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According to a news blast they just sent out, Hiveworks, a digital comics portal, had 12,000,000 users in January—last year it had a total of 65,000,000, so it’s on track for a lot of growth. But what kind of growth? According to their about page, “Hiveworks is a creator owned publisher and studio that helps webcomic and online media creators turn their creative endeavors into sustainable businesses. We serve as mentors and as a home for many comics.”

Basically it’s a portal where you can browse and buy digital editions of various webcomics. In January they started offering digital editions of the popular Atomic Robo comic (above), which helped out.

“Things have gone pretty great the last few years,” said CEO Joseph Stillwell in a statement, “While the online comic sector has proven rough for others I believe [the online comic sector] is moving into a much healthier position than it was when we started. Having such quality and diverse content allows us to help readers find more comics to read and enjoy. By marketing any one comic within the network we’re ultimately helping those new readers find other comics. Ultimately, we wind up with happier fans and happier creators.”

Titles credited for helping with the rise in pageviews include Blindsprings, Stand Still. Stay Silent, Parallax. amd additions Atomic Robo (http://www.atomic-robo.com/), SMBC, Der-Shing.

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And when I say must-read, I mean MUST READ, as it really lays out fundamental changes in how the industry is working for creator owned books.. A few days ago I noted how an old post on the economics of Jim Zub on Skullkickers, his Image comics, had gotten a second life on Facebook with it’s very low numbers on comics profits. In the comment, Zub promised an update, and he’s delivered with an analysis of his new book, Wayward. As you can see from the above graph, it’s a HUGE change, and it’s all due to the rise of Image Comics:

The Image model has always been about investing in yourself and reaping the benefits of that investment if sales are strong. I knew that going in with Skullkickers back in 2010 and, even when our sales were borderline unprofitable, I stuck with the series as a way to establish myself as a writer and show people our team could produce a high quality comic month after month. Now, four and a half years later, I’m seeing the benefits of that consistency and the growing creator-owned market with my new Image series called Wayward.

Zub enumerates a number of ways Wayward has surpassed Skullkickers, including his larger profile in the industry at large, and the material being more suited to today’s market: “Cute supernatural teenage girls (surrounded by cats) kicking the shit out of monsters on the street of Tokyo plays to a bigger audience than a bro-centric slapstick violent D&D tale, especially in 2014-2015.” While you should read the whole thing, one particular bullet point is worth highlighting:

• Retailer Outreach: I’ve also done a ton of retailer outreach over the past four years. Having well regarded work is wonderful but only if retailers feel confident they can sell the books. As we headed towards the launch of Wayward, the crew at Image and I did a lot of communicating with retailers about the series, showing them exclusive artwork and previews, doing everything we could to prove to them that this was a series they could confidently sell to their customers. That lead to several comic shop and convention-exclusive variant covers for Wayward #1, bolstering our launch numbers by thousands of copies while creating extra interest in the series.

While some may see the “variant method” as a danger sign, I think the numbers on these variants are still low enough on an individual basis to avoid threatening overall comics sales. It’s also CRUCIAL that today’s retailers are more open to diverse material. I don’t like to live in the past, but some of my 90s conversations with retailers begging them to consider selling Simpsons comics spring to mind. But you know it was a different world 20years ago. It’s a different world than it was even FOUR years ago. While Zub notes that neither he nor Wayward artist/co-creator Steve Cummings are rolling in dough, they have enough to pay the rest of the team, and for Cummings to work on the book full time. AND they have a war chest to help promote and keep the book on its successful sales trajectory.

Zub notes that the first Wayward trade paperback is coming out in March, so even his numbers post serves as a way to promote the next work.

Good sound tips all.

Above: the triptych cover for Wayward #6-8 by Cummings.

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The last time we talked about Books A Million and Diamond, I told you’d I’d been advised to keep an eye on Dark Horse and, sure enough, Dark Horse had disappeared off the newsstand sections at both BAM and Barnes & Noble in my area.  I popped in again today and Dark Horse did have a presence at Books A Million in the bagged and boarded section of comics shipped from Diamond.  Rumor confirmed.

Also of interest on the rack was a sticker on an issue of Daredevil.   The third-oldest issue was 20% and as you can see from the photo, they’re also pushing their discount membership. (If you buy a $25 membership, you get 10% off in-store purchases.  Which means you need to spend $250 to break even.)  That was the only stickered comic I could find on the rack.  It could be they’re going to start discounting the older stock, and this would be one of the first ones they received.  Could be they’re experimenting on different comics to see if the extra discount has an effect.  With only one sticker, it’s hard to say.

There happened to be a staffer stocking magazines, so I asked her a few questions.  She referred to the Diamond comics as not being from the normal distributor service and said they were trying something different and seeing how it went.  As for the discount sticker, anything like that would be by instruction from management or the distributor.  I don’t think she meant Diamond in this case, but it reinforces the impression I’d been getting that this comics initiative through Diamond is being controlled rather tightly by the BAM corporate offices and not driven by individual store managers at this point.  The phrasing also gives me the impression that this is still in the experimental stage and not rolled out as a standard option at all BAMs yet.  I wouldn’t call a 20%/30% discount remaindering a comic, either.  Even with the cost of a bag and a board, that should still be above their break-even rate.

As it gets into 4 months of stocking comics, it should be come more clear what this particular store does with the unsold stock, stickers or otherwise.  In the meantime, its a question of what other publishers start showing up in the selection.

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Have you read Todd’s book Economics of Digital Comics?  You can also ignore him on Twitter at@Real_Todd_Allen

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DC isn’t the only comics company moving office—IDW just announced a move to a former Navy barracks within the historic NTC in Liberty Station in Point Loma. And they’re adding the San Diego Comic Art Gallery to their office space, to be opened in June. The move is both for expansion and to make IDW more of the community. Or as Ted Adams put it “We’re going to be able to show the community, and the world, just who IDW is.”

Details:

The San Diego Comic Art Gallery will be a unique, new and dynamic space located within the IDW offices, designed to educate and engage the local San Diego community and the region of Southern California with the sequential comic book and graphic arts. The SDCAG will create a permanent home in San Diego as a showcase for this celebrated art form; already so pervasive in pop culture, thanks to the meteoric success of comic-based films, television and entertainment, and already so associated with the San Diego area, thanks to Comic-Con International. With a retail space, a gallery of original art from comics and animation, and actual working artists on the premises, the SDCAG is an entirely new kind of venture. Harry L. Katz, former Head Curator in the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress, has been named the curator of SDCAG.
 

Through events, author and artist appearances, art installations and celebrations, the SDCAG will become a destination to worldwide fans of the medium, and cement San Diego’s status as a Capital of the comic arts, while becoming an integral part of the immediate community. The first installation will be an extensive showcase of the work of Kevin Eastman, co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and local San Diego resident.
 
“We’ve been looking to make a move for a while,” said Ted Adams, CEO & Publisher of IDW, “We’ve been expanding rapidly, and simply have run out of room. At the same time, we’ve been looking for a space that more accurately reflects who we are as a company. When we started talking with the NTC, it became evident immediately that this would be a perfect fit. And with the gallery, we’re going to be able to show the community, and the world, just who IDW is. This move is the perfect next step in the evolution of our company.”
 
“The NTC Foundation welcomes IDW Publishing and their creative team to the NTC Arts & Culture District at Liberty Station,” said NTC Foundation Executive Director Alan Ziter.  “Their new San Diego Comic Art Gallery will be a great addition to the numerous art galleries and museums already at NTC and we look forward to the creative collaborations ahead. We anticipate it will be a San Diego landmark destination for comic and animation art lovers from all over the world.”

Moving into a historic building has its unique challenges and is being made possible with the assistance of San Diego local area businesses such as Good & Roberts LLC and obrARCHITECTURE inc. Taking 18,344 square feet, IDW will now be the largest tenant in the already vibrant arts district.
 
