5W Friday Panel: Creator Exclusives and Switching Companies Roundtable

Every Friday, we will host a virtual panel session on a topic of the week, capturing The Fifth World staff having a dialogue about a given subject.  This week's topic: Brian Michael Bendis and creator movement between Marvel and DC.

Seriously.

(As with our previous roundtable, this was conducted as a live text chat earlier in the week.)

Chris Maka

Welcome to the second Fifth World roundtable, where today's topic is creators switching companies, predominantly between DC and Marvel, in light of the announcement that Brian Bendis is leaving Marvel for an exclusive contract with DC Comics.

So let's start there. Does anyone who's followed the story more closely than I have want to mention details of the Bendis move?

Jason Tondro

Wait, there was homework?

Honor LaBerge

There isn't an offical story line only PR-friendly Bites and one-offs.

Sean Fields

Yeah, all I know is twitter ramblings and congratulatory shout outs.

Jason Tondro

I️ read only that he was very excited to be making the move (of course), and that it’s an exclusive contract.

One rumor is that he’s going to be writing Zatanna. Can anyone confirm that?

Sean Fields

Isn’t Zatanna starring in a series called Magic U or something with other magic types?

That would be Mystik U.

Terence Chua

Just the speculation from Bleeding Cool about what might have prompted the move and what DC might have offered him to move.

Honor LaBerge

I haven’t seen that in the research I have been doing.

Jason Tondro

OK, Zatanna gets a reprieve. Fishnets win again!

Marc Singer

As God is my witness, the last thing I want to read is Bendis dialogue written backwards.

Chris Maka

lol!

Terence, what are those rumors, if you know?

Terence Chua

Well basically that Bendis didn't have the same cachet as he used to have at Marvel anymore – that now that Marvel Studios has removed that Brain Trust from the comic side that advised them on the movies he wasn't even relevant there. And Geoff Johns might offer him a seat at the DCEU table.

Honor LaBerge

I have read similar things in my homework as Terence.

Jason Tondro

I️ remember noticing that, that there was no longer this group of Marvel writers and editors who were advising the film side. Bendis has got to miss that kind of influence and high profile.

Sean Fields

That’s sorta wild. Didn’t Bendis do Ultimate Spider-Man which I feel has a big influence on current Spidey movie plans?   

Yes, yes he did.

Jason Tondro

Sean, I️ think Ultimate Spider Man has had a huge influence on every film version of Spidey since Tobey Maguire.

"Thanks for the reminder I'm no longer getting Spider-Man paychecks, dick!"

Sean Fields

Good point

Chris Maka

Thanks, Terence and Honor.

Honor LaBerge

Yes – Bendis did create Ultimate Spider-Man, which in fact is one of my personal favorites as he was writing Spider-Man in 2000-2011. It's got a lot of feel of the most recent movie to come out.

Sean Fields

Any concrete things he’ll be doing at DC?

Terence Chua

I've not heard anything specific about what he'll be doing at DC

Marc Singer

Marvel Studios is now completely separate from Marvel comics and TV, so it's not surprising that the comics side would find their influence over the films gone.

Jason Tondro

Right, exactly. And, honestly, Bendis has been a huge influence at Marvel for a long time. I️ would not be surprised if he was just bored.

Terence Chua

Right. And as influential as USM is on the movies, they're not consulting him directly anymore. So he may feel less relevant.

Jason Tondro

It’s not like they’re consulting him on Jessica Jones either.

Sean Fields

I’m sort of happy that he gets to play in a new sandbox if he puts out new, worthy stories.

Marc Singer

Also interesting to read about his disputes with Marvel Comics over diversity - not at all surprising given his involvement in creating new versions of old heroes.

Chris Maka

Good point, Marc.

Jason Tondro

Can someone summarize the dispute over diversity? I’m not familiar with it.

Honor LaBerge

Oh boy.

Marc Singer

It's in the Bleeding Cool article Terence shared. There was a controversy a while back when David Gabriel, Marvel Comics VP of sales, blamed the diversification of Marvel's heroes for their slump in sales.

