(Comic Books) The Crossgen saga has turned into a story that just keeps on giving, hasn't it? For those of you just tuning in: a week ago, artist Robin Riggs posted to a mailing-list for comic-book inkers alleging that he'd had some business difficulties with Crossgen. Specifically:
- That he'd been guilt-tripped into inking covers and interior art for several issues of The First without signing a contract for the job.
- That he'd been unceremoniously yanked from midway through the job, but was assured he would still get paid for the work turned in. He still hadn't seen a contract, despite multiple assurances that he would, and claims that he hasn't to this day.
- That a month or so later, he heard thirdhand "that art director Bart Sears has called all Crossgen freelancers to explain their cashflow problems and to promise full payment in 45 days." Having never received such a call, he called Crossgen assistant art director Rick Magyar, with whom he'd been working, and asked why he'd never received such a call. He was later contacted by Michelle Pugliase and assured that his check would be cut by July 30th.
- In the last week of July he began seeing both preview art for The First #34 and cover art for The First #35 popping up online to promote the series, despite the fact that he had never signed a contract assigning the rights to his work to Crossgen. On July 31st he emailed Ms. Pugliase to inquire as to whether the promised payment had been sent. He received neither reply nor payment.
Riggs reiterated his claims on Broken Frontier's message board, where he was joined by artist Lewis Larosa, who noted that he'd likewise had difficulties both in getting paid and in getting an explanation as to why the payment was being delayed.
Three days ago, Crossgen's director of marketing and communications, Bill Rosemann, issued a statement to The Pulse in an attempt to diffuse the growing public-relations bungle, which included the following:
"As we've previously announced, CrossGen is currently participating in an investment round for product expansion, which we expect will be concluded shortly. During this time, some outside sources that owe us significant money haven't delivered as they were contracted to, which has impacted our activities. While we're waiting for these funds to come in, art director Bart Sears has contacted nearly every single CrossGen freelancer -- while Mark Alessi has personally talked with over 20 creators -- explaining that everyone (even the three creators who were recently removed from assignments due to unsatisfactory work and blown delivery dates) will be paid in full as soon as is possible. We apologize for this delay in payment, and we greatly appreciate the patience and professionalism of our freelance creators. As we're arranging payment, Mark welcomes any CrossGen freelancer to call him if they have any additional questions or concerns."
Let the record show that at no point did Rosemann directly answer any of the allegations put forth by Riggs. When called out on the seeming slam on creators who've complained in public about the situation, he responded in the comments thread by stating, "My sincere apologies if my choice of words came across as an attack on anyone's reputation." Note that this isn't an apology for what he said, only how other people might have interpreted it.
Needless to say, the story continued to build up steam, and on Wednesday The Pulse contacted Riggs and Larosa for their reactions. Here's part of Larosa's statement:
"I don't know if Rosemann meant to include me in the jab about the quality of some freelance work, but when I first began to ask about the delinquent payments back in may I was worried that they simply were not happy with my work, but the Art Director assured me that they looked great. I was even being told there was a strong possibility they'd want me down there next year as a full time employee.
"All this being said, I mean no ill will towards the company and all the nice, uber talented people that work down there. Those creators deserve all the success in the world. I do not want anyone to boycott crossgen or bash them. in fact, I encourage everyone to give their books a shot. NEGATION and PATH are two of my favorites. This matter is simply about communication, honesty, and being able to keep a roof over our heads and food on our tables."
The same day, Comic Book Resources' Beau Yarbrough spoke to Crossgen publisher Mark Alessi about the situation, who responded with much the same variety of weasel words issued by Rosemann. Then there was this bit:
"Alessi said the move was an attempt on their part to force the company's hand.
