>The impression he is giving to some is
>he can't keep his monthly commitment (though the commitment is
>"implied"). That can turn off some who only collect comics.
But see, this is where it gets to the part that pisses me off.
Lemme put this into perspective here for a moment, okay?
I began writing and selling when I was 17 years old. Fresh outta high school.
I have been writing, and selling, for 30 years. In all those 30 years, I have
never missed a deadline...until this past summer, when I got gang-deadlined.
And, as I write this, I'm now on schedule with the scripts for Rising Stars,
and I'm 2 scripts ahead with both Midnight Nation and Spider-Man. It was a
momentary glitch. And in the course of that glitch, ASM was only delayed a few
weeks, coming out 6 weeks after the one preceding in one case, with the one
thereafter appearing 7 weeks later instead of 4-5. The main hit was to the
Joe's Comics titles, where I figure I have some latitude.
It just grinds my butt that here I meet all my deadlines for 30 years, never
missing a beat, and because of this one glitch, now regained, I've had people
bitching about how I should give up the book, how I'm alluvasudden
unprofessional....
So may I take it that those involved have never been late for work, ever? Have
never had to say to the wife and kids, "Listen, I know I promised we'd go to
the beach this weekend, but I'm loaded up with work, we'll have to do it
later."
They demand a perfection in others they do not require of themselves. And
that's the part that galls. I've been meeting my deadlines on time for longer
than most of these people have been *alive*.
Thirty years of punctual work and it's all dismissed because of one situation
like this, which in the case of ASM meant a difference of only 2-3 weeks
apiece.
Let he who has never, ever missed a deadline or had to postpone something give
me shit about it. Otherwise, I have 29 and a half years on 'em.
jms
(jmsatb5@aol.com)
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permission to reprint specifically denied to SFX Magazine
and don't send me story ideas)