Line #11 TroubledProduction/ComicBooks


1	%% NOTE: Real-life examples only. In-universe examples go on TroubledProduction/FictionalExamples.
2	->''"I wouldn't exactly call "Maximum Clonage" the apex of the clone saga -- it was more like the nadir. Just as "ComicBook/MaximumCarnage" came to be known around the Creator/{{Marvel}} offices (in somewhat hushed tones) as "Maximum Garbage," this magnum opus "Maximum Clonage" would come to be known as "Maximum Bonage."''
3	-->--'''Editor/Writer Glenn Greenberg''' on ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga''
4
5	* What do you get when you have a serious case of ScheduleSlip and three acclaimed creators suffering from [[CreatorBreakdown Creator Breakdowns]], one of whom bails after taking the money? You get the still-unfinished graphic novel ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UCDgTGenyk Big Numbers]]'':
6	** Writer Creator/AlanMoore, coming off the success of ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', conceived of the twelve-issue book--an anti-[[UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher Thatcher]] polemic about English villagers affected by the construction of a shopping mall--as a vehicle for his creator-controlled company, Mad Love Publishing, with Bill Sienkiewicz handling the art. Indie artist Al Columbia, then 18 years old, was taken on as Sienkiewicz's assistant.
7	** Moore started the project with the original title of ''The Mandelbrot Set''. However, this was changed when Benoit Mandelbrot, the mathematician who lent his name to the equation the title came from, contacted Moore and stated he didn't want his ideas associated with a comic book.
8	** The real problems began with the art. Sienkiewicz's style was time-consuming and heavily dependent on photo reference--each of the forty-five characters were based on real friends he used as models. This turned into a logistical nightmare, as they weren't professional models and often had scheduling conflicts. Worse still, the woman who served as the model for the story's central character got married and moved to Germany. This led to a four-month delay between Issue 1 and Issue 2, and a noticeable change in the artwork between Issue 2 and the unpublished Issue 3.
9	** Both creators, especially Moore, were dealing with personal issues during production. Moore was forced to look for a new publisher when his polyamorous relationships fell apart, as his wife and girlfriend controlled Mad Love and disappeared with a portion of his earnings after folding the company. After Moore took the title to [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles Kevin Eastman]]'s Tundra Publishing, Sienkiewicz asked to leave the series. Columbia took over art duties, as he could mimic Sienkiewicz's style, and was given an advance payment.
10	** Unfortunately, Columbia--allegedly resentful of the fact that he had only been hired to copy another artist without a creative outlet for himself--was slow and couldn't produce material. But as he was [[OnlyInItForTheMoney enjoying the money he was receiving]], he pretended that everything was going smoothly and [[BlatantLies told his editor]] that he had completed Issue 4. The night before his scheduled deadline, Columbia destroyed the few pages he had produced, emptied out his studio, and dropped off the radar for two years.
11	** After failing to find a replacement artist, in the words of Eastman, Tundra "threw up [their] arms in just ultimate frustration" and cancelled the book. Moore later stated that he wouldn't summon the energy to finish it if he didn't get any assurances that it would be completed, acknowledging that ''Big Numbers'' was possibly an "impossible" project for any artist. Considering Moore's retirement from comics in 2019, it's probably a safe bet that the title [[OrphanedSeries will never be revived]].
12	* ''ComicBook/TheCloneSaga'', the infamous storyline that would have temporarily shunted Peter Parker from his role as ComicBook/SpiderMan and giving it to his once-thought-dead clone Ben Reilly, went wildly out of control when the story became mired in {{Writer Revolt}}s, ExecutiveMeddling, {{Padding}}, and [[CashCowFranchise old-fashioned greed]], expanding a story that would have only lasted a few months into a story that lasted ''three years''. When the KudzuPlot ran rampant, EndingFatigue set in, and fans started to leave the titles in annoyance, Marvel was forced to figure out a way to set things back to Status Quo.
