did archie comics lie when they promised no more delays for sabrina and afterlife with archie?

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Roberto Aguirre Sarcasa has a very different job now than what he had when he launched Afterlife. Now he has to be creative officer when Archie works on a tv show, try to do something with Dark Circle and have an ambitious relaunch of their main titles.

Perhaps Sarcasa should turn over the writing chores on Afterlife and/or Sabrina to someone else, or, at the very least, plot the book and have another writer provide the scripts. Bottom line, these delays are unacceptable and wouldn't be tolerated anywhere else.

[Chrysalis_Changling]

Perhaps Sarcasa should turn over the writing chores on Afterlife and/or Sabrina to someone else, or, at the very least, plot the book and have another writer provide the scripts. Bottom line, these delays are unacceptable and wouldn't be tolerated anywhere else.

and that's what i hate...that he simply has not given up the writing jobs for Afterlife And Sabrina....because it's obvious he doesn't have the time to do those books and the longer it takes to put one issue the less people will actually care about reading them..

[WestPhillyPunisher]

and that's what i hate...that he simply has not given up the writing jobs for Afterlife And Sabrina....because it's obvious he doesn't have the time to do those books and the longer it takes to put one issue the less people will actually care about reading them..

Then the head honchos at Archie should take action and either force Sarcasa to relinquish writing chores on those books, or have him replaced. Period, end of story. The good vibes and good press from Afterlife and Sabrina has all but evaporated because of those ridiculous delays, and that's sure to hurt the company.

[Chrysalis_Changling]

Then the head honchos at Archie should take action and either force Sarcasa to relinquish writing chores on those books, or have him replaced. Period, end of story. The good vibes and good press from Afterlife and Sabrina has all but evaporated because of those ridiculous delays, and that's sure to hurt the company.

and nobody has even addressed the delays....i imagine if i asked Robert Hack(Sabrina Artist)about it...He'd probably tell me to be patient and that it's coming

[Javasaurus]

Then the head honchos at Archie should take action and either force Sarcasa to relinquish writing chores on those books, or have him replaced. Period, end of story. The good vibes and good press from Afterlife and Sabrina has all but evaporated because of those ridiculous delays, and that's sure to hurt the company.

On a personal and anecdotal level, I can affirm the damage done by the delays on Sabrina.

When issue #1 landed, I was intrigued by it and thought there was some strong potential for the series. But I tend to not jump completely on board with any new ongoing series until I have read the first arc; and feel that it can hold up as a body of work. In the case of Sabrina, the next issues in the arc never appeared. Weeks went by and turned into months. Eventually I just lost interest and filled that void with other titles (the Dark Circle titles for instance).

I had heard that the delays were due in part the the writer shifting his focus toward a TV adaptation project for Archie. For me, that sent message that Sabrina was no longer an important priority. I can understand Archie Comics wanting to seize an opportunity elsewhere; but surely they have to realize there would have been negative consequences that are possibly irreversible. Now, I have zero interest in picking up any more issues of Sabrina.

[Lee Stone]

I assumed they were cancelled.
I haven't heard anything about them in a while and Archie hasn't been soliciting them.

They'd probably do best to collect the rest of the current runs and release them as OGNs to conclude them and then relaunch them both later when they get things under control.

A new #1 may revive them.

[t hedge coke]

and nobody has even addressed the delays....i imagine if i asked Robert Hack(Sabrina Artist)about it...He'd probably tell me to be patient and that it's coming

They have addressed them, otherwise we wouldn't have ever even seen a "we won't have a delay like this" statement.

And, so what if he told you "to be patient and that it's coming"? What's he supposed to say? "Get angry and demand it, because comics always get published faster if there's an angry stink about it?" That's not going to help anyone. Make a promise of a specific date even though it's not in his hands?

[Chrysalis_Changling]

They have addressed them, otherwise we wouldn't have ever even seen a "we won't have a delay like this" statement.

And, so what if he told you "to be patient and that it's coming"? What's he supposed to say? "Get angry and demand it, because comics always get published faster if there's an angry stink about it?" That's not going to help anyone. Make a promise of a specific date even though it's not in his hands?

don't say a delay like this is never gonna happen if you aren't prepared to commit to the books

[MajorHoy]

don't say a delay like this is never gonna happen if you aren't prepared to commit to the books

So, would you rather have on-time crap?
Would you rather they hadn't said anything at all?

[BookOfPureEvil]

So, would you rather have on-time crap?
Would you rather they hadn't said anything at all?

It shouldn't be a choice between on-time crap or one good comic a year. Surely there's some kind of middle ground there. Anyway, I get comics just as good with much better schedules from other publishers, so I think we've gone a little past the waiting for quality stage.

And not saying anything at all seems to be the approach they've decided to take the last few months. Actually, they really only talk about it when a new issue is about to come out. Complaints have been ignored since the last one. In this case Archie should be honest about the cause of the delays, give updates on when issues may be coming, and consider putting a different writer on the titles if the current writer isn't going to commit to the series. As a fan since the first issue of Afterlife, the way these series have been handled makes me not want to buy anything else from Archie.

