Medieval Guy wrote:
jhalbright wrote:
Ah.  But there's the rub...  The script and the comic were written side by side.  So while it may not have been "sold," it was "sold."
No, it wasn't.  It wasn't sold, in fact, until after it was actually made.  (Last August, to be precise.)  Until then, there wasn't movie money to be made; there was movie money to be paid out (although I doubt very strongly that Millar did any of the actual paying).

I'm not sure why you keep arguing this point.  Millar very specifically said that he made more money from the Kick-Ass comic book than he made from any of his work-for-hire comic books.  It had nothing to do with the movie; it was entirely in the context of making more money from creator-owned comic books than from work-for-hire comic books.  And yes, Robert Kirkman notwithstanding you will make a lot more money from a creator-owned comic book if everybody knows you than if you're a nobody.  But that doesn't change the alleged fact that Mark Millar made more money from Kick-Ass than he did from any of his work-for-hire books, nor does it make that alleged fact any less likely.

I'm not sure why you keep arguing the point back.  I'm not entirely disagreeing with you. And I point that out in my example where there are going to be many cases where this condition is going to be very true.  Neither one of us have audited Millar's tax records, so neither one of us know the exact numbers.  And to be honest, I am completely un-interested in Mark Millar, his claims, or his works.  I don't read his interviews, his blogs, or the comics he writes (skimmed Kick Ass, didn't find it interesting).  I find a lot of what he does to be boring re-treads.  (I own Wanted, but more as a curiosity because of it's blatant use of DC villains as characters, and even then, I find it to be mostly distasteful.)

But, and this is why I used the quotes above - it has been well publicized, that the movie was in process (screenplay, director, producers talking, etc) before the first issue of the comic was printed.  Was the movie completely funded or had a distributor signed on?  (No.)  Was it technically sold?  (Maybe not.)  Did Mark have a check in hand?  (Most likely not.)  Was there a handshake deal?  (Probably)  Was there a certain added incentive to create the comic due to impending a movie deal?  (Most definitely)  Did the fact that a movie was likely to get made get communicated out to the comic shops as a push to get them to order the comic? (Yes.)  Did the impending movie move a crap load more books than it would have otherwise? (Yes.)

BTW, the movie had funding by May 2008, not August 2009.  The comic's 1st issue hit in Feb 2008, and there is no way a comic with 3 months on the rack would have gotten Hollywood funding unless it was in discussions well before the Feb street date.

'Reading' / 'Reading soon' stack: DC/Vertigo - ArtOps, Batgirl, Gotham Academy, Gotham by Midnight, Injustice; Marvel - Allred's Silver Surfer; Other - Abe Sapien, Descender, Fight Club 2, Goon, Mind MGMT, Southern Bastards