Salutations, Digital Musings and Inking with a Petrified Monkey Paw

By Shon C. Bury

Welcome to the first installment of In the Trenches. This is a column about behind-the-scenes happenings of the comic biz. How do I know such things? Well, first, I've been a freelance writer for over ten years, a talent agent for three years, and an editor for the last year or so. On a given day, I work with an average of four publishers, twenty artists (of various disciplines), a half dozen editors, and a half dozen writers on as many as twenty different comic books a month. Big press and small. That's a lot of books...and a lot of shop talk, day in and day out. If you like talking shop, this is the column for you.

In the Trenches will be roughly broken up into four general sections. With room for me to switch things up when I feel like it. Sections may include:

  • Industry Stuff: In which I write about the state of the industry, emerging trends, general goings-on, and stuff...

  • Take It From Me: In which I share anecdotes from over 10 years of making comics. I'll give you tips on freelancing--and I'll share some of the WHACK excuses I hear on a nearly daily basis as to why a deadline is blown or a ball is dropped (names and palaces may change to protect my career).

  • Pluggin’ Junk: In which I plug junk.

  • Adult ADD Watch: In which I chat about whatever's on my mind that doesn't fit the above categories.
This should be fun. Watch...



Industry Stuff (or... "Manga and Movie Coattails, Sustainability, and Digital Download Doomsayers"): As we move into 2008, it's time for industry bean counters, aficionados, and geeks like me to study market reports and reflect on the previous year...while trying to decide if this year will be as fruitful. 2007 was another year of solid growth for non-Manga and Manga comics alike, with 7% and 15% growth respectively (and roughly as we only have Jan - Nov numbers as I type this). Both have seen year-after-year growth in a big way since 2002. Double digit growth for both in some years. And both have big and small screen counterparts to thank.

In no small way, superhero comics owes its current success to great movie FX (and a small but growing handful of Hollywood types that truly "get" comics) and Japanese pop culture. Starting with the success of movies like Blade, X-Men, and Spider-Man, smart editors and creators were able to capitalize on the mass-market attention our little niche industry received to bring back wayward readers and lure in a few new ones to boot. Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, and Pokemon made an entire generation of American children interested in Anime and Manga. And got everyone interested in perfect bound books. Because of these two events, superhero sales have increased to levels of respectability not seen since the early 90s, Manga sales exploded, and the graphic novel boom began--not just in the direct market but in facings at big box book stores and with online consumers. But to be sure, "comics" (in its absolute broadest sense) rode in on the coattails of other successes.

So the question I'm (kinda) asking is this: Is all this growth sustainable? I have no doubt that comics will be around for a long, long time, and that the fabulous creators and publishers who are at the top of their game will remain that way for a long, long time. But I wonder how many more books Marvel and DC can put on the stands in their war for dominance. I wonder how much more shelf space and inventory dollars Borders will dedicate to graphic novels and Manga. I wonder when and if the graphic novel and Manga market will reach saturation. I wonder how we can continue to benefit from Hollywood when all the really good superhero properties have been strip mined. And I wonder...housing market crash...$100 dollar/barrel oil...eroding US dollar...(mumble)...sustainability...(mumble)... Which is to say: I wonder about the near-future of print comics and the near-future of the distribution of comics, but not the art form of comics.

All evidence indicates that comics will continue to grow at a healthy clip for the next few years in the traditional way. As print distribution channels reach capacity--and as the natural order of things wills it--comics will begin to be downloaded and read digitally with ever-growing access, ease, and acceptance. Within five years on the inside. And most people won't even think twice about it.

Damn. I said it. Digital downloads are the inescapable near-future reality of comics. This poses a huge set of unique hurdles in all areas of comics from creation to publishing to distribution and sales, since most publishers and creators have not really figured out all the hows of delivery (as technology continues to develop...and shifts increasingly towards handheld devices)...and of making money with this new delivery method. And we're not even going to talk about art format, as that's a separate column entirely.

Big question marks abound, even as Marvel launches the subscription-based DCU and DC pushes new downloadable content with Zuda. Web-based distributors like Drunkduck and WOWIO continue to offer diverse downloads with respective pay-per-download and ad-supported business models as proof that business models of every stripe are being tested and tweaked.

All of these models cut out the retail middlemen, force creators to completely rethink the format and pacing of a comic-book page, and generally shift comics to an internet-based model as opposed to a print one. Industry veterans of all stripes are concerned, considering all this challenges everything we've been doing for the last 70+ years. All this can be expected, considering the dynamic times we now live in.

It's safe to say that the next ten years will be the most dynamic period of change ever. In every respect. It's also safe to say that all media will be digitally delivered very soon, with all aspects of entertainment migrating to the internet. It's also safe to say that everything's going to be okay. As Graveslinger's Jeff Mariotte recently put it, "People thought TV would kill movies and print, and that didn't happen. It's all about adapting, and creative people are good at that."

The emergence of digital delivery is not the death knell of print. One big thing I walked away with from the ICv2 conference on Anime and Manga at this past December’s New York Anime Festival is this: Digital delivery of comics actually drives sales of print books by virally increasing awareness. Even when the material is pirated. Representatives from DC, Tokyopop, Comcast (yes, Comcast), and Viz were all in agreement on that front. Here's the other thing that I walked away with (and every true lover of reading already knows this): All this is a much bigger problem for video than print. Yeah, publishers need to rethink their print business models, but comics--as ICv2 President Milton Griepp sagely stated--are far more resistant to digital delivery than their video counterparts. Sage as that statement is, it hasn't stopped any of the above from recently purchasing Amazon.com's new Kindle.

