My name is Scott McDaniel, and I am a professional comic book artist. When I share that with people in my civilian life, the reply that almost always comes back is: "Really?! That is so COOL!" And it really, truly IS cool. It's literally a dream come true. Nearly every memory I have of my youth is somehow connected to comics or art. I inherited my love of comics from my Mom. At flea markets she would buy me brown grocery bags FULL of comics with missing or sliced covers. Remember those? Retail stores only had to return the cover, or even only the top half of the cover containing the title, in order to get their refund on unsold books. And I had classics! I even had Iron Man #1... mostly! Pages yellowed and wilted from humidity and smelling of garage or attic dust, with mangled or missing covers... they were AWESOME! I had EVERY Mego action figure available - all the DC heroes, Marvel heroes, Star Trek figures, Planet of the Apes. I had most of the Big Jim characters, and plenty of G.I. Joe stuff, too. I played with those toys until they literally fell apart under the stress of dirt, water, rocks, darts, even a BB gun or two (sorry, Mom!). I learned to draw by copying from those weathered books images created by my artistic heroes: Jim Aparo, Mike Grell, Neal Adams, Bob Layton, John Buscema, Tony Dezuniga, Bernie Wrightson, John Byrne, among many others. I would impress my friends at school by recreating a drawing I memorized the night before. It was great fun! I became the kid the others called "the artist." I honestly dreamed of being Batman one day. I actually wrote to a local TV station that was airing the Batman TV show with the singular purpose of convincing them to hire me to play Robin. I even promised I would take off my glasses during the action scenes. I never heard back from them. I often wonder how different my life would be today if they had.... I used to love sitting in our living room, with a box of hard pretzels (another passion inherited from my Mom!), an icy cola, and losing myself in the latest issue of the Savage Sword of Conan! Ahhh, Crom, those were great times! I dreamed of actually becoming a comic book artist. I dreamed of being among the top talents in the field, creating action and adventure comics that people would truly enjoy. Mom, while always supportive of my dreams, rightly sent me to Bucknell University so I could have a real job as an electrical engineer. I did, but thanks to an opportunity that came out of that college experience (which I fully ascribe to the blessings and the hand of God), my dream of becoming a comic book artist became a reality. But I never dreamed of finding myself in the direct crosshairs of a colleague clearly intent on attacking my professionalism, my qualifications, and my competence as the reason why the recently launched DC Comics series STATIC SHOCK failed. THE CHARGE by JOHN ROZUM That colleague is the talented writer John Rozum (Milestone/DC Xombi, Vertigo Midnight Mass, among many others). John has recently spoken out publicly, and vigorously, to reveal why, despite his best efforts, STATIC SHOCK was ruined - and his own personal and professional reputation severely tarnished - by editorial interference and my own personal incompetence. Here are the links to John's public statements. I am aware of only these three. They were picked up by many comics news sites, so if you do an internet search, you'll find a long list of links that I am pretty sure boil down to these three source statements: I QUIT Rozum's brief, initial resignation announcement.

Posted September 15, 2011 COMMENTS Rozum's comments to an article describing STATIC's failure.

Posted January 20, 2012 WHY I QUIT Rozum's full disclosure of his experience.

