day of didio Old Friends, New Horizons

A conversation about the launch of the Frank Miller Presents line with publisher Dan DiDio

Interview Conducted by GREG BIGA

[Beginning in August of 2022, Frank Miller Presents has been publishing new works written or inspired by Frank Miller. The industry legend has partnered with former DC Comics executive Dan DiDio and his brand CEO Silenn Thomas, as well as Philip Tan, Alex Sinclair, John Workman, and several other members of a creative collective, to launch this brand-new comics company. It’s a unique collaboration and venture into the ever-changing world of comic book publishing. Dan DiDio takes time leading into that launch (as well as bringing us up to speed after the first six months of publishing) to talk us through his first energy-filled project following his exit from DC. He also shares some insight on his first prose novel. GB]

This spread: Above is the Frank Miller Presents logo sporting the trademark FM fedora in rainy milieu. Inset right is cover art for the debut issue of Ronin: Book II, Frank’s follow-up to his 1980s classic saga. This version is written by FM and drawn by artists Phillip Tan and Daniel Henriques. On opposite page is Dan DiDio and Frank Miller outside Manhattan’s Society of Illustrators Museum of Illustration, in early Sept. 2022. Below, pic of Dan with his caricature by Art Balthazar that appeared in Tiny Titans #13 [Apr. 2009], inscribed to manservant Alfred Pennyworth!

Comic Book Creator: When this process with Frank started to get underway you were under contract. This is something that couldn’t be in conversation at all about, correct?

Dan DiDio: Exactly. As a matter of fact, that’s one of the reasons why because I was still in the contract. For an extended period of time I was kind of sitting on my hands. So that’s why, when I was helping people, it was all gratis, because, first of all, I was under contract. So, it was more personal health than anything. And it wasn’t that much. It was just some conversations here and there. So, it wasn’t until my time with DC officially ended, that I really wanted to return calls. But as I got through it I just kept everybody in abeyance until I was able to discuss things, you know.

CBC: So, with Frank, obviously, for people who know his stuff, it’s easy to sit back and say, ‘If I’m going to partner with somebody who’s got living legend status, but who also has properties that really could be put to use in the current medium,’ he’s a name that is automatically going to come up. How and when did this process start? Dan: Frank was interested in doing Ronin. I guess he was in discussions with DC, something along those lines. He asked me if I wanted to be the Ronin editor. I said I don’t think DC would love that idea. But if you do this on your own, I’ll be more than happy to work with you in finding ways to get it published. That’s how I started and it just blossomed from there. It’s interesting because we have a lot of respect for each other. He’s one of the people that I just love to sit and talk comics with. That’s what we do. I mean, realistically, we used to spend hours, even when I used to go back to New York, I’d stop by and visit, see how he’s doing, see how he’s feeling, and just see how he’s going. And we used to sit there and just spend a couple of hours a day just talking comics, and having fun doing it, you know. And then, when it actually came time to actually do something, it just seemed to make the most sense to find a way for us to work together. Because there wasn’t overlapping skill sets, you know. I mean, his creative craft is spectacular, I have organizational business skills that are pretty good with some creativity, that I can help be able to have a strong creative conversation with him. So, it was a nice pairing that came together.

And honestly, Frank doesn’t need to do this. But part of him and part of what he feels is part of his own personal legacy is to put his money where his mouth is. All his conversations about the yeses and noes of what it takes to publish, he’s actually going to put that forward for himself. And when we approached this, the first thing he said to me was, “I can’t become what I’ve railed against my entire career,” meaning publishers that abuse timelines, or abused creative environments. So, we had a pact about how we would approach things creatively. And how, more importantly, we have to make sure that there’s a level of fairness delivered to the people that are participating in our process. Even if it might be a detriment to the profit line or the profit margins, you know. We’re not going to make choices that are built on profitability more so than what we believe is important to the craft and the creativity of the process.

CBC: And, as you’re building that, how did the company process start coming together? Because obviously it’s not just the two of you and talent. How are you making that happen?

Dan: It’s because ultimately, he’s already worked with publishers. He has a very long and healthy relationship with Dark Horse, with so many of the properties… worked at DC… worked at Marvel. Yes, he had to end both. This was the last step. It wasn’t just about getting something published; it’s actually publishing it yourself, which is two different things. And when you sit and have a day long conversation about barcodes, you realize it really is two different things.

CBC: Sure. So, is this like a full-staff? How does this process work?

Dan: Yeah, there’s three. [laughs] I created what I call production cells. Each book has a production cell, a team that’s responsible for the creation of the book. And I manage the coordination of that. Frank is overseeing all the creative of all that. So, he literally signs off on every single property. We had a couple of creative mandates that we have put in place, which is interesting. We’re only having one variant cover per book. As much as a lot of retailers already contacted me for custom covers, and things like that, I had to just graciously explain that that’s not available. We want people to read the interior of the material, not the exterior. And that’s important to us, we want these books to be read.

