History CreatorBreakdown / ComicBooks

** The first artist, Bill Sienkiewicz, eager to test his creative boundaries, employed a time-consuming style that was heavily dependent on photo reference and acquaintances he used as non-professional models. The logistical nightmare of this method [[ScheduleSlip caused the second issue to be delayed]] and exhausted Sienkiewicz, who was going through his own problems. After completing the unpublished third issue, Sienkiewicz asked to leave the series.

** His replacement, his assistant Al Columbia, was taken on solely because he was able to mimic Sienkiewicz's style. Columbia reportedly resented being made to copy another artist with no outlet for himself, leading to a poor work ethic. (He lied about his progress to his editors so he would [[OnlyInItForTheMoney keep receiving advance payments]].) The night before his deadline for the fourth issue, Columbia destroyed what few pages he completed, emptied his studio, and dropped off the radar for two years. Failure to find a new artist led to ''Big Numbers'' being cancelled.

* Creator/GrantMorrison made a point of feeding their own personal life and interests into ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'', including making a deformed villain based on the miscarriage that their girlfriend had. Weirdly, this also went ''the other way''; Morrison is a magician and believed that in ''ComicBook/TheInvisibles'' they were creating a giant magical work that would reshape their life. Whether or not this is the case, there were some odd moments of synchronicity -- like the time their author insert character, King Mob, was shot in the chest, and Morrison was subsequently hospitalised with a collapsed lung.

** The original artist, Bill Sienkiewicz, eager to test his creative boundaries, employed a time-consuming style that was heavily dependent on photo reference and acquaintances he used as non-professional models. The logistical nightmare of this method [[ScheduleSlip caused the second issue to be delayed]] and exhausted Sienkiewicz, who was going through his own problems in his personal life. After completing the unpublished third issue, Sienkiewicz asked to leave the series.
** Sienkiewicz's replacement, his assistant Al Columbia, was taken on solely because he was able to mimic his style. Columbia reportedly resented being made to copy another artist with no outlet for himself, leading to a lethargic work ethic. (He lied about his progress to his editors so he would [[OnlyInItForTheMoney keep receiving advance payments]].) The night before his deadline for the fourth issue, Columbia destroyed what few pages he completed, emptied his studio, and dropped off the radar for two years. Failure to find a new artist led to ''Big Numbers'' being cancelled.

** Sienkiewicz's replacement, his assistant Al Columbia, was taken on solely because he was able to mimic Sienkiewicz's style. Columbia reportedly resented being made to copy another artist without being allowed to express himself, leading to a lethargic work ethic. (He lied about his progress to his editors so he would [[OnlyInItForTheMoney keep receiving advance payments]].) The night before his deadline for the fourth issue, Columbia destroyed what few pages he completed, emptied his studio, and dropped off the radar for two years. Failure to find a new artist led to ''Big Numbers'' being cancelled.

* George Caragonne's tenure as editor of ''Penthouse Comix'' magazine was marred by behind-the-scenes turmoil, with Carragonne [[HighTurnoverRate firing writers on a whim]]; engaging in drugs, alcohol, and extramarital affairs; and fighting with foreign censors over the content of the magazine. Caragonne was also wildly overspending the budget, sometimes splurging on non-''Penthouse'' projects or expensive personal items, leading to the company accusing him of embezzlement. On July 14, 1995, Caragonne found himself locked out of the office and was told that ''Penthouse'' was conducting an audit on his expenses. Several days later, on July 20, Caragonne visited the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square [[DrivenToSuicide and jumped from the top floor of the interior atrium, falling 500 feet to his death]]. ''Penthouse Comix'' would later fold in 1998.

* This ''may'' have happened to Creator/WarrenEllis in the mid-1990's. During that time, he worked on a title called ''Druid'', starring C-List member of ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'' Doctor Druid, apparently intending on mimicking another title, ''Hellstorm'', starring C-Lister character Daimon Hellstrom. However, sales were so abysmal that that ongoing series was turned into a four-issue mini-series, which ends Druid killed by a magical gun and burned in a dumpster by Hellstrom himself.

