A little while ago I predicted that CrossGen would eventually be the number three publisher in the industry.

How wrong I was!

They really showed promise with innovative ideas.

However, non payment of talent (the creators) will never endear you to the fans or the industry as a whole.

After a steady stream of bad press it was enevitable that they were destined to follow previous big name publishers like the Valiant Universe, Ultraverse and Awesome Entertainment into the history books.

And they did just that.

It’s a crying shame because it will make it harder for any new publishers to challenge the dominance of Marvel and DC, which is needed for a healthy industry.

Only time will tell but I feel that the forced link between the titles, the Sigil, hurt them in the long run.

It felt like you had to read all the titles even though most were written as self-contained.

The perception was there.

Ironically, in hindsight, I think they would have had greater success if they had started with the current line up of titles that are coming out now including El Cazador and Kiss, Kiss, Bang Bang, designed to replace the Sigil-orientated ones!

With the demise of CrossGen being played out in the public eye, via online news sites, message boards and the printed comic book press, valuable lessons should be learnt by the next generation of publishers who want our business.