Hiveworks Artist Guild Issues Public Statement Against Hiveworks Comics LLC

As of 10 am EST, the Hiveworks Artist Guild has issued a public statement detailing long-standing concerns regarding labor practices, financial mismanagement, and professional misconduct at Hiveworks Comics LLC, a webcomics publishing and service company founded in 2011 by Xellette "Xel" Velamist.

The Hiveworks Artist Guild is composed of over 100 cartoonists who have worked with Hiveworks over the course of more than a decade. The Guild initially formed to share information and advocate internally for improved treatment, transparency, and accountability. For over three years, members attempted to resolve these issues without public involvement in order to avoid harming fellow creators who depended on Hiveworks for income and infrastructure.

According to Guild representatives, Xellette Velamist continually failed to deliver advertised services, continually undermined staff efforts to resolve issues, and accumulated at least $340,000 in reported debt. The debt is directly tied to Xellette Velamist and COO/EIC Isabelle Melançon's mismanaged crowdfunding campaigns, unpaid vendors, and delayed/missing payments to artists and lower Hiveworks staff. Cartoonists also report persistent issues including multiple instances of unprofessional conduct towards creators.

The Cartoonist Cooperative would like to emphasize that these failures are not isolated incidents, but part of a broader pattern of creator exploitation within the comics and creative industries. The Guild and the Co-op aim to place an accurate public record on file, warn other workers considering professional relationships with Hiveworks’ former leadership, and bring to light wider conversations about labor rights, transparency, and ethical management in comics.

The Cartoonist Cooperative calls on journalists and industry writers to read the Guild’s full statement at https://cartoonist.coop/hiveworks-guild-statement/ .