A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

[But after reading mine, don’t blame the picture!]

Comics need more fun, dammit.

[Angry, profanity-laden fun! The kind the little shits like]

Sometimes it's easy to forget that comics are fun.

[And many of my recommendations make it even easier to forget]

There's a seemingly endless amount of white noise dedicated to attempting to suck all the enjoyment out of the comic industry.

[nothing worse than dedicated white noise]

"The direct market is dying," "The artform is ignored," "The speculators are returning," "Manga rules the world and no one seems to care," "The publishers are flooding the market," "Wolverine's back in his yellow spandex suit,"

[“The Comic Pimp sucks”] are all great topics of discussion and worth putting thought into. But this industry was built on the backs of enjoyment, entertainment and good old-fashioned fun.

[Seems a terrible way to treat enjoyment, entertainment and fun, huh?]

In the world of meaningful discussion,

[I’m the alien]

analytic analysis

[yikes!]

and complex discourse, it's easy to forget that the reason that we care so much about the funny books is because reading comic books is fun. Emphasis on that "fun" word (my other favorite "f" word).

[it sure doesn’t help if you read anything else—it makes most of the comics less fun, plus you realize how stupid “analytic analysis” sounds]

Emphasizing the fun is the extremely simple concept on which my comic lounge and everything I do within the comic industry is based.

[witness my fun suits!]

Sure, I want my business to be successful. Sure, I want to see the comic industry thrive, but you know what? I also want to have fun.

The entire reason I write this column, throw crazy ass events,

[events built upon the crazy asses of enthusiasm, ribaldry and joie de vivre]

do guerilla marketing, and get out of bed in the morning is because I have an insatiable appetite for having a damn good time. And anyone who is lucky enough to combine that which they love with that which they do for a living with that which they think is unbelievably fun is living the good life.

Regular readers of this column have heard me ranting about how excited I was about the Alternative Press Expo (APE) coming to my own stomping grounds in San Francisco.

One of the fundamental things to love about APE is the manic, creative energy. People who had never made a comic before in their life before attending last year were so inspired that they sat behind a table this year with hot, fresh comics. People who slaved alone through night after night to get their comics done in time got to hear some supportive feedback and grab themselves a little cash for their hard work at APE. And even people who have been in the industry for years are reinvigorated by the dynamic, creative energy that charges the convention year after year.

APE is all about creative people getting out there and doing shit, making comics, meeting people…and yes, having fun.

And so, in the interest of fun, I'm going to share with you some of the most fun I've had over the past couple of weeks, leading up to APE, and after it.

As comics fans, I know that you like your stories to be accompanied by pictures, and I've talked a lot already, so from here on out we're going to let my camera do most of the talking.

[WHEW!]

On Wednesday, February 18th, mere days before the official APE con kick off, Tom Beland, one of the most fun men in comics,

[except for the times he’s anything but]

took advantage of the Isotope's Permanent Art Installation's drafting table and brought the creative process to the people, making an issue of his "True Story Swear to God" comic while they watched. Tom took time out from the pencil, paper, and pen to talk art theory, creative process, and self-publishing with those in attendance. And also, Tom made sure to draw sketches in the front cover of his "True Story Swear to God" trade paperback and gave out pages of original artwork to enthusiastic fans.

[photos of Beland and others with Sime, thumbs up, smiling. Brian Wood admires his own DEMO]

As always, there was a flurry of activity around the city during APE this year. And, so, inevitably, hosting our own APE event meant that we missed out on some really fun panels and after parties, and even that we spent less time than we would've liked at the Con itself. But without a doubt our annual APE Aftermath event, is always one of the best times I have all year. This year, APE Aftermath kicked it up to eleven. The general consensus was that we saw between 350-400 people during the event and while the party was scheduled until 5am, the party kept rocking until 7:30am. This is a well-documented event and in the interest of sharing the fun, I'm going to share with you a massive collection of photos before moving on to other APE weekend events. But before we get there, indulge yourself in the pictures of the sexy nerds and nerdettes who came out to celebrate with us!

[nerds, nerdettes, 2 cute girls, Brian Wood drinking booze, frightening Sime suit]

Of course, the most important part of APE Aftermath is the awarding of the Isotope Award for Excellence in Mini-Comics. This year the award went to a great new talent from Kansas City, Missouri, Josh Cotter for his comic "Skyscrapers of the Midwest."

"Skyscrapers of the Midwest" is a collection of heart-wrenching stories of coming of age in a small midwestern atmosphere.

[?]

The blank eyes of Josh Cotter's almost cute characters creates a foreboding tone that the reader cannot shake even during a seemly innocuous story about a visit to Grandma's house.

[But then he plunks a big bad wolf down in that small Midwestern house, and uh-oh! Fangs o’ fun!]

Josh Cotter is obviously tremendously talented

[I mean, can’t you tell?]

and I expect to see amazing work from him the future. It wouldn't surprise me if he became a household name.

[perhaps with his own line of bolts? Cotter bolts?]

The award ceremony featuring myself, last year's winner Rob Osborne as well as the latest addition to the Isotope Award family Josh Cotter was one of the most fun events in recent memory. For me it was really a great moment when I got to see Rob Osborne handed over

[to the authorities]

the award to a grinning Josh Cotter at the end of his short speech. Josh received a howling ovation as the theme from 2001

[What was the theme from 2001? “Whoomp! There It Is”? Oh, he means that movie, the Space Odyssey one]

boomed loudly over the Isotope's sound system. The crowd was very vocal in their support of this year's winning entry, and I've got to say Mister Cotter carried that trophy like a true champion of champions.

[hanging it from a steel rod inserted through his scrotum. Hey, we pick champions of champions differently here in San Francisco!]

You can get copies of this fantastic mini from the Isotope and other fine comic purveyors, as well as from Josh himself at jwcotter@micro.com.

But that's not all that's happened in the last eight days…

Few comics appeal to people from as many backgrounds and walks of life as "The Couriers."

[without actually selling much]

Brian Wood's writing perfectly balances crazy action sequences and

[a non-existent story]

a gripping story while Rob G's art kicks you in the face, punches you in the gut, and leaves you motion sick and begging for more. It's simplicity itself to put a smile on a guest's face simply by putting a copy of Couriers in their hands.

[as long as there’s a line of coke balanced on top]

In fact, the love of "The Couriers" is so great that the anticipation for Couriers 2 had reached a fever pitch around the Isotope. And with its official release date a mere three days after the Alternative Press Expo, I knew that its impact would cause a virtual detonation of fun.

Last year, when Couriers was released, an impromptu Isotope tradition of expressing the Couriers love started. It was a little crazy and a lot fun, so you just know we had to do it all over again this year.

(To see the last year's Couriers adrenaline rush, visit the Isotope Virtual Lounge here.)

Just because my camera isn't out there capturing every crazy fun comic-related event doesn't mean that they aren't happening outside the Isotope's front door. Because I know they are.

Comics is a creative industry made up of creative people who are making art and entertainment for creative consumers. There is no question that comic fans know how to have the kind of fun that would stupefy or sterilize lesser men or women.

[that’s right, bitch—one night I had TWO TWO-LITERS OF PEPSI!]

With the legions of comic connoisseurs once again growing with each passing month, I'm looking forward to taking my enjoyment threshold to levels yet unheard of. Let's make 2004 our best year yet.

[And with more shit like Couriers 2, we can do it! Come on, people! Join with me! Warren Ellis—you got a book about an assassin with a penis made of gelignite—I’ll sell it! Mark Millar—chimpanzee junkies with giant robotic feet! I can sell the shit out of that!]

You know the routine. You can pontificate on industry issues, preach the gospel and pimp great comic books, or even discuss this article on the Comic Pimp Forum.

Lovingly yours,

THE COMICS INACTIVIST

The Line

The internet is a harsh mistress. This wonderfully anonymous forum for the world to play in has a gift for bringing out out best. Information can be shared with people all over the planet, and our ability to become a truly global society expands every single day. It's awesome to be a part of it, and it's a huge responsibility to use it wisely and with good judgment.

And then there's the Bendis Board.

Comic fans are a peculiar breed, prone to raging fits of stupidity and immaturity at the drop of a hat. Brian Michael Bendis' forum has been around for a long time in varying forms, establishing itself early on as one of the best places for comics fans to meet, talk, and discuss comics, pop culture, relationships, the whole gamut. But as of late, this once proud forum has become a sad, pathetic joke, and I wonder why Bendis isn't standing up, applying the brakes, and putting a stop to the absolute fucking nonsense going on in his name. Let's take a look at some of the current topics, shall we?

"Which Superhero Has The Biggest Cock? Discuss." Gosh, that's a startlingly pressing question, isn't it? Apparently so, as it has now generated three pages worth of responses. I'm sure the creators and writers who venture to Bendy's board only on rare occasion are happy and satisfied that they can weigh in on the size of Luke Cage's dick. Yay.

"Fuck, Marry, Kill: Comic Book Women". Four pages discussing the sexual desirability of female comic book creators. I suppose it could have been worse- it could have been about comic book characters. But still...this offensive little ditty actually drags poor Jamie Rich into it, as his friend (and awesome creator) Chynna Clugston-Major is under discussion in the thread. And the presence of Colleen Doran as a topic is doubly disturbing, as she faced horrid sexual harrassment breaking into the business, and she was just a teenager at the time. Does anyone think that this topic was a good idea, or good for the rep of the board? Four pages, and no sign of the bald guy whose forum bears his name speaking up. Gail Simone, a board regular, manages to not be a topic of discussion in the thread- is this what passes for respecting her?

And finally: "How Is It We're Suddenly Besieged By Ladies?" Five pages of responses, but let's be real... this is what the above topics are really about. Comics are a notorious boys club, and any stride forward, like a Bendis writing comics that are actually appealing to women, not appalling, and having those women come to his forum... well that's a threat to the sad, juvenile nature of most of his posters. So you get topics reducing women to objects, and primo discussion on dick size. Because these morons don't want icky girls coming by who aren't strippers, or whom they can't wank to while watching on film. It violates the natural order of the comic book geek. And it's an embarrassment. An embarrassment to a good guy like Bendis, an embarrassment to women who want to be a part of our communities, and an embarrassment to anyone who has a shred of self-respect and love for the medium. We will never stop being a low-read, shame-ridden pop culture as long as this attitude prevails.

