Category Archives: Skullkickers - Page 3

Wayward #6 and Skullkickers #31 Reviews!

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Wayward #6 and Skullkickers #31, both the first part of their respective story arcs, arrived in stores last week and the response has been wonderful! Let’s see what reviewers thought…

All-Comic: 4/5 “…with the masterful art team of Steve Cummings and Tamra Bonvillain at the helm, the story couldn’t be in better hands.”

The Beat: “While there is a hefty amount of Japanese culture depicted in the story, there is also clean lines and bright coloring that move this story closer towards American comic book art standards.”

Big Glasgow: 9/10 “The detail in which Japanese culture is depicted in Wayward is fantastic.”

Black Ship Books: “Wayward #6 is the perfect jumping-on point for new readers, so if you have any interest in Japanese folklore or teens fighting the supernatural, this is the book for you.”

Brittlejules: “If you enjoy Japanese supernatural stories and monsters, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ghosts, cats, and troubled teens with strange powers, then you should definitely check out Wayward.”

Comic Book Bin: “This comic book is like one big enchantment that draws me into the story. I guess I am not the only reader who wants to live in the world of this series.”

Comics the Gathering: 10/10 “This art team lays waste to so many other books. I can’t wrap my head around how they’re able to produce pages of this quality so quickly.”

Comix I Read: 4.5/5 “The new arc started very strong and I am very excited to conitnue reading WAYWARD for its Wayworld.”

Fandom Post: B+ “The book is definitely a welcome return to my reading schedule as Jim Zub handles the narration very well, making it engaging and interesting”

Horror Talk: 4/5 “Writer Jim Zub has an incredible talent for character development. Each of the students in Wayward feels like a real person.”

The Latest Pull: 8.5/10 “I went in to this book with a bit of cautious scepticism, but was pleasantly surprised by this new beginning and I expect good things in the future.”

Major Spoilers: 9/10 “Wayward #6, in particular, is a treat for readers of the series. We get to see the world, characters and magical elements we are familiar with, but through a fresh pair of eyes.”

Moar Powah: 4/5 “Wayward #6 brings in teases of what’s to come. We wonder what’s to become of our new and old protagonists.”

Outright Geekery: 10/10 ” So long as Jim Zub and Steve Cummings continue to deliver a great series, I will continue to recommend this series.”

Reading With a Flight Ring: “the characters and characterization is simply superb and demonstrates why I’ll follow Jim to whatever he writes”

Telltale Mind: 8/10 “With an ending to the story that can only be called mysterious, Zub and Cummings draw you back into this world and all that can be said is that it is good to be back.”

Third Eye Spotlight: “It’s great storytelling, great writing, and we can’t get enough.”

TM Stash: 9/10 “I have trouble deciding what impresses me more with this book – the exceptional script or the beautiful artwork”

Under the Comic Covers: “Another wonderfully paced issue. A great mix of mystery and action.”

We The Nerdy: 8.5/10 “The art too, is still fantastic. The battle at the end looks great, and some of the strange paranormal events that Ohara experiences are all great looking.”

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Comic Bastards: 10/10 “You have no excuse why this book isn’t in your life.”

Comics Alliance: “Skullkickers has been one of the great dark horse stories of the last few years, and it’s fantastic to see that it’s been able to go so long and maintain the fun”

Comix I Read: 4.5/5 “Skullkickers #31 channels the energy of a drunken game of D&D with your friends. It takes everything you love about the fantasy genre but throws in a laugh every half a second.”

Newsarama: 8/10 “This issue of Skullkickers, like those before it, makes a great example of how comics can be just fun and still be completely successful.”

Panel Culture: “Edwin Huang is just fantastic on these fight scenes. They’re dynamic, they’re fun, and Misty Coats’ colors are vibrant.”

Unleash the Fanboy: 9/10 “Equal parts lore, story and fun, Skullkickers #31 is a well-rounded stable issue that eagerly kicks back into the swing of things.”

Mega-Zub Comic Release Day!

Thanks to the shipping strike that happened in California and a couple printing delays a bunch of my comic titles have synced up, leading to the craziest new comic book day of my career so far:
6 new books from 4 different publishers all arriving in comic shops TODAY!

