Interesting article. Most interesting is this part
ā AfterShock Media is the company behind comic books such as Babyteeth, Dead Day and Mary Shelley: Monster Hunterā. Both Babyteeth and Dead Day have been reported as optioned. Not many copies of Mary Shelley Monster Hunter #1 on eBay. Looks like Mycomicshop only has Fine copies currently.
Aftershock 
Missed the 1:15, regular version is still up. Not knocking on the spec, but the premise doesnt seem too interesting. I was burned on the 'Kitchen, āEmpty Manā spec. Is there something more to it - story, actors, etc ?
has any book that was optioned pre foc ever amounted to anything ?
Has any aftershock book made it past option? 
No. Because small indie publishers do not have the backing, producers, and money to make good, quality movies. Itās all a Pump N Dump.
Although, the Empty Man movie was damn good.
You wonder why the big publishers (Dark Horse, Image, etc.) dont get adaptions madeā¦
(yes, Umbrella Academy, Hellboy, Resident Alien have been adapted for screen, but these publishers have HUGE catalogs waiting for adaptions)
I did like Empty Man (movie), and also U. Academy, Resident Alien, Hellboy, and even the Kitchen (movie). I guess the Walking Dead is an example that independents could do well in comics and movies. But, in general the independent comic spec rarely translates to a good TV/movie.
Here (Calculated Man), the show has been optioned, but is that enough to move comics ?
For me, if I drop $4 on a book that turns into a $20-25 book then I am happy. If not, I spent $4 on a book I read and put in a bag and board and I to the box with the other 50,000 comics I have. Not a huge gamble for me.
Thats my approach. Wanted to get a feel if I should invest in more copies, and if I missed something besides the description of the comic. I still suck at speccing and selling !
Honestly for me itās more about knowing where stuff is so I can go back and get it than grabbing it the first time. Itās weird but I go through bins and know what stores have what books. Anyway, I grabbed one to give it a try and if it sells it sells.
In general Iām pretty hesitant on specing on indie titles. Iāve got short boxes of indie books from Image, Aftershock, Scout that are hot for a split sec or donāt really pan out. For me its partly a space issue and timing when to sell during that very short window when option news come out. What caught my interest with this title was Rafael Alberqerque was the artist and seeing the option news prior to FOC, Iām more inclined to buy a copy for 4 bucks and see where it goes. (Other Indies that may be interesting reads but not necessarily spec include the Jae Lee and Daniel Warren Johnsonās wrestling title, both from Image comics). Playing devilās advocate, if I spend that same 4 bucks on a Marvel title or Mandalorian 1, even with its huge print run, I would probably have a more stable investment and get better returns.
Again me but probably worse. Sorry, didnt mean to sound like I was knocking any spec. Just trying to figure out how experts spec.
That is one of my favorite shows currently. If youāre not watching Resident Alienā¦ then wellā¦ youāre missing out on a very excellent show!
Whatās funny is they thought it was going to flop, at least most of the actors did. No one thought it would go beyond a first season. So yeah, it hit the market at the right time but dragging it out longer than it should have gone has basically killed the show with redundancy. Great shows only tell the story in 4-6 seasonsā¦ after that, people tend to start losing interest.
Didnāt think you were knocking it. Was just throwing out a response. Itās a low cost gamble. Thatās the way I see it. Doesnāt hurt me to buy one and sell if it pans out.
I do think they rinsed and repeated storylines. But while I dont think the show could go on forever - I do think there were lots of other storylines that could have been done. I do like the World Beyond premise, not so much how it played out. But things like how the nuclear caches, oil and resources were maintained and fought over, how people adapted in other parts of the world, etc, could help with some of the world building. The origins of the spread - first case, how it spread, etc. - theres a lot that could be explored; may be small minis.