Changing the Face of Comics

Transcription

1 Changing the Face of Comics James Avery Wilhelm Remember the early 80s when publishing titans DC Comics and Marvel dominated the comic book industry? Few independent comics publishers could barely get a foot in the door. Back then comics were considered juvenile reading material. No self-respecting adults read comics. If they did, they were labeled as losers, freaks, or geeks. Moving into the 90s, comics saw more mature subjects and narratives, but were still not valued as real literature, for the most part. Then in the 00s and beyond, the graphic novel started to find its way into college curricula as academics began to see these narratives as having real literary value. With countless companies currently in the market, tracing the changes in the comic industry is tricky. However, two publishers in particular have pushed the industry changes of the last two decades: Dark Horse and Top Shelf. Dark Horse: Changing the Way Comics Work In 1980, one of those comic book geeks opened up a small comic store in Bend, Oregon. That geek, Mike Richardson, went on to create an independent publishing house that would shake the very structure of graphic publishing. Dark Horse Comics was officially founded in 1986 when Richardson grew frustrated with the quality of work he was selling. Initially releasing just two titles, Dark Horse grew exponentially in its first year of operation. By the end of the company s first year, Dark Horse had release nine new titles. Clearly the industry was ready for something new, but what exactly did Dark Horse offer that other publishers didn t? Prior to Dark Horse s inception, the industry itself was lacking. Marvel and DC Comics continued to create content for younger audiences, excluding the untapped, older demographic of readers who were ready for new titles and more mature narratives. While the 70s and 80s had seen publications of some adult-themed graphic novels, serial comics had yet to adopt mature narratives on a larger scale. Enter Dark Horse Comics. Richardson, probably sensing frustration in his older customer base, took the reins to reinvent comics for a completely new audience. Part of Dark Horse s success can be attributed to Richardson s creative continuation of previously successful blockbuster movies. Other comics publishers also had licensed projects, but since they did not maintain ownership of the licensed titles, they simply didn t invest a great deal of resources to produce them. In the late 80s, Richardson opted to create virtual sequels of movies like Aliens, Predator, and Star Wars. Fans of the movies jumped on the chance to continue following their characters from popular movie franchises, securing Dark Horse s early dominance of movie-based comics.

2 While Dark Horse maintains several licensed titles, they also produce a multitude of creator-owned titles. After Dark Horse s success with movie-based comics and two extremely successful Frank Miller titles, Give Me Liberty and Hard Boiled, artists and writers flocked to Dark Horse to get their work published. Dark Horse creator ownership model, almost unheard of in the comics industry at the time. Most comic book publishers use a work for hire or publisher purchase model, where artists and writers in the comics industry do not retain rights over their work. Dark Horse allows their authors and artists to maintain creative rights over their work, which caused a multitude of creators to turn their backs on Marvel and DC in the 90s. Dark Horse: A New Comic Titan? Dark Horse maintains that it is still an independent publisher. The words independent publisher traditionally conjure up an image of a tiny press with a handful of employees frantically working to put out merely a few titles each month (or year if you re publishing books rather than comics). But in 25 years, Dark Horse has become the third largest publisher of comics. While that might not seem like a huge feat since Marvel and DC have always been leaders in the industry, the mere fact that Dark Horse now publishes roughly 30 titles per month indicates incredible growth. There is no record of Dark Horse s original mission statement. It s not a stretch to assume that Richardson s original mission included something regarding creating quality content for adults. But as the company has grown, so have its goals. Dark Horse s current mission statement reads: Founded by Mike Richardson, behind the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals, Dark Horse Comics has grown to become the third-largest comics publisher in the United States and is acclaimed internationally for the quality and diversity of its line. By attracting the top talent in the field, Dark Horse Comics continues to change the shape of the industry and grow its brand throughout the world. In conjunction with its sister company Dark Horse Entertainment, Dark Horse Comics has over 350 properties currently represented under the Dark Horse banner, serving as the jumping-off point for comics, books, films, television, electronic games, toys, and collectibles. Since 2008, Dark Horse Comics has distributed its characters and concepts into more than fifty countries, continuing its mission of content creation and distribution in all of its forms throughout the world.

