Roc Upchurch Off "Rat Queens" Following Domestic Abuse Arrest

[Prattpratt]

Adlard had no problem jumping in to The Walking Dead and staying around. I'm sure he gets TV money. I don't know what their split is, but it's obviously enough to stick around, and add a full time inker to the staff. So it's not an insurmountable obstacle.

Didn't he get an inker pretty recently? Also, the prices for his originals are really high, mostly due to the popularity of the show/book.


As for Rat Queens, I imagine he's still co-creator, meaning % cut for anything beyond the comic forever and for the issues he worked on. The replacement will get either a page rate or a % of profits for the issues they work on but no real ownership in the property.

This is going to be tough for the book though since artists styles differ so drastically on how they present the story/scenes etc...

[Andrew Eldritch]

Hitting a woman is never acceptable, BUT, i think there's a clear line between a serial wife-beater and someone who unfortunately lost his head in the heat of the moment. So, excuse me if i prefer to stay out of the lynching mob.

[AZBarbarian]

I agree with Andrew. This sentiment of zero forgiveness and one screw up and you lose your career is ridiculous. I hope this is short term and he is able to solve his problems, recover, and return.

I don't think getting another artist is an issue at all. Marvel and DC have no problems changing artists or other creative staff who have ZERO stake in ownership of the character.

[Joker]

You might be surprised the speed at which the world forgets/forgives.

Didn't he get an inker pretty recently? Also, the prices for his originals are really high, mostly due to the popularity of the show/book.

Gaudiano as the inker was pretty recent. His originals can still be obtained at pretty reasonable prices.

My point was that coming onto a book you didn't create or launch can be a career defining move, if the pieces fall into place. The Walking Dead was nowhere near what it is now when Adlard took over.

[Hypnotic]

Wow. Who is benefitting by this guy losing his income? Not his wife & kids- he can no longer support them. Not him- what ever emotional problems he is battling have now been compounded. If there was spiral, it his now accelerated. He certainly can't afford nor will he have the time for help. The readers lose out on work they enjoy.

The 'outrage machine' is out of control and mindless. They guy hasn't been convicted of anything. There is no evidence this is a serial issue. But a writer and the ultra politically correct comic book internet community feel better about themselves by throwing gasoline on the dumpster fire that is this guy's life.

[Hero]

Wow. Who is benefitting by this guy losing his income? Not his wife & kids- he can no longer support them. Not him- what ever emotional problems he is battling have now been compounded. If there was spiral, it his now accelerated. He certainly can't afford nor will he have the time for help. The readers lose out on work they enjoy.

The 'outrage machine' is out of control and mindless. They guy hasn't been convicted of anything. There is no evidence this is a serial issue. But a writer and the ultra politically correct comic book internet community feel better about themselves by throwing gasoline on the dumpster fire that is this guy's life.

One post, but I like you. "Outrage machine" is well put. He was arrested, which means there was probable cause that he committed a crime. That's very different from being convicted of it (beyond a reasonable doubt, trial, jury of peers, etc.). Now, he has made a statement that suggests that he did do something physical in response to something, but there also appears to be another side of the story. What if his wife battered him first? I don't know if she did or not, but neither do any of us at this point. But, his job is already gone. The internet has found him guilty. No one is winning here.

[dimo1]

I am really torn here. My usual stand is that I do not care about a creator's private life, his political view etc. Though in all fairness I think I would have a hard time supporting somebody who is constantly committing crimes, domestic abuse and what not. Problem is here it seems that the guy did hit his wife, at least this is how I read it, but he admits his guilt, knows he wronged her and is prepared to pay the price. To take him off of his title seems too much for me, as I am sure we all made mistakes in our lives. Let him who is without sin...

[Anduinel]

Wiebe is someone who knows Upchurch and his wife well judging from the statement. If he was disturbed enough by Upchurch's actions to want his name off the book rather than defend him, I'd say that adds considerable weight to the matter. Either way, this likely won't cut Upchurch out of any money he has coming as co-creator or out of the TV deal (though it's possible his actions could get the TV deal scuttled, depending on how far along they are in production; this ain't exactly good publicity).

I'm impressed by KW's willingness to make a tough decision that will most likely have severe impact on the book's schedule and likely his own bottom line. Far less so by Upchurch's statement, as it plays into a really familiar narrative wrt domestic abuse cases, and acknowledging that it's wrong to hit your spouse is pretty baseline so far as human decency goes. But we'll see how this all plays out.

[Don C]

Wiebe is someone who knows Upchurch and his wife well judging from the statement. If he was disturbed enough by Upchurch's actions to want his name off the book rather than defend him, I'd say that adds considerable weight to the matter.

