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

[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".

[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.

[Carbon Based Stickler]

Image Books are praised for being the true outlet of a creators imagination but when books get delayed and fans either have to replace those books with more image books that may or may not get delayed too or go to another publisher

it's no wonder why it can be hard just to exclusively buy image comics...i don't even see it being manageable i could maybe get 1 or 2 image books but no more than that and that's just because there's no telling when It'll all collapse and you gotta deal with getting a lot less comic or just get comics from somewhere else

To the 1st paragraph here: Yeah, and? You're aware you have options. Great. If unhappy for whatever reason, exercise those options.

To the 2nd paragraph here: What the? Who said anyone had to buy Image exclusively and what the hell does that last sentence even mean? If you're reading a title that's canceled or the team takes a hiatus, then read something else. Or don't. What do you do differently if Marvel or DC cancels a book you're reading?

You want Image to give you some guarantee that they can't give you because it defeats the whole creator-owned purpose. In your mind, what should Image do if these new deadlines you'd like to see implemented aren't met? Would Image then somehow take over their book? Hire different writers and artists? Then it's no longer creator-owned which has been the driving force to Image's success.

The world's an imperfect place. Screws fall out all the time.

[Bor]

To the original question: No Image should not do that even if they could.

First of all the notion that many creators just get "bored" and that is the reason why they do not finish comics or have delays is redicules. I would really like to see some actual evidence of this. As stated by other many creator have come out and explained the reason why they some times have to take brakes. Often its the fact that they simply do not make enough money at first doing Image comics so they have to take a job at Marvel or DC (Or in some cases other types of jobs) to make their rent. If you as a supposed fan dont get that I dont know what to say. Sometimes its for Health reasons which some creator has also been open about. Sure some do it because they are lazy, but that this is supposedly several people I have yet to see some actually post evidence of.

The fact that it should be such a big problem for fans I really dont think either or that it can cost more money for some reason is not really something I see as a huge problem etiher. Sure if you find more series to read while a series is on hiatus then it could be a problem but just dont do that then. I have no such notion that I "have" to read the same amount of comics each month. I have a budget and I plan it out. If a series do not come out that month well then the money I would have spent on that either goes to another series/ trade or is saved.

The one problem I do agree with is for the comic store owner. Not being able to Count on a specific issues sold pr. month can be a huge problem for those stores that live month for month.

But overall I just dont think this is as huge a problem as people make it out to be and some people should really read Neil Gaimans views on entitlement:
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/0...nt-issues.html

[C_Miller]

You know what else suffered delays? Watchmen. I'm sure the comic book shops aren't complaining about those delays as they continue to sell copies of this book 30 years later. That's the kind of work that Image is modeled after. A writer and an artist with a creative vision telling the story that they want to tell. Titles like this have done better in trade in the past and so many of these Image titles rely on trade sales.

And on top of that, Image trades are perennial sellers in the way that the average Marvel and DC trades aren't. A year from now, New 52 Batman trades aren't going to be reliable sellers because we're on to the next thing. Sure a copy or two might be sold here and there and the comic book store owner will generally want to keep them in stock, but a Saga, an East of West, a Deadly Class are going to be sold more consistently as they aren't tied to the superhero fads of the day and they are that consistent vision. We're never going to have Saga: Rebith, All-New, All Different East of West or Deadly Class Now. That consistency, along with the good will of quality will continue to make these trades sell long after people forget about the delays.

[JFP]

JFP like i said it's just what happens when the creators have complete freedom over what they do and when they do it

some books just get left in the dust and unfortunately some comic book stores suffer as a result because they can't simply wait for them to maybe return to those books one day

it's another reason why Marvel And DC Books are easier sells because more often than not the books will come out on time because they got a deadline and while delays happen there too...people cannot leave a book suddenly cause they were hired to do those books

Image Books are praised for being the true outlet of a creators imagination but when books get delayed and fans either have to replace those books with more image books that may or may not get delayed too or go to another publisher

it's no wonder why it can be hard just to exclusively buy image comics...i don't even see it being manageable i could maybe get 1 or 2 image books but no more than that and that's just because there's no telling when It'll all collapse and you gotta deal with getting a lot less comic or just get comics from somewhere else

You make good points, but others here make good points as well. Image Comics doesn't make money off the sales from the comics published by them either way. So they have no incentive to impose deadlines as far as their current business model goes.

