During my far too many hours on Facebook I came across Idolized while surfing around.  I was intrigued.  Idolized felt innovative and a throwback at the same time.  This is a comic that as a concept was influenced not just with the creator’s vision of the characters, but also with fan interaction and involvement.

Planetary by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday was without a doubt one of the coolest comics of the last twenty years.  A group of archaeologists consisting of Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner, and The Drummer attempt to learn the secret history of the world they live in.

The idea of comic book characters as celebrities isn’t really a new idea.  I think you’d have a great argument that people like Tony Stark and Reed Richards and family were celebrities before they became superheroes.  Going just from that, the idea has been around a long time.  There have been a lot of interesting interpretations of the celebrity superhero.
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I’m going to talk about the Biggest publisher of Independent comics.  It’s not dark horse.  Nor is it Image or Boom! or many of the other small and wonderful companies I could be naming.

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So I want to make a comic series…

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The most successful companies usually have brand names you recognize. Names like Coca Cola and Starbucks count among things we as consumers recognize.  We know what to expect and we base our purchases on the expectations names bring to the table. 

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Right now I still go to the comic shop every Wednesday (or Thursday as the case may be.)  I still buy floppies. I like holding a 30 page book in my hands as I read about the exploits of my favorite characters like Darkwing Duck, Starborn, Green Wake and others. 

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Dirk Manning is a success story. Dirk started work publishing a little comic called Nightmare World on the now defunct http://www.nightmareworld.com which has led to Nightmare World’s three collected graphic novels, the third, Demon Days, coming up this October.  Beyond Nightmare World, Manning has two online serials, Tales of Mr. Rhee and Farseeker, available to view at Shadowline and Act-i-vate respectively.  His column Write or Wrong is inspirational and is worth the read for advice and some great lessons in publishing as Dirk talks about some fascinating experiences.

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Companies forget sometimes the most important element about comics.  Sometimes like now, that means chances need to be taken. Characters need to be rebooted, people need to be pantsless (or acquire pants, as the case may be).  In short, changes need to be made.  The war to attract fans never stops. Everyone knows that their favorite books aren’t going to last forever. (more…)

What would a week of talking about supporting characters be without talking about the greatest supporting character of all? (more…)