The Highwaymen

On the eve of issue #4 hitting the stands comes word from Wildstorm that after the conclusion of this 5 issue mini-series, The Highwaymen will not continue.

That doesn't qualify as being "cancelled" per se because we were contracted to do 5 issues and we did. Of course, we had hopes that the response would be so overwhelming that the book would become a monthly.

What surprises me is the attention the book has gotten for NOT being picked up. I guess it began with Marc posting some theories on his blog HERE. It has generated a lot of conversation on his site and others like HERE and HERE.

Jason even took it upon himself to do an entire market analysis; Highwaymen sales vs. other "successful" books and so on. He has put more thought into it than I have. And a lot of closet Highwaymen fans have come out in support.

So I guess the point of this post is two fold: one, to say thank you for all those kind words and two, to give my take on the whole thing.

I have been through this before. As a television producer I have produced shows (Total Request Live) that became huge hits and pop culture phenomenon. I have also created shows I have been extremely proud of that are considered failures (On Air with Ryan Seacrest). I should also mention I have produced shit shows that got shit ratings and shit shows that got HUGE ratings.

Point being, success is not based on quality alone. Marc and I know that, but hey, we had high hopes. Our story is not the first or the last AND our story doesn't end here.

- We have "Monster Attack Network" on the stands now from AiT/Planet Lar
- We have a story in issue #2 of Gene Simmons House of Horrors due next month
- We have a story in a DC Horror anthology due on Halloween
- We have a story in the GRUNTS trade paperback due out soon
- We have a story in another major publication to be announced shortly
- Hollywood has come a callin' and we've been busy playing that game
- Not to mention Highwaymen #4 on stands tomorrow and the exciting conclusion next month. PLUS the trade paperback to be released shortly thereafter.

I list these projects not out of insecurity, not out of any need to prove we have successes. I list them to prove another point: The Highwaymen was nothing but a positive experience. We knew going in that if it was well reviewed, made a few people remember our names and got the attention of people in the industry, we won.

Well we won.

Thanks to Jim Lee, Scott Peterson, Ben Abernathy and all the DC/Wildstorm folks. Thanks to everyone who bought a copy and hopefully will buy a copy of the Highwaymen. If you like it, try some of these other fine Bernardin/Freeman products...