Well, this is a peculiar story indeed.
As announced on the Fans of JMS Facebook page this morning, Ben Templesmith will apparently no longer be working on Image’s “Ten Grand” with Straczysnki — specifically because he has apparently become largely uncommunicative for the better portion of a month.
With Ten Grand, once the script went out to Ben, we would often hear nothing back, despite repeated requests for updates. Most recently, we gave Ben a full script on July 26th. It is now September 4th, and we have still not heard anything back from him, despite repeated emails asking where things were, nor have we gotten any pages. I even tweeted him on August 25th just to make sure he was okay, and though we still didn’t hear back from him, we did hear through others that he’s all right, which is the important thing.
From time to time, every artist and writer falls behind or runs into trouble with the work; I am not only marching in that parade, I am carrying a banner. But there still has to be some level of communication so that all parties can plan out publishing schedules and make adjustments where needed.
So on August 27th, I emailed Ben to say that if we didn’t hear something back by the end of that week, even just a text to say he was underwater, that we would have to find another artist. I wanted to give him every possible opportunity to come back and make this work. No reply. Finally, and with tremendous reluctance, I sent him a note on the 31st saying that we were moving on. Our obligation to our readers and the retailers has to come first.
I’d honestly be worried if there wasn’t a note in the announcement specifically stating that Templesmith is OK, but this is very strange. “Ten Grand” was rather great because of Templesmith’s moody and expressive artwork; I do not doubt that replacement artist CP Smith will do solid work, but I would be lying if I didn’t say that Templesmith is the reason to buy that book, not JMS.
The proof is in the pudding, as they say. “Ten Grand” has received increasingly great reviews with every issue, where “Sidekick’s” first issue was very much a “your mileage may vary” situation.
Yet, not for nothing, but Templesmith has unfortunately been late on books before. Anyone waiting for the next issue of “Fell” is certainly aware of this, and those that remember the long wait for the recent series “Choker” probably have a more fresh perspective on it. I’m a huge fan of his work, but I’m also used to waiting — however patiently I may be waiting.
But the question really is: why did Templesmith cut off all contact? Ostensibly not just with JMS but with everyone, as his Twitter hasn’t been active since about a month ago. JMS isn’t without his controversy as a creator (especially after some remarks regarding “Before Watchmen”), but you’d assume that given that this book was in place after that notorious series that this isn’t an issue about the ethical treatment of comic creators by companies … so what happened?
Again: for all intents and purposes, Templesmith is noted in the announcement as doing OK. But whenever his side of this story comes out and he reaches out to us from under that bus JMS threw him under, I’ll be very interested to hear what he has to say.
Update: And here’s Ben Templesmith on the matter, courtesy of the Beat, affirming that he is fine and has had to deal with some personal issues. We wish Ben all the best and can’t wait to see what he illustrates next.
