Hey, at least it wasn’t Comic Sans…

ICv2 notes that Christopher Handley’s lawyers have asked for, and been granted yet another extension to his sentencing date, apparently because they and the prosecutor are considering a joint sentencing recommendation.

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In an announcement on their own message board, manga/manwha publisher and digital comics pioneer Go! Comi raises the possibility of shutting down their website momentarily, “until the economy picks up again.”  The post was blunt about the difficulties the company is currently facing, and advises fans to purchase books from their web store if they cannot be located at retail.  (Link thread: MangaBlog –> Yaoi Review)

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Ooh, I’m not the only one who dislikes the lettering in Twilight… Deb Aoki reproduces a series of tweets by creator/editor John Barber ripping into the font choice and word balloon placement in Yen Press’ adaptation, and believes the high profile book may actually turn away some readers from comics altogether because of its poor readability.  You can follow more responses at Barber’s Twitter profile.

I don’t know for certain, but I get the distinct impression that the dialogue was added onto the comic after the fact; word balloon placement likely wasn’t a consideration during the initial art creation phase, since the artist is Korean while the text is English.  If that’s the case, then fault cannot be laid entirely at the feet of artist Young Kim.  One can’t even be too hard on Yen, because such an international project is difficult to coordinate, and they were surely working under a tight schedule.  (But to any other publisher contemplating working with foreign artists: word balloons must be incorporated into the art.  The lettering can always be resized to fit.)

That said, there is no excuse for using Times New Roman.  Blaaargh.

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Bluewater Productions, a publisher best known for its numerous unauthorized bio-comics of such luminaries as Hillary Clinton and, umm, Michael Jackson, sent a letter to Newsarama responding to charges that it has not paid some creators.  Bluewater’s defense is that all of their contracts are structured as back-end deals, with no promise of pay until the book actually turns a profit.  Things seem to have gotten quite personal, with Bluewater president Darren G. Davis accusing some detractors of being vindictive.

I don’t know enough about the specifics, so I’m going to steer clear of taking the side of any individual.  However, I do have some general thoughts on this kind of dispute, which seems endemic in comics…

1.  In most creative publishing industries, remuneration generally falls into three types… royalties (often with an advance against it), a one-time or set payment, or a salary.  When a creator owns his work, he should expect royalties.  When it’s work for hire, the creator should expect a set pay rate if it’s contracted work, or a salary if he is an employee.

Most comic artists understand that work for hire means you’re working on property you don’t own, or you are commissioned to create something based on the publisher’s specifications.  But they don’t understand that under work for hire, you’re guaranteed pay, because in theory a work-for-hire is either a contractor or an employee.  A home repair contractor would not agree to a percentage from a future home sale, and a restaurant employee would not risk his weekly paycheck for a percentage of profit that may be non-existent at the end of the year (especially if that restaurant is named Applebee’s, no sir).  A publisher who retains the copyright to the work, yet offers a back-end deal with no guarantee of pay, is really neither here nor there.  Why a significant number of creators in comics seem almost eager to tolerate this kind of situation has always been somewhat baffling.  And those that do, make the industry a worse place for everyone else.

2.  I’ve repeated this point before, and I’m going to do it again – artists and writers, especially those doing work for hire, are not, and should not be in the business of taking risk.  They’re not gambling their money, they’re doing work.  Asking them to shoulder risk without ownership is both dishonorable, and speaks poorly of a publisher’s financial aptitude.  Again, it’s troubling why so many creators are okay with this.  Would you work for any employer who is not obligated to pay you at the end of the day until some arbitrary goal is met?

3.  Given what I do, I have sympathy for publishers and understanding of the financial challenges we face, and my own limited tolerance of some less than savory practices is buoyed by pragmatism.  But situations like this can largely be avoided, if only creators would collectively raise their level of expectations for publishers.  Here’s a big secret: publishers need talent more than talent needs publishers.  If you are a creator and you don’t want something like this to happen to you, then don’t allow it.  This is completely within your control, ergo it is your responsibility.

4.  Okay, I’m going to break my promise and address something specifically from the letter.  Quote from Davis, on comics that don’t break even, therefore leaving the contributors with no compensation:

Yes, there is a risk on behalf of the creatives as well, but they at least have a professional entry for their portfolio that can use to get other jobs in the industry.

That’s… a little callous.  Bluewater was 19th in Diamond’s market share statistics for 2009, edging out Steve Geppi’s own Gemstone Publishing.  I’m not sure that’s the kind of thing I’d like to hear from a top-20 publisher.  It’s just… embarrassing for everyone.  We may as well start carrying signs that say “Go work in video games!  Go work in movies or animation!”

Edit: Comics212 is also leery of the portfolio statement, and that’s putting it kindly.

Edit 2: In direct response to Bluewater’s payment practices, Comics Worth Reading vows never to cover its books again.  Chris Ward, the artist who worked on the Obama comic for Bluewater, appears in the comments section to defend them.  (Spotted via Journalista)

Edit 3: The Comics Reporter weighs in eloquently.  A bad contract is a bad contract.