Anatomy of an Indie Operation
by TJ DiChristopher

It's day two of the New York Comic Con. Attendees shuffle through Artists' Alley, glancing at unfamiliar titles and stopping to chat up their favorite creators. At the Drumfish Productions booth, Rich Bernatovech excuses himself from answering my questions in order to greet someone who's stopped to page through his flagship book, Sentinels.

After making the sale, Rich pulls out a leather-bound notebook and scrawls $15 beneath a wobbly column of figures.

Rich Bernatovech is one of the many independent comic book creators vying for the crowd's attention at the massive convention. With publishing giants like Marvel and DC in attendance, it's not always easy to draw in passersby. In addition, independent creators like Rich must also handle every aspect of their operations, from setting up booths to keeping the books.

Center stage at the Drumfish table is the recently completed series of Sentinels graphic novels, haloed by a collection of promotional material: posters, postcards, and a cover preview of Bernatovech's upcoming project, Neverminds.

"Having more than one book out has totally helped. When I had one it was very hard to get people to stop," says Bernatovech. "There's more of an interest, more of an acknowledgement that, even though you're independent, you're professional. That you've created a product, that you've finished it, that you have some kind of knowledge about the industry."

But Rich is not alone at this convention. Sitting alongside him is Ohio-based artist Jamie Fay, co-creator and penciler of Neverminds. The artist with whom Rich collaborated on Sentinels lives in Buenos Aires and couldn't always attend conventions throughout the series' run.

"When you're by yourself, it's a little hard because even if you do have people stop-the second person-there's nobody there to acknowledge them. Having the artist there really helps because people like to get sketches. And that's a big selling point."

In addition to an artist presence, Rich has recruited the niece of Sentinels editor George Gustines to run publicity at the booth. Smiling through exhaustion, Leonor Mamanna assails the curious and not-so-curious with cheerful greetings. Those who have previously visited the booth seem astounded that she remembers their names.

Rich has come a long way since his first convention in 2004. The experience was a mixture, he says, of excitement and disappointment-excitement over the finished book, but disappointment over mediocre booth traffic.

"They're not really sure of what you are," says Bernatovech of both creators and fans.

Sentinels is a graphic novel that follows a team of second-generation superheroes who take up the mantle of their disappeared parents. Writing a team book your first time out can be perilous. The substance is in the relationships, in the tension between well-established personalities. Investing readers in those relationships and keeping them hooked is incredibly challenging. Still, Rich chose to tackle a team book.

"I was committed with carrying through with Sentinels. At the time, it was where my heart was."

And he did carry through. Along the way, he has become part of a close-knit indie network. He and Dreamchilde Press writer/publisher Philip Clark organized The Indie After Party at last year's inaugural New York Comic Con. They promote one another's books on their respective websites, and Phil runs a forum on Sentinels and other indie series at the Dreamchilde Press site. Their collaboration provides an example for aspiring comics writers, especially those who might be too eager to get Marvel and DC's attention.

Indies, Assemble!

When Philip Clark first contemplated publishing Quantum: Rock of Ages, a book about a dimension-hopping team on a mission to save the space/time continuum, he put together an ashcan edition and sought feedback at various conventions.

"I went to the con and I basically tried to hit everyone that I thought might have an impact in the industry," he says. "I think from that con I maybe had one person ever get back to me. And I remember who it was. It was James Sherman (Legion of Super-Heroes). He gave me some fantastic pointers, but I think everyone else just kind of put it in their bags and forgot about it."

Sherman's encouragement emboldened Phil to script the first issues of Quantum and take them to a sci-fi convention at Madison Square Garden. Again, the same pattern emerged.

"People like Peter David and Chris Claremont couldn't even look at my script for legal reasons," he remembers. "The more indie guys would pay attention to me, and that's actually where I ran into the Comic Book Artists Guild for the first time. Those people like Keith Murphy were the only people who took me seriously and acknowledged that I could do this comic book thing."

Phil is now an enthusiastic supporter of small presses and continues to work with the Comic Book Artist Guild.

In attendance at this year's Indie After Party was Andrea Grant. Though she now sports jet black hair, the ashen-haired heroine of her recently released book, Andrea Grant's MINX, is clearly styled after Andrea herself.

Andrea (aka, the Pin-Up Poet) is a writer, multimedia artist, and former model who has always brought a high regard for style to her projects. MINX is a tale about a woman who passes between waking and sleeping realms, trying to prevent her nemesis from corrupting powerful spiritual energies. The format is reflective of the sumptuous story.

"I like to keep my production values high so that everything looks slick," says Andrea. "I don't want people to ever look at my work and think 'Oh, she's independent. You can tell by the thin paper.'"

And while her preoccupation with quality means she handles most aspects of production, she understands the cooperative aspect of being an independent creator.

"I am fortunate that I have so many allies who help me with different things, like publicity. I have an amazing graphic designer who understands my disjointed emails."

Phil also insisted that I meet Sean Wang. Sean is the writer behind the sci-fi epic Runners, which follows a crew of alien smugglers.

Though Sean has done notable work for comics labels (The Tick), he remains an independent creator at heart. When asked about working on established titles, Sean is steadfast in his commitment to Runners.

"I think that unlike a lot of people who may start self-publishing something in the hope that it will lead to work with Marvel and DC, my honest intention is really to make Runners my long-term project. I would certainly entertain working for other companies but it's kind of a balancing act."

Sean recently completed the critically acclaimed pencils for Meltdown, a title released by Image comics. Since Image titles are creator-owned, there was no loss of creator control.

"The benefit was that they obviously have a lot of clout in Previews and in getting stores to order from them. As a self-publisher, you're fighting upstream to get retailers to notice your work."

Each of these creators has experienced that fight. While the major labels actively solicit artists, fewer doors are open to new writers. Ask any established writer how to have your pitch considered by Marvel or DC, and he or she will likely tell you to get something published.

Read Part 2 of Anatomy of an Indie Operation