The Official Guide to Deadbeats in Comics

Sean Ranieri Art Theif!

2017-12-10T13:07:00.000-05:00

Sean Ranieri from Australia of http://Comeinpce.com steals art and sells it on his website in various forms, please don't buy his garbage.

I was contacted by email and comment on my deviant art page to use my artwork, he was vague and didn't give me any details about what he intended to do with the art, so I looked him up and found a website selling tshirts, pins, etc. with unlicensed characters and art taken from the internet, including my Lois Griffin art.

If you support artists, please don't buy garbage from his website! Please link this to all comic, manga art related outlets.

Brian Czompi

2017-01-09T19:28:00.000-05:00

Hey artists, If you find a random image on google and trace it, call it a "Re-Creation, then sell it, is it fair?

I came across an "artist" Brian Czompi on FB trying to sell Loston Wallace's Joker inked by Nick Guy, he claimed he recreated it and it's not traced.

What do you think?

Michael Pearson is todays dumbass~

2014-12-16T15:16:00.000-05:00

From Bleeding Cool- Posted December 16, 2014 by by Rich Johnston

Last week, we reported on Michael Pearson, a man recruiting artists to draw comic book art for him, by faking approval letters from Dark Horse Comic editors.
But how did it all go down?
Artist Michael Lawler got in touch.

My name is Mike Lawler and I was one of the people duped in the most recent round of advertisements of his scam. He was posting on Penciljack.com’s forums with the same song and dance as the others. What makes my case different, is that I actually reached out and contacted Daniel Chabon at Dark Horse. He was completely unaware of the scam and I forwarded all of the communications including links to the 7 pages I had drawn on this phoney project. I was able to obtain Pearson’s phone number as well and all of that information has been forwarded to Dark Horse’s legal department. As far as I know they plan on pursuing legal action.

I understand Dark Horse have forwarded all the details they have to the FBI. If anyone else out there has been conned by Michael Pearson, it might be an idea to get in touch.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/12/the-artist-who-busted-michael-pearson/

Last Unicorn Publisher Targeted With Accusations Of Fraud - Article by Rich Johnston Bleeding Cool

2014-12-07T10:43:00.002-05:00

From Bleeding Cool~

Last Unicorn Publisher Targeted With Accusations Of Fraud

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Rich Johnston

Back in 2010, Bleeding Cool ran a story about how the creators of the Last Unicorn comic book, published by IDW, were running a Kickstarter to fund extra pages for the comic that the publisher was unwilling to pay for.
The comic was based on Peter S. Beagle novel, and created by Peter Gillis, Renae De Liz and Ray Dillon, through Conlan Press.
It’s part of much wider claims of fraud made against the company and creators by FansAgainstFraud who claim ten years of not providing promises. They target Connor Cochran of Conlan Press, saying,

Connor Cochran is the operater/owner of Conlan Press and manager of The Last Unicorn movie tour. He has taken our money for many years without producing goods. When we complain, we get no goods or refunds. There have only been excuses that keep changing – a string of broken promises.
These titles, sold by Conlan Press and listed on their site, have been undeliveredstarting as early as 2004:

THE LAST UNICORN Audiobook — 8 CD Edition

THE LAST UNICORN Audiobook — MP3-on-CD Edition

TWO HEARTS — Collector’s Illustrated Hardcover

WRITING SAREK — Hardcover Edition

EXTRA DELUXE LAST UNICORN HARDCOVERS

… and others …

See a list of victims. If victims buzz too loudly, Cochran blasts them for causing problems… as if these complaints aren’t harm he did to many independent sources. Please share them and demand help NOW.

That’s a big list of victims, going back many years. The site also makes a number of other charges against Cochran, looking at past lawsuits and charges against him. A recent update has detailed how such long delays may have been achieved, listing a series of conflicting and elaborate excuses over the years, including departing staff member, embezzlement and more. IDW gets mentioned along the way, including from 14th February 2011,

In mid-December we sent an email out to all our LAST UNICORN comic subscribers explaining the delay which had taken place with issues 3-6. (Recapping briefly: thanks to a communications problem, IDW only printed enough copies of issues 3-6 for their comic shop outlets, and none for us. They *are* reprinting the ones we need, but it is going to take a while, possibly even a few more months.)

Ray Dillon and Renae De Liz are also still accused themselves of non-delivery and delay of projects from the Peter Pan graphic novel Kickstarter, to the Womanthology Kickstarter, as well as repeated stories of commissioned work that was extremely delayed or never fulfilled, including work such as Rami Ali‘s World Zedd. With, I have to say, the occasional very pleased and happy client.
But I do have to say, I thought unicorns were meant to be lucky….

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/12/last-unicorn-publisher-targeted-with-accusations-of-fraud/

Josh Hoopes still scamming you for your hard earned money!

2014-03-11T14:11:00.001-04:00

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Rich Johnston

" Recently, Bleeding Cool exposed the latest identity of serial comics industry conman, Josh Hoopes, as one Samitra Banks. And, in the process, manages to save at least one person from commissioning work from this fictitious identity.

