But here is what this initiative will do. It will create a new demographic – girls that will grow up knowing Batgirl, Wonder Woman, Katana and other DC characters. Girls that will be able to not hunt around to find the scraps of representation that they have received over the past fews years – the book here, the Playskool pre-school toy here. It will create an expectation that girls are superheroes too and I know it because I grew up with them.
There’s a folksy saying that applies here “You don’t write a check you can’t cash.”
Yesterday’s announcement was a check. It’s a major investment. And Warner Bros and DC Entertainment and Mattel and Lego and Random house are investing. Big time. They are writing the check.
And the cashee? A new generation of comic readers who will not accept token appearances and a “cooties” world of comics. **
And when they get to comic book reading age? There will more of them. The size of the female audience is growing. We know that. Digital is changing it and we’ve seen both DC Comics and Marvel, who I was once told would NEVER market to women, now talk about women as a desired demographic.
Toys, books and Batman EVERYWHERE has been a pipeline to new comic readers for years. But that desired reader wasn’t girls. Boys have had this stuff for years. Now girls will. That will change comics.
That said, I fully expect Marvel/Disney’s inevitable response to be reported with “FINALLY SOMEONE IS DOING SUPERHEROES FOR GIRLS” headlines, just as the Captain Marvel movie announcement, made two weeks after Warners announced Wonder Woman, was given the “I can’t believe no-one’s ever announced a superhero movie starring a woman before! Marvel are so groundbreaking!” treatment.
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Christina Hendricks (Joan Holloway): Matt was always telling the actors secrets about their characters. One day, in the early stages of filming the first season, Matt took me aside and told me that, in the Mad Men universe, Joan would eventually die by getting eaten by a shark in the year 2131, when she is 200 years old. He also told me that Joan knew that this was how she was going to die, and that she didn’t care.
Matthew Weiner: Joan knows that a shark is going to eat her on her 200th birthday, and it doesn’t bother her at all. Every evening, she gets a phone call from a wizard in the middle of the night, and the wizard says, “A shark will swallow you when you are ancient,” and Joan always says, “So fucking what? I can’t wait.” The reason why Joan is destined to live until she is 200 years old is because her father accidentally ran over the wizard in his car, so the wizard put a curse on his daughter. This backstory informs every aspect of Joan’s character, even though it’s only hinted at a few times over the course of the show.
An artist on 2000 AD’s Free Comic Book Day comic has donated part of his fee to the fund supporting Norm Breyfogle, who was due to make his Judge Dredd debut in the title.
Norm suffered a stroke in December last year, which left one of the industry’s most talented artists facing months of therapy and large medical bills.
Everyone at 2000 AD is delighted to hear reports that the former Batman artist is making headway in his recovery and his replacement on the strip, Mike Hawthorne, has arranged with 2000 AD to donate part of his fee to the fund set up to pay for Norm’s care and physical therapy.
Mike said: ‘Judge Dredd is a character I’ve long wanted to illustrated, so I was absolutely thrilled when 2000 AD offered it to me, but getting this job under these circumstances made the gig bitter sweet. This job, by all rights, should have been Norm’s. I felt immediately that, if I was to take this book, the only right thing to do was to share some of the pay with Norm. So, with the help of the folks at 2000 AD, I made a donation of one full page towards Norm’s medical fund. I only wish I could have given him more.’
On
May 1st, 2015, Oni Press will be opening submissions to the public. We
are on the hunt for new stories from new creators, featuring characters
that reflect the diversity of the world around us. Oni Press has always
valued content and execution, and we are looking for creators and
projects that can support our goal to publish excellent, varied and
original work.
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:
PITCHES
– Cartoonists and writers, we’re looking for pitches. If you’re a
cartoonist who can write and draw we’d love to see what you have.
Writers, this is the day you’ve been waiting for—we
are looking at story pitches without necessitating an artist attached.
If you already have an artist lined up you think is up to snuff,
fantastic! But if you’re a writer who needs help finding an artist, if
your pitch is THAT good, we will help partner you up.
PORTFOLIOS
– Illustrators and colorists! If you think your work is up to snuff and
you are looking to be paired up and you think your artwork would fit in
amongst some of the best storytellers in comics, now is your chance to
prove it.
WHO SHOULD SUBMIT:
Anyone with a unique perspective and a firm grasp of the comics medium.
WHAT WE WANT TO SEE:
An excellent sense of storytelling and well-developed characters with a definite perspective.
WHAT ASSOCIATE EDITOR ARI YARWOOD WANTS TO SEE:
I got my start in literary journals and feminist pop culture critique (shoutout to Bitch).
I’m looking for complicated and nuanced characters with a developed
perspective. I want to see diversity and originality, and I want stories
with underrepresented characters—all I had in my formative years was Livejournal and The L Word, and no one should have to rely on The L Word to
see themselves reflected in media. I’m a big fantasy, sci-fi, romance,
and literary fiction fan, but most of all I want to read something I
haven’t seen before. My favorite movie is Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, because life is a rich tapestry.
