Yesterday was a day that struck fear into the hearts of many comics fans when the following status update made its way through the interwebs.
Life sucks. I hate to admit it but I'm scared. I see a world that I don't like and have no hope for. I would love to do Body Bags again. I have so many stories rolling in my head but after Hanna and Kick-Ass, who would give a shit? I can't play the game like Jim Lee or Todd Mcfarlane. I'm not as talented as Adam Hughes or Travis Charest. So I'm a loser. Right now, I have only have two hundred dollars, can't pay rent but I owe so many people SO much more. Marvel and DC haven't answered any of my calls so I guess my time is up. To Gaijin Studios, I miss you SO much. To Studio Revolver, thank you. To Mike A, thanks again for keeping me alive. To Keven Gardner, Harris Miller, Casey Edwards, Joe Peacock, and Chris Donio, I'm sorry. To the Dragons, I failed you. To Katie, I wish I knew you more. To Mom, Janet, and Larry, thanks for supporting and loving me. To Sara, I never stopped loving you. Goodbye.
The preceding is from Body Bags writer and artist Jason Pearson, who recently did some killer issues of Deadpool (like that classic Dark Reign story when 'Pool and Bullseye were reluctantly trying to kill each other) and some recent issues of Astonishing X-Men. Currently living in Atlanta, the LA-bred creator is clearly having some challenges.
A little taste? All right.
The elements of Kick-Ass that are similar to Body Bags are — at best — fleeting and referential, having none of the depth and nuance of the latter, and a sense of humor that's much more caustic and less sincere. Likewise, Hanna doesn't even speak to the same community, as Body Bags has an urban edge that you don't get shlepping through Europe on your own as a teenaged assassin. That's more Cassandra Cain than Panda.
In an economy as rough as this one, almost all of us are struggling a little, and lots of talented, competent, professional people can't get work. At Komplicated, however, we believe that you don't have to decrease for us to increase. We hope Mister Pearson's situation improves and we have opened the door to his work getting more exposure here at Komplicated. We'll continue to track this story, hoping it has a happy ending.
[Source: Facebook, Consequential Art's Sequential Art Class, Amazon.com]
It scared the bejeezus out of me reading that post yesterday. I will note the lightning fast response on the part of both creators and readers to Jason’s situation. Ours is a very close-knit community and the way people have sprung into action is amazing. Thanks for covering this story and the best of thoughts out to Jason.