An idea is only as valuable as its execution, and Anthony Del Col and Conor McCreery have spent the last four years executing their concept, a battle between Shakespeare’s most famous heroes and most evil villains, to great success. Kill Shakespeare first appeared as a comic book series from IDW in 2010, but in four short years has already expanded into new arenas. A New York stage show debuted on March 1^st, and a Kickstarter is underway for a Kill Shakespeare board game. With a couple of days to go, it’s funded but nearing some stretch goals. I spoke to Anthony (A) and Conor (C) about where the brand has been, where it is now, and where it’s going next.

You said in the Kickstarter video that you came up with the idea for Kill Shakespeare 10 years ago. What has made you pursue this concept so fiercely?

A: I’m so extremely passionate about Kill Shakespeare because to me it’s more than just a concept/comic/game that’s entertaining. There’s something more to it – the ability to make people appreciate more about Shakespeare and his plays, as well as giving people the opportunity to learn something about themselves and humanity through the actions of the characters.

Photo from the Kill Shakespeare stage show in New York.

What was your initial vision for the series?

C: The initial vision ended up being pretty similar to what we have now. We toyed with a couple of other mediums first and we wrote a VERY long first draft of a film that we then analyzed and looked at how we could adapt it in order to tell our story in a 12 part series. Most of our early ideas for Kill Shakespeare ended up in the comics in some form or another – which I think is a testament to how much we thought out the original concept to begin with.

Why did you decide to publish Kill Shakespeare as a comic first?

A: We conceived it originally as a MMO and then a feature film, but we realized that we didn’t have the knowledge or resources to produce our story in those mediums. We then thought about comics and realized that it provided us the best opportunity to tell the story that we wanted to tell. With comics the only thing that limits us is our imagination. If we can imagine a huge pirate battle, we can bring it to life (with the amazing art by Andy Belanger). Also, it’s really cool to bring something normally perceived as high-brow (Shakespeare) to a medium (incorrectly) perceived as low-brow (comics). Is it irony, or destiny…?

Has the visual elements of the comic book series been advantageous towards translating it to other types of media?

C: Oh for sure. Andy Belanger, are artist, has been key to everything we’ve done. One example is that we actually use the existing comic panels as part of the Kill Shakespeare stage show. They are presented on screen and the actors use them to act off of. Hopefully if K.S. becomes a film or television show then we’ll see Andy’s work reflected there too.

Shakespeare material is probably more inclined for the bookstore market than the comics crowd. How are you making Kill Shakespeare visible to them, including the readers who don’t ordinarily peruse the “Comics” section of Barnes & Noble?

A: You’re absolutely right – our biggest market is the bookstore market. The number of collected trade paperbacks we sell far outnumber those of the individual comics. However, we put just as much time in marketing to – and prioritizing – the comics market than the bookstore one. We always make a point to fill each issue with the action elements that the comics market really enjoys – the swashbuckling adventure, the magical elements, the battles. We emphasize that. We attend as many comic-cons as possible (over 20 in 2013) and we heavily ingrain ourselves with retail comic book shops. The comic shops are the lifeblood of this industry and we try to work with them to sell our issues to their fans.

Photo of the prototype of the KILL SHAKESPEARE board game.

How much work has it been overseeing the Kickstarter for the board game? 

C: We’re lucky that IDW is doing the heavy lifting on that one (and doing it well) but we’re still seeing a fair amount of our days consumed with sending emails and reaching out on social media to help spread the word.

What’s surprised you about the crowdfunding experience?

A: How much people look for humour and passion in the projects that they fund. It’s all about the personality. What Kickstarter really does is eliminate the corporate element to projects and give fans/reader/consumers a one-on-one experience with the creators. Most of the time people are funding the people, not the projects, and that’s an amazing revolution in the distribution chain of commerce.

What are some stores we should expect to see the Kill Shakespeare board game in?

C: The board game is going to be distributed far and wide so if you have a local comic shop or indie game store they can get it for you. Of course, you could also support the Kickstarter and get some sweet extras!

Another photo from the game prototype.

Since the start Kill Shakespeare has been with IDW. What makes them a good partner for the franchise?

A: IDW has been great from Day #1. What makes them a great partner are the talented people that work there. Everyone from the business brains that have allowed the company to flourish, to the talented design people there (like Chris Mowry, who oversees the design of all of our issues), it’s a hotbed of talent. They’ve also given us a lot of freedom to discover our story and voice, which has been amazing for us.

How much has the growth of the brand been calculated planning vs. going with the flow?

C: I’d say about 50-50. Anthony and I definitely charted out our strategy and identified where we wanted to take this idea, but as far as when and how things happen – there is always some serendipity there. For example, we didn’t think the stage show would be our second “thing”, but we happened to be in the right place at the right time when the amazing Soulpepper Theatre Company was looking for something funky and Shakespearean for one of their festivals.

Where do you see Kill Shakespeare going next? Where do you hope for it to go next?

A: We’ve got a lot of great things coming up for the brand, from the new comic mini-series The Mask of Night, to a new theatrical concept we’re exploring, to a teacher’s guide, to a television series. Our goal in the comics world is to become the new Fables – a series that’s been going on for over a dozen years and inspired so many creators and readers.

IDW announced a new volume of Kill Shakespeare the comic.

You can play as a number of Shakespearean players in the board game. Who are your players of choice?

C: I’m going to weakly opt out of this question as I haven’t had the chance to play-test the new version to see how each character’s unique attributes will affect my strategy. BUT if I was FORCED to choose I’d say Falstaff. Because then if I get tipsy during game-play I can say I was just trying to stay “in character.”

A: I’m still quite partial to Hamlet. Such a fascinating enigma of a man – it’ll be great to play the game as him for a couple hours and see if it allows me to get deeper into his head.

You can learn more about the series on its official website and visit the board game’s Kickstarter page to support the next phase of Kill Shakespeare.

[Concluding our conversation with IDW publisher Ted Adams, we get into digital, new books for 2014 and IDW's plans for getting into the TV business. Read part one here. ]

THE BEAT: Ted, you were something of a pioneer among comics publishers for going into digital and I quote what you told me when I first asked you about it. You said “I’m just going to do a deal with everybody and see what works,” as opposed to everyone else who was like “Oh I don’t know if we should try this, we don’t know, we don’t know, don’t know.” Your attitude was, let’s give this a shot. I think the first time you gave a figure, you said, oh digital’s 1% of our revenue and our sales. Now I believe it’s 15%?

ADAMS: Yeah, and it’s growing even from there. And obviously I think it’s kind of our strategy in general. We were sort of out front [in digital] before everyone else was there. But my goal as a comic book publisher is to try and get my content in front of as many readers as possible. The best place ultimately for me to have long term readers is the direct market. But I want to try and get the content in front of as many readers as I possibly can, so I felt like digital seemed like a pretty obvious place to get our content in front of people who didn’t know comic books existed. But that’s really our strategy. That’s what drives the Fun Packs, that’s why there’s the toys and Transformers comics, that’s why we’re still agnostic when it comes to E-readers. Every legitimate opportunity that comes by, we’re going to put our content there, with the hope being that we’re going to introduce new readers to comic books and then drive those readers to comic book stores. That’s our path to success.

THE BEAT: Let’s talk a little about the comic shop market because, again, in 15 years, it’s really evolved a lot, even just the makeup of the retailers. I can tell you from personal experience that in the ’90′s when I was working with Friends of Lulu, we went to retailers and said “Why don’t you promote The Simpsons comics? People like The Simpsons.” And this was a very controversial message at that time! But now it’s “Oh My Little Pony! That’s awesome!” Everyone’s feeling pretty good about where it’s at now, but what is the next level for comic shops?

ADAMS: I think that the diversity that we have today is as good as it’s ever been and I think that we want to have content that can appeal to a wide variety of readers and not just one specific reader. The industry for a long time was really good about producing content that was just for one particular kind of reader, but today we have comics for kids. We have people who like super hero books. We have great, smart comic books like Locke and Key if you’re really into that. If you’re interested in the archival side of the business the Library of American Comics and Craig Yoe for us, we’ve got that nailed. The Artist Editions bring in a completely different kind of reader and I think that diversity that you can see in a micro way with IDW—where we have everything from licensed books to creating our own books, archival books, artist editions—that diversity is what we should all aspire to for that success. We don’t want to limit ourselves to just a small percentage of readers. We want to try to appeal to as big a percentage of readers as we possibly can.

THE BEAT: Talking about expanding the market place, you also have launched a TV division?

ADAMS: Yeah, so we started IDW Entertainment towards the end of last year, last September, October. The goal of that division is that I was frustrated by the way the traditional Hollywood system works where you have a property and then you option it to a studio and you are removed from the process in every way. For us probably the most frustrating experience was actually Locke and Key where we had a deal done and the pilot got shot and it was actually a pretty good pilot and ultimately they did not set it up to go to series. We of course, weren’t involved in any of that decision making. Creatively we were a little bit involved. They certainly were soliciting input from the creators. But from a business stand point we weren’t involved at all because why would we be? We’re not the network, we don’t have any say in any of that. [Locke and Key was eventually passed on as a series.] What we decided to do was actually, to put our own money into the game, which of course, then gives you the control. What we’re doing is actually financing pilot scripts and series outlines ourselves so that instead of going and saying we’re going to shop you the property, we’re shopping you the entertainment.

Once we have a pilot script and a series bible we want to proceed with, we’re not going to a network and saying “We’re selling it to you.” What we’re saying is “We’re going to give you specific distribution rights for this content.” So in the case of one of our properties, we’ll go to a US network and say you can have domestic distribution for this property. Then we’ll go out and sell the rest of the world the same content. Essentially we’re going to go and actually produce the shows ourselves and sell off specific pieces of the rights to be able to finance that show. Then whatever the gap is on that production budget, we’re actually going to finance ourselves. So we’re going to own the show [we’re creating] and we’re going to finance the actual show. It’s a different way—this has been done in a big way for features, but as far as TV, there’s not to my knowledge anybody doing it specifically the way that we’re doing it. And so it’s a pretty revolutionary way of looking at it. The response so far has been great. Certainly the creative community is excited because now there’s a new buyer for scripts and somebody that’s willing to pay. And then from a distribution standpoint, we’re taking the financial risk. So if you’re a US network and we come to you and we say hey, we’re taking the majority of the risk here, it’s a good opportunity for them as well.

