Of all the people to propose a new business model for the comic industry, somehow it ends up being Jim Shooter…? Even stranger, some of his points are surprisingly progressive: Allowing for “dandelioning” (that is, essentially online pirating) of the work, considering it as a loss-leader that will bring new readers to comics, or treating creators of creator-owned work like the book publishing industry treats authors. But then, there’s this:
Here’s a big key: COMPANY OWNED,W4H AND THEREFORE “UNIVERSE” TITLES MUST ALL BE CREATED BY EMPLOYEES ON STAFF. SHARED UNIVERSE WORK INHERENTLY MUST BE CREATED BY AN “ORCHESTRA” OF CREATORS UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF A “CONDUCTOR,” OR EDITOR (WHO IS A WORLD-CLASS VISIONARY).
MAKE ANYONE WHO WORKS ON YOUR UNIVERSE TITLES A WELL-PAID, SALARIED EMPLOYEE WITH BENEFITS AND PERKS WHO WORKS ON YOUR PREMISES.
Yes, because that worked so well for CrossGen way back when.
(And that’s not even getting into the “world-class visionary” part of the whole thing…)
It’s a genuinely interesting post, though; I’m unsure how much I agree with Shooter’s final ideas, but following his thought process as he gets there is really rather something. Go, read.
March 15th, 2012 at 8:57 am
the dandelion method can’t be the answer because it’s already being used. vetigo and various other titles have their issues online for free and pirating is so simple that even if it’s not legitimate it’s still happening. doesn’t mean the dandelion method is good, it’s just that it won’t reboot, revolutions or reinvent anything because that would have had to have happened years ago.