Posted January 22, 2012 MY DEFENSE John is very good with words, and with them he paints a pretty damning picture. If only it were an accurate one. John has challenged my professionalism, my qualifications, and my competence as the real reasons why STATIC SHOCK failed, and he lists a series of broad examples to support his argument. He has determined that he can only rehabilitate his reputation by absolutely smearing mine. Initially, out of professional courtesy to John, I chose to remain SILENT on this matter. I said absolutely NOTHING, even when asked to comment. But his latest statement so distorted our experience together on STATIC SHOCK that I felt I must speak, just this once, to correct the record John chose to make so public. I have worked my entire career to be a complete professional. I am fully aware that I am a modest talent. Nonetheless, I am very thankful to God for that gift, and I work hard to develop it as fully as I can. But I know I am a work in progress, and I am aware of my limitations! To compensate for that modest ability, I have developed a working style that is designed to meet the demands of the rigorous monthly publishing schedule. I do the best work I am capable of producing within the time given, doing whatever is required to meet the required deadlines. I strive to be a total team player, encouraging my teammates, genuinely thanking them for their contributions continually. I constantly report my progress status to my editors so they have absolutely no concern of my workflow. My word is my bond, and I will speak the truth as kindly as I can. I ask no more of my colleagues that I am willing to offer myself. My reputation is the most important aspect of my professional legacy. I have only two goals to achieve by the end of my career: (1) that comic fans enjoy and respect my work and (2) that my colleagues might look back on our collaborations together with fondness and respect. I am truly and very deeply saddened that many people who read John's sharp words simply accept them as the objective truth. Perhaps people conclude that, because he seems to be speaking with such considered understanding and thoughtfulness, his words MUST be true. Perhaps people regard my silence as my guilty acknowledgement of the truthfulness of his account. I have remained SILENT because I fear no good thing comes from this type of public display. However, John chose to bring this into the public square. He has forced me to speak openly about our experience together on STATIC SHOCK, to correct the public record before his grotesquely distorted account matures in people's minds as the truth of what happened here. But maybe something good CAN come out of all this, after all. I can think of no other way to defend myself than to even MORE fully pull back the curtain, and share specific encounters that really made a strong impression on me during our collaboration that will reveal a substantially different picture than the one John describes. This way, you can more fairly judge my professionalism, my qualifications, and my competence for yourself. I will write as simply and clearly as I can. The plain message of my words is the only message of my words. I will not make subtle implications or disguise my meaning in any way. I will write as honestly as I can, whether it shows John poorly, or me. I offer this NOT to injure John, but only to clarify the distorted record he chose to make public. I will identify and take full responsibility for my mistakes. I ask that you be patient, and allow me the latitude to speak at some length on certain topics. John has spoken out very publicly on least these three occasions. While I can never know for certain, I suspect that he has shared similar sentiments in private correspondences as well. He has spoken a LOT on this subject. I have said NOTHING. I sincerely hope and pray that this will be the ONLY time I will be compelled to respond publicly on this matter. I fear that my statement will provoke John into launching another public and harsh rebuttal. I will RESIST making any further comment with all of my strength, fully intending this statement to be my FINAL WORD on this subject. I ask that you read the following discussion with an open mind. Many might be reading this with a definite, intensely negative opinion of my role in this matter. Please - I ask that you be patient and take the time to read my words fully and fairly. If, at the end, your opinion remains unchanged, so be it. I stand by my creative contributions to STATIC SHOCK, because my work was offered to the best of my ability for the sole purpose of helping STATIC SHOCK succeed. CONTEXT A couple of items of general context should be mentioned before I share specifics. EDITORIAL John has a lot to say about editorial. His statements reveal his frustration over the perceived roadblocks and impossible scenarios put in his path by editorial. It's as if John expected to be the captain of this ship, writing the series as HE determined was best without any correction whatsoever, regardless of the manner in which DC Editorial wanted it written. John had a very definite, preconceived notion of what the book should be, and when he was asked to shape it differently, difficulty arose. And this has nothing to do with me at all. My understanding and experience is that, under work-for-hire agreements (which is at play here on STATIC SHOCK), EDITORIAL is the captain of the ship. Editorial has the authority to hire and fire creators. Editorial has the authority to review and either accept or reject story and art. Editorial has the responsibility to execute the company's publishing plans, both short- and long-term, in the context of the specific book. The editorial staff meets weekly (at least), to coordinate the publishing plan and manage its execution in the various books. Book editors aren't rogue company employees following their own nonsensical whims, but instead are entrusted by the company to use their individual skills and judgment to guide the material content as well as manage the critical schedule and technical issues. In simplest terms, I freely accept that the book editor speaks with the full weight and authority of the company, in the best interests of the company and character. The book editor assigned to STATIC SHOCK is Harvey Richards. Like John Rozum, Harvey Richards is a Milestone alumnus. Harvey is currently working in the Batman office as assistant editor on the titles BATMAN, DETECTIVE and BATMAN & ROBIN. I think that is a clear validation of his skills. You just don't barge into the Bat office - you have to EARN your way into the Bat Office. From my first day on STATIC SHOCK, it was clear that Harvey was very passionate about STATIC SHOCK, and he brought a lot of great story and technical ideas to implement in the relaunch. What's more, Harvey lives in Harlem, the chosen new setting for the Hawkins family. He is the perfect man to edit this book. Everyone involved with the relaunch of STATIC SHOCK wanted it to succeed. Corporate DC, Harvey, John, myself. Every other creator on the book wanted it to succeed. So did every STATIC fan. But now that STATIC SHOCK has failed, passions are understandably inflamed. Someone must be responsible for this failure. Apparently someone must pay. And John is seeking to exact that price from me. PRELAUNCH PRESSURES This past year has offered the most pressure I've ever experienced while working in comics. Maybe my colleagues who are reading this have experienced it, too. The market is very strained right now, with a lot of excellent material all competing for the same, finite supply of readership with their own finite supply of hard-earned money. I've noticed that very talented creators are having difficulty finding projects. I'm experiencing it, too. There has been a frequent and growing gap between the assignments I am offered. This isn't trivial. My son's college education was interrupted, and as a family we've had to make significant sacrifices and do some real scrambling. I'm not crying about it, or asking for pity. Many families have to do the exact same thing. I'm just sharing the truth about it. I bring it to this discussion for the sole purpose of making clear that I do not take projects for granted, nor do I treat them lightly. I am the head of my household, and my family trusts me to be successful in my chosen career. When I am offered a project, I absolutely do NOT take it for granted, but instead I am sincerely grateful for the opportunity and I am thankful to God that I can support my family. An example that I think describes the situation in comics is displayed by the NFL. Each year, "starters" have to EARN their starting role. There are no gimmies, no passes for former glories. If you beat out the competitors for your position, you start. If you earned three Pro Bowl trips over the past decade, but are beaten out by a rookie in training camp, you're out. That's the way it is. I'm not complaining - I'm merely articulating the constant demands to perform, and how it is becoming increasingly important as a comics creator to stay on you're A-game without falter. And that's easier said than done. From the reader's perspective, it's a great time to be a comics fan! Some publishers are working to bring costs down, and are offering less expensive digital product opportunities. And that product is created by an increasingly talented pool of writers and artists. So, as a creator, it's "prepare to compete" or "prepare to get pushed aside!" As a creator, I need to be executing and growing my skills as best as I can, and be as effective a team player as possible. ADDITIONAL PRESSURES SPECIFIC TO STATIC Increasing this already high ambient pressure are several other, potent factors that should at least be mentioned. (1) The loss of a legend.

