Weblogs.variety.com Article
September 5, 2007 by Tom McLean
Barry Levine gets Radical
As comics and Hollywood continue to find their fates intertwined, the links between the two industries will become as explicit as they are with Radical Publishing.
Set to debut their first book, “Hercules,” in May of 2008, Radical was founded by president and chief publisher Barry Levine, CEO and Vice President Jesse Berger, General Counsel Matthew Berger and co-publisher and editor-in-chief David Elliott.
Levine, a former rock photographer turned producer, founded Radical after a stint developing and producing films through a first-look deal with Dark Horse Comics. Working with Dark Horse founder Mike Richardson, Levine set up “Rex Mundi” at Warner Bros., with Johnny Depp attached to star, and “RIPD” at Universal.
“But it still wasn’t my company,” says Levine of his decision to go out on his own.
Radical made its Comic-Con debut last month with a booth filled with poster-size images of artwork by some of the top artists in the business, including Imaginary Friends Studios, Yoshitaka Amano, Dave Wilkins, Jim Steranko, John Bolton, Dave Dorman and Bill Sienkiewicz.
“We created kind of like a gallery,” Levine says. “We wanted to make an impression and give people and idea of the quality of the artists that we were coming out with.”
The Radical slate steers clear of superheroes, opting instead for the fantasy, sci-fi and horror genres. Levine says that while he knows Radical won’t compete with Marvel or DC in terms of market share, he intends for the company’s comics to compete with the big two on a creative level, hence the recruitment of top-name talent.
Creators with track records like those who’ve signed on with Radical are attracted to the quality of the story, Levine says. A story has to be good enough to arouse their interest and get them to feel passionate about the project.
“A lot of the stuff we’re doing has very good cinematic possibilities. It’s easily adaptable because we don’t do superhero stuff,” he says. “What we do, whether in science fiction, fantasy, comedy, crime, drama, supernatural, horror — whatever it is — it has to be character driven and dialog driven.”
Levine says the company plans a slow expansion in both publishing and into film and TV through sister company Blatant Studios. “Hercules,” written by Steve Moore, will be first the first comicbook out of the gate, and has already been set up at Rogue Pictures, also the home of another Radical project, “Blood on the Tracks.” Director Xavier Gens, who helmed the upcoming videogame adaptation ”Hitman,” is attached to “Hercules.”
Comics wise, the company will focus on miniseries running about five issues and then being collected. Other major comics projects in the works include “Khrome,” one of two projects pitched to the company by the king of horror comics, Steve Niles; and a book from Japanese artist Yoshitako Amano that will feature 250 original paintings and an original story. Levine says the book will debut at next year’s Comic-Con, and they plan to bring in Amano for a signing.
Also in the works is “Caliber,” a Western with an Arthurian slant; artist Nick Percival’s fantasy tale “Legends”; “Solitude,” a graphic novel from director Vincent Perez and drawn by Bolton; “Feast of Fools,” a horror tale from artist James Heffron; and sci-fi concept “Hotwire,” created by Warren Ellis and Steve Pugh.
The company will focus on the direct market first, “because that’s your fanboys, and that’s who you want to keep happy,” Levine says.
Levine says he believes comics are perfect vehicles for the kinds of high concept stories that Hollywood can’t get enough of. He cites as an example Niles’ trend-setting horror series “30 Days of Night” — a tale of vampires descending on an Alaskan town where the sun doesn’t rise for an entire month. “It raised the bar on people’s perception of the high concept,” Levine says.
Of course, Levine also would like to follow in the footsteps of “30 Days’” Hollywood success — the film version starring Josh Hartnett is due out in October from Sony. Developing that high concept is a key step in Radical’s development process, with the company creating character and production renderings for a comic sometimes even before an artist is chosen for the series.
Radical also has teamed up with Imaginary Friends, a studio in Singapore that’s contributing to several Radical comic books. They also have an overseas partner in U.K.-based sales, production and finance house, Intandem Films, which bought a 5 percent stake in Radical.
And while comics are great springboards for films and TV, there are other markets, too. “If it becomes a film, great. If it doesn’t but it’s a great book that people will enjoy, then that’s another thing,” he says. “Not every book that Frank Miller did is a film, but he never compromised. That’s the cool thing about Frank Miller.”
Levine sees a lot of potential in the interactive market and plans to market to that audience through outlets such as Play Magazine.
There also will be two sister companies to Radical Comics: Radical Books, which will publish original graphic novels; and Radical Art, which will do art books devoted to the likes of painter Luis Royo. While comics-based pics aren’t immune to the ups and downs of the movie-going audience’s taste, Levine says comics will be big in Hollywood for a long time to come.
He also expects more Hollywood talent to dip their toes into comicbooks. “It’s an incredible opportunity to tell a story and have it come out quickly, as opposed to waiting a year or 15 months to see the film, or see something go into development hell,” he says.
“I just think Hollywood is so hungry for high concepts and good storytelling, that it doesn’t matter if it comes from a videogame or a comicbook,” he says. “I just think comicbooks will be getting more sophisticated.”
