Bendis no longer DC exclusive

[Hypo]

Though his run on Justice League begins this March, Bendis is apparently no longer under a DC exclusive contract per Bleeding Cool.

[lemonpeace]

that makes sense, I'm not a corporate/business type but I imagine keeping him exclusive probably meant they had to pay him a lot more than he's been worth so far (and I've actually been ok with a lot of what he's done at DC).

[Comic-Reader Lad]

In the Bleeding Cool comments section, a guy named Jerry Hughes claims to know about this situation and says the following:

- Bendis is STILL a DC exclusive

- Bendis joined DC in 2018, so this is only year 3 of a TEN-YEAR deal. AT&T would have to pay a buyout fee to let him out of the exclusive deal, and AT&T isn't going to do something like that at this point.

- However, if Bendis pitches a project not involving DC characters to DC and DC turns it down, then Bendis is free to pitch the project elsewhere. Maybe this is where the rumor started, and that Bendis is just doing a project outside of DC that DC turned down. I've heard that other exclusives have done this, too, as long as the other company isn't Marvel.

[HsssH]

I have hard time understanding why they would have signed Bendis to 10 years exclusive deal.

[FFJamie94]

Also it doesn't mean much outside of Bendis being allowy to do things elsewhere.
For us it could mean he does stuff with Marvel again, although I don't see him going back anytime soon.

He'll be on Justice League for a long time anyway, so don't expect him to move from DC anytime soon.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

I have hard time understanding why they would have signed Bendis to 10 years exclusive deal.

Yeah, I like Bendis generally but he's hardly a guaranteed top seller. I don't know if any creators are like that these days, to be fair.

I've been underwhelmed by his DC output so far and yet, I'm actually kind of glad that he's still at DC. We just need more like Batman Universe and an editor telling him to cut to the chase a bit more often. And he always came across like a stand up dude to me.

[Jabare]

signing someone to a 10-year exclusive deal makes far more sense then a 3-year deal. AT&T can afford it I wouldn't worry

[LordUltimus]

signing someone to a 10-year exclusive deal makes far more sense then a 3-year deal. AT&T can afford it I wouldn't worry

Didn't cutbacks with AT&T be the thing that led to Dan Didio leaving?

[Noodle]

Creator exclusivity was always a non-issue with me in terms of comics. I mean, this isn't like video games where I'd have to buy a $500 device to read DC comics. It's not like I'm going to say "Welp, Bendis is DC exclusive so I'm not buying Marvel anymore!"

[Jackalope89]

Creator exclusivity was always a non-issue with me in terms of comics. I mean, this isn't like video games where I'd have to buy a $500 device to read DC comics. It's not like I'm going to say "Welp, Bendis is DC exclusive so I'm not buying Marvel anymore!"

Kind of wish he was Marvel exclusive again instead.

[Ilan Preskovsky]

That he's not signed up for a million DCU projects means that there's a good chance that he will probably be concentrating a lot on his Jinxworld stuff for the foreseeable future. I don't even think there are rumours of his taking over another title.

[Eto]

Yeah, I like Bendis generally but he's hardly a guaranteed top seller. I don't know if any creators are like that these days, to be fair.

I've been underwhelmed by his DC output so far and yet, I'm actually kind of glad that he's still at DC. We just need more like Batman Universe and an editor telling him to cut to the chase a bit more often. And he always came across like a stand up dude to me.

Yep, not a guaranteed seller anymore.
I loathe all of his work at DC, but I'll admit I did like Batman Universe.

[Digifiend]

In the Bleeding Cool comments section, a guy named Jerry Hughes claims to know about this situation and says the following:

- Bendis is STILL a DC exclusive

- Bendis joined DC in 2018, so this is only year 3 of a TEN-YEAR deal. AT&T would have to pay a buyout fee to let him out of the exclusive deal, and AT&T isn't going to do something like that at this point.

- However, if Bendis pitches a project not involving DC characters to DC and DC turns it down, then Bendis is free to pitch the project elsewhere. Maybe this is where the rumor started, and that Bendis is just doing a project outside of DC that DC turned down. I've heard that other exclusives have done this, too, as long as the other company isn't Marvel.

Bendis did have something announced at Image. But that wouldn't necessarily make him non-exclusive, as that usually means don't work for the other one of the Big Two. Kelly Thompson is Marvel exclusive. Didn't stop her taking over Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which of course is an Archie title.

It'd be year four of Bendis's deal, by the way. It's 2021 now and he started in January.

[Robanker]

Realistically speaking, you only need to have one or two creators signed exclusive to the line if they're going to spearhead it (for example, Scott Snyder, Capullo and Williamson when we were in Metal-Justice League-Death Metal). They keep the overall direction moving alongside the editors and everyone else you just offer work as needed.

I just hope this ends up impacting creators in a positive way.

[Bored at 3:00AM]

I just hope this ends up impacting creators in a positive way.

I don’t have high hopes for that. It will likely just mean that the few remaining A-list creators the industry has will head to Marvel until Disney also realizes that they don’t need to pay these guys either because an unfortunate percentage of fans follow the IP more than the creators who craft it.

Not that I’m not guilty of this on occasion