Bundled Extra: Notes On Last Week’s Image Expo

By Tom Spurgeon

* so Image Expo was last week and I sort of missed it because I'm not very good at my job right now. That will change, but we're on the tail end of that period. So let's talk about it for most of the column.

* Image Expos are that publishing house's mini-cons that kind of serve as a PR hub for each round of publishing announcements. It's smart because they can move it around to a date where they can then kind of own the PR cycle, and then supplement it at a big show like SDCC and NYCC or have those announcements serve as talking points on the floor.

* I haven't seen anything in the reporting that suggests there's a lot that went on last week in terms of the scene of it. That's worth noting because at one point that was almost the entirety of the news coming out of the show: a photo taken one year where people used the symbolism of a specific photo to criticize the company. I saw nothing like that this time. It seemed like a well-rounded group in terms of diverse backgrounds and different places in their careers.

* I like Eric Stephenson, and think he's done a very good to excellent job at Image (I'm hedging because I haven't done a deep study of it). I enjoy his keynote addresses, and I think they're wonderful polemics. This is the 2015 version. I would quibble with his history because I'm a quibbler, but I'm happy that he does provide historical context for Image's creator-owned aspect; sometimes it's assumed Image invented that, and as Stephenson notes, that's wrong. What's Stephenson's speech is really good at is in showing how advantageous that deal can be for creators that a) can sell over a certain amount and/or b) are set up in a way to pursue deals in other media. I think that's the way Image is set up AND historical circumstance. Image worked astoundingly well during the early 1990s industry swell because the high end numbers were crazy and the opportunity for those to go independent projects given the right hype was well established. Image works well right now because you can generate significant profit relative to mainstream rates for modest to good sales and you're free to make your own media deals. For people that can't sell to a certain number of copies or who aren't interested in deals with other media, that a whole different conversation. I bet someone with a book to book knowledge of the company might be able to piece together whether or not Image has a consistent, through-line history of developing hits that don't come with some sort of creative imprimatur from the mainstream comics companies.

* for a summary, of all the things I've read I prefer this gallery of straight up PR over reports from the Image Expo floor.

* I think the most important two stories in a publishing news sense are the last two listed. Bryan Lee O'Malley writing for Leslie Hung's art, Mickey Quinn's color and Maré Odomo's lettering and design on a project called Snotgirl set in the world of fashion blogging. Every known in that last sentence breaks sharply with the typical genre comic company press release. Also, O'Malley is a considerable talent and built up a lot of goodwill with comics fans that hasn't begun to dissipate. In other words, I think an O'Malley project would be welcome with a significant amount of anticipation and happiness no matter what that project might be, and this one sounds promising -- mostly by not sounding like anything else. I also think this is an area to explore for Image. Like if they don't have something brewing with Raina Telgemeier, say, I hope that such a phone call was at least considered. The Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin news announced catches my eye in similar fashion because that's a high profile webcomics project that Private Eye thing they did and Image has never quite cracked that, despite that seeming to be a generally good area for both themselves and Dark Horse. Having them do a Walking Dead story is also stand up and notice just because it's a rare thing now, but kind of reminds me of the inducement quality that working on early Image books had for a few independent creators.

* I'm sure there are fans of all of the projects. Some of them sound clever to me; some don't. I'm not sure if Ringside (Joe Keatinge, Nick Barber, Simon Gough, Ariana Maher) is the first smart mark wrestling comic, but one seems overdue. It's hard for me to say which television-pitch sounding series sounds better than the other one with a lot of their line, and I have that reaction when I read their comics. Image seems to me a company without a lot of critical darling performers or exquisite fan favorite middle listers; the books that sell the best seem to me mostly the best-selling books, perhaps more than any genre-focused company in the medium's history.

* a few projects announced caught my eye for specific reasons beyond "hey that might do well." Getting Kaare Andrews on board to do a book is a nice get for them, and they should very much make a big deal out of someone's first time the way they seem to in the PR. It seems to me that Image has been the majority causal factor for a definite talent drain at both companies because of the financial opportunities the Image model provides, and, I'm sure, the creative issues involved. It would be nice to see the writer Gail Simone back in front of a strong-selling title that didn't have a giant corporation attached lamprey-like to its jugular. The book announced with Cat Staggs, a houswife/hitman Freaky Friday switcheroo, isn't really up my alley, but all that means is that the execution has to be there and comics is a medium of execution over conception. Jason Aaron working with artist R.M. Guerra and colorist Giulia Brusco on a savage bible stories book called The Goddamned has the benefit of falling more in line with a more sharply conceived public branding element Aaron can offer that maybe Simone can't right now. I've enjoyed the work of the artist Tula Lotay in collaboration with Warren Ellis, so it's nice they're working together again on a book called Heartless. This phase of Ellis' writing career where he kind of moves in and out of various projects like the actor Jon Hamm taking on supporting roles all over the place intrigues me. It makes sense for the long term to sometimes have periods that aren't tear-down-the-sun major projects, and the resulting books are much more amenable companions for me than the latest book Mark Millar is shouting at me is the greatest work in all of mankind. The last book that I took note of on the list is the Steven T. Seagle collaboration with Jason Adam Katzenstein on Camp Midnight. Seagle keeping his hand in in comics by writing projects of varying size and vastly different genres is another career path that makes sense to me. He's quietly became a very versatile comics-maker.

* that's about it, really. It seemed lacking to me in terms of the big names of this particular Image era, but it's nice to see what sifts to the surface when you explore that kind of list. I think that company's in a pretty good place right now. I'd love to see them break out of their reliance on genre-with-a-twist book on their lower end, but what moves they've made in areas other than that haven't always worked out. They're going to be in the catbird seat for a while because of their deal in the context of this specific era, and the ideal career that many in mainstream comics feel is out there for them and which company many feel gets them closer to it. I hope Image remains ambitious.


 
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