There's no evidence Wiebe wants Upchurch off the book, but so many people are saying they refuse to read Upchurch's work that Wiebe pretty much had to cut ties with Upchurch.

[Joker]

Outside of the initial report on Bleeding Cool I didn't see anyone talking about it until the announcement that he was off the book.

[Daymare]

I am really torn here. My usual stand is that I do not care about a creator's private life, his political view etc. Though in all fairness I think I would have a hard time supporting somebody who is constantly committing crimes, domestic abuse and what not. Problem is here it seems that the guy did hit his wife, at least this is how I read it, but he admits his guilt, knows he wronged her and is prepared to pay the price. To take him off of his title seems too much for me, as I am sure we all made mistakes in our lives. Let him who is without sin...

Torn as well, he did admit it, which I give him great credit for. If it was a severe as it sounds than he also needs to get that in check. Taking him away from his career may hinder progress though. I say put the book on sabbatical and allow him time to get treatment if he chooses..if he chooses not to that is a different story. I hate to make comparisons but people continued to support and celebrate Chris Brown and while he repeatedly did poor things and the "man" still has a career and still getting into trouble. If this really was more of a subway slap incident...well, opinions differ there whether it was justified or not and for me, man or woman, you put your hands on me in a certain manner I will put them on right back. Beating and choking, a different matter but no one has seen an actual police report (nor should we necessarily) so we have two differing truths as to the happenings.
I will say, and I know this is a polarizing comment, but Rat Queens is about sex, drugs, violence...gratuitous in all manners. This is instance where life has possibly been reflected on the page even before it became public, so to appluad it in media and then demonize a man in the same token is a little hypocritical. If someone feels that strongly on the topics they probably should not be reading something that is based around those types of issues, and if they aren't reading it they should not be calling for Roc's head.
Again, I do not condone any type of violence in the manner this may have happened but I can not condemn another if I do not know the truths.I do think it says something that the other creator made this decision less than a business week after the initial incident came to light (as least public)...that was a lot of thought and decision in a minimal time. I would like to hear Roc's version of the decision also. I would also assume the animation plans will end up scraped, unless his name is removed I cannot see a company aligning with it at this juncture and he seemed to be the driving force behind it as they wanted to keep his visual likeness in the work.

[Anduinel]

There's no evidence Wiebe wants Upchurch off the book, but so many people are saying they refuse to read Upchurch's work that Wiebe pretty much had to cut ties with Upchurch.

Given how much this sort of thing tends to be a flash in the pan, I think otherwise. Lots of folks seemed to swear off Brian Wood and Scott Lobdell after their harassment stories broke, but they still get work that sells in decent numbers. The market has a short memory for this sort of thing, and it tends to blow over without much impact in the long run. So if Wiebe is trying to distance himself from his co-creator, it seems fairly serious to me. But YMMV, obvs.

Outside of the initial report on Bleeding Cool I didn't see anyone talking about it until the announcement that he was off the book.

Outhousers had it up around the same time as BC, IIRC, and it's been going around social media for a couple of weeks. The Beat picked it up a couple of days ago as part of their link round up, just before the news about Upchurch's departure hit.

[DIVINITY]

Damn, this changes everything, replacing ROC, easier said than done, but the decision, is understood...

[Don C]

Given how much this sort of thing tends to be a flash in the pan, I think otherwise. Lots of folks seemed to swear off Brian Wood and Scott Lobdell after their harassment stories broke, but they still get work that sells in decent numbers. The market has a short memory for this sort of thing, and it tends to blow over without much impact in the long run. So if Wiebe is trying to distance himself from his co-creator, it seems fairly serious to me. But YMMV, obvs.

Wood and Lobdell have much larger fan bases than Rat Queens. Losing just a couple hundred sales could make the book unprofitable and lead to a cancellation. Especially right when the book seems ready to explode amongst the comic-buying public.

However, I agree that the market has a short memory. I can see Roc Upchurch working on a different series rather quickly. Perhaps under a pseudonym.

[Groo Odyssey]

Wood and Lobdell have much larger fan bases than Rat Queens. Losing just a couple hundred sales could make the book unprofitable and lead to a cancellation. Especially right when the book seems ready to explode amongst the comic-buying public.

However, I agree that the market has a short memory. I can see Roc Upchurch working on a different series rather quickly. Perhaps under a pseudonym.

How would that work? Is he going to change his style completely? His art is one of the more distinctive styles in the industry. I'm really torn on this as he was right up there as probably my favorite artist, just love his work so much. Getting a new artist is understandable but it just won't be the same. Unless they get Macguire or Art Adams of course