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Old 07-04-2015, 10:42 PM   #1
greenjeans1978
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Thumbs down Arthur Suydam stole tables from three artists at Montreal Comic Con

This weekend at Montreal Comic Con, Francis Manapul, Dan Parent, and Rachel Richey had their artists alley tables commandeered by Arthur Suydam so he could have a four-table display. I'm not joking; he showed up early to the con, took down their table placards, and set up his display without theirs or the con's knowledge.

All three artists were relocated at the last minute, with Richey fearing she could lose business as a consequence due to being an indie creator. Manapul tried to reason with Suydam, only to find out pretty quick that Suydam didn't see where he'd done anything wrong. Suydam's representative later conveyed kinda-sorta apologies to Manapul and Parent, but not to Richey...which is not surprising, since Suydam has a reputation for holding "journeyman" creators in contempt.

Anyway, here be the links for the insanity, including Mark Waid going into full Rob Granito-level fury over the situation:
http://www.theouthousers.com/index.p...-creators.html
http://www.bleedingcool.com/2015/07/...real-comiccon/

It should be mentioned that Montreal Comic Con has issued a statement apologizing to Manapul, Parent, and Richey and vowing to make sure nobody tries this at their shows again. That being said, it's anyone's guess if Suydam will actually be stopped from doing this.
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Old 07-04-2015, 11:52 PM   #2
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This whole story is missing some pieces or there are con setup dynamics that I obviously don't understand. If this were my table, I would just take his stuff down without even saying anything and just set his stuff behind his assigned table.
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Old 07-05-2015, 12:06 AM   #3
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Old 07-05-2015, 12:07 AM   #4
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Originally Posted by JadeGiant View Post
This whole story is missing some pieces or there are con setup dynamics that I obviously don't understand. If this were my table, I would just take his stuff down without even saying anything and just set his stuff behind his assigned table.
Suydam's known for doing this on a frequent basis. This isn't the first time he's poached other artists' table spaces. And if some of the artists on Twitter are to be believed, he gets hateful and bullying if you try to clear your table off. I can see on some level why smaller-name creators would be jittery about confronting him. There's a good risk he could have them blacklisted, or at least threaten them with such.

And if you look in the comments section of the Ouhousers link: Renee Witterstaeter -- the art agent who helped Michael Golden rip off several commission customers back in 2007 -- is doing spin control and claiming that Suydam's actions were above-board and that it's the con's fault. Gotta love how she keeps company with terrible people.
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Old 07-05-2015, 12:11 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by JadeGiant View Post
This whole story is missing some pieces or there are con setup dynamics that I obviously don't understand. If this were my table, I would just take his stuff down without even saying anything and just set his stuff behind his assigned table.
Isn't that the problem though? Wasn't he taking up FOUR places?!

It boggles my mind especially as I love his art. Social media has been spewing with such hate it's hard to believe!
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Old 07-05-2015, 12:20 AM   #6
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the photoshopped parodies are brill!
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Old 07-05-2015, 12:35 AM   #7
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Ha! Been reading about this from a few artists I follow on twitter. Has been amusing except for the artists that lose their spaces they paid for. Sounds like he has been doing this for a looooong time and has never really been called on it. For a good laugh, look at this biography on his website. Apparently he is freakin awesome.
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Old 07-05-2015, 12:36 AM   #8
greenjeans1978
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Originally Posted by joy_division View Post
Isn't that the problem though? Wasn't he taking up FOUR places?!

It boggles my mind especially as I love his art. Social media has been spewing with such hate it's hard to believe!
After the way Michael Golden ripped off members of this forum on commissions and bragged about it, is Suydam's behavior really that surprising? (Especially since they share the same agent/enabler?)

And after the way conventions let Rob Granito get away with pretty obvious fraud for the better part of a decade until he evoked Dwayne McDuffie and Dave Stevens, is it really a shock that cons would be too apathetic to intervene?

I've come to the point where the unsavory behavior of some comic creators and the incompetence of con organizers is no longer any big surprise to me. Thanks to social media, for all its flaws, we're at least more aware of what's going on, as repellent as it may be.

Quote:
Ha! Been reading about this from a few artists I follow on twitter. Has been amusing except for the artists that lose their spaces they paid for. Sounds like he has been doing this for a looooong time and has never really been called on it. For a good laugh, look at this biography on his website. Apparently he is freakin awesome.
There's also hearsay on Bleeding Cool that he was invited to a Salt Lake City show and demanded first billing over Stan Lee, Neal Adams, Peter David, and others on the grounds that he's "the most important and influential comic book artist of the last 40 years." I can't vouch for how true that is, but based on his self-penned website bio, I wouldn't be surprised if this accusation was true.

And as for the artists he screwed over, having met and commissioned Dan Parent in the past, I can't think of a creator who deserves this kind of treatment less. That guy's a class act, and in no way should this have ever happened to him. (Nor should it have happened to the others, but you get my point.)
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Old 07-05-2015, 02:47 AM   #9
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Loving Mark Waid's tweets. Can't wait to hear about that inevitable encounter.
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Old 07-05-2015, 06:26 AM   #10
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I was at this con. He did take up all those tables to sell his prints. It appeared entirely premeditated to do so, to the point where he removed the artists' names from the area just behind the tables.
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