EVERYTHING BUT IMAGINARY #196: 2006 -- STATE OF THE COMICS ADDRESS

**Blake Petit** · #1 December 27th 2006, 06:13 PM

Well, guys, the year is drawing to a close. In just a few short nights we’ll all be out standing underneath the ball, watching the fireworks, consuming massive amounts of champagne and marking one less year until the restraining order expires. But until then, it’s been a big year in comics, for good or ill, and so this week in Everything But Imaginary, we’re going to be looking at 2006 – the year in comics. For good and bad. We’ll hit ‘em all. Now this is one column where my own personal prejudices and preferences will be even more on display than usual, and I make no apology for that.

The state of the Big Two.

I don’t think it’s been any secret that I’ve been pretty happy with how DC Comics has shaken out this year and pretty frustrated with the way Marvel is doing business. I’ll take advantage of this to lay it on the line and explain, once and for all, why. First up, DC. This is all a matter of personal preference, but I’ve been very happy with the shape of the DC Universe. I loved Infinite Crisis. Some people complained that it wasn’t a book for new readers – well no, it wasn’t. It was a book that cleared the slate for One Year Later, which is an experiment that in almost every case (I’ll talk about some of the exceptions later) has produced titles that are very accessible. The Big Three icons (Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman) have been returned to states that are recognizable and enjoyable, and what’s more, they’ve got top-notch creative teams on the books. Justice League of America and Justice Society of America are both the brilliant, cornerstone books of the DCU that they always should have been. I’ll admit it – I like DC characters better and (these days) I like most of the people writing and drawing DC comics better than their competition, but bias aside, there are very few comics out there that even come close to the quality of current Action Comics or Justice Society. And if I started talking about Vertigo, I’d be here all day.

While my satisfaction with DC has mostly been on the creative side, my dissatisfaction with Marvel has mostly been on the business side. The way the company carries itself these days really rubs me the wrong way, and that distaste bleeds over into a distaste for a lot of the projects. For an example, one need look no further than Joe Quesada’s ramblings earlier this year concerning Speedball. Quesada spent months making jokes about the character, gleefully promising he was going to be killed off at any moment. It was like listening to a five-year-old dangling a toy over his little brother’s head and singing “Nyah-nyah-nyah.” Now Speedball, of course, didn’t die, prompting Quesada to make another gleeful proclamation, that his Speedball comments were “misdirection,” an announcement which frankly scares the Hell out of me considering how he’s been talking about Mary Jane Parker for lord knows how long. The story itself had its positive and negative qualities, but I went into it with a terrible taste in my mouth just because I hated the way it was presented. This is just one example, of course – Quesada has said stuff like this for a long time, going back to his famous (ugh) announcement that Marvel would “crack the Internet in half.” (Which, incidentally, he has promised he’s going to do again next August. I think I’m going to take a nap next August.)

Then there’s Civil War, which I was ready to give a chance despite how bad I thought last year’s House of M was. And you know what? I thought the first few issues were actually pretty good. Then something really started to bother me, and it didn’t take long to figure out what. Before the story began, there was a lot of talk out of Marvel about how this was a story that would force fans to choose sides between those in favor of registration and those opposed to it, the same way the characters had to choose sides. But this hasn’t happened, and for a simple reason: the writers at Marvel have done an absolutely abysmal job presenting a story that actually makes people “choose.” From the very beginning, the “Anti-Regs” have been painted as in the right, primarily by virtue of their being led by Captain America (a point which, at one point, I may have agreed with, but not the way this is being painted). The “Pro-Regs,” conversely, have been consistently portrayed as being either mindless zombies (in the case of the lower-tier characters) or, in the case of the leaders like Iron Man and Reed Richards, as being as bad as Nazis, slave traders or tobacco company executives. There are, to be fair, a couple of books starring Pro-Reg characters that don’t paint them in a bad light (and here I am specifically speaking of She-Hulk and Ms. Marvel), but they haven’t done anything to offer a convincing argument, either. How is anyone supposed to choose? Another case of hyperbole crippling a story.

