BY JENNIFER M. CONTINO
Bluewater Production's Darren G. Davis tells THE PULSE all about how the state of the economy is affecting his publishing house, teases a few new projects and details why he thinks "this medium will be gone" ....

THE PULSE: What has the past year been like for Bluewater Productions with the state of the economy and all? How hard have you been hit by what's going on in the rest of the world?

DARREN G. DAVIS: Bluewater has seen its numbers dwindle, I wish I could blame it on the economy, but in early '90s comics sold millions. Now people are struggling to get 150,000. So something is going wrong across the board. Is it video game sales, or even multiple covers? Who knows. Diamond blames it on the economy, but then raises the bar for sales. The indie market is going to be gone soon. We try not to depend on sales of the Diamond Comics. We look at other avenues to generate income - from ad sales to digital comic sales. If people don't start thinking about this, than this medium will be gone. You look at the top films this year THE DARK KNIGHT and IRON MAN and comic sales have not gone up because of those.

When I started publishing at Image Comics in 2001, we launched 10th Muse as the sixth highest selling comics. We had to sell at least 9,000 copies to break-even back then. It is insane that Indies are scrapping to sell 1,000 copies. I want this industry to start growing again. It is going to take work from all of us.

We do so much press (at least one a week) call retailers, get reviews, get national coverage for some of our properties like Hillary Clinton being on CNN, William Shatner on Entertainment Tonight. I am dumbfounded at the numbers of the book. I really wish I could attribute it to bad art or horrible story telling. But we really try to put out a polished piece of work on time. Bluewater does not flood the market. Each book we do is a different demographic.

I look at some of our titles and laugh when I get the numbers, Blackbeard Legacy did 800 copies. Ray Harryhausen: The Elementals did 1,200 copies. Even when I published at Alias we were selling 4,000 copies (which I thought was bad). It is insane.


In the indie movie world, huge celebrities will do indie films. Why won't the big comic names help out and do covers for people for under $4,000. Something has to happen - and most of the comic celebrities started in Indies. I have one artist (Jason Metcalf) who told me that he will always do covers for Indies, it is his way of giving back. It was the nicest gesture, and this guy is going to be a big star in comics.

We are bringing back the T&A into our comics. It was said to me to do that because that would help sales. So that is why you will see Isis, 10th Muse, Judo Girl and Valkyrie coming back. We will always do it tasteful. I look at an amazing book called Bartholomew of the Scissors -- we did and it sold 325 copies. It got amazing review from huge sites. The art was like nothing you have ever seen - it was done on wood and, instead of pencils, he used a wood burning kit.

There are a bunch of reviewers out there that want to rip you to shreds. We sent out the wrong press release which had a bunch of typos. It was posted and we fixed it. We made a mistake....then every press release we send out is posted on there for people to find the mistakes. I am not the best copy editor in the world and sometimes I have a hard time putting commas in places....but for Publishers Weekly to put this on the blog is insane.

I had a friend of mine who works for one of the biggest newspapers in the US go through there posting/blogs and lets just say those in glass houses should not toss stones. Is it Publishers Weekly's place to humiliate publishers in public. I hate message boards and really do not answer them.

Joe Public can write anything slanderous about you and then we have to believe what they say is the gospel. So I do not even respond to comments about me or Bluewater. I think if you have problems with people, it should be handled like adults and not hidden behind a fake screen name. These things are what is hurting comics.

We got national press in OK MAGAZINE, GEEK, STARLOG, THE WASHINGTON POST, LA TIMES - but I'd love it if we got more press on comics newssites.

THE PULSE: Well ... the negativity does hurt comics, but there's also the flip side where some people say any kind of press is good press. How do you feel about that?

DAVIS: I used to think that, but being on the side of bad press sometimes stings. We are all human and have feelings. I have a thick skin when it comes to the books but when people start attacking your character when they do not know you - it is not right. I have learned there are two sides to every story.


It also has to do with the source. When we get reviews from people we do take them for a grain of salt, depending on who is reviewing it. It seems like everyone now can be a reviewer. Their reviews do not have to be good, but they should be well thought out. Just not "this book sucks".