The first factor to consider is the very sad, unfortunate, premature passing of STATIC co-creator and MILESTONE MEDIA co-founder, Dwayne G. McDuffie. I've never had the pleasure of meeting him, but those who have express nothing but admiration, love and respect for him. His mission to produce comics that spoke to people of color was visionary, and he deserves all the honor he receives. People (creators and fans) wanted this book to succeed in part because it would be a real-world, tangible way to honor, and more importantly validate, what Dwayne and his colleagues at Milestone built. But STATIC SHOCK failed. When it failed, I think (my opinion here), in the minds of some, it failed to validate what came before, and that failure to validate is an inexcusable, outrageous and unforgiveable insult to Dwayne and his colleagues. And someone should pay. (2) Predetermined expectations.

Many people had fixed, passionate, predetermined expectations for this relaunched series. The problem here is that these expectations are competing. Fans of the original series want more of the same, an authentic voice speaking for people of color, many of whom are struggling to live in dangerous, urban environments. Fans of the cartoon loved it for its own unique quality and charm, designed primarily for a younger audience, maybe leaning more to featuring fun adventure and companionship of friends. Right from the beginning, it seemed tricky to reconcile those strong, predetermined expectations with the editorial expectations of the series (which was to chart a new direction altogether). (3) Race.

I can speak no more clearly than this - I believe everyone involved wanted this book to be a smashing success, including the entirety of corporate DC and its group of editors, and every single person involved with the book's content. There is absolutely no strategy to sabotage books featuring minorities. Any suggestion that there is such a hidden, destructive strategy in place to keep characters of color from succeeding is simply and absolutely wrong. Such wrong-headed theories only serve to unnecessarily agitate an already potently pressurized situation. But no matter how truthful this statement is, the fact that STATIC SHOCK failed brings this unfounded racial argument forward. Some people stubbornly refuse to let go of the incorrect belief that this failure is an intentional affront to people of color, and someone must be held accountable. (4) No margin of error.