Ugh – but enough of that rant. There’s been a heck of a lot more than this going on in comics this year, and I want to talk about it all.

Worst revamp of the year: Like I said, I was really happy with most of the One Year Later comics, but not all. Hawkgirl was a disaster. In the book’s previous incarnation, Hawkman, it was consistently one of DC’s best and most underrated titles. It’s not the fault of the character, though – Walt Simonson (who I’m usually a big fan of) told a story with confusing restructuring that didn’t offer up answers fast enough to hold interest. Making things worse was some lousy art by Howard Chaykin. His traditional extreme close-ups and gratuitous underwear shots turned what could have been an okay book into one that went right off my pull list.

Why Haven’t I Been Reading This? Moment: For the past month, I’ve been filling in on the Marvel advance reviews for our own Andrea Speed, and in so doing, I found a book that really surprised the heck out of me: Marvel’s Annihilation. When the big cosmic storyline began early this year, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read it or not. I decided to get the Annihilation Prologue to help myself make the determination and, frankly, I thought it was terrible. And a lot of people seemed to agree. Then the feed-in miniseries started to get buzz, and when the core title hit, people went nuts. I got to review issue #5 and, damn it, loved it. Now I’m mad at myself for not reading this from the outset. Does anyone know when the trade paperbacks will start coming out?

Can You Run That By Me Again? Moment: A week or two ago, venerable Archie comics made an announcement that initially chilled me to the bone. After decades of Archie Andrews and the gang having a pretty consistent look, Archie was changing its style! Blasphemy! Horrors! How could this be? I grew up reading Archie and (unlike a lot of the people who freaked online) I still do pick up a few issues featuring the Riverdale gang each month.

But the more I thought about it, the less it bothered me. Editor Victor Gorelick allayed my biggest fear when he explained that the new, more “realistic” look was not going to replace the classic look. Instead, it would be used on a serial story in Betty and Veronica Double Digest, with a second serial planned for Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals Double Digest. What’s more, the rationale behind it is sound – the style is an experiment to see if older readers who might otherwise abandon Archie as they grow up might be enticed to stick around longer. Any time someone tries something to get new readers and keep other readers in comics, I think it’s worth a try. So the official Everything But Imaginary position on the “New” Archie is this: in principle, I’ve got no problem with it. It’s an interesting idea, and as long as it doesn’t take over the entire line, there’s no reason not to try it on a title or two. Once it comes out, I’ll read the issues (and I will read the issues) and make my judgment based on the stories’ merit and not because it’s not what I grew up with. And I think that’s perfectly fair.

Best decision made in spite of financial demands: Earlier this year, DC announced that Marc Andreyko’s brilliant comic Manhunter was getting cancelled. It just wasn’t pulling in the sales to keep it alive – frustrating, but that’s how it works. They gave it 25 issues, which in today’s market is a fair shot. But then, Dan DiDio turned around and, based on the fan reaction to the cancellation, renewed the comic for another six issues, with its future to be determined based on how well those six issues sold. And there was much rejoicing. Manhunter is hands-down one of the best superhero comics on the market, with a strong, original female lead (something there aren’t enough of out there) and a great, diverse cast, wonderful writing, great artwork. Issue #26 came out not long ago. So all of you people who said, upon the cancellation announcement, “too bad, I should have given the book a chance” – put your money where your mouth is. Get issue #26, give this story arc a chance, help keep one of the best books out there alive.

And on the flip side: Just as DC announced Manhunter was being cancelled, Marvel put the kibosh on one of their best, most underrated titles, Dan Slott’s brilliant The Thing. Unlike Manhunter, though, The Thing (which was the best incarnation of my favorite Marvel character in years) got clobbered in just eight issues. Story has it that Dan Slott’s lateness with his scripts was also a factor in the decision, but that doesn’t wash with me. When a single artist can hold up an entire line of comics for months in the name of “artistic integrity,” killing a fantastic comic after eight issues – not nearly the time it deserves to build an audience -- because the writer is slow seems pretty disingenuous to me.

