Clownfish TV: Audio Edition
The Comic Book Industry is Cashing Out: Boom! Studios SOLD OFF!
Boom! Studios just sold itself to Penguin Random House, and before that, it was Dark Horse to Embracer Group. It feels like the mainstream Western comic book industry is rushing to cash in their chips while they still can. But who is going to take poor ol’ IDW Publishing? ➡️ Tip Jar and Fan Support: http://ClownfishSupport.com ➡️ Official Merch Store: http://ShopClownfish.com ➡️ Official Website: http://ClownfishTV.com ➡️ Audio Edition: https://open.spotify.com/show/6qJc5C6OkQkaZnGCeuVOD1 The comic book industry is facing consolidation and acquisition by larger companies, leading to financial struggles for creators and a bleak future for the industry. 00:00 The comic book industry is consolidating, with companies like Boom Studios selling out to Penguin Random House, and the trend of starting companies with the intention of selling them is leading to the "inhification" of everything. 02:13 The comic book industry is being sold, with Boom Studios being acquired by Random House, but the speaker believes it should have been sold earlier for a higher value. 04:13 Larger comic book industry publishers are selling out, with many cashing out for millions of dollars and the option to sell being more appealing than winding down or shutting down. 05:42 Many comic book creators struggle financially due to lack of ownership, leading to companies merging and creators seeking movie and animation deals for financial success. 07:18 The comic book industry is dealing with difficult people and cashing out for millions of dollars. 08:37 The comic book industry is facing distribution changes and low sales, but there is still high demand for certain products. 10:29 The comic book industry is being exploited for intellectual property for movies and merchandise, with Boom Studios being acquired by Penguin Random House and new Hellboy projects in development. 11:59 The comic book industry is declining, and people are cashing out, indicating a bleak future for comic books. About Us: Clownfish TV is an independent, opinionated news and commentary channel that covers Entertainment and Tech from a consumer’s point of view. We talk about Gaming, Comics, Anime, TV, Movies, Animation and more. Hosted by Kneon and Geeky Sparkles. Disclaimer: This series is produced by Clownfish Studios and WebReef Media, and is part of ClownfishTV.com. Opinions expressed by our contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of our guests, affiliates, sponsors, or advertisers. ClownfishTV.com is an unofficial news source and has no connection to any company that we may cover. This channel and website and the content made available through this site are for educational, entertainment and informational purposes only. These so-called “fair uses” are permitted even if the use of the work would otherwise be infringing. #Comics #ComicBooks #Marvel #Commentary #Reaction #Podcast #Comedy #Entertainment #Hollywood #PopCulture #Tech
Hey guys, this is the audio edition of clownfish TV. If you guys are unfamiliar with clownfish TV, please check out the video versions of these episodes on the clownfish TV YouTube channel and also on the clownfish gaming YouTube channel. Please subscribe for more podcast. Check out D-Res, that's our other podcast. The episode will begin in a couple of seconds. Thanks for listening. (upbeat music) Hey guys, welcome back to clownfish TV. This is neon, I am here with Giki Sparkles. - Hello. - And the comic book industry is cashing out. Looks like Boom Studios sold out to Random House, to Penguin Random House, whatever, whatever it is now. We used to have like six major publishers now that are in like four, I think. But this was always the plan. According to Ross Ritchie, basically he wanted to start the company and he wanted to cash out. And this is how the inshitification of everything happens in my personal opinion. Now I don't know Ross Ritchie, but I'm saying everybody starts companies now, not with the intention of actually growing the company organically, but with the intention of selling it. - Well, I would think that was the case, but I don't think it's worth as much now as it would have been worth a few years ago. - No. - So at that point, you didn't really win. - So what we'll talk about this. - Well, I think they, as I understand it, they were closely associated with Fox at one point. I don't know if Fox actually owned part of them or not, but then when Disney bought Fox, like everything went to hell in the hand basket. So I think Boom Studios always was basically like platinum where I think the only reason they published anything was to, as pitches for like Netflix shows and movie deals and stuff like that. But now Random House is gonna take it, which is interesting 'cause Penguin Random House has been eating diamonds lunch too. So this whole thing is weird. And this is after, you know, was it last year or the year before that Bracer Group bought Dark Horse and then they had to write it off this year because it wasn't making any money. And it's just like, what the hell is going on? So comics are fine, everybody. - Great. - Don't worry about it. Everybody's just selling their stuff. So before you get into it any further, please subscribe for more pop culture news views and rants or get woohoo if you do. - Mm-hmm. - So yeah, this has come from Deadline. I've had a couple people send me a tip on this and I'm like, yeah, that's pretty shocking but it's very clear that boom, especially in IDW is another one, I think. They always had their eye on Hollywood. So the first chance they are on, you know, selling, basically, it was never, like, they never wanted to be a comic book publisher. They always wanted to be a Hollywood studio and I think they're gonna sell to the first company that comes along. So Random House, Random House Publishing Group, the division of the world's largest trade publisher, Penguin Random House, has entered into