QUITELY SIGNS TWO YEAR EXCLUSIVE WITH DC

**MattBrady** · 12-16-2004, 01:58 PM

Extending and enhancing his relationship with DC, the publisher has confirmed for Newsarama that artist Frank Quitely has signed a two-year exclusive contract, which will allow him to call the various imprints of DC home for his upcoming work.

“I've been offered an exclusive on a number of occasions in the past, but I've always been more interested in keeping my options open, but this time it looks like being on an exclusive is actually going to suit me,” Quitely told Newsarama when asked what went into his decision making process when DC made the offer.

As with other recent DC exclusives, Quitely credits VP Dan Didio with being both the deal-maker, as well as one of the main reasons he was attracted to DC’s offer. “Dan has been very flexible with the way he's worked out a deal for me that works for all of us -financially, creatively and schedule-wise.

“I had a great time working at Marvel, but when I wanted to do a creator-owned project Vertigo was the best place to go. I got the opportunity to paint the Destiny story for [Neil] Gaiman's Sandman: Endless Nights book, and then Karen [Berger] was great to work with on We3, and now I'm gearing up for a DC company-owned character - it's as simple as that. Well, that and the fact that DC have been great to deal with since I went back there.”

On a quick sidetrack, Quitely said that the critically acclaimed We3 with Grant Morrison was a high point in his career to date. “Working with Grant is always a good reason to say yes to any project for starters,” Quitely said. “Then there was the creative freedom of working on our own characters, and the freedom of being on a mature readers title, and the fact that it's so different from most other comics - it's emotional and violent and touching at the same time, and seems to appeal a lot to female readers as well.

“The experimental angle was also very attractive - Grant wanted to tell a very different type of story from normal, and he wanted it to be delivered in a specific way, and that was a very enjoyable challenge. He had some very strong ideas about how he wanted the story-telling to work and we constantly discussed scenes and effects and how best to portray them, it was a very collaborative effort.

“Overall, I’m very happy with it - we've been pretty ambitious with what we've tried to do, and there's a lot more to it than meets the eye on a first read.”

And while Quitely is aware of the intense online speculation that he and Morrison will be teaming again on another project (rumored to be a Superman story), the artist would not confirm anything beyond that he will be working with Morrison, adding that he’s currently focusing all his energies on one project.

“I'll probably do bits and pieces of other things as well from time to time, covers, for example, but there's something very specific that this is all set up for,” Quitely said. “As for scheduling, the first and second issues of We3, which was scheduled as being bi-monthly, came out on time, I think, and this third one is nearly done, which means it'll be coming out mid-January, which I think is nearly a month late.

“The scheduling problems with We3 arose from me having a really serious sciatica problem, but fortunately I’m over that now. The schedule won't be any more relaxed under the exclusive, but I hope to have a decent sized head-start so hopefully there won't be any deadline problems.”

HowAreWeToLive · 12-16-2004, 02:06 PM

betcha he's not on superman

tgail · 12-16-2004, 02:11 PM

this trumps all 50,000 of those exclusives Marvel announced the other week!

Ras Al Ghul · 12-16-2004, 02:13 PM

Now, THIS exclusive is a big deal.

Great job securing this guy, Didio.

I just love how all the recent DC exclusives' work is now pouring out, and it's practically all been great stuff.

Awesome awesome awesome.

***meanwhile, Marvel announces letterer Shmoeface has just signed an exclusive contract with them. "We'll take 'em where we can!" exclaimed ever-optimistic-in-the-face-of-defeat Joe Quesada.

**MattBrady** · 12-16-2004, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ras Al Ghul
***meanwhile, Marvel announces letterer Shmoeface has just signed an exclusive contract with them. "We'll take 'em where we can!" exclaimed ever-optimistic-in-the-face-of-defeat Joe Quesada.

unprovoked Marvel bashing. I wish I was suprised about it coming form you. Knock it off.

MattB

den888 · 12-16-2004, 02:28 PM

Great news for Igor Kordey! This means that he gets to work on at least 9 issues of Superman with Grant Morrison!

mavinga · 12-16-2004, 02:33 PM

More than likely its superman, but I liked Quietly's Wildstorm work.

Ian · 12-16-2004, 02:33 PM

So I guess the deal with Authority remains Millar's axe to grind. Come toward the light Mark.

Erge · 12-16-2004, 02:35 PM

I was really hoping to see him do some more Marvel stuff...I love the way he draws the X-Men. Guess that means I'll have to start reading some more DC stuff. He's an incredible artist.

Godfather · 12-16-2004, 02:39 PM

Quitely did Bite Club?

MatthewSmith · 12-16-2004, 02:41 PM

Quietly is hit and miss for me. Sometimes I fond his stuff beautiful, as is the case with his Endless Nights story and We3, but other times he just doesn't do it for me.

Still not sure how I feel about him possibly working on Superman. But still, this is good news for Frank.

C.Kent · 12-16-2004, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Godfather
Quitely did Bite Club?

just the covers...

aphterburn · 12-16-2004, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ian
So I guess the deal with Authority remains Millar's axe to grind. Come toward the light Mark.

