Archive for the 'Comings & Goings' Category

Hershman joins Dark Horse

11/16/09

Dark Horse has hired former Borders graphic novel buyer Micha Hershman as their new Director of Marketing. According to PR:

In his 13 year tenure, Hershman has developed an extensive professional experience with comics, graphic novels, science fiction, horror and related merchandise. After handling the buyer duties for the chain’s rapidly growing graphic novel section, he became the Category Director for the company’s pop culture section. Having engineered highly successful retail and online marketing campaigns for such recognizable brands as Star Wars, Lord of the Rings and Twilight, and managed the Children’s and Fiction marketing teams, Micha comes to Dark Horse armed with both the experience and passion to grow the brand’s presence in all markets.

“Dark Horse is a world-class organization, unmatched in it’s dedication to comics, their creators and their fans” said Hershman.  “I couldn’t be more excited to join Mike Richardson and his team.”

“We are extremely happy to have Micha here at Dark Horse” said President Mike Richardson. “The experience, knowledge, and enthusiasm he brings to our marketing team will be a huge resource as we look to grow Dark Horse over the coming years.”


A very quick google shows Hershman commenting on GNs and their place in the world for years, so he’s very conversant with the field. He starts in his new position later this month.

Baby news, comings and goings

11/12/09

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§ Congrats to Ron Perazza, VP of Creative Services at DC, and Linda Lee, Director, Book Publishing at Nickelodeon, on the birth of Hudson Lee Perazza.

§ All-around good guy Kiel Phegley has been named News Editor of Comic Book Resources.

As for what that means, well…I’m still trying to figure that out. I’ve been “on the job” since October, and so far what’s changed is that I’ve shifted from doing your standard “Here’s some product coming down the pipeline” interviews to more stuff like this, this, this, this and this. Long term, I’ll be taking over a lot of the day-to-day planning of CBR’s editorial content and helping to grow the site in a few specific places over the next year.

§ It was widely noted last week that former VAMPIRELLA editor Bon Alimagno has joined Marvel as Talent Manager, a position which requires much interfacing with creators.

§ Less widely noted, Harris’s Merchandise Manager, Chris Caniano, has taken over managing the Vampirella comics. You may have been wondering if comics featuring the sexy vampire are still being publishing, and indeed this very week saw the release of VAMPIRELLA: SECOND COMING #3 which was written by Phil Hester with art by Al Rio, colors by Romulo Fajardo, and covers by Arthur Suydam, Joe Jusko, Ryan Stegman, and Franchesco.  

Marc Bernardin leaves EW

11/6/09

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As reported in a Twitter posting, Marc Bernardin was among those let go at Entertaiment Weekly yesterday, part of a general bloodbath at Time Inc. this week — as many as 500 employees are expected to be let go. Bernardin, who received the news while on vacation, tweeted:

Ladies and gentlemen, my 15-yr tenure at EW has come to an end. It’s been a hell of a ride, one that I’ve not a single regret about taking.


A long-time comics fan, Bernardin was instrumental in getting EW, then an influential media outlet, to start covering comics seriously earlier in the decade, with reviews and news stories. He stopped covering comics when his other career as a comics writer took off — he’s the author of the Highwayman and Monster Attack Network, and with partner Adam Freeman the current writer on The Authority.

As related on his blog, Bernardin seems to have a busy writing slate going on, so we’re sure he’ll be fine, but we wish him well anyway.

Personnel news: Wood, Fingeroth

09/17/09

§ Dirk Wood has been appointed to the position of Director of Communications for Dark Horse.

In his new role, Wood will continue to coordinate all trade-show efforts for Dark Horse, as well as key presentations that the company makes externally. He will continue to serve as the primary contact for all direct-market retailers, as well as helping to oversee programs through Diamond, including, but not limited to, Final Order Cutoff and Free Comic Book Day. While maintaining these previous responsibilities, as well as taking on new challenges, Wood will continue to play a key role in establishing and maintaining the company’s image and message.

“In a market that keeps changing, it remains a source of pride that I work for and represent one of the constants, Dark Horse Comics,” says Wood. “I look forward to these new challenges, and to continue working to further cement and grow our status as the largest independent comic-book publisher in the world.”

§ Danny Fingeroth will head up a new educational department for MoCCA, with the title Senior Vice-President of Education. Fingeroth was the longtime group editor of Marvel’s Spider-Man line and the writer of comics including DARKHAWK and DEADLY FOES OF SPIDER-MAN. He has taught comics writing at NYU, The New School, and Media Bistro. Danny created and edited Write Now magazine, the only how-to publication dedicated to comics writing and writers. He is the author of The Rough Guide to Graphic Novels and co-author (with artist Mike Manley) of How to Create Comics from Script to Print. Danny serves on MoCCA’s board of advisors and on the board of directors of the Institute for Comics Studies.

Mocca has also announced several new adult education courses, with Fingeroth and Klaus Janson, and you can read all about them in the jump:

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Meet Diane Nelson! - UPDATE

09/10/09

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UPDATE: This interview with Nelson by Sharon Waxman at The Wrap addresses a few of those pressing issues and establishes that Nelson is not a comics fan “by nature.”

