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Jim Salicrup has worked in comics for 30 years. He started at Marvel when he was 15 years old and he worked there for 20 years. He's best known for being the editor on Spider-Man during the Todd McFarlane/Erik Larsen run. He then left to become the EIC of Topps Comics, which published X-Files, Xena, and many other licensed titles. Jim then spent two years working for Stan Lee Media and he today is the EIC for PaperCutz, a graphic novel publisher of all ages titles featuring Zorro, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and Totally Spies. Jim is also on the board of directors for MOCCA.
Jamie:
Tell me about the first time you met Stan Lee.
Jim Salicrup:
To fully appreciate what that experience was like for me, here's a little bit of context. I was a kid growing up in the turbulent 60s, in the midst of the rapidly declining borough of the Bronx in New York City. I was surrounded by crime and poverty, but was able to find escape in the pop culture of the day. In addition to TV, music, and movies, I loved reading everything I could get my hands on, from the Happy Hollisters to Ray Bradbury, to just about every comicbook being published and all the classic comic strips in the Daily News. As a result, my dream as a young boy was to somehow escape the nightmare of the Bronx and to live in Manhattan and work for the mighty Marvel Bullpen. And somehow, at age 15, I was hired at Marvel! Literally a dream come true.
When I arrived for my job interview in the early summer of '72, it was like I was transported to another world. Too say I was overwhelmed by it all would be an understatement. I was both completely terrified and thrilled at the same time. I met the receptionist, known as Mary Mac, and sat waiting for my meeting as a scene out of Murphy Brown was taking place. The latest secretary for Stan Lee was in the process of quitting and storming off. Seems that Stan could be a tad demanding at times. Truth is, he's an extremely hard worker, very impatient, and needs people around him that are willing to work just as hard as he does.
Mary then introduced me to John Romita, who asked what my name was. "James," I meekly responded, as that was my name, and only my family ever called me Jimmy. "Okay, Jim," John said, and I've been Jim Salicrup ever since. John gave me a tour of the Bullpen, and introduced me to colorist George Roussos, assistant editor Steve Gerber, Artists Herb Trimpe, Tony Mortellaro, Marie Severin, Frank Giacoia, Production artists Dan Crespi, Dave Hunt, Linda Lessman, Morrie Kurramoto, stat camera operator Stu Schwartzberg, production manager John Verpoorten, his assistant Holli Resznicoff, editor Roy Thomas, and finally, Stan Lee.
Even though Stan was clearly the boss, everyone at Marvel addressed each other by their first names. So suddenly, this name on so many comicbooks I treasured, was now this flesh and blood human being standing right before me. I'm amazed that I didn't faint. While I can't remember what we actually said, I know I was made to feel welcome. Stan is one friendliest and most charming guys around. Even though I was the lowest man on the totem pole, I was treated as the newest member of this pseudo family called Marvel.
Jamie:
I know you worked as an assistant to Roger Stern when he was an editor. What did you learn from Roger?
Jim:
Attention to detail. Roger worked incredibly hard to make sure that everything in every comic was the very best it could possibly be. After editing a script, he'd often redo the balloon placement and completely retype the script so it would be completely clear to the letterer what he wanted. It's too bad they didn't have personal computers back then. MS Word could've save Roger so much time!
Jamie:
Later on you became his editor on Captain America, among other books. Was it difficult editing your former "boss" of sorts?
Jim:
Not at all. Roger was always great to work with. He, along with John Byrne and Joe Rubenstein, did great work on Cap.
Jamie:
According to Roger Stern, you set up an Alice Cooper comic in Marvel Premiere #50. How did that come about?
Jim:
Writer/artist/production person Ed Hannigan first introduced me to the music of Alice Cooper, and I really enjoyed the over-the-top stage shows, brilliantly packaged record albums, and the music itself. At the height of Alice's popularity, his management had requested that Marvel package a special comicbook for one of Alice's albums. Unfortunately, Marvel was so overburdened expanding its comicbook line, that nothing came of it.
Years later, as Alice was launching a solo comeback album, his PR people noticed that in the syndicated Spider-Man newspaper comic strip Spidey was battling a snakelike super villain. They hoped that maybe Stan could just namedrop Alice in the strip. I suggested we do an adaptation of the album, "From The Inside," and run it as an issue of Marvel Premiere. Somehow I was able to get everyone to agree and the comic, by Roger Stern, Ed Hannigan, Tom Sutton, Terry Austin, Tom Orzechowski, and Marie Severin was a big hit. Not bad for the first comic I edited on my own.
Jamie:
Back when you were editing Amazing Spider-Man, you had Erik Larsen take over when Todd McFarlane left. Erik Larsen also took over after McFarlane on Spider-Man, was that your decision as well?
Jim:
Todd had suggested Erik as his replacement on Amazing Spider-Man, and I believe Danny Fingeroth decided to work with Erik on Spider-Man. Erik would joke that he was becoming the official Todd McFarlane replacement artist.
