IMAGE EXPO LIVE: Eric Stephenson's Keynote Address

[Scott M Davis]

Unfortunately, you're probably right. Didn't Palmiotti and Gray try something very similar, also at Image, just a couple of years ago? The sales were horrible. Regardless of quality, that format just really struggles in the American market.


Anyway, I'll definitely give Snyder, Lemire, Wood, Vaughan, and Gillen's books a look. I may also try out Young, Zdarsky, and Cooke's books. Not sure.

Creator Owned Heroes. It was an interesting concept but since it was only limited to Palmiotti and his friends. the scope was limited.

[InformationGeek]

Only in your world, and that of the extremely vocal minority on these forums, is having a 3x Eisner winner for Best Writer a book's "ultimate problem."

Well I'm talking from a personal view on how much I'll enjoy it. I'm sure it'll be fine for most others, but I'm not usually into a lot of his work (I do enjoy the hell out of Ex Machina though)

I'm confident Gillen's "too cool for school dialogue" will be very cool and generally humorous.

And since when has Skottie Young ever drawn a "gore fest"? I realize you're relatively new to comics, despite reviewing them, but still.

I'm also pretty sure that "gay Saga" was a joke.

Also, on Wood, I generally find that his creator-owned stuff is better than his work-for-hire. Though it often reads better in trade.

With Gillen, his The Wicked + The Divine is hampered a lot by the dialogue I find.
I have read Skottie Young work before with his Wizard of Oz (which is enjoyable), but I was referring to how he described it. Also, now that the preview is out for his book.. yeah, it's looking like a gore fest.
Oh, I'm pretty sure the gay Saga thing was a joke regardless (hence me joking at the end).
I have read the first trade of The Massive and three trades of DMZ when it comes to Wood's creator own work. DMZ is good, but I never really got into many of the characters. AS for The Massive, the same thing with the characters and honestly, the story didn't really do much for me. That's why I'm a bit indifferent to him.

Unfortunately, you're probably right. Didn't Palmiotti and Gray try something very similar, also at Image, just a couple of years ago? The sales were horrible. Regardless of quality, that format just really struggles in the American market.

Yep. Palmiotii and Gray did something similar a while back (I remember reading their work with Phil Noto in particular).

[Prince Disarming]

Image very clearly wants all my money and they can have it.

[El Sombrero]

I have no problem with Stephenson's praise for his own company and slight jabs at the competition. I think everything he says is 100% accurate and nowhere near as petty as how Marvel's PR people conduct themselves. He's arguably in charge of the company's direction and the company is doing well and it's a celebration event for the company. What do you expect him to say? Of course he is going to be proud and accentuate what Image is doing right. His complaints about what the other companies are doing wrong (basically repeating the same crap over and over again, doing nothing to reach out to different consumers, treating creators like slaves) is completely on-point.

I'm not really seeing anything here that is making me go crazy, but Island is probably my top choice out of this batch. All that preview art looks amazing.

I'm also interested in the Marjorie Liu project (Monstress) and Pretty Deadly 2. Pretty Deadly 1 had a lot of flaws but the series has a lot of world building potential and I still think it's exciting despite the flaws. The pitches for both of the BKV series aren't super exciting but he got great artists and it's BKV, he can do no wrong right now. The art for the Skottie Young series looks amazing but I worry that storyline will get old fast.

EDIT: Wow, just saw the teaser art for the Ludocrats and I REALLY like that art. Lafuente is a beast. I usually cannot effing stand Gillen's writing, so I hope this is sort of a satire or a comedy. I think the problem with Gillen's hipster / too cool for school dialogue is that he treats it seriously. If the whole thing was meant to be a satire poking fun at how stupid everyone sounds, it would be hilarious.

[responsarbre]

Monstress looks great - I think Marjorie Liu's been waiting for a chance to use comics to explore the type of worlds she puts together in her novels. And while I think Sana Takeda misses the mark sometimes, that cover is kinda breathtaking. I think moody paranormal steampunk is going to go together great with her visual style.

I would read anything that said both "Brian K Vaughn" and "Cliff Chiang" on the cover, and the middle-school Halloween story just seals the deal for Paper Girls.

Glad to see Kate Brown filling in on a Gillen/McKelvie project again. Her issue of Young Avengers was my favorite single issue. She does slice-of-life and suspense really well, which is a credit to how well she expresses emotion.

Pretty Deadly's new direction is a good move. Interested in seeing where it goes.

[Lady Warp Spasm]

Black Road : I loved Northlanders so having Wood come back to Vikings sounds great. And Starve sounds hilarious. I might look into Sons of the Devil too.

Black Road is a must buy though.

[wwise03]

I haven't had a chance to sit down an dl study the announcements, but from a brief read through, I am pleasantly surprised that Image is putting out some more non sci-fi stuff. The sci-fi books have been too similar in nature (drifter, copperhead, Roche limit, southern cross, invisible republic, etc)

[kaykordeath]

And no official word on Bedlam.....:-(

[King's_Gambit]

I have no problem with Stephenson's praise for his own company and slight jabs at the competition. I think everything he says is 100% accurate and nowhere near as petty as how Marvel's PR people conduct themselves. He's arguably in charge of the company's direction and the company is doing well and it's a celebration event for the company. What do you expect him to say? Of course he is going to be proud and accentuate what Image is doing right. His complaints about what the other companies are doing wrong (basically repeating the same crap over and over again, doing nothing to reach out to different consumers, treating creators like slaves) is completely on-point.