13	** The non-Cliff Notes description: The story was meant to be a three-act event to herald the arrival of ''Amazing Spider-Man'' #400. However, no one seemed to have an idea on what to do beforehand and went with the idea after it was given and championed. Things spiraled out of control because of the four aforementioned problems: Marvel, via Ronald Perelman [[note]](the man who would end up bringing Marvel to the brink of bankruptcy)[[/note]], wanted a storyline that would rival ''ComicBook/AgeOfApocalypse'' and, going with a "profit or die" mentality [[note]](meaning that if your title didn't bring in the money, it ''and you'' were given the axe)[[/note]], the marketing department held a lot more clout than anyone else - instead of a set series of stories, marketing demanded that they stretch the story as long as possible. That meant one-shots, mini-series, and extra long events. Bit by bit, creators got fed up and walked out as the story grew more and more convoluted.
14	* ''ComicBook/DCFutureState'' owes its existence to this. The original plan, the "Generation Five" initiative, was for all of DC's titles to have a big TimeSkip following the DCU getting another facelift courtesy of Wally West using the powers of Doctor Manhattan and the Mobius Chair to create a new, solidified timeline for the DCU. This would've seen characters active for decades disappear and legacy heroes taking their place, and a new timeline was even shown off by DC at conferences (which leaked to the public). Creative teams were put into place and the setup was completed. However, many creators weren't happy with the idea, which was primarily the work of Creator/DanDiDio. Eventually, due to DC restructuring as a company, [=DiDio=] was let go, and it was decided to not go ahead with Generation Five. Instead, DC made ''ComicBook/DarkNightsDeathMetal'' the lead-in to another sort of un-boot, that saw the reintroduction of most pre-Crisis canon and continuing stories from there on. To make time for this, and because some of the work for Generation Five was already completed, it was instead repurposed for ''Future State'', and some of it would go on to appear in the main DCU.
15	* The Creator/ImageComics[=/=]Creator/ValiantComics crossover ''ComicBook/{{Deathmate}}'' was the victim of both companies having conflicting philosophies on comic book production. Valiant created their half of the crossover with a tight editorial leash, but Image let their own artists and writers do whatever they wanted, contributing to the comics' disjointed feel. The fact that neither company knew each other's characters, resulting in lots of {{out of character moment}}s, didn't help. Worst of all, however, was that while Valiant's half came in on time (owing to their strict adherence to deadlines and shipping schedules), Image's half, like much of their work, was [[ScheduleSlip infamously late]]. So late, in fact, that by the time their half was published, interest in the series had dried up, leaving comic shops that had pre-ordered the series with piles of unsellable comics, which helped set off UsefulNotes/TheGreatComicsCrashOf1996. It also served as a CreatorKiller for Valiant.
16	* ''ComicBook/JLAAvengers'', the popular crossover between the ComicBook/{{Justice League\|OfAmerica}} and ComicBook/TheAvengers, languished for twenty years because Creator/{{DC\|Comics}} and Creator/{{Marvel\|Comics}} couldn't decide on ''[[CavemenVsAstronautsDebate who would win in a fight]]''. The reason for this decision is now particularly clear: it was a major ExecutiveMeddling temper tantrum; Creator/JimShooter, who had just became head of Marvel prior, was incredibly pissed off that the ComicBook/XMen had teamed up with the ComicBook/TeenTitans and not with the ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes, which was [[CreatorsPet something he held dearly]].
17	* David Herbert apparently attracts this kind of production with all his works except ''[[http://www.livingwithinsanity.com/index/ Living With Insanity]]''. ''[[http://www.tnemrot.com/ Tnemrot]]'' was supposed to be a print comic and was written in late 2008, going through seven artists before Tatiana Lepikhina joined and is now a webcomic. ''[[http://www.indyplanet.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3429 Gemini Storm]]'' was also written at the same time, came out in March 2010, and the second issue is still expected to take another month or two before being released. He has also mentioned other projects that haven't gone anywhere due to artists dropping out or simply disappearing.
