The Bonfire Agency,
a geek/nerd-demographic targeted advertising agency headed by former DC SVP of Sales and Marketing
Steve Rotterdam and veteran marketer/Captain Action master
Ed Catto. Together they bring many smarts and skill sets to an industry that still needs business people who can think outside the box. While the agency already has a few clients on board, their jobs are not just putting together modern marketing campaigns for brands that want to reach the nerd dollar. They are already looking at putting together an ad network, a "fan pan" consumer testing group and consulting with industry mainstays like Free Comic Book Day and the CBLDF.
In a time of great change for the industry we wanted to see where Catto and Rotterdam see things going and how they hope to approach their business. First, an interview with Catto who has made his mark on the comics scene with his retro yet fresh relaunch of the Captain Action brand of toys and comics. Catto discusses how he put that deal together and where he sees Bonfire going in the following interview.]
THE BEAT: I would have to suspect that you were a lifelong fan of Captain Action before you found the license and brought it back to life. Would that be correct?
ED CATTO: Yes, but more than that, I’m a passionate comic/toy fan and collector. In fact, I first tried to understand the world through the lens of 60’s superheroes: the Batman TV Show, comics, and Captain Action
. My parents always encouraged reading in all forms, so a weekly trip to the newsstand (after Sunday pasta dinner) always meant another comic. It didn’t hurt that my parents loved and traded comics as kids too. My mom loved Wonder Woman and my dad liked Crimebuster and the Phantom. But the original Captain Action toy, with the associated properties, was also the launchpad from which I’d been introduced to so many other comics – Milt Caniff’s
Steve Canyon, Alex Raymond’s
Flash Gordon, Kirby/Ayers/Severin’s
Sgt. Fury,
>>>I can name my top ten ads from comics easy- but I can’t do the same for Sports Illustrated.
Oh, a challenge!
1) Honor House
2) Johnson Smith
3) Edmund Scientific
4) Sea Monkeys (Honor House again?)
5) That big spaceship (HH?)
6) That big submarine (HH?)
7) American Seed Company (that the name?)
8) That card-selling company (forgot its name)
9) Jack Kirby (his portfolio ad!)
10) That bodybuilding guy
Not all are brand names I recall, true, but I can say I saw *all* of them in comics.
And there was also that company that sold battlefield figures … WWII and Roman Empire. Was that Honor House too? Man, Honor House advertised a lot!
Let’s not forget GRIT! For some great looks back at classic and not so classic ads from comic books, check out Brian Cronin’s “I Saw It Advertised One Day” installments at CBR’s Comics Should Be Good. Lots of fun.
Of course, those aren’t the kinds of brands we’re going after at Bonfire. Well, maybe Sea Monkeys.