San Diego 2006
So here we are in the heat of the San Diego Comic-Con festivities, I’m at the usual bar, and I’ve just spoken to JH Williams about maybe trying to get published through Image Comics, and I glance over, and Jim is talking with Erik Larsen, the man in charge of Image Comics.
So I poke over, and I’m nervous and I’m whispering to Jim, with Erik standing over just a couple people. It’s as if I’m in seventh grade.
Me: I can’t believe you’re standing here with him right now. He’s the head of Image.
Jim: I know. I haven’t really spoken with him before. I just met him. You should introduce yourself.
Me: We’ve met, he actually bought one of my books at Wondercon.
Jim: Then go say hi.
Me: What should I say? What should I do? Do I look all right? Is my breath okay?
So I walk sheepishly over, looking down at my shoes, and dragging my feet. I introduce myself and tell Erik I do those Kirby-style giant monster comics. And he says, Yeah, I know, I remember. I liked your book. And I’m thinking, wow, not only does he remember me and my book, but he says he likes it too. So I say a couple pleasantries, and then a sheepish “Well, so long,” type of exit, before I say anything to embarrass myself. And then I hurry back around the couple people back to Jim, and I’m beaming, and I tell him, He remembered me, and he said he liked my book.
And Jim says, And?
So I say, And?
And he says, So why didn’t you follow that up with, So what can I do to get published through you with Image? And I say, Um… And Jim says, So go back over there and ask him. And Jim is practically shoving me, as if we’re at a Junior high school dance, and I’m resisting, and thinking, What should I say? What if he doesn’t like me?
So now Erik is speaking with someone, and I’m waiting and wondering how stupid this looks that I just spoke with him, and now I’m coming back over. When he finishes talking with the other person, he begins to turn like he’s going to walk away, so I catch his attention, and I say, “Erik, I just thought I would ask, since you mentioned you liked my book, if you might consider publishing it through Image?”
So then, Erik gets down to business. He says, Well what kind of numbers are you selling. And I think, Uh oh. I told him the original Diamond sales were 350. And he says, Yeah, those are pretty low. I don’t know that Image could help you much. I mean, your numbers would go up, but those numbers are still too low.
But despite this, I had the impression he would like to publish the books. And finally he said to send him an email, and send him the books again, and he would give them a look over. So on the one hand, it was problematic that he knew the book didn’t sell well. But on the other hand, he was willing to consider it, and look it over.
What more can I say? Erik is, of course, a huge Kirby fan, and has dedicated whole issues of his Savage Dragon to a bit character from Kamandi. So it seems to me that if I’m going to have a shot at getting a publisher, it would be through him.
I hurried back to Jim, once again like a seventh grade dance, to be sure and tell him everything that happened. What’d he say? I said this. And what’d he do? He did this. You see, It wasn’t so bad. Just like in Junior High.