A Distant Soil by Colleen Doran

You will want to read the previous Very Bad Publisher posts before continuing.

The first posts appeared on the message board nearly ten years ago, and then were reposted to my blog with two updates some years later. I can no longer recall the exact dates, but all of this occurred before the release of Frank Miller’s Sin City film. These comments are from the blog.

They are presented in toto. Several posts are gone due to a snafu during blog migration, which did funky things to the formatting. During editing, I did not notice that all comments were not imported properly. I had already deleted the old blog. Alas, a few of those comments were from James Owen and Carla Speed McNeil. The remaining posts are intact, exactly as written, including one from manga artist Tintin.

There will be one more follow up after this to go over a couple more things and that will wrap this up. But I will continue to post “creator beware” info. Most young creators have no idea what their contract actually means. My purpose with these posts is to try to keep you from making errors which can destroy your creations, and more importantly your creativity.

This week, Frank Miller popped in to have a look, since his name was taken in vain in the last Very Bad Publisher installment. Here is his note in its entirety:

As ever, Colleen, you put things in focus. And you stand on principle, which is harder. But you can’t do one without the other. You do both well.

What a pack of gibbering losers out there. It’s like an Ayn Rand nightmare.

Let them eat Jus.

Hang Tough,

FM

PS: Yeah, this is OK to print.

I have no doubt whatsoever that a man who admires Ayn Rand would not be a good match for Tom’s company. Which only brings home the point I made earlier about the necessity of researching your clients before you approach them.

I will not offer further commentary on these letters. Come back in a day or so. I have a new post with new information, and that will wrap up this series.

Bill:

Colleen, thank you for allowing us to learn from your experiences. These articles have been enlightening! And very sobering.

I know someone who was offered some inking work by a small publisher. He was very excited. The publisher even sent him a free copy of Dark Horse’s inking how-to book, The Art of Comic-Book Inking.

He was just waiting for his contract, and then boy-oh-boy he was going to be a pro!

Days went by, then weeks, then months, and still no contract.

I lost touch with this guy years ago. I don’t know how things worked out. Not well, I suspect. It’s too bad. He was, and probably still is, a phenomanally talented inker.

Anyway, it’s easy to see why someone would get all excited to get what appears to be their first big break, and how good judgment could go out the window. It’s unfortunate, however, because your columns illustrate how easy it is for creators to be used, abused, chewed up and spit out by unethical, sleazy, and downright cheesy publishers.

I’d say it’s a testament to your talent and your intellect that you were not only able to survive your experiences, but were able to rise above them and prosper.

Son of Tom:

I’m “Tom’s” son.

In some ways, she’s right about him. He’s a new-age dreamer, not very practical, and an extremely nice and well-meaning guy. And he brings the kids all kinds of places. (They’re great kids. I was almost out of college when he had ‘em. If you ever get a chance to obtain new baby siblings when you’re a grown-up, I highly recommend it.) I’m a rational realist, so I poke fun at him about psychic powers as much as Colleen does. I keep telling him he needs to get his head around practical matters, and so while loyalty prevents me from agreeing with Colleen on her observations about marketing savvy and how much time they remember spending together in the 80′s, I won’t publicly disagree with her on those points.

However, like a lot of “nice guys” in business, he succeeds on personal relationships, and honoring his word, and often does business in an informal way at first. (Probably one of the things “Mr. Disney” was brought in to bring the hammer down on.) He tries to bring people together to help one another, and would be sad to hear that he’d failed. He brings lots of agents and publishers and established writers together with aspiring authors in his regional book festival event, which he’s always a big part of. I’m a little mortified at the way Colleen was apparently pestered by people at the new company; still, they’re genuinely good-hearted people there and I don’t think it’s as rare as it ought to be in business for a company’s left hand to not know what the right is doing.

So “Tom”, if anything, erred on the side of being touchy-feely; he knew and cared about his authors even when they didn’t know him much. I remember, first from being a kid running around the old office Colleen worked at, and later working for my dad during college at the new company, that he mostly sits quietly in the office typesetting and talking on phones and staying low-key. And he sure as hell did stand up for the authors who were getting screwed; that’s why he left the company and started a new one. He didn’t want any part of it.

I’ll take Colleen’s word on the he never called me thing; he probably never did call her about the lawsuit/rights issues, but thought he had. He’s an old man; he does that.

