Breaking away from Image Comics...

[Steviekick 0]

from Newsarama.com...

 

MARCHING ORDERS: DEVIL'S DUE LEAVES IMAGE

 

Following in the footsteps of Team Red Star and Dreamwave, Devil’s Due chief Josh Blaylock has confirmed for Newsarama that his studio will be leaving the Image umbrella at the end of this year. Blaylock took a few minutes to discuss the reasons for the departure.

 

“Basically, I feel like we’ve matured to a point as a studio where we have to make some sort of move,” Blaylock said. “I’m very, very grateful for the opportunity that Image gave us, but at the same time, there are certain things that we want to accomplish, and certain things that we want to control that just aren’t possible working under someone else. We need the control to be able to move faster on our own and be able to really brand ourselves. That’s something that’s very important to us - I want all the retailers and fans to know that when a Devil’s Due book comes out, it is a Devil’s Due book, and that it’s going to have our stamp on it that they’ve come to know means a certain level of quality.”

 

The studio is the home to the G.I. Joe and Voltron comic franchises, as well as a handful of creator/studio-owned titles, such as Oxido, Misplaced and Lovebunny & Mr. Hell. As recently announced, Devil’s Due’s other franchise, Micronauts has recently left the studio, bound for a new publisher.

 

Being under the Image umbrella, Devil’s Due books, like all books from studios other than those run by founders (such as Top Cow), carry an Image ‘i’ on the front cover, while any mention of Devil’s Due is inside. By splitting off on their own, “Devils’ Due” will be on the front cover, branding the entire line of books as coming from the same studio. This, and the level of control that comes with steering your own boat, was what appealed so strongly to Blaylock about splitting off on their own.

 

“The biggest thing is that everything will have our stamp on it,” Blaylock said. “We’ll be able to control our own negotiations for distribution, we’ll have more control over our advertising, and our marketing, and will be able to interact more in a one-on-one fashion with retailers.

 

“If we have a project that we really want to hype a lot, such as new creator-owned material, or a new big license, we’ll be able to control exactly how much exposure that project gets,” Blaylock said. “We’ll have our finger more directly on the pulse of all aspects of our books. A lot of this comes from when you’re being produced by someone else; you have to follow their rules. There’s no problem with that – it’s a fair deal, but when you get to a certain size, when you want to grow beyond that and branch out, you have to move out of your parent’s house.”

 

Another change that comes with the move will be a shift in the placement of Devil’s Due books in Previews, which is used by retailers to place their orders. As a result of being on their own, Devil’s Due will no longer be listed in the front of the catalog, in the Image section, but in the “Comics & Graphic Novels” section.

 

Prior to the expansion of several smaller publishers over the past two to three years, such a move was suicide for a publisher as several urban myths about Previews had surfaced, such as a high percentage of retailers don’t look beyond the Premier Publishers section (home to Dark Horse, DC, Image, and Marvel). While this may be true to some extent, several very popular publishers now call the section home, such as the aforementioned Dreamwave, CrossGen, Oni, and others.

 

When asked if Devil’s Due would remain exclusive with Diamond, Blaylock said the new publisher will “have a very close relationship with Diamond,” and added that he wasn’t overly concerned about seeing orders for Devil’s Due books drop through the floor thanks to the shift in catalog placement.

 

“While lower orders on books in the back section of Previews may be true in some cases, I don’t think it will be for the profile of books that we have,” Blaylock said. “I think retailers are going to still want those books, and will want to buy those books which in turn make them money, they’re going to come back to our section. Once they get back there, there’s a smaller amount of new products for them to look at in our section – they can focus on just the Devil’s Due books without having to sort through others.”

 

What Blaylock mentioned is part of the “branding” as well – despite coming from one studio, Devil’s Due books were listed in the Image solicitations as Image organized them, currently, by genre. So, as Blaylock explained, while G.I. Joe and something like Oxido may appeal to the same reader, due to a similar approach, overall feel and quality, the books are separated by 12 pages, and there’s no indication on the solicitation of Oxido #2 that the title is produced by Devil’s Due.