3 This mission statement has the tone of world domination. Dark Horse has grown from a tiny publisher to a large company that houses its own movie production company, Dark Horse Entertainment. They ve moved from a strictly comics market to a comics, books, films, television, electronic games, toys, and collectibles market. Which leaves the consumer to question, just as it did when Marvel and DC controlled the market alone, how much can this large(r) publisher change and shape the industry when the industry s history shows the little guy as the innovator? Top Shelf: Moving Comics into Graphic Literature Formed roughly ten years after Dark Horse in 1997, Top Shelf brought a new breed of work into the market. Founders Chris Staros and Brett Warnock create works beyond the traditional hero stories published by industry leaders. At their start up, Staros and Warknock saw comics as a potential literary form. Their current mission statement reads: For more than a dozen years, Top Shelf Productions has stood for the highest standard in graphic novel publishing. Though they span a wide variety of styles and genres, our books consistently blend emotionally rich storytelling, personally distinctive artwork, and a commitment to popular accessibility. Known for publishing some of the greatest writers and artists in the history of comics, as well as continually discovering new talent, we produce graphic novels filled with unique voices, beautifully designed, and bursting with humanity and depth. There s an obvious difference between Top Shelf s mission and Dark Horse s current mission. Top Shelf is clearly focused on the work they produce, not the market they are producing for. This vaguely echoes Mike Richardson s original concern with the quality of content in comic books when he originally opened his store. Richardson saw a need to improve the reputation of comics as a valuable medium. Top Shelf is continuing and even furthering Dark Horse s original vision by attempting to move the graphic novel from a form of pop fiction into the literary world. In a recent interview from Graphic Novel Reporter, Staros was asked why he got into the comics business. Staros responded, saying he wanted to bring literary value into the realm of comics and graphic novels, elevating the medium. Looking at Top Shelf s backlist certainly shows a dedication to quality work. With creators like Craig Thompson (Blankets) and Alan Moore (From Hell), Top Shelf leads the industry of graphic literature, that is, graphic novels and comics with enough depth to be considered

4 literary works rather than simple pop fiction. Although the realm of graphic literature has grown in popularity over the years, enough so that works like Thompson s (as well as others) occasionally find their way into college classroom curriculums, the market hasn t expanded enough to give Top Shelf much financial security. And the company appears to be okay with that. Top Shelf seems to have no intentions of growing into a giant corporation. With nearly 15 years under their belt, Top Shelf has managed some big successes and growth, but they haven t shifted into a multi-million dollar operation. In fact, in 2002, Top Shelf was facing the possibility of bankruptcy after just five years in operation. The company issued a statement to its customers via the internet asking for help. Surprisingly, they got it. With some larger names in comics like Neil Gaiman advocating for them, Top Shelf managed to stay afloat through hard times based on the loyalty of their customer base. In the Graphic Novel Reporter interview, Staros reminds his customers yet again that you really don t realize how important a $10 or $20 sale is here and there because they really add up, and at the end of the year, the bottom line is we re either here for another year to do the things we do or we re not. Top Shelf may have spent 15 years attempting to innovate the field much like Dark Horse did, but they haven t grown into a giant like Dark Horse. They still rely heavily on their customers to get them through hard times. But why? Unlike Richardson, Staros seems to value the work he does on a deeper level. In the Graphic Novel Reporter he comments: What is the value of a small publisher versus a large publisher? The small guy is out there doing some things that the big buys won t necessarily do, which is taking a big risk on some complete unknowns. And really trying to make something of them. And in some cases, those guys turn into big stars and jump to the big people later. And sometimes they stay loyal to the small guys. We really do find diamonds in the rough and turn them into diamonds. No doubt, if Top Shelf wanted to, they could grow into a larger press. But that would appear to mean compromising the values they hold dear. It s clear that Staros would prefer to continue producing quality work with real literary value and helping out the unknown artists he comes across. Unlike big company s like Dark Horse, Marvel, and DC who have no trouble acquiring new titles, Top Shelf has to search for new talent and the up-and-coming creators in comics and graphic novels. They don t attract the well-known artists and authors like the titan corporations. Considering the company s successes with Moore and Thompson, it seems feasible that Top Shelf could have expanded a great deal to keep up with the popularity of their authors.

5 Yet they ve chosen to remain true to their mission at the cost of gaining financial stability. Conclusion: Graphic Literature in Mainstream Media One question remains. Will the literary graphic novel shift into the realm of mainstream? Dark Horse managed to shift adult-themed comic books into mainstream, so much so that some of the other more traditional books (i.e., X-Men, Superman, Batman, Spider- Man, etc.) have taken on more adult themes as well. Yet graphic novels and comics with substantial literary value still seem to teeter on the edges of what is traditionally known as mainstream. It is hard to determine if this is simply because literary fiction, in all its various forms, doesn t always fully permeate pop-culture or because the genre as a whole is still developing. Publishers like Top Shelf have worked to great lengths to redeem the medium of graphic storytelling. Yet it still remains a marginalized medium to some extent. It is likely that as the shape of the book world continues to change, whether those changes are in content, container, or context (or all three), graphic novels and comics will take their rightful place as a respectable medium, conveying complex and compelling literary narratives. Without the small, independent publishers who were willing to take chances on unknown authors and new ways of storytelling, the comic book would likely still be regarded as juvenile literature, merely kid s stuff. Thanks to Dark Horse for originally bringing comics to a larger adult-based audience and Top Shelf for continuing to push the medium to new, more complex standards, graphic novels and comic books continue to have a future in the publishing industry.