The Graphic Novel stuff I feel she’s not giving him enough credit on, though. It’s like the Al Gore “I invented the Internet” flap; it turns out Gore was instrumental in funding and research and legislation to foster the early development of the Internet, and it if the stupid guy had just explained that it was a joking boast (a la “Dog, I invented breakdancing”) the thing woulda been forgotten. Likewise, the “Father of the Graphic Novel” thing is not something he wears spelled out on a diamond-studded lapel pin, though he may have said it dryly to her (I’ve never once heard him say it myself). In spite of that, he was influential in his way. He was a quiet but deceptively important background figure. He did a lot of the work pulling together Elfquest, Buck Godot, Myth Adventures, Distant Soil, and others, into what was probably the first legitimate push into the retail market of a body of graphic-novel work.

He’s made his way in publishing for thirty years on the strength of personal relationships and respect; since he started his new froo-froo publishing company, he’s always had a very familial atmosphere and has made lifelong friendships with authors and colleagues, and I wish Colleen had been one of those friendships. Their interaction was apparently limited and came at the tail end of my dad’s involvement at the old company, but nonetheless I’m not surprised he treated her so warmly when he saw her again. He remembers her differently and more fatherly than she would ever associate with that time. A cynical person might think he only treated her that way to butter her up, but he’s actually that affectionate. I’m distressed as all hell at what happened to Colleen and I’m pretty damn sure he will be too when I tell him.

I’ve only met her a couple of times, a long time ago, and liked her a lot, though she won’t remember me. (Except maybe as one of the goddamned kids running around the office from time to time.) Even though I think she’s been a bit harsh on my pop, I still do.

Paul:

Son of Tom’s post is very interesting, and valuable.

Colleen was a young artist abused by an amateurish company, but SoT humanizes the villain of Colleen’s story, which I think is a good thing.

It would be too easy for a young artist today to read Colleen’s history and come away thinking that they could recognize such obviously evil people, and so they are in no danger of getting screwed over in business!

But it is just as important to be wary of people who can seriously mess you up even though their intentions are good, even though they may think they are doing what is best for you.

[Not to say that everyone in Colleen's story did what they thought best for her -- some of those people described seem almost sociopathic in their self-centeredness.]

It is too easy to be blind-sided by those who radiate “good”, or at least, who aren’t so obviously evil that they all but have neon Danger signs over their head, and be swayed by the person, not the actual job, contract, situation, or relationship.

Colleen, I think we are about the same age [I'm 41] and reading your story made me wish I could go back and help that young artist who was being so misused.

It also made me remember the bosses I had who over-worked and under-rewarded me when I was in my early 20s and eager to do all that I could at the magazines at which I worked. And the manager who was the worst was actually the “nicest” guy.

Nothing happened to me anywhere near what you went through, I made a decent living from the start, but I can certainly empathize.
And I am glad there is a silver lining in that you own your old work and it is now beginning to pay off for you.

Paul

Colleen:

Thanks for posting, Son of Tom. You are absolutely right. I have no memory of you at all. I don’t even remember any kids in the office. Moreover, I have absolutely no idea why Tom would have seen me in a fatherly manner, or even if that was an appropriate way to see me. There was nothing familial or warm or happy about that old publisher.

Moreover, I do not approach my clients with the intent of forming familial relationships, especially when those clients are conducting their accounting in such a way as to assure I’m treated like a red-headed stepchild.

I have, as I said, no idea what the level of involvement Tom had there, but I am glad to hear you say that Tom left because he thought the creators were being ill used. I’d really like to believe that.

He was a remote figure. I rarely saw him or spoke to him. I have no memory whatsoever of him having anything to do with the GN line, and while he may have helped to push a body of work into bookstores, that body of work push was aborted. The line failed. It wasn’t until years later that GN’s really got a hold in bookstores and libraries. Many years later.

As you say, he was low-key. But if he was that low-key, as I also point out, I do not have any real way of knowing what he was thinking. I can’t read the man’s mind. All I know was some guy I barely remember from a publisher that treated me abominably came bubbling up from the past like a bad memory. And it didn’t look like the new venture would be an improvement on the old one.

Perhaps he was trying to be funny when he made a crack about being the Father of Graphic Novels. But I didn’t think it was funny. And I didn’t think it was any more realistic a claim than his declaring he had been my first publisher. I’m not in a position to know how his sense of humor works. I didn’t think that cracks about my refusing to do the book about the telepathic bugs were funny, either. I thought they were sexist.