Given that Bendis created a couple of those heroes (Miles Morales, Riri Williams) it's easy to see why he'd be discouraged.

Honor LaBerge

Marc just summed it up for me.

Chris Maka

It's always seemed to me like Geoff Johns tried to fashion himself quite deliberately into "DC Comics' version of Brian Bendis". Do you think it will work, Bendis being subordinate in some very real sense to Johns?

Terence Chua

It'd be interesting to see the dynamic between Johns and Bendis and where exactly Bendis will fit within the creative hierarchy at DC. The two of them seem to have big egos.

Chris Maka

There's now also this rumor (or is it confirmed?) that DC made a similar big offer to Jonathan Hickman. Do we know anything further about that?

Marc Singer

They've been approaching him for a while. I don't know if he's said yes yet.

Sean Fields

That’s a lot of Big Story guys.

Chris Maka

Well, DC and Marvel both seem to strongly believe that the only card they have left to play is Big Event Stories.

Honor LaBerge

There is a rumour they are currently courting him.

Sean Fields

searches for the rolling eyes emoji/gif

Here you go, Sean.

JL Franke

When you couple the two of them with Johns, Snyder, King, and Morrison (when he decides to play), that’s quite the lineup.

Honor LaBerge

Jonathan Hickman has been doing creator-owned comics since he left Marvel Comics at the end of Secret Wars. I wouldn't be surprised if he went to DC

Jason Tondro

I️ know many people are saying this, but it kind of reminds me of the days of Crisis on Infinite Earths. When Frank Miller came over to write Batman, Byrne came over to write Superman. DC has headhunted from Marvel many times in the past. And it usually works for them, honestly. We get good comics out of it.

Marc Singer

I have to admit, I'm underwhelmed (but then I am absolutely not the guy these moves are aimed at).

Terence Chua

Marvel did say that they are laying off events for now with Legacy. Let me find a reference for that.

Sean Fields

I prefer Hickman on his own, independent

Marc Singer

I didn't read the Big Event Stories when Bendis and Hickman wrote them for Marvel, I'm not especially likely to read them at DC either.

JL Franke

I’ll believe that like all the other times they’ve said they’re laying off events.

Chris Maka

Who is the guy or gal you think these moves are aimed at?

Marc Singer

The readers who buy comics because they "count," because they're central to the continuity.

Jason Tondro

I️ like Bendis when he is on his own, too. I️ still think Powers was kind of brilliant. But man, let him get a hold of my favorite characters, and Bendis is a disaster.

Chris Maka

Yeah, I don't believe Marvel or DC can lay off the Big Event Crack at this point.

Marc Singer

DC and especially Marvel have trained their core readers to read only those comics. I'm one of those who got pushed away by the endless crossovers and events.

Honor LaBerge

As a new reader, I have agree with Marc! Crossovers and Big Events startle me.

Terence Chua

I'm actually a bit sad about all the talent going to DC because as much as I love Superman et al., I think Marvel has the better stable of characters.

Honor LaBerge

I agree with that slightly. Marvel Characters tend to be more recognizable.

Jason Tondro

I️ never read Superman until Byrne started to write it. I’d never bought a Batman comic till Dark Knight Returns. So who knows, maybe they’ll get me on some new characters. I’m interested in Hickman. I️ might pick up a DC book he writes.

JL Franke

I stopped reading Marvel a couple years ago, so having creators I enjoy come to DC is fine by me. However, Bendis is not one of them, so it’s lost on me.

Marc Singer

So here's another question: if these moves do happen, which characters would you want to see Bendis and Hickman write?

Honor LaBerge

I want Bendis to write a Question comic!

Sean Fields

Hickman needs either a Justice League team or some random character that he can go crazy on.

JL Franke

A Hickman Challengers could be amazing.

Marc Singer

Ooh, the Question - that could actually be a great fit.

Jason Tondro

Hey, you Legion fans: do you want either of these people on Legion?

Sean Fields

Bendis on Question would actually be cool.

Nope, Jason.

Honor LaBerge

Bendis is great at mystery and noir style that I feel like he could bring new life to a character that is hardly seen.

