'Mechanism' by Raffaele Ienco cancelled by Heavy Metal Magazine | *UPDATE

bralinator

I received a notification from DCBS this morning that my orders for both issue #1 & #2 of 'Mechanism' from Raffaele Ienco had been cancelled. I reached out to HM to inquire as to why and they responded with the following.

We are very sorry for this disappointing news. Unfortunately we cannot elaborate upon the cancellation. Should a different publication date come into play we will certainly publicize that at a later date.

I'm very disappointed as I was looking forward to this, what would have been HM's first ongoing comic. I wonder what happened? Did anyone else order this? Had anyone else even heard of it?

bralinator

Anyone else hear anything about why this was cancelled?

WetRats

Was this title announced before or after GMo took over as editor?

Purely speculation, but perhaps they decided that launching standalone books at the same time as retooling under a new editor was problematic.

bralinator

Good question.

Mechanism was announced back in late March and was planned to launch July 1.

It appears that Raffale Ienco had at least the first several issues ready, with issue #4 still available for order in DCBS right now (even though they just sent me an email cancelling issue #3 a few hours ago, which is what reminded me of this thread).

Grant Morrison was announced as the new editor in chief on July 6.

Issues #1 & #2 were 'cancelled by the publisher' on July 15.

Any good speculation?

WetRats

bralinator said:

Good question.

Mechanism was announced back in late March and was planned to launch July 1.

It appears that Raffale Ienco had at least the first several issues ready, with issue #4 still available for order in DCBS right now (even though they just sent me an email cancelling issue #3 a few hours ago, which is what reminded me of this thread).

Grant Morrison was announced as the new editor in chief on July 6.

Issues #1 & #2 were 'cancelled by the publisher' on July 15.

Any good speculation?

In addition to what I said above, perhaps Morrison would prefer the story to appear in the magazine, rather than as a stand-alone title.

Or perhaps it does not fit his vision of the Heavy Metal brand, and Ienco will be able to publish it elsewhere.

Or perhaps Ienco was kidnapped by the SLA and is not available to work on it.

Oh wait... you said GOOD speculation. Ignore that last one.

bralinator

I'm curious about that. When I reached out to Heavy Metal (who has made no public comment on the title being cancelled) and asked about it and if they could explain what happened or if they had plans to release it at another time. This was their response:

"Unfortunately we cannot elaborate upon the cancellation. Should a different publication date come into play we will certainly publicize that at a later date."

Raffale Ienco also has had no comment either. He was blowing it up on his Twitter prior to the cancellation. No comment on it at all since the cancellation was announced. He was even retweeting Heavy Metal promotional material in May and June. Then, no mention of Heavy metal at all, just his next project at Top Cow...

I was thinking it could be a disagreement over publishing rights or IP ownership. But, some articles I had read indicated Heavy Metal had a pretty sweet deal for artists in their new comic line. I read an interview with one of the new owners where he said:

"Unlike our competitors who charge thousands an issue for a creator-owned publishing model, if Heavy Metal likes your comic, we will simply charge you $1 to publish it. Beyond that, should creators want it, we have a tremendous amount of resource in the form of media and merchandising opportunities — brand building tools that we will help use to really develop and expand not just a comic, but a brand."

And it looks like Heavy Metal has always treated their artists well. I guess I'm just trying to uncover the reasons for soliciting the comic that had 4 issues ready, then cancelling 3 weeks before the first issue's street date.

I think you're correct in presuming that it has something to do with GrantMo's arrival. Just curious as to what it is, because the title seemed like a perfect fit for HM. Look at this directly from HeavyMetal.com's website:

"Mechanism centers on a pair of police officers who are working with an experimental robot cop, and the action takes place in a frightening future in which Earth has been invaded, overrun, in fact, by lizard-like aliens.

“The story and art epitomize Heavy Metal,” Jeff Krelitz, one of Heavy Metal’s co-CEOs, told Comic Book Resources. “It’s a pleasure to read and beautiful to look at. … I love how the story challenges humanity’s existence both philosophically and commercially. Raff is amazingly talented and the perfect fit for the new line.”

Ienco agrees, telling CBR that Heavy Metal and Mechanism are “perfect for each other! Science-fiction, hard-core metal machines, the future, hard rain, fog, unfathomable aliens, conspiracy, evolution beyond the confines of the mind, character driven men and women, destruction, breaking the boundaries, beautiful art. Heavy Metal and Mechanism have a lot in common, don’t you think?”

WetRats

Sounds like there are negotiations ongoing.

I am either not privy to those negotiations or not free to comment upon them--you'll have to decide which.

bralinator

Alright @wetrats - what do you know and when did you know it?!

WetRats

I can neither confirm nor deny.

SolitaireRose

It might also be that the orders came in low and they are having to renegotiate.

bralinator

SolitaireRose said:

It might also be that the orders came in low and they are having to renegotiate.

Now that is a theory that really works, Corey. Very reasonable hypothesis.

bralinator

It was announced at the Image Expo that Image/Top Cow is releasing it in July 2016. Five issues are in the can, so it should stay on schedule with ease. I am looking forward to this.



http://www.bleedingcool.com/2016/04/06/mechanism-by-raffaele-ienco-not-announced-at-imageexpo/