Josh Hoopes poses as a single mother with a five year old daughter in need of work and showing plenty of artistic skills – even if those artistic skills are taken from other people’s websites. Hoopes’ modus operandi is, if commissioned for work, to commission others to do that work, not pay them, keep the money and disappear."

Read the whole artical here:

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/03/11/now-josh-hoopes-targets-kickstarter-projects-as-samitra-banks/

Scam Artist John Campbell - Kickstarter

2014-03-02T17:08:00.002-05:00

Reported by Rich Johnston - http://www.bleedingcool.com/2014/02/28/kickstarter-fail-john-campbell-burns-comics-rather-than-sending-them-to-donors/

YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE WHAT THIS GUY DOES!!! Please click the link to read the article.

Tanriel/ Vilania tracing art for commissions!

2013-08-02T13:36:00.005-04:00

I just wanted to bring to everyone’s attention a very serious matter. An “artist" from WoW who goes by Tanriel/Vilania (used to be on Moon Guard, moved to Wyrmrest Accord) has been accepting money from people for art. These people are commissioning what they believe to be original art of their characters, when we’ve recently discovered most of her art is traced/stolen.

Read the article here: http://victoriavai.tumblr.com/post/55132960225/signal-boost-stolen-art

Rick Olney dies @ 58

2013-06-18T10:32:00.001-04:00

This caught me by surprize, after checking my stats I found a link to his obituary on a comic fansite, Rick Olney died 12-28-2012. This is the first I'm hearing of it, he left quietly that's for sure, my sympathy goes out to the family.

http://www.tributes.com/show/Richard-L.-Olney-94984001

It's sad to see him go before he could change things for the better.

Interesting story about DC Editorial

2013-06-07T00:09:00.004-04:00

The Bullying Of Creators – Paul Jenkins Talks About Leaving DC And Marvel For Boom

Posted by Rich Johnson in Bleedingcool.com

"Why am I willing to describe certain specific events during my brief encounter with them for the New 52? Because I am appalled at the way in which creators are being bullied, and somewhat freaked out at the things I saw in my own time there. I encountered more lies and veiled threats – more attempts to justify dysfunctional behavior and systems – than I have ever encountered in my career."

- Paul Jenkins

Read the full interview here - http://www.bleedingcool.com/2013/06/05/the-bullying-of-creators-paul-jenkins-talks-about-leaving-dc-and-marvel-for-boom/

Rich Johnston gathers INTEL on Josh Hoopes for FBI INVESTIGATION!

2012-09-22T15:33:00.000-04:00

This news is brilliant and I am mirroring his article here, hopefully there will be justice for the victims of this scam artist [JOSH HOOPES]

From BLEEDINGCOOL.COM/ RICH JOHNSTON - SOURCE

Have you been screwed buy Josh Hoopes?

Did he pose as you to get commissioned work?

Did you hire him, based on falsified credentials?

Did he deliver art from another artist pretending it was his?

Did he hire you as an artist, take some pages and then disappear, never paying you a penny?

Then it is time to get in touch. Things are happening. Legal people are being consulted in and around
Sacremento, California as well as the FBI.

Email your details and your case study to comicartjustice@gmail.com.

Josh Hoopes steals art to promote himself-

2012-09-15T08:05:00.000-04:00

Here is a link to Josh Hoopes gallery on Photobucket http://s1164.photobucket.com/albums/q577/joshuajohn987/?start=all

I spent a good deal of time searching the net for the art he has stolen to represent his work and here are my findings:

First here is an anonymous blog where Josh goes by the user name Lilat http://lalitart.blogspot.com/ the fist 5 images in his gallery are displayed in this blog. And I imagine the next 5 images are from the same timeframe. I doubt STRONGLY Josh Hoopes drew these pages but I could not find the original artist.

This was next in his gallery and I found the real artist Kleea

The next 3 images are by an Illustrator named Bengal

The next image is of a Map from a children's book by Alexis Tapp

Art by Brett Fitzpatrick

Art by Jeff Zugale

Art by SPLASH!

Art by Mike Debalfo

Special thanks to Bleedingcool.com for providing links to his gallery and keeping us up to date on his attempts at fraud and criminal activity.

Seth Reedy - SCAM ARTIST - POSER

2012-09-06T21:32:00.002-04:00

Another POSER shows up on Bleedingcool.com with a profound album of art, unfortunately for Seth Reedy on FaceBook, he claimed to be the artist of work that was not his. And gets commissions by displaying and stating he drew art that he knows to be untrue. Seth Reedy is a flat out liar and thief.

Article on Bleedingcool.com - http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/09/06/seth-reedy-a-new-rob-granito/

Gail Simone has some advice for you...

2012-08-14T13:53:00.002-04:00

Taken from the 606 Studios forum and written by Gail Simone:

"How To Spot Rick Olney When He Approaches You

I thought it would be worthwhile to post the exact approach Rick uses to get what he wants without paying.
If you somehow manage to disbelieve the dozens of firsthand testimonials of industry people regarding this man,
if you choose to ignore their warnings, take a look at this list and see if it matches his behavior with you.

