MARTIN PIERRO
by David O'Leary
Welcome back to the thirteenth edition of 5 Minutes With... This time we are joined by publisher Martin Pierro. Here we will hear about the intricate running of a company in recessionary times, the great fan response to the company's titles and the tentative expansion plans for the future and more besides so please read on, this is a good one!
David O'Leary: Hey Martin thanks for joining us here on CR.
Martin Pierro: My pleasure, thanks for having me. I'm a big fan of the site.
DO'L: Cosmic Times is now in its second year. How has it being for you so far?
MP: It has been great. The work is hard and always seems to take longer than expected, but every day we get more proficient. We have come far since the debut of Arthur: the Legend Continues at MegaCon in 2009, but Cosmic Times is still at the beginning of the journey. We have a long open road ahead of us and hopefully we'll be around for many years to come.
DO'L: You've worked in a variety of media over the years what drew you back to comics to forge a long term career out of?
MP: When I was very young I knew that I wanted to entertain people. I have always been a big fan of Walt Disney and how his work managed to touch others. I also was introduced to comics at a young age, and had the dream of becoming a comic artist or even an animator; however, the reality was I simply didn't have the talent. So I turned to writing, and by age 12 I was publishing my own comic fanzine aptly named Cosmic Times. I eventually went off to study television production at the Art Institute and ended up working in pretty much every form of entertainment, from stage to television to film. But life being what life is, I recently found myself working in a less creative field, and I needed to find some way of stretching those muscles again. In comics I found a way to entertain people in a medium that I respect and love.
The book that started it all: Arthur #1
DO'L: Did working in multi media give you any attributes that you could bring to running a publishing house?
MP: Project management: taking a concept from the beginning through all stages of production and turning it into a final product. That training has been so helpful to me, and it really translates easily from one medium to the next. I try to bring a cinematic style to Cosmic Times and all of the projects we do. I approach them more as a producer than an editor or writer. Also my background in advertising has helped tremendously.
DO'L: Did you consider it a risk to start a company in rough economic times nationwide?
MP: Yes and no. When I made the decision to go forward with Cosmic Times, the economy was still relatively strong. But... when we finally were ready to debut, the country had clearly fallen into the recession that still plagues us. We talked about waiting, but I made the decision to go forward. I figured if we can make it work in hard economic times, image what will happen when things turn around.
DO'L: Arthur has received a great critical response. How surprising was it for you?
MP: I knew when I finished the script I had created the best story I could, but I never expected that our first project out of the gate would be so well received. Having someone tell you they appreciate your work is such a good feeling. However that has become a double edged sword, because of the great response to this first issue, the bar was suddenly set much higher than I expected. The flip-side is that it has pushed us to continue to strive to do the best work we can.
Arthur #1 Varient cover
DO'L: Was it intended to be a one arc series or had you planned to leave it open ended for a second arc?
MP: I wrote the first issue of Arthur: The Legend Continues to be a one-and-done story. If it failed, at least the reader would have a complete narrative. However, once I finished it I knew I had more stories to tell. In fact, to fit the story into 48 pages I had to cut so much. This left me with enough material to make a second issue. Also being the king of wishful thinking, I folded a few plot points and hints into that original script so that I could pick them up later, if the chance arose. Once it was clear that people were digging that first issue, I immediately went to work on issues 2 & 3. The arc in those two issues picks up what was dropped out of issue one and expands it. More importantly, knowing the series would continue, I folded in new elements that tie to a larger mythos. When writing issues 2 & 3 I knew there would be a break before issues 4-6, so I wrote that arc to have a satisfactory ending while leaving some mysteries unanswered.
DO'L: How are you actively looking for new projects and creators right now?