So: a girl running a comic book operation? Isn’t this a young, male-centric market?
I prefer to be known as an executive rather than a girl. It’s not gone without comment in the blogosphere. But I have to tell you, I’ve been really encouraged by the commentary in comic book world.

But I’m the first one to admit, I’m not by my nature a comic fan. It’s not what I’m bringing to the party. We have so many experts who will remain the cornerstone of DC Entertainment. What I bring to the party is a skill at moving properties and brands through Time Warner as a company.

There’s a new pitcher in this ballgame and DC Kremlinologists must learn all new signs and sigils.

New DC Entertainment Prexy Diane Nelson — or Jenette 2.0 as a few wags are calling her — did the newssite rounds yesterday, in tandem with outgoing Paul Levitz. We know all Kremlinologists will be combing these stories for details…let’s take a look!

Jonah Weiland and Andy Khouri chat things up at Comic Book Resources and get the overall look at the assets — content!

Jonah Weiland: Diane, what do you see as DC Comics’ greatest strengths and assets today?

Nelson: It’s a reflection, I believe, or at least it’s consistent with what Warner Bros. has cared about and stood for, that we are a talent-friendly company and are a place that values creators. I think the depth and breadth of the DC library and all of its imprints give us a real advantage over any competitor, however you define them. This isn’t just about the biggest or most well-known properties — those will clearly be a part of our initiative — but it can equally be about much lesser known properties that we incubate and build throughout the company, and it can be and should be about the acquisitions of new properties and characters. We are a content company and we’ll be even more focused on that in the future and that’s on a Warner Bros. and Time Warner level. I think recognizing the value of what our creators have created in this library and treating them carefully for the long term is the single greatest thing we have to work with here.


This next quote recalls many of the Bob Iger reassurances of the past few days:

Initially, over the first six months, it’s going to be about learning and listening and looking carefully at the DC Comics organization, which, again, remains a foundation of what DC Entertainment will be. So, DC Comics as a publishing company will remain intact.


Further on, Nelson talks about digital and motion comics. The general impression is that her mandate is to exploit more and more IP over more and more platforms — in other words, the search for the D.W. Griffith of motion comics may well be on.

Vaneta Rogers at Newsarama covers much the same ground but adds a name check for Minx:

Nelson said that among the things that will be focused upon will be how DC’s characters can be utilized in feature films, acknowledging that among them will be Superman and Wonder Woman.

“Of course they’re priorities,” she said. “But we’ll equally be looking at other properties and stories that can be incubated. It may start in digital, it may start in television, it could end up being video games. There could be casual games that come out of properties that come from Minx.

“That’s going to be the fun of it is making sure we look at all facets of the prism, and making sure we don’t just look at it as a linear… ‘here’s theatrical, now what do we spin off of that’ thing,” she said. “That’s not our goal. That’s a piece of the puzzle.


Initial impressions: the emphasis on creators and their importance is heartening. Surely the person who negotiated the interests of J.K. Rowling understands the importance of the sole creator and inspiration, without which big corporations just turn out things like Loonatics. At the same time, the lack of mentions of the phrase “comic books” in most of the answers is troubling. Given Disney’s lack of interest in periodicals and Nelson’s seeming interest in things other than comic books, many comic shop owners must have tossed and turned quite a bit last night.

It’s important to remember that although the announcement of some decisions were hastened by the Disney/Marvel deal, a lot of this was underway for years. For instance, we’re told the creation of DC Entertainment wasn’t going to roll out until next year — surely that was moved up to compete directly with the Marvel news. Disney and Warners have always been fiercely competitive, and the WB has long been attempting to build the same kind of dynamically synergized branding that Disney can do in its sleep. Warners’ hodgepodge of fiefdoms has long been a structural deterrent to this kind of concerted effort. From what we’re hearing, there is still a lot of work to do on that front.

The big immediate question mark: who will take over as DC’s new publisher? And what will happen to DC’s existing West Coast office, headed by Gregory Noveck? Tune in tomorrow for more shocks and surprises!

BTW, for a fairly exhaustive list of movie blogger reactions to the news, check out Christopher Campbell at Spout.

Levitz leaves ‘One of the Best Jobs on the Planet’

09/10/09

comic reader levitzAs this week’s DC bombshell sent ripples throughout the Multiverse, most people were taking time to talk about the contributions of Paul Levitz to the comics — as a medium and as an industry, Levitz’s handiwork has created or nurtured much of the infrastructure we live with daily. It’s a huge legacy. A few reactions.

ICV2 recalled his own words in a recent interview:

It’s an incredible gig. I’ve been there a very long time. It’s way past any statistical likelihood of anyone staying doing something. So one of these days I’m not going to be doing this, whether that’s the company changing its mind or moving in another direction, or me saying, ‘guys it’s been great, it’s been a wonderful time but I’m not getting on another airplane for awhile.’ But I’ll still have been one of the luckiest guys imaginable to have gotten to play with these great toys for so long. I hope I’ll still have one foot in the comic book industry for a long time thereafter. If nothing else I get to go to a comic convention and actually have some time to attend a panel and just listen or buy some comics.


