Rucka doesn't have anything nice to say about Marvel either.Another midlister leaving the Big Two. Glad to hear it and I look forward to his creator-owned work.
Despite what the publishers say, their interest in the talent is minimal now, the interest is only in promoting the financial worth of their properties. That was not the case as of two or three years ago, when there was an ‘Exclusives war’, but that’s all gone by the wayside now. Ultimately, they are saying, “We don’t need you,’ because they can get a million more just like you.
...that's it.
That's the pending crash of the current decade.
Should have hit me sooner, but that's it: if the "even = boom, odd = bust" cycle continues, this time it's going to happen because Disney bought Marvel and WB took a more active role in DC and the comics are now (again) run by a bunch of people who see them as character banks to exploit and don't recognize the value of talent.
Which, so far, is working out pretty well in the movies, but I don't expect that to last forever either. DC hasn't been able to succeed with any movies not starring Batman, and while Marvel's doing gangbusters now and I expect it to do so at least through Avengers 2, there are plenty of chances to stumble. (Much as I like the idea of Guardians of the Galaxy, it could be a tough sell.)
Mark Millar predicted, years ago, that the next crash would be precipitated by all the talent leaving comics and going to Hollywood. He had it backwards: it's going to be caused by Hollywood coming to the comics and chasing out all the talent.