CBR: Revisiting Kirkman's Creator-Owned Manifesto

[CBR News]

With a hit TV show and an aggressive publishing plan for his comics in place, Robert Kirkman is riding high, so what better time to look back at the video that kicked off his recent run as an Image partner.


Full article here.

[videofarmer]

So I buy Brubaker's Criminal and Incognito as well as Cap and Secret Avengers. I buy Scarlet as well as Ultimate Spider-Man. I buy Aaron's Scalped and Astonishing. If they like doing both their own stuff and working for Marvel, I hope they keep doing both. My son (now 15) started reading my comics around 12 or so. They seem to appeal to him (I know that's far from universal though). True, there were some Marvel titles I wouldn't pass on to him (Hello Loeb and Millar Ultimate titles) but I didn't give him Criminal to read either. It appears as though there are some appropriate Marvel comics by good creators out there to me. From reading interviews with Dan Slott, it seems like a dream come true for him to take over writing Spidey full-time. I see no reason for him not to do so.

[videofarmer]

It's kind of like actors like Bruce Willis doing Die Hard, then Pulp Fiction. Die Hard With a Vengeance, then 12 Monkeys. The Jackal, then The Sixth Sense. Do some big-budget action flick for everyone then do something for yourself and repeat.


I have no idea where The Filth Element fits.

[GRANT!]

I think most Marvel and DC books are fairly appropriate for all ages with a fair amount of notable exceptions. I just don't think kids are all that interested in them. I think part of the problem there's a lack of new stuff right now for kids to call their own. For a while it seemed like every generation of comics had their own characters in addition to the previous generation. I think that has sort of stopped and we just started catering to older readers nostalgia. There is stuff like Invincible, Umbrella Academy, Scott Pilgrim and a few others but mostly it's your Big Two characters and your licensed characters.

I'm sure kids like Spider-man and Batman and watch the movies and tv shows but in terms of comics they are basically getting their dad's Spider-man or Batman. What's the last major new Marvel or DC character to really make impact? Deadpool?

[videofarmer]

I think most Marvel and DC books are fairly appropriate for all ages with a fair amount of notable exceptions. I just don't think kids are all that interested in them. I think part of the problem there's a lack of new stuff right now for kids to call their own. For a while it seemed like every generation of comics had their own characters in addition to the previous generation. I think that has sort of stopped and we just started catering to older readers nostalgia. There is stuff like Invincible, Umbrella Academy, Scott Pilgrim and a few others but mostly it's your Big Two characters and your licensed characters.

I'm sure kids like Spider-man and Batman and watch the movies and tv shows but in terms of comics they are basically getting their dad's Spider-man or Batman. What's the last major new Marvel or DC character to really make impact? Deadpool?

I think The Runaways was starting to take off for younger Marvel readers and was finding a new audience, but Brian K Vaughan left to do creator owned work and it kind of died out. Of course, I'm cool with Brian doing whatever he enjoys working on the most, and I really enjoyed Y and am looking forward to the last Ex Machina trade. LOST was ok too. ;)

[Trey]

slightly off topic

Is the TV show going to follow the comic story line and plot? How closely? Is this a straight adaptation?

[alexforever]

I think most Marvel and DC books are fairly appropriate for all ages with a fair amount of notable exceptions. I just don't think kids are all that interested in them. I think part of the problem there's a lack of new stuff right now for kids to call their own. For a while it seemed like every generation of comics had their own characters in addition to the previous generation. I think that has sort of stopped and we just started catering to older readers nostalgia. There is stuff like Invincible, Umbrella Academy, Scott Pilgrim and a few others but mostly it's your Big Two characters and your licensed characters.

I'm sure kids like Spider-man and Batman and watch the movies and tv shows but in terms of comics they are basically getting their dad's Spider-man or Batman. What's the last major new Marvel or DC character to really make impact? Deadpool?

I saw some younger people in a comic shop with Deadpool comics in their hand. I don't know if that means anything.

[GRANT!]

slightly off topic

Is the TV show going to follow the comic story line and plot? How closely? Is this a straight adaptation?

You mean Walking Dead?

They said they are going to deviate in some parts. The pilot changed a few little things here and there. I think it's better that way personally. I'm reading the comic, I don't need a frame by frame adaptations.

