With the end of the Harry Potter franchise and the upcoming conclusion of Nolan’s Batman trilogy, Warner Brothers is positioning the DC Universe as their next big cash cow. Part of this massive operation is the DC 52 relaunch. In orchestrating a campaign of this magnitude, readers have to accept the fact there will be casualties resulting in the cancellations of titles that are not performing up to expectations of DC Comics.
There are a variety of reasons why the cancelled titles have not been able to gain any traction with readers. In the case of the recently cancelled Static Shock, the writer John Rozum has been, unfortunately and unjustly, declared by a significant number of readers the reason behind the sudden end of the beloved Son of Dakota City which has caused him economic hardship. And now John Rozum has come out to set the record straight regarding his participation, his departure and why he shares no responsibility in the demise of Static Shock.
Contrary to popular belief, the comic book industry is a very tight knit group and even in the most unpleasant situations, it is usually best for all parties to live and let live. Just like any other profession, work depends on creating relationships and sometimes airing any grievances you have against a fellow colleague will hurt you. You never know if you may have to work with them again or that they may be the one deciding whether you get any work at all. With his vast experience, Mr. Rozum has probably dealt with more than his fair share of difficulties and just like any other professional in his field, he has shrugged it off and moved onto to the next job.
However, when you are blamed for something that is not even your fault and it is having a negative impact on your livelihood, you need to make a decision. You can close the doors and hide from the mob. Or you can walk outside and address them while they scream for your blood. Mr. Rozum has chosen to do the latter. And he should be applauded for it. In this economy, comic book writing has gone from competitive to cutthroat where even an established writer can’t afford to lose any opportunity for work. To be blunt, Mr. Rozum is fighting for his professional life.
For anyone who feels he just has an axe to grind please bear in mind that what Mr. Rozum is doing is very risky on his part. Look what happened to Dwayne Macduffie when he aired his frustrations. Even though he was doing a great job, he was still removed because of what he said regarding the creative process of his work. It would be far easier for Mr. Rozum to take the beating and let it die down. But with opinion becoming fact due to the permanent and mutable nature of the Internet, there is no such thing as something dying down. What makes it worse is people often assume that silence is compliance and since no one is refuting these claims against him, it would be professionally harmful for Mr. Rozum not to speak up.
The comic book industry can be frighteningly political. Ask Jim Shooter and he will show you the scars on his back and front from being stabbed so many times. Which is why there is no doubt in my mind that this was a decision that Mr. Rozum did not take lightly and has taken great pains to make it clear that this was a matter between himself and the creative team of that title. Whether it is blame or credit, John Rozum has declared he will take either as long as it is of his own doing.
I have not read any of the issues of the new Static Shock so I am not in any position to make any critiques of the title. However, I have no doubts about Mr. Rozum’s abilities as a writer. In my opinion his thoughtful portrayal of the Asian American super hero Xombi was a rarity because the character was not a caricature. There was something real and organic that went beyond the race of David Kim. You can’t pull that off by being a hack. That type of ability comes from a career that spans over twenty years.
For the readers who feel this is just CYA on Mr. Rozum’s part and still hold him solely responsible for the demise of Static Shock, I think by now they should have a basic understanding of the unpredictable dynamics of an editorial team. The writer is not always in the driver’s seat. And if they are, sometimes someone is in the backseat giving them directions. So his reasons for leaving and why this current incarnation of Static failed are not farfetched.
We can all relate to Mr. Rozum because at one point in our lives we have experienced what he has gone through. How many of us wish we had done something when our reputation was being dragged through the mud? How many of us have wondered what would have been the outcome if we had spoken up? Whether he works for DC again or not, one thing is for sure; John Rozum will never have to ask himself those questions.
It was recently reported that a fourth Paranormal Activity film is on the horizon. And honestly, is that really even a big surprise?
The budget for the first film was $15,000 and went onto almost makes a reported $200 million dollars worldwide. Even after factoring costs of advertising, marketing, exchange rates and fees, that movie was a boon for the Paramount balance sheet.
The second film was made for $3 million dollars and made a profit of $177,512,032
The budget was raised to $5 million for the third film and the world wide the box office was $202,951,300.
What makes these Paranormal Activity such a wet dream for Hollywood is that it is a turn key operation. The concept is basically an episode of Scooby Doo which is found footage of scary s**t happening to people in their home. There is no need to hire big name stars, directors or writers. All you need is a good producer to keep everyone in line and the budget in check. What really helps keep production costs down is that they do not use film. It is all digital video. And the beauty of these films that since the talent is basically disposable, so if anyone gives Paramount any grief, like asking for more money, they are easily replaced.
One of the concerns that fans have is the direction of the franchise. Honestly, it doesn’t really matter what the direction is. The plot of the next film could be about a bunch of contestants from the Biggest Loser fighting over a ham sandwich and it would still make money.