Comments on boards can be really hurtful too - this is the main reason we do not have message boards ... one they get filled with porn messages ... [laughs]. And the other is because you get people in there to bash others. It is hard to monitor everything. What people do not realize is that stuff said in message boards can be used as libel and slanderous. If you have something to say then say it and have the confidence to stand by it. Don't hide behind an avatar.

We have gotten a lot of bad press with some of the choices we have made. As a publisher I am not going to say what we did is perfect - but I do stand by the decisions.

THE PULSE: So, you mentioned going back to sexier covers. Do you have some kind of track record that proves covers like that sell more comics?

DAVIS: That's what Diamond says is selling right now for indies. We do not want to push the envelope like Avatar does. I think there is a niche for that market, but we want to do the strong independent woman that was the basis of this company. Isis and VSS have always been a top seller for us.


THE PULSE: Why can't you just publish your comics on cheaper paper, lower the price, then use the good paper for the trades? Don't you think you'd sell more comics that way?

DAVIS: If people are spending $3.99 on a book they want quality. When I was at ALIAS they had the best looking paper quality of any comic out there. We followed the same guidelines. We could go to newsprint like the older days. I think that is a good point and something that has to be looked at across the board with the industry. I will talk to the printer after the new year! As long as the final product looks good, I am open! We were trying to go green with our printing which is more expensive than what is now.



THE PULSE: Well what I was saying is you wouldn't have to charge the $3.99. Go back to the good old days, print your books on the cheaper paper, make comics a disposable medium, then, for your trades, go full force and present a nice collection ....

DAVIS: I would 100% agree on that and we would lower the price of the books. But I still think it is a collectors market and now the disposable medium is the internet. Places like Wowio where you can read the books for free.


THE PULSE: I don't know. I still think hardcore comics fans like to hold the book in their hands. Speaking of collections, if you're having trouble selling the singles, why not just go the collected route all along?

DAVIS: I am one of the hard-core fans that goes to the comic store every Weds. I like to read comics, but new readers are different and just want the quick fix and read them online. We have had over 100,000 reads in the last month on GEARZ alone. But the title sold under 1,000 copies. I think selling singles gets the press that we spoke about. We did a title called Lost Raven as an Original Graphic Novel and it was an uphill sell. If we did not sell 1,000 copies to Yale University this book would of died.

Single issues gives you marketing. Each month to be in Previews, we are trying to create brands. We watched Atomic-Pop Art fall because they went with the trade paperback route. The numbers going with original stories is a bigger risk because you want the single issues for people to sample your product before they commit to a high priced trade.


THE PULSE: But with your established sellers like Isis or VSS or any other title, why not go for the trade? It would seem that would save you money in the long run ...


DAVIS: We just did the trades for Judo Girl and VSS and the numbers came back really soft. We are trying to get books into the libraries (those titles would not be good for them). We are also now breaking into the big chain stores. Trades are more expensive to produce and you have to over print a lot because you always get reorders. Barnes and Noble and Borders will not pick up independent titles until they have a final product in their hand. They will not take galleys of the books. So taking that gamble is hard that they will pick it up.



THE PULSE: Ah, I see. You seem to have rights to create comics on a lot of eclectic projects. How did you get the chance to do a comic on Hillary Clinton and the Ray Harryhausen library and others ...?

DAVIS: For most of them we just asked - then put together a proposal of what we wanted to do. With Ray Harryhausen we had the contact signed within 2 weeks of meeting him at a signing for one of his books. A friend of mine Craig Nevius, who created Black Scorpion did the introductions to William Shatner and Roger Corman. I met Craig because he was working with Farrah Facwett and tried getting her to be the model for a 1970's version of the 10th Muse.

We did an image of Farrah in the famous poster but in the 10th Muse costume. I have a copy of this signed by Farrah on my wall. From there we starting talking about comics and other things we can do together. That is how the Shatner and Corman stuff came alive. With Lionsgate I used to work there doing marketing for the home video dept. I worked on Leprechaun and Warlock and wanted to do something with them. So I asked them.

It really is about putting yourself out there and just talking to the people you want to do stuff with. As for Hillary Clinton and the other Female Force books - these are unauthorized biographies. We do know from the grapevine that Sarah Palin knows about hers and is excited about it. We have been covered on CNN with these.

