Posts Tagged ‘comic creators’

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Warning: Comics May Cause Amnesia

Tuesday, May 7th, 2013

Warning: Comics May Cause Amnesia

There seems to be plenty of evidence that comics may cause amnesia.

Apparently anyone who reads, collects, buys, sells, or creates comics is prone to complete memory loss especially regarding the subject of creator rights. people associated with comics in any way shape or form are in desperate need of an old-fashioned FLASHBACK!

How can this be? It has long been assumed that comic enthusiasts excel at the ability to retain the most trivial detail regarding their favorite characters, story arcs and comic creators. They are able to recognize fine nuances in artwork that identify pencilers and inkers, idiosyncrasies in writing that denote authors, and can distinguish the differences between lettering and coloring styles and techniques.

The true comic fan can recite, verbatim, from their favorite comics, panel by panel page by page issue by issue. Yet, regarding the long fought battle over  of creators rights,  the brains of most people associated with comics today are a clean slate.

This explains why artists continue to work for page rates that are the same as or less than they were thirty years ago. This explains why creators are willing to continue to be exploited by work-for-hire contracts with little or no expectation of royalties.
This explains why contracts for digital content are as archaic as those that sucked the souls from creators and robbed them blind since the dawn of the comics industry.

Comics are like rufies, you know, the date rape drug. They must be because they make comic creators forget how they have been screwed, over and over again by the corporate publishers that demand complete control over all Intellectual Property and are unwilling to share all but the tiniest crumbs left by the billions of dollars of profit that is generated by the hard labor of those that create it.

Some are immune to this peculiar neurological allergen. They stand out as rebels and spin their craft in the far reaches of the marketplace: small press, self publishing, web comics and commission work. They carry the torch for a war still fought but rarely noticed; a fight for principle and fairness. They remember the victims of the scrupulous publishers. They remember those that fought: the few that won and the many that lost.

This rag-tag band of comic rebels have their supporters: enlightened fans that sing their praise and defend their stance but in total they are a rare breed that struggles to perpetually rekindle the flame of an apparently, easily forgettable fight.

Thank goodness for history books. If not for them many a war would be left forgotten. Fortunately, the chronicles of this battle for creators rights was recorded directly from the mouths of those that first led the charge. Their words were captured for perpetuity in the pages of a magazine in the form of interviews.

David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW was the voice of comics industry from 1983 to 1995. It was the forum where everyone and anyone associated with comics was able to speak their mind. The matter of creators rights was at the forefront of many of those discussions as a heated affront to the unjust norms of the industry was erupting in the form of the first wave of independent publishers who, along with the formation of the Direct Market, created an alternative venue for comic creators to reach their audience and own their work.

Steve Gerber

Page after page of COMICS INTERVIEW emboldened the movement, inspiring, and engaging the ranks of comic creators and fans alike who were able to empathize with each other. Readers were able to experience and appreciate the perspective of creator rights pioneers like Steve Gerber who threw his mantle down in the first issue, establishing a code of honor that would endure for the full 150 issue run of the magazine.

Fortunately, COMICS INTERVIEW is not destined to be a faded memory, lost to the world in the forgotten long boxes of aging comic enthusiasts of a bygone era. It is being digitally restored and collected in its entirety by CO2 Comics who are packaging the massive collection in an eleven volume set. Each volume contains over 600 pages of riveting history of the comic book industry. Currently the first two volumes are available featuring the first 28 issues of the magazine. Volume three is currently in production.

Many of the subjects whose interviews grace the pages had careers that dated back to the dawn of the industry itself, while others continue to work in the industry today. This portal to a window in time at the center of the history of comic books makes David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW The Complete Collection an invaluable historical treasure. It is in fact the greatest collection of interviews in the history of comic books.

David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW The Complete Collection is the perfect cure for any amnesia regarding creators rights in the comic industry. It is a history book that uniquely depicts a war as it was happening and directly told by the participants and witnesses themselves.

It is a history book that belongs in the library of anyone with any interest in understanding the comic industry today as it is as relevant now as as it ever has been.

It is a history book that belongs in every school or public library for its intimate perspective of an industry that has had a dynamic impact on the popular culture of the world as we know it today.