Before the relaunch, Comic Book Resources ran a survey that attempted to measure the reader anticipation of the coming DCnU relaunch titles. You can find it here: CBR POLL CBR READERS RANK THE 52 DC COMICS RELAUNCH TITLES: TAKE 2

Posted August 26, 2011 This data was collected before a single issue was published. I took this poll data and assigned numerical scores for each vote in each defined category. The poll asks: "Which of DC's 52 announced titles for September do you plan to purchase?" For EACH of the 52 titles, the readers voted and I quantified the vote as follows: ABSOLUTELY Each vote = +5 points VERY LIKELY Each vote = +3 points LIKELY Each vote = +1 points UNLIKELY Each vote = -1 points NOT AT ALL Each vote = -5 points I dumped the data into a spreadsheet, and ran the calculation. Then, I sorted the numerical scores to see where STATIC SHOCK stood in the race. (What can I say? I'm a former engineer and total geek. It's in my DNA.) Oh, my goodness. I had to share what I discovered with my colleagues Harvey and John. Here are the sorted results I sent to them (it's a ".doc" file):

DCnU CBR POLL RESULTS Right away, note that the very structure of the poll should yield scores that were positively biased. That is, since there are three choices that produce a positive score and only two choices that produce a negative score, I expected the final scores to be almost all positive. Oh, my goodness. Only the top 9 titles had positive scores. The remaining 43 had negative scores. I'm not sure what that means, frankly! I wonder if it's just a reflection of an overall negative mood that might simply be caused by the tough economy. But clearly worse, STATIC SHOCK ranked 46 out of 52. This is a SERIOUS challenge. There was no sales data yet, but the situation was clear: if the DCnU relaunch was a NASCAR race, STATIC SHOCK would start about as far back in the pack as possible! I think this poll accurately PREDICTED the uphill battle this book would face in the crush of 52 competing titles. I'm going to jump into the future a little bit here, to keep related sales information together. Around the first or second week of Oct 2011, the first sales data (of the Sep 2011 #1 issues) was published from DIAMOND. DIAMOND ESTIMATED SALES data is freely available online - anyone can get it for themselves. According to this report, STATIC #1 came in at 34,004 units sold. Oh, my goodness. Immediately, alarm bells sounded in my mind. You see, I love math and numbers and graphs, and I have been collecting and reviewing those Diamond Sales Estimate reports for YEARS. For FUN. I'm telling you - I'm a total NERD. I've noticed a simple pattern in the sales orders for titles after their debut. I think this is pretty commonly known. The #1 issue sales (the debut) will be its highest value, then subsequent issue #'s orders cool off rapidly until settling softly into a steady-state value. Like a cup of hot water cooling to room temperature. Some titles start much hotter others, and some titles cool faster than others, but the overall trend actually follows Newton's Law of Cooling pretty well. I've done least-squares regressions of the data and it's true (I know, I know... NERD ALERT!). Here's the general pattern (CAUTION: ballpark percentages ONLY!!):

By around issue #4-5, the sales have cooled to about 60% of #1 sales.

By around the end of the first year, the sales have settled to about 40% of #1 sales. Again, these percentages will be a bit different for the different books, but the OVERALL trends are pretty comparable. I have some graphs that make this point visually in a moment (!! NERD ALERT !!). But first, here are two examples from many that show this cooling pattern in action (as .doc files): John's XOMBI Sales Chart

2009 BATMAN & ROBIN Sales Chart As you can see, the pattern is generally followed, regardless of how "cold" or how "hot" #1 sales are. For STATIC SHOCK, the future picture was immediately clear to me (at this time, issue #2 had just come out a week prior):

ANTICIPATED SALES for Static # 4 or 5:

(34,004 units)*(0.60) = 20,402 units.

(34,004 units)*(0.60) = 20,402 units. ANTICIPATED SALES for Static # 12:

