I remember arriving years ago at Village Comics in New York City minutes after Michael had just left. He had been there enough times that the cynical comic shop staffers were already acting as if it was no big deal that one of the most famous people on the planet was a semi-regular customer. I can only speculate what might’ve happened had I arrived just a little bit earlier. If I could’ve somehow got close enough, I would’ve introduced myself as the then-editor of Marvel’s Spider-Man comics, and as the editor that was involved with such titles as Marvel’s Alice Cooper, KISS, and Beatles comics. This would not have meant much to a non-comics fan, but to a True Believer…!

Yes, I admit I enjoy meeting celebrities, but my real interest then, as it is now, has always been to expand the audience for comics, and tapping into other existing audiences has long been a comicbook tradition. Yet, surprisingly, other than the Captain EO one-shot published by Eclipse Comics, there have been no Michael Jackson, Jackson Five or Jackson 5ive comicbooks. This is even more surprising considering that Michael liked comics.

During the time I was Senior Writer/Editor at Stan Lee’s short-lived dot.com, Stan Lee Media, Michael Jackson paid a visit to meet with Mr. Lee. Even though it seemed like world-famous celebs trooped in on an almost daily basis, not counting that George Hamilton worked there for a short time (he was to head Stan Lee TV), there was an electric charge that ran through the offices the day Michael came by. Everyone seemed excited and thrilled that Micahel Jackson was on the premises. This really seemed special to the SLM staffers.

I didn’t actually meet Michael Jackson, it was more like I happened to be near him a few times as he toured the offices. With so much in the media about how weird he had become physically due to countless plastic surgeries, my impression was that he seemed rather normal to me—he carried himself well, and had a slim, taut dancer’s body, and he looked, well, like Micahel Jackson. Certainly not at all like the more freakish photos that I’ve seen since.

Michael was meeting with Stan Lee and Peter Paul, and was with someone named John. Weeks later, I asked Stan what the meeting was all about. Stan revealed that they had met before, and that Michael was interested in buying Marvel Comics. Now, how many fans have wanted to do that over the years? But how many actually could? At their initial meeting, Michael had asked Stan if he would be staying with Marvel, and Stan assured him that he would, that he had a lifetime contract. Stan hadn’t heard anything more about it until he met with Michael again at SLM. Even though Stan then had a company of his own, he still was, and continues to be a Marvel employee, but one free to embark on new business ventures. At their second meeting, years later, again Michael expressed interest in buying Marvel and asked Stan if he would still be involved with the company. Again, Stan assured him that he would, and after that meeting, as far as I know, Stan never heard from Michael Jackson ever again.

Maybe it was for the best? Stan Lee Media was quite a bizarre chapter in the life of Stan Lee. Stan had hooked up with Peter Paul, a man with a mysterious past, and someone involved in various Hollywood non-profits. Through Peter, Stan was soon hobnobbing with likes of Jimmy Stewart and Ronald Reagan at various fundraising parties. Peter was exceptionally good at raising money, which is a great skill to have when you’re involved with non-profits. As valuable a skill as it may be, when you put together a for-profit company such as Stan Lee Media, you need to also know how to produce and market products. Unlike raising money for charities, investors expected a return on their money. So, while the company’s stock skyrocketed at first, based on many great proposed projects, when the dot.com boom started to go bust, combined with all sorts of dubious dealings at SLM, the company just as quickly went bust. Peter Paul was indicted for security fraud charges, for which he ultimately pleaded guilty. He also insists it was all Bill Clinton’s fault, but that another complicated story!

While I realize that Peter Paul was no saint, I did like the guy. In many ways, he wasn’t anywhere near as bad as the many CEOs that have brought this country to near-financial ruin, and were rewarded with humongous severance packages. I’ve always felt that if Peter had the kind of lawyers other ruthless CEOs have, he would’ve never seen the inside of a prison cell. If anything, I found him guilty of being incredibly naïve.

Stan Lee and Marvel seem to be doing well these days. Stan’s new company, POW! (Purveyors of Wonder!) has a development deal with Disney, and Marvel has become a major Hollywood film studio, that also publishes comicbooks. Unfortunately, Michael Jackson, who after years of shocking setbacks and horrendous allegations, seemed on the verge of a major comeback, tragically died last week.

