CBR: Archaia Studios Press To Be Acquired by Kunoichi, Inc., Not Devil's Due

[CBR News]

Devil's Due CEO J.P. Bickett confirmed for CBR News that his company is not
purchasing "Mouse Guard" publisher Archaia Studios Press -- but someone else
is, and ASP's creator contract is changing as well.


Full article here.

[Chad_Anooga]

Regardless of who the "publisher" or "owner" is, the fact remains that PJ Bickett is involved. It's a pretty typical move. Proceed with *extreme* caution to all creators who involve themselves with these guys.

[Arvandor]

As always, all I give a damn about is Artesia. I'd happily see the rest of the line die if it meant Smylie getting back to what's important - more Artesia.

[timseeley]

Regardless of who the "publisher" or "owner" is, the fact remains that PJ Bickett is involved. It's a pretty typical move. Proceed with *extreme* caution to all creators who involve themselves with these guys.

I dunno..I've worked with Josh and PJ for years, and I can post it under my real name with confidence that "extreme" caution is probably not necessary. Obviously all creators should approach any deal with their own best interests in mind and make sure a publisher of any sort fits their book and master plan.
TIM SEELEY

[Stevens]

Regardless of who the "publisher" or "owner" is, the fact remains that PJ Bickett is involved. It's a pretty typical move. Proceed with *extreme* caution to all creators who involve themselves with these guys.

Can we have some specifics as to what you refer to?

If what I read about the contract pressure is true, it is a disgusting thing. Truly abhorant. But creators typically are treated like piss by the powers that be. The suits cannot write or create themselves out of a paper bag, but want those that can create to do so at slave wages with no rights, giving all the media rights away. Media rights is where the money is at and we all know that.

It's a tough world out there.

Clearly Tim Seely has been able to get a good deal for himself. God bless him. His book is well done and he deserves to reap rewards from it.

[A. Dave Lewis]

If what I read about the contract pressure is true, it is a disgusting thing. Truly abhorant. But creators typically are treated like piss by the powers that be. The suits cannot write or create themselves out of a paper bag, but want those that can create to do so at slave wages with no rights, giving all the media rights away. Media rights is where the money is at and we all know that.

As the co-creator of two of Archaia properties who has been in contact with several of the other creators, I have seen no evidence of contract pressure. I cannot speak for every creator, of course, but I can say that the deal I have been offered struck me as fair, including the Media Rights portion. Frankly, without Archaia, a number of these properties would never be considered for multimedia adaption, making the point somewhat moot. If they can find a better deal at an equally connected publisher, they should take it...but I question whether that's feasible. That's the only pressure I feel the creator's face.

I would really, really like to hear specifically which Archaia creators are making these public complaints. No one has yet identified where this debate is originating. I am no company man, and I have struck contracts with other publishers outside of Archaia, but there is little merit to anonymous complaints. On one hand, I can understand not wanting to poison one's own contract negotiations, but on the other hand, it's unfair to the remainder of us entering into these contracts to sow seeds of discord namelessly.

(Mark Smylie as a "power that be?" Mark's a super guy, but if you met him, I doubt you'd slap that kind of ominous label on him...)

[Stevens]

That is good to hear. The Net is running wild with rumor. I just googled this situation and had a hard time telling what is truth and what is fiction.

I've no doubt creator ownership is headed for trouble. It's only going to get harder. But it is not a bad thing for a publisher to have part of the rights. PART. That is the key. They shouldn't have all or most. And if they want half, then they need to be able to bring something to the table. I know ONI is very good at getting deals of their titles and that's cool.

There is a reason why Image titles don't usually get sold to Hollywood, etc as compared to other publisher titles. Those publishers are working very hard to make deals for video games, tv shows, movies, etc. With Image and other 100% creator owned publishers the work is all on the creator and if that person(s) doesn't have an agent... good luck. :)

By the way, I wasn't saying Mark Smylie was a power that be. I was refering in general to the people who run companies dealing with creative people, be it Hollywood, books, comic books, etc. Typically the guys with the money are not creative at all. They are businessmen first and have the power over creators (writers, artists, etc).

[Chad_Anooga]

I've worked with Josh and PJ for years, and I can post it under my real name with confidence that "extreme" caution is probably not necessary.

*shivers*

Isn't your hand tired from signing your life away then?

Good luck to shoes creators who do sign up. I hope you have a good lawyer based in Illinois.

[dickbarruccbag]

*shivers*

Isn't your hand tired from signing your life away then?

Good luck to shoes creators who do sign up. I hope you have a good lawyer based in Illinois.

Anyone who has paid attention to Chad_Anooga's postings would see that he is just a DDP-hater and wouldn't doubt a competing publisher too.

For those who pay attention, just look at his postings.

[Chad_Anooga]

I don't have a problem with folks who are forced to get their pay from DDP or Kunoichi. I just don't like the jerks who run the company like wanna-be Trumps or Buffets. DDP's comic market share is slipping since they lost G.I. Joe (soon to be followed by the D&D license in 2009). They don't have an original title that allows them to be viable really, except for the blip on the radar that is Hack/Slash. DDP had over 5 years to get something original solidified and they blew it with half-ass efforts such as "Aftermath". This is a company built on rented hype (aka licensed properties). So, if these poorly run companies were to go public, would you invest in them??