After 15 years as a prominent part of the local business community, IDW Publishing is sure to be a more public presence with the move to NTC. The Grand Opening is scheduled for June 1, 2015.

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This year marks the Tenth anniversary of IDW Publishing and Hasbro being in business together, a relationship that began in 2005 with the publication of IDW’s first TRANSFORMERS title. To celebrate a decade of creativity, innovation, and success, the two companies are announcing the extension of their blockbuster relationship.
 


Once TRANSFORMERS was established as an immediate success, IDW expanded its comic line to include the Hasbro property G.I. JOE, then eventually the smash-hit MY LITTLE PONY and coming this March, JEM & THE HOLOGRAMS! IDW will also continue to publish the LITTLEST PET SHOP and DUNGEONS & DRAGONS comics.  These titles have become perennial staples at IDW, and will continue to play key roles in IDW’s publishing slate going forward, in all existing formats, both print and digital. Fans of the line can expect much more of the quality products they’ve come to expect: Comics, Trade Paperbacks, Hardcovers, Micro Comic Fun Packs, IDW Limited collections, and more.
 
“At this point, I almost feel I’ve run out of superlatives for Hasbro. They remain an absolutely fantastic collaborator on every level,” said IDW CEO & Publisher, Ted Adams. “After ten years in business together, it’s clear what a huge part of our success Hasbro has been, and what an appropriate time this is to solidify our relationship well into the future.”

When I first got this email, I read it as “Ended their relationship, and I was like WHA–???!?!? But no no, the correct title is “IDW And Hasbro Celebrate 10 Years By Extending Their Relationship ” which makes a ton of sense. Books like Transformers, GI Joe and My Little Pony have become mainstays for IDW and often damn good comics, like the epic TRANSFORMERS VS GI JOE that Tom Scioli and John Barber turned into a critical hit.

2014 was full of hits that captivated fans and critics alike. From the hit TRANSFORMERS event Dark Cybertron, to the celebratory 25th issue of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, readers were treated to some truly monumental stories. The critically acclaimed TRANSFORMERS vs G.I. JOE, series found itself among 8 “Best Of” lists for 2014, with VICE Magazine proclaiming, “If you were a child in the ‘80s and remember playing with these toys, this comic will work for you on that level. If you appreciate some of the most beautiful drawings currently being published in a comic book, then this can work for you on that level, too.”
 
“IDW embodies all of the great qualities Hasbro looks for in a publisher, and we share common values,” said Michael Kelly, Hasbro’s Director of Global Publishing. “With IDW, we know we can count on superb storytelling, innovative distribution strategies, and bold thinking. We’ve come a long way together in ten years, but this is only the beginning.”
 
Announced recently by Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. the fan-favorite series My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was voted the Best All-Ages Series and earned the coveted Diamond Gem award for 2014! This marks the second Diamond Gem award earned by the series, the previous being Best Licensed TP/HC in 2013.
 
With an extension on most licenses and formats moving into the future, it’s clear that 2015 is only the beginning for IDW and Hasbro. 

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Brett Schenker is pressing onwards with his Facebook research into comics likers, who they are what they buy and what they do. While his gender based research continues to be a benchmark, this time out he has a lot of trends on education, employment and so on.

Compared to the general Facebook populace, comic fans are much more likely to be “single,” “in a relationship,” or “engaged.” They are much less likely to be “married.” As far as education, they are slightly more likely to be college educated. Take the above and we’re looking for younger college educated individuals.

Also of note, what else comics readers like:

That’s just a sample. Hit the link for the whole thing. Brett tells me that some racial breakdowns should be available soon and that should prove to be fascinating as well.

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Since relaunching early last year, the new Heavy Metal has been relatively quiet, relaunching Hoax Hunters under their banner and pursuing their multi media plans mostly behind the scenes. However, a recent appearance at Wizard World Portland has revealed plans for locating the comics operations of the company in Portland, OR where they’ll pursue a model that takes advantage of their well known branding:

“We’re looking at (comics) properties in the same way we look at television and film,” says Krelitz, who attended Wizard World Portland last weekend.

“We have a much better economic model than anyone will offer in the marketplace.  We have a merchandizing company that’s one of the biggest in the world.  Not only are we not going to fleece you to get your self-published book, we’re going to help your brand building.”

The new Heavy Metal is run by film producer Jeff Krelitz and former music exec David Boxenbaum, with comic only part of a film, tv and licensing model. According to the piece, they plan to launch eight titles this year, 12 more next year and more than fifty over five years. “We’re positioning to be a premiere publisher,” Krelitz told Steve Duin, author of the above piece.

While things ramp up, the regular Heavy Metal website is publishing some short comics such as “Deadline of Death” by Jason Paulos, (shown above) a satisfyingly ECish tale of a deal with the devil to work for Marvelous Comics. Short version: do not make a deal with the devil.

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Yesterday’s announcement of Milestone 2.0 was broken in the Washington Post, but principles Reggie Hudlin and Denys Cowan did a more extensive interview talking about what they have planned. Talking with Albert Ching at CBR they noted “We’re Not in the Nostalgia Business”, which is a pretty good platform to build from. While the details are still sketchy, they confirmed that they have some projects in the works with DC, among other publishers, although there was a long legal tangle to unravel.

“We’re working with DC on stuff,” Cowan said to CBR. “We’re currently speaking to a number of different publishers about a number of different projects that they want to do with us. DC’s an important partner for us. We’re exploring everything that’s being put in front of us. It’s been a very busy, exciting time. Hearing people’s enthusiasm about Milestone has been very encouraging to us.”

“Obviously Milestone and DC have a great history together,” Hudlin added. “We’re going to be doing more projects together. but we’re going to be doing business with a lot of different companies. Other publishers, other media companies.”

Other than the “Static Shock” live-action series, the details of exactly what the new Milestone is working on remain to be revealed. But Hudlin said there are “several other deals in motion” and more news will be coming “pretty soon,” as the revived company looks to structure itself based on “maximum flexibility for maximum creativity.”

The return of Static Shock, a particularly sturdy character who has remained entertaining through many guises, is a great example of why comics—and the whole vast construct of Superhero Media that has taken over theaters and TVs—will benefit from a company that has a fresh and different viewpoint, with new characters the reflect the world as it is. And Hudlin and Cowan get that.

“We’re not just going to be a legacy company,” Hudlin said. “Yes, there were some fantastic creations made, and we’re going to certainly revive those characters. But we’re not just going to revive them. We’re going to make them relevant for this generation.”

“We’re not in the nostalgia business,” Cowan added. “We feel, if anyone wants to read those books, those books exist. You can go out and find those books and read them. If you love those characters as they were then, those characters exist as they were then. But in order to reintroduce them, there’s going to be some necessary adjustments made to these iconic characters.”

Derek Dingle, always an integral part of the Milestone company but the least known to the comics publis, discussed another aspect with the Washington Post:

This “also becomes an opportunity to mine some [new] talent,” Dingle tells Comic Riffs. “We’re going to find a new group of creators who are knowledgeable and grew up with digital [formats]. It is part of their DNA in terms of what connects them from a digital standpoint, from a social-media standpoint, and I think there are all these tools out there to get our stories told, and to promote our characters, that [are] going to make it a very exciting era for Milestone.”

If Milestone 2.0 is looking to tap into the pool of black creators out there, I think it’s safe to say that this will be the secret weapon of the line. There are so many talented and eager people who are looking to get their stories out. Comics need fresh voices and viewpoints. Milestone is important because, just to put it simply, there aren’t enough black creators getting work at major companies. Two years ago I wrote a piece called “Why aren’t there more black writers in the comics industry?” and the situation has improved incrementally, if at all, since then. As I’m overly fond of saying, the way to be inclusive is to include people, and it makes us a better industry. We all need these heroes.