I found the following video clip on Youtube. It’s supposedly posted by someone named “Dan,” who goes by the name “Scuzzler.” SCUZZLE was the name of the official Stan Lee Media fan club. And almost all the videos posted were filmed by– Peter Paul. There’re a few things I like to point out about the video…

Note how Peter Paul assures Michael that this video is for private use only and wouldn’t be used anywhere without Michael’s permission.. One wonders how this “Dan” fellow got a hold of Peter’s private videos and how it got posted on Youtube.

When Michael gazes at a poster of the 7th Portal Villains, Peter points out a character saying “That’s Slyme.” I won’t explain why that amuses me so.

I also assume that was a piece of candy, which Stan kept plenty of in his office, that Michael pops in his mouth.

Never shy, Peter must’ve persuaded Michael to say a few words about how great and wonderful Stan is. Michael obliges, but you can almost sense that right here what may possibly be the reason Michael never calls Stan again—despite the sincere praise offered, and talk of how working together would be a dream come true, his demeanor is like a hostage being forced to make a video. I’m positive that the last thing Peter wanted to do was alienate a superstar, but putting Michael on the spot—remember he was being video taped—to praise Stan was not the brightest idea. Especially when, you’re treating Michael not as an artist, not as someone Stan has any particular praise for, but as your next wealthy target. Look for a couple of more videos of Stan Lee and Michael Jackson posted by Scuzzler to get a better idea of what I’m talking about—especially the one in Stan’s vault, where they jokingly talk about kidnapping Michael.

The videos kinda remind me of an old Stan Lee/Jack Kirby story in which Dr. Doom steals the Silver Surfer’s cosmic power. Peter Paul, who you’ll see briefly, as he steps in front of the camera, has a Darkseid vibe going for him, and I suspect if he had that Dr. Doom’s power-sapping device, he would’ve used it on Michael. Assuming he hadn’t already used it on Stan.

Copyright © 2009 by Jim Salicrup. All rights reserved.

Last week, Marvel Comics announced to the world that Steve Rogers was back as Captain America, the star-spangled, living legend of World War II! It was picked up in newspapers across the country, and even new Tonight show host Conan O’Brien joked “It’s been reported that Marvel Comics is getting set to bring back Captain America. They’re going to do this as soon as they get a loan from Captain China.”

William Shatner, who portrayed a different dead Captain, was also a Tonight Show guest last week, and was rather hilarious in his interview with Conan, especially when he revealed how he’s unable to make the Vulcan “Live long and prosper” hand gesture. Shatner also plugged his latest comicbook venture, along with the paperback edition of his most recent autobiography.

DC Comics also picked up some press regarding a Superman story called “The Kid Who Saved Superman” that features a young special education student who wrote a national contest-winning essay about his vision-impaired teacher.

Overall, it’s great to see comics getting more coverage than ever before. Back when I was at Marvel, I was involved in several comics that got major press coverage, such as SPIDER-MAN #1 and Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson’s wedding (I hear they’re back together in the syndicated newspaper comic strip!). Back then I didn’t realize how important good press could be. After all, Marvel was, and still is, the biggest comics publisher in North America, so while media coverage may’ve boosted sales, it didn’t have much impact on distribution—after all, Marvel Comics was already being sold wherever comics are sold.

But for a smaller company, say Papercutz, where I just happen to be the Editor-in-Chief, getting some serious coverage can have a much bigger impact. For example, Newsweek magazine ran an article on comics adapting classic books. When I first heard that this was in the works I imagined the “article” would be maybe two paragraphs at best, and mostly covering Marvel’s adaptations. And if the Papercutz revival of CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED was mentioned at all, I’d be shocked. Well, it turned out to be a full a five-page article, and most of it was about CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED #1 “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens, adapted by Rick Geary and CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED DELUXE #1 “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame, adapted by Michel Plessix. Here’s a tiny bit from Malcolm Jones’s article:

“’The Wind in the Willows’ is something else again…. Michel Plessix’s rendering of Kenneth Grahame’s story is a visual masterpiece—Rat, Mole, Toad and Badger have met their Michelangelo. Every frame is drawn and colored with meticulous care. Every elegant page is composed with a dual purpose: to enchant the eye and to further the various narratives that make up the loose plot. Plessix knows how to advance and retard the story’s pace. He knows just when to zoom in and when to pull back for a wide shot.” There’s more, you can read it all here if you’d like: http://www.newsweek.com/id/128537

The point is, that article exposed our graphic novels in an incredibly positive way to thousands of potential readers, and they responded in a big way! So many readers bought “Wind in the Willows” and “Great Expectations” that both books were rushed back to press! But more importantly, because of that review, many bookstores, that weren’t carrying our CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED graphic novels decided to hop on the bandwagon. I wish I could say the same thing about certain comicbook stores, but that’s another story…

“Expanding the Comicbook Market”

Comicbook sales were way down in May of this year. In fact, not a single comicbook sold over a hundred thousand copies. To put that into perspective, back when I was at Marvel Comics in the 80s and early 90s, if a comic sold under a hundred thousand, it was cancelled.