Best chance to get superheroes in the public eye: Who would have thought that in a year that had new films in the Superman and X-Men franchises and new TV shows featuring the Fantastic Four and Legion of Super-Heroes, the biggest exposure of superheroes in the mainstream would be a show with no direct comic book ties whatsoever? But lo and behold, NBC’s new show Heroes came out of the blue to help bring the ailing network from the brink and become the first legitimate hit of the season. Heroes takes the mix of super powers, action, angst, drama, humor and conspiracies that we comic geeks have loved for years and brought it to a mass audience in a way that no other TV show in history has done. It may not have a scrap of spandex, but Heroes is the closest thing to a television comic book I’ve ever seen, and I love it.

Scariest issue of the year: (And by “issue” I mean “topic,” not “individual comic book unit.” Geeks.) It’s a sad thing when a comic book company closes up shop, the way Claypool announced it would do this fall. After years of publishing marginal but consistent comics, Claypool is withdrawing from the publishing business. A bummer, to be sure. But when I found out why they were folding, it chilled my blood. Claypool’s demise didn’t come because it was no longer financially viable, it apparently died because Diamond Distribution decided that it was no longer making enough money distributing their comics and pulled the plug on them. Sure, Diamond has the right to do this – they’re a business, they have to make money – but something is seriously wrong when a single distributor essentially has the power to decide if a publisher lives or dies. The way the comic book industry stands today, without Diamond, a publisher essentially cannot survive. There’s no where else a company can go; there is no alternative if Diamond won’t distribute your books. That scares the hell out of me, and as a comic book fan, it should scare you, too.

Second scariest issue of the year: This isn’t the first time it’s happened, but it got worse this year – comic book retailers got hit hard in 2006 with unexpected shipping costs, and I lay the blame on the Big Two. Over at Marvel, comics started to ship with exorbitant amounts of advertising. Now personally, as a reader, a lot of ads don’t really bother me. I understand the financial necessity of advertising sales and I’ve gotten myself into the habit of simply flipping past them. But when I’m flipping past extra ads, the retailer is paying for the extra ads. When a comic book is solicited as being 32 pages (10 of them ads), and winds up shipping with 44 pages (22 of them ads), the retailer has to eat the cost of shipping the weight of 12 unexpected pages– not much for a single comic, but when they buy a hundred copies of an issue, it adds up. DC didn’t start adding extra ads, but towards the end of the year a lot of comics came out with tipped-in inserts featuring a big Heroscape book, complete with 3-D glasses, or a Teen Titans Go! public service comic. Not exactly the same as what Marvel did, but for a retailer, the impact is the same – extra weight, extra costs to ship. If a publisher decides to make a comic heavier, the retailer has no recourse but to eat the cost, and that’s not fair. Not at all.

Old title I discovered for the first time: It seems to happen every year – I find a comic book that’s been out for some time and I suddenly consider myself criminally negligent for never having read it before. This year that comic was Image’s Lions, Tigers and Bears. This book was recommended to me by Andrea Speed (she and I may not have the same tastes, but she knows my tastes quite well, she’s never recommended I read a book that I didn’t wind up enjoying). Jack Lawrence and Mike Bullock’s comic starts with a pretty simple premise: stuffed animals are alive, and exist for a very special reason – to serve as guardians of all children and protect them from the “Beasties” (literally the monsters in the closet). This comic is about a pair of children who hold the future of that symbiotic relationship, their noble stuffed animals, and the monsters who want them destroyed. It’s a magnificent fantasy adventure, and if nobody in Hollywood has yet tapped it for an animated feature, then everyone in Hollywood is insane. It’s a great comic that would make a great movie.

