CrossGen Comics in Trouble?

[Darth Sabre]

Well, I was reading Comic Shop News today, and there was an article titled "CrossGen at a Crossroads."

Some of the highlights of the article:

"...major changes came to the company in late September-changes that included the departure of more than 2 dozen employees from the creative and business sides of the company, and a restructuring of the way that CrossGen does business." :(

"..vast majority of creators were switched from salary to page-rate..and those who remained on salary took a pay cut."

"Creators...reportedly were given clearance to go freelance and seek work from other sources." :surprised


and finally,

"..CrossGen released a revised publishing schedule that indicates that MOST of CrossGen's comics will continue." :eek:



That really sucks , I just got into "Way of the Rat (Boon)." In particular, I have gone back and bought most of the back issues, and am 5 issues away from catching up....

Other comics that might have interested me from CrossGen are:

Sojourn (Arwyn)
The Path
Scion (Ashleigh)

I wonder how many of these are on the chopping block? What does this do for Indy Heroclix?

Discuss... :cry:

[DoomX]

Interesting and potentially good comics tend to die while trash producded by Marvel or DC continues to be bought because it has a "brand name". Any lame brained X-Men spin off will sell to some booger eating moron. Superman/Batman spin offs arn't much better as far as DC goes.

[WFUnDina]

I agree, Crossgen puts out great reads every month. Sigil, WotR, Sojurn, negation, first, crossovers, el cazador. Good thing thier not cancelling. :)

[Briel]

I think it may be a matter of trying to expand faster than the market will allow.

They have all these great ideas bursting from their heads, and whenever they would get one they would publish it. The only problem is in this horrible economy, we fans can't afford them all.

I think Alesi has finally realised that they can't make enough money to sustain the ideal working environment that he as striving for. So it is either sacrifice part of the dream or lose everything.

I think Crossgen will be here a long time. That is because Alesi is willing to bend and flow with the market. He knows you can't just throw stuff at a wall and hope it sticks.

I hope I'm right, because RUSE is my most favorite comic.

[JonnyZ]

Plus that big Crossgen War they've been talking about is coming around in Spring (I think it was Spring or maybe Summer). There'll be at least 2 or 3 titles ending after that, and they've said there will be casualties among some main characters.

[rouge2]

From CrossGen's latest press release:

"After three years of planted clues, mounting tension, and escalating skirmishes, the saga of the Sigil Bearers vs. the Negation Empire is hurtling towards its explosive climax. As events build toward THE WAR, the following titles will reach their series finales with the following issues:

CRUX #33 [December]
THE FIRST #37 [November – previously announced]
MERIDIAN #44 [January]
MYSTIC #43 [December]
THE PATH #23 [January]
RUSE #26 [November - #27 was solicited for December]
SCION #44 [January]
SIGIL #43 [December]
SOLUS #8 [November – the series had been solicited through issue #10]

When THE WAR hits in 2004, our greatest warriors will finally collide with an invading evil as alliances shatter, worlds burn, and destinies are fulfilled. While some characters will reach their story’s end, others will move forward in surprising ways. Prepare to cheer, cry, and gasp as the stage is set for the next generation of adventure.

The strong response to EL CAZADOR has led to the launch of KISS KISS BANG BANG. What’s next? Join us as the New CrossGen begins."

They're putting a brave face on it, but that's still nine titles dropped (and some were solicited past their cancellation date, maening they weren't as planned as they'd like us to think).

[Darth Sabre]

Wow! Scion? I thought that it is one of their strongest titles?

Thanks for the info rogue2

The path was a title I was thinking of getting into..but I guess I'll pass. :cry: I was mostly interested in it due to the fact that it took place on the same world as WotR did.....

[rouge2]

FYI, for those keeping count, that leaves:

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
Way of the Rat
Brath
Negation
Lady Death
El Cazador
Route 666
Sojourn
Abadazad


For more discussion/analysis head over to :

www.Newsarama.com
or
www.comicon.com/pulse

both have message boards attached to the story (some with creator input) exploring the hows, whys and what nows.