As upsetting as that news is, my concerns regarding the comicbook market are more frustrating. For years, there’s been an aspect of the Direct Sales comicbook market that continues to confound me. Of however many comicbook stores there still may be at the moment, the top 200 stores have always sold a disproportionately higher number of comics. One reason could be that those top 200 stores happen to be in markets with a higher percentage of comics readers, or just more people in general. That may be true, but it’s not the entire picture. Even though there have been articles for years advising comicbook stores to become more appealing to non-comics buyers and more female-friendly, it seems that those articles continue to be ignored by all but the top 200. Wouldn’t you think that a store that wasn’t a member of that elite club would try to become one? That just out of enlightened self-interest, wouldn’t you think they’d want to know what the most successful stores were doing right, so that they could boost sales?

What do these stores have to lose? If a store already has a devoted customer base of super-hero comics buyers, does the store owner believe these customers would no longer frequent their shops if suddenly other types of comics or graphic novels were promoted in the front window? Or if the place was less cluttered with aging pin-ups of Xena, Warrior Princess and Vampirella and looked less like a boys-only clubhouse? If these core customers are receiving excellent service, why would they wish to shop elsewhere?

This subject is of particular interest to me because, as you may know, I’m working at a comics and graphic novel publisher creating material to attract younger readers in general, and young female readers in particular. You would think a store devoted to selling comics and graphic novels would welcome a series of books that could bring in new customers, especially with the way the economy is these days! Well, while most of the top 200 stores do indeed carry our titles with a fair amount of success, guess which stores don’t?

This is nothing new. We’ve been publishing all-new NANCY DREW graphic novels since 2004. NANCY DREW Graphic Novel #18 “City Under the Basement” is on sale now. NANCY DREW Graphic Novel #1 “The Demon of River Height” is currently in its eighth printing. Most of our sales come from booksellers and libraries. While NANCY is a consistent seller in many comicbook stores, many comicbook store simply don’t carry the title because, they claim, it doesn’t sell or they don’t think it would sell. What they’re really saying is that it doesn’t sell to their current customers who prefer action-packed super-hero comics.

What’s even sadder, is when one of these stores truly tries to carry other types of comics or graphic novels, but does so in a way that’s sure to fail. For example, placing the latest NANCY DREW graphic novel on a shelf, somewhere in the back of their store near their Marvel Adventure or Johnny DC titles (if they actually carry those), yet the store looks exactly like it always has—a super-hero comicbook store for men only. I don’t know what makes them think that the potential customer of this title, will suddenly, one day, while going by a store that appears to cater exclusively to the super-hero loving set, will decide to enter the store and see if they carry comics that may appeal to her. A vegan has a better chance of finding something to eat at McDonalds! Believe it or not, it does actually happen— but very rarely. (Or what happens more often, male customers will pick up such titles for daughters, wives, sisters, mothers, nieces, girlfriends, whatever.

But what if the stores tried to meet these potential new customers half way? Actually try to make their stores, especially their window displays, appealing to female customers? For years, I’ve heard people saying that there should be more comics for kids and women, yet when such titles come along, it’s not supported in the majority of comics shops. It seems they’d have a lot to gain, and little to lose.

It’s funny—a major reason bookstores now carry graphic novels is because so many comicbook stores missed out on the opportunity that manga presented. Again, the smart, successful top 200 made sure they stocked manga and attracted a new audience, but the super-hero stores didn’t know what to make of these strange books that you read backwards. Once manga established itself in bookstores, an opening was created for other comics publishers as well. Marvel, DC, and all the rest, have found a major new form of distribution which finally helps them attract new readers.

You know, unfortunately, in the past year, two great magazines that introduced comics to kids—DISNEY ADVENTURES and NICKELODEON MAGAZINE, each with circulations over a MILLION, have been cancelled due to a general decline in the magazine advertising field (they, like most mainstream magazines, were advertiser supported). That’s a million potential customers that comicbook stores could be reaching out to. Even comicbook conventions are devoting days of programming to kids comics, and Alex Simmons has been running his Kids Comic Convention, and is gearing up to take it on the road to other conventions. The opportunity is there!