** What happened to Dave Sim -- more than once -- while writing ''Cerebus'', mostly due to him going through a particularly unpleasant divorce at the time. With increasing frequency, [[AuthorFilibuster he would halt the plot in order to lecture at length]] about his new religion/theory-of-everything that he created from equal parts Old Testament, conspiracy theory and ''vast galloping misogyny''. Any characters or plot points that didn't fit his new view on life were hammered flat until they did, and Cerebus himself was made to come to the same religious revelations that Sim had, although they were filtered through his lowbrow, subtle-as-a-hand-grenade way of thinking. Note that this is unrelated to CerebusSyndrome, which occurred to the comic long before his breakdown.
** Sim's collaborator, Gerhard, also suffered this due to it getting more and more stressful to work on ''Cerebus''[[note]]due both to increasingly-tight deadlines and him no longer enjoying Sim's writing[[/note]] and to work with Sim. While his breakdown didn't affect the comic itself, it greatly affected his output ''afterward''; once he left Aardvark Vanaheim, he couldn't bring himself to do any drawing for almost six years. Since then, he's dabbled in illustrating children's books and seems to have more-or-less recovered (although a cryptic line on his website mentions that some of the proceeds from his sales go towards his therapy bills).

-->'''Paul Gravett:''' Your ComicBook/FantasticFour miniseries? Cat or girlfriend?
-->'''Grant Morrison:''' Caring for a sick girlfriend.
-->'''Paul Gravett:''' Did she die?
-->'''Grant Morrison:''' No, she recovered. That’s why it’s only four issues.

** His work in ComicBook/UltimateXMen had a bit of foreshadowing to this. The book always had a cynical edge to it (even moreso than Millar's concurrent work in ComicBook/TheUltimates, which at least had BlackComedy to blunt its sharp corners), but took a nosedive into [[CrapsackWorld [=GrimDark=]]] during the "Weapon X" story arc. To be fair, Millar was hospitalized for a debilitating illness and in chronic pain during his early tenure on the book, and he [[WordOfGod later admitted in an interview]] that he was probably projecting his own misery onto the characters.

* George Caragonne's tenure as editor of ''Penthouse Comix'' magazine was marred by behind-the-scenes turmoil, with Carragone [[HighTurnoverRate firing writers on a whim]]; engaging in drugs, alcohol, and extramarital affairs; and fighting with foreign censors over the content of the magazine. Caragonne was also wildly overspending the budget, sometimes splurging on non-''Penthouse'' projects or expensive personal items, leading to the company accusing him of embezzlement. On July 14, 1995, Caragonne found himself locked out of the office and was told that ''Penthouse'' was conducting an audit on his expenses. Several days later, on July 20, Caragonne visited the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square and jumped from the top floor of the interior atrium, falling 500 feet onto a buffet table below. [[DrivenToSuicide He did not survive.]] ''Penthouse Comix'' would later fold in 1998.

* Peter Laird sold ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles'' to Viacom because he was distancing himself from his loved ones. Go read his blog to hear more.
** Close to a decade before that, Kevin Eastman gave up his shares to Laird for the same reasons.

* George Caragonne's tenure as editor of ''Penthouse Comix'' magazine was marred by behind-the-scenes turmoil, with Carragone [[HighTurnoverRate firing writers on a whim]]; engaging in drugs, alcohol, and extramarital affairs; and controversies with foreign censors over the content of the magazine. Caragonne was also wildly overspending the budget, sometimes splurging on non-''Penthouse'' projects or expensive personal items, leading to the company accusing him of embezzlement. On July 14, 1995, Caragonne found himself locked out of the office and was told that ''Penthouse'' was conducting an audit on his expenses. Several days later, on July 20, Caragonne visited the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square and jumped from the top floor of the interior atrium, falling 500 feet onto a buffet table below. [[DrivenToSuicide He did not survive.]]

* George Caragonne's tenure as editor of ''Penthouse Comix'' magazine was marred by behind-the-scenes turmoil, with Carragone [[HighTurnoverRate firing writers on a whim]]; engaging in drugs, alcohol, and extramarital affairs; and controversies with foreign censors over the content of the magazine. Caragonne was also wildly overspending the budget, sometimes splurging on non-''Penthouse'' projects or expensive personal items, leading to the company accusing him of embezzlement. On July 14, 1995, Caragonne found himself locked out of the office and was told that ''Penthouse'' was conducting an audit on his expenses. Several days later, on July 20, Caragonne visited the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square and jumped from the top floor of the interior atrium, falling 500 feet onto a buffet table below. He did not survive.

* When Creator/PeterDavid started writing ''Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk'', he promised that he wouldn't kill off Betty Ross, Hulk's long-time love interest, partly because the character was one of his wife's favorites. Years later, he and his wife went through a painful divorce. Not long after ''that'', Betty Ross met a rather painful end in the comics. David has since come out and admitted that the strip was more than a little influenced by his real-life circumstances and, had things happened differently (not limited to the fact that he was soon taken off the book), he would have let Betty live.

