EVERYTHING BUT IMAGINARY #301: HOW TO MAKE THE MOUSEWORKS WORK

[Blake Petit]

We’ve reached a resurgence in the field of licensed comics in the past few years. Dozens of TV shows popular with the geek crowd have comics (Battlestar Galactica, Fringe, Farscape), not to mention properties from the past that got our attention for the sake of nostalgia (Greatest American Hero, Flash Gordon, The Lone Ranger). But the bulk of these licensed properties are focused on the sort of geek culture that already inhabits America’s comic book shops. Back in the golden age, it wasn’t just geek stuff that had its own comic. EVERY remotely popular TV show, movie, or pulp character could be counted on to make the transition from the screen to the printed page: I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, The Rifleman – even Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin headlined a comic together (which Jerry got custody of when their partnership broke up). While almost every company got in on the licensing act, Dell seemed to wear the crown for sheer volume – sitcoms, movies, cartoons, and so on. Of the hundreds of different properties Dell produced over the years, only one license stood the test of time, more or less uninterrupted.

But now, for the second time in a decade, the line of Disney comics that started with Dell back in the day has blipped away, with the news this afternoon that Gemstone Comics has dropped the license it’s held since 2003. Supposedly, a new licensee is already being sought, and I hope the line comes back soon. The shift in publishers, honestly, doesn’t really upset me. Many publishers have held licenses with the House of Mouse over the years. The original, “Classic” line started at Dell before being bequeathed (with most of its other properties) to Western publishing – which released books first under the Gold Key imprint, then under Whitman. After that line ended, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Uncle Scrooge moved over to Gladstone Comics, which held the title for a long time – minus a brief stint in the early 90s when Disney Comics attempted to publish the line on its own. It soon reverted back to Gladstone, though, and they held the license for a few more years before ceasing publication in 1999. This was the first interruption, and it lasted until Gemstone came in.

But that’s just the classic Disney characters, the ones from the original shorts and older movies. Many others have gotten into the game over the years. Marvel released books featuring The Lion King and The Little Mermaid, Slave Labor had far too brief a run on books like The Haunted Mansion and Tron, Dark Horse gave us the comic adaptation of The Incredibles and last year’s awesome Return of the Gremlins, Tokyopop has released Manga versions of Pirates of the Carribean and Hanna Montana (it’s still Disney, shut up), and just last week Boom! Studios launched a new line that includes two Disney sub-groups, Pixar and the Muppets. The point I’m trying to make, to finally get there, is that having Disney comics from many, many companies doesn’t bother me.

Gemstone put out some really great comics, but I’d like to offer a little advice to whomever gets the license next. Don’t make the same mistake Gemstone did. DON’T ONLY TARGET THE DIE-HARDS. Gemstone launched with two lines of books, both picking up on what Gladstone did before them: two “traditional” titles (Mickey Mouse and Friends, Donald Duck and Friends) and two 64-page squarebound books aimed right at the collectors (Uncle Scrooge and Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories). There were also two digest-sized books, Donald Duck Adventures and Mickey Mouse Adventures. Within a few years, only the two squarebound books remained, the rest of the line replaced by one-shots, annual specials (like Walt Disney’s Christmas Parade) and trade paperbacks.

Please understand, if there are any former Gemstone people reading this, I am not complaining about the quality at all. All of the Disney comics I got in these years were well-made, well-written, well-illustrated, and totally worth the price… to me. Let’s stress that. To me. I’m the die-hard fan. I love these characters in a way that has made girlfriends less assured of themselves than Erin jealous. My shrine to Carl Barks is second only to that for Charles Schulz. I am the target audience. But as for the rest of the target audience… there isn’t enough overlap between Disney fans and regular comic book readers. In all the years Gemstone published, I never saw any of the comics on a newsstand or in a bookstore. I saw some of the trade paperbacks, some of the digests, but that’s it. So for the last three years or so, what we’ve had is a line of Disney comics in the shops that cost more than the casual fan was willing to pay, while the hardcore fans were walking through bookstores where the comics could not be found. As I like to say whenever one of my students suggests something stupid, “I may not teach math, but I can add two and two.”

In the first week of their Disney license, Boom! did what Gemstone couldn’t in five years. They cut a deal to put their comic books on the newsstands, in Barnes and Noble, in other places where the casual fan may look for it. And y’know what? Both The Muppet Show #1 and The Incredibles #1 have sold out in the comic shops. Among the many (many, many) message boards I frequent is a site for fans of the Muppets, and let me tell you friends, the people there have been salivating ever since this comic book was announced. I’m talking about people who have never set foot in a comic book shop. They were going to CBR, they were camping at Newsarama, waiting for any tidbit about the comic, looking for artwork, weighing in on their opinions. The board was sharply divided between those who love the artwork of Roger Langridge and those who think he draws Kermit’s head “funky.” Members of both camps have become hardcore fans of Dave Alvarez, who thus far has only done variant covers, but is apparently going to do one of the spin-off series in the future. But interestingly enough, even those who aren't fans of Langridge's art are still planning to buy the comic, because they love the Muppets.