THE BEAT: Also, there are so many different channels and delivery methods now for TV.

ADAMS: Right, and that’s the whole reason we’re doing it. Many times even when we call it a TV show, you’re not watching it on your TV.

THE BEAT: Right, Amazon streaming series, blah blah.

ADAMS: Absolutely. There’s so many places that are interested in this kind of content. That’s really who we’re looking to have as our distribution partners, really not those traditional networks. For some of the things we are doing, we would look to traditional networks, but certainly we’re looking at way beyond that at this point. We’re still in very much the early days of getting this worked out. We’ve actually got a writer working on our first pilot script, we just finalized the deal with him. We’ve got two more where we’ve come to terms with the writer and several of those deals should get wrapped up in the next couple of weeks. This is very much a long term plan for us. One of the things that I love about publishing is that we can have an idea for a book and six months later or nine months later, it could be in the market. That’s certainly not going to be the case for IDW Entertainment. This is a long term play for the company that we’ll be looking at, best case scenario, probably end of this year or middle of next year we’ll be able to have our first show up and running.

THE BEAT: Now, you talk about developing properties and obviously Locke and Key is an example of a new series that was excellent and the readership reflected that excellence. But, it’s a little trickier obviously, selling a new property.

ADAMS: Yeah certainly, one of the things I’m proud of is that we, Locke and Key is a great book and it’s unarguably just a terrific book Joe [Hill] and Gabe [Rodriguez] are amazing creators. But, part of the reason that book was successful was because of the way we got behind it. We promoted that book every way possible and every opportunity possible. I think that was a really solid combination of a publisher that got behind a book and two creators who were working at the absolute top of their game, and it was successful of course for all of us. The last volume was the New York Times best seller for the last two weeks and I expect to be selling those books for the rest of my life.

V Wars, cover by Ryan Brown 

The creator-owned side of the business is a very important part of our business. This year we have four books that were launched that I think all have a chance to be big hits for us. The first one is V Wars which is by Jonathan Maberry and Alan Robinson. We actually did a Free Comic Book Day book for V Wars. It spins out of a series of prose novels that we’re doing that were edited by Maberry. It’s a terrific comic and the orders for the FCBD edition were great, way more than I expected. So it’s been in a big launch there.

WinterWorld cover by Butch Guice

We’re following that up with WinterWorld, which is a book that Chuck Dixon published with [Jorge] Zaffino with Epic back in the 80′s and we republished it. It’s a hard cover, one of my favorite things that we’ve ever done. And Chuck is now doing a new WinterWorld series with Butch Guice doing art, and it’s just flat out beautiful. It’s really an extraordinary comic.

Ragnarok pencils by Walter Simonson

And then after that we’re doing Ragnarok by Walt Simonson which is something that we’ve had in the works for a long time. I grew up reading Walt’s Thor comics and the pages that I’ve seen from Ragnarok are just, they’re just beautiful. It’s just going to blow people away.

THE BEAT: That’s kind of a no brainer right there.

Little Nemo cover by Eric Shanower

ADAMS: We’re releasing one new series per month starting in May and the last one is Little Nemo in Slumberland which is written by Eric Shanower, and drawn by Gabriel Rodriguez of Locke and Key. I feel like I’m a broken record here, but Gabe’s art on this book is unbelievably beautiful. So it’s these four books and we’ve got lots of other great books, but those four launching May, June, July and August are going to be amongst the best books that are being published this year.

So those are things that we’re passionate about and that we’re supporting in a big way starting with the V Wars for FCBD. We’re going to get behind these books in a big way. One of the things that we’re announcing today at ComicsPRO is that we’re going to create marketing collateral packages for the direct market. So these are going to be catalogues that stores can give away, they’re going to be window clings, posters—basically what we’re going to try to do is give the direct market the information they need to be able to sell these books to their customers. So instead of just taking the Previews and and letting that be the only communication that happens from a retailer to their customer, we’re going to give them information they need and marketing collateral they need to build to help sell these books.

THE BEAT: Looking towards the future, obviously there’s this whole Tumblr culture of comics now, there’s webcomics, there’s the Reddit culture of comics. I don’t know if you’re aware, but I’ve been having Brett Schenker. who does demographic research on Facebook, write about comics. And he came up with something like 24 million people have liked comic-related terms on Facebook. Obviously there is a larger audience or at least a comics-aware audience, that’s a pretty big universe, but it does seem like it’s developing. It’s spinning out into all these unexpected areas. For all media now it’s really like, oh my god there’s so many channels, there’s so many ways to do things. How do you as a publisher look at this kind of Wild West situation that we have now?

ADAMS: I love those articles that you post, because it reinforces what I keep trying to say over and over and over which is that all of us it’s just tapping a small percentage of the potential of this audience. The potential audience is gigantic and it’s on us to figure out ways to provide our content in a way that can reach those people. And so for us it’s the Ebook business, it’s the Fun Packs, it’s the comics and the toys. But as far as Tumblr culture and all those kinds of places, I mean, honestly, we’re all still figuring it out, I think. Clearly every publisher at this point has a good Facebook page and has somebody that’s in social media, if you don’t have a social media marketing person at this point then you’re sort of hopeless.

But there’s so much more than just that. And I certainly don’t have the answer on how do we convert those 24 million people into customers. That should be a goal for all of us, but you said it was the Wild West and I think that’s exactly right. Anybody who’s a comic book publisher should get up every day and think, how do I reach those people? How do I convince those people to buy my content?

THE BEAT: Just a couple more things I wanted your perspective on. Comic Book convention culture is huge right now. I know IDW is very selective about the shows you go to. How do you view that? Is it something that you think is expanding for publishers? I’ve heard other people say that publishers are really getting burnt out on all these conventions.

ADAMS: I’ve always personally struggled with the conventions because they are so disruptive to our core business. I’ve toyed with the idea the last couple of years of hiring a couple of people that would, essentially, just attend conventions for IDW and I’m still toying with that idea. We have increased the number of conventions that we attend over the last couple of years, but we’re still probably looking at six or seven conventions this year. We do some of the targeted conventions, such as a Transformers convention called BotCon that we go to; and there’s one for G.I Joe as well, and we’ve actually have had great success converting new readers at BotCon. Those are the hardest of the hardcore Transformer fans, but even with those guys sometimes they don’t know the comics exist. We had really good success converting people from those shows. At the other conventions…I don’t know, Heidi. I see this huge expansion of the number of conventions and the reality is we’re going to always have to be selective because there’s no way we could come even close to attending them all. But it is something, frankly, that we could do more with and we could do a little better. I think that we’ve gotten very dialed in on how to manage San Diego and that was something that I struggled with for a long time, but I feel like we really have got that convention nailed down in large measure thanks to Dirk Wood who joined us four years ago. But as far as our bigger convention strategy, it’s something that I’m still thinking about.

THE BEAT: So looking to the next 15 years, what’s the one thing that you haven’t done that you really want to do, Ted?

ADAMS: Let’s see. I’m going to publish an adaptation of Hunter Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas—that’s a personal goal of mine that I’m looking forward to accomplishing. As far as the business, for me it’s, and again I’m a broken record, but I want to expand the number of people who read our books. So I feel like I haven’t even come close to accomplishing that goal and I feel with the Fun Packs in particular, that we are right on the cusp of going from half a million copies to 5 million copies. And not in an artificial way, like the heyday of the direct market when people were buying 50 copies each. I think that we can go from 500,000 Fun Packs to 5 million Fun Packs with unique readers for those, and not people who are buying them because they think they’re going to sell them in 3 years. But that’s just one example of what my goal would be for the next 15 years. I don’t want to just double the number of people who are reading our comics, I want to have a multiple of that number of people reading our comics.

[IDW publisher Ted Adams is one of the most personable executives in the industry, and one of the most forward looking when it comes to expanding to new markets. As IDW celebrates its 15th anniversary, we chatted with Adams about the structure of the company, his background and how IDW has explored new outlets and products including digital, mass market and merchandising. One of IDW's biggest recent success stories in their "Micro Fun Packs"�little goodie bags sold at mass market checkout areas which include a mini comics, stickers, foldout posters, and POG-like collectibles—an unusual move into merchandising for a comics publisher but one he thinks will drive readers back to comics shops. IDW's successes also includes creator owned books like 30 Days of Night and Locke and Key and one of the industry's best archival programs with the Library of American Comics and Yoe Books. Given his background in the maw of the "indie comics era" working at Eclispe, Dark Horse and Image, Adams has been able to put what he calls his entrepreneurial spirit to work on taking advantage of the expanding audience for comics. And he's not done yet. Many thank to IDW's Rosalind Morehead for setting up this interview.]

THE BEAT: Since we’re doing a 15-anniversary look back, I wanted to ask you if you if you could lay out kind of the structure of IDW. I know that you started it with some partners and then IDT came in as investor — can you just talk about who’s still involved and what their roles are?

