![The River Suir (Irish pronunciation: [ʃuːr], Irish An tSiúr or Abhainn na Siúire) is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Waterford after a distance of 184 kilometres (114 miles).The total catchment area is 3,526km2. Popular with anglers, it holds plentiful reserves of brown trout. While the Suir holds the record for a salmon taken from an Irish river, (weighing 57lb/26 kg, taken on a fly in 1874)[1] as is the case in many other Atlantic rivers, salmon stocks have been in d](http://web.archive.org./web/20110429032518im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/09/9d/28b6a7b6ab0d22c608dbac7b5169_grande.jpg "The River Suir (Irish pronunciation: [ʃuːr], Irish An tSiúr or Abhainn na Siúire) is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Waterford after a distance of 184 kilometres (114 miles).The total catchment area is 3,526km2. Popular with anglers, it holds plentiful reserves of brown trout. While the Suir holds the record for a salmon taken from an Irish river, (weighing 57lb/26 kg, taken on a fly in 1874)[1] as is the case in many other Atlantic rivers, salmon stocks have been in d")
| Company name | Devil's Due Publishing |
|---|---|
| Company logo | |
| Company type | Comic publisher |
| Company slogan | Pop Culture IS Our Culture! |
| Foundation | 1999 |
| Founder | Joshua Blaylock |
| Key people | Joshua Blaylock, CEO |
| Based | Chicago |
| Industry | Comics |
| Homepage | devilsdue.net |
Devil's Due Publishing, (often abbreviated as DDP), is one of several independent comic book publishers in the United States. The company was formed in 1999 as a comic book imprint within before breaking away in 2003. Based in Chicago, Illinois, DDP is best known for its wide selection of genres, including licensed and original creator-owned properties that populate its monthly comic book series and graphic novels.
Though principally a publishing company, DDP has also produced a stage play based on the Hack/Slash comic series, Stagefright, in conjunction with the New Millennium Theatre Company that played at the National Pastime Theater on Broadway, Chicago from September 23 to October 29, 2005.
In 2004 Pat Broderick revived Micronauts at Devil's Due although the title was cancelled after ten issues.
DDP announced, in Summer 2008, that they had acquired the license to produce an American comic book version of Vampire Hunter D. It will be written Jimmy Palmiotti and called . Devil's Due also be republished Je suis légion by Fabien Nury and John Cassaday as an eight comic book series, I am Legion as part of a larger deal to reprint work with Humanoids Publishing, including titles like The Zombies That Ate The World.
Devil's Due restructured themselves for the third time in early December 2008, laying off Editor Cody DeMatteis and Marketing Manager Brian Warmoth through "absolutely no fault of their own" according to Josh Blaylock. It was later reported that Senior Editor Mike O'Sullivan was transitioned to a full-time freelance position for DDP, until he left to work for Marvel Comics in May 2009. Immediately after this announcement, Comic Book Resources also reported that CEO P. J. Bickett had stepped down and Blaylock was assuming his role for the time being. Bickett left to work full-time with Kunoichi, a company Blaylock helped establish, which he left for his position at DDP.
In recent years, Devil's Due came under fire for non-payment of several creative teams owing several thousands that have done work for them. In an article on the website Bleeding Cool, Rich Johnston spoke to Blaylock and reported:
DDP is represented in Hollywood by Alter Ego Entertainment and Prime Universe, who share a first-look deal with the publisher for film, television and video games. Currently, the three parties are in discussion with numerous studios about expanding Devil's Due properties into other media, with more than one project attached to serious talent.
It was announced in March, 2010 that Hack/Slash was leaving Devil's Due for . Hack/Slash creator Tim Seeley confirmed this information at the Emerald City ComiCon at the Washington State Convention Center. Seeley attributed the move to the very public financial problems with Devil's Due, which hadn't paid several creators for some time, stating that he simply could not get his books out every month under the conditions at DDP.
Then on March 18 Bleeding Cool reported: http://www.bleedingcool.com/forums/showthread.php?14341-Rosenberg-Is-Due-3530-%28UPDATE%29
"Comic book colourist Rachelle Rosenberg has won a court judgement for $3530 against Devil’s Due Publishing. She wrote about the process here, but the news today is that, after travelling to Chicago for the hearing, the judge ruled in her favour
Bleeding Cool has covered Devil’s Due’s publishing woes extensively and while many people have resigned to waiting for ages for payment, or kissing it goodbye for good, Rosenberg doesn’t seem to be one of them.
