman: Welcome to the Comic Book Industry of the Future!
Greetings, past-dwellers. Tis I, Marc Alan Fishman, the sage of the future! I traveled here to the past, via my patented DC Direct TimeSphere. It was only $299.99 at my local comic retailer (which in the future is just Amazon Prime…)! I come to you, this random Saturday morning, on a mission from ComicMix 8.0. I’ve come to give you hope that in 2013, everything changes. Hold on to your bow ties, time lords. Let me give you the glimpse of what will become of your industry.
In 2013, the rumblings began. You see every time a creator got uppity in the past, they dropped those immortal words: “Creator-owned is the future, man.” And every time those creations (not of Marvel or DC, mind you) became one with the zeitgeist, the word revolution spread across the artist alleys of convention floors like a plague. Ah, I know. I know. You say “but that means nothing, FutureBeard… no one will ever take down the Man!” And, in a sense, you are right. The Man, thanks to lucrative movie franchises only made the big two stronger. Much like Coke and Pepsi, so too grew Disney and Warner Bros. until they were simply entertainment forces of nature. But therein lies the seeds of change.
It will all happen so slowly, you may not notice it. DC’s New52 and Marvel Now continued to polarize the ever-aging fanbase. The movies and TV series connected to them (both live action and cartoon) never lead to direct increases in comic book sales. They were, in essence, two distinct media with distinct audiences. It took a while to figure out ourselves… but our NerdVerse Historian, King Alan Kistler decried it, and it was written; while there will always be crossover, there wasn’t (and will never be) a movie or comic to unite them all.
And with that knowledge, spreading like primordial ooze across the vast lands of Nerdtopia, came with it the paradigm shift.
Through careful and meticulous planning and the support of the not-as-big-as-you’d-hope-but-still-pretty-big fan base… established creators turned towards indie-or-self-publishing outlets. Crowd-sourced, and then sold for profit directly towards their bottom line, these creators proved that even without a corporate overlord signing a check… a meager living could be made. And this is how the pebble begins to roll down the mountain.
When those small books became big hits, their creators soon became corporations unto themselves. And then, those same creators, backed by their cultivated fan base, combined into local studios to consolidate their power. No longer mere islands adrift in freelance work, these micro-states began dictating what they published on their own terms. And yes, even on the outskirts of these creator-states… smaller unknown (cough… cough… unshaven…) studios took to the same open road and formed bonds that could not be broken. And now, from the future where I come to you, I’m proud to say that the industry has never been stronger, where creators are no longer afraid to present their own ideas… and take home enough to support continuing doing it again.
Now, don’t cry for Marvel or DC. They still have a large foothold of the rack-space. But their talent pool is a wide berth of only the young unknowns, and the old guard who chose never to leave. The young, lured in by the shiny opportunity. The old, still fearing the unknown, and clinging to the terrible contracts that deny them anything more than pittance while their creations bring in countless millions in other mediums.
And yes, occasionally some of the Indie Nation takes on an old favorite. And they sell magnificently. But here in the future… after that tale has been told, they are reenergized to return to their own pocket universes. It’s a glorious time for sequential fiction. It happened in dribs and drabs over the aughts. Image’s old image (heh) of splashy pastiche universes gave way to intelligent, and brilliantly crafted mini-series. Dark Horse, IDW, Boom!, Avatar, Dynamite, and others began looking towards those self-sustaining garage bands in the artist alley and gave them a powerful ally to help build their brands.
The Internet, social media, and most important, peer-to-peer connections via conventions spread the word of the DIY-revolution. Indie comic creation became the new rock-and-roll. And 2013 my friends… was where those faint rumblings began to move the needle towards the utopia I live in now. Suffice to say: keep your eyes and ears open. More importantly: keep supporting your favorite creators when they make the leap away from the dark side.