Oh, and in case anyone thinks I’m anti super-hero comics, let me say right now, that’s not true! I love super-hero comics. I’ll be checking out the new CAPTAIN AMERICA and BATMAN comics right along with everyone else. But I think back to those long-ago days when I bought my comics from the corner candy stores, stores that everyone felt welcome in, and I remember that there were comics for all ages and all genders. Also, when I started at Marvel back in ’72, and they were aggressively expanding the amount of comics that they were publishing, no one there thought that Marvel should only be publishing super-hero comics. They were still publishing war, romance, monster, western, and any other type of comicbook they could think of! Somewhere along the line, people began to think that super-heroes = comics, and that’s where all our problems began.

Copyright © 2009 by Jim Salicrup. All rights reserved.

But my Dad loved me, and wanted me to be happy, so looking out for my best interests, he suggested I become an architect—after all it kinda sounded like “artist” and I would still be drawing and being creative, but in a far more respectable and lucrative field. While I might have seriously entertained the notion for a minute or two, I did and still have a great appreciation for architecture, I immediately lied to my Dad and said I would become an architect. For several years, whenever an adult asked little Jimmy Salicrup what he wanted to be when he grew up, my answer, which was always met with adult approval, was always “an architect.” But I never doubted for a second, I was going to work in comics.

My Dad, William Salicrup, was born in 1919 and dreamed of becoming, like many other young boys of his generation, an airplane pilot. Unfortunately, that was not to be. Instead he became a machinist, and for many years manufacturing was a thriving industry in New York City. But during the 60s, 70s, and 80s, manufacturing slowly but surely left the city. Despite long stints at companies such as Pepsi and Loft’s Candy, machinist jobs became harder and harder to find. Desperate to keep working to support his family, my Dad during New York’s most dangerous and crime-ridden decades would become a security guard between machinist jobs, even though he was in his 50s and 60s. When I started working, at age 15 at Marvel Comics, I was able to help contribute to the family budget in a fairly meaningful way. As the years went on, I began to contribute more and more. Eventually, my Dad came to me one day, clearly wanting to get something off his chest. He apologized for suggesting years earlier that I give up my dream of working in comics and become an architect instead. I told him he had nothing to apologize for. I knew he only had my best interests at heart, but I confessed I never took the whole architect idea seriously.

Besides, who says I won’t yet starve to death in my Greenwich Village apartment? The truth is when I started at Marvel back in ‘72, many of the well-meaning folks there thought I’d be foolish not to have a back-up career ready, as clearly the end of comics was near. I admit there are times I think I should’ve heeded that advice. After all, Paul Levitz, who is now the President of DC Comics, was smart enough to attend New York University in pursuit of his MBA, during his early years at the company as an editor and writer. Fortunately, my Papercutz partner, Terry Nantier, got his MBA at NYU, so I’m covered at the moment.

What prompted this stroll down Memory Lane, was a panel I attended at the MoCCA Festival last weekend. I was scheduled to appear on the panel “Comics Come In All Shapes and Sizes” with Ken Wong, Jason Little, and Fay Ryu to talk about the Marvel Toilet Paper I wrote, and arrived early to catch the previous panel “The Astonishing SVA Roundtable,” which featured School of Visual Arts faculty member Tom Hart talking with SVA graduates about how they’re managing their comics careers. It was very thought provoking, to say the least.

It’s not unreasonable that students, who’ve had to pay for their college education, to expect that there may be actual careers waiting for them upon graduation. Well, the truth is, like with most things in life, there are no guarantees. This is especially true, if you’re seeking a job in any creative field. One can get the most expensive Liberal Arts education possible, but that’s not going to assure anyone of getting a high-paying job as a poet. The best any college can do, is to help prepare you as much as possible, to at least give you a fighting chance at living your dreams.

Several former SVA students have found success creating comics online, and selling T-shirts featuring their work, which is not uncommon for those creating web comics. At least one panelist suggested that SVA actually have a business class available to students. Hart responded, he feared that all it would do is instruct students on how to set up a website and sell T-shirts. While that may be true, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to provide students with a better understanding of how business actually works. As opposed to in the past, where a college art student would never want to know anything about commerce—it would be akin to selling out – today’s students are simply trying to be practical.

