[...] and I want to make fun of you. For example, look! Bluewater discovered crowdfunding! Just what an unethical company needs — more money from other people to play with. And of course they chose Indiegogo, where [...]

[...] story’s at Robot 6: Comic publisher Bluewater — known for ripping off artists while chasing trends with incompetent and poor quality biographical comics — is taking its [...]

[...] young artists with way more enthusiasm to “break in” than actual alent. You know, the Bluewater model. So if you can get some nice looking covers, you may at least trick some unsuspecting souls into [...]

[...] writer sent me a preview copy (either not having done research on my attitudes toward Bluewater or being desperate enough to hope I’d ignore it, as I’ve done) as part of a press push. [...]

I did 24 full pages of art work (pencils, inks and colors) for one of their books and was suppossed to be paid a fair percentage of the sales. The book sold over 20,000 copies and is still selling and you know how much I got paid for it? 300 dollars! That’s right, 300 lousy dollars. That’s less than 0.004% of sales. Shocking, isn’t it especially when I as the artist did the bulk of the work.

So take it from me guys and gals, don’t buy, read or work for Bluewater (unless you like being screwed)

[...] that its comics were never at profit – at least not when their artists asked. Check out the Why I Won’t Cover Bluewater op/ed at Comics Worth Reading for the lowdown. The 2009 exposé Getting in Deep With Bluewater [...]

[...] young artists with way more enthusiasm to “break in” than actual alent. You know, the Bluewater model. So if you can get some nice looking covers, you may at least trick some unsuspecting souls into [...]

[...] read it), and I have seen some good writing in these books, but Bluewater has gotten some bad press for its creator contracts as well, which has to cut into the talent pool. For a line like this, I [...]

I will say this as an independent comic book publisher: I also only offer my creators a back-end deal, and yes, the huge difference is that they 100 percent own their work. But how BAD is Bluewater’s deal if someone who worked on a title that sold 10,000 copies made “very little?” If we were so lucky to sell that much on a single issue, our creative teams would make anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000 — and still own their work for perpetuity.

We also send them comp copies as a courtesy AND allow them to purchase extra copies at wholesale so they can make extra scratch at shows.

Diego and Jessica’s stories — especially Jessica on a supposed sell-out book — just reinforce the notion that either Bluewater is really bad at running a business or something is fishy in those blue waters.

Again, it could easily be the former. Maybe Bluewater’s spending much more on advertising and promotion. Maybe they’re not marking up their cover price enough. I made a lot of dumb mistakes when we launched, underestimating shipping costs and things like that. But you know what? I ate those costs, and didn’t pass them on to my creators’ bottom line. No, neither they nor my company are making much money. But we enjoy happy, productive, ongoing working relationships, get decent reviews, and make high-quality comics we love (and hope people love too).

Obviously Bluewater has to make money — that’s the game, kids. I just hope people like Jessica and Diego and Chris Ward get the chance to get compensated properly for their work at another publisher in the future. Yes, they are “big kids” and know how to read the words in a contract. But as someone who’s worked freelance for the last 15 years, you have to know the value of your talent and never undervalue yourself — because once you do, that’s all you’ll ever be worth to future employers.

Good luck to all.

This is the best part.

Wandering around the Con I noticed her and Darren talking. When I went back to see her, she politely let me know that she couldn’t work with me because I was one of Darren’s artists and as his friend she couldn’t “step on his toes”.

That company is the lowest of the low for exploiting people’s dreams. I would never suggest anyone work with them ever. If you own one of they’re books salt it and burn it. It was created using slave labor and I’m pretty sure it was printed on the skin of children with they’re tears for ink.

p.s. It’s hilarious that they make religious books.

-Rove

[...] be promised a cut of profits should the book sell. What makes this less exploitative than, say, the Bluewater Comics model is that both the American and the Japanese publishers would also wait for their cut—no one gets [...]

[...] readers of the site know that I am boycotting Bluewater comics because of their near-criminal exploitation of creators. I recently got an email from a relatively [...]

[...] two months ago about Bluewater’s celebrity comics. They asked to interview me, given my outspoken comments on the subject previously, but they refused to talk about Bluewater’s shady business [...]

[...] more on Bluewater Comics, check out Simon Jones, Tom Spurgeon, Johanna Draper Carlson (2), and Heidi [...]

I know an artist who has worked for Bluewater in the past. He knew the deal was crap but he did it to get his name ‘out’ by working on some titles the press should be interested in… so he thought his name will get out and this way he can get a real paid job at another company.
He told me he did a lot of stuff for Bluewater for free and helped out here and there with pitch art, cover work and such stuff.
He knew the work wasn’t paid but he asked Bluewater to use his name whenever the work is mentioned in news articles and other press releases. They told him they will and they did NOTHING! His art was shown, but his name NEVER was mentioned in a text about the books. He also asked for a book where his art was printed in and was told they will send him a copy… needless to say he never got it.

I think when someone is working for free and he knows it and still is doing it for the publisher he deserves to get his name mentioned in the press and get a free copy of printed stuff.

I think what some folks may be missing are basic semantics. Just consider the volume of creatives with issues against Davis (and the fact that some of the cases I’m aware of go back years). He is clearly abusing people. Of course, a guarded individual is harder to dupe, but then very few of these artists and writers could be considered either rookies or foreigners. Davis is telling people what they want to hear, from prospective talent to his own defensive pleas in these handful of soapboxes. This is not a case of artists being overeager for a good thing, they are being used like toilet paper.

And as such, I see no reasons with ignoring any of the company’s countless and inane releases. That grave will dig itself eventually. BlueWater’s acquisition of the late Todd Loren’s stash of books (Revolutionary Comics) is another sign, as many of those comics were not cleared legally and had lawsuits pending when they were originally in print almost twenty years ago. With folks like Geppi playing along and signing exclusive contracts (as announced last year, only weeks AFTER DCD dropped most of the BW line…?), and with the more tabloid of the comic book news sites (newsarama, cbr, etc) giving him the time of day, Davis seems to think he is indestructible.
Time will absolutely tell.