Say you have something of use or value to Rick. It could be comics, it could be talent, it could be anything.

STEP ONE: He flatters you beyond all reason. He proclaims himself to be your biggest fan. And he's going to be
your benefactor...he's going to do everything in his power to make you get the recognition, money, or
credentials you want. He finds what you want, and tells you he will supply it. But first, flattery, flattery, flattery.
He uses this technique every time, and it is especially effective on people just breaking into the industry, or those
who are aspiring to do so.

STEP TWO: He tells you a huge sack of nonsense about his credentials, claims so ridiculous (and completely bull*&^%),
that they somehow seem credible because no sane person would make them up. He tells you credentials he doesn't
have...he's friends with Stan Lee, he invented the idea of comics in the classroom, his comic club had 1800 members
and gave away 700000 comics, George Lucas named a character and toy after him in Phantom Menace, the film
Iron Man II has a cameo character that is supposed to be him, half a dozen characters in comics are based on him
or his club mascot, on and on and on...it's endless. And most people do not have the resources or inclination
to check these claims. So it SOUNDS like he actually is in the industry in some capacity. He isn't (and the claims
are all false).

STEP THREE: He promises you extravagant treatment. He will fly you out to his cons, pay for everything,
you will be treated like royalty, paid an appearance fee, ride in town cars...or, if he's trying to get you to work
for free, he will offer you a high page rate and lots of exposure. He has no capacity to do any of these things,
ever. But he will promise them.

STEP FOUR: He will lay out a long, long conspiracy theory where a few internet trolls are trying to ruin his good name.
He will play the sympathy card here...you will feel sorry for him. Until the moment you read dozens of firsthand
accounts of people who have been told this same line of nonsense. Does it REALLY sound right to you that
dozens of people have come forward, all telling the same story, and none were paid, and yet somehow,
the response is all to try to crush some weird little man in upstate New York? Use your reason,
read the testimonials. Look past the flattery and the promise of money you will NEVER receive.

STEP FIVE: He will issue you a boilerplate contract that he got off the internet that has nothing
to do with the industry and makes little sense in this context. An NDA will be included.

STEP SIX: He will immediately begin breaking promises. Immediately. Pay dates will be missed. These
will be blamed on a non-existent bookkeeper. He will have to 'draw from a special account.' He will
tell you the check is in the mail. We all heard all those excuses. Sometimes he would forget which
excuse he used last time and try it again weeks later with the same person. You will NOT be paid.
His answer will always be for you to keep working. You've come this far, right? You are going
to risk everything over a small amount of money? Keep working. He will have endless excuses,
which will hinge on your human decency--he will have deaths in the family, illnesses, and other
catastrophic problems. They won't stop him from having internet tantrums or telling people the
check is in the mail when it isn't, all they seem to prevent is him keeping his word.

STEP SEVEN: As it becomes clear that you are not getting paid, and you are yet another of his
victims, he will start to show his true colors. He will start to threaten you, mildly at first. Threats
to your career, legal threats. At this point, he is trying to bully you into work he hasn't
paid for. He will use things he learned against you that you told him in confidence.

STEP EIGHT: He will try stretching you along. This happens with everyone he abuses in this manner...
he will offer some sort of bonus you didn't ask for, 'for the inconvenience.' Everything from
t-shirts, to bonuses, to merchandise, to comics...he's going to be a magnanimous guy and
even though you are being SO MEAN by not trusting him, just because he's broken every promise,
he's going to be the bigger guy and give you this bonus. When he pays you. Which he never will.
These bonuses never appear. But he will still tell people he gave them to you. For months,
he told people he paid my husband's airfare to his con, when he hadn't even fully paid MY airfare.
Then one day, he just admitted he hadn't, and tried out a new lie, that I had demanded he pay
my husband's airfare. Just like that, like a switch was thrown, the old lie was discarded and a
new one put in place. It's weird as hell. Don't fall for it.

STEP NINE: Here, he will begin inventing hoops for you to jump through, additional steps to
do before you will get paid. If you don't do them, you won't be paid. If you DO do them, you
won't be paid, you'll just get more hoops. New paperwork he needs, he'll 'lose your email and
contact info,' receipts he never asked for will need to be produced, additional fixes to the work,
on and on. All delaying tactics. He told his former PR person, in public, that she just needed
to sign an NDA to get paid. She said fine, I'll sign it. He immediately changed his mind, the NDA
was worthless and she wouldn't be paid. Hoops, hoops, hoops. I don't know if he just likes
sticking the knife in, or it's a delaying tactic. But it makes zero difference, you won't be paid.

STEP TEN A: At this point you have the choice of either giving up and forgetting about it, in which
case, you will never be paid, or going public about it, in which case, you will never be paid.
If you don't go public, he will come up with an excuse not to pay you. He won't answer your
emails or phone calls. You won't be paid.