Chris Butcher gets to the point that occupied many a hot stove league conversation:

I always wondered when Warner Brothers would figure out that they owned DC Comics. Turns out? September 9th, 2009.


Brian Hibbs expresses the worries many are feeling:

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Two excellent views of Paul Levitz

09/9/09

Marv Wolfman recalls his friend of nearly 40 years:

If you are into comics, you already know Paul Levitz is stepping down from his position as President and Publisher of DC Comics. I’ve known Paul since he was 13 and consider him one of my closest and dearest friends. For years now, Paul has talked about retiring someday soon and returning to writing, his first love. For that reason alone I am so happy for him because I know that’s what he deeply cares about and has been wanting. As readers, we are in for some major treats.

I can also say, without fear of rebuttal by anyone who is in the know, Paul is probably the best, the smartest, the most creative and the most moral Publisher the business has ever seen. Most fans have no idea how important Paul is, not only to DC, but to the entire industry. I have often said, and mean, that without Paul there very well might not be a comics industry today. I am not speaking in hyperbole. I am being literal; I mean exactly what I wrote.


And Kurt Busiek wins with a comprehensive summation:

Paul has been at the forefront of just about every industry development of the last couple of decades, and has been key to how the industry’s shaped itself over those years. Shifting from a periodicals-only business to a strong backlist-oriented business with trade paperbacks and hardcovers, adding imprints like Vertigo, creating new opportunities for creators and for creator ownership, seeing that DC gave a fair (or at least fairer) deal to the creators who originated the concepts that turned up in DC-based movies, from Arkham Asylum and Lucius Fox to Robin’s motorcycles (yeah, because they called Chris O’Donnell’s ride the “Redbird” in one of the movies, Paul Levitz saw to it that Chuck Dixon got money) and more, Paul was an important part of a huge number of changes that DC’s seen, and that the whole industry’s seen. Some of them big changes everyone’s noticed, some of them behind-the-scenes stuff few people know about.

And some people have been impatient that Paul was cautious, and wanted him to move faster, to leap into new things instead of easing into them. But in an industry where many publishers throw money into the latest cool thing, only to find themselves overextended and floundering, Paul was always careful that growth and change should be sustainable, doing things like building a backlist of trade paperbacks slowly, so the revenue from the existing books would fuel the addition of new ones, and a large library was built over time. And often, when other publishers’ precipitous actions had made things unstable, DC Comics provided a backstop, a stability that let the comics industry ride out the rough waters and get to the next safe haven. To mix metaphors shamelessly.

Paul is one of a very few people who’ve been absolutely key in shaping the comics industry from what it was in the mid-Seventies to what it is today. Staggering changes, built slowly over time, so that DC (and the companies that adopted DC’s innovations) could build from strength to strength.

Comings and Goings: Cohen, Mason

08/19/09

Jacq Cohen, formerly Publicity Coordinator at Dark Horse, will be moving to Fantagraphics to be Director of Publicity and Promotions beside Eric Ryenolds, who was recently promoted to Associate Publisher. It’s a great hire for Fanta, and a great line for Cohen to be plying her trade to promote.

Marc Mason, best known as owner and editor-in-chief of the Comics Waiting Room, recently took over NBM’s publicity duties, a position formerly held by David Seidman, who remains busy with his many other projects.

Schreck joins IDW

07/23/09

Ted Adams’ all-star line-up gained a heavy hitter with the official announcement of Bob Schreck joining IDW as senior editor:

Newsarama: Bob, how did this position with IDW come about? Bob Schreck: Soon after I became available on the market again, that is “laid off,” IDW and several other interested parties reached out to me to see if I might be interested in joining their teams.

From the start IDW was the frontrunner and seemed a perfect fit for my next journey in the comic book publishing field. I am very happy and very exited to get started in October.

NRAMA: What drew you towards working with the company?

SCHRECK: So many good reasons. First, Ted Adams. I’ve known Ted for years – back when he was working with Dean Mullaney at Eclipse Comics, then soon after he and I worked together doing the marketing of Dark Horse Comics in the early 90s, and I’ve kept my eye on his publishing journey ever since. He’s a very sharp fellow with a keen eye for quality and has a solid understanding of business.

That said, the second reason is obvious… IDW is on fire! Who wouldn’t want to be a part of a company that is so on the move and so in tune to today’s comics’ readers and pop culture? They choose their projects carefully and haven’t lost their identity as a publisher, which is no easy task when trying to appeal to as broad an audience as possible. I feel like the sky’s the limit there creatively speaking and that I will be able to achieve some very interesting and exciting results.