There are those who think that if they cause a fuss or cause a scene, then they won’t get work. Rosenberg is proof that this is not the case, currently working on Cars for Boom! Studios.
UPDATE: Rosenberg writes for Bleeding Cool.
Well, I sued DDP. I have worked for them for the last year on titles such as, Barack the Barbarian, H/S Entry Wound and H/S Covers, and Spartacus. The money owed was for 6 H/S covers and two full issues of Barack, as well as, royalties due on the first two issues of Barack.When I first started working for DDP, I heard the rumors. The rumors that they were “late” with payments or didn’t pay, or that they were going out of business. I still took the jobs, thinking, I would be that “one”, that they did pay. During that time, I was always asking when payment was coming and at the end of the year, I contacted Tom Stillwell with Unscrewed and he help me set up a game plan to get my money. At the beginning of the year I sent a notarized and certified letter to DDP, stating what they owed me and that they had 30 days to get funds or work out a payment plan with me. As soon as DDP received the letter, I got an email from Josh Blaylock, reminding me about their financial problems and issues with Diamond. I suggested a payment plan, since I wanted to work with DDP, but Josh said “I understand the request for a payment plan – our challenge is that there are over 50 people like yourself and sending out even $50 a month requires thousands of dollars. “.
As much as I understand everyone’s financial issues, at the same time, my contract with them does not stipulate that if DDP does not make any money or HAVE any money, that I do not get paid. I get paid based on the fact that I complete the work and that I do it in a timely manner. I had no choice but to file suit against them.
I came fully prepared to court. I had letters from both my editors on Hack/Slash and Barack the Barbarian. Both letters stated that I did the work and that I did it well and in a professional manner. and always completing it on time. Jim Lowder, the editor on Hack/Slash also addressed the court in his letter by saying “I can cite no cause stemming from her [Rachelle's] behavior or the quality of her work that would support Devil’s Due delaying or denying payment of contractually promised fees”. I also had all my vouchers with emails on when they were sent into DDP, as well as emails back and forth between Josh and I with the excuses I received on why I was not being paid. Even with all the preparation I made to present my case, Josh did not even show. Although he did file an appearance. The judge ruled in my favor.
I can’t say that it was the easiest thing I’ve done in this business. I was definitely scared, but I keep hearing these horror stories about how frustrated freelancers get from being owed thousands, so they just quit! I love my job, and I don’t ever want to get to the point where I’m frustrated enough that I want to quit. So with some friend’s advice and help, I took a stand. DDP isn’t the only publisher struggling to make payments. Zenescope owes me thousands of dollars, as well. I just don’t think this kind of behavior toward creators and freelancers is fair and it shouldn’t be okay.
Blaylock responded:
What's necessary, what my life has revolved around for longer than I can remember, what this all comes down to is keeping business going after a serious set-back upon set-back for the company in an extremely difficult time. To keep producing new content while trying to take care of old debts, and my priority in every one of those instances is the creators.THE EASIEST WAY OUT, the easiest thing to do, would just be to shut the company down and whittle away at any corporate debts I personally guaranteed (which does not include a single creator, nor many other vendors). But I haven't. I've kept things going... kept the ship plugging along in an effort to protect the human beings owed instead of the giant corporations taking it all - I can get to them eventually, but it's easier for them to wait it out. That is (or at least seemed to be) the most effective way to still have time to make bigger moves to right the ship more quickly. And despite the negativity, we HAVE been able to take care of a lot of people since initially getting slammed. You just don't hear from them. They don't run out the next day shouting it to the world, and we don't expect them to. I don't expect a cookie for tying my shoes in the morning.
In this particular instance, I'll admit it personally stings, because Rachelle's one of the people we were actually still giving work to and paying, even if behind schedule... and recently even paying her in less than a week's time for a coloring job in late December for a super quick turnaround. All the while trying to work out the older bills and this mess of a royalty situation. In this instance the company simply doesn't have money to pay because it never received any money from sales due to massive book store returns from a litany of inventory that was in the pipeline - at least not without picking another creator to take that money away from. She was paid a base amount for the books, but the royalties would have to wait... or she could file suit. I disagree about some of the amount we owe her as well, but it's all apples and oranges at this point.