an agreement to acquire a comic book graphic novel and licensed storytelling publisher studio, Boom Studios. - It's a lot to say, in one sentence. - Boom Studios Publishing will now join the Random House world's portfolio of imprints alongside Delray, Inkler, and the RH world's licensing firm. - I was gonna say, they had Delray, isn't Delray? - Science fiction. Delray, of course, is, you know, pretty famous science fiction publisher back in the day. Before Disney, they actually did publish a lot of Star Wars books and stuff. So, I mean, I guess, in that regard, it is a good fit. And I think they published manga now. I think Delray actually publishes manga. - They use the publish of the Star Wars guides and stuff. - Yeah, I think so. I mean, it's hard to tell, like, any more, it's like, you've got one, 'cause there are only, like, four or five major publishers now and they've got, like, so many imprints. - I know Disney's working with Penguin Random House. - Yeah, they are handling all the Disney worldwide, publishing books and stuff. So, I mean, it's like, God, eventually we're gonna have, like, one publisher and it's gonna be called Amazon. That's just gonna happen. The company is gonna retain its editorial and publishing independence, though. Like, for now, reporting to Random House world's presence, Scott Shannon. So, yeah, they're not firing anybody. There are no plans to relocate boom from LA and the company will continue to distribute through both diamond and Simon & Schuster. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Transaction is expected to close this summer. So, this is Ross Ritchie. It's every, this is what concerns me. And I wanna talk about this, 'cause this is everybody's plan. It's every entrepreneur's dream to launch a company, build it and sell it to the best. - But you should've sold it a few years ago when it was worth more. - I think they tried. I think the pandemic threw a wrench into it. - But I'm just saying, like, now it's not worth as much as it was. - No. - So, you're not really winning, but continue. - I'm excited to hand the reins of Boom over to the best and largest publisher in the world. They're focused on readers and retail partnerships we'll build upon our work and help our creators achieve more success. Personally, it's time for me to take some much needed time off with my family and explore what's next. So, they're keeping the editors. I think he's noping out. This is a-- - You gave me a lot of money and I could just notepad, I probably would notepad to. - Well, that's it. That's what, what's going on. - It feels like, it feels like in general, like all of these comic book publishers, all of these independent companies, right? That they're all noping out. And everybody gets mad like George Lucas sold Star Wars or, you know, Mike Richardson's sold Dark Horse or this game studio or that game studio sold out. Look at from their point of view, if they've been doing this for like 20 or 30 years and their family isn't interested in continuing it, and the other option is you just kind of wind it down and shut it down or it lives on in some form. A lot of people are just going to take that check, you know? They're going to cash out. I mean, especially-- - I'm going to take a lot of money, cash out if people offer me millions and millions of dollars, mostly because I need to break some times, we don't get one. - Yeah, yeah, but I mean, you know, so I mean, I can, on one hand, I can understand why they would do it, I mean, especially like Mike Richardson with Dark Horse, I mean, Mike, he's got to be 70s. He's in 70s now, so it's probably like-- - Yeah, I know, like my retirement, I'm done, you know? - Yeah, pretty much. I mean, what other retirement plan is there in comics? Let's be honest, the comic book industry will chew you up and spit you out. The mainstream industry, there's so many people that had amazing comic book careers that wound up broke because they didn't own the stuff they worked on, right? The only people that actually had anything were the people that owned something and they made movie deals or whatever, animation deals, or they sold their company. So, I mean, I can't really fault them, but it seems like this is the only way out of comics to come out ahead, right? Unfortunately, because of the way the market is right now. Shannon says over the past several years, Random House Worlds has partnered with Boom Studios on various projects and had the benefit of seeing firsthand their best in class comics publishing. So this is interesting. So yeah, they've actually already got an existing relationship with them and that actually happens sometimes, too. We always tell people like look at who's working with who and you can kind of like, you'll see in hindsight that this was always where things were gonna go. Like if you have two companies that work very closely together and it's like, oh my God, this company bought this other company. It's like, you should be surprised because going back like five or 10 years, you can see that they were constantly working together. Ross and his team have built a dynamic, imaginative home for diverse and talented roster of creators who complain that they don't get paid enough when they have a successful Kickstarter, by the way. - But I'm just saying, I mean, that's not the reason that you're rid of, you'll be like, you know what? You deal with these people. - Yeah. - You know? - Oh no, that actually, you know what? - That's what I do. - 100%. I honest to God that think a lot of, and again, you know, going back to Star Wars, not making it all about Star Wars, but like, I honest to God, think George Lucas was like, I don't want to deal with these people anymore. You know, take this cup from me. It's four billion dollars. Yeah, that's pretty good. I'll take four billion dollars. Four billion dollars and you deal with all the people that have been shitting on me for the last 10 years? - Sure. - Yeah, exactly. - Sounds like a fantastic