 

Wizard hires and promotes

07/9/09

Some hiring information from Wizard, after a longer period of trimming staff. According to a press release, long-time staffer Mike Cotton has been promoted to Editor of Wizard. Also:

“Mike has built strong relationships with both creators and fans of comics,” said Shamus. “His promotion is a testament to how well he connects with Wizard readers and how respected he is in the comics industry.”

In addition, Shamus announced the promotions of Andy Serwin to Features Editor and the hiring of a new Managing Editor, Casey Seijas. Serwin was hired by Wizard in 1999 and most recently held the role of Assistant Managing Editor. Seijas had been an editor at DC Comics’ Vertigo imprint for nearly four years before joining MTV Networks last August.


While we’d heard some rumors going around this week that EIC Scott Gramling had left Wizard, according to spokesperson April Wiggins, he is still at Wizard.

Jon Goldwater new CEO of Archie Comics

06/25/09

ArchielogoVia PR, we may be seeing a more “rock ‘n’ roll” Archie soon.

Jon Goldwater CEO of Archie Comics: The Archie Comics line of comic books is one of the most successful, longest running lines in the history of the comic industry. As the son of Archie Comics founder John L. Goldwater he looks forward to expanding the role of his family’s company, Archie Comics Publications, in prominence in the comic book medium as well as other media. Jon Goldwater began his career 20 years ago as the partner to the Japanese concert promoter, Zak Concerts. On Zak Concerts’ behalf, Jon Goldwater negotiated concert major tours of Japan include the “Super Rock Festival” and many others. He is the former President and CEO of AFA Music Group, Ltd., the Executive Producer of the film, “Return of Superfly”, He has served as President and CEO of Crash Management Inc.

Using his vast experience in the entertainment industry he plans on focusing his attention on a variety of family entertainment projects from his family business, suitable for your family. Jon Goldwater plans on bringing the kids from Riverdale to a larger multi-media audience. He is also looking ahead to developing new projects focusing on not just Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jugehead and Reggie, but other long standing Archie Properties such as Katy Keene, Lil Jinx, the Red Circle Heroes, Sabrina, Josie & the Pussycats, Cosmo The Merry Martian, Pat The Brat, Wilbur Wilkins, Bingo Wilkins, Suzie and Ginger Snapp. just to name a few.

Jon Goldwater purchased an ownership interest in the company with the intent of making Archie Comic entertainment powerhouse. In his first few days as CEO he has already started negotiations on projects that will be announced shortly, including a big budget Archie feature film, a new Archie animated project, a Katy Keene television program and a major music deal for the Archies. Every effort will me made to bring all the Archie Comics properties to the forefront of the entertainment industry.

Toy/internet people sought

05/14/09

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Beat Pal Frank Patz at The Eternal Collector is looking for some people to help him upgrade his site:

Are you interested in the Toy Industry? I have one of the most visited Toy Collecting websites on the Internet. I am looking for someone to help me with the Web design of the site. I am also looking for someone to help with the video content for the site. There is a lot going on and I want to build a team of individuals that are interested in building a brand.

You will have access to all conventions in the country as well as access to industry specific conventions like the NY Toy Fair.

Please email me with your experience as well as any urls for sites you have created.


Interested parties can hit Frank up at the link above.


Technorati Tags:

Keenan joins Abrams

05/5/09

More comings and goings, as Sheila Keenan is joining the Abrams ComicArt imprint as Senior Editor:

Sheila Keenan will be joining ABRAMS on Wednesday, May 6, as Senior Editor, working on the Abrams ComicArts list. Keenan will report to Charles Kochman, Executive Editor.

Sheila has over twenty years of experience as both a writer and editor, working in children’s books and young adult trade, with a focus on nonfiction and graphic novels. Most recently she was at Scholastic, where she helped launch their Graphix comics imprint.

Among the many authors she has edited are Kyle Baker, Dean Haspiel, Kazu Kibushi, Walter Dean Myers, Ted Naifeh, Jake Parker, Sharon Robinson, Greg Ruth, and Dianne McWhorter. She also worked on the following titles/series: Amulet series, Goosebumps Graphix adaptations, Knights on the Lunch Table series, Magic Pickle series, and Missile Mouse.

Linkage, comings and goings

05/4/09

§ Superboy??? Jeff Trexler looks at the possible legal reasons for the character’s return and reminds us that the Superman trial is underway right now:

A settlement is one possibility, though at present it seems a relatively less likely explanation. The court record in the Superboy lawsuit contains no reference to a finalized settlement. To the contrary, the parties stated last year that court-ordered mediation did not resolve the dispute. As things stand, the court record indicates that the resolution of the Superboy lawsuit will follow the court’s judgments in the Superman trials, the first of which began this past week. (More on that soon in another post!)

A more likely explanation as to why DC feels comfortable reviving Superboy–or at least the Conner Kent version–is that the company’s legal position regarding the character improved considerably after the 2007 court ruling that vacated a previous judgment awarding the rights to the Siegel heirs.

§ Jann Jones has joined Viz as an editor, Robot Six reports. She was formerly senior coordinating editor at DC. Congrats to Jann!

