Posted in: Comics | Tagged: big dog ink, Comics, dirk manning, kickstarter

The Rub (2 Of 2) – Write Or Wrong by Dirk Manning

Dirk Manning writes;

Before I get to the "meat" of today's column, let me get this quick little bit of business out of the way:

I recently launched my first ever Kickstarter campaign to bring my formerly online-only horror-noir series Tales of Mr. Rhee to print as both a standard TPB and – much more awesomely – a Kickstarter exclusive hardcover. There are other rewards, of course, including being drawn into the series, landing a full-body commission by series-turned-tattoo artist Josh Ross, or even getting a script live review/professional jam session with yours truly.

Perhaps the coolest part of the Tales of Mr. Rhee Kickstarter, though (next to the book itself, of course) is that artist extraordinaire (and my friend) Riley Rossmo (he of Proof, Cowboy Ninja Viking, Green Wake, etc. fame) has illustrated the cover for both the TPB edition and the Kickstarter print-to-order hardcover edition of the book.

If you like horror and/or pulp-noir comics steeped in Lovecraft mythos, have enjoyed my previous comic work (such as Nightmare World, Love Stories to Die For, etc.), or even if this column has helped you out a bit over the years, I'd certainly appreciate it if you'd consider helping back the project (or, if you think of it this way, pre-order a copy of the book directly from me, the creator) at the Kickstarter page here.

Oh… and you can order without fear of being stiffed or having an excessively long wait, as the book is completely finished and print-ready… with the (obvious) exception of the people who will be drawn into their cameo scenes, of course.

Thanks for your consideration, and hopefully your support, my friends. If for nothing else, it's worth checking out the Kickstarter page just to see me show my full, uncovered face in the video…

Yes, really!

*phew*

That aside, in the last column I spoke at length about the importance of coming to terms with the fact that your creator-owned work – at absolute best – will only appeal to pre-existing (or pre-conditioned) fans of the type of work you create, or the type of work you're attached to, in a work-for-hire situation.

For example, my comic work is mainly horror-based and, as such, it mainly only appeals to fans of the horror genre.

That's not to say that people who don't normally like horror stuff won't like my work if they, against their nature, take the time to read it (and I actually know of a lot of people who don't identify themselves as horror fans, yet really enjoy my horror comics). That being said, though, I'm not going to go out of my way to chase down readers of primarily DC superhero books (for example) and beg them to read my work, as doing so would be a waste of my time/energy, and annoying to them all at the same time.

If you're a fan of horror stuff, though, dang, you're the type of people I'm looking to connect with.

The lesson of not chasing people who – even if you do manage to connect with them – won't be interested in your work, is not only one of the toughest lessons to learn, but also one of the harshest realities to accept.

No matter how good your comics are, the simple fact of the matter is that not everyone is going to like – or even be interested in – your work…

And that's doubly-true of your creator-owned work.

Because, like it or not, there's a pretty huge stigma out there against creator-owned comics.

After all, hey, if you were that good you'd be writing a Spider-Man book or something, right?

I say that tongue-in-cheek, of course, but the fact of the matter is that this attitude/mindset is fairly prevalent among comic readers/consumers.

This is a bias that you, as a comic creator, are going to have to be prepared to deal with not only as you start your career, but most likely for the first several years of it – at least.

Yes, even though you may be putting out some absolutely fantastic independent or creator-owned comics.

The advantage of creating great comics (or co-creating them with talented artists) is that as you publish them online and/or print them to sell at conventions, you will – customer by customer – gain a loyal customer-base and "following"… but gaining "mainstream" accolades is going to prove an almost Sisyphean task unless (or until) you take the plunge and start writing characters people already know about.

Why?

Part of it stems from the fact that we – as people – gravitate to things we're comfortable with, and comfort (and, as we know, contempt) comes from familiarity.

An equally weighty factor, though, is that most comic readers won't care about you until you're affiliated with a major corporately-owned character or company.

This is because we, the comic book community, don't really view creators as "a big deal" until they get "the rub" that comes with writing for a major comic book company.

