Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, Magdalene Visaggio

Magdalene Visaggio On The Comics Editorial Process From Hell

Published Wed, 22 Dec 2021 10:27:10 -0600

Comics writer Magdalene Visaggio is best known for her creator-owned work such as Kim & Kim, and Vagrant Queen. But she also works on a number of IP licenses for companies, including Rick & Morty, Transformers, Doctor Mirage, Secret Empire, Venom, Justice League, Doom Patrol, Batman, X-Men, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and was picked for a Sandman spinoff that never happened. But on Twitter she told a tale of one of those (feel free to pick) that didn't go as well as she had been anticipating;

Storytime! Once upon a midnight weary, I got hired by REDACTED Comics to pitch a series for REDACTED. The editor, let's call him Mac (after Ronald "Mac" McDonald), is super enthusiastic to work with me. I'm into it, too; its gonna be a fun, weird book! Mac had always liked me, always wanted to work with me. I take that energy and turn around a story proposal, and Mac calls me up.

He sounds annoyed to even be on the phone with me. He hits me with criticism that doesn't just disagree with the proposal, but talks down to me, too. The whole tenor of the conversation was that I was, in fact, stupid. That this wasn't just the wrong take, but that somehow I'd turned around the most wildly incompetent document he'd ever read. I want to stress that editors shouldn't do this. He started backtracking from everything he'd agreed to when we started chatting. I was already contracted at this point, and I try not to be precious about my work. I wanted to fix it. I wanted to reach a proposal we both loved. But at the same time, I wasn't going to be a pushover. @GailSimone told me, right around this time, if you let them walk over you now, they will never stop. So I, respectfully, defended my creative decisions. My goal was to show what I was thinking so we could find a mutually satisfying way there. But every defense I offered was talked over, shut down, ignored. Repeated insistence in things I'd already conceded, as if I was too stupid to understand.

So, rattled, angry, and feeling super low about myself, I start circulating my proposal to some of my colleagues. "Is this…is this really that bad? Am I not seeing something?" To a person, they loved it. But, work is work, so I do another pass. Same thing happens. Another frustrating, demeaning call. And then? Radio silence. For MONTHS.

Periodically, he'd say "I'm still working its over with editorial. Still figuring out what we want to do." Okay. Like, okay. You guys hired me but…okay, sure. So another call. "We're thinking now, we want COMPLETELY DIFFERENT IDEA to explain why REDACTED CHARACTER is gone." Me: "We can handle that with a flashback." Audible sigh. "Yeeaaah I don't think that's going too work." Like the f-cking Lancome Lady. Me: You want me to reverse engineer a story around the idea of removing a character when the only reason to remove the character was that my original story needed him gone. Him: Yeah. Me: And then I get to do that story? Him: We'll see. He starts laying down even more specifics that take it further and further from anything I'm even REMOTELY interested in writing, and it's clear that the months ive been waiting he's been devving out his own version that he just wanted me to script. Me: Well, I'm not happy about it, but you're the boss. Him: Here's the thing. Me: What? Him: You'll be pitching in competition with two other writers. Me: But you already hired me on this. Him: Well, it's our new policy. Me: So let me pitch it first, and then if you don't like that, bring in someone else. Him: Well, see, we have this policy that writers have to pitch in competition. Me: But you ALREADY HIRED ME. I say I'll think about it.

So, I get back on the horn with @GailSimone and @kellysue and a few others, ask them what the f-ck this is. They all agree that this is an absolutely ridiculous condition. They wanted me to audition for a job I already had. But I had PUSHED for this gig. I BELIEVED in my take on the IP. I didn't want to walk away from it. Some days later, Mac the Editor calls me back. "I'm not doing this," I say. "I find this incredibly insulting and unprofessional. You have repeatedly demeaned my work while trying to force me off the project." "I wasn't trying to push you off the project, Mags." "Really? Because all you've done is stonewall and ghost and belittle me, shut down everything I wanted to bring to this, and then asked me to dance for your favor." He clams up. I end the call.

Two days later. Two DAYS later, I get an email from the publisher's EIC. "Hey, Mags. Can we talk?" He calls right away. He asks how I'm doing. He asks what happened with Mac. I sort of power through it as best I can, because have NO idea what this call is gonna be so im on the defensive. "First of all, none of that stuff he said was true." Editorial had had NO IDEA anything was going on. They'd taken my pitch to the table and approved it, almost a YEAR earlier. They didn't know about these multiple revisions he was asking about. They didn't know he was trying to push an entirely new angle. Not at all. In fact, they'd been wondering what the F-CK was taking so long on this book. "Mags isn't like this." No scripts? After a YEAR? No art? Nothing? All while he was telling me he was "working it through editorial," and that "the chiefs want REDACTED in the story" As for that "new policy?" Nope. Absolutely nothing changed that required me to pitch for my own job. Nothing at all. It was all absolute horsesh-t. "We still really want you on this title, so from now on you'll be working with WONDERFUL EDITOR I ADORE. We're going to go with your original pitch with the slight revision you suggested right at the start about the flashback. Your first issue is brilliant."

And now it's time for this very website to play a role… though not one that narrows it down any further.

Two weeks later, Bleeding Cool is reporting that Mac has "stepped away" from that publisher. Apparently, this was not an isolated case. Bruh had been given a stable of IP to develop, and none of it — NONE OF IT — had gotten anywhere. He'd been there for months and it was just like "…what the f-ck have you been doing this whole time?" What a f-cking disaster. I did get to do the book I wanted. I am very proud of the work the whole team pulled off. But what a huge mess. (Side note: I'm such a little bitch that I sent him a "no hard feelings" email afterward. There were definitely hard feelings. But I'm the sort of person who seeks my abuser's approval.)

Anyway, remember kids: comics is an absolute nightmare business and we only work in it because we love making comics. That gives some editors the idea that they can act like they hired you as a favor you should be grateful for. Some editors think that, because its so competitive, that we're disposable assets. That we owe THEM for the opportunity instead of recognizing that they hired us because THEY WANTED TO WORK WTH US. I have had SO SO SO many wonderful experiences with amazing editorial partners. But some editors? Some editors think they're King Sh-t and you're just sh-t. so yeah. don't put up with that sh-t. you deserve to be treated with respect and professionalism. OH! And one more thing. As a result of all this, the book ended up dropping a year after it was supposed to at this absolutely random moment in the slate without any strategy to sell it. Thanks, Mac!

someday, I shall regale you all with the story of TRANSFORMERS VS. VISIONARIES, the comic teetering right at the end of the hasbroverse, and the constantly shifting directives that made it such a frustrating mess. But that is a tale… …for another day. my endless love for @alexdecampi, the ass-kickin'est bitch in comics, and her absolute refusal to put up with any of this f-cking abuse.

Lots of love for former Bleeding Cool contributor Alex here as well… and also someone who works for IP, without accepting the publisher strictures that would have made the projects worse. Marvel and DC editorial know what I'm talking about.

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