I could think of many reasons why I wouldn't fall on my sword in this situation, like JG Jones just did.
One of the many would be Grant Morrison.
You know, that writer who has practically become a deity to his many fans.
You know, that writer who has needed fill-in artists on BOTH of his events (FINAL CRISIS & BATMAN R.I.P.).
You know, that writer who had delays on 7 SOLDIERS OF VICTORY that are only dwarfed by Kevin Smith's own battles with timeliness.
You know, that writer who is the devourer of lead time and plays matador to the bull of blame & accountability.
Now, I love much of Grant's work. But all signs point to him being the problem with the scheduling of his product. It'd be nice if he step up and admit to that, rather than letting his artist have the target painted only on his back...front...and anywhere people want to slag him.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
JG Jones Is A Class Act
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everyone deserves blame in this:
ReplyDelete-the DC editors, for not keeping the creators in check
-Morrison, for changing his stuff at a whim (I think All Star Superman is the only book he's done where he had it set out long in advance), thinking everything will stop for him
-Jones, for accepting work he knew he couldn't do.
-DC again, for lying about the project being on time. Brevoort levels of lying here.
Since Rogues Revenge ended, I don't feel compelled to buy any of the FC books (maybe Superman Beyond 2 only because I love Mahnke's art). I can sit back and watch the wreck happen again and again, month after month.
Huh. So, the artist for a book makes a statement taking full responsibility for the lateness of said book and you...call him a liar and place the blame solely on the writer.
ReplyDeleteWeird.
Liar? No. Being so noble as to take all of the blame on his shoulders? Yes.
ReplyDeleteNot to detract from your argument, because I do think the blame probably isn't Jones' alone, but RIP hasn't had any fill-in artists. Tony Daniel has pencilled all six issues (the last still to be released).
ReplyDeleteThe issue preceding RIP used a fill-in artist. Maybe that's what you're remembering.
You are correct (for now). I must have considered the two issue aftermath to be part of RIP when I originally read the solicits.
ReplyDeleteBut I do suggest you keep an eye out for whether there's any help on the last issue or how close to solicited date it ships. I don't recall there being any (announced in advance) built in skip months, but it's already skipped September. Let's see when 681 hits.
http://www.newsarama.com/comics/080609-MorrisonFC01.html
ReplyDelete"Well, the way it worked out was that I started writing Final Crisis #1 in early 2006, around the same time as the 52 series was starting to come out...
"Final Crisis was partly-written and broken down into rough issue-by-issue plots before Countdown was even conceived, let alone written. And J.G. was already working on designs and early layouts by the time Countdown started...
"Orion’s appearance on the docks and the Guardians’ response in Final Crisis #1 was written and drawn first. Jim Starlin then created Orion’s death scene in Death Of The New Gods to lead into the War God’s appearance in Final Crisis #1, so we refer back to Jim’s scene in Final Crisis #3. When I wrote that scene, Orion’s terminal injuries were a result of the mysterious bolt of light which Jim hit him with in Death Of The New Gods #6. By the time Countdown #1 came out, I was working on Final Crisis #4 and #5 and JG was drawing #3, so we were already well into our own story and unable to change it to match Countdown."
I know what Grant has put out as a timeline. I, also, know how notorious he is for last minute revisions. I'm of an opinion that incessantly revising his scripts contributed mightily to the delays. Quite possibly even #1 not being FINAL and in JG's hands with the amount of lead time he was supposed to be given.
ReplyDeleteIn this case he's talking about how he DIDN'T go back and change stuff thoug.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for throwing some blame Morrison's way here, for many of the reasons you've listed, but, as good as Jones' art is, has any of it ever been on time? I can't think of a monthly comic he's been on that shipped as scheduled.
ReplyDeleteCody had a point - Morrison's Batman run has been pretty timely, & RIP hasn't had a fill-in artist. He (along with a team of other writers) managed to put out a weekly comic. Those seem to be the exceptions though, so who knows.