ADAMS: Yeah absolutely. I started IDW with three other guys in 1999 and when we organized the business we each owned essentially 25% of the business. So there were four of us who owned 25% and that continued on for quite some time. In the early days of the business actually we weren’t a comic book publisher, we were just a creative service company that was doing art and design for a variety of entertainment companies. And so for the first probably 3 or 4 years of IDW it was just the four of us and a handful of employees. We really started with an art book by Ash Wood and that led us to doing 30 Days of Night and CSI comic books. That was around 2001-02 was when we were first starting to publish comic books. But it wasn’t really until probably 2004, 2005 when our publishing business started taking off, around the time we picked up the Transformers license, and really started to expand our publishing business. (Editor-in-chief) Chris Ryall came in and really helped us build that business. IDW was transitioning from a creative service company to a publishing company probably around 2004 -06 Two of the partners, Alex Garner and Kris Oprisko I think frankly weren’t all that interested in being involved in the publishing business; the business was growing quite a bit and they had other things that they wanted to do. So we decided to figure out a way for them to sell what they owned in the business so they could move on to other things. We met the folks at IDT [a telecommunications company that owns such hings as tghe ringtones portal Zedge] and at that time we sold them half of the business. Over time they brought out Kris Oprisko completely. So IDT owned 75%, and Robbie Roberts and I owned 25%.

THE BEAT: Right, but IDT seems to be very much a silent partner at this point?

ADAMS: Very much silent, yes. They’re very happy with the success that we’ve had and certainly we’ve had tremendous growth, sort of unbelievable growth since they bought out the other partners. Certainly they’re there if we need advice or we’re looking for their opinion on something, they’re certainly there to give us a hand. But they don’t know the comic book business or the publishing business and they allow us to be the experts that we are.

THE BEAT: Well, that’s a pretty good deal.

ADAMS: Yeah, it’s been really nice.

THE BEAT: I was going to ask you, in 1999, I know you started as a packaging company, but that was really the darkest days of the comics industry, in the post newsstand era.

ADAMS: Well yeah. To be perfectly honest, I was really burnt out on comics. I started at Eclipse and I worked for Dark Horse, I worked for WildStorm and then when we were starting IDW I was working for Todd McFarlane running his comics line and I was unbelievably burnt out on comics. So when I put together the business plan for IDW it actually, specifically called out that we wouldn’t publish comics. [Laugher] The industry was kind of in a low spot, I was really burnt out on doing it and so it’s funny that here we are today. But the reason that we didn’t want to become one wasn’t necessarily because the market was in a lull, it was more just my personal passion was at a low peak at that point.

THE BEAT: But, I think you were feeling what a lot of people were feeling at that point. I think sales had fallen it was either ’98 or ’99 when the best selling comic was 75,000 copies. I think a lot of people were just like, wow, we built this direct market and this is the best it can do?

ADAMS: You’re right, I mean it was just such a—from the peak to the valley was such an extreme. You know, when I was working at WildStorm—and I wasn’t at WildStorm in the earliest days—but even when I was there comics were still selling 400,000, 500,000 copies and certainly anything under 100,000 was seen just as an abject failure. And to go from that to having the best comic be 75,000 was you know, the extreme was unbelievable.

THE BEAT: Working for Eclipse, Dark Horse, WildStorm, among all comic publishers you have this background where you must have seen a lot of things that worked and a lot of things that didn’t work in those times.

ADAMS: Yeah, and I think I’ve always been entrepreneurially focused and I always knew I was going to own my own business. And so my education, both my undergraduate degree and my graduate degree, are both in business and so I knew I was going to eventually own my own business. I didn’t necessarily know I was going to own a comic book business. But, when I was working for all those various publishers they were all really entrepreneurially driven as well. If you look at Eclipse and what Cat [Yronwode] and Dean [Mullaney] were doing, those were really revolutionary publishers and their entrepreneurial approach to comics I really learned a lot from them. Mike Richardson, in the same way. I’ve never met anybody who has a bigger vision than Richardson. I mean he’s always is shooting for the stars and often accomplishes it. And Jim Lee and John Nee at WildStorm, those guys were a duo that I don’t know I’ll ever see again. Jim, you still see it with DC, his ability to recognize what the market wants and the way to get the market excited. I don’t think there’s anybody else who has that clear sense of what works in the direct market the way that Jim Lee does. And John was able to execute his ideas perfectly. And certainly Todd knows exactly what he’s going to do and nobody’s going to get in his way and, God bless him, he’s had great success. I tried to learn from those guys and figure out what I thought worked and didn’t work and sort of apply that to IDW. Particularly as we’ve grown, I’ve tried to recognize the things that I thought had worked at the various companies where I’ve been and apply those, and the things that didn’t work, I’ve tried not to do.

THE BEAT: That must have been a great education.

ADAMS: It is yeah. I had my sort of traditional college education but then my work education and I am created to be a comic book publisher, there’s no question.

THE BEAT: Well, that said, with your own personal interest in the comics business at a lower ebb one day you turned around and suddenly you’re like, you know what? I think publishing comics was actually a good idea. [laughter] What was that moment?

ADAMS: Honestly, publishing is exciting. I’ve loved books my entire life. Not just comics, but all books. And so I’m just a reader. I read all the time, that’s what I do for entertainment and again not just comics, but I read everything, lots of fiction, lots of nonfiction, I read comics. The thing I like most in life is reading. Being a publisher and being able to hold the book that you brought into the world, that feeling is hard to describe to somebody who is not that passionate about reading. And so for me when we did our very first book, which was Uno Fanta with Ashley Wood, I was crazy proud to have published that book! I can’t even tell you. I’d had my name on, at that point, thousands of comics and books through my various jobs, but having brought a book to the world that didn’t exist before was the sort of high that I hadn’t experienced before. There was almost no money to be made with that book, certainly in the early days of IDW, but that ability to bring a book to market was just something that—it was truly like a drug to me. And I still feel that way! Our printer brings us advanced copies every Thursday and no matter what I’m doing I drop it and go and get the pack that we just published and I sit there and I go through them all. I see things that I like and things that I don’t like about them. But, that high from being able to look at those books and say if I didn’t exist these books likely would not be here, that’s a really good feeling.

THE BEAT: When you got back into the game with IDW, as I said it was at a low ebb but now I think we’re at what nearly everybody agrees is a golden age. Whether it’s the new material or the archival material. You guys are doing some absolutely ground breaking dream projects, between the archive editions and Library of American Comics. What do you think got us from the dark period to the golden age? Are there any key factors that you can identify?

ADAMS: I think the key factor is that the quality of the material got better. I think when we were at our lull the industry was also at a creative lull and I think that the industry has really raised its game from a creative standpoint. We’ve done that as well. When we were first starting to publish comics books, they frankly weren’t as good as the books that we’re doing today.

If you look at the licensed books that we did when we first got into the game versus the licensed books that we do today, they just weren’t as good. And there’s that stigma that’s associated with a licensed book that I’ve never really understood. I think it’s starting to go away. Our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles book is regularly on weekly Best Of lists. It was on a bunch of end of the year Best Of lists. The Godzilla book that we did with James Stokoe was critically acclaimed; the Transformers book that James Roberts writes for us is well received not just by people who like Transformers, but people who like well written comic books. And certainly if you look to our creator owned things like Locke and Key and the books that we’ve done with Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith and Ash Wood—those are all really good comics. We got past that stage where the one thing that was driving the sales was gimmicks and it got to a stage where people were buying books because they were actually reading these books and enjoying the books.

THE BEAT: I guess in a way it’s kind of like everybody had to go through that crucible. People who stuck with comics, certainly it wasn’t easy money at all, it was a struggle. I think it was just the love of it that people stuck with and I think that kind of reignited the passion and the quality that you’re talking about.

ADAMS: Yeah, I think also the expansion of the direct market—I’ve been out there saying this for a long time but I really believe it to be true—what happened with the Ebook versions of comic books was unique in that it actually expanded the audience for those books in a way where people were seeking out the physical books. That certainly wasn’t the case for your local newspaper or for magazines or even for traditional print books, but comic books I think what happened there is that they’ve introduced comic books to people who didn’t know they existed and so some of them people then searched out the physical books in the direct market. I think it also reengaged people who had lapsed from the hobby. So you know if you look at, as you’re saying, ’99 where we were kind of in a lull, lots of people three years before in ’95, ’96 when there were lots of people reading comics, they all went away. Ebooks reengaged a lot of those people and brought them back into the market.

One of the things that I’ve been talking about, that I’m really passionate about is trying to figure out ways to introduce comic books to new readers and then redirect those readers into the direct market. Most of us figured out comic books, we got it at our 7/11 or our newsstand and eventually fell in love with the medium and we became direct market customers. And I think at IDW we’re very unique sin being able to expand the market in that way. We’ve been doing things like the Micro Fun Packs which are miniature comic books. We had really broad distribution of the Fun Packs so they were at every mass retailer—WalMart, Target, Toys R Us—and our sell-through was crazy. On the first Fun Packs our sell-through averaged about 60% at mass which is unheard of for any product. It’s an extraordinary sell-through. And that Fun Pack has marketing collateral to back, it drives people to the direct market. So if you’re a mom and you picked up these Fun Packs to put in your kids stocking for Christmas and the kid likes it, they’re not going to go back and get more fun packs, the only place really to get that content is through the direct market and our marketing collateral in there is very clear about that.

We also have comic books in the Transformers toys and it’s the same thing there. If you like that comic book, you got the Transformers toy as a gift for Christmas, you didn’t expect to get the comic book, it’s just a freebie in there. You read it, you liked it, the back of that comic book completely drives you to the direct market. If we’ve done our job right it very clearly explains to you, should you like this comic book, here’s the next thing to buy and here’s the place to buy it. We’re really focused on trying to expand the direct market in that way. I read the thing that Eric Stephenson said at ComicsPRO today and obviously, for whatever reason, he decided to take pot shots at us, but Eric seems to think that you can only expand the market by publishing books that Image publishes and that’s a really narrow minded way to look at it.

THE BEAT: Well that’s his method, to be fair.