As it has been almost two decades since I had virtually any contact with Tom, I am stunned that he would hold me in warm regard. I barely remember him at all, but considering my history with his ex-publisher, if you can claim he’s losing his memory due to age, perhaps I’m losing mine due to post-traumatic stress. My primary memories of that time centered around how to stretch a loaf of banana bread to last a week. Since the office workers who were actually getting a salary did not have these concerns, I have valid reasons to have less rosy memories than they do.

My only memories of my association with Tom’s former publishing house are so bad, so ripping horrid, that I find it hard to believe he did not know something of what was going on there. But if you claim that the bad treatment we were getting was the reason he left, I can’t argue with that. You know him better than I do. As I said, I don’t really know him at all. I did not like how I was treated or addressed at that luncheon, that’s for sure.

At the very least, we agree that the creators at the old publisher were treated abominably. No argument there.

If Tom’s the best of all possible bosses at the new publishing house, then terrific. I am very happy. But there’s no way I am going anywhere near it.

I don’t wish Tom any ill, but I can’t help wishing every single solitary person from that time and that place as far away from me as they will go.

I wish you both much success and joy. I am sure he was a wonderful father to you and is a great support to all his friends.

Hi Paul,

I’ve never considered Tom the villain of this piece. The villains are so villainous they don’t even get names. The head honcho at the ex-publisher I don’t even give a psuedonym is the real villain.

I was just talking to a friend from Australia who reads this blog and she said, “You can’t even name his name! Just like Voldemort!” and I realized their very names make me so angry I can’t stand to see them spelled out here.

However, I don’t really remember Tom at this publisher. In fact, he left before the lawsuit hijinks. So, my only real memory of him was what happened at that luncheon. He may very well remember me at the old publisher, but I don’t remember him.

But I do think this illustrates something I mentioned very early on and you bring it back, Paul: how easy it is to be comforted by people at a publisher who seem very nice. Who cares if they seem nice? What does your contract say? What if the nice person leaves the company? You’re stuck with the not-nice contract!

If anything, Son of Tom makes my point even better than I could have. Tom viewed the company as a familial place, and that was how it was sold to me. But that’s not how it ended up. And after Tom left, I was stuck with all those not-Toms.

Regardless, I worked for no pay and no benefits, and I also worked for rock bottom rates on my books.

What else am I supposed to think? Color me cynical, for sure.

Tom may have had the best of intentions at the ex-publisher, but by the time I was in serious trouble there, he was already gone.

And while he may have had the best of intentions at lunch, I found that entire experience downright surreal.

You really nailed it, Paul. Don’t be swayed by the person. What counts is the actual job, contract, or work situation. People come and go.

Lessons for all.

Son of Tom:

Thanks, Colleen. I wish I knew more and could answer some of your lingering questions. I wonder myself how that crap could have gone on. Maybe it’s just that he left the nuts-n-bolts business stuff to the other people and spent his time nurturing the creative side, editing books, relationships with his New Age authors, etc. (I did something similar myself, letting an accountant handle all my taxes, and he messed it up and I ended up getting into trouble with the IRS.) Maybe he did know to some extent but couldn’t believe it or blocked it out- I can’t speak for him, but it’s hard to imagine that being true; I’ve seen so many examples of his honesty and honor. He may be a little absent-minded and his head in the clouds too damn much; he doesn’t have many possessions, is super generous, and doesn’t give half a damn about money. What I do know is that he remembers a lot of that time fondly, at least till things got messy at the end and he left. I’m like him in that respect; maybe I’m deluded, but whenever I talk to someone I remember from back then, one of the three or four people I actually remember from that old office, I’m really glad to see them or talk to them. I remember speaking to you briefly at a convention in the 80′s, thinking how nice you were, and delighted to see someone from Dad’s old company, though I wasn’t really greeted with much enthusiasm after bringing that up and suddenly I know why!!! (And another friend of mine remembers you coming to his school to speak, and remembers you as being incredibly cool, an inspiring young hotshot artist, so he’d probably get a kick out of seeing you again too. So just so you know, a lot of people have good memories of you.)
So I, like my pop, would feel congenial on seeing you again. But now having read all this nastiness that went on, I understand why you didn’t feel the same, and if I were you I’d want to get the holy fck away from anyone and anything from that time, too. (Especially when they forget the name of the GN! I was in elementary school and even *I remember it. Sorry, Dad, but, Jesus!) So you don’t need to explain yourself one word more on that. Good for you on coming out of it so beautifully, in spite of the scars. Being an artist and writer myself, I am deeply disturbed by what happened, wish it never had, and as far as I’m concerned you have no obligation to be nice to anyone who even reminds you of that troubling time. (Even if, unfortunately, that means me.)

