PAT LEE ON THE DREAMWAVE BANKRUPTCY

[MattBrady]

by Alex Segura Jr.

We’ve heard from two of the freelancers, now we’ve gone to the Dreamwave main man himself, Pat Lee. We managed to get a quick chat in with Lee between deadlines, touching on freelancer payment, the Dreamwave collapse and where things go from here.

Newsarama: Could you give us a little background on what went wrong with Dreamwave? How did it go from a successful company to bankrupt in a matter of years?

Pat Lee: You say ‘a matter of years,’ like it’s been a short time. Believe me, in the process of growing a company, a ‘matter of years’ is a long time. As you’ve stated, Dreamwave was a successful company, and we experienced a lot of success for many years.

Yet, growing a company is a continual learning process that involves making mistakes, learning from those mistakes, and then using the lessons you've learned to do things better the next time you have to make similar decisions.

We made several mistakes at Dreamwave. Some of them we learned from, and a couple of them, we couldn't recover from.

To the surprise of everyone, including ours, we were impressed with the initial success of Transformers comics, and we were a little mesmerized too. Initially we supplemented our Transformers titles with original titles and concepts that were designed by me, thus providing us with a diversified line of comic books. But as the years went by, I was involved in the day-to-day operations of the company much more than I should have been.

I didn't stop having ideas for new concepts, characters and titles; I just stopped having the time to develop them properly and interweave them into our line of comic titles.

So the DW line of comic books and trade paperbacks became dependent on Transformers, instead of a healthier mixture containing more original concepts.

When DW and Hasbro came to a legitimate impasse concerning the renewal of the Transformers license, we discovered that the mix of titles DW could publish without the Transformers' license was simply too small to sustain the monthly expenditures which are part of every company's financial situation.

We didn't properly anticipate the difficulties that actually ensued in renewing the Transformers' license. Both DW and Hasbro wanted to get the agreement signed, but the license expired, and we were left with only one viable financial alternative.

NRAMA: What, if anything, would you like to say to the freelancers that claim they never received monies owed to them for work performed for DW? Do you foresee them all getting paid?

PL: The DW bankruptcy was a very painful and difficult process for all parties involved, including the principals. We were hoping to find a way through our difficulties that did not involve bankruptcy, and we held on as long as possible. But resources were stretched, and we didn't have as much time to plan the process as we would have preferred.

The other thing to remember is that this process has very strict rules, guidelines and procedures. Once a company enters that process - and a Receiver or Trustee is chosen - then the former owners of a company - such as myself - have absolutely no discretion in the disbursement of monies. I have absolutely no control over who gets paid - and who doesn't . . . how much they get paid . . . or when they get paid.

It's been very hurtful for me to see how this process has impacted a number of people that I have counted as friends and supporters. I just haven't had any control over it whatsoever. Each of the decisions was made for financial reasons that I've had absolutely no part in shaping.

This has definitely been one of the more painful lessons to learn from this process.

NRAMA: What would you have done differently, if given the chance to start DW over?

PL: I'd stay out of the day-to-day operations of the company so that I could devote my time and energy to creating the exciting characters, concepts and alternate worlds that are the lifeblood of the comic book industry.

We'd try and locate a 'home run' license such as we found with Transformers, but I'd make sure that at least 40% of our revenues as a company were generated by our own properties. That would create a revenue base that would provide financial independence from any licenses that we chose to publish.

I'd make sure we had top-flight management in place to run the company on a day-to-day basis. I'd be intimately involved in the big-picture decisions that shaped the company's destiny, but I'd delegate the management of the company and personnel to a highly qualified management team, so that I can do what I love best - draw comics and create the exciting, vibrant, exhilarating characters that inhabit them.

NRAMA: Do you feel criticism thrown against you and other DW staff members is warranted?

PL: I think that almost all of the criticism that's been directed at me and other DW staff members originates from people that think they've been injured or hurt by the closing of DW in some way. They're expressing their pain verbally because there's no other avenue for it to take. I understand and accept that.

The loyal people on the staff of DW were simply doing their jobs as best they could under very trying emotional and financial circumstances. To blame them for any of the bankruptcy or ensuing difficulties is just unfortunate and wrong.

As for me . . . nobody regrets the DW bankruptcy more than I do. My brother, Roger, and I invested over five years of our work, our sweat and our effort in building a company that published good comics that fans enjoyed. To watch that all get swept away was such an emotionally wrenching situation that any criticisms directed at us were pretty much included in everything else cataclysmic that was happening.

Nietzsche said "That which does not kill me makes me stronger."

We're stronger now - but we've certainly paid for it in sleepless nights, emotional turmoil, and painful regrets. I feel like we've come through a violent and destructive tropical storm. There's mayhem and havoc everywhere, but we've made it through physically and emotionally intact. Now it's time to rebuild and to focus on the future, which is exactly what we intend to do.

[Marxist 64]

Now we're going to get loads of responses insulting Pat Lee aren't we?

Ah well, it sure sounds like he suffered a lot from this, although I still think it would be best to get some money to those freelanchers.

