Have you ever got tired of reading long novels that are boring and have a predictable ending? Try something new and fresh with variety in books that are short, and always bringing action to the scene. Read material from the best authors and illustrators from around the world. Image Comics has been a successful publisher due to the foundation of the company, the quality of promotion, and the variety of comic books.
When Todd McFarlane, (previous writer and illustrator of The Amazing Spider-Man 1989-1991) founded Image Comics in 1992 he hired only the best to start up his company. Comics have been a very common thing to read and collect in American culture for a hundred years and the best writers and publishers are well-known. Stationed in California, Image Comics decided to form a nationwide publishing industry and market not only to their region, but to the entire country.
Spawn #1 (May 1992). Cover art by Todd McFarlane.
Image Comics panel at San Diego ComicCon 2007.
The Image Comics booth at WonderCon 2009.Image also hired multiple writers and illustrators from the more well-known publishers, Marvel and DC. Having such a large staff of the best writers in the story-telling industry, it was easy to set a firm foundation for Image Comics.
In order to have great quality in promotion you need to know the basics of promotional advertising. Image had no trouble in selecting their target market at the start of their business. In the first stages of promotion they had their books purchased by bookstores and comics shops around the country by sending out catalogs with monthly subscription rates available. In a typical comic book, every other five pages contains a full run of ads from different companies and organizations which will never be bypassed by the average reader. This was a perfect way to pay for the books being made and also a great way to advertise other books by Image that the reader may enjoy.
Image Comics offers a great variety in books for any age. Everyone who can read is, in most cases, able to pick up a comic and determine if it is something they will enjoy reading or not. However, all books individually put out by Image are not for all ages. For example, they put out comics directly for children and other comics directly marketed to the adult reader. Image Comics has multiple themes such as the dark side of life as well as publishing comic books featuring super-hero's and even some humor-based books. Image's best selling book is Spawn, which was released in June 1992 featuring Al Simmons who died during a military project by his friend's betrayal. Al Simmons then was sent to hell and was given a deal to return to earth as a hell-spawn in order to protect his wife on earth while leading Malebolgia's army of darkness when he returned. Spawn is just one of the many monthly ongoing titles Image Comics has to offer. The artwork in every book is different, some titles may be black and white with grey-tone shading while others may contain computer generated color schemes. With the variety of comic books that Image publishes on a monthly basis, there is guaranteed a book out that each person can enjoy reading.
It remains true that Image Comics is one of the most successful comic book publishers in the world due to the foundation of the company, their successful marketing plans, and the quality and variety of the comic books they offer. It can be hard for small companies to start up a business with such little money available to them. When you hire the most successful people in the industry to start up your business it is almost instant success due to the experienced people working for you. Image Comics continues to grow every month by attracting new readers monthly. Since Image offers so many titles in such a large variety, it is possible that there is a book out that everyone can enjoy reading.
Riley Rossmo
NY Comic Con - Todd McFarlane