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2002: THE YEAR IN COMICS
[For 2002, CBG ran its Year in Review in #1521, cover-dated Jan. 10, 2003. It was again divided up between the different thematic sections of the magazine. A discussion thread for this feature appears here.]
1) The year of the spider
Comics movie brings record-breaking sales, crowds to shops
by Nathan Melby
Things looked great for the web-slinger and the comics industry after Spider-Man hit theaters on May 3 and quickly scored a record $114.8 million in its first three days of release. By press time for this issue of CBG, it was the highest-grossing film of 2002, bringing in more than $400 million, and one of the most-bought films on DVD and VHS. The movie stayed surprisingly true to the comic book, thanks to Director Sam Raimi’s vision. Raimi told CBG’s readers in #1487 that he “felt a terrific responsibility as a longtime fan.”
With its release, coupled with Free Comic Book Day the next day, comics stores saw new customers in record numbers. Spider-Man has become one of the most recognizable super-heroes in the world, thanks in part to the film’s success.
Comics and non-comics fans gave it rave reviews, as they waited for the DVD to hit stores Nov. 1. When it did, it smashed all previous DVD sales records, selling more than 11 million DVD and VHS units in its first three days for an estimated $190 million.
The film turned Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire into household names, and, while fans wait for the 2004 sequel, films will feature such other comics figures as Daredevil, The Hulk, The X-Men, and the Shazam-powered Captain Marvel - and, indeed, 2002 also saw such disparate comics films as Men in Black II and Road to Perdition. The year may have ushered in a golden age of comics films.
2) First free Comic Book Day is success
Plans call for repeat to follow 2003 X-Men film May 3
by Maggie Thompson
The first Free Comic Book Day - May 4, 2002 - made history as the first industry-wide promotion of comic books around the world. More than 2 million comic books were given away in more than 2,200 worldwide retail establishments. The event raised awareness of comic books as an art form and connected new and returning readers to the medium.
The sequel to Free Comic Book Day will occur in conjunction with another sequel: the second X-Men film, X-Men 2, the follow-up to the box-office hit X-Men. “X-Men took the market by storm when it came out,” said a Free Comic Book Day spokesperson. “Its success was due in no small part to its loyalty to its comic-book roots and helped pave the way for more Hollywood versions of time-tested comic-book characters. ... X2 promises to be even better - and Free Comic Book Day will be, too!” X-Men 2 is scheduled to open in theaters in America and the United Kingdom on May 2. Free Comic Book Day will follow; on May 3, anyone who walks into a participating comic-book store will receive a free comic book.
Available comics will vary by store, but all will be special editions published specifically for the event. Gold sponsors will provide editions that will be in all participating stores. (Dark Horse’s contribution will be announced.) Comics from Silver sponsors will vary in availability. And Bronze sponsors will donate free quantities of previously published titles to the event: Angry Dog Press, Colburn Comics, Colonia Press, CPM Manga, Humanoids, Insight Studios, Landwaster Books, Lone Star Press, NBM, Sharkbait Press, Studio Foglio, Terra Major, and Top Shelf.
More information is available on the website www.FreeComicBookDay.com.
2003 Gold sponsors
Archie Comics (Archie & Friends)
Avatar Press (Frank Miller’s Robocop/Stargate SG1)
CrossGen (Way of the Rat Special #1)
DC (Batman Adventures #1)
Dreamwave (Transformers: Armada)
Future Comics (Metallix #1)
Image Comics (Leave It to Chance #5)
Marvel Comics (Ultimate X-Men #1)
2003 Silver sponsors
A-Bomb (Landis #0)
Alternative Comics (Peanutbutter & Jeremy #4, Alternative Comics Anthology)
Avatar (Avatar graphic novel sampler)
Broken Tree (Big Bad #1, Superheroes Inc. #1)
Dork Storm Press (The Best of Dork Storm #1)
Keenspot (Keenspace.com, Keenspot Sampler 2003)
Oni Press (Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things, Skinwalker #1)
Second to Some (Christa’s 100% Guaranteed How-to Manual for Getting Anyone to Read Comic Books!)
Slave Labor Graphics (Slave Labor Stories)
3) Stan Lee sues Marvel
Marvel universe creator seeks his share
by Nathan Melby
On Nov. 12, Marvel Comics Chairman Emeritus Stan Lee filed a lawsuit against the company, saying he had received no money from the X-Men or Spider-Man films. Lee’s contract promises 10% of profits derived from any live-action or animated TV or film productions, and Lee stated that he had not seen any money from the films.
Only a couple of days before Lee filed the suit, Marvel Studios President Avi Arad had appeared on 60 Minutes II, saying that he believed Lee had been adequately compensated for the work he has done - and still does - for Marvel.
