Where the Fans Are

While mass market novelizations still capture a major share of movie tie-in sales, entertainment companies that license film and TV properties are starting to cultivate new formats like graphic novels and video games, in ever-more integrated licensing programs. 'It's such a competitive market, the more you reach out through many channels to get your property noticed, the better,' said Debbie Olshan, Fox's director of worldwide publishing.

Several factors make these other formats attractive. First, videogame revenue hit $9.4 billion last year, topping movie box office returns for the first time. Second, the market for graphic novels, particularly Japanese comics or manga, while still young, is growing rapidly. Finally, key retailers, such as Borders, Virgin and Tower, are working to cross-merchandise novels, graphic novels, DVDs and videogames in order to capitalize on all the constituencies in a given fanbase. As Borders buyer Micha Hershman explained it, front-of-store multimedia displays based on a single popular media property are simply 'a massive opportunity.' When a media property operates in multiple formats, it helps promote 'format conversion': bringing the audience for one type of product to another, related one. 'We're making a big effort to make sure we are displaying the products in a high-traffic area outside of a single section,' said Hershman, noting that the challenge is educating the customer about unfamiliar formats.

For the licensors, the multiple formats help garner attention in a crowded market, where traditional novelizations have lost ground due to eroding mass market distribution. 'The consolidation in ID distribution means you generally need an event movie [for a mass market book] to get into the mix,' explained Risa Kessler, who handles publishing licenses for Viacom. Meanwhile, the loss of mall bookstores-a key venue for 15-25-year-olds-doesn't help. Licensed material needs to be ubiquitous, Kessler pointed out, to create a sense of major cultural significance for a media property. Multiple formats in multiple sales channels help to achieve that.

As a result, licensors 'are becoming more central to the development of products,' said Fox's Olshan. Within the Hollywood studios, Newmarket Press president and publisher Esther Margolis sees 'a realignment of the senior officers, so that ancillary division heads are talking much more with the theatrical heads.' Similarly, progressive publishers like Diamond Books and Tokyopop enhance their own book properties by adapting them to multiple formats, thereby gaining inroads for all of their products at nonbook vendors like Electronics Boutique and Best Buy.

Dark Horse Comics publisher Mike Richardson foresees that graphic novels will move even more deeply into bookstores as the comics-buying audience broadens and 'because the perception of value for traditional 'pamphlet' format comics is low.' Hershman noted that Borders's 'graphic novel section has physically tripled in the last five years.'

Graphic novels began their ascent with Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (DC Comics, 1986). 'The rallying cry was, 'comics aren't for kids anymore,' ' said Richardson. Moving beyond superheroes, serious work began to emerge in the late 1980s, like Art Spiegelman's Maus (Pantheon, 1986) and Concrete by Paul Chadwick (Dark Horse, 1986). Dark Horse's early efforts were critically acclaimed, but sales lagged. So Richardson decided to apply the high standards of more literary comics to his film tie-ins, hoping to sell more copies. He started with a six-issue tie-in to Aliens (1988) that immediately took off, eventually selling 550,000 copies. Dark Horse soon followed with another hit, Aliens vs. Predator (1990), that sold well over one million. Fox's Olshan credits the comics as 'valuable for keeping the franchise alive in the community.'

One of the largest growth areas in graphic novels in the United States has been in manga. At Borders, the genre accounts for 80% of graphic novel sales, according to Hershman. Aside from its trendiness, two big factors account for manga's success: low price (usually around $10) and small trim size (roughly 71/2'x 5'), Hershman said. Hopping on the trend, mainstream U.S. licenses such as Miramax's Spy Kids, Disney TV's Lizzie McGuire and Nickelodeon's Spongebob Squarepants have issued so-called 'cinemanga' tie-ins (all from Tokyopop).

Seeking to capitalize on manga's popularity, some publishers are reworking their larger graphic novels into the smaller format. The new He-Man comics (CrossGen Comics) that tie into the Cartoon Network 1980s' revival series are coming out in a format the publisher calls 'traveler size.' Hershman believes 'it's a great idea that they should pursue more and more. In the graphic novel section, format is one of the biggest obstacles to sales.'

Other publishers are exploring the classic trade paperback format for their graphic novels, as Pocket did with Max Allan Collins's Road to Perdition, which was later adapted for film. Dark Horse went as far as fashioning Andrew Vachss's graphic novel Hard Looks: Adapted Stories to look like his print novel covers from Vintage, even enlisting that house's designers. Richardson believes the cover will help the graphic novel appeal to fans of Vachss's other books. Edward Kastenmeier, Vachss's editor at Vintage, added, 'By the same token, I think it gives us a little access to the comic book market-which we've never had.'