So yeah, exciting news.

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Last fall, we here at The Beat teamed up with the awesome folks at The Devastator to put together a survey for convention exhibitors. With all the controversy over who is spending and what cans are can game, it seemed like time to seriously upgrade this survey. And you responded, with more than 100 people taking the survey, giving results on the top cons and CAFs that revealed average sales and average amount of satisfaction with each show.

In case you’v never heard of them, The Devastator is a humor/comic magazine based in LA that features sharp satire and art by founders Geoffrey Golden and Amanda Meadows as weel as people from The Onion, the Daily Show, Adult Swim, Marvel and more.

The result, as crunched by the Devastator’s staff, has some eye-opening statistics. You can read the entire report right here, and see some of the Devastator team’s own comments below, but here are a few of my own eye-openers:

• 6-9 years is the sweet spot. Exhibitors who were in this experience range did better than newbs or veterans. I’ve never seen this quite laid out in such a visual fashion but it does tend to back up our intuitive grasp of the rise and fall of an artist’s career, and also rampant ageism of the comics industry,
• People with bigger booths made a lot more money, but they may have needed bigger booths because they made a lot of money. So not sure what that one means.
• PR to other outlets, meaning TV and radio probably, leads to bigger sales than just social and The Usual Comics Suspects
• This was a bit of a shock: Average sales for APE, which most people thing of as not being the top show on the CAF circuit, were actually higher than SPX and MoCCA and right behind TCAF. I understand that APE has a lot of maker booths, however, and these do better than comics only booths overall.
• Just about all the major cons on the circuit are mentioned, and some get very low ratings…while having high sales, reinforcing the idea that comics people often value mood over moolah.
• Despite widely reported “con burnout” more people are doing more shows in 2015. Only 1% are going home for good.

Anyway that’s me done. Read on and discuss!!!

 

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Huge thanks to Amanda Meadows and Geoffrey Golden for putting this resource together.

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It’s the final Humble Bundle of the year and it’s $555 worth of Dynamite Comics for a pay what you want model. THIS IS A GOOD DEAL. It includes the much buzzed Shaft #1 by David Walker, Bilquis Evely, and Daniela Miwa, the best selling Bob’s Burgers, the Django/Zorro crossover and many other fine comics by Mark Waid, Darick Robertson, Garth Ennis, Gail Simone, Kevin Smith, Alex Ross, J. Michael Straczynski, David Mack, Howard Chaykin, Bill Willingham, Sean Phillips, Tim Seeley, Chuck Dixon, Andy Diggle, Duane Swierczynski, Joshua Hale Fialkov and many more. ALl for pay what you want—but you’ll want to pay at least $15 to get extra bonus books! In addition there are free comics being given away every day.

Humble Bundle jumped into the comics/ebook market this year after a very successful run with mostly video games. The publishing program has been equally successful with over $1 million raised this year. It’s not only a surprisingly effective revenue stream for publishers, but a big help for the charities benefited, including the CBLDF, Doctors without Borders and more. I’m told the biggest comics related Humble Bundle of all was the Doctor Who bundle—oddly the Humble Bundle wikipedia page doesn’t list comics proceeds, but The Beat managed to catch the numbers and it was more than half a million dollars. Not very humble, is it.

Here’s more info on the Dynamite bundle, which ends Christmas Eve at 2 pm.

Fans who choose to pay what they want for the Dynamite Bundle will receive 56 comics with a value of over $200 which includes Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet #1,Dead Irons #1-4, Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson: Moon Called Vol. 1, Devilers #1-2, Hack/Slash/Eva: Monster’s Ball #1-4, Doodle Jump #1, Alice Cooper #1, Mark Waid’s The Green Hornet #1-3, Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg! #1-6, Red Sonja: She Devil with a Sword #0-6, Chaos! #2-3,Legenderry #4-5, Pathfinder Vol. 2: Of Tooth and Claw, Dark Shadows: Year One #1-6, Queen Sonja #1-2, The Warriors #1-4, and Ex-Con #1.

Fans who beat the average price will also receive 105 comics total with a combined value of over $380 including Living Corpse Omnibus, Doodle Jump #2, Dean Koontz: Frankenstein – Prodigal Son, Curse of the Wendigo, Monster War #1-4, Devilers #3-4, Twilight Zone #1-4, Uncanny #1, Alice Cooper #2, Mark Waid’s Green Hornet #4-6, Red Sonja Vol. 2, Pathfinder Vol. 2: Tooth and Claw, Kirby Genesis #0-8, Shaft #1, and Jim Butcher: Dresden War Cry #1-3.

Super fans who support Dynamite’s comics and creators by spending $15 or more will receive 143 comics total with a combined value of over $600 will receive all of the above, PLUS Zorro Vol. 1, The Complete Dracula, The Romita Legacy, The Boys: Definitive Edition Vol. 1, and The Heart of the Beast Graphic Novel 20th Anniversary Edition. 

Customers who buy the bundle will receive the first three issues of Bob’s Burgers and can share the first issue with a friend, by utilizing Humble Bundle’s gifting promotion. Those who refer this bundle to a friend will be rewarded with a copy of the first issue of the Django/Zorro crossover.  The gifting promotion is a great way to share a best-selling Dynamite title, while receiving a best-selling title for your own collection as a reward.  Dynamite is the premiere comics publisher to launch such a program with Humble Bundle.

In addition, for those who wish to sample Dynamite’s diverse line, every day at 2:00pm EST throughout the promotion, a digital comic book will be made available as a free download to fans, kicking off with a free digital copy of Red Sonja #7 written by fan-favorite author Gail Simone (of Batgirl and Wonder Woman fame).  That’s just for starters with additional titles to be unveiled mid-promotion.

“Humble Bundle allows us a venue to reward our existing fans, and also an entry level to bring in new readers,” said Dynamite Publisher and CEO Nick Barrucci.  “We were truly humbled by the response to our first partnership earlier this year and really wanted to bring the biggest bundle possible for the grand finale of our 10^th Anniversary celebration! We’ve now exceed the number of issues of our first bundle to over 3,500 pages of comics to read and enjoy from Dynamite’s best-selling and award-winning creators. This Humble Bundle event gives fans a lot of books to read over the holidays. It’s the perfect gift to treat yourself during the holidays while also supporting several great causes.”

As with all Humble Bundles, customers can choose how their purchase dollars are allocated, between the publisher and charity. The Humble Dynamite MEGA Holidays Bundle supports Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières, Make-A-Wish, as well as the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund which defends first amendment rights of comic book professionals nationwide.To date Humble Bundle has raised over 49 million dollars for charities around the world. With Dynamite’s help last summer they were able to give over $100,000.00 during The Humble Dynamite 10^th Anniversary Bundle in July. 

 The Humble Dynamite MEGA Holidays Bundle runs for two weeks and ends Wednesday, December 24, 2014 at 11 a.m. Pacific time. Fans should follow on Dynamite on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, and Instagram for the latest updates as new offerings become available. 

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Among the information revealed by the disastrous Sony documents leak, of most interest to comics types is a series of emails in which Sony and Marvel discussed a Spidey crossover. . This was widely rumored earlier this year, and yep it was true. Studio head Amy Pascal and Sony Pictures president Doug Belgrad discussed an offer from Marvel to produce a new trilogy of Spider-man movies, and a possible appearances for the webslinger in Captain America: Civil War. But alas:

The talks with Marvel eventually broke down and Sony is now planning to go ahead with its own Spider-Man slate, according to people familiar with the matter. As of late November, executives were planning a “Spidey summit” for January to discuss future plans.  Among projects in development are an animated Spider-Man comedy that would be produced by Chris Miller and Phil Lord, the team behind “22 Jump Street” and “The Lego Movie,” as well as previously disclosed Spider-Man spin-offs focused on villain team Sinister Six, super-foe Venom, and women from the webslinger’s life.

