Cover Me

“If it takes a cover for you to produce great art, stop drawing comics.” – Ryan Ottley

Ryan was responding to a Tweet I made where I noted “a great cover forces the interior to have to up the game to live up to what's promised on the outside.” Or, in a less clumsy attempt to squeeze thoughts into 140 characters: The entire package needs to be strong, from the first impression made by the cover to the last word in the final panel of the story.

Ryan had been commenting on the attitude that the cover was the most important aspect of a comic since it is the first thing people see. This is one of those great rules of comics going back to the Golden Age that many people still cling to, despite the fact the game has changed.

In those early days of comics, the publishers were taking their cues from the pulps. Lurid and exciting images that may, or may not, have related to the stories inside. The lasting image of Action Comics #1 came from a blow up of an interior panel, but other covers that followed were scenes that related the theme of the book - “Action.” The same with “Detective,” “Adventure” and the gags of “More Fun.” As Super-Heroes hit the scene, they took over the covers, occasionally teasing a story inside, but often interacting with their co-stars or striking an iconic pose. The key was that striking image that would get the kids attention on the newsstand.

 In the late-40s/early-50s, the more representative covers became the norm. Sometimes even to the point of the splash page being a near copy of the cover. I seem to recall cases where a book (World’s Finest?) had a Curt Swan cover, a Wayne Boring or Dick Sprang splash and then back into Swan for the story. One assumes the editor decided Swan’s splash was more dynamic than the commissioned cover which was bumped to the interior.

During this period, the cover artist wasn’t always on the interior. But he would usually be among the stable of artists that would rotate on the character. You accepted Al Plastino and Curt Swan interiors under a Wayne Boring cover because the three artist had all been working on Superman, Boring maybe getting the cover because he was the main artist on the newspaper version. As far as you knew, Bob Kane was drawing all of the Batman material, but sometimes he looked more like Shelly Moldoff or Swan or Jerry Robinson or…

Time marches into the Marvel Age where the skeleton crew of long time pros like Kirby and Ditko were handling interiors and covers with some editorial input and scripting by Stan Lee. As things expanded, Jack Kirby covers would continue even after he left a book. By the early 70s when Kirby jumped to DC, the Marvel covers still were somewhat uniform thanks to an “action window” design and a number of them being drawn (or designed) by Gil Kane. At DC, Kirby did his own covers but the war titles were more often than not led by editor Joe Kubert’s covers and Neal Adams was showing up all over the Superman, Batman and JLA related covers as his interior work slowed. As the decade progressed your covers were often by Nick Cardy, Ernie Chan and Jose Garcia-Lopez with interiors by others.

The shift to more interior artists doing their own covers seemed to kick in when publishers started returning the art. Covers would bring more money than a regular story page. You’d still see “name” covers on books with “lesser” artists on the interiors, but it wasn’t as common and often was due to use of inventory material, an artistic shake-up where the cover was already done or new talent who might not be deemed ready for covers.

Today, it’s a strange time. Usually the interior artists are doing covers, but publishers bring in other artists for “incentive” covers to boost sales. You can do the comic equivalent to the Sistine Chapel for a cover, but the current reality says it won’t help sales because the orders will be based on a postage stamp sized version of the image in PREVIEWS. If you’re lucky enough to make it out of “special order” to the actual sales rack, THEN your cover can sell the book. But then what?

My attitude is that the cover has to serve the book. It sets the tone. For 51 DELTA, Sarge did all of the art – interiors and cover. The scene on the cover doesn’t happen in the book, but it tells you it is a light-hearted Science Fiction adventure. For “IT” GIRL MURDERS, I’m bringing in another artist for the trade cover to give it more of a pulp novel/Film Noir poster look with the book’s artist Kurt Belcher and myself doing covers for the individual chapters when they are put up on Comixology and other digital sources that will be more focused on events in those chapters.  

Not that I’d object to a Neal Adams cover…    

Con Prep: "Nobody'll pay $20 to have a sentence diagramed"

Writing and Artist Alley are not always the best mix. After all, it is called “Artist Alley” and exists as a way for fans to meet and get sketches from their favorite artists. Sometimes you’ll find small publishers and self publishers, but writers…it can be tough to decide which shows you can afford to make versus the ones you can’t afford to miss.

The cranking up of the convention schedule really has me dealing with this. This month is the debut of Wizard World’s St. Louis Comicon. Next month is C2E2 in Chicago. May is Houston’s Comicpalooza. Of these three, I will for sure be setting up at Houston and it boils down to the table fees.

Let me start by saying this isn’t a complaint. I have promoted events so I realize there are expenses involved. Artist Alley fees are a bargain compared to the full 10’ x 10’ booth space, which is why you’ll find a lot of the small press people there. Artists have it best as they can do sketches at the show, sell original art and work up prints ahead of time to sell. Why does it seem an artist is at every convention sometimes? Because they can make a decent amount of cash over a 2 to 3 day period. Not to mention that’s “CA$H” cash which can hold things together while waiting for a publisher to process your invoice and pay you for your work. A $300 table can be covered by the end of day one for some artists. Small press publishers and realistic self-publishers are often happy if they break even at a show because they are there for the exposure and are working the long game to build an audience for future titles. Writers (and a few of the newbie self-publishers)…

You’ve seen them. Usually out of the corner of your eye because you’re leery of making eye contact and being guilted in going over to the table. For some, you can almost smell the desperation as they try to at least make back their table fee. They are the self-publishers on a shoestring and the non-established writers who decided to try to do a full table solo. They have their rap down and rarely deviate from the script – much to the chagrin of their neighbors. Don’t hate the players. Just feel bad that they are still learning how to play the game.

