From: [l--re--e] at [clark.net] (Lawrence Watt-Evans) Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.misc Subject: Re: The Terrible Tekno*Comix Truth Date: 16 May 1995 16:50:13 GMT Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit bart ([popa 0200] at [po-box.mcgill.ca]) wrote: : [an 171760] at [anon.penet.fi] wrote: : I'll just presume for the sake of following up that the author is who : s/he claims s/he is (a Tekno employee) and that this isn't just an : elaborate troll. Speaking as someone who freelanced for Tekno for three months, it all sounds authentic to me. : >Tekno has left a trail of red ink in recent months, with major : >suppliers holding massive unpaid debts. The company is currently : >bolstered only by its marginally profitable retail kiosks. Yes, : >although not highly publicized, Tekno stabs its direct market partners : >in the back by also operating 8 retail locations. : They actually *did* build the kiosks! Ah! The original prospectus : which was published in part in a Comics Journal article mentioned that : Tekno had these plans but I never heard anyhting else about them. : Where are they I wonder? Are they in malls? Fascinating. When a Tekno : rep first appeared in rac promoting the books I asked about these : things but that person didn't want to talk about them (I got a : semi-nasty email, maybe I deserved it ;) ) Oh well, I don't think a : lot of retailers were putting a lot of trust in Tekno in the first : place were they? The Tekno kiosks are in a mall in Virginia Beach, six malls in various places in Florida, and one in the midwest somewhere -- the Mall of America, maybe? I've seen the one in Virginia Beach (and even did a signing there), and it's a nice set-up. : >While appearing to support its "creators" Tekno has recently been : >abandoned by Majel Roddenberry, due to non-payment of appearance fees. : They didn't pay Majel Roddenberry? Tacky... They also deliberately avoided giving her much input on LOST UNIVERSE when I was writing it. Not that she seemed to mind very much. : >Mickey Spillane is also on the brink of severing any : >relationship with Tekno beyond his contractual minimums. : Well they got what they wanted from him right? Two appearances on : Entertainment Tonight and his name in the indicia, that's all they : wanted to pay for isn't it? That's a shame -- he was very enthusiastic initially. : >Of course, : >none of the Tekno "celebrity authors" have ever had any real creative : >input. Smoke and mirrors are the norm at Tekno. : This we had already gathered. But, but... they DID have MASSIVE creative input from Leonard Nimoy. Honest. It drove me crazy when I was scripting PRIMORTALS -- I'd have a script done and turned in and approved and paid and I'd be two issues further along, and Nimoy would get around to reading it and want the whole thing rewritten, so I'd have to back up and start over. I kept trying to build a backlog, so I wouldn't be constantly pushing deadlines, and I COULDN'T, because Nimoy would always want changes at the last possible minute. And I know it was Nimoy because twice I got the changes by phone in conference calls with him, and once over dinner at his home. Maybe this changed after I quit. Now, on LOST UNIVERSE, no, the creator(s) had no input to speak of -- except that some changes to characters had to be reversed because Majel didn't like them, stuff like hair and skin color. And Neil Gaiman hasn't had anything to do with the stuff he originated; he sold them premises, not ongoing input. : > With very poor solicited demand for Mike Danger (only : >45,000 issues), and Lost Universe about to become spun off into an even : >more confusing book, things look bleak. The founders are scratching : >for any attempt to dump the company, having successfully sold the : >Sci-Fi Channel while it too had massive debts. : >The company has made failed attempts at additional funding, with Bear : >Stearns unwilling to proceed on an essential Private Placement. The : >Controller fields over 50 requests per day from vendors, and 13 of 14 : >of Tekno's bank accounts are barren. This doesn't mesh all that well with the Miramax film deal that just got announced; otherwise, yeah, sounds right. To give people an idea, by the time PRIMORTALS #1 hit the stands, Tekno-Comix had spent over a million dollars producing and marketing the title; that's an absolutely insane amount to spend on launching a single comic book. They did get a book deal with Warner for novelizations of PRIMORTALS and LOST UNIVERSE, but I have the distinct impression it was for much less money than they'd expected. No numbers, just an impression. Y'know, I think they've actually been getting better at producing comic books worth reading; I thought MIKE DANGER was fun, and I liked WHEEL OF WORLDS #0. When I was working for them, though, it was pretty nightmarish dealing with constant meddling from management and marketing, and I wonder whether maybe they've learned to stop harassing the creative staff and just let them produce. If not, then my hat's off to Jim Vance and Al Collins and everyone else who's managed to turn out readable comic books there.