Lest I sound like I'm screaming at mountains for being big, let me point out that, yes, I know that there is a certain amount of validation that comes with having your work associated with a major publisher – be it for your creator-owned work or for "work-for-hire" gigs.

Not including the upcoming Tales of Mr. Rhee collection from Devil's Due, I've personally had four creator-owned comics or graphic novels published by Image Comics to date: three volumes of Nightmare World; most recently, the Love Stories (to Die For) double-sized one-shot); and within a week or so of this column seeing print The Legend of Oz: "The Wicked West #12 will be hitting shelves (this is the issue of my four-part run on Big Dog Ink's flagship title, which tells the origin of The Flying Monkey's and features the return of Dorothy as the new Witch of the West).

What's interesting to me, though – and, admittedly, was the impetus for this two-part column – was how "proud" so many people were that I was tapped/hired/approved to write a story-arc for The Legend of Oz: "The Wicked West.

Make no mistake, I'm EXTREMELY excited about the story! I can't wait for everyone to see it, and I'm equally excited to continue my relationship with the Big Dog Ink crew (who, pound for pound, are putting out some of the most consistently well-written and beautifully illustrated comics on the market right now – think Crossgen-level quality without all the wanky sigil trappings or forced line-wide continuity). My frustration can perhaps best be summed up by the reaction of my own mother, of all people.

Both my mom and my dad (may Cthulhu look favorably upon them and eat them first when the stars enter their proper alignment) were not very enthusiastic (read: supportive) of my decision to be a professional comic book writer when I announced my intentions to them (despite the fact that I made it clear I literally wouldn't be quitting my day job). Over the years though (and most specifically in the last few years), as they started to see the amount of success I've had to date, they've come to not only be proud of their weirdo-all-black-clothes-wearing, comic-book-writing son.

Whenever I've done a signing in their area they've shown-up, ogled at the long lines of people waiting to get my signature and chat with me for a minute, and then posed for pictures with me…

And, honestly, it's been nice to get to the point where they can see that, hey, this is a legitimate career move, you know?

Well, almost a year ago when I signed the deal with Big Dog Ink to write a story-arc on The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West, I of course did the "good son" thing and called my parents to share the news with them. I knew my mom – who's a huge Wizard of Oz fan, would be especially interested to hear the news…

But little did I know just how excited she would be.

"Oh wow! That's absolutely fantastic! She exclaimed so loudly that I actually had to pull the phone away from my ear. "You've really made it now!"

Let's pause here for a moment to emphasize that last line for a moment, shall we?

"You've really made it now!"

I've been a professional comic creator for over a decade now, and I have had over five hundred (FIVE… HUNDRED!) pages of comics published in my career to date… so hopefully you'll excuse me if I took a little umbrage with her statement. I did try to be cool about it, though.

"Yeah… it's pretty cool to be working with Big Dog Ink." I replied. "They're really cool people producing some fantastic books, and I'm really happy to be working with them."

"Well, yeah… " she replied, as I heard the Jaws music start to swell in the recesses of my mind, "But you're also getting to write the characters from The Legend of Oz! I'm so proud of you!"

She was proud of me, folks. Because I was now getting to write stories about famous, pre-existing, world-known, public domain characters.

Again, I know in the pit of my cold, blackened, charcoal-like heart that she's equally proud of all my creator-owned work, too – which I put just as much heart, soul, blood, sweat and tears into as I did the (quite fantastic, if I do say so myself) story for The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West #12-#16… but that incident, right there, perfectly summarizes the attitude of most of the comic-reading public:

You may be a good writer/creator, but you're not a really big deal until someone else
let's you play with their toys.

It's almost like trying to get a girlfriend (or boyfriend) in high school: If you want to get the attention from the masses, you have to be "taken" first – and by the "right" person.

(I'll resist the comparison in mindsets between the mainstream comic reading audience to and that of high-schoolers… but I can't bring myself to completely decry it, either. Sorry, Green Lantern fans.)