 

“I think this will play into the same mentality retailers have when they order form other sections of Previews - you go to each section of the catalog and order books from each company,” Blaylock explained. “If the publisher has something that retailers really want, they’re going to look at the section, and will look at what else you’ve got to offer.”

 

Blaylock said that even with the move, plans call for the numbering on currently running series will continue. “Our record is something that I’m very proud of – that we have a book that’s been running consistently for that long,” Blaylock said. “I want to see G.I. Joe #100 come out with our name on it.”

 

The move will require a few more changes around the studio – Blaylock said that Devil’s Due will be shortly moving to a new office space, and would probably bring on a couple of people to handle some of the increased workload the shift will cause.

 

“There will be more work involved, but at the same time, there will be less miscommunication,” Blaylock said. “Just anytime there’s another party involved, you end up with some degree of crossed signals. We run a tight ship, and I’m really proud of everyone at the company, and really honestly believe that we’re one of the hardest working studios out there that gets all of our product out on time. We’ve proved that we can handle a tremendous amount of books for a company our size and get them out reliably and consistently. Any growth that we have form now on is just going to make that stronger.”

 

When asked if he’s sure he had the cajones it takes to fully move into publishing, Blaylock pointed to his background as proof. “I come form a background of a smaller scale, but this is something I was researching and looking into even before I was out of high school – the way the distribution works and everything that went along with comic book production,” Blaylock explained. “Although I was trying to break in as an artist for a number of years, I viewed learning all I could about distribution and production as something that went along with trying to get in. It wasn’t until years later that I realized that some people just concentrate on their craft. I happened to learn all this other stuff, and it’s something that has benefited me now.

 

“That said, I guess what I can tell people about how we’ll continue with things out on our own is that we know what we’re getting into – this isn’t case where someone who’s been a freelancer for a long time just jumps into the publishing game. We’ve basically been in the publishing game for a long time, and know what’s required of it. We’ll just keep on delivering quality books on a consistent schedule. If they’re not, then we’ll hear about it direct – we’re responsible.”

 

In closing, Blaylock again wanted to thank Image for helping the studio get to the place where it was able to move to the next stage in its growth. “Personally, I think that we’re a great success story in comics – and at the same time, it shows someone what Image can help someone to do.

 

“But as for now, I think we’re blazing a unique trail. We have our long-term goals, but we’re concentrated on the comics market. We want to slowly grow to become a much bigger comic book company. While I’m very interested in selling rights to things in Hollywood, and the vide game industry, and would love to work more with those industries, I got into this through comic books. I’m not one of these guys who just draw and write comics so I can direct movies somehow.

 

“I want to be in comic books. If I branch off in any other directions, it’s another feather in the Devil’s Due cap, but it’s not what I want out main goals to be. If I were to cash in on another industry, it would just be so I have more time to put out the comic books I want, and not have to be as concerned about sales.”

 

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I don't necessarily know if this is a good idea for them. Their only really good selling comic book series are those in their G.I. Joe line, and if they lose their licesnes, they will have nothing. Do you think it was right for them to do so? Whatever studios should leave image? Discuss...

[starvenger 0]

Well, Dreamwave left Image (and this was BEFORE they started producing Transformers) and I'd say that they're doing pretty well. I'm not a big fan of Blaylock's writing, but he seems to have some decent business sense, so Devil's Due should be ok, as long as they don't overreach themselves.

[Steviekick 0]

True, but without Transformers, Dreamwave would have amounted to nothing. They can't even get their books out on time.

[starvenger 0]

True, but without Transformers, Dreamwave would have amounted to nothing. They can't even get their books out on time.

I'd agree with that. However, Dreamwave enough business sense to do more Transformers stuff than just comics. And they're doing the right thing by building on the name recognition from TF to try and push their other books.

 

As for lateness, well, even the vaunted Crossgen has showed cracks by shipping late (to say nothing of their cash flow problems) so I don't see that as a major problem, unless issues take 3-4 months to ship **coughultimatescough**. If it's off by a couple of weeks, I'm cool with it. But that doesn't mean that there should be some bizarre "makeup" schedule where a book comes out 3 weeks in a row...