The Massive Is Free!
This Sunday, on Earth Day, you can download all the existing Massive stories for free. Only for that one day, though. DETAILS HERE.
And you can download the following sheet to reserve your copy of the main series starting up in June. Remember my post on pre-ordering? This is crucial for us. Please consider it. There is a printable JPG and a fillable PDF form here: http://www.brianwood.com/massive_order_form/
Enjoy!
The Retailer Is The Customer
Looking back over 14 years, there have been a few things related to creator-owned comics and the building of a career off of them that stand out. They stand out to the point that I’ve taken to calling them “rule #1, rule 2”, and so on. One day I’ll get them all out there in a formal essay, but right now I want to talk about one of the most important ones, and how it relates to The Massive series launch:
The retailer is the customer.
I forget who first told me that, but it’s a solid bit of common sense. The way the direct market is set up, comic shop retailers have to purchase comics on a non-returnable basis, meaning they can’t return unsold copies. The fact they go on to re-sell them to their customers is, in a way, almost irrelevant. The books have been ordered and paid for.
So when you talk about creator-owned comics, indie comics, self-published comics, the retailer is being asked to make a very real and permanent financial investment in that book, one that he or she cannot make back should the book not perform to expectations. The retailer is the customer. You, meaning the creator and/or the publisher, are pitching and selling to the retailer. Or you should be. It’s often shocking to me how few people forget that. Sometimes I forget it.
You can hype up your readers all you want, but if their shop didn’t order the book, they are out of luck. YOU are out of luck, too.
So this is me telling you to tell your retailer that, if you want to buy a copy of The Massive, to order you a copy. This isn’t SAGA and I’m not BKV or Millar or Bendis who stand a greater chance of being automatically stocked on shelves. Retailers are going to gauge demand and order accordingly. So tell them if you’re interested.
I ran some numbers the other day. Looking at some recent numbers on my Vertigo books, Northlanders sells about 8000 an issue in actual numbers. Retailer friends of mine confirm that the general consensus is that there are about 1800 comic shops out there. That means, roughly, 4.5 copies per store. But what about a place like Midtown Comics, who seem to order 40 copies in just the one branch (of three) I sometimes visit? That right there means quite a few shops not ordering it at all. What about Jim Hanley’s, the Isotope, Golden Apple, TFAW, Mile High, Casablanca Comics, and all the others? For every shop out there ordering more than 4.5 copies of Northlanders means several others just not bothering at all. I live in Brooklyn, and can think of at least two comic shops within a couple miles of me that don’t carry Northlanders. Or DMZ. Or most small press books. I’ve been called out a few times in the past for saying that most retailers don’t carry my books, but I honestly believe this to be the case. And what does that say about the books of other creators who don’t yet have 14 years of awareness built up?
Now, I know that Northlanders is on issue #49 and The Massive will be launching with a #1, so I expect to get more than 8000 orders. But I think this is a problem that exists regardless of the scale. And I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt and think that any comic shop out there, if asked by a customer, would order The Massive or anything else they wanted. For all the horror stories about “bad” retailers who just don’t order what they don’t like or that isn’t DC or Marvel superheroes, period, I think 99% of the rest would help you out.
The Massive #1 can be ordered with this code: APR12 0008. Add it to your pull list, and if you feel passionately about it, suggest to your retailer to stock a few extra just in case. Nothing breaks my heart like the inevitable tweets and emails I get on Wednesdays from customers not finding my books at their shops.
I’m doing my part, behind the scenes. The retailer is the customer. I might not have a career in comics if someone didn’t burn that phrase into my brain. And this ties into the other rule I’ll deal with at a later date: No one loves your book as much as you do.
The Massive at 1/72 scale
Made as a promo, re-purposed for a ComicPRO-event free print, and now probably (maybe?) coming to an online store near you, the Massive print based on old Japanese model box designs.
THE MASSIVE “North Sea 1995”
The first of the three MASSIVE short stories hits stands today, within the pages of Dark Horse Presents #8. Some basic info:
.Dark Horse Presents #8-10 will each have a MASSIVE story, 8 pages in length, giving you background on the three main characters, as well as a bunch of world-building.
.These stories are not necessary to have read in order to pick up the main series (in June), but they will add to the overall experience.
.These three stories will be republished at some point, in some form. But not as a “zero issue” or anything like that.
.The story that’s out today, “North Sea 1995”, is about the series’ main character Callum Israel, as he was back then, a corporate soldier hired to dispatch some environmentalists occupying a rig. Then came the Draupner wave. Or one just like it. Or maybe several just like it.
.Kristian Donaldson is crazy talented. As is Dave Stewart, as is Jared K Fletcher, and my editors. A lot of times in comics, even at the big companies, editors do very little editing. Sierra Hahn, my editor on The Massive, is brutally kicking my ass with every script I turn in, challenging the way I write, the tics I have, and the crutches I lean on. She makes me defend my choices, and its making for better comics.
.The next story takes place in Sri Lanka in the 1980’s.
.The one after that in modern day Southern Ocean. But also all around the globe for the last 300 years.
.I’m all in on this series. Look for a dedicated website, a wealth of free bonus material, maybe some merch, and the best comic I’m capable of writing right now.
THE MASSIVE #1 cover, due in June.
Check out the design process here: http://io9.com/5880634/
Maps for The Massive. Just arrived from eBay, a haul of 60’s-era Nat Geo maps. When it comes to research, I can’t ever turn down a good map.
