Hey everyone, it’s your creator/editor/writer/publisher David 2 here…
As I put thoughts to keyboard and prepare to convince myself of the bad news I’ll be sharing with you, there’s a statement that keeps going through my head…
“My name is not Rob!”
First the bad news: “Furia and the Guardians” #23 will be released in May instead of April. I usually give myself two weeks before release to get a first draft ready for my thankful team of reviewers to parse through it and find the flaws and then debate with me about what a character would be doing and why, and, sadly, with everything going on in the real world, it’s been difficult for me to get material together for this issue to come out on time. So, sadly, I’m having to delay the next issue until the last Friday in May.
And that brings me to the “My name is not Rob” statement.
“Rob” in this case is a somewhat talented artist named Rob Liefeld. You may have heard of him. He was the teenager that created “X-Force” for Marvel Comics way back when. You certainly know his most memorable character: the R-rated “merc with a mouth” otherwise known as Deadpool. That’s not all that he’s created, though. He’s created Youngblood, Brigade, Supreme, Glory, and Bloodstrike. He’s worked for Marvel, DC, and was one of the founders of Image Comics, as well as the owner of his own self-published brands.
But he’s also known for things that are not considered good. For instance, he has a hard time drawing feet. Legs too. He gives guys massive pectorals, almost like breast implants, and give women microscopic waists that would make the old Barbie dolls look fat. He positions bodies in inhuman ways to show face, chest, and butt. He draws outfits with pockets and pouches everywhere. Even on shoulder pads, which are monstrous, he’s got pouches on top of them! Oversized guns, weird swords, he loves showing short people with monstrous sideburns… I won’t even go into “Heavy Flo”, but I’ll warn you to not Google it on a full stomach.
But the one thing as a comic publisher that Rob is notorious for is being late with releases. The most notorious was his delays in the Image-Valiant crossover series “Deathmate”, which some people claim pretty much killed the first incarnation of Valiant Comics. Imagine having a whole storyline done and published and then the middle of the story is told six months later.
So whenever I am obligated to push back a publication, I keep thinking back to Rob and telling myself that I don’t want to be like him. I want to be known as being reliable with my production schedules. I want people to be able to come to the site and read new comics every month. I want to be the constant in the City of Comic Creators and the various Facebook groups that “like” my publications. (I’m hoping they are actually reading the comics and not just “liking” them because they like the idea that these comics can still exist.)
Unfortunately, there are times like now when I can’t be that guy every month. So I’m hoping that you, my readers, can understand when I have to push a publication back a month. I don’t want to make it a habit of doing it, and I certainly don’t want you to think I’ve lost interest in this.
Because, unlike Rob, this really is a labor of love for me… and it’s not like I can bounce my talent between major publishers.
Battlerock Comics 