Mark G. Heike and Stephanie S. Heike, comic book creators!
News and Updates from Steph'
-------------------------------
Feb 25, 2010 Working on three different things--current freelance gig,
21st project in progress and yet another commission. Just getting over a lingering nasty cough n' cold.
Going to throw a few vhs on the tv to keep me going.
-------------------------------
Feb 13, 2010 We don't have any snow:P It's snowing everywhere but here.
I'd like some snow!!!
You guys are SOOO lucky to go out and play in the snow every day!!
Here it's like 50 something and cloudy. Bleah! Me want SNOW!!
-------------------------------
Jan 22, 2010 New Ebay listings! Click pur
ple ebay button! Also, FF #151 is on sale at the AC shop right now!
-------------------------------
Jan 19, 2010 It's a new year, all right...where's the happy? I've been working.
As one of the few indy female comic book editors, I've been pretty darn busy working on future
issues of FF, plus I'm working on freelance inking jobs which pay bills. When I can, I'm working on 21st.
If I have any time left over, it's watching old movies and cooking.
Mommas don't let your girls grow up to be comic book artists! (or let your girls grow up to be comic book writers or editors, for that matter!)
Our buddy Nick got some dvds, so we got his vhs copies of some old 30's movies, so Mark's happy.
-------------------------------
Dec 21, 2009
Another new comic shop opened in College Park near where I get frozen yogurt, so we strolled in to check it out a few weeks ago.
Practically all the stock on the racks was current Marvel and DC and their imprint books. Virtually no independents.
One shortbox of back issues consisting of 90's Marvel and DC. No trades.
Regular comic shops have maybe fifty to sixty Non-Big Two publisher books while the newer shops tend to have half of that.
Thirty more or less titles may sound
like quite a lot, but when you factor in
how many titles and their publishers like Archie or Dark Horse, fall under non-Marvel/non-DC or their imprints, it's not.
-------------------------------
Another thing in common with "Only big two, only new" comic shops is that they
also seem to be run by people who aren't interested in comics at all. Your
classic guy who wants to get his parents off his back by starting a business
or guy who wants to make more money doing something "easy and quick",
only now they've decided that comic shops are the way to go. These guys were
kids in the 90's and gosh, running a comic shop looked so easy and fun back then.
At the height of the modern comics market in the 90's, comics were selling hundreds of thousands of copies,
but that isn't the market today. Even as popular as comics were in the 90's,
when they were an alternative investor market to hobby shops because baseball
cards took a hit when the strike was on, they were nowhere near to the million copies a month sales of the 40's.
We've heard of guys burning through jaw-dropping amounts starting new comic shops in the past three-four years
with nothing to show for it.
Thirdly, these guys are selling their remaindered old "new" books under the counter to other dealers.
These second-hand comic book dealers, are shutting down their Diamond accounts, if they ever had one
and buying books only a few months out of date for pennies on the dollar
from the foolish "new book" dealers who just want to eliminate overhead on store stock.
Retailer "A" orders new books from Diamond, he gets all of the initial sales from people who
want the books when they come out, he sells "only new, only Big two". When the books
get three months old he sells them to retailer "B". Retailer "B" sells only backstock. He never deals with Diamond and he gets
books as the "newstand" gets rid of them. Retailer "A" gets money back on "unreturnable" direct sale books
while retailer "B" gets three month old "new to you" books without going through Diamond.
Both are happy because they have eliminated costs--Retailer "A" has no backstock and he's gained cash to buy more new books, while
retailer "B" has gained new stock without having to deal with the upfront expenses of ordering new books from Diamond Distribution.
This of course, stinks for those of us who are still working on
independent books being sold through Diamond because it means that while there are technically "more" comic shops out there today,
fewer comic shops are ordering new products from Diamond and that the narrow-minded "only new, only Big Two" guys are the ones ordering any new comics.
Of course, the easist to find books are the Big Two, both in other comic shops, bookstores and on
bootleg sites. (we get page links from our fans so we can stop people posting and bootlegging OUR books.)
