| August 31, 2007 - Silver Bullet Comics | | Print | |
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Silver Bullet Comics Recently, Canada has announced the Comic Creation Nation initiative, an initiative geared at encouraging Canadian creators to go out there and publish their works. Canada, it seems, would like to become the premiere comic publishing nation of the world. We here at Silver Bullet support any and all initiatives which support the comic-creator community, so I sat down for a quick chat with Matt Toner, president of Zeros2Heroes, an online publishing company which stands at the forefront of the Comic Creation Nation initiative.
Itai Rosenbaum: Hello Matt, thanks for taking the time to chat. Let's start things off at the beginning. How did you first get into comics? Were you a big collector as a kid? Which titles did you enjoy reading?
Matt Toner: Ok, this is my first big memory of comics: One day my parents came back from a farmer's market with a big plastic bag of second-hand comics. It was a really big bag with lots of comics in dubious condition (missing covers and what not). But there were some stories in there that blew my mind and the art had - to a child's eye - this really dark, almost evil aura. Mainly Marvel books in the bag - Nick Fury, Master of Kung-Fu, the Invaders and the like. Probably what gave me a taste for Marvel over DC (though I always liked Batman).
IR: Do you keep up with comics today? Any recent storylines you've enjoyed?
MT: In the last couple of years, comics have made a big comeback in my life and I find I'm much more drawn to strong writing than strong visuals. I was Lead Designer at a game company in 2005 and read a lot of Neil Gaiman's work as part of my research... too bad the game was ultimately cancelled! More recently, I've gotten into Transmetropolitan... a nicely cynical vision of the future without being too negative.
IR: Moving on to your own comic-related business, Zeros2Heroes. Tell us a little about what Zeros2Heroes is.
MT: We call ourselves "the people's publisher" because we really believe in that web 2.0 philosophy of empowering audiences to become co-creators with the pros. We want to make Zeros2Heroes.com a place where creators, artists and fans come together to either dream up new ideas or make good ideas better.
IR: I've got to take a minute and talk about one of your properties in development, ReBoot. I was a big fan of the show as a kid, so I've got to know - how are you planning on making the ReBoot comic more awesome and up to date with 21st century kids?
MT: The winning pitch has just been announced on our website and we'll be developing the webcomic based on that concept. We'll be doing this hand-in-hand with the successful team, the best artists as voted by the fans and, of course, the ReBoot community. The storyline has been evolving nicely thanks to fan feedback through our site and the art team has some serious skills. I think the story is going to be something hardcore fans will respect, but should also appeal to a new audience.
We'll produce the story as a webcomic initially and it will be available at no cost. We've got a couple of ideas to enhance the online viewing experience to make it work better in a digital medium.
IR: Back to Zeros2Heroes, the site seems to be thriving. Could you tell the good people at home how the site operates, from pitch to developed property?
MT: We've done a few trials and are now ready to work on a much larger scale. In general, writers will pitch their ideas online and we'll let our community rate and review. Smart writers will take the best suggestions and make their works even better. As the best ideas float to the top, we'll assemble the right art team to bring them to life. And I should point out that we're like Switzerland in this: we're completely neutral. There is no editorial agenda and you won't receive a rejection letter. If the community tells us that they love a story, that story will get produced.
IR: You've recently announced the Canada: Comic Creation Nation initiative. It must be a great feeling to know you have your country’s support behind you, no?
MT: Telefilm Canada is best known for their work supporting films and television series, but they'd never had a partner with whom they could explore comics. We think comics make excellent pitch packages for either film or TV, so it's a very good match.
But the great feeling comes from knowing that Telefilm is supporting new creators. Comic Creation Nation is a terrific "micro grant" program that allows Telefilm to support undiscovered writers in the way that matters most: underwriting the costs of producing their first professional work.
IR: How exactly has the initiative helped Zeros2Heroes?
MT: Our mission is to bring new works (and new talent) from the margins to the mainstage: Comic Creation Nation lets us do this in a big, big way. Obviously, it gives Zeros 2 Heroes some great exposure but the real win will be proving that our core philosophy is sound: great creations can come from anywhere and anyone.
IR: Does the support of the initiative mean you will focus mostly on Canadian proposals, or are you looking all over the globe for your creators?
MT: This first run of Comic Creation Nation is funded by Telefilm and, therefore, has to focus on stories from Canadian creators. But isn't it time that Canada came first? ;-)
At the same time, if successful, we want to export it to other countries in the very near future. There is no shortage of great stories waiting to be told.
IR: What are your plans for the future, any further properties that are in the works?
MT: We've got lots of ideas because, frankly, the comics industry is RIPE for re-invention. But one thing at a time: for the next few months, the digital comics revolution will be limited to Canada.
IR: Thanks for your time!
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