The Simpsons is not only one of the most popular shows on Australian television, but it also laid the foundations for Australia’s largest comics publisher, Otter Press, which was formed in Sydney by co-owners Ross Alexander and Rik Booth in 1998.
The popularity of The Simpsons TV show led to a spin-off kids’ magazine, The Simpsons Illustrated. Originally designed as a general interest magazine about the show, it was relaunched in America as The Simpsons Comics in 1993.
“We knew that a local company called Trielle, who had been publishing The Simpsons Comics and other titles, had gone into liquidation,” explains Rik, Publisher of Otter Press.
“Having previously advised American comic companies on marketing and distribution strategies for Australia, Ross and I always felt there was some sort of opportunity here in the comics’ business - if only it was approached in a different way.”
Acknowledging the continued popularity of the TV show, Ross and Rik sensed a Homer Simpson-sized opportunity was theirs for the taking.
“We approached Bongo Entertainment, the publishing company run by The Simpsons’ creator, Matt Groening and Bill Morrison, and secured the Australasian licence rights to The Simpsons Comics,” says Rik.
Otter Press launched its domestic publishing programme with The Simpsons Comics in 1998, which, unusually for the Australian market, was printed in full colour.
Local retailers, however, expressed serious doubts about the new comic’s chances for success.
“Many of them flatly refused to even consider [carrying] comics, making sweeping statements like ‘comics don’t sell’,” recalls Rik.
“Mind you, many of them had never stocked comics before, or even read one in their lives - so it was more about their retail ‘perception’, as opposed to hard facts.”
Otter Press received some unexpected assistance from the new wave of Australian kids’ magazines, led by Disney Adventures and K-Zone, which stormed onto shelves during 1999-2000.
“The initial success of these kids’ titles took many retailers by surprise,” says Rik. “The irony was that many retailers hated them at the time, because they felt they had nowhere to display them - and that they’d get lost on their ‘normal’ magazine shelving.”
Otter Press suspected that comic strips were an integral part of these magazines’ initial success - and offered ‘sampler’ extracts from their comics, so kids would get a taste for them.
Not only did these kids’ magazines provide a readymade audience for The Simpsons Comics, but it also allowed Otter Press to experiment with new formats for this emerging market.
With The Simpsons Comic quickly establishing itself as one of Australia’s biggest selling comics (second only to The Phantom!), Otter Press launched new spin-off titles, including Bart Simpson Comics, Simpsons Classics and Radioactive Man, produced in a variety of formats, from large magazine size to trade paperback editions.
“Whereas America and the UK favour larger format comics, this A5 ‘digest’ format is unique to Australia and New Zealand,” adds Rik. “It fits into school blazer pockets, lunch boxes and backpacks and is a more ‘manageable’ size for children. However, some adults in the publishing industry don’t realise that kids’ hands are smaller than grown-ups!”
During the last few years, Otter Press has expanded its range to include licensed reprints of comics, including Walt Disney Comics, one-shot comic book movie adaptations (Batman Begins, X-Men: The Last Stand) and magazines based on popular toy lines (Action Man Magazine).
This is a deliberate publishing strategy, according to Rik. “A comic book published ‘by itself’ in this country would find it hard to build a profile and maintain its popularity. The ones that are most likely to succeed are those that are part of a ‘bigger picture’, supported by other activities, such as movies, TV shows, toys or games.”
However, Rik acknowledges that publishing comics based on movies can be “a nail-biting experience, because once kids see the movie, that’s it - they’re off on to the next ‘big thing’.”
“The failure that gave me the greatest surprise was a three-issue mini-series influenced by the Shrek movies, originally published in the USA by Dark Horse Comics, which we reprinted locally to coincide with the release of Shrek 2.”
“I predicted they would be our greatest success, based on the popularity of the two movies, but they turned out to be dismal failures for us - and in the USA, too. Why? Because the comics couldn’t reproduce the three-dimensional ‘look’ of the movies, nor did they capture the humour of the rapid-fire dialogue of the actors.”