So yeah, Spider-Man remains in Sony’s web—however while may Spiderverse spin-offs are being discussed, the actual Andrew Garfield-led main franchise seems to be MIA.

The failure of the Civil War talks is especially sad because, as you may recall, Spider-Man played a particularly large part in the comics version.

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Over at PW I reported on Consortium starting to distribute Alternative Comics and Secret Acres to bookstores. They currently distribute Uncivilized, Toon Books, Nobrow and Koyama Press, as well as publishers such as Fulcrum and Enchanted Lion who put out a lot of graphic novel material. (And a lot of other distinguished small press publishers as well.)

I understand that Consortium has been very important for publishers like Uncivilized and Koyama—and that Consortium is pretty aggressive about bringing new comics publishers into their fold. At CAB I also heard a bunch of griping about Diamond—mostly shipping dates catalog listing and so on. Small things, and Diamond is pretty much the rock of the industry, but if people are getting better service elsewhere they are likely to move.

One thing about the publishers picked up by Consortium—they may be small presses that publish a lot of indie cartoonists, but many of their books aren’t necessarily limited in audience to hardcore indie comics readers. For instance, Wendy, shown above, is a popular webcomic and a devastating take on socialite culture. Sam Henderson’s books are just funny gags, Nobrow puts out a ton of books that are just great to look at, Uncivilized books are smart and accessible, Edie Fake’s work has gotten acclaim many places, Toon Books are award winning crowd pleasers and so on. Getting better distribution seems to be a very important move for all these publishers and I expect we’ll hear more about this in 2015

Robyn Chapman has some thoughts about this and what it means to micro presses here.

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Insiders have been whispering that Hasbro the toy making giant, may buy Dreamworks Animation. The two companies would definitely find some of what they’re missing in one another.

A combination of the two companies could accelerate efforts at each to move beyond their core businesses. DreamWorks Animation has expanded into consumer products in recent years but lags behind Walt Disney Co. , and Hasbro had just changed tack on its entertainment business, selling off some of its stake in the Hub cable network withDiscovery Communications Inc. Hasbro, which has been contemplating such a deal for years, has clout with big retailers that DreamWorks could benefit from too, the person familiar with the talks said.

Hasbro has been pretty heavily involved in animation, despite the Discovery/Hub sell-off, so you can see why they’d want a full fledged animation studio. They just launched Allspark Pictures, a film division, which is already working on Jem and the Holograms ad My Little POny movies. Dreamworks Animation has been trying to get acquired, and a deal with Japanese telecom SoftBank Corp. fell apart just weeks ago.

Now its obvious what Hasbro brings to the deal: G.I. Joe, Transformers and My Little Pony. But Dreamworks has its own huge portfolio of characters: the Classic Media library which it purchased two years ago, including all the Harvey Comics characters, including Casper the Friendly Ghost, the Lone Ranger, Lassie, He-Man and She-Ra, Gumby, Voltron, AND all the Gold Key heroes, currently licensed to Dynamite. A huge list of characters, many of them still ripe for reboots, something HAsbro would probably be eager to do.

Scott Mendelsson at Forbes, has an interesting analysis of the move, pointing out that DreamWorks has been the victim of a lot of sky is falling reporting. As soon as one of their movies open at a mere $60 million, reporters say it’s a bomb even if it is a worldwide hit:

This has been a pattern for the animation giant. They have had a major film that opened perhaps somewhat below expectations or below unrealistic expectations which caused analysts to proclaim failure and DWA stock to take a hit, with few mea culpas being offered when said films went on to worldwide box office glory after the fact.

Shrek Forever After was written off as a stunning disappointment after it opened to “only” $70 million in May of 2010. Yes, that was far below the $122m debut of the third Shrek film, and that time I was absolutely among the guilty in presuming an eventual financial disappointment. Shrek Forever After displayed strong legs over the summer and eventually earned $238m domestic (still larger than any non-Shrek DWA feature) and $752m worldwide (DWA’s third biggest global grosser and 55% larger than the $484m worldwide cume of the original Shrek). Kung Fu Panda 2 was written off over Memorial Day 2011 when it “only” debuted with $66m over its Thurs-Mon debut (Kung Fu Panda opened with $60m over its Fri-Sun debut in 2008). Yet even as the film earned $165m domestic, well-below the $215m cume of the first film, it went on to earn $665m worldwide, above the $631m cume of Kung Fu Panda and still DreamWorks’ second-biggest non-Shrek film after 2012′s Madagascar: Europe’s Most Wanted ($746m).

So yeah, maybe a little Disney whispering there. If Hasbro does buy Dreamworks Animation, this could possibly jeopardize their deal with Disney/Marvel to make toys, as Disney and Dreamworks are rivals, with Dreamworks having been founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg after he stormed away from Disney in a huff long ago.

Obviously this is all still in the talking stages. Dreamworks stock is up, Hasbro is down since rumors surfaced; consider this a REAL life version of Convergence/Secret Wars!

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We’ve been talking about how the comics industry is doing well, and people seem to be making good on their business plans. But there are still cautionary tales. One such tale is Kaboom Test Labs, a two store chain located in Albuquerque, NM that abruptly closed shop this weekend. The main site has only a note that the owners were leaving New Mexico; a Facebook page where disappointed customers wondered what happened has been removed.

It’s all pretty mysterious, as the tipster who alerted me to this noted that the store was well liked, had a diverse staff and was building a good community, as a remaining FB page for other activities shows. Also the store had just about the best name ever.

Even stranger, the shop had just been the focus of a very positive story in the local news that made it sound like one of the good ones.

I emailed the owner but received no response. However digging around shows some financial difficulties in the recent past, enough to make shutting up shop and moving on a viable alternative.

Alas, sometimes all the good ideas in the world aren’t enough. Albuquerque is a tough economy, and opening a retail store is always a mix of planning and luck. We wish all those involved the best in getting things sorted out and hope that comics shoppers in Albuquerque can find another store to their liking.

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Every once in a while I mention the “small companies banding together to survive in a hostile environment” strategy, and here’s a perfect example. Aspen Comics, the long running company founded by the late Michael Turner, has acquired Big Dog Ink as an imprint. Both Aspen and Big Dog publish primarily periodicals, and that really is a tough business plan these days unless you have well known IP, and even then it is no cakewalk.

Aspen is notable for having giant booths at most conventions—a holdover from when they were a beloved darling of the Wizard crowd. Yeah we’re talking a long time ago. Best known for publishing the underwater glamour girl Fathom, Aspen doesn’t make many headlines for publishing news these days. At a show this year, or maybe last, I stopped by the booth to chat with co-owner Frank Mastromauro, who mentioned that they were doing a few things, but it was nothing that I felt compelled to sit down and write about.

Big Dog Ink has been setting up progressively larger booths at shows in the last two years or so. In all honesty, I have never ever heard any one say to me that they read a Big Dog Ink comic, but that could also be the company I keep. Their output seems to me to be somewhere between Speakeasy and Zenescope. It’s professional and everyone is having fun, but no one got into this business for easy money. A comment on the Robot 6 reporting on this story indicated that BDI has been cancelling a bunch of titles so…do the math.

The new model will see Big Dog properties published under Aspen’s banner, and offered under Aspen’s spot in the Diamond catalog. They’ll also team up for conventions. I stopped by the booth at NYCC to chat about the move and the fellow there (Who was not co-owner Tom Hutchison) seemed enthused about the development. Basically, it’s a way for both publishers to freshen up their look.