Even if the franchise falls out of favor in the theatrical box office, it will have a new life in the direct to DVD and video on demand market. 30 Days of Night is a clear example of a franchise that established a following in the straight to DVD market after a successful box office run.
The Roger Corman business model for film making is that that if you make a movie cheap enough you make a profit every time no matter how well or badly the film does. Paranormal Activity is a clear example of that. As long as the Paranormal Activity franchise maintains a low overhead and does not deviate too far from the original formula that it alienates their core audience, it will be around for a very long time. And with 2011 being one of the worst years for the box office and Hollywood scrambling to find profitable ideas, this is not a certainty, it is a guarantee.
I first discovered Colleen Doran’s work in a comic book called Nest Robber. In all honesty, it wasn’t my cup of tea since I was more a Jim Lee aficionado at that time. However, she had a very distinctive style straight out of a fairy tale which was quite alluring. It also did not hurt that they had a picture of her in the comic sitting behind a table at a convention. Even in a black and white photo, she was very easy on the eyes.
She actually writes about her experience on Nest Robber in the comment section of this entry and explains why it is a bad idea to be paid in comic books.
After the comic implosion of the 1990’s I lost interest in comics, but every now and then I would come across a title that would pique my interest. One of them was the Sandman trade paperback, A Game of You, which featured the art of Ms. Doran.
And since then I have greatly appreciated her work, particularly Orbiter with Warren Ellis.
Along with self publishing her amazing comic, A Distant Soil, she also writes on her website of the same name where she covers topics on working in the industry and her musings on her own life. Colleen is no dabbler. Her articles on the subject of copyright law alone demonstrate a vast knowledge and understanding that would make her a formidable attorney.
Whether you are an aspiring comic book artist or even a professional who has cut their teeth in the industry, her website should be considered required reading. I would even argue anyone who has a desire to have a career in the arts should study her website. It will save you a tremendous amount of heartache and aggravation with all of the helpful information she provides. Will Eisner once spoke of developing a business acumen in his career. Colleen Doran’s words resonate strongly with the development of her own business acumen due to her experiences. This is due in part to the world of hurt she had to face in order to establish herself as an artist. It resulted in her developing a thick skin, a sharp wit and a keen instinct for business, while maintaining a pure heart by rising above it all.
Now with Colleens’ permission, I am presenting my interpretation of one of the events that she describes in her series on very bad publishers. But I implore all of you to read the entire story from her website. It is not only educational but hilarious.
One of the subjects of this series is a publisher named Tom that Colleen had parted on less than amicable terms. Colleen was more than happy to move on. However, Tom had other ideas.
Out of the blue, Tom’s employees contacted Colleen for a brand new endeavor that would set the publishing world on fire. And Tom wanted her to join in on the fun. Even though Colleen made it clear that she had no interest in Tom’s new publishing venture, they kept hounding her and after hearing about the big investor known as Mr. Disney, Colleen decided to hear them out as long as she could speak to Mr. Disney. Alone.
These are Colleen’s words in what transpired at that meeting.
Not only did they agree to my terms, but Mr. Disney would be flying all the way out to where I live to meet me in my little town in the middle of a remote mountain area. The only place to eat was a diner in another town. I agreed to meet Mr. Disney at the diner. I was kind of looking forward to seeing what was up with this guy. I just wasn’t buying the story that Mr. Disney, if he was so savvy, was pouring tons of cash into Tom’s company.
A week later, I showed up at the diner at the appointed hour.
I did not know what Mr. Disney looked like, but when I entered the diner, I could not find a single man sitting alone at a booth. In the corner there were two men seated with some children. Where was Mr. Disney?
One of the men in the corner had stood up and was waving frantically. “Yoohoo!” I did not recognize him.
Who the hell was that idiot?
Good lord…it’s Tom…the idiot!
Yes, folks, I was supposed to be meeting Mr. Disney, but not only had Tom invited himself along…he had brought small children.
It gets better. And when I mean better, I mean it turns into a complete FUBAR.
The lunch meeting starts awkwardly with Tom attempting to hug Colleen who shuts him down with a handshake. It gets more awkward with Tom making outlandish claims about his accomplishments, which include being Colleen’s first publisher and inventing the graphic novel. Tom is given a 12 course meal of foot in mouth courtesy of Colleen refuting each of these claims in front of Mr. Disney.
Just when she thinks things can’t get more insane, Colleen is asked for her rolodex of contacts. She responds with an unequivocal oh hell no. The lunch ends with Colleen doodling for the kids and getting the hell out of dodge.
How did this drama come to fruition in the first place? Why was Tom determined to have a meeting with Colleen despite her strong dislike for him? Why did Tom act in such a bizarre manner? And what was the deal with Tom’s kids? The answers are quite clear when you look at it from a sales perspective.