Yeah, it’s ridiculous.

Click on any of the covers below to read preview pages from each of the books:

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As always, thank you for your support!

Arriving in June: Skullkickers #100?!

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In June, Skullkickers comes to an end with the wrap-up of our sixth and final story arc “Infinite icons of the Endless Epic”. We didn’t want this momentous occasion to go unnoticed, so we decided to do what the other comic publishers do when they want to celebrate a big story event – we bull$#@&ted a big number on the cover because we could.

Here’s the June ordering solicitation:

SKULLKICKERS #100
story: JIM ZUB
art: EDWIN HUANG & MISTY COATS
cover: CHRIS STEVENS & ESPEN GRUNDETJERN
JUNE 24 / 40 PAGES / FC / T / $3.99

“INFINITE ICONS OF THE ENDLESS EPIC” Finale

ISSUE 100?! Hey, if other publishers can just slap any old number on a cover and call it an anniversary, then we want in on that action for our final issue.

Yup, this is the big finish. All skulls must be kicked.

Join us in sending off the series in style with a big 3-digit number and tweet with the hashtag #SK100 to let us know what happened in the 66 issues in between. The best entries get a place in Skullkickers history.

That’s right, we’re jumping straight to #100 to finish the series and are letting our fans fill in the 66 issue gap with the Twitter hashtag #SK100. Tell us in 140 characters a summary of what happened in an unpublished issue of Skullkickers (from #34-99) and the best ones will be listed in the back of our final issue. Anyone could be one tweet from their first Twitter comic writing credit.

So few creator-owned comics ever have an issue 100. We’re feeling quite honored to share this rarified air with Spawn, Savage Dragon, Walking Dead, and Invincible. It’s a milestone for creator-owned comics and we couldn’t do it without Image Comics and our dedicated fanbase.

Thank you for 34 100 issues of love and support.

Forces of Geek Interview: Conan, SK, and D&D

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The gang at Forces of Geek asked me all about Conan Red Sonja, Skullkickers, and Dungeons & Dragons: Legends of Baldur’s Gate, so we talk fantasy fun.

Creator-Owned Economics: The Changing Market

It’s been two and half years since I posted up my ‘Reality of Mainstream Creator-Owned Comics’ article that kicked off a furious online discussion about where money goes in the retail market and what creators are paid on small print run creator-owned comics. There’s rarely a week that goes by where someone isn’t linking to that article, tweeting at me about it, or otherwise asking for clarification about ‘how things work’.

Even when some people pointed to that article as ‘proof’ that Image Comics wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, Image stuck with me, kept publishing Skullkickers, and continued to make incredible strides in expanding the market for creator-owned comics. I’ve always been thrilled to have my creator-owned books published by Image because I knew why the company was formed and how it’s always worked: Creators are in complete control of their comics and they’re compensated based on its success.

The comic industry in 2015 is a very, very different place and a big part of that is thanks to Image Comics’s tireless efforts to show retailers and readers the strength of new ideas and new stories.

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SKULLKICKERS #1 (September 2010) and WAYWARD #1 (August 2014).

The Image model has always been about investing in yourself and reaping the benefits of that investment if sales are strong. I knew that going in with Skullkickers back in 2010 and, even when our sales were borderline unprofitable, I stuck with the series as a way to establish myself as a writer and show people our team could produce a high quality comic month after month. Now, four and a half years later, I’m seeing the benefits of that consistency and the growing creator-owned market with my new Image series called Wayward.

How much of a benefit? Well, let me show you…

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Wayward’s first five print issues have sold more than two and a half times as many as Skullkickers did over the same period 4 years earlier. As you might imagine, that’s an impressive jump and I think there are a bunch of reasons for that climb:

• Improved Visibility for Comics: Comics sales are growing in print and online, graphic novels are the buzz-worthy darlings of the book market, and comic-related movie and TV shows are more mainstream than ever. The ripple effect of that is a greater acceptance of comics from the general public and a more diverse fanbase looking for new stories.

• Image’s Success and Subsequent Growth: The success of the Walking Dead, Saga, Sex Criminals, and a host of other incredible titles have increased visibility and market share for Image. This is especially true with launch titles as readers and retailers look to these new series with excitement, hoping they’ll be on the ground floor for something special.

