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B5 Fan films / episodes... Why aren't there any?

Ubik

Regular
Just developing my thoughts around a topic I started discussing over on JMS News. That thread was about fan films in general, and as it’s deathly silent here, I figured I’d try spark some discussion. Bear with me, whilst I lay out some pre-amble…

There are plenty of seriously impressive fan made trailers and features out there. One that caught my eye this weekend was a fan made trailer for a live action Akira film. And I don’t mean a bunch of scenes from other films cut together to resemble a trailer, I mean it’s shot from scratch. This is just superb work, and pretty much compresses the entire film into five minutes. Fan made productions seem more and more viable these days. The technology is there to enable people to shoot good looking films for very little money. The standard of CGi in this trailer is just superb, as is a lot of the green screen work.

http://io9.com/this-is-the-closest-w...cti-1575003004

I also just watched these Italian made Star Wars fan films on Sunday (Dark Resurrection Vol 0 and Vol 1.). There were a fun distraction. Whilst it’s still clearly a fan production done on a small budget, I thought the production values were impressive and the acting no worse than the SW prequels! On the whole a really enjoyable effort.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQzOQI1Rdn0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DZzpKMGmUs

Another one that occurs to me is the Batman vs. Predator vs. alien short film. Sounds awful doesn’t it? Not so… I was really impressed how well this was executed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSxe8E4HRHE

So, looking at all of the above, I remain surprised that we’ve not seen any live action B5 fan films or web series. There are countless Trek web series made to a fairly high standard, some of them even featuring members of the original cast. I know B5 was never as big a phenomenon as Trek, but it surprising that there aren’t sections of the fan base attempting something similar. Especially when there is little hope of new material in the B5 universe.

I’m discounting Star Wreck as I see that more of a Trek parody, but it does serve as a great example of what can be done by a bunch of ambitious fans.

Sure, fan fic / series can be awful, and I’m not saying ‘this should happen’, I’m just a somewhat surprised it hasn’t. The above films show that fans can add meaningfully to an established series / fictional world.

Discuss…
 
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Yup. Star Wreck is as good as it gets, and as good as its likely to get.

I think there's a couple factors working against B5 fan films:

1) It just never had the pop culture following Trek did. Far fewer people have ever heard of B5, and fewer still watched it, and fewer still were as obsessive as I was, and of those, even fewer still are obsessive enough to plunk down the cost of a good used car to make a fan film. Numbers are just against us, as you suggested.

2) The look is distinct, and hard to copy. Lets say you want to do a fan film set on the station. You just can't. The sets were fairly cheap, but they were huge and sprawling. The B5 equivalent in Star Wreck looks like crap. Let's say you wanted to film the unfilmed episodes of Crusade: Again, fairly elaborate sets. Lets say you wanted to do one set on an Omega class ship: Ok, set-wise that's afordable. But lets talk uniforms:

I talked to a tailor about 15 years ago, to see about getting some B5 uniforms made for my wife and I to go cosplaying in. She told me it'd be about $350 bucks per, ASSUMING I had the paterns. If she had to eyeball it without paterns, it'd be more. I shopped around. This was roughly average among tailors, half a generation ago. It'd be way more now. And you'd need, what, a half dozen uniforms?

Conversely, Trek's look is easy to duplicate. The uniforms are mostly very simple, paterns are easily available, the sets tend to be plywood and radio shack switches (TOS) or plywood with backlit plastic fake touch screeens (Everything else). Cheap and easy.

So my hunch is that it'd be much harder to do a B5 fan film than a Trek one.

3) JMS *WILL* sue you back into the stone age. Warner's opinion is unknown, but JMS has made it very clear that he wants to maintain a monopoly on all B5 content, and he'd be viciously opposed to any fan projects, even if they were good. I don't think he understands the "Keep the flag flying" nature of fanfilms.

So those are the factors AGAINST.

That still doesn't explain their total absence. I mean, Star Wreck showed that people at least recognized it. Some people got into B5 just because the battle scenes were so cool. ("What the heck is that rotating thing attacking the Kickstarter?") Doing a CGI cartoon version would be comparatively simple and low-profile enough that it could probably get well distributed before JMS/WB jumped on it. Setting a CIVILIAN show in the B5 universe would be childsplay, and could be really cool. There *SHOULD* be a few crazy people doing it.