STEP TEN B: If you DO go public, he will use that as an excuse not to pay you. The NDA, which
offers NO protection for a deadbeat employer who broke the contract, will be the excuse. But what
if, like, say, Chuck Dixon, you were never given an NDA, you didn't sign an NDA, and the work was
completed and accepted? You STILL will NOT be paid.

STEP ELEVEN: Once you are on Olney's never-ending enemies list, there is no level he won't stoop
to. He will insult, harass, threaten...he will use racist, homophobic and misogynistic language. He will
issue physical and legal threats. Just last month he posted a smug mocking taunt to a woman who
had stood up to him, over the DEATH OF HER HUSBAND AND CHILD. This is a man who will tell
you endlessly what an honorable Christian man he is. He delighted in telling an artist who trusted
him that he would never be paid, while that man's angelic baby daughter was in the hospital near
the very end of her too-short life. He will try to embarrass and hurt you for daring to speak out
about his non-payment and bad behavior.

And you will never, ever, ever be paid.

If anyone, not just Rick, but ANYONE in the comics industry treats you like this, WALK AWAY.

They are poison. They can't help your career, and you aren't doing them any favors. They are not
well-intended goofs.

MOST people in comics are great. I have been fortunate enough to be involved in probably close to
a hundred conventions and appearances and haven't had a single bad experience or dishonest
promoter in the batch, EXCEPT for the Mighty-Mini Con, which I wish to God I had never agreed to
attend.

MOST are great. Don't let one person make you think it's all bad.

But BE AWARE. The internet allows you to communicate, to make sure a publisher or con organizer is on
the level. Take that ten minutes, be wary of false flattery and promises, and you will save
yourself endless misery later.

Thanks, and good day!"

Zenescope non-payment to Artists

2012-08-13T14:44:00.002-04:00

Just read this article on Bleedingcool.com by Rich Johnston -

"I’ve been following problems with creator payment at Zenescope for some time now. People owed hundreds, thousands of dollars from the company, which suffered major cashflow problems at the beginning of the year. Initially, I approached the company with he details of individual creators owed money, to find that within days they were paid. I didn’t name the company or the creator on Bleeding Cool, it seemed to work out. Initially I was told there were no problems and it was just examples of miscommunication. But as time went on, this was clearly not the case, and company representatives confessed to serious issues paying certain creators on their books."

The full article is here - http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/08/13/the-archaia-to-zenescope-of-creator-non-payment/

Will be following this situation.

Robert Kirkman being sued over Walking Dead rights

2012-08-09T09:16:00.001-04:00

Allegedly, Kirkman claimed the television deal would only go through if Tony Moore [co-creator of the Walking Dead] signed his rights over to Kirkman. Being friends, Tony Moore trusted Kirkman enough to do right by him but never came through.

I expect Kirkman to fight this tooth and nail and present himself as a victim like other cowards who fuck over their friends for money. THEY WERE GOOD FRIENDS TOO!

Get the full story here: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/08/08/kirkman-is-a-proud-liar-and-fraudster-the-walking-dead-lawsuit-marches-on/

UPDATE: 09-26-2012

I love it when I'm proven wrong, the creators settled in court! No details about the settlement but if it's settled then that's good enough.

Rick Olney emailed me today...

2012-07-25T04:46:00.000-04:00

Rick Olney has threatened me with a lawsuit if I do not remove his "good name" from my blog.

I don't like being threatened or bullied, I am providing links to news/ information sources, Rick Olney owes money to artists. After legal Judgements were made against him several years ago, he has neglected to pay out money owed. This constitutes a deadbeat and Olney's name will remain.

I have found some more detailed sources of information about Rick Olney:

Here's a great video interview between Artful Angie and Rick Olney from Rich Johnston @ Bleedingcool.com

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2012/04/29/rick-olney-interviewed-by-artful-angie/

And some in depth info from J.R. LeMay @ Iblogalot.com

Olney vs Matt Busch by J.R. LeMar 12-01-2011

Olney vs Val Staples by J.R. LeMar 12-01-2011

Olney vs Jim Tournas by J.R. LeMar 12-01-2011

Olney vs Scott Reed by J.R. LeMar 12-01-2011

Rick Olney Warning by J.R. LeMar 12-01-2011

If Mr. Olney's lawyer requests my information please email me.

Response to Kirk Lindo's blog

2012-05-29T06:16:00.000-04:00

I am just posting this here for archive purposes.

KIRK LINDO - MORGAN WELBORN

"We entered into a contract with Morgan Welborn to do an unspecified amount of Pin-ups that would be used in various publications. THE TERMS OF THE CONTRACT WERE THAT ALL ORIGINAL ART SHALL REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF BRAINSTORM MEDIA INC."

I'm not disputing this claim, only that you sold my art and kept the money, when we had a deal as stated below.

"His contract stated that he would be paid for the sale of the original art based on the work he actually did on the art:

25% of the final selling price for Pencil Art.

20% of the final selling price for Inking over other art.

45% of the final selling price if he delivered both Pencils AND Inks."