Most confusing relaunch: I’ve got to say, I was surprised at how much I liked the Captain Atom: Armageddon miniseries, and as such, I was anxious to see how it would impact the Wildstorm universe. Unfortunately, Worldstorm has really been kind of a mess. There doesn’t appear to be any consistency. Aside from Wildcats being terribly late (more on that later), it seems to be a sort of continuation of the property based on how it was at the end of its last run. Then you’ve got books like Gen 13, which appear to be a page-one reboot of the entire property. Which is it supposed to be? Are some books simply new beginnings and others new continuities? Who put the bomp in the bomp-sha-bomp-sha-bomp? I can’t make heads or tails of it.

Why does this comic exist? I’m a big fan of Jeph Loeb as a writer. He’s done some of the best, most exciting comics I’ve ever read. But whenever he collaborates with Rob Liefeld, I get headaches. The whole Onslaught/Heroes Reborn experiment ten years ago was a complete mess, and now Marvel has brought it back in a new miniseries that’s an even bigger mess. It doesn’t make the slightest bit of sense in continuity, and the artwork is absolutely horrible. Why on Earth would Marvel not only revisit such a bad idea, but do so with an artist that was fired from the project halfway through its completion ten years ago? I know Loeb is capable of better. I’m kinda keeping my fingers crossed that he’ll get his turn with Captain America sometime soon. But I don’t want to touch this miniseries with a ten foot pole.

Most successful experiment: Whether you like the stories or not (and yes, I do like ‘em), you can’t deny that 52 has been a big hit for DC Comics. DC took a big risk with this title, with a weekly book featuring B-list characters. But they did it right – they put A-list creators on the book and told strong, compelling stories, and the sales show that the readers are responding. Comic companies have tried weeklies before, but usually for a very limited run – four issues, five issues… people didn’t think the American market would support a long-term weekly. The last time it was tried, with Action Comics Weekly, it was a famous flop. (European comics are different – weeklies aren’t unusual there at all. But that’s another topic.) Now that 52 is a hit, of course, the next question is who’s going to try the format next? Will DC try it again? Will Marvel give it a go? Will some enterprising young creator bring an idea to Image? It’s only a matter of time before someone else tries it. Hopefully they’ll understand that what made 52 work isn’t simply the frequency of the issues, but the story and the way it’s being told. Plus there’s the fact that, despite early expectations, 52 has now gone 34 weeks without missing a single ship date. And that brings me to my final observation about 2006…

Late books: Let’s look at one of the most irritating problems from any comic publisher this year – lateness. Civil War didn’t get done on time and as a result half of Marvel’s comics for the last three months have been late. Wonder Woman relaunched with a strong story and great art… and then vanished for months at a time. Ultimates 2 was way behind, and I’m starting to think that Wolverine is finally going to die of old age before we see the third issue of Ultimate Wolverine Versus Hulk. All Star Batman and Robin, the Boy Wonder doesn’t come out on anything resembling a regular basis, but frankly, that’s a mercy. Jim Lee's other book, the new Wildcats shipped one issue and evaporated. Jeph Loeb had several books that fell behind beginning last summer, but he above all creators had a legitimate excuse (the death of his son). But when Superman/Batman shifted creative teams entirely, the comic still couldn’t meet a shipping date if it meant saving the universe from the combined forces of Darkseid and Condiment King. Then there are books like Spider-Man and the Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do, a six-issue miniseries that finished its run in 2006, a mere four years after it began, and Daredevil: Father, which wrapped up its own six issue run two years after beginning.

