Dark Horse Comics have just announced the release of the Library Edition of Chrononauts, written by Mark Millar. Their post on BlueSky had a rather unintended result as colourist Matt Hollingsworth, tagged in the post, announced that he did not ‘want to be associated with this comic‘.
The reason for this is Hollingsworth asserts that Millar refused to pay Hollingsworth royalties. He goes on to add that Sean Murphy, illustrator and co-creator, ‘stepped up‘ and paid Hollingsworth out of his own royalities. Hollingsworth continues that he will ‘never work with Millar again‘ and urged BlueSky users to boycott Chrononauts.
As of writing, Mark Millar has not responded to these allegations.
This scenario could also be a dent in Dark Horse Comics’ reputation as it prides itself on allowing creators to retain the rights to their work. Image too will be looking at this, as the series was originally published under them. However, the biggest hit will be to Millar’s already controversial reputation, particularly if he still believes ‘colorists are not worth paying royalties to‘ as Hollingsworth alleges.
Colourists, like writers, letters, and illustrators are fundamental to the works we all enjoy. Each play an important part in the final piece, adding their own talent to making incredible and immersive stories. It goes without saying that all deserve to be renumerated for their efforts.
Chris Eliopoulos, Shaun Brill, Nicole Boose, Conor Hughes, Eric Canete, and Pepe Larraz all worked on Chrononauts also.
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