Eisner Award-nominated cartoonist Dave Baker has shared an exclusive guest essay discussing the realities of creator-owned comics in 2026, including the unconventional path that led to Halloween Boy landing a toy deal and eventual release through Oni Press.
Originally self-published before being collected by Oni Press as Halloween Boy Vol. 1: Last of the Halloween Boys, the series follows a pulp-inspired cosmic adventurer known only as Halloween Boy. The hardcover edition officially released on May 26, 2026.
You can see some artwork from the book below, as well as the cover:
Read Dave Baker’s full guest essay below.
Making things is difficult. Making things and having people organically discover them? Seems kinda impossible today. I’m a comic book artist. I work in a medium that lost its cultural ubiquity almost a hundred years ago. No one needs a comic to get through the day. In fact, one might say the only thing our industry does better than making amazing comics, is make it really hard for someone to purchase said amazing comic.
Preorder windows, limited visibility, and the insane practice of still printing on paper. It’s a niche product in a niche industry. And when you’re self publishing? Forget about it. It’s even harder to have your creation seen by people who might be interested in purchasing it.
So, how did I go about trying to get the word out about my book Halloween Boy?
Well, licensing deals.
Or, at least, that was my plan. My attempt at thinking outside the box. My futile effort to fight the tide, as it were.
I started self-publishing my action adventure horror comic Halloween Boy in 2022. I had just come off of writing and drawing the graphic novel Mary Tyler MooreHawk, which I had sold to indie comics publisher Top Shelf. After I signed the contract I had a year in between when the book would debut and when I had to deliver the files. So, I took a hard look in the mirror and said “what do you want to spend the next year doing?” Turns out I wanted to make a comic. Equal parts 1930s horror film and classic pulp adventure serial, Halloween Boy was born. Starring the Man of A Thousand Fates, the Demon Who Lives, Halloween Boy, the book follows a character who thinks of himself as the Patron Saint of the Impossible. Someone who is undaunted by seemingly impossible odds. Told through a series of one-and-done stories, the book is a love letter to Doc Savage, The Phantom, and The Rocketeer. It’s everything I’ve been obsessed with since I was a kid, rolled up into one package and spray painted orange.
Making comics is easy. Telling people they exist? That’s a bit more complicated. When it came time to get the word out about this small press in comic seemed about just as impossible as the demonic cults and intergalactic slave trade that Halloween boy went up against. So, as I previously said, I tried to think outside of the box. I tried to approach this from a new perspective. I’ve been publishing and self-publishing an equal turn for the better part of a decade. I knew pretty clearly the ins and outs of the industry. And one of the things that always frustrated me was the lack of external awareness. I thought, “Well, if I’m going to spend time making this book, maybe I can simultaneously try and strike some licensing deals to spread awareness of the character that will help cover the cost of production.”
What can I say? I dream big.
My first thought was toys. My art style is pretty “toyetic,” I’ve been told. So how hard could it be? right? I approached multiple indy toy companies. Some of which I had connections with, some of which I just cold emailed. Wanna guess how it went? They didn’t care at all. So, I moved on. I decided maybe I could have some T-shirts made or a board game or a choose your own adventure novel? I emailed hundreds of companies, and they all said, “No.”
But then one day I finally got a bite. A tabletop role-playing game company responded to one of my emails and expressed interest in developing a wargames style tabletop experience, using my characters and the world of Halloween Boy. We corresponded for a few months. Things seemed like they were going well. And then? Nothing. The discussions stopped.
Ultimately, this deal fell apart, but this was the signal I was looking for. So I kept emailing people. I found a factory in China that I thought might actually be able to produce some figures. I looked into costing it out myself. Could I do it without the backing of an existing company? Could I stop waiting for someone else to tell me yes? Turns out? Way too expensive.
But during the process of getting some of those quotes I was asking around to some of my toy friends, and they all directed me towards an agent. I have a literary agent and a Hollywood manager. But I didn’t know that a licensing agent was even a thing. After looking into it, turns out that’s exactly what happened with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. They got approached by a licensing agent. And he took their characters and turned it into a massive multi-media production.
So, y’know. Apparently, licensing agents for comics and toys is a thing. Who knew? This specific person was really helpful. They did a lot of really great work and they even set up a licensing deal to have one of my characters turned into an action figure. I did it! I crossed the finish line!
And then what happens in these scenarios took place. The deal fell apart.
Look, this probably would have been where some people would have given up. But to me? This meant there was more signal. It was only a matter of time before one of these deals actually resulted in a fully produced toy.
Another year of pitching and another year of rejections. The frustrations from these discussions, deal memos, and almost successes ultimately led to me publicly discussing these frustrations online. Not something I usually recommend. But my desire to have toys made of Halloween boy and the rest of the characters spilled over. And in a moment of weakness I talked about it on the internet. Surprisingly, this was the missing key. I received an email from the head of a toy company, Big Bad Workshop, asking if I’d be interested in Halloween Boy appearing in an existing toy line. He had seen my artwork of the character, and he thought it would work well in an existing line they had called Operation: Monster Force.
I said, “Yes.”
The rest is history.
It’s one of the accomplishments that I’m the most proud of. The toy looks fantastic. I was deeply involved in its design. And the process of holding a plastic miniaturized version of a character that I’ve been thinking about for the better part of half a decade is nothing short of life affirming.
However, none of this would’ve happened if I hadn’t doggedly pursued the shimmering Vista licensing myself published comic book. If you would ask anyone with any sense of business, know how they’d have said that was a fool’s errand. And they’d have been right. It really just comes down to finding the right person at the right time. And luckily I did.
Licensing comics is something that is not common unless you have film adaptations or decades worth of a publishing history. But I will say that the response I’ve gotten from the Halloween boy toy has made all of the struggle worth it. And I think it objectively has drawn readers back to the book.
I say this all just to underscore the idea that nobody knows anything. We’re all attempting to make the best of a very uncertain time in the world and the economy. We’re all trying to both exist and survive. Sometimes it can be hard just to sit at the desk and find enough time to do the actual work of making the thing let alone thinking about marketing it. And yet, when I started this process getting a toy produced seemed utterly unthinkable. But I made it happen. Through a lot of unopened emails, and quite a bit of dumb luck. At the end of the day, I’m glad I sent 14,021 emails because without that effort there wouldn’t be these hunks of plastic that are one day destined to be in a landfill. So, if you’re questioning if your idea is worthy of pursuing? You should probably just do it. Who knows. Maybe it’ll be the next big thing. All you have to do is get through a wall of rejection first. And doesn’t that sound fun?
Halloween Boy Vol. 1: Last of the Halloween Boys is now available from Oni Press.
Written, illustrated, colored, and lettered by Dave Baker, the hardcover collection compiles the first five issues of the self-published Halloween Boy series in a premium edition featuring new cover art and additional bonus material.
Baker is also known for works including Mary Tyler MooreHawk, Forest Hills Bootleg Society, and Punk’n Heads.
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