Nick Barrucci really, really wants to sell you some comics, which is probably why his company Dynamite gets to sell Garth Ennis's comics almost exclusively. "It's a good deal with good money and total creative freedom, but how it works day to day is with everyone simply doing their job to the best of their abilities," says Ennis, whose ongoing series The Boys consistently sells among Dynamite's top three books and remains one of the best selling monthlies not published by the Big Two. "Knowing that the publisher will support the books 100% and that the editorial team are dedicated to keeping them snafu-free, that removes a lot of worry from the equation."
If that sounds like a "well, duh" observation from the usually incisive writer, perhaps a little background is in order: Dynamite didn't always publish its superhero-hating flagship title. Instead, DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint had the title for six issues before word came down from on high that the ongoing was now a six issue miniseries, and hadn't it been fun?
To be fair, the book was probably not the best fit for DC. A scene in which a wannabe heroine has to blow Superman (well, the nearest equivalent) in order to get into the Justice League (or similar) was never going to, um, go down smooth at DC. "I've always been able to get a lot of material out of my dislike or disdain for various subjects," says Ennis. "With Preacher, it was religion, organized or otherwise. With The Boys it's superheroes."
Ennis has gotten plenty of mileage out of this hatred in the past—his stories for Marvel's The Punisher and his superhero-ish DC series Hitman wrought comedy from the stupidity of set-in-stone superguy tropes, whether it was Wolverine's dialogue (memorably pillaged by Ennis and his The Boys co-creator Darick Robertson in the Marvel Knights Punisher) or Batman's untouchable persona (Hitman protagonist Tommy Monaghan barfs on the caped crusader's shoes after being punched in the stomach).
Eventually, both Marvel and DC let the writer have his way for seventyish issues: DC gave him Preacher at its older-skewing Vertigo imprint and Marvel, despite the ribbing in the MK version, gave Ennis carte blanche on its relaunch of The Punisher for its mature MAX line, which barely acknowledged the existence of the wider Marvel Universe. But there were still some strictures: Marvel rarely publishes creator-owned books (with the exception of its Icon imprint), and DC is sensitive to criticizing the genre that features its best known characters.
Which is not to say that no one wanted The Boys; quite the opposite. "We reached out to Garth and Darick, and I think they were weighing offers from everyone else in the industry," says Barrucci. "But I had actually read the book instead of waiting for comps. We were on pins and needles for a month; I think there were a few offers that were better from a financial point of view. One publisher even offered a signing bonus." Regardless, Barrucci's pledge to support the series and his general goodwill helped to win Ennis over.
Dynamite Entertainment has a lot going for it: after Barrucci scaled back the requisite licensed books a brand new publisher can use to leverage shelf space, the company became closer in tone and content to William Gaines' EC Comics than to either of the Big Two. True, Dynamite publishes Alex Ross's Project Superpowers, but it also has Ennis' Battlefields and Mike Neumann, Dave Wohl, and Davide Fabbri's Brothers In Arms (both war books). Then there are western titles (like its breakout, The Lone Ranger), medieval adventure books, and straight sci-fi. Superheroes are, if anything, a small minority.
True to his promise to support The Boys, Barrucci can't stop talking about the book, offering teasers for upcoming issues and offhandedly mentioning plot points about to unfold in the series. He may be the publisher, but he's also the publicist. After two years at Dynamite, The Boys still gets loads of publisher support in the form of lightning-quick trade reprints, carefully-timed deluxe editions, and now, as even those things are starting to become routine, new miniseries based on the characters.
The support has paid off—according to Barrucci The Boys Volume One is in its fourth printing, Volume Two is in its second, and all told there are nearly 100,000 copies of all four collections, including the deluxe Definiteive Edition, in print. Volume 4 comes out in July.
One of the upcoming miniseres, of at least two, is called Herogasm and is due out in May of '09 (which Barrucci emphasizes is "a great jumping-on point for new readers"). This time, the red-and-blue-clad superhero is getting a sexual favor right on the cover. Ennis writes, Robertson does detailed cover art, and Hitman and occasional Punisher artist John McCrea pencils the interiors. The plot, naturally, will lampoon crossovers, something for which Ennis has been expressing dislike as far back as the priceless DC One Million issue of Hitman (that other mini will focus on The Boys character The Butcher, according to Ennis).
On top of this, Dynamite is supporting Ennis's beloved war comics, something that was a hard sell at both Marvel (two miniseries, one starring Nick Fury) and at DC (a series of beautiful one-shots that went unreprinted for years). Asked if there will be further war comics after his final miniseries in Battlefields (The Tankies is the last 3-issue story in the first 9-issue cycle), Ennis says, "I very much hope so. I have plenty more ideas for them, including sequels to a couple of stories from the first run. The trick with war books is maintaining an audience, which is never that large. But I'm determined to keep trying; I think Battlefields represents my very best work right now. Nicky Barrucci's been particularly supportive in this regard."
"We're analyzing how to do it next year and how to make a 12-issue arc work," he confirms .
A pleased writer is a good thing to have around: Ennis has a large back-catalog of work for defunct publishers, and he's been giving them to Dynamite to reprint. Those include his Dan Dare mini, drawn by Gary Erskine for the short-lived Virgin Comics; and his and Carlos Ezquerra's two Just a Pilgrim miniseries, created for Wizard Magazine's abortive Black Bull Comics imprint (Ezquerra pencils The Tankies, by the way). "I can relax and concentrate on writing," says Ennis. "It feels like a very natural way to do comics, actually."
