DC Comics fires Chris Roberson

Mr Wallstreet · Post by **Mr Wallstreet** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 7:16 am

Announced at EEEC (Thanks XIII) iZombie will be cancelled with issue #28 and his last work for DC would be a storyline for Fairest. However, Roberson decided some time ago that he would no longer continue working for DC citing their unethical business practices. Roberson also cited this well written article as another reason he quit DC:

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/04/1 ... ore-kirby/

Unfortunately for Roberson, after DC got wind of his tweets:

Having an afternoon cocktail to celebrate the end of my time at DC.

Aside from the Fairest arc I already committed to doing, iZombie will be the last time Iâ€™ll ever write for DC.

and

Sorry. In a better world, characters like the Legion would be owned by a more ethical company, but sadly not in this one.

The short version is, I donâ€™t agree with the way they treat other creators and their general business practices.

I decided quite some time ago, but waited until after the cancellation of my book was announced to discuss it.

DC decided that his last storyline for Fairest would in fact not be used and effectively "fired" him by not using it.

I applaud Roberson for standing up for his beliefs. He obviously knew what he was getting himself into before and after making those public declarations about DC's practices so their reaction isn't entirely surprising.

XIII · Post by **XIII** » Mon Apr 23, 2012 7:41 am

Yeah, it's a bit of "you can't quit, we fire you!" which sounds childish.
Wondering who is taking over writing duties on Fairest now. Might drop the book.

Stocky Boy · Post by **Stocky Boy** » Sat Apr 28, 2012 5:01 pm

I don't know if you guys would agree with me on this, but it's news items like these that make me feel that we don't do enough, "Fuck You DC Comics" threads. Not just for a supposed need of 'criticsm balance', but because there are genuinely good examples of DC, like other businesses in general - not just Marvel - just trying to keep their fingers round the purse strings no matter how they do it.

XIII · Post by **XIII** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 12:21 am

Agreed!

Stocky Boy · Post by **Stocky Boy** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 4:12 am

Another point that could be made is this pricing thing.

DC have been great holding the line at $2.99, but for how long? They've noticed, it would appear, that Marvel's $3.99 comics aren't harming their sales. Now Snyder's Batman is $3.99 like Justice League. I wouldn't blame DC if they pick a few more key titles and increase the price. But, my main point for addressing this is that if you used this board to gage ethical and fan friendly practices, you'd assume Marvel and big bastards and DC are saints, when the evidence supports that both can be more or less equal in their commercial greed to similar extents to how other companies act, when they can get away with it.

XIII · Post by **XIII** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 9:28 am

Well, on that, I'm less with you. DC went to 3.99 for extra content. Marvel is pricing some comics at 3.99 even though they only have 20 pages of story sometimes even 19!

Stocky Boy · Post by **Stocky Boy** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 1:35 pm

I'm curious, what are DC giving you for $3.99? More story pages of the book you are reading or a second story like Shazam in JL?

If all cases of DC comics pricing of $3.99 comics is due to backup strips, I'm less persuaded by the page count justification. It's good value, but who's buying the comic for the backup strip?

I suppose I can go and check Batman out, since I'm getting that comic...

XIII · Post by **XIII** » Sun Apr 29, 2012 2:12 pm

Hmm, I think it's a back-up strip like they used to do before the relaunch.

Mr Wallstreet · Post by **Mr Wallstreet** » Mon Apr 30, 2012 9:42 am

Stocky Boy wrote:Another point that could be made is this pricing thing.

DC have been great holding the line at $2.99, but for how long? They've noticed, it would appear, that Marvel's $3.99 comics aren't harming their sales. Now Snyder's Batman is $3.99 like Justice League. I wouldn't blame DC if they pick a few more key titles and increase the price. But, my main point for addressing this is that if you used this board to gage ethical and fan friendly practices, you'd assume Marvel and big bastards and DC are saints, when the evidence supports that both can be more or less equal in their commercial greed to similar extents to how other companies act, when they can get away with it.

DC's unethical business practices tend to target their creators more. Marvel's shitty business practices tend to target the customer base.

DC, unlike Marvel is now charging $3.99 on select titles and those titles already have more than the standard 22 pages. I think All Star Western has around 28 or 29; granted those additional pages are backup stories. Whether you like the backup stories or not, they do contribute to more product - which is a legitimate business expense. Marvel charges more, as XIII pointed out, for less pages and at least 6 months out of the year, all their titles double ship.

I'm not painting DC as saints, I'm just saying that as a consumer, I feel Marvel's wrongs more sharply than DC's.

Stocky Boy · Post by **Stocky Boy** » Tue May 01, 2012 4:36 pm

I'm willing to make the same overall conclusion, but I do feel DC's behaviour seems to go wilfully unnoticed precisely because their unethical conduct doesn't directly hit the customers quite as much - but it's there nevertheless.

Content-wise, the backup strips are added value that justify a higher price, but who's asking for it? To me it feels like buying a car and the car dealer charging you extra for some added feature (e.g. two spare wheels) you didn't ask for, but there say, "you're getting more, so of course the price increases - show me the gratitude."