I should also note, in case you’re curious:
Superman ditched the Nehru collar. Grant Morrison’s consciousness was transferred to a super-computer. Rob Liefeld eventually got his eyesight checked, and realized the error in his proportions. He redrew every ounce of work he produced up until 2015. Afterwards, his wrist looked like Cable’s, circa 1996. Unshaven Comics optioned the rights to the Samurnauts to Sony Pictures. Brad Bird directed the first of 17 successful films. Subsequently, Unshaven Comics erected a 75 foot golden beard in the heart of downtown Chicago.
And, finally, Alan Moore eventually forgave DC. Shortly after, he ascended to Snake Mountain and has since lived as the NecroLord of Fourth Realm. He still puts out books every year, and they are still amazing.
SUNDAY: John Ostrander
The only thing I would add to this vision for the future is an acknowledgment that the power of major publishers is and always has been financial capital. And while I agree with Dave Sim that the difference between a publisher and talent is that even on their best day, a publisher can never do what an artist can do, it is time for the creator-owned community to create a publisher that rivals the DC and Marvel PUBLISHING operations. Because both companies real achilles’ heel is that comic book publishing is not their primary business (i.e. concern) anymore. Marvel said precisely this in their 2002 Annual Report, before they went dark. The passion of the creator-owned community could knock Marvel and DC off their mighty perch if their efforts are focused laser-like with the right material, at the right moment, with the financial resources to do so i.e. Image, when they first started back in the ’90s, but with someone at the helm who knew what she or he was doing.
And they will only get those financial resources if some of the creators with “lottery money” (i.e. merchandising or licensing profits from properties like TMNT, The Walking Dead, etc.) reinvest that money into the business of PUBLISHING comics. They must use that money (yes, RISK that money) to grow the business and counter Marvel and DC’s stranglehold on the marketplace. They must marshal their forces and create a distributor to rival Diamond who now serves simply to maintain Marvel and DC’s chokehold on the North American marketplace, whether we’ll all know it or admit it (and ComiXology is doing the same for them digitally). To me, Image has long been a place where this kind of publishing force could emerge. The problem with Image is that for all their successes in publishing, they can never seriously challenge Marvel and DC because they get none of the proceeds from when a book they publish becomes a licensing and merchandising bonanza (e.g. The Walking Dead). They can’t use the profits from the total success of a property they helped bring to market to GROW their publishing business significantly.
Now, I realize that I am not saying anything that many have not heard before, and that’s because this is not rocket science, it can be done and should’ve been done a long time ago, but it hasn’t. Why? Because the creator-owned community has always lacked a concrete vision of what the comic book industry of the future should look like. They have lacked the will to be publishers or at least create a publishing operation that allows them to profit from their work, but still acts and operates like a publisher. They lack the courage and/or wisdom to walk away from the “old favorites” and the very companies they curse as they walk out the door with corporate coin falling out of their pockets. If the comic book industry of the future you describe is ever to be, then it’s time for the small press (publishers and creators alike) to collectively pool not just their creative resources, but their financial resources. It’s time for the Kirkmans and Unshavens (I wish you all the best in your endeavors with Sony) of the world to put their money where their mouths are.
GREAT Article Mr. Fishman! I think this is one of the only ways that those of us who are fans/creators who want to see change in the industry will happen. Gevian Dargan Bravo to you as well (are you a creator by any chance?)!! I will work on my end to be part of the revolution….be the change you want to see as they say.
Well stated Gevian. If I would be so bold though? The “investment” in a single publisher where ALL indie/creator owned properties go… in an effort to compete with Marvel or DC is all but impossible. I feel that what NEEDS to happen is a rising of a DISTRIBUTOR (not diamond) that makes indie guys have the ability to reach a national audience, in print, that is still profitable. THAT is really hard to happen though.
Trust me, when the Samurnauts eventually gets us mad “TMNT” money? We’ll open the publishing house of the future. Mark my words. I’m from the future.
In the future all superheroes will be Black. In other future news those superheroes will not be able to get a cab in New York.