Life in general is a true creative challenge. How can you do what you are most passionate about and actually survive? While it is helpful to see what others are doing, that doesn’t mean it’s the right path for you. While animator Walter Lantz was content to head a studio for many years that had no greater ambitions than to crank out short cartoons featuring Woody Woodpecker and Andy Panda, Walt Disney dared to create the first full-length animated movie, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and to build an entertainment empire featuring music, movies, TV, theme parks, and so much more. In comics, people such as Harvey Kurtzman, Will Eisner, Stan Lee and others, knew they couldn’t just quietly do their jobs and hope that comics would some day be seen as a legitimate art form. People such as Woody Gelman, Gary Groth, Kim Thompson, Terry Nantier, Byron Preiss, Denis Kitchen, and others, played a large role in publishing the kind of material that actually proved that literary comics wasn’t just a concept, but a reality.

Trying to survive as any kind of creative person is a true challenge. In fact, it may be every creator’s greatest challenge. The world is changing faster than ever, and once mighty industries such as newspapers, magazines, recorded music, and many others are struggling to survive in this new high-tech world. But, as things constantly change, new opportunities are being created. But certain things also remain the same—the artists’ audience is still made up of people, and understanding people, especially who you perceive to be your potential audience is crucial.

If you’re looking to create the “next” X-Men, then the current comicbook distribution system is ideal for you, although it’s still a huge challenge. If you’re trying to create something vastly different, then you need to be especially creative.

Currently, book and magazine distributors are also fighting to stay alive. New technologies threaten to, if not wipe them out, drastically reduce their businesses. Already, California is considering switching to handheld computer devices for its schools’ textbooks—or as the Times Online put it “Arnold Schwarzenegger issues total recall of California’s textbooks” – which would wipe out a traditionally highly profitable part of the book publishing industry. So while bookstores may be the current saviors of comics, the future may be online. After all, creators are content providers, not dependent on specific delivery systems.

These are truly challenging times. Do you think you’re up for it? If not, you may want to think about becoming an architect.

Copyright © 2009 by Jim Salicrup. All rights reserved.

In nominating Judge Sonia Sotamayor for the Supreme Court, President Obama said “It’s my understanding that Judge Sotomayor’s interest in the law was sparked as a young girl by reading the Nancy Drew series. And that when she was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 8, she was informed that people with diabetes can’t grow up to be police officers or private investigators like Nancy Drew. In essence she was told she’d have to scale back her dreams.

Politics aside, I’ll just focus on Nancy Drew. Nancy is just as inspiring today, and continues to embrace the values that have made her such an enduring icon for so many generations. Whether she’s winning the iParenting Media Award, as she did recently for NANCY DREW Graphic Novel #15 “Tiger Counter” or being called one of the “Top Twenty Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture” by Entertainment Weekly, Nancy Drew is just as relevant today as she was nearly 80 years ago when she first appeared in print.

Like Judge Sonia Sotamayer, I’m from the Bronx and I lived in the Projects. I’m also part Puerto Rican. I’m also the graphic novel editor of NANCY DREW. So this is really, really exciting news in many ways. Yes, of course, Judge Sotamayor was inspired by the original Grosset & Dunlap chapter books, not the Papercutz graphic novels, but I believe writers Stefan Petrucha and Sarah Kinney, along with artists Sho Murase and Carlos Guzman, capture the true spirit of Nancy’s character. She may not be as perfect as she was in the original books – Simon & Schuster humanized and updated her just a bit in her last relaunch about five years ago – but all the essential Nancy Drew characteristics are still there.

President Obama also has a cameo apearance in THE HARDY BOYS Graphic Novel #16 “Shhhhhh!” also from Papercutz. Unlike his other more recent and highly-publicised comicbook appearances, as either a Conan-like Barbarian or Spider-Man’s partner-in-crimefighting, his appearance in THE HARDY BOYS graphic novel was far more Prsesidential – he’s depicted giving a speech about libraries, something he did in real-life as a Senator.

As much as I’m interested in making NANCY DREW and every other Papercutz graphic novel as successful as possible, I’m more excited to see Nancy Drew cited yet again as such a positive influence. In a time where so many people talk about the lack of positive role models for children, Nancy Drew continues to inspire after almost 80 years.

