Gerry also showed up on my friend Shag and Robs podcast 'The Fire and Water podcast' to talk about all of this. The episode released today (or yesterday?). So feel free to listen to it. Quality show!
Gerry also showed up on my friend Shag and Robs podcast 'The Fire and Water podcast' to talk about all of this. The episode released today (or yesterday?). So feel free to listen to it. Quality show!
Gerry also showed up on my friend Shag and Robs podcast 'The Fire and Water podcast' to talk about all of this. The episode released today (or yesterday?). So feel free to listen to it. Quality show!
The impetus behind the New52 was that sales were sliding very quickly for DC and they needed something to try to bring people back to the company. I don't care what they say about how "it was in the works for over a year" when creators who were working on on-going stories were told to wrap them up, NOW and many of the series that came out o fit were bungled, poorly planned and seemed to shift issue to issue.
The costume designs were for Hollywood and video games. Make them more marketable, more "uniform" and easier to render via computer. I don't think they were trying to screw creators as much as serving corporate masters.
So let's see if people in this thread who were so prepared to bash DC will eat crow and admit they rushed to judgment.
Personally, I saw it earlier today and was pleased to see it - as presented by Conway, it was a pretty crappy path, but not something that is particularly surprising. All that said, I'm glad that it was an over-reaction on Conway's part, and mine as well. I'm eager to see what happens in the second half of the Convergence Blue Beetle, Booster Gold and JLI issues.
Glad to find out that he was misinformed (or misinterpreted). There is enough creator screwing in the history of the comics industry. I want to believe, or at least hope, that things are getting better, not worse.
Make them more marketable, more "uniform" and easier to render via computer.
More uniform, yes, more marketable, that’s debatable as the classic DC Silver Age costumes have an instant recognition factor built up over decades of visibility, but I don't see how costumes with tons of detail lines on them are easier to render than the clean, simple graphics of the Silver Age costumes.
So let's see if people in this thread who were so prepared to bash DC will eat crow and admit they rushed to judgment.
I'm glad DC’s new policies haven't screwed all of their creative talent. And I never thought Didio, Johns, and Lee would have instigated anything that would have done so—they're creators themselves—but DC ownership does have a history of, intentionally or not, screwing their creative talent. Let's not overlook that it took a few legal cases to make them change their policies in the first place. That and the need to offer better incentives to their talent in order to secure their services.
Paul Levitz, as Conway said, was very proactive in making sure the creators got every penny the company legally owed them. I think it's fair to say some of that proactivity fell by the wayside over the past few years, and whether it was through simple complacency or something more sinister doesn't really matter. The fact is, all of this could have been avoided if the company had better internal communication and better communication with its talent. And there are still some gray areas which haven't been publicly addressed, especially regarding derivative characters. But I doubt the full policy will ever be offered up for public scrutiny. That's just not how the business world operates.
It all comes down to whether or not the talent feels like they are being treated fairly, and it sounds like Conway now feels that way. And I know plenty of other creators who are happy with DC in those regards as well. George Pérez made six figures in royalties last year, thanks to Arrow and Teen Titans Go!, though it should be noted that he was in the right place at exactly the right time, and he (and Marv Wolfman) got arguably the best incentive contract DC has ever given a creator.
Whatever I may have said that could be construed as “bashing” DC, wasn’t made from a rushed judgment, it was made based on years of observation. If you had talked to Paul Norris about his legal fight with DC and how they avoided paying him royalties, maybe you'd have come to the same judgment. But regardless of how they got there, I am glad DC is maintaining a royalty policy that respects their creative talent, and I hope the kerfuffle Conway stirred up leads to better communication and a return to a more proactivite approach on DC’s part.
I wish Marvel had a better royalty program. It still irks me that Len Wein gets nothing from all those Wolverine appearances, and yet, receives a check for Lucius Fox.
I wish Marvel had a better royalty program. It still irks me that Len Wein gets nothing from all those Wolverine appearances, and yet, receives a check for Lucius Fox.
Marvel is actually making some in roads on that. I will have to find the link later, but for The Wolverine a few years ago, Wein did get a nice check. (Maybe his years of telling that story helped!)
He went on to share that it's frustrating, both for the characters he created at Marvel and DC but that even if DC Entertainment doesn't formally acknowledge his efforts, he at least is rewarded monetarily. With Fox/Marvel he did get a check finally, for the latest Wolverine film but he reveals that a secondary character like "Lucius Fox has earned [him] a great deal more money than Wolverine ever has."
HC: When these films come out, is it fair to say that it’s something of a bittersweet experience? Characters you’ve created continue to have these long screen lives, but you don’t have credit on the movies.
LW: I still haven’t had credit on one of these movies.
HC: Is that frustrating?