According to Lee’s contract, he is a lifetime employee at Marvel as long as Marvel can continue to use his name and characters. Because of that, Lee was supposed to receive a portion of the profits from the characters he co-created. Lee is contractually obligated to make public appearances on behalf of Marvel and during the year he was interviewed for more than 50 TV, radio, and magazine features for the Spider-Man movie alone. In fact, he appeared for Marvel on CNN’s Crossfire in December.
The suit said, “Despite reaping enormous benefits from Mr. Lee’s creations, defendants have failed and refused to honor their commitments to him.”
Marvel, however, has countered that Lee has been compensated and that the payments issued have all been under the terms of Lee’s contract. Although the case will extend beyond the end of 2002, Lee will continue to be the “face” of Marvel for the foreseeable future.
4) Comics industry up 10% at year’s end
Trade paperbacks, Spider-Man movie, Free Comic Book Day contribute
by Nathan Melby
The comic-book industry ended the year in better shape than it had been in during the preceding four years - around 10% ahead of 2001’s sales in preorders of comic books and trade paperbacks. Many different factors played a hand in helping comics bounce back, including trade paperbacks being integrated into bookstores more than ever, the success of the Spider-Man film, and public response to Free Comic Book Day.
Marvel Comics COO Bill Jemas told CBG in #1515, “The industry workers have lifted themselves up by their own bootstraps, and we have double-digit increases (in a down economy) to show for it.”
Other factors that played a hand in the industry rise is the revival of ’80s features to comics (see #6) and, especially, Diamond Book Distributors, which brought trade paperbacks into bookstores by the ream.
Moreover, what could have turned into a catastrophe ended up as a plus for the industry, when LPC Group, the distributor of such independent comics publishers as Top Shelf, Alternative Comics, Dark Horse Comics, and Drawn & Quarterly, declared bankruptcy on Apr 3. Within 12 hours of the announcement, the comics community rallied around the affected publishers to help them survive the event.
Will the upturn for comics’ fortunes continue in 2003? The year 2002 benefited from the deliberate conjunction of the Spider-Man movie and Free Comic Book Day, with retailers’ stores new and old collectors alike. With Free Comic Book Day 2 planned to coincide with the release of X-Men 2, it’s clear that the industry is making plans to support a slow, steady growth.
5) Gaiman vs. McFarlane
Writer gains copyright to his Spawn characters
by Maggie Thompson
Neil Gaiman gained victory on all counts in the case he’d brought in January against Todd McFarlane. The October trial, reported in CBG #1510, concerned a 1992 agreement between Gaiman and McFarlane regarding the use of Gaiman’s writing for Spawn #9 and subsequent works. That issue introduced the characters Angela, Count Nicholas Cogliostro, and the character later known as Medieval Spawn.
Gaiman had also written a partial script for a portion of Spawn #26 that was used but not credited to him and a mini-series featuring the Hellspawn hunter Angela.
Once the jury was selected in Neil Gaiman v. Todd McFarlane, it took only three days for the seven-woman jury to hear and decide the case. Its decisions (using a multi-question form) were in favor of Gaiman and against McFarlane and his companies (including McFarlane, Todd McFarlane Productions Inc., TMP International Inc., McFarlane Worldwide Inc., and Image Comics Inc.).
The final decisions were as follows; jumps in numbering indicate questions that were not addressed because of the answer to the preceding question:
1. Does plaintiff Neil Gaiman have a copyright interest in the following? Medieval Spawn: Yes; Cogliostro: Yes; Spawn #26: Yes
2. Would a reasonable person in plaintiff Gaiman’s position have discovered prior to Jan. 24, 1999, that the McFarlane defendants were claiming to be sole owners of copyright interests in the following? Medieval Spawn: No; Cogliostro: No; Angela: No; Angela #1-3: No; Spawn #9: No; Spawn #26: No
3. Did the plaintiff and the McFarlane defendants enter into a contract in 1992? Yes
4. Did the McFarlane defendants breach the 1992 contract? Yes
5. Did the plaintiff and the McFarlane defendants enter into a contract in 1997? Yes
6. Did the McFarlane defendants breach the 1997 contract? Yes
12. Was defendants’ failure to identify plaintiff Gaiman as a co-author of Spawn #26, Spawn volume 6, or Pathway to Judgement a false description or representation of the origin of the work? Yes
13. Does plaintiff Gaiman believe that defendants’ failure to identify him as a co-author of Spawn #26, Spawn volume 6, or Pathway to Judgement is likely to damage him? Yes
14. Did plaintiff Gaiman consent in writing to the use of his name and biographical information on Angela’s Hunt? No
15. Did plaintiff Gaiman make misrepresentations or omissions of material fact to defendant concerning his DC Comics contract during the negotiations of the 1997 contract? No
Following those decisions, the jury addressed the question of compensation for the unauthorized use of his image and biography in the Angela’s Hunt Image paperback. The jury also awarded Gaiman $45,000, the amount Gaiman had requested.
