• Pat Broderick – Reported by Eric Linquist. “In early February 2016, Pat Broderick cashed out a $100 Money Order for a single character 11×17 render. As of 10/15/16 (today, over 8 months later), I’ve received not one single update despite courteous and polite attempts to secure an update. When I researched Pat, I learned this has happened to many other patrons who paid up front. The public deserves to know of this pattern. I created a free FB page that is nothing but numerous testimonials cut and pasted from the Internet of this shameful apparent scamming of well-intentioned patrons. Beware, Pat has a solid pattern of taking money, and rendering, well, nothing.” https://www.facebook.com/Pat-Broderick-Worst-Commission-Experience-Ever-571887269638522/
• Shelton Bryant – Reported by Enrico Salvini. “On May 12, 2009, after discussing two commissions in detail, I paypaled Shelton Bryant $250 for a Frank Zappa and a Grendel commissions and, up to this day, all I received was excuses, excuses and more excuses. Family problems, unexpected humps, more family troubles and so on: in the meantime he kept cranking out stuff to put on Ebay or on CAF. Tons of stuff, but nothing for me. It came to a point when I couldn’t give a lesser **** about his art and asked him to send those $250 back. His reply? “I am so sorry everything turned out so badly… The reason the art is piling up is that I now have to do two art a day just to pay my basic bills. If i had the 250 i would gladly give it to you. … I would finish the artwork if i could… I know you don’t believe [sic] me and I don’t blame you for being angry. I am very very sorry~s” Well, being sorry doesn’t cut it: Shelton Bryant is a scammer and will plain take your money and run. Years of emails and CAF correspondence are available to back this up.”
• Becky Cloonan – Reported by Kevin Currie. “Toronto Comic Arts Festival in May 2012. I commissioned a piece from Ms. Cloonan. I paid for a Conan piece and noticed I was third on the list. I came back about 5 hours later figuring it was done. It wasn’t. I explained to her that I live about 4-5 hours away from Toronto and was leaving and I asked if she can mail it to me. She said sure. I paid her $10 for postage. Three months go by, I contact her saying I haven’t got it yet and she emails be back to tell me she’s very sorry and will get it out right away. November rolls around I still haven’t seen it. She’s once again very apologetic and tells me it must have got lost in the mail and will do a new one and mail it out right away. March 2013 rolls around I contact her and she tells me if I can make it to TCAF in 2013 she will make it up to me. As TCAF drew nearer family plans prohibited me from making it so I posted to the group what should I do. Another Collector contacts me and tells me he would be more than willing to pick it up. TCAF rolls around in May 2013 and he emails me after the first day of the show to tell me that Becky has no paper but will try to do something that night and bring it back Sunday. He emails me Sunday to tell me that Becky was feeling under the weather that night and was unable to do it. After that I cut my losses and purged anything Cloonan related from my collection.”
• Paris Cullins – Reported by Hart Rieckhof. “Payed half up front for two commissions in 5/13/2008, gave me various excuses, tells me it’s done and to send final payment 1/12/2009, never received artwork or any further contact.”
Randy Emberlin – Reported by Reid Mason. “Completed my inking commission and started selling prints of it at Emerald City Comic Con without informing me or sending me the finished art. Claimed exclusive rights to making prints of his commissions without providing any information of such on his website or in our e-mail dialogues. Also showed little respect for the original penciler’s art rep when he was caught in the act. Would not recommend.”
• Ale Garza – Reported by Terry Maltos. “Lied about completion dates over and over while taking other commissions. Would not give a refund. Sent “consolation” art of another piece which I quickly sold.”
• Craig Hamilton – Reported by Jeff Dodd. “I have a piece that has been hanging in limbo for over 8 years. I eventually just wrote them off.”
• Craig Hamilton – Reported by cap12xx. “I have been waiting nearly two years for what Craig swore would be 3-month wait. After one year, I received a scan of a pretty rough layout. I hear there are many people in a worse shape than me. I’d avoid Craig Hamilton.”
