Most people aren’t going to care about this, but I fought too long and too hard, and at an expense beyond just financial to myself, and my family, to get this small victory.

The Empty Zone trade paperback from Image Comics and Jason Shawn Alexander came out last week. What a lot of people likely won’t notice is that my name is in the credits as “With Story Contributions By.” See attached image.

Interestingly, they also gave a story contribution credit to the creator’s wife. I sure hope Mrs. Alexander didn’t have to go to the same lengths that I did to get mine. Of course, the real intent of her credit is to dilute the significance of mine.

To be perfectly clear, I lay no claim to the version of Empty Zone that was published. It just so happens that many scenes, dialogue, characters and plot elements from the four scripts that I wrote over ten months were used after I had left the project over ethical differences. It was not a work for hire gig, so the creator did not have the rights to my work.

Let this be a lesson to experienced and aspiring alike: Have a written agreement in advance, even just a rudimentary one. Even with those you consider your close friends. Especially your friends.
Lesson learned. I’m thankful to now be working with people who put craft before profit. And the result will be that much better because of that.

I will always go out of my way to treat people better than I’ve been treated. I believe in collaborations where all involved are equals. Because that’s how lasting relationships can thrive; where collaborators lift each other up and recognize that these stories are the result of all our efforts, not just an individual.