ADAMS: Right, and what he did has expanded the market, no question, but Image Comics is not the only way to expand the market, clearly we’re out there doing our part as well. I’ve spoken to I can’t even tell you how many comic shops at this point and been in lots of comic shops all over the country and My Little Pony has brought lots of new readers into comic stores. And the stores that have embraced My Little Pony have found a nice new audience for themselves in the same way that I grew up when I was reading comic books. I started with Spider-Man and very traditional Marvel comics and then moved on to Eclipse and Dark Horse.That should be our goal. We want to get people reading comic books first of all and then of course they’re going to expand as they grow and age and their interests change, they’re going to try different things and sample different things. But it’s really narrow minded to say that the only way to expand the market is with Image Comics.

THE BEAT: Let me ask you about going into mass market, Target, WalMart, Kmart—some of them are barely even mass anymore actually—but you must have heard, as I have things like the key to saving comics might be this, like getting in to record stores or bookstores and getting into Target and WalMart. “Oh if we can only get in to mass!” But it isn’t that simple, is it? What have your experiences been?

ADAMS: What we’re doing with the Fun Packs is so unique because we’re not trying to sell that product where books are being sold. Because the truth is, the kids aren’t going into the bookstore section at Target. No 10-year-old is going and hanging out in the bookstore section at Target! But they are hanging out in the trading card and tchotchke section at the front of the store. It’s clearly aimed at kids. And so that’s why our contact product is so clearly defined to be able to reside in that space and be something that looks like it fits in that space, so that a kid who’s going to go and get a My Little Pony trading card pack might decide oh I’m going to try the comic fun pack instead. That’s our whole goal there. I agree with you completely that the dream of finding new readers by selling graphic novels in the book section at Target is a false hope—it just doesn’t work. But what we’re seeing with Fun Packs is working.

The other place that I think is a great feeder system for comics but doesn’t get talked about much is the Scholastic book fairs and book clubs. We’ve had tremendous success with them over the years, most recently in the current Scholastic catalogue there are three IDW products, My Little Pony, Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. One each of those books in the current catalogue. I just got the sell through on those and it’s also extraordinary, it’s through the roof. And it’s the same thing, if a kid gets a Transformers graphic novel through this Scholastic book club and likes it he’s not getting anymore through the book club. The only place for him to go is either to his Ebook device or the direct market. And I think that there’s no question that that has to be a good feeder system for comic shops.

THE BEAT: Can you give us any numbers on the sell through of these? Because I totally agree with you. Scholastic book fairs are kind of another holy grail actually, but they’re a holy grail that seems to work.

ADAMS: Oh it actually worked. We’ve been selling to them for years.

THE BEAT: That’s what I like about you Ted, you’ll give us an actual number!

ADAMS: They’re actually looking to be completely sold out by summer. So you’re talking about virtually 100% sell through in significant six figure quantities for all three of those books.

THE BEAT: There’s my headlines for this interview! I was just looking at the BookScan end of year came out and Brian Hibbs had his analysis of it. It’s amazing that even with all the difficulties of book publishing, that this market is still growing is incredible.

ADAMS: BookScan is weird because I’ve never been able to wrap my head around BookScan to be honest with you. Anytime we’ve done a BookScan on one of our books it just doesn’t reflect reality, not even close to reality. It’s so off that I’m just not sure, I don’t know where they’re sourcing information. So I stopped giving any credence to BookScan years and years and years ago. I know what our sell through is and then I can look at the BookScan and they just don’t match up at all.

THE BEAT: Interesting. I always say in places that report to BookScan this is what sold, but this is not what sold everywhere. But talking about the Scholastic numbers, I think it’s important for people to know that you could sell six figures of a graphic novel if it’s the right material and it’s in front of the audience that it’s aimed at, especially kids.

ADAMS: Even the Fun Packs are in the hundreds of thousands [of units.]

THE BEAT: Whoa.

ADAMS: Those are real big numbers. I would guess the month that we released the Fun Packs that we outsold whatever the best selling direct market comic books significantly—I wouldn’t be surprised if it was probably 2 to 1.

[In part two, more on digital and what's coming up for IDW in 2014.]

Walt Simonson’s new book from IDW is coming out this summer and the pitch is as simple as it is irresistible. It’s called Ragnarök, and it is Simonson’s take on the original Norse Mythology. Considering what he did with this raw material in his beloved run on Thor, this should be a treat.

And here’s a preview of a pencilled page from FB.

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As I suggested in my early con impressions, WonderCon had a reasonable amount of space and handled the numbers of attendees pretty well. It was no surprise that Saturday brought bigger numbers than Friday, and the crowding was more obvious, but still never reached that feeling of pushing and shoving that can easily erupt at crowded cons. The floor occasionally got backed up, particularly around the constantly slammed DC Comics booth, where big names like Scott Snyder appeared frequently for signings and the DC booth’s location, at the very front of the con entrance, contributed to some difficulty getting onto the floor. I noticed that the retail side of things was fairly busy, too, with some crowding and difficulty navigating, suggesting that plenty of fans were there to buy back issues and memorabilia, as well. The artists alley at WonderCon was a little on the scanty side in terms of size and numbers of tables, but those artists who were present were very engaging and passionate about their work. They seemed to have regular followers who were coming in to buy their artwork and there was a strong representation of the fine art side of fantasy prints and original work, as well as handmade arts and crafts.

Open areas like the food court and outside atrium were a welcome oasis, but it also continued to be easy to exit the con into the outdoor plaza areas for a rest and there was no difficulty with re-entry. Though the floor only allowed a couple of doors for access, the many exterior doors were open for comings and goings, with several food trucks outside, far enough from the entrance not to cause back ups. One other surprise was that Sunday seemed just as busy as Saturday, as I heard retailers commenting. They were turning over sales at just as high a rate that day. This feeling may be due to the fact that there were slightly fewer panels on Sunday, making the floor more of a feature, or simply that people waited to do their shopping on the floor on Sunday. When I stumbled into the Arena, a venue I hadn’t seen before, I was impressed with the numbers it could hold, and also that it was completely full for a Joss Whedon Shakespeare film adaptation event. This suggested to me that the con was handling numbers well, since I generally had no idea that so many people were even at the con on top of the numbers moving in the open spaces of the con. It was Easter Sunday the last day of the con, and it closed a little early, at 5PM, perhaps for this reason, but fans still had a sense that they would have been happy for the con to go on a little longer, a good sign regarding WonderCon’s appeal.

One final follow up: I suggested initially in my coverage that people might find WonderCon in Anaheim appealing due to Disneyland access, and that this would appeal to people will kids particularly. Though this turned out to be true, I also underestimated the appeal of Disneyland to singles and younger congoers. I went to Disneyland the following Monday and found that quite a number of WonderCon attendees were there too, from a younger demographic than I expected. You could tell from their conversations and generally less pastel clothing what guests were in town for the con, and I’d say about 1 in 10 were from the con in the massive crowds Disney drew on that post-Easter day.

Final thoughts: it was a well run and appealing con, offering plenty of choice in terms of panels, keeping up with what’s going on in comics and pop culture right now. Marvel were a little under represented, though Dan Slott was participating in panels, and several pros who were there for DC panels were formal Marvel people. Marvel didn’t have a booth on the floor, driving up the demand for DC variants and signings, which they happily accommodated. I was also impressed by the energetic presence of the mid-sized presses like Dark Horse, Archaia, Image, IDW, and ComiXology, for taking the opportunity to flourish and interact with fans when given a little more space to do so. The mid-sized presses really shone in their engagement with fans on the floor, their foresight in bringing new and upcoming books to purchase and get a sneak-peak at, and also through their involvement on panels. This gave the general impression that mid-sized presses are on the rise and taking on the role, collectively, as contenders for the Big Two. Good for them!

Whether WonderCon is in Anaheim again or back in San Francisco in the future, the planning and structure of the con should continue to hold up to make it a comfortable as well as enjoyable, exciting event for fans. This won’t be one of the cons where you have to sacrifice personal amenities just to see your favorite artists speak or get the variant your collection is calling for. They have a sense of putting the customer first at WonderCon and let’s hope that continues; it sets a good model for the growing con industry, and there are some bigger cons who could learn a thing or two from this.

Without further ado, some highlights of the con in photos from my trusty partner in crime Michele Brittany who proved her moxie as a pop culture photographer at WonderCon 2013 in spades. Thanks Michele!

Photo Credits: All photos in this article were taken by semi-professional photographer and pop culture scholar Michele Brittany. She’s an avid photographer of pop culture events. You can learn more about her photography and pop culture scholarship here.

Hannah Means-Shannon writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress.

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Later this year IDW will be publishing Half Past Danger, a new series written, drawn, and created by Stephen Mooney. After working as artist on several IDW titles including Star Trek and Angel for the last few years, Mooney decided it was time to set up a creator-owned project, which he’d have full control over. In order to do so, he had to set aside a year in which he scripted, designed, pencilled, inked, coloured and lettered the project – six months in which he wasn’t earning money from any other gigs. It was quite the risk, taking himself out of the comics scene for a year in order to focus on a comic he had no idea would ever see the light of day.

However! The good news is that IDW decided to pick up the book, starting with issue #1 this May – preorderable now! I spoke to Stephen about making the leap into creator-owned work, the inspiration for Half Past Danger, and how the experience has been.

Steve: Half Past Danger is dedicated to your father, “who took me to the movies”. What kind of films would you go see? Were there any in particular which served as inspiration for Half Past Danger?

Stephen: Oh wow, yeah. Loads! The first film I can remember my dad taking my brothers and I to see was E.T. in the Savoy cinema in Dublin in 1982, when I was five years old. Still my favourite cinema to this day. I can remember it like it was yesterday; its one of my first real memories. The whole experience made such a huge indelible dent on my psyche, in so many ways. The bustling anticipatory atmosphere of the jam-packed theatre, the crowd reactions as the movie ebbed and lowed. I was absolutely hooked. It also started my love affair with Spielberg’s eighties ouevre. Films that followed included The Return of The Jedi, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, The Goonies, Back To The Future, Big Trouble In Little China, Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, and many, many more.

