BOOM! Studios, the independent comic publisher responsible for the 2 Guns property that was adapted and released last summer with Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg, is heading into its ten-year anniversary and celebrated with a get-to-know BOOM! panel at this year’s Baltimore Comic Con.
The origin story of the company, relayed by founder Ross Richie, conveyed a strong commitment to innovation and to specifically maintain the partnership between creator and publisher. This appears to be reflected in the landmark deal between BOOM! and 20th Centruy Fox, where BOOM! will receive an unreported percentage of all gross from a film (aka first-dollar gross: a percentage based on the total gross minus the split with cinemas, whether the movie is profitable or not) and that share will be split 50-50 between the publisher and creators.
Assuming BOOM! gets just 1%, last year’s $131 million worldwide haul from 2 Guns means that the original creators would get a kick back of just over $650k. BOOM!’s creator-share business philosophy is really “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours and everyone gets a piece of the pie”. Creators don’t work for BOOM!, but with it. The attitude towards, commitment to and relationship with its creators should ensure BOOM! never has the legal trouble and image issues Marvel and DC are facing with Jack Kirby (Marvel character creator), Alan Moore (Watchmen) or Jim Starlin (Thanos, Infinity Gauntlet creator) type problems.
BOOM!’s innovation is not only seen in its partnerships, but also it’s dedication to expanding the market. The panel stressed that this is a growing industry. The standard superhero fare is saturated and BOOM! is looking to provide new and original content for current readers and to also reach those who are not yet reading comics. They pointed out that the comic industry felt it was pointless to market to children. “Kids don’t read comics.” But it would appear that BOOM!’s strong performance from kids oriented sub-division kaboom! would put that claim to rest. The new original titles The Woods (an eerie fantasy survival adventure) and Memetic (apocalyptic consequences of a single internet meme) also look to grab the attention of the young adult and millennial age ranges.
Over just the last year, they have expanded from 26 to 35 original titles. BOOM! now has one of the largest libraries outside of Marvel and DC. From the surreal hilarity of Adventure Time to serious social questioning in Evil Empire and Hactivist to the dark horror of 28 Days Later and Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, BOOM! has amassed an impressive catalog that truly runs the gamut. Spanning all age groups, a plethora of genres and injecting fresh ideas via new IPs, BOOM! is sure to have something for everyone.
Speaking of everyone, BOOM! has another huge and often overlooked market that they are strongly pursuing, women. Unlike the rest of the industry that is heavily male, half of BOOM! employees are female. Filip Sablik (President of Publishing and Marketing) commented that it just happened “organically”. Titles such as Word Girl, Lumberjanes, Tanpopo and the new series Butterfly all seek to add relatable, exceptional characters and stories to the BOOM! catalog for young girls, women and all readers to enjoy.
I’m pretty excited to see what BOOM! Studios has coming and how their original content will translate to the big screen.
In case you missed it, take a look at our Baltimore Comic Con 2014 introduction HERE and stay tuned for the best Cosplay of the con!
