iFanboy - Episode 90 - Robert Kirkman, Brian Michael Bendis:

Robert Kirkman and Brian Michael Bendis meet face to face in Baltimore to debate creator-owned comics!

Free iFanboy Daily and Weekly Video Podcast on iTunes:
http://bit.ly/ifanboy_itunes

Revision3 Facebook Fan Page:
http://bit.ly/revision3_facebook

For more visit: http://revision3.com/ifanboy/

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• robert
• kirkman
• michael
• brian
• comics
• dc
• marvel
• superman
• spiderman
• batman
• revision3
• rev3
• ifanboy
• art

[bbggww]

Robert Kirkman is a very smart man...But I think he is a bit lost. Most indie comics fail. Most creators don't have the resources to only work the indie market. Bendis is correct. You should be well rounded and work with as many companies as possible. Based on Kirkman's on history he should know that he is one of the lucky ones.

[TakumProti]

Even though I feel inclined to lean towards Kirkman and Image as Marvel has burned me good before and I really don't care for Bendis's work, I have to say that to some extent both Bendis and Kirkman have good points.

[1977Melville]

@Dyler. Spot on. Spider-Island is a joke to me and how many times can you kill/resurrect Batman?! Rather spend my money on books like Atomic Robo or smaller presses like Image, Archaia, or Avatar.

[1977Melville]

Marvel and DC retread the same old stuff. I wasn't that excited about the DCNU. I read Marvel's Ultimate line but even that is retreading the same old stuff. I find I buy less stuff from both companies as time goes on.

[jbeihl1]

speaking from the standpoint of a professional who has only done independent books, I can say I would have to agree with Mr. Bendis. When you have to pay rent every month, and you are only getting paid in so many installments, with only so large a page rate. you are going to struggle for a while financially.

[alekesam]

@shitsmuggler Very true.

[alekesam]

if you're willing to persevere through hardship. I mean, how different is it to make your own comic versus writing your own novel? Roughly the same odds so why not try.

[alekesam]

creator is synonymous with his or her work (and certainly can't be parted from it without the creator's say-so). But here, until recently, american comics have always been dwarfed by the big two (Marvel and DC) and Marvel pretty much sells itself as being the only kind of comics for the most part, which are superheroes. DC isn't as bad as they sell pretty much anything but suck at marketing anything other than Superman and Batman. So for me, creator owned (while harder) is well worth the work

[alekesam]

which in the long run, is the best option as you have fans that conceivably could follow you on multiple projects 4) Should you do be one of the lucky ones (a Kirkman, Penny Arcade, Dave Sim, etc) to make a living out of your art/writing, the financial reward is beneficial as you control all aspects of your work and you certainly can't get fired over a disagreement over your work (like how the Big Two do). I mean, in other countries, comic authors are closer to novel writers in that the

[alekesam]

book, not to mention while you're actually finishing something you can get all the bad kinks out of your work as opposed to doing three to five pages per company since you have to use their characters in a submission 3) If you're really that good that someone will buy your stuff, you're going to get noticed anyway. You rarely see people make it big anymore through standard submissions. But by then, you could have developed your own audience (again, no guarantee, you still have to be good).

[alekesam]

The thing is, creator-owned work while from the beginning isn't the most lucrative route to go from the start, I like the idea of running with something you created. If you're good, it should sell. If it doesn't, you can keep trying, just be smart about it. A lot of people cheer on the big company's and trying to get with them but 1) there's a serious blockage there with more artists than there is work 2) the time that you're using trying to make submissions you could be using to finish your

[Ozzzzzman77]

I'm...I'm conflicted who to stand with. KIRKMAN is awesome in writing comics in every kind of Company, and so does BMB, I don't know who to hate and who to praise in this situation.

But I would root for BMB in short.

He is a good writer all the time.