theicecreamsprinkles
asked:
How important do you find creators' names in marketing a title? I realize great creators make great work, which in turn will sell better, but I wonder how much the names matter in your forecasts. There are certain creators who will get sales (rightly so) because they have a following, but how do you judge that compared to the high concept of the book? eg, I'm not sure MOON KNIGHT would have found an audience if not for Ellis and Shalvey getting a default "sure I'll read that" from enthusiasts
The “formula” for any given project is Creators + Characters + Concept (which amounts to story). On every project, you’re working with different strengths and weaknesses, but you try to put together the “math” of the project in such a manner that it seems like it stands a chance of working–or else, you don’t do that project. In the case of MOON KNIGHT, Warren’s name was certainly one of the strongest factors in that equation in terms of getting people through the door–the character, while he’s been around for decades, isn’t much of a sales draw by himself, and the reimagining that Warren was going to do to him would be difficult to sum up before readers had experienced it in the first issue.