Either Grow A Brain Cell Or Get The Feck Out Of Comics

Here is how it works.  I think of a character and story.  I've just created that character.  I want someone to draw it but rather than draw the character myself or design the outfit he/she wears I leave it up to the artist.  He then comes up with a look which, if okay, HE/SHE has created.

Now, though I created the character (which makes me the creator) the artist has created the look and draws it so he/she is "co-creator" in that sense but I still created the character -without that creative spark the artist would be "co-creator" of nothing.

If you look at Stan Lee and artists at Marvel Comics in the early 1960s only one saw themselves as not part of the Bullpen.  Steve Ditko.

Don't get me wrong because I have always been a massive Steve Ditko fan since I was a kid (which is  long time ago now).  I note a few "F*** Marvel" items on the internet -all preceding the line "another huge pay cheque Steve Ditko won't be getting".

There are many writers and artists that worked for Marvel AND DC in the work-for-hire days.  They contributed just as much work but it seems falsely "hip" or "cool" to champion Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko.  Why?  Okay, Kirby was a phenomenal talent and we seriously are never going to see that kind of creativity in comics again because of how comics have changed. Even Kirby stated that he never blamed Lee for problems with Marvel because, though it seems unfair today, back then work-for-hire meant you drew and got paid -"Goodbye".

Ditko was doing the whole "Alan Moore" thing back in the 1960s. He wanted things his way with Spider-Man and when it wasn't written his way he walked. Ditko has that kind of history. There were creators living in bug-infested rooms struggling to eat and often not able to pay bills who would have killed to get the work Ditko was offered.

Anyone care about those creators?  No.  Why?  Because they were not hip or cool to champion. Every time someone says to me "It was unfair what they did to Kirby" or "They really screwed Ditko" I roll off a list of names.   Usually blank looks follow and I explain the names are of creators who lived in shit poverty and struggled for work -some never made it into later life.  You can then get the response "Well if they did work like Kirby or--" at that point I walk away.  Some will say "They couldn't have been that good, then" and I'll just say "F*** you" and walkoff.

Who do you think drew the other 97% of comics?

With Ditko we have a man who is very talented, or was, I've not seen any work from him in a decade, but flawed -let's not get into his politics or the whole Arin Rand thing. For Spider-Man movies, Lee got Ditko credit as co-creator which entailed a pay-cheque.  Ditko flatly refused.  Why. Because Ditko insisted that he was and had to be credited as the CREATOR of Spider-Man.  Which he wasn't.  Lee even wrote a letter many years back stating that as far as he was concerned "Steve Ditko is the co-creator of Spider-Man" and that was Lee trying to calm rough waters.  No.  Ditko outrightly rejected that. Unless it said in writing "Steve Ditko is the creator of Spider-man" he was not interested.

In fact, when you look at a lot of what Ditko has done regarding what he seems to see as his "right" as a sole creator (which he wasn't) you see a twisted mind playing games.  Lee: "Steve Ditko is THE creator of Spider-Man"....Ditko: "Okay.  Now write that Steve Ditko created Marvel Comics" -and Ditko refused money from the Spider-Man movies and was offered money.  So how desperately hard up is Ditko?  Well, he worked at a studio in Manhattan's Midtown West neighborhood which for a struggling artist is a bit pricey to say the least. Joined Marvel, left Marvel, went back to Marvel then left.  Joined DC then left DC then rejoined...you can see how Alan Moore got his plan-for-life.

It seems Ditko was offered money and credit re. the Dr Strange movie but, if the rumours are true, he's rejected the money. Credit? I'm guessing that as with Spider-Man it'll be "do what you want".

So, please, do not give me all this bleeding heart "poor artist" crap.  I'm fed up with it.  Kirby probably made the greatest and longest lasting contribution of the two and while I still love looking at Ditko's art -as I was doing last night- as he is fond of putting forward as a life choice: he made his decisions including refusing money and getting movie credit as co-creator that Lee pushed for hard.  And he rejected it all.

There is no counter-argument -according to Ditko's own professed belief system.  He made the choice. He lives with that choice.

Which brings me to artists in general.  During the 1980s and 1990s I wrote a LOT of scripts.  At one point, laying one atop the other it came to two reams thick or over 1000 pages.  Those were series scripts.

The deal was always that, whatever the company involved paid me as a writer or paid the artist (which, traditionally,is always more)  all royalties would be split 50-50.  I ought to point out that the writer-creator tended to get more royalties if a book took off but I always made it clear -I have the contracts!- that royalties must be divided equally between the creative team.  Occasionally (and I feel an ass about it now), I made sure the artist got all the money because that person was struggling and had a family. A couple things stopped me doing this kind of generous thing.

Long-winded bit....

The first was when I found that the artist who was giving me the sob story about having kids and not getting enough money in to pay bills, etc, etc. etc., actually had a great deal of work coming in and was making a hefty amount of regular money and even put in a bad word to stop me getting a script writing job.  When I confronted him about this the response was "Well, it's the business -you've got to try a scam or two!"  What I said to him will remain private.

Then I worked with two artists, one more well known as a writer these days.  I wrote six scripts for a six issue sci-fi crime series.  We even had a publisher who was interested.  So, when a package of art turned up after three weeks I breathed a sigh of relief....until I opened it.  I phoned the artist and let him know that he had sent pages from another comic by mistake.  "No,I haven't" he said.  I scanned through the pages -none of the characters were recognisable. Bits of plot seemed familiar so I asked what this was?

