Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, coronavirus, coronavirus comics, covid-19

More Details for Marvel Comics' Latest Pause

Published Thu, 16 Apr 2020 12:30:46 -0500

Last updated Thu, 23 Apr 2020 08:28:33 -0500

Yesterday, Bleeding Cool reported details on Marvel Comics' latest edict to some comic book creators to stop work on their current projects. The current situation has seen many comic book companies cease printing and publication and put projects on hold. DC Comics has, reportedly, moved some creators onto a new Batman Black And White digital comic, but that is only a handful. Marvel initially stopped work on 15-20% of titles, mostly new launches and those tied in with delayed movies, such as Black Widow and Taskmaster. Yesterday we heard that another 10-15% of titles had suffered a similar order, and affected more of the ongoing titles. We were told that certain X-Men comics were already far ahead as part of the advance Dawn of X scheduling, but books like Deadpool, currently by Kelly Thompson and Gerardo Sandoval had also been included.

Today we have learnt that affected creators include Jim Zub, author of Conan the Barbarian and a number of Empyre spinoff books, Patrick Zircher, artist on Savage Avengers, and Adam Hughes who was working on Black Widow cover. I have also been told that the Alex Ross-curated Marvel anthology series is on hold as is the ongoing Black Cat series by Jed MacKay and Nina Vakueva. The pauses are all down to the projects rather than the creators, and these are just those that I have heard. The details may be different, I am happy to add or amend to those, depending.

I am told that Marvel is having a big meeting this week to try and put something together similar to DC Comics, to keep their creators in work on new, possibly digital-first projects. As freelancers, Marvel is aware that they may seek work elsewhere, DC Comics is still hiring and producing more than anyone else right now, and the lure of creator-owned comics for a future Image Comics, or crowdfunded right now on Kickstarter, may suddenly be more appealing. Bleeding Cool continues to report on how the current global situation is affecting the comic book industry at this link.