Biographical Comic Books
In 2009, the company ventured into biographical comics with Female Force, a series celebrating influential women in society and popular culture. In the subsequent years, Bluewater Productions has filled the growing biography comics niche with other titles profiling popular figures in politics (Political Power), entertainment (Fame), literature, and others. Less than half of Bluewater Productions publications are biography. Bluewater Productions attempts to utilize the "power of celebrity" to broaden comics distribution. "We tried something different to get new readers into to comic book stores and it is working... We get a lot of flak from the true comic book fans thinking we are ruining the industry, but we are doing our part to help it." Fame: Justin Bieber was initially distributed excluseively at Wal-Mart stores.
Although many of the biography comics are unauthorized, the company does reach out to most of its subjects to participate. In 2010, the publication of Female Force: Charlaine Harris marked the first authorized Female Force biography. Harris granted interviews to writer Kim Sherman. When requested Bluewater has donated profits made off the biography comics to charities of the subject's choice, as was the case with FAME: Ellen DeGeneres. Criticism surrounds the potentially exploitative nature of biography comics. Responses from Bluewater Productions highlight positive aspects of potentially expanding comics readership. Furthermore the company defends its right to provide timely coverage that its audience demands. According to Davis, speaking about the upcoming Infamous: Charlie Sheen comic, “there are those who are going to complain that we are exploiting Sheen. But honestly, this is no different than People magazine devoting most of an issue to the story or TMZ or Slate or the general media’s constant coverage of breaking developments. If Sheen contacted us right now and wanted us to donate some of the potential profits to a charity of his choosing, we would happily do so."
In addition to Female Force, the company publishes the biography comics lines Political Power, Fame and others.
Read more about this topic: Bluewater Productions
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—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
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