The PR follows:

Aspen Comics has reached an agreement with fellow Independent comic book publisher Big Dog Ink to acquire exclusive publishing rights for BDI’s entire library of comic book properties, in addition to their past catalogue of titles. The deal will see BDI launch forward as a distinct imprint of Aspen Comics’ books and products, with owner/publishers Tom and Kim Hutchison continuing to be the creative force behind BDI’s unique set of original titles at Aspen. Tom Hutchison discusses:

“At Big Dog Ink we’ve always been devoted to creating high quality, unique comics for our readers. When it came time in the growth of our company to find partners that share our love of the comic genre and passion for storytelling, Aspen seemed like the obvious choice. From the beginning, everyone at Aspen has been supportive of our crazy adventure and we’re looking forward to being part of a truly top notch crew of creators and longstanding industry professionals. Fans can look forward to all of the great content they’ve come to expect from BDI, but bigger and better with Aspen in our corner.”

Founded in 2009, BDI has seen a substantial growth within the independent comic book market in collaboration with a wide variety of up-and-coming artistic talent on a multitude of original properties such as Legend of Oz: The Wicked West, Shahrazad, Penny For Your Soul, Ursa Minor, Critter, Knightingail and more.

Under the terms of this new agreement between the two publishers, Aspen and BDI will be widening the access to BDI’s diverse lineup of original properties through several of Aspen’s existing channels, including at the retail and digital levels, in addition to Aspen’s online webstore outlet, www.AspenStore.com. Aspen’s VP/Editor-in-Chief Vince Hernandez discusses:

“We are thrilled to be able to team up with Tom, Kim and Big Dog Ink to introduce their original and exciting titles to our fans, and welcome their own fans to our house as well. They have really built something special at BDI, and their passion for creating exceptional new titles is something we knew would make for a perfect fit here at Aspen Comics. Their creative vision will continue forward, and based off the early plans we have in place, I am certain BDI fans can expect more of the same high quality storytelling in addition to some exciting new ideas coming your way.”

Aspen and BDI have set a planned reprint release schedule for their existing library of books to feature new and re-mastered content, beginning with the re-release of Shahrazad in early Spring with more release dates to follow.

The publishers will also be utilizing their combined regional presence and bases of operation to build a broader convention appearance slate across more potential cities and avenues of promotion in 2015 and beyond.

 

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We here at The Beat have long been a fan of Tim Beyer’s analysis of comics and comics-based entertainment trends at The Motley Fool and he’s just launched his own site to expand on that called The Full Bleed:

Why have a blog covering the business when I’m already writing about comics and pop culture elsewhere? Simple. There are times when I want to offer more than an analyst’s perspective. Sometimes, I just want to be a fan. The Full Bleed lets me do that.

Here, I’ll be going between the panels to offer insights on news and rumors about TV shows, films, and most of all, comics. (I’ve been reading and collecting comics since the late ’70s.)

Given Beyer’s data-driven take on the business of pop culture this should be bookmarked! (Disclosure, he calls out this site as well, so consider this full on logrolling. BUt if you like The Beat you’ll probably like The Full Bleed.)

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ICv2 will once again hold a conference the day before New York Comic-Con officially kicks off, on Wednesday, October 8th. This year’s conference has a timely theme: “The New Comics Customer” — given all the quickly changing demographic info we’ve been seeing in the last 12 months, this should be a lively one. (Disclosure: The Beat is a sponsor of the conference.)

ICv2 has announced that its 2014 Conference, held in conjunction with New York Comic Con, will be called “The New Comics Customer,” and will focus on the dramatic changes in the comics audience that are transforming the business. 

“The audience for comics is changing rapidly, in ways that present the greatest opportunities for the medium since the 50s,” ICv2 CEO Milton Griepp said of the topic.  “New channels, formats, and content are reaching new customers, and the phenomenon appears to be growing by the day.  This year’s conference will look at these trends and where they’re taking the business, with speakers from the forefront of the change.”

The ICv2 Conference: The New Comics Customer will be held on the eve of New York Comic Con, Wednesday afternoon, October 8th, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City.

The conference will also include ICv2′s Milton Griepp presenting his annual White Paper on comics sales. The conference is recommended for industry professionals, librarians, booksellers and other allied fields. Tickets are on sale here.

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ICv2 has a new report on the size of a market, this time the hobby game market—games like Magic, Warhammer,various card capture games, D&D and so on which he estimates as being a $700 million industry — not far below the comics industry size of $870 million. : Here’s the pr:
Pop culture experts ICv2 released today the results of their study on the hobby game market and it shows that the North American market totaled $700 million at retail for 2013.  Breaking down the estimate for the total industry by category shows that collectible games was the largest at $450 million; miniatures second at $125 million; boardgames were third at $75 million; card and dice games fourth at $35 million; with RPGs coming in last at $15 million.  “Hobby games” are defined as those games produced for “gamers”and are most often sold in the hobby channel or game and card specialty stores, but these items are not limited to sales in that market.


 
ICv2 CEO Milton Griepp commented, “A $700 million market is a significant geek culture market segment.  With the growth it’s been experiencing, a billion dollar market is within reach in the next few years, and hopefully this kind of industry analysis will help us get there.  I cannot thank enough the industry insiders who helped us compile these estimates.  Without their willingness to speak frankly with us about their own estimates of market size and the reasoning behind them, we would have been unable to complete this project.”

The hobby game industry remained strong in the Spring season of 2014, according to information compiled by ICv2.  In collectible games, WizKids’ Dice Masters was the red hot and hard-to-find item due to high demand.  Magic: The Gathering led the pack, but not as strongly as previous seasons.  Boardgames continued to grow with support from hard core gamers and an influx of mainstream gamers coming over from other markets.  The heat in the miniatures category came from Star Wars X-Wing and Star Trek Attack Wing, with any extra space filled by anticipation of the new edition of Warhammer 40K.  The big news in the Card and Dice Game category was high interest and quick sell-out of both Boss Monster and Adventure Time Card Wars.  The largest change overall in the RPG category was the failure ofDungeons & Dragons to hit the Top 5 list for Spring, before the release of the new edition.  This change is a first in ICv2′s decade long history of sales reporting on the hobby game industry.

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Wizard World just released its Q2 SEC filings, reporting income up sharply on an increased slate of shows. You’ll recall that Wizard World is a public company having gone “penny stock” a few years ago. The PR cites “higher quality events, including better organization, more programming, and an exciting list of celebrities and artists to an increasing fan base, ” as aiding the growth as well as doubling their number of events from two to four—and increasing admission prices. Wizard ran four shows in the first six months of 2013 and 8 in the comparable period in 2014. Convention revenue was $7,110,940 for the quarter and $12,284,138 for the first six months, on costs of $4,348,167 and $7,608,194 for a gross margin of $2,762,773 and $4,675,944 respectively. After operating expenses, net income for Q2 was $759,842 and $1,452,044 for the first six months, both vs a seven figure loss in 2013.

While I’ll leave it to an actual financial expert to look at the stock part of the filing, I did notice this:

We expect to produce sixteen (16) live events during the year ending December 31, 2014. To date, we have operated profitable live events in Philadelphia, Chicago, New Orleans, Columbus, Portland, Nashville, Austin, and St. Louis, but we have operated at a deficit in other events. In order for us to operate a successful event, we must produce an event that is relevant to the public in order to drive admissions, booth sales, sponsorship, and advertising. In order for the Company to grow the digital business, we must attract unique users and drive traffic to our online site. To date, we have exhausted considerable resources developing our media platform, but we have yet to earn a profit from the platform.

This suggests that the Sacramento, Louisville, Minneapolis, Atlanta and San Antonio Wizard worlds were not profitable. The San Antonio stop, at least, won’t be back in 2015, I’m told—it’s listed as TBD on the Wizard Site. To Atalnta stop is listed, although they’ll take another crack at Minneapolis, Louisville and Sacramento.