Late comics are like poison. Fans lose interest, retailers lose money and (in the case of books as late as Spider-Man/Black Cat) the books themselves can lose all timeliness and relevance. To be certain, sometimes things just happen. Sometimes books are late due to circumstances beyond anyone’s control. But sometimes there are writers and artists that simply can’t make a deadline, and don’t pretend you don’t know who they are. Does that mean you don’t work with these creators? No. It means you give them a huge head start. But sometimes, even that isn’t enough (such as with Civil War). Sometimes, you just can’t even start putting out the book until it is finished. I give Marvel credit for doing this with their Dark Tower series – after making a huge announcement in 2005 that they’d signed a deal with Stephen King, they announced that the comic itself wouldn’t hit the shelves until 2007, no doubt because Jae Lee’s artwork simply wouldn’t allow a monthly schedule with the originally intended launch date. They decided it was too big a project to be plagued by that sort of delay, and they were right. (Similarly, I give them credit for beginning work on Ultimates 3 AND Ultimates 4 before the chronically-late Ultimates 2 even wrapped up.) But the truth is, no project should be plagued by delays as bad as we’ve seen this year. That policy should be applied across the board.

So that’s about it, gang – the year in comics 2006. There’s been a lot of good and a lot of bad – and that’s how it’s always going to be. Still, that doesn’t mean we can’t look towards a better future. Here’s hoping for a great 2007!

And don’t forget to cast your votes in the 2006 Everything But Imaginary Awards. Your nominations have been tallied – now vote from the finalists! Click here to see who made the cut!

Favorite of the Week: December 20, 2006

Not surprising, for this Christmas-loving geek, Fables #56 took my “Favorite of the Week” award. Fables is consistently one of the best comics in the country, and last week’s issue not only answered the long-pondered question, “Is Santa Claus a Fable?”, but also very much set the stage for some dark times to come. A supporting player has been pushed to the foreground, and Snow White has made a request of Bigby that may have some drastic consequences in the future. This comic book flat-out rules, and I can never wait for the next issue.

Blake M. Petit is the author of the superhero comedy novel, Other People's Heroes, the suspense novel The Beginner and the weekly “Think About It” humor column at Think About It Central. E-mail him at Blake@comixtreme.com and visit him on the web at Evertime Realms.

**Mark Blicharz** · #2 December 27th 2006, 06:33 PM

Too long, didn't read....

I kid. Great column. Civil War took a turn for the worse with the cloned Thor. Now we're on issue 5 and the turning point still hasn't come. There's no flow anymore and I wonder if it'll finish before War World Hulk is due out in April. I, for one, will be severely ticked if Civil War pushes that back.

Gabriel Diaz · #3 December 27th 2006, 11:02 PM

Good Column Blake. The one thing I would've added in is "WORST NEW TITLE: Wolverine: Origins" man, does that thing suck serious goat.

Thanks for enlightening us on your point of view...

**Blake Petit** · #4 December 28th 2006, 11:14 AM

I've only read one issue of "Origins," Gabriel, but I'd be hard-pressed to disagree with that. It was pretty bad...

Batmanfan79 · #5 December 28th 2006, 11:23 AM

Great article Blake. I agree that the delayed books are a pain in the butt and it makes me not even want to read the comics. Basically I just pick up my reserves once a month now so I'm not waiting week after week for books. I get tired of having to read two issues back just to remember what's supposed to be going on in the new one. (hello Wonder Woman and Civil War).

Civil War just ticks me off cause I, like most readers, don't have the cash to buy all the tie ins (where the real story is) and I get stuck with a half effort to tell a story in the main series. It's not fair to the reader to make them spend 20-30 bucks a month just to get the whole story. That's why I loved Infinite Crisis. It came out every month and had the majority of the story in the main series.

And by far, my favorite show right now is Heroes...well till 24 comes back in a couple of weeks.

erikthered · #6 December 28th 2006, 02:43 PM

Quote:

And on the flip side: Just as DC announced Manhunter was being cancelled, Marvel put the kibosh on one of their best, most underrated titles, Dan Slott’s brilliant The Thing. Unlike Manhunter, though, The Thing (which was the best incarnation of my favorite Marvel character in years) got clobbered in just eight issues. Story has it that Dan Slott’s lateness with his scripts was also a factor in the decision, but that doesn’t wash with me. When a single artist can hold up an entire line of comics for months in the name of “artistic integrity,” killing a fantastic comic after eight issues – not nearly the time it deserves to build an audience -- because the writer is slow seems pretty disingenuous to me.

