Alex: Hi there Ian! Thanks for the interview. Tell my readers if you will about your comics background, what was your first comic, when did you know you wanted to work in comics...
Ian: My life with comics began when my parents owned a card store in New York from 1978-1982. For reasons that I still haven't figured out, my parents would bring me home a copy of every title that they were sent from the magazine distributor. It turned out to be 99% Marvel comics, but if you know your history, you know that those were very good years for Marvel. I was weaned on Frank Miller Daredevil and John Byrne X-Men.
My life in the comics industry, though, didn't begin until 1990, right before I graduated from college. I had found a great local comic book store to shop in during college breaks and as I became friendly with the owner, he hired me to help him out part time. That led to a full time manager position upon graduation in early 1991 running all aspects of the store.
From there I moved on to edit a magazine called Comic Book Collector. CBC was a black and white price guide/magazine that suffered from the lack of color. With the many editorial additions and design changes I implemented, the magazine found a niche, but never thrived. That problem led to the creation and launch of COMBO magazine, a full color pop culture magazine that focused not only on comics, but cards, gaming, video games, the small press, anime, movies and cartoons, and music. We were ahead of our time with some of the topics we covered, such as a dedicated focus on the small press and a column for anime. Many of today's biggest names got their first reviews and exposure in the pages of COMBO.
After initiating and developing the entire contents and creative direction of COMBO, I ran the magazine for three years. At that point I was hired by Wizard magazine to serve as Promotions Manager for Wizard and the Wizard Specials. I was in charge of developing the #1/2 book offers and inserts that were found in the polybag of each issue. During my tenure there I secured many great #1/2s and inserts, but I'm most proud of the fact that I was able to secure the X-Men, Spider-Man and Hulk #1/2s from Marvel and the Batman: Dark Victory #0 and America's Best Comics sketchbook free inserts from DC.
Shortly after leaving Wizard, I was hired by a just-launching CrossGen Comics to serve as Manager of Media Relations, to help create a brand identity for the new publisher. I was then promoted to Director or Corporate Communication working on marketing and public relations and eventually to Director of Ancillary Publishing. In this last position I launched the Code 6 Comics and CGE imprints and was directly responsible for bringing in the properties The Crossovers and Abadazad, both of which generated immediate Hollywood attention.
Alex: Combo was a magazine that seemed to cover, as its name implied a combination of collector areas. Was that its flaw as well? I liked it, but to cover every area of collecting meant less attention to single areas of collecting?
Ian:I guess to some it could have been seen as a flaw, but to those that really liked COMBO, it was a great benefit. Readers were introduced to many things they would never have seen by reading any other comic magazine at the time. The magazine was large enough to give ample coverage to the most important topics of that time: comics and non-sport cards. The other topics were extras that I think helped set it apart from other magazines. It unfortunately got caught in the shrinking of the industry that took place in the mid '90s and was slightly ahead of the boom in anime so circulation alone could not sustain it. With comic publishers and card manufacturers going out of business left and right and the ones that stayed around cutting ad budgets, the cost to produce it grew too high and the losses started to mount so the publisher pulled the plug. It made perfect sense for them to do so.
Alex: Any memories from that experience that are especially happy?
Ian:That whole experience was a happy one. There is nothing more fulfilling than starting something from scratch and watching it grow and mature. Along with that, knowing that, because COMBO covered the small press in much more depth than anyone else did, we helped generate attention and exposure for at least two creators that are big names in this industry today: Brian Michael Bendis and Josh Blaylock. That's probably the happiest memory.
Alex: Then from Combo you moved to Wizard. What did you do there and to what extent were you prepared for a career in comics working there?
Ian:Wizard was a great learning experience for me. I developed a wealth of knowledge on the cost to produce a comic book and I made contacts within the industry that I still utilize to this day. My days there were spent generating creative, money-
making and circulation-enhancing ideas, all while trying to stay within a strict budget. As well, I spent a lot of time working with the comics publishers' marketing and PR people and editors listening to their pitches for new series and developing projects based on their promotion needs and those that would best serve the magazine. I saw first hand how their jobs worked and what their goals were. It definitely helped when I started doing those jobs for CrossGen.
Alex: CrossGen: You worked as PR head at CrossGen before moving to editor of CG's line of comics outside the sigilverse. Talk about your time there and where you see that company in 5 years.
Ian:I have nothing but good things to say about my time there and I hope that CrossGen is back at top form shortly. Working there was an amazing learning experience. I had my hands in many areas that I had never worked in before and the knowledge I gained from that can never be taken away. It is those four-plus years that have rounded out my career experiences and given me knowledge of all areas of publishing aside from me doing any actual creation of a comic book. I also experienced things that, in hindsight, I realize weren't such smart moves, so I am now in a better position to help other publishers avoid those pitfalls and have a better chance to succeed.
Alex: Then CGE stops its outside lines, then shrinks its publishing rather dramatically and you are then on your own. Happily you have announced your site and business 813 Services & Solutions. What is it?
Ian:My new venture, 813 Services & Solutions (My web site) is a firm specializing in consulting, editorial, writing, marketing, public and media relations, creator representation and custom comic book packaging services. It is a way for me to use all that I've learned in this business to help others who are either just starting out or do not have the experience in all aspects of publishing.
Let's face it, publishing is a tough thing to do. Just ask all those former employees of the too-many-to-count publishers that have gone out of business in the past 10 years. There is no secret formula to success, but there are certain pieces of information, hidden expenses, and little tricks that most newcomers to the industry don't know about or plan for. Most newcomers see how those before them went about it and they plan to do the same things.
Produce a comic, solicit it though Diamond, spend lots of money on an ad in Previews and hope that people buy it and like it. What they never look at is why aren't those companies they used as a model still in business? What did they do right, and especially, what did they do wrong?
When you're a small company or even a one-man show, you don't have the time to learn everything, and unless you've been there before, you can't know every detail. I want to be the "go to guy" for these new publishers. I want to give them a better chance to succeed than those that tried it before them and failed. I want to take all that I've learned and experienced in my career and put it to work for them.
Alex: You have announced that you are representing talented artists. Is this as an agent? Or is this more of a consultancy for the talent involved? Who are some of your talents and what have they worked on?
Ian: I am acting as a representative for these creators to the comics community. I will be using my contacts within the industry to try and generate work for them. There are many talented individuals that just aren't good at self-promotion. And in this business, it is more about who you know and who knows you than anything else.
Currently I am representing a few former CrossGen artists, a very well known and respected painter, and some extremely talented creators who live in Europe. To see the list and samples of their work, check out: My client list . I am also in discussion with other artists, writers and studios to represent them as well.
Alex: But that isn't the whole of the work you do. You offer consulting services to companies just starting up, using your experience to help upstart publishers. How does this work?
Ian:First of all, when people see the word "consultant" they immediately think that they can't afford the help. But if there is one thing I try to
Add A Comment to this article
Email the Author of this article