Jamie:
I noticed you hired Mark Bagley for a fill in issue before Erik Larsens run on Spider-man ended - and also before you stopped editing the title. Was it your plan to have Bagley take over Spider-Man after Erik left?
Jim:
With 3 or 4 monthly Spider-Man comicbooks, I found it to be a good idea to have another Spider-Man artist available full-time for fill-ins, Annuals, graphic novels, limited series, or whatever else would pop up. Alex Saviuk, who eventually became the regular artist on Web Of Spider-Man, was the first artist I hired in that capacity, and Mark Bagley, winner of the Marvel Try-Out Contest, was the second.
Jamie:
What was your reaction when you learned about Todd, Erik and others forming Image Comics?
Jim:
I was thrilled for them. I too had decided to leave Marvel at that time, after working there for 20 years, to become Editor-in-Chief of Topps Comics. While I regret that Marvel treated these artists in a way that made them want to leave, I believe it all eventually turned out okay.
Jamie:
Outside of Marvel (and even inside it sometimes) you've been involved in a lot of licensing deals. What is it about licensing other characters that you like so much?
Jim:
Unless the actual creators are still writing and drawing a comicbook, then I see little difference between company-owned characters and licensed characters. Creatively, I'm a fan of all pop-culture characters, and enjoy the opportunity to take characters from other media and adapt them into comics. It's also an exciting challenge to make such characters succeed in comics form. That's what was so much fun about the Alice Cooper comic. While many movies have been adapted to comics, most haven't really worked out that well. I'm proud of such movie adaptations as Blade Runner (by Goodwin and Williamson) and Bram Stoker's Dracula (by Thomas and Mignola). And while the entire comics industry was struggling in the 90s, Topps Comics had one of the few success stories with The X-Files.
Jamie:
You have been an EIC at Topps, Stan Lee Media and now PaperCutz. Does the EIC job have the same duties at all places or does it change?
Jim:
It's ever-changing. After twenty years at Marvel, it took me awhile to realize that I was the Editor-in-Chief at Topps Comics. Old habits die hard, I guess. At Stan Lee Media, I was simply helping Stan Lee as he was adapting his vision to the Internet, which would've been a huge hit if the technology available today on youtube was available then. At Papercutz, I'm learning a lot about the book publishing world as we launch graphic novels aimed at all-ages, but targeted for teens and tweens.
Jamie:
At Topps, one of the comics you were publishing was X-Files. I heard the main actors made some disparaging remarks about the comic while it was still being published. Is this something you deal with regularly when doing licensed comics?
Jim:
It varies. Francis Ford Coppola was so cooperative, that our artist, Mike Mignola, actually wound up contributing ideas and concepts to the Dracula film itself. Everyone we deal with now at Papercutz are a dream to work with. Normally, if we don't think we can work with the property's licensors, we'll just drop the project and move on to something else. X-Files was an exception, in that, it was such a successful property we couldn't afford not to publish it.
Jamie:
I know you praised Marvel for it's 7/11 deal when it was announced and while at Stan Lee Media sold a bunch of Backstreet Boys comics via the Internet. Do you think comics need to go outside of the direct market to be really successful?
Jim:
Of course! The direct market accounts for a tiny percentage of Papercutz's overall sales. We're primarily sold in bookstores and that's very exciting.
Jamie:
Some folks are really worried about kids not reading comics anymore. Are you worried about the future of the industry?
Jim:
When I started at Marvel in the early 70s, several well-meaning Marvel staffers warned me to have a back-up career as they were convinced comics were on the way out. I didn't believe it then and I don't believe it now. More and more people, of every age, are discovering comics these days. And unlike the big boom of the 90s, there are lots of really great comics and graphic novels being produced today to keep everyone coming back for more. I don't ever remember seeing so my positive signs indicating that the future of comics is better than ever.
Jamie:
Some of PaperCutz characters (Zorro, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys) have a very long history in other mediums. Are you adapting their stories or creating new ones?
Jim:
We're doing all new stories with those characters. Once again, I'm working with Stefan Petrucha, who wrote the early issues of The X-Files comics, on Nancy Drew, and he's doing an incredible job. It seems I'm always reading how certain comicbook publishers are struggling to create comics for female readers. The X-Files had a large amount of female readers, at least 50%, and now Nancy Drew has an overwhelmingly female audience.
Scott Lobdell is working is mutant magic on The Hardy Boys, while Don McGregor, who also wrote Zorro at Topps, is writing some very surprising new Zorro adventures. Actually, picking up from the Zorro comic strip that he also wrote.
But back to the question-- just as we thought there was an audience for more stories about Scully and Mulder when we published The X-Files, there's a vast audience that's hungry for new stories featuring Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys.
Jamie:
Totally Spies is a bit more unique for your company because it's a French anime style cartoon that the characters are based on. Are there any differences in using characters from an ongoing cartoon than an older character like Zorro?
