NYCC '07/D2: DC PRESENTS:CROSSING OVER: HOW THE COMICS BOOM IS CHANGING ENTERTAINMENT

[MattBrady]

by Michael C Lorah

On Saturday afternoon at the New York Comic Con, creators who have come from inside and outside the comics industry gathered to discuss the impact of comics on entertainment, and why they are motivated to begin working in comics in the DC Presents:Crossing Over: How the Comics Boom is Changing Entertainment panel.

Moderated by DC’s VP of Marketing John Cunningham, the panel also included the following creators:

• Percy Carey has spent a dozen years in hip-hop as MF Grimm, and founded Day By Day Entertainment, which features over two dozen artists. He has survived several murder attempts that have left him paralyzed from the waist down. His autobiographical graphic novel, Sentences: the Life of MF Grimm, will be published by DC/Vertigo in 2007.

• Paul Dini began working in animation on shows including Tiny Toons and Animaniacs, before becoming a producer, story editor and head writer on Batman: the Animated Series and Duck Dodgers. He has also worked as a story editor for ABC’s Lost.

• Cecil Castellucci’s third young adult novel, Beige, will be out in May. She has written and directed indie movies and plays, and written songs while performing in an indie rock band. Her debut graphic novel, The Plain Janes, will be the launch title for DC’s Minx imprint.

• Brian K. Vaughan broke into comics first, but his tremendous success with Ex Machina, Y: the Last Man and Runaways has enabled him to make Hollywood connections. He is currently a series writer for Lost and is writing screenplays for potential movie versions of Y and Ex Machina.

• Marc Bernadin is a Senior Editor at Entertainment Weekly, where he secured comics coverage for the first time in the magazine’s history. He is now co-writing his first series, The Highwaymen, for WildStorm.

Cunningham opened by asking each of the panelists how Carey got involved in comics. The hip-hop star said that DC Editor Casey Seijas contacted him and encouraged him to tell his life story as a graphic novel. He continued by saying that last year he was in the crowd at NYCC, asking questions of the publishers and still finds it hard to believe that he is now a panelist. Everyone as Vertigo has been extremely supportive – he compared the process to music, analogizing that you have engineers and mixers and producers who each fill a role, but work together to make “everything as good as it can be.”

Vaughan has started moving into other fields now after getting his break in comics. Regarding his work on Lost, he said that he “has to wear pants to work now… well, I guess I don’t have to,” and enjoys the new challenges. Starting work at 9:30 am, he occasionally has to work as late as 9:30 pm, “especially at crunch time.” He enjoys collaborating with other writers, despite occasional “bursts of shouting.” “No two days are the same,” he concluded when asked to describe how his time is spent.

Dini compared his work on DC’s upcoming Countdown to his TV experience, saying that it is extremely similar. “Lots of collaboration and lots of ideas being put on the table” was his description of being head of a team of writers. Animation prepared him because typically the network orders 52 episodes of a series, so then he would map out the series and allow the writers to tell individual stories within that over-reaching arc. He also revealed that he had “a lot of input from Dan DiDio and the DC editors, lots of story threads that they wanted worked in.” There have been lots of long hours and ideas thrown around, and his job, as the story editor, is to get the right writers on the right ideas. As long as they “start at point A and get to point B,” each writer has freedom to handle their own issues as they feel appropriate. It is “lot of work but it seems to be working,” he concluded.

Because of all the spin-offs and tie-ins coming from Countdown, “you really have to make everything fit.” He spends much of time “playing continuity police.” Countdown is telling its own story, but the ripples from it touch everything else, so it has to remain on task.

Cunningham asked Castellucci is there is any creative field that she hasn’t worked in yet. “I haven’t tried ballet yet; maybe I’ll try choreographing something,” she quipped. She then said that she enjoys working with different people and working in different styles. It was “very difficult for me to figure out how to get the story to move from panel to panel,” she commented, when comparing writing for comics to her previous play and movie experience. However, after Plain Janes artist Jim Rugg thumbnailed several pages and she was able to see how the story would work on the page, she found the process much more comfortable. She also cited Ex Machina as a book that helped her to understand how to pace and write a comic. “I’ve always loved comic books and graphic novels,” she gushed, but admitted that she hasn’t always followed the industry closely. “It’s an expensive hobby,” she said ruefully, but she listed several childhood and current favorites, including TinTin, Asterix and Sandman.