What this means to us as independent publishers, because these guys order only Marvel
and DC and are trying to eliminate all backstock, there are
NO retail locations for readers to find our independent comics available.
We NEED readers to buy from retailers and we NEED retailers to order our books through Diamond
to keep publishing new comic books a viable option!
These guys running a "direct sales newstand" do have their upside, though.
We went on a spree in a comics shop in Wisconsin--this guy had all of his "unimportant" non-Big Two books
for 25 cents--if it wasn't Marvel or DC, into the 25 cents box it went!
-------------------------------
Nov 26, 2009 Happy Thanksgiving! Updated the ebay stuff, buy now or bye-bye!
-------------------------------
Nov 19, 2009 Some of you have been emailing us about the current US medical bill.
We don't normally get political here, but a lot of you automatically assume that you know where
we are on this issue and are spamming accordingly.
There is a person in our family who is on the list for a brand new experimental treatment, it's not surgery.
If it works, it could mean the difference between having sight and blindness.
This brave person is willing to take this procedure, not just
for their own eyesight, but for millions of other people who are blind or near blind.
We are AGAINST this awful health care bill, because, among many other things,
if it passes, this person will NOT be able to recieve this experimental treatment, at any risk or cost.
Therefore, we urge you to petition "NO" on the health care bill.
-------------------------------
Nov 15, 2009 Ebay pagez are up. Mark's giantess art! go look! Search for "heike"
-------------------------------
Nov 12, 2009 Will have up some new ebay pages tonight. Check back with us late tonight, as they should be up by Friday.
-------------------------------
Nov 11, 2009 Yes, We're alive. As for Saturday, we were on the highway
going past the area of the gunfire, but we're fine.
Did you hear that the TMNT rights were sold for $60 million last month? Neither did I.
-------------------------------
Oct 29, 2009 What? You want news?! I'm working on a script for FF issue #152, how's that?
-------------------------------
Oct 16, 2009 8:00 PM
Mark and I saved a stray orange kitten who's going to a good home courtesy of
RAIN (Rescuing Animals in Need)
They're a nonprofit org that finds homes for strays. Our kitty was a stray herself many years ago
and this lil' guy was scared and hungry.
Reorders on 21st Centurions are going out
to Haven, one of the smaller non-Big Two distributors.
When I'm not saving kittens (and getting my clothes muddy) or salvaging Golden Age reprint material,
I'm working on the new 21st Centurions issue and/or an upcoming FF story.
-------------------------------
Oct 12, 2009 8:00 PM New! Purple Ebay button! Go clicky and buy stuff!
-------------------------------
Sept 29, 2009 10:14 AM Hey folks, we've got car maintenance repairs, so
for the first time in about three years, we're going to have an E bay auction (hopefully) starting this Sunday.
Plus, I upgraded my Wacom a month or so back, so I'm selling my Intuos3 graphics tablet, box and accessories as soon as I can locate the cds for it.
-------------------------------
Sept 1, 2009 10:14 AM
Update: I've been viewing the "fanboy outrage" with some amusement.
Fanboys (and that includes the ones who are working in the business)
are mad that this merger is going to wipe away current comics geared to
guys who have been driving the comics market into the ground,
by wanting pseudo-intellectualism, gritty extreme violence and depressing adult
dramatic themes. The majority of current comics, not just Marvel comics, are
produced for a small group of a few thousand fanboys. Look at where the market for comics is now.
That stuff doesn't SELL comics. They've turned what was a thriving comic industry in the 90's to a
niche market unsuitable for kids, teens or their parents.
Hopefully, the Disney Marvel merger returns Marvel to being fun and enjoyable once again to the general
public.
-------------------------------
August 31, 2009 10:14 AM OMG! Disney bought Marvel! Is this an April Fool's joke?!
Read story HERE
Couple of notes here: this isn't the first time Disney has been looking at and buying other comic book companies and properties to aquire, for example, the
Crossgen, which was briefly a major player and went under due to the head guy in charge
not understanding his market or listening to the people on his staff telling him that his ideas wouldn't sell in the comics market.