I know of two cases where it came close. One was a not-very-compelling vignette a friend of mine was trying to get going.

Another group that knew me through my books and blogging approached me to write one for them. It was to be formatted like a TV show. I wrote...I think...three acts, and outlined the rest. It was set during the Battle for Babylon 5 in mid season-3 and was all about the Earthforce survivors left over after the battle. You know, survivors who were now POWs? Initially held on the station, then ferried off to POW camps on Proxima, and the camp was later liberated by Lochley's ship. Easy story, kinda' neat angle on it, and deliberately cheap to shoot. (Essentially warehouses, some chicken-wire fences, maybe three officers uniforms and a bunch of Marine jumpsuits, most of which we can skimp on 'cuz they just lost a battle, so no one's going to notice if they're all torn up)

Anyway, the project fell apart, and never got anywhere.

(Oh, that's another factor against fan films: regardless of what they are, 90% never get finished)
 
3) JMS *WILL* sue you back into the stone age. Warner's opinion is unknown, but JMS has made it very clear that he wants to maintain a monopoly on all B5 content, and he'd be viciously opposed to any fan projects, even if they were good. I don't think he understands the "Keep the flag flying" nature of fanfilms.

Sigh...okay, fair warning: like Garibaldi in a certain episode, I'm downright cranky today.

That said, let me say for about the seventeen-thousandth time the JMS CANNOT SUE ANYBODY for ANY fan projects BECAUSE HE DOESN'T OWN BABYLON 5! Cannot. Is unable to. His lawyer would look at him like he was crazy and laugh him out of the office (while still collecting his retainer). It'll never happen and has never happened. Now...you try to play with something he does own, such as his scripts, yeah, he'll go after you, as is his right and obligation lest he lose control over his own work,

People seem to forget that it was he who worked it out with WB legal back in the day that fan websites using B5 artwork and images not be sent C&D letters as long as they displayed the proper copyright and trademark information. (And before anybody brings up a certain kerfluffel from a few months ago, that website was not displaying WB's trademark and copyright info.)

Continuing the actual discussion, though, there are a *lot* of basic jumpsuits from B5 for sale lately and those would be pretty easy to duplicate. Maybe for a first outing a fan film could have crew dressed in those and only one or two characters in the distinctive command uniforms.

I think the real problem lies in the overall numbers of fans. We're scattered all over the place and there probably aren't a lot of groups still living close enough together to do something as ambitious as this. (insert obligatory #freebabylon5 plug here)

Jan
 
While Warner Bros. owns the show it’s clearly not as simple as that. For years jms has said Warner periodically approach him with ideas and requests. We never get to hear about most and they don’t happen for reasons we (again) more often than not never hear about. Should we be told – nope, don’t believe so, but it does happen. Which is a little surprising if you believe the hype that Warner has no interest in doing anything with the franchise.

What is known is what jms said during that little spat with Jerry Doyle about some attempt (real or in Jerry’s head) to revive the show a few years back. ie.
“Well, yeah, I did create the series, executive produce it, write 91 out of 110 episodes, and I do control many of the rights. And no deal can go forward without my involvement. By contract, if it doesn't happen with me, it doesn't happen.”

It’s unspecified what exact powers jms has, but someone who can say “By contract, if it doesn't happen with me, it doesn't happen” hardly sounds like a poor powerless writer at the complete mercy of a greedy studio.

Fan made projects involving Warner owned properties have been going on for years, with no negative response from Warner. They understand that it both keeps interest alive in projects and creates new fans/consumers of their property. But when jms gets wind of something concerning B5, he’s the one who goes off the deep end mentioning copyright infringement, lawyers, etc. Not what you’d expect if you believe it has nothing to do with him since WB are the owners. Take these comments last year about the ongoing fan made audio drama, Novo Babylonia, which has been going on since 2008 but most fans have never heard about.

When a fan asked “JMS, have you heard about this yet? just saw it in a Facebook post”, Yup the facebook post in question was me letting other fans know about it……… jms replied.
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10200734392135848&id=139652459402959

I strenuously disapprove, and would imagine that Warners would come down very hard on this. That people are volunteers with the best of intentions does not make this any less a blatant case of copyright infringement. A small fanzine is one thing, but the moment you start producing things for audio or video, without getting approval or licensing the production, you've crossed a line that should not be crossed.