To come back to a point I made earlier (before I offended at least half of you reading this with that last remark), part of this mindset is undeniably due to that "familiarity" factor. The other part of it is that having your work (be it creator-owned or otherwise) picked-up by a major publisher serves as a "stamp of approval" that says "We, the publisher of a lot of other really cool comics, think you'll like this one by this creator, too, and that's why we're willing to help get it into your hands."

(Of course, the publishers also do this in hopes of making money, too, as no act is selfless, and comic publishing is a business, not a charity service. Most comic publishers will only publish books they think will sell, and I've known of plenty of times when publishers have "liked" projects but opted not to publish them because they were afraid – for whatever reason – that it wouldn't sell and/or recoup its costs.)

So, business-wise, yes, there is certainly a certain benefit to "the rub" that being affiliated with a major publisher can give a creator. Even a cursory look at the current landscape of creator-owned comics shows you how all of the major publishers of creator-owned comics are carving out their own niches in this renaissance that the comic book industry experienced over the last several years:

Boom!/Archia is quickly establishing itself as one of the "hottest" publishers of new (and Hollywood-marketable) content in the industry
Dark Horse continues to be known for putting out high-quality titles – often with stellar packaging
Image Comics is solidifying itself as the place for established creators to take their creator-owned books for a huge publicity push while also continuing to release strong books from new talents
IDW, while not as well-known for their creator-owned titles as they are their high-end editions of pre-existing titles, have begun to make their presence known in the area of new content, most recently signing a deal with my pals Flood 44 pals Menton 3, Kasra Ghanbari, Ben Templesmith and Nick Idell

I think it's safe to say that any aspiring or "independent" creator out there would be very happy to have their work picked up by any one of those publishers just to get "the rub" that mere affiliation would give their own brand; in fact thousands of aspiring creators took a pilgrimage to the New York Comic Con this past weekend (as of this writing) in hopes of doing just that.

Yet even with "the rub" that comes with having your creator-owned comic released through a major publisher like one of those mentioned above (or even if you chose to work with a smaller publisher or – *gasp* – self-publish your own work) there is a large percentage of comic book enthusiasts who don't buy or even pay attention to creator-owned comics, past the occasional articles a generous friend in the comics media will dedicate to their efforts and talents.

Because, again, the mindset is that if you were THAT good you'd be scooped up by Disney or Time-Warner to write for their books about their characters that they're already familiar with.

Because that's what it's really about, right? Proving to everyone else that you're "good enough" to be considered worthy of writing the books they're going to buy based soley on character recognition rather than who's written it.

So, when all is said and done, what does this mean for you, the creator who chooses to stick to focusing your time, efforts and energy on creator-owned comics rather than trying to woo editors into letting you play with their toys?

As the list above shows, there are indeed plenty of editors, publishers, and even readers who will not only respect your efforts to bring new characters, stories, and visions to the comic book industry…

But in the eyes and buying habits of most mainstream comic buyers, doing so is not an act to be applauded, but rather ignored, since new and creator-owned books are "lesser" books, not worthy of even so much as a second glance… despite the fact that, without new voices such as yours, the corporately-owned superhero books they blindly pledge their allegiance (and dollars) to month after month wouldn't exist without people like you creating them the characters now that they'll enjoy tomorrow…

And that, my friends, is "the rub."

***

Next Column: "In Defense of Wizard World" (or: "This Is What Winning Looks Like")

Dirk Manning is the writer/creator of the Nightmare World trilogy of graphic novels and the Love Stories (To Die For) (all from Image Comics/Shadowline and currently available to order from your local comic shop) as well as Write or Wrong: A Writer's Guide to Creating Comics (from Transfuzion Publishing and available exclusively through Amazon.com either in print of as a Kindle e-book). If you enjoy this column – or Dirk's work in general – he'd love for you to support the Tales of Mr. RheeKickstarter. Along with this aforementioned comic-related work, he has also written several short films for BlackBox TV and some other cool projects, all of which are detailed on his newly minted website www.DirkManning.com. Dirk lives on the Internet and can usually be found lurking around Facebook, Twitter and now even www.DirkManning.com on a fairly regular basis… when he's not busy writing, of course. Feel free to follow him at one or all such locations if you're into that sort of thing. Cthulhu is his homeboy.

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