(34,004 units)*(0.40) = 13,601 units. Uh-oh. Any title selling less than 20,000 units will be considered for CANCELLATION. Anticipating NORMAL, TRADITIONAL SALES PATTERNS, STATIC SHOCK won't make it. Repeat: left on its own, without special intervention, HISTORICAL SALES PATTERNS PREDICT STATIC SHOCK WILL FAIL. And #2 had only come out last week!!! I immediately shared this information with Harvey and John. I'm sure Harvey actually had better data than I did (I only had Diamond Estimates, and no clue to the level of digital comics sales). Harvey was just as concerned as I was, so I assumed the Diamond Sales Estimate was pretty close to the ACTUAL sales (at least for STATIC SHOCK). To me and Harvey, the best chance for STATIC's survival was to plan big, exciting stories. Create solid story that QUICKLY grew to important and dramatic climaxes for Virgil and Static. There was no time to play it safe, or to do slow-burn stories. Time was our enemy. We needed something nearly geologic to upset the repeat of history in order to keep the book alive. John dismissed this information, and our strategy, entirely. In his opinion, Harvey and I were too concerned with sales and gimmicks and not legitimate story. I was frankly stunned by his reaction. Of ALL people I thought John would be sensitive to the REALITIES of the market. The XOMBI sales data I shared here, AND WITH JOHN AT THE TIME, showed the pattern. It's real. Worse yet, John's XOMBI sales were so low that XOMBI WAS CANCELLED BEFORE ISSUE #1 EVEN SHIPPED. Harvey and I were urging John to think big, to be bold and dramatic. We weren't talking idiotic, gratuitous story, but story that would literally PROPEL the main character and the readers through an intense conflict and challenge. Our only chance to keep STATIC alive was to MAKE HISTORY and buck the HISTORICAL sales pattern. John considered those pleas to be not worthy of artistic consideration. What do YOU think? The last observation I can offer regarding that CBR poll is that, once addition months of sales data came in and the first wave of cancelled titles were determined, this CBR poll seemed awfully prescient: generally speaking, the titles that ranked highest on the poll had the highest sales, and the titles that ranked the lowest on the poll had the lowest sales and were the first to be cancelled. Lesson: Market forces are REAL and should be managed to the best of your ability. But me and Harvey already knew that. OK! Still with me? Great! I think this is enough to describe the general environment in which we were all working. This creative work wasn't done by automatons in a vacuum, but rather by people working under various and unique pressures. I absolutely do NOT offer this as an excuse or as an attempt to rationalize anything. I merely share it to give you a feel for what the overall creative atmosphere was like, from my perspective. Finally, we should take a moment to refresh our memories of the purpose and plan of the entire DCU relaunch itself. RELAUNCH GOALS OF THE NEW 52 A simple internet search will reveal a vast array of DC promotional efforts ahead of the New 52 rollout. The intent of the relaunch was to CONTINUE the stories of these great characters, presenting them in NEW WAYS TO NEW AUDIENCES, featuring all NEW titles beginning with NEW number 1's. Everything is NEW, everything is fresh. Everyone knows these characters, but DC is going to show readers something completely NEW. Here it is, directly from the very top leadership of DC Comics: Gotta love that ending!

(And there's a funny story about that cover art, but that's a story for another day!) Did you catch the core of the concept? The relaunch is all about NEW. Double emphasis on NEW. NEW means fresh opportunity. It's like taking the next step in life. It's like graduating from high school and moving off to college, with all the NEW experiences that NEW situation entails. The student is the same PERSON (character) upon awakening that first day at college, but that student is now placed in a NEW context to stimulate maturation and personal growth. And this is a pretty good illustration of the approach desired by editorial on STATIC SHOCK. And I agreed. There was a big push for stories that were NEW and EXCITING. There was a big push to create cliff hangers that would COMPEL readers to come back for #2! There was a lot of encouragement from Editorial to really find the books unique angle and 'go for it' with gusto! Harvey, John and I unanimously agreed, without reservation, that nearly all of the published STATIC material would remain a part of STATIC's history. Dwayne McDuffie had recently passed away, and preserving all that material in the character's history was clearly the right decision. The man's legacy should be protected. Static's already-published adventures (with just a few exceptions) were assigned to his past in Dakota. This relaunch represented his present in NYC, and the next chapter in Static's life. Static was poised to take his next step, waiting for us to show him the way. And now... let's lift the curtain. MY ROLE Editor Harvey Richards initially hired me to be the STATIC SHOCK penciller. PERIOD. That was perfectly fine with me. I didn't know much about the character. I freely admit it to you now just as I did to Harvey then. It's the truth. The original, Milestone Media STATIC #1 was originally published back in 1993. During the early 1990's, I had been working as a full-time electrical engineer during the day, and moonlighting for independent comic book companies by night. In 1992 I had the extreme blessing to be offered the penciller's role the Marvel Comics monthly series DAREDEVIL. With the full support of my wife, I quit my engineering job and put my full energies into comics. Just as STATIC was launching, I was preparing to vault into the storyline FALL FROM GRACE, which was to run concurrently with MAN WITHOUT FEAR, a Daredevil limited series created by the legendary creators Frank Miller and John Romita, Jr. Man, I was in WAY over my head. A boy among men. It dominated my attention, and I never really noticed Static. My colleagues have probably experienced similar, intensely demanding early days in comics. Everything is new. Back in my day, there were no schools that taught you how to draw comics. No internet chat groups to turn to. You had to figure it out on your own and learn by doing or by studying film texts, or be lucky enough to receive actual advice from working professionals. That's how it was for me. I'm a self-taught artist and comics creator. More good stuff on this at the end, too! The next few years at Marvel came and went literally in the blink of an eye. I was invited to draw NIGHTWING for DC Comics. At that time, I knew almost nothing about the character Nightwing. But my run on NIGHTWING turned out to be the greatest comic experience of my life ("Thank you!" Scott, Darren, Chuck and Karl!). A CLOSE second was actually being offered my dream assignment as penciller on BATMAN, but that's a story for another day. I detoured into this history simply to show that a previous, and similar, situation occurred in my past regarding NIGHTWING, a character whom I knew almost nothing about at the start of my run. I saw no reason why this experience with STATIC should be any different. I was expecting to have a BLAST. An athletic whiz-kid who can FLY and command ELECTROMAGNETIC abilities - I mean, come on! As a former electrical engineer who loves acrobatic, action-oriented comics and who is a proud, card-carrying science geek and nerd, I fully expected this project to fall right into my wheel-house! Harvey sent me a care package to get me started on the project: Photocopy of the document "Milestone Media - STATIC - A Dakota Universe Bible"

