When I was young I wanted to work in comics. X-Men, Batman, Spider-Man, it didn’t matter. I wanted to make comics that people would enjoy, and I could be happy doing. Little did I know that the business is as cut throat as the decks of pirate ship.
I have no intimate knowledge about Marvel or DC’s practices but no one will go on record to air their dirty laundry for fear that they would be treated in the same manner as Chuck Austen or Chuck Dixon(What’s with all the Chuck’s?). Blacklisted and unable to find any work other than small companies where the rewards are slim to none, or break out on your own and self publish with a family to support. Neither are all to inviting.
But the comics industry mainly the big two, is a dying monster. Grasping at the ledge, and doing it’s best to hold on. The only reason Marvel and DC comics are still around are not for the comics, or the stories that are held within. They are idea factories, for toys, T-shirts, movies, lunch boxes, etc. That is all. The fan base went from a roughly a million twenty years ago, to about one hundred and fifty thousand now. That’s a steep drop for the printed form.
What does all this mean? It means that this industry that so many kids wanted to create have turned them to more solid goals, or made them jaded like me.
Lets talk about Contracts. Specifically “Exclusive” Contracts. What are these? What do they mean? Let me explain, they are a binding contracts that run about five years or so, or shorter, depending on the creator involved, and they hinder your ability to work for Marvel if you are on a DC Exclusive, and vice versa if you are at Marvel. These contracts give the creators the ability to do their owned creator owned work at Image, as long as their current assignments are not hindered. These contracts also give the creator medical benefits, for a person who may have a family that is a good thing to have.
One misconception is that these Exclusives are a guarantee that they will see work, but that is not always the case. Sometimes these contracts are to keep certain creators out of play, and out of the hands of the competition. But since it’s a contract there is no way they can jump ship, and take an offer, even if one was made. There have been occasions where creators under contract with one company, did work for the other, and had to wait until their contract had expired before that work could be published.
Do you think you can go against the party line? Nope. You can’t. You are beholden to the status quo. With a great contract, comes a healthy dose, of shut your mouth.
You are supposed to positive, up beat, you can’t say that, “Man that issue number one sucked”, it might effect sales. And we can’t have that now can we? No we can’t. You are a part of the corporate machine. A cog at either Time-Warner, or Disney. In the end you can be replaced. They can blacklist you, and get some up from the minors to take your place. They rule you with fear. They know how hard it is to get health care coverage, and if you have a family, you are going to tow the party line like a good little boy or girl.
Look at a creator like Jerry Ordway, who at one time during the 90’s wrote both Superman, and Captain Marvel. Now, where is he. One or two issue fill ins on JSA as they are putting it to pasture, and drawing a movie prequel comic for the summer bomb known as “Green Lantern”. No one is safe. No one is special. Anyone can be replaced given the amount of time.
Geoff Johns, Jim Lee, Dan Didio, Axel Alonso, Tom Brevoort, and Joe Quesada won’t be on top of the food chain forever, their time is ticking down. Just like the realization in Kirkman’s zombie epic, “We are the Walking Dead.”
No comments:
Post a Comment