I have done a full inventory of the art I have sent to Kirk Lindo:

13 Pin-up's penciled and inked all Published in Buxotica #1

11 Luxura Pin-up's in pencil only. 7 Published in Vamperotica Pin-up Special #1

6 Luxura Pin-up's Penciled and Inked [1 Double Splashpage] 4 Published in Vamperotica Illustrated #3

"The contract also stated that he would be paid a per page royalty:

1.1% per published page of the profits for pencil art.

0.9% per published page of the profits for inks over other pencils.

2.0% per published page for fully inked art.

He delivered a total a total of 24 images. 22 which were published in

* VAMPEROTICA PIN-UP SPECIAL #1
* VAMPEROTICA ILLUSTRATED #3
* BUXOTICA #1

And nowhere else."

24 pages were published!

"From the very beginning the art that he delivered was not in line with the instructions that we gave him."

The first two pin-up's I sent in did not have the correct hairstyle according to Lindo, So he sent me reference material So I could draw it more like his rendition. And I did that with his compliments. Never heard any critiques or notes about the rest of the pin-up's I've sent since.

Keep in mind, the first 2 pin-up's in question were sent in December of 1999, he did not send them back to be redrawn or fixed, and one of them was published in the Pin-up Special.

That was the only instruction I had the entire time of drawing pin-up's, and I have not had any complaints about the hair on the next 16 Luxura Pin-up's or even the 13 Buxotica Pin-up's. So this claim is an outright LIE.

"Even so we did send him a payment of $50.00 for the early work he delivered and instructed him to do the rest as requested."

Wrong. The $50.00 was sent from the first few Pin-up's sold on EBAY, and after I told Lindo I would have trouble sending in more work by mail because I was completely broke.

"THE TERMS OF HIS CONTRACT STATED THAT THE ARTIST AGREES TO MAKE REVISIONS REQUESTED BY THE PUBLISHER . However he continued to deliver work that was not acceptable and not done as per the instructions he was given."

He left out the last part "WORK WILL BE CONSIDERED ACCEPTED UNLESS REVISIONS ARE REQUESTED." NO revisions were requested, no artwork was sent back to me to be revised. If I had delivered artwork he deemed unacceptable, then the burden would be on him to communicate his concerns with me, which he did nothing.

"In Several instances he delivered work that was unfinished. Half of the work was inked and we had to have the work completed by another artist. of the 24 images that he delivered 10 of them had to completed by another artist just so they could be published."

By "UNFINISHED" you mean Pencils only. I was told Penciled pages would not be a problem, And that option is clearly stated in the payout terms of the contract. Out of the 11 penciled pages I sent you, 7 were Published In Vamperotica Pin-up Special #1, they were also the very first round of pin-up's sent to you in DEC 1999 and JAN 2000. And you kept my contract valid another 3 or 4 months why? If I was doing sub standard work then why was I allowed to keep cranking out pin-up's for you for the following months? Another FLASE CLAIM.

"We got tired of him not doing the complete work and causing us problems in the production of the books by not making the revisions we requested and determined his contract to be in breech and canceled his contract by mail on July 24th, 2000."

Who's "we", there's just you, and I was not drawing pin-up's in July. I could not even get a hold of you since April of 2000 when I was due to be paid my first royalty check from Vamperotica Pin-up Special #1, so April was the last month I sent pin-up's in. And the letter you are referring to was you letting me know you were filing for bankruptcy and closing down Brainstorm, which I believed happened since the Sheriff delivering the small claims subpoena found the address you use to print books under was vacant.

"The contract breech clause of his agreement clearly stated that SHOULD THE ARTIST FAIL TO HONOR THIS CONTRACT, SAID BREACH WILL CARRY PENALTIES INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO: NON PAYMENT FOR WORK, NON RETURN OF ORIGINAL ART AND NON CREDIT FOR EXISTING WORK."

Why would non credit for existing work be a penalty, or non return if you claim it anyway.

"Morgan Welborn WAS CONTRACTED TO DELIVER WORK THAT MEETS WITH THE PUBLISHERS STANDARDS. He was also CONTRACTED TO MAKE ANY REVISIONS REQUESTED BY THE PUBLISHER. HE did not do this, he breached his contract, his contract was canceled and he was fired."

I would love to see the notice you sent to fire me, you have everything else on record, as if you were expecting some lawsuit or something.

"Morgan Welborn NEVER did 30+ pieces of art for us. He did a TOTAL of 24, 10 of which were unfinished."

That's right, I produced 31 pages of art, 11 penciled 20 penciled and inked.

"Morgan Welborn's art was CONTRACTED TO REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF THE PUBLISHER. Therefore there was never any agreement to return art."

No kidding, that's all on me. But I was contracted to be paid for every piece of art sent in.

"I don't know anything about a court claim for $3000.00 dollars so I cannot comment on that."

I bet you can't, the Sheriff could not find you to deliver the subpoena.

"I DO KNOW THAT MORGAN WELBORN CONTACTED THE CAROLINA BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU CLAIMING THAT HE SENT 35+ PAGES OF ART AND WAS OWED $6000.00 IN PAYMENT.

