Buyer Beware: Modern Mythology Comic Art

pwimrbarnes · 09-24-2019, 11:54 AM

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to relay a story about a situation I’ve been going through with Cam Jarvis at Modern Mythology Comic Art. Last year I got a really cool Tyler Boss Commission through them, and I inquired about Kevin Castaniero’s availability. Josh from MMCA (with whom I set up the Tyler Boss commission) let me know that Cam handles Kevin’s commissions, and introduced us through email. Cam never responded however (this will be a recurring theme) and so I followed up myself a few minutes days later. Cam responded, we set up the commission, I paid, all good. This was October 20, 2018.

In March, I asked for an update. Again, 5 days goes by without a response, and then I received a blurry pic of a WIP Commission.

On August 26, I reached out to find out another artists availability. No answer. I reached out again on September 16th for any new updates on Kevin Castaniero. No answer. It wasn’t until yesterday, when I asked for a refund, that I finally got an answer from Cam: he has a bundle of Kevin’s Commissions, and he’s sending them out. I’ll see it at the end of the week.

I explained that this wasn’t ok, that having to ask multiple times for updates for an 11 month Commission can ruin the experience, and that I still wanted a refund. It was at this point that I was told, and I quote: “It’s a long time to wait for a commission, especially when it’s been completed for a long time.“

Wait, what? How long has it been completed? Well, a quick Instagram check shows it was done in May. So at any point in the last four months, they could have sent it. Could have given me the update: hey, it’s done! But here’s why it wasn’t shipped out in a timely manner: “It was completed and in order to expedite the process, I offered to get Kevin to ship a group of commissions to me as to take some of the stress of shipping off his plate (me shipping rather than him having to shop individually).” Also, I shouldn’t be mad because “Kevin is currently working a full time job and attempting to get more published comics work, so we’ve had to work within those constraints.” Apparantly, a dude paying $275 for a commission is not a constraint this company is willing to work within!

My final message from Cam was this: “I’m not going to engage in a back and forth, Matt. I understand your anger with the situation and I’ve explained what we attempted to do to alleviate the wait times. I will not, however, be subjected to any verbal abuse. Either have this discussion in a respectful way or refrain from messaging me again. As I mentioned before, your piece has been shipped. It’s a wonderful cover quality piece and you’ll see it in person soon.”

The verbal abuse? I used the word bullsh*t to describe the situation. Buyer beware.

Arcusprime · 09-25-2019, 12:50 AM

Thanks for the heads up.

CJ82 · 09-25-2019, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pwimrbarnes

” Also, I shouldn’t be mad because “Kevin is currently working a full time job and attempting to get more published comics work, so we’ve had to work within those constraints.”

I hate this, and it happens way too often. I can't keep track of the number of times "another paying gig came up." Like, dang, I guess their money is worth more than mine!
Shouldn't have accepted commissions if you can't fulfill the obligation.

You should drop a note in the Artist's Experience & Rating Thread, it is severely neglected resource for this kind of situation.

pwimrbarnes · 09-25-2019, 11:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJ82

You should drop a note in the Artist's Experience & Rating Thread, it is severely neglected resource for this kind of situation.

I will be. Unfortunately this may not be my only “call-out” post of the week

Mean Green · 09-25-2019, 05:17 PM

Let us know when you get the art in hand.

Agreed, this is not acceptable, especially on the rep's part. He needs to be more responsive - that's his role. With that said, I'm glad you're at least getting the art as there have been all too many nightmare stories that end up a lot worse. I hope you can look at this way: for me, the rep has nothing to do with the final product so shouldn't taint the art as a bottom line. But the experience definitely sucked and I would just never deal with him again.

Again, not telling you how you should feel. Agreed that the experience was awful, but hoping you can salvage it and forget about the middle man.

pwimrbarnes · 09-25-2019, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mean Green

Let us know when you get the art in hand.

