Only the other day, a thread on Comicon.com asked Has Jen Contino left THE PULSE? noting that the prolific writer of Comicon’s Pulse newssite had been missing in action on the site, Facebook, and Twitter for quite a while. An email to Comicon.com’s owner Rick Veitch confirmed that Contino and the Pulse had indeed parted ways. In an email, Veitch blamed the tight economy for internet advertising for the move, as some advertisers had failed to pay their bills, and advertising for the site could no longer support Contino’s salary. He added that a statement was forthcoming.
Contino launched the Pulse in July 2002 — along with this writer, to make full disclosure. It was also the first home of this very blog, and the only reason it’s called the Beat is because Veitch thought it would be a good fit for the name The Pulse.
In 2002 Newsarama (which had recently left Comicon) and CBR were the only sites covering comics news, and the Pulse initially broke out of the gate as one of the leading news sites in the comics news field, with in-depth coverage of the exciting Jemas years at Marvel, the Miracleman trial and other big stories of the time. However, as the internet, the comics internet, and Nerdtopia grew and grew and big media moved into the space, it was pretty obvious that the Pulse was dropping off many people’s radar — their stories had ceased to get linked to or quoted much, with a few exceptions.
The problems at The Pulse reflect some of the problems in the wider economy and internet. It’s notable that one of Comicon/the Pulse’s biggest advertisers was formerly Gemstone, the publishing arm of Steve Geppi’s Diamond empire. Gemstone itself has had a lot of financial problems and debts, as has Geppi, although it is not believed they directly affect Diamond’s financials. However, the idea that Gemstone wasn’t paying their bills for an internet advertising campaign just adds to the picture of troubling times for all.
As for Contino, she has confirmed she is no longer working at the Pulse, but had no further comment.
“Miracleman trial?”
Are you referring to Neil Gaiman’s legal complaint against Todd McFarlane? That was a copyright ownership dispute over Medieval Spawn, Angela, and Cogliostro (I’m kinda glad I’m not longer sure how to spell that character’s name.
Miracleman snuck into the fray because it was part of an alleged ownership trade between both parties–McFarlane’s supposed 2/3 ownership of MM in trade for any of Gaiman’s ownership rights in the characters and stories he co-created for TMP.
When the particulars of the trade went awry, Gaiman sued and reclaimed his rights to the Spawn characters. Because part of the outcome of the trial was that the earlier trade was declared null and void.
Because no contracts were ever signed between the two parties for the work done, it fell back onto US copyright law which says that a co-creator owns his portion of the work unless he or she assigns those rights elsewhere.
So this is the current status as far as I know. (As I am thankfully no longer being a part of this flying circus)
Gaiman owns 50% of Medieval Spawn, Angela, and Cogliostro. He owns 50% of Spawn #9 and Spawn #26 (I think that is the issue)plus the Angela mini-series. (That’s why you tend not see these stories reprinted here or overseas. TMP would owe Gaiman 50% of the revenue generated from the reprintings).
As far as I know, none of these things have changed at all in recent years.
The MM part of the legal drama has migrated elsewhere.
Jen was one of the first press professional I worked with back when I was a junior editor at Tokyopop. I always admired Jen’s passion and knowledge and the support she gave to creators who would often fall through the cracks of the other big sites. Plus, she was one of the earliest supporters of manga. I hope she finds a new outlet for her voice.
“Wither Comicon”?
Do you mean “whither,” or are you making commentary?
kdb
A problem with Comicon is the boards. Same 20 guys posting there for the last 5 years, and still making the same arguments. If you can’t have a place to make reasonable (or even semi-reasonable) discussions, people will drift away. Plus some at the boards delight in driving creators away from the site.
I have always thought Contino was a good writer. Too bad she couldn’t find a place with a bigger audience.
I would not be an interviewer today, were it not for Jen Contino’s encouragement. She’s one the good folks in this industry. Wherever she goes next, they’ll be fortunate to have her. Good luck, Jen.
She could still find such a place. CBR or Newsarama should scoop her up, post haste. Or Comics Alliance, maybe.
Oh man. Best wishes to Jen.
I used to post at the Pulse, but yeah the stories were not as up to date anymore, and the discussions were lacking. But I had thought it would remain.
I first read about you, Jen and the Pulse in one of the comic book mags. And then when the net exploded, it was one of the first places I joined.
Like Corey says, hopefully one of the places named could pick her up and she’s not soured on comic books in general, just the bad economy and all.
Gemstone vastly overextended itself. Right about when Geppi’s Entertainment Museum opened up, Gemstone went from being a fairly reliable payer to one that had to be invoiced multiple times. Eventually they stopped paying altogether, first the freelancers and printers, and eventually the bulk of the employees were first reduced in hours, then let go altogether. The whole thing was very disappointing and frustrating. They remain the only company that has ever outright stiffed me as a freelancer. (Which makes me fairly fortunate, all things considered.)
I wish Ms Contino good fortune and happy landings.
Jen’s has always supported all of my endeavors.
