Who's Who In The CBU Update 2008

Who are... Park and Barb?

Barbara Lien-Cooper writes the comic GUN STREET GIRL at Panel 2 Panel, was an original founder of Sequential Tart, is the managing editrix of the 2004 Eisner award-winning print magazine COMIC BOOK ARTIST, and was named by Mark Millar (The Authority, Ultimates, Wanted) as one of the three most promising new talents in the next wave of comics writing.

Park Cooper started writing about comics at the now-defunct DC FANZINE website.

Interview: David Hedgecock of Ape Entertainment

By Park Cooper

I'm the editor on Athena Voltaire: Flight of the Falcon, briefly Speakeasy, now coming out from Ape Entertainment. I thought, what better way to get to know more about Ape than by asking questions, and what better thing to do with a bunch of questions and explanations than to turn the whole thing into an interview for this column.

So that's what I did.






Park Cooper: What, precisely, is your role at Ape?

David Hedgecock: I'm a General Partner of Ape Entertainment. Basically, I own half the company. My official title is Director of Finance but I do a little bit of everything around here… sometimes my business partner, Brent Erwin, would say I do too much. I guess I get a little too gung-ho from time to time.

PC: Of the three guys... why you as Director of Finance?

DH: We drew straws and I lost.

PC: What are some of the various things/tasks you've done this week?

DH: Website updates, script edits, contract negotiations, order fulfillments, promotion coordination, a little design work, submission reviews, spoke with a couple of retailers about Horrorwood and The Black Coat…

PC: Give me a little background on Ape, including the main things you've published in the past.

DH: Ape was formed in 2003 but it was a germ of an idea for a few years before that.

I had met my business partners, Brent Erwin and Mike Hall (no longer with the company), through a small press club called the United Fanzine Organization (UFO). We were all coming to the same conclusions about comic book publishing at the same time so, we got together and got serious. After a year of research and background work, we started Ape Entertainment. Between the three of us, we've got over 20 years of experience in almost every aspect of the comic industry. The guys I work with know Comic-Fu.

PC: Comic-Fu?

DH: Joking. Like Kung-Fu but better because, you know, it's comics.

We've published the following titles- Pulp Action, Make Your Own Comics, Omnibus #1 & 2, Point Pleasant, A Different Pace, PanGea, Justice City Chronicles, Go-Go Gorilla and the Jungle Crew (summer and winter specials), Sullengrey (#1-3 with #4 on the way), Horrorwood #1 (of 4), The Black Coat #1 (of 4).

In the next few months we will debut U.T.F.- Undead Task Force (3 issue mini), Athena Voltaire (4 issue mini), Progeny, Magnitude, and we will be coming back to a few of the properties already mentioned like Sullengrey and A Different Pace. There's more down the line but it's really too early to comment.

PC: Just to be clear: when you say 4 issue mini for Athena Voltaire, are you combining 1 and 2 into one issue?

DH: Yes. As per creator Steve Bryant's request. Originally, the book was scheduled to be a 5 issue mini-series. However, we are combining issue #1 and #2 as a big, fat opening salvo of a book. That way, those people who already bought #1 will have something new and those that didn't try the book yet will be able to get in on the ground floor. In the end, if you picked up Athena Voltaire #1 from Speakeasy, you are only paying an extra $1.50 for the entire series but you will be helping a small company put out a really great book.

PC: Why "Ape"?

DH: Because it starts with an "A" which puts us towards the front of the PREVIEWS catalog. That simple.

Plus, a wise man (Mort Weisinger) once said that putting a gorilla on your cover will help your sales so we decided to make sure every book we publish had one.

PC: What did you do before Ape?

DH: Freelance. Design work, roleplaying game illustration, branding, a little web design. Mostly mucked about and enjoyed the lifestyle of a 20-something living in Sunny San Diego.

PC: Where, exactly is Ape located?

DH: Our base of operations is technically San Diego, California. However, the company is all over the map- from New York to Ohio to Texas and lots of spots in between.

PC: In what way is it all over the map? Printing here, something else done there, is that it?

DH: Yeah. Kevin Freeman, our managing Editor, is somewhere in Ohio. Brent Erwin, General Partner and Director of Marketing, is in New York. Michael Murphey, our Marketing Coordinator, is in Texas. I'm in San Diego. Our printing is done in Texas, China, Korea, Hong Kong, and Canada. We have artists from all around the world- Italy, Singapore, South America, etc. We are a global company. LOL

PC: What is Ape's basic submissions policy? What are you looking for?

