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I can't really believe the nice guys at The Comic Zone E-Magazine were serious when they approved my idea for a new column. I sent in the proposal expecting it to be denied, but to my shock they said "run with it". So I will - for better or worse the comic reading community better prepare itself for a jolt of realism. I intend to raise the bar so to speak - my monthly column will tackle issues that plague comic readers minds -- I will say what needs to be said, talk about who needs to be talked about, which will probably rub a lot of people the wrong way. But what the hell - somebody needs to be a voice for the comic fan and it might as well be me. Oh - by the way I think I forgot to introduce myself properly. I am known to my friends, as well as to my enemies, as TheComicGuy. This is my new monthly stomping ground - we'll call it "The Bottom Line" . So sit back open up a cold one (what ever your drink of choice is) and be prepared experience something different -- the truth as I see it.
My first column is aptly entitled "The Company That Could Have..". Over the course of the last few years we have seen the rise and fall of many comic companies (way too many to get into here). However, one company with enough collective talent to be one of the industry's leaders seems to be barely holding on. And to a lot of fans - they have become the joke of the industry. Who is that company - oh I am sure you know who I am talking about already. You know ---- that company owned by Rob Liefeld and ran by Jeph Loeb. Yes - that means we are going to talk about Awesome Comics or as I like to refer to them as "The Company That Could Have…..". Let's cut to the chase - Rob Liefeld is either loved or hated by most fans of the industry. The reason he is liked - would be the mindless drones who are still fans of his are just to stupid to realize they have been duped. That's right I said it -- duped, brainwashed that is into believing he still is producing quality work. The sad reality of it is - Rob is truly a very talented artist/creator. He has the potential to produce very good (by this I mean quality) work - but, he has not lived up to (oh hell, he hasn't even come close in the last three years) this potential. The reason for him being hated by the other half of the comic reading community is that they woke up to the sham - his continued lack of respect (by this I am referring back to the crap "work" he has produced) for the fans. There are only so many times you can promise to deliver the goods (i.e. a new series, new book, etc.) and have it come out late, or looking like bad work for an art school drop out, or never at all before you alienate your entire fan base and everyone in comics in general. Most comic fans now view anything that has his name attached to it as being cursed. Cursed to never come out - and if it finally does, you run a 50-50 chance of it being pure crap. Rob Liefeld went from being a highly respected top selling artist/creator to as fans would put it --- "a guy who should be at best licking stamps in the mail room".
But Rob is not the only one to blame for this problem. I constantly see Awesome Comics' adds hyping new titles such as Kaboom, The Coven, Lionheart, Fighting American, Supreme, Glory, Avengelyne, etc. - the sad fact is that most of these books never make it to the shelves of your local comic store. The reason for this ……… can only be piss poor management and a shear lack of any basic business skills by the companies leaders. Let me explain. I love the work of Jeph Loeb - that is, when I get to read it. The Coven , which is one of the company's strongest selling books, has a worse appearance schedule than practically any other book besides maybe Danger Girl (a column all of its own…) on the market today. With the way things are going fans will probably see the next issue of this series out some time past the year 2000. By then who will give a crap --- and that is exactly why this company has a severe Image Problem (couldn't help myself) within the comics reading community and with shop owners. They have the potential to put together great books. Unfortunately, they can't seem to put them out very often. How can a fan get excited about a company or a title when time and time again they have not delivered on the product. Going back to The Coven as a perfect example. This book was starting to make headway - by word of mouth about the solid stories and great art - the book was overcoming the Liefeld curse (that thing about fans hating him - we discussed this already). Net sites were talking about it, Wizard was hyping it, and better yet fans were becoming hooked on this book. About the time Awesome Comics should have been doing all it could to push this book --- boom! - bamm!- months go by without an issue then suddenly one appears, then it takes almost four months for the next one to show up. Fans start talking about the Liefeld curse again - even the work of Jeph Loeb and Ian Churchill will not hold fans interests with continued 4-5-6 month delays between each issue The same could be said about Fighting American, Glory, Avengelyne, and Supreme as well. When a book started to develop a strong fan following - the curse would strike again and no book.
Awesome Comics has a bevy of talented individuals that are associated with it. People such as Rob Liefeld, Ian Churchill, Jeph Loeb, Keron Grant, and Chris Sprouse yet they are on the verge of blinking from comic publishing existence. The company needs a total overhaul in its business side. They need someone to get them back on track before it really is too late for this company. If this company could indeed produce just four titles -- and have them come out on a monthly basis they would start to regain some of their tarnished reputation not to mention turn a profit. Think about this, if The Coven actually came out six months in a row it would indeed be a big seller, and word of mouth by already loyal fans would push the book even harder. Six issues of Ian and Jeph would do wonders for this company and secure this titles future. I could say the same for the new Kaboom series - most readers have enjoyed it (Keron's art is highly energetic and fun and it contains a solid story by Loeb as well), but most fans are weary that if they become hooked - the Liefeld curse will strike again. The ads for a new book entitled Lionheart look really promising - but then again Loeb and Churchill haven't really been able to deliver on Coven now have they - so fans and retailers keep an air of skepticism about them when they order it or ask for it to be placed on a pull list. The same applies to the relaunch of Glory and Supreme - stellar artist and good writers (Alan Moore), but then again you run the possibility that you will never actually see these books The company is so mismanaged that its website still list in its "news section" all items from 1998 as its most current news updates. Yeah - that should spark new interest in this company.
So what it boils down to is …………they basically need their collective "asses" kicked. You have the opportunity to break away from the past, but you have to take advantage of this new opportunity now. If you wait until next summer it will be too late. The industry is changing. Fans expect to be entertained - if you can't provide us with the entertainment we desire, then we will simply go elsewhere. Here is a common sense (which these guys seem to be lacking) approach to turning this company around:
1. Solicit only those books that you can meet deadlines on.
This may mean cutting down to just three or four books, but then again three or four monthly titles are a heck of a lot better that 6 or 7 solicited that never see the light of day.
2. Hire someone manage day to day affairs of the business - fire the one you got.
You will need to hire someone who ho will kick your collective butts into gear. Someone who will ride your back until you get the job done. Someone who is not afraid to call you up and say -"that looks like crap - you can do better than this", " get busy - your deadline is this week", "no work completed - then you don't get paid" or even "your fired" if needed .
3. Hire talent to help you get back on schedule.
By this I don't mean fill in talent that couldn't draw a
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