The only problem I see is it hurts the possibility of changing their business model. If they wanted to start publishing books for their own profit, it would be difficult to get readers and retailers enthusiastic about it because Image has a poor reputation for putting out comics that don't get cancelled abruptly. One thing that makes the Big 2 so big is they can be far more fluid with their business model. That gives them an edge over Image. So when people talk about an Image boom or Image toppling the Big 2, I don't see it happening with Image's current business model. The Big 2 has too much of an edge over Image.

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".

I would say it's like this:

95% of Image books slay the Big 2 in terms of art quality.
95% of the Big 2 books slay Image in terms of sales.

It is never a good thing for a publisher that have good stories that sell poorly. It is actually better for a publisher to have mediocre stories that sell fantastically, because this publisher can always use the money to improve story quality. But it is much more difficult for a publisher with good stories and poor sales to increase sales.

To the 1st paragraph here: Yeah, and? You're aware you have options. Great. If unhappy for whatever reason, exercise those options.

To the 2nd paragraph here: What the? Who said anyone had to buy Image exclusively and what the hell does that last sentence even mean? If you're reading a title that's canceled or the team takes a hiatus, then read something else. Or don't. What do you do differently if Marvel or DC cancels a book you're reading?

You want Image to give you some guarantee that they can't give you because it defeats the whole creator-owned purpose. In your mind, what should Image do if these new deadlines you'd like to see implemented aren't met? Would Image then somehow take over their book? Hire different writers and artists? Then it's no longer creator-owned which has been the driving force to Image's success.

The world's an imperfect place. Screws fall out all the time.

You make a lot of good points. The OP needs to understand them.

But there's one thing that makes the OP have a valid point: he's a paying customer. In fact, he's a paying customer who won't touch Image books due to delays. And there are many comic readers who won't touch Image books due to delays. As a result, that kinda thing has a negative effect on creators who can meet monthly deadlines. The creators who can't meet deadlines have soured many comic book fans on the whole barrel, so to speak. So when a creator who can meet his deadlines puts out a new book, he's already lost potential readers due to them having a low opinion of creators who publish with Image. As a result, his book is most likely gonna be cancelled due to low sales, through no fault of his own. And for those of us who do still read Image Comics, we've just lost out on a good comic.

Creators don't live in a vacuum. What they do has consequences for other creators. I understand Image is not responsible for this. But the Image logo has a negative view among a large number of comic readers. Therefore, to many comic book readers like the OP, it is perplexing why Image is fine having their name be a byproduct for comics with poor professionalism.

[JFP]

To the original question: No Image should not do that even if they could.

First of all the notion that many creators just get "bored" and that is the reason why they do not finish comics or have delays is redicules. I would really like to see some actual evidence of this. As stated by other many creator have come out and explained the reason why they some times have to take brakes. Often its the fact that they simply do not make enough money at first doing Image comics so they have to take a job at Marvel or DC (Or in some cases other types of jobs) to make their rent. If you as a supposed fan dont get that I dont know what to say. Sometimes its for Health reasons which some creator has also been open about. Sure some do it because they are lazy, but that this is supposedly several people I have yet to see some actually post evidence of.

The fact that it should be such a big problem for fans I really dont think either or that it can cost more money for some reason is not really something I see as a huge problem etiher. Sure if you find more series to read while a series is on hiatus then it could be a problem but just dont do that then. I have no such notion that I "have" to read the same amount of comics each month. I have a budget and I plan it out. If a series do not come out that month well then the money I would have spent on that either goes to another series/ trade or is saved.

The one problem I do agree with is for the comic store owner. Not being able to Count on a specific issues sold pr. month can be a huge problem for those stores that live month for month.

