Full disclosure, I have, of course, met Chris Roberson and Allison Baker. You are unlikely to find two more decent folks in any setting.
A while back, as
iZombie was wrapping up (a series you can and still should pick up in trade paper back format), Chris made a statement about wanting to see companies do right by creators, and that he did not feel that was happening in mainstream comics.
Of course my fandom for Superman feels increasingly tainted by the ongoing litigation between the Siegels/ Shusters and Warner Bros., who own and operate DC Entertainment. And you don't have to look further than Steve Ditko or Bill Finger to see how credit and financial compensation rarely goes where it could or should in the realm of intellectual property.
Chris and Allison understand the change in access and the opportunity presented by digital comics and platforms like Comixology. They also understand fair agreements with creators. They launched Monkeybrain Comics not so long ago in order to provide a home for creators where they could have a shake at publishing their own work with a fair deal in place and be on the digital shelf with other books.
Very cool. I was excited, and I'm a fan of a large chunk of Monkeybrain's output.
Now, however, Chris and Allison took it up a notch. For the month of November, they're giving all profits headed for Monkeybrain to
The Hero Initiative. I'll let their press release describe what this is and what it means, but I will say: It's nice to see the rare opportunity for comics folk on the business side do something far above and beyond what business is usually willing to do for their own contributors, let alone contributors who never worked with or for the company. Monkeybrain is supporting the folks who gave us, as readers, the stories and characters we've loved since childhood by supporting The Hero Initiative.
This is what heroism looks like. Other publishers, especially those who have built their companies upon stories and characters taking steps beyond human to help others, who became empires built on the work of those they never offered anything beyond the next check for the next story... they haven't quite sorted this out yet. I imagine a legion of attorneys advises against any acknowledgment of contribution. In any case, they aren't famed for stepping up and doing the right thing.
Monkeybrain is a new publisher. This decision should tell us all a lot about what they value, and that they've built a moral compass directly into the DNA of their company.
Below the jump: the press release
