So, I shall see. It appeared from the talk I had with the writer that it was shaping up to be more of an overview although a couple of the negative aspects were brought up which is to be expected. But because the negative situations involve so-called “big names” who work primarily at Marvel and we all know the link between Marvel and Wizard, I wouldn’t be surprised that it did shift to that direction. Not much I can do about it.
Sure, Caliber had its share of problems. Every publisher does. Almost all of ours stemmed from printing. We lost almost everything on the Power Cardz game and that ended up in a lawsuit which dragged on for years. Our graphic novels fell apart which cost us not only a lot of money but also our reputation. There were other dynamics going on as well which impacted not only the future of the company but my desire to keep running it as well, but most of the problems came from printing problems.
In 11 years of publishing, obviously not everything was going to work out right and not everyone was going to be happy. I’ve found that many creators don’t like to look back on their early years and can’t say I blame them in some cases. Some had to justify why they moved on, after all, they were proclaimers of the integrity of independent publishing world yet skated over to Marvel/DC when called. Rather than admit that it was their design all the time and they’ll gladly take the paycheck, they rather work on creating a reason for leaving.
But those are very few. There were a lot of creators who approached their time at Caliber and other independent companies the right way. It was a stepping stone. It was a chance to show what they could do. Maybe it wasn’t quite polished or finished enough for the “big boys” but they proved they could deliver and they were only going to get better.
Patrick Zircher is a prime example. He always wanted to work for the majors. He started at Caliber and worked on whatever we offered. He did a series called DragonStar then five issues of Jason and the Argonauts for the Tome division. He created his own superhero series, Samurai Seven, which he wrote and illustrated. He was then moving onto the Realm as the regular artist when the call came.
Another good example is Mike Carey. He’s said in interviews that he purposely planned what projects he was going to do in order to show his talent. Dr. Faust and Inferno landed him his career which is continuing to spiral upwards.
When David Mack launched Kabuki, it was first viewed as just another “bad girl” book which was the rage at the time. But he had time to show it was vastly different than that and was far beyond a babe pinup book.
There are lots of examples and each illustrates an important point and path that creators took when at Caliber and other independent companies. Show what you can do. Far too many wannabes want to immediately jump into the mainstream on high profile books but they haven’t earned it. I always knew that we were a stepping stone for people. That’s why we had so many problems with shipping schedules and why so many independents do. The talent is always in flux. You have the really good ones snapped up but you also have the ones who always had the desire but found out that they couldn’t do it. Whatever the reason….work, school, family, or just dedication…they just weren’t able to commit to a regular schedule. Some re-evaluated themselves and found their commitment. I know of a few creators working for Marvel and DC that originally couldn’t hack the schedule but they learned and adjusted their work habits and are now successful.
In a way, Caliber was an apprenticeship for many people. As part of my efforts to get my books into libraries, I do talks there with kids. One of the main things I tell kids who want to tell stories is just do it (apologies to Nike). Write those stories, even the bad ones. You know, sometimes you just have to get some stories out of your system. Like with those kids, comic creators often have to do the same thing. Independent comic companies like Caliber allowed that to happen.
But Caliber wasn’t just all newbies honing their skills. It was also a place for creators to work on more personal projects…a chance for even established pros to develop their own characters and stories. Alan Moore with his Songbook certainly didn’t need Caliber to publish his stuff but by coming out through Caliber, it was a way of letting people know this was a different side to his stuff.
Unfortunately, in today’s market, there aren’t as many opportunities for new talent to break in or for vets to do personal projects. Sure, there’s the Internet which is quickly becoming an alternative market on par with what the independent market used to be. It’s not there yet but will be shortly. And it will likely surpass the “old” way.
A Caliber might not be able to exist now. The flow of material is so much more restricted now and frankly, there’s just a lot less outlets that carry a wide range of independent comics. Many stores don’t even stock items on the shelves but just take orders from the Diamond Previews.
Things are changing quite a bit. Major book publishers are getting in on the game of graphic novels and they don’t rely on the direct market sales. Sure, they’re not going to ignore that facet but the direct market is doing more of the accommodating now instead of the other way around. The new strategies of download comics, web comics, print on demand, and direct ordering are rapidly evolving and these are going to have an impact. I don’t think in five years that we’ll even recognize the market that existed in the 1990’s.
Like anything else, when things are changing so rapidly, you have to move to adapt. And sometimes that means you just have to move on.
NOTE:
I will be at Wizard World-Chicago (Aug 9-12) at Artist Alley Table #4712 and will have five new books there plus passing out FREE COMICS (as supplies go).
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