It is the first year for Wizard St. Louis. I was very close to committing to a table because it isn’t that far for me, but $300 is a chunk, especially when you will be looking at having to stay downtown for at least two nights. (Thank goodness the Cardinals will still be in Spring Training and starting the regular season on the road or the hotel rates would be higher.) Wizard made the decision a few years back to no longer offer a half-table option, so to make the show profitable I would have to move a BUNCH of books. Another option would’ve been to split a table, but unfortunately my usual table buddies couldn’t commit to those days. The major publishers no longer embracing the Wizard shows with floor set ups, portfolio reviews and multiple editors has also taken the luster off the shows to where “getting my name out there” as justification doesn’t track.  I’ve not ruled out setting up with a friend at the show, but I’m more likely to go over for one of the days and check out the vibe to decide if 2014 will be worth it.   

C2E2 is a different beast. I set up there last year with a half-table and might have this year if I had more new material ready for the show. Made the table fee back by Saturday morning and did slow but steady business. Stayed most nights with a buddy and did one night at a hotel. Made some decent contacts and talked to a few people I already knew who have moved around. This is the show where you justify the expense. Most likely with go up for a couple of days.

Comicpalooza. Price was right on the half-table and I have friends down there to stay with. New market where the old Dreah and F. Stein books might move along with the 51 DELTA trades. Sam Kinison started doing stand-up so I can do some advance work with area retailers for the LEVITY COMICS issue telling his story. Ace pal Tony is being brought over as a guest for the show, so I get to see him and meet his bride. Good chance I’ll take a loss on the travel, but to open a new market for my work while seeing old friends – comics and otherwise – it will be worth it.    

My mission this year is to try and network with some more Midwest-based creators that I can try to team up with on these cons with the higher priced tables. Quite a few shows post-San Diego I would love to hit if I can find a table partner.

San Diego Dreaming

It's a sickness really...

The prep begins almost as soon as the last edition ends. That doesn't include the virtual scrums that start taking place around the new year as the general public, press and professionals try to secure their badges (pro credential renewal year for me this year. Bah.) and hotel rooms. Each one of those the online equivalent to those wedding dress sales you see on the news where the department store cuts the prices so low that women are camping out waiting for doors to open and actually get in fist fights trying to save money on a dress...some of them not even engaged. It's San Diego. Comic Con International. The pop culture version of a $25 Vera Wang.

Got my badge back in January. Booked my room at [REDACTED] the weekend before Hotel-O-Ween. When the tax refund comes in, I'll book the flight. (Though there's a new fare sale from Southwest that might mean at least the flight out will be booked this weekend.) I'm in, God help me.

It really shouldn't be this hard. Any other convention you can still get a badge and a room in the weeks before the show. No other convention has "start walking now to get in condition" in the preparation tips. Any other convention that fills you with equal parts dread and anticipation, with the dread sometimes edging the anticipation, would be dropped without a second thought by a sane person. Life's too short to be so stressed out by something that is supposed to be "fun."

But it's San Diego. Nerd Prom. Geek Vegas.

Since my first SDCC in 2005, I've only missed one year. To be honest, that year I missed the show my withdrawal pangs faded by Friday, but they were still there. Much like my annual trip to Metropolis, IL renews my fire to create comics, San Diego has become the place that fire gets focused. It is there I first got to become friends with Tony Lee, who has given me some of the best advice on both writing and getting out there to promote my writing I could ever receive. I got to not just see the first in person meeting of Ray Dillon and Renae DeLiz, but attend their wedding in the amphitheater in back of the convention center. It was here I made the contacts that led to 51 DELTA seeing print, my first editing credit on FRACTURES and two of the three books we're waiting on the art for can be traced to SDCC. Every year I've attended, new doors have opened for me.

I've watched the show go from being tolerated by local businesses to being embraced to essentially taking over the downtown and Gaslamp areas. I've seen the Navy and the Padres start scheduling to avoid "con week." I got to meet Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go's 2007 and we made Variety's 2009 photo recap. (Not vital to the comics thing, but my inner 13-year-old is still giddy over that one.)

In between lettering pages as they come in and trying to get my newer pitches lined out, I find myself checking my "Con Sites." Not unlike my political season browsing, I have my places I check a couple of times a week. The "unofficial" convention sites that keep track of the events in AND outside the con that Bleeding Cool and The Beat might miss. The Gaslamp business association site to see what regular haunts might have closed and what's new as food and drink options. The Union-Tribune just to see what we are flying into. It's March, I have at least 3 other shows planned and I'm trying to get projects together while running a radio station...but July 16th is calling to me, and not just for the All Star Game.

Summer is coming.