DH: You can check our website for our submission guidelines- http://www.ape-entertainment.com/submit.htm

We're currently only actively looking at creator owned projects. All our positions for individual talent are filled at the moment but we're always happy to look at your submission. We've been getting swamped with these lately so please be patient if we don't get back to you right away.

PC: Does Ape try to get into chain bookstores, or just comic book specialty stores?

DH: Currently, we are only interested in supplying the comic book specialty market. We think comic book retailers have enough competition and we prefer to give them our full attention.

PC: What comics do you currently read (besides Ape)?

DH: Egads. This is a long list. I'll leave off the Marvel, DC stuff for the sake of brevity. Those guys get enough publicity already anyway, right? But let's be clear, I love me some superheroes when they are done right.

Boneyard, Poison Elves (but only when Drew Hayes is doing it), No Dead Time, LOFI magazine (not a comic but full of comic goodness), Middle Man, Savage Dragon, Fell, Knights of the Dinner Table, Mouseguard, Invincible, Perhapanauts, Conan, Bad Planet, Dork Tower, Lullaby, Hunter Killer, Robotika… I could go on like this all day. It really is a sickness at this point.

PC: Knights and Dork Tower... You said you did freelance illustration, but did you/do you game?

DH: I used to game like a madman from 6th-8th grade. In high school I found girls and football and something had to give and D&D was it. I still stuck with comics. Drove 45 miles one-way every Wednesday with my little brother to get my books.

Knights and Dork Tower are my way of gaming without having to go to all the trouble of finding time and people to play with. I'm pretty sure if someone came to me and asked if I wanted to play that I would give it a shot but, for now, I live vicariously.

I'm also reading a lot of the new Disney/SLG books- Tron, Wonderland and Gargoyles. I get to read them before anyone else because I'm lettering the first two and drawing the last one. And they all honestly Rock. SLG Publishing may know more Comic-Fu than we do. Dan Vado (SLG owner) can pull your lungs out with a saddle stitching wire. I've seen him do it.

As for webcomics… I don't really read them. I just can't get into them. Guess I'm too old. However, I've got about 6 books worth of completed material that we're preparing for a big webcomic launch in a few months and I love all of that. Does that count or am I just being a shill by mentioning it?

PC: How do you feel about manga?

DH: As a category? Anything that brings new readers into the market is alright by me. I am not a big fan of most of the manga that's being put out but I love the classics- Lone Wolf and Cub, Akira, Blade of the Immortal. I picked up I Luv Halloween from Tokyopop a while back. I wouldn't call it manga but I liked it. I'd love to work with Ben Roman (the artist), I've got the perfect story already written for him. Ben!? Are you listening? Come slumming with the Indy crowd!

PC: What's your take on Speakeasy?

DH: I think the company had good intentions and came up short. As far as I can tell, Adam Fortier has done his best to do right by all the people involved. I'm sorry to see any comic company go under because it gives me that 'canary in a coal mine' feeling. I hope everyone involved has been able to land on their feet. I am glad we were able to help out a few of the creative teams when things went down.

PC: The superhero genre. Worn out? Or just not used/explored right for a while? Or am I insane and the superhero genre is doing better and cooler than ever?

DH: I don't give it much thought. It must not be worn out because I still find writers and artists who are doing work in the genre that entertains me. Of course, I can eat pizza 5 days a week and not get tired of it so…

PC: What's the last con you went to? Are you going to San Diego this year?

DH: Wizard Los Angeles. That show rocked. We debuted HORRORWOOD #1 there and people grabbed that book up like a teenager grabbing his first boobie.

PC: Do you feel that the GN will ever replace the magazine format?

DH: Looking that way, isn't it? Ape Entertainment originally started with graphic novels and we've slowly worked our way into pamphlet format so I guess we're swimming upstream at this point.

PC: What's the first comic you can clearly remember reading?

DH: Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew #4… "His name is Mudd".

Scott Shaw! (Captain Carrot co-creator) and Sergio Aragones (Groo) are probably the two guys most responsible for me becoming addicted to comics.

I've managed to somehow become friends with Scott Shaw! Over the past year (He's done a couple covers for our book, Go-Go Gorilla and the Jungle Crew) and the guy is everything you could wish for in an idol. Everyone is going to go crazy for all the designs he's recently been doing for McFarlane toys. The man is a genius and absolutely good people.

PC: Is the comics industry 'in trouble'? If so, what does that mean? If not, why not?