The most obvious influences on Half Past Danger filmically-speaking are undoubtedly the first three Indiana Jones movies. They really colour and inform my entire storytelling style. That bang-zip-wallop rapid-fire action beats-ridden kind of a narrative, with a few gags interspersed. Half Past Danger aspires to be that style of tale. Strong influences also would be the very early Connery Bond films, and pulpy matinee-style fare like The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Then of course you have the classic Harryhausen dino movies. Great stuff, all.

Steve: How did the story of Half Past Danger start to come together? When did you first have the idea for it?

Stephen: The idea has been in my mind in some shape or form for years now, in that I’ve always known that if and when I ever attempted a story of my own that it would be 100% mired in that kind of pulpy action-adventure style, simply because that’s the genre I feel most comfortable in, and know so well. I always knew also that I’d want the main character to be an Irishman, since that’s the one thing I’ve been all my life, and nobody could tell the story of that particular character better than me, to my mind. I guess somewhat inevitably I injected much of my own personality and traits into a somewhat idealised version of myself, and placed him squarely into this scenario I’d begun to dream up. Hell, the guy even looks like me. If that’s not vanity wit large, I dunno what is.

The story came together over the last couple of years, I knew the high concept from the start, Nazis versus dinosaurs, but I wanted to really take my time and write something that hadn’t specifically been seen before, since as everybody knows, a lot of these themes have been done before on many occasions. The real trick is to give readers something they haven’t experienced as of yet, and I didn’t want to press too far ahead until I was sure I’d come up with a new spin on what in some ways could be seen as an old tale.

Once I figured out the main wheres, whys and whats, the rest came fairly rapidly.

Steve: This is your first creator-owned work – how did you decide that Half Past Danger was the right project to get off the ground?

Stephen: Well, it’s the only project that I’ve ever completely fleshed out, to be honest. I had this one idea that I thought was really strong, and it was bang in the middle of my wheelhouse, or more specifically what I wanted my wheelhouse to be, so I ran with it. To be honest I didn’t question it too much. Do I have other ideas? Yeah, but they all revolve around this universe! I guess I just had a single, enormous itch I needed to scratch for the time being, and I’ll see where I go from there.

Steve: You’ve said that you took six months off to focus on this project, writing, drawing, inking, colouring, lettering…. Where did you start with the project?

Stephen: With the writing. I didn’t put pencil to paper drawing-wise until the full series was totally written and put to bed. Then pencilling, inking, coloring, lettering, in that order. Then back to the start again for issue 2 and go again; rinse and repeat.

Steve: Did you work issue-by issue on the story, or plot out an entirety and then start filling it in? How did you approach the story once you had the concept locked down, in essence.

Stephen: I worked out the entire plot first. I’d be terrified to embark on a story without knowing how it was going to end. To be honest, I’d probably never GET to the end in that scenario, I’d just circle the drain narratively until I eventually flushed the project. In order to commit myself to this massive body of work, I had to make sure everything was utterly and clearly signposted. Otherwise I wouldn’t be able to visualize my goal, and I’d be second-guessing myself all the while. Because the writing was the only element that I’d never approached before, I wanted to give it all of the respect it deserved, and to take the time to get it done right. Or, at least as right as I could get it!

Steve: How long has each issue taken you to complete? Did you find yourself surprised by how difficult certain aspects of the process were?

Stephen: Man, too long! The writing took about 2 months all-in, including research. That was fine. It was when I got stuck into the art side of things that I began to get bogged down a little. One of my dreams for the book was to do absolutely everything myself; complete creator control. That proved to be somewhat of a pipe dream in a way, though. The first issue of the book took me four months to pencil, ink, colour and letter. That was just unsustainable, the book would take another two years at that rate, and I was already six months in. Hence the addition of Jordie Bellaire as series colorist from issue 2 onward.

Something had to give, and of all of the aspects visually, I was spending the most time on the colours, which was crazy. Jordie is a very close friend, and when she saw me floundering she offered to dive in and help me out. She’s an amazing colorist, and a big fan of a lot of the same source material as I am, so it was a pretty seamless transition really. It also doesn’t hurt that Jordie’s a phenomenally talented colorist, in constant demand at all the biggest companies. I’m certainly beyond delighted that she chose to climb aboard.

With Jordie alongside, I’ve been spending two months a piece on the subsequent issues, almost all of that time spent drawing and inking the 26-odd pages per issue, then a couple of days of lettering at the end.

Steve: I was really struck with a blog post you wrote about the role of writing and art in comics - http://www.halfpastdanger.com/2011/10/writing-vs-art-this-time-its-personal.html . Now you’re further into the story, how have you found the balance between writing an issue and drawing it?

Stephen: It’s very hard for me to separate the two, if I’m being honest. In this instance, it’s all just the story. When I was writing it, I knew exactly how every beat and scene would look on the page (or at least how I’d like it to look), and now that I’m drawing it, I almost know off by heart the entire story and script, so it all just flows onto the page. Again, it’s all just utmost inseparable elements of the story, for me. The script is more a broad outline with fairly tight dialogue than anything. Stage directions.

Steve: I’ve read the first issue of the series, and really enjoyed the central character, Tommy Flynn. Did you find the design process easier for a character you created, and would be writing yourself? Has it been easy translating your ideas to the page, rather than interpreting an established work, as you’ve done before for IDW?

Stephen: Yeah, I think it has. I wouldn’t say easy, but I certainly haven’t had to wrestle it into submission or anything like that. Probably because the main character is a bit of a cypher, in that he acts and reacts pretty much the way I would assuming I were a lot braver and a tad more selfless. Working with the established characters, like say Angel or Spike wasn’t that difficult either though, in terms of working what was written on the page, because I had such bloody good writers whom I trusted implicitly. I’ve been very lucky that way. I’ve never had trouble portraying any given character on the page, the acting and character beats are one of the very few aspects of the drawing that come totally naturally to me.

Steve: With more control over the final product, have you noticed yourself experimenting more with pacing and panel layout?

Stephen: Oh god, yeah. WAY more. I’m very respectful of a given writer’s script when I get it on a work-for-hire job, I’m loathe to mess with what they’ve asked for in their direction. They spent time working that stuff out, so I stick pretty religiously to it when at all possible, even when I might disagree on the shots called for. Or maybe there might be a crazy talking order or something going on that just isn’t feasible without the addition of an extra panel or the use of a slightly different angle. Perhaps I should go more with my own gut, I don’t know. Usually I just want to make the writer happy. If there’s leeway there, I’ll certainly take it. This kind of touches on that article on the Half Past Danger process blog that you mentioned in one of the earlier questions.

On my own book, I’m much freer to go with my initial instincts, storytelling-wise. It’s one of the most satisfying elements of the whole venture, and one of the reasons I actually wanted to attempt it. I think one of the reasons that people seem to be responding to how ‘cinematic’ the storytelling is, is because that’s my natural modus operandi, and my default setting.

Steve: How has the experience of working on a creator-owned project been for you?

Stephen: Absolutely wonderful, so far. Dizzying highs, terrifying lows, creamy centres. It’s as hard as I’ve ever worked, and in even more of a vacuum than before. It’s incredibly scary and daunting, because at the end of the day, for better or for worse, it’s all me on the page; nobody to hide behind. But at the same time, that’s pretty much the most incredible aspect. Where else can a sole creator be responsible for almost every aspect of production? Film? Animation? It just doesn’t happen, and that’s one of the reasons I love comic books so much.

Steve: Do you see yourself doing more creator-owned work in future, or are you looking to alternate with some more work-for-hire projects?

Stephen: In a perfect world, I’d love to do further HPD series every year or two in the Hellboy model, with the odd work-for-hire gig interspersed between. But obviously, that all depends on how the first series is received. I’ll certainly stick around for as long as Chris Ryall and the amazing guys at IDW will have me, I genuinely don’t think that there’s a better home for Half Past Danger.

Steve: Jordie Bellaire will be coming on as colourist as of issue 2, as you’ve mentioned, whilst I believe Declan Shalvey will be drawing a backup strip for each issue. There seems to be quite a growing community of comics creators in Ireland recently. How important is it to have that sense of a creative community? Is it helpful to have people to bounce these ideas off?

Stephen: Oh, it’s invaluable. it really is. Having guys (and gals!) like Dec, Jordie and also Nick Roche, Will Sliney, Stephen Thompson and all the other Irish pros to bounce stuff off and get opinions from is simple indispensable. We’re a very close network. Almost collaborators in a way. I couldn’t do this without their help, I mean that. Otherwise I’d just be floating along in a nebulous void of gibberish. And I wouldn’t even know if it was good gibberish. So yeah, absolutely essential.

Steve: What advice would you give to anybody looking to create their own comics?

Stephen: Get off the pot and do it. Let go of the doubts and the maybes, and just make it happen. Everybody is afraid; everybody wonders if they’re actually good enough. I know I do. The only way to find out is to light that touch-paper, and have at it.

At the end of the day, even if Half Past Danger doesn’t hit that sweet spot critically or commercially, I’ll still have the satisfaction of knowing I tried.

I did my best. Otherwise, as dramatic as it sounds, I’d go all the way to the grave wondering what might have been.

Many thanks to Stephen for his time! If you’d like to find out more, you can read all about the process on his blog, which has been constantly updating with information and thoughts on the creation process for the last few months. You can find his pencilling, inking, colouring, bits of script, all sorts of things on there – I really recommend you have a look. You can also find him on the twitters! Half Past Danger #1 is out in May.

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ComiXology’s Chip Mosher of Marketing and PR moderated a panel with Jeremy Atkins of Dark Horse, Dirk Wood of IDW, Mel Caylo of Archaia, and addition Hunter Gorinson of Valiant Comics with the goal of sharing tips and pro experience with indie creators and future marketers on Friday, March 29^th at WonderCon. The result was quite an entertaining panel featuring their professional blunders and secret discoveries about he ins and outs of comics promotion.