" 'Certain people thought they'd be paid immediately by making it public, and that's not going to happen,' he said, noting that they will be paid on the same schedule as the rest of the company's freelancers and creditors. 'If the three people who have raised the issue [in public] told the whole story, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
" 'If they had enough courage to come forward -- which was really blackmail -- they should have the courage to tell the whole story. ... They weren't protecting anyone, they were blackmailing.' "
Quite an allegation, eh? Needless to say, the hole Alessi found himself within got considerably deeper after this, prompting him to return to CBR the next day and clarify his remarks. The same page has now been updated, with Alessi's clarification at the top -- after some suitably empathic words about how he felt his unpaid creators' pain, Alessi got down to explaining what he meant by "blackmail":
"Some people intimated that if we didn't pay them, they were going to go public. In good conscience and in good faith, I was not about to allow that kind of suggestive approach to change the parameters we were using to try and cover as many people as effectively as possible during this time where we were tightening our belts. So, if you basically make it clear you're going to go public unless you're paid, and I know that there's a lot of other people who are quietly and professionally doing their job, who've worked for us for a long time, and have respected the way we pay generally within a week or two of submitting work, I'm not going to put you ahead of them. You're going to go into the same group and I'm going to do the best I can to pay everyone involved, but threatening me, or the company, won't change your position or change the process we're going through to try and compensate everyone fairly. If they felt they needed to go public, then certainly that was their right, but there's a lot of people who could've gone public and didn't. Most of them, I think, didn't because we personally contacted them, we didn't leave them wondering what the situation was. We got in touch with them in advance in most cases, if not all."
Again: note that at no point have any of the charges leveled by Robin Riggs even been acknowledged, let alone refuted. Furthermore, the fact that few others have complained is pretty meaningless once you realize that non-disclosure agreements are by most accounts standard issue in Crossgen contracts -- complaining after having signed one could lead to a lawsuit, and Alessi's public persona certainly suggests that of someone who easily feels betrayed. Would you complain under such circumstances?
To the extent that there's a story here, late payment to its creators is secondary at best; in the current market, smaller comics publishers whose cashflow issues occasionally result in late payments to creators are fairly common, and most creators seem to acknowledge this, even if they don't particularly like it. Far more important are the charges the company has done business with those it employs in a less than upfront fashion -- charges which it still has yet to really address. This isn't just bad public relations, but a potentially thorny issue that could come back to haunt the company again and again when it deals with writers and artists down the road. Late payment is one thing; negotiating in bad faith (the contracts issue) and conspicuously bad-mouthing people who complain about shabby treatment are another matter altogether. When freelancers consider working for Crossgen in the future, this little episode is likely to be among the first things that comes to mind when making their decision. Mark Alessi has a problem here, and his feeble attempts at damage control, far from helping, have only fanned the flames. If there's more than a grain of truth to the allegations Riggs and Larosa have made, Alessi needs to do two things:
- Apologize to Riggs and Larosa. This is really Alessi's jacks-or-better to open; lashing out the way Rosemann and Alessi have is astonishingly unprofessional behavior, and Crossgen risks being irrevocably cast as a nasty collection of bastards willing to turn on employees who have the temerity to complain when screwed. Rosemann and Alessi's statements that "nearly" everyone was contacted only lends creedence to Riggs and Larosa's contention that they were not, and that attempts to contact Crossgen were met with stonewalling. If this is the case, then their decision to go public with the matter was perfectly understandable. If it isn't, Crossgen's waffling is inexplicable on the face of it.
- Admit whether or not work was comissioned without the proper contracts signed, and if so, acknowledge that this was a mistake and that practices will be put in place to ensure that business will be conducted on the up-and-up in the future. This is so fucking obvious that Alessi has to be the dippiest dipshit to ever dip shit not to realize it.
Any number of people commenting on Crossgen have referred to a 'bunker mentality' when discussing the company, sometimes to the point of almost outright referring to the organization as some kind of pseudo-cult centered around Alessi -- "drink the Kool-Aid" jokes have apparently become quite common where Crossgen is concerned. I have no idea if such stories even remotely touch upon the truth, but this week's events have only served to increase the notion that there's something vaguely Jim Jones-like about the guy. No one expects Alessi to open up the books and discuss the most intimate aspects of how he does business; at this point, however, he needs to acknowledge any mistakes he's made recently in dealing with creators who now complain about such practices, and reassure those who either do business with him or might in the future that he's capable of correcting his errors.
Doing this, of course, will require a certain sacrifice of pride -- but the alternative is a sacrifice of reputation. Alessi's response to the past week's brouhaha has pretty much left him without a third choice; if he doesn't do something definitive and soon, he might just find himself without a second.
