“Truth hurts,” reads the cover of issue No. 4 of Marvel‘s 2023 Loki comic run. The book’s cover artist, Dustin Nguyen, had some hurtful truths directed at the comic publisher in a profanity-laced post shared to social media, in which the Eisner Award-winning artist and co-creator of Image’s Descender announced he has severed ties at Marvel Comics with a plea for increased compensation and royalty payments for creators.
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“Everyone I’m NOT working with @marvel can [expletive] themselves,” Nguyen wrote in a message shared via Instagram Stories. “I’ve asked nicely for the past 15 years on behalf of every artist. Stop f—ing creators over, you’re not getting another cover from me until then.”
After condemning what he called “minimum wage bullsh-t,” Nguyen added that making $6.25 an hour at his old fast food job was “still better than spilling my heart and love on a Spider-Man cover gig” and getting between five and 10 free copies in the mail.
Nguyen’s most recent work for Marvel includes a Symbiote Spider-Man variant cover for October’s Spider-Man: Black Suit & Blood #3, the anthology series that included the five-page “Dysmorphia” story written and illustrated by Nguyen in issue No. 1, and a team-up variant cover for the upcoming Doom’s Division #3 featuring the mutant Karma and Gun-R II of Tiger Division. At Marvel, Nguyen has also created covers for Jonathan Hickman and Valerio Schiti’s G.O.D.S., Peach Momoko’s Ultimate X-Men, and the Alien: Black, White & Blood anthology.
“My editors @marvel f—ing kill and I LOVE THEM,” Nguyen added. “I will fight tooth and nail for them, but it will probably be against Marvel itself which we’ll all lose.”
Nguyen elaborated on his decision to cut ties with one of the Big Two comic publishers in a subsequent post shared to his more than 125,000 Instagram followers.
“[Marvel] has been undercutting creators from the start, unless you’re getting [$6,000 – $7,000 a cover — then god bless. I hope you’re getting a piece of the MCU and after sales,” he wrote. “Between them and [DC Comics], they are the ONLY one that DOESN’T pay a royalty for overseas sales. America is the originator of superhero comics … they’re not paying creators a piece? Come on. F— this f—ing shit. Also, merch? Lunch boxes and tees — good luck.”
Nguyen — whose long list of credits at DC Comics includes the epilogue of Scott Snyder and Jim Lee’s Superman Unchained, the Paul Dini-penned Batman: Heart of Hush, Robin & Batman, and Batman: Li’l Gotham — went on to disregard what he called warnings not to cross Marvel because “they’re a major player, the only two in the mainstream.”
“F— them,” Nguyen wrote. “Like I give a flying f—. F— @marvel comics, f— anyone that I’m NOT directly working with. I LOVE my marvel editors because they get you your books out to you on time. The direct staff has no control, they don’t juggle the stupid f—ing numbers.”
“You’re an artist. You draw sh-t. You wanna get paid for sh-t. now. In the future. Forever,” he continued. “You draw now and in the future. In countries everywhere including the one you don’t live in. F— this current Marvel contract. I’m too small in the tier and can’t negotiate a better one for you. Those in control, those whose work pull, please work for the rest of us.” Nguyen noted that DC “isn’t far” from Marvel because, like Disney-owned Marvel Comics, DC is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery.
“But when I ask for things, DC works with me,” Nguyen said, adding that he’s asked for a $75 per-page raise in the past 15 years, equating royalties to making “15 cents after [the publishers] made your thousands. So what am I treading carefully for again?”
Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld also announced his exit from Marvel in recent weeks, a split stemming from what he called mistreatment from the Kevin Feige-led Marvel Studios at the July premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine. (Liefeld’s public criticisms of both Feige and Marvel coincided with the release of his final Deadpool comic.)
In 2017, Thanos co-creator Jim Starlin stated he received a “very big check” from DC for the K.G. Beast’s relatively minor role in 2016’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, “Much bigger than anything I’ve gotten for Thanos, Gamora and Drax showing up in any of the various Marvel [Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers] movies they appeared in, combined.”
And in 2021, Ed Brubaker, who resurrected Bucky Barnes as the brainwashed Winter Soldier in the comics storyline that inspired 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie, called out Marvel during a podcast appearance following the airing of the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. “I have made more on SAG residuals [from my cameo in The Winter Soldier] than I have made on creating the character,” Brubaker said on Kevin Smith and Marc Bernardin’s Fatman Beyond podcast.
At least in Starlin’s case, the legendary comics creator said in 2021 that he renegotiated a rich deal with Marvel following the blockbuster box office performances of 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
“The cliche is that the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” Starlin said at the time. “The way these agreements are written up, Disney can be more generous if they want. It is written right there that they can change the terms to make it better.”
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