“BEA”

Last weekend, from Thursday through Sunday, I was at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center doing what I do most of the time—spreading the word about Papercutz, the wonderful little comics and graphic novel company where I’m Editor-in-Chief. It wasn’t a comics convention though. This is the biggest trade show in the book publishing business called “Book Expo America” or “BEA.” Like most trade shows, the premise is simple: new products are trotted out to the marketplace. In this case, the product is books, and the buyers are mainly bookstores and libraries.

Since starting at Papercutz almost five years ago, I’ve learned a lot about the book publishing industry. My teacher is my partner at Papercutz, publisher Terry Nantier. Terry is an incredible man. Over 30 years ago, he started NBM Publishing and has been, along with folks such as Gary Groth, Kim Thompson, and the late Byron Preiss, a true pioneer in graphic novel publishing. Long before “graphic novels” were accepted by mainstream bookstores, Terry was fighting the good fight, and convincing one bookstore at a time that people would actually buy these comics that were printed just like “real” books. While major bookstore chains, independent bookstores, and many libraries now carry graphic novels, the battle is still far from won.

For example, at a BEA several years ago, a couple of older librarians came by the Papercutz booth and looked at our NANCY DREW graphic novels and sniffed “Now children don’t even have to read those books anymore!” Implying that it was simply a picture book with no story content whatsoever. I was able to restrain Stefan Petrucha, the actual writer of the series, from assaulting them. A year or so later, I mentioned this incident on a panel at a Graphic Novels Seminar, and the audience laughed. One librarian, however, was compelled to express her displeasure with me and to defend all librarians (I thought I was just talking about two) and tell me in essence “Oh, yeah? Well, your NANCY DREW graphic novels are dumb!” Well, I learned a long time ago, you can’t please everyone.

At this most recent BEA, here’s a rundown of what I encountered…

Mostly, and fortunately, we met a lot of happy librarians and teachers. We’ve been told many times that our graphic novels are extremely popular with kids, especially the so-called “reluctant readers.” Graphic novels in general tend to be very popular with kids, as they don’t perceive them to be as difficult to read as books filled with pages of text. The comics format is not only easy to read, but usually a lot of fun. More like watching a movie on paper than a homework assignment. Librarians also tell us that kids take our graphic novels right off the cart before they can ever be replaced on the shelves; they’re that popular.

Of course, in these difficult times, there were many small bookstore owners as well as teachers and librarians, looking for as many free books as they could find. Surviving a recession isn’t easy, and free books could help a lot. Our booth was next to the Walker Books/Bloomsbury Books booth, and they were busy every day handing out free books. We only had free copies of the latest NANCY DREW graphic novel available during our signings with writers Stefan Petrucha and Sarah Kinney. The rest of the time we gave away posters of a time-traveling mouse and star of our new upcoming graphic novel series GERONIMO STILTON, postcards for TALES FROM THE CRYPT #8 “Diary of a Stinky Dead Kid,” and of course, our Papercutz Fall catalog.

Many booksellers, mainly women, have often stopped at our booth over the past few years, and pointing to our NANCY DREW Graphic Novels they exclaim that they “grew up reading those books” and that they’ve “read every one!” Well, it’s a natural mistake. They see a bunch of books that say NANCY DREW on the cover and they assume they’re the original Grosset & Dunlap NANCY DREW chapter books by Carolyne Keene. It’s okay—it gives us the opportunity to explain what we’re doing. That’s the awesome power of an iconic brand name. Back when I was Editor-in-Chief at Topps Comics, whenever we exhibited at the San Diego Comic Con, many fans would skip by our booth because they weren’t interested in trading cards.

A similar thing happened with our latest new series, GERONIMO STILTON. The character has already appeared in over 30 successful titles, and even though we haven’t released our first GERONIMO STILTON Graphic Novel yet, many people stopped by to tell us that they’ve been doing very well with our series. Again, we just take the opportunity to explain, that we’re going to be publishing graphic novels of GERONIMO STILTON, and we show them a few sample pages and covers, offer the free poster and our catalog, and answer any other questions they may have.

Unfortunately, writers and artists will also come by the booth looking for work. I certainly understand how competitive it is being a freelance creator, and how they’re simply looking for an opportunity to talk to an editor, but that’s not why we’re there. Publishers spend a lot of time and money to be at these shows, and they’re there to interact with booksellers, not review portfolios. In fact, most publishers will only send Sales and Marketing people to these shows to work the booths, and send creators to do signings and appear on panels.

