CREATE STORY NOT IP
Creating comics that matter
So, I’m just getting back from vacation, and I’ve got a billion things to do. There’s a mountain of work waiting for me with my web design business (yeah... I own one of those. I know I never talk about it because I’d much rather talk comics), plus I’ve got to promote VOODOO NATIONS, finish a few scripts, package books for backers, and tackle the hundred other things that come with being an indie creator.
But there’s something that’s been bugging me lately.
It’s this new crop of creators who seem to care more about building an IP than telling a great story.
A phrase gets thrown around constantly in comics these days.
“You need to build an IP.”
Every convention.
Every pitch meeting.
Every YouTube video.
Every Facebook group.
IP. IP. IP.
Somewhere along the way, we stopped asking, “Is this a great story?” and started asking, “Can this become a Netflix show?”
I think that’s backwards.
Now before anyone starts typing in the comments, let me be clear...
I’m not against intellectual property.
I own a publishing company. I create creator-owned books. I want my books to have long lives. If Hollywood came knocking tomorrow, I wouldn’t exactly tell them to go away. However, i didnt write this book for them. I wrote it for comic fans not some longing to break into the film business. I got my degree in that… i know what it looks like and it bored me.
But I think too many creators are starting with the business plan instead of the story.
I’ve read hundreds and hundreds of indie comics over the years. Some have gorgeous art. Some have brilliant world-building. Some have a high concept that makes you say, “Wow, that’s clever.”
Then you finish Issue #1...
...and realize nothing actually mattered.
No character changed.
No emotional connection was made.
No moment sticks with you after you close the book.
It was built to be an IP instead of being written as a story.
Here’s the thing...
Nobody remembers high concept.
People remember how something made them feel.
Nobody remembers that a story had twelve races, six magic systems, and a hundred pages of lore.
They remember that Spider-Man couldn’t pay his rent.
They remember that Darth Vader is Luke’s father.
These things matter and i try and make sure that i create things that matters to you guys. If its Voodoo, Punk or even Upheaval all of them are personal stories that i needed to get out.
Voodoo- is about the love my wife has for me
Granite - is about my personal views on the world and self views
Upheaval- is about a father/daughter dynamic
Coins Of Judas- Is about dealing with the wrecakge of a fucked up childhood.
They all mean more than just a IP to me. I am not trying to sell us a universe. I am trying to sell you a story that matters.
When I created VOODOO NATIONS, I wasn’t trying to build “the next franchise.”
I wanted to write about redemption.
About agape love.
About what happens when someone falls so deep into darkness that they believe they’re beyond saving.
SHAMELESS PLUG TIME!!!! - 8 DAYS LEFT TO BACK THIS STORY!! WE NEED 2000 TO FUND!!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/orangecone/voodoo-nations-trade-paperback
I worry that a lot of new creators spend years designing logos, timelines, character encyclopedias, cinematic universes, and “Phase One” roadmaps before they’ve written a single unforgettable scene.
Marvel didn’t become Marvel because someone sat in a room saying, “Let’s build the greatest IP ever.”
They told great stories.
Then they told another one.
Then another.
Decades later, the IP became priceless.
So, when you sit down to write try and create a story that matters and needs to be told. Dont try and sell me a trend, try and sell me on something that you and i can both be invested in. I want to invest in something that matter to you not just the latest trend. We have enough of that.
Travis Gibb
Orange Cone Productions
QUICK - ORANGE CONE UPDATE
- BRIAN WOLF got hurt so we wont be launching UPHEAVAL 3 for a bit but the script is mostly done.
- I got a box of CTHULHU INVADES FAIRY TALES 2 randomly and i am gonna send those out!!
- Upheaval 2 is at the printers
- Federalist and Cthulhu Invades Fairy Tales 3 are deep in productions
Best line in the whole blog: "Nobody remembers high concept. People remember how something made them feel."
This is why movies like Transformers LOOK great, but that's about it. If you don't have characters that are going to tug at the heartstrings, and that people want to root for, what are you even doing, right?
And I fully agree about making what you're making RIGHT NOW the best possible thing (comics, music, prose, animation, whatever). Not just a vehicle to get to the NEXT thing. If people aren't entertained right now but what you're making, by what's in their hands or on the digital screens, then why in the world would they ever want something more?
Great points to remember Travis! Mike Zapcic and I said we wanted to write a story that we would want to read! That was the crux of it. Something deep and personal about loss and what the path of revenge does to a man’s soul!