Mr. Disney was Tom’s prospective meal ticket. Therefore, it was in his best interest to be present at the meeting in order to make the outcome work in his favor. Which leads to why Tom began heavily embellishing his role in Colleen’s career and the publishing. Tom probably told Mr. Disney that he was a big shot and wanted to prove his clout at the meeting with Colleen and hope she would play along. The personal displays of affection were one of the ways he was showing off his “close relationship” with Colleen. Which brings me to the kids.
In my opinion, this was deliberate on Tom’s part. It is safe to assume that Tom already knew that Colleen was entering the meeting with her safeties off ready to shoot down anything that popped up on her BS radar, which she did with the accuracy of Carlos Hathcock. By bringing in his kids he was probably hoping that it would disarm Colleen and allow him more control in the meeting.
The usual response of adults is that they watch what they say in the presence of children since children have a corrective effect on most adults, particularly if a parent or parents are present.
No one wants to do anything to reveal a parent’s feet of clay to a child. That’s the child’s job to figure that out when they get older. Tom was probably counting on Colleen not doing anything to that would potentially embarrass him in front of his children. He was also probably hoping that Colleen’s motherly instincts would kick in when she saw the kids, overwhelming her need for self-preservation.
As far as Colleen was concerned, to hell with that, they weren’t her kids.
When Tom attempted to carpet bomb Colleen with affection he was trying to create a sense of intimacy, which is a common sales technique. In fact salesman use intimacy as a way to close more deals.
There are even cute names for techniques that manipulate the emotions of a customer to make a sale such as the ‘Puppy-Dog Close’ Technique.
Tom may or may have not used these particular techniques but he definitely utilized the concepts behind them, which is controlling others through their emotions.
Which is why Tom being an idiot is probably a façade, which he may have nurtured. It had been reported that Tom’s company owed a lot people money. And people were actually working for free in hopes of getting paid when they should have done what Colleen did which was to cut their losses.
The goal of a business is profit. And Tom was doing this by being late or not paying people at all. By no means is this a good business practice. However this type of behavior happens more often in business than people like to think. According to this article it is becoming the standard for bigger companies to extend the time frame for satisfying the accounts payable.
Now whether Tom acted like this on purpose or it was just something he fell into doing is up for debate. But the results are undeniable. Part of the reason why he made money was by honoring his accounts payable at his discretion.
So why did a big time business man like Mr. Disney fall for Tom’s fast-talking and slap on the back approach? The same reason why people fell for Bernie Madoff, Marc Drier, the internet and real estate bubble. It is the same reason why a lot of people are really sore at Jon Corizine. They did not do their due diligence and they let their emotions get the best of them. Along with big money, Mr. Disney was probably someone with a big head.
In the wake of the ridiculous luncheon with Tom, and the sloppy attempt to hijack my rolodex, I closed off contact with Tom’s minions shortly after I got the interesting news that I had been wrongly informed about Mr. Disney from the beginning. He had not, in fact, invested millions in Tom’s business. He’d simply been scoping out the company and that luncheon was a fishing expedition. In the end, he never invested at all. This caused a severe strain on Tom’s finances for which I was partially held to blame…if only I had been a nice artist and done the book about the bugs! If only I hadn’t scared rich Mr. Disney away!
This is pure speculation on my part, but with my experience in business, which is honestly very little, Mr. Disney may have been setting up the company for a bigger deal.
There are many ways big time investors like Mr. Disney make their money. One of them is investing in start ups, creating traction for the company and then selling it off for a profit. But they want to do it very quickly because they are using the future success of the company as a selling point, which is why the sale has to occur at the growth stage. By the time the company peaks, it is all down hill and it is harder to make a profit. It is all about getting the biggest bang for their buck in the shortest amount of time.
By treating Colleen as a lead generator they would get access to publicly known artists and writers and hammer out deals with this distinguished group. With these deals Mr. Disney could hype this new venture and sell off the company or shares of the company to a competitor. Or he could simply wreck the company ala Gordon Gekko by liquidating the company and selling of the assets. Or better yet, a big publishing company smashed down the door with an enormous check for a buyout. This happens all the time in the world of business and sometimes it is done very badly.
Even if Colleen’s friends balked at even being involved with Tom and Mr. Disney, it would only just provide further hype for the company. Tom and Mr. Disney could just say that they were in talks with these notable figures. And hype sells.
During the last real estate bubble, it was not uncommon for properties to be flipped multiple times in succession without anything being built or renovated. I remember one story about a group of first time developers that made a killing when they put up a sign indicating that it was a future site of condo development on an undeveloped lot they owned in New York City. Within several weeks they were bought out for a hefty sum and they did not even break ground. The irony is that they had no intention of building condos in the first place. It was the hype from real estate bubble that responsible for that sale.
