If you where given 10 million dollars to set up a new Comic book publisher..

[Distorted Humor]

Lets say that on Monday, you are offered a new job, to launch a new Comic book publisher with 10 million dollar budget.

How would you go about to make your dream comic book company? What type of comics would you focus on? Would you stay with the traditional publishing or seek out new markets? Would you own the properties, or set it up like image where the artists own the rights.

Edit: dangit, can't change subject lines to fix a major grammar mistake.

[obii]

Probably go the Image way to publish creative artists.

If I had 10 million just to spend ... hire my dream artists and make them rich :P
I wonder how many Groo I could get out of Sergio with 10 Million?
:P

[clayholio]

I'd want to publish complete stories by cartoonists I liked. Focus on graphic novels, forget about superheroes, just make stuff that looked and was awesome. I'd basically set a budget, and see if people were interested in doing whatever the heck they wanted for 100 pages. And in that case, work for hire would be a cruel joke, so it would largely be creator-owned material.

Plus, I'd love to make some nice collections of great 80s/90s indie stuff that fell out of print.

I think $10 million could buy a handful of years of that sort of existence, and when none of it sold worth a damn, at least there'd be some awesome comics on the remainder table at Barnes & Noble.

[Kees_L]

Lets say that on Monday, you are offered a new job, to launch a new Comic book publisher with 10 million dollar budget.

How would you go about to make your dream comic book company? What type of comics would you focus on? Would you stay with the traditional publishing or seek out new markets? Would you own the properties, or set it up like image where the artists own the rights.

Edit: dangit, can't change subject lines to fix a major grammar mistake.

Well, firstly I'd want to assess where any such a proposition would be leaving me.
Like how would I be proving employed or to be sustaining myself apart from the 10-million-dollar-enterprise or either as within such.

If that could be settled, I'd probably do a little dance and then get busy, with setting up some viable both as legally solid game plan.

Which would seem a steep ordeal in any event, since the publishing business typically might not've been doing that great. But I'd be needing folks particularly knowledgeable on such to be filling me in on that. Oh and talent. Lots of talent.
Most likely this publisher would turn into something pretty new or unconventional in ways.
In order to be putting comics or reading newly on the map.

So really, you wouldn't regret it.

[Mecegirl]

I went to an art college. I have so many friends that are amazingly talented and who studied sequential art. I think the hardest problem would be choosing who to publish first and for that I'd need to find someone knowledgeable about the publishing world.

[DungeonmasterJim]

I think I'd spend $2 million a year so that the start up could be around for hopefully at least 5 years in order to create a fan-base.

I would have different levels of comic book quality as far as paper and production go. Kids comics would be made of cheaper materials to keep the cost of production down. Graphic novels would have top paper and coloring techniques and thus be more expensive.

I would also have a core of titles. I would have no problem doing super-heroes but something beyond that would seem to have a better chance at having staying power. So graphic novels, a line of comics aimed for young kids, maybe YA titles, and some niche comics that don't fall into any other category.

[mathew101281]

I'd create a Shonen jump style anthology series. The anthology would specialize in mini series. the more popular titles would get on goings.

[ExcelsiorPrime]

If I had 10 million I would set up some form of pension plan so that when these great artists and writers get older they would have some sort of health coverage. Because most of the time their vision goes south or some unexpected illness really blindside them. I would also have some back-end profit sharing from other media--TV, Movies, Video games.

So, the better they help my company the more money they would make.

[SuperCooper]

I would follow sort of an Image/Drawn and Quarterly set up, get some creative and innovative writer/artists who want to do one-off projects or smaller, shorter, easily collected and printed stories, and provide them with enough buffer time to get the most bang for my proverbial (and actual, I suppose) buck. Publishing a comic like that should be no different than publishing a novel; either a creator will come to me with an already, or almost already completed project, or I give them very broad guidelines and a flexible time frame to get their stuff done.

And, truthfully, I would try to make it so I could get as many different projects out of it as possible; I don't want to call it freelance work, because like Image the creators would own their own material, but it would be one-offs and pet projects that writers and artists truly care about and have a passion for.

[Distorted Humor]

Cool responses.

I guess i feel the odd man out as I would do work for hire (But give the creators some back end profits for secondary stuff such as any TV shows or movies and so on) but my main focus is to try to get my comics on the selves of gas stations and grocery stores.

[Mister Mets]

I'd try to start with four books a month by top-tier talent. Early on, it would be necessary to have creators significant enough to get readers to pick up books with no-name characters. Image initially got attention because readers knew the artists from the Spider-Man comics and the X-books. Four books a month also makes it easy to follow for new readers.

Eventually we could branch out, and start going for new talent. Although care would have to be taken to ensure that the brand remains exclusive.

This may be harsh, but I think it may be necessary to avoid prolific writers. Warren Ellis, Peter David and Garth Ennis have produced a lot of material, so a new monthly by one of them isn't going to get as much attention.

An OGN approach probably doesn't work when the company has no reputation, and the characters are completely new. It's easier to get readers to plunk down 3-4 bucks to try a new title than it is to get them to pay 20-25 dollars for an OGN that got good reviews.

The creative team would probably own the rights, although there would be some restrictions (IE- one year notice) especially if there's an attempt to create some kind of shared universe.

An ideal genre might be PG-13 rated non-superhero action-adventure. Image and Vertigo ensure that there's no shortage of mature readers stuff.

Historical dramas would seem like possible prestige books. There may be openings for religious material or political material to attract millions of non-comics readers who feel passionately about a particular topic.

[Mr MajestiK]

I went to an art college. I have so many friends that are amazingly talented and who studied sequential art. I think the hardest problem would be choosing who to publish first and for that I'd need to find someone knowledgeable about the publishing world.

Wouldn't it more beneficial to study up on the publishing side of things yourself?

I'm only posing this question because based on what we've seen from the "Big Two" it kind've goes without saying, that they're concept of what's worth publishing isn't exactly universally accepted amongst the current wildly diverse customer base.

Placed in such a situation, I could very welll see someone like yourself coming up with a very unique approach to the publishing process that no one else has come up with yet.

[Dispenser Of Truth]

"Grant Morrison? Here is money. Do whatever you want."

Okay, actually a cohesive superhero universe (though with other genres peppered in there), mostly monthlies but the 'main' titles being mainstream-friendly OGN's coming out 2-3 times a year aimed at the bookstore market. I have plans for this universe. But they are secret plans.

I would still ask Grant Morrison to come in and do whatever he wanted.

[SuperCooper]

Also, if there are any rock stars or pop stars or TV or movie stars who have any interest at all in creating a comic book, here's some money, promote it on Twitter, tell your fans how great the company is, repeat.

[dupont2005]

Reprint and translate international comics in hardcover as affordable as possible.