Snarked #7; Also, Marvel/DC done fucked up again

[superboyprime]

Four pages from the latest issue of Snarked...







Princess Scarlett offers to turn the boat around for the Walrus.



And in other Roger Langridge news, if some small part of you has still been holding onto to the slimmest of slim hopes that Marvel might one day revive the short-lived Thor, the Mighty Avenger... you can finally give it up. Langridge made public today his decision to no longer do any work for Marvel or DC because of their unethical practices.

He's joining a growing number of creators who've made that decision and can no longer in good conscience work for the Big Two because of their shameful treatment towards past creators and their heirs. "I was writing the last issue of John Carter when the news came that Marvel had won a lawsuit against the heirs of Jack Kirby... Pretty much then I figured I should finish the script I was writing and move on." Wow.

Comments

[silverzeo]

It's kinda ironic. Both DC and Marvel's biggest baddies are evil corporate giants, taking advantage of workers and so fort, and now one their writers left because they've been acting like big evil corporate giants...

[greenmask]

All these ship-jumping creators need is costumes.

[leoboiko]

Well, the people who created the stories about big bad corporate giants are the workers struggling under an oppressive corporate giant. It’s not like the shareholders come up with villains (or the big baddies would all be communist hippies…)

[dewinged]

I wonder if this trend will continue with creators, and if anything will result from it.

There's also the way fans/readers are treated by some creators (and I want to add 'and companies' since, as creators on a title, I think they should be considered to be representing the company), which in some cases has come across as outright toxic. (Examples: I've seen some letters pages where a letter that disagreed with something in the comic was responded to in a manner I felt was obnoxious. Also, a certain Spider-Man writer and an editor on comic boards on another website, which has been brought up previously.)

[stolisomancer]

It won't matter until such time as somebody on the current A-list does it. Unless a Bendis, a Hickman, a Brubaker, or a Waid comes forward and says they've decided to quit working for the major publishers entirely due to the Kirby lawsuit and the fallout thereof, nothing will change in a noticeable way.

Current writers in the industry know that if they want to have full control of the characters and plots they've introduced, they have a lot of options. There will never be another Kirby situation.

[cleome45]

You may be right, but I'd still encourage fans who feel strongly about this to let the Big Two know that it's a deal-breaker for them: to say I support Landridge and others like him-- with my wallet. So long.

[hums a few bars from "Alice's Restaurant."]

Also, this comic looks cool. If I ever get my hands on any discretionary income again, I'll have to look for it. :/

[gerardotejada]

I think we need another "Image" movement, well done this time and built to last.


Off-Topic: Its sad how the "one man, one vote" became "one man, how much?", as I keep hearing "make your dollar your vote" even among my friends, seems like democracy is not enough in this times.

[stolisomancer]

Image is twenty years old this year, and currently publishes work from a wide variety of creators in a wide variety of genres that allows those creators to maintain full ownership and copyright of their work. Further, it allows those creators' books to reach a far greater market than they would be able to on their own.

They may have gotten their start as one-stop shopping for everything that was dumb about the 1990s superhero, but I would submit that the current version of the company already fulfills your criteria.

[gerardotejada]

Well yeah, but the big impact was generated in the begining, Image now cant compete with the big two, in those times It was bigger enough to compete, and was way on top of the fourth place (I think It was Dark Horse)

[stolisomancer]

When you say "Image movement," that specifically means the move towards creator-owned properties in the comic-book industry. That term already has a meaning. It is primarily responsible for the current industry paradigm, where a writer may do high-profile work-for-hire at Marvel or DC, but then publishes their labors of love and side projects at Image, Vertigo, Icon, or their own label, secure in the knowledge that they maintain full copyrights thereof.

If what you're looking for is a third company that can take and hold its own comparable chunk of the comic-book marketplace, then you should say that instead. Also, their name is Viz Media and they're winning.

[gerardotejada]

Yeah, my bad, I should have said "Image Schism" but I didnt find the word "schism" when I was posting.

However Viz Media winning is Irrelevant, for as I know they only work translating manga and stuff, They cant generate a change in the game.

So we need a third company, yeah, but some one that, unlike Viz, can scan and pick new talent and at the same time remain competitive as a third company

And Vertigo went from an Indepent side of DC to a mere subsidiary, as the Didio/Berger thing was a hot topic, now you see why as DC has the "Dark" Line that is practically "Vertigo Visions". Chris Roberson was fired from Vertigo after some declarations about the Ethics of publishing Before Watchmen, the ones who adressed the Issue were Didio and Lee. Roberson has worked mainly for Vertigo (I dont say Didio is the devil, but he might be a sign of the apocalypse and the avatar of capitan oblivious)

I didnt know what Roberson said that was so bad, but in the past he got to say this about finishing JMS dirty work:
"Straczynski decides that the monthly books don't matter anymore because he knows there's a relaunch coming, so he can comfortably quit and let somebody else finish the story for him."
Maybe they didnt fired then because Vertigo/DC relationships were different at the time, I dont really know. Thing is thats a bad move if you try to atract authors´s proyects. DC is trying to copy Marve´s Icon line, for one reasons, keep their authors from publishing on Boom, IDW, Dark Horse, Image, etc.

