| |
|
This post is going to get lost in the shitstorm, but I've been meaning to make it for awhile now.
I know this thread seems filled to the brim with negativity (especially now), but there really haven't been that many critical comments in comparison to positive ones. And like you graciously said yourself, Runce, this is a topic that one can be critical about. In fact, many of the people who have said critical things have publicly wrestled with the idea of submitting themselves (Flux, Fly, myself), and so these aren't necessarily clearcut naysayers.
My problem with the Epic thing isn't that people want to write and draw second-rate superheroes, perpetuating the closing gap between the handful of fans left for the genre and the industry itself. Nope. Many people make a decent living writing and drawing superhero comics. Give me the choice of working at a fast food restaurant and developing my chops at one of the Big 2, and the choice is obvious. And like most of you have said, this is a hobby, something to waste time.
But for those of you who actually want to get accepted, or who are now planning on making this a career, what will you do if you don't make it? When you sit down and think about it, there are bound to be far more writers than artists. I have yet to see even one person say that they are submitting art to Marvel, compared to almost a hundred writing submissions. Let's say that there's 1 publishable artist for every 10 publishable writers. Marvel will not be printing more comics than there are decent artists. And this doesn't even take into account the need for letterers, inkers, colourists, etc or that many of those artists won't be able to make a deadline, spreading the talent pool even thinner. You could have an excellent script, but if there's no one to draw it, it won't get published. If I were submitting to Epic, and wanted to actually get in, I'd try out for a lettering job or something.
And so what will happen if you don't get in? This Epic thing is the American Idol of comics. People who have written scripts before but haven't made it are joined by people who haven't even entertained the idea, all trying to squeeze into a few tiny slots. The odds are horrible. On the other hand, when you look at the careers of people who actually work in the industry, most of them paid their dues. Morrison, Moore and Millar have all been brought up in this thread, but not one of them started working for the Big Two. Each of them, and the majority of the industry, did work for the small press, alternative newspapers, fanzines, self-publishing, working in editorial or administrative departments, etc.
Mediocre comics are published in small press anthologies every day. I've seen work on this board that would put many published comics to shame. If you really wanted to get into Marvel (and I know not all of you do), why not take the long road and produce compentent work, under deadline, showing that you have what it takes to deliver the goods? |
|
|