Photocopy of the document "Milestone Media - THE CITY OF DAKOTA - A Dakota Universe Bible"

STATIC SHOCK REBIRTH OF THE COOL trade paperback

(collects issues #1-4 of the original STATIC series and the follow up four issue limited series)

trade paperback (collects issues #1-4 of the original series and the follow up four issue limited series) MILESTONE FOREVER #1

MILESTONE FOREVER #2

THE BRAVE AND THE BOLD / MILESTONE trade paperback

(collects BRAVE AND THE BOLD #24-26, STATIC #12, HARDWARE #16 and XOMBI #6). I studied the documents carefully, especially the STATIC Bible. This "Bible" is the original, authoritative text written by the Milestone founders and STATIC character creators that clearly articulates the purpose of the title, the character, his nature as STATIC and as VIRGIL HAWKINS, the precise source and scope of his powers, and it sketches brief introductions of the supporting cast. What better preparation is there than having the creator's own words describing his own creation in full detail? This is source material, and it is golden. Harvey called and invited me to participate in a story conference he was going to have with John. Harvey shared that he was having some trouble getting John oriented to the type of exciting story he wanted in STATIC's relaunch. Harvey was impressed with my work in the past (limited to instances of my discovering a few plot holes that somehow slipped by the writer and editor before getting to me, and he was impressed with my ideas/comments offered during the initial planning for STATIC with a different writer months earlier). Harvey suggested that I might help brainstorm ideas to get STATIC rolling in a strong, new direction. Besides, DC Editorial was generally encouraging teams get their artists more involved in the story creation to make sure the stories were as visually interesting as possible. So this seemed the natural thing to do for STATIC. This is important. Let's be very clear here. I was INVITED by editorial to join the story meetings and INVITED to bring story ideas to the table. Contrary to John's statement, I didn't thrust my way in. I was INVITED. EXCELLENT! I have always admired writers. Pencillers begin their work from a script or plot, but a writer truly faces a blank canvas. Writers skillfully weave through the countless choices that have to be made, and they make it all look so easy. It's quite remarkable. I was honored to be asked to participate. THE COLLABORATION BEGINS Contrary to John's public statements, our collaboration began amicably. John shared that he was a bit frustrated because his earlier material (set in Dakota) was rejected once it was decided to put Static in NYC. I never saw that material, so I don't know what it was, or how fully developed it was. But to his credit I thought John handled the unexpected turn quite well. And frankly, I was very relieved to be treated with respect by John when we first started. I suspected he might be feeling a little frustrated or embarrassed that I was invited to the party. I mean, I didn't know much about the character (but I was educating myself quickly), and I hadn't written a thing, but I thought he treated me with warmth and respect, and I was grateful for that. I wanted to be worthy to sit at their table. Harvey tried to set out the context for the initial relaunch story. He wanted us to think NEW. He wanted us to think EXTREME. Go crazy, and he'll pull us back from the edge if we go too far. Harvey was very interested in exploring WHY Virgil would continue being Static as he matures. And Harvey was very interested in creating a sci-fi themed mystery involving his sister that could become a long-term, driving motivation for Static to remain being Static. Harvey was very interested in seeing new growth in the character, in his personality and also new growth in his powers. That all sounded great to me. I thought it was all OK with John as well. We talked a lot about S.T.A.R. Labs, Virgil's school, what challenges he might face as a teen and hero, the types of criminals he might battle. I seem to remember having several of these calls, but to be completely honest, I just can't recall. At this time, I was working nearly 90-100 hours/week on all this story brainstorming, story research, Static research, Static costume redesign, supporting cast