§ Ed Chavez has joined Vertical as Marketing Director. He has previously worked with CMX and Kodansha, and of course, headed up MangaCast. Congrats to Ed!

§ Less happy news at McFarlane Toys, which has laid off 27 people from its design staff. More details at Playthings.

§ There are surely tons and tons o’ Free Comic Book Day reports out there, and we’re finishing up a big post for a bit later, so here are TWO to keep you while we round up more: CBR’s 15 hours of non-stop FCBD action! and Kiel & Kegmeister’s Excellent Free Comic Book Day. Please link to your report in the comments.

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§ Oh yeah, also via the Cool Kids’ Table: Jack Kirby and an ex-Beatle. The story, from Lisa Kirby, here.

Business briefs

04/30/09

§ While we’ve covered several book publishers who won’t be at BEA, several have alerted us to the fact that there will still be plenty of graphic novels at the upcoming BookExpo America. Diamond will be there in force with their pavilion of publishers and an array of events. Also, Eric Reynolds writes to tell us that Fantagraphics will be at the show with Dash Shaw, Monte Schulz, Michael Kupperman, and Kim Deitch, and a fancy new booth.

Comings and goings:

200709131052§ Lisa Coppola has left Viz. As Senior Vice President, Coppola was often the public face of the company, speaking at industry panels and frequently quoted in stories about manga, and certainly was a key player in helping the company rise to the top of the graphic novel heap in America. It is unknown what her next position will be.

§ Marvel has upped Alan Fine to executive VP of Marvel Entertainment. Fine was previously executive VP and chief marketing officer of Marvel Characters.

§ DC has hired Jeff Boison as Executive Director of Publishing Operations. Boison was most recently director of sales for the Random House Audio Publishing Group. (Before people get all het up, this is, according to the job description, a business position, not one that directly oversees editorial content.)

Christy onboard at Archaia

04/28/09

So what’s the deal at Archaia Press? The company foundered about a year ago as it sought new investors, and was rumored to be purchased by Devil’s Due at one point, but it ended up being acquired by former DD partner PJ Bickett, whose current title is President. Founder Mark Smylie is in place as Publisher. There was a lot of confusion at the time, but obviously, Archaia is back and putting out books, and even hiring people. We mentioned that Mel Caylo had come on board as Marketing Manager, and that means we should see a lot more news coming out, including another hire, Stephen Christy, who is joining the publisher as Director of Development. Christy was formerly at Devil’s Due, where he negotiated deals, such as the Humanoids license. More info in the PR:

In his role as Archaia’s Director of Development, Christy will be responsible for acquiring new comic book properties, overseeing the reverse engineering of previous “made for” scripts, strengthening partnerships within the entertainment sector, and ensuring that Archaia remains true to its reputation of providing the highest caliber of content. Previously, Christy headed IP Development for Devil’s Due Publishing and successfully oversaw the negotiations of nine development deals with major Hollywood production companies over a 14-month period. Prior to Devil’s Due, Christy worked at both Marvel Comics and DC Comics in various aspects of the business.

“We are pleased that Stephen will be joining the Archaia family,” commented Mark Smylie, Publisher and founder of Archaia. “His keen eye for quality content and his outstanding relationships with top-flight creators are the hallmark of what we have built with the Archaia brand. We couldn’t have asked for a better person to run our development slate.”


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Comings and goings

04/27/09

Some random personnel moves that have crossed our paths of late.

• Former Comics Foundry Senior Editor Laura Hudson has been teasing a new blogging gig on her Twitter, but no announcement yet.

• Likewise, former Wizard staffer Kiel Phegley has an unnamed new gig, as well, and will cease writing for Marvel.com.

• Editor Nicole Boose has left Marvel to become a full-time mom.

• DC’s Senior Coordinating Editor, Jann Jones, has left the company.

• VAMPIRELLA publisher Jonathan Rheingold has stepped down as Publisher at Harris Publications.

Gene Luen Yang, who was nominated for a National Book Award for American Born Chinese, will serve as a judge for the 2009 National Book Awards.

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• And it’s not really a coming or going, but best wishes to Jim Lee and Carla Michelle, who became engaged this weekend!

Ted Rall laid off at United Media

04/22/09

Alan Gardner reports that Ted Rall and eight others were laid off from United Media, the cartoon and content syndication giant.

Ted Rall, who worked as the Editor of Acquisitions and Development at United Media has been laid off last Thursday. Ted tells me that eight other individuals were also let go and that his responsibilities would probably be reassigned to other people. Ted was brought in for the position back in 2006. During his term he helped United Media launch Diesel Sweeties, Secret Asian Man, Family Tree, The Knight Life and Rip Haywire.