HE ALSO BEGAN DEMANDING MONEY BEFORE HE WAS CONTRACTED TO BE PAID. HE FILED HIS $6000.00 CLAIM WITH THE BBB IN JUNE OF 2000 WHEN SOME OF THE WORK (BUXOTICA #1) WAS NOT EVEN PUBLISHED UNTIL AUGUST OF 2000"

It was at that time that we compiled our documentation for any possible court proceedings."

Contacting the BBB was a last ditch effort to do something after the subpoena could not be delivered, I was very angry as well because Lindo would not communicate with me at all from April 2000 onward. The $6000.00 number I doubled my previous claim out of stress, had no information about the print run, comics sold, etc. How could I? How could I have possibly known what I was owed?

But I do claim I am owed $3000.00 because $100.00 a page is my page rate for drawing pin-up's, since Lindo voided his own terms of the contract this has become my number.

"We have photocopies of all of the art that was sold along with who they were sold to and how much all of the art sold for. Going by the percentages that he was originally contracted for Morgan Welborn would have received a to total of $343.04 for the art sales and $45.72 of royalties for the publications.

When you take away the $50.00 that we already paid him that works out to $16.19 per image for art that he did not even complete all the work on."

I would love to see actual records of the art sold. You pretty much low-balled my work on Ebay for a quick profit. I would also love to see which pin-up's you thought were "unfinished" and how the 3rd party fixed them for publication.

"Where he gets the figures of $3000.00, $6000.00 and $1500.00, and 30+ or 35+ pages of art, I have no idea."

Yes you do have an idea, because you prepared for court proceedings as you stated earlier.

"IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR MORGAN WELBORN TO SHOW ANYWHERE THAT HE IS OWED $6000.00 OR $3000.00 DOLLARS."

I have copies of all the work I sent to you, which I will gladly post. $100.00 per page is my rate for original art sold. Also if you have the unpublished art I would like that sent back to me, then I would correct the amount.

"IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR MORGAN WELBORN TO SHOW THAT HE DELIVERED 30+ OR 35+ PAGES OF ART AND THAT WE PUBLISHED AND OR SOLD 30+ OR 35+ PAGES OF HIS ART."

That's true, except I can show all the art sent to you from my files.

"HIS AGREEMENT FROM THE VERY BEGINING WAS THAT THE ART WOULD BECOME THE PROPERTY OF OUR COMPANY."

Yup. But not the money you owe for the sale of my art. Which was established part of the agreement.

"Morgan has been making flase claims for over 10 years that are absolutely not the way things were. I have attached links to documentation concerning this situation."

According to you...

"* COPY OF THE CONTRACT(LINK)"

Thanks for this, it was extremely helpful.

* CHECK FOR $50.00 SIGNED BY MORGAN WELBORN (LINK)
* MORGAN WELBORN'S $6000.00 CLAIM TO THE BBB (LINK)

"* COPIES TO VERIFY THE SELLING PRICES OF THE ART (LINK)."

Don't see any relevant information on this photo, plus I only see 13 invoices, where's the others, and which art was sold?

"As for the "dozens" of people that he claims that this has also happened to.

Brainstorm/ Vamperotica was actively publishing new material from 1993 to 2004. during that time we published more that 100 COMICS AND MAGAZINES, we worked with OVER 300 FREELANCERS and PAID OUT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS to those freelancers and we have the 1099 FORMS and cashed checks to prove it.

There were several cases where I canceled contracts and fired freelancers for late, incomplete or unacceptable work. If someone has a problem then they can CONTACT ME DIRECTLY over at www.Vamperotica.com, I will look into the situation and see if it merits us working something out.

However, if you have publicly lied or defamed me, my publications or my companies, or want to handle things like a message board Troll then I will not be likely to deal with them.

-Kirk Lindo

Morgan Welborn is not being truthful with what he is claiming. Out of the FIVE questions that he was asked, he answered ONE of them accurately. HIS NAME!

He LIED on Kirk Lindo about the amounts of work he did and what he may have been owed. He LIED about him to THE COURTS IN HIS SMALL CLAIM, He LIED about him to THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU..."

According to Kirk Lindo. Who is ILOVEMYCOMICS, and created a blog to counter my every claim acting as an anonymous fan.

PSA on Rick Onley by Richard Caldwell

2012-05-28T22:43:00.001-04:00

(Public Service Announcement)