Marc Singer

The rumors are that DC offered Hickman the Legion. Much as I would love to see the Legion back in print, I'm not sure I'd love to see a Hickman Legion.

JL Franke

As a Legion fan, big no to Bendis. Ambivalence about Hickman.

Chris Maka

I'd say a big no to both for me

Jason Tondro

I️ am a card carrying Question fan, going back to the Denny O’Neil series. But I️ am skeptical Bendis will go with a character so obscure.

But then: Zatanna. So what do I️ know.

Chris Maka

Honor and Sean, you guys both mentioned something earlier that actually relates to my first thought about this: when a creator signs an exclusive contract it means, most likely, we won't see any or as much creator owned, original material from them, and in almost all of these cases I'd rather see them doing that.

Marc Singer

I think Hickman is too cynical to do the kind of Legion I'd want to read. I'd be afraid it would turn out like the Five Years Later Legion but with glossier art and infographics.

Let us speak no more of this.

Jason Tondro

Ha!

Sean Fields

I like when Hickman does his own stuff. He can stretch and get weird and deep. Less so with editorial and continuity constraints.

Jason Tondro

I’d put Hickman on Green Lantern. I️ think his SF sensibilities could really go wild on the corps.

Sean Fields

Hickman on GL or GL Corps would be alright.

JL Franke

Marc, I don’t think Hickman is always cynical. His FF was incredibly refreshing.

Chris Maka

I need to read this FF run everybody loves, because I did not like his Avengers or Secret Wars.

Marc Singer

This is the guy who put the Avengers/FF leadership in a multiversal genocide conspiracy, right? Pass.

Jason Tondro

I️ will never forget the picture of Hickman’s massive wall chart, plotting out 5 years of FF like he was some kind of crazy detective hunting a serial killer.

Click to enlarge.

Honor LaBerge

Hahaha!

Terence Chua

I know it's stereotyping, but I wouldn't mind seeing Bendis on DEO series or a revival of Chase.

Marc Singer

Was the serial killer Willy Lumpkin? Because I always had my suspicions about him.

Jason Tondro

He’ll want something new.

JL Franke

For me, the best Hickman Marvel work was FF, Infinity, SHIELD, and Secret Warriors in that order.

Jason Tondro

Now I️ want a Hannibal/Dexter/Willy Lumpkin crossover.

Terence Chua

Hickman will be given the events. He's good at the long game.

Marc Singer

Chase would be a good fit, but the odds of DC bringing that back (or Bendis wanting it, most likely) seem pretty slim.

Sean Fields

I think these folks get told “go crazy, we love your stuff”, then they do it in a big event or something similar and it reverts back to status quo at the end.

Which is why I like independent Hickman

Chris Maka

This is one of the many reasons I hate the big events.

Jason Tondro

Heck, we should probably expect Bendis to write a hero of color, or a female lead. Like Batwoman or Static.

Terence Chua

I can see him doing Batwoman.

Sean Fields

They are reviving Milestone...

Chris Maka

That's interesting, yeah.

Jason Tondro

…And I️ just realized the current Question is a gay Latina. Honor’s idea looks even better than I️ thought.

Not the current Question.

JL Franke

Is that still continuity?

Jason Tondro

I️ don’t know, I️ thought it was?

Terence Chua

The current Renee Montoya is still a cop at GCPD from what I can gather.

   
Jason Tondro

Too many retcons. I️ can’t keep track.

Chris Maka

The fact that we have to qualify "the current Renee Montoya" says a lot.

Marc Singer

Oh Christ, that's right, the New 52 Question is Judas or the Wandering Jew or some shit. Well, fuck that.

That would be the Phantom Stranger.

JL Franke

The New 52 was both a great marketing ploy and an awful decision.

Chris Maka

Amen.

Marc Singer

Well, there's one character who definitively has even less pull than Renee Montoya.

JL Franke

Not Judas. That’s the Phantom Stranger.

Marc Singer

Here's a serious and potentially depressing question: given Marvel's sales slump, even with Bendis at the helm, why would DC expect anything different?

