Eric Stephenson's speech

[500Club]

Price, double/weekly shipping, and the one I'd like to see the most, everyone cutting back the tertiary titles and keeping one main book for Spidey, FF, X-Men, Avengers, Batman, JLA, Superman etc... If a story can't be executed in one issue to the next without it feeling like a decompressed ripoff, then that's some poor work being published.

 

Agree. I have a big problem with the current trend of decompressed 6 issue stories made for tpb.

[rh3522]

Was hoping someone would post this. Certainly some VERY good points but...

 

 

Not sure what to think of it all because all I can think about is NWM and shake my head.

+1

 

NWM erodes Stephenson's credibility when it comes to discussing excellence in publishing, and supporting retailers.

 

apples and oranges. You'll realize that after you read the speech.

Implying I didn't read the speech?

 

You are right, the position of publisher and the position of writer of a creator owned project are apples and oranges.

 

However, in this case, Mr Stephenson is both. And, as the publisher, he's making points that he himself failed at in his position as writer. Hell, he even addresses shipping schedules and variants. Take Marvel and DC to task for weekly/biweekly shipping? Better than the bi-yearly NWM schedule. Take Marvel and DC to task for shortsighted cash grabs? How was the NWM variant release scheme different?

 

Thus, credibility erosion. Pot. Kettle.

 

 

I can't speculate any more than you as to why a book is late but I do remember Nate Bellegarde's work on Invincible Presents being frustratingly slow. NWM is such a beautiful book I imagine finding a replacement is not that easy.Of course, Im making an assumption as well. Maybe it does take 5 months to write a single issue. It IS pretty dense.

 

And I think ES was talking about store / incentive variants. Things that result in a ton of copies you cant sell lying around. Short term gains that might hurt the industry in the long run. Convention variants don't have the same effect. It would also be nuts to try to get rid of those

[krighton]

Why does it seem TWD is the only image comic that doesn't take a 2 month break for a TPB.

[500Club]

I think you are right that it was likely Nate Bellegarde responsible for the NWM delays, and, as I've said before, I respect ES for not throwing him under the bus.

 

I also agree with the overall point of the speech.

 

It's just that seeing ES make the points leaves a funny taste.

[Flatliner1313]

He lost me half way through when he felt the need to negative sell everything else out there. If your product is as good as you say it is, you don't need to try and knock the competition.

 

 

[the authority]

I love the books that Image puts out. To me, they are the most creative group in comics as a whole. I didn't care for the preachy parts especially based on Image's practices on variants(which I like). I think it is unrealistic to think superheroes will not be the primary driver of comics. I read mostly non-cape stuff but I know I don't represent the majority of comic readers/buyers.

[followtheleader]

I think e.s. is a standup guy who has hit some issues with the NWM team (from what I understand). I heard in the NWM thread that the artist is changing for the next arc, so we'll see what happens.

 

For the record, I thought NWM was one of the most promising titles to come out in recent history. Sadly, the delays created a big bump in the following. I need to re-read 1-6 to remember what is/was happening.

 

I have little respect for the guy.

 

Though I agree that NWM had great promise, it was also one of the biggest disappointments in a LONG time.

 

I greatly respect Image for the refreshing look at comics. But they also have some of the most frustrating books on the market. NWM and Morning Glories are, by far, two of them.

 

Pat

[kimik]

As I posted in the Comics General thread, he is a bit full of himself with the comments regarding relaunches for Marvel and DC. How many Image #1s do we see in a given year? How many last more than 12 issues?

 

While I applaud them for giving an alternative to superheroes, the quality of a lot of their post Saga/NWM/Think Tank/MP hits in mid to late 2012 is significantly lower. A lot of the books they have put out since then are much weaker and the sales numbers reflect this. Image puts out a lot of drek, just like the big two.

[Whizzer]

It was a good speech and I agreed with about half of it. One thing about it though really pissed me off and it's something I've seen said by other publishers/creators, namely the call for retailers to attract children to their stores. Given that nobody, least of all Image actually, publishes much that is suitable for kids this was a little redundant.

 

As a retailer, this really grinds my gears. We have no shortage of kids coming into the shop excited by what they see around them and we have no shortage of parents who come in looking for something for their kids to read and what can we offer them really? A couple of cartoon adaptations from Marvel and Dc, some Bigfoot funny animal stuff and Adventure Time.

 

The 8-13 demographic is potentially huge for the industry and yet it is almost completely ignored by that same industry.

 

So Mr Stephenson, perhaps you could stop the proselytising and shift your focus from just publishing sweary emo fiction and put some thought into the next generation of readers / customers.

 

Just sayin'.

[awakeintheashes]

It was a good speech and I agreed with about half of it. One thing about it though really pissed me off and it's something I've seen said by other publishers/creators, namely the call for retailers to attract children to their stores. Given that nobody, least of all Image actually, publishes much that is suitable for kids this was a little redundant.