These are unbiased books on strong independent women who have made a difference in society. The next round of them will be women in the media. We do have some other people we are looking to work with soon. We have some big announcements coming!

We contacted Vincent Price's daughter and she loved the idea of doing something with her father's legacy. In 2010 the estate is doing a bunch of stuff for what would of been his 100th birthday. We wanted this title to reflect his body of work. Each issue is a stand alone one shot where Vincent Price acts as host. As a kid this man scared me! So I wanted to give this book the same feel...not gore horror but gothic horror.


THE PULSE: How well have some of your licensed properties been doing?

DAVIS: The license stuff does a lot better than the non licensed comics. We pushed a new title called Waterbury really hard and it was canceled by Diamond. Ret Rommane was the same - that was an amazing book by the guy that did Flying Saucers Vs The Earth. You need the extra marketing tie-ins to make a book work these days. Having a good story and art is not enough anymore (being an independent). I pick up previews each month and get sad at all the good books from other companies that never came out.


THE PULSE: Yeah. It seems like feast or famine times. So, as publisher, how do you decide which projects to take a chance on, especially when the pickins seem to be slim?

DAVIS: We really do not take on other people's properties at this point. There is a lot of amazing books that come across my desk that I have to say no too. It is too much of a risk to do these at this point. The only way we do creator owned books is if you are currently working with us. It is sort of an added value for the people I work with.

But those titles are an uphill battle for them - Rat Romanne was cancelled by Diamond and that was a creator owned book. I also look at all the marketing that the Pistolfist guys did which the book sold under 1,000 copies. I have never seen anyone do as much marketing in comics. The book was reviewed well which makes me bummed it did not do well.


We also try not to release more than five titles a month which do not compete with each other. I really do not want to flood the market. I saw what Speakeasy and Alias did to flood the market with books, we really want to make sure to pick books that fit into the Bluewater Universe.


THE PULSE: What's it like to be working with someone like William Shatner ...?

DAVIS: It is an honor to work with these icons. When we do the books with these people, we do it more than a liecese. We want to make sure that they are involved in the comics. William Shatner is such a talented creator. He really does give us notes on all the books we are doing. He tells us to change things when he does not agree with them.

The book I am looking forward too is his fourth title. I can't say anything about it until Free Comic Book Day, but it is a title that he is creating just for Bluewater. We are in the process of developing it. The deal with Shatner is more like a partnership than a license. We have a great team of writers and artists on these books (Tek War, Man O' War and Quest for Tomorrow).

We are putting the Bluewater polish on all of these. What we learned is that the Marvel comics Tek War as well as the TV show was different from the novels. We are bringing it back to the way the novels were. These will not be apparitions of the books - more a continuation of the novels. If you have not gotten a chance to see his new show on the Biography Channel called "Shatner's Raw Nerve" you are missing a good show!

THE PULSE: Speaking of a good show, anything exclusive you can tell our readers about some of your upcoming plans?

DAVIS: William Shatner is going to be a big part of Free Comic Book Day with Diamond. We are talking about doing a bunch of stuff with him and Diamond to promote FCBD.


Another thing is we are developing a series like DC's Brave and the Bold (one of my favorite comic series of all time) with the 10th Muse. It will feature a bunch of other independent characters Mike Baron's Badger, Image Comics: Bomb Queen & DemonSlayer. We had good success in the past with our crossovers with Shi, Savage Dragon and Tellos. We thought that the War of the Independent idea was brilliant. I hope it comes off the ground!

THE PULSE: Anything else you'd like to leave our readers with?

DAVIS: I want to sawy what we are doing to help out the comic industry. What Bluewater is doing to help out the industry is by getting kids to pick up comics. We do a lot of libraries tours and teach kids how to be create without knowing how to draw. I think Free Comic Book Day is a brilliant idea to get people back into the stores. Readership keeps going down and we need to do something to unite the industry.

We have always tried to bring in new readers, whether is was having Sable from the WWE as the photo model to the Sarah Palin comics. These are books designed for comic readers of today but also a way to drive interest from people that do not collect comics. We think if you get someone into the store they will pick up other books too.

