Last year's Batman movie "Dark Knight" pulled in more than $1 billion. The Hulk has starred in two movies in the past six years. Columbia Pictures is now developing "Spider-Man 4."
The impressive film record shows that Hollywood never tires of superheroes. And that's a golden opportunity for comic-book writers like Bobby Rubio.
Mr. Rubio, a storyboard artist for Walt Disney Co.'s Pixar animation unit, developed his own line of independent comic books with titles including "Alcatraz High" and "Four Gun Conclusion." This weekend, at the Comic-Con convention in San Diego, he'll be encouraging producers to turn the books into movies.
With so many comic-book heroes already major film franchises, creators like Mr. Rubio say they are receiving more interest than ever. Studios "have to look for the new hot thing," says Mr. Rubio.
Now in its 40th year, the Comic-Con convention has grown from a small gathering of sci-fi fans to a mandatory stop for film and videogame producers, whose industries are increasingly marketing superhero characters and their stories.
Comic-book films have been among the most bankable properties in Hollywood in recent years. This year saw the release of the latest X-Men installment "Wolverine," as well as "The Watchmen." The sequel to 2008's highly successful "Iron Man" is due to hit theaters next year.
But all the well-known characters are already locked up by big studios. DC Comics, which has the rights to Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, among others, contracts with Warner Brothers. Marvel Comics, which has Iron Man, Wolverine, Spider-Man and the Hulk in its ranks, is signed with various major studios, including Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox Film and Universal Studios."
"There are only 10 or 12 superhero characters that everybody in the world knows, and they're all taken," says Jeff Gomez, president and chief executive of Starlight Runner Entertainment Inc., a New York production company that produces movies, videogames, comic books and graphic novels. "Now we have to find something that's new and fresh."
Comic-Con, says Mr. Gomez, has become the marketplace to scout for new talent.
Marc D. Evans, co-chief executive of Intrepid Pictures, says he was one of the few film producers who would head to the back of the convention space to check out the independent publishers. But last year, for the first time, he says he had to wait in line to talk to the creators.
"It has become such a high priority for every agent to jump on," he says. He now travels to other, less popular comic-book conventions so he can be the first to sign up-and-comers.
Mr. Evans's Los Angeles-based company specializes in movies for the under-30 crowd that cost less than $30 million to make. Most recently it co-produced the horror film "The Strangers," which took in $82 million at the box office.
he model of small-time comic making it big has been successful in the past. The Sony Pictures 1997 blockbuster "Men in Black," which took in $589 million world-wide, came from an independent comic creator. So did the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."
Joe Casey, Steven Seagle, Duncan Rouleau and Joe Kelly -- who founded Man of Action Studios -- work with Marvel and DC Comics, the two mainstays of the industry, and they release works independently through Image Comics, which publishes their works while they retain ancillary rights.
After years when major comic companies' stories dominated film and comics, Mr. Seagle says the pendulum is swinging back to the little guy. "If you eat too many hamburgers," he says, "eventually you want a hot dog."
From Man of Action alone, the stories released at Comic-Con this year will include "Imperial," from Mr. Seagle, a romantic comedy about a superhero and a regular guy; "Doc Bizarre MD," from Mr. Casey, about a doctor for monsters, demons and ghosts who makes house calls; and "I Kill Giants," from Mr. Kelly, about a little girl who lives partly in the real world, partly in a fantasy world where she slays dragons.
Fans at Comic-Con used to seek out Mr. Casey and his colleagues for autographs because of their work with DC Comics and Marvel, Mr. Casey says. But this year, the group is shifting its focus to highlight its independent work more.
article by Sabrina Shankman for the Wall Street Journal. Complete article here.

