07-09-2004, 12:48 AM
I think Crossgen's main problem was that they had big time ambitions, with small press ideas. Not that there was anything wrong with their books. In fact, quite the opposite. The books that Crossgen put out were incredible. But they didn't appeal to a wide enough audience to sustain what quickly grew to be very large company. If they had published the same stories, with a lower profile marketing strategy, they would have still reached their target audience, allowing themselves to grow at a more reasonable pace. Instead they came forth with both barrels blazing. It worked for a while. But in the end, I just don't think they had the readership to sustain what must have been a very expensive venture.
A good example of a publisher that took things one step at a time would be Wizard magazine. Today they are one of the most influential voices in the comic book world, with amazing production values and consitantly high profile content. But if you have been reading Wizard as long as I have you would know that their first issues were printed on very cheap paper and their distribution was much less than it is today. But the one thing that has remained constant since the beginning was their commitment to their ideas and consistant high quality content.
If Crossgen had bothered to crawl before they ran, they may not have stumbled and bloodied their lip.
A good example of a publisher that took things one step at a time would be Wizard magazine. Today they are one of the most influential voices in the comic book world, with amazing production values and consitantly high profile content. But if you have been reading Wizard as long as I have you would know that their first issues were printed on very cheap paper and their distribution was much less than it is today. But the one thing that has remained constant since the beginning was their commitment to their ideas and consistant high quality content.
If Crossgen had bothered to crawl before they ran, they may not have stumbled and bloodied their lip.