IMAGE comics is a company that is often known as the number three in the "Big Three," right behind Marvel and DC...problem is, it hasn't been "BIG" in about 6 years. It has done a lot of small press books since Jim Valentino took over as their editor in chief. He decided to bring these books in because of one reason... They were good.
Erik Larsen took over as the Publisher of Image when Jim no longer wanted the day to day strain. Its understandable that this would happen as burn out is big in any magazine, comic or book field.
Erik was known for his previous work on Spider-man, Punisher, and more recently his own Savage Dragon series (which has now gone about 130 issues, an amazing feat for a comic by an "indy" publisher). I thought who would understand a good story like LANDIS better than a guy that truly loves his own creations?
So I did something I never thought I'd do. I sent EVERY page of Landis art, including EVERY PAGE you folks had seen in full color AND all the others that hadn't been colored yet, on a DVD at 600 dpi to Mr. Larsen personally trying to get it looked at and published. I sent him my email address to reply, as this was what I wrote to him. I will paraphrase,since when I lost my last harddrive, I probably lost the exact letter.
"Mr. Larsen,
Enclosed with this letter is a DVD that contains 120 pages of a book titled LANDIS. This work has been near complete for approximately three years, and though it still requires coloring to be completed on the last pages, the book is nearly complete, and just needs a publisher, as all the other fees have been taken care of.
At Image, I understand you have a tendency to take chances on comics, and this book is a proven winner, having been launched as an online comic through the Keenspot Network. We need a publisher and Image and the Image "I" would give it its best chance at the exposure to help the book succeed."
There was more, like what the book was about, as well as a good catch and hook, the things that any great proposal is supposed to have.
I actually received an email from Mr. Larsen. It simply said, "Thank you for your interest in IMAGE Publishing your title. We have decided not to Publish Landis at this time."
Now this is not that big of a deal, except that I know the quality of LANDIS is better than some of the titles IMAGE DOES PUBLISH...which leads me to believe that Mr. Larsen NEVER looked at the pages or read any of the scripts. I feel he specifically based his opinions for the book on my hook, line and sinker...and he didn't like it.
Anyone who knows me, knows that I have a negotiating bug in me. I just need to talk to someone to get them to buy into what I'm selling. That's why I was great at commissioned sales (until the sales disappeared based on the companies idiocy). I feel that if I were to get 15 minutes with Mr. Larsen, or anyone in the comic community, I'd be able to land a writing gig. Why do I feel so strongly? Because I am good at negotiating.
The problem I run into is that no one begins conducting business in this industry over the phone or in person. ITs all email. Its all mailing a proposal...and its understandable.
I think I've been hard on Mr. Larsen and his position, and at this point, whether he wants to admit that he may hold a grudge against me for anything I've said, I think that if he sees my name on a proposal, no matter how great it may look, I think he may go, "Oh yeah, this guy again."
I've submitted four proposals in my life. One was for a book starring Madrox and Strong Guy...I was told by Joe Quesada that the characters were not marketable, but to contact Mike Marts about trying to get it as a backup story in X-Men Unlimited. That's not a "No, we don't want it." Mike Marts NEVER replied, even though the email sent to him was a forwarded reply from Joe Q.
The second idea was called "Superman/Batman: Before the Age." It was to be a two issue miniseries that involved a young Bruce Wayne meeting a young Clark Kent before they ever became heroes...Weird thing to this is that Smallville WAS NOT a TV show at this point, and the story dealt with Wayne's limo braking down in Smallville and watching as the kids were playing...Three years later, after this proposal...Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale write and draw a little 5 pager of a young Bruce Wayne's limo braking down in Smallville and watching kids playing. In NO way do I think that the idea was stolen, but my idea was thrown around with Ethan Van Sciver, who told me, "No Pro Writer would ever steal your idea, Rob, their Egos are too big. They want to show you that they can write better than anyone who's not in the business." This was a great sigh of relief, until I saw that story, and my heart sunk. To think that my idea was thought up by someone as popular and as good a writer as Jeph Loeb makes me realize that I've got great ideas...I mean really Great ideas...its just too bad my name isn't big enough.
I submitted Landis about 15 months ago to IMAGE, and that story was chronicled above.
And most recently, I sent another proposal to Joe Q about their Marvel Zombies projects. IT was a crossover from the book EXILES that would have them venture into the Marvel Zombie Universe...the response I received from Joe Q, "That's a good idea, Rob..." that was it. No negotiations...no book writing....just, it was a good idea and this probably means that its already in the works...
OH well...I need to get back into coming up with good ideas...maybe one time, I'll catch a break...anyway, back to my last real day of vacation.
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