Over the last decade, Rick Olney has made a name for himself. He has attempted such ventures as writing and publishing, original art dealing, event planning, and most notably convention show organizing and promoting. The problem though, is that every one of his efforts has ended with broken promises, highly suspect financial transactions, outrageous claims and threats of litigation. He has painted himself into a corner of infamy with notoriously commissioning unpaid art and using and abusing the trust of others, burning artists, galleries, journalists, fans, distributors and publishers alike with his cacophony of lies and deceit. And he has developed a pattern, a method to his madness. When the heat builds too intense and questions again start to arise, he pulls a disappearing act (usually leaving a long trail of bills unpaid in his wake), only to reprise later, elsewhere, with a new game plan for striking it rich off the comics market.
It is well-documented that whenever one of his victims steps forward, Olney immediately responds with thuggish threats, even in the face of court orders. Owing tens of thousands of dollars is no skin off his bone, evidently. Even more aggravating is his continued insistence that he is in fact innocent of all charges, and the subject of some maniacal internet smear campaign conducted by a handful of misinformed individuals. Everyone following this slow-motion trainwreck is still waiting eagerly to hear any plausible, rational, ethical, moral, or legal defense in his favor. Or even an excuse by any person other than his wife for his actions, past or present.
My problem, is that he's doing it again, and I for one am sick of allowing the cancer to spread thusly. I actually do love the comic book medium, and fear knowingly that it has too much of an inferiority complex as well as continuing identity issues to allow a known charlatan like Olney to bring about its end any quicker. Olney is not the victim of bad PR, he generates bad PR, for the entire industry, and is no more the victim of gross misunderstandings than was Charles Ponzi. I am fully aware that this is not the first such effort, and for such a cause in particular, but I'm just hoping to catch everyone else up to speed, more than anything.

Let's examine this comment made recently by Olney himself regarding mass objections to his conniving his way onto a seemingly ill-researched podcast program:

"Hmmm… interesting. Looking forward to the next episode where perhaps I’ll be able to talk about a few of these misconceptions and lies that seem to have gained a foothold about me. More importantly though that its pointed out that education and comic books don’t always go hand-in-hand. Sometimes people with an opinion, negative or positive, use the Internet to express themselves. I’ve never lied or misrepresented myself. Never."

Now while the podcast in question proved to be an attempt at entrapment, the persons running the program were clearly, equally if not moreso interested in accumulating higher ratings. Nonetheless, for Olney to presume that his many doubters are uneducated is folly enough. For anyone to insist upon never lying is just absurd. The statement between those two statements is what I wish to challenge.

The first real public outcry against his lies was made through the unscrewed website, which was begat specifically in response to his actions and with the intentions of warning the creative community about Rick Olney and any others of his ilk that should happen to pop up. Famed artist and storyteller Colleen Doran, who has no enemies on Earth, has well served as a spokesperson for creator rights, and with Olney himself serving no small roll as catalyst in this.

Journalist Rich Johnston has famously focused on cornering Olney at every step. Though Johnston is often disregarded as a gossip proliferater, if his stories were so groundless then he likely would've lost a great many libel and slander lawsuits over the years, which obviously has never been the case. In addition to Johnston's Bleeding Cool, the two largest comic book news sites, comic book resources and newsarama, both seem to take as given that Olney is criminal in his acts. These involve multiple editors with sizable staffs, all apparently part of the same conspiracy of the unintelligent hellbent on accusing Olney of anything under the sun. The same goes for Heidi MacDonald and the Beat. Other big league journalists and commentators who Olney has personally rubbed the wrong way are the great Tony Isabella (one of the nicest guys in the world) and Alan David Doane. And while this is a good account of the facts of Olney's troubles up to several years ago, cautionary tales have continued on a range of excellent and well researched blogs such as iblogalot, and kesslerkomics, and tasteslikechicken. Forums have tackled the issue as well, debating and sharing details and spreading the word, from the 606, to absolutewrite, to comiccollecting, to comicscommunity. Even cbr, again. Warnings continue to appear via devantART such as here and here as well. And while unscrewed has unfortunately been plagued by spammers and lack of proper attention from its founders, others have stepped in to help fill that void. On blogspot, on tumblr, on twitter, and on typepad. He even earns special mention on the new official guide to deadbeats in comics blog. But surely these dozens upon dozens of persons (who are at least smart enough to read and write and type and put together a website or blogger) are a small fraction of the online public perspective. What does the rest of the internet really think of the self-promoting hack? It's not looking too good, states the jury.

I myself even spoofed the man here at New Comics Day. But in the interest of full disclosure, by all means feel free to read Olney's own blogs for yourself. Sequentialsoul is his place for trash-talking those who have been hurt or robbed by him. Nobody is allowed to comment there, of course. But in the top left you can report the blogs to google for abuse. But everybody needs to turn their shoulder to him, indefinitely. Cut him off and cut him out. If he turns up on forums, on facebook or twitter or myspace or whatever, block his account. If someone gets blocked enough the admins will remove them altogether. Additionally, I'd ask other media outlets to pull back on any more stories about Olney, as the attention whore only seems to see bad publicity as still being publicity. And, should he ever have the balls to actually show his face at a convention anywhere, he has to go to the bathroom sometime...

Rick Olney, you are a villain, and we are all watching you. Enough is enough is enough. When pacifists are crusading against you, then something is incredibly rotten in Denmark. Go back to McDonalds and leave everybody alone.

Nicholas Mowdy/ Snickers19510 - Scammer - Fake

2011-12-31T17:06:00.000-05:00

From Bleeding Cool.com - Mark Allen Haverty exposes a new scam artist selling reproductions from professional artists on ESTY.com as original prints.

