People hate my boss…
People hate my boss… , Scott Rosenberg, probably because they can’t stand when the New York Times thinks he’s a “Comic Genius” in today’s article.
Now, for all intents and purposes I call him my boss, because his signature is on my checks. I’ve been working with Platinum Studios in a FULL production mode on my comic, Hero By Night, for well over one year now. I think it’s actually the ONLY title they have that has more than a year’s worth of content under it’s belt. Shortly after I won that contest, many things changed within Platinum, to the point where some have called it Platinum 2.0– as actual comics are being published, and we’re ramping up even bigger and bigger as we go with things in that realm. While the focus is usually on battering Platinum’s name over the Cowboys and Aliens stuff, I’ve pretty much noticed the kinds of people who get up and arms about Platinum, and who have had beef with Rosenberg going back over 20 years and have never let past things go.
I remember last year they were trying desperately to link to an old article about a failed business plan he had 20 years ago. Obviously, someone these people know felt they were burned back then or something, because each time when the heat gets heavy, they start linking to it, like “SEE! LOOK AT THIS! TOLD YA!” — but it makes them look like petty nothings.
I call this crowd of bloggers and talkers the “Fantagraphics Crowd”– I include some webcomic talkers in it too, as they often tag team up to bash Platinum or Rosenberg. In fact within seconds of the name “Scott Rosenberg” hitting their google alerts email, you have the VP of Fantagraphics posting an article on the Fantagraphics Blog. No doubt, their buddy Dirk Deppey will be posting links to it on Monday, and another round of Platinum bashing will TRY to begin. And you know what, I really don’t care…. but the thing that DOES bother me….
As they cry and moan about LAZY journalists, and how Rosenberg can be in the NY Times on a the drop of a dime, or sell movie pitches without a printed book… they themselves are pretty lazy journalists.
In Eric Reynolds blog, the VP of Fantagraphics states:
“Lazy journalists are the only reason that Platinum even exists; despite working in the comics business for nearly two decades, I’ve never heard Platinum’s comics discussed by anyone in the industry, or even in fan circles.”
Obviously Eric hasn’t been listening lately, or he’s running in the wrong fan circles, because over the year, there have been tons of great reviews for Hero By Night, which is a Platinum Studios title. Maybe he didn’t know that? And he contradicts himself in general, because if he’s never heard anyone DISCUSS Platinum’s comics, he must not be reading many blogs around the net, or those google alerts he has setup when they come in. — It might do him some good, to actually pick up a few and check them out now, since many exist. The one thing about Platinum comics as a whole that I’ve noticed is, while one book like Cowboys and Aliens might not be your cup of tea, you can find a lot of variety in the books they’re putting out– Van Lente has written a bunch of their titles so far, and theyre worth checking out. I dig “The Weapon” –
I don’t know why I take some of this stuff personally when it hits my ears. Maybe it’s because, unlike these dudes who haven’t had the chance to work with Rosenberg of the fine folks at Platinum Studios, I can tell you that I’ve learned a lot from the guy in this past year. I might have had that “cry fowl and blog about it!” sort of attitude, or the “you HAVE to respond” — but just talking with Scott on the phone would put a new perspective on things, and most of all, in the GRAND scheme of things that all the chatter, really means nothing. It’s who can deliver.
When I started with Platinum in July of 2006, the noise online was “Platinum hasnt even published a book!” — Which did make me nervous, but at least I had a good contract… then Platinum started publishing books, and on their FIRST one, the people whined, other people who had graphic novels who were upset Platinum beat them in the charts.– Then that died down– Platinum started full production of their books… some in my opinion, good, others great, and some are bad– but it seems to me once the books started coming out, the haters lost that one key complaint– because suddenly Platinum was putting out more than 40 books this year. And now, not only that, but announcing an ongoing series (which I’m doing as we speak) –
They paint Scott Rosenberg to be this evil monster in Hollywood just looking to get his hands on your intellectual property, but for those who think that, let me remind you of these facts…. the only things he’s SOLD that are getting big buzz, came from concepts HE thought up. And I’m an example of someone who they acquired the rights to my Hero By Night, but did they can it? Did they do any of the diabolical things the haters out there would lead you to believe? No. They pay me to produce my work, publish my work, and not only that they let me run the show and one of the most important things to Rosenberg himself is that MY VISION be what’s put on paper. They let me handle the comic book end, I’ll let them handle the Hollywood end. Obviously, they’re good at that.
In one of the first 2 hour conversations on the phone I had with Scott Rosenberg– he told me that if an editor ever wanted to change something that I wanted to keep in, to fight for it. He wanted the book to be MY vision. — Later on in the year, even to the smallest aspect when someone had blurred the background of my issue 2 cover to give the cover an effect, I said I didn’t care for it to my edit— Scott called me on the phone apologetic and said they would reprint the whole print run and send a new batch to retailers or try to stop the old batch. It wasn’t worth that to me, it was just a small minor thing that I hadn’t expected to see, but Scott was willing to move mountains just to make that ONE little thing for me right. That says a lot to me. To the haters out there– I’d tell em to can it. Your responses or yammerings all end up looking like you have an axe to grind, or you’re just jealous that this guy can go sell things.