• My Career Growth: In 2010 I was practically an unknown creator in the mainstream comic market. Four years later I have quite a few other comic titles under my belt – Samurai Jack, Figment, Legends of the Dark Knight, Pathfinder, and a bunch of others. I’m not an industry powerhouse by any means, but the readers from those series seemed curious about what my next creator-owned title would be and jumped on board Wayward to check it out.

• Retailer Outreach: I’ve also done a ton of retailer outreach over the past four years. Having well regarded work is wonderful but only if retailers feel confident they can sell the books. As we headed towards the launch of Wayward, the crew at Image and I did a lot of communicating with retailers about the series, showing them exclusive artwork and previews, doing everything we could to prove to them that this was a series they could confidently sell to their customers. That lead to several comic shop and convention-exclusive variant covers for Wayward #1, bolstering our launch numbers by thousands of copies while creating extra interest in the series.

• Press Outreach: In the same vein, it’s a heck of a lot easier to get press coverage when you’re more established and we (Image’s PR crew and I) did a lot of press outreach as well to make sure Wayward was visible on every comic news and review site we could muster. The last couple months before the launch of issue one was a dizzying promotional tour of interviews, podcasts, exclusive sneak peeks, and more.

• The Series: Wayward is a very different series than Skullkickers. I love them both, but I’d be foolish not to note that Wayward as a concept is more inclusive and taps into a much larger potential readership than Skullkickers does. Cute supernatural teenage girls (surrounded by cats) kicking the shit out of monsters on the street of Tokyo plays to a bigger audience than a bro-centric slapstick violent D&D tale, especially in 2014-2015.

Okay, sale numbers are spiffy but how does that translate into relative profitability? Wait ‘til you see this…

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I know you’re looking at that bar chart and can’t fathom how 2.5 times the sales magically turns into 7.5 times the profit. Trust me, I’ll explain.

Here’s the real beauty of the Image model when it’s running at full steam and, as far as I know, it’s something no other creator-owned publisher can match: Image has a flat administrative fee for soliciting and releasing each issue of a series. That amount does not change no matter how much the issue sells. On a relatively low selling comic (like back in 2010 with Skullkickers #1) that base fee can eat up most of what’s left over after the printer, distributor, and retailer take their cut but, on a strong selling comic that amount stays the same and the issue becomes a lot more profitable. A lot.

This is why that pie chart from my original retail post doesn’t scale well to different print runs and doesn’t perfectly sync up with the Image model. A 5000 copy comic has a very, very different money breakdown than one that sells 10k or more. Printing large quantities of something vastly decreases the cost per copy. The “price per unit” drops and the profitability per copy increases, but Image’s base fee doesn’t change.

Each issue and cover breaks down differently in terms of percentages/costs, but here is an approximate rundown of how our best one fared, WAYWARD #1 Cover A:
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As you can see, it’s a seismic difference from the chart I posted in 2012 based on a much lower print run/lower sales.

Skullkickers #1 went through three printings, but each one was a small run, which made the “per unit” cost quite high on each issue. Wayward #1’s first printing was a much, much larger run done all at once and, in turn, the profitability of that first issue was geometrically larger. A lot more copies printed, a lot more sold, and each one cost a lot less to produce, making us a lot more money when it was all said and done.

Cranking up that profitability even further, Image has been able to leverage their increased market share and larger print runs to aggressively keep their printing and shipping costs low even as their sales increase, leaving even more money for creators after the fees are covered.

You might look at that chart and imagine Steve Cummings (the artist and co-creator of Wayward) and I pelting each other with giant wads of cash, but it’s not like that. What those numbers mean is that we’re thankfully in the black right from our first issue, which is obviously where we want to be. Steve gets to make drawing Wayward his full time job (I’m still teaching at a local art college and freelance writing), and the color flatter, colorist, and letterer all get paid without me having to dig into my personal savings (like I do on Skullkickers). On top of that I can finally put some money into my “war chest” for convention travel and future creator-owned projects. If sales continue strongly I’ll make extra payments on my mortgage so I can be debt free that much faster.