[HomerJimmy]

wow that is a relatively short interview considering the length of the interview with the two freelancers. also seemed to me like an interview to improve his pr status.

[Edunikki]

Some very carefully articulated phrases, but no mention of whether he suffered financially as a result of the company folding . . .

[algertman]

Originally posted by Marxist 64
Now we're going to get loads of responses insulting Pat Lee aren't we?

Ah well, it sure sounds like he suffered a lot from this, although I still think it would be best to get some money to those freelanchers.

if suffering means I get a porsche then sign me up

[MattBrady]

Originally posted by Marxist 64
Now we're going to get loads of responses insulting Pat Lee aren't we?

We'd best not.

Keep your comments civil. Threatening violence or insulting someone is a stupid thing to get your account deleted for. THere won't be any more warnings.

MattB

[render man]

That was a pretty weak Q&A. I was hoping for some hard question and answers, this was pretty soft.

[mheath81]

I wonder if he did work for other companies to get capital for DW or if he just did that for personal income. I'm interested to see how much time he could have spent developing these new characters, etc.

[xdemon]

"I think that almost all of the criticism that's been directed at me and other DW staff members originates from people that think they've been injured or hurt by the closing of DW in some way."

And if they were?

Odd comment to make.

[Marxist 64]

Originally posted by algertman
if suffering means I get a porsche then sign me up

Porsche?

[BrotherI]

Hmm...can't tell if he is being truthful or not. I know LITG has influenced my view of Pat, what with all the BMW write-off stuff. Still, running a company can't be easy to do.

I think he gave a pretty solid explanation, if dodging the blame a little. Just a shame that those freelancers didn't get their money...

[algertman]

Originally posted by Marxist 64
Porsche?

you don't know about that?

before DW went bankrupt he sign the company car, a porsche, over to himself so it wouldn't get taken

[csGuy]

I think this interview was pretty weak considering everything that's been said so far on the subject.

[Marxist 64]

Originally posted by algertman
you don't know about that?

before DW went bankrupt he sign the company car, a porsche, over to himself so it wouldn't get taken

Really?

Let me guess, that was on LiTG?

[maz1]

still didn't explain where the money went. interview way to short. Freelancers have been working there for a very long time and not getting paid what where you telling them yup keep working cause you ain't gonna see any $$$. Asking freelancers to pay the company is so Unprofessional. i think the company was running like duk-tape car

[Chief Wahoo]

Matt, this interview was a ludicrous "puff piece." You would have been better off not running this interview and simply letting the other Dreamwave creators interview stand as is without a response from Pat.

Pat Lee deserves to have a lot of really bad things happen to him. It still infuriates me that Marc Alessi still has all his money.

[Mandike320]

Originally posted by Marxist 64
Porsche?

LITG reported that he has a porsche. I'm a little hazy but I think it was a company car that he bought from the company before the bankruptcy.

Here's the link if you are interested http://www.comicbookresources.com/co...g&article=2184

[Chief Wahoo]

Oh, and CSGuy, curb your bandwidth hogging signature already. Christ.

[EmeraldGuy32]

Well I can't stand Pat's interior work, (though I did his more Iconic covers for some reason) this whole DW this seems to have hit him pretty hard. If it were me I'd pay these freelancers out-of-pocket. True he didn't have control over the specific descisions of who got paid and how much, but it was still company. I'm not judging the guy, i'm just saying what I would have done.

[Johnny Smith]

I wish Mike Wallace had conducted this interview.

I agree with HomerJimmy - Pat Lee could have just released a press release and given out the same information he provided in this interview.

[Mandike320]

Originally posted by Chief Wahoo
Matt, this interview was a ludicrous "puff piece." You would have been better off not running this interview and simply letting the other Dreamwave creators interview stand as is without a response from Pat.

Pat Lee deserves to have a lot of really bad things happen to him. It still infuriates me that Marc Alessi still has all his money.

Dude, Matt Brady rules.

I liked the interview Matt, I'm impressed he agreed to give one at all.

[carver]

The other thing to remember is that this process has very strict rules, guidelines and procedures. Once a company enters that process - and a Receiver or Trustee is chosen - then the former owners of a company - such as myself - have absolutely no discretion in the disbursement of monies. I have absolutely no control over who gets paid - and who doesn't . . . how much they get paid . . . or when they get paid.

____

This statement doesn't explain why artists weren't paid BEFORE DW filed for bankruptcy. I would have liked an answer to that.

[El Argentino]

Weak questions.

[Edunikki]

Originally posted by Chief Wahoo
Matt, this interview was a ludicrous "puff piece." You would have been better off not running this interview and simply letting the other Dreamwave creators interview stand as is without a response from Pat.

Pat Lee deserves to have a lot of really bad things happen to him. It still infuriates me that Marc Alessi still has all his money.

I actually think Mark Alessi sounds to have lost more financially than Pat Lee (admittedly Alessi had far more to lose) - Alessi actually lost money on the enterprise, Lee sounds to have got at least one rather nice car out of it . . .

As first reported on LiTG ;-)

[toolverine]

Originally posted by Marxist 64
Porsche?

And what about that slick apartment?