Clearly, running shows as long as Wizard has, they’ve learned a ting or two, and the business can be lucrative…but a new territory is a crapshhoot, and their ambitious expansion program will probably be fine tuned as good markets are recognized.

The stock was up a tad on the news, but it generally fluctuates in a small range list most penny stocks.

Wizard World, Inc

. (OTCBB: WIZD) (the “Company”), a leading provider of Comic Cons and pop culture conventions across the world, today announced that the Company has released its second quarter 2014 financial results in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2014 (“Q2 2014”). 

The Company hosted four comic cons in Q2 2014: St. Louis, Minneapolis, Atlanta and Philadelphia, bringing fans together with their favorite celebrities, artists, exhibitors in a pop culture and multimedia experience. Convention revenue for period ended June 30, 2014 was $7,110,940, 

an increase of $4,209,524 (or 145%) from $2,901,416 reported in the comparable period in 2013. Convention revenue for the six months ended June 30, 2014 was $12,284,138, an increase of $7,589,246 (or 162%) from $4,694,892 reported in the comparable period in 2013. The significant increase in revenue in 2014 is primarily accredited to the Company’s team’s dedication to delivering higher quality events, including better organization, more programming, and an exciting list of celebrities and artists to an increasing fan base, which all translates to higher revenue growth.

The Company ran eight events during the first six months ended June 30, 2014, as compared to four events during the comparable period in 2013. Average revenue generated per event in 2014 was $1,535,517 as compared to $1,173,723 during 2013.

 

Operating expenses were $2,002,931 

in Q2 2014, as compared to $859,536 the same period in 2013, which was the result of increases in staffing and employment costs due to the increased number and size of the events. Operating expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2014, was $3,223,900, as compared to $1,550,043 reported in the comparable period in 2013. 

Income from operations was $759,842 

in Q2 2014, an increase of 358% from $(293,666) reported in the comparable period in 2013. Income from operations for the six months ended June 30, 2014, was $1,452,044 as compared to $(167,574) reported in the comparable period in 2013. The increase is primarily attributable to running more and larger events with similar fixed costs.

$759,703 or income per share of $0.01 for the three months ended June 30, 2014, as compared to $(3,183,533) or loss per share of $0.09, in the comparable period in 2013. Net income for the six months ended June 30, 2014, was $1,451,744 or income per share of $0.03, as compared to $(2,079,357) or loss per share of $(0.06), reported in the comparable period in 2013. Income in 2014 was primarily generated from convention revenue and stronger profit margin versus the loss in 2013 which was non-cash generated from a loss on the fair value of the Company’s derivative liabilities, and by year end of 2013 the Company successfully extinguished all derivative instruments.

At June 30, 2014, the Company had working capital of $4,030,802 and as of August 8, 2014, there were 51,341,524 shares of common stock issued and outstanding.

 

“We are excited to have successfully completed eight of our 2014 events to date, as our team is now preparing for our flagship event in Chicago which is expected to bring tens of thousands of fans to meet over 50 celebrities including the reunion of the cast from Star Trek: The Next Generation, more than 315 artists and more than 300 exhibitors,

” said John Macaluso, CEO of Wizard World, Inc. “We are thrilled to have already topped our 2013 revenue and we believe we will continue to exceed our expectations for the remainder of the year, increasing shareholder value and organically building our shareholder base with the ultimate shareholders, our fans.” 

The Company will continue its 2014 tour next in Chicago, August 21-24. Seven additional shows are scheduled in 2014, bringing the yearly total to 16 conventions. To find a Wizard World Comic Con in a city near you, go to: 

http://www.wizardworld.com/. 

The Company encourages shareholders to not rely on this press release and to refer to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for full disclosure relating to the second quarter financial report, filed on August 11, 2014, which can be found on www.sec.gov

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Is consolidation still cool? A number of big deals have collapsed in recent days, whether it’s just the dog days of summer or something else in the air.

Most notably, Rupert Murdoch suddenly cooled on acquiring Time Warner, when it turned out Warners head Jeff Bewkes—and more importantly, Fox stockholder—weren’t so eager to canoodle. The sudden retreat was said to be uncharacteristic of Murdoch, however, who usually gets his company:

The announcement stunned long-time watchers of Mr Murdoch, who rarely gives up without a fight and typically wins the day. The abruptness of the withdrawal was all the more surprising, given that the offer that had been rejected was an opening gambit and a drawn-out takeover tussle looked to be in prospect. “He completely misread the situation,” says one long-time observer of both companies. “He premised his approach on the idea that Jeff Bewkes [Time Warner’s chief executive] wanted to sell and would do so on any terms.”

Over at the mobile carrier ranch, Sprint’s longed-for takeover of T-Mobile also got the kibosh thanks to watchful feds, who decided four big phone companies is better than three:

Regulatory concerns seem to hint at the fact that the government essentially did not want to approve a merger of this kind. In fact, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said keeping four large carriers was “good for American consumers.” “Sprint now has an opportunity to focus their efforts on robust competition,” Wheeler said in a statement. Along with other regulators, Wheeler has been public about his skepticism on a merger between the two carriers.

And even old school publishers had the urge to merge, as Hachette and Ingram were planning to split up book company Perseus—Hachette would get the publishing end, and Ingram, the immense book wholesaler, would get the distribution business. But that deal, too, faded away when the three way just didn’t work out:

A letter sent to Perseus employees Thursday afternoon, from Perseus CEO David Steinberger, said that despite much effort from all three parties “we could not reach an agreement on everything necessary to close the transaction.” Representatives from both Hachette and Ingram confirmed that the deal was off, but would not offer further comment. The deal was originally set to be completed at the end of July but, last week, notices were sent to Perseus employees explaining that the parties were not able to finalize the transaction by the end of the month. Despite the delay, employees were told the deal was still expected to be finalized by the end of August.

Is the consolidation era over? No way. Comcast is still set to acquire Time Warner Cable, perhaps training TWC’s employees so they aren’t idiots along the way. And some feel the street thinks mergers are the only way to grow the sputtering economy:

“The corporate sector has been kind of out of it in creating any sort of growth,” Savita Subramanian, an equities strategist with Bank of America Merrill Lynch, said. “So maybe this is the first salvo in a corporate-spending-driven economic recovery.”

So far this year, $2.2 trillion in deals has been announced globally, according to data from Thomson Reuters. That total represents a 67 percent increase from the same period last year, and it is setting up 2014 to be a robust year for deal makers.

To this consumer, healthy competition is better for the economy than mega-corps trading money, but what do I know. Things may have calmed down for the next two minutes but don’t be too surprised if more big and small consolidation is still on the way.

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As just reported, the NY Times delivered a pretty strong diss to the economics of Comic-Con, and I’m sure con vets and observers will be responding very soon, as Marvel’s CB Cebulski already did:

@Comixace They fail to mention that the line at Subway on Thurs was that long because of a Community promotion where sandwiches were free.

— C.B. Cebulski (@CBCebulski) July 28, 2014

In the meantime, the Bonfire Agency’s founding partner Steve Rotterdam</strong> penned a response for the Beat. The Bonfire Agency specializes in crafting ad campaigns to the geek demo, so they have some thoughts on branding strategies in general:

Sadly, the NYTimes article reflects the writers’ misunderstanding of the relationship the brands cited have with pop culture consumers, in general, and SDCC attendees, in particular.  Most of the brands cited in the article are, in fact, returnees and many have extended their sponsorships to other pop culture “superfan” conventions throughout North America. More importantly, these brands have come to know that overt, hard-sell, commerce-before-content posturing and tactics at such events not only do not work with attendees, but have a tendency to backfire – particularly in the social realm. So what is dismissed by the writers as laid-back soft sell is, in fact, the best strategy for success when sailing through fan-infested waters.  

