Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture

Law & Comics 2017 Special Guest Rob Salkowitz’s book explores how comics culture is influencing communications, entertainment, digital technology, marketing, education, and storytelling. He uses Comic-Con, the country’s largest pop culture convention, as a lens to look at a variety of subjects relating to the future of entertainment. It examines issues about mass-marketing to geeks, including comics in education curricula, the importance of fans, the growing impact of women in male-dominated spheres, and the selling of nostalgia.

Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond

Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond represents Law & Comics 2017 Special Guest Ryan Benjamin. Hush Beyond is the first volume of the comic series Batman Beyond, which brought the successful television character Batman Beyond to the DC Comics Universe.

Batman Beyond focuses on Terry McGinnis, a young man in the in a Batman-less Future who discovers Bruce Wayne and his long-held secret. Terry works with Bruce and he starts fighting crime in the future with his hi-tech Bat-suit. Along the way, Terry finds that there are many who hold grudges against both the original Batman and the Batman of the Future.

Marvel Comics: The Untold Story

How did a small, struggling comic book company grow to become a $4 billion acquisition of Disney in less than 50 years? Sean Howe’s marvel Comics: The Untold Story details the figures behind the scenes and in front of the typewriters and easels who made it all happen.

The book begins with the 3 men who created modern comics: Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko. Then, it follows newer artists and writers over the years as they rise to prominence and then gradually decline and their stories get retconned out of continuity.

The Pocket Lawyer for Comic Book Creators

The Pocket Lawyer for Comic book Creators is designed to help brand-new artists and long-time professionals in the comic book industry build a solid foundation of legal, business, and communication practices to succeed in the uncertain world of comic book publishing.

Topics include working for a large publisher, selling your concept, self-publishing, how distribution works, the basics of copyright, understanding contracts, negotiation tips, finding partners, and more. There are additional sections dealing with hiring artists, social media and other publicity tools, and how to set-up your own company.

Unnatural Talent

Unnatural Talent details the lessons that Jason learned as he rose from struggling artist attempting to sell 1 or 2 copies of a book to a successful comic creator. In 2007, he went to the Alternative Press Expo with 900 copies of his comic book and sold a few dozen. Within 5 years, Jason had self-published two graphic novels, raised over $100,000 on Kickstarter, had his work named as an ALA best work for teens, and won a Xeric Award. His book has information about goal-setting, idea creation, making creative choices, dealing with writer’s block, online publication, creating and growing a fan base, whether to physically print your work, and dealing with legal issues like copyright.