design, and the like. Frankly, it's kind of all bound up into one block of memory. I am trying to be as accurate as I can, but I do ask for a little leniency if I get a few of these details mixed up. Everything seemed to be proceeding quite well. Our relationship was amicable. Ideas flowed back forth a lot, exploring options, as we searched for a path forward. Everything seemed to be fine. I remember doing a LOT of research on the city. After all, what's the point of placing him in NYC if we didn't take advantage of real locations? Otherwise, it's just another made up city that everyone merely pretends is NYC. I did a LOT of research on Harlem, including the Harlem of years ago. I found a large sewage treatment plant actually underneath a huge community park (Riverside Park), and I thought that made for an interesting contrast: innocent kids playing above, while Harlem sewer monsters lurked beneath. I remember pitching those ideas to Harvey - essentially, "Paris Island in Manhattan." Gangs, thugs, sewer monsters grown from Q-Juice, and the like. Harvey rejected these ideas, explaining that DC wanted Harlem to be more accurately portrayed as the growing, cultural, family community it currently is. Harvey explained that he lives in Harlem. He actually takes his daughter to play in Riverside Park, remarking that it's beautiful. And he didn't want to retell those types of stories - they were already told, and told well. Gotcha! No problem. I'm not demanding anything. I'm exploring and pitching ideas. This wasn't the solution Harvey wanted, so I kept brainstorming. Let me repeat. I was pitching ideas to Harvey, and he was rejecting them. Contrary to John's public statement, I wasn't indiscriminately getting my way. I deferred to Harvey and John for all matters pertaining specifically to Virgil and Static or any other established Milestone character. I focused my concerns on brainstorming NEW THREATS to face Static and Virgil, both as a hero and civilian. Made sense to me. They were expert with the existing Milestone characters. I'll worry about creating new ones. We talked some more. We talked about creating a criminal alliance that would be stealing tech (like the kind available from S.T.A.R. Labs), and the type of high tech mercenaries that would be pulling off these jobs. Our brainstorming session seemed cordial, with a lot of friendly flow of ideas coming from all three of us. The session was called to a close, and John was tasked to take all our collaborative ideas and put them together in another script draft. After a short while, John sent over his latest script. Harvey asked me to read it over, and to let him know what I thought. Great! I cracked open the Word file and printed it out, and readied my checklist that I prepare for each script (it has categories "Script Review," "Design needed," "Visual reference needed," and "Shipping"). As I read and reread the script several times, I filled out my checklist fully intending to begin preparing the art. And I also made a lot of notes in the margins, questions for John and Harvey about some items in the script that concerned me. I saw a bit more clearly what Harvey initially meant when he said he was having trouble getting John to think a little differently. I'll share bits of John's actual text shortly. Bear in mind, by itself, the script seems to me to be perfectly consistent with John's sensibilities. Creative, and creatively weird, which is something he does really well! But it didn't set the tone Harvey was seeking from our conference. Here's the first example cut-n-pasted from the original Word file of that script: Page 4, panel 3

VIRGIL, HIS BACKPACK SLUNG OVER ONE SHOULDER, PINS THE LAMINATE PASS TO HIS SHIRT. HE WALKS ALONGSIDE DR. SLAVINSKI. IN THE BACKGROUND A GROUP OF MEDICAL DOCTORS IN HAZMAT SUITS (WHITE WITH A RED CROSS ON THEM) RUSH A GURNEY ACROSS THE LOBBY. ON THE GURNEY IS A MAN IN AGONY AS WHAT APPEAR TO BE HOLOGRAMS OF CARTOONY ZOO ANIMALS IN PRIMARY LOLLIPOP COLORS DRIFT UPWARDS FROM A WOUND IN HIS CHEST. SOMEONE INA YELLOW HAZMAT SUIT ACCOMPANIES THEM, GESTURING TO SAY IT'S NOT HIS/HER FAULT. My first reaction upon reading this: It's perfectly John Rozum, but perfectly NOT the type of imagery Harvey wanted for STATIC. Here's another example cut-n-pasted from the same script draft: Page 11, panel 1