Jones seems like a really nice guy & I commend him for taking responsibility the way he has; not so much w/ DC for letting their artist release the statement & clear up the solicits, thereby taking the fall - still no word from them.
Everything we've heard, from Morrison, DC, & Jones himself, has been that he had the material well in advance & had a roaring head start. Granted, it's been quiet on that front since around the time of the announcement Pacheco was joining the team, but unless we hear otherwise, this falls on Jones, nice guy or not.
"Liar? No. Being so noble as to take all of the blame on his shoulders? Yes."
ReplyDeleteAnd you know that Grant Morrison contributed to the lateness of this book, how? Oh, that's right. You know he's "notorious for last minute revisions." Which, despite what the people who were actually involved with this project have said, you're going to go ahead and chuck that all out the window in favor of blaming Grant Morrison.
Essentially calling J.G. Jones a liar.
Huxford isn't calling J.G. a liar. He's suggesting that he's taking blame for something that isn't entirely his fault.
ReplyDeleteWe all know what J.G. said. Why doesn't Rich or somebody call DC for a follow-up? "Was J.G. entirely to blame, or was he getting scripts too late to draw them fast enough?"
Everyone suggested that it was the fault of the artists with 7 Soldiers, and Morrison later acknowledged by one point that he hadn't even started the final chapter more than a month before it was due to come out.
Yes lets ignore the fact that SS was hampered by artists pulling out such as with Ferry or that there were scheduling problems with JH Williams well outside Morrison's control and instead blame it all on Morrison and not possibly on the artists or DC editorial being utterly incapable of practical logistical planning.
ReplyDeleteRich: Actually, he doesn't say anything of the sort in that statement. He speaks of a particular item that he didn't revise, not a complete lack of revisions.
ReplyDeleteJoshua: Again, you're insisting that I'm calling JG a liar, while even an anonymous poster can properly comprehend the situation.
Anon II: You speak of the juggling act on ONE MINI-SERIES in the bunch. You fail to recognize the delays of books that had no artist change. Like Doug Mahnke on Frankenstein. Fairly reliable Doug Mahnke.
Or, of course, as Anon I pointed out, Grant's admitting to some amount of dragging ass on getting his final scripts in.
Nowhere am I saying that JG could get an issue done in 30 days or less. But he wasn't supposed to do that. He had built-in lead time that I'm fairly certain Grant used the majority of.
The issue of Morrison's 7 Soldiers lateness was discussed on The Beat at one time.
ReplyDelete"Further, it’s emphatically unclear at present whether Wildcats will come out with any regularity. Morrison, who is one of the architects of the logistically daunting weekly title 52, recently had some trouble finishing Seven Soldiers, resulting in a six-month delay for the final issue."
http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2006/11/29/dc-comics-month-to-month-sales-october-2006/
So no, it wasn't all the artists' fault.
"Again, you're insisting that I'm calling JG a liar, while even an anonymous poster can properly comprehend the situation."
ReplyDeleteJ.G. Jones told us why the book was late. You are saying that what he is saying is not true, and that he is not, in fact, to blame.
Is he making it up? Is he covering for someone else? Who knows? I'm inclined to believe him. You're obviously inclined to listen to his statement and then turn around and say, "Nah, here's what really happened..."
Joshua: I don't know why you're being so obstinate and insisting on making a gray area issue black and white.
ReplyDeleteOne can believe there is more to the story than JG's statement without insinuating that he is a liar.
I don't tend to mince words. If I thought he was a liar, I'd say it. If I thought he had no part in the delays, I'd not have said "letting his artist have the target painted only on his back".
You're insisting there is more to my statement than there truly is.
No, I think you're insisting there's more to J.G. Jones' statement than there is.
ReplyDeleteYou've accused me of calling JG Jones a liar several times now. That is, indeed, insisting there is more to my statement than is there.
ReplyDeleteIf you spoke to the right people at the conventions from NYCC on, you might understand why I've come to this conclusion.