Until several years ago, celebrity comic writers were considered to be the likes of Neil Gaiman or Alan Moore, writers who had made a name for themselves beyond the traditional comics market. With the exception of several dalliances with name recognition titles, such as Clive Barkers' Razorline, or the TeknoComix line, this was the way it remained. Comics were seen as a lower art form, one that was intended for children. No-one would lower themselves to write comics if they were already established in another art form.

While J. Michael Straczynski was the first truly recognisable 'name' to enter the medium, no one really paid much attention until the arrival of Kevin Smith.

Smith had, at the time, produced three feature films and was a widely respected writer/director on the indie film scene. He was also a huge comics fan, who had written a film about comic creators, so entry into the comics market seemed a logical step.

'No-one would write comics if they were established in another art form.' Smith contributed a short story to ONI DOUBLE FEATURE #1, which promptly sold out, due in some part to the inclusion of his story. This was repeated with the debut of his first full-length comic, CLERKS: THE COMIC BOOK. He had proven that creators from a non-comics background could be successful in the medium.

His example has ultimately led to more such writers entering the industry, generally to higher than average sales, and to critical acclaim.

Robert Weinberg, a horror novelist of some renown, took over CABLE for Marvel Comics, and steered it toward success. He was nominated for a world horror award for his work, and it was the first time that a comic book had ever been nominated for this award. Marvel was also able to use a quote from another noted author, Dean Koontz, on the cover of the comic, praising Weinberg's work.

J. Michael Straczynski had been involved with the BABYLON 5 comics, and returned to comics with RISING STARS from Top Cow, which also received critical acclaim. With this book, Straczynski became the first celebrity writer to commit to an ongoing series.

More recently, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER creator Joss Whedon has entered the arena with FRAY, an eight issue mini series from Dark Horse, which the company has described as it's biggest release of the year. FRAY sold out in most comic shops in a matter of days, and a week later several copies were being sold at three times their cover price on eBay.

It has even been rumoured that JK Rowling, creator of Harry Potter, may soon be working for Marvel, on a project that may or may not be Potter-related.

So, are these 'celebrity' writers a good thing? Are they bringing in new reader and additional sales to a beleaguered market?

At first glance the answer would be yes. The sales speak for themselves, with Kevin Smith's GREEN ARROW series challenging the X-MEN for the position of top selling monthly title, and J. Michael Straczynski's debut issue of AMAZING SPIDER-MAN increasing in sales over previous issues.

'There is no evidence that these writers are bringing in new readers.' However, while there does not appear to be a problem with sales, there may be a problem with the readership. There is no hard evidence that these writers are actually bringing new readers to the market.

The reason why may well be in the choice of material that they are writing, as most falls into one of two categories.

The first is a continuation of previous work from another medium. The problem with continuing film or television work in comics is that they only tend to appeal to fans that already read comics. This is much the same as with novelisations and other forms of merchandising. Not every fan is going to be interested, and then they will only be interested in something that they do not regard as 'throw away' cash-in projects, which they see as having no impact on the overall story. TV series do not reference comic book storylines, so why should they care?

The second category is superhero work, which again raises a question of audience. The audience for this type of work already exists, but is currently in decline, and it is a genre that is often regarded as being 'for kids'.

This means that, despite the name recognition of these writers, it is again only the pre-existing comics audience that will be drawn to these titles. SPIDER-MAN will not draw in every fan of BABYLON 5, even if Straczynski is writing it. Even in the case of RISING STARS, which is creator-owned, there is a negative impact from the stigma of it being a superhero title.

It would appear that, rather than bringing new readers into the medium, celebrity writers are actually cannibalising the existing audience, drawing them away from smaller, creator-owned titles to larger, company-owned properties.

'Celebrity writers are cannibalising the existing audience.' So a move by the larger companies aimed a producing a short-term sales fix may actually end up damaging the overall sales at the lower end of the market.

The obvious solution would be to get name writers to create original works that are exclusive to comics, as Robert Weinberg is doing with NIGHTSIDE, and advertise them to the non-comics reading fans of their work. If this work was completely exclusive, with no intention of it being sold for development in other media outlets, it could potentially draw in many new readers. However, this would only work if advertised as such, and if it was sold in non-traditional outlets.

The advertising and point-of-sale factors are very important. Very little advertising is undertaken outside of the industry press and in-house advertising, none of which alerts non-comics-readers to the existence of these comics. The fact that most comic trade takes place in direct market outlets also hinders the attempts to get them seen by a wider audience.

As things currently stand, we are at the beginning of a period that could see more writers from non-comics backgrounds with a pre-established audience entering the market, with a potential to expand it and popularise the medium in a way it hasn't been for many years. But if the current attitudes remain, of taking the writers to pre-existing company properties and not promoting them properly, then this could become a missed opportunity.

Lawrence Rider is the author of REAL LIVES.

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