Mosher started out by asking for the embarrassing stories each had accrued in their work experience, “professional blunders” that contained teachable moments. Atkins admitted to the cringeworthy common mishap of hitting “reply all” on an email and copying a person specifically to be excluded from a conversation, with plenty of sympathetic groans from the audience. Mosher’s own tale of woe was equally relatable, reading an e-mail from Emerald City Con and then forgetting to reply afterward, thereby losing booth space for BOOM that year. Wood was more circumspect about his failures, noting that “25% of marketing is what I would call blunders” that can lead either to success or to a “thud”, and that he finds it impossible to tell which will happen in some circumstances. Persistence, he advised, is the key to forge ahead despite an unpredictable market.

Caylo dredged up his own worst moments with a story of “drunk tweeting” from the wrong account, declaring his love for someone, a tweet that remained up on a company account overnight whereas Gorinson stuck to the ever-present bugaboo of typos in press releases regardless of how many times the releases are checked before sending them out. Wood’s observation that some blunders can have positive results prompted the panel to consider whether they had similar lucky moments. Wood, particularly, “stumbled into successes” by having random, unlikely ideas for promotion like sending Godzilla costumed promo agents to “smash” stores, something that met with great success. The panel quickly turned interactive, fielding questions from the floor, and the first question, probably also the first on everyone’s mind, was how to run PR and marketing strategies on a shoe-string budget.

Mosher wittily commented, “This guy thinks that we have budgets” to his fellow panellists before Caylo took up the question with what became perhaps the strongest message of the panel event: “It’s all about relationships”. He suggested that those seeking press for comics go to shows, have e-mail conversations that are “not always pitching”, so that it’s easier when you do want to ask a favor to bring it up. He also added that “offer giveaways” on sites that increase “cross-promotion” are a very smart move. Atkins, who was particularly earnest and animated throughout the panel suggested that Twitter is a major player in promotion for building and continuing to cultivate professional relationships, including the retail industry in your list of contacts. Wood spoke to the indie creator’s situation trying to get books distributed. “Nothing speaks louder than a consignment situation”, he said, and pointed out that Top Shelf started through delivering consignment issues to comic shops, “giving books” to shops and allowing them to sell them rather than seeking solicitation. This involves “relentless beating of the pavement” since there is “no replacing grassroots”.

Atkins used this idea to springboard into a gambling metaphor: “In gambling and in life, you only win when you can afford to lose”. You shouldn’t expect return immediately, he warned, but trying different approaches and continuing to do so as long as possible is key. Mosher had strong feelings on the subject, reflecting on the example of a student protester who brough the New York Stock Exchange to a standstill by busking for dollar bills all day, then throwing a hundred bills onto the exchange floor. It was the perfect example, for Mosher, of “getting attention at low cost” and using the least resources to garner the “biggest impact”.

Gorinson focused on knowing your material and audience to get attention. Knowing the pitch well, and the many angles from which it might be interpreted, breaking out of narrow genre definitions, for instance, may win the day. He recommended top comics news sites as vehicles for spreading the word, as well as working “with anyone and everyone”, including small blog sites. Mosher’s experience at BOOM confirmed this premise. Starting out publishing only 4 to 7 books a month, he scoured blogs, put people in press lists, and sent them PDF review copies in an era before most comics companies were using PDFs in this way, and thereby grew a press list of 400 contacts.

Wood added that looking at comparable publishers and types of titles to the comic you are trying to circulate is a good starting point, looking to see how and where they are doing their marketing and focus your attack in that way. A common pitfall the panellists all agreed on is when creators send a pitch to a company for a comic series that’s a 12 issue proposal or longer. Companies aren’t willing to take the risk, they advised, and a 3-4 issue format is much more appealing at the outset of a project.

A follow up question from the audience regarded strategies to capitalize on the rash of superhero movies and growing movie fans who might never have read a comic. Several panellists felt that there’s no one single approach to bring film fans into comics, but a more surefire method is to “start them young”, reaching young readers with comics visual literacy. Mosher agreed, stating that there are more kids comics today than in the past decade, and comics continue to have unique qualities of storytelling that continue to appeal as a child grows up reading them. Gorinson added that Free Comic Book Day is an excellent opportunity to “get into as many shops as possible” and reach new, young readers. Mosher and Caylo both returned to the subject of cross promotion between films, tv, and comics, like the inclusion of ashcan comics in dvd box sets to show fans what comics alternatives are available for their favorite products.

A direct marketing question from the floor focused on the similarities or differences between selling comics and other products, like household items. Atkins felt there was very little difference at all, except that it’s more possible in comics to “know who that person is” you are targeting since “They are me, or some version of me”, as a comics fan. He continued with some other salient advice, such as “You have to believe in what you’re selling” and believe that you are “one of the best advocates for it”. Gorinson felt that marketing comics is different from marketing other consumer products because he often feels an “obligation” to live up to the quality of the work he’s promoting in his own efforts.

Gorinson and Atkins also suggested doing some research into major news sites to find out who on staff might be a comics fan, “finding” that contact, or locating dedicated geek blogging attached to news sites. Atkins and Mosher commented that using social media makes reaching out to news writers more and more direct. Mosher admitted that not everyone may have the desire or “skill set” to promote their comics properly despite attempts, and in that case, he advised, you should find a friend who thrives on that kind of work and collaborate on promotion.

The final big topic addressed by the panel, and one which inspired some lively reactions from the speakers, was the use of transmedia and multiple media formats to draw attention to comics. Caylo said that it’s all about “synergy” between comics, films, and related video games, based on his work at Archaia. Atkins clarified, however, that adding transmedia content to promote comics, such as an app or video game should still be “meaningful to the overall story.

I posed a last question to the panel before it came to a close, wondering what the biggest pros and cons are to using social media as a promotional tool. Gorinson replied that you have to be “clever” in different ways to use social media properly for this purpose, while Mosher commented simply, but with some emotion, “Trolls!” as his biggest con. Caylo was the most personally engaged by the question and gave the following run down: social media’s benefits are “accessibility” and the quickness and “ease” of getting the word out about your product, especially when doing it for free. The “dangers”, however, are that “You are open to trolls and people who want to bait you”. “Ignore them”, he recommended, since once they “engage” you, they’ve “got you”. Block them if necessary, and learn to take “the bad with the good” when it comes to social media.

The panel was surprisingly lively, with all the panellists more than willing to share from their personal struggles to find the golden balance when it comes to marketing with limited budgets, and each expressed an obvious commitment to the survival and growth of worthy comics through good strategies and trying innovative methods to see what works for each book and each particular situation. Building personal relationships, watching out for the wrong kind of blunders, and learning from them when they occur, were paramount for these indie publishing marketers.

Photo Credits: All photos in this article were taken by semi-professional photographer and pop culture scholar Michele Brittany. She’s an avid photographer of pop culture events. You can learn more about her photography and pop culture scholarship here.

Hannah Means-Shannon writes and blogs about comics for TRIP CITY and Sequart.org and is currently working on books about Neil Gaiman and Alan Moore for Sequart. She is @hannahmenzies on Twitter and hannahmenziesblog on WordPress.

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It’s almost time for the “The Amazing, Awesome IDW Panel” at the Emerald City con.  We’ll be liveblogging it.

Get ready to start hitting refresh.

Our cast: Denton Tipton, Joe Harris, Michael Walsh, Mike Costa, Phil Hester and Livio Ramondelli.

Harris on X-Files – He’ll be re-establishing and updating the mythology arc.  There will be some monster of the week, too.

They had a conference call with Chris Carter this week.

Michael Walsh is the artist.  He’ll be starting next week.

“Color Me” Treasury edition of My Little Pony #1 is on the way.  All the covers will be included in the treasury edition.

They will be reprinting a lot of DC’s Cartoon Network books and then doing new material.

Power Puff Girls will be the lead-off book.  Samurai Jack will follow.

Transformers Monstrosity  is the sequel to the Origin of Optimus Prime.  12 part digital series, debuted on Friday.

TMNT will be their FCBD book, based on the Nickelodeon cartoon.  There will a series for cartoon continuity in July.

Also a Judge Dredd FCBD book with the classic strips.

“City Fall” is the next big “regular” TMNT arc in May.  Metteo Santa Luco (sp?) is the new artist.

Star Trek – prequel mini-series will lead into the new movie.

GI Joe – 3 news series.

*GI Joe by Van Lente and Kurth – the main team after being exposed to the world
*Special Missions – Chuck Dixon / Paul Gulacy
*Cobra Files – Costa/Fuso

Costa on Cobra Files – continuing the story from the Cobra book.  All 3 books in the relaunch have a personality.  GI Joe is the “superhero” book.  Special Missions is the S.E.A.L. special ops book.  Cobra Files is black ops.

It will have double agents inside Cobra trying to take it down.  It’s about espionage and the emotional consequences.  Flint is the only real good guy in it.

Creator owned books:

Half-Past Danger – 6 issues by Stephen Moody.  WWII pulp with dinosaurs.

Wild Blue Yonder – 5 issues in June SF with air pirates

The Colonize – 4 issues in April – Zombies

Monkeybrain’s Edison Rex in print in June.

Phil Hester will be writing THUNDER Agents.  The artist hasn’t been determined yet.

Hester – He’s approaching it as something that’s happening now, but has a classic look to it.

Q&A

Q: How do you approach licensed projects?

A: By finding creators who are passionate for the property.

Costa – He has much better working relationship with Hasbro than he’s usually seen with licensed comics.  He’s not sure he could his story arc on the main title, but as a side book, he’s given some freedom.

Q: How is the X-Files starting?

A: It’s tied to the past and they’re forced back into the field. Doggett will appear.  Chris Carter signs off on them.

Q: How did Cobra Files get set in Vegas?

A: It was inspired by a Elmore Leonard novel.

Q:  Chris Carter’s involvement with X-Files?

A: Harris is writing it, Carter is providing feedback.

Q: What license would you like to do?

