Multiversity’s history column returns to the bygone era of 2001, recalling the state of the industry, the seeds of Free Comic Book Day, and Marvel’s experimental renaissance.
After eight years of recession, the comic industry finally experienced growth again in 2001. There was a variety of sources for the growth, many of which are detailed below. The most significant and long lasting, however, was certainly the expansion into the book market. Marvel Publisher Bill Jemas had met with Barnes and Noble in 2000 to learn how to make comics a desirable product for them. The result was a “suggestion” that writers design their stories in six-issue chunks that could be easily reprinted as a trade paperback. That strategy began bearing fruit in 2001 when the first round of TPBs hit shelves and opened up a new, long-term revenue stream.
The internet was still young in 2001, and slow. Wikipedia didn’t exist, and search engines like Google hadn’t caught on with the general public yet. The primary way for users to find a website was a direct link from somewhere they were already visiting, with the backup route of them keying in the URL from a printed ad or other source. Oni Press wasn’t the first publisher to try reaching out to potential readers through the internet, but they did their best by offering the first issues of some of their popular titles for free. The initial title was the Antarctic murder mystery “Whiteout” by Greg Rucka and Steve Lieber.
Freelance cartoonist Danny Hellman was being sued for libel by cartoonist Ted Rall for 1.5 million dollars. In addition to not having 1.5 million dollars, Hellman also didn’t have money to defend himself. He put out a call asking comic creators to contribute something to a 32-page anthology fundraiser, “Legal Action Comics.” Unexpectedly, he was inundated with submissions, including from underground comic rock stars like Robert Crumb, Art Spiegelman, Mike Diana, and Tony Millionaire. (It may have helped that Hellman’s feud with Rall stemmed from Rall’s public attack on Spiegelman.) Hellman turned his standard comic into a 256 page paperback that sold for $14.95. A second volume was released in 2003, and the lawsuit faded away without resolution when Rall’s lawyer died in 2005.
Free Comic Book Day wouldn’t hold its inaugural event until 2002, but its origin stretches back much further. In December 1997, California retailer Joe Fields used Diamond Distribution’s “Dialogue” newsletter to recommend an ‘open house’ event for the industry that would run for a month. Diamond thought the idea was interesting and requested input from other retailers. None came.
Flash forward to May 2001, when Fields heard about Baskin Robbins’ annual Free Scoop Night. The four hour event was wildly popular and successful in Fields’ neighborhood, and it got him to refine his open house concept. He proposed the new idea in the June (dated August) issue of the trade magazine “Comics & Games Retailer.” Titled ‘The Power of Free,’ he laid out how he thought every part of the industry could contribute to ‘Free Comics Night.’ This time, the idea caught on. Diamond held a meeting with the four biggest publishers at SDCC 2001 to pick a date, and Image Publisher Jim Valentino suggested tying it to the biggest comic-related event of 2002 – the release of the Spider-Man film. There was some consternation at connecting an event for all comics with an event for Marvel, but the potential was undeniable. The date was set.
Most of the big publisher news in 2001 came from Marvel, who was shining in a creative and experimental renaissance. Editor Joe Quesada had been pushing the company toward more mature content since launching the Marvel Knights imprint in 1998, and one of his major steps to improve the company’s product was to abandon the Comics Code Authority. Archie and DC tried to talk them out of it, but Publisher Bill Jemas fully supported the idea. Perhaps testing the waters, they released “X-Force” #116 without code approval. They weren’t subtle about it. Instead of just omitting the code, they replaced it with the message “Hey Kids! Look, no code!”Continued below
That was only on the direct edition, of course. The newsstand edition had a large white box in the bottom left warning buyers (or buyers’ parents, I guess) that it contained mature content.
There was no outcry. There were mild complaints about it being a stunt to include extreme violence that wasn’t story driven. Sales don’t appear to have been impacted, but it’s hard to know for sure because this was the first issue by a new creative team taking the book in a radically different direction. Marvel was obviously pleased with the reception because two months later they officially left the CCA and none of their titles ever carried the seal again. They created their own rating system, marking books as All Ages, Parental Advisory, or Mature Audiences.
The move toward mature material continued with the creation of the MAX imprint in Fall 2001. The debut title was “Alias” by Brian Michael Bendis and Michael Gaydos, and its profane dialogue and implied depiction of anal sex was a bit too much for some. Alabama-based American Color Graphics refused to print the book, forcing Marvel to outsource production of the MAX line to Quebecor in Montreal. Outside of the MAX line, about 70,000 copies of the third issue of “Elektra” had to be pulped before distribution because artist Greg Horn included a panel of full frontal nudity. It was recolored to shadow some parts and to imply lingerie, but between two and three thousand of the original versions were sold for a premium through Dynamic Forces.
Not everything was pushing boundaries, though. Effective Fall 2001, Marvel had an official policy that characters could not smoke unless it was in a MAX book. Those crazy health nuts had finally won and forced Wolverine to give up his cigars.
Also in the production area, Marvel announced an end to their policy of overprinting. For years, the industry practice had been to print several thousand extra copies of every comic so retailers would have quick access to additional copies if they sold out. This was an expensive outlay by the publishers, who had to eat the cost of their unsold copies, and it was seen as an unnecessary waste of money for Marvel who was still crawling its way out of bankruptcy. Retailers weren’t thrilled because the new policy forced them to assume more risk, either through unsold overhead if they ordered too high or through unrealized sales if they ordered too low. The move brought some excitement back to the industry because it meant the supply of surprise hits would never meet demand and aftermarket prices could be volatile. By the end of the year, Marvel compromised its position by offering “Might Marvel Must-Haves,” an anthology containing multiple reprints in each issue. That preserved the back issue market while making it easy for readers to obtain a copy.
Speaking of surprise hits and readers, Marvel canceled its plan to cancel “Spider-Girl,” the alternate future tale about Peter Parker’s daughter. A massive letter campaign from fans rescued the series which was reprinted in paperback collections to expand its audience.
CrossGen was a rising star in 2001 with 147% growth over the previous year. That number was the result of great talent, interesting stories, and a no-overprint policy like Marvel’s. However, CrossGen’s growth hid the dark side of the company, which Mark Waid described as an intolerable work environment. Among other things, CrossGen founder Mark Alessi once made an employee stand in the corner for doing something that made Alessi unhappy, and he told creators to “get back to work” during the September 11 terrorist attacks.
DC’s notable moments in 2001 were mostly non-events. There were plans for a “Watchmen” toyline and a 15th anniversary edition of the series, but plans for those were scrapped when DC upset Alan Moore in an unrelated matter and he retaliated by refusing to participate in anything “Watchmen” related. Later in the year, Brian Azzarello was scheduled to relaunch “The Authority” in a hyper-violent story that mocked world leaders. It was recognized as being in bad taste following the 9/11 attack and quietly canceled.
The one innovation DC was able to pull off successfully in 2001 was the introduction of Nikki, the first (as far as I can tell) autistic superhero, in “Teen Titans” #26.