We I believe that Joe Quesada was joking when he said that. I guess I'll have to shout this from the rooftop until people finally understand. Marvel is not DC. They don't have the backing of TimeWarner so that means that they don't have the capital to allow books that are not selling to languish on the shelf forever. Should they have greenlit the Thing probably not. But probably since Dan Slott came to them with an idea they thought would work so hey went with it. Of course no one agrees but I'll keep saying it until you do.

Quote:

While my satisfaction with DC has mostly been on the creative side, my dissatisfaction with Marvel has mostly been on the business side. The way the company carries itself these days really rubs me the wrong way, and that distaste bleeds over into a distaste for a lot of the projects. For an example, one need look no further than Joe Quesada’s ramblings earlier this year concerning Speedball. Quesada spent months making jokes about the character, gleefully promising he was going to be killed off at any moment. It was like listening to a five-year-old dangling a toy over his little brother’s head and singing “Nyah-nyah-nyah.” Now Speedball, of course, didn’t die, prompting Quesada to make another gleeful proclamation, that his Speedball comments were “misdirection,” an announcement which frankly scares the Hell out of me considering how he’s been talking about Mary Jane Parker for lord knows how long. The story itself had its positive and negative qualities, but I went into it with a terrible taste in my mouth just because I hated the way it was presented. This is just one example, of course – Quesada has said stuff like this for a long time, going back to his famous (ugh) announcement that Marvel would “crack the Internet in half.” (Which, incidentally, he has promised he’s going to do again next August. I think I’m going to take a nap next August.)

Also come on. He's just having fun. That's his personality. To be a big jokester and have a little fun. Does he joke too much? Sometimes. Does he cross the line sometimes? Sometimes. But should you allow him being jokey-jokey to color a storyline or you view of something? Of course not. I you go over to newsarama and read Joe Friday's, this isn't an act this is how he is. I could see if he was just like this on Joe Friday's on week and not the next. Or if you go to the shows and he was totally different than he is with newsarama. But that's not the case. He's just being himself and trying to sell and hype Marvel comics the best way he knows how. Does he sometimes oversell? Yes but haven't we all been guilty of that from time to time. I don't see him doing anyone overly offensive. This doesn't just go for you but this goes for all of the Joe Haters. I'm like ya'll act like he's committed some heinous crime. He's just selling comics the best way he knows how and sometimes just like us, he crosses the line or in his enthusiasm he says some stuff he shouldn't say. Or like some comedians he plays up a joke too long. I for one just don't understand the Joe bashing or hatred, or misunderstanding or whatever people want to call it.

**Blake Petit** · #7 December 28th 2006, 05:41 PM

It's not "bashing," it's not "hatred," and it's certainly not "misunderstanding." It's "dissatisfaction." If it was just a joke once in a while, it wouldn't bother me, but it's a constant state of affairs, and it's a gleeful tone. Bashing would be lashing out at him for no reason. Hatred would imply a personal grudge against the man, which I promise you does not exist. Until the last year or two, I thought Quesada was doing a very good job. It's the tone he's adopted that bothers me. Misunderstanding -- well, I think I understand it pretty well.

As for Dan Slott's lateness -- Quesada's NOT the one who said that, at least not initially. It was the editor of the book, who put it out in an OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE. If it was a "joke," it was one in pretty poor taste.

**Andrea Speed** · #8 December 28th 2006, 05:59 PM

I'm glad you liked Lions, Tigers, and Bears - I knew you would. It's a great little title, I like it, but when I read it I just knew this was the type of thing you lived for.

Terry Verticchio · #9 December 28th 2006, 06:27 PM

Hawkgirl has improved somewhat. The last couple of issues have been pretty conventional but still pretty exciting. Plus the art is much better too.

I have to say I don't like the weekly format for a comic book. It's a question of feeling quite tedious to buy the title week after week. Plus the expense. Four bucks or more each week prevents me from picking up something else. Just my opinion. I'm sure the quality is good.