Maybe Mr. Disney was thinking of “flipping” the company by hyping it. Maybe he viewed Tom’s company as a distressed asset and realized with a little spit and polish and some OPM, Mr. Disney could take the money and run. Maybe Tom was in on this too. Perhaps he realized that with Mr. Disney’s help he could raise the company’s profile and then he could also cash out. Who knows? But one thing is for sure; they did not have Colleen’s interests at heart. Which is why they ultimately failed to reel her in.
Colleen Doran has a Ph.D in the school of hard knocks. She did not just take her lumps, she figured out how those lumps came to be and how to avoid them. From the get go, she knew Tom was going to attempt to take advantage of her because that is how he operated and there was no way hell she was going to let that happen.
Which brings me to this famous scene from The Godfather.
Sonny: Alright, Professor, what about McClusky. What do we do with this cop here?
Michael: They want to have a meeting with me, right? It will be me, McClusky and Sollozzo. Let’s set the meeting. We get our informants to find out where it’s going to be held. Now we insist that it be held in a public place, a bar or a restaurant where there’ll be other people there so I’ll feel safe. They’re going to search me when I first meet them, right? So I can’t have a weapon on me. But if Clemenza can figure a way to have a weapon planted for me, then I’ll kill them both.
Sonny: [laughing] What are you gonna do? Nice college boy, didn’t want to get mixed up in the family business. Now you want to gun down a police captain. Why? Because he slapped you in the face a little? What do you think this like the Army where you can shoot ‘em from a mile away? No you gotta get up like this and, badda-bing, you blow their brains all over your nice Ivy League suit. C’mere.
[Kisses Michael on the head]
Sonny: You’re taking this very personal. Tom, this is business and this man is taking it very, very personal.
Michael Corleone: Where does it say that you can’t kill a cop?
Tom Hagen: Come on, Mikey…
Michael Corleone: Tom, wait a minute. I’m talking about a cop that’s mixed up in drugs. I’m talking about a – a – a dishonest cop – a crooked cop who got mixed up in the rackets and got what was coming to him. That’s a terrific story. And we have newspaper people on the payroll, don’t we, Tom?
[Tom nods]
Michael Corleone: And they might like a story like that.
Tom Hagen: They might, they just might.
Michael Corleone: [to Sonny] It’s not personal, Sonny. It’s strictly business.
Regardless of the overtures of friendship Tom had made, she saw through the veneer of friendliness and like Michael Coreleone, she treated the whole exchange as business. And in this particular case, it was business she wanted nothing to do with.
Which is why they were unable to make Colleen comply. She was already aware of Tom’s past performance and he gave no indication that the future would be any better. As for Mr. Disney, other than being a high roller, from what can be gathered from her interaction with this individual, he was an unknown and she was not willing to risk her reputation and livelihood on someone that could not be properly vouched for.
Although Colleen found the entire situation irritable, she never lost her cool. She wasn’t overwhelmed by any distractions and she did not swing for the elevator curve ball pitches that were being thrown her way.
As I stated before, whether your goal is to work in the comic book industry or the arts in general, Colleen Doran’s site should be considered required reading. From legal issues to the economic realities of being an artist, Colleen covers it all, because she has been through it all.
If you have any doubts about her expertise, please bear this in mind. The attrition rate for comic book artists is outrageously high due to the competitive nature of the profession and the unpredictable nature of the industry. It is not uncommon for established artists to call it a day due to lack of work or the rigorous requirements of the career. Yet, Colleen is still in high demand and maintains an explosive rate of productivity. She accomplished this through a combination of talent, an intense effort of self-directed learning and a fanatical desire of not settling for second best.
When someone of Colleen’s stature is offering her knowledge and wisdom, you would be wise to accept the invitation.
At 10:15 AM this morning, I was at the only real IMAX theater at the Lincoln Square theatre o watch Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. But my primary motivation was to see the 6 minutes of the Dark Knight Rises.
After seeing the footage, I am really looking forwarding to seeing this movie. As for the controversy about Bane’s voice, I think it fits the character perfectly. The action sequence from the footage was reminiscent of the James Bond film Moonraker and 1980’s cartoon, Rambo and The Force of Freedom.
Moonraker.
Rambo and The Force of Freedom – The Angel of Destruction
At 8:23
It took them 3 films but they finally got the formula for Mission Impossible, which is focusing on the team dynamic. Brad Bird has successfully made the transition from animation to live action giving lot of action directors a run for their money.
For 12 bucks, it was a great deal, especially jf you do not want to deal with the hassle of crowds,
However, the experience was far from perfect.
The IMAX theater is located on the top level of the Lincoln Square theater which requires using the escalators. Below is a picture of the final escalator to the IMAX theater.
And this is a shot from the top of the escalator.
This is from the top of the escalator that was also shut down so customers could walk up and down the escalator.