Be it at the San Diego Comic-Con or at a local comic shop, brand support that smartly celebrates the passions of the geek demographic pays off in increased brand awareness, loyalty and word of mouth.  Because when brands like Hyundai, Dr Pepper, Pizza Hut, Schick, MAC Cosmetics and Uber help superfans better connect to what it is they care about, they better position themselves with these discriminating, socially influential consumers for when the time comes to buy.

One thing the writers did get right. Compared to attendees of other conventions and trade shows held in San Diego, attendees at Comic-Con don’t spend as much to wine and dine themselves at area restaurants. First of all, the majority of them don’t arrive with expense accounts.  More importantly, they prefer to direct their indulgences and dollars to the dealers and vendors on the exhibit floor.

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Veteran NY Times entertainment business writers Michael Cieply and Brooks Barnes have perhaps put the final curse on a year in which SDCC got a little bit smaller, by reviving claims that con-goers are low rent consumers unworthy of high end sponsorships:

In truth, companies that might flock to a Tribeca Film Festival, which for years was backed by American Express and now has AT&T as its lead sponsor, would do well to stick with the soft sell here, because nobody is buying much.

In a recent report from the San Diego Convention Center, where Comic-Con is held, the fantasy fans ranked first in terms of the convention center’s attendance, far outstripping the combined total of its next four largest conventions, expected to be about 62,500 people.

But the Comic-Con fans were expected to spend only about $603 each during a convention that began Wednesday night and ran through Sunday. And that was only a little more than a third of the per-capita spending by those who showed up for the American Association for Cancer Research gathering in April, and similarly lower than per-person spending at the next three largest conventions in San Diego.

At Comic-Con, dining out is apt to mean eating a sandwich while squatting on a city street.

While it’s hard to forget the searing third world image of packs of con attendees roaming the streets and gnawing chicken bones in the doorway of the Hard Rock while eluding security (isn’t there a new Image comics about this?) the whole “no one spends money at Comic-Con” still seems to be a bit of a holdover from older arguments about why the show had so little impact on the city. I’ll be back later with a longer wrap up of all the huge changes this year at the show—and intimations of more—but

(Photo by Chandler Moses for ComicsBeat)

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I heard about the Rupert Murdoch putting in a bid for Tim Warner a little while ago and thought it was too astounding to be true, but it is. Why would Mr Burns like to own even more of the known media world? Isn’t ruining the Fantastic Four for comic enough for him? David Carr at the NYT puts it all into perspective — the bigger you are, the bigger you need to be, because someone else might be bigger yet.

The giant market capitalizations and market power residing in Silicon Valley have rippled into the rest of the economy. The people behind this sudden surge of proposed media mergers say they are only going on steroids to avoid getting sand kicked in their face by even bigger bullies in the technology world. Comcast will contend that it is not just competing with Cablevision and Charter Communications, but also with Google, Amazon and Apple. And people who make programming will assert that they are trying to grow just so they do not get pushed around by Comcast.

Like the dragons in HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” big new digital players are hovering over the media landscape. You don’t want to be wandering around with a tiny sword if your adversaries are airborne and fire-breathing. Many suggest that the only hedge in a consolidating world is high-quality content.

Content is king again yo!

“Rupert did not try to buy Time Warner because he wants to get to own a bunch of cable networks,” Richard Greenfield of BTIG Research said. “He clearly feels that as other players try to enter the media business, content will be more valuable and he wants to get his hands on as much content as possible.”

Nikki Finke, an iconoclastic moody doomsayer after my own heart, has what they really means for the rest of us—i.e. the 99.9999% who can’t buy giant multi-national conglomerates: Here We Go Again: How Rupert Murdoch/Time Warner Merger Would Fuck You In Hollywood. It’s simple: less competition for that content means it’s easier for the content exploiters to exploit that content, although everyone is excited by the idea of EVEN BIGGER CONGLOMERATES.

For the past 25 years I’ve written story after story warning about the downsides of Big Media mergers. But it’s been like pissing in the wind. Neither the FCC nor the FTC nor the DOJ no matter who’s been in the White House have stopped them because of anti-trust or anti-access concerns.

Put 21st Century Fox and Time Warner together, and they make up 25%-to-30% of the market share for movies being made. The Fox and Warner Brothers TV studios are the #1 and #2 film and TV studios in the entire industry. Merging their significant distribution infrastructures — for international box office, home video distribution, and/or digital distribution — would create both revenue and cost synergies for their outsized businesses. That’s good for the companies. Merge their movie and TV production studios who are now bitter rivals looking to sign the best talent, and suddenly directors and writers and actors and showrunners can’t play off the two companies against each other for bigger deals. That’s bad for you.

Nikki also references the 90s, when “synergy” meant ever bigger horizontals and acquistions, a disastrous era then ended when Time Warner merged with AOL, one of the worst mergers in corporate history. That ended the Bigger is Better era of the 90s, especially as smaller internet start-ups began their disruptive drive to steal the eggs of brick-and-morter dinosaurs.

And now? We have even bigger conglomerates, united by the internet and the Big Five —Google, Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Microsoft (not quite as big anymore though).

While I’d like to think thence nimble disrupters are now bloated Jabba the Hutts and equally vulnerable to a new disruption from NEW innovators, older more cynical me looks at this new Gilded Age of income inequality and sees little to stop “even bigger is even better” from continuing for quite some time.

As Finke points out, WB has left itself vulnerable exactly BY spinning off its assets from the 90s: publishing, Time Inc, Time Warner and more. I think a Fox Warner would be a disaster for content producers. But that’s just me. I’m a confirmed rather rule in hell than serve in heaven type. Other people would rather sit in the castle, eating table scraps secure in the knowledge that their liege lord owns all he surveys, as the heavily plated Knights stumble around under their splendidly cumbersome hauberks and caparisons.

PS: there have been a lot of stories imagining Fox’s Marvel superhero team-ups with WB’s DC superheroes and while it’s funny, different licenses. That would be like Harry Potter showing up in a DC movie. I’m sure WB’s movie slate has some direct appeal for Murdoch, but I doubt he has much interest in owning a comics company so that is but a blip on this radar screen.

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Milton Griepp has run his annual analysis of digital comics sales and the numbers are up again. He reports that digital was at $90 million in 2013, up $20 million from 2012. Although the percentage growth isn’t as big as in past years (Last year saw a $45 mil 180% jump from 2012) it’s still healthy. According to Griepp the number does not include “pay one price” services such as Marvel Unlimited and Crunchyroll, but does include English-language sales from North America-based platforms.

Digital comics sales growth is still outpacing ebook growth, which actually went negative in 2013 (see “Books, eBooks Decline in 2013″).  And print comics and graphic novels have been growing even as digital comics sales have been growing rapidly, evidence that comics may indeed be different from other media and have the potential for growth due to the increased access that digital comics bring (see “Why Digital Comics Are Different”).

All this robust growth comes before Amazon acquired Comixology, the leaden digital comics purveyor; a move which is still sending ripples out among publishers. In fact expect some big announcements along these lines at San Diego.

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You probably heard that DC has revamped their royalties program, adding colorists to the payout mix and lumping digital in with print.  We should talk about what’s going on with the single issue sales and royalties.  Here’s the gist of it as DC put it in their media release:

We’ve also standardized sales thresholds for all periodicals.  There are no longer separate thresholds and percentages by channel (direct market vs. digital vs. newsstand).  We’ve also added a threshold for collected editions.  The new thresholds and percentages are designed to generously reward high sales performance. 

