Alex Yarde (AY): Your current self-publishing venture Paperfilms, you founded back in 2001. What can your fans expect in this new digital collection of books?
Jimmy Palmiotti (JP): “With the Kickstarter for CREATOR OWNED HEROES currently running its campaign, you can expect to find for $10 bucks nearly 400 pages of comics, interviews, cosplay and articles about making comics outside the big two and what it took for a lot of creators to get their break and how they continue to influence in the business.
It’s a digital collection of the 8 issues published in 2012 that most people never saw and I am very excited to bring to everyone.”
AY: Who’s work is featured in this new digital omnibus?
JP: “There are comics and interviews by dozens of creators including Steve Niles, Phil Noto, Justin Gray, Bernie Wrightson, the Hernandez Brothers, Mark Waid, Dan Panosian, Darwyn Cooke, Dave Johnson, Amanda Conner and so many more.
It is a huge list. The whole purpose of the book was to learn from these people and have fun doing it, plus read some more comics.”
AY: Congratulations on reaching your goal! What are your stretch goals if any?
JP: We are discussing them as we speak. The first will be wallpapers created by the amazing John J Hill and then after that probably additional books a lot of people have not read and so on.
I have never won an award for writing- only as an editor and a boatload as an inker. I am not one of those creators that earn awards for things…but better than awards, I have earned the loyalty of many a fan and that is about a billion times more important to me than any award.- Jimmy Palmiotti
We will continue to add as the campaign grows. The trick to the stretch goals is to have things that everyone will enjoy, so more comics will probably be the biggest thing. We have a lot of cool stuff at the Paperfilms library.”
AY: What lead up to your decision to launch CREATOR OWNED HEROES, your take on the WIZARD monthly magazine, with Justin Gray, Steve Niles?
JP: “Blind stupidity? It was an idea I had a while back that I roped these guys into and I thought the consumers would enjoy. We did manage to get 8 issues out, but honestly, 1/3 of the comic shops never even ordered it and it was downhill from there.
Maybe we were just thinking to aggressively. We gave a lot of bang for the buck, but in the end, it would up be costing us some money. I still think it’s a good idea, it just has to be reworked. I felt there was a need for a comic book that talked about making comics.”
AY: Since you started with EVENT COMICS back in 1994, and generated 12 campaigns, what’s the most important thing you’ve learned about crowdsourcing Comic Books?
JP: “The most important thing about this business is making a connection with the people buying the books and to deliver a quality product on time that looks great.
I am a consumer and understand how hard people work to make a living, so when making creating a crowdfunding project, it’s super important to be upfront, keep a constant conversation going, and have absolute timely communication with the process and then make sure everyone is happy with their books.
We are only human, and things happen, but I found if you let people know everything along the way, they are understanding. All 11 of the ones I have done, I do not rest till each and every person has their books and is happy.”
AY: What awards are you most proud of earning in your career so far?
JP: “I have never won an award for writing- only as an editor and a boatload as an inker. I am not one of those creators that earn awards for things…but better than awards, I have earned the loyalty of many a fan and that is about a billion times more important to me than any award.
I figure in a few years I will start getting awards for just being alive and in comics for this long- till then, all I care about is making great comics.”
AY: I read you are also offering levels that get you the digital Trade of Creator Owned Heroes and an autographed single copy of one of the Creator Owned Heroes books, signed by Amanda Conner and yourself. How much are those?
JP: “That is $30 bucks. You get the Digital Creator Owned Heroes book, you get a single copy of the COH comic book signed by Amanda Conner and I, a hardcover Queen Crab book signed by me and we throw in two random comics from my collection.
It’s a grab bag of stuff, but for the price and signatures, it can’t be beat. It’s almost as popular as the lower tiers.”
AY: When will the digitally and hardcopies become available?
JP: As soon as the campaign ends in 28 days you will have your digital book, and then for physical pledges, soon after with shipping being done. We deliver as fast as possible.
AY: Besides this very exciting project, what are some projects coming up that you’d like to share with my readers?
JP: We will be doing another Kickstarter right after this to be announced, a brand-new story. As far as my other work, I am writing with my wife [Amanda Conner] the DC 100 Wonder Woman series in comic shops monthly and in the process of creating the 4 issue Black Label Harley Quinn and the Birds of Prey series. If anyone wants to know any additional information, we publish a newsletter that’s super easy to subscribe to at PAPERFILMS.COM.
Here is a link to Jimmy’s CREATOR OWNED HEROES Kickstarter
ABOUT JIMMY PALMIOTTI
Jimmy is a #writer, editor, and character creator with a wide range of experience in advertising, production, consulting, editorial, film writing, development and production, media presentation and video game development.
A few of his clients include #Nike, #Nickelodeon, #Universal pictures, #Disney, #WarnerBrothers, #DreamWorks, Lion’s Gate, Vidmark, Starz, Fox Atomic, Alliance films, New Line, Spike TV, MTV, 2kgames, Midway, Radical games, #Activision and #THQgames.
Co-founder of such companies as Event Comics, Black Bull Media, #MarvelKnights, a division of Marvel Comics, and the current Paperfilms, where he is partners with Amanda Conner. Together they have created and co-created numerous universes, comics, #TVseries and characters including: The New West, Monolith, 21 Down, The Resistance, The Pro, Gatecrasher, Beautiful Killer, Ash, Cloudburst, Trigger Girl 6, Thrill Seeker, Trailblazer, Ballerina, The Twilight Experiment and the TV series, Painkiller Jane.
Other titles involved with are hit series #HarleyQuinn, #DCComics relaunch into the Wal-Mart nationwide stores, Jonah Hex, and several other series. Several of his contributions for both DC and #Marvel can be found in major motion pictures and TV series for Marvel and DC, including #BlackPanther, #Daredevil, #SuicideSquad, #HarleyQuinnanimated and more.
Art Credit – Jimmy Palmiotti