If you think walking up this escalator is aggravating, walking down the escalator from that height would give John “Scottie” Ferguson nightmares.
The elevator was no better. After pushing the button and waiting, there was no response. A couple me informed me it had been like that since they started waiting for it.
After spelunking up the escalator, I entered the theater where I was greeted with the aroma of stale popcorn and old feet. These odors were deeply embedded in the carpet and the seats due to the constant cycle of people sitting in those seats.
It made the viewing experience all the more unsettling.
Christmas till New Year’s is a vital period for the box office especially since 2011 has been considered a bad year for Hollywood as this NYT article indicates. Therefore is in the best interest of the theater to create a positive customer experience. Which includes properly maintaining the theater. Therefore it is completely unacceptable that customers encountered these issues at this theater.
Solving these problems is not rocket science. A mechanic is sent in to fix the elevator, and the carpet and seats are steam cleaned. The barrier of entry is the cost of getting it done.
One of the cost factors of an elevator mechanic depends on when the mechanic comes in. If it is at night, the cost goes up since overtime is being factored in. If there is a delay in it getting fixed, it could be because the mechanic is overwhelmed with other jobs or a certain part is not in stock or that the theater is waiting for the last possible moment to fix it.
As for cleaning the IMAX theater itself, that would most likely take place late at night since cleaning it during the day would make it inaccessible which would prevent the use of the theater therefore hurting revenues. And cleaning it at night would also cost more money due to overtime.
Mind you, it is not as if the theater does not care for their customers, they are probably quite aware of the situation but any negative impact to profits has not gone beyond their threshold. Eventually, these issues need to be resolved, but the theater is probably in no hurry. As long as the customers are willing to do some cardio and the odors do not reach hazardous levels where customers are passing out, these issues will not be resolved anytime soon.
And with the current state of the economy, paying more for less services has become the acceptable standard. This theater is no exception since it appears that Besides as long as you pay for your ticket, addressing these issues is not a priority since they already have your money. Which in the long run is a horrible way to do business.
NYCC 2011 was probably one of the roughest yet gratifying conventions experience I have had. It was a complete turnaround from last year in terms of gathering content, resulting in a nice big fat stock of footage that should keep me busy editing till the end of the year.
What really made a difference was planning and scheduling everything in advance. I was able to accomplish most of my objectives. In some cases, I was plagued by circumstances that were out of my control particularly when one writer was unable to make our interview appointment. Also my commute time to the Javitts Center increased considerably due to personal constraints.
But as they say when you have lemons, make lemonade. And I made it by the gallons. NYCC 2011 is not for the faint of heart. Whether you are doing press coverage or a congoer, NYCC 2011 was an intense experience. I am really glad that I upped my cardio workouts because there was a lot more ground to cover.
The best decision I ever made was to recruit Jeff Delisle. In the past, Jeff has always been an outstanding camera interview so I decided to bring him into the fold in a more official capacity as on camera talent. As you will see, Jeff is a natural interviewer and I hope that this opens up more opportunities for him in the near future. Another collaboration with Jeff is definitely in the cards.
My interviews cover a wide range of guests from television, comic books and cartoons and notable figures on the convention scene. So it was definitely a good mix of content. I wish I could have covered the Avengers, but then again, I wasn’t the only one who got left out.
Last year there were issues in where NYAF was placed with fans feeling NYAF was being put in a corner and I have to admit I did not realize where NYAF was located until the second day of the convention.
This year Reed Pop heeded the demands from Anime fans for a better space, which was the Crystal Palace, where there was a massive stage where Apple Kissa, Mario Bueno and Uncle Yo were able to keep everyone entertained. Fans had access to the outdoors to engage in all types of chicanery and views from the Palace were ideal for cosplay photography. The NYAF Artist Alley was placed so that fans had to walk through it to get to the stage area, which allowed vendors to take advantage of the traffic. However it did get a bit crowded.
Speaking of which, the crowds last year were out control, due to a combination of a ton of demand and space that barely accommodated it. More space, a better floor plan and capping the attendance definitely played a huge factor in keeping the crowds manageable. It was still quite hectic, but I had a much better experience than last year.
The press room this year was located where NYAF was last year and it was quite convenient since they setup the roundtables and press interviews practically next door. There was some grumbling amongst the press corps that certain perks were no longer available. Apparently free snacks were given last year, which I can’t confirm it since I never had any. But we still got our free water and massive power strips for recharging, which is more than most congoers got last year. Free WiFi? That’s another story. There was definitely a lot more press people, a lot of new faces and some old comrades from the trenches.
In certain situations, press credentials did not go as far as they used to. Unlike last year when press was given early access to the Masquerade, it was a no go and we had to line up with the rest of the crowd. Fortunately, I was able to hook up with two cosplayer friends who were performing at the masquerade and accompanied them to the meeting room before the Masquerade began.
