Marvel can clear an entire release week for three new universes. They can't cut a check for a veteran cover inker who turned in five covers before the deadline — months ago. Greg Capullo had to go public. Marvel still hasn't replied.

This is what Disney's 2026 layoffs actually did to Marvel's freelance creators — and why it will keep happening until payment terms have teeth.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Marvel Didn't Pay Its Cover Inker

02:33 – The Work Glapion Did (And When He Did It)

04:05 – Why the Layoffs Are the Real Story

05:54 – What the Page Rate System Actually Pays

08:48 – Fixes Marvel Won't Make

11:13 – Still No Reply to His Email

THE STORY:

On June 18, 2026, Greg Capullo posted a tweet that 197,000 people saw: his longtime inker Jonathan Glapion — an Inkwell Award winner who inked New 52 Batman and Dark Nights: Metal — cannot get paid for five Marvel covers he delivered before the deadline. Capullo said he already tried to intervene privately. It didn't work.

Glapion confirmed it himself: the covers were done early, submitted while he was simultaneously drawing and inking his own independent book, and he still hasn't received a reply to his follow-up email.

This video connects the dots Bleeding Cool and trade press have started drawing: Disney's April 2026 layoffs cut 7–8% of Marvel's workforce — including the administrative infrastructure that routes and approves freelancer payments. Nobody at Marvel announced this to their creators. The invoices just stopped moving.

We breaks down what Marvel's freelance payment structure actually looks like, what state law already requires, and the four-part fix the publisher will never voluntarily implement.

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Sources used in this video: Greg Capullo (@GregCapullo), Twitter/X, June 18, 2026 · Jonathan Glapion reply tweet, June 18, 2026 · Bleeding Cool, "Marvel Comics Hasn't Paid Jonathan Glapion, Down To Disney Layoffs?", June 19, 2026 · Deadline / Popverse, Disney Marvel layoff reporting, April 15, 2026 · Bleeding Cool, Marvel page rate reporting, March 2025 · California Freelance Worker Protection Act, effective January 1, 2025 · New York Freelance Isn't Free Act · Popverse/Mark Millar, royalty rate reporting, November 2023

#MarvelComics #ComicIndustry #CreatorRights #gregcapullo #marvel

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