That's not to say that the sales were solely down to the characters or their creators - in fact, I think you can make a solid case that it's down to Marvel's editorial practices, price point, flooding the market, reliance on variants to prop up sales, etc.

Chris Maka

I think Bendis will generate a bump. Whether it sustains or not...

JL Franke

Also eliminating characters to appease MCU beefs.

Jason Tondro

I️ know I️ tend to blame a lot of Marvel’s slump on Nazi Cap, but I️ knew there had to be more to it than that. That may not even be a major factor. The economics Marc brings up do seem persuasive.

Let us never speak of this again.

Marc Singer

But taking that into account – and that DC editorial has generally not been as bad about these things of late – if Bendis can't get readers to buy a comic with Riri Williams in the lead at Marvel, should we expect any better results with Renee Montoya at DC?

Sean Fields

I’m always interested in, is the pull of the book the character or the creator? I’m trying to determine if I buy books for the team behind it or the actual star of said books.

Jason Tondro

As to Marc’s point, maybe we have reached a point where the movies are wagging the dog of comics sales. I️ mean, for a long time, publishers did not know how to sell more comics based on hit movies. X-Men comics tied to the films notoriously did not sell. But now the films have such an audience, are publishers reluctant to publish comics in which the hero does not closely resemble the film?

Marc Singer

But the question stands: would DC put Bendis on another book featuring some obscure character or replacement legacy hero, having seen how that's been working at Marvel? Or do they go straight for the tentpole characters and count on a much larger sales bump?

Sean Fields

Thinking the latter, Marc

Chris Maka

I think they have to put him on a tentpole book. They don't want another Kirby situation.

Marc Singer

I kind of think so too.

Again, that's not to say DC can't have better results with the kind of book Marvel has tried and failed to do – they did with Batgirl.

Jason Tondro

So Bendis is put on Wonder Woman or something.

Terence Chua

I think DC will try to ride the popularity of the movies. Bendis may be a part of that strategy to create more synergy (ugh) with the movie side.

Who's on Wonder Woman right now?

JL Franke

I’d expect him to have a tent pole book and also create his own book. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was Wonder Woman.

Terence Chua

Jinx!

Chris Maka

I think that would be a smart play for them, Terence.

Marc Singer

It'll be an interesting experiment, if you think about it – how much effect can a 'name' writer have? And how much do differences in editorial decisions matter?

Jason Tondro

It’s not a new experiment, though, right? DC has done this before, but the market situation was much different when Kirby and all the others moved over.

JL Franke

It’s interesting three of us went to WW at the same time.

Marc Singer

Yeah, I mean in the current market. Basically, this is a way of measuring how the different editorial approaches impact sales.

Jason Tondro

Wonder Woman is the only DC movie that people agree didn’t suck.

Marc Singer

But then, "Bendis at DC" is enough of a new quantity that it will probably attract some amount of attention on its own.

Just to dissent a little bit, I'm not sure I'd actually want to see Bendis on WW, or any tentpole character other than maybe Batman (who seems like he's in pretty good shape right now sales-wise and doesn't need the name writer). I don't think of action as his strong suit.

Nor do I think of WW as a particularly noirish or dialogue-heavy character.

Honor LaBerge

I can say from reading forums so far, many readers are excited for him to leave Marvel but holding their breath on Bendis at DC.

Jason Tondro

Oh, I’m not saying I️ want him on WW! I️ love that character and I’m very skeptical of his ability to write her in a way that doesn’t infuriate me. I️ mean to say: DC will put him on a tent pole, and WW is the most successful film, so is an obvious candidate.

Honor LaBerge

I think he might do well as long as they keep him off street-level characters for a while. Sure Spider-Man was top notch but he massacred Moon Knight several years ago.

Chris Maka

Yeah.

JL Franke

Based on his mention of his plans, it doesn’t sound like King is expecting to leave Batman anytime soon.

Marc Singer

(The datedness of my impression of Bendis should suggest how long ago I last read any of his comics, but... well, that's why I'm not super excited about this move.)

Jason Tondro

I’m afraid I’m with Marc. It’s been a long time since I️ read much Bendis. Which probably disqualifies me from this round table.