David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW The Complete Collection is the ultimate FLASHBACK to remind us that the war over creators rights is not, and can never be, over.

Never forget. Never give up.

Making Comics Because We Want to,

Gerry Giovinco


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Seeing Green

Tuesday, March 5th, 2013

Tiny little green screens in place of profile pictures have littered the internet since the Oscars as a show of solidarity for the unfair treatment of visual effects artists whose work made possible many of the award winners and top grossing films of the year.  Hell, VFX artists have made possible the top grossing films of all time! You would have to go very deep to find a top grossing film that has no visual effects.

In fact, almost all of the 150 top grossing films All rely on visual effects with few exceptions. Of those 150 films, over ten percent of them were based on comic books! Throw in The Incredibles and Hancock and there are a lot of superheroes making money for Hollywood.

Apparently VFX artists and comic creators have a lot in common when it comes to getting screwed. Both creative fields are labor intensive and require tedious, specialized skills that are capable of generating insanely lucrative product for major corporations who don’t want to pay much for the work or share any of the profits generated by the work.

Forget sympathy! For every comic creator or VFX artist there is an army of working class stiffs struggling to keep afloat in dead-end, hard-labor jobs that offer them no appreciation while they make some bastard at the top of the ladder richer than rich. At least these creative types are doing what they L-O-O-O-O-V-E and aren’t breaking their back like some underpaid migrant worker.

Welcome to the 99%!

Artists, in general, have a different kind of struggle that most people don’t understand. An artist’s job is to create and their relationship with their creations is uniquely personal. Their creation is part of them. It is their “baby.” A good artist, like a good parent, will gladly nurture their creation regardless of the cost. But when their creation is ripped away through a cheesy work-for-hire agreement and greedily exploited it is like they sold their child to the circus.

There is guilt, shame and embarrassment often amplified by the reality of  poverty and the inability to properly care for themselves and their family while the fruit of their work mocks them from every conceivable piece of merchandise and media on the market. It is depressing and maddening at the same time.

Creating that million dollar baby is a lot like hitting the lottery. Maybe those incredible odds are why so many creators will climb that treadmill and toil for peanuts just to get by. And yes, publishers and film producers do bear a huge burden of risk. Nobody is asking them not to profit from what they invested in but when the lottery is hit wouldn’t it be nice to share the winnings with those that made it possible to have the ticket in hand?

This issue of greed is not relegated just to movies and comic books. The flashes of green across social networks, though a sign of solidarity, is a symbolic microcosm of the overall greed that is threatening America and the world. We’ve heard a lot about the sequester agreement that never happened this last week as the divide between the “haves” and the “have nots” broadens. The rich refuse to share and the poor work harder for less.

We all turn towards our entertainment to take our minds away from these frustrations but now, because of the sea of little green screens, even our entertainment reminds us that it is time to come together and make a change. It is time to support each other!

Steve Bissette made a compelling post about the hypocrisy of VFX artists looking for support after they ignored the injustice bestowed upon the Kirby heirs. He argues that creators should support each other. I made a similar assessment in an earlier post when I asked What if the long list of prominent actors that portrayed characters from comic books in films took a stand to support those creators?

It’s not a hard concept. We were all taught to share in grade school. It’s time we start practicing what we were taught as kids and share our stuff and our responsibility. It does not have to be a dog-eat-dog world if we all have each other’s back.

You can practice sharing simply by sharing this blog. You can use the green graphic on your profile image. Maybe if  enough people see green (St. Patty’s Day is this month) the message will come across and maybe, just maybe, there will be a little less greed in the world.

Making Comics Because We Want to,

Gerry Giovinco


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Posted in CO2 Comics, Creationism, Encouraging Comics, Making History, Reinvention, The Comic Company | No Comments »

Thanksgiving Tradition – Embracing Something Different

Tuesday, November 20th, 2012

Imagine sitting at that table on the first Thanksgiving in 1621. Do you think there was any tension? Pilgrims sat across from the Native American, Wampanoag people and celebrated their first successful harvest together. The Pilgrims were strangers in a strange land and relied heavily on the support given to them by the natives. Their survival depended on their ability to embrace the differences of the two cultures. In the end, their successful harvest was as simple as people helping people despite their differences.