Agreed, this is not acceptable, especially on the rep's part. He needs to be more responsive - that's his role. With that said, I'm glad you're at least getting the art as there have been all too many nightmare stories that end up a lot worse. I hope you can look at this way: for me, the rep has nothing to do with the final product so shouldn't taint the art as a bottom line. But the experience definitely sucked and I would just never deal with him again.

Again, not telling you how you should feel. Agreed that the experience was awful, but hoping you can salvage it and forget about the middle man.

I hope so too. One of the things I would say now, which I think will be more effective here rather than just editing into the original (long) post, is that I have no beef with the artist. In fact, in regards to the company, I had no issues with Josh, the first rep I dealt with. Part of why I commissioned through them again is because of how smoothly things went the first time. So this is truly a "I had a bad experience with this rep" post. But, I felt compelled to post it based on just *how* bad the experience was.

Augen · 09-25-2019, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CJ82

I hate this, and it happens way too often. I can't keep track of the number of times "another paying gig came up." Like, dang, I guess their money is worth more than mine!
Shouldn't have accepted commissions if you can't fulfill the obligation.

You should drop a note in the Artist's Experience & Rating Thread, it is severely neglected resource for this kind of situation.

I just like communication and time line expectations.

I have a commission and right out of the gate artist said "backlog means you'll get finished work in a year" so seven months later I'm not panicking.

Another commission the artist moved quickly at first, but now has not responded or updated in three months after saying it should be done within weeks.

You start to worry they have your money and could just ghost you mid commission and out nice chunk of change.

freeform · 09-26-2019, 11:22 AM

Thanks for the heads up.

Madman88 · 09-26-2019, 09:05 PM

So...I take issue with a lot of this post. A collector group I participate in notified me that MMCA and Cam were being taken to task about this experience.

I have completed countless interactions with both Cam and Josh and have been very happy with them all, including my own Kevin Castaniero piece. It took a long time - why? A lot of these guys are not full time artists - trying to break in and participate in something they love - but they have other jobs to make ends meet. That’s the base for MMCA too - these are not full time reps but two guys that love the hobby and want to make it easier to connect these artists in the world. It’s supposed to be FUN.

I called Cam to hear his version of this story - and his account is very different than yours, Pwimrbarnes. You’ve painted the situation like you were pleasantly waiting for your piece with a noodle box full of concern and understanding....from what I’ve been told your behaviour was quite the opposite - acting like a petulant kid throwing a temper tantrum.

And it also sounds like there was an effort to compensate you for the delay.

My thoughts are this - if you believe that there should be conditions when you spend money on a commission, this should be communicated up front. For example, requests like “I require the artist to go Vegan, disclose his religious beliefs and only illustrate wearing a Speedo” will be a strong indicator of if there will be a successful commission experience.

I’m not saying $275 is not a lot of money, but because you spent it doesn’t mean that any one is indentured to you - just because it’s your money.

By no means is this next part supposed to sound like a threat at all - so please understand this is just a piece of knowledge I’d like to share from a personal viewpoint. The most important thing in this hobby is relationships and networking - not money. You may feel that you are 100% correct in this situation - but it is guaranteed that people that will support the other side. Knowing that a simple discussion with Cam and MMCA would bring a resolution - are you sure that torching the guy personally and on social media hiding behind a nickname is the best route to ensure a happy collecting life - knowing that artists and reps alike may be reluctant to deal with you?

Anyway - two sides to every story. Happy collecting everyone

pwimrbarnes · 09-26-2019, 09:45 PM

ok. Cam's welcome to release any emails since that's all we ever interacted on. If I ever acted petulantly, or if there was an effort to compensate me for the delay, it'll be in there. I'll gladly eat crow if any of this happened.

Kevin Castaniero's an awesome artist and I'm looking forward to his commission!

My name is Matthew Cain, my comic art fans name is Matthew Cain, and my email is my screen name here. I'm not hiding from anybody. I did not torch anyone personally. I do not really use much social media and have not mentioned MMCA or this situation anywhere but here.

I am not worried about other reps and artists not wanting to deal with me for leaving a thorough review.

Thank you for your input. Good 1st post.