The future

I know circumstances are unforeseeable and things may change from one day to the next, but beforehand, have you taken up this job expecting it to be your duty for a long, open period or just a temporary one, until a certain set of goals has been achieved? In case it's the second option please explain which are those goals.

I enjoy this job enormously, I feel as though i can make a difference here. Not only for the company I helped to found but also for the industry and the art form that I have loved all of my life. I have no intention of vacating this post any time in the foreseeable future. This is a GREAT gig!

I don't expect you to reveal us your secret plans for the future, but I really would like you to take some time to share with us your basics, your essential philosophy of work for the upcoming months and years. What your take on this whole "business/art form" duality is.

I do not see any kind of "duality." This is a business, that must be understood from the off-set. Every creator must approach his daily operation like a small business (in essence, that is what every individual is, a small business unto himself). A creator coming into this field must have a work ethic that allows him to produce on a daily basis and must be responsible to everyone else on his "food chain." This is no way flies in the face of the fact that the medium is an artform and every creator owes it to his audiance to make the bast art he is capable of within whatever limitations of talent he has. These are intertwined and not at all at odds one with the other.

Is Gorilla the strongest bet from Image for the upcoming times?

It is a strong line of books from well respected professional creators. It is but one small part of the larger whole that Image Central is becoming. For me, it is a joy to able to bring old friends like Mark Waid and George Perez under the "i"--in fact, it is gratifying on both a personal and a professional level to work with so many talents I appreciate and admire.

What do you personally expect Image from gaining with this new imprint?

My hope is that the perception of what Image is and what Image can be will be changed as a result of Gorilla and all of the other things we're doing. I want to instill a new confidence for the brand in fans, retailers and creators. Gorilla represents a part in that for me.