Comments on: Adam Hughes on scheduling

By: Kid Kyoto

Kid Kyoto — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 17:15:57 +0000

Well it’s 5 years later, I think we can say he’s a bit behind schedule.

By: Tom Spurgeon

Tom Spurgeon — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 19:54:17 +0000

Not that I necessarily agree with Jamie Coville, but it should be pointed out that you can have internal deadlines that protect the retail side of things; it’s clearly not a choice between having something put into the sales cycle and not having any deadline at all.

I know plenty of prose writers who have been told, “Have it in by January 10 or you don’t get in the Fall catalog” or “turn in the book and then we’ll see where releasing it makes the most sense” or something similar.

By: David Seidman

David Seidman — Sat, 19 Aug 2006 15:34:42 +0000

Adam makes a good point in that every artist works at his own pace, and what matters most is what he puts on the page. But I should correct an error of fact: “Would you call Neal Adams unprofessional or irresponsible, just because HE never did a monthly book?”

Neal actually did a monthly title a number of times. On his longest run, X-MEN (first series) #56 through #63, he penciled the cover and 20 pages of interior art per issue, and (according to http://www.nealadams.com/comicchecklist.html) plotted the stories as well.

By: J.D. Lombardi

J.D. Lombardi — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 20:25:39 +0000

Again, I wasn’t singling Adam out. I see the man lots at cons. IT was a round-about thing I was getting at.

By: Michael May

Michael May — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 19:04:01 +0000

“I love…LOVE Adam and 99% of his work (hey, no one is perfect) but the only thing that gets my goat is how much time many creators in general are spending on the internet and forums, etc. instead of doing what they’re being paid to do.”

In Adam’s case, I was shocked — SHOCKED, I tell you! — to learn that he’d actually posted something on a forum. Obviously, I don’t know how he spends all of his time, but he’s not known for being online a lot.

Also, I’ve seen the man draw. He achieves his quality by taking plenty of time to work.

By: J.D. Lombardi

J.D. Lombardi — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 15:24:05 +0000

I love…LOVE Adam and 99% of his work (hey, no one is perfect) but the only thing that gets my goat is how much time many creators in general are spending on the internet and forums, etc. instead of doing what they’re being paid to do. Maybe some of the more prolific posters who are also big in the industry would be more “on time” if they unhooked their internet connections…?

Working at home is for the most part awesome. But being your own boss and kicking your own ass to get work done instead of replying to the yahoos on the web (myself included)? That is the tuff one.

By: Hector Lima

Hector Lima — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 12:39:14 +0000

yeah, yeah, not ALL of the WATCHMEN issues shipped late, so what then…
whatever.

Hughes has brilliantly made a very good point AT the Byrne Forum, heheheh

*zinnng* [Special Olympics and all that aside...]

I’m waiting forever for new issues of ALL-STAR SUPERMAN to ship and it’s been worth it. I’d wait forever and another day. see how Hitch’s speed at ULTIMATES has *not* affected general sales at all.

those are concerns that more and more only interest specialty store owners and nobody else, as they live or die by how the Big Two books ship. still, please read the Tom Brevoort comments Heidi reproduced here. ;-)

By: Patman

Patman — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 03:34:37 +0000

As long as the title you’re working on has no ties with other titles in terms of scheduling (i.e. nothing worse then reading a story chapters out of order), take all the time in the world, and the readership you garner is a testament to their willingness (or lack of) to wait for quality work.

By: The Beat

The Beat — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 21:37:25 +0000

Most people don’t do things without deadlines. That’s a fact of life and human psychology.

By: Jamie Coville

Jamie Coville — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 21:29:34 +0000

What I don’t like about the Watchmen and DKR card is them being late didn’t make them better books.

The publisher could have gave the creative team more time to complete the series before soliciting it. Then they would have been the same great books, but done on time.

That’s what publishers should be shooting for.

By: mario boon

mario boon — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 20:20:36 +0000

also, it’s not that if you’re able to do 2 or 3 books a month, you should do 2 or 3 books a month
It’s all about scheduling. I liked the record of the sigil-era of Crossgen: allowing a title 6 weeks to produce and having “relief” artists made for no late comics for a couple of years.

I still have the Infinity Gauntlet series (don’t laugh) and i didn’t notice the change of artist untill i read it again. When you have artists and fill-in artists with very similar styles, you won’t notice the change.
That is: when your story is good to begin with.

By: Mighty Not-Robolizard

Mighty Not-Robolizard — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 20:16:15 +0000

Could this be the end of Spiderman, the teenage superhero growing OLDER and OLDER, and his face being the face of an ENTIRE ART FORM!?… who KNOWS!?

By: Philip Looney

Philip Looney — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 20:06:43 +0000

>>Whatâs wrong with âplaying the Watchmen cardâ??

I know I don’t like it because Civil War and/or AS Wonder Woman will never be as good as Watchmen or a Dark Knight, and probabl won’t stand the test of time that those breakthrough title have.

To site some other “mega crossovers”, how many folks are still talking about how mind-blowingly good Atlantis Attacks or Inferno were?

By: Thom

Thom — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 20:03:09 +0000

“âAll 12 issues of WATCHMAN didnât ship on timeâ?

Thatâs simply not true. IIRC, the first 6 issues shipped on time. #7 was a week late, and after that the delays became more pronounced, a route that Civil War seems to be following unfortunately.”

Actually…that statement is true. Noone meant they were all late, they mean not every issue shipped on time. It might not be a clear statement, but it’s not truely inaccurate to say… I doubt that Adam meant that every issue was late.

By: Matt Lehman

Matt Lehman — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 19:05:05 +0000

“All 12 issues of WATCHMAN didn’t ship on time”

That’s simply not true. IIRC, the first 6 issues shipped on time. #7 was a week late, and after that the delays became more pronounced, a route that Civil War seems to be following unfortunately.

“Anyone care to call Brian Bolland names for being slow? Perhaps KILLING JOKE should have been given to a DC artist who was doing a monthly book, as a reward for productivity.”

I’m not sure what point Hughes trying to make. Virtually no one anticipated Killing Joke to achieve the classic status it now enjoys, so even if it was a few weeks late, it wouldn’t have been a big deal. And it was a one-shot.

Assuming the writer is timely, shouldn’t a project should be scheduled with the artist’s output in mind and then add an extra 10% to the time to be on the safe side? Barring unforseen emergencies, I don’t understand why titles become late. If anything, the high-profile series should have extra scrutiny, just so this sort of debacle won’t occur.

In the case of Watchmen, I recall Moore complaining that the series was solicited before he expected it. Supposedly marketing wanted to fill a hole in the schedule and saw there were several issues completed so they went ahead with the solicitation. If that’s true, then what we have is a failure for two departments to communicate, which might be the case with Civil War for all we know.

I’m looking forward to an All-Star Wonder Woman to be solicited on a monthly basis, whenever Hughes has completed enough issues to make that possible.