Federal District Judge John C. Shabaz has responded to post-trial motions with orders since October. His most recent findings are listed above.
McFarlane had told CBG Oct. 3, “The fight’s not over. It’s confusing and we have to move on now.” Negotiations and ramifications will extend into 2003. In terms of copyright, for example, Gaiman could, on his own, license Medieval Spawn and Count Cogliostro for crossovers with other publishers. Not involved in the final verdicts, for example, was the disposition of Miracleman, a property that had repeatedly entered pre-trial discussions.
6) The ’80s return to comics
Transformers sets the pace for return of media-connected comics
by Nathan Melby
The Transformers were a popular line of Hasbro toys that first found their way to comics via Marvel, starting in 1984. Though they were gone for years, they were clearly not forgotten, and 2002 saw kids’ delights of the 1980s back in comics again, as Dreamwave made the biggest splash in the comics world’s ’80s revivals.
While Image’s G.I. Joe had made its return in the middle of 2001, it was Transformers that started a boom in 2002 that saw more and more ’80s-associated titles in current comics. Dreamwave’s six-issue Generation One mini-series was hot, and then the company followed with two more Transformers mini-series: Armada and The War Within. G.I. Joe, by Devils Due Studios also finished the year strong and began a Frontline mini-series late in the year.
With brightly illustrated stories that stayed true to the original shows, fans bought the comics in droves. This led to an industry glut of ’80s revamps. DC and Image jumped on for the ride: DC revamped the adventures of Lion-O and friends on Thundera with Thundercats. Image released the most new titles from the decade, including Micronauts, the Alex Ross-backed Battle of the Planets, and MVCreations’ Masters of the Universe. Devil’s Due plans a release of Voltron in 2003.
Many of the revived comics started as mini-series to see if they would be successful enough to continue.
Even reprints of ’80s properties began to surface. Marvel repackaged its long-running G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero for Joe fans, and Dark Horse republished Marvel’s Star Wars material that ran from 1977 to 1986.
At the start of the new year, while retailers have reported a slip in sales on some of the ’80s titles, the Transformers and G.I. Joe titles appear to be going strong.
7) Lady Death publisher goes bankrupt
Chaos gets reorganized
by Nathan Melby
Chaos Comics officially closed shop Aug. 15, after nearly 10 years of publishing. The company, headed by founder Brian Pulido, had found a niche among “heavy metal” rock fans during the ’90s with such horror titles as Evil Ernie and Lady Death.
At the time of the, bankruptcy Pulido said, “Unfortunately, it’s a combination of factors, but it’s mostly due to steady decline in our comic-book sales over the last few years, which accelerated after November 2001.”
All of Chaos’ properties went to a trustee, who announced on Dec. 18 that they will be auctioned as one lot, not as separate properties. The only character that may not be involved in the auction is Lady Death, a character Pulido had recently sold to CrossGeneration Comics Publisher and CEO Mark Alessi. Despite that prior sale, the trustee reportedly said that Lady Death could end up with the rest of the properties in the sale as one lot.
When asked about the possibility of CrossGen’s losing Lady Death, CrossGen Vice President of Product Development Tony Panaccio told CBG, “This is nothing new nor unexpected. They may or may not ask, and, if they ask, we will file what we have to file. We do not foresee any hitch in the giddyup.”
Lady Death will be back in stores Feb. 12, but it will not be the same scantily clad, super-endowed Lady Death her fans will remember. Alessi told CBG in #1514, “If you want naked women, they actually make magazines these days where there are real naked women.
“In our world, Lady Death is a story that we believe has some long-term potential as an ongoing story.” Lady Death fans will get to see the difference in less than two months, when she returns to comic shops.
8) Auctions transform high-end collecting
Pedigreed collections draw mainstream interest
by Brent Frankenhoff
While comics auctions are nothing new, 2002 saw several comics auction houses increasing their visibility with higher-end sales.
Heritage Comic Auctions, which held its first Signature Auction in November 2001, raised the bar in July with the addition of Stan Lee file copies to its Chicago-based sale. In its October Signature Auction, the firm gained national media attention, when it sold comics from the collection of actor Nicolas Cage. The sale was held in cooperation with Jay Parrino’s The Mint and ended with sales (including buyers’ premiums) of $1.6 million. Additional items from both men’s collections were offered in Heritage’s December Signature Auction.
Heritage wasn’t the only firm to have pedigreed items for sale this year. Prior to the opening of the Spider-Man movie, All Star Auctions sold a run of Amazing Spider-Man #2-100 from CBG Editor Maggie Thompson’s collection. Later in the year, the company auctioned Thompson’s copies of Amazing Fantasy #15 and Amazing Spider-Man #1.