It’s a solid start and miles ahead of where I was in 2010, but that doesn’t mean we can rest on our laurels. Strong launch numbers are one thing, but finding a loyal sustained readership is our long term goal and that requires a lot of work. By the time our first arc ended, Wayward seemed to be settling into a reasonable sales bracket, now we have to do everything we can to try and stay in that stable sales range over the long haul.

Image is bolstering our chances by releasing Wayward Vol. 1: String Theory on March 25th as a value-priced $9.99 trade paperback. We’ll make less money per copy on that first volume, but it’s a very smart way to increase our readership as retailers up their orders, new readers give the series a shot at a sweet price point, and current readers ideally pick up the collection for themselves or buy it as a gift for their friends (Pssst~ Have you pre-ordered your copy yet?).

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Our standard TPB cover and the Emerald City Comicon exclusive hardcover.

We’re also releasing Wayward #6, the first issue of our second story arc, on the same day as our volume 1 trade paperback as a way to create extra sales synergy. Savvy retailers can bundle both together to get readers on board the new storyline, hopefully leading to additional subscriptions for their pull files.

On top of that, Steve suggested we create a series of connecting covers for our second story arc and I happily went along with the idea (leaving the logistics of that artistic monstrosity to him and Tamra, our kick ass colorist). We’re hoping fans will want to keep buying the single issues to create a sweeping 5 issue cover panorama. Here’s how the first three covers (issues #6-8) look when they’re connected together:

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Quality, consistency, and outreach. With a bit of luck those three things will convince retailers and readers to stick with us.

At the same time, Skullkickers is heading into its final story arc. Financially it’s always been a bit rocky but it’s proving robust with a long tail of digital and collection sales and has a strong audience online as a serialized webcomic. It’s the project that pushed my comic writing career to the next level and I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done. Nothing else I’ve worked on since then would have happened without it.

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If we maintain our current production schedule on Wayward we’ll have two trade paperbacks out and be starting our third story arc in time for Christmas 2015. Skulkickers’ final arc, final trade paperback, and final deluxe hardcover will arrive before Christmas as well.

At each step we’ll be juggling solicitations 5-6 months ahead, scripting 3-4 months ahead, line art 2-3 months ahead, coloring 1-2 months ahead and letter proofing a few weeks before each issue heads to print. It’s a relentless game of “Scheduling Tetris” but, when the momentum is rolling, I actually enjoy it. There’s a constant influx of inspiration as line art and coloring samples pop into my inbox almost every morning. It reminds me that all of us on the team are working hard to create something that wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for our efforts and the support of amazing retailers and readers like you. I love creating comics and want to keep this dream rolling as long as I can, learning more about the craft and business, year after year.

In the end, I think that’s what creator-owned comics are all about – charting your own destiny and growing creatively with each new project.

If you found this post interesting, feel free to let me know here (or on Twitter), share the post with your friends and consider buying some of my comics, donating to my Patreon, or buying comics from me in person if you see me at a convention.

Skullkickers Interview on Dynamic Forces

The gang at Dynamic Forces interview me about the final arc of SKULLKICKERS. We talk a bit about five years of fantasy fun and what comes next.

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Skullkickers #33 Solicitation

Arriving in May. Pre-order now!

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SKULLKICKERS #33
story: JIM ZUB
art: EDWIN HUANG & MISTY COATS
cover: EDWIN HUANG & JEFF “CHAMBA” CRUZ
MAY 27 / 32 PAGES / FC / T / $3.50

“INFINITE ICONS OF THE ENDLESS EPIC” Part Three

Double, double, toil and trouble… heroes burn and dimensions bubble!

This issue has the second of two connecting gatefold covers by Edwin Huang and Jeff “Chamba” Cruz. Get this one and the previous month’s issue to put together the ultimate Skullkickers battle panorama!

Creator-Owned in 2015

Just posted a comment on Heidi MacDonald’s new article about Image creator-owned financials in 2012 VS 2015: http://www.comicsbeat.com/comics-pay-how-much/

Once I get the financial breakdown for Wayward #5 I’ll post a comparison of Wayward #1-5 + Skullkickers #1-5. The short version: Five years has changed a LOT.