Regardless, I am not complaining. I accomplished what I needed to do and then some. It was a success as far as I was concerned. I got some really great footage, made some contacts and did some networking. Perhaps the most important benefit is that I have established my workflow by developing a new set of protocols based on my experience.
On Saturday October 15, 2011, Neal Adams will be conducting a special pre-convention portfolio review at the New York City Comicon. Medium at Large has more details about this exclusive event.
Neal Adams is one of the great icons of the comic book industry. His many accomplishments include revolutionizing Batman with his distinct artistic style, founding the successful Continuity Studios and becoming an advocate for creator rights. Larry Hama and Frank Miller are just one of the many creators Neal Adams has mentored and influenced, making this portfolio review a great opportunity for any artist.
When my interview request was granted I was quite happy and humbled at the same. With the New York City Comicon on the horizon, there is no doubt that Neal Adams is extremely busy. Yet, he took the time to answer my questions.
Without further ado, here is my interview with Neal Adams.
Nerd Gig: How did you get the idea of having a Portfolio Review Breakfast?
Neal Adams: I got the idea from Marvel’s Dinner with Joe Quesada and Axel Alonso. It occurred to me that doing a portfolio review outside the convention at a breakfast, at a catered breakfast would be the perfect way to do the thing that constantly interrupts tens of people at a comic con and gets in the way of signing, sketches and conversations with other fans. Also, I never get to follow through with these people and keep an open line of communication so the help I provide will be as valuable as possible.
Nerd Gig: What will be the agenda for the event?
Neal Adams: We will have a buffet breakfast on our motion capture sound stage and portfolios will be reviewed individually and I will intersperse this with general talk and a wrap up talk.
Nerd Gig: What do you suggest aspiring artists should do to optimize their time with you during the portfolio review?
Neal Adams: They have already done what they should do. By doing the work. They should clear their head for straightforward and honest conversation. It’s a tough review, as many will tell you. We will also be documenting the session for those who give permission.
Nerd Gig: Your reputation of being an icon is only matched by your generosity in mentoring some of the great figures in the comic industry. Larry Hama has referred to his years at Continuity as a PhD program and Frank Miller speaks very fondly of how you played a key role in his development as an artist. Do you have any plans in taking anyone under your wing if they show the same promise as Hama and Miller?
Neal Adams: This is a possibility I have been discussing at our studio; the concept about mentoring on some sort of basis because our industry is growing and I have been instrumental in bringing opportunities to writers and artists in the past. It may be that we can do more than we have done in the past by bringing some organization to the portfolio review process, so I consider this an experiment to advance my help in a more significant way.
Nerd Gig: How will separating the portfolio review from the signings provide a better experience for all parties involved?
Neal Adams: I think the answer to this is self-evident. I am fully aware during signings of how this process gets in the way of all our other functions at the conventions and I am conscious at the same time that I didn’t give the proper time to a worthy, aspiring artist.
Nerd Gig: The fact that a fee is being charged for the portfolio review reminds me of the famous story about Picasso and the napkin. And for what you are offering to these artists, it is a great investment. Is instituting a fee a way to separate the hardcore from the wannabes?
Neal Adams: I don’t believe there is a way of separating them. I think this is an experiment to get a more limited number of people so that we can access the value of the process. We will be showing these artists Continuity Studios and giving them some idea of how we work, which to be perfectly honest is a lot more valuable than just a portfolio review during a crowded convention. The point is that these people will get my undivided attention. If it works out we will do more and think of better ways to move this idea forward.
Of course we will not be making stars out of these people, but for those who would like to participate, we hope to track the progress of various aspiring artists in a positive way because it is my feeling that the attention of the world is increasingly focused on our medium. I want people to know that as difficult as it is to be a comic book artist there is great joy for those who are lucky enough to enter our field. You will not speak to anyone whose careers I have helped who will not say this exact same thing.
Thank you Neal Adams for your time and thank you Kristine Stone for arranging this interview. It is greatly appreciated.
Reed Pop has always impressed me with their successful efforts in creating an enjoyable convention experience. A key to Reed Pop’s success is that it is filled with people who truly love what they do and want to share that love with everyone who comes to NYCC.
Last week Reed Pop’s Lance Fensterman announced their newest addition to NYCC 2011.
WHITE SPACE, an exclusive invitation-only summit tailored to influencers and decision makers who help shape the direction of the business of popular culture, will take place on the afternoon of Thursday, October 13 at the Javits Center just hours before the doors open for New York Comic Con 2011. Conceived as a think tank for 100 masters and innovators in the fields of TV, film, comics, games, technology and advertising, WHITE SPACE is not a traditional conference, but is designed to foster open, transparent discussion between industry leaders. It will be kicked off by brief talks from three masters of media followed by small group discussions led by influential moderators.