Life in America has changed a lot in the 391 years since that first Thanksgiving and is undoubtedly much more complicated. The hostile tensions that have risen in the wake of our recent presidential election are a sign that we desperately need to sit at our Thanksgiving tables again this year with a willingness to reach out and embrace our differences again.

This is much easier to do when there is a sense of community, when we have a feeling of responsibility toward our neighbor, when we all realize that we re in this together. Big corporations and big government have made us all feel like a number on a ledger sheet that matters little. When big companies like Walmart, Papa Johns and Denny’s threaten or impose layoffs as retaliation to the Affordable Health Care for America Act, Americans need to do what we have done since before that first Thanksgiving and turn to our neighbors for support. Little guys helping each other will be what pulls this country out of the economic mess we are in today.

What does any of this have to do with comics?!

The direction of the comic market has been dictated by big companies for generations. We have all grown up enjoying the adventures of too few iconic characters. In most cases the creators of these characters have been stripped of ownership of their creations by “traditional” business practices in the comics industry. These properties today are worth billions of dollars and their trademarks permeate our culture. They have a grip on our attention and our wallets that offers the corporations that own them the confidence to do whatever they feel to elevate the bottom line.

Comics as a medium, however, has infected our culture. More people create comics now than ever before in history. There is more talent, more diversity and more product than could ever have been imagined. Too much to presumably generate secure careers  for the sea of talented practitioners. Too much to be channeled through a few giant corporations who are unwilling to recognize, produce and promote the vast variety of material available.

Are there too many independent “little guys?”

Comic creators shouldn’t have to struggle, especially now that there are so many. There is power in those numbers. They need to realize their strength as a community and work with each other to raise awareness of their work and its value. They need to join forces when combatting injustice regarding their creations. The comic creating community needs to work together to reach a wider audience rather than wait for one of the few major corporations to do it for them or to rely on a single brave sole to venture forth with limited resources.

This Thanksgiving, as you sit at the table give thanks for all the other comic creators that have chosen this vocation, for each is a member of a unique community that only we can fully appreciate. Think of each member in this community as a neighbor that is as dependent as you are on the embrace of the entire comics community. Support your comic neighbors especially those that are pressing the boundaries of the medium and creating something different than what you have grown accustomed to. Broaden your tastes and experiences. Broaden the market. If we can all work together, starting simply by supporting each other, we can hope and expect a bountiful harvest of success as comic creators in the future.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gerry Giovinco

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Fun Size Mini-Comics

Tuesday, October 23rd, 2012

Halloween is quickly sneaking up on us and soon we will have to contend with costume clad  trick-or-treaters looking for candy at our door. It only takes one stop in the candy isle at the local grocery store to know that the huge candy bars we received as kids have be reduced to microscopic proportions. Some marketing genius coined the term Fun Size to describe these shrunken delights and the moniker has stuck. This year there is even a Halloween themed movie  bearing the title Fun Size.

Over the years, the practice of strangers doling out candy to children has become suspect as more and more sociopathic idiots get their jollies by lacing the goodies with drugs, poison, strait pins and razor blades. My family has turned to handing out inexpensive novelties that can be purchased in bulk from any number of mail order companies like U.S. Toy or Oriental Trading. The little trinkets that might consist of spider rings, monster teeth, tattoos, or rubber bugs are quite popular with the kids and relieve parents of the threat of tainted treats.

Inspired by the wide variety of mini comics that small independent publishers have been producing including CO2 Comics’ own creative duet, Joe Williams and Tina Garceau whose Monkey and Bird mini comic can be found here, I thought it would be great to hand out hand-made, Fun Size Mini Comics to trick or treaters this year.

Monkey And Bird mini comic cover

This is an inexpensive and novel way for comic creators to get the word out as to who is the coolest cartoonist in the neighborhood. It is also a fun introduction to the process of comic production and a unique calling card when promoting your creative services in this difficult market for cartoonists, illustrators and graphic designers.

