Planetary is a terrific comic. Set as an adventure story of three “archeologists of the unknown”, Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagnerand the Drummer explore the quirkeier aspects of their universe which are, in fact, on a chapter by chapter basis a deconstruction of various aspects of pop culture - including (but not limited to) Japanese monster movies, Hong Kong horror films, DC comics Silver Age, DC Comics Vertigo imprint, 1990s big budget action movies, Tarzan, Doc Savage and 1950s pulp, 1950s sci-fi, The Matrix/Grant Morrison, Star Trek, and 1900s scifi and horror/League of Extraordinarily Gentlemen.
And then, following a slow grind of issues often months and months late, it ended inconclusively without a conclusion and without the final mystery of their missing colleague resolved.
Elijah Snow delivers nirvana. But where is it for us, the reader?
I am reminded of when Stephen King wrote an online novel and sold it to readers by the chapter. king apparently threatened not to finish it provoking outrage from his readers (and also a threat of a litigation).
I’m peeved at Ellis. At first, years ago, the delays were blamed upon his poor health. But now, given his quite substantial output on other titles - and a novel - including non-creator works at Marvel, it seems more likely he just entirely lost interest in the work and gives the impression he finished it only under reader- and editorial pressure.
I suppose I shouldn’t complain. At least its substantially finished. But there is only one thing worse than a non-completed story and that’s one which takes years instead of months to finish. I guess it’d be different if he wasn’t prepared to release it until it was picture perfect. The end of the Four wasn’t especially clever, and I’m now starting to dread what happens to Ambrose Chase.
Ellis has no contract directly with us as readers, but given his creative ouput is undiminished, its poor form not to bring this now 11 year old storyline to a conclusion. Where is the completion of the creative contract Ellis has with his audience, the promise to deliver an ending?
I’m waiting for the final issue because I’ve been reading it in trades, and have to wait for that one before they publish the final collection. For what it’s worth, Amazon says it’ll be released in July.
Ellis has been saying for a while that the script is finished, they’re just waiting on the artist. Given that Ellis has a tendency to wander away from projects to the point where I won’t buy anything by him that’s not already collected in trade and Cassaday’s pace could be generously described as “glacial”, I’d recommend not holding your breath.
Astonishing put out two years worth of “monthly” issues over the course of, IIRC, about three-and-a-half years; the delays eventually caused it to be officially relabeled a bi-monthly title for a while and it still ran late to the point that fairly major spoilers for the final issue started cropping up in other books a month or so before the book ever saw print. Whedon gets some flak for the lag, but his projects generally tend to come out on time so far as I know (except for Runaways, but that’s another case of being paired with a slower-paced artist).
Cassidy can hardly be blamed for this delay, though. it couldn’t be editorial - they want to start pushing out the next hardcovers etc. I’m assuing Ellis’ contract did nto contain a time requirement.
I don’t think its good enough for a writer to be creatively gifted. They should have sufficient professionalism to also finish their work, once it starts to be published, and not suffer from a years’ long lapse in concentration.
How curious. That text does make it sound like it was Cassidy, not Ellis. And the ‘without warning’ comments makes it sound like he’s a bit cranky himself about the delay.
Planetary/shmanetary – I reread the first 9 issues of Fell yesterday and that’s what I’d like to see continued. It’s awesome. (There’s a blurb at the end of #9 that suggests #10 will be out in mid-March and the next half-dozen issues will follow rather quickly. Mid-March of 2008. Ha!)
The moral arguments about lateness are sort of beside the point from my perspective. It can be addressed in the market. If you’re unhappy with how long it takes something to come out, stop buying it when it does. If that happens enough, the behavior will change. Indeed, Ellis’ Marvel work comes out rather promptly, AFAIK. I imagine it’s because Marvel has made it clear what they won’t tolerate.
Wait (says the guy who’s read the first volume of Planetary and general information about some, but not all, of the later issues), they referred to Star Trek?
There is a Borg reference when the crew got to Earth-Flaming Toilet.
Long time no see, Cliffy. I liked Fell too, but figured it had been cancelled.
Market forces are not effective in this sort of scenario, I think, when you only get a portion of the completed task. With the subject matter is dished out in tranches upon discrete and separate payments and you don’t get the last tranche, then you have a valid complaint. Without the final tranche, you do not have a complete whole and the promise of the whole is unfulfilled. Seems to me there is a decent legal argument as well as a moral argument.
Hmm. Certainly you’d be SOL trying to make that argument about a new Ellis series. Is there really an implied guarantee that a story will be completed? I have to say no – the history of periodical literature is rife with stories that didn’t get finished for all sorts of reasons, most commonly because of poor sales. Or what if Ellis had been hit by a bus? No, I think it’s well-understood that you’re paying for the particular periodical you’re buying, and the probability of future installments is merely a “value add.”
And I think the market forces do work in this instance – it’s just that most consumers vote differently than you would.
