Note: This is a slightly expanded version of something I just posted on the 11 O’Clock podcast forums.
“Too much of the industry’s energy is focussed on creating comics for children that children either won’t read or won’t find. The comics retail culture is almost exclusively an environment for adolescent males of all ages. Trina Robbins is fanatically devoted to producing comics for girls, which is great. We need more genuine fanatics.”
from Warren Ellis’s The Old Bastard’s Manifesto, March 2000
Part of me wants to be really cynical towards Robert Kirkman’s video on CBR. I don’t know why. Maybe because he’s just another one of those current creators who I just don’t get. I’ve tried his work but have never been as enamored of it as most people seem to be. That just happens sometimes I guess.
I think Kirkman’s heart is in the right place. After all, isn’t he about as old now (30 next year) as the original founders were when they formed Image? (Quick wikipedia search shows that the founders were anywhere from 25is-40is when Image formed.) He should have the same desire as they did years ago. And it’s great to hear a high-profile creator talk about getting away from Marvel and DC. I can only hope for a world where I could read Casanova, Criminal or Powers more often than I read Iron Man, Captain America or Secret Invasion.
I really wonder where he can take Image now and what kind of influence he has among the partners. Heck, I wonder what kind of influence the partners have on the company outside of their own little fiefdoms. It’s a call to arms, that’s for sure but who’s going to answer it? Greg Rucka’s about halfway there being one of the few other high profile creators right now that I can think of that isn’t under an exclusive.
While the companies maintain some rights, I would like to hear what Kirkman thinks of Icon and Vertigo. There’s a form of creator ownership with other rights given over to the publisher. But Icon does allow Brubaker to have his cake (Captain America) and eat it too (Criminal.) Of course, Icon is only opened to a privileged select and I wonder how open it is to non-exclusive creators. Is JMS welcomed into the clubhouse anymore?
And of course, this opens up the chicken and the egg question. What came first– readers who won’t read anything but superhero comics or publishers who won’t publish anything but superhero comics? And the answer is both I guess.
Honestly, I wish Kirkman all the luck in the world. I’d love to be purchasing a lot more Image books but, let’s be honest, their success ratio is about on par with Marvel and DC. They have their ups and downs like any other publisher. Heck, I’m even thinking about giving Walking Dead another try and may end up picking up the last trade just to see some Charlie Allard artwork.
Calling this a “manifesto” put me in mind of Warren Ellis’s Old Bastard’s Manifesto, linked to and quoted above. That’s one of the more tamer pieces from it but it’s curious to notice the difference in demeanor between the two. Ellis wants to burn everything down while Kirkman is almost an apologist for comics. Of course, I just bought an Ellis-written X-Men book today and Grant Morrison is finishing up a 12 issue Superman run this month so maybe Ellis isn’t quite the oracle we all thought he was 8 years ago. Maybe Kirkman will be able to do something that Ellis wasn’t able to do and Kirkman will rouse up the creators behind him.
Wow, that’s a lot of rambling going on there.
[...] all of the hubbub that the so-called Kirkman Manifesto has started in the comic blogo-podo-forumso-sphere, I found this YouTube clip of Ralph Bakshi (originally found on Kyle [...]