The major truckload of paperwork in CrossGen's Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing is now on file. Newsarama has digested most of it. Some highlights:
~ Company head Mark Alessi is owed well over $5 million. This doesn't represent his investment (he owns 72 percent of the stock), but rather money that he loaned to the company apart from whatever he provided for an ownership interest. This amount is secured by all of the CG intellectual property -- trademarks, copyrights, published and unpublished comics work (though not the printed comic books), movie and TV rights, and patents. So he'll end up with all that, ahead of other creditors. I doubt he'll ever end up getting $5 million plus for it, though.
~ CG shopped around for financing, by providing a company financial statement, at places ranging from the head of Marvel Enterprises, to (H. Ross) Perot Systems, to Warner Brothers.
~ Alessi wants to be authorized to loan CG another $150,000 for ongoing operations, where they project that in July, expenses will run about $90,000, with income of about $12,000.
From this last, I doubt that the bankruptcy court will approve the Chapter 11 petition. A reasonable chance must exist for a plan to begin for paying off creditors. With no staff beyond a skeleton crew, freelancers and others filing 10 lawsuits (even by Coca-Cola!), a $1.5 million unpaid printing bill, and all current titles suspended indefinitely ... well, little exists to keep going, period, beyond a final clean-up. I suspect this will quickly change to a Chapter 7 case, and the company will be liquidated.
Oh, and as a separate aside, Alessi's $3.5 million house is for sale. He's clearly hurting from all of this, whatever his management skills, or lack thereof.
Posted by l.e.g.i.o.n.JOHN on :
well i guess we'll never find out how the Negation war will end seeing as how it probably not see print. Posted by MLLASH on :
Gosh, that really bites.
Alessi, a man who bankupted himself for the love of comics... I feel bad for him.
Posted by Pov on :
I feel worse for the staffers who lost their homes due to lack of payment.
The revival of the old bullpen concept was great in theory, but the overhead needed was obviously too much for a new company. Too many initiatives, too much growth.... BOOM.
*sigh*... Posted by Frostfyre on :
This just bites Negation and Sojourn were great comics!
Posted by Chameleon Boy on :
What a total waste of good properties and all the creators being denied payment because of poor choices made by Mark Alessi, although I would like to think he was not souly responsible for all this mess!
So so bad!!
Posted by Greybird on :
The properties will move on in some form, though I wouldn't count on the legal mess being resolved this year.
Alessi is not going to sit forever on what will soon be collateral turned over to him. And he's not likely to get any investors who are confident in his ability to run another comics company.
Some work was essentially finished, or has been recently, and could still see print -- such as George Perez's art on the "Sojourn" / "Lady Death" crossover two-parter.
(One reason Alessi is wanting to keep CG going, legally, is to prolong health benefits for Perez and some other former employees for as long as possible.)
Posted by Greybird on :
And now CrossGen is fighting its landlord in the bankruptcy court, to keep from being thrown out onto the street. Sheesh ...
I can see the landlord's point, as it wants to either be paid or to be able to re-let the offices. The courts are usually lenient about letting a firm stay in place physically, though that will hardly be needed if Chapter 11 is not accepted.
Posted by Pov on :
In a sad footnote to CrossGen's plight, The Pulse is reporting that artists and staffers and various others owed money have received checks... for about .3 (that's point 3!) cents on the dollar for what they were owed.
No word on how Mark Alessi made out...
Mark Waid pretty much says it for me:
quote: Every time I'm reminded of how heinously Mark Alessi lied to, manipulated and betrayed his dedicated employees while promoting himself as a hero, I can't help but get apoplectic that he's not legally obligated to spend every last dime he makes for the rest of his not-tortured-enough life on personally repaying those people one by one. He's certainly MORALLY obligated to--but as common sense would tell you, talking about morals to Mark Alessi is like talking about particle physics to a coffee table. Yes, I'm told Mark lost a lot of money himself when CrossGen went under, but if he's eating anything more expensive every day than macaroni and cheese or living anywhere nicer than a freeway underpass until he makes good, it wasn't near enough.
Posted by Lightning Lad on :
I just started re-reading Negation and Sojourn. I can't believe the quality books that CrossGen put out and they had to end up like this.
And still no word on the status of the properties after nearly two years?
Posted by Pov on :
Not that I've heard, since a subsidiary of Disney bought most of the properties.
DeMatteis & Ploog are working together at Image, but Stardust Kid isn't Abadazad .... Posted by Reboot on :
Disney basically bought CrossGen's IP just to get Abadazad, which they're going to release as illustrated novels (i.e., prose with pictures). Don't expect anything else.
Posted by Tamper Lad on :
Reading his old interviews Alessi seems like a typical business guy who came out of the 90s high-tech boom. Gonna change the world cuz its generally stupid. Those guys have cut a swath of destruction wherever they've gone.
I know this happens to more than a few creative types all over the world. I guess actors, artists and writers don't think they need to know anything about balance sheets and cash flow statements.
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