To kick-off Comic-Con 2011 week, Digital LA hosted a Digital Comics Panel from Warner Brothers, DC Comics, Marvel Entertainment, Graphicly and celebrities at Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles on Monday night. Along with executives, writers and artists for Green Lantern, Wolverine, Superman and the Fantastic Four, Actors Thomas Jane (Hung, Punisher, Rawstudios.com) and Todd Stashwick (Heroes, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Devil Inside) discussed how comics and comic book characters are all part of growing digital entertainment franchises, which include animation, games, movies, iPad apps, web series, and social media promotions. Below are the Top 7 Tips from this digital entertainment celebrity panel - including the Batman Breakfast Secret (see tip 7.)
With the advanced digital tools that artists have today, the panel emphasized that you still need to do pencil drawings. Caroline Hu (Warner Brothers) highlighted this point, “Learn to draw first. Photoshop is just a tool.” After working on major franchises such as Green Lantern, Caroline added, “We still draw by hand. It ‘s going to end up on an 8 foot billboard so it better look good.” Hal Helfner (artist, writer and creator of Heavy Metal Magazine's first online comic, Gates) added, “I still sketch out a lot of concepts on a napkin, but digital has changed my life.”
1. Digital Tools Impact - Many agreed that Cintiq has advanced the animation process. Dan Fraga (who storyboarded the movies, The Fighter and Fantastic Four) shared the benefits of Cintiq, “The benefit is speed. The end….The only drawbacks are power outages and crashes.” Dan explained his creative process, “I do about 40-60 drawings a week in a pencil stage, then finishing stage, and then digital delivery.” (If you want to see the drawing that Dan sketched during the panel, check out the Digital Comics Panel Photo Album in this article.)
2. Games Start with a Book - “Print books will be the source for any game,” explained TQ Jefferson (Marvel Entertainment, VP of Production and Games.) For games such as the new Captain America (that just launched July 19, 2011), Marvel aggregates the film animation and other video games to come up with the ideal character. They’re also making flash games to “increase stickiness and to try out different game plays.” Based on how fans respond, the flash games may become a console game.
3. Writing Comic Cliffhangers for Digital - A few panelists shared how writing for digital comics adds pressure for more cliffhangers to engage fans online and through mobile channels. Joelle Sellner (writer for Marvel, DC Comics, Marvel Digital, Cartoon Network and many others) explained, “In digital you need a cliffhanger at the end of every page because people are reading it on iPads.” Todd Stashwick added insights from his weekly Devil Inside comic strip, “Every week has to have a cliffhanger and make them want more, which has effected deeply how we write.”
4. Social Media Marketing Wins for Comics - Many of the panelists emphasized the importance of grass roots marketing, especially reaching fans through social media. Todd Stashwick described the promotions for Devil Inside, “We do grass roots marketing thru Twitter and Facebook, and we take no emails.” This comic strip is published weekly for free, and their goal is to attract eyeballs (and they are currently pitching it to networks.) Comic books have always been based on word of mouth, and social media offers a way to fast-track the buzz. David Uslan (Graphicly) shared an added social media benefit for fans, “They feel like they can help guide the direction of the story.”
5. Bonus Material offers Big Benefits for Comics - Similar to movies, people like the behind-the-scenes information on comics. Everyone agreed that bonus material (interviews, audio commentary, extra comics, etc) offer huge benefits for digital comics. David Uslan (Graphicly) shared, “When you add bonus materials, we increase the sales of that comic book by 3 times.”
6. Privacy Protection for Digital Comics – To protect your content from piracy, Thomas Jane (Rawstudios.com) recommended making friends with fans through social media. He expanded, “Give people something they would not get off the bootleg and make it a unique experience and create an engagement thru social media so they won't want to rip off your stuff.” Another member of the audience shared that comics can learn from the mistakes of the music industry. By pricing it cheap and make it really reasonable, it will deter piracy. Dan Fraga (Director of Ricky Gervais Show) also shared that his future plan is to offer the art for free, but you need to pay to read the text.
7. What Comic Fans Want - Towards the end of the event, the panel was asked what do comic fans really want. Thomas Jane cleverly replied, “They want to know what batman had for breakfast.” After many laughs, Thomas added, “They want authenticity and something they can't get anywhere else.” To give fans a first look, Comic-Con attendees will get an exclusive copy of the Raw Studio’s new Bad Planet Issue 7. There will also be a Comic-Con Panel on Saturday, 7/23, 6:30-7:30pm called Dawn of the Digital Era (Room 8) with Thomas Jane, David Uslan from Graphicly and other entertainers.
Many thanks to the Digital Comics Digital LA Panelists:
- Thomas Jane, actor (Hung, The Punisher), Founder / President of Raw Studios (comics and graphic novels publisher) @thomasjane
- TQ Jefferson, Marvel Entertainment, VP of Production, Games. Manages games based on Marvel characters from Thor console games to X-Men Aracade (iPad, iPhone app) @Marvel
- Bob Wayne, DC Comics, SVP of Sales. DC will start digital day-and-date release starting with its 52 book universe relaunch this fall
- David Uslan, Graphicly, VP of Business Development @graphicly; formerly at Branded Entertainment and ICM
- Todd Stashwick, actor (Heroes, Curb Your Enthusiasm) @toddstashwick and artist Dennis Calero – Devil Inside weekly comic
- Dan Fraga, Director of Ricky Gervais Show, illustrator on MTV's Hard Times of RJ Berger animated sequences, former comic book artist for Marvel (Wolverine), DC (Superman), Image (Witchblade) @fragaboom
- Joelle Sellner, writer, Marvel Digital Holiday Issue, DC Comics Cartoon Network Action Pack. TV/animation: Avengers, Teen Titans, Jackie Chan Adventures @whereisjoelle
- Hal Hefner, artist, writer and creator of Heavy Metal Magazine's first online comic, Gates @gatesthecomic @halhefner
- Caroline Hu, Warner Brothers, Artist, Consumer Products, http://carolinehu.com
- Moderator: Kevin Winston, Digital LA @DigitalLA @kevinwinston
- And thanks to TechZulu for streaming this event live @TechZulu
If you’re going to Comic-Con, Digital LA is also having a party on Saturday night (July 24, 5:00pm,)and you can rsvp here http://digitalla.net. And for more updates on Comic-Con and digital entertainment news, follow me on Twitter @lizhkelly and check back here for more coverage of the latest trends in this exciting space.
© Liz H Kelly, National Digital Entertainment Columnist, Sunrise Road Media, http://sunriseroadmedia.com
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