To celebrate The Surrogates movie wrapping principal photography, surviving San Diego, and all the cool new summer and fall releases, for the next ten days — thru Friday September 12th — Top Shelf is having a giant $3 graphic novel web sale. Continue Reading »

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Continuing with our Flashback Series, next up is Chris Pitzer, the man behind AdHouse Books, a highly-respected publishing company which has put out books by such artists as Paul Pope, Scott Morse, and James Jean- to name a few.

Since entering the comic marketplace in 2002 with PULPATOON PILGRIMAGE (which went on to win the 2002 Small Press Expo Ignatz Award for Outstanding Debut along with being nominated for a 2003 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Novel), AdHouse Books has grown into one of the premiere publishers of alternative/independent comics. Utilizing high-production values and eye-catching designs, AdHouse Books take comic books and graphic novels to a different level.

In this interview, Chris Pitzer discusses why he started AdHouse Books along with what to the near future bears for Adhouse Books, including high-profile works from Scott Morse and Paul Pope. Continue Reading »

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For those who are not familiar with ICN (short for Indy Comic News), we are a web site dedicated to promoting independent comics, graphic novels, and their creators & publishers.

The site is not as big as, say, Newsrama or Comic Book Resources but what we have over those two is a dedication to helping promote independent comics and graphic novels and the people behind them.

So we are putting out this invitation to those who are interested in marketing their books on Indy Comic News: we are open to any marketing ideas you may have, whether that means contests, previews, or some other idea. We want to help you market your books! Continue Reading »

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Continuing our series of interviews with some of today’s top comic shop retailers, we have Andrew Neal of Chapel Hill Comics as he discusses why indy publishers should publish something other than superhero comics, which two self-published comics you should be checking out, and who he thinks is the next “big name” creator.

With the recent closure of Speakeasy Comics and some of the newer independent publishers struggling to gain a foothold in the marketplace, in your opinion, does the fault lay with the independent publisher in regards to their product line and/or their marketing efforts or lack thereof, or can it be attributed to the current marketplace which, it seems, is being drowned in new books and spin-offs by the big two publishers?

Marvel and DC are definitely flooding the racks, but a small publisher is going to feel the results of that harder if they’re directly trying to compete with Marvel and DC. That is, quality aside, if you’re going to publish an indy superhero book, or worse, a new line of interconnected indy superhero books, I think you’ll have an even harder time building an audience than if you’re publishing a comic of a different genre.

Marvel and DC have more than enough superhero books to satisfy most superhero fans, but we haven’t reached a critical mass like that with crime, romance, or goth comics. If I see a new indy comic that reminds me of Superman, I’m going to say, “I’ve already got a dozen things on the rack with Superman in them. Why bother?” If I see a new comic that reminds me of Optic Nerve, I might think, “I can try to to sell this to the folks who like Optic Nerve. I’ll order some.”

Something totally unique is always welcome as well. I have been keeping all available issues of Action Philosophers from Evil Twin Comics on the racks. This is because it’s a unique comic that appeals to a lot of casual comic fans who might not show up in the shop every week. It keeps selling for us, and when people discover the book, they frequently buy all the issues at once. There aren’t any other comedy/non-fiction comics that focus exclusively on philosophers. It also helps that it’s good.

As for the rest of the question, I’ll repeat what others have said before me: New publishers should start slow, with one or two titles, and grow a readership and a reputation with retailers.This will hopefully keep them from overextending themselves financially. Next, they should focus on building an identity for their company. If you start off publishing 10 books that are all drastically different from each other, unfortunately, that won’t get you a reputation for publishing a wide range of diverse material; it’ll just keep people from being able to put an identity with your name. And of course, they need to promote themselves, not just to their potential readers, but to the retailers who will be potentially stocking their material as well. I know that was a long answer, but it was a complicated question! Continue Reading »

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Continuing our series of Flashback interviews with some of today’s top comic shop retailers, we have Paul Stock of one of Canada’s top comic shops, Astro Books (or Librairie Astro for our French-speaking readers). as he gives some helpful advice to self-publishers and indy publishers on such things as what works and why, and which indy publishers are doing things right.