UPDATE: Late today, Bendis removed the "Fuck, Marry, Kill" thread from his board and admonished the posters. I tip my cap to Brian for doing the right thing at first opportunity. Unfortunately, even in the thread where Bendis discusses the removal, it is very clear that some people just don't get it. Oh, well.

Marc@MarcMason.com

Big Deal

The big news of the week seems to be that the Marvel solicitations for May have leaked, and they are no longer able to deny that “Buffy” creator Joss Whedon will be writing an X-Men title for the House Of Recycled Ideas. This, of course, has set fanboys a’panting, and there was much orgasming in still-zipped trousers. Hooray.

Look, I like Whedon. A lot. Hell, the only property that I have ever reached true fanboy status for is the Buffy/Angel combination of shows. I know a scary amount of minutiae and trivia when it comes to the Whedonverse, and it’s sort of embarrassing. But I can’t sit here and get excited that he’s writing an X-Men comic. Because I’ve been watching Whedon write X-Men for years.

What was Buffy, if not a deeply X-Men homaged show? A group of super-powered young adults, led by their mentor and trainer, fighting evil. Red-headed witch Willow Rosenberg didn’t take long as the show passed to become Joss’ Jean Grey. She first began working on magic, learning telekinesis first, then working her way to telepathy, and eventually becoming so powerful that she corrupted and tried to destroy the world. Only the love of her lifelong crush/best friend Xander (a ready Cyclops substitute) grounded her and stopped her. Angel was established early on as Whedon’s Wolverine. A man with a literal demon inside of him, the vampire with a soul evoked Claremont and Miller’s limited series that balanced out Wolverine’s berserker rage with his samurai soul. At least he let Angel be from Ireland and not Canada.

Flip-siding Xander’s non-powered Cyclops, Buffy herself was the powered version, even sharing the last name of Summers. Stubborn, pained, and responsible to a deadly fault, the titular heroine shook off the early doldrums to become the hero who always stood her ground. Buffy, though many deny it, was written to be more than a bit of a prig through her seven-year run. Indeed, much like comics fans with the character if Cyclops, I always felt like she was the least interesting character on the show, even though she was the focus and the leader. It was telling, I think, that they allowed Xander to save the day in season six, knowing that the character of Buffy herself had nothing to offer to stop Willow’s dark rampage. Her relationship with her Watcher, Giles, also consistently paralleled Scott Summers’ relationship with Professor X.

Following the path of similar storylines again, season seven saw Buffy’s former vampire lover and nemesis Spike regain his soul as well, setting up her own “Madeline Pryor” scenario. Swapping the character roles a bit, Angel and Spike become Jean and Madeline, forcing her to navigate her heart gently, because much like Cyclops when he learned (while still married to Madeline) Jean was still alive, it was a pretty slippery slope when it came to choosing what was best for her heart, even if it was none of the above.

This entire column sounds kind of scary, doesn’t it, that I can even write this shit down. Bleah. I’m sort of appalled. But I guess what I’m trying to say is, why get excited for something that’s been happening for years, but for which Whedon is getting paid a lot less money for this time? I suspect that it might actually be good, as his “Fray” was, but there’s no way in Hell I’m gonna lay out the $3.00 an issue for it. Besides, it’ll probably be consistently late, to boot.

So being an absolute hypocrite, I’ll just buy the trade.

Marc@MarcMason.com

Fleas

There’s been an interesting bit of uproar this week over the work (or lack thereof) of Mark Millar. It seems that the whole concept of “Mark Millar Month” was more than just a bust, thanks to late books- it was also a complete sham in at least one case. RUN, which was supposed to be drawn by the eclectic Ashley Wood, has been cancelled for now, because it turns out that Wood hasn’t provided a single page of art, for a book that was due two months ago. It is to laugh, I think.

You see, Mark, while a reasonably talented and pleasant fellow, would appear to have fallen into an ages old trap. To wit:

In the recent past, Millar decided to lend his words and creativity to the singularly strange Rob Liefeld. Liefeld’s sins against comics are multiple; not the least of which are soliciting books that haven’t been drawn yet, let alone written in some cases; making grandiose statements about his own personal ideas and having his reach exceed his grasp; and generally being likeably goofy enough to deflect the great deal of criticism that gets tossed his way. Hell, even though I loathe the product he tends to (eventually) produce, I still have a soft spot for Liefeld, because he seems to care more about the medium than 95% of the people working in it, and his enthusiasm can be contagious.

So now we have Millar soliciting books that have no art in hand. Grandiose statements about his ideas and the ways he’s going to get them out. Gushing enthusiasm for the work he’s doing on Spider-Man (in opposition to the actual product, from what I’ve read). And yet he’s so damned nice and enthusiastic, and he really does seem to love every single bit of what he’s doing. It’s freaky.

Yeah, Millar had some problems before, but they just seem a bit magnified as of late, and it just seems like there’s an uncanny correlation there. Because that’s what happens when you lay down with the dogs, right? Eventually, you’re gonna need a flea collar.

Marc@MarcMason.com

Same Old Story…

…same old song and dance. Another small press book bit the dust this week, and it, like most, will be mostly unnoticed, much like it was while it was being published.

I started reading SHADES OF BLUE back when I worked for ComicBook Galaxy. They were self-publishing through AMP Comics at that time, and a review package showed up in my mail slot out of the, well, blue. The book was a charming little ditty, a real rarity; it focused on a young girl with super powers, and it wasn’t in color. It featured some sharp dialogue, and the wonderful art of an unknown named Cal Slayton, whom I predicted big things for. The first series lasted nine issues, and then it moved to Digital Webbing, where it has run another five. Unfortunately, issue five is a screeching halt ending.

There’s a sad, but understandable from writer and publisher Jim Harris that opens the book, as he explains that financially the book cannot continue. Even in black and white, apparently they’re losing money every issue. That’s just fucking wrong. Here you had a wonderful all-ages book with a strong young girl appeal and it never found a large enough audience or niche. Harris discusses the idea that not having color killed some of their chances, but considering the cost of printing in color, you can hardly blame him.

I think the real shite of it all is that Jim won’t get to finish telling his story. It was obvious that the underlying meta-plot of the book was getting stronger play, and that answers the longtime readers were curious for were right around the corner. You could feel the creative team’s excitement growing with each issue, even as they were watching sales fall into the toilet. And this is not a localized phenomenon. How many books over the past decade have disappeared like this? Where are Martin Wagner and B.C. Boyer, for instance?

As we draw near to seeing Dave Sim finish one of the most remarkable achievements in the history of the medium, I think it would behoove us to step back and think about those whose dreams were perhaps not as lofty, but just as legitimate. To them, I offer my condolences, and the thought that I appreciate that they tried. And I hope that someday, somehow, those stories find their way into the world of the waking. Lucien’s library is already too full.

Marc@MarcMason.com

Comics news pundits were appalled at the shocking events of the latest Marvel news conference, which climaxed in Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada's right breast being accidentally revealed when President Dan Buckley accidentally leaned over the large editor and undid his shirt. Accidentally.

Discussing the new Daredevil mini-series, Father, Quesada was in the middle of detailing his new take on the character when Buckley interrupted by telling him that he would, according to onlookers, "get [Quesada] naked by the end of this conference". When Quesada continued unabashed, Buckley then apparently reached over and unbuttoned Quesada's shirt revealing a ninja star, much like one that Daredevil-villain Bullseye would use, pierced through his nipple.

Matt Brady, of popular internet comics newsarama Newsarama, commented that at that point, when the room went silent, all eyes fixed on Quesada clutching his chest and Buckley just looking kind of odd and frowning, it was all he could do to stop himself from muttering, "This never would have happened if Mike [Doran] was still working at the company."

All parties involved have since issued statements that this was in no way a publicity ploy to try and re-establish Marvel as the shocking comic company where anything can happen despite the company's recent devolution into rehashes of old comics by creators who were popular ten years ago. Nonetheless, this may be the most shocking comics moment since Mark Millar and Chris Claremont french-kissed in front of an audience of stunned fans at last year's SDCC.

Crumb: TNG

Just finished reading BELLY BUTTON COMIX, the new effort from Sophie Crumb. Published in the U.S. by Fantagraphics, this is a pretty nifty effort that proves that even if an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, it can still taste pretty different.

Artistically, Sophie has a somewhat calmer and sharper style than her father. Pieces like “Cell’Amour” demonstrate more of R. Crumb’s influence, but when she gets away from that, the book gets stronger. There are two stories featuring a character named “Sally La Frite” that still show a bit of familial style yet find a way to distance themselves in tone that go down much smoother. However, when Sophie sets her eye to herself (hence “belly button” comics) the book takes off.

The series of strips titled “Sophie & Cecile” is a real standout for many reasons. First, we begin to see a better picture of the author and her personal point of view that draws you in. Secondly, they’re almost uncomfortable to read to a fault. Sophie and Cecile are friends, but they’re that set of friends we’ve all met whom you can’t figure out why they hang out together. There’s obviously a sort of underlying need to have someone around that the other can abuse and feel superior to. It’s destructive on a quiet and subtle level, and it makes you feel like you’re sitting at the table with them and can’t get away. Great, great work. On the flip side, the book’s other highlight is a true story about how she fell for a young man who was selling postcards on her corner, and how she approached him in a humorous and very real way. It hits multiple high notes, and you get a sense of Sophie’s anxieties and how she battles to get through them and begin leaving him a series of notes with the hopes of asking him out. It’s likely to be the most romantic comic of the year not drawn by Tom Beland, and it works well.

Like any book with multiple stories, there are also a couple of misses, but overall, this is a strong book; well-drawn, interesting, and full of characters I enjoyed spending time with. It’s definitely worth your dollars.

It presents a really important question, though: why aren’t there more Sophie Crumbs?

Comics are an art form that inspire a great deal of love and passion for the medium, both in creators and the readers. It is an artistic endeavor that allows for an enormous creativity and freedom when done well. But what it doesn’t do is inspire many second generation creators.