That was perfectly clear, right?  Yeah… DC has more than a little work they need to do explaining how all this works, especially to their own freelancers.  It was discovered yesterday that the threshold for royalties on a single issue was raised to 60K across all channels.  I gather that the direct market threshold for royalties used to be about 35K.  I haven’t heard what the newsstand threshold was or how subscriptions factored into this.  The reorganization does bring digital into the mix, however.  That’s significant, especially moving forward.

I think my favorite reaction to this changes, which nobody apparently saw coming was on Facebook.  One comics pro (though I think he spends a lot less of his time in comics, these days) thought this was a sign that people should get out of the business.

Let’s all take a deep breath and run through the math on this.  It’s probably not as drastic as it sounds at first blush.

Biggest take-away, from what DC has said, it looks to me like your digital single issue sales are now a form of backlist.  If they keep selling, you keep accruing sales on that issue and can eventually earn out or get a trickle of royalties like with a trade paperback.  It would be nice if DC would clarify their intentions, but that’s my reading of the situation.  Creators might learn to love those $1.99/$0.99 back issue sales.

But for now, lets focus on the immediate new issue sales.  We’re looking at Direct Market + Direct Market/UK + Newsstand + subscription + digital.

• Direct Market, we have estimates on.  Pick your poison – Comichron or ICV2.
• Direct Market/UK is roughly 10-15% of the U.S. Direct Market from the above estimates.
• Digital is a bit of a black box.  I’ve heard anywhere from 10%-25% of print sales.  DC has said in the past that the digital sales tend to line up proportionally with their Direct Market sales, though this may or may not still be the case.

That’s what we can estimate with some degree of ballpark certainty.  For estimation purposes, let’s say both the DM/UK and digital editions are 15% of print.

If the DM estimate was 40K, you’d have 6K coming in from the UK sales, so 46K in total print and then 6900 digital copies (15% of total print) for a total of 52.9K units in net sales.  Which means you’d need to get another 7.1K from newsstand and subscriptions to hit the royalty threshold.  An issue with a DM estimate of 45K, using that UK + digital formula lands at 59.5K and needs a bit less than 500 issues from newsstand and subscriptions to pass the barrier.

So what kind of numbers do the newsstand and subscriptions do?  An excellent question for which I can only provide some general guidelines.

DC’s circulation audit for the second half of 2012 doesn’t break things down to Direct Market vs. newsstand, but it does list the number of subscription copies per month, and that ranges from a low of 55,381  to a high of 70,626.  That should be spread across 22 issues.  It is likely that it’s not an even distribution and quite possible the kids comics on the list, like Looney Tunes, are taking up a large chunk of those sales.  I’d put typical month at about 66K.

We do have a little more specificity with Marvel… but it’s dated.  Marvel _used_ to have breakouts for individual newsstand titles and subscriptions, back in ’09.  So we have some guidance for what DC’s numbers might look like.  With the newsstand figures, this is while Borders was still around, but I’m also under the impression DC might have wider newsstand distribution than Marvel did, so perhaps they’re not as far off.  Probably we should chop 30% to account for no more Borders.

In the second half of ’09, for the sample month,  the subscription range was

1. Marvel Adventures Spider-Man	30,652
2. Amazing Spider-Man	9,090 (27,270 copies/3 issues)
3. New Avengers	8,570
4. Ultimate Spider-Man	6,919
5. Uncanny X-Men	6,739
6. Marvel Adventures The Avengers	6,345
7. Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four	6,129
8. X-Men Legacy	5,512
9. Hulk	5,493
10. Astonishing X-Men	4,876
11. Captain America	4,266
12. Fantastic Four	4,181
13. Amazing Spider-Girl	4,115
14. Thor	3,876
Iron Man: Director of SHIELD	3,769

and the newsstand range was

1. Hulk Chronicles: World War Hulk	8,098
2. Secret Invasion “Yu Variant”	6,895
3. Iron Man: Golden Avenger	5,208
4. Amazing Spider-Man	4,104 (12,313 copies / 3 issues)
5. Marvel Adventures Two-In-One	4,098
6. X-Men: Legacy	3,856
7. Marvel Two-In-One	3,741
8. Uncanny X-Men	3,597
9. Skaar: Son of Hulk Presents – Savage World Of Sakaar	3,538
10. Ultimate Spider-Man	3,272
11. Nova	2,897
12. Captain America	2,808
13. Wolverine: Origins	2,748
14. Venom: Dark Origin	2,620
15. Invincible Iron Man	2,617

And if we go back to the audit for the first half of 2008

Top 10 Subscription Comics for Marvel in May (March) 2008

1. Marvel Adventures Spider-Man: 31,479
2. Amazing Spider-Man: 11,936 (average/3 issues)
3. Ultimate Spider-Man: 7,875
4. Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four 6,761
5. New Avengers: 6,739
6. X-Men: Legacy 6,561
7. Uncanny X-Men 6,358
8. Marvel Adventures Avengers 5,332
9. Wolverine 5,183
10. Hulk 4,834

Top 10 Newsstand Comics for Marvel in May (March) 2008

• Civil War Chronicles: 7,824
• X-Men:Legacy: 5,094
• Franklin Richards: Spring Break 4,987
• Marvel Adventures Two-In-One: 4,819
• Uncanny X-Men: 4,683
• Marvel Two-In-One: 4,630
• Amazing Spider-Man: 4,621 (average/ 3 issues)
• Nova: 3,937
• Ultimate Fantastic Four: 3,922
• Ultimate Spider-Man: 3,848

What can we learn for this?  First off, subscriptions and newsstand sales are their own beast and don’t have all that much to do with Direct Market sales.  Kids titles do better.  Nova was a top 10 title!  And that’s pre-Annihilation.  In the sample month for ’08, the low end of subscriptions (and not every title had one) was 556 and the low end of newsstand sales was 845.

So what am thinking about the potential for newsstand sales and subscriptions?  They’re probably about even and and depending on the title in question, you’re probably looking at maybe 1K-4K for each.  So with the way this cascades, I’d expect a comic with 45K  in the DM estimates to cross the royalty threshold and a comic with 40K in the DM estimates MIGHT have a chance, if it has the right popularity outside the DM.  I could be a little high or low with the newsstand and subscription data, but that should get you into the ballpark.  Please note, this is not to say a book in the 40K-45K estimate range is going to be earning a large amount of royalties.  Royalties _start_ at the aggregated 60K.

This could also effect the cashflow a little.  I’m not entirely sure how long it takes for the newsstand numbers to get integrated.  They’re probably a little more important to the big picture than they were last month, if you need those to cross into royalties, there could be a delay.

What’s actually on the newsstand these days?  I swung by the now Marvel-less Books A Million and saw:

• Batgirl
• Detective Comics
• Batman and… (Robin, assuming he comes back to life)
• Batman
• Beware the Batman
• Batman Superman
• Justice League
• Flash
• Green Lantern Corps
• Green Lantern New Guardians
• Green Lantern
• Looney Tunes
• Justice League United
• Nightwing
• Scooby Doo
• Scooby Doo Team-Up
• Supergirl
• Superman
• Action Comics
• Teen Titans Go
• Teen Titans

And the I strolled over to Barnes & Noble to find:

• Batman and…
• Nightwing
• Batgirl
• Green Arrow
• Green Lantern
• Superman Wonder Woman
• Wonder Woman
• Catwoman
• Justice League of America
• Justice League
• Superman
• Batman
• Detective Comics
• Aquaman
• Aquaman and the Others

Quite a bit of variation between the two newsstands and perhaps there’s a bit more that was there that sold out, but I wouldn’t think there was space for more than an extra 3 titles at either place.  If newsstand is now part of the royalty minimum and the book isn’t on the newsstand or all the newsstand outlets, I’m not sure what to tell you.  I did notice that aside from the children’s targeted comics like Looney Toons, all the DC newsstand titles are now $3.99.

Incidentally, if you like numbers and comics business material, I’m writing a new book on that topic.

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