Posted in: Comics, Comixology, Marvel Comics | Tagged: elektra, greg smallwood, marvel

Greg Smallwood On Marvel's Changes To Elektra Black White & Blood #2

Published Wed, 09 Feb 2022 16:24:11 -0600

Comic book artist Greg Smallwood has spoken out against the treatment of his artwork for the upcoming anthology comic book Elektra: Black, White & Blood #2 from Marvel Comics, part of a series that focuses on comic book artwork. He has clearly got his comp copies from Marvel in advance and posted on Twitter to express his displeasure.

"Sad to say that, without my approval, Marvel attempted to "fix" several panels of my art in issue two of Elektra: Black, White, & Blood before sending it to the printers. They're not huge changes but I really don't like my art being tampered with."

"Long story short – 2 months after turning in the finished pages, I was informed by my editor that Marvel's Standards & Practices flagged my art and requested I redraw several panels so that they would be "within tolerance for best representation of Asian characters.""

"Wife and I were expecting our second child the following week and I was racing to finish an issue of HT before the birth so I told Marvel that I didn't have time to make the changes but that I would be perfectly fine with them pulling the story for sensitivity concerns."

"I was told that pulling the story was not an option and if I couldn't do revisions, the Marvel Bullpen would "take a crack" at my pages instead. I stated very clearly that I didn't want anyone touching my art so I dropped everything I was doing and immediately reworked all of the panels that were flagged. Unfortunately, I just found out yesterday that the folks at Marvel didn't even bother using my new art and instead went to print with their own revised pages. I was not given a chance to make further revisions or even approve the alterations made by the bullpen. They also attempted to cover up some nudity which just resulted in a muddied mess. Again, something I was willing to fix."

"Just wanted you all to know because my name is on that comic but I'm pretty annoyed about how it looks. As a palate cleanser, here's the cover and the first two (also the best) pages, unaltered. I've got a newborn, a three-year old, and some tight deadlines to manage right now so this is all I'm saying on the matter. Going back into my hole again."

Devin Lewis, editor on the book at Marvel Comics responded saying "So sorry, Greg, we'll own the mistake here. Had an email miscommunication on my end, like we spoke about yesterday. As we already assured you, we're using your pages on digital editions and any new printings and collections." Other creators also shared their two pennyworths, tweeting;

Jen Bartel: They… made your perfectly representative art look uncomfortably close to a series of racial stereotypes. Not only did they make your work look objectively worse, the end product is actually really upsetting and counterproductive from an "Asian sensitivity" perspective. Sad.
Joshua Dysart: This is the immediate issue that struck me. First off, their eyes just look creepy, but the racial implications of it are deeply unfortunate.
Julie Benson: That's so weird, why would they do that? Sorry, Greg. I prefer your version fwiw.
Chris Weston: Urgh. I don't like what they've done there at all.
Alex de Campi: oof, this is some nonsense, I'm sorry you had to go through this. the corrections are… horribly amateurish
Jody Houser: Oof, I'm so sorry Greg. Your work is stunning, and you should be happy with a book that has your name on it (or at the very least, unhappy in the traditional self-critical way).
Bengal: I don't understand how anyone could do this, let alone to your already immaculate work, AND let alone without asking you. Ugh. So sorry. I'd be so mad too.
Heather Antos: Oh my god. This is SO messed up. I'm so so sorry!
Cully Hamner: They aren't huge changes… but they are *badly done* and *ill-advised* changes, especially considering that you'd already addressed their notes yourself. I really hate this. Sorry, man.
David Aja: Aw, that sucks, can they do that kind of crap? Ask always to check final before going to print, I do.
Erik Larsen: Unfortunately, that's par for the course when it comes to work-for-hire. Every artist I know has had their work tampered with. If they'll redraw work by Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby–nobody is safe. That's one of many reasons @ImageComics came into existence.
Nicola Scott: Yours is so much warmer, more human.
Xavier Lopez: so…to avoid neg. asian rep they made all their eyes caucasian??? also wtf putting clothes on that yokai/oni?? not only was nothing wrong to begin with but half of them blend into the background… this is a mess. im sorry they did this to your art …
Michael Avon Oeming: F-ck. That's not right.
Joe Kalicki: You should have just impersonated a Japanese guy and used a fake name, then they would have promoted you.
Jason Liebig: I agree with the assertion that the revisions are bad. I would be interested to know how the racial "standards and practices" were established. I assume they were created to help avoid stereotypical racial features. Ironic that policies meant to avoid such things aggravate them.

Elektra: Black, White & Blood #2 is published on the 23rd of February 2022.

ELEKTRA BLACK WHITE BLOOD #2 (OF 4)
MARVEL COMICS
NOV210824
(W) Al Ewing, Various (A) Greg Land, Various (CA) Adam Hughes
AN AWESOME ASSEMBLY OF ASSASSIN ACTION AS ONLY THE HOUSE OF IDEAS CAN PROVIDE!
Elektra Natchios has a reputation for being as intelligent as she is deadly – and on the seedy streets of the island called Madripoor, a drifter named PATCH is about to discover why! PARENTAL ADVISORYIn Shops: Feb 23, 2022 SRP: $4.99

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