Sean Fields

Maybe put him on Bloodlines, huh?

Marc Singer

Only if they really hate him.

Sean Fields

Imagine if they give him that book and he makes it amazing.

Marc Singer

"I have the Midas Touch! I made you buy fucking Gunfire!!!"

Jason Tondro

Ha!

Chris Maka

Too bad Elseworlds is effectively dead. Bendis and/or Hickman might kill on an endless cycle of Elseworlds "event" books.

Sean Fields

Man, I miss Elseworlds.

Jason Tondro

Maybe they’ll give Hickman some kind of Multiversity spinoff book. I’d love to see that.

Sean Fields

Dark Multiversity maybe? Out of the whole Metal stuff coming out.

JL Franke

Ugh. Pass.

Jason Tondro

But if I️ were Hickman or Bendis, I’d want to do something new. I️ would not want to just write the DC version of whatever character I’d been writing at Marvel.

Sean Fields

I’m still deciding if putting these folks on books is going to make me read them.

JL Franke

True. And both have written all over the place.

Marc Singer

Yeah, we want to cast them according to type but that's probably the last thing they'd want to write.

JL Franke

What about Bendis to Flash?  How is that book doing currently?

Chris Maka

Too bad it's not the Wally West Flash of the 90's. I could actually see Bendis doing well on that.

Chris Maka

Does anyone think that Marvel will, or needs to, make some kind of "splash" talent acquisition in response? Feels like Marvel Comics are at their most vulnerable in my lifetime.

Marc Singer

Follow-up question: will they realize they need to bring in some big new talent, or will they double down on lenticulars and variants?

Jason Tondro

Marvel is pursuing a kind of Novelty Hire policy. Like, getting Ta-Nehisi Coates to write Black Panther. I️ liked what Coates did, but he’d never written comics before. He is famous for his writing about race. And I️ think that is Marvel’s hiring policy for writers now. Hire people famous for things other than writing comics, then get their fans to follow them to Marvel.

JL Franke

DC did that for a short time. That’s how we got comics by China Mieville.

Jason Tondro

Yes, that’s right!

Dial H for Hero.

Terence Chua

I think Marvel needs to do some soul searching. Secret Empire suffered from too much negative publicity and Legacy so far hasn't caused much buzz. I'm not sure another event is the way to go because event fatigue is setting in, but there has to be another way to get the media attention.

Loved Dial H.   

Marc Singer

Does Marvel need media attention, or just an entirely different publishing philosophy?

I can guess which one they'll grab for.

Jason Tondro

I️ laughed.

Marc Singer

But I mean - media attention is fickle and fleeting and probably doesn't bring back all the readers they chased off with all the other stunts they pulled to grab media attention.

JL Franke

Marvel has been living by stunt writing for far too long. The number of press releases they’ve put out the last few years is a bit embarrassing.

Jason Tondro

Y’know, it’s funny. It wasn’t that many years ago when Marvel was king of the sales racks and we were lamenting how awful DC comics were. Has it really changed 180 so quickly?

Marc Singer

Or with $4.99/20 page comics.

JL Franke

Marc. That.

Honor LaBerge

I will say that getting teens/YA to switch from the Marvel movies to the comics is getting harder. Many of them start to question why they aren’t the same.  I think that’s a big gap Marvel now has to work with since they have so much success on that side now.

Marc Singer

Have movies ever led to sustained sales on ongoing series, though?

They can push a ton of readers to standalone graphic novels like Watchmen, or series with a single numbering & continuity like Walking Dead. But when you have a gazillion different Spider-Man comics published over 50 years, it's hard for a new reader to even know where to start.

Terence Chua

I think the best move they could make is to grab the FF back from Fox and relaunch the title with some big sci-fi name at the helm.

Dvandom

I still see no signs that DC is bothering to clarify the Rebirth continuity snarl, or caring.  Does [character] exist?  Until someone uses them, who knows?  And better hope two people don't use the same character differently at the same time (i.e. Clock King).

Presumably, Bendis is either cool with that situation, or has been asked to deal with it.

JL Franke

Dave, we now have three Jokers, why not two Clock Kings?

