Interview: Sean Patrick O'Reilly, Editor-in-Chief of Arcana Studio

Arcana Studio was formed in 2004 by Sean Patrick O'Reilly. Arcana debuted its first title, Kade, and had amazing success with the gothic hero.

Arcana has won the Shuster Award for Outstanding Publisher, been featured as one of the top 12 independent books of the year in Wizard's Secret Stash and has begun work on their first video game.

In one year, Sean took his studio from a one-person operation in his basement to Canada’s largest comic book publisher. Arcana’s five comic titles have all now been translated and distributed throughout the world.

Sean’s screenplay for his comic, Kade, is currently under option, and he is working with VU's Radical Entertainment on developing the video game. The first screen shots are complete and the first trailer should be ready by Winter 2005.

Park Cooper for SBC: Favorite comics as a child?

Sean Patrick O'Reilly: My earliest memories of a comic, that is a comic book that really switched me into the medium, was Secret Wars #4 (one of my favorite issues EVER). My first series that I collected was Transformers, and once I got into Uncanny X-Men…it was game over. I simply LOVED it!

SBC: Did you always have a goal to work in comics or did you have other post-college plans?

SPO’R: Not really…comics found me as much as I found comics. I really wanted to create Kade into a movie and comics presented itself really quickly. I love the industry and love comics but it’s definitely something that one has to keep working on to continue challenge oneself for improvement.

SBC: When did you get the idea of starting a comic book company? Why?

SPO’R: Basically to publish Kade. I saw a lot of other people create companies to publish one comic and it always seemed kind of lame…so might as well jump in with both feet. And I’ve now been doing it for nearly two years.

SBC: What challenges did you face as a new publisher in an industry that is somewhat of a niche market?

SPO’R: Knowledge. The hardest thing is understanding who you are selling to, and who can provide the best ingredients for you product. Once you’ve been around for a while it definitely is a lot easier but there are still many many challenges.

SBC: What did your experiences in various comics related jobs help bring to the table in terms of running a comic book company?

SPO’R: I built websites during the whole ‘dot com’ thing and I would have to say what’s gotten me this far has been my integrity and hard work. I never sleep and am fairly OCD when it comes to something I enjoy. And I love comics.

SBC: Walk me through a typical day at your job, from getting to the office to the time you actually get to go home.

SPO’R: Heh. Ok…this is the truth. Wake up at about 7am and do a whole bunch of simple tasks…emails I can respond to in less than 60 seconds, faxes, deadlines, etc. Go to my day job (teaching computers) from 8:30 – 3:00 and then come home and put in around 10 hours of work in comics. Everything from writing to interviews, previews, producing and the nitpicky things that help everything run smooth. I then get up and do it all over again.

SBC: If you had to give a job description of your duties at Arcana, what would it entail?

SPO’R: Emails take up an enormous amount of time…then producing, laying out, lettering, make sure projects are on time, submitting to Diamond, making ads, aligning interviews, reviews, previews, sending out comics to retailers, subscribers and trying to stay in touch with our online community.

SBC: What's the most fun part of your job?

SPO’R: Definitely writing.

SBC: What's your greatest challenge?

SPO’R: Lack of time.

SBC: Is there any downside to Hollywood's interest in comics? Why or why not?

SPO’R: There is. Too many people are flooding the market thinking it’s ‘easy money’ right now. There are lots of books that I’m not sure are ready yet and they are getting published because many people see the short term loss will get them the million dollar gain in the long run. ‘Hollywood’ is in a great position because they can buy anything they want for so little now…so all we do is keep making great comics and see what happens.

SBC: What advice would you have for a start-up comic book publisher?

SPO’R: Make sure you are publishing for the right reasons. Are you publishing to get your idea out or do you loving publishing?

SBC: What do you look for in a comic in terms of accepting it into the Arcana family of products?

SPO’R: Great art. Great story. It literally is that simple.

SBC: Your company has a real diversity of materials that you publish. Do you see diversity as a strength in a publisher (because we do)? Why or why not?

SPO’R: I definitely do like to be seen as a diverse publisher. So many publishers do the same thing again and again. I really do like having a wide stable of properties across all the different genres.

SBC: Advice to a creator or creative team submitting to Arcana?

SPO’R: Keep pursuing what you love. Don’t give it up…sounds cliché but the more a book is completed, the more likely you are to get your book published. That is the truth. If it’s 100% complete it can be done so much easier.

SBC: What's the most challenging part of your job?

SPO’R: Juggling 100 things at once and making time for my family (Shell and Summer are INCREDIBLE!).

SBC: If you had a magic wand and could change anything about how comics are currently published, what would it be? Feel free to be as serious or as silly as you want to be with this question...

SPO’R: I would have to say I would like to see an organization that would help make things a bit clearer for people to work together…if I’m being too ambiguous just wait about a year and hopefully I’ll have this idea implemented.

SBC: Finally, tell us more about some of the comics you publish…

SPO’R: Okay--

Jova’s Harvest

Steve Uy, the creator of Feather, returns to creator-owned comics with Jova’s Harvest, a 3 issue ethical drama told entirely in rhyme.

Jova is a Harvester, a servant of heaven charged with the task of preserving the mortal world by preventing Armageddon. Stuck in the mortal world below, he maintains Heaven’s dominance over Hell by facilitating the deaths of good people and collecting their souls.

Once every century, the gates to Hell open and Jova is charged the task of sealing them by vanquishing the devil himself, his own beloved brother, Luci, in a debilitating war of attrition.

For millennia Jova has accomplished his mission, but this century, things are about to change. His sister, an angel of Heaven, has secretly sold her soul to Luci so that she may live in the mortal world with her estranged brother…

Paradox

Created by screenwriter Christos N. Gage (Law & Order: SVU, Deadshot), PARADOX introduces homicide detective Sean Nault, a cop on a parallel Earth whose technology is powered exclusively by magic. Sean investigates a baffling series of murders committed by a means he’s never seen before: the power of science. With the aid of Lenoir – a member of the ridiculed subculture of “pragmatists” who believe science is more than the stuff of myths and children’s stories – and the 130 year old sorcerer Winston Churchill, Sean uncovers an apocalyptic plot that will lead him to another dimension – ours – and the realization that, unless he prevents it, both earths could well be destroyed.

Kade

The gothic demon hunter is back in his new series, Sun of Perdition. Written by Sean O’Reilly and penciled by Malti Verma this series is set in Europe during the Dark Ages. The Book of Revelations says that The Black Sun will bring about the Armageddon…The Destroyer is the catalyst and under the Eye of God his brethren Fallen Angels will descend and bring Hell on Earth.

http://www.arcanastudio.com

http://www.kade.ca

http://www.panel2panel.com/gsg-archives.html

http://www.wickermanstudios.com/