The whole story is here: http://www.bleedingcool.com/2011/12/31/meet-nick-m-aka-snickers19510-aspiring-artist-rob-granitostyle/

These idiots never realize that people who buy that type of art know what they are buying most of the time, and always get caught.

It's been quiet the past few weeks.

2011-07-21T09:01:00.000-04:00

I think that's a good thing. On a side note, I have not had any complaints from anyone, well anyone who wants to document it here, since this blog started.

Just remember, If you say nothing, the bad guys win. And they are not only cheating you but others as well.

I have never heard of anyone not getting work over claiming money owed or being ripped off and angry about it.

With so many fly by night publishers springing up recently, wouldn't you like to know if they have ripped off people in the past, or if an artist takes the money and run.

- Morganza

Josh Hoopes is still on the prowl!

2011-07-05T14:51:00.000-04:00

By Rich Johnston @ Bleedingcool.com

Bleeding Cool has been pursuing the comic industry con artist Josh Hoopes for quite some time now. Indeed, it’s become something of a calling. His latest scam beggars belief however.
He has taken people who has has previously successfully scammed – then targets them again. Using the identity of one “Beth Smith”, posing as his own ex-wife.
Josh wrote to one South African who he had scammed for $1500, to pay for a non-existent contract with Wizard, DC and Marvel, using a new identity, saying;

hi, I hope you are well, the truth I am the ex-wife of Josh Hoopes. he is a very bad man and deserves to be in jail, this man and I have 4 children and they live with me, but Josh does not give the money to them, times are bad and I work for my children, so I know all of this man, I want to do a deal with you, I can make a xoom account with the name of josh and I sent the money from your account, I send you $ 900 xoom to your bank and then you send me my 400 dollars by western union, money is for my children, I can not do it directly but if I can use the method, you are left with 500, and sends me $ 400, . and then in two weeks I will send as much money from the other bank of this man, and you’re left with some of the money and send me the money elsewhere, is the only way to have the money for my children.
Naturally if the “mark” had replied positively, that money would have been appeared in their bank account – and pulled out again, just as soon as the non-refundable Western Union payment had been made. In this case I was able to advise them of this scam and they were able to pull out in time.

The Rights of Writers - by Mark Fowler

2011-06-16T10:10:00.001-04:00

An excellent blog about your rights and valuable advice to writers/ freelancers!

http://www.rightsofwriters.com/2011/04/agent-from-hell-and-top-six-scams.html

Kirk Lindo gives lessons on TROLLING and Psychology of a DEADBEAT

2011-06-12T22:41:00.000-04:00

Since May of 2011, a day after I posted my personal experience with Kirk Lindo [The Darkside to Freelancing] on Deviant Art, I have been bullied by an anonymous person claiming to have worked for Kirk Lindo who called himself "ILOVEMYCOMICS", he signed his name on the account JASON FULLER, but later changed it. Needless to say I later discovered this person to be Kirk Lindo himself.

Here is a man who thinks making anonymous attacks on myself is a professional way to conduct himself to promote a defense. For examples check these links:

http://ilovemycomics.deviantart.com/journal/40369425/
http://ilovemycomics.deviantart.com/journal/40376044/
http://ilovemycomics.deviantart.com/journal/40376705/
http://ilovemycomics.deviantart.com/journal/40456624/
http://ilovemycomics.deviantart.com/journal/40503830/
http://ilovemycomics.deviantart.com/journal/40557407/

Why would a publisher pose as an anonymous fan of himself to make personal attacks and be overly obnoxious? It seems like Bullying tactics to get me to stop talking, or make Kirk Lindo to somehow be portrayed as the victim of my claims by questioning my ethics and putting me on the defense.

ILOVEMYCOMICS/ KIRK LINDO creates a new Blog http://ilovemycomics.blogspot.com/ just to lay claims against me and try to refute everything I have said. Take special note of his Trolling menu especially this one [How to handle a Troll] which shows how much thought Kirk Lindo put into this manifesto of trolling.

This tells you everything you need to know about Kirk Lindo as a person and how he thinks. This is the type of person you should never do business with.

How do I know ILOVEMYCOMICS is KIRK LINDO? I'm glad you asked, he signed up on a forum I used to frequent [account] Besides it being so obvious a stranger would take what I said so personally and go off like this. KIRK LINDO is a person who will do or say anything to anyone in his way.

PUBLISHER - RICK OLNEY - DECEASED

2011-06-01T06:52:00.001-04:00

The following links are full of personal experiences/ first hand accounts.

SOURCE(S):

BLEEDING COOL by RICH JOHNSTON 06-27-2009

UNSCREWED! Page 1 by ADMIN 2006 to 2010

UNSCREWED! Page 2 by ADMIN 2006 to 2010

NEAL ADAMS - STOLEN ART!

2011-05-23T02:57:00.002-04:00

FROM BLEEDING COOL/ RICH JOHNSTON

Yesterday at the Big Apple Comic Con, an envelope of original artwork belonging to Neal Adams was lifted off his table. Below, see scans of the pieces in the stolen envelope. A police report has been filed but please check the image below in case you see any work on sale anywhere…