CBR: Where The Hell Am I - Feb 9, 2011

[diablo7]

In the minority here, I've actually followed, Fraction, Hickman, Aaron etc from their creator owned work to their superhero work. These three in specific showed me with their creator owned work that they were worth, at least checking out when playing in other sandboxes.

However, I still find most of their creator owned works more interesting.

I give Marvel credit for Icon. Sure, it benefits them, but Fraction, Moon and Ba' are getting promotion they wouldn't otherwise get and... page rates, which allow them to do Casanova and actually make money from it.

I believe that icon is set up like image, no page rates its all backend pay.

[Sean Fahey]

Jason,

Just curious. At these annual summits, do they discuss how they might use Marvel's war/western/horror properties? Or is it primarily road-mapping the Marvel U for the next year?

It just seems like there would be some great fits...like you on a 'Nam series...and a bunch of great properties that fans would like to see again.

[the goddamn batman]

I believe that icon is set up like image, no page rates its all backend pay.

I don't know specifics, I only know that Fraction commented on Moon and Ba' actually getting paid now that Casanova is at Icon.

I might have misunderstood what he meant.

[diablo7]

I don't know specifics, I only know that Fraction commented on Moon and Ba' actually getting paid now that Casanova is at Icon.

I might have misunderstood what he meant.

They could have changed the icon deal. I remember brubaker saying that him and phillips weren't making that much off of criminal and incognito and that's why those books didn't come out more regularly. But I could be wrong. I love ba's work and his first casanova arc so I'm looking forward to his new arc. I'm a little hesitant with buying a fraction written book though since his marvel work has been the complete opposite of casanova.

[Dan_Slott]

I think the easiest thing to do isn't to play the "Fuck the Man," card but to work on established corporate properties instead of striking out on your own.

So breaking into a major company with popular mainstream properties is now considered "easy"?

[keilthetarheel]

So breaking into a major company with popular mainstream properties is now considered "easy"?

he's saying that it takes balls to do the latter. Sorry that has to be explained to you

[Dan_Slott]

he's saying that it takes balls to do the latter.

Yes, by implying that getting the opportunity and successfully working on a mainstream title is "the easiest thing to do."

Sorry that has to be explained to you

That's okay, sorry that the full context of what he said went completely over your head.

[keilthetarheel]

Yes, by implying that getting the opportunity and successfully working on a mainstream title is "the easiest thing to do."

That's okay, sorry that the full context of what he said went completely over your head.

Wow, let me try to explain it to you in the simplest possible terms - since you have utterly missed the point of the very guy you quoted and decided to respond to.

His point had nothing to do with breaking into the business - his point was about working professionals in the comic biz, and how it takes more guts (and sacrifice) to do something non-mainstream than it does to work on a popular book and cash a bigger paycheck every month. Anyone who thinks it takes more balls and sacrifice to write the Hulk every month than it does to put out a book like Enigma is laughably detached from reality. The monetary rewards are going to be less, the number of people that your book reaches is going to be less, and you'll likely have to fight to get people to believe in your book versus pitching the Hulk, a character who has a long-standing established fan base and market. If you want to make this a discussion about breaking into the business then feel free

For that matter, Jason Aaron's article wasn't even about breaking into the business, it was about indy versus the big 2

[Dan_Slott]

Wow, let me try to explain it to you in the simplest possible terms - since you have utterly missed the point of the very guy you quoted and decided to respond to.

No, I'm responding to a fallacy in his argument. I think that's escaping you.
No one, not one single professional "breaks into the business" and then "that's it."
There is a WORLD of sacrifice and guts that it takes to maintain a career IN the mainstream. It's NOT a cakewalk to STAY in the mainstream. There is a CONSTANT need of "what have you done for me now?"
You think it DOESN'T take "sacrifice to write the Hulk every month"-- and, to use your own words, that opinion of yours is truly "laughable and detached from reality." Have a talk with Peter David sometime if you don't believe me. :-)

Yes, it DOES take guts to strike out on your own. But to think that working and MAINTAINING a job in the mainstream is "easy" is... well, easy to say from an armchair, not so much in the thick of it. Yes, Jason's article was NOT about breaking into the industry. That's not the point I was making. Getting to the point in one's career where they let you write the Hulk takes a HELL of a lot of sacrifice, and getting to KEEP writing the Hulk takes even MORE. If you don't get that, I'm sorry.

[Pumpkin Bomb]

It was my understanding that Pyramid meant "the easiest thing to do [between continuing to work on established corporate properties and striking out on your own]", not "the easiest thing to do [in general]". I don't think anyone really believes either option is is "easy".

[ADamiani]

Aaron writes:

"So being a corporate whore means I get to write comic books for a living and tell whatever sorts of stories I want to tell? In that case, sign me the fuck up."

And, if this were true, there would be very little problem with the WFH system. But it's only true up until a point-- either until the sorts of stories you want to tell aren't mainstream superheros, or until editorial decides they want something to happen that you don't want to do. It's only true until you get One More Day'd, or they decide your Hulk needs to be dumb-Hulk again-- to hell with your character development-- or that Oracle is getting her legs fixed right up.

It's all great. Until it isn't.