As for late books, Wonder Woman would be a best seller, if it just came out on time.

Great column, as usual Blake.

Joe Q reminds me of Gary Bettman the Commisioner of the NHL. He's a guy who is a great businessman, but knows nothing about the game and thinks that if the more teams there are (and in the US) the game will thrive.

Joe Q has probably done some great things for Marvel, but still doesn't undersand the fans, especially the long time ones.

**Blake Petit** · #10 December 28th 2006, 06:37 PM

I found out today that Joe Bennett has been handling the Hawkgirl artwork lately -- it's got to be an improvement over Chaykin.

As for the weekly -- personally, I love it. I think it's exciting to have a new chapter of a good story waiting for me every week. I can understand how it may be cost-prohibative for some people, but I'm digging the heck out of it.

And yep, you were right Andrea. LT&B rocks. Why isn't someone at Disney working on animating THAT instead of a third "Cinderella" movie?

Jim Wright · #11 December 29th 2006, 12:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by erikthered

Also come on. He's just having fun. That's his personality. To be a big jokester and have a little fun. Does he joke too much? Sometimes. Does he cross the line sometimes? Sometimes. But should you allow him being jokey-jokey to color a storyline or you view of something? Of course not. I you go over to newsarama and read Joe Friday's, this isn't an act this is how he is. I could see if he was just like this on Joe Friday's on week and not the next. Or if you go to the shows and he was totally different than he is with newsarama. But that's not the case. He's just being himself and trying to sell and hype Marvel comics the best way he knows how. Does he sometimes oversell? Yes but haven't we all been guilty of that from time to time. I don't see him doing anyone overly offensive. This doesn't just go for you but this goes for all of the Joe Haters. I'm like ya'll act like he's committed some heinous crime. He's just selling comics the best way he knows how and sometimes just like us, he crosses the line or in his enthusiasm he says some stuff he shouldn't say. Or like some comedians he plays up a joke too long. I for one just don't understand the Joe bashing or hatred, or misunderstanding or whatever people want to call it.

The thing about it to me is that Joe forgets at times he's the Editor-in-Chief. As comic book guy Joe, the jokes are ok, but when he forgets his words will be scrutinized by others since he's the big boss at Marvel is when it becomes a problem. If Bill Gates said the latest IE update would blow Firefox and others out of the water, he'd be criticized for overhyping. Joe's a little too PT Barnum and honestly a little too Vince McMahon for me to take seriously.
It's a famous saying that "there's no such thing as bad press" but I have to say that in Joe's case there is. Writers and artists like Millar or Bendis or Loeb or whomever can crack back and forth about comics because of their position in the company. Joe forgets at times that as the EIC he has to be above the joking because of his position.

Jason Kanno · #12 December 29th 2006, 01:13 AM

I think you guys are taking Joe Q's cracks entirely too seriously. He has fun with his job, and I think you guys are angry about because he takes the easy shots at fanboys. Funny thing about that is, he's an admitted fanboy himself and pokes as much, if not more, fun at himself than anyone. Joe Q doesn't expect you to hang off his every word. If I had his job, I'd do the same thing and try to squeeze as much fun out of the experience as possible. Just relax. I think the worst possible thing for Joe Q to do is politick to appease the fanboys. He publishes comics, not medical journals. I'd rather he be more PT Barnum than Dan Rather.

Jim Wright · #13 December 29th 2006, 01:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WMdude46

I think you guys are taking Joe Q's cracks entirely too seriously. He has fun with his job, and I think you guys are angry about because he takes the easy shots at fanboys. Funny thing about that is, he's an admitted fanboy himself and pokes as much, if not more, fun at himself than anyone. Joe Q doesn't expect you to hang off his every word. If I had his job, I'd do the same thing and try to squeeze as much fun out of the experience as possible. Just relax. I think the worst possible thing for Joe Q to do is politick to appease the fanboys. He publishes comics, not medical journals. I'd rather he be more PT Barnum than Dan Rather.