Fireside Chat w/ Brian Wood
(a long interview about Conan, The Massive, Wolverine, and my not working at DC)
The Massive in DHP
There are three short “prequel” stories in the upcoming Dark Horse Presents #8-10. The first two of those are open now for pre-orders, if you are thinking about picking them up. Ask your local retailer and/or bring him/her these codes:
DHP #8: NOV11 0047
DHP #9: DEC11 0075
If you do not have a retailer, or your retailer is not so inclined to order these, my old pal at Khepri is very inclined to hook you up: http://www.khepri.com/collections/todos/preorders
(while you’re at it, here’s the code for the first Conan The Barbarian that Becky Cloonan and I are doing: DEC11 0047)
Promo image for NYCC, art taken from the upcoming Dark Horse Presents #8
Brian & Becky & Dark & Horse?
I just saw Dark Horse’s signing schedule posted online, and there’s this one:
Friday, the 14th - 3:30 p.m. The Massive — Brian Wood and Kristian Donaldson (DMZ)
And then there is this one:
Huh?Saturday, the 16th - 4:30 p.m. Comic TBA — Brian Wood (DMZ, Demo, Northlanders) and Becky Cloonan (Demo, Pixu)
Find out what Dark Horse comic Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan are going to be working on together at Friday’s Dark Horse panel (1:30–2:30 p.m., Room 1A15)!
![My next big project, only about 18 months in the making. Consider this the next step in my post-DMZ, post-Northlanders career.I did a short interview here. Some excerpts below:
I thought it was interesting to write about activists and environmentalists who have formed that entire identity around efforts to save the world, and then finding out they utterly and completely failed. Where do you go from there? …And these are not necessarily tree hugger types, these characters, and this story is not something that can be categorized as some lefty fearmongering. I think if I’ve proved anything with “DMZ,” is that I can take a socio-political, topical issue and write both sides, and make it not at all preachy. There’s actually very little partisan politics in the story concepts I wrote for “The Massive.” In a way, you can call it post-politics as well as post-crash.
This is a huge world of conflict and chaos. If you take a look at “DMZ,” a lawless city and all the danger and detail I put into that, this is a global “DMZ.”
I’m known for building worlds… specifically “DMZ” and in a way with “Northlanders,” and the work my agent gets me in the videogame industry is all focused on world-building. I do a lot of research for everything I write, and my aim is to really fully realize this “post-” world, to exceed what I’ve done on “DMZ” by several orders of magnitude.I know [Kristian Donaldson] can handle anything I throw at him, whether it be hundred-foot rogue waves, a semi-submerged Hong Kong, or an carrier battle group.
I sorta feel I can group my past work into specific “eras,” defined by a couple things but mostly by my personal perceptions. This may be boring to people who aren’t really familiar with my backlist, but all the books I did prior to “Demo” I put in a category, where I was sort of playing around with comics and trying to figure out not only how to write them but what I wanted to say, what my “voice” was. And then along came “Demo” and up to and including my current Vertigo work, “DMZ” and “Northlanders,” where I figured that out and got a bunch of stuff out of my head and became, in my own eyes, a fully realized writer. And now I am in the position to take the next step, to build on all of that which came before, and advance myself to a next level.
In these last few years of being DC exclusive and working on these long-running series, I’ve accumulated a lot of new material. “The Massive” is one of about 6-8 books more or less ready to go, and they do feel like part of a whole, part of a next phase in how I want to work in comics.
Lastly, a lot of people forget this or don’t realize it, but “DMZ” was my first attempt at a monthly ongoing series. It was very successful and I’m proud of it all, but it was my first try and I’m ready to a second and a third and fourth tries and see how much better I can make them.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_losf2h2fdb1qz58pqo1_500.png)
My next big project, only about 18 months in the making. Consider this the next step in my post-DMZ, post-Northlanders career.
I did a short interview here. Some excerpts below:
I thought it was interesting to write about activists and environmentalists who have formed that entire identity around efforts to save the world, and then finding out they utterly and completely failed. Where do you go from there? …And these are not necessarily tree hugger types, these characters, and this story is not something that can be categorized as some lefty fearmongering. I think if I’ve proved anything with “DMZ,” is that I can take a socio-political, topical issue and write both sides, and make it not at all preachy. There’s actually very little partisan politics in the story concepts I wrote for “The Massive.” In a way, you can call it post-politics as well as post-crash.
This is a huge world of conflict and chaos. If you take a look at “DMZ,” a lawless city and all the danger and detail I put into that, this is a global “DMZ.”
I’m known for building worlds… specifically “DMZ” and in a way with “Northlanders,” and the work my agent gets me in the videogame industry is all focused on world-building. I do a lot of research for everything I write, and my aim is to really fully realize this “post-” world, to exceed what I’ve done on “DMZ” by several orders of magnitude.
I know [Kristian Donaldson] can handle anything I throw at him, whether it be hundred-foot rogue waves, a semi-submerged Hong Kong, or an carrier battle group.
I sorta feel I can group my past work into specific “eras,” defined by a couple things but mostly by my personal perceptions. This may be boring to people who aren’t really familiar with my backlist, but all the books I did prior to “Demo” I put in a category, where I was sort of playing around with comics and trying to figure out not only how to write them but what I wanted to say, what my “voice” was. And then along came “Demo” and up to and including my current Vertigo work, “DMZ” and “Northlanders,” where I figured that out and got a bunch of stuff out of my head and became, in my own eyes, a fully realized writer. And now I am in the position to take the next step, to build on all of that which came before, and advance myself to a next level.
In these last few years of being DC exclusive and working on these long-running series, I’ve accumulated a lot of new material. “The Massive” is one of about 6-8 books more or less ready to go, and they do feel like part of a whole, part of a next phase in how I want to work in comics.
Lastly, a lot of people forget this or don’t realize it, but “DMZ” was my first attempt at a monthly ongoing series. It was very successful and I’m proud of it all, but it was my first try and I’m ready to a second and a third and fourth tries and see how much better I can make them.