On the positive side, I also saw many old friends. It seems that in order to attract a crowd at these types of shows, you need to appear busy. Folks whiz right past the booths with desperately smiling workers standing there like Insurance salesmen. If you actually try to have a meeting at your booth, you’ll be interrupted every two minutes. It’s a good thing in a way – it brings people to your booth, and the people you’re meeting with are impressed that your booth is so busy.

The book-publishing industry is dominated by women, unlike how it is in comics. Makes sense, as most statistics show that women traditionally read more then men. Also explains why NANCY DREW has always outsold THE HARDY BOYS. There are worse things to do than talking to hundreds of smart, attractive women for several days.

Overall, we accomplished what we set out to do. We let the book trade know that there’s this spunky little graphic novel publisher called Papercutz, that’s proudly publishing titles such as CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED, BIONICLE, and even THE LIFE OF POPE JOHN PAUL II… IN COMICS! and not only are they all very well-written and illustrated, they sell well too! Imagine that!

Copyright © 2009 by Jim Salicrup. All rights reserved.

The answer is that there’s no one right way. Take me, for example. I don’t know of anyone else ever getting hired by Marvel Comics, or by any other comics company, by simply sending in a postcard and offering to be their slave, yet that’s exactly how I got in.

It was 1972, and Marvel was expanding its publishing output from its 1960s average of about a dozen comicbooks a month to many times that. As a result of increasing production, many titles were in danger of not getting to the printer on time. Books that were normally mailed to the offices of The Comics Magazine Association of America, where they were reviewed to insure that they conformed to the standards of the Comics Code, and then mailed on to World Color Press in Sparta, Illinois, were now being sent by messenger to the Code’s office to save a few days. But those messenger bills were starting to pile up and when production manager Sol Brodsky saw my postcard volunteering to be a Marvel slave, he saw a way to save Marvel a few bucks. And even though I would’ve been happy to work at Marvel for free, thanks to then-Editor-in-Chief Roy Thomas who suggested to Jolly Solly to “pay the kid,” as it would still be cheaper than hiring messengers several times a day. Rascally Roy had a great policy of hiring people who knew about comics for any opening at Marvel – realizing they could be helpful to have around. I wound up working at the world-famous Marvel Comics Bullpen at the tender age of 15 years old – the summer before I was to start my first year at the High School of Art and Design.

I may as well have had a Fairy Godmother come and wave a magic wand over me, that’s how unbelievable the entire experience was. Let me explain. I grew up fairly poor in The Bronx, at a time when it wasn’t that great to be living in The Bronx. Especially if you were a shinny white kid living in the Bronx River Houses – the Projects that were later to give birth to Hip-Hop Culture. Mainly the crime and violence of Projects motivated me to get the Hell out of The Bronx, and thanks to Pop Culture, my two main dreams were to live in Manhattan and to work at Marvel Comics. And they really were dreams in every sense. The Bronx was my Kansas, albeit a whole lot rougher, and Manhattan and Marvel were my Oz.

So, how helpful is that story to anyone trying to break into comics today? Depends on how serious you are. You see, it wasn’t just me dreaming about Marvel and one day sending in a postcard, it was everything building up to that point. In those pre-Internet days, I set out to learn everything I could about the comicbook business because I was desperately determined to make my dream come true. I read every book I could about the history of comics – both volumes of Steranko’s History of Comics, “The Great Comic Book Heroes” by Jules Feiffer, and “All in Color for a Dime” edited by Lupoff and Thompson and whatever else I could get my hands on – there weren’t that many books on comics back then. I attended every comics-related event I knew about — even if I was in The Bronx, Manhattan, where everything took place, was just a wild subway ride away. I devoured every comicbook I could and wrote in to all the letter columns – even got a couple published. I sent away for every comics fanzine that I could afford. Anything that I could think of that could in any way aid in my quest I dutifully did.

My family finally moved out of the Projects to Commonwealth Avenue, not all that far away, and I became friends with Stefan Petrucha, who then lived across the street from me. He loved comics too and wanted to become a writer. Together we tried to make films, radio shows, and, of course, comics. He published a fanzine called “Doomed Universe” and I published the oddly named “Obscene Gestures.” I thought I had an ally in my comics quest, but unfortunately he moved away to the suburbs.

