 "Photo: Caleb Miller")
Holy smokes Batman, it's my creator!
Comic-book enthusiasts gathered Thursday to hear five industry insiders dish about the secrets behind superheroes, comic books, graphic novels and manga.
The paneled discussion titled "Beyond the Strip: Inside the World of Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels," is one of the monthly programs hosted by the Writers' League of Texas designed to help its members learn the ins and outs of the publishing world.
The Writers' League of Texas is a nonprofit organization geared toward "supporting literacy and elevating the art of writing," said executive director Cyndi Hughes.
Marvel Adventures "Hulk" writer Paul Benjamin moderated the discussion and incorporated questions from comic book fans. Benjamin said many of today's comic books center on big-budget movies and how well the story can be marketed into movies, television shows, merchandise and theme-park rides.
"Comics tend to slip into the background, and big-budget movies bring them to the foreground and get people excited again," said Robert Johnson, manager of Austin Books and Comics.
DC Comics writer Matt Sturges said merchandising inhibits creativity and affects the story line a writer may want to develop.
"The marketing scheme of big comic book publishers are killing comics," Sturges said.
Johnson said the overwhelmingly successful "The Dark Knight" has made sales of "The Watchmen" soar.
"The book has gone from selling one copy every couple of weeks to 15 copies a day, just because of an advertisement at the beginning of the [Batman] movie," he said.
Fourteen-year-old Sandy Sanger prefers manga comics to the more commercialized American version of comic book superheroes.
"Manga has amazing character development, and it keeps you thinking just as much as novels do," she said.
Tony Salvaggio, an artist, animator and designer of anime and manga, said overall readership is down and that Americans discredit the power of reading comic books.
"In Japan, everyone can read a comic if you're 15 or 80, man or woman," Salvaggio said. "All we can do is hope to get people to read and away from playing video games."
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