[MajorHoy]

. . . In this case Archie should be honest about the cause of the delays, give updates on when issues may be coming, and consider putting a different writer on the titles if the current writer isn't going to commit to the series. As a fan since the first issue of Afterlife, the way these series have been handled makes me not want to buy anything else from Archie.

But is it a case of the current writer not willing to commit to the series, or is it a case of the Archie group wanting him to focus more on a TV series that could bring in a hell of a lot more $'s to the company? Do we know if it's not the company saying "don't do the comic book right now; focus on this show"?!?

[Javasaurus]

But is it a case of the current writer not willing to commit to the series, or is it a case of the Archie group wanting him to focus more on a TV series that could bring in a hell of a lot more $'s to the company? Do we know if it's not the company saying "don't do the comic book right now; focus on this show"?!?

Based on the few bits of news I've picked up over the past year, I just ventured a guess that it was more the case of the Archie group putting a higher priority on the TV series. From a business standpoint, I can't really blame them for pursuing a higher-profile, more lucrative opportunity. But that still translates into sacrificing one opportunity (Sabrina) to seize another (the show). Sure they can regroup later and try to repair the damage done to the neglected books; but there is no guarantee they can ever undo all the damage.

[BookOfPureEvil]

But is it a case of the current writer not willing to commit to the series, or is it a case of the Archie group wanting him to focus more on a TV series that could bring in a hell of a lot more $'s to the company? Do we know if it's not the company saying "don't do the comic book right now; focus on this show"?!?

I don't see much of a difference, other than intentions. Either way the comics seem unimportant to the company, and either way another writer should be considered. I would guess that it mostly comes from Archie, and I don't really blame them for focusing on the show, but that doesn't make the situation with the comics any better.

[MajorHoy]

I don't see much of a difference, other than intentions. Either way the comics seem unimportant to the company, and either way another writer should be considered. I would guess that it mostly comes from Archie, and I don't really blame them for focusing on the show, but that doesn't make the situation with the comics any better.

I agree it doesn't make the situation any better, but I don't know if the writer should be getting the blame since we don't know what's causing the delay with the comic book.

The fact that Archie has historically not had a great track record with their attempts at a Red Circle / Dark Circle line just seems to indicate that it hasn't been as high a priority for the company as the readers may have wanted.

[MRP]

Since Afterlife and Sabrina are prett ymuch the unique creative vision of Sacasa, I wouldn't want another writer to take over nad hack it out to get it out on time. Plus, if you look at which comics endure and become evergreen in collected form, they are books that deliver a unified creative vision of a particular creative team, not one churned out by random creators to get it out in time. Nobody remembers the massive delays in the release of Watchmen for the last 3 issues now, if DC had said oh Alan you can't get it out we'll get someone else to do it, would Watchmen be the seminal work it is? If Vaughan or Staples had to delay Saga because of another commitment, should they hire someone else to hack out issues instead of having a hiatus or delay? Would that be better in the long term? I highly doubt it. Afterlife and Sabrina are what they are because of the involvement of Sacasa and his collaborators (Francavilla and Hock), take Sacasa out of the equation and they are something less even if they are on time.

For those acting like this is something new in the industry and feel like it will kill the book-how many delays did hot books like Battle Chasers have in the 90s and 2000s because Joe Mad would rather play video games than draw and meet deadlines. Yet here decades later the mere hint more Battle Chasers might be coming by Joe Mad stirs excitement in the audience in a way that wouldn't be there is he had hired someone else to finish the book because he didn't feel like it way back when. And hey, Sacasa's delays are likely because his bosses asked him to prioritize other projects not because he is a slacker spending his time playing video games instead of working.

If you were reading comics between say 1990 and 2005, massive delays between issues was the norm on creator owned books and quite common on big 2 books. Previews use to release a list each week of late books in their promo of books coming out each week and the late books were often longer than the new releases scheduled for the week.

And yes, I would rather read one good book in a year that is worth the cover price than 12 hacked together books that I wouldn't be willing to pay the cover price of 1 issue of for all 12, let alone the cost of what the 12 hacked together issues would be. I'm still waiting for issue 4 of Frankenstein Alive,Alive by Niles and Wrightson, Wrightson had health issues but I am glad no one advocated replacing him on the project because he is the project. Afterlife is the combined collaborative vision of Sacasa and Francavilla, I will wait for issues done by then, I won't buy it by someone else.

I don't want to read books that are different from how they were solicited as publishers essentially pull a bait and switch to meet deadlines and grab the consumers money without actually delivering what was advertised and promised to them. Selling a book that is different than solicited (something Marvel and DC do all the time) is to me more of lying and false advertising than missing a release date because of a delay. I'd rather get the goods as promised late than something different on time. But I know I am not the norm and I have generally given up the weekly new issue grind because I'd rather wait and buy complete stories or installments of stories than piecemeal out individual issues that often don't stand on their own.

-M