I found Kids Magazine at the newsstand and bought a copy. Even though it seemed very juvenile for the very “sophisticated” 14 year-old I was at the time, it was a “magazine for kids, by kids.” They were looking for submissions and I was a kid. I sent some drawings in and forgot about it. When they wrote back requesting that I contribute to the new issue, I didn’t imagine that I’d be drawing the cover and contributing to a nationally distributed magazine. The co-editors were Jim Robinson and Jenette Kahn. Jenette later became the Editor-in-Chief and President of DC Comics, which just goes to show that you never know how important a contact can be someday.

There was another kid there at the time, Tom Gammill, who I was a little bit jealous of – he could draw a little better and write a little better than me. Well, turns out that I’m the one who has the career in comics, while he had to settle for being a writer/producer on such TV series as Seinfeld and The Simpsons. At Kids Magazine Tom and I even got to interview Al Feldstein and William M. Gaines, the then-editor and publisher of Mad Magazine and erstwhile editor and publisher of EC Comics – I never dreamed that one day I would be editing an all-new TALES FROM THE CRYPT comic.

Not long ago, I was on a panel and all the guests were asked to tell about their first published work, and I launched into my Kids Magazine story, but was suddenly cut-off by another panelist — Ray Billingsley, the creator of the syndicated Curtis comic strip exclaimed, “Wait a minute! That’s my story! I started at Kids Magazine too!”

So, the point of this shaggy-dog story is that by relentlessly pursuing every option, and by learning first from fanzines, and later from Kids Magazine, to send out as much material to as many places as I could find, I did get published which encouraged me to send that postcard to Marvel. Even my old friend Stefan Petrucha persisted and has had countless comics and books published. I’m personally thrilled that he and his wife Sarah Kinney currently write the Papercutz NANCY DREW Graphic Novels.

Today, with the Internet there are more options than ever to breaking into comics, including posting your comics online. Today and every day you can find information online about the mainstream comics publishers as well as every indie publisher, and book publisher who are publishing more and more comics. Today most companies hire high school or college interns, which gives them the opportunity to work right inside a comics publisher’s offices. Today there are more high schools and colleges that actually teach you how to create comics – Jessica Abel and Matt Madden even wrote an incredible textbook, Drawing Words and Writing Pictures.

Breaking into comics, if that’s what you really want, can be one of the greatest adventures of your life. Just as the protagonist of every story has a problem to solve, someone trying to launch a career in comics also faces an incredible challenge. You must use your main super powers, your creativity and determination, to overcome every obstacle in your way, and eventually you may break in. It may not be easy, but what goal worth attaining ever is?

Use whatever resources you have to find out everything you can about what you want to become, and be relentless. If it all seems like too much effort, then maybe you’re not cut out for this line of work. Years ago in an interview, a particularly self-aware movie star was asked how he became a success. The actor recalled that back in his acting class there were many others he thought were more talented than he, but he was the only one who didn’t give up. A young comics creator asked me recently if it ever gets easier, the longer you’re actually working in comics. I answered truthfully – no. Sure, if you’re suddenly the “Hot” writer or artist of the month, you’ll be flooded with work, but don’t think it ever gets easier sustaining a long career. But this building a long-term career in comics is stuff for another column.

Recently, I was invited back again by The School of Visual Arts to review the portfolios of their graduating cartooning students. Even though my company, the comics and graphic novel publisher Papercutz is not currently hiring artists, the faculty thought it would be good for the students to get professional feedback. It was like being asked to be a judge on a comics version of American Idol. The students’ work was incredibly impressive. One student is so good he’s already drawing a graphic novel for a European publisher.

While I believe these students all received a great comics education at SVA, I still don’t believe they have an advantage over anyone else. Ultimately the best advice on how to break into comics comes from Silver Age legend Jim Steranko. It’s mostly for artists, but it’s still great advice. Be so damn good, that no editor could afford not to hire you.

“52 in 52 at 52”

I’m turned 52 years old on May 29th, and to celebrate I decided to write a new column each week for a year for popcultureshock.com. So, that comes out to 52 columns written in 52 weeks to mark my 52nd birthday. Hey, some people blow out candles, I like to create more work for myself!

Copyright © 2009 by Jim Salicrup. All rights reserved.

Jim Salicrup is Editor-in-Chief of Papercutz, publishers of BIONICLE, CLASSICS ILLUSTRATED, GERONIMO STILTON, HARDY BOYS, NANCY DREW, and TALES FROM THE CRYPT graphic novels and comics. Jim is also a Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art (www.moccany.org) Trustee and erstwhile writer and editor for Marvel Comics, Topps Comics, and Stan Lee Media.