Writers like Vachss contribute to an expanding adult audience for the category. 'In the last 12 years or so, there has been a huge increase in comics aimed at a more adult audience,' said Jeff Mariotte, editor-in-chief of IDW Publishing. The house is publishing original graphic novels based on the TV series CSI that will 'approach the degree of maturity' of the show, which is aimed squarely at adults. The CSI: Serial titles will hit bookstores in August. Illustrating the point, Hershman invokes successful adult titles such as 30 Days of Night (IDW Publishing), The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (DC Comics) and, of course, Road to Perdition (Pocket). 'The New X-Men books by Grant Morrison [Marvel] are clearly geared to adults,' he said.

Tying into a major media property seems to be the most reliable way to drive sales of graphic novels other than manga. 'CSI will help get us attention and allow us to borrow legitimacy for a wider audience,' explained Mariotte. Hershman expects a much wider audience for graphic novel titles like X-Men (Marvel) and The Hulk (Marvel) because they tie in to major summer movies. Still, Dark Horse's Richardson cautioned that while big box office garners attention, it doesn't automatically translate to graphic novel sales: 'It's all about the strength of the book. You can't fool the fans.'

In addition to providing source material to several big summer films, graphic novels are also influencing Hollywood in more indirect ways. Although The Matrix was not based on a comic, it borrowed heavily from the look and feel of graphic novels. In fact, that's how the Wachowski brothers got the movie made. 'They had some of the world's top comic book artists make a complete storyboard of the movie, like an enormous graphic novel,' said Newmarket's Margolis. 'They showed them to the execs, and that's what sold the movie.' IDW's Mariotte sees a trend there: 'A lot of screenwriters and producers are pitching us ideas so eventually they'll have the ultimate way to pitch the studios.' The result is a promotional sales loop: IDW's 30 Days of Night, by screenwriter Steve Niles (Spawn 2), recently sold to Hollywood, which, in turn, will help sell more comics if the film gets made.

Dark Horse has taken the process further by producing everything under one roof. In addition to publishing comics, Richardson started Dark Horse Productions in 1992, specializing in films based on DH comic titles, like The Mask, Timecop and Mystery Men. That puts the house in a unique position to create a groundswell around a property, and then capitalize on its success in several mediums. Dark Horse also sells licensed products, from coffee cups to baseball hats, for its titles. 'They are phenomenal cross-merchandisers,' said Borders's Hershman. 'Hellboy is doing well as a comic, though it's still bottom tier by mass market numbers, but they're building a base for when the movie hits [in 2004],' Hershman added.

Videogames complete the media/tie-in triangle. Their enormous popularity has spawned not only movies like Tomb Raider and successful narrative novels like Halo: The Fall of Reach (Del Rey, Apr.), but also graphic novels. 'Videogames definitely help sell comics. Graphic novels for Tomb Raider [Image Comics] and Resident Evil [DC Comics] were both big,' said Hershman. Both also got an additional bump from related films. There has already been one Hellboy videogame and another will accompany the film's release next year.

As these formats converge, writers are becoming more fluent in all of them. UbiSoft hired Max Allan Collins to draft its CSI video game after he had written both novels and graphic novels for the property. UbiSoft, meanwhile, ensured the game would fulfill the expectations of the series' more mature fanbase. 'We're raising the bar in terms of narrative and trying to make [the different mediums] fit together,' said publishing v-p Jay Cohen.

The Matrix videogame was written and directed by the filmmakers, which has created additional opportunities: it will be the first game to coincide with the release of a film, and the story of the game actually dovetails with and expands upon the events in the movie. There is also an anime Web site (and DVD) called The Animatrix. But there are no mass market books or graphic novels available because the filmmakers were unusually particular about the licenses. 'It makes you want to tear your heart out,' said Hershman. Newmarket is printing 7,500 copies of the large-format book, The Art of the Matrix (Newmarket 2001), which sold 30,000 copies after the first film, impressive for a $60 price point (the price will drop $10 through December).

Dark Horse's Alien vs. Predator series brings the process full circle. Based on two film franchises (Alien and Predator), the comics inspired a series of videogames and now a film is in development. If the film gets made, it will sell more graphic novels and videogames and likely generate an audience for new productions.

Richardson is delighted by all the activity, but stressed that each property will sell only if it succeeds on its own merits. Then, tipping his hand to his first love, he added: 'Comics are one of the few truly American art forms. Like jazz.'