Comic-Con was Robert Kirkman’s big week. Besides the building momentum for the forthcoming AMC series based on his comic book The Walking Dead, he announced a new imprint called Skybound that he’s running at Image Comics. He talked to us about the new company, its structure and its business model.
TECHLAND: So what’s the story with Skybound?
Robert Kirkman: It’s an imprint I’m forming at Image Comics–I’m going to be working within the Image Comics banner. Sina Grace recently came on as editorial director of Skybound, so he’ll be keeping the ships running on top. I’m also going to be taking new creators under my wing and using my vast experience in the comics industry to help them reach a wide audience through Image, and also just oversee the books directly. I’m going to take an active hand in helping them put their books together. The first one of those we’ll be doing is Witch Doctor by Brandon Seifert and Lukas Ketner. They’re really talented, and they did an amazing book in Witch Doctor. It’s a wholly original, really fantastic concept.
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And then I’m going to be creating some books that I’ve hired some people to do for me. The first one of those is Thief of Thieves, which will be coming out in 2011 after Witch Doctor comes out. We’ve got a fellow by the name of Nick Spencer who is going to be running that. We’re still looking for an artist. We’re having a talent search that we’re hosting on the web site. We’re going to be looking for artists, and it’s possible that they will go onto Thief of Thieves, or they may go on to something else, I’m not sure. I’m just looking for what’s out there and to see which artists we can use. I’m looking for some talented folks. That’s Skybound in a nutshell, I guess.
It’s a little bit different from the business model that Image has used in the past, right?
It’s different in that Image Comics was designed for creators by creators. Image Comics gives you complete and utter freedom. They take no rights whatsoever. For someone like myself who can handle infrastructure, it’s the best deal in town. It’s absolutely the best deal in town. Skybound is there for people who don’t feel like they can do it on their own. So I’ll be there helping out with international rights, dealing with foreign publishers, and helping them expand their reach that way. I’ll also be using what I learned on The Walking Dead show about doing rights exploitation, trying to get television and movies picked up. And for these services, I’ll be taking a smaller percentage than any other publisher in comics, next to Image.
Can you say what that percentage is?
No, I can’t. But I know the other publishers’, and it’s the second best deal in comics, I like to say. So I’m really just providing resources for publishers who feel like they need that extra assistance.
For the titles you create, are those going to be work-for-hire deals? How are those going to work out?
Yeah. I think with Thieves, it’s going to be something I create and then I’ll be paying everybody who is working on that a page rate, kind of like what Marvel and DC do.
How big are you planning to expand Skybound?
Skybound is a very exclusive, boutique-like wing of Image Comics. We’re not accepting submissions. I already found the Witch Doctor guys–I found that on my own. That’s how I’ll be continuing to find the Skybound originals, as we’re calling them. I liken it to AMC, just because I’m doing a television show with them. They had Breaking Bad and Mad Men, and they made sure those were successes, and now they’re expanding with things like Rubicon and The Walking Dead. I think that’s definitely the way to go. I think too many of these upstart comic publishing house are like, “Yeah, we’re going to do four books.” Or, “We’re going to do ten books.” It’s just too much work. I want to try to establish readers’ buying habits with Skybound get them invested in the company and excited about what we’re doing before I try to bombard them with too much stuff. So, we’re definitely going to start small, but the sky is the limit.
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For the titles you’re creating, is there just going to be one at first? Again, what’s your plan for expansion?
We’re moving forward. I have a lot of ideas that I really like and want to get out there. There are only so many comics I can write, and there are guys out there who are really wanting to do work-for-hire work. It works for Marvel and DC. It’s a big part of this business, guys who want to make a living doing comics. So, on their way to doing what I feel they should be doing, which is creating comics on their own, if I can pay them to do really cool comics for me to help facilitate them on their way to doing it on their own, then all the better–someone like Nick Spencer, who is actually getting work at DC–and give them the financial push so they can continue doing comics. It’s really hard starting out in independent comics and making a living and being able to focus on it. If I can help them along the way by paying them to do something that I came up with, I think that’s a good thing.
I should note that Nick Spencer is, obviously, an extremely talented writer who’s done great work at Image on things that he’s created and owned, and it is definitely going to benefit me as well to have him write a work-for-hire book for me. That’s not an aspect of it I would try to ignore or even downplay. Sure, it’s going to help him to get a new page rate and a cool job in comics and everything, but just like any business, it’s also to help the business and help me, because I get another property out there, and that’s always cool. But it’s about the same as DC and Marvel’s business model. They hire guys work-for-hire, and they try to get them to keep their properties relevant. It’s basically the same thing, only hopefully my properties will be a little cooler.
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.
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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.