March Editorial Letter 2012

Recently, there have been two things that really got me thinking about my art career. The first was a quote from last month’s editorial by the great Sha-Nee Williams where she spoke about what Xion meant to her: “I networked with many people, became more outgoing with ideas, found great friendships and learned so much.” The second, was the whole Marvel Ghost Rider copyright issue. I started thinking, what exactly does this mean for me going forward?

Marvel reminded all of us that at the end of the day, business is business. Copyright and trademark holders have rights and they must do what is legally necessary to protect and exercise those rights. Let’s be honest, a lot of us are guilty of Copyright and Trademark infringement (in its simplest form) and yes, I did say “guilty”. Is there a commission of a Marvel or DC character in your sketchbook or on one of your many social sites? Are you doing commissions of characters you own or have a license to use in the Artist Alley at one of the numerous conventions? When you set up your table at one of these conventions are you displaying prints of your slickest Spider-Man, illest Invincible or that wicked Wonder Woman poster?

Maybe, maybe not. I guess the question becomes- are we going to continue to labor under the threat of Big Brother raining fire and brimstone down on the freelance artist for drawing their characters or are we going to create for ourselves?

Everybody is running around screaming the sky is falling and actually I want to personally thank Marvel for waking me up. Honestly, I will never work at any of the big companies (you might and I ain’t knocking you if that is what you're working towards) and that's okay with me...But nothing is stopping me from pursuing or living my dream of creating comic books. Dave Sims, Jeff Smith, Robert Eastman, and the founders of Image comics all had one thing in common- they all realized that when you work for the corporate machine basically they own what you create. The curtain has been pulled back and we ain’t in Metropolis anymore. It’s time to blaze the path to your own universe, create your own continuity, characters and stories.
We can be the creators of our own mythologies. We are the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby of our generation. Technology has really leveled the playing field to where we can create for a global audience. I don’t know whether the Artist Alley will change or people will stop drawing their favorite Marvel, DC, Image, etc characters, but we must all be aware that the comic book industry is run by corporations.

To quote from an OutKast classic “You need to Get up, Get out and Get something”, and I believe that is why The Xion Network was created. So we can help each other do just that. The reason I networked, put my ideas out there, gained friends and learned more about my craft was all in preparation from creating my own mythologies, and I encourage you to do the same. It's time to make it happen, “X Marks the Spot!”

Keep Grinding!

Mike “JMANARTIST” Colston
Proud Xion Member