September 5, 2007 by Tom McLean
Barry Levine gets Radical
As comics and Hollywood continue to find their fates intertwined, the links between the two industries will become as explicit as they are with Radical Publishing.
Set to debut their first book, “Hercules,” in May of 2008, Radical was founded by president and chief publisher Barry Levine, CEO and Vice President Jesse Berger, General Counsel Matthew Berger and co-publisher and editor-in-chief David Elliott.
Levine, a former rock photographer turned producer, founded Radical after a stint developing and producing films through a first-look deal with Dark Horse Comics. Working with Dark Horse founder Mike Richardson, Levine set up “Rex Mundi” at Warner Bros., with Johnny Depp attached to star, and “RIPD” at Universal.
“But it still wasn’t my company,” says Levine of his decision to go out on his own.
Radical made its Comic-Con debut last month with a booth filled with poster-size images of artwork by some of the top artists in the business, including Imaginary Friends Studios, Yoshitaka Amano, Dave Wilkins, Jim Steranko, John Bolton, Dave Dorman and Bill Sienkiewicz.
“We created kind of like a gallery,” Levine says. “We wanted to make an impression and give people and idea of the quality of the artists that we were coming out with.”
The Radical slate steers clear of superheroes, opting instead for the fantasy, sci-fi and horror genres. Levine says that while he knows Radical won’t compete with Marvel or DC in terms of market share, he intends for the company’s comics to compete with the big two on a creative level, hence the recruitment of top-name talent.
Creators with track records like those who’ve signed on with Radical are attracted to the quality of the story, Levine says. A story has to be good enough to arouse their interest and get them to feel passionate about the project.
“A lot of the stuff we’re doing has very good cinematic possibilities. It’s easily adaptable because we don’t do superhero stuff,” he says. “What we do, whether in science fiction, fantasy, comedy, crime, drama, supernatural, horror — whatever it is — it has to be character driven and dialog driven.”
Levine says the company plans a slow expansion in both publishing and into film and TV through sister company Blatant Studios. “Hercules,” written by Steve Moore, will be first the first comicbook out of the gate, and has already been set up at Rogue Pictures, also the home of another Radical project, “Blood on the Tracks.” Director Xavier Gens, who helmed the upcoming videogame adaptation ”Hitman,” is attached to “Hercules.”
Comics wise, the company will focus on miniseries running about five issues and then being collected. Other major comics projects in the works include “Khrome,” one of two projects pitched to the company by the king of horror comics, Steve Niles; and a book from Japanese artist Yoshitako Amano that will feature 250 original paintings and an original story. Levine says the book will debut at next year’s Comic-Con, and they plan to bring in Amano for a signing.
Also in the works is “Caliber,” a Western with an Arthurian slant; artist Nick Percival’s fantasy tale “Legends”; “Solitude,” a graphic novel from director Vincent Perez and drawn by Bolton; “Feast of Fools,” a horror tale from artist James Heffron; and sci-fi concept “Hotwire,” created by Warren Ellis and Steve Pugh.
The company will focus on the direct market first, “because that’s your fanboys, and that’s who you want to keep happy,” Levine says.
Levine says he believes comics are perfect vehicles for the kinds of high concept stories that Hollywood can’t get enough of. He cites as an example Niles’ trend-setting horror series “30 Days of Night” — a tale of vampires descending on an Alaskan town where the sun doesn’t rise for an entire month. “It raised the bar on people’s perception of the high concept,” Levine says.
Of course, Levine also would like to follow in the footsteps of “30 Days’” Hollywood success — the film version starring Josh Hartnett is due out in October from Sony. Developing that high concept is a key step in Radical’s development process, with the company creating character and production renderings for a comic sometimes even before an artist is chosen for the series.
Radical also has teamed up with Imaginary Friends, a studio in Singapore that’s contributing to several Radical comic books. They also have an overseas partner in U.K.-based sales, production and finance house, Intandem Films, which bought a 5 percent stake in Radical.
And while comics are great springboards for films and TV, there are other markets, too. “If it becomes a film, great. If it doesn’t but it’s a great book that people will enjoy, then that’s another thing,” he says. “Not every book that Frank Miller did is a film, but he never compromised. That’s the cool thing about Frank Miller.”
Levine sees a lot of potential in the interactive market and plans to market to that audience through outlets such as Play Magazine.
There also will be two sister companies to Radical Comics: Radical Books, which will publish original graphic novels; and Radical Art, which will do art books devoted to the likes of painter Luis Royo. While comics-based pics aren’t immune to the ups and downs of the movie-going audience’s taste, Levine says comics will be big in Hollywood for a long time to come.
He also expects more Hollywood talent to dip their toes into comicbooks. “It’s an incredible opportunity to tell a story and have it come out quickly, as opposed to waiting a year or 15 months to see the film, or see something go into development hell,” he says.
“I just think Hollywood is so hungry for high concepts and good storytelling, that it doesn’t matter if it comes from a videogame or a comicbook,” he says. “I just think comicbooks will be getting more sophisticated.”