Date: Thu, 6 Oct 1994 01:36:36 -0400
From: [g--l--n] at [falcon.bgsu.edu] (Metroplex)
Subject: ftp 504

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FIT TO PRINT
by cathrine yronwode
for the week of September 26, 1994

THIS IS FIT TO PRINT NUMBER 504: Due to the delay in getting on press, by the
time you read this column, official news releases will have already made the
CBG, and the fact that Defiant Comics is kaput may be an old story. However,
as i write, the subject is fresh-and here is how it happened, in the words of
an ex-employee:

"A couple months ago we were told that Hollywood Pictures was going to be
investing in Defiant. At the time, I knew that sales were flat, but I didn't
know we were in trouble. We were publishing about seven books per month, plus
a mini-series, and had nineteen people on staff. The idea was that Hollywood
Pictures would bring more capital into the company and give more opportunity
for multi-media deals and licensing.

"Around this time a schedule reorgan-ization was planned. The books were to
come out less frequently. I was told that because Hollywood Pictures was
going to invest, the titles would be put on a six-week schedule [instead of
monthly], to allow for quality control. Then there was a reorganization of
job descriptions and the staff-in which my job was eliminated. No one was
hired to replace me.

"I don't know when it happened, but apparently around then, the Hollywood
Pictures deal fell through. I became sus-picious when Jim [Shooter] didn't
show up at the San Diego Con in early August. I guessed that it was because
the publisher, Winston Folkes, was ill and that Jim was busy taking care of
business, but i began to have suspicions that something was wrong. Defiant
had a booth at the Con, and all the editors came out. They had a full
comple-ment of people there, and Jim was expected to show up-but he didn't.
"I'm still friends with some of the people there, so I called to talk to them
and that's when I heard that the deal with Hollywood Pictures had fallen
through and the company was folding. On Wed-nesday [August 24], they had to
dismiss everybody. The news spread really quickly. Free-lancers converged on
it.

"I was up there yesterday. They were cleaning up the offices, emptying out
their desks. I'm sure everybody is going to get paid until the end of the
month. Everyone Defiant owed money to is going to get paid. The artwork is
going to be returned.

"It was sad. I mean, you know, I did have some office politics problems with
some people there, but I had lots of fun there, too, and I think Jim is a
nice guy and I'd have liked to have seen the company prosper.

"I felt bad about the situation, especially since projects we'd been working
on so hard were down the drain. We'd been working on a four-issue crossover
mini-series for this summer, called Schism. It was delayed incredibly,
because it was very complicated and a lot of continuity things had to be
keyed out between it and the other books. It was a logistical problem that
grew into a much more ambitious and complicated project than we had expected.
The first issue is all done and ready for the printer, but when I asked
people there about it, they just said, 'Don't ask.' I hope it will come out.
It was a lot of work.

"Jim was a very good boss. He dealt with the money end of things and with the
editing. He was very involved with the art, too, and he took suggestions from
the staff. For instance, I got him to hire a writer I like; I got them
talking. That book will probably never come out now.

"When I talked to Jim, he said that he had several options. I couldn't tell
whether he meant for Defiant or himself. He did not seem resigned. He was in
full action mode. It was all hands on deck for Jim. He was not walking around
looking defeated. He looked as upbeat as he could be, under the
circumstances. He's still an influential guy in comics and I think he
deserves the respect he has-but I don't know if there are any plans for
future publishing from Defiant. I have no idea."

So that's the way it is-and the source for this report says he's already
lined up interviews with other publishers.

Anyone want to hire a young editor?