The three new pedigrees were certified by Comics Guaranty Corporation with grades across the board. The cachet of a well-known name attached to the respective issue helped drive up prices, often to several times the current market value, even for CGC-graded copies. At least one person in the Nicolas Cage auction said that the bidder just wanted to own something of the actor’s and didn’t really care what comic book it was. Similar sentiments were expressed for the Lee file copies. Sales of comics from such pedigreed collections as The Mile High and Bethlehem collections were also held in 2002 but failed to capture national media attention.
9) Gay comics characters get media attention
Green Lantern writer Winick focuses on hate crimes, while Marvel’s Rawhide Kid is called out
by Nathan Melby
Comics got the attention of Phil Donahue and CNN in the latter part of 2002 because of the sexual inclinations of characters featured in the books.
Some people said they were shocked to learn that in Green Lantern #153, Kyle Rayner received a phonecall telling him that his gay assistant, Terry Berg, had been the victim of a hate crime. Green Lantern writer Judd Winick appeared on MSNBC’s Donahue on Aug. 15 to defend having a gay character in the comic book at all. Peter Sprigg of The Family Research Council appeared, saying that the gay lifestyle Winick was portraying was unacceptable.
Despite the instigating factor being a comic book, the debate did not focus so much on the topic of gays in comics as on the morality of homosexuality.
A similar news event four months later also drew media attention, this time to Marvel, which announced it would bring back The Rawhide Kid, revamping him to be the first openly gay title character in mainstream comics. Stan Lee appeared on CNN’s Crossfire Dec. 12 defending Marvel’s decision against accusations from Traditional Values Coalition spokesperson Andrea Lafferty.
“Among us today there are gay people,” Lee said. “We have one gay hero. There is nothing wrong with that. I am sure there are gay heroes who exist.”
While Green Lantern has presently given up his post to John Stewart, Terry Berg still remains a character in the comic. The Rawhide Kid mini will feature art by John Severin and be written by Ron Zimmerman.
10) Once-staid price guides wage arms race
Technology and market drive innovations
by John Jackson Miller
Comic-book price guides hadn’t changed too much over the years. Oh, certainly the prices changed - and new comics were being added all the time, so no two of the 31 Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide editions or the eight CBG Checklist & Price Guide editions looked just like their earlier versions.
But fundamental changes in those, the two major price guide lines, didn’t really come until 2002. Technology - both in how comics were sold (eBay) and tabulated - plus the introduction of Comics Guaranty Corp. grading both may have driven the change.
In April, the release of the 32nd Edition of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide from Gemstone Publishing saw the addition of one grade on every page - Very Fine - with a switch to whole dollars in values.
It also devoted some of its pages to “Victorian Age” items - mostly, picture books from the 19th century - further extending its reference reach into the past.
The landscape changed further in July with the release of The Standard Catalog of Comic Books from Krause Publications, at 1,248 pages the largest reference work ever published about comics. In addition to pricing, the volume from the producers of CBG included creator credits, story titles, CGC populations, more than 2,200 essays about individual titles, and -- in a first - actual circulation figures for comics as reported by publishers and distributors. It was hardly the portable guide collectors had been offered in the past; the softcover weighed in at five pounds, and the hardcover, for those who could come by one, was heavier still.
Later in the year, the CBG Checklist & Price Guide, which remained at its smaller size, introduced a section tabulating actual sales for CGC-graded comics appearing frequently on eBay.
With the environment changing, Gemstone Publishing announced in October that the 33rd edition of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide, shipping in 2003, would drop its longtime look in favor of a larger, 6.5x9.25-inch format permitting the inclusion of yet two more grades, Very Good and Very Fine/Near Mint - at an increased price of $25. Countering a Standard Catalog ad parodying also-ran guides of the past, Gemstone campaigned its new edition would be “Not Just Another Funnybook Price Guide” in an ad spread in the December Diamond Previews for product shipping in February.
With a second edition of The Standard Catalog of Comic Books (with more hardcovers this time) promising yet more enhancements slated for 2003, more good-natured sparring can probably be expected from the two publishers. Each has its own “home turf” advantages: Krause reaches readers through CBG and Comics & Games Retailer, the most-read retail magazine; while Gemstone, a sister company to Steve Geppi’s Diamond Comic Distributors, pushes its products repeatedly in the “Comics” section of Previews, far ahead of the “Books” section where other price guides appear.
While it may not exactly be a “race” - both lines have coexisted in comics for nearly a decade - there may be winners: the collecting public. There’s no doubt that the reinvigorated competition has changed the product offerings. For 2003, the collecting world looks to reference works which are trading portability for inclusivity, gaining girth along with ever more data.
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