[Briel]

There is no reason to cancel RUSE. I thought the book was one of their better sellers. Good enough to warrant special one shots. The books connection to the other titles is also tenuous at best. Emma is the sigil bearer, but there has been no other info besides Cross wanting to steal her power.

I'd just as soon drop the whole sigil thing as far as Ruse is concerned. There are more than enough Superhero and fantasy books as it is. I love this tribute to Sherlock Holmes. Heck they cold even get rid of the magic altogether. I say let Cross steal Emma's power, and then dissapear forever.

RUSE MUST CONTINUE!

[Briel]

Wow! I just read the top one hundred seller list in Wizard Zero. Sojourn was the only book on it at #94.

It's true that with probably around three hundred titles out there, you don't have to have every book in the top 100, to do business, but a few helps.

I will say that at least Wizard has been doing all they can to promote Crossgen. Unlike when they dropped the ball on Nexus, Badger, and Ghost. Glowing reccommendations from the biggest selling comics magazine isn't a guarantee of sales, but it sure helps. They should start a four page section like TV Guide, called The Best Books You Are Not Reading on a monthly basis.

[rouge2]

From the articles I've read the cancellations may not be just sales based or storyline based. There are a lot of creators out there who haven't been paid for quite some time. I imagine it's impossible for them to keep publishing books they can't pay the creators of.

[darius_dax1]

The only good thing about these cancellations is that it will be easier to catch up on the back issues and the story will be complete.


I think if you wanted to get into the Path then you should because your local (or wherever you will find these issues) comic book store has already paid for them. If you think it looks good then get it...just because a series is cancelled before you get into it doesn't mean you should not try to pick it up. If that were the case then books like Moby ####, Lord of the Rings, War and Peace, etc...would never be read in later generations.

[ca551u5]

NOOOOOO! NOT SIGIL! DON'T TAKE THAT AWAY FROM ME! :disappoin

I only just discovered Crossggen, courtesy of Indy. Sojourn seems a little too fan-service, early Image stuff for me, I'll try again maybe. Way of the Rat is great, Boon rox! But I love Sigil, space opera forever! Ay least we still have WotR and El Cazador.

[Optic_Blast]

This sucks. I was hoping to get into Scion. Found out a little about it...started looking based solely on how cool Vet. Bron is. Now I don't think I'll bother...unless there are any trades, which I'm not sure of.

[Sinister SID]

There are a number of Scion trades out there -- I think 4 as of right now (I have them all as far as I know) -- Bron's pretty funky in the comic -- I'd suggest picking up the trades if you're already interested.

[Optic_Blast]

Cool, thanks Sinister. I'll have to check 'em out.

[GoldenAge]

Well, I don't know how bad the comic has it but Fast Forward Entertainment - the guys who were to produce the new CrossGen CCG - just dumped ALL of their employees!

Not good news.

[Q99]

It's actually not that bad, if you've seen some of the stuff that Fast Forward has done (they have a pretty poor rep with the quality of their books in the RPG industry), although I'd still love to see a company do Crossgen in their stead.


I'm disappointed to see a lot of those go, The Path especially, but at least they're getting true endings, and that's something that's unfortunately rare in US comics IMO, and some of their other good books are continuiting, which is good.

I intend to catch up with pretty much the entirety of every series of theirs I can find. Maybe that'll help them out a bit.

[redskindavyd]

I have read many of Cross-Gen's titles and I've been overly impressed by EVERY one of them. I read/red regularly all of the following... Brath, Crux, The First, Mark of Charon, Negation, The Path, Scion, Sigil, Silken Ghost, Sojourn, Solus,Way of the Rat. (Brath & Sojourn are just amazing). I hope that you all check out their comics & help support them. Hopefully they will get through these tough times. Even if they don't I will not regret getting into their stuff and still plan to get their other backissues when I get an opportunity. I read/get about 55-60 comics a month and VERY few books right now re as good as most all of theirs. There, done ranting now.