These 32 page self-covered Fun Size Mini Comics can be black and white, black ink printed on color paper, full color, or color covers with black interior. Their final size is approximately 2.5″ x 2″ They are printed 2 sided on a single sheet of 8.5″ x 11″ paper either on your own printer at home or at a copy house like Staples or Kinkos. Fold them by hand, trim with a scissors or paper cutter and bind with a single staple.

Because the page size is so small art should be simple and graphic with minimal dialogue. You can focus on Halloween images, images lifted from your sketchbook,  or a more ambitiously composed story. Someone with limited art ability could use clip art with snappy one liners  on each page. Be creative. Have fun.

The hardest part of the process once the content is created, is figuring out the pagination. to get an idea of where each page lies, fold a piece of 8.5″ x 11″ paper in half four times. It is important to always fold the paper the same way each time so be very careful to take note Trim the top side and bottom leaving the spine in tact. Number each page taking note of the top and bottom of each page. Fold another piece of paper the same way but do not cut it. Unfold both papers carefully marking the page number and directions on the uncut paper using the trimmed version as your guide. You can now create a template on Photoshop, Illustrator, or a fresh blank piece of paper. Insert or paste art into the appropriate spot careful to face it in the right direction as some will be mounted upside down.

Pagination front & back

Once you have laid out the art for both sides of the paper have it printed two sided on a single sheet. Make as many copies as you think you will need. Fold them neatly using a folding bone or a burnisher to make crisp folds.  Staple the spine with a single staple using any decent household or office stapler. Open your comic in the middle and lay it face down in the stapler so the bent side of the staple will be  inside of the comic. Needless to say the staple should run in the same direction as the spine. Trim the top, side and bottom of the comic using a sharp pair of scissors or a paper cutter. Be sure all the pages are separated cleanly after you have trimmed your comic.

This Fun Sized Mini Comic is a great treat for the kids on Halloween or any holiday and is a wonderful project for cartoonists and their families to participate in together. This is also a great project for educators that may be teaching cartooning or are looking for a creative project in an art or literature class. If you might be thinking about using the Fun Sized Mini Comic as a promotional tool make sure that your name and contact information is prominently displayed on on the cover. Please also remember that if you are making the Fun Size Mini Comic to be handed out to children on Halloween, be sure that the content, including  any contact info or websites that may be on your comic, is appropriate for young children or you will have parents banging on your door the next day.

Making Comics Because We Want to,

Gerry Giovinco

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Posted in CO2 Comics, Creationism, Encouraging Comics, Latest Update, Making History, Reinvention, The Comic Company | 3 Comments »

I Don’t Know Jack

Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

What an honor it has been to have had the opportunity to work with members of the Kirby family over the past couple of years, helping them to maintain the legacy and awareness of Jack Kirby, the undisputed king of comic creators. The wonderful campaign, Kirby4Heroes that was initiated by his youngest granddaughter, Jillian and the personal blog that she allowed us to present on our site last week is a prime example of how the family wishes that Jack is remembered and their own interest in maintaining a continued Kirby presence in the comic community.

As I learn more about Jack Kirby and who he was as a man I wish that I had had more of an opportunity to know him when he was alive.

I was not fortunate enough to have been reading comics when Jack Kirby was in his prime at Marvel. Though I have since had plenty of exposure to his work and have developed a keen appreciation of its value, I was influenced more by comic creators that came after him. They were all, however, students his work giving me the opportunity to realize the importance of studying a true master and developing a unique style.

By the time I became a publisher, Jack Kirby and his battles with Marvel over creator’s rights had become a symbol to me of what should be ethical treatment of creators. He, along with Steve Gerber, stood out as revolutionaries, setting the tone for what would become a movement of independent publishers in the 1980′s of which our former company, Comico, was fortunate to be part of. It was appropriate that the two of them joined forces on DESTROYER DUCK to create one of the first creator owned properties.

Destroyer Duck 1

I believe I was at ComicCon in 1984 when I met Jack and Roz Kirby for the first and only time. I still struggle to believe that it wasn’t a dream but I had the opportunity to have dinner with them as part of a group at a restaurant and was able to have a wonderful personal conversation with them both.  Jack was in his late sixties at the time and I have always been extremely respectful and drawn to seniors and their stories. Even though Jack was and remains a god in the comics industry, he was, more importantly a real, personable, and humble gentleman that was as inviting and encouraging as the World’s Best Grandpa.