18	* By February 2020, Marvel was gearing up for two major events - ''ComicBook/{{Empyre}}'', which saw the Avengers and Fantastic Four team up to stop an alien invasion, and ''ComicBook/{{Outlawed}}'', which saw Marvel's teen heroes deemed criminals due to a new law. However, the next month, the entire comic book industry came to a complete standstill due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When Marvel resumed production, it was at a staggered pace that saw certain tie-ins cancelled and many of the ''Outlawed'' story beats slowly being released.
19	* DC's ComicBook/New52 was meant to be a fresh new start for DC to pick up flagging sales and draw in new readers, but the entire push was one big Troubled Production:
20	** Initially ''ComicBook/{{Flashpoint}}'' wasn't meant to be what led to the creation of the New 52, but a simple story in that run of ''ComicBook/TheFlash''. However, it was ultimately decided to make it the story that changed DC's continuity, thus writers were only given 3-4 months in advance to wrap up, leading to CutShort stories. For instance, ''ComicBook/{{Batgirl 2009}}'' ends with Stephanie Brown being hit with Black Mercy and being shown stories the writer had planned.
21	** Right off the bat, there was already trouble as it seemed that no one had any idea what was what. ''Green Lantern'' and ''Batman''[='s=] titles started up as if it was still the old continuity. Lines in stories suggested one thing and were later contradicted elsewhere: Martian Manhunter became a Schrödinger's Leaguer as he apparently was and wasn't a member of the team at one point while the Tim Drake Robin mentioned past teams of Teen Titans before a trade paperback erased that line, and whether Tim was ever Robin at all changed. Poor George Perez had no idea if Ma and Pa Kent were alive in this continuity because he couldn't contact Grant Morrison, who was writing Superman's new origin story.
22	** Creators bolted from the books due to the complete and utter mess they were given and rampant ExecutiveMeddling -- the aforementioned George Perez quit ''Superman'' early on because of lack of communication; J.H. Williams bolted from both ''Batwoman'' and ''Earth-2'' when they refused to let Kate Kane marry Maggie Sawyer; Joshua Hale Fialkov was hired to take over ''Green Lantern'' only to quit when it was revealed that they wanted him to kill John Stewart; Andy Diggle quit ''Action Comics'' right after he'd been hired to write the book; Gail Simone was initially fired from ''Batgirl'', then rehired back on the book, only to quit because she got tired of the bleak stories they wanted her to write... only for her replacements to immediately write the happy-go-lucky type of stories she wanted to write. Rob Liefeld was hired for 3 books, later quitting quite loudly for the same reasons.
23	** There were stories of editorial demanding eleventh-hour changes to comic book storylines that had already been reviewed and approved in advance, which meant extra work for creative teams, without extra pay to compensate for the additional work. The Batwoman marriage was one example: it had already been given the go-head when editorial retracted their approval.
24	* Anything that isn't part of the mainstream Creator/MarvelComics tends to suffer from this. One of the more documented ones was ComicBook/TheNewUniverse. Touted as "The World Outside Your Window", the franchise fell apart from the beginning - writers tossed in 616-type elements (aliens, powered armors, etc.), financial backers pulled out before it even started, and people weren't too engrossed by that slogan. Despite canceling half of the franchise and starting a massive storyline that began with the destruction of UsefulNotes/{{Pittsburgh}}, it never got off its feet and died nearly three years later.
25	** ''ComicBook/{{Newuniversal}}'' suffered an equally crushing blow when the files on Creator/WarrenEllis' laptop were lost when his hard drive failed. Marvel shuffled him on to other projects and ''newuniversal'' died an inglorious death.
26	** ''ComicBook/Marvel2099'', which depicted a futuristic Franchise/MarvelUniverse as a CyberPunk dystopia, wasn't the greatest, but when Marvel let go of its editor-in-chief for that line as a cost-cutting measure thanks to its near-bankruptcy, many of its creators bailed due to their dislike of his replacement, leaving the series to limp to its end.
27	* Anything done by Creator/RobLiefeld, a master of the ScheduleSlip. During the making of the aforementioned ''Deathmate'', Liefeld's contributions had passed so many deadlines that an editor from Valiant had to go to Liefeld's house and refuse to leave, just to make sure that his work wasn't ''over a year'' late.