We have a blog with a new comic writer (who mainly did films in the past) for an upcoming book called THE CLAW & THE FANG. We are trying something different with this book. We want people to see it from the creation to the final product. So people understand what it takes to create a comic book. We will be posting images/pages and notes from this book once a week. Sort of like an online reality show! Then the final book will be out this summer.

We are also running ads in our comics for non-profits like Alliance to Save Energy, Rockthevote.com PETA, Evergreen AIDS Foundation. We want to give back to society.

We also try to offer the reader of our books more than the traditional 22 page story. The Vincent Price one shots have 24 pages of story with pinups and info about the master of horror. In the upcoming Quartermain series we will have journal entrees from Alan Quatermain. With the Ray Harryhausen titles, we put some of his original art in the books. We always want to make sure people are getting the most for their money.

http://www.bluewatercomics.com

I say this as a loyal Bluewater buyer/reader, and someone who thought Darren Davis was one of the nicest guys I met the last time I was at SDCC:

There's really only one reason Bluewater's numbers have been dwindling since the beginning (and I mean the VERY beginning):

You left Image.

And then months later you popped up at Avatar........

And dissapeared just as quickly from there with issues never finished........

Then popped up at Alias, having to then deal with the backlash of having someone considered by most on the internet (and industry) a homophobic Christian zealot be the majority of your financial backing who then dedided to screw over EVERYONE at his company by saying he wanted to only do Christian faith based material (after allegedly dropping people from the comapny based on their sexual prefrences)..........

To now publishing Bluewater on your own terms (though you're now the one willing to finance the zealot rather than the other way around. It does speak toward loyalty toward the individual and that should always be commended).

So 4 comic companies going backwards from major company, to midlevel company, to the minor leagues.

Again, you're wondering what's wrong?

Your small number of loyalists (myself included) will continue to buy the books no matter what, but the answer to your questions is just way too easy to figure out.

Now if we can get that last issue of Tiger & Crane........... :-)

Thanks for the continued support. A couple years ago Bluewater was just a comic book producer - so we looked for different venues to publish through. Image, Avatar and Alias. We also did not want to put all our eggs in one basket - so we also produced books for Arcana. After ALIAS went away - we decided to get into the publishing game.

Bluewater is in it for the long run. We are making sure not to flood the market and really pick books that fit with the Bluewater quality.

As for leaving Image comics - we left for one reason, we wanted to grow and Image wanted us only to do 2 books. A lot of people left for the same reason at the same time. Devil's Due, Red Star, Hurricane and others. Even the Image Comics series are not doing well. Before we started to self publish Image passed on 10th Muse - saying it was a bad girl book and Wrath of the Titans. I was kinda surprised by this. I am 100% happy with self publishing now - The upcoming stuff you will see from will be back to the basics of what made us. I think we got lost with some of our titles - but we had to try things to see how they would work.

We helped a friend out with Tiger and Crane - so we are waiting on issue #4 as well. We are making sure if we do creator owned books that they are 100% done.

Thanks again for the continued support!
Darren
www.bluewaterprod.com

The direct market is a frustrating place at the moment and the Indies are feeling the brunt of it. You only need to look at this months copy of Previews, somewhat lighter than usual, to see where the majority of the cuts have taken place.
Diamond have played and continue to play a big part in the eventual demise of the Independents which is very sad and which is ultimately going to lead to far reaching repercussions for the big publishers also. If anything the independent books have improved tremendously over the years and most are polished and professional in every capacity. It's not because they are bad stories or have bad art, it's because the direct market is on its knees and will continue in this direction until something gives.
Digital is currently the way forward, and there are a couple of Indie-friendly distributors and outlets which we all hope will help the cause.
Huge respect to the pros who continue to support the Indies, after all didn't every single creator start their comic careers there? Where is the new talent going to come from?
Darren Davis is a stand-up hard working guy with great ideas, and as long as there are guys out there like him then surely there has to be some hope for us all?
I certainly hope so, because it would be a travesty if it continues in the direction it is currently going in.
Darren, best of luck and keep fighting the good fight.

What a crappy little con game the whole "Christian" thing has always been.

And making them look even more stupid, the attitude that most "Christians" have regarding "turning the other cheek" is to cut off the heads of all non-Christians.

So if they're having problems, they're getting exactly what they deserve. Karma beats "Christians" every time, baby!