Val Staples who runs both MVCreations and
He-Man.org has posted the following message on his site.
"For over two years we worked to give you all a comic we hoped you would enjoy and a website with the resources you could use to relive your memories, communicate with fellow fans, and stay on top of MOTU developments.
We care a great deal about Masters of the Universe, this website, and all of the comic projects we worked on. We faced a lot of challenges in giving you the story and the characters you wanted to see. We had to fight to get news on the new brand for almost three years (which is kind of sad that we had to do that when you think about it). We weren't always happy, but we still worked around the obstacles and kept moving forward.
But a few things have happened that have essentially ruined our little studio.
About a year and a half ago, we moved from Image Comics to CrossGen Entertainment to publish our books. At the time, it seemed like the smart move. CrossGen had proven to be on the up-and-up, we had friends there who were very happy, and they had a lot of programs in place to reach younger readers which was something we always wanted to do. Of course, what we didn't know is that they were sailing a ship that was taking on water at an alarming rate. And none of us had any way of knowing.
When payments never came, we complained, fought and eventually sued. And by the time the smoke cleared, CrossGen went bankrupt right after defaulting on a settlement agreement we had reached. This put their debt to us at almost 60,000.00. This was a crushing blow that crippled our income and our ability to publish comics.
Determined to move forward, we did the smart and responsible thing. We dropped all titles that were not performing well. We dropped all plans to publish new titles that we either had in the works or were in discussions to create. And we budgeted carefully so we could continue to publish our two top comics: Masters of the Universe and SpookShow International.
The core MV studio made the switch to freelance graphic design, as we knew those two comic titles couldn't make enough money to pay for the people who worked in our offices or help to pay back the debt CrossGen left us. Still, despite putting the best foot forward and working hard to keep that income coming, we had very little luck in finding work in today's tough economy. For an entire year instead of whittling away at the debt CrossGen left us, we found ourselves moving further into debt just trying to stay alive. It felt like a row of dominos had been started and we couldn't stop them.
We were dealt another blow earlier in the year when the details of MOTU character usage rights became clear. Despite our initial discussions prior to getting the license and an understanding of where we were going to go with the story and characters, we suddenly faced not only not being able to bring back fan favorite characters not yet seen, but also not being able to even create new characters and places. Imagine telling a story where you cannot travel to any new places on Eternia, encounter any new characters important or merely background filler. We ultimately had to scrap six issues worth of story and almost two issues of art for the Volume 3 we wanted to do. This pushed our creator debt even further into the ground along along with our now growing studio debt.
Today, we find ourselves facing a debt of a little over 140,000.00
Not a huge debt as far as most companies are concerned. But for a little studio like ours, it's a monstrous amount of money that we have no way of paying in any relatively short amount of time.
During the past few months, MV's operations have almost been completely shut down. Everyone who worked in the studio except myself has moved on to a new job or a new career path. Even the He-Store depends on the time generously donated by fans like yourself to help pack and ship product. I will be moving the studio to a much smaller and more manageable location to help offset expenses even further.
Myself and the artists across the world who work with me are still engaged in as much work as we can find to help raise money. But it's nearly impossible to achieve our original goal of getting out of this mountain we were placed under.
I hate asking anyone to help rescue us from what has happened. But I have no other alternative than to turn to my friends and fellow fans for your support. I don't know if raising such a large amount of money is even possible. I'm hoping maybe, with your help, we might be able to at least pay off most or all of the creator portion of the debt (which is about 88,000.00). Then, I might be able to find a way to make payments on the other debts I owe. Or, if I can find no other alternative, file for personal bankruptcy without inconveniencing any of the other hard working creators who helped MV along the way to give you the comics we hoped you enjoyed. If anyone has to go down with the ship, it should be me. But I don't want to see the other people who contributed suffer.
We never expected to get hit with these kinds of problems along the way. And I apologize for groveling before you, begging for your help. I know that many of you have your own debts that need your attention and, even if you want to help, it's very hard for you to do so.
But I hope that if you've enjoyed the comic and/or He-Man.org these past few years you will consider helping us out."
If you would like to make a donation or help out head on over to the main page of
He-Man.org and find out how.