Sure, we have a Sophie. John Romita Jr. The Kuberts. But why isn’t there a stronger next gen? Shouldn’t, logically, a kid see their parent staying home to work and doodling and think, “Wow, I wish I could do that? I want to make comics for a living.”

Let’s run down some reasoning here:

• Are comic creators just too ugly to procreate? I don’t think that’s it. Plenty of comics folks have kids. Even the writers, and I know how difficult that can be. So, we’ll grant that the folks putting the books out aren’t so hopeless that they can’t get an opportunity to make a baby here and there.



• Is the next generation just too lazy to bother? I don’t buy this one, either. Long before there were video games, cable TV, and internet porn, there were a whole bunch of guys making comics. Some real giants. And outside of Joe Kubert, I can’t think of one who really sent in a son or daughter to take their place on the team. So while I wouldn’t expect J. Scott Campbell the 2nd thanks to the modern distractions of time that already distract Daddy, the absence of Stan Lee Junior is sort of glaring.



• Comics as the system works are more of a pain in the ass than they’re worth, and parents let their kids know this. Well, yeah. Gotta think this is right.

The guys working in the 50s were busting their humps in brutal conditions that were more sweatshop than funshop, and they were likely not receiving any credit for their work. Not something you’d encourage your kid to do. Then you see guys like Kirby and Simon, or more modern, Len Wein and Tony Isabella, and they don’t inspire anyone to get into the field either.

I have a difficult time imagining how that conversation would go. How would you ever encourage your child to take a job where the odds are that you’ll own none of your ideas, make very little money, be seen as disposable by your editor and publisher, and receive very little to no support from readers when you want to try and get your creations back from the corporate beast? Any kid who was encouraged to do that would instead be smarter to call Child Protective Services and ask to be removed from the home.

Look, you’re as disposable at any other job, true. But at least at General Motors you can join the union and get some protection. Most companies offer a health and dental plan these days. You have to be fortunate enough to sign an exclusive contract with a publisher to get that as a guarantee these days, or you’re gonna pay a lot more for it out of your own pocket. There’s always self-publishing, but then that’s a huge financial risk, no benefits that you don’t pay for yourself, lower sales because comic shops ignore you if you aren’t Marvel or DC, and lower profit. You’d better be praying for a movie deal or a video game. God forbid you wanted to make a romance comic.

I dunno. Maybe the industry will change. Sophie published in Europe first, where the rules (and the sales) are a lot different. But I can’t honestly see what the comics industry has to offer a sane next generation talent, let alone a sane talent, period. Yet in the end, it won’t matter, because the suckers who read and love the books will always develop new dreamers who believe that their idea is the next big thing, and that their experience will be different because they’re different. To them I say, “Good luck.” And to the publishers I say, “I have a proposal sitting here I’d like for you to take a look at.”

Marc@MarcMason.com

Cherries 2

So....just fininshed Battle Royale volume two, and I enjoyed it immensely. The book took a nice turn, as it turned its focus to the relationships the kids had before they were thrown into the program, lending greater weight to the tragedy of it all. From gangs turning upon each other, to lovers committing suicide rather than facing being murdered or having to kill one another in the end, this series of books has a depth and pathos that has caught me off guard. I'm still sucked in by the deeply disturbing premise, but I'm damned grateful that there's more to it than that.

As soon as I finish the complete series or at least get caught up with what's been released, I'll definitely be reading more manga. This has turned out to be a smashing idea.

Marc@MarcMason.com

MARVILLE #7
Intro (Page 1):
Welcome to EPIC Comics

For hundreds of creators who deserve the opportunity to see their work in print, for hundreds of thousands of readers listening for new creative voices, EPIC Comics is for you.

EPIC Comics is a new Marvel imprint under which we will publish comics written and illustrated by YOU. Anybody will have the opportunity to submit work for consideration by EPIC's submissions editor.

EPIC enjoys more favorable economic parameters than Marvel (and other publishers for that matter) so we can publish books that others can't.

EPIC strives for a broader creative scope than Marvel (and other publishers for that matter) so we can publish a wider array of stories than others would.

By freeing writers and artists from many of the economic and content restrictions of traditional comic publishing, EPIC hopes to provide a forum for a new generation of comic creators to reach the next generation of readers.

An old comic creator lament goes something like, "I don't have fans, just people who want my job." Well, people, here is your application. The following pages tell you what you need to know to get started with EPIC.

Good luck,


Bill Jemas


Section Divider (Pages 2-3):
REACHING NEW READERS
Kinds of Stories EPIC Is Likely to Publish

You can increase your chances of getting published by reading the following criteria that EPIC will use to judge submissions.

Letís start with EPICís mission statement.

1. Tell Great Stories
2. Reach New Readers

If you can do these two things, EPIC will publish your work. Itís that simple.

EPIC will publish books that speak to new readers in ways that Marvelís current books do not. This means that EPIC will not publish books that duplicate Marvelís current lineup.

The bad news is that Marvelís current lineup is already filled with all of the easy stuff. Marvel makes half a dozen Spider-Man books every month, a dozen X-Men titles and one or two more for every major character.

The good news is that EPIC will take greater creative chances and business risks that Marvel does.

If you have an interesting and story in you, we want to read it. If you have a unique and powerful artistic style, we want to see it. We want you to win.

A script you submit to EPIC will fall into one of four categories, and each category has its own criteria by which submissions will be judged. The following section explains how these categories and their associated criteria break down.

Pages 4-5:
1. Marvel characters with monthly books

Clearly, the EPIC books with the best initial sales potential will feature the major Marvel heroes and teams. EPIC books about Marvel heroes with the largest existing reader bases will be:
(a) the most likely to be bestsellers, but (b) the least likely to reach new readers.

Take Spider-Man, for example: Marvel limits the number of monthly Spidey titles, but constantly diversifies the line to reach a wider reader base. Thus, each monthly title claims a unique creative bent: Ultimate Spider-Man targets younger readers, Amazing Spider-Man maintains the characterís action-adventure tradition, and Peter Parker: Spider-Man focuses on the man behind the mask.

Marvel would love to publish a Spider-Man book under the EPIC imprint, but the creative team would have to come up with knock-íem-dead content different from the books in Marvelís current line. So please donít show up with, ìHey, Spider-Man hasnít fought Rhino in a long time.î Marvel can publish a book like that any time in our regular line. EPIC writers should strive to strike a clean, crisp note to a clearly identifiable target audience of new potential readers.

PULL QUOTE: ìEPIC writers should strive to strike a clean, crisp note to a clearly identifiable target audience of new potential readers.î

This is hard, but it can be done ñ the Ultimate line found a large, mostly unique teen audience for Ultimate Spider-Man, and repeated the trick with Ultimate X-Men and The Ultimates.

PULL QUOTE: ìEach monthly title claims a unique creative bent: Ultimate Spider-Man targets younger readers, Amazing Spider-Man maintains the characterís action-adventure tradition, and Peter Parker: Spider-Man focuses on the man behind the mask.î

Page 6-7:
2. Classic Marvel super heroes with no monthly books

The EPIC books with the next-best sales potential will be those that revive classic Marvel characters or teams. Moreover, these are relatively easy to approve, because they wonít cannibalize a current Marvel title. Unfortunately, this kind of book seems to bring out the worst in even the best writers. If you start with the question, ìHey, whatever happened to the Silver Surfer?î youíre sure to get the answer, ìPretty close to nobody cares.î

But Marvel would love to publish a new Silver Surfer book under the EPIC imprint. The trick is to preserve the essence of the classic character while repositioning and updating the characterization so it resonates to a clearly identifiable target audience of new readers.

This is hard, but it can be done ñ Marvel Knights nailed it like nobodyís business, taking Punisher and Daredevil from the brink of cancellation to solid footing among the worldís most popular books.

PULL QUOTE: ìThis is hard, but it can be done ñ Marvel Knights nailed it like nobodyís business, taking Punisher and Daredevil from the brink of cancellation to solid footing among the worldís most popular books.î

Pages 8-9:
3. New Characters

Subtitle: New Characters for the Marvel Universe

The bad news is that weíre talking about characters with absolutely no existing fan base; the good news is that there is significant upside for brand new characters that become popular. The folks at Marvel Studios in particular are always eager to hear about a new Marvel character that isnít attached to any existing Marvel character family.

Marvel would love to publish books that add great new characters to our Universe. We are especially interested in expanding into new literary genres. Super heroes are great, but there are readers who prefer the undies-on-the-inside kinda characters. EPIC intends to explore every graphic storytelling opportunity from romance to comedy to murder mystery and crime fiction.

PULL QUOTE: ìSuper heroes are great, but there are readers who prefer the undies-on-the-inside kinda characters.î

This is hard, but it can be done ñ Alias is a detective story, right in the tradition of noir mystery fiction, that is set convincingly in the world of Marvel super heroes.

So please feel free to stretch your creative wings with works that reach beyond the current comic audience. Marvel and EPIC will be right there with you, marketing and distributing the books to new readers and helping to expand the comic book community and industry.

Subtitle: New Creator-Owned Characters Outside the Marvel Universe

Look at Diamond Distributorsí monthly list of the top 300 comics: one or two creator-owned books may find their way into the top 100 for a month or two, but the bulk of these titles dwell at the bottom of the list, selling a few thousand copies, and losing a few thousand dollars, per issue.

PULL QUOTE: ìHaving Marvel produce your creator-owned concept means that your chances of breaking the top 100 are greater than with any other publisher.î

Moreover, from Marvelís point of view, these books donít have much value, because most of the long-term upside opportunity for ancillary revenues belongs to you, not us.

Having said that, I must add that EPIC is determined to tell great stories for new readers. If you can do that, we would love to be your publisher. And having Marvel produce your creator-owned concept means that your chances of breaking the top 100 are greater than with any other publisher.

Sidebar: New Marvel Characters and Entertainment Licensing

Many of Marvelís classic characters, and most of those who spring from existing titles, may be included automatically in existing movie, TV, electronic game and other licensing deals. But brand new characters are virtually unencumbered, even if they do dwell in the Marvel Universe.

There are legal complexities at work, but the basic principle is simple. For example, in New X-Men, Grant Morrison created a new character named Cassandra Nova (Professor Xís sister). Before there can be a Cassandra Nova movie, video game or TV show, Marvel must navigate complex legal provisions of its TV, movie and merchandising contracts. In contrast, a brand new character, created independently from an existing family, would be free from most existing Marvel deals.

