Writer C. Edward Sellner, the co-creator and writer of two upcoming titles from Kandora Publishing (Savage World and Monarch of
I believe not only in the potential of Kandora, and what we're trying to do, but in the need for it.
The comics industry has never been an easy market, except maybe during the B/W boom that led to the market's crash when I was a younger man. Marvel and DC have always held the stranglehold, and when they feel the market is improving, they always increase their title count to try and further that hold on what they perceive as a 'growing' market.
But the fact of the matter is that other publishers do make their mark. We've been garnering a lot of comparisons to CrossGen, and I get mixed feelings from that. I loved CrossGen books personally, and felt the company had great potential, so, in that sense, I'm honored to be picking the banner up off the field, as it were. However, I am also painfully aware of how CrossGen went down in flames, and have friends owed a lot of money as a result of CrossGen's mismanagement.
Kandora does not plan on making the same mistakes that led to CrossGen's downfall. That being said, I think sometimes we forget the positive once we get hit with the negative. CrossGen did have its successes, and everything I have read is that if they had not had such overhead to support their in-house system, and expanded too much too fast, they would have continued for a long time as a thriving publisher.
If we want a better market for comics, we need to take some responsibility in fixing it. If we think super-heroes, Marvel and DC strangle the market, than help educate folks to the variety by making sure they have a chance to pick it up. Do something, don't just sit back and say...oh well, that's the way it is.
I know a huge part of our intention is trying to offer much more story, for a cheaper per page cost than any other publisher on the market, all to give the average fan a more enjoyable read and to help them feel they got more than their money's worth. We've tried to do that in the best way we could develop to offer a fair price, be able to cover our costs, and make enough profit to validate moving on.
We want this to succeed, not just for our company, but to show that genre books, non-super-hero books, whatever, HAVE a real chance in this market. All of us on our end are making some sacrifices to make this work, pitching in and trying to do something good for the market as well as hopefully launch a successful company that will pay off in the long run.
Help us out. I appreciate the concerns, but I think if we really think about it, we'll see the potential and the positives.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the columnist and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.