Bill Schanes
Encyclopedia
William D. Schanes is an executive in the comic book
industry.
Bill and his brother Steve Schanes co-founded Pacific Comics
in 1971. Pacific Comics was an early pioneer in the direct market
method of selling comic book
s, as well as a publisher in its own right (beginning in 1981) which actively promoted creator-owned properties. At Pacific, Bill Schanes "took on the nuts-and-bolts aspects of business and accounting." Pacific collapsed in 1984.
Schanes joined Steve Geppi's Diamond Comic Distributors
company in 1985. After serving as National Account Representative, he is currently Vice President for Purchasing.
fell into dispute with Diamond over Sim's decision not to use Diamond to distribute the Cerebus graphic novel
High Society
. As a result, Schanes, in his role as National Account Representative, informed Sim: "If it is your intention to pick and choose which products you want distributors to carry, it should be our privilege to choose what we wish to distribute. Therefore, it is our feeling we should no longer carry and promote Puma Blues." At that time, Diamond distributed an estimated 33% of the series' print run. Puma Blues creators Stephen Murphy and Michael Zulli
responded with an open letter titled "Not Fade Away," stating their intent to continue with or without Diamond's support.
Later in 1988, Diamond backed down and agreed to distribute The Puma Blues, but the incident was one of the primary factors leading to Sim's participation in developing the Creator's Bill of Rights
.
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
industry.
Bill and his brother Steve Schanes co-founded Pacific Comics
Pacific Comics
Pacific Comics was an independent comic book publisher that flourished from 1981-1984. It was also a chain of comics shops and a distributor. It began out of a San Diego, California, comic book shop owned by brothers Bill and Steve Schanes...
in 1971. Pacific Comics was an early pioneer in the direct market
Direct market
The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for North American comic books. It consists of one dominant distributor and the majority of comics specialty stores, as well as other retailers of comic books and related merchandise...
method of selling comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s, as well as a publisher in its own right (beginning in 1981) which actively promoted creator-owned properties. At Pacific, Bill Schanes "took on the nuts-and-bolts aspects of business and accounting." Pacific collapsed in 1984.
Schanes joined Steve Geppi's Diamond Comic Distributors
Diamond Comic Distributors
Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. is the largest comic book distributor serving North America. They transport comic books from both big and small comic book publishers, or suppliers, to the retailers. Diamond dominates the direct market in the United States, and has exclusive arrangements with most...
company in 1985. After serving as National Account Representative, he is currently Vice President for Purchasing.
Controversy
In 1987, Puma Blues publisher Dave SimDave Sim
David Victor Sim is an award-winning Canadian comic book writer and artist.A pioneer of self-published comics and creators' rights, Sim is best known as the creator of Cerebus the Aardvark, a comic book published from 1977 to 2004, which chronicles its main character in a 6,000-page self-contained...
fell into dispute with Diamond over Sim's decision not to use Diamond to distribute the Cerebus graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
High Society
Cerebus the Aardvark
Cerebus the Aardvark, or simply Cerebus , is an independent comic book, written and illustrated by Canadian artist Dave Sim, with backgrounds by fellow Canadian Gerhard. Cerebus ran for 300 issues from December 1977 to 2004, and was over 6000 pages long, the longest-running original...
. As a result, Schanes, in his role as National Account Representative, informed Sim: "If it is your intention to pick and choose which products you want distributors to carry, it should be our privilege to choose what we wish to distribute. Therefore, it is our feeling we should no longer carry and promote Puma Blues." At that time, Diamond distributed an estimated 33% of the series' print run. Puma Blues creators Stephen Murphy and Michael Zulli
Michael Zulli
Michael Zulli is an American artist known for his work as an animal and wildlife illustrator and as a comic book illustrator. He's gotten great acclaim for his work on The Sandman with writer Neil Gaiman and has been a longtime collaborator with the author...
responded with an open letter titled "Not Fade Away," stating their intent to continue with or without Diamond's support.
Later in 1988, Diamond backed down and agreed to distribute The Puma Blues, but the incident was one of the primary factors leading to Sim's participation in developing the Creator's Bill of Rights
Creator's Bill of Rights
The Creator's Bill of Rights was a document drafted in November 1988 by a number of independent comic book artists and writers, designed to protect their rights as creators and aid against their exploitation by corporate work for hire practices...
.
Awards
- Schanes was the recipient of an Inkpot AwardInkpot AwardThe Inkpot Award, bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International, is given to some of the professionals in comic book, comic strip, animation, science fiction, and related pop-culture fields, who are guests of that organization's yearly multigenre fan convention, commonly known as...
, presented at the San Diego Comic-Con, in 1987.