Rall was hired — after a search that saw just about every cartoon-type person in New York interviewed — to update United Media’s cartoon content in a world where blogs and webcomics are the currency of the Attention Economy. On his blog, Rall writes:

Considering the circumstances, I enjoyed remarkable success. My first feature was a daily newspaper version of “Diesel Sweeties,” by R. Stevens. If not the first transition of a webcomic to daily form, it was certainly the most successful. Unfortunately for print readers, the artist decided to focus on his online work and ended the strip. After that came Tak Toyoshima’s “Secret Asian Man,” the first daily comic strip about Asian-Americans by an Asian-American cartoonist. It remains in syndication today, and continues to garner attention. I recruited Signe Wilkinson to draw “Family Tree,” a family strip with an ecological bent filtered through Signe’s uniquely jaundiced eye, and “Family Tree” keeps getting sales as comics pages get slashed. There was also Keith Knight’s “The Knight Life,” in which Keith transitioned his autobiographical alt weekly strip “The K Chronicles” to the daily form. It is a success. Most recently were the daily comic version of Stephanie McMillan’s political cartoon “Minimum Security” and “Rip Haywire,” an updating and parody of adventure comics by Dan Thompson.


We think any legacy that includes R. Stevens, Signe Wilkinson, Keith Knight and the other cartoonists named has to be considered a success by any standard — even if Stevens eventually went back to running his own shop, the very fact that traditional syndication was no temptation for a successful webcomicker was an empirical experiment of invaluable worth.

In the comments on his blog, Rall assesses the grim prospects for the alt cartoonist these days; with even United Media trying to upgrade their business model, everyone is still wondering what the new business model is.

Some trimming at Dark Horse

04/3/09
The Beat has learned that editor Rob Simpson was recently laid off at Dark Horse. Simpson, an industry vet who formerly worked at DC, was the Senior Editor in charge of Dark Horse’s prose books line, which includes original novels, nonfiction, a series of Playboy Interview collections and various fantasy novels — including the recently launched Neil Gaiman Presents series. Although Dark Horse would not comment directly, they did release this statement from owner Mike Richardson:

In recent years, Dark Horse has dedicated a great deal of time and resources to move outside of the traditional comics medium with ventures into publishing prose novels. Due to the well known facts of the current state of the book market, and cutbacks at the chains for these types of books, we are placing these efforts on hold for the time being. This is in no way indicative of the health and vitality of any other division of our business, or the company overall.

Although any layoffs are looked at as part of the Great Recession during this time, comics are still getting off fairly lightly, at least on the creative side, with only a smattering of layoffs. It’s painful for anyone, but far less than the massive cuts other aspects of the entertainment industry have been experiencing. We hope this trend continues.

As for Simpson, he’s a real professional; we’re sure he’ll land on his feet even in this harsh time.

CBLDF announces board changes

03/23/09

At last week’s ComicsPRO meeting, it was announced that Chris Staros is leaving the CBLDF’s Board of Directors. He’ll be replaced as President by retailer Chris Powell. Cartoonist Larry Marder will join the board. More details in the PR below:

At this morning’s ComicsPRO Annual Meeting, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund announced changes to its Board of Directors. After five years of service as President and seven years on the Board, Chris Staros has stepped down from the organization to devote more time to the growth of Top Shelf Productions. Staros is replaced as President by Chris Powell, General Manager of Lone Star Comics, and President Pro-Tem of ComicsPRO. Powell is the first retailer to hold the Presidency of the organization in its 22 year history. Taking over Staros’ seat on the Board of Directors is maverick creator and industry maven Larry Marder.

“It’s been an honor to serve on the Board of Directors of the CBLDF,” Staros says, “but as Top Shelf has grown, I find myself not having the time to support the day-to-day activities of the Fund in the way that I used to, and, of course, that’s the signal that it’s time to move on, and pass the torch on to others ready to lead the charge. And now, with Chris Powell as the new President and Larry Marder joining the Board, I know that the Fund will have some fresh energy to devote to the cause. So, while I won’t be on the Board, I’ll always support the CBLDF, as it’s still a cause I truly believe in.”



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White joins IDW as marketing manager

03/20/09

IDW has announced a new marketing manager, AnnaMaria White:

IDW Publishing, a leading publisher of comic books and graphic novels, today announced that AnnaMaria White, an experienced public relations and marketing professional, has joined the company as its in-house marketing manager.

“We are very excited to have AnnaMaria join our team,” said IDW COO Greg Goldstein. “IDW has grown very successfully in its ten-year history and that growth has accelerated in recent months. AnnaMaria is the ideal person to manage all of our communications needs as we continue to expand.”

As Marketing and PR Manager, Ms. White will manage the company’s public relations and marketing efforts. Ms. White has worked in public relations and marketing for years in a variety of industries, including entertainment, politics, healthcare and non-profit. Most recently, she was a Public Relations Manager at leading sports and entertainment cards and collectibles company, Upper Deck, focusing on entertainment brands, such as World of Warcraft, Yu-Gi-Oh!, and Marvel. Previously, Ms. White was the Communications Manager for Empire State Development, the economic development agency of the New York State government.

“I am thrilled to be joining IDW,” said Ms. White. “The strength of the company and diversity of its products offers an unique and exciting opportunity to help bring IDW to the next level.”

Ms. White holds a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia University.