A: Tipton – Thundarr
Harris – X-Files
Walsh – He was looking to do some horror
Ramondelli – Transformers
Costa – Transformers or Blake’s 7
Hester – THUNDER Agents or Kurt Russell (Snake Plissken/Big Trouble in Little China) comics

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In a move that is the opposite of a shock, some of the titles from the digital-first Monkeybrain imprint are coming to print at IDW, starting in June. The line will kick off with founder Chris Roberson’s EDISON REX and continuing with AMELIA COLE AND THE UNKNOWN WORLD, RED LIGHT PROPERTIES and more.

Monkeybrain has turned out some excellent comics and getting them in as many platforms as possible seems like a very smart move.

IDW Publishing and Monkeybrain Comics are please to announce that beginning this June, fans of Monkeybrain’s popular digital comics will be able to find some of their favorite titles collected in print!
 
Kicking off with Chris Roberson and Dennis Culver’s EDISON REX in June, this new partnership will see a number of the critically acclaimed and wildly imaginative flood of comics Monkeybrain has produced extend their reach into comic shops and onto the shelves of fans everywhere!


“Since we first conceived of Monkeybrain Comics,” Allison Baker says, “our goal has always been to make it as easy as possible for readers to enjoy our titles, in as many formats as possible. IDW has impressed us for years with their high production values, quality content, and business savvy, and we’re delighted that they’ll be helping our creators achieve that goal.”
 
“Monkeybrain was founded because we love comics,” Chris Roberson adds. “And thanks to IDW, we’ll have even more comics to love.”
 
The schedule will continue on with AMELIA COLE AND THE UNKNOWN WORLD by writers Adam P. Knave and D.J. Kirkbride and artist Nick Brokenshire premiering in August and titles like Dan Goldman’s RED LIGHT PROPERTIES, Kevin Church and Grace Allison’s WANDER, and many more to follow.

But not only are IDW involved in this. July will see Joshua Williamson and Mike Henderson’s Masks & Mobsters published through Shadowline and Image, suggesting that a range of publishers may be involved with Monkeybrain over the next few months.  It’s all very exciting, isn’t it? Other collections will be revealed over the next few months, likely including other high-visibility titles such as Bandette. By the way, this is Steve here, in this paragraph, doing my best Heidi impression. Lord of the Rings! Beer! Yodelling! Woo!

The people at IDW are no slackards. After taking a look at the sales of their My Little Pony comics -- their best selling comics EVER -- and the current 90s cartoon nostalgia trend, they've pacted with Cartoon Network to bring out a bunch of old favorites—and current hits —in comics form, in a deal announced at last week's ComicsPRO meeting in Atlanta. Titles include The Powerpuff Girls, Ben 10, Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Johnny Bravo and Generator Rex.

TweetThis is the second go-round with a US-based Judge Dredd series.  DC tried their hand at Dredd for 18 issues of the main title in the mid-90s.  This time around IDW has the license and is starting out with mystery novelist Duane  Swierczynski as the writer and Nelson Daniel as the primary artist.  (More on [...]

TweetIDW’s first volume of the collected DOCTOR WHO OMNIBUS is a compact but substantial little tome gathering two long story arcs (“Agent Provacateur” and “The Forgotten”) and six one-shots that appeared in single issue form featuring, for the most part, the adventures of the 10th Doctor. The production values on the collection are reasonably high, [...]

TweetIf you somehow didn’t know it already, then this is breaking news for you: this year marks the 50th anniversary of the longest running science fiction TV show in the world: Doctor Who. Long-running in some cases might mean plodding, but not in this case. The Doctor’s recent incarnation, actor Matt Smith, became the first [...]

The 90s are out there, and Scully and Mulder are determined to find them. IDW will be relaunching the X-files franchise in comics form. The plan includes reprints of the original series that ran from 1995-2009, and a new series launching in June.

Tweet Do you have what it takes to juggle a bunch of monthly comics, dealing with freelancers, Diamond, retailers and the comics press? If you’re up for it, IDW is hiring! Here’s the deets: Editor, IDW Publishing IDW Publishing is seeking an experienced Editor to support the Chief Creative Officer. This is a full-time position [...]

Tweet Before “meta” was physical, before Modernism became Posted, before Art Popped, cartoonists drew stories about cartoonists and cartooning! Some of it was autobiographical (or possibly semi-auto… I doubt Milt Gross almost became Batman!), some of it was pure fantasy.  (The pygmalian dream of a drawing come to life is represented twice in this volume, [...]

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The venerable comics strip character Joe Palooka has been remade into a modern day MMA fighter in JOE PALOOKA #1 on sale today from IDW and here’s an exclusive preview. The comic already has support from the UFC and other MMA fans—as we’ve pointed out several times, MMA and comics are a natural combo, with many of the fighters big comics readers, and comics well suited to showing…well, fights.

Joe Palooka # 1 (of 6)
Mike Bullock & Matt Triano (w) • Fernando Peniche (a) • Jace McTier (c)

The legendary Joe Palooka name returns in this all-new version, as Joe fights for his freedom and for his life around the world. Set in the violent and dangerous world of top- tier mixed martial arts, this series will get you in its grip and not let go until you tap out.  Accused of a murder he didn’t commit, Nick Davis flees a police manhunt, picks up the name Joe Palooka in a Tijuana tough-man contest and then travels the world seeking to clear his name while making a name for himself at the same time.

FC • 32 pages • $3.99

Disclosure: I was a consultant on this project.

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Apocalypse now? Boxing announcer/comics publisher Joe Antonacci will be appearing this Friday on Fox & Friends to talk about the Joe Palooka comic which is launching this week from IDW. (Disclosure: We were a consultant on the project.) Hopefully, this will be a peaceful discussion of how awesome comics are and not a session on why Superman hates God and America.

The creator of one of 2012’s most anticipated comic book titles, the MMA comic book Joe Palooka, will be making an appearance on Friday, December 21st as a guest on the top-rated cable morning show Fox & Friends.

“This is a rare big-stage opportunity to talk about comic books and the great impact they can have on children of all ages,” said Joe Palooka creator Joe Antonacci who added, “I don’t plan to just push Joe Palooka, I want to send the message that comic books make great gifts and that there are gifts people will love at every price level waiting for you in your local comic book store.” Antonacci also sees his appearance as an opportunity to pay back the comic book community that has embraced him during the three-year odyssey of creating and publishing the Joe Palooka comic book. I have received so much encouragement and support from those in the comic book business, including from my publisher IDW, that I’m happy to pay them back in some small way by touting comic books, graphic novels, and character-based accessories as the perfect gift items for everyone on your holiday shopping list.

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Last weeks’ port strike that closed the L.A.-Long Beach Port, a bunch of IDW titles that were to come out this next week will be delayed until January 2 or, in some cases, January 9, 2013.
 

Additionally, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE FOOT CLAN #1, originally scheduled for release on December 26, 2012, will be moved to January 9, 2013.
 
Along with the time lost by the strike at America’s largest cargo shipping complex, the impact of this delay is furthered by the holiday schedule of IDW’s global distributor. As Diamond Comic Distributors does not ship books during the last week of December, IDW will miss out on a last opportunity to get the December 19 and 26 books to retailers and fans before the New Year.
 
“It’s frustrating to have circumstances be out of our control,” said IDW’s CEO and Publisher Ted Adams. “It’s a shame to be unable to get these books—which were completed well in advance of their ship date—in the hands of fans and retailers. Fortunately, however, we’re still left with a very strong slate of titles to finish out 2012 and lots of great books for everyone to enjoy in the New Year.”
 
Below is a list of the revised release dates for the titles in question.
 
IN-STORES 12/19
Archie: Best of Dan DeCarlo, Vol. 1 TPB
Classic Popeye #5
Joe Palooka #1
Judge Dredd #2
Judge Dredd: The Complete Brian Bolland HC
Killogy #2
Locke & Key: Ω #2
Magic: The Gathering – The Spell Thief #3 2nd Print
Mars Attacks #6
Snake Eyes & Storm Shadow #20
Sparrow Box Set
Star Trek 100 Page Winter Spectacular
Star Trek: TNG/Doctor Who: Assimilation2 #8
Star Trek: TNG: Hive #3
TMNT Classics, Vol. 3 TPB
Top 100 Fantasy Movies
Transfusion #2
Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye #12
True Blood: Where Were You HC
 
IN-STORES 1/2
Complete Dick Tracy, Vol. 14 HC
Doctor Who #4                                                      
Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms HC              
G.I. JOE: Cobra #20
G.I. JOE/Danger Girl #5                                          
Godzilla #8
Godzilla: Half-Century War #4
Mars Attacks Popeye One-Shot
My Little Pony #1 2nd Print
My Little Pony #1 Complete Box Set 2nd Print
My Little Pony #2
Star Trek Ongoing #16
Transformers Prime: Rage of the Dinobots #2              
Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Vol. 2 TPB           
Transformers: Prime Season 2 TPB                           
Wallace Wood: Woodwork HC                                
 
IN-STORES 1/9
Adventures of Augusta Wind #3
Classic Jurassic Park, Vol. 5 TPB
Classic Popeye #6
G.I. JOE: Cobra Son of the Snake TPB
Gil Kane’s Amazing Spider-Man: Artist’s Edition HC
The Hollows #2
Jinnrise #1
Joe Palooka #2
Kiss #7
Li’l Abner, Vol. 5 HC
Love and Capes: What to Expect #6
Mars Attacks Kiss One-Shot
Popeye, Vol. 1 TPB
TMNT Adventures, Vol. 3 TPB
TMNT: Color Classics #7
TMNT: Secret History of the Foot Clan #1
Transformers: Regeneration One #87
Transformers: Robots in Disguise #13
Transformers Spotlight: Thundercracker

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A gn adapting the cult Nazis on the Moon movie IRON SKY is coming from IDW with art by Gerry Kissell and Amin Amat. Everyone wants to put Nazis on the moon right on their own bookshelf!

