"I saw Chip Zdarsky's panel at Thought Bubble this year and we were all told a secret that we all swore would not leave that room." I'm saying nothing.
Thank you so much for answering my question! As a follow-up, have there been any discussion about more cosmic-heavy events for the future featuring the Guardians and other space heroes? You don’t have to confirm if anything’s been greenlit or not, just wondering if it’s been discussed. I just miss the renaissance we had in the late 2000s DnA era when there were these grand cosmic epics every year. They took that corner of the universe really seriously and poured a lot into it.
Re: New Warriors pitches: it seems there's some overlap between Ellis's pitch idea of killing half the team off and the rest going grimdark, and the inciting incident of Civil War. But thank you for not killing off all the New Warriors as your first act as editor!
Feels more like a dry run for what Warren did with Stormwatch (using the Xenomorphs from Aliens in a crossover called “Aliens/WildCATS”) and turned the remains of that team into the Authority. Complete with “Spark”.
Warren has done the same thing with a cancelled project/rejected pitch for a different series , changed the serial numbers and turned it into his Ultimate Extinction trilogy.
This New Warriors run would have potentially changed the trajectory of Ellis’ career.
I have to ditch my planned question to ask how the Clone Saga would have/should have ended before people got cold feet! You've probably answered this but I don't remember right now.
As someone who was 8 or 9 years old, I loved the Clone Saga and thought every (incredibly long) part of it was planned to perfection LOL because at that age you care much less about, well, quality.
There is a 35 part blog about The Clone Saga detailing the original plans and how it morphed as it went along written by a man named Andrew Goletz, but with insights from the inside provided by Glenn Greenberg and it's pretty fascinating. You can read it all here:
I’m sure there’s not a one-size-fits-all answer here, but what do the discussions usually look like re: changing or emphasizing a character to bring them in line with an adaptation’s version of them? I’ve noticed at Marvel this tends to happen in a pretty soft way (for example, Jed MacKay’s phenomenal MOON KNIGHT run coming on the heels of the show, but not incorporating anything from it other than retconning Layla into Marc’s past) which makes the times it’s done less delicately (Kamala Khan, for example) stand out all the more. How do you know when a character or a line just needs emphasis and when they need (or don’t-see again Kamala Khan) to be overhauled in a more significant way to match their MCU portrayals?
Tom, do you have any plans or have you thought about the possibility of bringing together all the new mutants from From The Ashes in a single book?
The last issue of Exceptional was AMAZING, by the way. I love how Eve works on the personalities of these young mutants, it's so refreshing. I loved seeing more of Emma, she was great. I can't wait to see her, Kitty and Bobby trying to work together.
Tom - since you seem to have reprints in multiple formats of classic Marvel - what is your favourite? Omnibus, Epic, Masterwork, etc?
I am looking to buy some classic runs from the Bronze Age (mid 80s specifically) and was curious as to what your preferred format is? On my end I want something that emulates the feel of the originals that I read back in the day (no major recoloring, completeness, etc).
Other readers feel free to chime in as well on your thoughts/preferences. I am leaning towards some marvel Masterworks but we'll see...
I would have loved to have an out of continuity version of Ellis's idea...lol. Beating a dead horse, I'd be shocked if Evan put that spread on the dartboard...yet as he says in his proposal. the IDEA of it seemed very lame to him as well, and Fabian took it with Mark Bigley and made it sing. What's really funny about your struggle with hiring Evan (who did a great job with the series I thought) is that I TOO had a struggle over hiring...EVAN. When he was my assistant...and I'm not sure if you were still our intern or if you'd gone back to schooI... was in this odd position called MANAGING EDITOR...basically a junior editor who had a senior editor supervising them. In this case... BOB BUDIANSKY. But unlike previous ones, I came fully loaded with my own titles, and edited them WITHOUT his supervision while working on other titles and projects that he DID supervise...at any rate...Tom DeFalco was aware of my irritation at not being a full editor despite doing more than the usual editorial workload (but to be fair there was specific way folks became editors and I technically was not senior enough...)and decided to test my mettle. He came to me and asked if I would edit ROBOCOP. Oddly, Dwayne and I were originally slated to WRITE the book earlier...and when Don Daley was going to edit it for about 2 seconds he indicated that the book was ours if we wanted it...So my immediate foolish reaction was...Oh...but "we were supposed to be writing that book". Now Dwayne was IN the office with me when this occurred as was Evan. Tom looked at me directly and said..."OK. Your choice you can decide to be an EDITOR or you can write the thing." And walked out the door. Dwayne looks at