Heck, DDP had to defer the contract negotiations to it's sister company Kunoichi in order to get anything done. It's just silly "business moves" such as this that are a major red flag for any serious creator out there wanting to associate themselves with these people.

Plus, why would I care about "competing" or wanting a brand of IP's that I didn't create in the comic market if I were a publisher? We all know there's no money to be made in comics lol - especially if it's someone else's ideas. If these guys were smart, they'd take their titles and go to Image or self-publish it themselves. That way they know they can make a deal that works for them instead of letting someone "manage" it for them.

[Stevens]

DDP isn't doing any creator owned or original material right now (I know. I've tried to hook up with them). Basically, new stuff isn't exactly burning the barn doors down in today's market so they are not about to take a risk. Unfortuantely, it means their brand is thought to be "unoriginal" by many readers.

Each year the readership for comic books shrinks. There just isn't enough room for the companies that are out there right now. Sad to say, but true.

By the way, I like HACK/SLASH. It's sales are proving it to be more than a blip and with better marketing DDP can probably increase sales on that title by a good 20%. The nudity featuring annual sure as hell was a success. Just try finding it.

[Libaax]

Does this change things for upcoming Archaia Studios Press comics ?


I have been enjoying the translation of the french comic The Killer by this publishers i would hate to lose it or see it get delayed when its only two issues left.

My LCS already tells me its tough getting the comic to get over here.

[timseeley]

I don't know that the comics readership is "shrinking" so much as the readers that are there are afraid to take chances on new things, largely due to a lack of faith in creator owned books ability to come out consistently or on time. And that's pretty understandable. But any effort made to consolidate and build better foundations towards releasing consistent and high quality creator owned books is something to be applauded.
And, I don't know who Chad Anoonga really is, but it seems unlikely that you know whether DDP will continue the D&D properties, or should you be able to judge the company on using licensed properties as ALL viable small publishers do this, including IDW, BOOM! and Dynamite.
TIM

[Chad_Anooga]

...using licensed properties as ALL viable small publishers do this

The only viable publishers are Marvel (41.26) and DC (33.06) as far as market share. Beyond that, there is quite a distance between the rest of the publishers out there. In fact, if you added up all of them after DC, their percentage would only start to come close or barely exceed DC's market share.

For example: If you add up Darkhorse, IDW and Image, their market share combined is only 11.94%.

More info here:
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/0809...es-charts.html
_________

The point is this: It's an illusion that a company is viable because they have the "resources" to produce a licensed property. What it REALLY means is that they can't come up with anything on their own. The profit margins are slim enough on comics and are even slimmer on licensed properties, so you have to pump as much as you can out in order to make any money. Ultimately, the sales fall off and it becomes stagnant, so you have to try gimmicks, etc. or add to the plate another licensed property. It's an endless cycle of lame and hurts the industry as a whole.

The best thing this market can produce is original content that doesn't drive publishers to put out crap and keep going through endless amounts or re-tread. Kunoichi and DDP are content with this cycle and perpetuate it by making deals with creators who come up with original content that they should be doing on their own. At some point the cycle needs to stop and creators need to go it alone and either go to Indy friendly places such as Image (where you can keep all your rights), or do it all by themselves.

Easier said than done, but in the end, you'll save yourself (as a creator) a lot of headache and avoid having to deal with folks who's only intent in life is to get information from Excel spreadsheets and market trends.

[Stevens]

Wait a minute, do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a book sey up at Image? They say no to 99.999999% of what they look at. They would much rather work with big names who want to try out their own stuff than work with unknowns or barely knowns, no matter how good the art and scripting are. I know two guys who have had books published through Image, but were turned down on other projects with them, despite the follow-up projects being better works. It all comes down to a numbers game.

They also only have so many slots open each month.

I know of exceptionally good submissions that were turned down because they just didn't know if they could sell enough copies without names being attached. One can talk at length about Image. Heck, looking at Shadowline's numbers for recent releases, I think they have been making the wrong choices again and again. Most of their titles sell under 3,000 an issue. That's terrible. But they keep trying.

IDW, DDP, Dynamite, Dabel Brothers and others are taking the easy way out. Slimmer profits in exchange for a more sure bet in going with licensed material. That keeps revenues coming in, guaranteeing the company stays afloat.

Those companies are all capable of releasing some incredible 'original' works, but won't because of RISK. They are terrified of losing money and rightly so, because more and more people are leaving the comic book world while just as many are buying exclusively from the big two.

It's all a nasty catch 22 scenario. Just look at some of the creator owned titles recently put out through IDW. Most failed badly. Therefore, it makes more sense to just license garbage that they know will sell enough to make a small profit.

The days of independent titles selling 20,000 copies each is long gone. Today 5,000 is considered a success.

I and others would love a chance to set up a creator owned book at a company like DDP, but they are not even looking. They just are not considering anything right now and likely never will. Tim really got lucky through his hard work at the company. He proved himself to them and poked at them until they said yes. His story is akin to lightning being captured in a bottle. Just don't expect it to happen twice.