** There's also a shot at relative newcomer [[ComicBook/GrantMorrisonsBatman Batwing]] getting his own title while several of Robinson's characters were slated to be sent to ComicBookLimbo or {{retcon}}ed out of existence.

* Bill Jemas wrote a miniseries called ''Comicbook/{{Marville}}'' which began as a parody of comic books, then after two issues the series devolved into Jemas preaching his (completely nonsensical and almost universally factually wrong) philosophies of life, the universe, and everything. The series was widely critically panned even before jumping the shark and didn't sell well ''at all.'' The penultimate issue of the comic[[note]] the final issue of the comic was just a set of submission guidelines for Epic Comics [[/note]] has the main character retelling the entire story to a comic publisher -- with both agreeing that the story is ''the most important story that could ever be told'' -- but it isn't published because all audiences want in comics are superheroes. The entire issue reads like a diatribe against the comic's readers (or more likely; the lack thereof) for not understanding its genius. Jemas was convinced ''Marville'' didn't succeed because comics readers have no interest in non-superhero stories, and immediately after publishing the final issue Jemas revived the then-dormant Epic line of Marvel Comics.

** His work in Comicbook/UltimateXMen had a bit of foreshadowing to this. The book always had a cynical edge to it (even moreso than Millar's concurrent work in Comicbook/TheUltimates, which at least had BlackComedy to blunt its sharp corners), but took a nosedive into [[CrapsackWorld [=GrimDark=]]] during the "Weapon X" story arc. To be fair, Millar was hospitalized for a debilitating illness and in chronic pain during his early tenure on the book, and he [[WordOfGod later admitted in an interview]] that he was probably projecting his own misery onto the characters.

** Morrison is somewhat of a master of this trope, as they wrote about the death of their cat being used in their ground-breaking ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' series. In issue 26, they note how as a creator they simultaneously feel the pain and relish the opportunity to craft this into a story.
*** Notably in the last issue of Creator/NeilGaiman's ''ComicBook/TheSandman'', Creator/WilliamShakespeare says basically the same to the eponymous character.

* After the death of Creator/JephLoeb's son, Sam, there was a notable change in the theme and mood of Loeb's comics writing. He used one of his scripts and created "Sam story" comics for ''ComicBook/SupermanBatman'', and then retired from comics. Later his friends at Marvel convinced Loeb to return to the industry and work for Marvel. Since then Loeb wrote a mini-series about how several characters mourn Sam's death through the proxy that is ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, dropped a steaming load of controversial plot onto his ''ComicBook/{{Hulk|2008}}'' series, and tore through the [[ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Ultimate universe]] with [[KillEmAll Tomino-like]] reckless abandon. (It takes a Wikipedia page to list all of the characters that died in his ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}} limited series.) Losing a son is never easy...

* After the death of Creator/JephLoeb's son, Sam, there was a notable change in the theme and mood of Loeb's comics writing. He used one of his scripts and created "Sam story" comics for ''ComicBook/SupermanBatman'', and then retired from comics. Later his friends at Marvel convinced Loeb to return to the industry and work for Marvel. Since then Loeb wrote a mini-series about how several characters mourn Sam's death through the proxy that is ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, dropped a steaming load of controversial plot onto the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk series, and tore through the [[ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Ultimate universe]] with [[KillEmAll Tomino-like]] reckless abandon. (It takes a Wikipedia page to list all of the characters that died in his ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}} limited series.) Losing a son is never easy...

* After the death of Creator/JephLoeb's son, Sam, there was a notable change in the theme and mood of Loeb's comics writing. He used one of his scripts and created "Sam story" comics for ComicBook/SupermanBatman, and then retired from comics. Later his friends at Marvel convinced Loeb to return to the industry and work for Marvel. Since then Loeb wrote a mini-series about how several characters mourn Sam's death through the proxy that is ComicBook/CaptainAmerica, dropped a steaming load of controversial plot onto the ComicBook/IncredibleHulk series, and tore through the [[ComicBook/UltimateMarvel Ultimate universe]] with [[KillEmAll Tomino-like]] reckless abandon. (It takes a Wikipedia page to list all of the characters that died in his ComicBook/{{Ultimatum}} limited series.) Losing a son is never easy...