These people who have never touched X-Men or Batman, people who wouldn’t know a Secret Invasion from a Final Crisis, are behaving… well…

…like us.

And while some of them were willing to go to the comic shop, a great number of them were waiting patiently for some sort of announcement that they would be able to get the comics in bookstores. Fans who want these comics are looking at newsstands. Others who would have ordered online otherwise are now willing to bounce down to Barnes and Noble. (I keep mentioning Barnes and Noble because Boom! made it a point to stress they were getting the comics first. If they want to send me a kickback, my Paypal account is waiting.) And a lot of those picked up The Incredibles too, even though they aren’t comic fans, because… well… because The Incredibles are awesome.

I’m not necessarily suggesting that Boom! take over the “Disney Classic” license, although I can certainly think of worse candidates. I’m just saying, to whoever does Disney comics next, it is imperative that you find some way to do exactly what Boom! is already doing.

Here are a few other suggestions.

•First of all, keep as many of the creative folk as possible. Many of the people working at Gemstone, creators and editorial alike, have been with the Disney comics since the Gladstone days. Still others straddle the fence with Disney’s comics in Europe, where they are far more popular than they currently are in the USA. I’m not saying not to try new things – in fact, one of my other suggestions is exactly the opposite of that – but story-wise, there was a lot of great stuff being put out. Don’t screw that up.

•Don’t just target the collector and leave the younger reader (or casual reader) out of it. The bulk of this line should be in a less expensive format, and preferably, have new material. Make Uncle Scrooge, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck “standard” comics. If you must have a book targeted at collectors – a book at a higher price with more pages in a more permanent binding – make it Walt Disney’s Comics and Stories. One book for the collectors is enough. There are a lot of Disney fans – such as my good buddy Chase – who told me flat-out they weren’t getting the books not because they didn’t like them, but because they couldn’t dedicate $16 a month to two comic books, even giant-sized ones, and how can you possibly blame them?

•Oh, and while we’re on the subject of the old titles, don’t restart the numbering either. WDC&S was only two issues away from the big #700. Only two other American comics have ever hit that number (Action Comics and Detective Comics, duh), and I was really looking forward to getting that issue in my hands.

•Don’t be afraid to branch out into something new. Sure, keep running classic reprints in the collector’s book, but give us mostly new stories in the regular titles… or at the very least, give us stories that haven’t been printed in the USA before.

•But why stop there? Give us new titles as well. One of the reasons that The Muppet Show was so popular is because there’s only been a one-hour Christmas special in the past four years. Muppet fans are starved for content. So are fans of a lot of the classic Disney properties. And what about fans who grew up in the 80s and early 90s? I’m going to go out on a limb here. GIVE US THE DISNEY AFTERNOON! Whenever Gemstone had Launchpad McQuack pop up, fans were a-twitter. Let’s have a Ducktales comic, a Darkwing Duck comic, a Talespin comic, a Chip and Dale’s Rescue Rangers comic! The fans are out there, my friends, and I promise you if those comics are well-made, affordable, and in stores where the fans can find them, they will sell!

•Try new formats as well. one thing that Gemstone briefly mentioned as being in the works – but that never materialized – was experimenting with black-and-white “phone book” comics. In other words, they were thinking of trying the Manga format. While not a Manga fan myself, this could be a good thing. You’ve got a kid who wants to read the same comics his or her older brothers and sisters are reading (these days those sibs are reading the Manga). Mom looks at the latest volume of Battle Royale and thinks… um… maybe not. But this Disney Adventures comic (why not call it Disney Adventures, nobody else is using the title anymore) has the same look, the same feel, and has characters Mom is comfortable with. Now Mom can give the younger ones the Disney comics, and when they’re older, they may trend towards the Manga stuff… but they also may trend towards the other Disney comics, the ones in color, the ones more likely to transition to American comics. Yes, this is an insidious plan on my part. I’m comfortable with that.

•Don’t give up on the classic stuff, though, because clearly the audience exists. One of the best things we got from Gemstone were the reprints of The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, the Carl Barks’ Greatest Ducktales comics, and the volumes printing a classic Carl Barks story along with its Don Rosa sequel. Don’t stop there. Give us more paperbacks like Walt Disney’s World of the Dragonlords (which reprinted an epic fantasy adventure of the Ducks in the US for the first time) or the Ducktales: The Gold Odyssey paperback.