But yeah, people hate my boss. I don’t suppose that’s going to change anytime soon.
But it’s like ROsenberg said at the end of that NY Times article: “The bloggers can holler all they want. “As far as we’re concerned,” Rosenberg says, “it’s more buzz.”
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Your boss is a dishonest scumwad who owes me over three thousand dollars for comics my company shipped to him in 1986 & 1987. Just as he stiffed many other publishers for far more -hundreds of thousands of dollars to be sure.
Defend him all you want. We know the truth about his character. We were there.
I deleted the Jack Kirby impersonator from Canada. You should be ashamed of yourself. As for you M Lusk, Maybe you should ellaborate more on who you are and what company you were? I’ve never heard of this story until NOW. When I asked Scott about that 20 year old article to his face, he told me he told me it was a failed business, and he moved on– he didn’t have as much experience then. I don’t know much about that period of time, but I do know the things he’s done since.
But it is very enlightening to FINALLY see what the axe to grind is… pretty petty seeing as how it’s over 20 years ago. — As far as you knowing his character 20 years ago, I can’t say. I can only speak of the man today and the things he’s done since Malibu, and my OWN personal dealings with him. Maybe he learned a lot from the past— but he also helped Image Comics get going under his Malibu Comics, gave them anything they needed.
So please, if you want to speak further about things from 20 years ago, at least say who you are, what company you were with, and how exactly you think you were done wrong? I don’t think anything you can say, can erase Scott’s explaination to me though… he was young, and it was a business that failed. He moved on to other things….
[...] I awoke to check my email and saw I had a reply from JACK KIRBY on my blog post about people hating my boss, Scott Rosenberg. — Wait a minute, it wasn’t Jack Kirby at all, it was some douchebag [...]
“they themselves are pretty lazy journalists.
In Eric Reynolds blog, the VP of Fantagraphics.”
Eric’s been promoted? or else this is some more sloppy journalism . . .
It makes you feel good to limit your critics to the “fantagraphics crowd” — but the criticism goes FAR beyond that - once again, you need to get your facts straight . . .
Oh, sorry, I read somewhere ELSE that he was the VP. But again, I’m not a so called “journalist” — had any of those journalists ever thought to actually interview Scott Rosenberg about these things they accuse him of? Or probably the technical facts don’t add up to him being some maniacal bad guy you all paint him to be.
/shrug, i’d ignore it all dj. i mean honestly, what the Fark? if they have a real position on him stealing money, then why in god’s name didn’t they take it to court if it was so shattering to them financially? just lame bickering that sounds like high school nonsense to me. Dj, you keep doing the good work and ignore these wack jobs that apparently have nothing better to do. “The Internetz: where crazy comes to your door daily!”
Oh yeah– it doesn’t BOTHER me really. This is just my blog where I can think about or write about whatever i want and this was on my mind, because while they criticize in THEIR “circles” , I can assure them there are other circles that say this makes them look like petty twits and anonymous morons who dont have a leg t ostand on.
I just find the whole thing fascinating with the long time hatred of my boss, and axes from 20 years ago being constantly ground– while his successes keep piling up. I can understand their bitterness I guess… awh well!
DJ,
We have never met. I have never met your boss, nor have I ever had any dealings with any company he has been involved with. I do not work for Fanta , nor do I have any love for Groth and company.
I am just a fan of comics in general. One of those people that Platinum is ultimately trying to sell comics too. Someone who goes to the comic shop almost twice a week and reads comics news sites and blogs with an almost compulsive obsession.
I say all of this because I don’t want you to think anything I have to say is motivated by anything more than my desire to help with an outside perspective.
The biggest criticism people have with Platinum is that making comics seems like a secondary or tertiary concern for them. I have never seen your comic in stores. I have never read a review for your comic. In fact, I have never read any positive reviews of your book or any other Platinum book. I never see previews of Platinum books posted online. I don’t remember seeing Platinum set up at any conventions.
I recognize that there may be plenty of examples of these things, but the point is that I don’t recall ANY of it. If anything, the only things I have seen or read about Platinum is stuff about Scott and stories of market manipulation to generate “buzz” on a comic I still have never seen.
In fact, I have never seen a Platinum comic in any stores…ever. Not in any comic shops or any book stores.
Granted, I didn’t know to look for them, but I literally have never seen a single copy of a single book - which is why so many people laugh at the mention of Platinum as a “publisher”.
The lack of presence in the comics community, the lack of visible promotion, and the lack of visibility in stores just reinforces the perception that your boss isn’t trying to create a successful line of comics. He isn’t producing comics… he is producing “buzz”. It seems like he is simply chasing the elusive dream of continually selling properties to Hollywood - which is an absurd business model - especially when the media side is the foundation for the company.
