The (original) CROSSGEN COMICS appreciation and discussion thread.

[The Adventurer]

How long does it take for characters to become public domain when they haven't been used?

Current Copyright rules post 1978 say

When work is fixed in tangible medium of expression - notice is irrelevant - copyright protecion lasts for the life of author and 70 years based on the the longest living author if jointly created or if work of corporate authorship, works for hire, or anonymous and pseudonymous works, the shorter of 95 years from publication, or 120 years from creation.

So... awhile.

[The Adventurer]

You know what we could do though?

Crossgen Fanzine


But would there ever be enough support/demand to make it real? I have my doubts.

[Manga4life]

You know what we could do though?

Crossgen Fanzine


But would there ever be enough support/demand to make it real? I have my doubts.

I actually thought about continuing the stories in Scion, Sojourn, Sigil, Mystic, Crux, and Negation through monthly serialized stories and putting them up on a blog or something (maybe my blog, see link in sig), but figured it would be too much work to keep something like that going every month unless I got some people to get in on it with me. I know the stories in those specific titles so very well and I figured I'd write some kind of a 4-part event where something major happened within the "sigil-verse" that destroyed a bunch of worlds leaving only the worlds within those 6 titles or maybe bringing those 6 titles together within the same earth somehow where their stories would move forward.

[The Adventurer]

I actually thought about continuing the stories in Scion, Sojourn, Sigil, Mystic, Crux, and Negation through monthly serialized stories and putting them up on a blog or something (maybe my blog, see link in sig), but figured it would be too much work to keep something like that going every month unless I got some people to get in on it with me. I know the stories in those specific titles so very well and I figured I'd write some kind of a 4-part event where something major happened within the "sigil-verse" that destroyed a bunch of worlds leaving only the worlds within those 6 titles or maybe bringing those 6 titles together within the same earth somehow where their stories would move forward.

That might be a little too ambitious. The main problem being to keep something like that going you need cash flow to pay writers/artists for their time. And once you do that, it stops being 'fanfiction' and copyright lawyers come down on you like a sack of hammers.

Now, a fanzine, that contains short stories created by fans either based on specific characters/titles; or tells original stories in the framework of Crossgen's Universe (ex: new sigil bearers) that is something you might be able to sustain with fan input in a nonprofit capacity.

At least that's my thought on the matter.

[Manga4life]

It's hard to believe it but some of the early original Crossgen titles would be going on an estimated 150th issue soon had they not ceased publishing.....

Wow.

I was randomly looking through some of my old Crossgen books the other day out of sorrow for the loss of the line, to this day only Valiant Entertainment comes close to giving me the feelings I had back when Crossgen was starting out. I still remember being so excited to go to the store to grab the latest issue of Scion or Crux, I remember getting all riled up when Sojourn was released because it was a great read and the #1 issue was a hot issue that ended up selling for $15 at some local comic shops by me. I remember when Sigil got a creative team shift and the art got dramatically better and the story started to come together, I was so big into this book and Mystic as well. I read a good chunk of the line but refused to read Ruse and Way of the Rat, the first few issues of each failed to grab me.

[The Adventurer]

I completely forgot about my Crossgen Fanzine idea.... I really should do something with that.

[Manga4life]

I just remember being in my early 20's but yet feeling like a child when I walked into a comic book store to get a new issue of one of the Crossgen books I read. It's funny, looking at how many comics Crossgen produced I really only read 7 or 8 of them with only about 5 or 6 taking a huge chunk of my heart with them, but man.....I loved the ones I did. I mainly read Scion, Sigil, Mystic, Crux, Sojourn, Negation, The First, Brath, Solus, and maybe one other but I was so damn in love with Crux and Scion that it was probably unhealthy.

[The Adventurer]

I was more of a Negation/Route 666 man myself (but I did read a big chunk of them... Crux, Mystic, Sigil, Meridian, Solus, Chimeria... huh... guess I didn't read that many regularly myself. So weird how you feel like you read a mountain, but it was really just a core handful). But I remember the feeling you're talking about. Crossgen made me excited to be a comic fan. Something that if I didn't read 2000 AD I think I wouldn't feel quite so strongly today.

