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Alex De Campi has written for Tokyopop, IDW, Les Humanoides.  And now, as she’s about to begin filming a big music video with a popular (but unnamed) indie music star, she takes some time to answer questions about her writing and her work experience, particularly with the troubled Tokyopop.

Interview by David Rasmussen Rasmussen : First off, for readers who missed the last interview I did
with you please introduce yourself and your work.

Alex de Campi: My name's Alex de Campi and I've written the manga
series KAT & MOUSE and AGENT BOO for Tokyopop, the series MESSIAH
COMPLEX and ADAM IN CHROMALAND for Humanoids in France and SMOKE for
IDW. Also, a Batman issue and an Escapist story that will likely never
see the light of day. Most of the time now, though, I make music
videos.

Rasmussen: For those not familiar with the titles, can you tell us
a bit about Messiah Complex and Adam in Chromaland, and if we'll ever
see either title in America (or do we have to order them through
companies like Amazon.com if we want to read them?)

Alex de Campi: Try ordering them through Amazon.ca or Amazon.fr. I have english
dialogue translations for folks. We're unlikely to see either in the
USA - ironically, the French publisher of them had its own financial
issues. ADAM was cancelled, and my artist on MESSIAH COMPLEX didn't
get paid so he had to take other work and can't continue on Book 3 of
the series. (I totally supported him on this, I know what it's like
not to get paid!). And then ADAM was almost taken by a big US book
publisher but then their head guy left and everything was put on hold!
Truly, I have bad luck with publishers.

But good luck with artists. I have great artists on ADAM and MESSIAH -
who became very good friends. Well, I've been alway lucky with
artists; my AGENT BOO and KAT & MOUSE artists are good friends too.

Oh, about the books? MESSIAH is a Star Wars style epic sci fi
adventure of a poor teenage girl who is crowned a religious messiah
(and a rich teenage boy who is the Emperor's son). ADAM is a slapstick
adventure story of a tall-tale telling boy who must save the Empire of
the Imagination from being brought down to a lowest common denominator
of strip malls and chain stores. It's unusual in that it uses a lot of
the visual vocabulary of great fine artists throughout history - for
example, the supporting female character is Edgar Degas' bronze Little
Dancer come to life.

Rasmussen: You said you did an Escapist story that will likely never
see the light of day, does this mean that it was offered to TOKYOPOP
pre reorganization? If so is there anyway (like the internet) that
this story may ever see release?

Alex de Campi: No, Escapist is licenced to Dark Horse. My artist had
an accident - he was in a car crash - and so the story got very
delayed. By the time it was finished, Brian Vaughan's relaunch of the
Escapist comic had failed and they were no longer doing Escapist
stories. It's a shame, because it's an utterly beautiful and very
smurfin up story. (Again, I had a great artist.) It's sitting around in
a drawer somewhere at Dark Horse. They mutter about publishing it
every so often but it hasn't happened yet and at this point I doubt it
will.

Rasmussen: Oh, right, speaking of Batman, since you're working on
Batman, a few questions. What is the Batman story your working on?

Alex de Campi: I wrote an issue of BATMAN CONFIDENTIAL, just before it
got cancelled. So again, my story is sitting in a drawer somewhere at
DC and will never see the light of day.

Rasmussen: Ouch. Sorry to hear that. Also, as we near the release of
The Dark Knight in theaters, what is your opinion from what you've
seen of the upcoming second movie in the "Begins" line? Approve or
disapprove?

Alex de Campi: Er... I have no opinion on it?

Rasmussen: Oh, OK then. By the by how's work going on for you? Last
time I interviewed you you were quite busy, what are you up to now
that you can tell us about?

Alex de Campi: I'm still really busy. My father died last November of
cancer, and so I'm now splitting my time between my mother's house in
rural New Hampshire (10 minutes walk to our mailbox! that's boondocks)
and London. I've really stopped writing comics as all my time is taken
up with music videos and filmmaking.

Rasmussen: Sorry, sounds like things have been rough for you this past
year. I guess that means your TOKYOPOP series (Kat & Mouse and Agent
Boo) have reached the end of their line then (what with the recent
shake-up in TOKYOPOP and all).