.

[cleome45]

Actually, the move towards companies that honored creators' rights, or tried to, goes back further than Image. But I do think they should get points for longevity. With the possible exception of Fantagraphics and Dave Sim's imprint, I'm not sure how many other companies (in the North America, at least) who started out with that ideal are still around today.

Off-Topic: Don't even get me started. I'll be ranting clear into next month. It does bum me out a little that it makes no difference if I tell Marvel I'm not buying-- since the main reason I'm not buying is because I'm flat broke all the time. :/

And I do think that corporate personhood in the U.S. needs to be revoked, because of its horrible effect on the democratic process and for a slew of other reasons-- but I'm not holding my breath. :(

re-posted w/edit

[cleome45]

...There's also the way fans/readers are treated by some creators (and I want to add 'and companies' since, as creators on a title, I think they should be considered to be representing the company), which in some cases has come across as outright toxic...

Well, I can't speak for everyone. Still, having read either here or on ns_d about Bill Wilmingham's utter contempt for female fans, I'd think several hundred times before plunking down any money for his books. I'm sure they're wonderful stories, but... no.

I'm sure there are others, but he's the first one who came to mind for me.

Re: re-posted w/edit

[ensiform]

Still, having read either here or on ns_d about Bill Wilmingham's utter contempt for female fans

Can you expand on this? I don't know anything about it.

[stolisomancer]

This link covers a great deal of that story.

Re: re-posted w/edit

[cleome45]

And this is the rest.

Honestly, there are just too many good comics out there for me to waste time putting money in this asshole's bank account.

Re: re-posted w/edit

[gerardotejada]

I think we were past this, the author does not matter. You dont like him getting your money? Steal his comics, the man does a good job, asshole or not.

And Im not beign sarcastic, please dont deprive yourself from good comics because the writer is an asshole, download them or something.

Re: re-posted w/edit

[cleome45]

Eh... no thanks. Maybe you're past it, but I don't have to be. In the future, if I want to read his stuff, there's always a used bookstore, a yard sale, or the public library.

But honestly, Willingham made such a colossal ass of himself last year. I don't think I've since glanced at a Fables discussion without thinking, Oh, yeah. Creepy Bill, who thinks violence against women/girls is no big deal, and said so to our faces.

I'll move past it when I'm good and ready, Thanks. Though I might move past it quicker if somebody could show me a link where he apologized, and took back his bullshit comments.

Re: re-posted w/edit

[superboyprime]

"But honestly, Willingham made such a colossal ass of himself last year. I don't think I've since glanced at a Fables discussion without thinking, Oh, yeah. Creepy Bill, who thinks violence against women/girls is no big deal, and said so to our faces."

Assuming we're talking the same Willingham comments (and apologies if we're not), that's like saying someone who said "I want to shoot people who talk in movie theaters" is endorsing actual violence against them.

Re: re-posted w/edit

[gerardotejada]

No, I didnt mean that, I mean we are past the time when author's word had any influence, I mean no matter how nice or how bastard you are, the work talk by Itself. So the first is the work and everything else comes second, cause if the work was to be bad then no one would talk about It or the author or whatever.

So I've read his Shadowpact and enjoyed It very very much, also Fables is very good and I read them without realising they were from the same author, nor did I know what he had said about Steph.

Is a petty you are missing good comics because the author is an ass, thats unfair to the comics, but I cant say is your fault. I mean I dont know what he really thinks or means but clearly he doesnt care what the fans think or mean

[bruinsfan]

Who is it that you think of as Marvel's biggest bad guy?

[silverzeo]

... Osborne. He started out with Spidey, but has clearly gone out his way to make attacks on mutants, Asgardians, and even the Avengers.

[stolisomancer]

You seem to be overlooking Dr. Doom here.

Osborn's corporate ties were also a part of his background and character, but were rarely if ever a tool he used against the protagonists. When he briefly became Marvel's head bad guy, he was working for the government.

[silverzeo]

So did Lex in Public Enemies.... and I am pretty sure Doom wouldn't do things like think that his son's girlfriend is bearing his own child when it is really his son, or give his lamed sick sister able to walk again only to give her an injection that causes her to be braindead mere seconds afterward...

[stolisomancer]

Giving a rote recital of Osborn's backstory does not invalidate fifty years in which Doom was the man to beat at Marvel. Your original post is thus something of an extreme stretch.

Lex Luthor being a corporate mastermind is also a relatively new feature of the character, if we're being expressly pedantic.