The Four Color Media Monitor

Artist Van Sciver's leaving DC to work more in the creator-owned world with stories like his own Cyberfrog again:

Comic book artist Ethan Van Sciver will no longer be working with DC Comics following the expiration of his exclusive contract. Van Sciver will instead turn his attention to creator-owner work.

The creator will return to his work on Cyberfrog, which first saw publication in 1994 with Hall of Heroes and Harris Comics. He has already raised $187,000 using an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in order to fund an original graphic novel. The 48-page Cyberfrog: Bloodmoney is expected to be the first in a series of four books.

First of all, that's Blood-HONEY; CBR would do well to get their facts and spelling straight. Second, I honestly think he's doing the right thing to leave their employ. With the way the Big Two are being run now, I don't see the point of lending his talents to what Dan DiDio/Joe Quesada managed to ruin, and from what I've read, when he wound up receiving harassment and threats from leftists in and around the medium, it may have even included DC contributors, which only proves they're not saints any more than Marvel's staff, and didn't defend him properly.

That said, I still can't overlook that Sciver was involved in projects and with writers who alienated me from the mainstream:

Van Sciver’s long career with DC Comics included extensive work on the Green Lantern and the Flash family of titles. He was also a frequent collaborator with Geoff Johns, working on such monumental series as Green Lantern: Rebirth and The Flash: Rebirth. His final solicited work is slated to be Hal Jordan & the Green Lantern Corps #47, which goes on sale June 27.

As I'd once mentioned, I found the whole notion Barry Allen's background would be retconned, in-story or not, so it'd be little different from many other modern superhero stories with violent-filled premises, horrific in the extreme, and that's one of the leading reasons I find Johns so atrocious as a writer. Besides, it doesn't sound like Johns ever defended van Sciver, and I wouldn't be shocked if he'd be fully willing to throw the guy under the bus even after the collaborations they did on GL. I'm also very dismayed van Sciver once took part in introducing the Islamic character Dust, an early example of Marvel's SJW-pandering, to the X-Men. How am I supposed to fully appreciate somebody's talents when they wind up using them for the sake of a direction that's against what the products were meant to stand for, and which serve the cause of leftist social justice advocates?

Now that van Sciver's leaving the majors for creator-owned work, I may be able to forgive him for some of that, though it'd be a lot easier if he admitted he participated in projects with content that doesn't serve the products well.

In recent years, the artist has not shied away from controversy. Van Sciver has used his social media presence to share his conservative political views, often siding with controversial far right personalities on Twitter and YouTube. Despite all this, it would seem that he and DC split amicably.

What if they didn't? Let's not think a company who tolerated Eddie Berganza is incapable by contrast of antagonizing people whose personal politics don't coincide with theirs. Let's also recall they once threw Chuck Dixon out on his ear, after all the hard work he did for them, and even omitted mention of Dixon from at least one encyclopedia they published. So I think CBR should consider the chances they're letting DC off the hook again for tasteless steps.

Van Sciver's doing the right thing to make a departure. He deserves far better than the editors/writers he worked with, and so too in fact do the DC/Marvel creations themselves. He's raised plenty in crowdfunding already for another Cyberfrog story, so he does have a support base for potentially better stuff. If he plays his cards right, I'm sure he'll work wonders for the indie scene. He could contribute to Dynamite Entertainment, for example, where I'm sure his artwork would serve much better.

Labels: dc comics, indie publishers, marvel comics, msm propaganda, politics