-------------------------------
August 30, 2009 Fellow artist Brad Gorby is unable to pay his rent on his apartment.
As most of you know, Brad has been working at a local grocery store for a decade now and
has been doing his art mainly as a hobby. For those of you who don't remember that far back,
Brad did some pencilling work for AC's FF book in the 90's as well as some stuff for other publishers.
He "casually" mentioned this to us and we've been trying to get the word out through Bill.
Needed to post it to our own site though.
-------------------------------
August 17, 2009 We're back from the Midwest (actually, back for a week now, busy as ever).
I got a couple of bruises and sprained my toe at Chicago tripping over the Peep's original art-filled luggage
(and got aid from Maggie Thompson who artfully wrapped my injured foot
with a plastic Aspen comics bag and a lanyard). Mark and I weren't
at the convention Saturday because of my hurt toe (and bad driving conditions), but we were there
Friday and Sunday.
We're all unhappy about lower sales on the AC products.
These books aren't what WE want to do, it's what the distributor wants, it's
what they say their comic retailers want--more expensive, larger format trade paperback/graphic novel
books rather than actual comic books.
So, we're reprinting early issues of FF in trade paperback (even though we have those issues or reprints of those issues
still for sale(!) in the online store) not because WE want to,
but because that's what we were "recommended" to do. We're doing huge books with more pages, so our distributor
can make more profit per unit sales. This may boost our sales in the short run,
but eventually, this will cause our sales to drop off because we'll have a difficult time getting new readers to try
these larger, more expensive books. What do you think?
-------------------------------
August 04, 2009 No, we weren't at San Diego (as some people have asked).
Isn't San Diego just a motion picture/television convention rather than a comic convention now?
We will be at Chicago Comic Con/Wizard World Chicago.
The only reason we BUY the table is to promote my comic book, 21st Centurions. If I can't promote my book,
then it's better not do the show at all.
There are a LOT of people under the misconception that the table is there representing our daytime employer.
It's not, any more than people who work for Marvel, DC, Image or Dark Horse set up "representing" the
companies that they work for.
It's essentially as if you worked for a car rental and went to a comic convention to promote your comic book but people
kept asking you what the cheapest deal they can get on a Hyundai is or the best milage for a Sunbird. All day long.
Mark's been at AC for way longer than some current creators have been alive, but
at the end of the day, AC is Bill's company and if he were to sell the whole sh-bang out
from under us tomorrow in some deal for 20 million dollars--well, Mark and I--we'd still have my comic book and our cat.
These people see the convention as purely a social event and hog the table
because they want to shoot the breeze the whole day long.
Which not only keeps people from buying stuff,(to offset things like travel to the show,
often including things like airfare)it keeps new people from ever wanting to approach the table.
This is why we stopped doing the Florida shows,
-------------------------------
July 03, 2009 Been over the cold for a week or more, working on comics and art.
Updated a few things on the site, nothing major. Looks like I won't be
in on the 150th FF issue--number of people called up and wanted to work on the "special" issue.
So, during the holiday this weekend*, I'm taking advantage of
the opportunity to work like crazy on 21st until Monday.
Bunch of pages in mid-production on 21st #3, so there's
tons of pages to go through at this stage--both physical pages and scans of pages--pages
in roughs, pages of scripts, pencilled pages, inked pages, lettered pages, colored pages,
Whenever I have to move the book to the side for other comic jobs,
I lose my focus--"Now, where was I..." *(Mind you, I'll be going to see some fireworks!)
Back to the freelance gig on Monday--mind you I don't actually hate the ghosting freelance gig
--but when I'm working on it--Grrrr!!! Having only barely seen three episodes of the tv show
(one of them partially twice, in fact -- the episodes were very depressing and dismal about intestinal worms and lost doggies)
and never having actually read the funny books (hey, I'm a ghost, I don't get comps), it really doesn't seem to be my thing.
-------------------------------
June 22, 2009 Bleah! I hate colds! Especially in summer! Bleah! It's 100 degrees here!
