Robert Kirkman Writes His Own Comic Book Destiny

If you’re a comic book fan, it’s very possible that you’ve heard of Robert Kirkman, the writer and creator of various series such as teenage superhero story “Invincible,” the gory and gruesome “The Walking Dead” and “Marvel Zombies,” which is just what you’d imagine.

Kirkman rose quickly to fame, especially after his intentionally offensive comic “Battle Pope” in 2000.

Kirkman had started his own independent publishing company Funk-o-tron and released “Battle Pope.”

However, 2003 was the year for Kirkman when he released two series, “The Walking Dead,” and “Invincible.”

These opened the door for him to work at Marvel Comics, where he became a mainstay and wrote for “Captain America,” “Marvel Knights: 2099,” “Jubilee,” “Marvel Team-Up,” “Fantastic Four,” the previously mentioned mini-series “Marvel Zombies,” “Ultimate X-Men” and the now canceled “Irredeemable Ant-Man.”

But this July, Kirkman split with Marvel after his contract ended and was offered a partnership at Image Comics to reward him for working through them over the years and because “Invincible” and “The Walking Dead” have earned their place in the Image line-up.

In an article with The New York Times, Kirkman said, “I enjoyed my time at Marvel, and I have an affinity for their characters, but they are their characters.”

“I wouldn’t feel creatively fulfilled if I was 40 and still writing Spider-Man and hadn’t done anything on my own,” he continued.

Also in the article, Kirkman said he appreciated “the unprecedented amount of freedom that they offer.”

He later added, “If I wanted to kill Invincible, I wouldn’t have to get clearance. At the end of the day, the decisions fall on me and my creative team.”

As of the last few months, Kirkman has gained notoriety by calling on fellow creators to “save the comic book industry” by publishing more creator-owned comics instead of pre-established characters.

He claims that the big two companies (Marvel and DC) should be used more as a stepping stones to getting your name out there, as opposed to just settling for writing for company owned material.

Kirkman’s steps for saving the industry are having top creators who want to do creator-owned work to get together and try it.

The more people doing it will make it easier for everyone. If done right, the creators will bring a large portion of their audience and then eventually take the plunge and only do creator-owned work.

If it causes loads of creators to leave Marvel and DC, then the big two will just have to step it up and make comics for a whole new generation. Then the comic book industry as a whole would be more original.

I can see where he’s coming from, independent comics are always fun to read.

It’s fun to break away from the mainstream Superman, Spider-Man or X-men comics, but these are the comics people get into first, it’s kind of extreme, not to mention expensive, to ask everyone to do only their own creations, especially for those just starting out.

Diversity in comics is what we need. More ideas. More characters. But is this “call to arms” really necessary? It’ll be interesting to see where the industry goes from here.

Though Kirkman has been met with a lot of criticism for his stance on the matter, maybe we will see a surge in creator-owned comics in the future.

Source: The Daily Athenaeum