MP: We do have a pretty full plate right now, but my door is always open. If a great idea comes my way I'm not going to turn it down. As far as artists go, we are working with some very talented people right now, but I always have an eye out for new talent. From trolling the internet to walking artist alley I am constantly looking for people who are just starting out and looking for a way to increase their visibility. In fact, that was one of the mission statements for Cosmic Times. We know that we are a small fish in a ... well ... a medium sized pond. I feel if we can help an artist or a writer land a gig with a larger company by using us as a stepping stone, then we are doing a good thing for them and the industry as a whole. So I do whatever I can to help promote everyone, even beyond the Cosmic Time's projects.
DO'L: Will you continue plotting and writing or will you step back with more the creators that you find and take more behind the scenes work?
MP: As far as Arthur: The Legend Continues is concerned, I will always be the writer on that series. I have a large story to tell there. With our second series Decisions, I would like to one day have that be more of an anthology series with multiple writers and artists. Right now I am writing it, but would like to step back sometime in the future. I do feel that I am doing more producing than writing these days, but that's more by default ... there are only so many hours in a day. However, I am finding that I really enjoy helping other people get their work into print.
Decisions #1 cover
DO'L: How fast does your business model allow you to expand the company over the next couple of years?
MP: That is something we struggle with every day. I want to see us grow but the pacing has to be just right. I think a trap you can fall into is to think that you can quickly become the next Dark Horse or even Marvel. The reality is that they didn't start off thinking they were going to be what they became. They just wanted to make good comic books and that's what I want to focus on. I never want to put the cart before the horse. We have goals in mind and plans to reach them, but I prefer to stay focused on what's in front of us not what's years away ... well not just yet anyway.
DO'L: You have a year done, what are you doing to make Cosmic Times more visible to a wider audience?
MP: We expanded our convention tour in 2010 and plan to expand it even further in 2011. We are selling our books on more sites and stores, we hope to expand throughout the year and we are looking at digital distribution and hope to make some announcements about that in the near future. I work hard to maintain a web presence, but I think the key is the comic's community. I have gotten so much more from my relationships with other creators, podcasters and fans than any marketing I have done. That being said, I did do a special giveaway comic for Free Comic Book Day this year to promote our upcoming projects. That seems to be paying off for us.
DO'L: What other titles have you up for publication soon?
MP: I'm currently working on issues 4-6 of Arthur: The Legend Continues. Also, issue 1 of Decisions will be available for pre-order on DCBS in June and we plan on continuing that book. What I'm really excited about is Souled. It is a five issue science-fiction mini-series written by Christopher Faulkner. We just confirmed our artist and hope to launch it sometime before Christmas. Beyond that, we have a few other plans we are working on, including a pet project of mine called AquaTech. It has been on the back burner for over a year now, and I hope to get back to that in the near future.
Martin Pierro
DO'L: Where can people catch the company on the con circuit this year?
MP: Our next show will be Heroes Con in North Carolina, June 4th through the 6th; this will be our first show outside of Florida. Following Heroes we are returning to Florida SuperCon two weeks later on June 18th. SuperCon is by far the most entertaining three-day show we have ever attended. It is a multi-media experience that words simply cannot describe. I will also be on two indy-comics panels at that show, one on Saturday and another on Sunday; I will be hosting the second one. We don't have any plans past SuperCon right now. Depending on how things go at Heroes, our plans may change. So the best I can say is to keep checking the site (www.ComsicTimes.net). We will post any news there.
DO'L: Martin thanks for taking the time to speak with us, take care.
MP: Anytime Dave, this was fun.
That was a great talk with Martin. He is a stand up guy and a great lad to talk with, I appreciate his time. Please join us next time where, in a treat for the Comic Related family my guest will be the amazing Ron Fortier.
Interviewer Bio
Name: David O' Leary
Email: idwfan@yahoo.co.uk
Bio: David has been with CR since June 2008 and started out as a reviewer and has expanded to do a couple of columns for the site also; starting with 28 Words Later with artist Declan Shalvey and later 5 Minutes With... where he talks with the industries best and brightest from Kubert to Moore.
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