• S. Clarke Hawbaker – Reported by Phillip Anderson. “One year at the San Diego Comic Con (I believe it was 2000, although it could have been 2001) I loaned table space to S. Clarke Hawbaker. I commissioned a sketch in one of my sketchbooks & he did an amazing job on it. I liked it so much that I paid him to do 10 pieces for me (I was thinking of several of them as Christmas presents). It is 14-15 years later & I never received any of them. One a year would have gotten them all to me a few years back.”
• Dayne Henry – Reported by Reid Mason. “Set up a commission thru Instagram. Promised delivery dates for a prelim were repeatedly broken, and communication was extremely spotty. Over the course of four months, only two prelims were produced, neither of which were up to scratch. (The second was actually worse than the first.) Finally got a refund several days after it was promised, but would not recommend this artist to anyone.”
• Michael Kaluta – Reported by Terry Allen. “I was the very first baker of the Starstruck graphic novel by Elaine Lee and Michael Kaluta on Kickstarter back in April of 2013. I chose the $300.00 level and through communications with Michael via Elaine Lee, I asked for two color sketch cards in lieu of the 11 x 14 B&W character drawing that was offered. I’ve messaged back and forth with Elaine over the first few years and then directly with Michael through Facebook and have been put off continually. Michael first claimed he couldn’t find the cards, so I sent replacement blanks to him. Months later, he claimed he misplaced them, so a year and a half ago, we settled on a single 11 x 14 B&W piece of Doc Savage. Over 7 years later, I message every 6 months, sometimes he responds, but mostly he reads and ignores me.
• Greg Larocque – Reported by simply2fly. “I commissioned a piece off of him in April of 2012 off of eBay and am still waiting for him to complete it (1.19.2013). 10 months after it was ordered off of ebay and ~8 months later than expected. We agreed on a 9×12 piece with background and he delivered something on 11×14 paper with virtually no background.”
• Stephen Platt – Reported by Terry Maltos. “Outstanding commission from 2004 never mailed, never done. Stopped communicating about 2009.”
• Stephen Platt – Reported by Lee Schenck. “I have also fallen victim to Stephen Platt. Met him at Dallas Con in 2013 and paid him $250 for a commission on a blank variant. He told me that it would be done as soon as he caught up on his list. For a few years (WTF!) we kept communication open on Facebook. Due to me being military, I move around frequently, so I would update him whenever I would deploy or change addresses. He would consistently tell me “Thank you for your service,” and that my commission would be done soon. Now, 5 years later, he no longer replies to my messages or even acknowledges me. Such a shame, he was a very nice and friendly individual in person.”
• Mike Ratliff – Reported by Thomas Suhling. “Ordered a commission from the site over 3 years ago and asked if he would be willing to do the commission IN my sketchbook. Have mailed my sketchbooks to artists all over the world for the past 20 years and have never had a problem. Mailed the book – Mike did the commission and then… nothing. Attempts to communicate via e-mail, twitter, Facebook and even registered mail and all received no responses. I have even asked some fellow artist to try to help out with no avail. Beware.”
• Matt Smith – Reported by Phillip Anderson. “I purchased a number of pages of art & several commissions from Matt Smith because he needed cash right then to cover moving costs. This was in roughly 1999. I never received the art or the commissions.”
• Dave Taylor – Reported by Hart Rieckhof. “Payed for commission, supplied him with a layout and costume references; sporadic communication, then nothing. Contacted a Publisher friend of his to help out. He told me that Dave is sending my commission right away. What I received was NOT what I had ordered, I sold it at a loss on eBay.”
I have also fallen victim to Stephen Platt. Met him at Dallas Con in 2013 and paid him $250 for a commission on a blank variant. He told me that it would be done as soon as he caught up on his list. For a few years (WTF!) we kept communication open on Facebook. Due to me being military, I move around frequently, so I would update him whenever I would deploy or change addresses. He would consistently tell me “Thank you for your service,” and that my commission would be done soon. Now, 5 years later, he no longer replies to my messages or even acknowledges me. Such a shame, he was a very nice and friendly individual in person.