[GRANT!]

I think The Runaways was starting to take off for younger Marvel readers and was finding a new audience, but Brian K Vaughan left to do creator owned work and it kind of died out. Of course, I'm cool with Brian doing whatever he enjoys working on the most, and I really enjoyed Y and am looking forward to the last Ex Machina trade. LOST was ok too. ;)

Yeah Runaways was a good example of that. I think the problem is Marvel doesn't want to put to keep top talent on that book (unless it's someone like Joss Whedon who really wants to do it). I think if the movie gets made we'll see it come back.

[jediracer]

So I buy Brubaker's Criminal and Incognito as well as Cap and Secret Avengers. I buy Scarlet as well as Ultimate Spider-Man. I buy Aaron's Scalped and Astonishing. If they like doing both their own stuff and working for Marvel, I hope they keep doing both. My son (now 15) started reading my comics around 12 or so. They seem to appeal to him (I know that's far from universal though). True, there were some Marvel titles I wouldn't pass on to him (Hello Loeb and Millar Ultimate titles) but I didn't give him Criminal to read either. It appears as though there are some appropriate Marvel comics by good creators out there to me. From reading interviews with Dan Slott, it seems like a dream come true for him to take over writing Spidey full-time. I see no reason for him not to do so.

Supporting creator-owned is great, but you do realize that when you purchase Criminal, Incognito, Scarlet, and Scalped, you are still just giving your money over to Marvel and DC, right???

[videofarmer]

Supporting creator-owned is great, but you do realize that when you purchase Criminal, Incognito, Scarlet, and Scalped, you are still just giving your money over to Marvel and DC, right???

And the problem with that is? I don't mind giving my money to people that are entertaining me. The creators of those books do make much higher percentages on them than they do on their work for hire, and they have the potential to make a lot more on film and TV deals. Trying to avoid paying any money to big entertainment companies will only lead to illegal behavior or very little entertainment worthy of the name.

[Zeitgeist]

The manifesto still sounds like Robert Kirkman wanting all his competitors to stop making comics, and as far as i can tell he has spent the last few years at Image doing other peoples comics making the whole thing even sillier.

Being creator-owned does not make a comic good, nor is there anything wrong with a creator not wanting to make their own comics

[TheDonAbides]

Supporting creator-owned is great, but you do realize that when you purchase Criminal, Incognito, Scarlet, and Scalped, you are still just giving your money over to Marvel and DC, right???

No, you're not. Criminal, Incognito, Scarlet, all the work, marketing, is done for free ahead of time by the creators. Any money the books make, is recouped by the creators. Nothing goes to Marvel.

Scalped, being run thru Vertigo, I don't know.

[GRANT!]

Supporting creator-owned is great, but you do realize that when you purchase Criminal, Incognito, Scarlet, and Scalped, you are still just giving your money over to Marvel and DC, right???

Majority of the profits of Icon books usually go to the creators. They are usually working with the "Image deal" where they are not getting paid a page rate for their work in exchange for most of the royalties. I think creator owned DC books they get a lower page rate and bigger chunk of the royalties. I think that's the case with Astro City and a few others.

[BrandonCyphered]

No, you're not. Criminal, Incognito, Scarlet, all the work, marketing, is done for free ahead of time by the creators. Any money the books make, is recouped by the creators. Nothing goes to Marvel.

My understanding is that the Icon deal is similar to the set-up at Image, where the company takes a flat fee out of the profits for each issue to cover printing, distributing, warehousing, etc. But by and large, the majority of each dollar spent on an Icon book goes to the creator, not to Marvel... as far as I know.

Scalped, being run thru Vertigo, I don't know.

I don't have Scalped in front of me, but Vertigo's set-up is different depending on who the creative team is.

Sandman is owned by DC, copyright and trademark.

Transmet's copyright and trademark are owned by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson (I'm going by the indicia in each example here).

Joe the Barbarian's copyright is co-owned by Grant Morrison and DC; the trademark belongs to Morrison.

The Unwritten's copyright is owned by the creators, but the trademarks are owned by DC — which I understand is pretty standard for Vertigo, the same as it was for Zuda.

There are creator-owned books at Vertigo; that doesn't mean *every* book at Vertigo is creator-owned.