And when the fan replied, remember this is a fan talking “Agreed. I did not know if you were aware of it. it is the reason I brought to your attention.” jms then said……

The site says that this is non-profit and thus not infringement. Someone needs to talk to a lawyer because infringement does not hinge on profit. It says specifically on every movie ever made that duplication, even without profit, is a criminal offence. They can say they don't intend to infringe, but that's exactly what they're doing by the law. It's like throwing paper on the street and saying "we don't intend to litter." Sorry, but you're doing it, and there will doubtless be consequences if you continue doing it.

It didn’t say it was non profit therefore not infringement but that’s neither here nor there. Funnily enough a few weeks later another fan pointed him to the Russian made “I’ve Found her Game” asking if he was aware of that……. he didn’t reply to that one.

He even tried that nonsense with the non profit B5Scrolls website a few months later, and the artwork which the artists sent over for inclusion to the site.

Warner Bros. and I have a 100% success rate against web sites and others engaging in infringement of images, scripts and other material. In every case, they mouthed off about how they were battling the good fight and were prepared to go the whole road. If you have six figures to spend on lawyers, keep on doing what you're doing. But remember that figure: 100% success rate in shut-downs, not to mention fines and six-figure legal fees. Ask around. You really don't want to go there with me.

That was a reply to someone (not me) who didn’t like the thinly disguised threats he’d made earlier in the thread. But it doesn’t sound like a guy who feels he has no right to sue over copyright infringements. BTW, B5Scrolls is covered by fair use 7 ways ‘til Sunday, and as far as the showing of artwork is concerned. Once they got over the shock of reading jms’s comments, the basic reply to that (I won’t bother with the very interesting specifics), is he better have a word with the IATSE Local 800 office before he tries it.

Basically, small fan base or not seeing how many are passionate about the show, I’ve always felt because of the special relationship he has with fans, many wouldn’t even try to do something with B5 either out of respect or fear of incurring his wrath – which is a huge shame. It’s especially ironic – and shows a skewed view of how things work - that in the time between his comments about Novo Babylonia and B5Scrolls last year, he essentially started the #freebabylon5 campaign to encourage fans to get loud and active in order to get the show back on the TV in order to build up the fan base, and stop the show sliding into obscurity……!!!? Oh, and if you think it’s limited to audio dramas and websites - In a Q&A at MIT back in 2000 when he was asked what he thought of fan fiction he replied “you mean, copyright infringers”….. an awkward silence followed.

[edit]
Just a quick edit. Warner actively encourages fan made movies and the like these days, as I said, it’s jms that takes a flaky and says either he or Warner will sue, which flies in the face of what Warner actually says and does…… from as far back as 2004 about showing fan made movies at a comic con.

Warner Bros. definitely appreciates the enthusiasm and respect of its fans. We will continue to monitor the use of Warner Bros. properties as used in fan films. However, we will only consider taking action against such films that are either commercial in nature, are commercially exploited or otherwise engage in or depict inappropriate activity.
 
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Thank you, Triple F.

Actually, the way I first got in touch with JMS was over this kind of thing. I found a copy of his "World War Z' script behind the cushions of a couch a friend gave me, and I reviewed it. I reviewed it exactly like it was a movie, but gave no spoilers, then gave my editorial opinions, which, as politely as I could state it, was that I didn't feel it was his best work.

Not 18 hours later I had an Email from JMS in my in box politely warning me that I was violating intellectual property rights by reviewing something that was owned by Warners and technically confidential without their permission. He (Politely) advised me to take it down before Warners noticed, or else I'd get a C&D from them.

I said, "Thanks for the heads up! How about an interview?" and he said sure.

I don't think we know exactly what the nature of JMS' relationship with Warners is. Yes, absolutely they own B5, Jan, no questions there, but he might retain veto power. Or it might be that he has a relationship similar to the one Roddenberry had with Paramount in the 80s: Paramount could do whatever the hell they wanted with Trek, but they felt it was unwise to do it without Roddenberry's support because they were afraid his sway with the fans would tank their project. In retrospect, they needn't have worried, but in 1982, still smarting from TMP, it made sense.Why take the chance? And B5 has always been a marginal property, so why take the chance?