Section Divider (Pages 10-11):
TELLING GREAT STORIES
How To Write Stories EPIC Will Publish

Many great writers have done some of their best work for Marvel. To them, the Marvel Universe is the ultimate authorís sandbox, filled with wonderful characters and settings for wild fantasy, stark reality, and everything in between.

But many equally talented people have turned in some of their worst work for Marvel. They got the chance to play in that same sandbox and spent their time scooping up theÖ never mind. If I had a nickel for every comic script Iíve rejected in the past three years, Iíd have like twelve dollars. Okay, thatís not a lot of money, but itís a ton of wasted effort.

These writers all seem to have the same kinds of problems at Marvel U. The following list of ìrulesî should help you through your own creative process by steering you clear of the traps into which others have fallen.

Pages 12-13:
Rule #1: If your work isnít clear, donít bring it here.

As President of Marvel Publishing, Iím embarrassed to admit that I canít understand more than half of our monthly comics. Weíre oozing irony here, fans. In law school, I chose Tax Law, because the Internal Revenue Code made perfect sense to me. Now, after three years at the helm of Marvel, I find most of our comics to be unintelligible.

The greatest impediment to gaining new readers is lack of clarity in stories. If a potential new reader picks up a comic and isnít immediately drawn into the story because it is too difficult to tell whatís going on, then we lose that potential new reader, pure and simple.

Having said that, I should add that this is not an accident or a mistake. At least half of Marvelís titles are written for readers who have been reading our books for years and who want stories that are fully woven into the fabric of the Marvel Universe. Old fans understand and love the kind of book that is completely inaccessible to new Marvel fans (and new presidents).

But ñ EPIC does not need to publish that kind of book. Mainline Marvel writers have that covered.

CAPTION: Bruce Jones does a great job of making Incredible Hulk #34 both accessible to new readers and enjoyable for old fans.

Pages 14-15:
Rule #2: Character introductions are the foundation of your story.

Hereís a sad phenomenon that plagues the comic book creative process: great-reading scripts make for bad-reading comics. For this plague, the cure is character introduction.

Comic book writers tend to do what novelists do: they write paragraph-long descriptions of each character as he or she enters the story. The writer may type that a character is divorced, or that she is a single mother, or that she escaped from the Weapon X program. The writer may type that a character is thinking she misses her kids, or that she would like to strangle their deadbeat father, or that her kneecaps could not possibly be adamantium because they are beginning to rust.

All that typing ñ with the writer knowing that almost none of it will find its way onto the final page. But any writer knows that character introduction is the skeleton that supports the plot. So rather than leave introductions out entirely, he writes them as little love notes to the editor and artist.

CAPTION: Donít assume your reader is familiar with your characters ñ even in the case of household names like Wolverine.

Thereís only one good way to introduce a character in comics: you have to let the character show the reader who she is by the things she chooses to do. Not by the things she says in long-winded narration captions, or in the things other characters say about her. And actions take time ñ you may need to spend four or five pages on a good character introduction. Do the math: if character introduction is the skeleton that supports the plot, and you are introducing more than four important characters in a 22-page comic, you are going to get literary osteoporosis.

PULL QUOTE: ìYou have to let the character show the reader who she is by the things she chooses to do.î

And donít even think about skimping on intros when youíre bringing existing Marvel characters to your party. Treat every character like a new character that readers are meeting for the first time. Even in the case of household names like Spider-Man, Wolverine, and the Hulk, your character introductions should take some time to let the reader know how and why they are important to your story.

Of course, this is not to say that every character needs to be Hamlet. Quite the opposite; the Marvel Universe has more character actors than Hollywood. You are welcome to let the reader take Marvelís ìtypecastî characters at face value. You need to call the Feds to check on a military secret? Go ahead and ring Nick Fury; the shoulder holster and eye patch say all that needs saying. You need somebody to bust up a crap game? Go ahead and hire the Rhino to charge in; the nose hair says it all. But donít even think about using Rhino because he carries a grudge against Spider-Man due to that fight they had in Amazing Spider-Man #127.

The days of editorial ìfootnotesî are over ñ if you need one for readers to understand whatís going on, youíre doing something wrong. For the sake of clarity and tradecraft, whether you are introducing a central, three-dimensional character or a bit player, you should put everything the reader needs to know right there ON THE PAGE as part of the action that drives the story forward. And donít cop out with lengthy captions or clunky ìIt is I, Iron Man, the Man of Ironî dialogue ñ your readers will see right through you.

CAPTION: Itís okay to use character ìtypesî. In the case of Nick Fury, the shoulder holster and eye patch say all that needs saying.

Pages 16-17:
Rule #3: Keep your metaphors at your fingertips.

Chapter One, Page One, Super Heroes 101. Super-powers should be used as metaphors for real-world characterization and story points ñ in Ultimate Spider-Man, for example, spider-powers are simply a metaphor for puberty.

Back in the early 1990s, Marvel writers forgot Peter was supposed to stand for teen boys everywhere and made him do things torn from the pages of their own lives. He aged, he got married, he got boring. Then we all looked surprised when teens stopped reading Spider-Man books.

PULL QUOTE: ìGet down to the essence of what made your character popular in the past so you can write new stories that will make that character popular in the present.î

Super-powers are just gobbledygook unless they have an underlying meaning. Johnny Storm has fire powers ñ ìWouldnít it be cool if Reed Richards built him an infrared power booster?î NO. Doc Ock has metal arms ñ ìWouldnít it be cool if they were adamantium?î NO. The Incredible Hulk is brutish and green ñ ìWouldnít it be cool if he turned intelligent and gray?î NO. We call those kinds of stories ìwriting a comic book about a comic book.î

CAPTION: The powers of Dark Phoenix are potent metaphors, which is why they make a great classic story.

But think about Jean Grey transforming into the Dark Phoenix with the power and yearning to destroy Earth. Jean is a mutant, a Homo sapiens superior, the natural evolutionary replacement of human beings ñ ìWouldnít it be cool if her powers got out of control, and readers caught a glimpse of what it would be like to actually be replaced by a new species?î Hell yes, it would be cool, and haunting ñ and that is why the Dark Phoenix Saga is a Marvel classic.

If you want to revive a classic Marvel character, you have to look past the spandex and stories that have been written by your predecessors. You need to get down to the essence of what made your character popular in the past so you can write new stories that will make that character popular in the present. Hereís a good rule of thumb: if it didnít take place within the pages of the comic youíre writing, leave it out ñ itís not relevant to the story youíre telling right now. You donít have to discard the characterís past to do this ñ you just have to focus on the aspects of the character that have been consistent since the beginning, that make them who they are.

PULL QUOTE: ìWhile the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was preaching integration and Malcolm X was espousing separation, Professor Xavier was teaching his mutants how to live among humans and Magneto was intent on building a separate nation.î

Marvelís mainline authors do this every day. Think about the X-Men as a metaphor for minorities in America. The classic stories were pulled from the pages of contemporary American history books: in the 1960s, while the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was preaching integration and Malcolm X was espousing separation, Professor Xavier was teaching his mutants how to live among humans and Magneto was intent on building a separate nation of Homo sapien superiors. Today, in New X-Men, Grant Morrison is taking that central idea of the X-Men and recasting it in terms of the contemporary state of minority politics. He is telling stories in which Xavier has not abandoned his basic mission of integration, but has thrown open the doors of his academy in an overt declaration of mutant pride; he is showing the world the wonders of mutant science and culture.

Is this a rejection of those classic stories from the 1960s? Of course not. Does it depend on our having read those old stories? Not at all. A good EPIC script will remain faithful to the central concept of an existing Marvel creation without depending on the stories that have gone before it.

Pages 18-19:
Rule #4: Start your story at the beginning.

Marvel receives hundreds of story springboards, beat sheets and scripts every year. Ninety-five percent of them start right in the middle of a story; one hundred percent of that group are rejected.

Everyone else on Earth writes, ìA man was born, he lived and died.î
Comic guys write, ìA man died ñ no, he didnít, that was really his clone.î

Just about every kind of comic book writer seems to fall into that same trap.

PULL QUOTE: ìWriters who have been telling Marvel stories for decades already know all about the Marvel Universe and seem to assume their readers do, as well.î

When I was plotting the first issue of Namor, I got to the end, read it over and realized I had written the second issue instead. Iíd written an issue in which a young Namor meets a land girl at the beach, then encounters her years later at the same beach and agrees to go to a dance with her. My plan was to set up Namorís conflict between his responsibility to Atlantis and his attraction to the world above water. What I forgot to do, however, was establish his relationship to Atlantis. All this business with the girl wouldnít mean much unless we had first seen Namor in his natural setting. So I had to go back and start at the beginning, and write issue one instead of issue two.

Writers who have been telling Marvel stories for decades already know all about the Marvel Universe and seem to assume their readers do, as well. These writers tend to pick up characters where they were left off in old Marvel comics. They feel like they can skip the beginning ñ which is the crucial part of the story during which the writer must make the reader care about the characters. They tend to start their new stories at the ends of old ones. All the pitches to ìbring backî Jubilee and Generation X have started where the Generation X books ended. Thatís not a beginning ñ thatís a story trying to borrow the work another writer has done in order to avoid the challenge of writing a beginning. EPIC is not going to publish that kind of book.

When new writers are trying to break into Marvel, they study up on the Marvel Universe. Unfortunately, exposure to the great works that went before frequently overwhelms them. They tend to write between the cracks of past stories. We receive pitches all the time that start like this: ìThe following events take place between issues #137 and #138 of Uncanny X-Men.î EPIC is not going to publish that kind of book.

And howís this for strange? New writers who bring their entirely new characters and universes to be published as creator-owned properties also fall into this trap. They expend huge mental energy building their own universes in their minds, on index cards and on reams of typed paper. Then they tend to pick some point in time and space, smack in the middle of their new universe, and start telling the story right there. These pitches generally start with an unidentified character on a mysterious mission, the nature and meaning of which is ìto be revealed.î What they donít do is give us a reason why we should care enough ñ and keep reading long enough ñ to find out. EPIC is not going to publish that kind of book.

