Z2 Comics Legit

[Rita Seliba]

SoI was recently contacted on Instagram by someone who told me that they're working for Legend HQ comics, a platform where they're apparently planning to release "audio comics" in multiple languages. Basically, from what I could understand, there'd be voice actors reading the dialogues from the comic out loud and, alternatively, there'd be options for creators to record themselves reading the comics too. The app seems to be in beta and can't be found on the App Store yet.

-Their Instagram account appears to have 26k followers... but used to only repost Marvel and DC pictures up until March of this year. Only the most recent posts mention this "Legend HQ Comics" platform. On Youtube, they only have 5 followers. They don't seem to be on Twitter.

-Their website's homepage features the logos of Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, 20th Century Fox and other well known comic publishers, suggesting that they're going to publish their comics as well. However, I could find no news anywhere mentioning Legend HQ in relation to these companies. Which is very weird, because say... Image Comics DID post an article saying that they were joining GlobalComix... and GC's app is also still in beta. So why wouldn't they write anything about Legend HQ?

-The messages they sent me so far sounded a bit vague. No details on the offer either, except for "it's a paid job".

-The platform seems to offer NFTs, which... I'm more than a bit iffy about.

I have been contacted as well, but whenever I searched about them only crypto currency and NFT content appeared, so honestly I won't know.

I had a conversation with them via GMail but despite my questions and their answers I didn't feel it was safe nor that trustworthy at least for me, so I simply decided to follow my gut and not intereact with them anymore.

When all I was saying is that I wouldn't be able to work for them full time or to only stick to short projects due to my workload and my other agreements with content creators and it almost sounded as if they suggested the offer was going to be so good I would ditch my other compromises in order to favor them. So I didn't like that.

Yeah, I have the same problem re: working full time as I already have a job. So far they haven't told me anything about what they're planning to do, we exchanged like 3 messages and pretty much all of them were along the lines of "we're interested in your work and would like to offer you a paid job". No additional details whatsoever.

I told them that I'd like to have more details and I'm still waiting for an answer. They wanted to "set up a meeting", but I told them that I prefer communicating via mail, since I'm not a native speaker and I don't feel comfortable with spoken English. I am planning to ask more specific questions if they keep leaving things vague, but yep, definitely keeping my eyes open.

I'm Sean, the CEO of Legend, and I just wanted to jump in and provide some more info and confirm that we're not a scam @RedLenai I'd love to know who approached you as the CEO but it wasn't me? It may have been one of our team who didn't mean to present themselves as CEO but it came across like that?

So, we are pre-launch (internal beta testing at the moment) meaning our apps aren't available to the public yet but we are working with a number of creators and publishers to get their titles enhanced with full character audio for when our platform is ready to launch. So, all those brands you saw on the website are legit but we haven't started really doing any marketing yet because the app isn't available.

Also, we're always working on bringing more talented creators to our platform to deliver their titles as full audiovisual comics and creating new original titles ourselves so whoever approached you from our team must have thought you'd be a great fit for either or both of those opportunities (which having looked at your profiles and comics I agree with). They however obviously didn't follow up so well to answer your specific questions and give you enough info to make a decision as to whether you'd like to work with us so we definitely need to do better there. I would love to continue the conversation by email (se...@legendhq.com) and answer any questions you might have about us, our product and I might even be able to get you internal beta testing access so you can actually see the platform in action.

I've been contacted twice, first by Kyra Pahlen (ky...@legendhq.com) around March, who I've took the time to google and see that in fact was CEO of Legend HQ and associated with the platform, as well that it can be confirmed through both her LinkedIn and Twitter, she has been actively promoting and posting about it. So I am not mistaken about who I've been contacted by through Facebook who at first just seemed to be the typical comment on one of my posts that reminded me of the ones scammers sents nowadays to artists, sent her my business email and then the entire conversation continued through there.

