Cartoonist DJ Coffman announced yesterday that he’s suspended Hero By Night “due to financial issues” at publisher Platinum Studios. He doesn’t elaborate on what those financial issues are.
Coffman’s comic was the winning entry in Platinum’s inaugural Comic Book Challenge in 2006. The series, about a young man who discovers the lair of an old superhero, debuted in December 2007.
“I couldn’t keep this on my schedule, because frankly it’s gotten to the point where I need to make hard decisions to be sure my time is spent on projects that pay me on time and have some security to them,” Coffman writes on his blog. “Up until this point, Platinum has been rock solid and something I could bank on contractually and I enjoyed that security.”
Issue 4 remains incomplete because colorist Jason Embury also had to stop working on the series.
Coffman says he’s talking with Platinum about reclaiming the rights to the property.
(Via COMIXtalk)
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:24 pm
This isn’t the first time I’ve heard creators and artists complaining about Platinum. A friend of mine went month’s without getting paid and got the run around even. I was considering entering their comic book challenge but I don’t think they have the resources to offer anything of value to creators at this point.
June 2nd, 2008 at 3:26 pm
That’s unfortunate. DJ’s a hell of a hard worker and put a lot into this. He’ll land on his feet, I’m sure.
June 3rd, 2008 at 4:55 am
Yeah, they have an office in Beverly Hills and I don’t know how they pay for their overhead. They have a book with about a thousand log lines in it but no real meat, and then only comic they’ve been able to actually put out in ten years is “Cowboys & Aliens”, shit man, that’s the best you can do in ten years. I don’t know how they stay in business, it’s just pathetic.
June 3rd, 2008 at 9:25 am
Actually, Platinum has put out a number of comics, including Hero By Night, the Kiss comic, and various other titles. It took them a long time to get around to publishing, but they have done so.
July 16th, 2008 at 1:54 am
http://blog.platinumstudios.com/