Mishler’s Manifesto

In the latest issue of Comics & Games Retailer, editor James Mishler makes an excellent point about one of the big differences between selling comics and selling games. These days, people buy comics because of the writers and artists involved with a particular book. With games, few people have any idea who the creators are.

Some comics creators have attained rock-star status. Much of this happened on the merits of their own talents, of course, but also because the comic-book companies realized that this could be a strong selling point for them. Sure, Batman books sell all right, but put names like Frank Miller and Jim Lee on a Batman book (All-Star Batman and Robin), and it sets records as the best-selling book of the new millennium.

With games, that’s impossible to pull off. Only a few noted creators have earned instant name recognition, but even then their names don’t always guarantee big sales. James argues that this has harmed the game industry. At the very least, the publishers have missed a huge opportunity.

I tend to agree with him, although I’ve seen publishers work the fame angle well. Back at Pinnacle, we used to make a huge splash at Gen Con every summer. When we released Deadlands: Hell on Earth and Brave New World, we had lines that sprawled around our island of booths and beyond. At the Brave New World launch, I signed well north of 250 copies of the core book.

At the last Wizard World Chicago, though, I sat behind Jim Lee in the DC autographs booth and watched him sign books for nearly an hour. Jim handled himself like the perfect gentleman he is as he signed stacks and stacks of stuff, posed for pictures, shook hands, and more. However, you had to have a wristband to get into line, and even then they limited the signing to an hour so that Jim could make it to other events at the show.

It stunned me. I sat there and stared, soaking in the reflected limelight. Jim’s a true talent, no doubt, but an amazing cult of personality exists around him, and every one of those fans stood on its front lines.

And, man, does it help sell books. Games too? Hard to tell, but it’s worth a shot.

WizKids Update

According to ICv2.com, WizKids laid off 15 of its 65 employees back on June 8. A few of my friends felt the axe, although since they’re not speaking loudly about it, I won’t name them here. Still, if you’re looking to hire some fine game designers, there are a number of them floating around out there these days.

It seems WizKids did the best they could in a tough situation, offering decent severance packages and expressing some heartfelt regret at the situation. The layoffs took place on June 8, and I didn’t hear about it until June 19.

Now that’s some loyalty for you. The people who lost their jobs were willing to keep their mouths shut about it for more than a week and a half, until the company posted its own press release about the matter. While these things are always hard, it sounds like WizKids managed it well. Here’s hoping that all of their ex-employees manage to find more work soon.

Illektron v. Playmates Toys

A company called Illektron–which made a collectible card game called Battlez–has filed suit against Playmates Toys over the trademark for Battle Dice. I’m still poring through the PDFs of the court documents to see exactly what this is all about. (You can get these and the original press release about the lawsuit by clicking on the “News Wire” running scroll in the lower left corner of the Battlez site.)

No comment until then. As I might be called as a witness by either side, I’ll probably have little comment either way.

I just wanted to let you know that I do know about the situation. Also, since it seems to be over the trademarks for the games, it shouldn’t affect me directly. (Let’s hope!)

WizKids Reorganizes

According to a press release posted on GamingReport.com, WizKids has “reorganized.” This means some good people have lost their jobs.

Without being on the inside, it’s impossible to know what the reasons for this are: poor sales, meddling by a corporate parent, or something else entirely. The management team at WizKids is filled with good people, and I know this can’t have been an easy decision for them to make.

Here’s best wishes to all those who were laid off–and all those left behind.

Queen of Death for Halloween

It’s official. The Queen of Death–the final novel in my Eberron trilogy (The Lost Mark series)–is due out in October rather than December. That means cutting two full months out of that long, dreary waiting season that falls between novels. Plus, it means it’ll be out just in time for Halloween, which seems fitting for a trilogy that centers so much upon death.

Cathy’s Books Sells Out?

Monday’s New York Times featured an article on Cathy’s Book, the new blend between novel and alternate reality game created by Jordan Weisman and Sean Stewart. Apparently Cover Girl has arranged for product placement in the book in exchange for promoting it on BeingGirl.com, a website for adolescent girls.

According to ICv2.com, Commercial Alert–an organization which “protect communities from commercialism”–sent an e-mail out to newspaper and magazine editors, asking them to not review the book. They object not to the book’s content but the paid (or bartered) placement of products within it.

While I understand Commercial Alert’s point, I think they’re off-base here. The fact that I known Jordan and Sean probably colors my opinion, but it’s naïve to think that the book isn’t meant as a commercial venture in the first place. To alter inconsequential bits of the book to increase its marketing exposure seems like a brilliant move on the authors’ part. As long as they’re above board about it–which they’ve been–I don’t see much harm.

Conan Film Finds Auteur

As ICv2.com reports, the upcoming Conan movie has a confirmed writer/director: Boaz Yakin. Yakin wrote The Punisher and directed Remember the Titans. While this will be his first fantasy film, I have high hopes that Yakin will bring us the Conan film we’ve all been waiting for.

In a perhaps-not-strange bit of coincidence, Tom Jane, who starred in Punisher, now has the lead role in another movie coming from the same producers behind the Conan film: The Mutant Chronicles.

Tim Hildebrandt Dies

Tim Hildebrandt, one half of the identical twins known as the Brothers Hildebrandt, died on June 11 due to complications from diabetes. I never knew Tim (or his brother Greg), but I loved their artwork from an early age. Their renditions of Tolkien’s words brought Middle-earth to life for me as a kid, and they defined fantasy artwork in my mind. As a writer, I can only hope I can craft stories half as vivid as the images, Tim and Greg created together.