Robert Kirkman Becomes Image Partner



According to news released through the New York Times it will be formally announced at this weekend's Comic-Con International that the writer Robert Kirkman has become a Partner at Image Comics.

This is an interesting move in a lot of ways. For one, Kirkman would be the first Image partner since the group originally formed in the early 1990s. That still holds some historical significance, like having a well-known musician join a successful rock band a decade into its existence. Barring similar announcements this weekend, he's the only Image partner that's a writer only, which certainly makes other moves possible. The move acknowledges the massive success that Kirkman's Invincible and Walking Dead series have had -- not just as serial comics but in a kind of two-tiered trade volume publishing plan as serial paperbacks (a way that many fans are primarily following each book) and in larger, fancier hardcover editions. Kirkman's success has been hugely important to the company in establishing an identity in the years since founder Jim Lee took his studios to DC Comics. Another compelling aspect is that it marks Eric Stephenson's first major move as a publisher, and may mark a more aggressive Image in terms of two things I'd be tickled to suggest I've heard about because I'm an industry insider but actually they've been openly talking about for a long while: a plan for Image to share in profits in some way (a move away -- or at least an option different from -- their traditional set-fee structure), and attempts to bring more creators on board.

As far as that last goes, one reason Image should do really well in terms of bringing creators on board right now because they don't go after media rights the way a lot of the companies do. With Hollywood studios and talent agencies much more skilled at finding amenable properties, there's much less of a compelling reason to have one of a growing crop of no-name or small-name or not-really-a-comic-book companies "rep" your work in that arena for a sizable percentage of the potential profits.
 
posted 8:26 am PST | Permalink
 

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