I am telling you all of this because you seem like an OK guy. I respect your loyalty to your boss. I just don’t want you to have your blinders on regarding how people perceive Platinum.
It isn’t a grand conspiracy. It isn’t just 20-year old grudges (that I don’t understand). It isn’t snobbery. It isn’t bitterness.
Just my fanboy perspective.
Annie.
Well I appreciate that, Annie– If you were ever curious, there have been several reviews of Hero By Night online, just use Google to find some: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&rls=GGLD%2CGGLD%3A2007-03%2CGGLD%3Aen&q=%22Hero+By+Night%22%2Breview&btnG=Search
Our book wasn’t EVERYWHERE, but the places it did go, it sold well for retailers or was quite a surprise. While not a poor reflection on other Platinum books, Hero By Night has been the only title with consistent praise and critical acclaim. Not to sound big headed there, if it reads that way, it’s not meant that way, in fact it’s been a humbling experience. — It was because of all the reviews and fanfare that Platinum put us on an ongoing schedule coming up here. — Is publishing comics Platinums MAIN goal? No, probably not– there’s not much money at all to be had, and to some it is a lottery mentality of “throw as many concepts at the wall and see what sticks for a media deal” — and that might be what the bulk of it is, or the prior business plan was… but yeah, it’s a bit different now.
As or Scott Rosenberg himself, I don’t defend him JUST because he’s my boss. I defend him for who I know he is now, and for things he’s taught me as a friend. Sure, he IS a magnet for this bad PR within the comic book world or online comic blogs—- I never really considered that someone would decide not to check out a book because of accusations on a blog. I hope that’s not the case, and i hope people would be open enough to actually check out a Platinum Comic book if they come across it. IN a lot of a ways, even though Platinum as a company has been around for 10 years, they are JUST starting the comics publishing side of things, and with good NEW people running the show. People like Sean Oreilly from Arcana Comics, and Dan Forcey inside Platinum—
So yeah, I don’t give a shit what happened 20 years ago. I care about what’s going on TODAY. For any “journalists” out there who keep driving speculation on ROsenberg, I encourage them to go get an interview with the guy one on one and get HIS side of the story if you can. That’s all.
But YES. Platinum IS producing COMICS. And lots of em. Please don’t believe otherwise, and a quick search on google could have shown that to anyone.
Probably didn’t see Hero by night in the shop, because ..well to be honest, the comics industry has been floundering for a bit now in the publishing side. Most shops don’t stock all the new stuff out there. They tend to stick with what sells, and if someone asks they’ll order. It’d be bad business wise for most small comic shops to go out of their way and buy up copies of all the new titles out there and just ‘hope they get lucky’ and sell them. That kind of business philosophy usually ends poorly. That’s why Dj has impressed me over the last 5 or 6 years i’ve been watching his works. I’ve never seen someone so involved in making sure the work gets out there and yeah he might come across as a bit of an ego, but c’mon I sure as hell would if after 10+ yrs of busting ass, my baby project was finally getting some movement. The standard comic industry bit itself in the arse during the early 90s in my opinion. A lot of people my age (just turning 30…eep) started getting into comics and then it slammed us with commercialized hack crap for a long time. It killed my interest in comics back then. In fact, i’ve read more foreign comics (japanese, things like lone wolf and cub) in the past 10yrs than i have american ones. The few exceptions being anything Garth Ennis does and well…mr. coffman himself more recently.
As far as these grudges go, i just think it’s lame. Bickering like this only serves to weaken the industry as a whole in the eyes of outsiders. I’d bet a fair sum of monies that if DJ got screwed by em he’d be suing someone’s pants off pretty quickly considering how important his work and vision is to him. Which is my whole problem with them picking on Rosenberg. If you had a real financial loss (slang: screwed us over…) then where’s the legal action? if it was worth bitching about, i’d hope it’s worth fighting for it legally. meh whatever, off i go to do something semi-constructive…like drawing hawt girls….wooo
I find it odd that someone that keeps with the Comics News online can’t at least once in a while find something of Platinum. I could care less about 20 year old grudges that do in fact feel petty, no matter how wronged some people might have been it seems to me that if you don’t for whatever reason say who you are, what exactly was done to you, then you’re really just looking to rant and not really going anywhere with it which is ultimately pointless.
As far as Platinum being at the store… it astounds me that some people don’t see it but as DJ said, it wasn’t everywhere, we did get it HERE and here is Portugal. Now we only have a good Comic Shop that isn’t actually one, but i think that if we can get it, pretty much everyone over there can. I didn’t come to know Hero by Night when i stumbled into it at the store, i read about it online, and since then Comics like The Weapon and Ghosting, both by Fred Van Lente, have had pretty good coverage i think and deservedly so since they are both good books.
As far as “journalists” go… well, why would we even want to pay attention?
Thanks Miguel. It’s definitely how people want to “spin” conversations.
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