Bernadin joked that he will be DC’s “press whore” when asked how it will feel to be the criticized rather than the critic. He continued that he doesn’t mind the criticism because the good critics are still evangelizing the form by pushing for quality material. He noted that as an editor, he is constantly collaborating with researchers, fact checkers, writers and more, so he found the process very comfortable easy to adjust to. He went on to say that he believes comics are a pure collaboration, just a writer and an artist, creating “a direct line from the head to the page.” Asked if he was less enthused about creating comics now that he is actually doing so, he said that he has just finished scripting issue #4 of Highwaymen and stills feels the excitement. He related how when he was a judge for the Eisner Awards several years ago, Neil Gaiman called him to say that “after being an Eisner judge, I hope you still like comics.”

When talking about the infusion of comics into the mainstream culture, Bernadin cited the Spider-Man movie, saying that “nobody could ignore it” after the movie’s tremendous success. After four years of trying to get comics covering in Entertainment Weekly, he was finally allowed to cover the industry. Now Hollywood and entertainment industry coverage “have troops on the ground” at conventions. He proudly stated, “Hollywood came to comics; comics didn’t go to Hollywood.”

Vaughan moved to L.A. 5 years ago, and met many interns who loved his comics. Now all the interns are running the studios, he laughed. “It’s total geek Diaspora.”

Dini related that many young - early 20s - people come up to him, saying that “they loved Batman animated as a kid.” He believes that speculator readers who got out because the investment wasn’t good are now being pulled back in because the Hollywood crossovers are accessible to them and reminding them of the quality and excitement. He added that without the traditional young reader comics of yesteryear, the Hollywood exposure is a main source of exposure for many potential readers today.

As graphic novels are the fastest growing part of young adult libraries and she is a young adult writer, Castellucci sees comics as a perfect place to continue to reach young readers, something she is “very passionate about.”

Carey believes that comics and hip-hop have always been hand in hand, and told the audience that the creation of internet sites like myspace/comics just proves how popular and culturally recognized comics are. Cunningham asked if he intends to do more work in comics, and Carey smiled while saying that he is “ready to enter the DC Universe” and “show his talents as a [fiction] writer.” He admitted to being a huge Batman fan.

The panelists then began to dissect some of the reasons that comics are finding greater acceptance. Castellucci theorized that with webisodes and other visual forms of communications, readers are able more able to connect with the visual elements of comics than ever before. “We’ve evolved in the way that we communicate,” she said. Vaughan attributes the growth to the overall quality of today’s comics. It is “a golden age for the quality of comics across the board,” he believes.

Readers no longer leave comics behind, because there are more interesting and diverse choices to keep them around, Dini explained. “Acme Library being written up in journals” and getting mature, adult comics in front of the audience for those titles.

Bernadin light-heartedly suggested that comic book fans are breeding and not passing the anti-comics stigma on to their kids.

Speaking about comics for young readers, Dini said that he’d just bought homemade, photocopied comics from Kyle Baker’s daughter because “you can’t not buy comics from a kid.”

Castellucci expects some shared audience to read her young adult novels and The Plain Janes. Her hope is that YA fans will discover more comics, and comic fan will discover more young adult books. “We’re in a golden age for YA novels, too,” she said. “More diverse stories, more voices” will only expand the reach of comics, she continued.

Vaughan believes that Runaways is more mature and darker than Ex Machina or Y the Last Man. He then said, “It was unthinkable to me to find graphic novels in libraries,” and got several laughs by comparing the spread of graphic novels to spread of a pink eye infection.

More comic shops are creating more wholesome atmosphere, Dini believes. “Brave New World near me in California offers drawing classes” and has a kids section in the front, but still has comics for older readers in the back. “Children feel welcome, and parents feel their kids are welcome.” He hopes that more comic book shops will become “family destinations.”