WHITE SPACE executives will open this year’s event by describing plans for 2012 which call for a continuation of high-level discussion along with exhibits of the technology which is driving so much transformation in the pop culture universe.
What we have here is a G4/Davos covering all segments of media, where all the high rollers will be in one place to discuss and share their collective experience and knowledge with each other.
Heidi Macdonald of Comics Beat, who I declare her awesomeness to the world, has graciously allowed me to quote parts of her recent interview with Lance Fensterman and Geek Chic Daily’s Peter Levin regarding White Space, which sheds a lot of light on this new endeavor.
THE BEAT: Let me back up a little and ask how you two began thinking about this? What’s the secret origin of this Davos of pop culture, as one of my commenters called it.
FENSTERMAN: I love that! This goes back for me nearly three years trying to find the right vehicle to explore the business of play. In NYC, there’s so much of the business side of this represented, we felt it was something very unique about NYCC that we could offer. We’ve said we want to grow the business in the industry—it’s not just putting a tent up and selling tickets—and been exploring this for a number of years with various partner. How can we do this and how can we do it well? It led me to dealing with MIDEM, our partners in France, and talking to Peter and realizing he brought a whole other element. It wasn’t an overnight thing, believe it or not, it’s been on my mind for quite a while, but it took a while to find the right people to pull a geek Davos together.
Reed Pop is not one to rest on their laurels. They are constantly evaluating their progress in a mission to be better. It is more than just raising the bar; it is about evolving and contributing. White Space is an extension of this mission.
THE BEAT:Peter, I know you do a lot of work with people in this area, what kind of response have you gotten?
LEVIN: I hope that will be indicated by the quality of executives that show up. I think what I’ve responded to very strongly to from my first conversation with Lance and the folks at MIDEM, they truly do want to offer a broad conversation. I think sometimes at comic-cons or games conferences like E3, the attempts at these kinds of things become so insular and fraternal, it’s just everyone patting each other on the back. But there’s real dialog to be had on the current state of the media marketplace. The folks I’ve been reaching out to are very broad in terms of where they reside in the media landscape. And it’s been phenomenal. For most of them, they were coming to the con anyway so it’s just arriving a few hours earlier to engage a constituency that they would, in their regular day, perhaps not cross paths with.
White Space is brilliant in its simplicity because they are leveraging their current platform by consolidating all the players that are in attendance for NYCC 2011. After all, you might as well have a square dance if everyone is already in the barn.
THE BEAT: Lance, MIDEM, is less known to the consumers. Can you explain a little of what they bring to this?
FENSTERMAN: The best way to explain it is [ReedPOP] goes to see the same companies but we go to the 4h floor to see marketing and publicity and MIDEM goes to the 6th floor to see rights. They run the events MIP-TV and MIPCOM which are globally leading marketplaces for the buying and selling of television, film and music rights. They are very much our mirror, I suppose, of the business behind the business. And they’ve increasingly gotten involved in the tech and startup space as those worlds are fusing. No offense to Columbia Records but they are probably not the future of the music industry any more. And there are a lot of kids in garages that are – with computers not instruments. You may never have heard of them, but they are actually a pretty big force in entertainment.
It was not too long ago that the music industry was on the verge of collapse due to the rampant use of file sharing and it was only when Apple rolled out iTunes that they proved to the world that the consumer would be willing to pay a reasonable price to download music, as long as the service and product was of high quality. And it is not just music that is being transformed, these changes are occurring across board for all the brick and mortar media industries. With these new trends, a significant number of people paid the price due to being unaware or unwilling to embrace change. The fact that a company as large as MIDEM is involved in White Space shows how serious they are about adapting and working with this evolving landscape.
FENSTERMAN: When you start to bend the platforms where you can get something however you want to get it virtually whenever you want it on any device you want. That’s a whole lot of change. You can look at it two ways, it’s either scary or holy crap, there are so many opportunities – and the original content creators in particular are at the core of all of this: to leverage what they’ve created into wildly fantastic iterations and ideally profitable ones as well.
Lance is on point in regards of the malleability of the current platforms and their untapped potential. The fact that White Space is addressing these issues displays the the same type of thinking and awareness that has made Apple a force to reckon with and is why IBM has celebrated 100 years in the technology business.
In other words, White Space is history in the making.
When Midtown Comics announced their Midnight Madness event to celebrate the DC Comics 52 Relaunch featuring a signing by Jim Lee and Geoff Johns, I knew I had to cover it. I was also realistic with my expectations. Because of the massive crowds, I figured I would stay for an hour to get some b-roll.
I ended up staying for the whole event.
If you ever have a chance to go to an event of this magnitude at Midtown Comics, go. It is well worth it. It is a cool diverse crowd who share a love of comics. I interviewed locals from the 5 boroughs, a lovely couple from New Jersey and two brothers who drove all the way from Pennsylvania and were driving back the same night.
