Independent creation versus writing for the corporations; is one better than the other?

I remember a few weeks back Erik Larsen did a column about how you need to create your own title. At the time I took it as kind of an insult to the creators who were satisfied with working on books for Marvel and/or DC. I also felt that it was slightly self-serving of Erik since he is the head of a company that focuses on creator owned properties and some of those big named creators at the big two would definitely help Image if they came over to do a book. Plus it came across that fans should be more supportive of creator owned properties because it’s the true mark of creativity.

Fast-forward to this afternoon when I was discussing writing careers with Elk’s Run creator Joshua H Fialkov. Josh told me today that he would be happy if he could spend the rest of his life writing creator owned books. He said a few other things but I promised I wouldn’t repeat them. But like Larsen, Josh seemed to feel that the mark of true creativity was creating a property from scratch.

So is writing Superman selling out? If I start scripting Daredevil, am I wasting my talent?

I think the key difference has to be as a writer, what you want out of the experience? If you’re goal is to create the next great property then Larsen is right, you should stay away from the big 2 and focus on your own stuff. In a lot of ways, this is the mentality of a novelist. Basically you create every aspect of the story, beginning middle and end and have little to no input from outside. Independent filmmakers fall in the group as well.

Doing work for hire in comics is really no different than writing for licensed properties or for film studios. To do this well, you have to enjoy the writing process. You have to look at editorial mandates and notes as a challenge. If DC asks you to write a Batman story where the Joker uses a giant balloon to spread Smilex gas over Gotham and Renee Montoya has to help Batman stop him… those are merely the parameters that you have to create within. It adds a degree of difficulty to the project. At that point the challenge is to create the best story possible within those confinements.

Now I have tried creating my own properties, published my own books and dealt with all the aspects that go with it. I have also been doing scripts for 30 Days of Night and a handful of Avatar Press properties and the truth of the matter is I thoroughly enjoyed the work for hire projects more than the creator owned ones. Why? Because I was able to completely focus on the process of writing. I had my approved outline to work from, a number of pages to fit the story in and a deadline. What I didn’t have was the stress of making sure the artist gets his pages to the inker, the inker finishes in time for the letterer to put everything together and get it to the printer. I don’t have to think about printing costs, advertising in Previews or getting retailers to buy.

So where I fully respect the writers who want to create their own properties, I’m at a point in my life where I want to just write. I want to work on Superman and Daredevil. I want the challenge of creating great stories within a cohesive universe. I want to write and only write.