Carey goes to career days and hospitals and speaks to children frequently. He sees great results when he brings comics to the children. “They forget that I’m there,” he deadpanned. He continued that he would love to be a part of a grassroots organization to reach out to readers. In addition, having known people with learning disabilities who were able to learn to read with comics, he appreciates the value of the medium as a learning format.

Cunningham compared how current shows, such as 24, frame information to comics panels. Bernadin said, “Everything has its cycles,” but comics will never become irrelevant. “The density of comics storytelling” can’t be matched in other form, but you can see the inspiration of books like Chris Claremont’s Uncanny X-Men in modern television.

Comparing it to how all of the 15 people at a Sex Pistols show formed a band and influenced music, Vaughan said that the influence of comics is now reaching into the mainstream. He cited Damon Lindelhoff as a huge fan of Watchmen who grew up and went into another field but still shows that influence.

“We sold more copies of Watchmen last year than in the last four years combined,” Cunningham told everyone, showing that Watchmen’s influence is continuing to this day.

“If the first comic book you read is Watchmen….” Bernadin said, before trailing off. “You can’t take your responsibility to the form lightly” if that is how readers are inducted to the comics field, he said of ensuring that every project – which won’t be as good – is as good as it can be.

In the next four to five years, DC’s President and Publisher Paul Levitz is looking forward to seeing how the kids currently reading manga will approach creating their own comics, Cunningham revealed. He joked that it will be “either very exciting or very scary” for many readers.

A fan asked why people are we attracted to animation and comics. Dini said that animation was dying in the 70s and 80s, and it almost skipped a generation, but when he started in the late 80s, many of the people coming into the industry wanted to “do fun stuff again.” He told how his father only saw cartoons briefly in movie theatres, but it was never able to stick with him. Because of his own exposure to Saturday morning cartoons, Dini found it was “ingrained in our nature” today. People emulate the things that brought them inspiration when they were kids, but fortunately the storytelling today is “more mature and sophisticated” – a step above the old Saturday morning material.

Asked about reaching new readers, Carey said, “I’m a distributor by heart, so I’ll get trucks and drive around and find you.” “Word of mouth is the best ever” way to get people excited, nothing that nothing means more than the word of a trusted friend. He believes that word of mouth is more important that where the books are distributed.

Bernadin claimed, “The holy grail is Oprah. If we can get Oprah, the world will shift on its axis.” Vaughan countered by saying, “Part of the joy and why I’d never leave comics – to be able to write something that will only reach 30,000 people, you have the luxury of experimenting.” He feared that if the industry reaches “the Oprah level,” that implies a certain mainstreaming and lack of freedom. “It might only be 30,000 people, but it’s the best 30,000 people,” he cried to applause.

Carey supported Vaughan’s desire for creative freedom, but still believes that the quality of the work deserves to be on Oprah, period.

“Whether it sells 100,000 or 5,000,” Dini began, you fall in love with your ideas and characters. He is often more content to do a comic than a movie because of the creative control. “When you fall in love with your characters and concepts, they do become your children and you don’t want them to just sit in a drawer somewhere.”

Asked about cross-pollination between American and Japanese comics, Bernadin said, “I think those Virgin Comics guys are onto something” and expects China and India to have a huge influence on the shaping of world culture and comics.

Another audience member asked if comics become too popular, will books need to be sanitized for Wal-Mart or other mainstream venues. Cunningham acknowledged that in mass merchandizing, it is always possible, but the comic book industry is extremely far away from reaching that level. “Comics have always struggled with censorship, but have learned their lessons,” he concluded.

Carey chimed in to say that “everything is gonna be fine,” and the panel agreed that it was a fine note to end on.

New York Comic Con 2007 coverage brought to you by Comicraft's ELEPHANTMEN #7, on sale right now from Image Comics!

