For your question about cable and apocalypse, the issue hasn't come out yet so we literally have no clue how cable becomes a contender. It's entirely possible that the contenders aren't self selected, or that it's not even an official tournament, just apocalypse witnessing their feats to decide himself so their feelings towards him don't weigh in
Also, becoming someone's heir doesn't necessarily mean having good feelings towards them. Maybe Cable just wants some other prize, or something else for becoming his heir
Is the Hellfire Gala over? If so, will some other fancy event take its place? It was very fun seeing all the thoughtfully designed and unique outfits based on characters’ costumes and powers, and even more fun seeing those looks brought to life at conventions. Even if it’s not mutant-focused, it’d be cool to see more Marvel galas/fancy parties.
Apologies for the misunderstanding about the timing of the editorial switch-- my mistake is what comes from just reading twitter summaries of your older blogs rather than bothering to check them myself, I imagine. It *is* interesting that Marvel would begin to advertise a line of comics that hadn't been approved to move forward yet; all the corporate timelines for this stuff must be very complicated! (and I guess looking back at things like "mutant wars," maybe things have changed less in this area than I imagine)
Anyway, the question this week about fight scenes/ small moments had me wondering what your thoughts might be on what seems to be a common rule (or guideline) in big 2 superhero comics: that every issue should feature a fight/ action scene. Especially as you've mentioned here that you think comics need to shift towards more self-contained, individual-issue stories, should we expect to see fight scenes in every/ most issues of the x-men books going forward? Or might some series have a pace more like Hickman's Ultimate Spider-Man? Or, if you can't speak to any of that, what are your thoughts on the idea in general that comics should tend to feature one fight scene per issue? Necessary for retaining an audience, or an unreasonable limiting factor on storytelling?
They wanted One More Day and Brand New Day to happen and that was the path they decided was the best way to get there, so I doubt that’s Tom’s answer (who I think had a somewhat big part in brainstorming the BND era)
“ But I genuinely think that the return of Jean in the mid-1980s was a top-three narrative mistake in the history of the company, so given a choice, I definitely wouldn’t have done it.”
Hello Tom! Rise of the Powers of X #5 had Jean return as the Phoenix in a huge way, having a battle of epic proportions with Enigma, a being touted as an enemy of Eternity and TOAA by Al Ewing in his Defenders book.
From an editorial stand-point, does this make it difficult to carry Phoenix over into the new era given how powerful she is? The tidbits that have been shared have mentioned encounters with Captain Marvel, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova, The black order, etc, which seems to steer in a different direction from the grand cosmic depiction we saw in RotPox 5. Is the intention to tone down her power levels to a more manageable state where she can be teaming up with the likes of the characters mentioned above, or are there still plans to keep her at that grand cosmic level and explore her as a character that is among the upper echelons of Marvel's cosmic hierarchy and deal with such cosmic abstracts and entities?
Substacks: 🙏🏻 that those I pay for post regularly:
Roy Edroso
John Ganz
Adam Tooze
And not paying for but posting more than she should: Colleen Doran who shares, among other things, a decent amount of pretty good life advice.
Responsibility for rumors getting written up by Rich Johnston: my question the other week got answered by Tom, which answer got written up at Bleeding Cool. On one hand, 🤷🏼, on the other what gets written up in this Substack should stay in this Substack but it's a weekly go-to source for Johnston so, again, 🤷🏼.
That Colan/Palmer cover...: Obviously, *swoon*. OTOH, the interesting thing about Colan is that his best inkers did a pretty good interpreting his pencils into inked versions -- Palmer, Giordano, Bob Smith come to mind. Yet Colan's own inks reflected approximately none of his pencil rendering. Still love it anyway. (Of course, his wash work reflected the tones in the pencils.)
Back when a lot of the production of comics pages was done via mail, how often did comics get knocked off schedule by all manner of unpredictable postal issues? Did this process require longer lead time to account for the penciler shipping to the inker, to the letterer, etc? Can you share any memorable disasters or workarounds that were developed?
Happy to support The Hero Initiative, which is something I should have done long ago.
To reiterate for those who are able to give, this is how the program describes itself on its website: "The Hero Initiative creates a financial safety net for comic creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. Since inception, the Hero Initiative has been fortunate enough to benefit creators with more than $1 million worth of much-needed aid, fueled by your contributions! It’s a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment."
Re: language barriers and comic book artists... I remember Peter David telling a story of how in one panel he asked for a "helicopter shot" (i.e., a shot from above) and the artist drew an actual helicopter...
You’ve written about The Defenders: how the book never seemed to perform and go the distance over the years. Do you include Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez’s Defenders and Defenders: Beyond in your appraisal of that title? Does that book bearing the title “The Defenders” mean that it’s a harder sell internally? I hope not, I and I hope it sold well in shops. I’d love another installment of Ewing and Rodriguez’s Defenders story if they have one to tell. It’s one of my favorites of the last several years.
You’ve written about The Defenders: how the book never seemed to perform and go the distance over the years. Do you include Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez’s Defenders and Defenders: Beyond in your appraisal of that title? Does that book bearing the title “The Defenders” mean that it’s a harder sell internally? I hope not, and I hope it sold well in shops. I’d love another installment of Ewing and Rodriguez’s Defenders story if they have one to tell. It’s one of my favorites of the last several years.
Your comments are getting a little worrying. I truly hope everything’s okay at home.
Cyclops has had 2 solos. He may yet get a third.