Marvel can keep him. His loathing of DC for no good reason and misunderstanting of their characters could only hurt his work if he were to come over. They don't need him.

Ras Al Ghul · 12-16-2004, 02:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by den888
Great news for Igor Kordey! This means that he gets to work on at least 9 issues of Superman with Grant Morrison!

This is much more funny than it ought to be

Aaron_W · 12-16-2004, 02:50 PM

I don't care much for his work.

Johnny Smith · 12-16-2004, 02:55 PM

Great news for Marvel! This guarantees that Superman will top the list of late-shipping books!

JakeCole · 12-16-2004, 02:57 PM

2 year exclusive... so that means what 6 issues... 8?

Seriously, I like the guys art but it takes him so long to put a book out.

Plus the women he draws look man-ish, at least the faces do.
I wasn't a fan of Morrison's run on X-men, but i loved his JLA so if they get put on Superman i'll shell out the cash for it.

roach04 · 12-16-2004, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MattBrady
unprovoked Marvel bashing. I wish I was suprised about it coming form you. Knock it off.

So Matthew, you're now the protector of Marvel's honour? With some of the nonsense that gets posted here, I'm somewhat surprised that this dig it what prompts you to actually say something.

**MattBrady** · 12-16-2004, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by roach04
So Matthew, you're now the protector of Marvel's honour?

Good God - that's right, if I try to keep a thread in line by actually keeping things on topic, I must be on the {bum bum bum!} other side. There are more shades than black and white.

No. I'm keeping this thread in topic, and preventing people from derailing it with petty, playground, "Marvel/DC sux/Marvel/DC rulz!" pissing matches.

Quote:

Originally posted by roach04
With some of the nonsense that gets posted here, I'm somewhat surprised that this dig it what prompts you to actually say something.

Since you sound like you've been around here for a while, then you're also probably familiar with me posting this: I don't care what was happening in the classroom when I saw someone misbehaving on the playground. I can only be in so many places, and keep my eyes on so many things. New threads get my attention, generally. As always, if any member has a concern, they're more than welcome to PM or e-mail me about someone's conduct on the board.

In fact, if there are any more comments in this vein, please PM me, I'd like to keep this thread on topic, which is something to do with Frank Quitely, I believe...

MattB

Jason Galvin · 12-16-2004, 03:22 PM

Frank Quitely is my all-time favorite artist & this is huge news worthy announcement.

I just really hope we get to see some interior work on a monthly basis & more than 3-4 issues a year. Which may be wishful thinking.

roach04 · 12-16-2004, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MattBrady
Good God - that's right, if I try to keep a thread in line by actually keeping things on topic, I must be on the {bum bum bum!} other side. There are more shades than black and white.

Indeed. And your stalwart ability to maintain impartiality continues to impress.

Quote:

No. I'm keeping this thread in topic, and preventing people from derailing it with petty, playground, "Marvel/DC sux/Marvel/DC rulz!" pissing matches.

While an admirable sentiment, I'm not certain that's where the comment was going. An earlier poster remarked that this signing 'trumps all 50,000 of those exclusives Marvel announced the other week!'. The tone of that statement means it's acceptable while the other is not? Depending on what rules of conduct you're hoping to enforce, there are many things in this thus far very short thread that could warrant a warning. We all know Quitely is very slow. The point about Igor Kordey fill-ins - I found it funny, but others may not. Black vs. white or not, I think the majority of comic fans would concur that Frank Quitely is a bigger name than any of Marvel's announced signings. His is a name, after all, that sells books on its own.

Quote:

In fact, if there are any more comments in this vein, please PM me, I'd like to keep this thread on topic, which is something to do with Frank Quitely, I believe...

Fair enough - it's your board and your rules. The vast majority of the stories and articles published here continue to be both informative and enjoyable. But, on the same token, the majority of follow up comments always start to get negative after about 2 posts. My inquiry was only why this particular statement from a regular with over 150 posts was singled out, when others are often not.

Thanks for your time Matthew.

UX-Gal · 12-16-2004, 03:33 PM

Are you people serious? This guy drew the ugliest X-Men I've ever seen.

---UX
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ux-fans

Grendel Prime · 12-16-2004, 03:33 PM

This is good news for Quitely (guaranteed income) and good news for Quitely fans, but it's not really anything earth-shatteringly new either, since Quitely's ONLY non-DC (Wildstorm, Vertigo, etc.) work in the last few years was New X-men.

Jed Saxon · 12-16-2004, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by den888
Great news for Igor Kordey! This means that he gets to work on at least 9 issues of Superman with Grant Morrison!

My guess EXACTLY!

So two years equals in... 3-5 published issues? Not even We3, a limited series was out in time IIRC.

Good artist but so slooooow.

Robot H Brian · 12-16-2004, 03:40 PM

I've been a fan of Quitely's work since I first saw it - on Flex Mentallo, maybe? (It's a shame that thing will never be reprinted - what a wild book!). My hopes are that Frank does get to work on a project that (a) will be scheduled based on his output abillities and (b) will be produced on quality materials (luckily, DC's been doing much better with their books and trades lately, re: higher quality paper and such).