By Filip Sablik
Boy, it’s been a long time since I wrote one of these blog posts for Newsarama! I hadn’t realized quite how long until I sat down to write this one and looked at the date on my last entry. The summer has a way of getting away from you when you work in comics, particularly on the publishing side. Comic-Con International in San Diego becomes more and more of a monster to plan each year and while it usually ends up being great fun, it is exhausting trying to prepare for it. Since we’re well past Comic-Con at this point, I won’t bore you with a convention report. Suffice to say, we announced some exciting multi-media developments, new projects, debuted new product, and brought out a metric truckload of talent to sign at the booth. You can read more about HERE.
On of the benefits of living in Los Angeles, is a thriving comic book community. I had the pleasure recently of having dinner with some comic folks including a retailer and a fellow area publisher. We got to talking about the state of the industry and what was working and wasn’t working. These conversations are almost always both sobering and inspiring for me.
One thing the retailer said really stuck with me, “There’s not enough innovation and excitement in the market today.”
And while my initial reaction was to bristle and get defensive, I realized that he was speaking from a hopeful place. He wasn’t saying this simply to be negative, he was saying it because as a retailer he wants, in fact, needs there to be product that excites and inspires his customers. And when I stopped to think about it, I realized that after five or so years of innovative moves, the industry at large does seem to be resting on its laurels a little bit. Just take a look at the top 25 selling titles each month and it becomes clear that there hasn’t been much shaking up in the last year.
There are exceptions to the rule (of course). Blackest Night seems to be thrilling the market right now, and it’s apparent that Geoff Johns and the team at DC are pouring a lot of time, planning, and love into that event. Wednesday Comics is a bold, fun experiment in comics and certainly has this comic fan excited. The long-awaited Spider-Woman motion comic looks like it is finally getting ready to debut on iTunes. Our partners at Image Comics seem to be creating some buzz with Chew and the upcoming Image United.
But where are the Ultimate Universes, the Goons, the All Star lines, and the Walking Deads this year?
Maybe we’ll see them in hindsight, but I think my retailer friend did have a point that 2009 hasn’t had those series, which are causing fans to come rushing to the stores and fighting on eBay to get in on the ground floor. And this is not the time for resting on our laurels. It’s no secret that the economy is still in pretty rough shape, so why are we (the content providers) giving fans or potential fans a reason to drop titles or find their entertainment elsewhere?
I know at Top Cow we’ll be doing are darndest to excite for the rest of 2009 and certainly in 2010. We’ll keep pushing Witchblade and The Darkness to be most consistent, envelope pushing titles we can. We’ll be launching a new Cyberforce series in the spring with a team that promises to rock your socks off. But potentially the most innovative thing we’ll be doing in 2010 is launching Artifacts, a 13 part series that promises to change the landscape of the Top Cow Universe in the most drastic fashion yet. It’s certainly the most ambitious project we’ve ever attempted and we hope it’ll get you out of your seat.
Let me know what has you excited right now and pulling you into the store each week and why. What would get you even more excited about comics? What would get a non-comic reading friend into a comic book store?
Take care,
Filip Sablik
Publisher Guy
Filip Sablik is the Publisher of Top Cow Productions, Inc. He’s been in the business for eight years and just officially entered his thirties. Occasionally, he does a bit of writing and drawing. He loves comics. Top Cow Productions, Inc. was founded by Marc Silvestri, co-founder of Image Comics. Top Cow currently publishes its line of comic books in 21 languages in over 55 different countries. The company has launched 20 franchises (18 original and two licensed) in the industry’s Top 10, seven at #1, a feat accomplished by no other publisher in the last two decades.
August 11th, 2009 at 10:08 am
i think that motion comics on iTunes are a great thing to bring in non-comic readers to comic shops. partly because itunes is huge! there’s tons of people on it.
Also, bit of advice, maybe when your Witchblade and Magdalena movies hit theaters, put together a little commercial, right before the movie for the comic shop locator website, it would bring in new readers, and possibly increase sales for your books, because if they liked the movie, then why not try the comic.
Lately Witchblade and Darkness have been exciting me, i like where there going. i’m also excited for Blackest Night, like a lot of people are. and the new bat-titles, and Adventure Comics.
Also, Aspen’s Executive Assistant: Iris series has been exciting me a lot, definitely one of my favorites.
August 11th, 2009 at 10:42 am
I was excited for Fustion…HK, CF, Avengers, and Thunderbolts in one book drawn by Tyler Kirkham with covers by Mike Choi and Sandra Oback and written by DnA…what is not be excited about…actually I’m a little sad its over but that’s okay because…I am very excited for Cyber Force/Hunter Killer! The first issue was great and has me chomping at the bit for the next! Also the idea of a Cyber Force monthly comic next year is very exciting and it doesn’t hurt that Kenneth Rocafort is the artist! I’ve been reading the Darkness since the beginning, but still get excited every time I go to my LCS and have a copy to read…love what Phil Hester is doing and Michael Brousard’s art is fantastic! I was excited for Fustion…HK, CF, Avengers, and Thunderbolts in one book drawn by Tyler Kirkham with covers by Mike Choi and Sandra Oback and written by DnA…what is not be excited about…actually I’m a little sad its over but that’s okay because
I am excited for Superman: Secret Origin by Johns and Frank, really enjoyed their stuff on Action Comics and think Gary Frank was meant to draw Superman. Dick Grayson as Batman with Damien Wayne as Robin has got me excited too! Looking forward to seeing Tony Daneil back on Batman. Blackest Night excitement goes without saying, but what the heck, Blakcest Night has me excited, Ivan Reis’ art is fantastic and Johns, well Johns can do anything in my opinoin - he hasn’t let me down yet!