DH: I hope not, otherwise that 10 year business plan we wrote up is worthless.

Seriously, the market is doing fine. Market growth in dollars and units has been trending upwards for 5 years now. However, we are getting to one of those 'moments' where things could get really good or start going downhill again.

I think retailers, flush with their superhero-multi-crossover cash, who re-invest that money in expanding their market and creating diversity in their clientele are going to find big returns down the road.

Those that don't will be stuck in a market that is slowly dwindling and aging. If we get too many of the later and not enough of the former, things won't be so great. I'm banking on most retailers in today's climate to be smart and I have product waiting for them.

PC: There was a time when comics was what one could call a "collectors' market," meaning that some people bought these things because they felt that comics, like baseball cards, could really be worth something someday. Is comics still a collector's market? If not, what would you call it?

DH: Couldn't tell you. I've never been a collector. I've always been a 'roll it up and shove it in your back pocket' kind of guy. I buy books that I enjoy. When I stop enjoying them, I stop buying them. I make comics for people like me, not for CGC.

PC: I've heard a sort of vague but widely-held dissenting trend against CGC lately. Not necessarily in and of itself, but what it represents…

DH: I honestly have nothing against people who buy comics and have them CGC'd or Slabbed or whatever the kids are calling it these days. As much as I want everyone to buy comics for reading, that's not the only reason people buy comics. There is a collector's market and I'm perfectly okay with that. God bless them for buying comics no matter their reason. If any collectors are buying Ape Entertainment comics and they feel like cracking one open, I think they will find the added benefit of being entertained.

PC: Kids and comics. There was a time when everyone knew that comics weren't just for kids, then there was a time when everyone knew comics were ONLY for kids. Then adult readers started increasing in comics again. Where do you think we stand now? Should we try more to get more kids in comics? Or should we give up on them? For example, Tom Clancy and Elmore Leonard don't really cater to kids, and yet no one worries that in 15 years or whatever, that sort of writing won't have an audience any more...

DH: Man, you're asking difficult questions here. Should we try to get more kids to read comics? Yeah. Should we get more moms to read comics? Yeah. More doctors? Yeah. More truck drivers, more Marines, more stockbrokers, more housewives, more septuagenarians, more pilots, more yaks, newts, ants and aardvarks? Heck yeah.

Just more in general. That can't hurt, right?

Ape Entertainment makes books for everyone. Our all ages title, Go-Go Gorilla and the Jungle Crew, sold out at four shows last year. We doubled our direct market sales through the convention circuit. Almost every copy we sold was to a kid between the ages of 8-12. It's probably my favorite book that we've published. So, do I want more kids in the market. Yep. But I want more of everyone else too.

PC: And that's exactly my next question. How do we get adults in general to read more comics? Is the real problem here just marketing?

DH: I'm going to pass on this question for the sake of not wanting to bore your readers to death. I'll say that there are many problems and just as many solutions. Marketing is probably not even in the top 10 of either.

If you get enough readers who would like to hear my rant on the industry, I'll be happy to type up my LIST OF THINGS TO DO FOR THE COMIC INDUSTRY and submit it to you at a later date.

PC: Tell you what. Pick some projects a person could/can order from APE in 2006 that you think might appeal to everyone, and tell me about them.

DH: Already out this year:

Point Pleasant- Historical fiction at its finest. A retelling of the mysterious, real life events surrounding Point Pleasant, West Virginia and their connection to the Moth Man.

Coming out now:

Sullengrey- Anyone who's ever worn all black or had a paranoid thought will find everything they've ever wanted in this book. Artist Drew Rausch is the 'Next Big Thing'.

Horrorwood- An intriguing murder-mystery set against the backdrop of the dying, 1950s Hollywood movie industry.

Coming out later this year:

Athena Voltaire- a WWII, action-adventure piece in the same vein as Indiana Jones and touted by the likes of Warren Ellis.

PC: Crossovers in comics: Neat or evil? And why?

DH: Neither. Mostly over-hyped and usually done by committee which, by its nature, tends to make for boring product.

PC: Unlike certain other, mainstream companies, Ape does not have a shared-universe concept behind it...

DH: I think there is a large segment of the marketplace that definitely enjoys the Marvel and DC shared universe concept. But, as much as we'd like to believe it, you can't keep eating pizza five times a week. At some point, you're going to get tired of it. At some point you're going to look at that pizza and just the sight of it will make you a little ill.

That's when Ape Entertainment comes in… and offers you a banana.