Posted in: Comics, Comics Publishers, Current News, Image | Tagged: Cartoonist Kayfaybe, erik larsen, jim valentino

Jim Valentino Speaks About Erik Larsen Getting All The Image Credit

Former publisher Jim Valentino wants to put right about what others are saying about who "righted the ship" of Image Comics

32 years ago, Image Comics was founded by Rob Liefeld, Jim Lee, Todd McFarlane, Erik Larsen, Jim Valentino and Marc Silvestri, a loose collection of creator studios, and they hired Tony Lobito as full-time publisher for Image Comics. In 1993, Larry Marder, creator of Beanworld, as well as a former marketer for Chicago comics retail chain Moondog, to act as "executive director" for the publisher, reporting directly to the partners. After Larry Marder left Image Comics in 1999 to help run McFarlane Toys, Jim Valentino was named the company's publisher. Another founder, Erik Larsen took over as publisher in 2004 stating that he would shift to more superhero books from Valentino's emphasis on "cutting edge, alternative comics…. my roots are in the more mainstream camp" and promising to improve the timeliness of Image's books. Eric Stephenson was brought in as publisher in 2008, a position he has kept ever since.

But in a video by comic book bloggers and creators Cartoonist KayFayBe, Ed Piskor and Jim Rugg, they stated in an aside that "Erik Larsen righted the ship" over Image Comics. And this has been sitting rent-free in former publisher Jim Valentino's head ever since. Recently out of the hospital, today Jim Valentino issued the following statement. Bleeding Cool reproduces it in full. I don't expect this will be the end of it.

"About a year or so ago the Cartoonists Kayfabe boys repeated Erik Larsen's "Righting the Ship" as his excuse for ousting me as Image publisher. I took exception to this with them, and they generously offered me the opportunity to tell my side of the story. I declined. I couldn't do it then, but after my recent stay in the hospital, I find that I'd really like to set the record straight.

"Creators I brought into Image during my time as publisher include Kurt Busiek, Mark Waid, George Pérez, John Romita, Jr., Warren Ellis, Frank Cho, Jimmie Palmiotti, Amanda Conner, Ted McKeever, Kevin Smith, Tom DeFalco, Ross Richie, and Joseph Michael Linsner, among others. A few of the books I published during my time as publisher include The Walking Dead, Invincible, Ministry In Space, Powers, The Red Star, Firebreather, Noble Causes, The Pro, The Gorilla Comics imprint, Leave It To Chance oversize hardcover volumes, Liberty Meadows, Bluntman and Chronic, and Jim Mahfood's Stupid Comics. I had just brought in old friend Matt Wagner with his seminal comic, Mage, and was on the verge of bringing over a major talent who would have brought his entire catalog to us. And I'm not even going to mention the editorial help I gave to both The Walking Dead and Invincible.

"I don't consider any of these to be "shitty comics."

"When I inherited Image in 1999, it was a wasteland of semi-professional books, swimsuit issues, and misogynistic titillation comics. The Image "I" had lost its luster. Image books weren't selling, the brand was tainted by amateurs, and established talent was avoiding us like the plague. More than that, the company was unprofitable. I felt that Image deserved better, so I scorched the earth so that we could rebuild from the ground up.

"I "righted the ship."

"I opened up the book trade and the library market. I found heretofore-untapped revenue streams that allowed me to make the company profitable again, and by the time I left, the company had been in the black for three years straight—a first for Image at the time. It wasn't easy. I believe that my vision for Image (books based on quality of content rather than genre), which Eric Stephenson has continued and expanded upon, was the right one for the company.

"I really hate having to justify myself. I just couldn't stay silent about this any longer."

You know, Image Comics probably owes its beginnings to things like the Name Withheld letter in CBG. We should try and keep this going. Are you a comic book creator/editor/publisher wanting to get your side of something on the record? Get in touch…

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