Wednesday, May 19, 2010

TEN EMAILS with ERIC STEPHENSON!


It’s Wednesday, and for comic fans that means new books are out, I wasn’t able to make it to the comic store today, but I was able to wrap up this interview with Image Comics Publisher Eric Stephenson!


Email 1

Marvel Comics has recently unleashed the Marvel Digital Comics service where for $4.99 a month ($59.88 for the year) fans can get access to comic books online or via devices like the new Ipad.

Whats your take on the digital comics? Several illegal peer to peer sites offer comic books scanned for download as well, does this pose a threat to your business model? Do you think more companies will be offering digital renditions of their current or classic titles?


I personally find the possibilities created by digital comics, from business and creative standpoints alike, incredibly exciting. I don't think print comics are going anywhere just yet, but I do see digital comics becoming a greater presence over time. And yes, I definitely think more publishers will be releasing digital versions of their comics. Many of them are doing that now, and the number of publishers re-working material for digital distribution is only going to grow over the months and years ahead. I don't know if that's a specific reaction to illegal downloading of comics material as it is to the fact that technology is continuing to evolve and devices like the iPad are more conducive to the comics-reading experience.


Email 2

In 2008, shortly after you began as Publisher at Image, Robert Kirkman became the newest Image partner, and the first to attain that status since Image was created. Has Kirkman's role as a partner changed the company?


I think there's perhaps a different kind of energy than there was before, because Robert's comparatively new to the game and he is just fueled by all this raw enthusiasm that is kind of hard to sustain after you've been in the business a while. He's made suggestions here and there about things that can be done better or differently and he has recommended a few titles for publication, but that's not really different from how things were before. He's been a positive influence, to be sure, but it wasn't a case where he came in as partner and then we made all these sweeping changes as a result.


Email 3

As Publisher at Image, how important is it to you be up on what goes on, and the trends at the other big comic publishing houses?


Just in terms of staying abreast of what's happening in the industry, that's tremendously important. However, due to the unique nature of our business, what works for other publishers isn't necessarily going to work for Image. For instance, there have been numerous "event" miniseries from Marvel and DC over the last several years, these large, company-wide crossovers with spin-off miniseries and the like. While we might do an IMAGE UNITED or something like that every now and then, we can't really do the big, sweeping, buy-all-our-titles-or-else type of crossover. LIkewise, due to the nature of creator-ownership, we can't just arbitrarily spin characters or series off. That's why you don't see a dozen different WALKING DEAD series or something like that. So, what's happening at other publishers winds up being important and informative, but not necessarily something we want to emulate.


Email 4

What's unique about image's creator-participation deal? Is creater-ownership philisophically the best way to make comics?
How is Image now different from the company 7 of the industries best artists created in 1991?


Well, it's not creator-participation we're talking about, it's creator-ownership. Just as Todd McFarlane owns SPAWN or Erik Larsen owns SAVAGE DRAGON, Robert Kirkman owns THE WALKING DEAD 100%. John Layman owns CHEW. Richard Starkings owns ELEPHANTMEN. And that's what makes Image unique within comics publishing. There are plenty of publishers who will offer ownership up to a point, or ownership with some kind of media rights percentage, but Image's standard deal is 100% creator-ownership. And that's the same now as it was when the company was created, almost 20 years ago now. Is that philosophically the best way to make comics? I don't know about that. I think that depends on what you want to accomplish in comics. If your life's ambition is to write or draw a character created by someone else and owned by someone else, creator-owned comics are apples to oranges. Everyone's different, creative people perhaps even more so, and I don't think it would be fair to say doing corporate-owned characters is somehow less valid. Some of my favorite comics are by extremely talented writers and artists doing work-for-hire, and I don't really think there's a way you can argue one method of creating comics is necessarily better than the other from a creative standpoint.


Email 5

What does complete creator ownership mean for Image in terms of licensing?
If there is a new Spawn or Walking Dead movie, will Image share in the profits? Or will it have to spend money directly on the film to make any royalties?


Image won't make a dime from the Walking Dead television series on AMC, just as Image never made a dime off the Spawn film or animated series.


