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Steve Niles, who has been very much in the forefront of the renewed emphasis on creator controlled comics, looks at what recent events mean:

One thing nobody is really talking about, at least not in public, is the fact that the announcements of all the new books and teams also served as a massive pink slip to hundreds of writers and artists. Like many I’ve spoken to their reaction to the news was, “Guess I don’t have any work at DC.”

Now that said, what can we do? Should we get mad and fume all over the Internet? Sure, but what would it achieve? Nothing. Screaming about the decisions of a giant entertainment corporation will do about as much good as yelling at a brick wall. Besides, like I’ve said before, if I’m going to protest the acts of a corporation, Warner and or Disney are about dead last on the list.

I’m not saying don’t be mad. What I’m saying is maybe we can use that anger and disappointment and use it as fuel. This can also be seen as a great wake-up call to creators, publishers, retailers and fans alike.


More in the link.

1 COMMENT

  1. Time has been ripe for and indie surge for over a year. I’d say you’ve got indie sales starting to creep up, more than a surge, though.

    I’d look for the surge AFTER September, though. We all know where retailers are going to have the funds tied up in September.

  2. I too have noticed that I don’t have any work at DC, though it comes to me as less of a surprise than it does to those who previously did. And I don’t mean this as a slam against those who now find they do have work at DC, but the group of creators who do not (nor at Marvel) are a pretty good group to be a part of.

    I do feel some kinship with the former-DC-ers because I’ve been summarily dumped from jobs, including jobs that I was genuinely good at, and which I really loved, and frankly deserved to still be there. You just need to nurse your wounds briefly, take another look at where else you’d like to be and what else you’d like be doing there, and start plotting/designing a way to make it happen. Every “The End” means it’s time for another “Once upon a time….”

  3. Todd writ, “I’d look for the surge AFTER September, though. We all know where retailers are going to have the funds tied up in September.”

    I’m not sure about that. 52 titles is fewer than DC releases in their main supers line now, and they’ve got some things planned (increased discounts, returnability, etc.) to help ease our financial risk.

  4. 52 new titles _usually_ would mean increasing order on all 52 and IIRC, the retailer incentives don’t kick in unless they’re upping DC orders 25% over current orders. Going to be a lot of extra cash tied up in the launch.

    Stores will have a better idea what they’re going to sell for DC after a couple months, but I would NOT want to be launching a small press title in September if I wasn’t Millar/Kirkman/etc.

  5. Niles is definitely right in that there’s a ton of talent being left in the cold. Off the top of my head, the following guys were recently awesome at DC and don’t have a home now:

    Chris Batista
    Claude St. Aubin
    Andy Clarke
    Jock
    Howard Porter
    Dustin Nguyen
    Jamal Igle
    Nicola Scott
    Sam Basri

    and probably some more that I’m forgetting. Marvel should snatch these guys up stat.

  6. @TengoPantalones

    Yeah, I agree. It seems odd that DC would do this and leave out some of the top talent at their disposal. You figure they’d want to put their best foot forward here, especially since they’re desperate to cross into the mainstream reader pool.
    Maybe those artists were held back due to previous commitments, someone has to keep working on the books that release before Sept. Or maybe they’re prepping the 2nd wave of titles for the DCnU. I don’t think anyone can look at the 52 titles presented so far and think that all those series have the legs for an long ongoing run.

  7. I feel like DC is telling the fans that the summer stories you are currently reading don’t mean anything. So why should we buy them?

    I say that fans should support great creator owned work. I would like to suggest – >Savage Dragon. An awesome title, which just had a great reboot/relaunch without starting over at #1. Larsen wrapped up his story and then restarted in the next issue with a new status quo!

  8. As a creator owned publisher who snapped up Claude St. Aubin as soon as we heard the news about R.E.B.E.L.S, we’ll be watching what the rest of the guys want to do next.

    There are some brilliant stories being produced in indie comics right now.