Speakeasy Residue

Following the news from last Monday that Speakeasy was closing its doors, the internet has been abuzz all week with more information, speculation and emotion about the announcement.

Over at PopCultureShock.com, Guy LeCharles Gonzalez provides a pretty good rundown of the situation, as well as some "big picture" thoughts:

And every time a CrossGen, Dreamwave or Speakeasy comes along with a bold plan that fails, it makes it that much harder for the publishers who are left behind as retailers justifiably become less and less willing to take chances on non-returnable inventory. While Speakeasy's failure can primarily be laid at Fortier's feet, the old "buck stops here" maxim in effect, it is but a symptom of a larger and steadily growing illness in the comics industry.

Steven Grant weighed in this week as well, highlighting the darker side of another trend in the industry:

One other Speakeasy failure should be mentioned, because so many comics publishers these days are bound and determined to take the same path: the idea that Hollywood will somehow save them. That possible salvation was a lot more concrete in Speakeasy's case than for most, as Ardusty Entertainment (what movies or shows has Ardusty actually made, by the way?) supposedly cut a deal to take over the company. But months dragged by and the deal never finalized, and that was apparently the final kiss of death. (Rule of thumb: if the money's not there within sixty days after a "deal" is "made," it's more than likely never coming, and that's what Fortier discovered.)

A thread on Gutter Zombie, a message board for colorists, highlights how some creators have been affected:

The sense of smell on the Phantom Jack team wasn't so good. We have 2 books completed and never really got suspicious of Speakeasy repeatedly "putting off" the release of issue one, which was scheduled out on January 09 -- (and which we finished and sent to Speakeasy on December 14, BTW). My sense of smell did start to kick in last Wednesday when I went to my comic shop to pick up issue #1, which we had been assured was coming out then, to find it inexplicably missing.

Speaking of Phantom Jack, Michael San Giacomo gave a history of the former Epic, Image and now Speakeasy title over at Newsarama:

I don’t know. Even though we have two issues finished and the third started, the idea of starting over at another publisher is overwhelming. Jesus, what comic has gone through four publishers? I’ve had more publishers than ex-wives.

(To answer his question about what book has gone through four publishers, I believe both Groo and Madman have been published by four publishers, if I'm not mistaken -- and I'm sure many of you can name others).

And finally, Frank Espinosa talks about his book, Rocketo, which was already scheduled to move to Image:

I do not think there will be an issue 5 or a 6 from Speakeasy, I have not heard from them if they have cancelled or are continuing the book. But there will be a trade from Image comics, the trade collects Rocketo journey to the Hidden Sea, issues 0-6 with lots of new stuff, and it should launch you into Rocketo 7 in April from Image. Every month from that point to the end of the Hidden Sea Story.

The Speakeasy website and MySpace are still up, for the time being.