Recession Watch: Wizard layoffs, more on Viz layoffs, first newspaper closing

02/27/09

§ The Beat has obtained more information on recent layoffs at Viz. The two editors laid off were long-time vet Ian Robertson and Carol Fox, who also worked at Tokyopop in the past. Several other people from production were hit, including designer Carolina Ugalde.

Despite the unrelated departure of editor Marc Weidenbaum a few weeks ago, we’re told that Viz is still moving forward with its plans for original manga.

§ News sites and Twitter were abuzz all yesterday afternoon with news that seven more staffers were laid off at Wizard magazine, including SVP Joe Yanarella, operations manager Jodie Westhoff, art director Eric Goodman, associate editor David Paggi, and staff writers Kevin Mahadeo, Rachel Molino, and Steve Sunu. Yanarella was a long time veteran at the magazine and had taken over convention operations in recent years; Benji Dejohn will now run the Chicago and Philadelphia shows. Editors Mike Cotton and Andy Serwin remain on board.

ICv2 scored an interview with CEO Gareb Shamus, who said that the cuts were part of a move to working more with freelancers:

“What we decided to do was open up our freelance budget dramatically,” he said. “We have some really amazing writers out there that we wanted to be able to bring into the magazine.”

We also asked about the changes in conventions, where Benji Dejohn is now running Wizard’s shows in Chicago and Philadelphia. “Benji has event experience in his background and he’s done a good job in sales for us,” Shamus said of the move.


Shamus also spoke to the site about increased competition from Reed Exhibitions starting a Chicago show, but pledged to stay the course.

§ Finally, as widely reported, the great newspaper crisis has claimed its first (but probably not last) victim: The Rocky Mountain News will cease publishing today after nearly 150 years. Among the 200+ staffers cut loose are editorial cartoonist Ed Stein and sports cartoonist Drew Litton.

Business bytes: Gemstone, Viz, Soft Skull, Kodansha, etc.

02/26/09

There’s lots of economic news floating around this week — most of it bad — but here’s the latest on what’s going around.

§ Cuts at Gemstone Publishing, which publishes Disney licenses, EC reprints and the Overstreet Price Guide. An email to Publisher Russ Cochran got the following response:

We have unfortunately been forced by circumstances to close the West Plains, Missouri office of Gemstone Publishing. This included laying off five staffers here. I personally have worked with these people for over thirty years, so this was a very difficult decision, one that was painful for all involved. Going forward, I am still a part of Gemstone and we will be moving The EC Archives project to our York, Pennsylvania office. We fully expect to be able to get EC books and the Disney titles back on track, I look forward to continuing my association with the great EC material for years to come.


According to a Diamond mailer, Gemstone’s Free Comic Book day offering has also been canceled, due to production delays.

§ In other Diamond news, via ICv2 ,there will be only one Retailer Summit this year, in Baltimore, Oct. 11-13, with the games-oriented Fort Wayne, IN summit canceled.

§ Word is going around that there have been layoffs at Lebonfon, the Canadian printer publisher which specializes in comics, especially from smaller publishers. Whether this is related to less work because of the lesser demand in comics printing due to Diamond’s new policies, or the general downturn in the world economy, is unclear.

§ It was widely reported this week that there were layoffs at Viz Media. CEO Hidemi Fukuhara issued the following statement:

Viz Media is in the process of refining its focus and is restructuring to adjust to changing industry and financial market realities. Viz feels confident that with these changes, the company will be more streamlined to face the current economic climate.


According to Tina Anderson, the cuts involved 12-15 staffers, including two from editorial.

§ Publisher Richard Nash is leaving Soft Skull Press to take on new projects. Soft Skull has offered many comics projects over the years, including David Rees’ GET YOUR WAR ON, and books by Nate Powell and Megan Kelso.

Nash told PW, “This is about the future of publishing. I really want to be engaged in helping figure out a new model for independents. And I am enormously optimistic. I’m not going to do consulting or freelancing, in the sense of eupemisms for ‘I don’t have a clue’ or ‘I’m getting the hell out of publishing,’ but as a way of doubling down, betting it all on the future of publishing, and it’s easier to bet if you have a clean slate rather than a legacy project.” Nash also indicated he looks forward to having time to “play with others,” after working “70-hour weeks for eight years inside the Soft Skull pod.”


§ Kodansha, the Japanese publishing giant, had its biggest annual loss ever last year:

Advertising revenues declined under the effects of the recession, and a drop in magazine and comic sales led to 135.058 billion yen (about US$1.4269 billion) in overall annual sales, a drop of 6.4% from the previous year. This resulted in a loss of 7.686 billion yen (about US$81.2 million) for 2008 — the largest annual loss in the company’s history.

Revenues from the magazine division, including comic magazines, were at 93.7% of the previous year’s levels. The book division’s revenues was 92.1% of the previous year’s revenues, while advertising revenues stood at 89.8%.


The article makes reference to Kodansha’s long brewing plans for an American manga publishing arm, but states there has been no news since the initial announcement.

§ Finally, there’s this.