 

As a retailer, this really grinds my gears. We have no shortage of kids coming into the shop excited by what they see around them and we have no shortage of parents who come in looking for something for their kids to read and what can we offer them really? A couple of cartoon adaptations from Marvel and Dc, some Bigfoot funny animal stuff and Adventure Time.

 

The 8-13 demographic is potentially huge for the industry and yet it is almost completely ignored by that same industry.

 

So Mr Stephenson, perhaps you could stop the proselytising and shift your focus from just publishing sweary emo fiction and put some thought into the next generation of readers / customers.

 

Just sayin'.

That is a pretty good point. You might want to post in CG. It'll probably get some different responses, since the discussion there seems to be more about the thesis of es speech, which is growing the customer base.

[krighton]

There's quite a few kids comics out, if your store carries them....a couple of my LCS's have a special rack just for kids comics.

[Solar]

TL;DR

[Lonzilla]

Remember when he called speculators the equivalent of ticket scalpers, scumbags etc? How are those Nowhere Men back issues and t-shirts selling now pal? Alienate your main customers and your name is mud

[ZaCrew]

Remember when he called speculators the equivalent of ticket scalpers, scumbags etc? How are those Nowhere Men back issues and t-shirts selling now pal? Alienate your main customers and your name is mud

 

Part of me truly wonders if he stopped working on Nowhere Men just to spite all the speculators on that book. I know everyone remembers raw #1s selling for $40 and 9.8s bringing over $100. Hell the comics pro and cbldf were over $300 in 9.8 at one point. And don't even mention the Thought Bubble.

[Whizzer]

There's quite a few kids comics out, if your store carries them....a couple of my LCS's have a special rack just for kids comics.

 

You are missing my point. I'm fully aware of what is available, but the range and quality of what is available is poor. Nova is probably the only mainstream title from Marvel that is suitable for kids. If you want a DC book featuring Batman for kids you have to go for the really 'cartoony' titles like Lil' Gotham.

 

When I started reading comics in the 1970's the output of the big two could (and was in large numbers) read by kids and adults alike. I'm not even arguing for a return to that scenario as it wouldn't work today. What I am saying is that the comics industry should make its main characters, who kids already love through Lego and cartoons and pyjamas accessible through a range of intelligent, well written but age appropriate comics. If they did, I could sell them by the bucketload.

 

 

[Pinky Lee Zepplin]

If you want a DC book featuring Batman for kids you have to go for the really 'cartoony' titles like Lil' Gotham.

 

This books is great! One of the best covers I've seen in a while, I love this book! (But I'm a huge Hanna-Barbara dork too)

 

 

 

The problem today isn't the books themselves, it's that kids don't read. They're too busy on their iDevices and portable gaming units. Why read when you can get the high score on Scooter McMuffin 3D or jam out to the latest offering of audio smut by Miley Virus?

 

[the authority]

I agree with this. I can only go by home and having 4 kids but my kids regularly had up to 20,000 comics available and regularly passed them by for Mario, Crash, Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, and the like. They occasionally will read a comic or series but they don't collect them like I do/did. I have a daughter who loves the Sandman books ( who can blame her ?) but she loves Gaiman's novels just as much and because it has a movie, Coraline is her favorite.

 

Its a far different world than the one I was a child in. Think about this. I'm 47 and when I was a child and teen, cable TV was new and expensive, there were no cell phones and in fact, pushbutton phones were all the rage and rotary was going out the window. Cords were still connected to the wall. You had to be fairly affluent to own a video camera, microwaves were new, and nobody even had considered this thing we called the internet. Star Wars was new and The Empire Strikes back featured special effects like no one had ever seen. There was no video ondemand, Atari and collecovision were expensive and there were no video stores. My first experience with computers was a TRS-80, an Ace that I built from scratch. You loaded programs on computers with a cassette tape which too forever.

 

My very long point being, times have changed and so has the age of the market. There weren't a lot of 30 or 40 year old guys at the LCS when I was a kid. They dropped us off there and then came back to pick us up.

 

 

[LarrysComics]

If you want a DC book featuring Batman for kids you have to go for the really 'cartoony' titles like Lil' Gotham.

 

This books is great! One of the best covers I've seen in a while, I love this book! (But I'm a huge Hanna-Barbara dork too)

 

 

 

The problem today isn't the books themselves, it's that kids don't read. They're too busy on their iDevices and portable gaming units. Why read when you can get the high score on Scooter McMuffin 3D or jam out to the latest offering of audio smut by Miley Virus?

 

The entry point age has risen...

Kids read comics, just at a later age.

 

Kids have too many choices.

 

Publishers know this & the material is tailored to a more sophisticated audience.

Print comics are the healthiest I have seen them in decades.

[N/A]

We print variants because people buy them.

 

 

Just because you can doesn't mean you should. If Eric really sees that as a problem then Image has the power to stop releasing hem as opposed to passing the buck and expecting buyers to stop buying.

[Whizzer]

Well, again I can only tell you my real world experience of having plenty of real world potential kid customers with a very limited range of products to offer them.

 

I forget that opinion always trumps facts on these boards.