Like any good break-up worth its salt there has to be loss involved for both parties involved. This past weekend we ran the news that publisher Image Comics had acquired the rights to Tim Seeley’s ubber popular brainchild “HACK/SLASH” from original publisher Devil’s Due. In that article I touched on the mountain of debt that the publisher owes to its artists and writers, something that now that it has lost its top selling commodity, will probably prove to be its downfall. Well now it is being reported over at Bleeding Cool News that the scribe himself will be taking on the debt owed to those that have contributed to his title on his own shoulders, and out of his own pocket book. Read on for the skinny.

Here’s An Excerpt From Bleeding Cool’s Article,

“Tim Seeley has told me he’s taken out a loan to pay off the unpaid artists, owed money by Devil’s Due. It’s not his debt, but it’s one he feels responsible for. The money owed by Devil’s Due to Tim has been cleared in exchange to Tim taking the comic away from Devil’s Due before the contract period is up. And taking on Wildstorm work should see him able to pay that loan off sooner, while he waits for Image money to come through, or the possible trickle from Devil’s Due.”

You can read the full write up over at Bleeding Cool News.

Let this be a lesson to everyone out there that has a great idea and is thinking about shopping it around to publishers. This industry is full of dishonest thieves who are perfectly content with ripping you off through the means of some sort of 2 point font type at the bottom of a 100 page contract, or, in Devil’s Due’s case, even without a loophole.

I’m sure Tim will be ok now that Image has the rights to publish his title. The writer has done nothing but go the extra mile in his career to get his little brain-child out there and into the minds of readers, and month-to-month delivered a standout piece of work. being a creator owned publisher (And an honest one at that) I’m sure that Image will be more than capable of adequately promoting his title and hopefully getting the film adaptation off the ground. I will say that June cannot come quick enough for me so I can see just what Tim and the guys over at Image can cook up.

As for Devil’s Due, karma is going to be a bitch. The company owes a lot more people than Seeley’s crew money, and even without the debt they are owed the company is more than likely going to file for bankruptcy within the next 60 days. I’d imagine that lawsuits will also be pending before the month is out, but hey, maybe the rest of the hard working artists and writers out there will just work off a buddy system like Seeley and give DDP a get out of jail free card? Let’s hope not.

The ‘Kiss It’ with the Image logo etched onto Cassie’s bat sure does ring true here. Talk about the Devil getting his due, right? What say you?