28	* ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogArchieComics'' always had a problem when it came to converting video game storylines into its largely different setting. However, two of the biggest screw-ups came about via ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'' and ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2''. For ''Sonic Adventure'', Sega gave Archie a copy of the game... untranslated, so they had to fudge a lot of the story. The original plan was to have the storyline run through then-all three titles - ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', ''Knuckles the Echidna'' and ''Sonic Super Special''. However, just before the storyline started, the ''Knuckles'' comic got cancelled, forcing Archie to cram all of the Knuckles stories into the Sonic issues as back stories.
29	** For ''Sonic Adventure 2''[='s=], the big problem was that Sega was insistent on Archie creating a tie-in into the game. Archie's solution? Just do enough to whet people's appetite and go get the game, by pulling Sonic out of an ongoing storyline and into a recreation of the game’s first level. Still was enough to ruin a side-by-side storyline that had a cosmically-powered Knuckles altering Mobius drastically.
30	*** From ''Sonic Adventure 2'' onwards, most adaptation storylines ended up just usually being short teasers following the issues' main story. The game teaser stories have boxes that clarify whether the game in question is to be taken as canon in the comic's universe or not.
31	** And then, there was the problem with Creator/KenPenders and Creator/KarlBollers. Around 1997-98, Bollers took over the Sonic comic as Penders focused on the Knuckles comic. However, Ken would end up shuffling back over to Sonic due to the Knuckles comic getting cancelled. At first, things weren't too bad, as Penders could focus on the Knuckles backup stories. However, come ''Sonic'' #125, those were done away with and the two were working together. Suddenly, the two men were trying to pull rank over one another over story elements and which way they wanted the story to go. Ultimately, Bollers quit while Penders stayed on for a few issues longer before being let go, with newcomer Ian Flynn being asked to go from simple one-story backup writer to Head Writer. A few years down the line, Penders, upon learning of the existence of ''VideoGame/SonicChroniclesTheDarkBrotherhood'' [[note]](which just so happened to use [[{{Expy}} Expies]] of his characters)[[/note]], decided to reclaim his characters and storylines, copyrighting them all with Archie and Sega being notified of this. Archie sued Penders, claiming that the characters he created were Sega's, Penders counter-sued and we're off to the races.
32	*** In the end, both sides kept shooting themselves in the foot and, ultimately, they settled, going so far as to have Archie utterly reboot the series from the ground up.
33	** On the subject of Sonic-related works connected to Ken Penders, there's the exhausting story concerning what became ''The Lara-Su Chronicles''. The original story was initially called "Knuckles: 20 Years Later" and was meant to be an issue of ''Sonic Super Special''. However, ''SSS'' got cancelled with Issue #15. The story was refined and rebranded as "Mobius: 25 Years Later", serving as back-up stories in the main title. However, Penders left the story on a cliffhanger and soon quit Archie due to ExecutiveMeddling (they wanted him to add more Sonic characters to it). He regained usage of the characters thanks to the lawsuit and promised to tell the tale he wanted to with a release date of July 2015. As of this writing, it hasn't been released with the excuse of "wanting to make it into an app and translate it to other languages" being the reason.
34	** The problems for Archie wouldn't end with the reboot. Mega Man's title was flagging sales again and Archie decided it was time for a second crossover. Enter ''ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehogMegaManWorldsUnite'' and Archie decided to make it bigger - not only did they involve both main titles along with ''ComicBook/SonicBoom'' (though relegated to just Sticks the Badger, Fastidious Beaver, and Comedy Chimp) and the main heroes of the ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' series, but a dozen other franchises from Sega and Capcom, which cost Archie millions in licensing costs. Unlike ''Worlds Collide'', ''Worlds Unite'' was a mixed bag and given a lukewarm reception with Archie barely recouping the costs. This led to ''Sonic Boom'' and ''Mega Man'' to be shuttered afterwards as a cost-cutting measure (though ''Boom'' was more due to the backlash from ''Rise of Lyric''[='s=] failure) and the Sonic titles were hit hard as the crossover smashed into the ongoing [[VideoGame/SonicUnleashed Shattered World]] story arc. The title would go into a brief hiatus soon after, a result of Archie [[ComicBook/ArchieComics2015 rebooting their entire main line]] and go on a second, much longer hiatus that would lead to the title's cancellation and the license being sent to Creator/IDWPublishing. The exact reasoning for Archie losing the license isn't known, but hints from various sources seem to hint that the Archie reboot drained them financially and their focus on ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' led to Archie to be very lax on the idea of keeping the series despite it being one of their best-sellers.