Otter Press has no such reservations about its next major series, which will be based around the perennially popular Marvel Comics superhero characters.
Spearheading this new series will be Marvel Heroes, a bi-monthly children’s magazine which features comic strips, news stories and activities devoted to characters from the ‘Marvel Universe’. The debut issue will be published in October 2006, followed by a Marvel Heroes Super Special, which goes on sale in December 2006.
“Marvel Heroes isn’t a ‘traditional’ comic book, nor is it being marketed that way,” explains Rik. “It’s a Marvel ‘lifestyle’ magazine which features comic strips as part of its material.”
“For younger kids, this magazine will be one of their first experiences of reading for themselves - it’s very much a ‘learner driver’ introduction to comics on the one hand,” he adds. “But it’s also a kids’ magazine in its own right, with all the other content that today’s young people want about superheroes and the ‘World of Marvel’.”
It will be joined by Spectacular Spider-Man Magazine, starring the world-famous web-slinger. “This is especially designed for younger readers, aged between 6-14 years - but older Spidey fans will no doubt enjoy it as well!”
Over the coming months, Otter Press will launch additional Marvel titles, including Essential X-Men and The Amazing Spider-Man, which are suited for ‘all age’ readers, but will probably appeal to readers from 10 years-old and upwards.
“Even though these titles use comic strips created overseas, they have been completely ‘remodelled’ for Australia and New Zealand,” according to Rik. “The covers have been designed especially for this market, all of them are published in our A5 digest format and some of these titles have local content, as well.”
“So, even diehard Marvel collectors will be interested in these new titles, because they are unique to Australia and won’t appear anywhere else in the world.”
Kids, however, aren’t the only ones who enjoy Otter Press comics, as Rik discovered. “Our Walt Disney’s Comics title is often bought and read by the over-60s,” he says, “while we also get ‘serious’ collectors who want back issues of our comics in 100% mint condition - not to read them, but to place them in protective covers and add to their collection.”
“We do receive lots of correspondence from younger readers, but we also get letters and phone calls from mothers desperate for their children to read anything, who praise us for the quality of our publications.”
Otter Press has also begun working with educators to promote comics for ‘reluctant readers’, as graphic novels and paperback format comics have become increasingly popular with schools and libraries.
The key to Otter Press’ success, and the basis for its future expansion, lays in recognising the unique demands of the Australasian comics market, according to Rik.
“In North America, for example, reading and collecting comics is a way of life, passed on from one generation to the next,” he explains. “But here in Australia, the role of comics in our lifestyle is completely different. Most people here buy a comic to read, not collect or swap - and once read, they are likely to throw it in the rubbish bin!”
“To their credit, Marvel Comics realised that what may have worked for the USA was not necessarily right for overseas markets,” says Rik. “They struck a deal with the Italian publisher Panini, assigning them exclusive rights to several territories throughout the world to develop local publishing programs, based on Marvel Comics products, which were best suited for individual countries.”
“That’s why we’re about to embark on a local publishing program we feel is best suited for this region, which takes into account the different reading habits and retail structures in Australia and New Zealand.”
From the outset, Otter Press produced ‘localised’ editions of its overseas titles, ranging from altered cover designs and different paper stocks, through to different magazine and trade paperback formats, not normally seen in overseas markets.
“While we have strict rules with all our licensors about what additional content we can include, we are introducing letters pages and art galleries for Australasian readers,” says Rik.
“From 2007, we will also be introducing local editorial content into selected Otter Press titles, which will give Australian audiences news about movies, TV shows, websites and other promotions associated with our magazines,” he adds. “That’s an important part of building a ‘culture’ around the characters featured in our comics.”
“I stress that we are ‘starting’ - we are not going to try and do it all in one go, but progressively grow the market,” says Rik. “If this first phase is successful, then hopefully we will add many more titles and new formats in the years to come.”
This article originally apperared in the October 2006 edition of Collectormania magazine.
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