But overall I just dont think this is as huge a problem as people make it out to be and some people should really read Neil Gaimans views on entitlement:
http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2009/0...nt-issues.html

Regarding your first paragraph, I have to say this: do you really believe none of these comic creators procrastinated with their book out of boredom? I'm sure many have. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if most have. But they're not gonna say it. What would they have to gain by being honest and saying, "My comic is delayed because I got too bored to work on it and started procrastinating"? They are not gonna say that because they have nothing to gain by saying that. So they are gonna make some other excuse: "It didn't make me enough money" or "I tried my best but it was harder than I thought" or "Fans are too entitled".

You know what else suffered delays? Watchmen. I'm sure the comic book shops aren't complaining about those delays as they continue to sell copies of this book 30 years later. That's the kind of work that Image is modeled after. A writer and an artist with a creative vision telling the story that they want to tell. Titles like this have done better in trade in the past and so many of these Image titles rely on trade sales.

And on top of that, Image trades are perennial sellers in the way that the average Marvel and DC trades aren't. A year from now, New 52 Batman trades aren't going to be reliable sellers because we're on to the next thing. Sure a copy or two might be sold here and there and the comic book store owner will generally want to keep them in stock, but a Saga, an East of West, a Deadly Class are going to be sold more consistently as they aren't tied to the superhero fads of the day and they are that consistent vision. We're never going to have Saga: Rebith, All-New, All Different East of West or Deadly Class Now. That consistency, along with the good will of quality will continue to make these trades sell long after people forget about the delays.

My jaw literally fell open from reading your first paragraph. Are you seriously saying comic bookstores are making a killing from the sales from Watchmen? If you are, I am speechless as to how you can come to that conclusion. Saying comic bookstores are still making a killing from Watchmen is as ridiculous as saying big box stores like Best Buy and Target are making a killing from music CDs.

Regarding your second paragraph, the average Image trade does not in any way sell more than the average Marvel and DC trade. Many local comic bookstores rely on trades from the Big 2 and actual stock few Image trades. For instance, one of my local comic bookstores actually has heavy foot traffic. It can be packed, even on weekdays. They have two different locations, one in New Hope, MN, and one in Richfield, MN, both suburbs of Minneapolis. A few years back, they used to sell a lot of indie trades, including Image. But then they decided to reduce their indie trades to include more Big 2 merchandise. Sales have increased significantly. You walk into either store and around 10% is dedicated to products from indies, including Image, while around 90% is dedicated to Big 2 merchandise.

I know my store may seem anecdotal to you. However, it is actually true for most comic shops. The more a comic shop sells Big 2 merchandise, the more sales. I'd suggest you seriously have a long talk about the business side of things with the people at your local comic shop. You'll quickly find out indies do not sell well for them. One of the reasons, fans aren't willing to put their money on a book that might be abruptly cancelled.

[Chrysalis_Changling]

at the very least the creators could be more up front with how fast or how slow they are and how often they expect issues to actually come out

at least then it won't be a disappointment when a book suddenly just comes out once every couple of months

if you can't work with the monthly format then just do a mini series or don't do comics at all

[Joker]

You know, a lot of creators are up front about it. If anything, Image need to be more upfront with consumers about these things.
Just because you read a book doesn't mean you follow those creators on social media, so Image should be making statements about these things. But I don't think most, if any, publishers really address these things.

I also think some of you guys are blowing this a little out of proportion and making hyperbolic statements out of frustration.

I know my store may seem anecdotal to you. However, it is actually true for most comic shops.

Your store may not be anecdotal, but your small sample size sure is. You can't say it's true for most comic shops, because you haven't shopped at, or spoken to, most comic shops.

On top of that you're just largely uninformed about the industry form a sales and creator perspective. No offense, but from what you're saying that seems to be the case.

[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.

[Bor]

Regarding your first paragraph, I have to say this: do you really believe none of these comic creators procrastinated with their book out of boredom? I'm sure many have. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if most have. But they're not gonna say it. What would they have to gain by being honest and saying, "My comic is delayed because I got too bored to work on it and started procrastinating"? They are not gonna say that because they have nothing to gain by saying that. So they are gonna make some other excuse: "It didn't make me enough money" or "I tried my best but it was harder than I thought" or "Fans are too entitled".