Image is in a completely different place with a much bigger market share and footprint in comic shops, book stores, and digital sales. The audience for new creator-owned series has expanded thanks to the Walking Dead, Saga, Sex Criminals and a host of other Image hits. On top of that, my own career/visibility has grown along with my retailer and press contacts, making it easier to get the word out.

Put that all together and Wayward is much, much more financially viable/stable than Skullkickers has ever been. That’s not a knock on SK. Skullkickers is the bedrock of my comic writing career and established the path I’m now on. It’s O.Z. (Original Zub).

Wayward is not making dump trucks of money but it’s financially viable right from the get-go and hopefully grows from there with TPB/digital. Steve Cummings gets to make Wayward his day job and we build on strong reviews and retailer support hoping to find Chew-like stability.

100% control, 100% ownership + the best possible pay day if a series succeeds.
Image has the creator-owned deal to beat, especially in 2015.

When some people read my original financial article they get the misinformed idea I don’t like the Image deal. Not true at all. I say it right in there:
“Writing/Creating Skullkickers and being published by Image Comics is a thrill and an honor.”

I entered the market in 2010 as a virtual unknown with a sword & sorcery-comedy in a market that was playing grim, serious, and superhero-y. Even against those odds we garnered good buzz and have slowly built a following, especially in long tail digital and TPB sales.

Skullkickers was/is an investment in myself and the incredible opportunities that have come from doing it have been overwhelmingly positive. Those charts/figures don’t translate that. They don’t tell the story of establishing writing credibility and owning something I’m proud of. Legends of the Dark Knight, Samurai Jack, Pathfinder, Dungeons & Dragons, Figment, and a bunch more all because that ball started at Image.

But even if those work-for-hire opportunities didn’t come along, it was (and is) still worth it because it’s my story brought to life. When someone says Skullkickers or Wayward is great I know they wouldn’t exist at all without our team’s dedication. It’s hard for me to express how proud that makes me.

I post about the financial realities and difficulties because I don’t want creators to go in starry-eyed and expecting insta-riches.

Be informed, roll up your sleeves and get to work. Make something you’re proud of and learn from each new project, successful or not.

Okay, went a bit buck there., Thanks for listening.
Also, pre-order Wayward Vol. 1 so I can keep on keeping on. 😛

Skullkickers #32 Solicitation

Arriving in April… Pre-order now!

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SKULLKICKERS #32
story: JIM ZUB
art: EDWIN HUANG & MISTY COATS
cover: EDWIN HUANG & JEFF “CHAMBA” CRUZ

APRIL 29 / 32 PAGES / FC / T / $3.50

“INFINITE ICONS OF THE ENDLESS EPIC,” Part Two
Monster mashers, elder evil, and now deadly demons… Everyone’s invited for the brawl at the end of it all!

This issue has the first of two connecting gatefold covers by EDWIN HUANG & JEFF “CHAMBA” CRUZ. Get this one and next month’s issue to put together the ultimate Skullkickers battle panorama!

Skullkickers Minis Now Part of the Rum & Bones Kickstarter!

The Skullkickers have just been announced as part of the Rum & Bones board game Kickstarter! They’re an exclusive set of 5 figures (complete with their own character-centric rules) only available as part of the Kickstarter pre-order process.

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Rum & Bones is the new pirate-themed board game by Cool Mini Or Not, creators of ‘Zombicide’, one of my absolute favorite board games. I’ve been singing the praises of Zombicide for a couple years now and when I had a chance to meet the Cool Mini crew at Gen Con we talked about the possibility of teaming up in the future. Once they started work on Rum & Bones, we both felt it would be a great way to use the SK cast, especially since we had a pirate story of our own in Volume 3, ‘Six Shooter on the Seven Seas’.

As you can see, the character archetypes from Skullkickers marry themselves well to the Rum & Bones play style and the miniature sculpts look awesome!

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If you’re a board game fan or Skullkickers fan I hope you’ll click through to check out Rum & Bones (which wraps up pre-orders on December 28th) and tell your friends about it too. I can’t wait to battle it out with our very own skullkicking pirate crew!

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