Email 6

I'm gonna try to avoid making a joke about Spawn movie profits, I was just underhand pitched...

When Erik Larsen left the post of publisher, he told Project Fanboy, you were "the best man for the job". You were following in the footsteps of two Image founders in Larsen and Jim Valentino. I know you have been with Image since nearly its beginning, but how big a change was the move from being Larsen or Jim Lee's 2nd in command to being Publisher?


Well, I've actually only been on staff with Image since 2001. I was kind of "Image adjacent" before that: When I was first breaking into comics, I worked as Jim Valentino's assistant for a brief period, before being hired by Rob Liefeld to edit comics for Extreme. That happened right after YOUNGBLOOD #1 in 1992 was released, and I went on to work for Rob, editing comics and doing some scripting on various titles, until 1998 or so. I did some freelance comics writing and coloring after that, as well as working on staff for a dotcom, before Valentino brought me on board as Image's sales & marketing coordinator at the end of 2001. Erik replaced Jim as publisher in 2004 and I took on the title "Executive Director," which was really just another way of saying co-publisher, I think, and we made a pretty good team, I think. So much so, in fact, that it hasn't really been that big a change. I had my hands in most aspects of the job before the transition, so it's just been a case of taking ownership of duties I used to share.


Email 7

Working with Liefeld at Extreme did you ever cross paths with Alan Moore during his tenure on Supreme or Youngblood ? If so how was working with him?


Oh, yeah. There was a good long stretch of time when I talked to Alan almost every day, which is easily one of the highlights of that period for me. It was a fascinating experience, because Alan was genuinely enthusiastic about the material and had what seemed to be a limitless number of ideas about how to further develop not only Supreme, but the entire Extreme universe of characters. Just talking to him about the books was tremendous fun and being able to read his scripts as they came over the fax was an education on its own. It's a shame his run on SUPREME was never continued or completed. Alan had some fantastic ideas for what would have been his third year on the book and it has always been a disappointment for me that he wasn't able to wrap things up the way he intended. Likewise, only a fraction of the stories he wrote for YOUNGBLOOD were ever published. I would rank working with Alan (not to mention his chief collaborators during that period, Rick Veitch, Chris Sprouse and Todd Klein) as one the best experiences I've had in comics, honestly. I feel lucky I had that opportunity!


Email 8

Are there plans to publish all or even just some of the unreleased Alan Moore material? I know a lot of people who might not be Youngblood fans but buy everything with Moore's name on it.


I don't believe so, and I'm not even sure it's really possible: None of that work was completed. With Supreme, there's an issue that was written, but neither drawn nor published, but the final issue that would wrap everything up simply doesn't exist. Youngblood would be in a bit better shape, as I think there are four or five scripts that haven't been drawn, but again, all of those would have been chapters in a larger arc that was intended to run 12 issues. Glory was going to be six issues and only two of those were written. It would be nice to see all those comics in print, but Alan has moved on at this point, and it's my understanding he wouldn't be interested in coming back to finish everything up. It's been something like 12 years, after all.


Email 9

So moving forward are there any big new plans or awesome twists coming from Image in the near future?


This is one of my least favorite questions, because there are always big new plans and awesome twists in the works, but in most cases, I'm not at liberty to talk about them.

I can say that we have some cool new series launching in the next few months, though. David Hine & Shaky Kane's BULLETPROOF COFFIN is shaping up to be an amazing piece of work, Tim Seeley is bringing his HACK/SLASH series to Image, Robert Kirkman is spinning off characters from INVINCIBLE in GUARDIANS OF THE GLOBE and up-and-coming new writer Nick Spencer has a great new series called MORNING GLORIES. Actually, one of the best things about working at Image is that we're constantly doing new things. With only a few exceptions, Image's publishing slate can look totally different from year to the next and sometimes from one month to the next.


Email 10

well super thanks for all the time and insight you have given me and everyone who reads this. it means a lot to me that you took the time out of your busy schedule to follow through with this.


could you toss me a photo if you can to run with the interview, can be you or any image related image (ha!)


best wishes in the future
dont forget to have fun!
xo



No comments: