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The First Annual Dave Wielgosz Holiday Q&A!
The First Annual Dave Wielgosz Holiday Q&A
Terrific Holiday Artwork by Tom Napolitano
HELLO, HELLO, HELLO! We made it to December. Can you believe that? It has been a long, exciting, interesting, sometimes frustrating, and sometimes wonderful year. This week, thank you for being here for the first annual DAVE WIELGOSZ HOLIDAY Q&A!
For the last few weeks, I have solicited questions at the end of each Newsletter and on my various social media profiles. I asked folks to send me questions about the comics I’ve made, and the process of making comics, and I said the occasional silly pop culture question was acceptable. I told people they couldn’t send me pitches, scripts, treatments, or mean messages.
And? I’m thrilled to share that we got some excellent questions. Eleven to be exact. There’s a chance this post is so long that it might get cut off in your email. If that’s the case visit WeeklyUpDave.Beehiiv.com to read the post in full. It’s worth it!
Let’s dive right in!
Question #1
From Anonymous: I have a question about your encyclopedic knowledge of comic book characters. When you’re pitching/writing, you’re very good at figuring out what would challenge the core of the character. From TMNT to the many DC characters you’ve written, what advice would you give to someone exploring a character for the first time? And how do you maintain that encyclopedic knowledge?
JLA/Avengers #3 Cover by George Perez. Copyright DC Comics & Marvel Comics.
DAVE: This question is kind and an excellent comic book writing question. Thank you, anonymous!
If there’s a character that you are interested in that you do not know a lot about, I guarantee there is a list somewhere of the essential stories starring that character. It can seem more intimidating than it should, but it’s as simple as asking someone where to start.
When it comes to the DC and Marvel Universes, I do have a pretty high level of knowledge. And a lot of that just comes from the fact that when I was a kid, superheroes were what I loved the most. When I was 13, I started going to the comic store weekly, and in addition to reading the new comics that were coming out, I would also go to the library and get the collections/graphic novels of the older comics. I was traveling forward and backward in time with these characters at the same time. It was the best.
I still go to the comic store every week. I read a lot of comics, but I don’t read everything. But I tend to read the REVIEWS of everything, the solicitations for the books, and read interviews with creators who are working on books I’m not reading just so I continue to be familiar with everything going on. Is that essential? No.
When I was an editor, it was always exciting to hear that someone had a favorite character and try to get them to write a story starring that character. Just as exciting? Asking them to write a character they had never considered before. The writer would often ask “Why do you want me to write this character?” and I would send them the essential stories for the character and explain why I thought they would be a great fit for this character. I had a lot of success doing that. If you get to the point where someone asks you to pitch or write for a character, you can always ask them for stuff to read. My first boss in comics Mark Doyle said “Always do the homework.” and it’s one of the best pieces of advice I’ve gotten.
I know a lot, but I don’t know everything. I still have big holes in knowledge about some characters and properties. And now that almost every pop culture property from my lifetime has a comic book, I don’t necessarily know about all of those either. If I was offered the chance to write for a character or property I didn’t know, I would ask the editor to send me the essentials about that property to read, or in some cases watch, and ask what they saw in my work that made them think I was a good fit to write for it. You can’t go wrong asking for those two things.
Question #2
From Colm: What got you into comics and what is your favorite comic of all time?
The Animated versions of Superman and Batman by Bruce Timm. Copyright Warner Bros.
DAVE: This question came to us from the great Colm Griffin, a tremendous comic book artist who you should be following, he’s already done a lot of terrific things and my gut says he has a pretty epic year ahead! Thank you, Colm!
I grew up in the 90’s and early 00’s during the animated Superhero boom. I got to grow up with Batman: The Animated Series, Superman: The Animated Series, X-Men: The Animated Series, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, The Tick, The Incredible Hulk, Batman Beyond, Teen Titans, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited, The Spectacular Spider-Man, X-Men: Evolution, and even more. Those shows gave me a deep love and reverence for the characters, and I knew they originally came from comics. So once those shows would go off the air, or stop airing new episodes, my goal became to find these comic books.
Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #3 Cover. Copyright Marvel Comics.
The Adventures of Superman #500 Cover. Copyright DC Comics.
I would get the occasional issue from time to time as a kid, my first being back issues of Daredevil: The Man Without Fear #3 and Adventure of Superman #500, but it wasn’t until I was in middle school that the graphic novel boom happened. Collections of comics were easily accessible in bookstores. I got a bunch of graphic novels and then eventually I became a Wednesday Warrior during DC’s ramp-up to Infinite Crisis and Marvel’s Civil War event, and I became a lifelong reader and fan.
My favorite comic is All-Star Superman by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, and Jamie Grant. I think it’s just as great as comics get. It also came out when I was a teenager and falling in love with comics so it’s something I got to experience while it was happening, not something I’m going to discount being part of my affection for it. My prized possession is the Absolute: All-Star Superman signed by both Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. It’s very near and dear to me.
All-Star Superman: Deluxe Edition Cover. Copyright DC Comics.
Question #3
Question from Anonymous: What’s the transition been like from editing to writing comics?
The Credits Page for Batman One Bad Day: Clayface. A Comic I’m proud of editing. Copyright DC Comics.
Man-Bat #5 Credits, a Comic I’m proud of having Written. Copyright DC Comics.
DAVE: An awesome question, and a great one for me to answer as I wind down my second full year as a freelance comic book writer. Thank you, Anonymous!
Last year was hard. I thought I would immediately launch out of DC Comics and get a ton of writing gigs. That did not happen. I left DC in March of 2023, I did not get my first writing assignment until December of 2023. So I had a few dreadful moments of saying to myself “What did I just do?”
I was pitching, and getting feedback from people, and a lot of folks were giving me good advice, but when you leave what is a great job for the unknown, I underrated how complicated the unknown could be.
Now full-disclosure…I’m still doing freelance editing jobs to make ends meet. I hope in a couple of years that, I can just be writing, but for now, I still edit. I put myself forward in the world first and foremost as a writer because that’s the work I want to be getting more long-term, but I have a life and bills to pay. That’s required continuing editorial work. I’m extremely lucky the clients who have given me editorial work that I have worked for have been awesome and very understanding of the fact that while I love editing, and when I do it I put my full heart into it as everyone should, my long-term plan is to be a writer.
In general this year? I have started to be recognized more as a writer. I wrote for two companies I never worked for before, I got to write three projects for DC, and I was hired four times by a company for non-comic writing work. We’re trending in the right direction. Next year I hope I get to write even more. I have to. I have to get closer and closer to this every year. I made a big sacrifice to leave a really good job that I could’ve kept doing for the rest of my life, to follow this writing dream, and I don’t regret that, but I need to keep pushing to get my full dream and then some.
Question #4
From Hunter: I'm curious as to your opinions on the best method for sharing my art with the intention of getting work in comics. I've gone ahead and attached a portfolio of mine if you wouldn't mind giving it a look through and perhaps some pointers and critiques. How can I as an aspiring comic artist get my work in front of the right people to begin a career in comics? I look forward to hopefully hearing back from you and hopefully reading this in the newsletter!
DAVE: Thanks for writing in, Hunter! I wrote back to Hunter directly because he was kind enough to send me his portfolio, which had a lot of promise and showed a clear, strong foundation with storytelling. I gave Hunter some other notes and specifics that are for him, but I will give the best overall comic artist advice I could give to him and any other aspiring comic artist.
-I know this sounds obvious but if you say that you are a comic book artist in your bio of any social media page…post comic book art pages (the professional term being sequential pages). Pin-ups and cover pieces are nice. If the pin-up/cover pieces are incredible and get a lot of social traction maybe you’ll get a gig as a variant cover artist. However, when any editor or writer looking to hire an artist for a project sees “comic artist” in a bio we are all hoping you have sequential art pages immediately available for us to see, and we hope they are amazing so we can HIRE YOU. Pin-ups are fun. They’re not going to get you hired.
-You should have your newest pages immediately available to look at on all of your platforms where you’re doing business/promoting yourself: X, Instagram, Artstation, ideally your own personal website, etc.
-I would strive to try to do a new batch of pages every couple of months. Three to five pages if you can. Right now I’m following an artist who seems to be posting one or two new pages regularly online, that has caught my eye. They’re for small vignettes with characters but they’ve been incredibly impactful, show a lot of promise, and show off smart and economical storytelling. That’s the goal with the sequential pages you’re showing off you want to show that you have all the fundamentals of storytelling down: character work, backgrounds, varying the sizes of your characters from panel to panel, strong page composition, and in the case that you are striving to draw superheroes/adventure comics some dynamic/action flourishes balanced with the quiet character work that’s foundational for all comics. If you can get that done in five pages? Great. If you can get it done in one or two…you’re certainly going to grab a lot of attention.
-If you get in touch with an editor, writer, or another artist who is willing to give you notes, always be polite, but if you have new pages? You can send a new email to them. If you keep trying to get hired off of the same three pages you did a few months ago that didn’t get you traction, those aren’t going to get you hired now, and it will put off the people you are showing your work to. Those pages are important to you, and your development, and they will make your next batch of pages stronger, but once something doesn’t get you work. You have to let it go.
That’s true for me as a writer, too. I’ve sent out a bunch of different stories to editors, assuming they were going to be the one that gets me the next job, and when they don’t, I have to retire them and wait until I have new samples to show. It can be heartbreaking. But again…the work is always for you and your development, and when it’s ready, it’s for the world, but…it’s for you first, and it’s going to be for you for a long time.
Don’t be discouraged. And if you’re on the verge of quitting…if you’ve had enough…try one more time, take all the lessons you’ve learned, and try to make the next batch of pages the best you’ve ever done. And if you still want to throw in the towel after that? Then, at least, you can say you gave it your all.
On the flip side? Send your samples to a healthy number of people. Earlier this year, an artist sent me their samples. I thought they were close to ready for professional work, but I thought they needed a few more reps before they were truly ready. A month later? They got put on a high-profile project and now they’re about to start on another. You just need one person to believe in you to get your career started.
To illustrate some sample pages that led to someone getting work, I’m going to share some Flash/Wonder Woman pages that Nikola Čižmesîja did that got him work at DC Comics. Nikola has grown a ton since then in his craft and skill level, but these pages were energetic, portrayed the characters in a cool way, showed good storytelling fundamentals, and showed us that he was ready to start doing work.
Flash/Wonder Woman Samples Page 1 by Nikola Čiżmesîja. Copyright DC Comics.
Flash/Wonder Woman Samples Page 2 by Nikola Čiżmesîja. Copyright DC Comics.
Flash/Wonder Woman Samples Page 3 by Nikola Čiżmesîja. Copyright DC Comics.
Flash/Wonder Woman Samples Page 4 by Nikola Čiżmesîja. Copyright DC Comics.
Question #5-7
From Cameron:
What was the first comic that made you think about the process of writing and wanting to be a writer?
Who's your favorite superhero villain and why is it Gorilla Grodd?
Do you remember that time the Red Sox had Mookie Betts but decided to trade him?
DAVE: These questions, ranging from great to deeply painful, come to us courtesy of our friend and fellow Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Black, White, & Green writer Cameron Chittock.
The first question is especially great because for many years I knew I just wanted to make comics because I loved them. And I was going to write because quite frankly I could not draw, but I was really imaginative and could write, but the comic that really got me thinking about writing on a deeper level was Young Avengers by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung. A comic that was foundational for me and remains permanently in my top ten.
Young Avengers Art by Jim Cheung. Copyright Marvel Comics.
I was lucky that in the 2000s, there were a lot of great teenage superhero comics, and I want to write more about them at some point, but Young Avengers was the one that cut the deepest for me. I knew Allan Heinberg was a writer on The O.C. at the time, which was a milestone for teenage TV, and he managed to write the soap opera and character aspects of teenage superheroes better than anyone else I had read at that time, while also nailing the grand superhero drama of Marvel comics. The characters all felt real to me. They felt like my friends. They felt like how my friends and I would be if we were superheroes. I was enchanted and struck by the perfect balance of it. However, the biggest lesson about writing came from the letters column of the book.
At the time, in the mid-2000s, one of the biggest things about the book was the romantic relationship between Wiccan (Asgardian when the book begins) and Hulkling, it was still much rarer than it should have been to have LGBTQIA cast members in a superhero comic, but having two teenage superheroes at the time as a gay couple felt especially progressive.
In the letters column, a Gay man had written in and talked about how he had traveled home to help his nephew, who was struggling with his sexuality. The uncle was having a really hard time getting through to his nephew, but then the nephew came across the Young Avengers comics his uncle had brought, and seeing gay superheroes around his age started opening him up. And it was then I realized that we write…we make comics…we make art…as ways to connect to other people. To make people feel less alone in the human experience. I now say that I write to build bridges to other people, as corny as that sounds, but I mean it. Reading that story about what Young Avengers did for that young person made me adjust and write more personally and honestly in the work that I did because I understood that writing as honestly as possible is going to connect with people. It might help change their lives.
And fun fact, in High School, I wrote writer Allan Heinberg a message on Myspace telling him how much his writing, and Young Avengers in particular had changed my life, and he was nice enough to write back. Allan is one of the few comic writers who deeply influenced me I’ve never worked with or met, and that’s a bit of a bummer, but someday I hope I can shake his hand and say thank you.
Question two (technically six) who is my favorite superhero villain…there are so many great possible answers for this…but I’m going with my heart on this one.
A Page from All-Star Superman #10 By Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely, and Jamie Grant. Copyright DC Comics.
Lex Luthor is the greatest supervillain of all time. For me, that started with actor Clancy Brown voicing the character brilliantly on Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League: the Animated Series, and finding his peak as the main villain in all three brilliant seasons of Justice League: Unlimited. This handsome, charming, smart, and deeply troubled man just HATES Superman. HATES Superman as much if not more than anyone has ever hated anyone. This small man has turned Superman into an excuse for why he’ll never achieve more with his life, and an excuse for why he can’t help more people.
I love Gene Hackman’s broad and charming portrayal of the character in the original Richard Donner Superman movie. And I like the inevitably doomed friend of Clark Kent version of the character Michael Rosenbaum portrayed heartbreakingly in the Smallville tv series.
Then in comics…when I think of many of my favorite comics…Lex is there. Not only is Lex there, but Lex is pulling the strings, inevitably going to fly too close to the sun, and take it out on all of us for having been burnt. And it works for me every time. All-Star Superman, JLA: Earth 2, Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, JLA: Rock of Ages, JLA: World War III, Geoff Johns & Mike McKone’s Teen Titans, Superman: For All Seasons, and so many more…I’m just thrilled when Lex is around and he’s a big presence.
And for a long time, I was very intimidated by Lex Luthor as a writer. He’s a character I loved, who was written so well by writers I also loved that I was worried I would do a bad job. Same with Lois Lane. In the first four Superman stories I wrote neither of them were present. Then, when I did the Superman story “We Just Have to Make it Till Spring” with Riley Rossmo in DC’s Legion of Bloom, I knew it might be the last time I ever write Superman. I had to include Lois and Lex in that story
And let me tell you something…as soon as I wrote both…I felt stupid for not having them in every Superman story I did. They are so much fun to write. Two of the best comic book characters ever created. And for the sake of this question…Lex…his voice just came to me as clear as a bell and it was delicious writing him at his worst. And then I got to write him again in “God’s Chosen Man” the Final Crisis Set story Sid Kotian and I did for DC’s I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST CRISIS and I had even more fun writing him there as a man the world had completely turned on. I hope to write Lex again, and I want to read more Lex stories in the immediate future.
Superman “We Just Have to Make it Till Spring” by Me, Riley Rossmo, Ivan Plascencia, & Tom Napolitano. Copyright DC Comics.
Mookie Betts…
Mookie. Betts.
Mookie.
Remember at the end of the third season of New Girl when Nick and Jess broke up, and you understood they had to because it was going to help the show go for more seasons, but in your heart, you were like, “Why couldn’t you just keep these people together? This made me happy and made me believe that good things were possible?” It was kind of like that except the Red Sox had no good reason for making the awful decision they did.
This year at LA Comic Con I was wearing my Red Sox hat, as I do most days, and another guy with a Red Sox hat walked by my Artist Alley table and said “Maybe next year.” Referring to the Sox’s odds at being real contenders in the MLB. And I said “Maybe in two years.” and this man broke out into the loud honest laughter of someone whose heart had been broken by the Boston Red Sox organization.
I don’t know that we’ll ever get over it. We’re certainly not over it now.
Question #8
From Henry: Which comic made you a monthly subscriber?
DAVE: This question comes to us courtesy of Death to Pachuco writer and LA comics icon Henry Barajas. Thanks for the question, buddy! And a reminder you can still contribute to the Death to Pachuco Kickstarter, and you should!
New Avengers #15 Cover by Steve McNiven. Copyright Marvel Comics.
The Marvel and DC event cycles of the early 2000s are what made me a monthly reader, and a Wednesday warrior, but the book I probably most associate with that time and one I remember actively transitioning over from graphic novel collections to issues to read pretty early in it’s run was New Avengers written by Brian Michael Bendis and drawn by an army of some of the best superhero comic artists of the twenty-first century, whom I’m going to name in a moment.
This book felt like the center of the superhero comic genre for almost five years and for good reason. Brian Michael Bendis was on FIRE at that point he had been writing for Marvel for five years and had quickly become one of their best writers but with this book he changed the size and scope of his storytelling in an event-level way. He had broken the Avengers in the pages of Avengers: Disassembled with artist David Finch and then the two put the team back together in New Avengers. David Finch drew nine issues of New Avengers, which were stunning, my favorite being the final three he drew, issues 11-13 of the Ronin arc which is when I started reading the book monthly. Following David Finch would be Steve McNiven, Mike Deodoto JR, Howard Chaykin, Lenil Francis Yu (my favorite artist from the run), Olivier Coipel, Pasqual Ferry, Jim Cheung, Alex Maleev, Carlo Pagulayan, Billy Tan, Stuart Immonen and a few others. That list of artists alone…it’s one of the best artistic line-ups any comic series has ever had.
Narratively, though, and I appreciate this more after having spent a decade editing superhero books, this comic was the North Star of Marvel’s line of in-continuity superhero books. It set up events and new ongoing series and changed the status quo of the greater universe while still being about the characters on the New Avengers team in very deep and personal ways and having a few great mystery subplots running through the whole series. I feel like this book has started to become underrated, but I reread the whole sixty-plus issue run last year, and…I still loved it. A terrific superhero team book and something essential at the time, and I dare say is seminal now.
But yeah. I read this book in collected editions/graphic novel format, but it was so addicting and people were talking about it so much, it was one of the first books I started to read monthly. On the DC side, I would start reading Teen Titans by Geoff Johns and Mike McKone in issues, which I also adored.
Question #9
From Mickey: Who are your big four for music and comics?
DAVE: Big thanks to one of my lifelong friends, Mickey, for sending in this fantastic question, and asking me about music in addition to comics!
So for comics, I’m going to treat this like I’m going to do with the music part of the questions where I’m going to name bands. I’m going to pick my four favorite comic writer and comic artist pairings, creative teams if you will. That feels like a good way to answer the question, but let’s start with music because I’ve just answered a ton of comic questions.
Most of my music love is in the punk corner of the universe. Primarily in the pop-punk, emo, and hardcore sections of it. The order changes all the time but here are my four most seminal bands and my favorite album from each one.
BAND: Jimmy Eat World
ALBUM: Bleed American
I could have honestly picked most of the albums from Jimmy Eat World’s discography. One of the reasons I love them so much is that they have been so consistent over their almost three-decade run as a band. A great American rock band that feels as close as true Midwest emo ever got to the mainstream. They’ve got some killer sing-along songs, but they have also got a ton of songs with brilliant lyrics that will just absolutely level you.
BAND: Against Me!
ALBUM: Transgender Dysphoria Blues
A great mutual friend of Mickey and I’s introduced me to Against Me! when I was a sophomore in High School when their album New Wave came out. An album that is a little disjointed but has so many killer songs I fell in love with the band, and quickly discovered their back catalogue. Against Me! took me from my primarily Pop Punk tendencies and brought me to other corners of the punk universe.
And then, when I was in college, the band released Transgender Dysphoria Blues which just kicked my ass up and down the street with its raw power, tremendous songs, and searing honesty about lead singer Laura Jane Grace’s experience as a Transgender woman. An album that is regularly in my rotation.
Band: The Descendents
Album: Milo Goes to College
Once I heard The Descendents, I understood that they had written the blueprint for all the pop-punk music I grew up loving. They have so many good sincere songs, some angry songs that have not aged well (as a fan I have to own up to that), and some hilarious songs about eating fast food and farting. As Dave Grohl once said they were dorks trying to write songs like the Beach Boys and I think that’s a fairly loving description.
Also if you want to be a real nerd like me you can pretend the song Jean is Dead off of Milo Goes to College is about Jean Grey/The Phoenix.
BAND: Polar Bear Club
ALBUM: The Redder, The Better EP
The most eclectic of my choices. But from late high school through college Polar Bear Club was my favorite band. I’m picking an EP as my favorite of theirs but they have four full-length albums that I think are all excellent and full of well-written, raw, and powerful songs. If I had to pick one song for you to listen to that embodies everything I like about them? It would be Parked in the Parking Lot of Your Heart. Polar Bear Club is no longer together and I don’t think they are reuniting anytime soon, but I loved them and wish I could have gotten to see them live.
My top four comic book creative teams this is a hard choice. There have been so many amazing teams in the history of comics. I’m going to make a list with no commentary and let the choices stand on their own. This is my all-time list because, unfortunately, two of the folks on this list are no longer with us.
-Grant Morrison & Frank Quitely
-Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips
-Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale
-Brian Michael Bendis & Alex Maleev
Question 10
From Kenny: What’s your favorite era of Green Arrow?
DAVE: Comic book writing extraordinaire behind DC: Mech, Flash: The Fastest Man Alive, The Schlub, Superboy: The Man of Tomorrow, Fearless, and more Kenny Porter gave us this awesome question!
Green Arrow by Phil Hester, Ande Parks, and Guy Major. Copyright DC Comics.
Green Arrow is probably my favorite DC character. He and Superman alternate, but my love of Green Arrow is deep and very public. My favorite era of the character is the early 00s. Specifically the 2001 relaunch of the character with art primarily done by Phil Hester and Ande Parks and stories written by Kevin Smith, Brad Meltzer, and Judd Winick. The relaunch saw DC’s Emerald Archer and chief loudmouth liberal return from the dead and try to be a better man than used to be before he passed. His solo book was excellent Smith, Meltzer, and Winick had a defined and unified voice for the character and artistically Phil Hester and Ande Parks delivered my favorite version of the character.
In addition to the Green Arrow solo book being great at the time, Green Arrow was an integral part of the meta-story of the DC Universe leading up to the Infinite Crisis event. He would appear in a ton of books, always offered a great perspective on what was going on, and would usually pick a fight with whoever was around.
Green Arrow from Justice League Unlimited. Copyright Warner Brothers Discovery.
Outside of the comics, Green Arrow would also finally join the DCAU in the legendary Justice League Unlimited where he would become the most prominent new member of the league, he had five or six great focus episodes about him, and he was voiced perfectly by actor Kin Shriner. It’s the voice I still hear in my head when I read the character, and the few times I was lucky enough to write him.
But truth be told…I love all the eras of Green Arrow. One of my top five DC comics I ever edited was easily the Green Arrow 80th Anniversary Special. I hope someday they do a hardcover of it. I edited it alongside Arianna Turturro and Ben Meares. It is the best love letter to the character I could ever hope to make.
And right now the Green Arrow book is in pretty damn good hands with Chris Condon and Montos.
Green Arrow 80th Anniversary Main Cover by Dan Mora. Copyright DC Comics.
Question #11
Question from Anonymous: How would you like collected editions/trades to look in the future? What should they look like format-wise and what should be in them in terms of extras/bonus material to make creators and artists happy?
DAVE: Wow, this is a thoughtful and interesting question about comics that I was not expecting to get. Thank you, Anonymous, for keeping me on my toes!
The most important thing is to make sure that all of the collections we put out as an industry are of high quality. The covers are of strong stock, the interior pages are printed on nice paper, and the books are well-designed. You want the books to all feel substantial to some degree, regardless of format. And I think that the industry is doing that.
This leads into the next part; I think the industry needs to continue to have all of the popular books in as many different formats as possible to serve all the different kinds of readers we have. The two biggest revelations to me as far as collected editions are concerned in the last few years have been the success of DC’s Compact Comics line. For those who don’t know, DC has taken their best-selling backlist titles and is printing them at a digest/novel size. It’s done incredibly well, and I think it’s appealed a great deal to new readers. The other is the compendium editions. Credit where it’s due: that is a format that Robert Kirkman and Skybound popularized and pioneered with The Walking Dead and Invincible. Those compendiums have proven people want a full series or most of the series in a big edition they can buy at the bookstores.
One thing I will wonder out loud is…for an ongoing series. Comic book series that release between 10 to 12 issues a year…I wonder if it is worth waiting to do collected editions that collect all 10 to 12 issues of the year, instead of doing two 5 to 6-issue trades for the year for a series. But I don’t know how the economics of that would work. Ideally collected editions are big profit generators. You want to make back the budget of the series and then some on the printing of the individual issues and then that collected edition should be pure revenue. I suppose doing one book instead of two removes a revenue opportunity. On the other hand, the audience seems to be saying “We want bigger books please.” I wonder if the series would do better doing one big collected edition a year, but…until I do a creator-owned ongoing series, and I can help dictate/shape the release of trade paperbacks on a project, I won’t know the real answers to that question.
On the subject of what extras I, as a creator, like to have in the collected editions I am a part of? I want a nice cover gallery that shows all the covers the project had.I love a section dedicated to the artist’s process work for the project where you show things like character sketches, page layouts, page pencils, page inks, and world-building material. If you have the room? I also don’t mind showing a portion of the script. Seeing the script for a comic in the back of collected editions taught me how to write scripts for myself. I was delighted when DC told me they were going to run one of my scripts in the back of the Man-Bat collection, which I am told is now very hard to find in print!
Those are my thoughts on that, our final question of the inaugural Dave Wielgosz Holiday Q&A!
I loved this. Thank you to all of the friends of the Newsletters and readers who contributed wonderful questions. I am going to keep this an annual tradition so be ready for me to start looking for questions for the second annual Dave Wielgosz Holiday Q&A towards the end of October 2025, which is a time none of us should be thinking about yet!
A reminder that we are only a few weeks away from my first-ever comic book store signing! It will be at Comics N’ More in Easthampton, Massachusetts on 64 Cottage Street from 1 PM-5 PM on Saturday, December 21st. Bring books for me to sign, buy books at the store to support a great local comic book store/small business, and just come meet me because I am personable and lovely. It’s going to be a great time.
That’s it for this week. We’ll be back next week with one of two different posts. I’m not sure which one it’s going to be yet, so bare with me while I decide!
Stay safe!
—Dave Wielgosz