It was an incredible evening that I will never forget. We joked and shared a few anecdotes about shop but what I remember most was him telling me a story about how Roz would not let him drive anymore. Jack explained that he would get so distracted thinking about his story ideas while he was driving that he would often find himself lost and having to call home for directions. He said, one day he ended up on some lady’s front lawn with the car staring into her bathroom window. That’s when Roz took the keys. At his side, Roz nodded in confirmation. It was easy to see that she was his protectorate and word around the industry was that she was a dynamic force to be reckoned with. What was obvious was that they were a wonderful, loving couple that respected each other throughout the long years of their marriage.

I think of this story every time I find myself doubling back looking for a turn that I missed due to my own preoccupation with my next “brilliant” idea. I was also fortunate enough to marry a dynamic, strong-minded, woman that always has my back. So, though I may not possess an ounce of the talent Jack Kirby had, I always felt that I related to him as a person through some sort of kindred spirit.

This is why I get so passionate about creator’s rights. To me it is less about ownership, and who did what. It is about the real people involved. Their personal investment. Their hopes, dreams, and fears. Their families. Their legacy.

As a comic creator and publisher I like to think that the value of our work is substantiated by the history behind it. Each moment in time establishes a benchmark by which each new work is measured. Jack Kirby’s work established a standard for excellence in comics that stands alone for the sheer volume and brilliance of creativity.

Unfortunately, histories often incur atrocities. The worst thing we can do is ignore them or pretend that they never happened. Gross injustices need to be singled out, addressed, and corrected. They need to be never forgotten so that they may not be repeated. Unfortunately the comic book industry was built on an unethical treatment of creators since inception, a system which continues to be recognized as common industry practices even today. The damages will probably never be repaired but the injustices need to be acted upon appropriately and with finality. Jack Kirby’s legacy stands as a monument to those travesties every time his heirs or estate sees no compensation from the billions of dollars that are generated by his creations. Jack Kirby’s legacy is a testimonial as to why those unethical treatments of creators and their creative properties should be permanently changed and not be repeated.

It is so important that we remember the humanity of Jack Kirby and do not get lost in just the brilliance of his creations which is so easy to do. Jack was a man that grew up in the ghetto, he fought for his country, married the love of his life, was a father and a grandfather. He was a kind man. He made something of his life doing what he loved, and fought for what he deserved till he died. Jack lived the American dream and experienced the nightmare of corporate greed.

It is our job to make sure that Jack Kirby and every comic creator that he symbolically represents, is remembered for their accomplishments, their talents, their struggles and their role as a member of the extended comic community. It is our job to carry their torch forward and guarantee ethical treatment of creators and their rightful properties.  It is our job to never forget Jack Kirby.

Gerry Giovinco

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When Comic Artists Die

Monday, November 14th, 2011

Bil Keane, the creator of the classic newspaper comic Family Circus just passed away at the age of 89 and I find myself stricken with the usual distinctive grief that I have every time I learn that a comic legend dies. I had a bit of a connection with Keane that I’ve blogged about before that made his passing more personal but in general comic creator deaths create a void for me that is very specific.

I feel like I develop a strange sense of a personal relationship with comic creators when I read their comics. Their development of characters, stories and images, to me, are a window to who they are as individuals. I  know them vicariously through their works. Though I may never meet these people that richly touch my life I have a connection, a bond, that resonates with sadness when these creators die.

Comic creators, for me, are also kindred spirits. Having made comics myself, I have a unique understanding and appreciation for what motivates other comic creators. They are a distinct breed of artist drawn to a medium that requires a special skill set, an understanding of specific disciplines, and a willingness to sacrifice socially and economically for a rare love of this medium. Comic creators are denizens of a finite community that shares an exclusive bond of india ink on paper.

Comic creators are teachers. Some stand before classes and spell out every detail of what makes comics tick and how to make them but every comic artist teaches by example. Their works are clear portals through which an observer can easily see what works and what does not. The best comic artists inspire imitation and spawn each new generation of fine talent.

Comic Creators are the history of the medium. All begin as students, learning from what has gone before, then they effect a new trend building on the virtues of the past while laying the groundwork for the future.