WE ARE IN A LARGE DARK ROOM WITH EXPENSIVE FURNISHINGS. IT CAN BE DECORATED TO RESEMBLE A GENTLEMAN'S CLUB, OR JAMES BOND VILLAIN'S HIDEOUT. A GROUP OF POWERFUL MEN, WITH A FEW WOMEN THROWN INTO THE MIX ARE GATHERED HERE. MOST OF THEM ARE SEATED AROUND A HUGE TELEVISION WHICH SHOWS FOOTAGE OF STATIC FIGHTING THE PLASMA ENERGY BEING. THE IMAGE ON THE SCREEN HAS A LOT OF DISTORTION, ALMOST LIKE WHEN YOU COME ACROSS IMAGES ON A CABLE CHANNEL THAT'S NOT PART OF YOUR PACKAGE. EVERYONE LOOKS SERIOUS AS THEY WATCH. AMONG THEM, A CRIME BOSS WHO LOOKS LIKE A HIGH SCHOOL PRINCIPAL WITH MORE EXPENSIVE CLOTHES, HIS LIEUTENANT, A SHIFTY LOOKING GUY WITH DARK CIRCLES UNDER HIS EYES, A VERY PALE MAN WITH A SMILE AND A COMPULSIVE LAUGH LIKE TOURETTE'S SYNDROME, WHICH IS ACTUALLY THE RESULT OF MILD EXPOSURE TO JOKER GAS, A WOMAN IN A TAN LEATHER COMBAT SUIT, A YOUNG MAN IN A LEATHER JACKET WHO LOOKS ALMOST LIKE A SILHOUETTE OF A YOUNG MAN (THIS IS TARMAC) AND A MAN WHO LOOKS LIKE HE'S AN ALBINO IN A WHITE SUIT, BUT IS ACTUALLY MADE OF SOME SORT OF GAS. Again, this is perfectly John Rozum. Creative. But it just didn't quite deliver the high tech sensibility, in feel or in visual description, that we talked about in our story conference. These characters just don't quite 'feel' like the type of threatening gangsters we were talking about in conference who would be capable of ripping off S.T.A.R. Labs. That was Harvey's impression as well. Here's a final example cut-n-pasted from the same script draft: Page 20, panel 1

INSIDE A GARAGE A HIP LOOKING MAN IN HIS MID-20s WEARING EXPENSIVE COOL CLOTHES SHUTS THE DOOR OF A PRISTINE BADASS CANDY APPLE GREEN EARLY 1970S MUSCLE CAR AND APPROACHES A GROUP WAITING FOR HIM. THE GROUP INCLUDES THE CRIME BOSS WE SAW EARLIER, HIS LIEUTENANT, THE PALE MAN COMPULSIVE LAUGHER, KILLER FROST AND A BIG GUY HOLDING A HUGE DOUBLE BLADED AXE. THE NEW ARRIVAL'S NAME IS DROPSHADOW. HIS SHADOW CAN MOVE INDEPENDENTLY OF HIM, BUT IS ALWAYS ATTACHED TO HIM VIA HIS FEET. THIS SCENE SHOULD INCLUDE LIGHTING SO THAT EVERYONE ELSE'S SHADOWS BEHAVE APPROPRIATELY EVEN WHEN HIS DISREGARDS THE LIGHT SOURCE, OR WHAT HE IS DOING. READERS MAY NOT EVEN NOTICE UNTIL WE TELL THEM.

Once again, this is perfectly John Rozum. It's creative. But once again, it just didn't deliver the modern, edgy sensibility, in feel or in visual description, that we talked about in our story conference. The script draft's cliff hanger featured the SHADOW GUY killing the AXE GUY, promising to do the same to STATIC. I seem to recall Harvey's biggest concern was that the story just felt lacking for a #1. It didn't provide a 'whoa' factor for the reader, that strong hook to pull them in. And Harvey wanted more from the cliff hanger. After all, this one didn't even involve Static himself. THE COLLABORATION SOURS This was around the time we began having some more substantial idea differences. According to John's public statements, I possessed the power to wantonly dismiss all his ideas and replace them with my own (while stroking my shiny, new, barely-read copy of McKee's STORY like Gollum stroking his "Precious!" -- with MUCH more on that later!). Here are a few examples that speak against this picture John paints.