I am really loving X-Force and the fact that Warpath is a member of that team has had me excited since it was first announce and I’m still excited every month when it is released. I am excited about Daken in the Dark Wolverine monthly…didn’t like the character initially, but love the way he is being handled now! Ultimate Comics Avengers has me really excited…Mark Millar and Carlos Pacheco, followed on art by Leniel Yu (spelling?) has me very excited as well! I am excited for X-Men Forever…loved what I’ve read so far and can’t wait for more!
I am always excited when a new Umbrella Academy mini is announced! I really love this series of minis and especially love number 5!
I am and have been a GI Joe fan for as long as I can remember so having IDW produce 3 GI Joe comics a month is really exciting for me (not so much for my wallet, however)! And having Larry Hama writing one of them gets me very excited!
I think there’s a lot to get excited about in comics today, and I don’t think one has to look far to find it…I think this is a fantastic time to be a comic book fan!
Edgar
August 11th, 2009 at 11:53 am
I understand that Chew #1, written by John Layman and illustrated by Rob Guillory, surpassed Walking Dead #1 in terms of raw sales data. It did so very, very well that there was, in fact, some fairly serious eBay attention; http://www.bleedingcool.com/2009/06/20/chew-1-from-image-comics-a-smash-on-ebay/
August 11th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Anything without spandax. While I grew up on the X-men and Batman, I have to say I’m a little bored with most of the Marvel/DC stuff. What made me pick up comics again was independent publishers like Aspen, Radical, and Dabel. I like the fact they’re getting away from the superhero rut and telling different kinds of stories.
Great art gets me excited too. Aspen and Radical especially have been consistent in producing some good looking comics.
Also I can’t forget Mouse Guard. And Fallen Angel.
I also like the increase in trade paperbacks. Its a nice way to catch up and in some cases cheaper. For instance, the Witchblade Compendiums. . .
August 11th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
I salute you, Filip, for having such a positive, active attitude. It was awesome meeting you and some other Top Cow folks at Comic-Con, and seeing the booth bustling with activity like the Witchblade shoot (which the Girls Ent. Net. was very happy to have the pleasure of partaking in).
It’s clear that I adore The Darkness, but in general, I think Top Cow a fantastic job of keeping the excitement flowing, too—with new series and, of course, Pilot Season.
Chew is definitely a series that I anticipate every month, and I’m pretty much gushing over Deadpool right now, as well.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:29 pm
I recall Top Cow had a pilot season book called Genius- whatever became of that? It looked really good.
August 11th, 2009 at 5:42 pm
We are writing issue #3 right now! Look for it some time next year. Top Cow has a real commitment to putting books out on time so they want to make sure enough of them are in the can before promising the fans it will ship every month.
August 12th, 2009 at 6:31 am
I’m currently excited over creator driven series that have a finite ending. Specifically Ex Machina (BKV) and The Boys (Ennis). Even other creator books I collect like Invincible and Savage Dragon don’t have the same draw of knowing there is already a definite decided ending closing in.
Knowing that Ex Machina is in its final year has me on the edge of my seat, and The Boys just crossed its halfway mark at issue 30 and took a drastic exiting turn as that story amps up. Blackest Night and any other Big 2 stories be darned, those are the two books at the top of my pile when they come out.
August 12th, 2009 at 6:54 am
Ah, smart to work ahead. Thanks for the update.
August 12th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
@Brandon - putting a commercial before a movie in a theater is a great idea but both a bit more complicated and expensive than one would think. Besides one thing we learned from the “Wanted” film - there is NO better commercial than a trailer for a brand new major motion picture;) Thanks for chiming in. I thought the first issue of Executive Assistant was a ton of fun as well.
@Edgar - I agree Gary Frank draws a fantastic Superman. Morrison and Quitely on Batman & Robin are great as are Rucka and Williams on Detective.
@Stuart - I don’t know whether Chew has outpaced Walking Dead in sales, but it is definitely a book that is causing waves. It’s great to see a book come out of no where and grab fan and retailer attention based on the quality of the story and art.
@Skaw - we have a bias towards non-superhero books ourselves…
@Stephanie - thanks for the support!!!
@Cisco Kid - BKV can do no wrong in my book. I can’t think of anything he’s written that was a ‘miss’, which is a one heck of an impressive track record.
@Adam Freeman - is awesome. I’m just saying.
Take care,
Filip Sablik
Publisher, Top Cow Productions
It will change the world.
http://www.getthejett.com