My questions didn't get proper answers that reassured me, neither I got proper clarifications regarding work management, payment, terms, and other more things, the only thing I've received were vague replies that only seemed that I would get a proper answer by risking myself to it first.

The second time I was contacted was by an editor,I believe 2-3 weeks after I stopped replying to Kyra, but I didn't reply to them as I already took the decision of not being involved with the platform.

Same here. I signed a contract with them and Nda. I gave them 3 stories with complete PNG files of my webtoon to be made as audio comics. Until now I have no update and seems this Kyra pahlen is changing company names etc. Not replying to me now. She also change her fb account. Seems a scam now.

-Can you clarify whether or not you're actually working with publishers such as Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics and 20th Century Fox, since their logos used to be on the home page of your site?

-If that's the case, can you please explain the lack of news about it?

On May 9, 2023, I got a reply that, once again, felt a bit vague/copy-paste. They did use the name of my comic at some point, but other than that, they were using pretty generic terms to refer to the work and even asking me to check if my comic has an "exclusive license" on any of the sites I currently have it on. I... think it's actually pretty easy to figure out if a comic has an exclusive license on Tapas and Webtoon, since both platforms mark their premium/original comics quite clearly, and I find it's even stranger that someone who's supposedly "interested in publishing my work" wouldn't even do some research on their own to figure out whether said work is already licensed or not.

So yes, definitely blockchain related. I feel I should point out that this FAQ was sent to me back in May, so I don't know if anything changed in the meantime. If that's the case, I'd like some clarifications on the matter, because it sure doesn't look like the platform is unrelated to blockchain stuff.

We take care of the audio production, and we split the net revenue 50/50 (minus platform costs and production expenses). The cost for audio production is usually around $1,500 per language (sometimes less), which we will invest into your work. And since it is not an exclusive agreement, you will still have all the rights to your comic series.

It is not clearly specified whether the "we" who will invest $1500 in the audio production is Legend HQ comics or if the platform is actually asking the authors to "invest" money in the project. From the FAQ document, it appears that the $1500 will be "deducted" from your revenue. However, the same FAQ question also specifies the following:

Another thing that isn't clear is how exactly is Legend planning to work with long form comics. It is not specified how many pages are going to be produced after $1500 are "invested". And I can only suppose that, for a long, ongoing comic like mine, a lot more money is going to be required to record the whole thing. Which, tbh, feels like it can only mean two things:

a. The author is asked to "invest" a LOT more than just $1500 to get hundreds of comic pages turned into an audiobook;

b. If Legend HQ does actually invest the money needed for the project, the author isn't actually going to see any payment, because the revenue will never manage to cover the incredibly high production costs of the audiobook (I'm not great at maths, but if I did my calculations right, you'd need to sell literally thousands of copies before you can even make up for production costs);

NOTE: I should specify that, although I would have liked to reply to the mail, I ended up not asking for more clarifications, so these are just the impressions I got from their last mail and FAQ document. If any of the Legend HQ staff members who replied to the thread so far would be willing to clarify some of my doubts expressed here, I would be glad

They had a book that is out of print but on in high demand on their website. So I took a chance that it was actually in stock and not one of these online stores that list everything and hope to order it when a customer wants it.

So I pay via paypal and nothing for three days. I log on and finally see that the order was canceled. I look in Paypal no refund. WTF? I email them and the reply email states Credit balance in the amount of purchase. Still nothing in Paypal. Are they seriously going to issue a store credit?

I emailed them again and reinstated my desire to get a refund through my paypal. I guess this will be my first paypal charge back. This completely will make me never trust another store via internet search.

Returns or cancellations for any other reason will be handled on a case-by-case basis, and may be subject to a 25% cancellation / restocking fee. However, you must contact Customer Service to receive Return Authorization prior to any returns.

I ordered from them several times a few years ago. I haven't ordered again because of poor customer service. I received a book that was bent and torn on the back cover. I sent two emails asking for a refund/return and never received a replay at all.

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