Our goal is not to start off with a big bang of sales, but hopefully grow sales because people get excited and jump on board, rather than pick something up and disappear. We’re also working on color plans, we’re going with unsaturated colors, we feel the books are too saturated these days, just looks like people are just filling paint on it and the books, you can see the pages soaked in so much ink that they it turns into mud on a page and we’re trying to be much more clearer and have much more definition in our art, so it feels stronger.

We’re opening up with bigger panels. Ronin’s told in double-page spreads, just to make sure the art really comes to life. So we’re doing a lot of things really to bring back what we believe are the strengths of the medium, which is art, spectacle and characterization, and things of that nature that we think are what are supposed to bring people to buy comics, not just the potential of a movie being made of it to increase its collectability. Or by overstocking on variant covers in an artificial attempt to drive a sales numbers by selling the same book, many times to one person instead of many books to many people.

CBC: Based off of what you’re saying here, what is different between this and what you just recently were a part of at DC? What’s the difference between this ideology and what you were part of previously?

Dan: When you’re over a company [DC], you have a profit threshold that you’re always trying to achieve. And then, once you achieve it, new numbers are given that’s higher that you now have to achieve. So, you can’t really rest on your success. You’re constantly having to build on it. And it’s an interesting thought, because ultimately, you’re driven quarter by quarter, by your quarter numbers, and all that. If you see sales drop, the easiest solution to sales slipping is not finding a way to make the book better and get people more excited about the property, is to throw another cover on it with the hope that the collectability factor sells X-number of more copies to artificially inflate the sales.

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Above: he’s doing that same layout for Milo Manara, but we are feeling that Manara is going to have a little more latitude on how he interprets them based on his storytelling. On Sin City 1858, Frank is writing and has full control over that. On Pandora, Frank set the initial conceit, set some of the initial character designs, and then handed the book off to the writing team, and to the artist. And they’re the ones that are flexing their discretion. And he’s given them enough latitude for them to take it in whatever direction they want, as long as it sticks to the original conceit of what the book is about.

And variant covers are an interesting conversation because variants started as a promotional tool for people to sample the first issue with the hope that they stick with the series ongoing. But, when the second issue came out, they dropped precipitously from the first one, then they started putting variant covers on those issues to artificially lift that number. And then what happens now you’re on that slippery slope that you can’t get off this variant cover trend. Because once you do, your sales will be so depressed, that it’ll impact your overall budget number for the year or the quarter. So, for us, our goal is to believe in the product. We’re not watching the numbers as tightly as we are watching the product and making sure that our belief in the product goes out there with the hope that other people get excited about what we’re creating. And that creates the excitement and ultimate sales for the books that we’ve built.

CBC: And Frank’s got final say on the creative aspect. Is that correct?

Dan: One hundred percent.

CBC: With this being true, how much is he giving to that? Is it hands on saying, “This is gonna be what I want with my name on,” or is he actually providing stories and breakdowns as well?

And then, with Ancient Enemies, which is a book and concept that I created, but I created it as a world that’s going to be full of all new characters. It takes place in this world and Frank contributed to that story. He created a brand-new character, which will now be part of that Ancient Enemies story.

CBC: You have somebody who is, for lack of a better word, a living legend. How is his outlook on everything? I mean, is this somebody who was great just putting himself on the couch until this conversation got him going? Or was he just thirsty for something?

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Dan: It’s both. For his books he’s doing the layouts. I mean, right now his full involvement is on four titles. So, if you look at Ronin II, he’s doing full layouts and dialogue on that, and Philip Tan is doing the art from his layouts, and Phil’s been extraordinarily loyal to the layouts. So, it feels very much stylistically on how Frank tells the story. So, Ronin II is his book. On Sin City,

Dan: Yeah, I got there just at the right moment. They didn’t get picked up for the second season of Cursed, which was a series that he was involved in, in regards to doing the designs and creating some of the story, which is the Netflix series. So, I was able to pop in there. I was talking to him about a couple of things, I gave him a hand on a couple of things that he was trying to organize, and then, ultimately, during that time, that’s when the other conversations started taking place.

CBC: So, right place, right time, and this is a guy who just can’t turn it off, basically.

Dan: Honestly, one of the conceits of FMP Frank Miller Presents, is that this company is not for sale — ever. This isn’t being created to be sold, this is a place for creative output. So, as long as he must have output to create books, he has a place that he will always be able to go to here. And he can do whatever types of books he wants.

CBC: Wonderful. I think you remember that Mike Deodato and I get along really well and, when this was announced, he was like, “Ah, Axel will never let me do it. But, oh my god, I want to draw Sin City for Frank”.

Dan: Yeah, I mean, it’s interesting. We chatted that up a little bit, and there was a conversation around the Sin City property, for instance. Sin City is Frank’s baby. The fact that he’s letting Milo Manara draw it is only because he has such respect and admiration for Manara’s work and he