For your question about cable and apocalypse, the issue hasn't come out yet so we literally have no clue how cable becomes a contender. It's entirely possible that the contenders aren't self selected, or that it's not even an official tournament, just apocalypse witnessing their feats to decide himself so their feelings towards him don't weigh in
Also, becoming someone's heir doesn't necessarily mean having good feelings towards them. Maybe Cable just wants some other prize, or something else for becoming his heir
Is the Hellfire Gala over? If so, will some other fancy event take its place? It was very fun seeing all the thoughtfully designed and unique outfits based on characters’ costumes and powers, and even more fun seeing those looks brought to life at conventions. Even if it’s not mutant-focused, it’d be cool to see more Marvel galas/fancy parties.
I do give regularly to the Hero Initaitive!
Apologies for the misunderstanding about the timing of the editorial switch-- my mistake is what comes from just reading twitter summaries of your older blogs rather than bothering to check them myself, I imagine. It *is* interesting that Marvel would begin to advertise a line of comics that hadn't been approved to move forward yet; all the corporate timelines for this stuff must be very complicated! (and I guess looking back at things like "mutant wars," maybe things have changed less in this area than I imagine)
Anyway, the question this week about fight scenes/ small moments had me wondering what your thoughts might be on what seems to be a common rule (or guideline) in big 2 superhero comics: that every issue should feature a fight/ action scene. Especially as you've mentioned here that you think comics need to shift towards more self-contained, individual-issue stories, should we expect to see fight scenes in every/ most issues of the x-men books going forward? Or might some series have a pace more like Hickman's Ultimate Spider-Man? Or, if you can't speak to any of that, what are your thoughts on the idea in general that comics should tend to feature one fight scene per issue? Necessary for retaining an audience, or an unreasonable limiting factor on storytelling?
I apologize if you have gone over this before. But what are the other two of the three biggest narrative mistakes in Marvel history?
Peter Parker taking off his mask in public and revealing he was Spider-Man I think must be one of them.
They wanted One More Day and Brand New Day to happen and that was the path they decided was the best way to get there, so I doubt that’s Tom’s answer (who I think had a somewhat big part in brainstorming the BND era)
“ But I genuinely think that the return of Jean in the mid-1980s was a top-three narrative mistake in the history of the company, so given a choice, I definitely wouldn’t have done it.”
Which are the other two?
What era is wolverine: revenge in? Surely not from the ashes right?
Hello Tom! Rise of the Powers of X #5 had Jean return as the Phoenix in a huge way, having a battle of epic proportions with Enigma, a being touted as an enemy of Eternity and TOAA by Al Ewing in his Defenders book.
From an editorial stand-point, does this make it difficult to carry Phoenix over into the new era given how powerful she is? The tidbits that have been shared have mentioned encounters with Captain Marvel, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Nova, The black order, etc, which seems to steer in a different direction from the grand cosmic depiction we saw in RotPox 5. Is the intention to tone down her power levels to a more manageable state where she can be teaming up with the likes of the characters mentioned above, or are there still plans to keep her at that grand cosmic level and explore her as a character that is among the upper echelons of Marvel's cosmic hierarchy and deal with such cosmic abstracts and entities?
Substacks: 🙏🏻 that those I pay for post regularly:
Roy Edroso
John Ganz
Adam Tooze
And not paying for but posting more than she should: Colleen Doran who shares, among other things, a decent amount of pretty good life advice.
Responsibility for rumors getting written up by Rich Johnston: my question the other week got answered by Tom, which answer got written up at Bleeding Cool. On one hand, 🤷🏼, on the other what gets written up in this Substack should stay in this Substack but it's a weekly go-to source for Johnston so, again, 🤷🏼.
That Colan/Palmer cover...: Obviously, *swoon*. OTOH, the interesting thing about Colan is that his best inkers did a pretty good interpreting his pencils into inked versions -- Palmer, Giordano, Bob Smith come to mind. Yet Colan's own inks reflected approximately none of his pencil rendering. Still love it anyway. (Of course, his wash work reflected the tones in the pencils.)
Again, apologies for making trouble but 🤷🏼
Back when a lot of the production of comics pages was done via mail, how often did comics get knocked off schedule by all manner of unpredictable postal issues? Did this process require longer lead time to account for the penciler shipping to the inker, to the letterer, etc? Can you share any memorable disasters or workarounds that were developed?
Happy to support The Hero Initiative, which is something I should have done long ago.
To reiterate for those who are able to give, this is how the program describes itself on its website: "The Hero Initiative creates a financial safety net for comic creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. Since inception, the Hero Initiative has been fortunate enough to benefit creators with more than $1 million worth of much-needed aid, fueled by your contributions! It’s a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment."
https://www.heroinitiative.org
Re: language barriers and comic book artists... I remember Peter David telling a story of how in one panel he asked for a "helicopter shot" (i.e., a shot from above) and the artist drew an actual helicopter...
Hey Tom
You’ve written about The Defenders: how the book never seemed to perform and go the distance over the years. Do you include Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez’s Defenders and Defenders: Beyond in your appraisal of that title? Does that book bearing the title “The Defenders” mean that it’s a harder sell internally? I hope not, I and I hope it sold well in shops. I’d love another installment of Ewing and Rodriguez’s Defenders story if they have one to tell. It’s one of my favorites of the last several years.
Thanks
Andy
You’ve written about The Defenders: how the book never seemed to perform and go the distance over the years. Do you include Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez’s Defenders and Defenders: Beyond in your appraisal of that title? Does that book bearing the title “The Defenders” mean that it’s a harder sell internally? I hope not, and I hope it sold well in shops. I’d love another installment of Ewing and Rodriguez’s Defenders story if they have one to tell. It’s one of my favorites of the last several years.
Thanks