Or he could just be bluffing. It could be that he has no power whatsoever, but it just pisses him off, so he blusters and scares people into backing down. I wrote (Half) of a fan film script for a group that asked me to, but it would have been done under an assumed name to protect myself, you know? Why risk it.

He *IS* right that "Copyright Infringement" and use of unlicensed "Intellectual Property" is not limited to profitability. That kinda' crap can be shut down by the studio in a heartbeat if they want to. MGM used to be pretty heartless about that with Bond, and Paramount was similarly draconian with Trek, and Lucasfilm was a nightmare on the subject, but all eventually realized it cost them nothing, and was to their advantage, despite being only-questionably-legal.
 
You might want to catch up on your reading about copyright infringement. It was a pretty important landmark ruling, and more importantly addressed the cornerstones of a fair use claim.

http://www.wired.com/2013/11/google-books-2/

[edit]
BTW. What you were doing reviewing a script for a movie which by the sounds of it, hadn’t even been filmed yet is a million, billion, gazillion miles away from 20 years after the fact fan art, fan movies, etc. You were lucky that jms script was never used, though copies of it did appear online with jms’s blessing once it became widely known others had been brought in for the rewrite.
 
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I think fan productions are largely a very positive thing, and JMS acting like a bull in a china shop whenever anyone tries (or does) produce anything B5 related, really doesn’t do much to encourage the fan community. As they say, imitation is the greatest form of flattery, and it does much keep the flame burning in the absence of anything new in the B5 universe. Fan fiction can easily be set in the same universe, and not use any existing characters. Dark Resurrection, the Italian SW fan film that I mentioned earlier, very cleverly avoids much of the existing SW universe and uses its own ideas and designs.

Conversely, I can understand JMS’ position, especially in relation to the dangers of others accusing him of stealing their ideas. I know there was an incident where this did impact on B5’s production, and caused some last minute script re-writes, so I can appreciate his view in that respect. However, B5 is not currently a going concern, and it seems unlikely that it will be any time soon. His approach feels too heavy handed to me. Fans producing content will help stop the show slipping into obscurity. Fans putting in hours of their own time, do so because they love the show and want to further it.

Going back to the example of the many TOS Trek fan series, I imagine much of that risk is removed due to the length of time that has now elapsed between its production. Sure, legally speaking, nothing changes, but it’s now a very old property and poses little risk to Paramount or contemporary Trek writers. The same is probably true of B5 now, and I can’t imagine WB instigating any witch hunts if fans were to produce not for profit content.

Taking that live action fan trailer for Akira as an example - I can’t really see Katsuhiro Otomo taking legal action against its creators. Or even WB for that matter, who currently hold rights for the live action film. Especially in light of the amount of online buzz it’s generated. It’s gone from most people saying ‘it wouldn’t work’ to ‘good god, it totally could work if done right’.

I see that Novo Babylonia still appears to be going strong, so I can only assume WB has chosen to turn a blind eye in this case. Regardless of what JMS thinks, or how loud he gets, I somehow doubt WB would be that eager to squash fan films / series. It would do nothing but generate bad press for them and create ill will amongst fans. Case in point, and something I just remembered. The ‘Stormtrooper’ mockumentary, that was produced to look like an episode of those ‘highway patrol’ style cop shows got a lot of love from Lucasfilm. I believe the producers were even recruited into Lucasfilm because they’d displayed so much talent. Now, that’s how you support fan fiction.

Anyway, I don’t really want this to turn into a ‘JMS is right / wrong in his approach to fan fic’ slagging match. He’s entitled to his personal opinion. I just felt it was a shame no one has had a stab at some live action / animated B5 fan films.
 
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Yeah, isn't it amazing that Novo Babylonia is still up? After JMS' strenuous disapproval? I'm sure the 'sue you back to the stone age crowd' would have expected him to run off to inform Warner Legal about those infringers but that doesn't seem to have happened, does it? Believe me, there's no legal department in the world that, if notified, would have failed to send a C&D letter out. That's what they get paid for. And the five minutes of negative publicity would be meaningless to them.

Back to the original topic, though - I'd be interested in hearing what would happen if fans interested in doing a film asked permission. The better Trek ones these days have permission from Paramount.

Which draft of WWZ was it that you reviewed? I think the second was the better one. And anything was better than that movie we got that used the name of the book.