Fortunately, though comic artists do die and we have lost many, their work lives on and we will always be able to witness the result of a creative twinkle that once gleamed in the eye of a comic genius. Many have left behind interviews that dive deeply into their creative world.

CO2 Comics has taken on the monumental task of collecting the entire 150 issue run of David Anthony Kraft’s COMICS INTERVIEW just for this reason. In its pages are the remarks and insights of many comic greats who have left us.  Working on this collection is a bittersweet joy, sadly reminding us of our many favorite creators who are gone but delighting us with their legacy of knowledge and talent that will live on through their work.

Celebrate your favorite comic artist who is no longer with us by reading some of their comics. I guarantee that you will find them as entertaining as the day they were created. Share their work with someone else and you will have done your part to keep their memory alive.

Making Comics Because I Want To

Gerry Giovinco


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Posted in Creationism, Making History | 1 Comment »

Broadcast Blues

Monday, October 17th, 2011

This week I read a blog post by Warren Ellis who did a great job of examining the possibility of a lost opportunity regarding webcomics in relationship to the newly popularized digital distribution of comics. If you have any interest in this sort of topic it is a lengthy but worthwhile read.

About a month ago I had written my own wordy post on the subject which, if you missed it, can be found here I covered a lot of the same issues that Warren Ellis did and came to similar conclusions. Warren and I should get together over a cold one some time.

He used the term “broadcast” when describing webcomics which I thought was a brilliant analogy especially regarding distribution of content.  When I think of broadcasting comics via the internet it reminds me of ham radio and the network of amateur radio enthusiasts that have the opportunity to express their right to freedom of speech over the air. It is an activity that they enjoy and do so because they want to, not because their ulterior motive is profit.


The internet offers comic creators, wether amateur or professional, the opportunity to exercise our inalienable right to make comics however we please.  It is a powerful tool for the medium that I hope will never be completely overlooked in the name of monetization as creators seem determined to rush toward digital distribution and turn away from the web.

I can’t help but look at the Occupy Wall Street folks struggling to coordinate the power of their voice and draw a comparison to webcomikers taking a stand in the name of making comics. Both groups have a need to publicly express themselves and are doing so with limited structure and a lot of passion. Like the garbled message of  the protestors not all webcomics meet with warm reception but, like the message or not, you have to be proud that we live in a country that gives us an opportunity for free expression and that it is being exercised.

Having the courage to find a voice and the ability deliver that  message is what is important wether it may be politics, opinion, music, video, art or comics. The internet gives us that freedom as comic creators, even if it does present a difficult venue to generate revenue from our precious content. We need to preserve its use for its value as a powerful forum for our freedom of expression through webcomics.

So, buy a comic book or graphic novel, pay to download an app and a bunch of digital comics, enjoy your purchase and support a comic creator but please bookmark your favorite webcomic, surf the web frequently for new webcomics that you have yet to discover and support the growth of the comics medium.

Make CO2 Comics one of your bookmarks and we will continue to do our best to bring you quality innovative comics. Thanks for being on the receiving end of our broadcast!

Making Comics Because I Want To

Gerry Giovinco


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Breakfast with the Wimpy Kid

Monday, March 21st, 2011

As I sat at my breakfast table on Sunday looking at my newspaper (yeah, I still read those obsolete rags) I came across an article that was the cover feature in the syndicated supplement PARADE featuring Jeff Kinney and his hugely successful WIMPY KID.

The article inside is full of great inspirational stuff for comic creators because Jeff’s story (not the Wimpy Kid’s) is proof that amazing success stories can still happen.

I’m not intending that this blog feature be a review of the article or even a critique of The Wimpy Kid series. I just want to take a look at a few points of relevance that I believe reflect on the comics industry today.

First and foremost are the numbers. “Over 47 million copies of books in print in the U.S. alone…” These are figures in a market that many consider dead or at least on life support! Who wouldn’t want to sell 47 million of anything, especially comics?

Jeff’s works have been translated into 30 different languages so imagine how many millions more have been sold globally.

Of course there is a whole industry of merchandise that has sprung out of its success not to mention two films, one of which will be released this week.

