There have always been the mavericks, such as Will Eisner out there. Certainly, the underground comix movement of the sixties and the independent comics movement in the 80's were all about owning what you create, Image didn't start any of this. If anything, what Image contributed was the notion that mainstream super-hero artists could own their own creations and have the chance of being successful. More, Image by it's very existance broke the stranglehold of brand loyality that was so pervasive in mainstream comics. That's a good thing. All that said, there will always be an appeal for creators to work on the iconal characters of their youth, the Superman and Captain America. In order to do this, one must do work-for-hire. So, in a round about way of getting to your actual question: I think what we've done is shown creators that they have options. And, hopefully, through our own personal examples, shown that these options are not mutually exclusive.

The empowerment of the creator to own and control his own work and destiny through self-ownership, self-deterand by providing options for them to choose their working enviornment and situation.

We facilitate the publishing of their imprint. It is the same kind of relationship we have with DreamWave, Hyperwerks, Avalon and several other imprints.

Well, yes. Although Kurt is still doing work for everyone else on the planet (G). More, for me, it's that Kurt, Mark, George and I are old friends. I respect and admire their and all the other Gorilla's work, so there is a double joy in being associated with them. It is both personal and professional. And that's gotta be good!