In short, what you need to do is strike a balance between what the hardcore fans want and creating something that the casual fan or the non-comic shop reader will flock to. Those, my friends, are the keys to success.

That, of course, and getting me to contribute to the Darkwing Duck comic. I’d love a chance to write more of those “I am the terror that flaps in the night” bits.

Favorite of the Week: March 25, 2009

I’ve already talked extensively about how The Muppet Show #1 was a success on the shelves, but I haven’t talked about how it fared critically yet. Roger Langridge knocked my socks off with this comic. The artwork– while not strictly on-model – is full of energy and wonderfully imaginative. The story is a strong one – Kermit gets a letter that makes him homesick for the swamp and Robin leads the gang in an effort to cheer him up. What’s more, Langridge intercuts the story with stage acts, just as the TV show cut the backstage story with skits. The comedy is spot-on, and even the musical numbers – to my astonishment – worked wonderfully! I never thought the delicious chaos of the Muppets could translate so perfectly to the comic book page, but Langridge nailed it. This comic more than earned my $3. I’ll be picking it up in the comic shops. Leave the ones on the bookstore stands for the casual fan we’re trying to attract, okay?

Blake M. Petit is the author of the superhero comedy novel, Other People's Heroes, the suspense novel The Beginner and the novel-in-progress ”Summer Love” at Evertime Realms. He’s also the co-host, with good buddy Chase Bouzigard and Not-On-the-Internet Mike Bellamy, of the 2 in 1 Showcase Podcasts. E-mail him at Blake@comixtreme.com and visit him on the web at Evertime Realms. Read past columns at the Everything But Imaginary Archive Page.

[ErinPatricia]

I want a Rescue Rangers comic

[Chase Bouzigard]

Great colum i will pick up as many trades i can find at disny this week

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by ErinPatricia

I want a Rescue Rangers comic

I know you do, love. That bit was just for you.

Good on ya, Chase. Hope you find some good ones.

[Gyro_Gearloose]

This was a dead on article. I think that I too am the target Audience for some of these stories. 33 year old geek / 2 kids / descresionary disposable income.

I LOVED Muppet Show #1. It captured the feel of the Muppets like nothing has since Muppets 3D opened at MGM ( now Disney's Hollywood ) Studios. I imediately had DCBS add this and Muppet Robin Hood to my monthly pull.

Incredibles #1 was fun, but more targeted towards kids, which is great. I enjoyed it, my 4 year will love it more....when he learns to read.

The Uncle Scrooge Stuff by Don Rosa is near perfect, but the price point always turned me off, even when it is a new story/classic story. I have most of the collected editions, and anxiously await the first volume of the Don Rosa collections ( supposed to be out last Dec, pushed back to Dec 2009 )

I wish they would release the Carl Barks Hardcovers in the US. Those stories that I have read DO hold up.

With so many properties finding new life in comics, licenced properties could easily prsper if the right talent and care is put into it ( Pirates of the Carribean and Last Starfighter are 2 I would love to see ).

You guys need to do a licenced properties 2 in 1 Showcase

[DocOrlando]

I would pay considerable money for a Disney (or Muppet!) version of Battle Royale.

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by DocOrlando

I would pay considerable money for a Disney (or Muppet!) version of Battle Royale.

That would be... unexpected.

[DocOrlando]

I think they could do a hilarious slapstick (non-bloody/lethal) spoof on it, but talk about a niche audience...

[Andrea Speed]

I would pay considerable money for a Disney (or Muppet!) version of Battle Royale.

Ooh! Yeah, sign me up for that!

[Blake Petit]

With this being the last week of school for the year, friends, I’m afraid I don’t have time for a full Everything But Imaginary column this week. However, some really interesting news just broke earlier today that relates to this column. Apparently Boom! Studios is in the running for the classic Disney license.

Discuss...

[B. Schatz]

Very cool. Even though it's early in the game (and they're a little late with a few of the books), from this vantage point, Boom is doing a great job with the books they're rolling out now. I'm buying pretty much alla' their kids books (and a healthy smattering of their other books) right now, and I'll gladly add the Disney-proper books to my file... so long as they aren't, you know... $8 American.

[Blake Petit]

Originally Posted by B. Schatz

Very cool. Even though it's early in the game (and they're a little late with a few of the books), from this vantage point, Boom is doing a great job with the books they're rolling out now. I'm buying pretty much alla' their kids books (and a healthy smattering of their other books) right now, and I'll gladly add the Disney-proper books to my file... so long as they aren't, you know... $8 American.

I really hope they change that. It was a mistake at Gladstone, it was a mistake at Gemstone, and it would be a mistake at Boom!