I think this guy is making a living with his cartoons which by his own admission are drawn like a sixth grader because “That’s when I maxed out talentwise.”

Secondly I think it is important to look at the target market. Boys 9-12. Boy humor that has also hooked a lot of girls making it the most popular series for that age group, even dusting Harry Potter!

The books are encouraged by educators and librarians not because they endorse the bad behavior in the books but because they think the books get boys to read!

Can you imagine what the comics industry would be like today if educators in the golden and silver ages of comics would have had the same sensibility? I would have loved to have seen MAD magazine and comic books in those old book club circulars.

Mad Magazine 1

Now is the time for the traditional comics industry to win back this market that was the stronghold of the mighty superhero in a bygone era and is now dominated by this pencil-necked, victimized character.

The progression is interesting when we look at the success that Stan Lee had with Spider-man in the sixties. Reach a wider audience with a character that it can relate to. I think this is called demographics.

I guess it is time to realize that the forty-something geek male market may not be the best primary target for the success of the industry.

Finally we have to look at how the whole Wimpy Kid comic rose to stardom. The usual way. Not overnight. It got its start as a web comic in 2004 and built an audience of 90,000 visitors a day.

After amassing 1,300 pages of his feature Jeff took some of it to the 2006 Comic-Con in New York and showed it around and a month later he’s negotiating with the book publisher Abrams.

The rest is history but the point is that Jeff Kinney had a dream to create comics and after he had been turned down by every outlet he ventured out on his own and made it happen. He had faith in his ideas and faith in his product.

Jeff capitalized on what I believe is one of the main ingredients of a successful comic, irreverence, which can sometimes be translated as defiance.

Comics are the voice of the common folk, they always have been. Tumultuous times breed a defiant sensibility that even the young readers can relate to.

Wimpy Kid is successful because the victimized can see rejoice in the retaliation of the main character. Readers identify with it and want more, whether it is a web comic, a book or a movie.

So, my Sunday paper was quite enjoyable. I think I got a lot of inspiration for my $1.50 and I still can’t believe it was printed on paper.

Making Comics Because I Want To

Gerry Giovinco


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Posted in CO2 Comics | 3 Comments »

Angel in the Cloud

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

What a month January was for comic creators and fans.

Where the hell did it come from!

It was as if a giant frying pan just cracked the head of the collective conscience of an entire industry.

If you were hibernating in a cave to dodge “snowmageddon” maybe you missed it.

People in comics were talking. I mean real discussions with a revolutionary tone that challenged the industry’s ascent of the slippery slopes into the digital age.

Creator’s rights, distribution, marketing, diversity were all buzz words that spilled from blog to blog igniting a firestorm of comments filled with insightful observations, solutions, and opinions.

Thank you!

Follow the discussions here:

A little more on the Creator’s revolution

Revolution?

Grassroots creators support campaign begins

The Creator’s Front for Diversity in Comics puts out a hilarious video

Creationism

What’s all this Creator-Owned talk?

Dear, Content Maker… by Dean Haspiel

Appless Comics

Working for a living: Joe Casey

The Not .99 Method

How to sell your book or comic for the ipad & iphone without Apples help

My big concern with comic downloads, The one thing nobody’s saying

2010 closed with comic creators and publishers exhibiting all the optimism of the Second Coming thanks to the iPad and its promises of broader distribution and fiscal opportunity. Wide-eyed and giddy there was a mad scramble for the Kool-Aid delivered in the form of apps distributed by the Almighty.

Maybe it is the spirit of Steve Gerber that has dashed to the rescue stirred by the parallels to his prophetic SOOFI.


Maybe it is just a sudden sense of independent empowerment.

Creators have snapped out of the trance and are recognizing the power of options that they have possibly taken for granted or have not fully explored.

Just in time!

No sooner has the aura faded, somewhat nefarious distribution standards have been established generating fears and doubts as we wade gingerly into the uncharted waters of digital distribution.

Let’s keep the discussion going! All we have in front of us as a comic industry is opportunity. Making the best of it is our challenge.

Thanks for the heads up, Steve!

Making Comics because I want to!

Gerry Giovinco

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CREATIONISM

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

Recent Champions of Creationism: Millar, Haspiel, Casey & Ellis

Hallelujah!

