I’m torn about the rumor that DC has told all creators that they have to have three issues of their new post-reboot titles finished by August 31st or else (Heidi has the scoop over at The Beat, including part of the internal memo, which states “If that criterion cannot be met, we’ve instructed Editorial to begin work at that time on material that will be able to meet the deadlines for the series,” even though some artists have apparently just gotten scripts for #1). On the one hand, that’s an interesting – and potentially dangerous – line to take when your creators include Jim Lee and David Finch. On the other: Yet again, we’re seeing DC’s PTB try to address an issue that fans always, always complain about. If nothing else, they should be praised for their proactiveness on this… but I can’t help but feel that it’s going to hurt the books in the longterm.
Still: Guess we’ll see in a few months who can’t do 20 pages a month when their names start disappearing from the solicits…
June 7th, 2011 at 1:49 pm
But think of all the time they’ll save by not drawing underwear on the outside.
June 7th, 2011 at 2:04 pm
I had a really long rant typed out, but instead I will just say late books don’t get my money. Thanks to DC for at least trying to get the books in order before the launch begins.
June 7th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
I support this, with the caveat that you need to be realistic and patient on occasion. The last issue of Watchmen was how many months late?
June 7th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
After thoughtful consideration, I have decided to remain neutral on this subject and just buy the books I want to buy when they come out. If they’re late, it saves me some cash. The best example I have is the final part of Geoff Johns and Adam Kubert’s ‘Last Son’. That book was over a year late, but I think it’s the best artwork I’ve ever seen from Kubert, and the story was fantastic.
June 7th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Three months for three monthly books – how can you publish monthly if people need more than three months for three books?
June 7th, 2011 at 4:31 pm
It’s the Dreaded Deadline Doom! Am I really the only old git around here?
June 7th, 2011 at 6:45 pm
Looks like we’re going to be seeing a lot of fill-in artists in some upcoming issues.
There are a lot of artists out there that put a lot of work/detail into their pages and having to meet deadlines and still put out work that they’re known for will be a huge task. I personally like the “eye candy” that a lot of these artists create. I would hate to spend my money on comics that look second rate or sloppy…all because of deadlines.
June 7th, 2011 at 7:29 pm
I just don’t see the big deal. I’ve worked as a commercial artist and the prospect of having to do 66 pages (three issues) in 86 days (even if an artist only got the script for the first issue today) just doesn’t seem that daunting. That’s not even a page a day. And I’m sure that many of these artists and writers have known about this for a couple of months, so they’ve had plenty of lead time.
I’ve never understood why an artist would voluntarily sign on to a monthly publishing gig if they can’t average a page to a page-and-a-half a day and then complain about the number of pages expected of them. It’s not like Superman being intended to be on a four week schedule is a surprise to anyone.
June 7th, 2011 at 7:35 pm
Sean: Because it doesn’t take 4 weeks to write draw color and letter a comic book. it takes 7 weeks from Start to finish and that’s being generous.
June 7th, 2011 at 7:59 pm
Isn’t that why there are different people inking and colouring the books so it gets done quicker? Of course that also leads to mistakes like XS being white, and Green Lantern missing his ring. But hey it’s like we’re known for being nitpicky about comics right?
June 9th, 2011 at 7:24 am
There are a couple of artists that I sincerely hope WON’T make their deadlines so that I can read the comic they’re supposed to be doing.