There appears to be a sea change coming to comics – all the recent news points to it – a change that might not affect the stories in the comics you read, but may make them more accessible, may allow more independent creators an opportunity to strut their stuff and may, gasp, allow some publishers to become profitable. I’m probably not talking about what you think.
You’re thinking digital, right? Quesada’s comments and Marvel’s newest on-line comics, Speakeasy’s latest announcement, all those Koreans…but no, the change I’m talking about is the convergence of comics and movies or specifically film production companies. You see, in addition to the digital connection the other common ground these groups find is film production. (Well, I assume there’s a Korean film studio anyway.)
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Making movies? All the cool kids are doing it. Comic books and movies have had a friendly relationship for some time, but the lines between the two are becoming more blurred than ever. Marvel is starting their own studio, DC has Warner, Dark Horse has Dark Horse Entertainment, VIZ Media and TOKYOPOP have deeply vested animation engines, Top Cow has Platinum Studios (which we’ll get into later), I’m unaware of a direct connection between Image and any particular studio although Paramount did option INVINCIBLE, and of course there’s Speakeasy and Ardustry. These aren’t single digit licensing and fee deals that essentially sign over the big the dollars to the studios, these are movie studios taking strong financial positions and a very participatory roles in comic book companies or, as in Marvel’s case, comic book companies that are actually making movies. And while making movies is always a dicey game there are ways to hedge your bet and the upside is huge where one major hit can cover a host of failures – two or three hosts in some cases.
There’s a natural chemistry between comic books and film. Where the medium is only starting to make inroads towards critical literary recognition, Hollywood acknowledged its value long ago, continually and successfully mining comic books for stories, characters and profit. What could be better for a movie producer than a ready-made story with at least some market proven solidity, complete in a pitch-ready, visually familiar format? And what comic creator doesn’t imagine his work in cinematic detail or at least wonder about a cinematic depiction of his work?
Platinum Studios may be the textbook case for this evolving business model. Tracing back to MEN IN BLACK, Platinum Studios chairman, Scott Rosenberg has a history of successfully bringing comic book properties to the big screen, although many of his current productions will likely only see a “big screen” in the form of someone’s projection TV as most are clearly headed straight to DVD. And I’m guessing that’s just fine by Rosenberg, as the DVD/home entertainment category of film revenue now outstrips the theater-derived revenue by a factor of five.
Some of you may remember Rosenberg as the publisher of Malibu comics (which was sold to Marvel in 1994). His MO these days is to acquire comic book properties, largely via overseas publishers, in an attempt to build a “Platinum Macroverse” that will serve as the intellectual property base for the film production side. Additionally, Platinum is producing a theatrical releases of Top Cow’s WITCHBLADE and Fred Van Lente’s COWBOYS AND ALIENS the latter a part of their own stable of published comics.
From a production standpoint, Platinum has taken a very similar road to the one Marvel’s likely headed down: small to medium-sized production budgets, multiple distribution targets (theatrical, television, direct-to-video), and multiple production types (live action, CGI animation, video game etc.). How effective can this be? Very - for now. In the short term it makes for a solid mix that I’ll explore in more detail in Part II.
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The affect on comic books and creators? Well, the idea would be that the influx of “studio” money would remove a bit of the onus on the publishing side; it would expand the available options for creators as publishers cast an ever widening net in search of the next multi-media success; and it should allow publishers to give new titles a bit more breathing space, more time to find or build an audience. The other side of the coin is that this could cause publishers to place a premium on "film-ready" stories and there's a pretty good chance an already crowded comic book market would see an even bigger glut of largely marginal product as publisher's take more of shotgun approach. Would all these things happen? Probably not, but at a very high level more money means more opportunity and more comics. Or at least a few more rich studio executives.
Which brings us back to the curious case of Speakeasy and Ardustry. After starting up with a reportedly go slow model, Speakeasy proceeded to add titles like a drunken sailor, quickly followed by completion of the Ardustry merger and an announcement that terms of some deals with independent creators would change or at least go forward deals would be structured differently. Speakeasy’s stated intent is to put more of an emphasis on Speakeasy-owned properties; to build up their intellectual property. This may prove to be a smart move, but it’s not engendering much good will for the brand in the near term and while exhibiting some background in film production (in the form of Barry Levine), Ardustry has no real track record to boast of.
Should every small publisher start looking for a studio to partner with? Some may not have to as studios will certainly come looking for them. Independent creators will likely face more pressure to give up some ownership as publishers place more emphasis on owning the IP. And comic book shops will likely have to deal with more selection than they can possibly sell. (Which, ironically, may make electronic distribution a necessity for some publishers.) For better or worse, the comic book medium looks secure for the next few years if for no other reason than some publishers will need it to serve as their venue of initial "release".
Part II: Why film production will allow comic book companies to mint money in the short run but better brace themselves for major changes over the longer haul.
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