it was commendable of rich to broach the issue, pose the question, and to give both parties the opportunity to state their positions in a public forum.

i don’t think the item was presented as being an in-depth analysis of the situation, or a researched piece of journalism. so i wouldn’t hold rich’s feet to the fire on the grounds that the material is basically he-said-she-said stuff.

i would like to think that rich recognizes that while his own positive experiences with speakeasy might be typical, they might not be. with no disrespect intended to anyone involved–if i were a comic publisher, i’d do everything i could to make sure that i treated rich fairly. rich has one of those voices that carries.

i’d be very hesitant to label rich as a speakeasy ‘shill’ at this point. but until this situation (and maybe a few others) are clearly resolved, i wish he’s consider declaring a moratorium on calling fortier ‘the smartest man in comics’. that does creep me out a little, personally. there are a lot of smart people working in the industry, after all.

i’d hate to see rich recuse himself from further discussion of the topic. a lot of the more interesting points of the speakeasy/grafik situation have yet to be addressed, i believe.

I’d have loved it if Pat Lee had answered the allegations put against him. But Dreamwave refused to comment, and then put out word demanding that message boards remove content posted by ex-employees.

I can’t help but remember he was previously CEO of Dreamwave Productions. You know, that “other” poorly managed company that wasn’t paying freelance artists, printers and whatnot…

At least Pat Lee was never seen online dissing the freelancers he screwed up.

The allegations were only being circulated through certain comics professionals, which is how I was made aware of them.

Every answer was followed by a followup question.

The frustrating bits are the questions before. Fortier equivokates every time and there’s no follow up. The simplest and non-controversial follow-up in each case would have been to either ask whether the current situation prompted a policy change (e.g. concerning number of titles) or what exactly was done (how many retailer contacts established, how many positive, how many offers to Newsarama etc.)

And yes, I agree with you (if I’m not putting words in your mouth) that the biggest problem is that screw-ups like this make it harder for the next guy who’s trying to do the right thing. Retailers justifiably operate in a “once burned, twice shy” mode.

I can’t see how you’re painting me as some kind of Speakeasy shill when I confronted the CEO if Speakeasy with damning allegations from a known name in the industry – when no one else was even mentioning them.

And the point I was making about the figures is that you quoted Dub’s figures, without mentioning Fortier’s challenge to them, from the same article. And Dub did quote dates and figures – I printed them. In the same article. Don’t go all Drudge Report on me here.

As for Speakeasy, they published The Flying Friar. Solicited it, fronted the funds, dealt with printers, advertising, distributors, retailers, and I retain total ownership. I did my usual marketing furore as well – in this case LITG, Catholic press, Newsarama, and lined up media outlets with my best Mark Millar impersonation.

I didn’t expect any more. I’m pleased that a comic that I’m very happy with will be published. I hope you enjoy it too.

I have no developing projects with Speakeasy, and have nothing planned. But on the basis of Flying Friar, I’d have no hesitation in considering Speakeasy amongst many, if I do have anything that might suit.

Certainly from the surface, it really looks like Fortier just used everybody to build a “company,” then turned around and sold it, and left everyone else holding the bag.

My association with Speakeasy has been decent on a personal level and disastrous on a professional level…. We turned in projects on time but that just didn’t seem to matter. The books still found a way to come out late. That is damn frustrating and I never received a acceptable answer for the delays….

We have to spend a certain amount on a fee. Then we are also charged for printing and another amount for the ad in Previews (which nobody reads anyway for the most part). The fee is my biggest question mark.

I did the following:
I marketed my books at my expense.
I procured all of my own interviews (except one for silverbulletcomics).
I paid my own talent. (artists, etc…)
I had my book pre-pressed
I paid my own travel expenses
I paid for Speakeasy ( a good percentage) parties
I procured banners for them
I delivered my books on time

Here is what I got for the fee
Late shipments
Almost non-existent accounting (even after several requests)
No marketing support
Almost non-existent communication
No proofs or blue-lines … I cannot tell you how many printing errors there have been in Speakeasy books. It is a major reason for late shipments. Rocketo #2 had an upside down back cover and a senior member of the staff told him that “nobody would notice” but Frank insisted on the reprinting.

All of this said, I have had financing problems but I fixed them now. I have been shopping for another publisher and I found one. In fact, I am very happy at my new place and I am not the only Speakeasy creator to jump. I can tell you that I know of four to five others who are planning to jump to other publishers….

Their contract, which I am not allowed to divuldge due to a NDA I signed, has many stated duties that they are supposed to do as a explanation for their fee. They have, at last count, been in breach (IMO) of almost 11 of these duties.

Wow. I repeat the key question: what exactly does this publisher DO for the creators and books it puts out?

No shock that you basically let Fortier — YOUR PUBLISHER — have the last word.

I agree with the CrossGen comparison. Chuck Sterlee’s post on Jinxworld is especially troubling.

The whole interview was follow ups. Flooding the market questions were asked, and poor retailer reaction to series finishing online was raised last week, after Fortier announced the new policy.

As the he says/she says thing goes, Fortier also disputes the financial claim made by quoting dates and figures.