Letís make this simple: begin your story by engaging the reader in the life of your main character and/or in the essential events of the story.

PULL QUOTE: ìBegin your story by engaging the reader in the life of your main character and/or in the essential events of the story.î

Page 20:
Rule #5: Think big, act small.

If you have ever been up close and personal in a street fight ñ scrapping or watching ó you know a punch in the nose is a major event. But now suppose that just before the street fight, you had seen the Hulk pick up a bus and toss it at a building, or watched Magneto stop the Earthís rotation with a thought and a theatrical gesture. Then, instead of the street fight being one of the most significant images you carry for the rest of your life, it becomes a big yawn.

There is a comic tradition of starting every book with a big action scene, but big action scenes are showstoppers and should be saved for climactic moments. Little actions are the lifeblood of graphic storytelling. Little actions establish your characters; little actions move the plot forward.

One of the most chilling and memorable scenes in Origin is the scene in which Dog kills Jamesís puppy. It has all the firepower it needs: one little puppy, one very bad boy. Nobody tossing tanks into oil tankers.

CAPTION: Origin didnít need big action scenes to be memorable, just one little puppy and one very bad boy.

Page 21:
Rule #6: Write in ìarcs.î

Gone are the days of yearlong story lines, dangling plot threads and dense continuity. If clear, accessible content is the best way to attract new readers, next in line are graphic novels ñ widely distributed, highly successful collections of single issues that together comprise complete story arcs. More and more, Marvel has been structuring stories with this market in mind, and EPIC should follow suit. The ideal length for a graphic novel is six issues ñ preferably two three-issue story arcs, but any combination is acceptable. After six issues, the price point tends to become prohibitive, and the gap between books too long.

Graphic novels underscore the usefulness of recap pages in monthly comic books. Not only do recap pages allow readers to play catch up on a monthly basis, they can be pulled from the subsequent collection ñ leaving a satisfying, complete story devoid of unnecessary exposition.

PULL QUOTE: ìA great first issue will have a clearly-defined ending, but will itself function as one big beginning for your six-issue story.î

When you write your issue #1, keep this six-issue story structure in mind. No need to sacrifice your beginning, middle and end. A great first issue will have a clearly-defined ending, but will itself function as one big beginning for your six-issue story.

CAPTION: Each Marvel trade paperback collects a complete, self-contained story arc.

Page 22-23:
Rule #7: Pilots vs. Origins

A good first issue is frequently an origin story. This kind of story provides a convenient way to introduce readers to your character, because readers actually watch the formation of those essential traits that make the character what he or she is. This is how we wrote Ultimate Spider-Man ñ the first seven issues of that series constitute an origin story. This is truly starting at the beginning ñ the beginning of the formative events that shape the characterís life.

PULL QUOTE: ìThe key to a long career in comics is not writing a good first issue. It is the ability to sustain a story line over the long haul.î

EPIC editors will be happy to get your origin stories, and I expect EPICís early years will include a bunch of them. But keep in mind the key to a long career in comics is not writing a good first issue. It is the ability to sustain a story line over the long haul.

Think about it this way: an origin story is like a movie in that the essential nature of the lead characters change. The boy comes of age (Star Wars, Spider-Man) ; the girl becomes a woman (Titanic, My Big Fat Greek Wedding). On the other hand, an ongoing comic series is like an ongoing TV series in that characters are established in the opening scenes, but donít change during the show. What they do is explore the world from their own perspective.

PULLQUOTE: ìA great first issue will immerse readers in the lives of the characters immediately ñ without leaving readers feeling like theyíve walked into the theater halfway through the movie.î

When TV programmers ask producers to make a ìpilotî episode, they donít ask for the ìoriginî of the characters. Instead, programmers want to see a ìtypicalî episode. They want to see that the audience enjoys episode #3 before they commit to the entire series. Programmers know that the best first episode in the world is useless if the producers canít generate a weekly show with a beginning, a middle and an end.

Whether itís an origin story or a ìpilot,î a great first issue will immerse readers in the lives of the characters immediately ñ while still taking the time to properly introduce those characters, and without leaving readers feeling like theyíve walked into the theater halfway through the movie.

In the long haul, Marvel needs books that do what JMS is doing on Amazing Spider-Man. Each story arc works for people who have been reading Spider-Man for forty years, and for people who saw the movie and found their way into a comic book shop hungry for more.

If you want to knock the socks off EPICís acquisition editors, submit a pilot issue in lieu of, or in addition to, an origin story.

Page 24-25:
Rule #8: Take charge, be brave; fight the Fanboys, and win their hearts.

If you can understand the difference between a creator and a fan, you have a fighting chance at writing for EPIC for a living.

Marvel has a way of announcing new creative initiatives to our fans: ìAt long last, Marvel will reveal the origin of Wolverine.î Part of the fun of being a Marvel fan is being a ìTrue Believerî in Marvelís mythology. Comics are more fun to read if you suspend your disbelief and think of the Marvel characters, stories and universe as real.

PULL QUOTE: ìI did not reveal the origin of Wolverine. I made it up.î

Unfortunately, many Marvel creators ñ and a number of our editors ñ take that notion too much to heart. Right from the horseís mouth: I did not ìrevealî the origin of Wolverine. I made it up. And I made it up twice, once in Origin and again in Marville #5.

Your readers are supposed to immerse themselves in the Marvel fantasy world. They are the passive observers permitted to roam among the authentic Marvel heroes ñ able to see and feel everything, but unable to touch and affect it.

PULL QUOTE: ìYour readers are supposed to immerse themselves in the Marvel fantasy world. That is not your job.î

That is not your job. You are not an apparition watching reality unfold around you. Your job is to take control, stand up, be counted and be creative.

During the past three years, Marvel has announced a number of publishing initiatives that have been criticized viciously by Fanboys and the fan press:

Ultimate Spider-Man
Ultimate X-Men
X-Force revamp
The Ultimates
Origin
Truth: Red, White & Black
Incredible Hulk, X-Men family and Spider-Man family relaunches

This roster reads like an honor roll of the best and brightest creative pushes the industry has had to offer for the past three years.

Why the criticism?

Have you been paying attention?

Many Marvel fans are True Believers who immerse themselves in our comics and suspend their disbelief; they think of the Marvel characters, stories and universe as real.

Many editors were afraid to tell the origin of Wolverine, because they were afraid of fan backlash. Please realize what Iím saying: Marvel was afraid to tell a story about the most courageous character in our universe.

More importantly, please understand why Origin worked: Marvelís True Believers embraced Origin because it stayed true to the essence of Marvelís most courageous character.

PULL QUOTE: ìMarvel was afraid to tell a story about the most courageous character in our universe.î

Page 26-27:
Rule #9: Conclusion: Break the freakiní rules.

Creativity and rules donít mix, so donít feel bound to comply with everything you just read. In other words, these are not ìrulesî so much as they are principles developed during the past three years to address serious problems with comic book tradecraft. The only thing that ultimately matters is that you tell a good story ñ we donít care how you do it.

To summarize:

Start Slowly [SMALLER HEADLINE STYLE]

Establish your characters. Make your main character both likable and believable. For great fantasy to work, you need to do your job in establishing credibility. Jurassic Park starts with a lot of simple science and ends up with credible, cloned dinos. Star Wars starts with a kid on a desert planet and ends up with the Force battling the Empire for the control of the universe. Die Hard starts with a New York City cop on an airplane going to visit his estranged wife in Los Angeles, and ends up with a super hero flying, dodging bullets, and making guns materialize out of the back of his neck.

Create [SMALLER HEADLINE STYLE]

To write good fiction, you must immerse yourself in your creation, in the world of your characters. You walk among them; you feel they are real. The great thing about writing for Marvel is that accessing our Universe is easy and fun.

But to write great Marvel fiction, you also have to rise mentally above our fictional world and be willing to command the characters to do what you need them to do in your story. I know this sounds strange, but many new Marvel writers fail because they are so intimidated by the Marvel Universe that they turn off their creative talents and write tiny little stories that fit between the cracks of what went before them. Donít lock step with our characters, get out there and lead them.

Edit [SMALLER HEADLINE STYLE]

The editorís main function is to be the readerís advocate in the creative process ñ making sure the books are understandable and enjoyable. But Marvel will not edit EPIC books, you will. This means that, sometimes, you have to think like a reader, not just like a writer. You have to step back from the creative process from time to time and give your work a very objective reading ñ or just ask your friends and family to read your work and give you honest input.

Section Divider (Pages 28-29):
How to Submit Your Work to EPIC

EPIC books will be written, drawn, colored, lettered and composited by YOU. No editor will be working with you, calling to bug you for materials, or checking for mistakes. When it comes to your EPIC book, you will be running the show. In order to get to that point, though, you must go through the process of submitting your work for approval.

To submit your work to EPIC, there are a few steps you must follow:

If you are a writer, you must mail EPIC a full script for a 22-page comic book (single issues only, please; no series proposals), enclosed with a set of legal documents that are described below. If your script meets our guidelines and is approved by the submissions editor, you will receive a letter of acceptance as well as check for $500.00, and the green light to form a creative team of approved EPIC artists and designers to create your comic.

If you are an artist or a designer, you must mail EPIC five sample pages of your work, accompanied by a set of legal documents that are described below. If your work meets our guidelines and is approved by the submissions editor, we will send you a letter advising you that these samples will be posted on the EPIC web site so that approved EPIC writers can recruit you for a creative team.

Please read further for full instructions.