Jim:
Not really. No matter which characters we publish, we want to capture what made the characters popular in the first place. In the case of Totally Spies, we're actually adapting the animated episodes, and reformatting the original artwork created for animation. Unlike what Tokyopop has done with simply using screen captures (stills from the TV show), we're going back to the source material and creating comics pages that look like comics pages. We're also working from the original scripts, often either putting back gags that have been cut or adding new ones. The combination of such fun characters as Alex, Sam, and Clover, along with such clever scripts and great artwork, has made Totally Spies one of the top-selling titles at Papercutz.
Jamie:
PaperCutz is also publishing a Pope John Paul II graphic novel. Did you have to go through the same process Marvel did when they did a comic about him?
Jim:
I also was the original editor on Marvel's Pope John Paul II comic, and when I learned that a new graphic novel about the Pope was published in Italy, I asked Terry Nantier, my partner in Papercutz, if he could secure the rights for us to publish it in English. Terry is an unsung pioneer in graphic novel publishing, having published amazing material for over 30 years at NBM. He put a deal together in no time at all. This is a very beautiful book which celebrates the life of a man who devoted his life to spreading peace, love, and understanding.
Jamie:
Do you think you'll be doing original characters through PaperCutz one day?
Jim:
Sure. But we need to be in a stronger position than we are now. The advantage of publishing established characters is that both bookstore owners and potential readers have some idea of what to expect from us at this point. If we tried to launch completely new characters, many bookstore owners may not be so eager to take a chance. We certainly don't have the promotional budgets available to us that major book publishers have to properly promote new properties. We're just a teeny tiny new publisher in a great big highly competitive market.
Jamie:
Why are you publishing these books with a 96 page, full color digest sized format?
Jim:
I've always liked the digest format. I edited digests at Marvel and Topps. But mainly it's because it just happens to be the size most manga books and the prose Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys are published at, at that makes it easier to get on those shelves-- which is where we want to be.
Editorially, the so-called "decompressed" storytelling style popular in most superhero comics nowadays seems much better suited to our size and format. Many superhero fans complain that they don't get enough story in the standard 32-page comicbook format. By having over three times as many pages and complete stories, we've solved that problem.
What we're offering at Papercutz is a true alternative to manga comics. While we're inspired by the look of manga style artwork, our approach incorporates many traditional American storytelling elements, as well as American characters. Adding color is also part of our approach. So, while manga has built up a large loyal following, familiar with Japanese culture, and able to read comics from the back of the book to the front, we're reaching out to a young audience that enjoys the look of anime, but wants something a bit more accessible.
Jamie:
When did you get involved with MoCCA?
Jim:
Right after Lawrence Klein, founder and chairman of the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art asked me to become involved. I certainly couldn't resist becoming part of something that combines three passions of mine-- comics, museums, and New York City. I always wanted there to be a Comic Art museum in New York City, and thanks to Lawrence's efforts another dream has become a reality.
But we still need help. We're currently in a large art gallery size space, but we hope to be able to get a building of our own in Lower Manhattan. That's going to cost a fortune. People can help buy joining MoCCA and becoming a member, even if they don't live anywhere near New York City. Go to www.moccany.org for more details.
Jamie:
What is it you do for MoCCA on the Board of Directors?
Jim:
A little bit of everything. Mainly I advise MoCCA president Ken Wong and MoCCA COO Matt Murphy. I've done everything from answering phones, loaning artwork for exhibits, helping get Todd McFarlane for his incredible exhibit, going to conventions to raise money, to standing on the steps of City Hall with the heads of other NYC non-profits to support funding for the arts. You can usually find me at every MoCCA Monday event, a free weekly event that has featured everything from interviews and panels with great comic artists and writers, lectures, book signings, parties, film showings, and so much more. It's the greatest place to hang out and talk about comics, graphic novels, animation, and comic strips.
Jamie:
For those that don't know how museums work, can you tell us how the exhibitions are put together?
Jim:
A proposal is put together by a curator and presented to the curatorial committee. If the exhibit is approved, it's then scheduled to be up for a certain amount of time. Many factors weigh in on what constitutes the best exhibits for MoCCA, and many a heated debate may take place. Ideally, an exhibit should attract a lot of people and also educate, surprise, and entertain them. It's not just hanging pictures on a wall. Each show is telling a story. Our biggest problem is that we only have a finite amount of space, and over a hundred years of material to catch up with. So, if you know anyone willing to donate their mansion to us...?
Jamie:
What are the long term goals for MoCCA?
Jim:
To take its rightful pace alongside such other cultural institutions as the Museum of Modern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, etc., in New York City. A place where scholars, fans, and the curious can come to discover everything about the world of comic and cartoon art. In short, to become one of the best and most enjoyable museums in the world!
Note: You can find out more about PaperCutz on their website.
Regards,
Jamie Coville
http://www.TheGraphicNovels.com
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