35	** Prior to Ian Flynn, the series lacked a proper lead writer. Instead, the comic ran on a freelance system where writers would pitch individual scripts and storylines and Archie would buy whichever one they liked best. So while there were "main" writers such as Michael Gallagher, Karl Bollers, Ken Penders and Mike Kanterovich, there was no established outline to guide the ongoing plot and none of the writers were coordinating with each other to keep the story cohesive, leading to the aforementioned conflicts between Penders and Bollers. Furthermore, Archie would often buy stories in bulk and sit on them for years until they needed a script to meet a printing deadline, resulting in many filler stories that felt out of date in terms of tone and characterization.
36	** Like all Archie publications, the Sonic titles were available in grocery stores and retail locations, with a large number of sales coming from kids casually picking up the comic while shopping with their parents. According to Ken Penders, sales numbers took a significant hit when Walmart and Kmart stopped selling individual comics in the late 1990s.
37	* The wedding of [[ComicBook/{{Superman}} Clark Kent and Lois Lane]] was this. The original plan was for them to get hitched in ''Superman vol. 2'' #75. However, by this time, Creator/WarnerBros was making plans to make [[Series/LoisAndClark a new live-action Superman series]] and asked DC to wait until they did their own wedding to do theirs. DC complied, but they just lost a year's worth of stories. At one of their "Super Summits", writer Jerry Ordway made his usual joking suggestion of "Let's just kill 'em" and it gained traction. [[ComicBook/TheDeathOfSuperman We all know where that went.]] However, the wedding languished for four years while WB continued on with their series. At one point, DC actually ''separated'' Clark and Lois waiting for them and once the series '''finally''' got to do their wedding - four years later - DC was quick to reconcile them and get them married. In a sick version of Russian Roulette, this ended up killing off the TV series, though not before airing a wedding episode which guest-starred an angel(!) who arrives on Earth to marry the couple off, and all but turns to the audience and [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall begs on hands and knees for forgiveness]].
38	* Howard Cruse told his publisher that he could finish ''ComicBook/StuckRubberBaby'' in two years. It took four. The funds from the later two years were provided from sales of original art from the book at a considerable mark-up to patrons within the gay and comics communities, as well as grants.
39	* For ''ComicBook/XMen'', ''ComicBook/MutantMassacre'' was the first big crossover between ''ComicBook/UncannyXMen'' and ''ComicBook/XFactor''. Also, ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'', ''ComicBook/NewMutants'', ''ComicBook/PowerPack'', and ''ComicBook/{{Daredevil}}'' [[note]](though this one's issue explicitly took place after the main storyline)[[/note]] took part for tie-in issues. It would make for 12 issues total. According to Walt Simonson, the idea was to craft the story in such a way that you can follow along if you only read one of the given titles, but that you'd also be rewarded with a more complex tale if you read all of the issues. The average X-Fan would get a major story, while those who only read the other books wouldn't be bogged down. There was even a flow chart included in some issues telling readers how the various issues intersected. While the story was well-received, came out on time, and was the beginning of a trend of ''X-Men'' crossovers, ''X-Factor'' writer Louise Simonson described the required coordination to pull it off as a horrible experience. In order for the story to make sense, there were many lengthy phone calls, as well as many different scripts to go over and keep track of. It is perhaps no coincidence that the next major crossover ("Fall of the Mutants") did not see the participating titles intersect.

Context TroubledProduction / ComicBooks