First of all if you read my post again you would see that I clearly say that I think some do that so I dont know why you ask that. Secondly if you actually belive that MOST delayes are because creators got bored with their book I dont really know what to tell you except I think you are wrong. You are completely right that likely some of those creators who have had delays have come with excuses, but I see no reason to accept your idea that most have. Creators, and Image them selves, have explained how their buissness model Works and that alone I think is plenty reason to have to take a break sometimes to do some pay check jobs from Marvel/DC etc. I dont know about you but if I pretty much am not going to get payed for my job for between 3-6 months then I would not be able to live on savings alone for all that time. I see no reason to doubt the same applies to some creators. These are not millionairs, well mostly, we are talking about here. In addition to that sometimes, as showed by some creators, sickness gets in the way to and other life reasons. Not only that but in these cases more often then not we are talking about several creators, artists, writers etc, where one of them might be affected and not the other.
If you want to say I am naive or something that is fine, but I would say its silly to actually think the worst without any actual evidence.

And yes I do think these cases are often a case of fan entitlement. These are comics we are talking about. And to semi qoute Gaiman:These creators are not your b....

[Bor]

You know, a lot of creators are up front about it. If anything, Image need to be more upfront with consumers about these things.
Just because you read a book doesn't mean you follow those creators on social media, so Image should be making statements about these things. But I don't think most, if any, publishers really address these things.

I also think some of you guys are blowing this a little out of proportion and making hyperbolic statements out of frustration.

Your store may not be anecdotal, but your small sample size sure is. You can't say it's true for most comic shops, because you haven't shopped at, or spoken to, most comic shops.

On top of that you're just largely uninformed about the industry form a sales and creator perspective. No offense, but from what you're saying that seems to be the case.

I agree with pretty much this Whole thing. I would also add that if you look at the sales that reported each month, not to mention other places like Amazon, it clearly shows that while many trades from the big two sell the first month/couple of month they rarely keep on doing that for long while many, no not all, series from Image sell a consisten number of trades a month. Sometimes like what happened with The walking dead, new readers starts buying the series and there will be a boost, something that raraly happens for something like Nightwing vol 3 from the New 52

[JFP]

at the very least the creators could be more up front with how fast or how slow they are and how often they expect issues to actually come out

at least then it won't be a disappointment when a book suddenly just comes out once every couple of months

if you can't work with the monthly format then just do a mini series or don't do comics at all

Agreed entirely.

However, I do not think Image is gonna change their format, despite the fact that your idea is sound and beneficial.

You know, a lot of creators are up front about it. If anything, Image need to be more upfront with consumers about these things.
Just because you read a book doesn't mean you follow those creators on social media, so Image should be making statements about these things. But I don't think most, if any, publishers really address these things.

I also think some of you guys are blowing this a little out of proportion and making hyperbolic statements out of frustration.



Your store may not be anecdotal, but your small sample size sure is. You can't say it's true for most comic shops, because you haven't shopped at, or spoken to, most comic shops.

On top of that you're just largely uninformed about the industry form a sales and creator perspective. No offense, but from what you're saying that seems to be the case.

How do you know that I haven't shopped at or spoken to most comic shops? I seriously want an answer to this. Do you know me personally? Have we met? Do you know what I do for a living? If the answer is "no" to all those questions then you are one who is largely uninformed about my knowledge of sales and creator perspective.

[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

[Dark-Flux]

at the very least the creators could be more up front with how fast or how slow they are and how often they expect issues to actually come out

at least then it won't be a disappointment when a book suddenly just comes out once every couple of months

if you can't work with the monthly format then just do a mini series or don't do comics at all

Youre confusing an ongoing series with a monthly series. Ongoing doesnt mean monthly. Thats just you making an assumption.
Its rare you see a new Image book described as monthly. Ongoing, yes. But not monthly.

And ive seen plenty of series spell out for readers that they plan to take breaks in between arcs for the artists to catch up. In fact its pretty much standard practice at this point. Im surprised youre surprised.