* Must-read of the week: Tom Spurgeon’s twelve questions about DC’s announcements this week. It’s well-sourced and wide-ranging: theorizing that the announcements were staggered the way they were to dull the impact of the negative stuff; wondering if the attitudes of the respective areas’ circuit courts toward IP issues might have played a part; musing on the start-to-finish history of the DC/WildStorm relationship; including direct follow-ups with DC President Diane Nelson and the LA Times reporter who said 20% of the DC workforce would be laid off. This was my favorite part, which I hope he won’t mind my quoting in its entirety:
7. How Horrible Must It Have Been To Be A DC Comics Employee This Week — Heck, This Year?
One thing that’s been to my mind under-reported is how the lengthy period preceding Tuesday’s announcements must have had an effect on those that now must deal with the collective outcome of those decisions. Despite R. Fiore’s post-announcement assertion that the rumors of a total west coast move were only that because such a move made no sense, Diane Nelson has clearly acknowledged that such a move was on the table and considered, and the pervasiveness and certainty of the rumor was as ingrained in the day to day reality of its believers as any I’ve ever seen in comics. This was not a case of a few bloggers running around screaming things just to be heard.
So, if you’re a DC employee, it’s possible you just spent several months thinking you might lose your job — a comics job! — in a shitty economy or have to move to California and away from your friends with an unknown incentive package, or none at all, as the basis for making this possible. This was followed by a couple of weeks just past where you were told that an announcement was imminent. This may have been followed by a moment of relief — that’s how it was described to me — when the New York publishing offices were announced as staying open. And yet this was followed by word that divisions are being closed, which was followed by further news that everyone is being evaluated — with firings on the table.
Now, I don’t know if that’s a fully accurate view of the timeline, but if half of that stuff happened to me, if I rode on the first two plunges of that particular roller coaster, my morale would be at the sub-basement level. One can argue that DC Comics isn’t exactly a healthy culture to begin with; one can further argue that it’s been a particularly difficult place to work for the last few years. I can’t imagine what an injection of real drama might do to that group’s collective ability to function at the high level required of them by current industry circumstance.
* Meanwhile, up to 80 employees will be moved or let go, according to a filing made by Warner Bros. That number equates to about a third of the DC workforce, but as the comment-thread discussion–which involves myself, Chris Butcher, and Kurt Busiek among others–should make clear, it’s not at all clear how that will break down between “moves” and “layoffs.”
* On any other day, in any other week really, this would have been the big story: The Walking Dead has begun simultaneous print and digital release. The price point for each is the same.
* Over at Robot 6, I dashed off a few thoughts on Brian Michael Bendis’s ongoing commentary on the state of comics journalism and criticism. This time I focused on whether or not longform journalism is something you can do for free or not.
* It was only when reading the announcement that Clive Barker is developing an action-thriller called Resurrection Man that I realized there are fully three Barker-authorized adaptations I haven’t seen yet: Midnight Meat Train, Dread, and Book of Blood. Pretty sad.
* Holy god look at how stupidly attractive this Sally Bloodbath/Matt Wiegle comic is.
* And speaking of Wiegle, he brings us word of this scary Norse ghost by Marshall Arisman:
* Here’s a fine Tom Ewing piece on Soul II Soul’s “Back to Life (However Do You Want Me).” It’s really quite something how much of the next decade of music that one song presaged. And the first comment from Punctum is quite something, too.
* Cartoonist Jesse Moynihan on Murakami, Lost Highway, and seeing his ex-girlfriend after a disastrous break-up. How often is a blog post moving?
* Bruleception. Ride the krick back up the layers with Dr. Steve, won’t you?
Clive Barker movies: I haven’t seen the other two & haven’t heard anything good about them, but you really ought to see Midnight Meat Train. That’s all.