Dreamwave comics officially closed

[Effect]

http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/6211.html

Dreamwave Shuts Down

Licensed Comics Powerhouse Ceases Operations

January 05, 2005

Canadian comics publisher Dreamwaye Productions has ceased operations and is closing its doors.  Dreamwave had built an impressive line of licensed comics, including Transformers (which broke non-Big Two sales records at its launch in 2002), Duel Masters, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Megaman, and more. 

President Pat Lee blamed market conditions as the reason for the closing, including "...the shrinking comic book market combined with a weak U.S. dollar and unsustainable monetary commitments." 

Dreamwave was founded in 1996 by brothers Pat and Roger Lee.  Pat Lee promises future comics work for other studios in the future.

Didn't see this posted anywhere so thought I'd post it to let others know. I really enjoyed the Transformers comics. With the shrinking market another company goes down but I would have thought that with the Transformer sales they would have been okay, guess not.

I found this on other forums but can't find the link where it officially came from.

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Toronto, Ontario – January 4, 2005 - Dreamwave Productions announced today that after eight years in the comics industry, four of which they were self-published, they will be ceasing operations.

Established in 1996 by brothers Pat and Roger Lee, Dreamwave infused a stagnant comic book market with art and design that effortlessly combined the then dominant “American” art style with the newly emerging Japanese “Manga” art style. Since then, the company had grown to become one of the comic book industry’s premiere publishers, producing a variety of original titles.

In 2002, Dreamwave firmly established itself in the comic industry as a force to be reckoned with when it launched an all-new Transformers comic’s line. The return of the 80’s icons shattered industry sales records, skyrocketing the book to the number one sales slot for an impressive six months. The Toronto-based company’s other successful licenses included Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Duel Masters from Japan, as well as properties like Devil May Cry and Mega Man from video game giant Capcom Entertainment.

President of Dreamwave Productions, Pat Lee stated “there are a number of reasons for my decision to close Dreamwave”, citing that “the shrinking comic book market combined with a weak U.S. dollar and unsustainable monetary commitments has finally proven to be too financially taxing.”

As the only Canadian independent comics publisher, Dreamwave Productions has struggled in recent years to maintain its status within a relentlessly shrinking comic book market. Unfortunately, consistently diminishing sales totals over the last several years have taken their toll on the small publisher and made it impossible to continue.

The specific details for closure have not yet been released but Lee assures both fans and clients alike that “although this is the end of Dreamwave as a comics publisher, I will still be penciling a number of new exciting projects in conjunction with other studios in the upcoming years.”

- 30 -

PR & Marketing Department

Dreamwave Productions

There was the rumor that things might be transfer to a company called Dreamengine though. Not sure how solid or true that is though.

Edited January 6, 2005 by Effect

[Cyclone]

*points to pined TF thread*

Licensed comics are a double edged sword, while they bring in ready made fans/sales, you have to jump through lots of hoops to meet the requirements of the licensor and the increased sales are for only the licensed title as there is generally little to no drift to the other original series the company produces.

[Dat Pinche Haro!]

sad day indeed...i really hope a big name publisher like marvel or dc picks them up as another faction of their lineup...there's just so many titles i've enjoyed over the past years with dreamwave. ...may dreamwave r.i.p.

[fansubs2000]

6 months ago i went to the Transformers convention "Bot-Con" and met Pat Lee and many other writers and artists of Dreamwave.

I would have never thought that just a few months later they would be closing their doors.

A dark day for Transformer fans indeed............

Edited January 6, 2005 by fansubs2000

[Mr March]

I've heard talk of tough times for the comic book industry for years and sadly it doesn't look like it's getting any better. Granted, Marvel and DC both endured some tough times in the past decade and came out okay, but it looks like the industry as a whole hasn't stopped suffering the setbacks of the market.

I wonder if anime has had an impact upon the North American comic book market. One would think the popularity of anime-influenced comics, the increasing demand for manga, and the spin offs that comics produce based on anime titles would help add revenue to the comic book companies and vendors. On the flip side, perhaps anime DVDs and game consoles have stolen market share from comic books.

[Noyhauser]

I think its the companys fault actually... and partly due to as well to called the "core" market group of these companies. I think the comic book format is too slow and unwieldly to be an effective seller. I look at the Japanese manga market, and its prospering right now.. why? Three reasons: its accessable ( everybody can buy it at any corner store: 7/11 lawsons ect at very low prices), it has broad ranging appeal (not just superheroes but romances, political drama ect.. they translate harlequins into manga now) and finally its fast... you can get a new installment every week if it is in a weekly publication. Manga's pulpiness IS its appeal... and it works. And I think that comic books are really none of these things.

Storylines are long and ponderous, often requiring you to buy several books that take months if not years to develop... for the same price of one comic book you can buy one manga with several strips. Really comics rehash the superhero based story lines, that have limited appeal to all but the 13~45 age group of men. Even love stories and the like are based in a superpower world. And although there are real gems out there for storytelling, many are not that deep.

The style of comics reflect the art, at expense of story telling... taking a month for 15 pages of carefully inked cells with detailed backgrounds. I really think the last point is its worst detractor. In a time when we do have such a fast moving society, having something come out so slowly just puts new customers off. having an issue every week or even two weeks would make the product far more accessable. The real problem for these companies is to make the shift over to this new business model... which is very uncertain. I think though that it has to be done gently and slowly... rush into it and it will fail.

Oh if you think I'm out to lunch, A very good friend of mine is a pencilist for marvel, and he'll tell you the exact same things. Hell he's trying to do that right now.