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Chris Roberson ends his relationship with DC Comics
mguy1977
Posts: 801
Well after his 1st arc of Fairest (the Fables spinoff) he is ending his working relationship w/ DC Comics.
http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2012/04/chris-roberson-ends-his-relationship-with-dc-comics/
While I enjoyed both Fables Cinderella miniseries very much & appreciated his efforts on Superman Grounded arc once JMS bailed. I look forward to see what he plans on doing next in the comics industry.
Matthew
http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2012/04/chris-roberson-ends-his-relationship-with-dc-comics/
While I enjoyed both Fables Cinderella miniseries very much & appreciated his efforts on Superman Grounded arc once JMS bailed. I look forward to see what he plans on doing next in the comics industry.
Matthew
Comments
People have unrealistic expectations. They want the upside but not the down. I actually agree with JMS which I never thought would happen.
I wish Roberson the best. He's a local guy so I'm sure I'll hear about his other projects. I'll miss seeing him and sturges on my plane to sdcc. It's kinda become a tradition for me.
I respectfully disagree with JMS, who seems to say "You're going to get screwed, so deal with it." If you feel you work for an unethical company, you SHOULD be able to leave instead of sitting down, shutting up and taking it.
Personally, I'm more mercenary, and if it's high paying, I'd hang on as long as I can.
I am not saying don't think about your dollars, or don't think about voting with your dollars. But whenever the question of how much we think about what we are supporting with our dollars comes up, I have to wonder if that also comes up in your mind when you are buying food, gas, and retail goods every week. You know what I mean? Do you think about what your dollars do or don't support in those cases? Or do you just expect a certain moral standard from your comics providers because you find comics more interesting than, say, agriculture?
Again, I am not saying don't put your dollars (or your work, for those of you who make comics) where you don't feel good about them. I am NOT saying, just because it is muddy, means you just don't think about it. I just think sometimes, because we love our comics, and think about them a lot, we end up being harder on them than, say, who we buy other things from, including art and entertainment we consume. Just food for thought. Now, you can call that me "sticking up for DC" if you want. But I don't think that it is as simple as that.
To get positive, though, what is good about comics these days, and why I actually think the medium is thriving in front of us rather than dying, is that unlike 20 or 30 years ago where certain publishers had a stranglehold on the means of distribution, or even further back when we weren't allowed to even know the names of the people behind the books, these days, we can keep up with the creators whose art we enjoy, and support them at smaller publishers, when they publish themselves, etc. For example, if you like Chris Robertson, you can follow him as he works other places. You can keep up with him on Twitter, and find out that he is doing this book at this place, or publishing this or that himself, etc.
Now, just because there are more means of distribution than there used to be, and just because we can keep up with creators in ways we never used to be able to doesn't fix what Roberson is talking about. It is not like doing it on your own is easy, I can only imagine. Nor does it excuse the big, corporate comics companies from responsibility. I am not saying that the existence of things like Image Comics is the only solution. But I think it is a positive fact that they exist, and from what I can tell, continue to thrive, in that they have survived, stayed relevant, and continue to have breakout success stories, in some cases (e.g. Chew) from creators that most people hadn't even heard of. So no matter what the corporate comics are doing, there is still a chance for someone to make a name for their work, even without a Batman or a Spider-Man involved. And I think, when that happens, we are reminded that the medium is still working. And that, for all the struggles and great work that gets missed, there is also great work getting supported.
To me, the fact that there are audiences (myself included) who will follow and support creators no matter what the publisher is or characters they are working on, and that I can continue to find them wherever they go, is a sign that comics, as an art form, is not dying. Just as it didn't die all the other times it was dying. It just continues to change.
Completely agree and that makes me extremely happy. I genuinely hope it continues that way too. Marvel and DC will always be able to screw over young up and comers hungry to make it so the usual comics continue to get made as they always have, and as they become established and disenfranchised with it all, they can branch out and do their own thing. Hopefully they can eventually skip that first step. I'd love to see someone with some clout (and who is living comfortably now) start up a digital effort to showcase new talent and without DRM and really force some change before things get too out of hand. It is perfect for this kind of thing and I'd support the hell out of it. As it is I am all about supporting any deserving creator-owned, indie, artist, and publisher like Archaia, Drawn & Quarterly, etc.
WTH?
Matthew
would you expect to be able to go to the press, bash your employer's practices and call them out and say you are done working there and then keep your job?
So I think it was foolish of DC to take his bait.
Even if he did earn it or whatever. (Not saying he did or didn't)
Now, when you get to the ART of the book in question, I think it'll make for a bad story which may have the comic stumble out of the gate.
However, I would argue that, for those paying attention, they end up proving him right by doing so. All it will do is help spread the story. And live down to his opinion of them.
I love Grant Morrison's Batman, but I love The Invisibles more.
Don't get me wrong, I love the super-hero stuff and the shared universe idea, but if someone feels that the company that owns them is distasteful to work for, why should we hate them for it?
On a related note, it REALLY looks like "Before Watchmen" is making some creators re-evaluate working at DC under the new management. I wonder if this might lead to a boomlet in indy/creator owned books from people who used to work there....
On a side note, Will "Before Watchmen" pull the rabbit out of the hat seemingly like Godfather II after the success of The Godfather or Batman Year One after Batman The Dark Knight Returns? I have strong reservations of that occurring but I would like to be proven wrong by the story's conclusion from all the fans that did read the event & had fun doing so.
Matthew
Thinking of what @SolitaireRose said about Morrison's Invisibles being greater than Morrison's Batman, I wholeheartedly agree, and I love me some Morrison Batman. I feel the same way about Chris Roberson. I've enjoyed the things that he's put into his mainstream work. He did a great job of trying to make a silk purse of the sow's ear that JMS left him with on Superman, even as he was given the indignity of everyone being told that he was "working from JMS's notes" (there were no such notes) as well as the further indignity of being listed second in the credit box to the guy that wasn't doing any of the work anymore. He brings a lot of really cool touches to his mainstream comics work, but I'll take creator owned Roberson any day. I mean, the guy wrote a novel that combined time travel, alternate realities and The Beatles, so clearly all of my geek buttons were pressed in one fell swoop. I've continued to read his novels, and his comic work. iZombie, and Memorial are both fantastic. Whatever has his name on it next will certainly be purchased by me.
DC dumping him off Fairest is certainly within their rights to do so, but yeah, the optics of the move are lousy, and turn the whole thing into exactly what he said in the first place. Not that he didn't already know it was going to go down that way, since he clearly had a backup plan in place!