Stephenson's IMAGE EXPO Keynote Emphasizes the Importance of Creator-Owned Comics

[CBR News]

Image Comics publisher Eric Stephenson's keynote speech emphasizes the importance of creator-owned over the concept of creator-driven.


Full article here.

[Iggy Langridge]

I agree with pretty much all of this. And basically everything that I'm buying in the future is from Image: LOW is a no-brainer, and PARADIGMS and CERULEAN both sound good, and add the just announced TOKYO GHOST and DESCENDER and Warren Ellis' INJECTION, and maybe one or two others...

That said, and just to "keep it real," a certain licensed comic based on an "old movie" is what I'm looking forward to most. So the Image series that I am picking up will be sitting side by side on my iPad with whatever Marvel does with Star Wars.

[hondobrode]

Yeah, a lot of us are still nostalgic for that corporate junk from 20 or 50 years ago. I am. Still love Batman, like most fans, and Multiversity, and Judge Dredd, Godzilla, the Shadow and Doc Savage, X-O Manowar and Eternal Warrior, Ghost and Conan, but I'm loving tons of Image stuff, and Fantagraphics, Top Shelf, and Dark Horse, and especially Image.

The old paradigm won't die, but the new, fresh, Creator-Owned, is hear to blow us away. Open minded readers welcome to a sit down satisfying meal as opposed to wolfing down nothing but a diet of fast food are welcome at the table.

Bravo once again Eric Stephenson !

[Sparko]

I'm really thankful for Image comics. While I will always love Spider-Man, and other old school favorites, my tastes are maturing and I'm loving previously unknown, creator owned characters.

[cranger]

Sounds like more of the same and it looks like double shipping Walking Dead paid off. Let me know when he comes up with a way of bringing in new readers other than Walking Dead viewers or Marvel/DC readers who are looking for a change. Not that I am not enjoying the few Image books I am reading, but I do not see how churning out ideas in hope of a television or film deal is supposed to be the future of the market without a way to bring people into the market.

[Groo Odyssey]

Sounds like more of the same and it looks like double shipping Walking Dead paid off. Let me know when he comes up with a way of bringing in new readers other than Walking Dead viewers or Marvel/DC readers who are looking for a change. Not that I am not enjoying the few Image books I am reading, but I do not see how churning out ideas in hope of a television or film deal is supposed to be the future of the market without a way to bring people into the market.

Well, Image is bringing in new readers. We only need to look no further than Saga. At my LCS I see people walk in all the time who have never read comics and are looking for the latest volume of Saga because it was recommended to them by a friend, now they're looking for more and discovering the medium. Look at all the women that are reading comics now. It sure has a lot to do with the variety of comics in the market nowadays compared to when I first started reading them. I was at a comic con recently and I saw a few girls bringing in their portfolios of Rat Queens, something I never would've seen when I was a kid. A girl sat next to me at a panel that we were at and she was drawing Hannah from Rat Queens on her Wacom tablet, really cool. Some of these women are going to be the future creators that's going to make a name for themselves like Gail Simone, Fiona Staples and Amanda Conner etc. that's changing the industry, for the better I say.

[cranger]

Well, Image is bringing in new readers. We only need to look no further than Saga. At my LCS I see people walk in all the time who have never read comics and are looking for the latest volume of Saga because it was recommended to them by a friend, now they're looking for more and discovering the medium.

There are success stories but I do not think the future, as he puts it, can depend on that. Word of mouth is nothing new and certainly not something Image can lay claim to having any hand in. Licensed comics are aimed at drawing in people that way although he seems to put them down. His criticism is that the other companies are standing still but Image just waiting for this market shift is kind of doing the same. If Image is the future I am not sure what good that is until they have a plan to create an entry point into the market on the scale of Marvel and DC.

[Groo Odyssey]

You bring up some good points. As much as people don't like the fact that it seems like he is putting other publishers down I think Stephenson is passionate and truly speaking from the heart and not just trying to stir the pot to bring attention to himself. He does want a better future for the industry and for it to thrive, this includes all publishers Marvel, DC, indies etc. He's looking at the sales figures for the industry in general and it's showing a declining overall sales in dollars and volume. FWIW Image is doing a lot of great things and their sales increasing every year is testament to that even though the industry as a whole is declining.

I don't think we would ever get to a point where sales will be where it once was back in the 90s but I think that has more to do with prices of comics nowadays. This is something Stephenson has addressed in his past rants. He says comics should be cheap, all these constant price increases and $4.99 books are bad for the industry in long run. He's putting his money where his mouth is by keeping a lot of Image titles at $2.99. Take Saga for example, he could easily be charging $3.99 or even $4.99 and people will still be buying them but the creators keep it at $2.99. For that I'm very thankful. The days of any publisher making an entry point to the market on the scale of Marvel or DC are improbable but at least he's trying to do his part and that's what he wants from other publishers to be innovative and not just thinking about the bottom line.

[capuga]

He's putting his money where his mouth is by keeping a lot of Image titles at $2.99. Take Saga for example, he could easily be charging $3.99 or even $4.99 and people will still be buying them but the creators keep it at $2.99. For that I'm very thankful.

You do mention it at the end there but it's worth noting that the creators set the price of the book, not Stephenson or Image central. I would imagine he advises but the creator-owned model at Image means that the creators control that just like everything else.

[Groo Odyssey]

You do mention it at the end there but it's worth noting that the creators set the price of the book, not Stephenson or Image central. I would imagine he advises but the creator-owned model at Image means that the creators control that just like everything else.

Yeah ultimately it's up to the creators but I would imagine he does have some input. If Kirkman decides tomorrow that he wants to bring in different creative teams and have 5 new Walking Dead titles each shipping biweekly with variant covers each selling at $4.99, I think Stephenson would have a problem with that.

[capuga]

Yeah ultimately it's up to the creators but I would imagine he does have some input. If Kirkman decides tomorrow that he wants to bring in different creative teams and have 5 new Walking Dead titles each shipping biweekly with variant covers each selling at $4.99, I think Stephenson would have a problem with that.

Since Kirkman is a partner and has his own imprint, I don't think it matters what Stephenson would think. I doubt his ability to accept/reject books applies to Kirkman. But just in general, pricing decisions are entirely up to the creators. I'm sure Stephenson gives advise, but he can't decide for them.

[Groo Odyssey]

Since Kirkman is a partner and has his own imprint, I don't think it matters what Stephenson would think. I doubt his ability to accept/reject books applies to Kirkman. But just in general, pricing decisions are entirely up to the creators. I'm sure Stephenson gives advise, but he can't decide for them.

OK you win. Still doesn't change the fact that Stephenson is right . I find it hard to criticize him at all when I agree with so much of what he says.