Alumni
Alumni
Anna Warren '97 On Her Own Yellow Brick Road
- Class: 1997
- Degrees: B.A. Studio Arts; MBA eBusiness
- Current Job: COO/ CFO, Illusive Arts Entertainment; Owner-operator, Illusive Comics & Games
"I knew nothing about comics before 2004," says Anna Warren, chief financial and chief operating officer of comic book publisher Illusive Arts Entertainment, and owner of the Santa Clara, CA, retail store Illusive Comics & Games. "Before then, I had only read two comic books."
Warren's journey into the world of comics came about in an unusual way. In 2004, after finishing her MBA in eBusiness, she heard that former Whittier classmate Mark Masterson '99 had published a new graphic novel with artist Greg Mannino, called Dorothy of Oz.
Investigating, she was amazed by the innovative presentation, sensing it was "a completely modern re-imagining of the L. Frank Baum story The Wizard of Oz. It was mixed media, with photos and CG, beautiful art and beautiful writing. It was obvious this was definitely going somewhere."
At the time, Masterson and Mannino were feeling quite overwhelmed by the non-artistic mechanics of publishing. With Warren on the hunt for an entrepreneurial opportunity, the trio decided to team up, and Warren came onboard to re-organize the company.
Four years later, seven issues and one trade paperback of Dorothy of Oz have been released, and the comic has attracted a devoted fan base that avidly follows this punk/goth Dorothy on her unusual adventures. Also breathing new energy into a classic story is the company's second title, Tony Loco, a decidedly modern take on the Don Quixote tale—something Warren describes as "Calvin and Hobbes meets Desperado."
Now, in addition to managing production schedules and working with vendors, distributors, and reviewers, a large part of Anna's work involves attending the main comic book conventions, like Comic-Con which she calls "insane but a lot of fun." She explains, "The comic book industry is cutthroat, not in terms of people being cruel to each other, but in terms of being competitive. It's very involved, getting a publishing business off the ground. But now, when I go to conventions I get introduced as 'that Dorothy girl.' It's nice that one of our titles is getting that kind of recognition, and a tribute to my business partners' excellent work."
With her purchase of a comic book store last year, Anna now straddles both side of the comic book world, publishing and retail. She bought the store from a seller who had been extremely supportive of Dorothy in its early years, but who had been unable to make his store viable. Anna quickly applied her business acumen to the store, renaming it and expanding significantly. She states, "Now we're one of the two largest stores in Santa Clara County, and one of the few female-owned comic book stores in the state. I'm part of a pretty cool little group in that regard."
Of her artistic background, and knack for business, Warren explains, "I went to school at Whittier with some unbelievably brilliant artists, though I was not one myself. But over the years I learned I'm good at business. Now I've been able to take my artistic training and birth businesses, so if I find something that really should see the light of day, then it does."
--Published in The Rock, Spring 2008