"Well, I decided to change the characters names and the detective I thought would look better as a blond woman.  There were changes I made in the plot and story -just things I've always wanted to use"

I pointed out that I had written the script, created the characters to go into the story and that who and what the characters were was very important because if affected the story conclusion.  Had he not realised that in reading the scripts?  "Oh, I've only read the first script" he told me.  So I explained that "we" needed to stick to the script and that was important because not only was it totally unprofessional (not to mention hugely insulting to me) to go changing characters and dialogue and story settings that had been written and agreed upon but it was what the publisher was expecting.  I got an "Oh. Okay" and a month later a note arrived stating that I was being unreasonable. After that nothing.

The other artist decided that the scripts, aimed at a teen readership, required far more verbal obscenities and he sent the pages direct to the publisher without my approval.  The publisher asked me what the hell I thought I was doing?  He had presented the pages to his boss without checking them first. I assumed he got a red ear from the boss.  The artist simply responded "What, but the guy having a wank in the background was okay?" When the pages were returned.....I kind of exploded.  The artist? "Well, when do you need the rest of the pages by?"  Expletive deleted.

At least three artists forwarded pages directly to publishers without letting me see them first, based, I believe, on some notion they would get paid quicker -one admitted that he sent pages along with his own script to get work independently.

Then I turned in a series of scripts to Fleetway/Egmont -this story is well known.  The hip and cool editor was all in favour of the idea and series theme.  One would be The DJ and The Dancer" the other The Gardener and the Nun and so on.  One day a copy of the comic Revolver turns up.  I read through it.  Where is my story?  I suddenly realised that the "hot young artist" (who left comics a year or so later) the editor was so keen on using had chopped the story to pieces and "did it his way" and it made no sense at all.  No dialogue was used in the series so everything depended on the panels telling the story and the conclusion hitting home.

So I asked the editor what the hell was going on.  It was now I was told how "hip" the hot young artist was and "You got paid, right?"  Slap down and put in my place.  But I knew comics was like that. But then: "Oh, Igor (Goldkind) likes the series theme titles so he wants to use that so can you come up with new titles for your stories you are happy with?"  My response was that the titles I was happy with were the ones on the stories themselves and I really did not care for anyone stealing the story titles. At which point the "we're cool" editor told me that I had not understood: Igor wanted to use the stories so I'd need to write new ones. Which is a leap from title stealing.  Long story short I had scripts accepted but someone had the over £5000 I should have been paid.  Egmont told me later that I needed to chase up the editor "who no longer works for us" and later still that I had not been paid due to the mess the late Robert Maxwell had left.  Maxwell had been dead a few years and this was Fleetway-Egmont so that was simply a "we do not want to pay you" excuse. Oh, and I DO have the "chase up the editor" note -still.

Did the comic ever use my stolen scripts?  No idea. They were dead to me.

Marvel UK, on the other hand, did pay me -but only half what I should have gotten and I have no idea whether the stories appeared though the late Art Wetherell told me he had seen one script with my name on (crossed out). Someone there got half the money I was supposedly paid.  Nothing new.

An artist's widow once caused a stink by stating, very nastily, that I had not written a series her husband had drawn.  I had the scripts, the company had paid me but, oh no, it was all his own work.  I just ended the correspondence. It's a very long story where the outcome really was a case of "Cutting your nose off to spite your face"!

One company (some of you know which) did not want to publish the trilogy they had signed up to.  So, when the artist of the first series was unwilling to draw the second part of the trilogy I got another artist in. Unlike the first he was not earning good money...he didn't make great money out of this one either!  But then the publisher phones to tell me the first artist has said he will not allow the book characters to be used.  Now, the credits are simple: "characters created and story written by Terry Hooper".

So what was the problem?  I contacted the artist and he explained that he drew so created the characters.  I pointed out that I created and described the characters and story and he drew them -a blond and a brunette.  That was it.  He was getting a 50% cut as the artist as he drew but had nothing to do with story or characters.  The deal is always, without exception, that the artist alone owns the rights to the art and I have no ownership on that.  After all, he had sold art pages but I had demanded no money even though those pages featured my story/script and characters.  What had suddenly made him think he owned the characters?

"The company told me I owned the characters"  What? He had no argument about the characters names (which I made up-created).  But the "likeness" he owned.  A blond and a brunette.  I asked whether he realised that he was saying he owned every blond and brunette in comics?  He told me I was being silly. I told him that the new artist was drawing the characters I created, one a blond the other a brunette and they would have the same names.  I explained this several times then: "Look, you do realise that he is NOT going to be drawing them in your art style but in his own?" There was a brief silence and "Oh. Okay. No problem then" -!

Basically, it turned out the company had tried to stir things to get out of the trilogy deal.  Twenty years later part 3 still has not appeared but that's comics.

Long winded I know, but this all led me to the "Never work with anyone other than someone you trust again!"

It is now accepted by publishers that your comics, that they publish, are going to be scanned and offered as illegal downloads that steal money you need from you.  I once gave a list of illegal download sites to the publisher mentioned above and the response? "Nothing we can do"  Yes, there is.  You get to asking why the publisher refuses to protect money he should also be making?

I could write a book looking at how everyone from publisher, editors,  distributors, shop owners and even other "fellow" creators will screw you over for money.  I remember a boss at Fleetway once smiling at me as I handed him my scripts and invoices: "You realise you'll never get wealthy in this business?" I replied that as long as I could pay bills and buy food I'd be happy. "Remember Don Lawrence" he winked.  Don Lawrence famously quit UK comics after discovering he was not being paid for all the overseas sales -this type of thing was going on up until the 1990s and the company rule was simple: "What they (creators) don't know won't hurt them -and we keep the money!"

And the number of comics' "nice guys" who will stab you in the back and do a deal behind your back? We all know who, where, when and what but gods help you if you speak up.  Disturbs the "order" of things.

So,unless you are going to name every comic creator who produced 97% of all the comics out there and got screwed by companies do not bleat on about "poor Steve Ditko" because he is the one making his own bed.  Great creator but...