* Creator/FrankMiller -- a fairly politically-driven creator who lived in New York City for most of his life -- was ''deeply'' affected by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and his shifted worldview was greatly seeped into his most controversial post-9/11 works, namely ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'' (which features the decimation of a major city and the chaos that follows) and ''ComicBook/HolyTerror'' (an extended war against Islamic terrorists in light of a similar terror attack). He's mellowed out in the years since ([[CreatorBacklash coming to regret]] ''Holy Terror'' as being a bad story fuelled by a dark time where he "wasn't thinking clearly"), but even his newer works tend to be driven heavily around unstable progress following a post-9/11 world.

* [[Creator/FrankMiller Frank Miller's]] work has ''seriously'' gone downhill since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The visionary behind ''The Dark Knight Returns'', ''300'', ''Sin City'' and ''Batman Year One'' has since been writing widely maligned dreck like ''ComicBook/TheDarkKnightStrikesAgain'', ''ComicBook/AllStarBatmanAndRobinTheBoyWonder'', and ''ComicBook/HolyTerror''. ''The Dark Knight Strikes Again'' even has a shot heavily reminiscent of 9-11 and the related destruction is a fairly important plot point.

** What happened to Dave Sim -- more than once -- while writing ''Cerebus''. With increasing frequency, [[AuthorFilibuster he would halt the plot in order to lecture at length]] about his new religion/theory-of-everything that he created from equal parts Old Testament, conspiracy theory and ''vast galloping misogyny''. Any characters or plot points that didn't fit his new view on life were hammered flat until they did, and Cerebus himself was made to come to the same religious revelations that Sim had, although they were filtered through his lowbrow, subtle-as-a-hand-grenade way of thinking. Note that this is unrelated to CerebusSyndrome, which occurred to the comic long before his breakdown.

* In-universe in Creator/ScottMcCloud's comic ''[[http://www.scottmccloud.com/1-webcomics/mi/mi-15/mi-15.html Uninformed Bob]]'', which depicts a gag-a-day comic strip written by a cartoonist who slowly goes insane.

* Mystek of the ''[[Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League Task Force]]'' was ThrownOutTheAirlock due to a tag-team combo of ExecutiveMeddling and the resulting CreatorBreakdown. [[http://lamerciepark.com/legacy/comics/taskforce.html As writer Christopher Priest explains]]:

* [[ComicBook/ChickTracts Jack Chick]] went through a CreatorBreakdown that, for all intents and purposes, lasted till his death in 2016. He suffered a stroke in '96, and his ability to draw slowly deteriorated ever since.

** What happened to Dave Sim -- more than once -- while writing ''Cerebus''. With increasing frequency, [[AuthorFilibuster he would halt the plot in order to lecture at length]] about his new religion/theory-of-everything that he created from equal parts Old Testament, conspiracy theory and ''vast galloping misogyny''. Any characters or plot points that didn't fit his new view on life were hammered flat until they did. Note that this is unrelated to CerebusSyndrome, which occurred to the comic long before his breakdown.

* What happened to Dave Sim -- more than once -- while writing ''ComicBook/CerebusTheAardvark''. With increasing frequency, [[AuthorFilibuster he would halt the plot in order to lecture at length]] about his new religion/theory-of-everything that he created from equal parts Old Testament, conspiracy theory and ''vast galloping misogyny''. Any characters or plot points that didn't fit his new view on life were hammered flat until they did. Note that this is unrelated to CerebusSyndrome, which occurred to the comic long before his breakdown.
* Dave Sim's collaborator Gerhard also suffered this due to it getting more and more stressful to work on ''Cerebus''[[note]]due both to increasingly-tight deadlines and him no longer enjoying Sim's writing[[/note]] and to work with Sim. While his breakdown didn't affect the comic itself, it greatly affected his output ''afterward''; once he left Aardvark Vanaheim, he couldn't bring himself to do any drawing for almost six years. Since then, he's dabbled in illustrating children's books and seems to have more-or-less recovered (although a cryptic line on his website mentions that some of the proceeds from his sales go towards his therapy bills).

** However, it caused Hergé to undergo ''another'' Creator Breakdown -- after the book was released, he decided that there was no way he would ever write such a good Tintin story again, and effectively gave up trying to do so. The remaining three Tintin stories were released at a far slower rate than the previous ones, and took the form of experimental character pieces which tended to mock the characters Hergé had been writing over the previous decades. ''Tintin and Alph-Art'' might have seen a return to the more traditional storyline, but we'll never know since Hergé sadly suffered AuthorExistenceFailure with the story only half-finished.

* In-Universe example in ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'': when word gets out that there's a new Batgirl in the city and it seems that Batman's letting her actively run, Oracle flips her lid, blaming Bruce for letting someone run around with her name, her legacy and, more importantly, her ''legs''.