Page 30:
Submission Rules for Writers
How to get started in comics with a typewriter

1) The first thing you need to do is write a script. We do NOT want springboards, synopses, character descriptions or partial scripts. We need to see the whole thing from beginning to end, for a 22-page comic. Please submit your scripts typed on paper; we will not be accepting disks or handwritten scripts. For an example of how to format your script, please visit http://www.epiccomics.com/blahblah.html.
2) Go to the EPIC web site and download the following forms: Idea Submission Form, Writersí Work For Hire Agreement, and W-9 Tax Form. If the script you are submitting is set in the Marvel Universe but includes new characters, you must also download the New Character Agreement. If the script you are submitting is NOT set in the Marvel Universe and does NOT use any Marvel characters, you must also download the Creator-Owned Agreement. PLEASE READ THESE DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY. These documents set forth the rights Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (ìMarvelî) will have in your work. By signing these documents, you will be agreeing that Marvel owns all rights to the work submitted by you and that you are performing the work on a work made for hire basis. The agreements become effective when we return copies to you also signed by Marvel.
3) After you review and sign these forms, please put them in an envelope with your script. PLEASE INCLUDE EVERY PAGE OF EVERY FORM. Mail us your script and legal forms along with a self addressed stamped envelope (so we can send you a response). Do not include sample artwork, or any other materials not listed here. Please send everything at once. We canít accept any script that doesnít come with the proper paperwork.
4) EPIC will then review your work. If it is accepted, EPIC will mail you a written response and a check for $500.00 in the envelope you enclosed. If it is not accepted, EPIC will mail you a written rejection letter and return to you your rejected script and legal forms. All acceptances and rejections are in EPICís sole discretion. There will be a lot of submissions, so we wonít be able to give feedback on any rejected script. Itís going to be yes or no. PLEASE DO NOT CALL, E-MAIL OR VISIT TO INQUIRE INTO THE STATUS OF YOUR SUBMISSION.
5) Once you have a green light, itís up to you to build a creative team to create your book. You may only use artists and designers that have already been approved by EPIC, so encourage any artist friends you want to work with to submit their work by following the artistsí submission instructions below. You may find the list of approved artists and samples of their work at http://www.marvel.com/epic/blahblah.html.

Script Content Guidelines

1) Please keep all script content PG or below. This means no nudity, sex, swearing, drug use, or graphic violence on-panel.
2) Please do not use any characters copyrighted by an entity other than Marvel. This means no DC crossovers, no movie or TV characters, and no celebrity likenesses.
3) Titles will be subject to Marvel legal approval. There is a chance that you will be asked to provide an alternate title for your comic after your script is approved.
4) If you write double-page spreads (two facing pages that function as a single layout and cannot be separated) into your script, make sure each spread is separated by an even number of pages; for example, if pages 14 and 15 are a double-page spread, then pages 18 and 19 can be a spread as well, but not pages 19 and 20. This is to ensure that when your story is drawn, the artistís layouts remain intact when the story is collected in a trade paperback.

Page 31:
Submission Rules for Artists
How to get started in comics with a pencil, brush or Macintosh

1) The first thing you must do is photocopy 5 pages of your work ñ either pencils, inks, coloring, or lettering. Please make clean 8 1/2îx11î photocopies of your work. Make sure the reproduction quality is high, because if your work is approved, we will be scanning these photocopies for posting on the EPIC web site.
2) Go to the EPIC web site and download the following forms: Idea Submission Form and Artwork Release Form. PLEASE READ THESE DOCUMENTS CAREFULLY. These documents set forth the rights Marvel will have in your work, including the right to post your work on a web site.
3) After you review and sign these forms, please put them in an envelope with your photocopies. Mail us your sample work and legal forms along with a self addressed stamped envelope. Send everything at once. We canít accept any artwork that doesnít come with the proper paperwork.
4) EPIC will review your work. If it is approved, EPIC will mail you a written response and post your work on the EPIC web site, located at http://www.marvel.com/epic/blahblah.html. If it is not accepted, EPIC will mail you a written rejection letter. There will be a lot of submissions, so we wonít be able to give feedback on any rejected work. Itís going to be yes or no. PLEASE DO NOT CALL, E-MAIL OR VISIT TO INQUIRE INTO THE STATUS OF YOUR SUBMISSION.
5) Once your work has been posted to the EPIC web site, approved EPIC writers may see your work there and contact you to join a creative team. Marvel will provide approved EPIC writers with your contact information; however, Marvel cannot be held responsible for any unauthorized use of this information that may occur as a result.

What Happens Next?

After you get your script approved, the next step is to assemble a creative team. For the full story on assembling a team and creating your comic for EPIC, please visit the EPIC web site at http://www.marvel.com/blahblahblah.html.

Where to Send Stuff

All submission materials must be mailed to:

EPIC Submissions
Marvel Enterprises, Inc.
10 East 40th Street
New York, NY 10016

Where to Find More Information

To learn more about EPIC and download the legal forms you need, please visit the EPIC web site at http://www.marvel.com/blahblahblah.html.

Page 32:
[Idea Submission Form]

Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra
Beat sheet for 1st issue of the 2nd story Arc
Bill Jemas (February 24, 2003)

Scene 1

Open with a college couple, nice-looking kids, especially her, all blonde and glandy.
He is just a regular guy, a nice person, and they look anything like Matt and Elektra.

In a modern, clean Laundromat, the couple happily chits, chats and washes their clothes.
Until a two big punks come in with their boom box and cigarettes

The guy lies low, but the girl gets angry both at the punks for stinking up everybodyís laundry and at her boyfriend for not doing something. The guy lies low, but the girl reprimands the big nasty guys for smoking right in between two no smoking signs.

We get to watch urban and suburban worlds collide.

The punks are just doing the kind of stuff that urban punks do in public places. Just because they can.

The girl is just doing what suburban girls do, insisting, demanding that people follow the rules. What the girl doesnít get (doesnít want to get) sheís not in Kansas any more and the rules donít apply where there is nobody to enforce them. This ainít no play date, no nannies nearby; this ainít her school, no teachers, no principal.

All she has to back up her big mouth is her little boyfriend.

Boyfriend knows heíll get his ass kicked if things donít cool down. And, the more he tries to be cool, the more everybody heats up. He says ìquiet downî Judy; she gets shrill. He says ìcome onî guys; they know heís scared.

No need over dramatize or over explain. This is life on earth; every couple has been through this. Girls start fights that their boyfriends have duck out of or finish.

Donít overdo the bad guys, they were stuck doing laundry on a sunny Saturday afternoon, now they are having some fun. Now they are thinking, ëthank you godí for sending these white kids to for us to fuck around with.

But one thing does lead to another itís clear that the couple has three choices (a) complete humiliation or (b) butt whipping (c) all of the above.

But just as it looks like (c) is the answer, the biggest punk looks down to see a nasty drippy gray mop head pointed right at his chest. He looks up to see Elektra at the other end.

He says ëgrossí and pushes the mop away. It comes right back.

He grabs it, saying ëcut the shití. She spins it 360 vertically, breaks his grip, and back goes the mop head, right in his face.

He says, Electra, you dumb bitch keep your Kung Fu crap out of my area.

Elektra says, Jamul, you big dork, this is my area, you start a fight in my laundry, Iím going to finish it.

He says they started it.

They eyeball the terrified couple cowering in the corner. They both laugh.

Tight on Elektraís big smile.


Scene 2

Same shot of Elektra, then pull back to see sheís walking out of the her tough neighborhood and into the Columbia campus.

Matt M. is waiting for her on the steps of his dorm building. Heís in workout gear, but has a couple of big brail books and is engrossed in one.

Please do not drop hints about any history between the two. Treat this like two friends meeting up to go to the gym to work out, you know, ìHey, Elektra, your late.î ìSorry Matt, I had to mop up at the laundry. (That name Elektra Nachios does sound like a Mexican snack food, Matt should call her Lex or Elly or something).

Mattís carries those big old books to the gym with him.



Scene 3

State-of-the-art athletic facility with separate rooms for gymnastics, fencing, weights aerobics, Olympic pool etc.

Matt and Elektra, (theyíve been wearing workout clothes all along) have donned headgear and gloves and do some Martial arts sparing on mats in a corner of the huge basketball court. Pickup hoops and volleyball games go on in other areas of the gym floor.


This all starts slowly with Matt and Elektra doing boring/mechanical sparring. Then she starts busting his chops, saying there is no such thing as pre-law:


Pre-Med students take courses that are REQUIRED for Medical school.
Law schools donít have requirements; you can study ballet and go to law school.

During this scene, the sparring gets out of hand and their fight spills all over the facility. Every time Elly makes a point, she also throws a punch or a kick. When Matt argues back, (like saying, ìthere are courses you can take to better prepare for Law Schoolî), heís shown blocking a blow.

As the fight spills off the mat and onto the basketball court, Elly points out that you are either pre-med or no med, itís binary and says ìpre-law is something you brag about to impress girls, and whips a ball at him.

Again, only blocking, Matt says, ìyou are my girlfriend, you butthead and it doesnít impress you at all.


ìOKî, she says as she smashes a foot to his stomach, OK, ìthen to impress everybody except me, so you donít have to walk around looking like a liberal arts slacker. Matt keeps blocking and asking her to cut him some slack. Elly keeps pushing, ìyou just canít have people at you saying ëlook at blind Matt Murdock. He must figure heís gonna slide through life on his disability.î

Eric, please toss a couple of gags - she pulls down his gym shorts in front of a dance team practice, and a dancer earnestly observes, ìHe compensates for his blindness in other waysî.

By this time, they are bouncing off the walls and around the gymnasts in the gymnastics equipment area, and Matt has started to blast back. Finally, they stop to catch their breath and, Elly puts her arm around him, gives him a peck on the cheek and says, ìThat was great. I have to get you really pissed off to get a good fight out of you Mathew, you always hold back.î

They take a break. Heís gulping Gatorade; sheís sipping Poland Spring as they peel off couple of layers of sweats. She gets down to her sports bra. Matt says he has to hold back to keep from injuring her. Elly says the whole point is to training for a real fight where the injuries would be far more serious. Then Elly canís help but let on that she had been taunting him to get him angry to get him to let loose ñ clearly proud of herself, because it worked.

Matt says he understands, he loves her anyway and wishes he could see her now, ìI bet you are beautiful when youíre madî Elly, puzzled says, ìIím not angryî. Matt grins, splashes Gatorade on her hair and asks, ìHow about now?î and dumps her on her butt.

She gets up swinging and he goes back on the defensive. We are going to take the reader through the same cycle of Elly getting Matt angry enough to let loose.

Playing dumb, but not obviously dumb, Elektra explains that she knows all about lawyers because she dated one when she was working as a paralegal last summer. One weekend during document production, she showed up ìdressed pretty much like I am nowî. She was 17 and he is 45, but he respected her and listened to her opinions. His wife is a bitch and he needed someone who could really understand him.