BTW, ca551u5, Sigil #43 isn't going to be coming out but the CrossGen people posted up the plot/script that Chuck Dixon had already written on a message board. Private message me if you want me to email you a copy to read.


Also, anyone wanting to check out Crossgen's comics should go to www.comicsontheweb.com to see a few of their issues online for free, also (I think until the end of December) you can subscribe to the site for only $6 for 3 months, once a member you have access to 410 of their comics to read online. Pretty cool!







http://www.angelfire.com/sd/redskindavyd/HC/customs.html

[JakobKarter]

...Sigil #43 isn't going to be coming out but the CrossGen people posted up the plot/script that Chuck Dixon had already written on a message board.
Here's a link to that thread. The plot/script is the first post:
http://www.cgforums.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?t=732

[redskindavyd]

Thanks for posting up the link, JK





http://www.angelfire.com/sd/redskindavyd/HC/customs.html

[Briel]

Is someone smoking rock? I just read that Crossgen is now cancelling Sojourn. I haven't read it yet, but when the company is in trouble, you don't end your best selling title.

Sojourn an El Cazador are their only money makers right now. What could they be thinking? Unless things are worse than we've been led to believe.

[jhack82]

if you are just interested in the stories and not the collectors value, give Comics on the web a try. it has all the crossgen back issues, which you can access for 3 months for $6.

comicsontheweb.com

good site, i've been a member for over a year and have really enjoyed it
jhack82

[Masada]

I collected the entire runs of both Edge and Forge, the anthology books from Crossgen. I really wish anthologies were as popular her as they are in Japan, it was a great medium and let me read a wide variety of their titles. When they cancelled them, I had to stop reading Crossgen because I just can't afford to add all those books to my list. However, great stuff like Ruse, Sojourn, Sigil, and The Path will be greatly missed. CrossGen was doing alot of daring things in the american comics market and it's sad to see them go down because of money problems, especially since the company was so close to where I live and was probably the only chance I had of realizing my dream of being a comics writer/artist. Hopefully, they will have impacted the future of the industry and will be remembered more than Valiant and other companies that put out quality work then fell by the wayside as the sludge machine went on.

[Briel]

That is why I'm ranting. While most of the sword and sorcery was not my personal taste, they were putting out alternative books. Ruse was my favorite book from issue #1 to the end.

It would break my heart to see this noble cause go the way of Eclipse, Paific, and First Comics.

[Answerman]

I was a big,. big fan of thier anthologies as well, Forge and Edge were both great, and I miss them both big time!

[Briel]

What's funny is that they did to Ruse in the last issue what I hoped they would. They separated it permanently from that sigil business. Leaving it open to a return in the future.

I understand retooling. I understand streamlining.

What I don't understand is cancelling two of your top three sellers while doing the rest. That's just bad math, and bad business.

I hope they make it. Just as I hope Ruse will return one day when the market is more favorable.

This is not a knock on the muties (I like them too), but this could be a noble experiment. Similar to free comic day. On one month, retailers could give a copy of Ruse, Planetary, or some other book free with each purchase of an X-book.

I wonder how many would come back to buy the next issue the following month?

[GreenGoliath]

I have heard many rumours about the crossgen wars coming soon, does it mean the end of many crossgen issues? I've also heard Samandhl Rey will be recruiting and leading many of the crossgen heroes Anybody know anything about this?

[redskindavyd]

Originally posted by Briel
Is someone smoking rock? I just read that Crossgen is now cancelling Sojourn. I haven't read it yet, but when the company is in trouble, you don't end your best selling title.

Sojourn an El Cazador are their only money makers right now. What could they be thinking? Unless things are worse than we've been led to believe.

I'm 99% sure that they are NOT canceling Sojourn. You probably read one of the many doomsayer posts floating around right now about Cross Gen.

For Green Goliath, here is a link to CrossGen's site that talks about the upcoming WAR...
http://www.crossgen.com/company/newssearchdis.asp?i=831