If you've followed comics in the past couple of years you've seen some abysmal shit published and a whoring to Hollyweird that is nearing near epic levels of both quality films and projects better dumped into the sea.
In the middle of all this came a wave of "Comics based on shitty 80's cartoons that were basicly 30min commericals for toys". See this is a bit confusing since comics in the 80's already covered these toylines (Tranfrormers, Thundercats, GI Joe) and some were damned good. Like the GI Joe one and the original hyper violent TMNT. But for some odd reason companies like Dreamwave (Based out of Canada) decided to get at the top of this trend and publish...A transformers comic!...cause really nostalgia pays the bills. Before this however they were the...and I say this with love...rat bastard fucks who blatently STOLE the look and style of a certain famous japanese cyberpunk film to mask their comics visiously bad storylines and artwork.
They stylized and drenched their books with photoshoped lighting and color that really made them look more like animation than comics...and thus made them pretty hot for a while...cause anything shiny and new sells well at first in the world of comics.
But then people actually read thse books and made a collective "What the fuck is this crap?!" and stopped buying the books...so naturally came the sea of liscensed books based on toylines from the friggin 80's.
Now this already sounds like a sinking ship huh? Well it gets worse. See they had the balls to CONTINUE to make comics based on toylines and then video games...and really shitty ones that looked like they put say...10min of time into them all while racking up wonderfuly mind numbing debt...
Now...take a look at this LIST
See that laundry list of money owed? Sadly many of those on that list are creators and in case you haven't heard...comics aren't exactly a rich mans profession. It's sick and disgusting that ANY company let alone one run by comic artists would treat their brothers in arms in such a way. One has to wonder why the focus was so much on the continuation of a failing creative streak instead of closing up shop with creators PAID...fans saw this ship sinking and it's sad so many wound up owed so much. The big names on that list may get their cash but it's safe to assume MANY will not.
What makes this so angering to some is the simple fact none of their work was bad on a TECHNICAL level...sure the writing was awful and the pencilwork was hit and miss but the coloring style (though stolen) was very very high quality. Had they put as much effort into their weaker areas as they did to this area they would have been a formidable force. They were RED HOT when they came out...and it's a damned shame they never capitalized on it in a GOOD way. Greed over ran those at the top and eventually killed everything in its path.
Why do companies like this continue to pop up? Why do so many try to capitalize on ideas long since passed their prime and too shallow or locked in place for growth? Why waste such creative energy into something that is not even paying the bills let alone creatively stimulating?
I can understand why they did what they did in terms of getting these old big names and trying to make comics out of them...but to royally blow it as the cash cow it was needed is just plain pathetic...I'm not sad to see em go but I am sad to see hard working artists owed so much.
Bookmarks