P.S. The unauthorized Harry Potter book actually did very well, as a lot of good concordance books do. The way it’s described here makes it sound like a nasty Kitty Kelley unauthorized-biography book. “Unauthorized” in the case of a concordance book, however, is a tongue-in-cheek marketing gimmick- look in bookstores and you’ll find all kinds of unofficial/unauthorized guides and encyclopedia for everything from Eragon to Tolkein to television shows, many of which are lovingly done and nice companion pieces. Like anything else, of course, some are crap. But they’re often quite insightful and useful, and they’re very often done by third-party publishers. After all, I don’t think J.K. Rowling is going to waste her time writing a concordance for her own books any more than you’re going to write A Distant Soil fanfic. I found the story about the cover art pretty funny (dark humor, of course), but rest assured that even though the art people apparently hadn’t read the book, the actual author of the Harry Potter concordance book was a real expert (and fan) and so the book itself was thoroughly researched and well done. (I remember overhearing that the company ran it by Scholastic and even modified the subtitle a little to make sure the copyright owners were happy, so it’s a real tribute, nothing creepy.)

As for the “telepathic bugs” books, Golly. I gotta agree with my pop on that one, that’s a little trivializing of ‘em. They were written by an influential British philosopher, novelist, and literary critic, a guy who writes really unusual concept pieces rich with philosophy and subversive social criticism, and aren’t at all goofy like it sounds in the post. Even though it was funny reading your description of the bug books, I was a teeny bit surprised to hear it from someone who I’m sure has had to endure having comic art and graphic novels trivialized as “cartoonst” and their literary merit ignored. But having read your story here, I don’t blame you one bit for being too goddam annoyed by then to give it a fair shake, so no harm done. Thanks for letting me ramble a little, and I wish you continued success and happiness!

Colleen:

LOL! Well, you have been incredibly cool here.

Yeah, I am simply not favorably disposed to almost unauthorized anything for reasons I made clear. I wouldn’t know how the other unauthorized books are since I haven’t read them. I do know a couple of people who do this sort of thing who have no idea what the heck they are writing about. They just go out, find a popular theme and INSTA-BOOK! I know one guy who began reading the book he was supposed to be writing about roughly two weeks before deadline!

I’m not knocking an author who wants to make a buck. That’s cool. But I know how I feel as an author when people do unauthorized stuff about me. It just gives me the heebie jeebies.

Like I said, I’ve worked on them because I was a fan too, and I’ve certainly bought a few. However, since I also work on a good deal of officially licensed projects, the last thing in the world I want to do is upset some of my clients by doing unofficial work. Lucasfilm and other clients grant artists like me limited license rights, and I do not want to blow that grant by doing unauthorized works.

I am sure the bug books were great books. But as I said, I didn’t even read them. I really can’t afford to spend many hours reading books on spec, especially when I have made it very very clear I can’t possibly take the job. It’s not very realistic to insist that I spend ten hours of my time reviewing a project in which I have no interest.

What sounds like a good idea in print is not necessarily very visual. Honestly, the concept didn’t interest me in the least, regardless of how well they were written, and since I kept trying to make it clear that I simply wasn’t available for work, I don’t know why he kept harping on them. I guess he really just couldn’t believe I wouldn’t jump at the job.

Cartoonists are sometimes booked months or even years in advance. There’s no way I could have done the job, nor could I have recommended anyone else in that time frame. Just ‘aint gonna happen. And such a concept coming from a GN start up looked like a recipe for a bomb to me.

I will probably not get around to reading the books any time soon, either! I have to get most of my books on disc these days, anyway.

It’s nice to know people have any good memories of me at all from that time because I was so profoundly unhappy, I worry that I was in a constant funk. And I worry I took it out on other people. At the very least, I am glad I was not unpleasant when we met.

I certainly don’t hold you at all to account for anything, but I am very glad that you can understand that it is virtually impossible for someone who went through the wrong end of that publisher to have anything but the most unpleasant neuro-associations. Even hearing the names of the people who worked there, or the name of the company makes me go cold.

