Fallon at Ultimate Comics
The comics publisher Bad Idea launched in 2020 (see “New Comic Book Publisher Enters the Fray”) with a unique model: They limited the number of comics they publish but also limited who could sell them, self-distributing to a handful of stores (currently the number is 200). Their other initial constraints included no digital, no variant covers, and no collected editions.
All that, or at least some of that, may change next year when Bad Idea launches a new slate of comics with a new blueprint. While the publisher is being sparing with the details, it appears that they are moving toward wider distribution, and it’s possible that some of their original, limited-edition comics could be released as collected editions.
To get a handle on these changes, ICv2 talked to Bad Idea’s new VP of Sales and Marketing, Siena Fallon. Until recently, Fallon was on the retailing side of the business, as COO of the North Carolina chain Ultimate Comics (see “Business 3 x 3”); in February 2024, they joined the board of ComicsPRO as Education Director (see “ComicsPRO Elects Joe Murray as New President”). Now they have stepped down from that role and moved over to publishing. We asked them to shed some light on what Bad Idea has lined up for 2025; more details will come at New York Comic Con in two weeks.
Is Bad Idea going to begin regular retail distribution?
I can’t give specifics on that. We’ll make an announcement soon on a change up to our distribution, because we want to get these in as many hands as possible. Bad Idea has been direct, going to Bad Idea destination stores. Part of is just because it started during the pandemic, obviously before my time [at Bad Idea], but there’s been a ton of changes to the industry and the marketplace, and we know that we need to make a change.
Will you make the announcement at New York Comic Con?
I think we’re still shooting for that date, but we do have a few other big things to announce. So we’re trying to weigh maybe pushing the distro change a little bit later, just so it doesn’t get lost in all the other announcements,
But we can say with some confidence that Bad Idea is changing things.
That’s part of the reason they wanted to bring me on board and why I was really excited to join. Even though [Ultimate Comics] was a destination store, I know that there were a lot of retailers who wanted the books and weren’t able to get them. Part of my job is figuring this out: How can we make sure all the shops that want to order Bad Idea comics can?
What do you have lined up for 2025 so far?
We have our lead book, Planet Death, kicking off in March of this coming year, written by Robert Venditti and Derek Kolstad, who is the screenwriter and creator of John Wick, teaming up with Tomás Giorello on art. That’s going to be our lead for this new slate. We announced some other upcoming titles at Baltimore: Ordained with Raúl Allén on art, Survive, bringing in Doug Braithwaite [both are written by Venditti]. We also have Cul de Sac by Mike Carey and Jonathan Wayshack on art. We have a ton of books in the pipeline with some great creators like David Lapham, Josh Dysart, Jerome Apena is working on a project, but we haven’t announced other specific projects.
Will you be looking at putting the comics you’ve published up till now into wider distribution?
Definitely something we’re looking into. Definitely something that people have been asking us from the get go. When Bad Idea launched, we launched with a list of rules: no digital, no collections, strictly available in comic book stores, no variants. And there’s some of those rules that we still have not broken, like no collections, no variants, things like that. But yes, we’ve had a lot of our retailer partners asking for collections, and that is something we’re looking at again with this new slate. We’re looking at it as an opportunity to look at what we’ve been doing and what changes can we make.
Would you do collections of the previously published comics? Would you reissue them as comics?
The books that we published before this new slate, Matt Kindt’s ENIAC, Josh Dysart’s done some incredible stuff. David Lapham with The Ends, those are books that we know people would like to see in collected editions. If we were to add those, then we’d definitely be looking to revisit our earlier slates as well.
What about variant covers?
Some retailers hate them. Some retailers love them. I was always variant-neutral as a retailer, but as a collector myself, I, enjoyed some variants. Again, I would say we’re looking at every rule. This is a point where we’re morphing and evolving into maybe a different company. It’s like the next evolution of Bad Idea. So I would say every rule that we’ve had in the past, we’re definitely looking at and seeing what we can change with this new launch. I can’t say that yes, we’re doing variants, and yes, we’re doing collections of everything, because those announcements, if we were to make them, would be down the road. But I can say that we’re talking about all that.
How long has it been since Bad Idea’s last comic?
I believe the last book that that came out in shops was probably The Destroyer, by Mae Catt, a one shot. It’s been about a year, a little less than that, but the team has taken a pause. We’ve been going with a seasonal model, like Saga takes a break after a story arc. That was kind of how Bad Idea was approaching slates. This one was definitely our longest break, but it gave us the opportunity to build this slate. We’ve been quiet, but we’ve been quietly building all these books that are ready to come out as soon as we relaunch in March 2025. We have titles that are basically done, that we’ve just been working on this year, that are ready to go.
Are your books standard comics format? Are they longer? Are they bigger?
It depends on the title. We want to give the creators the freedom to do what the story needs, so we have Planet Death, big, oversized issues. This is a blockbuster. I think you have issues that are 40 pages or so. Other titles are a closer to the traditional format.
Are Bad Idea comics creator-owned?
No. [Fallon later e-mailed to clarify that all Bad Idea books are work for hire.]
One thing that Bad Idea has leaned into is creating excitement around the company and the comics. Is that still going to be an integral part of the company?
Oh, definitely an integral part of the company. We’re always trying to be inventive in the ways we market our books. We want as many people as possible to know about these stories that we’re very excited about. Similar to what we’re doing in Baltimore, we have an even bigger promotional plan slated for New York Comic Con. And I think people can expect us to continue to come up with inventive ways to shout about our books and hopefully help retailers.
Has Bad Idea hired new staff besides you?
We have a couple announcements on staff additions coming soon. I wasn’t the only new member of the team. The team is different than it has been in the past, and it kind of makes sense, since the company’s evolving. It’s not really a new direction, but it’s an evolution.
Click Gallery below for Planet Death preview!
Source: ICV2