Alex de Campi: Yes, it's the end. KAT & MOUSE 4 will be released
internet -only (eg no printed book) despite being 99% finished when
the Tokyopop reshuffle occurred. Frankly, KAT & MOUSE and AGENT BOO -
both flagships for new imprints (Manga Reader and Manga Chapter
respectively) - sold really badly. Maybe it's because they sucked. Or
maybe it's because Tokyopop has the strategic attention span of a six
year old after three Red Bulls and launched the imprints then went OOH
SHINY, OVER THERE! and forgot about them. We had so little marketing
support it was just tragic.

Rasmussen: So then, when it comes to marketing Kat & Mouse (now that it's fully
in your control again for internet release) what will you do different
that TOKYOPOP failed to do in promoting the series (when it was in
print)? Also can you give us abit more info about the coming launch of
Kat & Mouse Volume 4 on the internet? (Where to find it, when it'll be
out, how much it'll cost to purcahse the edownload of it?)

Alex de Campi: KAT & MOUSE is not in my control at all. Tokyopop is handling the
internet release. Besides, I don't have time to do marketing.

Rasmussen: Really? I… well… I don't know if I can actually see a
bright silver lining in that revelation (considering TOKYOPOP's
present situation and all). Anyway that brings us to the crux of this
whole TOKYOPOP situation, I.e. the whole reorganization of TOKYOPOP.
Throwing out creative talent and projects, seemingly tethering near
destruction ala ADV sometime ago did (which took two years or so to
completely reorganize and pull back out, though not as strong as it
was pre reorganization), ine of the things that came up at the onset of the reorganization was
TOKYOPOP's disenchantment with the blogosphere, and how creators and
quote "would-be creators" had issues allegedly with TOKYOPOP's
contracts. From your own experience with TOKYOPOP and the way they
write their contracts are these alleged issues some creators have with
TOKYOPOP grounded in fact?

Alex de Campi: Well, Tokyopop contracts were pretty brutal. But nobody
else was paying young creators to make manga. I guess it made it even
more brutal that there was no alternative, other than creating an
entire book in your spare time for free and then trying to get it
published. I don't think anyone would have cared if Tokyopop then sold
the shit out of their books, got them reviews in the NYTimes Books
section and on Entertainment Weekly, and then got them a film option
buuuuut Tokyopop didn't.

Rasmussen: I'd personally like to know who is going that extra mile
for their creators (then I'd like to have a job with them). Following
ADVs example, TOKYOPOP is putting titles into either "hiatus" or
throwing them to the wolves outright. We knew, from ADV, that they
ended up doing that due to the excessive glut of titles they released
which eventually drove them to reorganization but who would have
thought TOKYOPOP would have ended up suffering the same fate
considering how strong they were doing in comparison to ADV. In your
opinion were there any other elements other than excess releases per
month that eventually led them to where it is? And why?

Alex de Campi: No. Tokyopop's problems were: a complete lack of
quality control; no strategic follow through; and a marketing department that continually
failed to get their books reviewed outside the manga/comics press, or
even market them within it to comics awards such as the Eisners. They
became the Wal-Mart of manga, piling it high and selling it cheap.
They refused to pony up to the big Japanese publishers and so lost 99%
of the decent manga licences. Then they flailed around starting a huge
amount of new lines and bringing in a tide of Western creators. Then:
manga chapters and manga readers to get into the kids' book section!
And when all that jelly got thrown at the wall and failed to
stick they started talking about licencing French comics. I told my
publisher in France that they would licence work to Tokyopop over my
dead body. Although Tokyopop editors were, by and large, extremely
hardworking and dedicated people, the marketing departments and the
licence buyers were just criminally poor. Good thing they haven't just
decided to refocus their strategy to become a marketing company or anything!

Rasmussen: In a recent Newsarama interview concerning the situation,
Mike Kiley (Publisher for TOKYOPOP) said on the subject of "Economics
and Comics - Publishing in a Pinch," "We are storytellers and not
economists. We're just trying to what we always do: make great manga
[the Japanese word for comics]! We have great fans who are very loyal
readers... and we thank them every day,"

In your opinion is this a truthful statement? Given the present state
of the economy and things as they are could it not have been forseen
that such a situation could have occured? If so what could have been
done prior to this (in your opinion) to have prepared for it?