Honor LaBerge

I know that around the time new movies come out, I have seen so far more people come in who wouldn’t otherwise, trying to find "the comic that is based off X movie for my kid/friend/girl friend/xyz."

Chris Maka

Have the DC/Marvel comics ever really been geared to convert an influx of the curious from TV/movies is the question.

Marc Singer

No doubt. But if there are umpteen different Spider-Man series and trades on the shelves, it doesn't matter if the most current one looks exactly like Tom Holland. Because there's already too much competition/dilution of the line.

Jason Tondro

They have tried this for years, and largely failed.

JL Franke

Green Arrow tried. Not sure it worked.

Chris Maka

That is definitely a problem, Marc.

Marc Singer

The only successes have been standalone or single-continuity series. I think the Ultimates line worked this way for a while, but now that's guttered out.

Terence Chua

Oh God, what if Bendis is going to be asked to create Ultimate DC set closer to the movie continuity?

Marc Singer

That is a) not a bad idea, and b) a terrible idea.

Jason Tondro

A tremor just went through the Force.

Chris Maka

Accurate.

Dvandom

The comics are primarily a mine for the bigger media, and have been for a long time now.  They might try to tie in with the shows and movies, but in the end they're just an IP source.

JL Franke

He can spend an issue exploring why all superheroes come from the wombs of Marthas.

Sean Fields

They need writers writing a couple book arcs that can possibly lead to something bigger but not grand events. I think only then will it truly matter who writes for who.

Marc Singer

I mean, great idea in principle until you realize it means Snydering that shit up.

Dvandom

Given how Ultimates 2 went, Bendis might not be averse to Snydering it up.

Jason Tondro

So: I️ have a theory.

Marc Singer

Bendis's Martha conversation: a whole issue of crosstalk, and they never actually get around to "Martha."

Terence Chua

Well, the movies are trying to move away from the Murderverse tone right now with Synder out of the picture.

JL Franke

So in this case what do we mean by Snydering?

Marc Singer

(copyright and trademark 2004 Bendis BURN!!!!)

[long pause in text chat]

   
Chris Maka

Did Snydering just kill this chat?

JL Franke

Ah. I was thinking Scott Snyder, not Zack. Continue!

Honor LaBerge

Bahahaha.

Sean Fields

What theory, Jason?

Jason Tondro

I️ think this is Bendis’s intended role at DC: film, not comics. Bendis was very, very successful at writing comics which went on to be mined for movies. Some of his work on this still hasn’t seen the big screen, like his support for Captain Marvel. And this is DC’s problem. They are now widely known as the company that can’t make good superhero movies. They are hiring Bendis to make comics which they can make into good movies.

Marc Singer

That makes a lot of sense.

Sean Fields

Good theory

Dvandom

So, let the current crop go fallow, try something completely different, return to JL stuff when people have built up more goodwill.

Marc Singer

And would support the theory that they're going to put him on tentpoles, not obscure characters.

Jason Tondro

There was a news story a month or two back that DC had changed their approach to their own films. They were no longer shooting for a shared universe in the Avengers manner. They were instead going to allow directors to do their own thing. So we’re going to get a Scorsese Joker film and all kinds of batshit things.

Bendis is going to reinvent the shared DC universe. And the time it takes him to do that will be filled with these DC auteur films.

Sean Fields

That might actually work

Marc Singer

"As far back as I can remember, I wanted to rob the Monarch Playing Card Company."

Honor LaBerge

Which is why JL Amazons don't look like WW Amazons (and it makes me mad).

Marc Singer

Oh, god, that "Layla" montage--!

Jason Tondro

Honor, I️ was so disappointed to see that.

Sean Fields

It’s also why I’m potentially interested in this New Mutants film. Powered folks in non superhero environments.

Am I totally off the subject now?

Jason Tondro

I️ don’t care, because I️ agree. It looks like a great film.

JL Franke

I’m hoping that with the auteur approach, WB realized that it’s more important to make good movies than have a series.

Sean Fields

Series only work with a solid game plan. Don’t see one there.

JL Franke

So exclusive contracts: good or bad for fans?

