In his post "Hiring Policies At DC," Ryan @ Comics Fodder brings up ther topic of the submissions process and how fear of lawsuits might have curtailled it in the comic book industry:
"For most of my life, it was believed you sent scripts to some submissions department at DC and Marvel, and somebody might read the script and give some talented, lucky kid a shot. Of course, all of that was managed by technology. You had to: (a) write the story (b) get the story on a type writer (which meant typing, which used to be considered a skill) (c) presumably photocopy the script so you'd have a copy and one for the publisher (d) Place it in the mail (e) Hope for a phone call but expect a rejection letter"
Sometime around 2001/2002, somebody at DC Comics discovered that there were literally piles upon piles of unanswered submissions lying around their offices. Many of the editors simply didn't want to or didn't have the time to answer the submissions, so they were stashed, unopened, under desks, in file cabinets, etc.
When they were finally collected, they filled at least one entire large metal dumpster cart. I think that might have been from just one editor's office alone.
A skilled member of DC's staff was chosen to spearhead the clean-up effort and get those months and possibly years of unopened submissions answered. Me.
The unofficial "rejections editor" was instructed to send out one of several form letters rejecting the submissions. There were no "acceptance" letters, just rejections.
All self-addressed stamped envelopes and unused postage of any kind were to be returned to the sender, as well as any original plots or other writing. Why the return of the original writing? So the submitters couldn't sue DC for any similar characters or plotlines that might have been created.
Apparently, some of the DC higher-ups were absolutely furious that those submissions had piled up like they did. As a direct result of the "great submissions shame," DC officially changed their policy to "no outside submissions." This, given the circumstances, seemed fair.
I once found a submission that Cry For Dawn creator Joseph Michael Linsner sent for a possible Batman/Dawn crossover in the unopened submissions pile. After briefly bringing it to the attention of my boss, I took the pinup print that was sent of Dawn & Batman and hung it up on my office wall. It would have been thrown away with all the others if I didn't.
Mike Park, in the late Seventies, visited DC with art samples, including an original page of comic art featuring a character he created named Nemesis. Nemesis was unique for a superhero in that he did not wear a costume, just civilian clothes with a trademark turtleneck. The art director at the time, Vince Colletta, thought Park's art was too "underground" in style for DC, but thought he had a great concept with Nemesis.
In 1980, a character named Nemesis debuted in The Brave and the Bold. He was unique for a superhero in that he did not wear a costume, just civilian clothes with a trademark turtleneck. There were allegedly other similarities in the B&B story to the comic story Park had shown DC, specifically regarding a helicopter, but I couldn't really comment in that unless I both read the comics in question & looked at the art again.
Anyway, when Nemesis hit the stands in 1980, Park immediately recognized it as his character. But he had never thought of bringing it up to DC. "I was just too small a fish," he explained to me. But he dutifully collected every appearance of Nemesis, and to this day quietly considers it "his" character.
Park is digging the Nemesis sample out of storage so I can have another look at it & scan it & post it.
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Stuff like that is weird: I've seen tons of synchronicity in my (definately) unstolen stuff & the internet. I chalk it up to being part of "my milieu" & figure that if me & the dudes I respect have similar sources, backgrounds, influences, than no wonder.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time shady stuff does go on.
Tricky.
I recently joked to Keith Champagne when he told me about his upcoming creator-owned book "The Mighty" that he had essentially stolen all his ideas from me, since a team called "The Mighty" was something I had put up on DeviantArt and that the concept was "superheroes in the real world" as I had done with Lightbringer. I was just joking, of course, but when it happens in the actual industry it does raise a few eyebrows.
ReplyDeleteI've never been the legitimate victim of company theft. What I mean by that is there was this period in the 90s where I was doing my own little BS comics that only a handful of locals read, and a lot of the stories and events that were done were similar to what I had already done, but I never submitted anything to be stolen from. (Although, considering how FONDLY the 90s are regarded, I dunno if that's something I should admit very freely). I always feel that if I do similar stuff to the pros, that just means I'm on the right track. It also means that if I'm ever in a position to bring that stuff to the masses *I* end up the theif.
ReplyDeleteMy only submissions were to Marvel back when I thought I was an artist, and my rejection letters were tailored specifically to my submissions, so I'm kinda glad I didn't get the complete form letter treatment then. Although, I kinda wish they stole my Green Goblin redesign, 'cause I think mine was 100x better than the crappy Goblin armor that popped up in Spectacular.
At a comic con this past summer, I approached Dan Didio (who, however anyone might feel about him, is very approachable to DC fans) with what I thought was a joke ripping on Marvel's Spider-Man: One More Day nonsense. What I said to him was:
ReplyDelete"Hey, what if Superman found a way to bring Krypton back, but had to lose a loved one to do it?"
He looked at me very seriously and said, "Don't say another word."
I was confused and thought he must be joking, but when I continued, he said, "Really, I know you're joking, but I can't listen to what you're saying."
He even put his hands over his ears. I'm not sure if it was because I was correctly guessing the big fall/winter event in the Superman titles (which is the reason he gave when he apologized later for shushing me) or if he was afraid I might accuse DC of stealing my idea (which is doubtful, since the scripts would have long since been finished).
Anyway, thanks for the insider view as to why DC Comics no longer accepts unsolicited outside submissions.
You know, for a brief halcyon period in the 1980s, DC and Marvel had New Talent coordinators and you could submit stuff to them. And I think one of the stipulations was that if you're a writer you couldn't send anything to do with any existing character.
ReplyDeleteIt obviously didn't work because I think the practice was dead within 2 or 3 years. But while I see the reasoning why they can't receive unsocilicited material, there must be some way of encouraging some kind of a slush pile, and permitting some kind of way of pitching that doesn't run afoul of a potential lawsuit. I think there's a lot of talented writers and artists out there who could use a way in that doesn't involve producing a TV series, writing an indie comic or going to every convention known to humanity.
I was the New Talent Editor at Marvel in 1990. My qualifications for the job were as follows: I showed up to the first day of my internship, and I could stuff a rejection letter in an envelope.
ReplyDeleteThey're still getting new writers and artists from somewhere, though.
ReplyDeleteThis was fascinating. Also depressing. But good to know.
ReplyDeleteI feel bad for Park, but I hope he felt vindicated in some way, especially if he was collecting the issues. His idea was pretty awesome anyway.