And for that…I’ll be eternally thankful.
I’m sorry to see this end of an era.
I pray for many wonderful things in her future.
Jen was one of the first people in the online comics press that I dealt with–and one of the first that was willing to cover some of the oddball stuff I (even more a complete unknown then than I am now) was working on. I’m sad to see her leave the blogosphere. I wish her all the best in whatever she gets up to next!
Jen Contino was always willing to give my publishing endeavours a little exposure on the Pulse. For that, I will be eternally grateful
DML
Hoping she pops up again soon.
Aw, that’s bad news. I remember being a major reader of that site. That’s how I came to read the Beat. I must admit it completely fell off my radar. I hope all goes well for Jen and anyone else involved.
Had been noticing for a while that her output was getting less and less, and had thought about writing and asking her about it, but now we all know why. Hope she finds a new home for her work soon. Until then she will be missed.
I wasn’t even aware that Comicon was still going. I have a vague memory of checking it a couple of years ago and as someone else said, it was the same five crankpots having the same five arguments.
Jen has always been great and I know she’ll land on her feet. I hope to hear from her soon.
Great talent never disappears for long.
Good luck.
Jen’s really one of the good guys… err… gals in this industry — especially in regards to supporting a lot of independent and up-and-coming creators. Here’s to hoping that she’ll be popping-up somewhere in the field of comic journalism again soon…
Hopefully, we’ll see Jen talking comics somewhere else real soon.
Like Dirk said, Jen is one of the good people in the industry. I hope she gets scooped up by another news site (with money) because times are indeed very hard. The Pulse has always been on my list of comic sites and some of my books have been featured there. I hope Jen is doing okay.
Also, thanks for that tidbit of trivia in regard to The Beat’s name origin.
You’re right, The Beat and The Pulse make for great sister site names.
Best wishes to Jen! Hope she moves on to new great things!
This really sucks on a personal level for me to hear. Jen Contino is and has been a very upstanding lady, as well as one of my very first real supporters within the comics industry as I’ve struggled to break in. We’ve not talked as much as we used too in the last few months and while I’ve noticed the content of The Pulse slipping, I don’t really think that can be blamed on Jen so much. Up until the recent stopping point, she’d kept a pretty steady stream of content on the site. I don’t want to speculate on why or how things came to this, with Jen being owed so much back pay because while I have my theories, I don’t want to stir up trouble for anyone on pure theory. I’ve followed Jen and her site since back before I even knew her personally back in the early ’00’s. As much as sites like Newsarama, CBR, and Bleeding Cool have risen to prominence today, Jen was running her site extremely well for a very, very long period of time without pandering and shilling too much for the big two. She even had Warren Ellis writing columns for her at one point or another. She clearly knows what she’s doing. Even in the latter days of The Pulse, she worked pretty hard to keep the ship afloat and was a big supporter of indie, small press, and up and coming comic guys like myself.
Back around ‘06 or ‘07, Jen and I got to know each other and she began showing an interest in my book Love Buzz, (Now published by Oni Press after all these years. *plug plug*) and she asked me if I was interested in running a column for the site to interview other indie and small press creators and give their work a bigger forum to show off on. Through that column, I made a lot of the friends and buisness contacts I’ve made to get me to where I am now, and I owe it all to Jen. If not for her support, I’d have most likely given up on comics years ago and gotten a “real” job. I’ll forever be in her debt and I know she’ll eventually land on her feet in whatever she does from here. I just wish like hell there was something I could do to for her that would come anywhere near repaying for her support.
She’s a tough lady though. I know she’ll land on her feet.
Hmm, Heidi and Jen… surely there could be a connection to be made…
Jen is great! I know she had alot of great story ideas of her own, maybe she should leave commentary behind and persue a passion she’s had bubbling inside! Go Jen!
Go Jen, indeed. One of the best.
Chiming in to say that Jen is great, she was really lovely to me as a dorky teen. God, haven’t spoken to her in ages.
I’m sure she’ll find work – any good comics site would be ridiculous not to snap her up.
As a regular comicon poster, I always enjoyed Jen’s work on the Pulse. Rick has indeed confirmed he couldn’t hang onto her during these challenging financial times. As with everyone else, I give her my best wishes and look forward to more of Jen’s work in the future.
Jen has always been sweet to me. Good luck, Jen!
Count me in as someone who will miss Jen on the Pulse, and wish her well on a bright future.
Jen’s one of the most positive people I’ve ever come across in this business. It didn’t matter if she was interviewing a jaded 30-year comics veteran or some up-and-coming teenager promoting her first webcomic, she approached each interview and feature with the same unbridled enthusiasm.
Compare that with the tone of just about every other online reviewer or interviewer, and you realize just what a refreshing approach Jen has.
I’m really sorry to hear this.
As everyone else is saying, Jen has a relentlessly positive attitude about comics and the people who make them. I hope she lands on her feet somewhere in or around the comics industry — and soon.
That’s sad to hear; Jen was a great supporter of inkers, and always checked in on me. I’ll miss her!