The following is Nerd Gig’s coverage from the event.
I also got to meet some great guys from the press corps, which included Jay Dee AKA Johnny Destructo of Aint It Cool News and Alex Zalebn who was covering the event for Newsarama and MTV Geek.
Besides interviewing the crowd, my primary goal was to get a shot of Jim Lee and Geoff Johns outside the event. They had already come out earlier to greet the line with pizza and there were rumors that they would greet the crowds again.
Filming them inside Midtown Comics was not something I saw in the cards. Then again, Lady Luck has a way of dealing you a winning hand.
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This footage was made possible because Midtown and DC Comics was quite gracious in giving access to all of us on the media fringe. Even though we were second stringers they made every effort to get us inside. That shows a lot of class on their part and is quite significant because they wanted to help us and it was greatly appreciated it.
If this a sign of things to come, then I eagerly welcome the new age of the DC Comics 52 Relaunch.
It was a full house at Midtown Comics Not At Comic Con Party on July 23, 2011. The events of the day included signings by Larry Hama, Evan Dorkin, Amy Reeder and Rebekah Isaacs, contests and sales galore.
This is an interview with Thor Parker who is the Marketing and Events Coordinator of Midtown Comics.
Raina of Midtown Comics holds the line and hopefully will get some pie in the process.
Straight from Chase Wang himself. AM2 SETS A RECORD IN 1ST YEAR CONVENTION ATTENDANCE AND CELEBRATES THE END
OF ITS 2011 EVENT WITH THE ALL GIRL J-ROCK BAND SCANDAL
Over 8,000+ Attendees Over the Holiday Weekend!
ANAHEIM, Calif. (July 4, 2011) Flying in directly from Japan with a
whirlwind schedule of meeting fans and having autograph sessions, the girls
of the highly popular J-Rock band electrified the crowd with their amazing
and powerful sound and performance in the event¹s final concert event. Not
only did AM2 celebrates the end of its 2011 convention event with the highly
fan anticipated Scandal concert event and announces a 1st year convention
attendance record of over 8,000+ unique attendees over the 3-day convention
event. More info can be found at www.am2con.org.
In addition, AM2 sets a huge record for a 1st year convention of over 8,000+
unique attendees over its 3-day event weekend. Other similar events
averaged around 1,000 attendees.
With a fully packed house of excited (and glow-stick prepped) and highly
energized fans, AM2 celebrates the end of its 2011 convention event with the
highly fan anticipated Scandal concert event Attendees also enjoyed
bustling Exhibit Hall, Summer Festival, Food trucks, panels, workshops,
screenings and more! Lines for AM2 averaged a 20 minute waiting period for
registration pick up and attendees were treated to a well organized event
that had attendee event lines which moved quickly with little delay.
³It was truly an amazing event filled with excitement and fun Š can you
believe it!?!?!? 8,000+ unique attendees for our first year?², states Chase
Wang AM2 representative, ³I am mixed with so much emotion and pride that we
accomplished such a huge goal and created an amazing event for the fans.
But we couldn¹t have done this without our industry supporters, Guests of
Honors, exhibitors, Artist Alley participants, staff, volunteers and of
course our attendees Š THANK YOU! There are so many people to thank. We
hope you all enjoyed this show and will join us for our next event and those
that couldn¹t be a part of our event this year will join us in the future as
well!²
Attendees that purchased a Passport fast pass avoided the anticipated huge
lines at autographs, premiere screenings, workshops, main events, concerts
and panels by purchasing a Passport fast pass for the event. The Passport
fast pass also provided holders with premier seating options at Main Events
and at Concert events as well as major discounts with theme parks (i.e.
Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, etc.), retailers (i.e. Best Buy, Macys, etc.)
and local restaurants (i.e. IHOP, Tony Roma¹s, California Pizza Kitchen,
etc.).
Guest of Honors for the 2011 year included Masao Maruyama, Sunao Katabuchi,
Akihiko Yamashita, Miho Shimogasa, Scandal, Sadie, Kanon Wakeshima, kanon x
kanon, heidi., Gashicon, IBI and MINT.
AM2 activities included Exhibit Hall, AMV¹s, Arcade, Summer Festival, World
Cosplay Summit, Behind the Voice Actors Studio, Rum Party Pirates,
Masquerade, Cosplay Chess, Dances, Fashion Shows, Table Top, Console Gaming,
AniMaid Café, AniMaid Café Host Club, Workshops, Panels, Concerts and more!
Partnerships included Ani.ME. and Cure Magazine
Prize sponsors included Anime Jungle. Atlus Games, Cosplay Wigs USA,
Crunchyroll, FUNimation, Gaia Online, The Right Stuf and TokyoPop
Considering the odds that this convention was facing and the risks they were taking, what they have accomplished is quite impressive.