Mattís buys this crap and gets pissed off enough to start fighting again.


Scene 4

Showered, dressed and walking back into the neighborhood. Elektra confesses the affair part of the story was BS, but that she really did work as a paralegal for a small husband and wife firm who needed help on their Legal Aid cases.

The husband is a salt-of-the-earth, TV-dad kinda guy, and the wife is a ìspitfire.î

ìSpitfireî Matt notices that sometimes Elly talks like a 40 year old. She recalls that when her mom died, she started hurrying up to grow up. They kiss.

Elly reveals that sheís had thinking about becoming a lawyer too, and the wife told her that pre-law courses were all bull.

They decide to go visit the little law office.



In a story pitch, it is a good idea to explain the springboard, character bios, the high concept, and character profiles AFTER the story beats.

Springboard

All of this has been set up for Matt and Elektra to strike up a relationship with the couple and to get involved with the Legal Aid practice.

The husband is trying to run a business. Time is money and he will invest no time on a case than he can make back. The wife gets her blood boiling when she sees and injustice and wants to take the bad guys to the carpet.

The kids intern in the law office and are assigned to factual investigation of cases. This makes the husband happy (because they are cheap) and the wife happy (because they will help take on more bad guys). Every issue, they will run into a problem that the legal system canít handle.

Matt and Elly dig through files and talk to witnesses. They juggle schoolwork, legal work, and each otherís private parts.

Daredevil and Elektra take the law into there own hands - when the legal system has washed its hands of an injustice.

These are small, neighborhood legal aid issues. Please donít deal with corporate takeovers of small businesses or huge drug operations. Donít do anything beyond the comprehension/interest of a bright teenager. We want small story arcs, one to three issues long that can be collected into 6 book trades.


High Concept

The high concept (enlightened vigilante justice) is not unique to Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra. What is unique, and hopefully interesting, is how we can use these characters to turn stereotypes upside down.

Women do not believe in violence ñ youíve seen the movies - they call the police, they run, they hide. Men fight, women negotiate.

But Elektra, Elektra is a city girl, yea she goes to Columbia, but she was raised in Harlem in and around Puerto Rican and Black city girls. She knows how to scrap, she believes in it. Elektra looks to violence as the first solution for every problem. Moreover, and more importantly she flat-out enjoys fighting the process of fighting and will happily take 10 punches to land one good one. Do not try to dig deep with this character. Just fill her pockets with a couple of cans of ass whip and turn her loose.

Frankly, none of our white, upper-class comic-book writers has been able to handle Elektra. She is a bad ass, but our writers want to turn her into a ballet teacher.

Handicapped people are supposed to be politically correct. They rely on the government to provide wheelchair access and good parking spaces. They need the legal system to protect them. But Matt, Matt is the Daredevil; his fists were forged in hot Hellís Kitchen summers. He knows how to fight to defend himself. He is prepared to fight to defend and avenge others.

Ultimate Daredevil/Elektra is not about scrutinizing or evolving these characters. Just establish them as fast as you can and send them out into real world situations.

Hi-jinks to follow.

As with other Marvel collections, the hardcover collection of The Ultimates is going to offer some “DVD-style extras”… including this, Stan Lee’s original pitch for Marvel’s first superhero team, before the Fantastic Four. Rejected at the time (for reasons that will be listed in detail in the hardcover, but which essentially come down to Martin Goodman, Marvel-to-be’s publisher at the time, not liking the idea of the main character being a revamp of an old character who’d failed before), but curiously familiar now, may I sneakily present… The Avenging Ultimates.

SYNOPSIS: THE AVENGING ULTIMATES June 1961


STORY #1: “ENTER THE ULTIMATES!”



The story is told in 3 chapters. Chapter one is 2 pages, Chapter 2 is four as is Chapter 3.



There are four main characters, as we’ve discussed:



1) CAPTAIN AMERICA: As we’ve agreed, Jack, this will be the same CA as you and Joe used to work on, but we’ll need to bring him into the present time somehow. I’ve got some ideas that I want you to look at about that.

2) HANK PYM (THE GIANT MAN): A handsome scientific genius whose quest for knowledge knows no bounds. He’s married to the beautiful JANET PYM (THE WASP), his sidekick in crime-fighting.

3) BRUCE BANNER (THE HULK): A weak, sickly scientific genius who can turn superstrong when he gets upset.

4) TONY STARK (THE IRON MAN): Young, handsome, rich, scientific genius – this guy’s got it all! He also owns the biggest arms manufacturer in the country and is doing all he can to keep America safe from the Communist threat.



We open with a full-page shot of all of our heroes ready for action – Let’s get Cap at the front of the page leaping out at the reader, Jack! Everyone should know that this is a NEW kind of comicbook adventure!



Chapter one (NOTE: This should take two pages at most – let’s get to the meat of the story as soon as possible!): Story opens in the middle of WW2. A caption makes it clear that we’re seeing the great Captain America in action, fighting the Nazis somewhere in Germany. Cap should be confident and heroic, kicking the German army all over the place while making jokes, unaware that they have one last trick up their sleeves. Lots of action! Just as Cap makes it to the control room to confront Adolf Hitler himself, Hitler launches a bomb that somehow Cap gets tangled up in, shoots into the sky and disappears. We see Hitler laughing and saying something to the effect of the world having seen the last of America’s Greatest Hero - - little does he know…



Chapter two: Present day New York. We’ll put in a caption to make sure people know it’s 1961. We’ll open with a full page shot of a laboratory, with Bruce Banner, Tony Stark and Hank Pym working away at panels and computers like no-one has ever seen before (Jack, go crazy – these should be amazing machines like no-one can imagine!). Janet Pym, Hank’s gorgeous wife, will be in the background, offering coffee to them all. Stark announces to the group that he’s just heard that a team of investigators from his company has just discovered something that will help the U.S. Super Soldier program get back on track, and Pym replies that his formula for growth will make any of Stark’s discoveries obsolete. By this point, we’ve been wasting to much time talking - - it’s time to show off what our guys can do! Stark puts on his special Iron Man outfit and flies around, fire raybeams out of his special asbestos gloves and whatever else you think will look impressive. Pym grows to his giant size, and tries to catch Stark with his bare hands, while Janet tells the two of them to stop playing around and get back to work like a school teacher. Banner doesn’t join in on this fun - We’ll have some kind of internal thoughts from Banner showing that he thinks that his special Hulk formula is exactly what the army is looking for, but that he doesn’t want anyone else to know about it just yet – Play up the intrigue and show that Banner’s not to be trusted!



Chapter three: We open with Captain America lying in a hospital bed, unconscious, surrounded by Stark, Banner, Pym and Janet. Janet comments on how handsome he is even while asleep, making Pym jealous but he doesn’t say anything (We can have a thought balloon or something showing that he thinks that she shouldn’t say anything like that because she’s married to him). Stark explains in narration while we see the action he describes that Cap was found encased in a block of ice floating in the Atlantic Ocean, thawed out and brought to their army base. As Stark finishes his story, Cap awakens and is shocked to see himself surrounded by three men and a woman who clearly aren’t Nazis. Disorientated, he asks where and when he is, only for Banner to explain: He’s in America, 1963 - - a country facing a threat possibly even more dangerous than Hitler - - the threat of Communism! Stark goes on to explain that the three of them (Janet isn’t part of the main group) are working on a scientific program to create the ultimate soldier with special abilities, just like Cap himself, and asks if Cap is willing to join them and help crush the Red Menace. Of course, Cap says yes - - and the Avenging Ultimates are born!



The story finishes with the unit forming, but we’ve already set up different conflicts within the group – Banner is secretive and doesn’t want to share his research with the others, Pym is jealous of the attention his wife pays Cap, and Cap is a man out of time. There should always be friction in the team, maybe setting one of them up (Banner?) to be the bad guy - - the power could drive him out of control and send him on a rampage through the city. Maybe this kind of tension would be better than the villain of the month style of National’s Justice League of America? If we need other bad guys, we can have invaders from outer space and monsters from prehistoric times, but we should always let our characters be human, and full of faults, because that makes them more interesting to the reader. Let them be unpredictable and that’ll keep people coming back for more!

Cherry Popped

I finally climbed on board the manga train. It took years of denials, ignorance, and reading samplers and tossing them aside for donation, but what the Hell. This past weekend, I cracked open my first volume and let ‘er rip.

It seems strange. Certainly for someone who defines their web presence as a graphic novel review specialist, I should have been here a long time ago. But like many, I was afraid of change, and afraid of the effort it would cost in order to train my eyes and brain to read the book correctly. But I’m here to say that it was worth the wait.

Battle Royale is certainly one of the more notorious series to hit the American shores. The story of a group of ninth graders kidnapped and sent to fight to the death on an island in the middle of nowhere, it’s a dark and disturbing look at the world’s growing trend to see real lives destroyed on television. You’ll certainly find few graphic novels that feel as timely and topical as this one. Essentially combining “Survivor” with “The Most Dangerous Game”, Battle Royale had me in its grip very quickly. We meet some of the children who will eventually have to participate in what is known as “The Program” when they are very young, establishing a nice rooting interest, as well as setting up some vicious and brutal surprises that occur earlier in the story than you would see in an American comic. The wonderful thing is that it all does seem to feel surprising, when if you consider the rules of the game the kids have to play, most of them are going to die before the final volume of the series hits the stands.

I only read volume one this past weekend, but I immediately put in an order for volume two, as I was so stunned by the quality of the storytelling, and so disturbed by the story itself, that I wanted more immediately. And I can definitely see myself picking up more manga series. It’s time to join the revolution, I guess. Luckily, it feels pretty satisfying. Long live the new king.

Marc@MarcMason.com

THE PEOPLE'S THOR
Creative Briefing by Bill Jemas 4/7/03

In this story, Thor's missions are a thinly veiled metaphor for American Diplomacy outside of the easy reach of the Authority of the United States of America.

Thor has it all - a living god, handsome, wealthy powerful.

And get this; he's a great guy too. George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy and James T. Kirk all rolled up into one.

