Image Comics

Since I couldn’t find any feedback link on the Image Comics site, I’ll post my review of the 2012 Image Comics Expo here. Bottom line, it wasn’t all bad but the $ 20 ticket price was frankly outrageous, since the event was a fraction the size of the similarly-​priced Wonder Con, or even the much smaller Alternative Press Expo. There just was not that much there.
The other big problem was the layout. It all took place in a pretty huge ballroom. Some tables had vast amounts of space in front of them, but the three rows of indie artists were packed in so tight it was hard to navigate even with the lack of crowds. That lack of breathing space is the only reason I can think of why these artists were so much pushier than at any similar show I’ve attended… it seemed like any time my friends or I stopped to glance at a table or made eye contact with an artist we’d get a big pushy sales pitch. It was a shame because I have liked to look at some of the stuff longer, but it felt like being panhandled, frankly.
Anyway, I’m all about supporting alternative and independent art. But in the future I’ll be a little more picky about where I go to support it.

Image Comics have come a long way from their notorious beginnings as a blockbusting powerhouse that turned the Marvel/​DC business model on its head back in 1992. Their stratospheric rise was followed by an abyssal fall that dovetailed with the comic industry’s own massive crash after a free-​for-​all of market flooding and bloated speculation throughout the ‘90s. Image survived many twists and turns, including departures, fights, sell-​outs and legal battles, staying the path thanks largely to its ethical business model and the efforts of dedicated comic veterans including Erik Larsen, Jim Valentino and Larry Marder.
Fast forward nearly twenty years and Image Comics are one of the only ‘mainstream’ publishers fighting the endless tide of derivative Marvel and DC nonsense with a diverse range of original creator-​owner books, including long-​standing Image superhero titles Spawn and Savage Dragon, other famous creator-​controlled properties like Mike Allred’s pop-​art masterpiece Madman, and newer success stories such as Robert Kirkman’s wildly popular zombie epic The Walking Dead. It might seem unlikely to readers who associate the publisher with some of the most notorious names and low-​brow practices in superhero comics, but today their output varies wildly in genre and style, and is consistent only in that each book is unique and most are quite brilliant. There is an integrity to their identity that really is something of a miracle in the modern comic landscape — other big indie comic publishers have long-​since resorted to endless movie/​television licensing and offer little in the way of truly artful entertainment.
While most comics on the stands are formulated by editors who answer to the largest corporations in America, Image Comics owns nothing but its logo. Every single title they publish is owned by its creators, who have total control over every aspect of their work, but are given whatever help and resources they need to realize their vision. The comic industry is a better place for Image’s efforts to put the creator first, and deserve unending props for doing so in a largely stagnant industry dominated by corporate monopolies.