In short, circulation of print comics may begin to decline as the next decade begins (especially if content doesn't diversify enough to draw in more of the mass market), but digital delivery will shore up those losses--then continue to grow the market--as business models and technology (and hopefully content) catch up to the needs of consumers.

It's going to be an exciting march into the future. Thankfully there are a lot of smart, capable people leading the way.



Take it From Me (or... "Your WHAT Is Infected?"):

So I've worked with a lot of artists over the last decade. A lot. As I type this, I've helped Marvel put Warbound #4 and Exiles #6 to bed and helped Shannon Eric Denton line up a cover artist for his new Western. Over the last three years, I've spent the bulk of my time as a talent agent for many of the artists I've gotten to know over the years. First as a studio rep for Sequential Studios, then their president, and now as my own boss at Space Goat Productions.

If you've picked up Midnighter, Heroes for Hire, Nightwing, What If?, Hulk: Aftersmash, or Marvel Adventures Iron Man in the last six months, you've seen the work of some of my artists. We do a lot of work inside and outside comics, to include character design for videogames. Big press. Small press. It's all good.

On a rush job for some videogame designs, a quick ink job on some character turnarounds was running about a week late. I finally received the files and readied to send them to the client...until I noticed that the work quality was far, far below this particular inker's skill level. To be honest, it looked like the artist inked the designs by way of a petrified monkey paw on a yard stick. While squinting. When I enquired why the dip in quality, I got the most unexpected response possible: "I have an infection." An infection? Wow, I wish I had known that before the inker took the job, because Space Goat has more than one inker, this was a rush job, and I would never ask an artist to work while ill.

I asked the obvious follow-up question, "How did you get an infection in your hand?" In reply, the inker told me that, no, no, the infection was not in his hand...but in his eye. Again, something that I could have known before I handed him a rush job. I was forced to reject the work and give the gig to another inker, who was under even tighter time constraints.

Hands down the best excuse I’ve heard in the last year...

Moral of this story? If you want a vibrant freelance career in comics, don't take a job you are physically incapable of performing. It's just...weird.



Pluggin' Junk (or... "Stuff That's Cool That You Should Check Out"):

You should read these books because they are awesome:
  • Shon C. Bury’s Nox: My first OGN and the first comic I've had printed in a long time. A contemporary story mapped onto Joseph Campbell's "Hero Cycle," Newsarama says Nox is "an energetic book that throws your typical kid-on-a-quest story on its ear" while That's Entertainment gives it 10 out of 5 stars (not a type-o). 128pp. $15.95. Published by new publisher Atomic Pop Art Entertainment. Look for it in February or buy online. (Full Disclosure: I'm the EIC of APA).


  • Phantom Jack: Director's Edition: The absolute collection of Mike San Giacomo's invisible investigative journalist. With tons of extras, including the never-before-published origin of Jack Baxter. Let's face it, if Brian K. Vaughan, Brian Bendis, and Brad Meltzer think this book is an awesome read...accept that it's an awesome read. 216pp. $19.95. From Atomic Pop Art Entertainment. Look for it in stores or buy online.


  • Courtney Crumrin and the Fire-Thief's Tale: Harry Potter for mid-teen Emos. I absolutely adore Ted Naifeh's Courtney Crumrin. Every page drips with charm. Oni offers a 16pp preview of this 56pp black and white book. Well worth the asking price of $5.99. Pick up all the Crumrin books (and anything be Naifah, to include his work on Gloom Cookie) while you're at it. You won't be disappointed.


  • What If? Planet Hulk: Since I represent Rafa Sandoval, the artist who penciled the second half of this book, I was privy to Greg Pak's script. I knew this book was going to be awesome even before Rafa (who now has an exclusive with Marvel) began his leg of the relay. Greg's script--pitting Banner vs the Hulk on a peaceful planet that Banner wants to leave, but that makes the Hulk a happy Hulk--had me grinning from ear to ear with Banner and the Hulk's Spy vs Spy antics. FYI, Pak and Rafa team up again in Marvel's upcoming Incredible Hercules. 48pp. $3.99. From Marvel.


  • I Luv Halloween: Has anyone ever told you that Keith Giffen is a frackin’ funny writer? Yeah, he really, really is. As proof, I Luv Halloween is an excellent OEL Manga from Tokyopop, with really great art (albeit not really Manga) from talented newcomer Benjamin Roman. More proof that OEL Manga is well on its way to becoming a respectable outgrowth of the Manga biz on pare with anything Japan or Korea throw our way. An enjoyable, quick 192pp well worth Tokyopop’s asking price of $9.99.
Publishers, interested in having books reviewed here? Email "review@spacegoatproductions.com" for shipping instructions.



Adult ADD Watch (or... "As I Sit Typing..."):

As I sit typing, wrapping up my first column for Comic Bulletin, the universe seems to have handed me a theme of change. Regardless of whoever wins their respective party nominations in the months ahead or the electorate in eleven short months, the era of Bush-Cheney ends this year. Not since 1920 has a presidential contest guaranteed such a clean slate. Not since 1992 has the nation spoken so loudly for change.

With politics and comics alike, I always remain optimistic. There are periods in the recent history of both that seemed (and probably were) The Worst Time Ever™. But things always bounce back. People care too much, and there is simply too much talent abounding to not let things bounce back.

It's fun to sit back and watch these events take place (or lay bets like my friends and I do during primary season), but it's just as fun to take part in the change.

Got comments for this column? Suggestions for future columns? Give me a shout: comments@spacegoatproductions.com

Or dig in below. I’m easy.