Late comics and fill-ins

Rich Johnston at Lying in the Gutters has an interesting "amber" rumor/story last week, regarding late comics at DC. (The emphasis in boldface is mine; I wrote this last week but forgot to post it.)

There's been a lot of fuss of late about late comics. How they damage publishers, retailers, brands and consumer loyalty. Well, DC are taking a stand and it's gong to be brutal for some.

Sources close to freelancers inform me that DC Comics has a new in house policy for pencillers. Aside from very specific contracted creators (such as Jim Lee), any penciller contracted to work on a monthly book must deliver complete turnaround of 22 pages of work in four weeks. Not a month, four weeks. If that schedule isn't maintained, they'll pull pages and assign them to other creators. And you may run short of future work. A reduction in quality is more acceptable than a reduction in quantity.

Specific examples I've been given include the recent issue of "Wonder Woman" was half Dodson and half Ron Randall. Also why Koi Turnball was dropped from "Jack Hawksmoor." And it has been pointed out that there are already three fill-ins on the new "Legion" schedule.

Creators are also being dropped from exclusive contracts over this new regime. Expect certain publishing vultures to swarm.

Three fill-ins? It's Manapul/Livesay on issues 37 through 40, Lopresti/Ryan are doing issue 41 with Manapul/Livesay back on 42 (the latest issue solicited). Maybe he's confusing the LSH31C book with this one; I sent him a note, but he never replied.

Via THE BEAT, which also has some lively discussion, as does Occasional Superheroine (neither of which mention the Legion book, but offer good discussion nonetheless).