Alex de Campi: Mm, they weren't very good story-choosers! And frankly
the disintegration of Tokyopop could have been seen at least a year
ago. One writer friend of mine says she saw it over 18 months ago.
They were fairly obviously heading towards the wall. How could they
have prepared for it? The wastrel lack of focus and lack of commitment
to marketing was so ingrained into the corporate culture I doubt
anything could have stopped this happening. Like I said before, great,
hardworking editors doing the best job they could, while corporate
management failed to realize that just spamming bookstores with any
old manga (and crushing editors with workload so they couldn't make
the few good projects really shine) would someday turn around and bite
them in the arse. They needed to grow up, get a real book-style
marketing and publicity department, and pay up to keep their brand
recognized as provider of the best - and only the best - imported
manga.

Rasmussen: An anouncement from TOKYOPOP as of June 3rd stated that 39
employees lost their jobs, and their title line per year was
drastically cut about 60% or so (200-225 from 500+ titles, with 2008's
total releases going down to the low 400s) as part of reorganization.
Can you tell us how this reorganization affected you (loss of any
titles you worked on, or were pitching to TOKYOPOP for instance)? And
how does this affect said titles you were working on (will you be able
to find another publisher to pick up where TOKYOPOP left off to finish
the titles when and if you ever return to AmeriManga slash OELManga
style comics)?

Alex de Campi: No, I wasn't pitching to Tokyopop. Aside from my 2
series, I had kind of lost interest in working for them. As noted, K&M
4 is going online-only, along with every other original book of theirs
as far as I understand.

Rasmussen: Amongst the cut were several Editors across the board
(former Editor-in-Chief Rob Tokar, Luis Reyes, Paul Morrissey, Hope
Donovan, and Tim Beedle along with Junior Editor Peter Ahlstrom, Kathy
Schilling, Stephanie Duchin and Nikhil Burman). Is this massive bleed
of editors, in your opinion, something to be concerned about? (NOTE: A
few of these Editors I interviewed in the past at one point or
another).

Alex de Campi: Not really. Tokyopop isn't really a publishing company
any more; so it doesn't particularly need editors.

Rasmussen: Some blame TOKYOPOP's massive expansion into original
OEL/AmeriManga titles (instead of simply playing it safe by routinely
just repackaging and republishing original Japanese/Korean and Chinese
titles) as one of the reasons of their present situation. Do you
concur with this sentiment? If so, why? And if that is the case then
how does that logic explain what happened to ADV (who did not dabble
into OEL/AmeriManga and yet still ended up going through
reorganization for two+ years).

Alex de Campi: Same deal with ADV as Tokyopop - the manga landscape
changed about 4 or 5 years ago with Viz and Del Rey paying up for all
the really quality new titles, leaving ADV and Tokyopop with the
dregs. Every so often they'd get lucky but once big, long-running
spinners like Fruits Basket ended, they were left with nothing. And it
really degraded the quality of the Tokyopop band. At one time, about
10 years ago, you could pick up any Tokyopop book and it was awesome.
Recently, they'd just be shockingly poor.

The OEL stuff was a massive potential way out for them, actually, to
escape ADV's fate/the gradual monopolising of good manga by Viz and
Del Rey - but they didn't support the OEL books they published, so the
sales didn't come.

Rasmussen: The Rising Stars of Manga competition, started in 2002 and
slated to bring out the best of the next generation of OEL/AmeriManga
creators. A positive thing to be certain, the encouragement of the
next generation of talent, and yet for some reason it was held as some
as "controversial". OEL/AmeriManga's place in the manga community and
it's legitimacy as manga being at the top of "controversies". But is
this arguement, by it's very nature, racist? (That only Japanese
creators can create manga, and anything non Japanese creating Manga
style is not "the real deal")?

