Interview: Robert Kirkman on Skybound

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When does Witch Doctor launch?

Witch Doctor launches in 2011. I would say first quarter 2011.

Do you think that when you first started writing comics, if something like Skybound had existed, you’d have wanted to be part of it?

You know, I’d like to say I would have. To a certain extent, Eric Larson kind of did that with me. Erik Larsen, Eric Stephenson and Jim Valentino took me under their wing. They gave me a lot of special care at Image Comics, and helped me grow into what I became. So I kind of did. It was nice having assistance. I was able to do Battle Pope on my own for a long time,  and I was doing a SuperPatriot series for Erik Larsen, and that led me to do a lot of Image books, which led me to do a lot of Marvel books, which led me to be able to only do Image books, and now I’ve got a TV show. The end.

(More on Techland: Robert Kirkman, Giddy As Can Be: Your Big Walking Dead News)

The media empire.

Sure, that’s what I’m working toward. I think Erik Larsen was able to say, “You really like SuperPatriot? Do a SuperPatriot miniseries.” And that’s literally almost all he did on that book. He gave us a few pointers on balloon placement and was reading over the pages, but really that book was created by Cory and me–Cory Walker, who drew that book. That’s what I’m looking for. I’m looking for self-starters. Like guys like Brandon and Lukas who have produced their own stuff and just needed a little extra push to get it out to the world to be able to continue doing it.

As somebody who’s been in the business for a long time, what are some of the pitfalls that new imprints tend to fall into that you’re trying to avoid?

Expanding too soon. Doing too many superhero comics. I think we’ve got enough of those. I think a lot of these guys get an investor and they get a lot of money, so they decide to start producing a lot of work, so they’re not really mindful of how unique that work is or how appealing that work is, and it’s throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks. There are some things that are being announced here at Comic-Con, and you look at their line and it’s like, “Really? You actually think that is a unique book that someone is going to stay invested in for years? Or is that really just you spending your investors’ money to get your ideas out there?” I hope I can kind of hang back and be smart about it. The Walking Dead show is making me able to take some more risks that I wouldn’t normally take, but I’m not going to go crazy. I’m trying to be as conservative as possible and pick things that I think are clear winners like Witch Doctor, and focus on giving them my all and making it amazing. I’m taking it slow and trying to do it right. There’s a lot of specific things I could go into, but I feel like I’d be digging on guys who are actually working hard to try to do what they do, they’re just not doing a good job.

Are you looking in particular for things that would be easily translatable into other media?

Yeah, that’s obviously a huge part of it. I have a bit of experience with that because of The Walking Dead show. I have connections to people that other people don’t necessarily have access to starting out. I could get Brandon and Lukas in a room with people that they wouldn’t be able to be in a room with on their own, so that’s definitely a big part of it. I’m not going to lie–I think Witch Doctor would make an excellent TV show. That’s something that we’re going to be actively pursuing, but that said, it’s comics first. Witch Doctor is going to be an amazing comic. Anything past that is just secondary. It’s definitely something we’re going to be doing, but it’s not the main focus. I would never do something that would make a great movie or TV show that would make a dull comic. We’re really going to be focused on comics, but whatever happens in other media, it happens.

How many people is the organization at this point?

Four. It’s pretty small. Thankfully, we’re under Image’s wing, so we get to use their production staff. I get to use Eric Stephenson as a sounding board, and we get to operate under Image’s banner and do what we do, and have that security of being in the front of the catalogue and being with an established company. I really feel like we have a leg up over a lot of people, just because I feel like we’re under that established banner.

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