What a wonderful time to be a comics creator!

More options exist than ever before to create original works, have them published in multiple formats, reach a worldwide audience, retain ownership and have a sense of control over what happens with our intellectual properties.

All we have to do is figure out how to make some money while we’re at it!

It is this sense of monetary entitlement that seems to be frustrating creators the most and it is justifiable, especially in this awful economy. We all want to be paid for our hard work.

How do we define our value? What is appropriate compensation for what we do as comic creators? When do we realize we are being screwed and by who?

This isn’t an issue unique to comic creators. Ever apply for a job? Any job? The trickiest blank to fill on the application is “desired salary.” With few exceptions, the more labor intensive the job is, the less we can expect to be paid.

The arts, regardless of the discipline, always seem to leave a trail of under appreciated and undervalued yet talented creative types groveling in the wake of employers who have benefited immensely from the revenues generated by the exploitation of the works created by the artists that they have dealt with.

We all know the exceptions. The stars in the arts and entertainment world shine bright and are showered with wealth, adding to the frustration of those that toil diligently at their craft for limited compensation. These are the artists that either know how to manage and promote themselves or are able to surround themselves with people they trust to handle these duties.

I have always believed that if you want to earn what you feel you deserve as a creator, you should work for yourself. Why make someone else rich at the expense of your talent? This, of course takes time, requires investment, commitment and risk, most of the elements that the publisher assumes when publishing a work and why they expect to retain so much of the revenue generated by sales.

If there was ever a time to take on those daunting responsibilities, NOW is the time to take charge of your talents as comic creators. There is no need to sell out your skills or your creative ideas to publishers who are unwilling to value your work respectfully.

The internet provides so many opportunities for creators that did not exist just ten years ago. Comic creators now have tremendous resources available for everything from learning the techniques of the medium to the publication, marketing and distribution of the final work. All of these assets are available for free or at minimal cost compared to anything that was ever available before.

As a community of comic creators, we need to come together and champion each other. Now is the time to redefine the market, recondition the consumers, and reinvent the product. Now is the time to take control of our creations and be the beneficiaries of our own talent.

Will 2011 will be the year that comic creators finally recognize the significance of their independence? We are off to a good start. In the first few weeks of the new year discussion on this topic has already stirred the pot. Mark Millar, Dean Haspiel, Joe Casey, Warren Ellis and myself have all made a point to instill this dynamic into the mindset of comic creators, many of which are diving into the digital distribution arena possibly a bit to hastily with a Gold Rush mentality.

It is time that we all become as creative and aggressive marketing our comics as we are when creating them. We can charge in alone or we can rally together by supporting and sharing each other’s endeavors and ideas, encouraging an evolution that will redefine the course of comics as an industry and a medium.

Evolution at the hands of the creator…what a novel concept. Maybe we can make a Big Bang in how comics are perceived by the masses or maybe we can at least put the Pop back in our favorite Pop Art by insuring that comics are the popular reading material of the widest audience possible.

Bill Cucinotta and I are committed to exploring the possibilities that are available to the comic creators that are part of our cooperative community here at CO2 Comics. We also recognize that we are part of the greater community of comics professionals. We intend to be part of the dialog that empowers this new trend of Creationism.

Our think tank is more than a canister of of carbon dioxide.

We have been challenging the boundaries of convention in the comics field since the early eighties with Comico, our former creator owned publishing house that found ways to publish other creators while paying highly competitive page rates and a generous royalty on sales. From modest beginnings we found creative ways to compete directly with Marvel and DC in the fledgeling Direct Market. We made inroads in licensing and merchandising that opened the doors for others. We set standards for production and quality with innovation and hard work. We made mistakes and we learned from them.

We proved that it is possible to build a dream with perseverance, enthusiasm and creativity. CO2 Comics is our opportunity to do that again in this new digital era. As always our focus is on the success of the creators. We know that the success of the creators that we have relationships with translates into success for us. It is a simple formula and it works.

Creationism can be the new evolution of comics if you let it.

Our message to all creators: “This is your time. This is your opportunity. Take advantage of it. We plan to!”

Hallelujah!

Making comics because I want to.

Gerry Giovinco


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