Yes, I'm still alive and kicking, even if I haven't written much lately. May has been a busy month: having problems getting a DCP bank account going, getting ready for the Motor City Comic Con, appearing at said Con, and wondering what the hell to do afterward.
The Con was...okay. Attendance was way down for both artists and visitors, and the craptacular weather didn't help much (30 degrees difference between Friday and Saturday! What gives?!) It's always a hassle trying to figure out how to set up the table, too. At first Joe Haines and myself were situated on either side of a large Bone Boy standup, but it seemed to confuse people...depending on which side they were coming from, they would sift through one person's art, stop and stare at Bone Boy with a confused and slightly panicked look, and then wander off to find Star Wars collectibles. Inevitably one side or the other would get neglected. Eventually Joe moved Bone Boy down to his half of the table, and things started to work a little better.
For him, that is. It quickly became apparent who had the more attractive display: there were Bone Boy Comics, Bone Boy original art (for flipping through), and a giant Bone Boy stand-up to gawk at. I, on the other hand, had three comics with black and white covers, an enormous book of unrelated original art, a sketchbook full of entirely different scripts, and a pad of Bristol board. In other words, a mess.
It happened pretty much by accident, too: Joe just had one project to work on and show. But that was all that was needed to create a cohesive display. Adding to this is the fact that Bone Boy is a charismatic character. In all, Joe sold eight copies of Bone Boy #1 - not bad for DCP, a tiny two-man production group with no distribution.
All this made me start thinking: why not make Bone Boy the "subject", as it were, of the convention booth? Instead of being "Dead City Productions", we'll be, "Bone Boy...brought to you by Dead City Productions". I'd have no trouble manning a Bone Boy booth. If I absolutely had to display my work, I could get an adjoining table - no need to clutter up the main attraction.
See, my philosophy is, if you can find a winning formula - a certain comic or character that attracts attention to the production group - why not use it? Bone Boy is such a formula. People are attracted to the character. Hopefully if they buy the comic, they start talking about Dead City Productions. Maybe they visit the Facebook page, or the website (whenever the hell we can get that started...) I'm even getting ready to create a Bone Boy Facebook page for the little critter himself. Why not bet on a winning horse?
Of course the question will come up: "Rick, wouldn't you be shafting yourself?" I have thought about that. I'm no martyr - I want my cake, too. That's why it would be important to emphasize the production group as much as possible. Dead City Productions is not just about two artists separately creating comics under the same label; it's about two artists supporting each other - not just artistically, but in terms of shared revenue. Whoever brings in the bacon, that bacon belongs to the group. If Joe Haines makes a comic, Rick Schlaack supports him; if Rick Schlaack makes a comic, Joe Haines supports him; if either one of their comics makes it big, the funds go to support the company. Obviously this is an idealization, but I hope it will hold true.
I also think that, if one artist really hits the big time, the other artist should have the ability to split off. It's only right. The two artists would still support each other artistically, of course, but the big artist would not overshadow the little one, and the little one wouldn't partake of profits he didn't earn. Resentment and rivalry, as much as we artists like to pretend otherwise, can always crop up - especially when art and ambition are involved; better to not harness the ox and the mule together, as they say.
Of course, all this "Hitting the Big Time" talk is for the future. Dead City Productions is still learning the ropes, and hoping to avoid the pitfalls of other small art production companies. The next big hurdle now is getting our comics in stores; we're going to test the waters with Aeolus this summer, then make a big splash with Bone Boy in October (I think). After that there's The Human Cannonball (the first issue is in the inking stages as we speak), and after that...? Who knows. The sky's the limit.
Rick Out.
The Con was...okay. Attendance was way down for both artists and visitors, and the craptacular weather didn't help much (30 degrees difference between Friday and Saturday! What gives?!) It's always a hassle trying to figure out how to set up the table, too. At first Joe Haines and myself were situated on either side of a large Bone Boy standup, but it seemed to confuse people...depending on which side they were coming from, they would sift through one person's art, stop and stare at Bone Boy with a confused and slightly panicked look, and then wander off to find Star Wars collectibles. Inevitably one side or the other would get neglected. Eventually Joe moved Bone Boy down to his half of the table, and things started to work a little better.
For him, that is. It quickly became apparent who had the more attractive display: there were Bone Boy Comics, Bone Boy original art (for flipping through), and a giant Bone Boy stand-up to gawk at. I, on the other hand, had three comics with black and white covers, an enormous book of unrelated original art, a sketchbook full of entirely different scripts, and a pad of Bristol board. In other words, a mess.
It happened pretty much by accident, too: Joe just had one project to work on and show. But that was all that was needed to create a cohesive display. Adding to this is the fact that Bone Boy is a charismatic character. In all, Joe sold eight copies of Bone Boy #1 - not bad for DCP, a tiny two-man production group with no distribution.
All this made me start thinking: why not make Bone Boy the "subject", as it were, of the convention booth? Instead of being "Dead City Productions", we'll be, "Bone Boy...brought to you by Dead City Productions". I'd have no trouble manning a Bone Boy booth. If I absolutely had to display my work, I could get an adjoining table - no need to clutter up the main attraction.
See, my philosophy is, if you can find a winning formula - a certain comic or character that attracts attention to the production group - why not use it? Bone Boy is such a formula. People are attracted to the character. Hopefully if they buy the comic, they start talking about Dead City Productions. Maybe they visit the Facebook page, or the website (whenever the hell we can get that started...) I'm even getting ready to create a Bone Boy Facebook page for the little critter himself. Why not bet on a winning horse?
Of course the question will come up: "Rick, wouldn't you be shafting yourself?" I have thought about that. I'm no martyr - I want my cake, too. That's why it would be important to emphasize the production group as much as possible. Dead City Productions is not just about two artists separately creating comics under the same label; it's about two artists supporting each other - not just artistically, but in terms of shared revenue. Whoever brings in the bacon, that bacon belongs to the group. If Joe Haines makes a comic, Rick Schlaack supports him; if Rick Schlaack makes a comic, Joe Haines supports him; if either one of their comics makes it big, the funds go to support the company. Obviously this is an idealization, but I hope it will hold true.
I also think that, if one artist really hits the big time, the other artist should have the ability to split off. It's only right. The two artists would still support each other artistically, of course, but the big artist would not overshadow the little one, and the little one wouldn't partake of profits he didn't earn. Resentment and rivalry, as much as we artists like to pretend otherwise, can always crop up - especially when art and ambition are involved; better to not harness the ox and the mule together, as they say.
Of course, all this "Hitting the Big Time" talk is for the future. Dead City Productions is still learning the ropes, and hoping to avoid the pitfalls of other small art production companies. The next big hurdle now is getting our comics in stores; we're going to test the waters with Aeolus this summer, then make a big splash with Bone Boy in October (I think). After that there's The Human Cannonball (the first issue is in the inking stages as we speak), and after that...? Who knows. The sky's the limit.
Rick Out.
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