I know who was behind most of what happened at that publisher, and they seem to be long gone. As I said, I didn’t really know your dad at all. But I have a hard time maintaining any kind of positive associations with anyone who worked there.

I used to be on good terms with someone from there for years and finally realized that every single conversation we ever had turned to that place and time. It was the most unhealthy habit, I was glad to simply walk away and cut it cold. I no longer communicate with this person at all.

I think I only came to work there about a year before your dad left, so yes, I did only come along for the bad times. I never saw the good times.

Obviously you really love your dad. I’m sure he’s a great guy. But I’ll never know first hand for obvious reasons. I just had to walk away. Thanks for understanding.

You know, reviewing my posts and reading over your posts, the only qualitative difference between your conclusions and mine is that you have good memories about your dad and attribute good intentions to everything he does. I have no memories of your dad but had plenty about his previous company, therefore I can’t attribute good intentions to everything he does. However, we are solidly in agreement on a number of fundamental points. Mostly about the fact that the ex-publisher was a freaking nightmare.

Tintin:

Thanks Colleen. I think I’ve already seen versions of your own landmines in my life. I’ve just put myself in the firing line, so to speak, and I can already say that myself and many other artists/creators will probably have similar stories to yours in the (not-so-distant) future. While educational, your posts have contributed to my overall cynicism about the comics industry. Considering that many aspiring pros like myself are naive, blinded by THAT FIRST BIG BREAK, and usually the least business savvy people in the room, your story is being reiterated as we speak- especially in this “graphic novel book.” Still, it’s encouraging to see how you’ve learned from everything and are using this knowledge to your advantage. I can at least hope to have some of that knowledge after I swallow the lumps.

Are you still doing that “Bussiness of Comics” books I heard rumblings about some years ago?

Colleen:

Hi Duckfoo,

First off, let me apologize for the delay in your postings. My computer automatically holds new posts for approval and I forgot to bring my passwords when I left town. I am so sorry!

Second, as silly as it sounds, even though some people know perfectly well who The Woman is, I am not going to get into it any further. There’s just no need. It’s coy of me, and probably doesn’t do any good, but I can’t bear to even name these people, not because I am afraid of them, but because they make me sick to my stomach and their names aren’t going on my board. Period.

Tintin, I have received several letters like yours, including one from Speed. The fact that this post has done people some good just made me burst into tears. I was really hoping that people would be able to take something useful from this. Since all of this happened, I have a compulsion to save young artists from themselves and I can’t help lecturing people, as tiresome as I can seem about it all. I know I come across as snarky and bitter and I apologize for that. It’s just that it terrifies me to think of young creators signing these contracts without knowing what the consequences are. I don’t want anyone to have to go through this if they don’t have to.

James, I know you adore me. Please send money. Goddesses require tribute.

On another note, I made a mistake in the original post. I said that I would not recommend anyone to this company. I had forgotten that when I told a couple of pro friends about what happened, they agreed to take the chance and asked to be recommended to this company on the understanding that Mr. Disney would be running the show and had deep pockets. There appeared to be consulting money on the horizon. So, they agreed to talk to Mr. Disney. However, in the end, nothing came of it, so I forgot about it. So, even though it is funny to claim I would have thrown myself in front of a train rather than recommend this company to anyone, two pros DID agree of their own volition to take a chance.

And in the end, no, I have no idea what Tom had to do with the old company, but if Tom’s Son says he’s a great guy, that’s OK. The vast majority of people who I know who know Tom do like him personally, even if they have reservations about his business sense. And since I am not really involved with his company, what happens at his company is not any of my business at this point. I sincerely hope all is well there.

Yes, I do mean that.

Tintin, I did a pamphlet years ago, but never a final book about the Business. In the ensuing years, much of what is in that book has changed as laws have changed. So, republishing it today would require more research.

I am going to continue to write more essays here about the business side of our business. My beau (a much more talented and successful writer than I am) thinks I should collect and publish them. Maybe someday. In the meantime, I want to do some good here and I will post more info in future, at least one business tidbit every week. They won’t be nearly as revealing and personal as the past essays, but they will certainly be full of information you can use.

Tintin, I know hitting those landmines is painful. Hang in there. It can get better.

c

Come back later this week, and I will wrap this up. CLICK HERE FOR PART IX.