[Redmond]

Is it possible the reason Watchmen sells cause it's a finite story you can get in one TPB. If you had 8-10 continous trades of WM, would it really fare so well? As it is, it's easy to plug cause it's just one book to buy and you get the whole story.

If they pushed the marketing on books like The Fountain, 100% or even Silent Dragon those would sell well too. Sure they're trade paperbacked but there's never any agressive marketing push behind those.

[SeamusMcClernan]

There's a Comics "BOOM" going on??


I wasn't aware.

[Disco Cookie]

Why doesn't Oprah discuss comics? Has she ever? Because if comics really want to grow then they're going to have to find some new readers - and who says they have to be kids? Soccer moms - that's comics untapped market!!!

[Korvac]

Today's manga-reading teens are tomorrow's soccer moms. I think that any change in the public's perception and acceptance of comics will have to be a generational change. I wish that it would happen more quickly!

[CometSweat84]

You also have to take into consideration the Absolute edition of Watchmen was released fairly recently, which probably was a factor in the spike in sales.

[Kolimar]

The future looks bright but it's still far, far away.

[Kolimar]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

Moderated by DC’s VP of Marketing John Cunningham, the panel also included the following creators:

• Percy Carey has spent a dozen years in hip-hop as MF Grimm, and founded Day By Day Entertainment, which features over two dozen artists. He has survived several murder attempts that have left him paralyzed from waist down. His autobiographical graphic novel, Sentences: the Life of MF Grimm, will be published by DC/Vertigo in 2007.

• Paul Dini began working animation on shows including Tiny Toons and Animaniacs, before becoming a producer, story editor and head writer on Batman: the Animated Series and Duck Dodgers. He has also worked as a story editor for ABC’s Lost.

• Cecil Castellucci’s third young adult novel, Beige, will be out in May. She has written and directed indie movies and plays, and written songs while performing in an indie rock band. Her debut graphic novel, The Plain Janes, will be the launch title for DC’s Minx imprint.

• Brian K. Vaughan broke into comics first, but his tremendous success with Ex Machina, Y: the Last Man and Runaways has enabled him to make Hollywood connections. He is currently a series writer for Lost and is writing screenplays for potential movie versions of Y and Ex Machina.

• Marc Bernadin is a Senior Editor at Entertainment Weekly, where he secured comics coverage for the first time in the magazine’s history. He is now co-writing his first series, The Highwaymen for WildStorm.

Comic book creators and their work in other fields. What do you think?

[hosstbl]

The Watchmen sales are mostly likely being fed by V for Vendetta. For people who saw the movie and read the trade, Watchmen is the next logical step for those who want mo(o)re - and who wouldn't after reading V

[Moonbeam]

Originally Posted by MattBrady

Carey goes to career days and hospitals and speaks to children frequently. He sees great results when he brings comics to the children. “They forget that I’m there,” he deadpanned.

This is so true. People on the message boards ask all the time -- why aren't there comics for kids and why don't kids like comics? They do!! And there are comics for them!! When I share comics with my kids or the girls in my Girl Scouts troop or the boys in my neighborhood, you'd think I'd given them a lifetime supply of candy. They love them!!

We just need to get them into their hands!

Originally Posted by MattBrady

Bernadin claimed, “The holy grail is Oprah. If we can get Oprah, the world will shift on its axis.” Vaughan countered by saying, “Part of the joy and why I’d never leave comics – to be able to write something that will only reach 30,000 people, you have the luxury of experimenting.” He feared that if the industry reaches “the Oprah level,” that implies a certain mainstreaming and lack of freedom. “It might only be 30,000 people, but it’s the best 30,000 people,” he cried to applause.

Carey supported Vaughan’s desire for creative freedom, but still believes that the quality of the work deserves to be on Oprah, period.