And everywhere he goes, every challenge he faces, no matter how great or small, he LOSES. All that talent and power and MORAL righteousness and this guy is rejected by the locals and drummed out of town, everywhere he goes.

And, he goes like the Eveready bunny; he keeps moving from wild fantasyland to incredible dreamlike realm. He travels the world, hunting bad guys, putting down rebellions, rescuing other diplomats, etc. (he's American Foreign Policy on a road trip).

But he never goes to places that are close to his homeland. So he has to accomplish what he needs to do by winning over the local community. In the places Thor goes, he will be like an American official in a third-world wilderness or underworld, or like an ambassador to Russia or China during the Cold war.

Not that he isn't a god or nothing: this boy is armed to the teeth. That hammer of his wields the kind of power that a modern American Army could reign down on a third-world nation. But that's not the way to win the hearts and minds of the people. He'd rather throw around some money, or capture the local banditos, or beat down the local strongman - all for the good of the people.

Who, by the way, can't freaking stand him.

Wait till you see our golden boy fighting for women's rights in this kingdom where women wear veils and are married to men who are chosen by their parents.

He gets in there, rallies the right-thinking men around the plight of this beautiful, intelligent, wonderful shopkeeper who wants to run for mayor.

And damned if Thor doesnít get the men to agree that this babe can run for mayor . . . and they are even going to let the wives vote.

But now it's Election Day. And some dragon or something (representing old fashioned thinking) attacks the voting place and Thor kicks his dragon ass.

So the election goes ahead, BUT THE BABE LOSES. Turns out she's a real bitch and the women hate her.

And the local women gang up on Thor with like brooms and mops, and smack the $#!# out of him. They want to wear veils and the want arranged marriages. They don't want to live in a world ruled by pretty girls.

"When you know who you want to marry, you just tell your mom and she tells his mom,"
says a young, veiled maiden as she hits him right up side his head with a rolling pin.

Lights out.

In terms of setting, we want to take Thor full-force into the Fantasy/Conan the Barbarian world. The world in which Thor travels is not Earth, or if it is, not like any time on Earth we are familiar with. Thor's adventures should involve dragons, witches, spirits, and other Fantasy world creatures and characters. The places and people should be strange, but the stories should be familiar and resonate with a contemporary audience.

OK, but please don't worry about why he's on the move. Don't make up any rings or gems to collect. Seen grail, searched it. This series not about that.

This Thor is about a god going around to do good stuff. You don't need to explain anything. Readers donít question that gods want to do good stuff. People donít question the presence and roll of American diplomats any where in the world. Think about it, we don't even question why we sent an American diplomat to the freaking MOON.

Honestly, I'm afraid if you start thinking about gathering gemstones, you are going to lose focus on what the book is about. THIS BOOK IS ABOUT FAILURE. The failure of Power and Reason and Morality, when the Strong, Intelligent, Moral Hero does not embrace the loves, hates and fears of the people he wants to Rule or Govern or Help.

And we need some sex-appeal: on this journey, a young woman accompanies Thor. They are just partners, nothing romantic, but everything romantic (sarcastic, antagonistic, with an attraction simmering underneath, which is not acted on for a long, long time -- if ever).

Please think about this: Thor is a god. From a human point of view, the godlike qualities of reason and righteousness really do lose to basest human traits of pecking order and politics.

Please think about this: Thor is a god. From a religious point of view, Thor is a missionary, an exported god. From a foreign policy point of view, this book is about the failure of exporting American society.

And, while we're at it think about this: Thor will be an intensely patriotic book, because Thor truly believes that Truth and Justice is the American Way. His mission is not about rings or gemstones. Thor seeks to carry Truth and Justice as far and wide as he can, and suffer whatever slings and arrows he must along the way.

The Remedy

Pop culture is ailing on multiple fronts. Movies are grossing more money, but actual tickets sold continue to decline. Network television has bled viewers through a sliced jugular in the past few years. The RIAA wants to sue anyone with a computer because they believe that illegal downloads are the reason record sales have slumped severely over the last few years. And no matter how much money or how many people go to a theatre to see SPIDER-MAN, it doesn’t translate into new comic book readers and higher sales. Comics continue to flounder along with the same aging and graying fanbase, steadfastly refusing to change they way they do business…much like the music business actually. But what comics and music don’t see is that a form of salvation lies before them in the guise of a very simple trade: a trade of business models.

Music has its foundation as album sales. Album sales are generally driven by radio airplay of singles, television and other media appearances, music videos, and touring. But at the heart of it, an album is generally ten to twelve songs of varying quality, and there’s an enormous risk in purchasing it; prices for a CD are artificially high in many cases, and without knowing if the rest of the album has any music worth a damn (because you’ve only heard that one single) you’re rolling the dice and taking a big risk in laying out that cash. That, to my mind, is the single greatest reason that Napster became such a phenomenon. It took the risk out of buying music.

Let’s take Britney Spears for example. This past Fall, she released a new album. She led off with a single and a video, and sales started high and tapered off quickly to a much lower level. Why? One, her audience has decreased over time. Two, her album sucked, and the word got out that it sucked, making it much easier for people to avoid spending that money on an unknown quality.

It might have been different, sales-wise, if Britney and her record company would have tried something a bit different. Let’s say that “Me Against The Music” was the pinnacle of pop perfection. Maybe Britney and her handlers realize that the rest of the songs she has laying around to record are pretty half-ass and not worth the time. Instead of recording them and ripping off the kids for their hard earned drug money, instead she films a video, maybe adds one other song for a “B” side, and that’s it. It gets released into the wild.

Britney hits the talk show circuit, sings the song on Letterman, chats up Carson Daly, whatever. So far, outside of the number of songs recorded, there’s absolutely no difference in what she, the artist, would normally do. That single is out there, in a nice package, selling in good numbers at a low price in the $3-$5 range, and everyone is happy. The kids get the song they want, a nice extra, and they have plenty of money left over to buy the CD single that Outkast is putting out next week, and maybe another one depending on price. Everyone is happy.

CD singles can sell; point people towards Elton John and Whitney Houston if they’ve forgotten that. But the buyer just needs a reason to buy. Then , and only then, does the music industry finish off their adaptation of the comic book business model.

Say in two years, Britney has released nine singles. Now is the time for the musical “trade paperback.”

Collect those songs, add a new song, some new video or DVD-ROM material, and voila! You have a full-length album that isn’t a crap shoot. The greatest hits album has long been a strong selling staple of the industry, and that’s because the buyers know they’re getting an album of quality material, no duds. So when “Britney Spears V.4: The Midriff Years” hits the shelves, it’s a huge seller, easy as that. And there will be some people who buy all those singles, then turn around and buy the album just to get the bonus material, just like in comics. (They’ll also bitch that they have to wait another two years for “Vol. 5: My Tits Keep Getting Bigger And My Shirts Smaller”, but there’s nothing you can do about that.) It’s the closest thing to legal stealing a record company could do.

Sure, there are some artists who actually do know how to put together a full record’s worth of material and not rip off the consumer, but they aren’t exactly productive ones. Trent Reznor took five years between Nine Inch Nails albums. Peter Gabriel seems to put out a record once a decade. So the musical mavericks can go ahead and continue to do business the old way because their independence isn’t what I’m really talking about here anyway. My proposition applies mainly to pop and its more disposable music and aspects. Music would be just as welcome to their Craig Thompsons, Chris Wares, and Kyle Bakers as comics are.

On the flip side, it’s time for comics to focus deeper and deeper on music’s business model. Albums are where it’s at for comics. The continual release of light and fluffy singles (pamphlets) has gotten nearly pointless at this juncture.

Instead, comics need to really begin to look at getting more material in one spot in larger formats. Look, in a music store, you can hit a listening station and catch snippets of the latest Coldplay album, but you can’t stand there for an hour and listen to every song. The graphic novel and trade paperback aren’t so hampered; you may not be able to read the entire thing while you’re at Borders, but you can flip through it with some delicate grace, read a few pages, and get an excellent idea about whether or not it would be something you’d enjoy. In that respect, BLANKETS has it all over Nelly.

But BLANKETS or THREE FINGERS, or something else like it would never have worked as singles. Hell, even the brilliant FROM HELL did appear as singles, but it was confounding and confusing without the whole work to focus on. Books like these were made to avoid the dreaded pamphlet disease.

100 BULLETS is a perfect example of what I mean. I really enjoy this book. I started with issue one with a good gut feeling that it was something that would pay off for me in the long run, and I was right. But the longer the series went on, the more I realized that I couldn’t keep buying those individual issues. The stories were getting more complex, the character base had grown so very huge, and I was getting lost every month. But when I sat down and read the trade paperback? It was all perfectly clear. Even the most nonsensical arc of the book, “The Counterfifth Detective” made good sense in the trade.

I stopped buying the monthly immediately after that.

That book, like so many others, made me realize that I wasn’t getting anything extra (except some bewilderment) for buying the monthly singles. So I’ve stopped buying almost every one of them I used to get. I get some stuff that I am not sure will make it into album format, and I try and support some indy books that just need the help staying afloat, but I want the albums. A good album isn’t just music, or a long story; it’s an experience that takes you someplace else. It’s a universal thing. A single doesn’t do that.

So that’s my theory. Comics should concentrate more and more on making albums. Oni Press has almost completely abandoned singles. AiT/PlanetLar had done so until deciding recently to put out a couple of singles. TokyoPop gave singles the bird a while ago and increased their market share all the more for it. All it takes is for the publishers to keep pushing and realize that they were crowded off the newsstands because comics were too inexpensive; however, if they put out a collection of Superman or Spider-Man every two months that cost $5, they’d be back on those newsstands regaining that market share that was once theirs, and getting more readers to boot. See SHONEN JUMP if you don’t believe me.

Neither of these would be an easy or obvious transition, but they could be done. And if comics publishers don’t start thinking harder about their product and album creation, fans will. All it’s going to take is the creation of a Napster-style file sharing network for comics, and sales are gonna die. Or for a small bindery out there to start running ads for comics readers who want to have their own collections turned into trades or hardcovers at a reasonable price, and then the whole thing will completely collapse. That’s a lot of disposable income that’s being gambled by the publishers. I wonder if they realize just how good a poker face that the readers have?

Marc@MarcMason.com