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
| Name | Larry Hama |
|---|---|
| Caption | Hama at Midtown Comics Times Square, May 23, 2009. |
| Nationality | American |
| Write | y |
| Pencil | y |
| Edit | y |
| Notable works | G.I. JoeBucky O'HareWolverine |
| Sortkey | Hama, Larry |
| Subcat | American |
| Mob | 6 |
| Dob | 7 |
| Yob | 1949 |
During the 1970s, he was seen in minor roles on the TV shows M*A*S*H and Saturday Night Live, and appeared on Broadway in two roles in the original 1976 production of Stephen Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.
He is best known to American comic book readers as a writer and editor for Marvel Comics, where he wrote the licensed comic book series , based on the Hasbro action figures. He has also written for the series Wolverine, , and Elektra. He created the character Bucky O'Hare, which was developed into a comic book, a toy line and television cartoon.
High-school classmate Ralph Reese, who had become an assistant to famed EC and Marvel artist Wally Wood, helped Hama get a similar job at Wood's Manhattan studio. Hama assisted on Wood's comic strips Sally Forth and Cannon, which originally ran in Military News and Overseas Weekly and were later collected in a series of books. During this time, he also had illustrations published in such magazines as Esquire and Rolling Stone, and he and Reese collaborated on art for a story in the underground comix-style humor magazine Drool #1 (1972). Through contacts made while working for Wood, Hama began working at comic-book and commercial artist Neal Adams' Continuity Associates studio; with other young contemporaries there, including Reese, Frank Brunner and Bernie Wrightson, Hama became part of the comic-book inking gang credited as the "Crusty Bunkers." His first known work as such is on the Alan Weiss-penciled "Slaves of the Mahars" in DC Comics' Weird Worlds #2 (Nov. 1972).
Hama began penciling for comics a year-and-a-half later, making an auspicious debut succeeding character co-creator Gil Kane on the feature "Iron Fist" in Marvel Premiere, taking over with the martial arts superhero's second appearance and his next three stories (#16-19, July-Nov. 1974). He went on to freelance for start-up publisher Atlas/Seaboard (writing and penciling the first two issues of the sword & sorcery series Wulf the Barbarian, writing the premiere of the science fiction/horror Planet of Vampires); some penciling work on the seminal independent comic book Big Apple Comix #1 (Sept. 1975); and two issues of the jungle-hero book Ka-Zar before beginning a long run at DC Comics.
There, Hama became an editor of the DC titles Wonder Woman, Mister Miracle, Super Friends, The Warlord, and the TV-series licensed property Welcome Back, Kotter from 1977–1978, then joined Marvel as an editor in 1980.
Hama is best known as writer of the Marvel Comics licensed series G.I. Joe, based on the Hasbro line of military action figures. Hama said in a 2006 interview that he was given the job by then editor-in-chief Jim Shooter after every other writer at Marvel had turned it down. Hama at the time had recently pitched a Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. spin-off series, Fury Force, about a daring special mission force. Hama used this concept as the back-story for G.I. Joe. He included military terms and strategies, Eastern philosophy, martial arts and historical references from his own background. The comic ran 155 issues (February 1982-October 1994).
Hama also wrote the majority of the G.I. Joe action figures' file cards—short biographical sketches designed to be clipped from the G.I. Joe and Cobra cardboard packaging. In 2007 these filecards were reprinted in the retro packaging for the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero 25th Anniversary line.
Many of the characters were named after Hama's family, friends, and comrades who died during the Vietnam War, whereas others were named after historical figures. The Arctic trooper Frostbite was named "Farley Seward" in reference to United States Secretary of State William H. Seward, known for his 1867 his purchase of Alaska from Imperial Russia. The Japanese-American martial arts expert Quick Kick, was named "MacArthur S. Ito" after U.S. World War II Gen. Douglas MacArthur and Japanese Lt.-Gen. Takeo Ito. Other characters were given tongue-in-cheek names: Hovercraft pilot Cutter is Skip A. Stone, named after the pastime of stone skipping.