Jan
 
You might want to catch up on your reading about copyright infringement. It was a pretty important landmark ruling, and more importantly addressed the cornerstones of a fair use claim.

http://www.wired.com/2013/11/google-books-2/

[edit]
BTW. What you were doing reviewing a script for a movie which by the sounds of it, hadn’t even been filmed yet is a million, billion, gazillion miles away from 20 years after the fact fan art, fan movies, etc. You were lucky that jms script was never used, though copies of it did appear online with jms’s blessing once it became widely known others had been brought in for the rewrite.

Checking it out now. Thanks!

And as I said, he was pretty nice about the whole thing.
 
Yeah, isn't it amazing that Novo Babylonia is still up? After JMS' strenuous disapproval? I'm sure the 'sue you back to the stone age crowd' would have expected him to run off to inform Warner Legal about those infringers but that doesn't seem to have happened, does it? Believe me, there's no legal department in the world that, if notified, would have failed to send a C&D letter out. That's what they get paid for. And the five minutes of negative publicity would be meaningless to them.

Credit to JMS for not making more of it. I think a more relaxed attitude, adopted by many creators in relation to fan fic is the best way forward. I also expect he’s far too busy to really care deeply about every single bit fan fiction that pops up, in whatever format. JMS hasn’t said anything about my series of erotic novels set on the Vorlon homeworld yet! :LOL:

Back to the original topic, though - I'd be interested in hearing what would happen if fans interested in doing a film asked permission. The better Trek ones these days have permission from Paramount.

Yeah, absolutely. For instance, I know there was a Firefly fan film produced. Never saw it, but that had Joss Whedon’s blessing. I think if fan film go off on interesting tangents, so as not to mess with established canon, they can be really great.
 
Conversely, I can understand JMS’ position, especially in relation to the dangers of others accusing him of stealing their ideas. I know there was an incident where this did impact on B5’s production, and caused some last minute script re-writes, so I can appreciate his view in that respect. However, B5 is not currently a going concern, and it seems unlikely that it will be any time soon. His approach feels too heavy handed to me. Fans producing content will help stop the show slipping into obscurity. Fans putting in hours of their own time, do so because they love the show and want to further it.

Yeah, but different rules apply when a show is in production. If I give a story idea, and the show later uses more-or-less the same idea by coincidence later on, then I can sue and claim they stole it from me, and I have a fair chance of winning. So JMS always cautioined people not to give their story ideas or theories or whatever.

It's not just individuals, either. He ditched a script called "The Long Night of Susan Ivonova" because he got word it was similar to something DS9 was doing.

Going back to the example of the many TOS Trek fan series, I imagine much of that risk is removed due to the length of time that has now elapsed between its production. Sure, legally speaking, nothing changes, but it’s now a very old property and poses little risk to Paramount or contemporary Trek writers.<<
Anyway, I don’t really want this to turn into a ‘JMS is right / wrong in his approach to fan fic’ slagging match. He’s entitled to his personal opinion. I just felt it was a shame no one has had a stab at some live action / animated B5 fan films.

Well, it's a very different world now, with the democratization of personal media. It's hard to enforce, but the studios *DID* used to be pretty mean about it, impounding people's footage and getting judgements against them, even if they were just kids, y'no? I think basically back in the 70s and before, the only reason someone would do such a thing was for personal gain, and it took the studios a long time to realize that it wasn't.

I've talked to a lot of old-timer SF writers, and some have difficulty wrapping their heads around the concept. "Why would anyone want to do that? Why don't they just tell an original story?" So there's a paradign shift.

And I suppose I can see that. I mean, when I found out someone had zealously re-written the ending to one of my stories, it annoyed the crap out of me. Not the same thing, but close enough, you know?
 
Yeah, isn't it amazing that Novo Babylonia is still up? After JMS' strenuous disapproval? I'm sure the 'sue you back to the stone age crowd' would have expected him to run off to inform Warner Legal about those infringers but that doesn't seem to have happened, does it? Believe me, there's no legal department in the world that, if notified, would have failed to send a C&D letter out. That's what they get paid for. And the five minutes of negative publicity would be meaningless to them.

It does seem to weaken his position, and supports the idea that he's just blustering to scare people off.

Back to the original topic, though - I'd be interested in hearing what would happen if fans interested in doing a film asked permission. The better Trek ones these days have permission from Paramount.

