Crossgen Comics, the Florida-based publisher that has successfully bucked publishing trends and established itself as the fifth largest comic company in less than a year of operation, has announced yet another addition to its increasingly impressive roster of talent.  Jackson 'Butch' Guice, a veteran penciller who began working in comics at Marvel in 1981, will relocate to Florida where he will begin working on a new, as-yet-unnamed Crossgen title scheduled for release in September.  Another recent high profile Crossgen acquistion-- writer Mark Waid--will script the new book.

 

Guice has worked for every major comic publisher except Image and Archie.   The list of books he has drawn includes X-Factor, The Flash, Eternal Warrior, and Nexus, but he is probably most famous for his three-year run on Action Comics, which included the hugely popular 'Death of Superman' storyline.   His most recent work has been on Birds of Prey from DC Comics.

 

Although the situation in the comics world is far different now from what it was in the early 90s when it seemed that anyone who could hold a pencil could get a job and that artists of stature were getting deals comparable to those obtained by professional hockey players, competition for top talent remains strong, though total comic sales are much lower.  Both Crossgen and Marvel have had a hand in driving up the cost of talent, and today top writers (like Mark Waid) are also sharing in the bounty, which ten years ago went predominantly to artists.