Alex de Campi: It's certainly a very closeminded argument. It would be
funny to have a Coke vs Pepsi style test where some American creators
and some Japanese creators make some short mangas (maybe 20 pages
each) and all these folks arguing about AmeriManga have to choose
which ones are 'authentic'.

Rasmussen: Is the situation happening with TOKYOPOP's reorganization,
in your opinion, a "speed bump" or is there greater ramifications to
come from what just happened (or better or worst)?

Alex de Campi: Nah. $20 says they limp on for another 18 months, then go under.

Rasmussen: So is it safe to assume that, as of right now, TOKYOPOP is
about to fall out of it's once and former spot amongst the top manga
publishers? If so, in your opinion, which of the established companies
(Seven Seas, Antarctic, Dark Horse, VIZ, etc) and new bloods (Realbuzz
Studios, Papercutz, CMX, DRMaster Books, etc) is ready to step up to
the bat and take over the readership defecting from TOKYOPOP post
"reorganization" (filling the void post TOKYOPOP's downfall)?

Alex de Campi: Tokyopop was only in the top spot due to quantity over quality. I
always felt Dark Horse and Viz had the quality manga, and they'll be
tough to knock off the top spot. It all comes down to which US
companies sign exclusives with the good Japanese publishers. That
takes a lot of money, a certain age, and focus.

Rasmussen: OK, how are you doing? Can you tell us abit about what you
have coming later this year that we can look forward to? You mainly do
music videos now, right? Can you give us a hint what's coming down the
pike that you're enthusiastic about?

Alex de Campi: Er... doing my biggest music video yet, for a well
known female US indie star, in August. Working on some fun animations for my favourite
band, Flipron. Finishing my first-feature screenplay, at last. Maybe
shooting someone else's feature as, quite randomly, I've been offered
two separate feature projects by different folks. I'm actually really
tired at the moment and not particularly enthusiastic about anything
but once I get some sleep, normal optimism will resume.

Rasmussen: Now that you are primarily working on music videos does
this mean that your experience with TOKYOPOP (and what's happening
now) soured the idea of doing OEL/AmeriManga for you, or can we look
forward to new titles like Kat & Mouse from you in the coming months
and/or years? Will we ever see another title from you again like Kat &
Mouse, or is that era done?

Alex de Campi: Man, comics are a pain in the arse. Really. I swear
it's less effort to get a feature film off the ground. I love comics
and the people who make them so much, but I'm so burnt out of dealing
with mickey-mouse publishers that it's just not worth it for me to
pitch anything else. Maybe I'll change my mind down the road but it's
just easier and more fun to work in music video, film and prose.

Rasmussen: When the Screenwriters went on strike earlier this year did
you join the strike? Also when all is said and done do you think that
the whole strike was worth it in the end, or not? (And why?)

Alex de Campi: I'm not a member of the WGA. In fact I am a member of
no guilds or agencies at all. Guilds and unions are organisations that
help their members keep from being abused or taken advantage of.
Directors, being generally top of the tree, don't need protection. In
fact, most people in Hollywood would tell you that directors are the
very people writers and other folks need protection from.

I supported the writers' actions. They did deserve greater royalties
from new media and DVD sales of their work. Also, it was fun to see
the Hollywood machine brought low by writers, who never get the credit
they deserve. Quick: name five screenwriters! (Could you?)

Rasmussen: Uh, no. But then again I also can't name five Internet
Media Reviewers off the top of my head either (and somehow I think I
should actually know that much at least)! Anyway I know you can't
really tell us much about your first feature screenplay, but can you
give us any hints about it? Also was it delayed any (writing wise)
because of the strike earlier this year?

Alex de Campi: No. Even if I were a WGA member, I would not have been
blocked from working on my own spec projects. It's been delayed due to
having too much music video work, frankly. The script is called AFTER
THE WRECKING BALL and it's basically a surrealist It's A Wonderful
Life, set in the London indie-music community. It's a very uplifting
story about failure, essentially. I have a great producer in London
who I'm collaborating with.

Rasmussen: Any final words to our readers?

Alex de Campi: No.

Rasmussen: Technically "no" is a word. Thanks. Take care! 0