(I already know they’re good for creators.)

Honor LaBerge

Hmm. The jury is still out for me at the moment.

Chris Maka

I'm gonna say bad because they make for less creator owned work, which is where I think the best material is happening these days (although far too many Marvel and DC readers don't seem willing to explore much beyond Marvel or DC).

Sean Fields

I think exclusives are meaningless for fans unless you really love the creator. Otherwise they are just publicity plots to put creators into a weird editorial system at each company.

Marc Singer

If it's good for creators, then I think it is good for fans. I like it when the artists I follow have living wages and health care.

Chris Maka

True that, Marc.

Sean Fields

Good point, Marc.

Marc Singer

And I like it when a creator has a chance to really dig in and form a working relationship with a particular universe of characters, the way Morrison did at DC back around 2004-2008.

JL Franke

Tom King sang the praises for exclusive contracts when I talked to him.

Marc Singer

As long as their interest in working with the characters is genuine, and not just phone in for a contract, I think it's win-win.

Jason Tondro

When I️ have followed a writer to a new series, at a new company, I️ have usually liked what I️ read. So, speaking solely as one fan, I️ like them. But I️ certainly see Chris’s point about creator-owned work.

Chris Maka

I find Marc's argument more persuasive than mine overall. 😊 But I do wish we saw more creator-owned work from big Marvel/DC names, and that it had better fan support.

Marc Singer

Some creators have been able to do creator-owned work on exclusive contracts, either through imprints like Vertigo and Icon or as side deals.

Chris Maka

True.

Jason Tondro

Contracts don’t have to be very long, though. A creator who wants to do his own thing can take the exclusive contract for a few years while he builds a college fund for his newborn kid, then go back to Indy work when his contract is up and he has original stories to tell.

Marc Singer

Really, the "publisher exclusive" contract just means "not working for our major competitors."

The flip side to that is, Vertigo's terms are not as good as they used to be, Icon is basically dead, and the major publishers may currently be offering fewer opportunities for their exclusives to do creator-owned work.

Chris Maka

Yeah.

Okay, I feel like we're at a good stopping point. Any last thoughts anyone wants to share before we call it?

Marc Singer

Still trying to wrap up my own thoughts on exclusives.

Jason Tondro

I️ still pity Zatanna.

Marc Singer

I was going to type some joke Bendis dialogue in backwards speak, but who has the time?

Jason Tondro

Hahaha

His dialog really is his most distinguishing feature, isn’t it.

Marc Singer

Okay. The current comics market, oddly enough, may be friendlier to creator-owned work from independents like Image (at least from creators with name recognition) than it is to work at imprints like Vertigo, which are now for the most part creator-owned in name only. So in one sense artists have a real incentive to break out of the major publishers entirely.

But they can only do that if they've already built up a name with work for the Big Two (if that name even makes sense when lots of Marvel and DC titles are selling less than 10K an issue!). And a steady gig on an ongoing, essentially uncancelable series like Batman offers a steady cash flow that Image can never match. So there are real incentives for artists to stick with the big publishers (heh) as well.

So long as the creator is getting good terms and is genuinely interested in doing the work, I have no real issue with creator exclusives.

But I'm only interested in the exclusives so long as I'm interested in the creators. And if their work didn't appeal to me at one of the big superhero publishers, I'm not optimistic that it will at the other.

Honor LaBerge

Oh one last thing...From me…

This is Bendis's current DC reading list from DC. I want yall to notice 2 things. Geoff Jones is a major player, and....lots of Superman. What it means I dunno. But I only hope it's good.

Sean Fields

Kudos for this.

JL Franke

Also JLA, JSA, and LSH

Marc Singer

Singer out. "Ahtram!"

Sean Fields

I think this might mean Legion.

Chris Maka

Oy.

JL Franke

Are we sure that DC didn’t do this to bump up hardcover sales?

Chris Maka

Okay, let's call it. Thanks everyone!

JL Franke

Retal.

Sean Fields

Bloodlines forever!

If you have a topic you'd like to see the Fifth World staff address, tweet the topic to @5thworldonline and include #FridayPanel in your tweet.