should image comics actually enforce a deadline policy to make sure books actually come out?

[Chrysalis_Changling]

they don't need to change anything else...just make a deadline so you don't end up with people that just write a couple issues and then just vanish forever...leaving it's fans waiting and waiting and waiting

[capuga]

they don't need to change anything else...just make a deadline so you don't end up with people that just write a couple issues and then just vanish forever...leaving it's fans waiting and waiting and waiting

My understanding is they have implemented a policy that a certain amount of issues need to be in the "can" now before the first issue is solicited. But there isn't much else they can do about it. That is just the nature of the beast with creator owned comics. Image doesn't/can't really force creators to do anything really - they are just a publishing house, the creators own and control everything.

How would they enforce this deadline? They can't fire a creator that owns the comic themselves. They can't replace an artist when the artist is either a co-owner or is hired directly by the owner (that is not Image). Their sole recourse is to say they won't publish the book. But once they've agreed to publish there isn't really anything they can do to enforce anything on the creators/owners.

That's just the unfortunate reality of the creator owned model. You get great stories that creators are passionate about because of the creator freedom, but you have to deal with the creators' schedules and possible delays or loss of the book.

[JFP]

they don't need to change anything else...just make a deadline so you don't end up with people that just write a couple issues and then just vanish forever...leaving it's fans waiting and waiting and waiting

As been stated before, Image is just a creator-owned comics publisher. They are not in charge of making sure schedules come out.

However, most people don't seem know or understand this. I've encountered many comic readers, both online and in real life, who will not touch a book with an Image logo. To them, Image is the publisher of abruptly cancelled comics. It doesn't matter to them that Image isn't to blame for abruptly cancelled comics. All they know is Image Comics is a publisher of comics that never finish. To go further, even some local comic bookstores I go to are jaded with Image. I live in the Minneapolis area currently. Hot Comics are one of the bigger shops around here. Every comic book reader in this metro area knows about Hot Comics. They have two shops in the Minneapolis suburbs that can be packed even on weekdays. However, Hot Comics are mainly a seller of the Big 2. Seriously, go into a Hot Comics, and you'll see the Big 2 everywhere. Merchandise for the Big 2 seems to take up 90% of the merchandise in that store. No joke! The other 10% seem to be dedicated to all other publishers. Hot Comics should just change their name to Big 2 Comics. I once had a convo about the low number of indie comics in their store with some employees and they ended up making some off-handed remarks about indie publishers like Image putting out unreliable books that the store thought it was best to focus on publishers who do a good job of getting their books out on time.

I found a similar reaction from the seller of Big Brain Comics in Minneapolis. That store was open from 1996 until June of 2016. So it closed barely two months ago. The owner said he closed it because of fatigue. I remember having a convo with a worker at that store who told me, "Whenever I see a book with an Image logo I just groan. I know they are not responsible for creators missing deadlines and cancelling books. But I associate their company with cancelled comics. I groan whenever I see a new Image book because I know there's a good chance it will be cancelled soon. So I wonder what's the point of stocking a book that is just gonna end up cancelled? I'm not gonna end up making a profit off them. We might as well start selling rotary dial phones."

So Image has guilt by association, so to speak. A huge chunk of the comic community looks and anything published with Image as a book that will be abruptly cancelled. Therefore, if Image did care about their...well...Image they might enforce a deadline policy of some kind because letting creators abruptly cancel comics is hurting their...Image.

[GreenLanternRanger]

As said image doesn't decide when the books come out, their creators do. Honestly I don't mind waiting on indie titles, I would rather get a quality book then a mediocre book released at a rushed pace.

[JFP]

As said image doesn't decide when the books come out, their creators do. Honestly I don't mind waiting on indie titles, I would rather get a quality book then a mediocre book released at a rushed pace.

So a comic book released monthly is a "rushed pace"?

[GreenLanternRanger]

So a comic book released monthly is a "rushed pace"?

Not at all. But obviously many of these writers like to work at their own pace and given this is there own work and not a DC or Marvel title or liscensed comic that is expected to come out monthly, there is nothing wrong with writers working on their own schedule.

[Maxpower00044]

So a comic book released monthly is a "rushed pace"?

Some of the amazing artists that draw comics for Image can't always meet a monthly schedule. I'd rather have them take their time and give me great art, then rush it because some impatient fans need their books on a monthly basis. Does it get crazy with the delays sometimes? Yes, but I still want the quality work and in the end, that's what you get with Image Comics.

What Image is doing works for me since their comics slay 95% of what is coming out of the "Big 2".

[MRP]

So a comic book released monthly is a "rushed pace"?

How many big 2 books have put out 12 consecutive issues with the same creative team (no fill ins, no changes after solicitations, no several inkers or pencillers chipping in to meet deadlines no multiple colorists or letterers to help out, etc.) on a monthly schedule without any delays in the last 5-10 years?

Golden, Silver, and Bronze Age artists would churn out pages to meet deadlines and many, many of those pages were filled with largely blank backgrounds that colorists would fill with a monochrome block of color behind the figures to allow for the panels to look full. Individual issues got down to as low as 17 pages in the Bronze Age and many of the books were on bi-monthly (not monthly) schedules and still required fill-ins and reprint issues to keep up that schedule.

The monthly schedule has always been a rushed pace, but corners were always cut to meet it because of the needs of the market and the parameters of 20th century publishing.