With some of the newer independent publishers struggling to gain a foothold in the marketplace, in your opinion, does the fault lay with the independent publisher in regards to their product line and/or their marketing efforts or lack thereof, or can it be attributed to the current marketplace which, it seems, is being drowned in new books and spin-offs by the big two publishers?

We start off with a differing opinion. I don’t see any real “fault” in what’s happening.

Smaller publishers (and not just newer ones) are struggling to gain and hold a foothold, but that makes them no different from any small enterprise in any field. A kit-builder can assemble cars in his garage and dream of Toyota’s sales, but he also has to face reality- he’s never going to approach their global market penetration unless he becomes them. Kit builders don’t want to be Toyota- Instead they focus on their natural niche, the area that serves their interests the best. Successful small comic publishers (like Abstract and D&Q) do the same- focus on their market, not force their styles into a field that is inappropriate. Continue Reading »

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Starting this week, I will be posting interviews which originally appeared on Independent Propaganda. Some of the upcoming interviews features retailers such as Robert Scott of Comikaze and Andrew Neal of Chapel Hill Comics, and publishers like Chris Pitzer and Larry Young. Other interviews including the Print To Web interview series with Phil Foglio, Carla Speed McNeil to name a few, and the New Publisher interview series. So be sure to bookmark Indy Comic News or subscribe to our feed so you don’t miss anything!

We begin with an interview with Robert Scott, owner of Comickaze. Robert Scott is one of the industry’s most respected retailers. From his CBIA (Comic Book Industry Alliance) web site and forum, Mr. Scott has helped comic retailers form a much-needed voice in the comics industry. One not to shy away from giving his opinion, here’s Mr. Scott with his views on the independent market and how indy creators and publishers can, indeed, survive in today’s direct market.

With the recent closure of Speakeasy Comics and some of the newer independent publishers struggling to gain a foothold in the marketplace, in your opinion, does the fault lay with the independent publisher in regards to their product line and/or their marketing efforts or lack thereof, or can it be attributed to the current marketplace which, it seems, is being drowned in new books and spin-offs by the big two publishers?

Yes the fault lays almost exclusively with these small press publishers. I am at a loss to think of any other industry where companies regularly form to create product that there is no demonstrable demand for, and whose chances for survival (not success but survival) are firmly attached solely to their ability to leech customers away from an existing consumer pool. The big two have their fan base and due to Hollywood, the book market and the usual suspects, continue to grow their market (although definitely not as well as they could), they deserve their success. Five of the top twenty grossing movies of all time are superhero movies, compare that to the total percentage of superhero movies made and that’s phenomenal. Folks have been primed for these stories, so much so that something like the Incredibles can come along and tap into the power of the genre, despite being a “new” entity. Continue Reading »

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Comic books and graphic novels have, over the past twenty years, become a widely embraced medium in book publishing. Initially dismissed as children’s entertainment, comics have now developed a maturity and range of vision that rivals other forms of art and literature. Graphic novels are read by people from all walks of life and have reached a level of critical acceptance that was unheard of decades ago. This resurgence has been led by a number of young artists who bring unique voices to the medium. Von Allan, an Ottawa-based artist and graphic novelist, joins this group with his recently published graphic novel “Li’l Kids: road to god knows… adventures!” Continue Reading »

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2008 is continuing to be a banner year for Toronto cartoonist Jeff Lemire and his ESSEX COUNTY trilogy of graphic novels: he was honored on Friday with the Doug Wright Award for Best Emerging Talent. This award is the latest of several honors received by the ESSEX COUNTY trilogy, published by Top Shelf Productions: already the first two volumes have been awarded the Alex Award from the American Library Association/YALSA (for adult books with teen appeal), the Shuster Award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist (Writer/Artist), and nominations for one Harvey and two Eisner awards. This most recent award arrives just as the trilogy’s final volume, THE COUNTRY NURSE, is listed for retailer pre-order in the Diamond PREVIEWS catalog (order code AUG08-4324). Continue Reading »

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Publisher / Creator: Brain Scan Studios, Inc.
Date: July 29th, 2008

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