{"id":569,"date":"2006-12-21T14:04:23","date_gmt":"2006-12-21T18:04:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?p=569"},"modified":"2006-12-21T16:38:17","modified_gmt":"2006-12-21T20:38:17","slug":"jennifer-de-guzman-on-cherry-picking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.benzilla.com\/?p=569","title":{"rendered":"Jennifer de Guzman on “Cherry Picking”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Comic World News | Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now<\/a><\/p>\n

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If you’re up on comics news, you likely know that DC Comics is set to launch a new line of comics aimed at girls, called “Minx.” Despite the myriad message board debates about various aspects of this launch—from the name of the line to the dearth of actual females<\/em> involved in the effort—I really don’t care too much about the whole “Minx” thing one way or another. (Although I’m always glad to see new work coming out from the likes of Jim Rugg, Andi Watson, and fellow SCAD grad Ross Campbell.) SLG editor-in-chief, Jennifer de Guzman, though, addresses an aspect of the launch that I am<\/em> very interested in, namely the “cherry picking” of indy talent by bigger comics companies (which has come up before<\/a>). You can read her column on the subject via the link above.<\/p>\n

My first thought is that, as someone with a background in music who then moved into the world of comics, (thus demonstrating my lack of practical thinking on a viable life’s pursuit not once, but twice) it has always struck me as odd that the concept of the “option,” a standard music practice, is not present in the comics business—or if it is, it’s at least certainly not prevalent.<\/p>\n

The way this usually works in music, as I understand it based on my experience being signed to San Diego’s ill-fated PC Music label (original home of musical pest Jack Johnson), is that when an artist is signed to a label, indy or otherwise, the label buys the right to publish a set number of records by that artist—usually one–but also as part of the contract buys the exclusive right to if they so choose<\/em>, purchase the rights to publish a set number of records after<\/em> that initial one.<\/p>\n

What this does is sets up a situation where a record label can invest in developing an artist, even if that means losing money on an initial record (or records), without fear that another company can just come along after the fact, cherry pick the artist, and capitalize on their (the initial record label’s) hard work and investment. That investment can be capitalized on instead by the initial record company in one of two ways: either take the option and record a second record by the band which presumably leverages the investment in the first to sell more units, or in the event that a bigger record company shows interest in the band and wants to sign them themselves, that company then has to buy the option(s) from the first company in order to have the right to do so.<\/p>\n

It’s always seemed to me that this is a system that would work well with creator-owned indy comics, both for creators and companies. As with recording contracts, the number and terms of such options would be part of the contract negotiations of course, and a publisher might have to sweeten the pot a bit royalty-wise to get an option or options from an artist as part of the deal.. but I can’t imagine that this would be a system that would really be a huge barrier to signing new talent. In fact, I think it’d probably make things slightly easier for an artist trying to break into the comics business since the publisher would be more likely under such an arrangement to eventually recoup a profit by publishing an artist who’s an unknown quantity.<\/p>\n

To pick an example cited in the article, it was Jim Rugg’s book Street Angel<\/em>, published by Slave Labor Graphics, that lead directly to his current work with this Minx line. He was able to leverage that work to get better paying comics work—and why shouldn’t he? I know based on the number of copies sold that he likely didn’t make much from Street Angel<\/em> in royalties. But it seems fair and logical that Slave Labor, the book’s publisher, should likewise be able to leverage this investment for their overall gain, since, like Rugg, they didn’t really make a whole lot of money from the book either. The artist made a heavy investment in time, and the publisher in both that and in money; it seems like they both<\/em> should be able to reap some reward from that investment now and maybe a recording contract-style options system might move things that direction if implemented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Comic World News | Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now If you’re up on comics news, you likely know that DC Comics is set to launch a new line of comics aimed at girls, called “Minx.” Despite the myriad message board debates about various aspects of this launch—from the name of the line to the dearth … <\/p>\n

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