-------------------------------
June 01, 2009 Busy ghost working on pages--hate this stuff. Ugly design,
ugly concept and it's unfunny, dismal "ax to grind" agenda of no hope for mankind. Bleah.
Really want to work on something bright and positive!
Yeah, FF #149 is out, go order it. I did pencil roughs, plotting, dialogue and lettering
on one story--the usual stuff that I do; plus lettering and additional dialogue on the Italian giantess story.
So, if nothing else comes up after these pages clear the decks in a week or so,
I'm back on 21st #3! With my luck, something will happen that will put that back on the back burner once again.
Got some "glow green in the dark" Chucks for $10 bucks at the outlet mall. Wearing
with grape purple socks, lemon jeans and lavender Tee.
-------------------------------
May 22, 2009 Still working on #149. We're fine.
You may or may not have seen reports of the "tropical storm that is not a tropical storm".
It's been raining solid since Sunday, heck, we've even had rotational winds(!) BUT tropical storm
season doesn't "officially" start until AFTER Memorial Day and we don't want to scare the tourists
from a three day weekend in Florida sunshine, now do we? Hmph!
-------------------------------
May 08, 2009 Not much new to report other than we have reports of the missing FF #147 finally shipping
this week at comic shops, after #148 already shipped on-time. That leaves two issues of BOTW and a DVD unaccounted for.
Working on #149--
-------------------------------
Apr 18, 2009 No, we're not at FX show ($50 to just walk around? plus park?! LOL!)
We had fun playing video trivia last night and getting kittay foood for the kittay. (she's a sweet kitty!)
Am eatin leftover Krystal Chik and a Capri Sun.
-------------------------------
Apr 15, 2009 Working on stuff--mostly for #149, the rest is on 21st.
At AC, Mark is going nuts because Diamond is failing to ship ( P.s.--it's four out of six products) to retailers various AC products that we shipped back in Feb-March and are reporting
these books as "lost" at their brand new incredibly incompetent Olive Branch warehouse that apparently can't find any of our comics
or dvds in boxes that are clearly marked with the title and barcodes on them. Diamond is calling us
this week to request proof of delivery or reship and we have proof of delivery through
UPS that EVERYTHING arrived in Diamond's hands, with what time and who the person was that signed them in.
Heck, we've already gotten paid
for the products, but retailers and fans who ordered
the books are calling us angry that the comics and dvds haven't shown up yet. The later they ship, the lack of confidence will be
on OUR product and not squarely on the distributor's end where it should be.
Back in the 90's, an entire shipment of FF was lost and AC had to reship, so we keep fastidious track of books shipped out from us.
(the "lost" issues ended up in repackaged plastic bags of "Hey Kids! Comics" that were at my local
Target that had tons of them on the back wall. Apparently someone made a deal to convieniently
"lose" a niumber of 90's issues from various publishers and resell them. GRRR...
-------------------------------
Apr 6, 2009 Yes, FF #148 is out, wrapped that up this week.
rough pencilled 7 pages for Mark to ink, co-dialoging scripts (with Mark) and lettered 10 pages--it's done.
Working on 15 pages of freelance stuff, when I get through with that, do it all over again with scripting,
pencilling and lettering for FF # 149--no rest for me!
That also means more delays on 21st, which has taken some major hits
from the freelance work and Femforce this year.
-------------------------------
Mar 22, 2009 No, no updates. YES, AC is still publishing, YES, stuff got cancelled
through Diamond. Retailers who ordered
stuff that got cancelled lost income because a lot of that pre-ordered stuff was paid for in
advance by fans. Prices on our books are going to go up
essentially because our distributor Diamond says they should. Back to the AC grind.
Life sucks, we're doooomed, blah blah blah....that about covers it.
-------------------------------
Feb 17, 2009 Still working on updates. As most of you know the delay on 21st Centurions #3 is because I've
been working on freelance stuff and FF leading up to the landmark 150th issue, which means all of Dec and January I haven't
had a chance to do anything substantial on my own book (or on the website for that matter). Got a schedule gap right now after
I finish two covers for AC books sometime tomorrow,
(well, as much of schedule gap as I get!) so I'm back on 21st Centurions--but with my luck, something new work-wise will come up.