I'm not really seeing anything here that is making me go crazy, but Island is probably my top choice out of this batch. All that preview art looks amazing.

I'm also interested in the Marjorie Liu project (Monstress) and Pretty Deadly 2. Pretty Deadly 1 had a lot of flaws but the series has a lot of world building potential and I still think it's exciting despite the flaws. The pitches for both of the BKV series aren't super exciting but he got great artists and it's BKV, he can do no wrong right now. The art for the Skottie Young series looks amazing but I worry that storyline will get old fast.

EDIT: Wow, just saw the teaser art for the Ludocrats and I REALLY like that art. Lafuente is a beast. I usually cannot effing stand Gillen's writing, so I hope this is sort of a satire or a comedy. I think the problem with Gillen's hipster / too cool for school dialogue is that he treats it seriously. If the whole thing was meant to be a satire poking fun at how stupid everyone sounds, it would be hilarious.

Look, I love Image. I read a TON of their books. But I generally just find the jabs groan-worthy; that said, Kirkman is probably worse than Stephenson for this.

Also, Gillen has used his own dialogue as satire on numerous occasions. Certainly in Phonogram. Also, Marvel Boy in general was a hipster parody. You could argue that the Wicked + the Divine is a statement on hipster/fanboy culture in general.

[Gitaroo Dude]

I had to re-join the CBR forums after reading these announcements, because OH MAH GAWD. Heaven piqued my interested and I'm excited about 8House and Pretty Deadly finally returning, but pretty much everything from that point onward left my jaw on the floor. David Lafuente working with Gillen is a dream come true for me, but then throwing in Tula Lotay on Wicked + Divine (!!!!!!!!!) AND the return of Phonogram is the best late Christmas gift ever. Image could have just dropped the Gillen announcements today and I'd have walked around with a smile on my face for days. Seriously, if Tula Lotay ends up drawing an issue about Tara or Amaterasu I can just hand out my greatest comic issue of the year award early on.

But seeing Eric Canete get a new series (big fan of his work), the Skottie Young series, Darwyn Cooke with an new series (ahhhhhh!!!!) AND a new BKV series thrown in there, it's too much goodness. I'll probably have to end up dropping a few Image comics I pull just to make budget room for these new ones.

Then they saved BKV + Chiang for the end there and made me pee myself with excitement.

I almost wish Comic-Con had keynotes like these, where there's genuinely interesting and exciting stuff coming out by the barrel load. <3 Image.

[TotalSnorefest]

Stephenson really toned down the jabs at the competition here this time, I don't really see the complaints of some here. Anyway it's the Image publisher delivering a speech at Image Expo. Bound to toot his own horn a bit right?
[EDIT: It's slightly annoying he kinda skims over the pricing though. I get it, stuff gets more expensive, but a lot of Image debuts at 3.50 or 3.99 nowadays, or gets raised to that. Not holding it against them, but it's slightly weird to then explicitly mention how you're trying to keep prices low.]

This announcement feels much stronger to me, with Island, 8House, Pretty Deadly and Paper Girls all being certainties for me.
Plus cool to see much more diversity in genres on display here. Still some sci-fi, but adding travelogues, supernatural, fantasy, teen drama, an anthology, and viking stuff definitely rounds out Image's line. Also more mini-series, a graphic novel, and again the anthology -- more formats than just straight monthly comics.

8house: Still waiting for any word about when this comes out. It's been over a year.

The interview that went along with this announcement says it'll launch in April! See here: http://www.comicsandcola.com/2015/01...wing-emma.html
"Originally announced last year, the much anticipated, Brandon Graham-helmed 8House series will begin releasing this April."

[cray_ws]

Look, I love Image. I read a TON of their books. But I generally just find the jabs groan-worthy; that said, Kirkman is probably worse than Stephenson for this.

You know Kirkman and Stephenson have dealt with Marvel and DC so they both are acutely aware the issues that effects creators. These guys are not trying to be assholes, because if you think they are....why would all these creators work with Stephenson? Kirkman & Stephenson make these jabs and harp on the failings of Marvel and DC because they care about the creators. As readers and fans, people need to be aware how much Marvel and DC have wrecked the industry by strangling it.

You can love your Spider-man and Batman, but it doesn't mean jack if the rest of the industry is getting the short end of the stick. People need to open their eyes, Marvel and DC put out a lot of the same franchised stuff, but only handful of comics are actually worth reading for their creative quality. Image is growing, not by glutting the shelves with 7 different Walking Dead or Saga spin-offs, but rather a whole mess of books that cover a lot of different genres, even some that are very similar but completely different.

I'd be pretty damn proud of 20 years of independent success, I don't have a problem with Stephenson comments because they ring true. I been a comic book reader for a long as Image started. I've see what Marvel and DC have done, and I've seen a lot small publisher with quality stuff go under because the big two stranglehold of this industry.

[Tenebrae]

Very excited for the next chapter of Phonogram! Just recently finished vol 2 so this is perfect.

[Noviere]

The interview that went along with this announcement says it'll launch in April! See here: http://www.comicsandcola.com/2015/01...wing-emma.html
"Originally announced last year, the much anticipated, Brandon Graham-helmed 8House series will begin releasing this April."

Woah. 8House sounds great -- I love the art in Arclight!

[wwise03]

Woah. 8House sounds great -- I love the art in Arclight!

So is From Under Mountains going to run concurrently with 8House?