Comments on: Annual Levitz interview

by: Lyle

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 18:23:19 +0000

As much as I agree with this:

It’s interviews like this, without the bombast and Spin of Quesada’s regular appearances on Newsarama, that actually make interesting reading.

I have to nitpick:

While Marvel play it safe with cross overs and pamphlets and collections pandering to the shrinking fan market, DC are trying to grow their market base and move into new areas.

It seems to me Marvel is trying to grab readers outside of their current readers (with the success of the digest) but plays that part of the company very quietly, as if the Marvel zombies will be broken from their cries of “Make mine Marvel!” if they realized that titles like Runaways, Spider-Girl and Sentinel were selling to people outside of the fanboy club.

The big difference that stands out is that Marvel still appears far more corporate than DC, as any attempt at expansion is somehow a part of the Marvel universe, making it a part of the MU’s liscencing portfolio.

by: Pete Bangs

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 10:06:06 +0000

It’s interviews like this, without the bombast and Spin of Quesada’s regular appearances on Newsarama, that actually make interesting reading. Paul Levitz is something of a rarity, a passionate fan who’s grown into a very good businessman. While Marvel play it safe with cross overs and pamphlets and collections pandering to the shrinking fan market, DC are trying to grow their market base and move into new areas.

Levitz obviously appreciates that the pamphlet is very slowly dying and so is looking at Manga and Original Graphic Novels and bookshop sales and anything else he can do to grow the business. With the weight of Warner behind him it’s difficult to be a trend setter but he clearly keeps up with the trends.

by: diego montoya

Wed, 23 Aug 2006 02:53:43 +0000

I just read part of it to my fiancee, who pointed out that when she was looking at a manga-style Mary Jane comic, she has a hard time figuring out what’s going on because she expects characters drawn in manga to be Japanese. (We lived in Japan for several years.) I wonder, though, if there is something here that goes beyond the obvious; Levitz’ comment about the character’s and story-teller’s values being represented by the art were incredibly insightful.

by: Rivkah

Tue, 22 Aug 2006 23:01:54 +0000

That was a wonderful interview; I never realized before that Paul Levitz was such a reasonably open-minded and sensible person. His take on the syntheses of American and Japanese storytelling, visual mores, and pacing was very interesting, and something I agree with wholeheartedly. While TOKYOPOP tends to take a very optimitic view of the future of manga (and its spinoffs) in the US, Paul’s answer is much more tempered and sensible. The change in the industry is still a gradual thing that takes younger artists and writers influenced by outside art to grow up, gain experience, and share their perspectives with the world. Even those of us taking a part in the industry realize we still have many years ahead of us before realizing our own full potential.

All the changes we’ve seen in the past decade or so are really just the beginning, and while those changes may not continue at the headlong pace they started out at, the idea that tradition-bound companies like DC is willing to keep sliding their toes back into the water, waiting for it to warm up, is encouraging.

by: Raphe Cheli

Tue, 22 Aug 2006 18:11:28 +0000

I know many have problems with Levitz, but his dull, yet straight-forward, answers always seem to make sense. I will always applaud DC for trying new things (manga), expanding their own lines (Vertigo going from Sandman/Swamp Thing to Y, Fables, and American Virgin), and not being afraid of continuity.

Even when they fail — like with the Humanoids debacle — it was failing with something new.