IDW Publishing, along with comic production house Hazmat Studios and film production company Blind Spot Pictures, are thrilled to present fans with the official IRON SKYmovie tie-in graphic novel in March 2013. Drawn and colored by the amazing artistic team of Gerry Kissell and Amin Amat, the guys behind IDW’s best selling graphic novel Code Word: Geronimo, and Xbox’s comic game tie-in Alan Wake. The book will also be featuring original pin-up art by Miguel Angel Abad(Planet of the Apes) and Darren Douglas (Golden Compass) and chronicles the battle against the return of history’s most notoriously evil villains, the Nazis, who unbeknownst to us, escaped to the moon following their defeat in World War II.
 
“The graphic novel is a prequel to the hit sci-fi action film Iron Sky produced by Blind Spot Pictures, and focuses on how the Nazis ended up on the moon, and how Udo Kier’s character, Wolfgang Kortzfleisch, became Der Überführer.” Said lead artist Kissell. “Part steampunk and part comedy, the graphic novel was written masterfully by Alan Wake scribe, Mikko Rautalahti. who has a wicked sense of humor.”Kissell continued.
 
The book will be 104 pages, with 67 pages of comic art with an additional 33 pages of production art, behind the scenes bonus material, and other exclusive material written by the film’s director, Timo Vuorensola.

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This week saw a number of big comic releases from Marvel and DC, but who cares when this was the week My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #1 came out? PONIES, you guys! Ponies all over the place.

This week I’ll be reviewing My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #1, Hellblazer #297, Gambit #6 and Masks #1

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the unexpected mass-market hit cartoon series which came out of nowhere to hit every demographic. The series grew such a strong fanbase, in fact, that pre-orders for this spin-off comic series went ballistic, and Katie Cook and Andy Price were left with a smash hit before anybody read a word or saw a single hoof. Issue #1 of IDW’s series doesn’t pay much lip service to new fans, instead asking them to immediately catch up on a fast-paced opening story which races around a large cast of diverse and well-characterised ponies at breakneck speed. Jokes and puns and visual gags fly out from all angles, with almost every one landing. And amazingly, the creative team manage to make the book accessible without pausing to explain anything about the world the characters live in.

Cook is primarily a great humorist, and her voice for the book is immediately charming and entertaining. Whilst it’s hard for this “no-ny” (I knew nothing of the series before reading this book) to know how well she matches or moves away from the voice of the cartoon, I was pretty struck by Cook’s ability to string along an endless succession of gags whilst retaining exposition and story. She’s matched by lovely art from Andy Price, who refuses to draw stock figures from the cartoon and instead invests his own sense of life into the various galloping protagonists. His use of layout is rather spectacular, with thought given to how the panels stand alongside each other and progress the story. This isn’t spectacle for the sake of spectacle, but rather an intelligent use of page space and structure.

A lot of people were very very upset when DC recently announced the cancellation of Hellblazer, but let’s celebrate what we have left – three more issues – rather than mourn a book we might not actually read. Hellblazer has been in the hands of creative team Peter Milligan, Giuseppi Camuncoli and Brian Buccellato for a while now, although this issue is finished by Stefano Landini. The most recent issue concludes the ‘Curse of the Constantines’ storyline, which seems to finish off a number of Milligan’s dangling plot threads regarding Constantine’s family, especially his sister. Being from Liverpool himself, Milligan has proven to be one of the best Constantine writers since also-Scouse Mike Carey, with both being able to effortlessly write lines for the character which are both authentic and very, very funny.

With this being the last of a five-issue storyline, Camuncoli’s art is flagging a little here. Although he takes care to distinctively shape the big moments and standout sequences, some of the pages feature scratchier art which Buccellato can’t do much with. The story here does feature a little bit of a Milligan anticlimax, something the writer sometimes falls prey to. Whilst Constantine’s plan to save the day is funny, it is very slight indeed, and requires a leap of characterisation for the Eva Brady character. Regardless, the grasp on dialogue is spot-on and more than enough to carry the day here, setting Constantine up for a final storyline which gives him a fresh break from the past, and leaves the future unpredictable and exciting for the character.

James Asmus‘ Gambit series has been growing in confidence after a strong opening issue turned into a slightly wobbly first storyline. Each issue of the book has featured some kind of heist, and it’s to Asmus’ credit that heist 6 feels just as unpredictable as heist 1. We’re now in the middle of a storyline where the thief finds himself forced to steal from Pete Wisdom and the British MI13 team (although only Faiza Hussain also appears in the storyline so far). Asmus does light-hearted thrills nicely, although the artwork here seems to be a classic case of a Marvel title getting rushed by scheduling. Diogenes Neves is capable of better work when he isn’t under the pressure he seems to be under here, and indeed he shares art duties here with Al Barrionuevo after only one issue by himself.

It’s a shame that Marvel have recently taken to battering their artists with tighter and tighter deadlines, as it’s led to a rise of fill-ins and rushed pages. There’s a splash page here where we see the insides of MI13′s armoury, a page which was clearly intended to be filled with detail and exciting. However, it looks bare, with a few guns and bits of scrap metal lying around. Give Neves time to draw this page, I bet he’d have made it something exciting to look at. Without that time, his page does a disservice to Asmus’ story.

However, Asmus does seem to be rapidly building his world for the book, with a rising cast and some nice character moments for the main character. He doesn’t write anyone as an idiot in order to make somebody else look good – Pete Wisdom, Faiza Hussain, Gambit and Cich are all juggled nicely between each other here. The Gambit character has also benefited hugely from the retooling Asmus has given him, with a better direction, personality and motivation than he’s had in a decade. The best sequences in the issue are the ones with Gambit in them, as the focus, and that’s because Asmus has done such a great job of making the character exciting to be with again.

It appears that the pre-sales for Dynamite’s team-up book Masks have been stonking, and a massive success for the company. Written by Chris Roberson and with this first issue painted by Alex Ross, the series teams up Zorro, The Spider, The Shadow and The Green Hornet for a pulp nostalgia trip. Being somewhat unfamiliar with all the characters, this first issue left me a little confused, but with a sense that Roberson is heading somewhere good. Green Hornet provides the perspective for readers, as we follow him interact with first The Shadow, and then the rest of the heroes. I’m not entirely certain what Zorro’s role in the book is at present – he might have appeared, but I really can’t tell if that was him or not. The introduction of The Spider is also blatantly tacked on, albeit in a hilariously camp manner that I couldn’t help but enjoy. Roberson seems to be having a lot of fun here, and Ross is clearly having a ball.

Roberson allows for the reader to view the story as a camp homage just as much as he writes a pulp narrative, here, balancing the two different styles neatly. The story is simultaneously involving and completely ridiculous nonsense, but in the most enjoyable manner possible. He also makes sure to write for Ross, whose painted pages are far less static than you might expect. The fight scene towards the end is a particularly well-done sequence from the pair, while the conversation sequences aren’t overshadowed by dead-eyed staring from everybody involved – as can be the case for painted work. Ross reminds that he’s an excellent storyteller as well as painter with this issue, and it’ll be interesting to see how the story progresses beyond here. It’s a qualified success, in that it’ll play far better to fans who already love and know the characters than it will bring in and keep new readers.

– As a final note! Let’s take a moment to praise letterer Cory Petit, who is currently working on X-Men Legacy. This is a book with a myriad things happening in the word balloons, and Petit’s ability to juggle it all is pretty incredible. It’s probably one of the most demanding comics I’ve seen, and he manages to take everything Si Spurrier throws at him — and make it work.

Apropos of absolutely nothing apart from it just made me laugh, cackle and cough, here are some preview pages for issue #4 of IDW’s Popeye miniseries. Released next Wednesday, the creative team for this are Roger Langridge, Tom Neely, Luke McDonnell,and Vince Musacchia.

Chickens are great.

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A few months ago, I brainstormed about how Halloween mini-comics being offered by Diamond could be used in a variety of ways to promote comics and have some fun!   (Read that again… there are event suggestions and a timeline there, which I’ve paralleled below, but did not exactly duplicate.)

During C2E2, Diamond announced that in addition to the extremely successful Free Comic Book Day, a second event, linked to Halloween, would be promoted.

With the July issue of Previews, Diamond has announced the event, titled “Halloween ComicFest“, designed to help comics shops market themselves as “Halloween Headquarters”.

Sure it’s only July, but do you know where you’re getting your Halloween costume and accessories? How about a gift for the horror fan in your life? Have you decided where the best Halloween events and parties might be?

Why it’s your local comic book shop, of course!

This year, comic shops across the world will band together for Halloween ComicFest, a celebration of your local comic shops and all the comics, tricks and treats they offer. Your local comic shop already does some great Halloween events and is a great place to visit Halloween in-store events, parties, contests, sales and more!

On the next few pages, you’ll find some new offerings from comic book publishers including some new comics that will be available during your store’s Halloween ComicFest celebrations. Make sure you mark your calendars with your local comic shop’s Halloween events!

Below are the actual mini-comics offered this year, in bundles of 20, with the text from the Diamond order form.  The “Final Order Cutoff” (FOC) deadline for stores is August 30, 2012.  (Westfield’s deadline is August 28.)

Ask your local retailer to order the following for you, using the Diamond codes (JUL12 xxxx).  You should offer to pay for them in advance, since the comics shop will most likely consider these unusual items, and be hesitant to place the order.

Of course, if they’re a cool store, they are probably participating in Halloween ComicFest, and will be happy to add your order to their store order.  Bundle orders  over 25 (of all titles combined) receive an additional discount for the store.

If you do not live near a comics shop, or need to have them shipped somewhere, Westfield Comics (and many other online retailers) will allow you to order them for you.  The links below for each title direct to Westfield, which I selected because I’ve used them in the past, their website is easy to navigate, they offer a discount on the price. and they were quick to answer my questions regarding the first three items.  (ComicsPlus offers all the titles for sale, as well.)

The