But I do read 2000 AD. So its all good.

[UnravThreads]

Discount book stores near me (when I was younger) used to carry legions of CrossGen trades and singles, mostly the Forge & Edge anthologies. Got, in total, about 10-15 CrossGen trades. Not sure if I've got all my singles still.

I used to really like Sojourn, but as I've grown up I've realised just how bad Greg Land's art was, even then. So obviously not entirely natural. And now I'm not interested in a bunch of their titles because Chuck Dixon was involved.

Still... I think they did quite a bit for getting me into comics, all things considered.

[Captain Jim]

I read a good chunk of the line but refused to read Ruse and Way of the Rat, the first few issues of each failed to grab me.

Ruse wasn't one of my favorites (though the Guice art was very nice) and went even further downhill when Waid left the book and was replaced by Beatty. However, I liked Way of the Rat quite a lot.

Discount book stores near me (when I was younger) used to carry legions of CrossGen trades and singles, mostly the Forge & Edge anthologies.

I remember when I finally stopped picking up the individual issues because it was so much cheaper to get the stories in Forge and Edge. Then, only a few months after I switched over, they cancelled those anthology titles. And then I had to hit the back issue bins to get the next installment of the stories. That was frustrating, but I still give CG a lot of credit for their willingness to experiment.

I used to really like Sojourn, but as I've grown up I've realised just how bad Greg Land's art was, even then. So obviously not entirely natural. And now I'm not interested in a bunch of their titles because Chuck Dixon was involved.

I know it's popular to dis Land, but I've always liked his work. I think those issues of Sojourn were beautiful. And Dixon is actually what first brought me to CG.

[UnravThreads]

I know it's popular to dis Land, but I've always liked his work. I think those issues of Sojourn were beautiful. And Dixon is actually what first brought me to CG.

It's popular because Land's art approach is unethical, misogynistic and lacking even an ounce of talent in his comic work. He might be The Greatest Guy Ever(tm), but his comic work is *abysmal*. It was better in Sojourn than it is now in his Marvel work, sure, but you can definitely see him using 'tricks' that he still uses today.

[Manga4life]

I really thought Land's work on Sojourn was pretty spectacular and I believe it still holds up all these years later, but I HATED some of the stuff he's done since and I've noticed that nowaday's all the women he draw's look exactly a like and he has a weird obsession with drawing people with their mouths open. His style just isn't my cup of tea, but I'll always enjoy his work on Sojourn and felt that it was probably his actual best work of his career, especially the covers.

As for Chuck Dixon, well, he hasn't done a whole lot of stuff I've sat down and read but he's done some pretty good work at Crossgen and some of his Batman stuff was enjoyable. But again, that's the extend of what I've read of his.

[Captain Jim]

It's popular because Land's art approach is unethical, misogynistic and lacking even an ounce of talent in his comic work. He might be The Greatest Guy Ever(tm), but his comic work is *abysmal*. It was better in Sojourn than it is now in his Marvel work, sure, but you can definitely see him using 'tricks' that he still uses today.

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but personally, I'm going to hold on to my own.

I haven't seen any of his Marvel stuff.

[UnravThreads]

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, but personally, I'm going to hold on to my own.

I haven't seen any of his Marvel stuff.

If you haven't seen his Marvel stuff, then... Well, lucky you.

[Unity808]

I was a HUGE fan of CrossGen. I read everything I could get my hands on. I was instantly hooked on the original 4 titles, and it just got better from there. It was awesome that each book stood on it's own, but there was a bigger picture happening throughout all of the titles. The interaction of the First with each world's sigil-bearers was extremely interesting to me. There were the two houses of the First playing a large cosmic game, thinking they were the ones pulling the strings with an unrevealed third player/group truly manipulating events. The lineup of creators on those books were also great: Mark Waid, George Perez, Barbara Kesel, Greg Land, Butch Guice, and many more. I had a very small glimmer of hope once I heard that Marvel bought the rights to the CrossGen characters, but was completely let down when they published new stories, changing the very core of those characters. Sigh.