I agree 100 percent. Vaughn has a point, but his stories are too good to hide away from the world for the sake of belonging to an exclusive club of freedom fighters. I have been bugging one of my girlfriends who loves to read to give comics a chance -- but she was always reluctant, saying she just wanted to stick to novels. Finally, for her birthday last month, I bought and gave her the first two trades of Y: The Last Man and made her promise (after buying her a few drinks) to read them. Last night, she came over for dinner and begged me for the third trade. She's hooked. If I can win her over to the format with a great story like Y, then I don't see why we can't win over every last woman (and man) out there who reads novels but doesn't respect the comics medium. It just doesn't make sense that, with all the attention Oprah gives to books and all the sales that occur after she mentions a novel, Oprah never has a comic trade or graphic novel on her reading list. So many of them are soooo good and deserve that level of attention and then some.

[Kolimar]

Originally Posted by Redmond

Is it possible the reason Watchmen sells cause it's a finite story you can get in one TPB. If you had 8-10 continous trades of WM, would it really fare so well? As it is, it's easy to plug cause it's just one book to buy and you get the whole story.

At the very least, it's one of the reasons.

Originally Posted by Redmond

If they pushed the marketing on books like The Fountain, 100% or even Silent Dragon those would sell well too. Sure they're trade paperbacked but there's never any agressive marketing push behind those.

IMHO, the main push behind Watchmen is an overwhelmingly positive word of mouth.

[EMeadow]

Originally Posted by Disco Cookie

Why doesn't Oprah discuss comics? Has she ever? Because if comics really want to grow then they're going to have to find some new readers - and who says they have to be kids? Soccer moms - that's comics untapped market!!!

Asides from any actors going on Oprah to promote their comic movies, the only two times i've seen comics mentioned on Oprah were when she did a show on people who created their own business empire and became millionares and Steve Geppi was included for creating Diamond.

And another time for an episode of people who had no idea of the wealth they actually owned and it was one of those "I found my grandfather's comics in the attic and they turned out to be Action 1 and Detective 27" stories.

[zeraze1]

Originally Posted by Moonbeam

It just doesn't make sense that, with all the attention Oprah gives to books and all the sales that occur after she mentions a novel, Oprah never has a comic trade or graphic novel on her reading list. So many of them are soooo good and deserve that level of attention and then some.

You're not the first person to ask why Oprah doesn't plug comics. She certainly would be a godsend for the comic industry.

I think Oprah's indifference to comics is due mainly to the medium itself. Traditionally, comics have been entertainment targeted at White teenage males. Naturally, millions of Black girls and women have felt excluded by comics and thus never developed a real interest in them. Oprah strikes me as one such Black female reader.

Hence, a graphic novel would have to impress Oprah as well as the hardcore comic reader to get her blessing on TV. Otherwise, the GN doesn't have a prayer off getting on the show.

zeraze

[RedRonin]

Marc Bernadin is a Senior Editor at Entertainment Weekly, where he secured comics coverage for the first time in the magazine’s history. He is now co-writing his first series, The Highwaymen, for WildStorm.

Something about this seems weird to me. Entertainment Weekly is owned by WB as is DC. I can't help but think there's a connection as to why the Senior Editor is now writing comics.

[innocentboy]

cool reading still

[Cray_ws]

I been saying to my friends for years that I wish Al Roker who is comic book fan, would showcase more comics on the TODAY show. I believe he spotlighted some Marvel stuff a few years ago that was 9-11 related. It would be great if he made it a regular thing.

Oprah would spike this industry like Superboy punching the wall if time. But the problem is it would be like an instant flash and wouldn't last enough to change the market in the long run. Why? Because comic shops are not Mom-friendly places. The majority of shops are geek-stenched and poorly managed. Oprah and her viewers love bookstores, even used-book stores rate higher than the cleanest shop. Oprah will never interview a creator of super-hero book unless there's something relevant to the plight of some illness or abused society.

I think the PRIDE OF BAGHDAD is perfect for Oprah's book club, and Vaughan definitely deserves an interview. So does Cecil Castellucci for her PLAIN JANES work. There's a major agenda to get girls to read comics. I would think that Oprah would see that as noble goal. I'm sure she gets about 100 books a week from authors seeking her endorsement & hopeful interview.

One can dream I guess...

