Vaughan. Martin. The Private Eye.
Two major names in the comic book business have teamed up for an experiment with this same shopping paradigm. North American writer Brian K. Vaughan (creator of Y: the Last Man, Ex Machina, and Saga) and South American artist Marcos Martin (whose exhilarant work graced the pages of Amazing Spider-Man and Daredevil) launched their new joint project today called The Private Eye. If all goes according to plan, the webcomic maxiseries will be released in ten monthly installments via their own new site, Panel Syndicate. If actual money is exchanged in sufficient quantities, the duo may see fit to launch other creator-owned ventures through the site, potentially other creators’ as well as their own. On the other hand, if everyone downloads it for free, I’m sure the work-for-hire galleys would welcome them back with open arms and diluted contract terms.
Vaughan summarizes the pros of the arrangement in the afterword to issue #1:
…I was intrigued by Marcos’ idea of a place where we could offer our new work to readers around the world the second it was finished, DRM-free, in multiple languages, for whatever price each reader thought was fair.
With Panel Syndicate, they’ve established themselves as self-publishers to be envied — no corporation demanding any kowtowing; no overhead costs for printing or distributing; no percentages to pay out to a facilitator a la Createspace, Smashwords, Lulu, or whomever. Every dime goes to Vaughan, Martin, and colorist Muntsa Vicente, who basically have to cover server fees and PayPal’s cut of the take. Complete newcomers might not flourish under this setup, but anyone with a well-known name and a knack for providing quality content might want to consider this option if The Private Eye proves successful. (On the other hand, without the major publishers who gave them their big breaks in the North American comics field, Vaughan and Martin might not have earned enough clout to pull this off in the first place. I expect to see more developments within this paradox in the future.)
Regarding the product itself: The Private Eye is sci-fi set in a future where an unspecified disastrous event involving cloud-computing privacy violation on a worldwide scale disrupted lives and resulted in the discontinuation of the Internet. Sixty years later, the new societal paranoiac norm necessitates that all humans adopt secret identities and never leave home without a disguise. Our protagonist, using the name Patrick Immelman (or “Immelmann” — it’s spelled both ways in #1), is the lowest form of life in such a setting: a private investigator. In a world where no one wants anyone to know anything about them, the man whose job is to uncover secrets is practically Public Enemy #1. Clues in the first issue point toward another theme as well: in such a constant state of clandestinity, can anyone even really know themselves?
Vaughan’s eye for world-building and introducing new characters is as keen as ever (if R-rated), but my main reason for checking this out was Marcos Martin, one of the few artists working in the field today that genuinely excite me when I see them name-checked on a front cover. He has a sharp eye for action, a penchant for dynamic panel layouts, and a steadfast refusal to allow the slightest tedium in his narratives. The comic is available in three formats — two for specific digital readers, and a PDF format for older fellows like me lagging behind the rest of fandom. Unlike typical print comics, the pages are presented in landscape format and allow Martin the luxury of a widescreen easel as his playground.
As Vaughan admits in the afterword, other creators have previously tried pay-what-you-want. I wouldn’t know. I dislike 99% of all webcomics and avoid them as much as possible, lest I run the risk of sharing my constructive criticism with them in vain. Vaughan and Martin, however, may be the most well-known names to give it a try. For the opportunity to continue marveling at Martin’s prowess alone, not to mention my interest in seeing if the PWYW self-release concept works, I’m on board and looking forward to subsequent chapters.
(Full disclosure: yes, I gave them money. Not a trillion dollars, mind you.)