It's not the 20th century anymore, the type of corner cutting that used to be used would not be accepted in today's market-fans would flip is the latest issue of Iron Man were a reprint of a story because creators couldn't meet the monthly deadline as happened often in the past, people complained when Greg Capullo took an issue off of Batman and he is one of the more prolific and consistent creators still producing big 2 books and sales dropped when he did. The monthly schedule is not only a rushed pace, it is a dinosaur in 21st century publishing.

-M

[wwise03]

I would echo a lot of what the posters above already said in response to the question.

To answer the question, no. Image should not implement the type of deadline policy (even assuming they could). That can only lead to lesser quality books, fill in artists, and rushed stories.

Also, the question assumes that Image has more power in the relationship than the creators do, which in most cases I would think is not the case. There is only one Jonathan Hickman, Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, etc., whereas there are numerous comic book publishers they could go to. Image needs those creators more than those creators need Image. Image is blessed right now to have those creators choosing Image, but the tides can turn.

[JFP]

I would echo a lot of what the posters above already said in response to the question.

To answer the question, no. Image should not implement the type of deadline policy (even assuming they could). That can only lead to lesser quality books, fill in artists, and rushed stories.

Also, the question assumes that Image has more power in the relationship than the creators do, which in most cases I would think is not the case. There is only one Jonathan Hickman, Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, etc., whereas there are numerous comic book publishers they could go to. Image needs those creators more than those creators need Image. Image is blessed right now to have those creators choosing Image, but the tides can turn.

I disagree entirely with your last paragraph. Image has more financial resources than these creators; they have a much longer standing in the industry than these do; there have been more successful books published under the Image logo then these guys have published on their own; Image is much more well-known, even by non-comic readers than these creators; Image has much greater contact with other businesses like comic shops and distributors than these creators; Image has far greater knowledge of the business aspect of the comic industry then these creators; etc. Image has had a lot going for them years before they even published a comic from Hickman, Fraction, or Brubaker.

You said there are numerous publishers these creators could go to beside Image. Could you name them?

[wwise03]

You said there are numerous publishers these creators could go to beside Image. Could you name them?

Dark Horse, IDW, Boom, Oni Press, Dynamite, Vertigo, After Shock, Valiant, Avatar, Top Shelf, Marvel Icon. Those creators can go to any of those publishers who would be more than happy to publish the next Jonathan Hickman book. Alternatively, many of these creators are capable and have the means of producing the books themselves (like Tony Moore does).

Image may be stronger now, but it wasn't five years ago that Image was an afterthought in the industry. Fortunes can change.

[Chrysalis_Changling]

and I'm just saying that there needs to be some way to prevent a writer's image books from becoming an afterthought once they get bored....

a fans time and money should not have to be wasted because somebody decided after just a few issues they weren't gonna do anymore....at least not in the near future

of course you are correct image cannot enforce anything but at the same time we all know what happens when people don't have deadlines to meet and can work whenever they want

some people just decide not to work on certain projects anymore without telling anyone and more so when they have books at marvel or DC that gets more attention than the average image comic

[Cap10nate]

I wish they were released more regularly and not release the first issue of an arc until the rest is far enough along that they can be released regularly. If they are only able to get out 6 issues in a year, I'd rather they be held to be released July through December instead of having a strong start in January, Feb, March, and then nothing until July, and maybe another in October, and the last one being released at the end of December. Makes it hard to stay in a flow in the story. Especially with how decompressed these stories are, its hard to keep track of everything when they are released so haphazardly.

Obviously, there will always be unforeseen delays, but they should be better at budgeting their time and planning out their work schedules to be more consistent.

As it is right now, I have basically stopped purchasing Image books to read on a monthly basis except for Lazarus. For the rest, I just pick up issues when they are on their $0.99 sales on Comixology and will read through a story whenever a whole arc or two are out to have an enjoyable reading experience.

[ed2962]

and I'm just saying that there needs to be some way to prevent a writer's image books from becoming an afterthought once they get bored....

a fans time and money should not have to be wasted because somebody decided after just a few issues they weren't gonna do anymore....at least not in the near future

of course you are correct image cannot enforce anything but at the same time we all know what happens when people don't have deadlines to meet and can work whenever they want

some people just decide not to work on certain projects anymore without telling anyone and more so when they have books at marvel or DC that gets more attention than the average image comic

Thing is, creators at Image don't get a page rate up front. They get paid on the back end. A lot of folks who don't have the same level of fame as say Brubaker or Remender don't get high order numbers right away. The title goes on hiatus sometimes because a creator literally can't afford to wait two or three months for their first paycheck. Some need work that pays immediately.

[Maxpower00044]

and I'm just saying that there needs to be some way to prevent a writer's image books from becoming an afterthought once they get bored....

a fans time and money should not have to be wasted because somebody decided after just a few issues they weren't gonna do anymore....at least not in the near future

of course you are correct image cannot enforce anything but at the same time we all know what happens when people don't have deadlines to meet and can work whenever they want

some people just decide not to work on certain projects anymore without telling anyone and more so when they have books at marvel or DC that gets more attention than the average image comic

And none of this ever really happens at Image Comics, so I have no clue what you're talking about. What part of "they take the time they need" don't you understand. As a fan of the craft, if you can't understand that these creators treat their creator owned comics like their children, then maybe you need to just read more DC.