Hama earned an unexpected female following for G.I. Joe by writing strong female characters (Cover Girl, Lady Jaye, Scarlett) who fought equally along their male counterparts.
Hasbro sculptors sometimes used real people's likenesses when designing its action figures. In 1987, Hasbro released the Tunnel Rat action figure. The character is an Explosive Ordnance Disposal specialist, whose likeness was based on Hama.
In December 2007, Hasbro released 25th-anniversary comic-book figure two-packs that featured original stories by Hama. These new Hasbro-published issues were designed to take place "in-between the panels" of the Marvel series.
In September 2008, IDW announced a new line of GI Joe comics with one series, GI Joe Origins, written by Hama.
In an August 2009 audio interview with The Handsome Genius Club Radio Show, Hama admitted to having never watched an entire episode of any of the various G.I. Joe cartoon series.
Hama wrote the 16-issue Marvel series (Aug. 1989 - Sept. 1990), concerning the adventures of John Doe, an American ninja and Special Forces commando in an alternate reality in which World War III is sparked after the world's nuclear weapons stockpiles are all destroyed. Hama also edited a relaunch of Marvel's black-and-white comics magazine Savage Tales, overseeing its change from sword-and-sorcery to men's adventure. Other comics Hama has written include Wolverine, , The Punisher War Zone, and the X-Men brand extension Generation X for Marvel; and Batman stories for DC Comics. He wrote filecards for Hasbro's line of sci-fi/police action figures, C.O.P.S. 'n' Crooks and contributed to the relaunch of the G.I. Joe toy line and comic book in 2000.
While working at Neal Adams' Continuity Associates, Hama developed a series he first created in 1978, Bucky O'Hare, the story of a green anthropomorphic rabbit and his mutant mammal sidekicks in an intergalactic war against space amphibians. Bucky O'Hare went on to become a comic, cartoon, video game and toy line.
In 2006, Osprey Publishing announced that Hama had been commissioned to write for their "Osprey Graphic History" series of comic books about historical battles, including the titles The Bloodiest Day—Battle of Antietam and Surprise Attack—Battle of Shiloh (both with artist Scott Moore) and Fight to the Death: Battle of Guadalcanal and Island of Terror—Battle of Iwo Jima (with artist Anthony Williams). That same year, Hama returned to his signature characters with the Devils Due Publishing miniseries G.I. Joe Declassified, which chronicled the recruitment of the squad's first members by General Hawk. In 2007, the company added the spin-off series Storm Shadow, written by Hama and penciled by Mark A. Robinson which ceased publication with issue 7.
In February 2008, Devil's Due Publishing published Spooks, a comic book about a U.S. government anti-paranormal investigator/task force. Hama created the military characters and R.A. Salvatore the monster characters.
As of June 2009, Larry Hama is the writer of Barack the Barbarian, a Conan the Barbarian parody starring United States President Barack Obama.
Category:American military personnel of the Vietnam War Category:American military personnel of Japanese descent Category:G.I. Joe Category:American writers of Japanese descent Category:People from Manhattan Category:1949 births Category:Living people
This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
![The River Suir (Irish pronunciation: [ʃuːr], Irish An tSiúr or Abhainn na Siúire) is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Waterford after a distance of 184 kilometres (114 miles).The total catchment area is 3,526km2. Popular with anglers, it holds plentiful reserves of brown trout. While the Suir holds the record for a salmon taken from an Irish river, (weighing 57lb/26 kg, taken on a fly in 1874)[1] as is the case in many other Atlantic rivers, salmon stocks have been in d](http://web.archive.org./web/20110429032518im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/09/9d/28b6a7b6ab0d22c608dbac7b5169_thumb.jpg "The River Suir (Irish pronunciation: [ʃuːr], Irish An tSiúr or Abhainn na Siúire) is a river in Ireland that flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Waterford after a distance of 184 kilometres (114 miles).The total catchment area is 3,526km2. Popular with anglers, it holds plentiful reserves of brown trout. While the Suir holds the record for a salmon taken from an Irish river, (weighing 57lb/26 kg, taken on a fly in 1874)[1] as is the case in many other Atlantic rivers, salmon stocks have been in d")
