Licensed comics aren't looking to replace parent skeins

The writers strike continues to roll on, now claiming as casualties not just the Golden Globes kudosfest, but increasingly new episodes of favorite TV shows.

That raises an interesting possibility for the few comics licensed from current TV shows to maybe try to fill the gap left by the absence of new episodes.

The number of comics that qualify for such a proposition is very small, as most TV comics these days are licensed from classic (i.e., defunct) series, such as Dark Horse’s smash hit “Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season 8” series, IDW’s “Angel,” and Dynamite titles like “Xena: Warrior Princess.”

IDW Publishing, based in San Diego, has in its recent and upcoming offerings comics based on “24,” “CSI” and “Ghost Whisperer.” Andrew Steven Harris, an editor at IDW who works on “24” and “Star Trek,” says the company is “not interested in cashing in on the strike in any way."

A number of factors preclude comics publishers from doing much about the strike, says Harris, who cited production time as an example. Most of the comics coming out now were written way in advance of the strike, and any books initiated since the strike began in November would still not be due out for months — by which time the strike is likely to have been settled, he says.

“What it’s really become more for us is not an opportunity to promote titles to replace the TV show, but to give some of these (striking) writers some work when they can’t ply the normal course of their trade,” Harris says.

Nick Barrucci, president of New Jersey-based Dynamite Entertainment, agrees.

“We work with writers from Hollywood regularly, and we plan on staying the course,” says Barrucci, whose company publishes comics based on both the current Sci Fi's version of “Battlestar Galactica” and the classic 1970s version. “I would think pushing the comics as the only place to see the shows would be a slap across a lot of people’s faces right now. The writers are fighting for their rights, and we’re standing by them.”

Still, Harris says the circumstances are a bit unusual for projects like "24: Cold Warriors," a new Jack Bauer adventure by writer Beau Smith and arists Steve Bryant due out next month. “We’re kind of excited that we get to carry the torch for ’24,’ but I’m a fan of the show and I’d be happier if the show was on the air.”