LW: Yes, of course it is. It’s less frustrating for the characters I created at DC. Money comes with the anonymity, at least. I have contracts that guarantee me some small piece of the action. Lucius Fox has earned me a great deal more money than Wolverine ever has, although I will say that for the latest film Marvel did send me a nice check. A lot of people don’t realize how many movies are [based on] comics. “2 Guns,” this weekend, is a Steven Grant comic originally, “Red” is a comic book, “R.I.P.D.” was a comic book. We might not want to mention “R.I.P.D.” I haven’t seen it, but I imagine I’ll be able to see it on cable.
You beat me to it-- I was just going to go looking for this thread.
I agree. I wouldn't have guessed this was what his intention was in stirring this up, but given that he now has upcoming work at DC and Marvel, I think the fact that there was a day that everyone was talking about Gerry Conway and his history with the Big 2 might have helped. And, perhaps, the very gracious way he handled it when it turned out he was wrong about some of his suspicions.
You beat me to it-- I was just going to go looking for this thread.
I agree. I wouldn't have guessed this was what his intention was in stirring this up, but given that he now has upcoming work at DC and Marvel, I think the fact that there was a day that everyone was talking about Gerry Conway and his history with the Big 2 might have helped. And, perhaps, the very gracious way he handled it when it turned out he was wrong about some of his suspicions.
Great ending to a bad story.
I hope the series itself isn't as disappointing as so many other "triumphant returns" of older creators have been.
Also, I didn't realize, prior to this Carnage series that is coming post-SW, Conway has already been writing for Marvel for a few months now, doing new stories for some of the extra issues of Amazing Spider-Man, (those, like 18.1, 17.1, whatever the heck those are.)
I also liked what he did on the Last Days of Animal Man mini at DC. (Although I didn't realize that was already five years ago now!)
Also, I didn't realize, prior to this Carnage series that is coming post-SW, Conway has already been writing for Marvel for a few months now, doing new stories for some of the extra issues of Amazing Spider-Man, (those, like 18.1, 17.1, whatever the heck those are.)
I also liked what he did on the Last Days of Animal Man mini at DC. (Although I didn't realize that was already five years ago now!)
I realize that this is old news by now, but I just got around to listening to this excellent interview with Mr. Conway, from a different comics related podcast, just following the original dust-up.
I realize that this is old news by now, but I just got around to listening to this excellent interview with Mr. Conway, from a different comics related podcast, just following the original dust-up.
Gerry also showed up on my friend Shag and Robs podcast 'The Fire and Water podcast' to talk about all of this. The episode released today (or yesterday?). So feel free to listen to it. Quality show!
Comments
CLICK HERE
gerryconway.tumblr.com/post/119133162738/a-public-apology-to-geoff-johns-dan-didio-jim
The costume designs were for Hollywood and video games. Make them more marketable, more "uniform" and easier to render via computer. I don't think they were trying to screw creators as much as serving corporate masters.
Paul Levitz, as Conway said, was very proactive in making sure the creators got every penny the company legally owed them. I think it's fair to say some of that proactivity fell by the wayside over the past few years, and whether it was through simple complacency or something more sinister doesn't really matter. The fact is, all of this could have been avoided if the company had better internal communication and better communication with its talent. And there are still some gray areas which haven't been publicly addressed, especially regarding derivative characters. But I doubt the full policy will ever be offered up for public scrutiny. That's just not how the business world operates.
It all comes down to whether or not the talent feels like they are being treated fairly, and it sounds like Conway now feels that way. And I know plenty of other creators who are happy with DC in those regards as well. George Pérez made six figures in royalties last year, thanks to Arrow and Teen Titans Go!, though it should be noted that he was in the right place at exactly the right time, and he (and Marv Wolfman) got arguably the best incentive contract DC has ever given a creator.
Whatever I may have said that could be construed as “bashing” DC, wasn’t made from a rushed judgment, it was made based on years of observation. If you had talked to Paul Norris about his legal fight with DC and how they avoided paying him royalties, maybe you'd have come to the same judgment. But regardless of how they got there, I am glad DC is maintaining a royalty policy that respects their creative talent, and I hope the kerfuffle Conway stirred up leads to better communication and a return to a more proactivite approach on DC’s part.
Nice pot of grease for this squeaky wheel.
I agree. I wouldn't have guessed this was what his intention was in stirring this up, but given that he now has upcoming work at DC and Marvel, I think the fact that there was a day that everyone was talking about Gerry Conway and his history with the Big 2 might have helped. And, perhaps, the very gracious way he handled it when it turned out he was wrong about some of his suspicions.
I hope the series itself isn't as disappointing as so many other "triumphant returns" of older creators have been.
Also, I didn't realize, prior to this Carnage series that is coming post-SW, Conway has already been writing for Marvel for a few months now, doing new stories for some of the extra issues of Amazing Spider-Man, (those, like 18.1, 17.1, whatever the heck those are.)
I also liked what he did on the Last Days of Animal Man mini at DC. (Although I didn't realize that was already five years ago now!)
Seems like he's still got his chops.
Very interesting!
http://firestormfan.com/2015/05/07/fire-water-125/