Ok, so I admit it, there are times Joe Q's jokes come off like Shatner's classic "Get a Life" spiel. But what gets me is when he jokes and jokes and jokes so much that he doesn't realize that non-fanboy is no longer listening to him. Sure, be bombastic at a Convention or in your own column. But 24/7? How many folks are going to hear Joe say something about a book being profound and just chalk it up to his joking and miss a story?
The thing is, I want Marvel to succeed. I want good stories told. But I also realize that Marvel especially has to watch the bottom line. I want to see Marvel's fan base expand because new readers will grow the business. But lets be real here. There's a geek stigma to comics like there's a backwards idiot stigma to wrestling. The editor-in-chief of one of the big two sounding like a used car salesman doesn't do much to attract mainstream readers. Comic fans and internet comic fans especially get insulated because they spend time hanging out and chatting with other comic fans and there's the danger of turning inward so much that you lose perspective. Sure it's just comics and not medicine or science. But it is something I choose to use my time and money on. Is it wrong of me to want a little professionalism from the guy in charge?

Adam Chapman · #14 December 29th 2006, 01:34 AM

In-joking by the public face of Marvel can only hurt new readers and the effort to lure them in, because then its like a secret handshake only we get, and who wants to get involved in a community that feels like closed doors?

I like Quesada, I like his writing, his artwork, and for the most part, I like his reign at Marvel and what it has produced. In some ways, it has come full circle and finally returned more to the commercial and bottom-line mentality that used to exist prior to his arrival as EiC, as he took the time to regrow some of the main franchises, and make them good and profitable again, not to mention readable. And now, I'm seeing a big commercial swing back to sensationalistic stories. Sure, the stories are still great, but the Marvel Hype Machine stinks too much sometimes. I understand the need to promote materials, it has to be done, but there's a line you can cross and when you go too far, you turn people off.

I like his joking, I like his informal style, but a line has to be drawn. And the previous statements about Quesada needing to play the part of the businessman, and the EiC and not just Comic Joe is correct, in certain circumstances.

But then its a hard job, there's so many different angles to play off of, different avenues to drive down and different hats he has to wear, and maybe he deserves to be cut some serious slack, because he's got sales oriented goals, creatively-oriented goals, and he's also got to nurture a relationship with fans on the internet, and comic fans are a difficult and pompous lot.

I should know, I'm one of them.

Joe Illidge · #15 December 29th 2006, 02:10 AM

I think Adam is the closest one to getting the big picture.

I haven't been reading a lot of Joe's comments, but it seems to me that he gets publicity, so he gets interest, and that interest goes to Marvel Comics.

Will his comments really get a fan to stop buying their favorite comic book?

Last I read, Marvel still have a greater percentage of the market than DC Comics? Has this changed?

Joe Q had an article on him and his apartment in WIRED, I think, which brings attention to him and Marvel Comics.

CIVIL WAR, despised by fans, still manages to sell well and got attention in mainstream media, which brought attention to Marvel Comics.

The biggest Marvel problem, which I think you touched on, Blake, is hiring busy mainstream talent to do comic books, then have those books take forever to come out.

ULTIMATE WOLVERINE VS. HULK is a crime, but unfortunately, when the issues drop, people will buy it, thereby not teaching Marvel anything.

Joe Illidge · #16 December 29th 2006, 02:15 AM

Originally posted by JimYamato

Quote:

The thing is, I want Marvel to succeed. I want good stories told. But I also realize that Marvel especially has to watch the bottom line. I want to see Marvel's fan base expand because new readers will grow the business.

Have no fear.

Marvel will succeed, and always be the industry leader.

Their fan base will expand. Stuff like THE DARK TOWER will see to that.

The industry problems are shared by Marvel and DC. Maybe neither Levitz nor Quesada can rock their boats because they're afraid the parent companies will crapcan them.

Adam Chapman · #17 December 29th 2006, 02:20 AM

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