-------------------------------
Feb 11, 2009 New previews of 21st Centurions are live (issue one that is!) Working on the rest.
-------------------------------
Feb 02, 2009 Whoa! The malls are packed with shoppers! It's insane!! I mean regular malls, high
end malls and the outlet malls that are never busy!!! The parking lots are wall to wall
and I see tons of people with shopping bags! It looks like late December out there!
I've been everywhere around here because the shoes I waited on buying three weeks ago
for my birthday are freaking sold out and I can't find them anywhere! The "current
financial crisis" has gotta be bovine stuff! The politicians are lying as usual just
to pad out their bank accounts and their buddies' bank accounts, the economy is fine
and booming out there! Let's go help the people in the Midwest that are snowed in without power! Now, that's a crisis!
I spent all last month working on "other people's comics"!! ARRGH!
In other non-news, independent comics aren't selling because no one stocks them!! We checked out two new comic
stores in our area--all the Big Two corporation-powered comics: Marvel and DC stuff.
Smattering of Dark Horse and Image. Nuthin' else. Not even kid's books at the newer one.
No back issues to speak of. Toys, statues and t-shirts. They're not like your old geek-run
shops with fat and skinny guys jokin' and eatin' Taco Bell (unless Micky D's had a hot
new toy/drink cup promo) while discussing who'd win in a Thing vs Hulk battle, more like an
austere and snooty "high end collectible" stores with some high falutin' dude you'd expect
at an art gallery sipping his coffee--(who's obviously not geek and just using the locale as
a tax dodge). I couldn't find anything to buy. Okay, there was a Bettie Page tee I kinda liked,
but that just makes me sad right now.
P.S. No, we didn't tell them who we were--they couldn't
have cared less--like going to an art gallery and saying "Hey! I do pictures!" It doesn't matter
if you're better than any of their stuff, you're not who they're trying to sell or sell to.
-------------------------------
Jan 19, 2009 People have often told us AC is the "canary in the coalmine" for the comics
industry. Cough-cough! The old hardcore fans who loved the "comics like they used to be"
are dying out, those guys who were reading comic books as kids in the millions before the
1960's--hardcore fans that made up the foundation that AC Comics published for. One fellow
expressed that we "just need to go in a different direction and increase sales" like Joe and
Jack did back in the 50's with romance comics, when everyone was doing crime comics. Sadly,
that doesn't seem to be the answer anymore. Is the modern wave grim and gritty/ crime style
working? Are manga/shojo sales up? Heck, fun, brash heroics simply won't sell anymore. I'd love
to say we need to go in a new direction to increase sales, but that doesn't seem to matter anymore.
Retailers across the board in the current financial crisis are playing it safe and
are not ordering anything except from the Big Two Marvel and DC publishers--it's like
the 70's all over again. If you're an independent publisher, it doesn't matter what you
publish, it doesn't matter what genre, what creator/s, how good or how bad it is--if it
isn't from the corporate publishers, retailers simply won't order it. Go in any new comics
shop, you'll see tons of Marvel and DC and maybe one or two books from Dark Horse and Image--nothing
else! Oh, sure, the handful of hardcore fans you've had since the 80's and 90's order your books but
you won't gain any new readers if your comics just go in the pull boxes and retailers won't order any
for the shelves.
Yes, I'm still going ahead with 21st Centurions #3. I love it, I believe
in it and I want to finish the story arc I've set up. Yes, it's fun, brash heroics
and it's cute too AND it's not Marvel or DC--but I'm doing it anyway. It's a bad time
in the market right now to release it but it's not finished yet, so it's a moot point.
-------------------------------
Jan 12, 2009 --Yes, I'm still here, still working. We've been
lucky enough to be getting some freelance work, so it's been nose to the grindstone
on other people's comics.
-------------------------------