Well, if you asked HIM, he'd say 'no.' If you asked Warners, you'd probably never hear back from them again. They make the Byzantine Empire seem efficient and straightforward by comparison. But it WOULD be an interesting experiment.

Tell ya' what: You find me the right division to contact, and I'll see what comes of it.

Which draft of WWZ was it that you reviewed? I think the second was the better one. And anything was better than that movie we got that used the name of the book.

Jan

Second draft, if I recall.
 
Credit to JMS for not making more of it. I think a more relaxed attitude, adopted by many creators in relation to fan fic is the best way forward. I also expect he’s far too busy to really care deeply about every single bit fan fiction that pops up, in whatever format. JMS hasn’t said anything about my series of erotic novels set on the Vorlon homeworld yet! :LOL:

Whew! That's a relief!

Really, though, all he's ever really asked is that fanfic be kept where he's not likely to see it. His main concern over it is personal in that there might be some fan just waiting for the chance to file a plagiarism suit over any idea with the slightest similarity.

And he's right to be so cautious. Last year when 'Sidekick' was coming out, a lawyer sent him a C&D over the name of the Cowl character and despite JMS changing the name of the character, continued to make threats against him. Last I heard JMS was counter-suing but I haven't been following it. It's an example of why he has to be so cautious, though.

As for getting permission, we know that it can be done, even through WB. After all, they're the ones who gave permission for the Kickstarter for the Veronica Mars crowd-funded movie. Anybody actually motivated would probably find a way to contact the right people.

Jan
 
Back when he was doing the "Rising Stars" comic, he got sued by Howard Chaykin for having a character named "Flag" or "Flagg," which was viewed as an infringement on Chaykin's pre-existing "American Flagg" character (Despite there being no similarities whatsoever. Straczynksi's flag was a superhero, and Chaykin's Flagg was an ex-porn star who was replaced by really good CGI, and forced to find work as a cop.)

IIRC, it snared up production of the comic for several months, the "Flag" character disappeared for a bit, and when he returned there was dialog about a lawsuit. A character says, "Some comic guy claimed he owned my name and hauled me into court. So I changed my name to 'The Patriot'"
 
No lawsuit, just a conversation between professionals. Per this post:

JMS said:
It wasn't a big deal, really...I saw Howard one night at dinner (we're not
close friends, but we are friendly acquaintances, and I've always been a big
fan of his work), and we chatted about it, and I suggested the solution that's
in the book, he laughed, thought it was a great and funny idea, and that was
the end of it.

jms

Jan
 
No lawsuit, just a conversation between professionals. Per this post:

JMS said:
It wasn't a big deal, really...I saw Howard one night at dinner (we're not
close friends, but we are friendly acquaintances, and I've always been a big
fan of his work), and we chatted about it, and I suggested the solution that's
in the book, he laughed, thought it was a great and funny idea, and that was
the end of it.

jms

Jan

Well then I am wrong. Dangit. I need to stop llistening to the people I listen to...they're just not reliable resources...
 
There was a for the last few issues when there was a dispute over the feature script JMS had written but that's all I remember.

Jan
 
There was a for the last few issues when there was a dispute over the feature script JMS had written but that's all I remember.

Jan

Is that why there were so many artist changes towards the end of the book? I remember some of the fill in artists being a bit shaky compared to the look of the book when it started out.
 
Is that why there were so many artist changes towards the end of the book? I remember some of the fill in artists being a bit shaky compared to the look of the book when it started out.

I think it was just the final 3 or 4 issues that were delayed and then they came out on a monthly basis. I don't recall ever hearing anything about the artists at the time. My feeling (based on nothing much, really) is that since JMS wasn't really well known in comics back then, it's likely that he just got whatever artists may have been available.

Jan
 
Is that why there were so many artist changes towards the end of the book? I remember some of the fill in artists being a bit shaky compared to the look of the book when it started out.

I think it was just the final 3 or 4 issues that were delayed and then they came out on a monthly basis. I don't recall ever hearing anything about the artists at the time. My feeling (based on nothing much, really) is that since JMS wasn't really well known in comics back then, it's likely that he just got whatever artists may have been available.

Jan

Could be. I think he started writing comics in the late 80s, and he was doing a GREAT and popular and long run on Spiderman by 2001, but "Rising Stars" was 99-05. I'm not sure if that means anything one way or another.
 

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