deal 'cause I know they were going after Ross Ritchie. I know they were, right? They did the Keanu Reeves Kickstarter, Berserker, and it did gangbusters. It did a couple million dollars. It did the Power Rangers books. Every time they did a big Kickstarter, the same conversation would come up. It wasn't conversations. Basically, Twitter, Gatsmad, you'd have people like, I worked on a Boombox title from three years ago that has nothing to do with Keanu Reeves, but I only got paid 50 bucks a page. I think I should have gotten more money. - Right, and Apple's Orange just has something to do and has something to do the other. It's ridiculous. - Right, right. So, yeah, we're thrilled to welcome them to our house, and they said it's a major step in Penguin Random House's expansion of support to the direct comics market and a key part of our commitment to being the best publisher for creators across all categories. So, this is kind of interesting 'cause Penguin, and I can't keep track of who is distributing what now. - I know, yeah. - But, 'cause it used to be everybody went through Diamond, and now it's like, no, Simon Schuster's doing stuff, and Penguin's doing stuff, and then there's like a Lunar that's doing like DC stuff, but sounds like what's gonna happen is we're gonna have a lot of like publisher distributors, you know, like they're gonna publish and distribute the stuff to the 10 comic shops that are actually left, but mostly bookstores. Like, it's so weird. You look at the decimated, you know, direct market, and then you go to like a Barnes and Noble, and you're like, oh my God, look at all the books. - Oh, I know, yeah, let's talk about that for a second. - It was funny, we went to one yesterday, and they had, oh my God, I love that story. You could, I could have stayed there for hours and hours, but they had this huge wall of, you know, Harry Potter stuff, books, merchandise and all this stuff, and you posted and said, look, she's so canceled, you're like so canceled, and people were like, you said in the comments, it's full because no one's buying it. It's like, sweetie, I was looking at Calico critters, and I was there for like, you know, 20 minutes or so standing there, and when I was, I saw several people walk up, and either talk about how they wanted to buy this, or they were literally taking stuff off the shelves and walking to the register with it, so no, no, no. But anyway. - It is called restocking. I know it's a foreign concept to some people, but when things sell out, you put more on the shelf. - Yes, exactly. - And they would not devote, and I think Aaron Sparrow actually brought that up. He said they would not devote that much shelf space to something that did not sell. - Exactly. - I mean, especially books that are 25 years old, you know, and it was tons, I mean, tons of books, tons of merchandise, whatever. Yeah, totally not canceled. But they said that they actually, they have a berserker, something is killing children, and lumber chains, which, that's a whole nother. That is actually a boom-owned thing that a certain person who may or may not have been a showrunner on Shira took complete credit for, but it was not their thing. - They were one of many us that we were a guy, yeah. - But yeah, this is just, I mean, it's just kind of weird. Anonymous says, how does this affect other publishers like Marvel Image and Dark Horse? They're using Penguin too. Now they're gonna have unfair bias-owning boom. They haven't had a hit since berserker and parrot-leaving PR, which was licensed. Yeah, I don't know. It could just be that they're interested in some of the IP and they make movies or something too. You know what I'm saying? Like, usually when somebody buys a comic book publisher, they're not buying it 'cause they actually want to publish comic books, let's be honest. Even though they are a publisher, 'cause manga's gonna make them a lot more money. They're buying it 'cause it's like, oh, this is some IP that we own now that we can pimp out and make some merch, you know? And it's kind of the same with Dark Horse. Like, the reason they bought Dark Horse is they probably wanted the Hellboy, 'cause they're making a cheap-ass Hellboy movie this fall, which I didn't even know anything about. They're making another Hellboy movie. - Yeah, I don't know about that either 'til the picture came up. - Yeah, but they're making, they have a Hellboy video game in development or had one in development. So they just kind of acquire things. And I really do think that they might've gotten it really cheap. I mean, it could've been Ross Richie's just like, yeah, I went out. I went out because I see the future and there isn't much of a future in just publishing comic books. And you guys distribute comic books, you just have, you know, maybe an offer, by boom. You know, take this cup from me. So I could go do something else and I have to deal with the Twitter weirdos. But there it is, guys. Everybody's taking their check, they're cashing out. That tells me that, like, I don't know. I don't know where things are at right now. I don't think they're good. I don't think they're, I don't think comics are just fine, Heidi. I'm just putting that out there. I'm gonna wrap it up. - Yeah. - Please subscribe. We'll talk later. - Bye. (upbeat music) Thanks again for listening. More news and videos are available on our website at www.clownfishtv.com and on our YouTube channel, clownfishtv. You can buy official merchandise, clownfish comic books and more at shopclownfish.com. If you like this show, please consider subscribing and leaving us a positive review on iTunes and other podcast platforms. If you're looking to help support this show financially, go to clownfishsupport.com. If you'd like to sponsor an episode of this show, send us an email at business@webreath.io. This podcast is a production of clownfish studios, LLC and web reef media proudly made in Pittsburgh, USA. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)