So, I’m Becoming a Comic Book Publisher …

I expect that of the millions, and millions (read: If I’m lucky, the dozens, and dozens) that read this blog post don’t really know much about me, or Lucha Comics. So, before really getting into things, I just wanted to talk about it and fill you in about why I am launching this project.

I have loved comics for quite some time; for nearly 30 years I have been collecting them (mainly Batman, but I love my Punisher books amongst others). When my children arrived, I did take about a 5 year hiatus from reading them, but now I am back at it full force, and what a great time to be a fan! Marvel is doing some awesome stuff thanks to Jonathan Hickman, Matt Fraction, and a bunch of other talented individuals. I believe that DC has done amazing stuff with their New 52, although lately they do seem a bit greedy to me (52 covers for a B team JLA book?). Image is really kicking ass, and capturing a nice market share from the big two thanks to The Walking Dead, Saga, and some other really good titles. Apart from that, digital has exploded thanks to these guys, levelling the playing field for a lot of independents. I know find myself reading as many Monkeybrain titles as I do DC!

So, what does this really mean? It means that despite having a day job as a Project Manager, I know see that I finally have a chance to be a part of an industry that I have loved nearly as long as I have been alive. Using some of my professional experience in the business world, I have decided to launch Lucha Comics, my own digital publisher. I’m not expecting to get my hands on the next big thing and make millions, but I feel that the tools that the Internet offers us now can allow me to finally participate in the industry.

What? Yes, someone who could maybe write a comic book, and who cannot draw anything decent (and I mean anything) is launching a comic book publisher. I am lifelong fan, and am fascinated by the industry, so I figured, how hard can it be?

Well, like any new business or project, these things do take time and money. First, I decided that this new venture should be sustainable. That is, it should be able to pay for itself year after year, otherwise it would not be much of a business. So, what about start-up costs?

After speaking to my wife (who despite hating comic books and complaining that I spend too much money on them) it became clear that she was fully supportive, and probably would have used our family savings to help fund the kick off. While we could have afforded it, having 2 young children makes you think. That is when I decided that my comic books should sustain my dreams of launching a comic book publisher.  That’s when I went into the basement, started rifling through the longboxes, and picked which comics would be sold in order to fund the dream. I suppose that if one could pick a favourite child, the conversation would go like this: “sorry sweetie, but daddy can get a good price for you because you’re pretty popular right now”

Desire and the willingness to give up some pretty cool comics are not enough to launch a publisher; fortunately, I have had the privilege of coming across some very cool content, and I am hoping to work with some talented creators to bring it to all of you very soon. Who knows, this thing might just take off. I really hope that you’ll check back frequently, to see where this experiment goes.

Sincerely,
Rodolfo Martinez
Editor/Project Manager/One-man Show at Lucha Comics