Fans have long felt that O'Barr should be at the helm of the Crow franchise. The prevailing reasoning behind this is that O'Barr created the original story, so naturally he knows what is best. Before we place O'Barr in this lofty office, we should take a look at what he has done over the last 10 years to further the Crow mythology. Since 1992, when the original comic was finished, O'Barr has contributed a story idea, which was turned into the KSP comic "Dead Time" and had a small entry in his self-edited book "The Crow: Shattered Lives and Broken Dreams". The story, "Spooky Codeine", has yet to be finished and for all sense and purpose, recounts the Eric story. All that we have been given of late is reissued comic art from his early days, lost original Crow story art and comic convention appearances to talk about "The Crow". To date, we have not been given anything new. It has long been rumored that he is going to put out a brand new "Crow" story that deals with two avatars, one male and one female. However, in front of that we are getting a re-issue of the original story set in 8 volumes, containing edited out work from the original story and new artwork. Does this not show a lack of original ideas? O'Barr has been given ample opportunity to infuse new blood into the story genre he started, but has continually rested back on the original Crow story. He was given the opportunity to write the script for the second movie. Due to the lack of creative ideas and an overwhelming emotional drain from Brandon's death, O'Barr was unable to complete a full story and another story had to be used. Since this time, O'Barr has been given the opportunity to develop other ideas. As with the second Crow movie script, he has failed, in the end, to complete these projects. For me, O'Barr's creative silence on the comic, screenplay and novel front speaks loudly to the fact that he has not had anything new to add to the Crow genre. O'Barr has been quick to issue negative comments about the stories that have since been created; yet he has not put his own pen to paper. His creative silence has been self imposed, not forced upon him by Hollywood as has been speculated. The opportunities have been there, HE has chosen not to take them. I do not mean to paint O'Barr as an inept figure in the literary world. I just think we all have our niches in life. Places where we are the most suited to flourish. O'Barr is a passionate artist, a good storyteller. However, he has the eccentricities that come with being an artist, which, in my opinion, hinders his ability to contribute to the project development side of the industry. There is no question or debate that O'Barr has felt the pain from the first story. He knows his creation very well. But, I think that PERSONAL attachment thwarts his creative input for other stories. Fans put a large amount of credence to his opinion of other Crow projects, yet these are different stories. He is not going to have the emotional attachment and understanding of the characters as he did with his story. O'Barr created a story based on a personal experience. Others have expanded that original concept from his personal story to something that can be more universally felt. It can be said that though the movies, novels, TV series and other comics are BASED on the original story line, they are all exclusive interpretations by other creative individuals. THEY are the experts on the story being told not O'Barr. I say we continue to pay homage to the fantastic work of O'Barr and to the man himself. But in our praise, let's not elevate an artist to a position that he is not equipped to handle. Let's continue to allow new minds and their interpretations carry forward the flow of Crow stories. Otherwise, we will end up with still waters of creativity and the end of a genre.

Take care,

LLcruize