WHAT EDITOR ROBIN HERRERA WANTS TO SEE:
I
started off in the YA/Children’s book world and I think that world has a
lot of crossover with the comics world in terms of story and execution.
I want fully-realized characters (not necessarily “strong” or even
“likable”) with agency and direction. I want unique perspectives and
different takes. I’m into a lot of different genres: high fantasy,
science fiction, contemporary, literary, romance, coming-of-age, and
anything that has to do with weird food-based Battle Royales. Or Battle
Royales in general. (I wrote my graduate thesis about point of view
choices in Battle Royale and The Hunger Games.)
WHAT SENIOR EDITOR CHARLIE CHU WANTS TO SEE:
The
biggest thing I would like to see from incoming submissions is more
diversity in not only the voices we publish, but also the kinds of
stories and characters in our books. For too long a period of time,
we’ve seen way too much of the same ideas from the same narrowing
demographic of creator get pitched to us, and the only way to change
that is to evolve the pool of creators we are talking to. If you are a
female writer or artist, someone who identifies as a person of color, or
LGTBQ, consider this an invitation and please come pitch us. We’re not
looking for affirmative action in our books by any means, but with the
readership growing larger by day, it’s important we find space for new
voices who bring new ideas to the table while still maintaining the same
level of pop appeal that defines the Oni Press library. As the tentpole
and genre focused member of editorial, I’m hoping to find fast-paced
and ambitious books that center around grounded, believable characters
with the same diversity as the world we live in, and most of all, books
that are fun, accessible, and original.
WHAT EDITOR IN CHIEF JAMES LUCAS JONES WANTS TO SEE:
Oni
Press has always been a place focused on publishing comics for an
audience inclusive of a wide demographic. With other publishers finally
catching up, it’s important for us to continue to break boundaries and
continue to grow the diversity of our line. Our catalog has always been
diverse, but it’s time for that variety to be reflected in the
characters starring in our books and the creators making them. I’m
looking for inventive stories with rich characters, a thoughtful
approach to comic book storytelling, and a dedication to craft. You
should be pitching us fully realized, considered pitches that continue
the long Oni Press tradition of character-driven narratives that don’t
fit in with other publishers’ conventions.
WHAT WE DON’T WANT TO SEE:
Superheroes! They have their place but their place is not with us.
Avoid
pitching long-form series or stories in oversaturated genres such as
supernatural noir, zombies, vampires and gritty detectives with a dark
past.
Please
also avoid delicate subjects such as rape and sexual abuse as fodder
for exposition in genre stories–using rape as a plot point betrays not
only a lack of sensitivity but also a lack of creativity when creating
compelling female characters.
We are not accepting any prose or poetry – we’re a funnybooks publisher!
THE NITTY-GRITTY:
–
The submission periods will operate on a two-months open, two-months
closed schedule. Our first submission period will be open from May 1st
to June 30th.
– All submissions should be submitted electronically through our Submittable site, located here: https://onipress.submittable.com/submit.
Any physical submissions will be destroyed without reading. Please do
not email (or tweet at) editors directly with pitches. It will just make
us grumpy.
– All submissions should should have your name, email and phone number on every page. They should also begin with a cover letter telling us who you are, who your project is for and how it fits at Oni Press. Also feel free to include any previously published comics work or comic-related education.
–
Expect a response to your submission within one month. Everyone will
get a response but not all responses will be personalized—we simply
don’t have the time to do so.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
– Writers:
– Pitches should be:
– A logline – [what’s the idea/concept]
– A one-page synopsis / overview – A short summary that contextualizes who your project is for and how it fits into the marketplace
– A 3-5 page outline – give us the full beginning, middle and end of your story so we can see your execution.
– A sample comic script containing at least two scenes, consisting of at least eight pages and no more than twenty pages. This should be a comic book script, NOT a screenplay.
– Artists:
– Submissions should be:
– A portfolio with at least eight sequential storytelling pages with FINAL LINE ART / INKS. No pencils, just final inks [or the digital equivalent] by you.
– No covers, pinups, etc. SEQUENTIALS ONLY.
We only care about your ability to tell a story. Adding pin-ups of
Marvel/DC superhero characters are not an opportunity to wow us, it’s
mostly just wasting our time. Again, SEQUENTIALS ONLY.
– Please make sure your sequentials include characters of both genders and at least one person of color.
– Cartoonists or Writers w/ Artists: Combine the two categories above!
– Pitches or submissions should be:
– A logline – [what’s the idea/concept]
– A one-page synopsis / overview – A short summary that contextualizes who your project is for and how it fits into the marketplace
– A 3-5 page outline – give us the full beginning, middle and end of your story so we can see your execution.
– A sample script containing at least two scenes, consisting of at least eight pages and no more than twenty pages.
– At least 8 sample pages of sequentials from the project being pitched.
– Note: The creative team in your pitch is the one we expect to see actually working on your book. No switcheroos!
– Colorists:
– Submissions should be:
– A portfolio with at least eight pages, containing at least two different scenes, from at least two different artists.
* Sorry, we are not currently taking submissions from pencillers, inkers, or letterers.