Kibbles ‘n’ Bits: Business edition

02/19/09

§ Reed Exhibitions is hiring a marketing guru for their pop culture shows:

I am looking for someone to join our team here in Borwalk, CT as a Marketing Director to oversee all of our marketing efforts on New York Comic Con, New York Anime Fest and the new C2E2 (Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo). This is not an entry level job, this is not a fan job this is not an easy job, but it is a lot of hard work and a lot of fun.


§ICv2 sits down with Tokyopop CEO Stuart Levy in a wide-ranging and fairly candid for this sort of thing manner:

So in other words you were seeing declines in your sales that led you to believe that you had to prepare for a smaller market?

There were declines in sales, but there were also returns. The returns were the big things. We’ve seen declines in sales before. But the amount of returns that were coming back from retail was so significant. We saw that early first quarter and then continuing in second quarter.

We’d seen first quarter returns before, but continuing second quarter like that was the first time. It really shocked us and I said, “There’s something going on here.”


And Part Two:

What’s going on with the movie development of Tokyopop properties? That’s probably our most important initiative because it’s very clear to me that without a big movie, without a big TV show it’s very hard to have a significant blockbuster hit. And you can look at anything that’s selling in the comic book world, or the manga world, or the book world in general and it’s almost inevitably related to some kind of film or television.


§ Erin Finnegan has two excellent recaps of the recent ICv2 conference. Part 1, Part Two.

§ The Hibbs vs. Butcher debate vis-à-vis Viz backlist viability continues in this all-star comment thread.

§ Internet kerfuffle classic!

Step one: Val D’Orazio discusses the ongoing monetization dilemma:

Yes, it looks like the switch is on from paper to digital. But are people willing to pay for this digital media? For the most part — no. People are not willing to pay for it, unless you give them a damn good reason to. Damn Good Reasons To: 1) If I was DC or Marvel (or any other media company), I’d pinpoint what the top 5% webcomics are. Offer those web cartoonists competitive exclusive distribution deals that includes a health insurance component. Then make a subscription-based site offset by sales of hard copies and merchandise.


It’s a thoughtful post, although I’d quibble that a lot of what she’s talking about to happen in five years has already been happening — the big media blog buyout happened two years ago, f’r instance.

Step two: Joey Manley comes right out and says Occasional Superheroine’ is Wrong About Webcomics:

I can’t say that the post is plain wrong and belittle it with 70’s TV references without at least explaining why I think it’s wrong. There are all kinds of reasons, but here’s one fundamental one: D’Orazio sees a day when the “top” webcomics are bought up by Marvel and DC, and the rest are discredited as amateurs. Her comments section filled up immediately with “top” webcomickers declaring that they’re doing just fine, thank you, and that it would be a very, very expensive proposition to buy them out. Which is true. Another truth: there are new “top” webcomics launching every day. It’s a slippery and ambitious field, with new xkcds popping up at an alarming (or delightful) rate and proceeding to take over the world. I picked xkcd as my example on purpose, by the way: what DC or Marvel editor would have picked that one up? No DC or Marvel editor would have, especially if he or she only had the first month or two of strips to go by. And the people who discovered xkcd and made it a hit? Most of them, I’ll wager, weren’t comic book readers, and would have been immune to any “anti-amateur” campaign waged by Marvel and DC’s PR machines. (I mean, come on: it’s stick figures for God’s sake).


Step three: Val, who is always going on about how horrible the internets are and wishing people would be more civil, responds that Manley must be wrong about webcomics because…he’s an expert in webcomics:

Joey Manley wrote a post (which I am not giving the benefit of a link) that he says “isn’t meant to start a fight” — “But her recent post about webcomics, and how the business should (or will) evolve in the next five years, is just plain wrong.” Disclaimer: Joey Manley’s main business is in webcomics — including the running of sites that host web comic creators.


For a far better discussion of the business models involved, read the comments post of the original piece.

Weidenbaum leaves Viz; Original content on hold?

02/13/09

Tina Anderson at Gynocrat writes that Viz’s plan for original manga has been put on hold, following the departure of guiding editor Marc Weidenbaum:

Weidenbaum’s departure has been confirmed independently, but the fate of Viz’s original content line would leave a huge gap. Tokyopop’s once-aggressive original manga program has dwindled to nothing, as, for instance, a post from Becky Cloonan regarding the second volume of her well-received EAST COAST RISING makes clear:

And a lot of you are probably wondering, “Oh, Becky! When O when is East Coast Rising v2 coming out?” and to that I can only say I don’t know. I have kept quiet since they decided not to print it last year, but I’m very close to finishing it; about 30 pages away from completion, I’m just waiting on the “go” from TP. Every time I think we get close to making a deal, something happens that makes it seem like it won’t go through, so right now I’m just waiting. Hopefully I’ll have some good news about it soon, but in the meantime I’m treating it like a pet project that one day I might see printed…


Viz’s entry into the original field was seen as a huge move by the giant — and the talent is certainly there to produce some interesting books. Let’s hope the program is on hold and not scuttled.