[PrimeOp]

Hip-Hop has always embraced comic books. There's quite a few references in lyrics, emcee/rapper names and even album names with Jay-Z's Kingdom Come (and yes, he even said so in an interview).You can go all the way back "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang and find a verse that's all about trying to put the moves on Lois Lane. Right now, the fans of people like MF Grimm, the more underground Hip-Hop instead of the commercial stuff, are the type to pop into comic shops. I know I'm looking forward to that book of his!

[Nakedmanatee]

Oprah plugs stuff she likes, simple as that. I think some enterprising editor should send her copies of stuff that she might like. Pride of Baghdad, as somebody mentioned is a good one. And I can't help but think that Blankets would make a killer selection for her book club.

yr. buddy,
David

[zeraze1]

Originally Posted by PrimeOp

Hip-Hop has always embraced comic books. There's quite a few references in lyrics, emcee/rapper names and even album names with Jay-Z's Kingdom Come (and yes, he even said so in an interview).You can go all the way back "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang and find a verse that's all about trying to put the moves on Lois Lane.

You're spot on about rappers loving comics as much as many long-time fans of the latter want to deny this. Ed Cunard did an excellent commentary on this topic. An excerpt:

Much as Superman is Clark Kent's larger-than-life alter ego, hip-hop artists have been known to put forth personas as well. Sometimes, they names they choose come straight from superhero comics. Big Punisher took his nom de guerre from Punisher comics. Jean Grae is not only one worth mentioning, but one worth checking out if you've never heard her work. As Neilalien pointed out a few months ago, there's an independent rapper out of California called Akword Strange, inspired by Dr. Strange. The Wu-Tang Clan have enough aliases to fill they're own Avengers charter, some of them comics-related--Ghostface Killa's been Tony Starks and Ironman, Method Man's gone by Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze, and the RZA had his own superhero persona, Bobby Digital, who had a Stan Lee Media online venture (or was in talks to be). Tom Spurgeon's excellent Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book highlights a meeting between Lee and the RZA that shows how comics influenced the RZA:

The RZA was a big fan. "I got my ____ from you," he told Lee, citing his practice of tagging every Wu-Tang release with the line "RZA Presents."

The RZA rapped some of his Marvel-inspired lyrics: "Microphone gets cast to the floor. Shape-shifting. Heavy as the hammer of Thor."

Lee clapped his hands. "Oh, that's great! I like that! Hey, you're going to help me with the stories."

Right now, the fans of people like MF Grimm, the more underground Hip-Hop instead of the commercial stuff, are the type to pop into comic shops. I know I'm looking forward to that book of his!

And MF Doom is not alone in delving into comics. Other rappers like Public Enemy, 50 Cent and Kanye West are or will star in their own series in the near future.

The bottom line is that the connection between comics and hip hop will strengthen not diminish.

zeraze

[puckett]

Originally Posted by RedRonin

Something about this seems weird to me. Entertainment Weekly is owned by WB as is DC. I can't help but think there's a connection as to why the Senior Editor is now writing comics.

while thats true... EW seems to give a lot of Marvel coverage in their comics' section. it might have secured something... but i bet he could have shopped it anywhere.

[Pete]

Originally Posted by Michael C Lorah

Dini compared his work on DC’s upcoming Countdown to his TV experience, saying that it is extremely similar.
...
Because of all the spin-offs and tie-ins coming from Countdown, “you really have to make everything fit.” He spends much of time “playing continuity police.” Countdown is telling its own story, but the ripples from it touch everything else, so it has to remain on task.

"all the spin-offs and tie-ins"

And here I was worrying that there would only be another 52 comics to buy to get to the conclusion of this story.

[Michael C Lorah]

Originally Posted by Pete

"all the spin-offs and tie-ins"

And here I was worrying that there would only be another 52 comics to buy to get to the conclusion of this story.

I believe he meant tie-ins, primarily. Unless perhaps some storylines spin-off ideas into the regular monthlies. I don't remember the exact phrasing right now, but "spin-offs and tie-ins" isn't a direct quote from Dini; it's a direct quote from me, so I wouldn't go around accusing DC or anything based on my phrasing.