me and says. "You have to edit the book. You won't get the full editorship otherwise. And you can't hire me. You have to do this right, it's a test." As I'm agreeing Evan pipes up.."You should hire me to write it!" To which I point out that there is a rule that an editor can't hire their assistant to write a title full time, only a fill-in issue. Evan argus with me but I say no...walk out the door and find Tom to accept editing the book. Now I go abut the task the same way you did and sure did get a bunch of terrible submissions from staffers and other creators. And sure enough despite my telling Evan I would NOT hire him as the writer (surefire way to prove I'm not ready to be a full editor) he gives me a proposal anyway. Now, I had solicited a proposal from Alan Grant...I felt his work on Judge Dredd would be perfect. When I read through the slog of proposals...3 rise to the top. Alan Grant's, Bill Mumy and Miguel Ferrer's and...EVAN's. Alan's was EXACTLY what I wanted. But Evan's was REALLLLY good. My dilemma was going to be...what if Alan says NO to the offer? Luckily Alan said yes...but Evan naturally didn't like anything we were donig on the book...mostly thanks to Orion Pictures demanding we...never mind...but I did ask Evan to write me a fill -in. Which he did. And eventually it was drawn by Herb Trimpe when I left staff and the book went to Bobbie Chase...and she had hired me as the new colorist...so I colored Evan's story. Evan and I would later compete for the TERMINATOR series that Marvel never did. Evan's proposal beat out mine.
Wow, some backstory even I wasn't aware of there re: ROBOCOP. Thanks for the illuminations and the kind words re: my proposal, Greg! That issue of ROBOCOP was the first full comic book story that I wrote, and I managed to get Stan to sign it when he was in the office one time. It now hangs proudly on my wall.
With regard to the New Warriors dartboard thing. I haven't weighed in on this until now because I have a famously terrible memory, and I honestly don't remember that page ever being on the dartboard. But that doesn't mean it wasn't.
Tom is adamant that it was there, you were utterly convinced that it wasn't, but now seem be giving ground on that stance. When I first read about it in Tom's posting, my jaw kind of fell open in shock. Because while I don't remember it being there, it's also completely believable to me that it could have been. And as terrible a political move as it would have been to put a page from the Editor in Chief's series on the dartboard in full view, doing so would have been in character for my very naïve and politically clueless mid-20s self.
But I don't remember whether or not I actually did -- I can literally neither confirm nor deny. However it would certainly be ironic if I did, considering that I ended up writing the series four years later.
I'm pretty certain you definitely didn't put it on the dartboard. And I didn't for certain, specifically for the reason you state...but someone else may have put it there. Other folks did put stuff on the dartboard. It's a mystery. I really don't remember it being there at all. But Mark Gruenwald put his own picture up there and threw darts at it at one point, so who know how it got there.
Yeah a what if mini series of that New Warriors pitch by Warren Ellis would be cool. Reunite him with his Transmet artist Darick Robertson (who also has a NW connection) and you have a cool comic..!
I see chip zdarsky has left batman, would be a missed opportunity if he didn't get a role in the x-office. I think he would write an amazing Bishop, Gambit, Jean or Wolverine if they were to ever get a book or a creative change
Since it's out next month, I'm curious behind about the creative choices behind books like Timeslide, that preview future events. How do you decide on what events get teased? Does the creative team get told these moments and gets to fit them in, or do they essentially leave space for a moment that will be defined later?
As someone who asked about that very Sleepwalker special in these comments threads a few months ago, I'm very pleased to see a bit of background to it (I think the artist on the second strip was Joe Phillips though, rather than Quinones).
I'm a huge devotee of the New Warriors, but although I'm very happy to see the concept taken in new directions (I think Zeb and Skottie's version is great, for example), Warren's pitch is so typically Warren's usual, right down to the sexy lady in leather, that it feels very much like a massive bullet was dodged
"I saw Chip Zdarsky's panel at Thought Bubble this year and we were all told a secret that we all swore would not leave that room." I'm saying nothing.
Thank you so much for answering my question! As a follow-up, have there been any discussion about more cosmic-heavy events for the future featuring the Guardians and other space heroes? You don’t have to confirm if anything’s been greenlit or not, just wondering if it’s been discussed. I just miss the renaissance we had in the late 2000s DnA era when there were these grand cosmic epics every year. They took that corner of the universe really seriously and poured a lot into it.
Re: New Warriors pitches: it seems there's some overlap between Ellis's pitch idea of killing half the team off and the rest going grimdark, and the inciting incident of Civil War. But thank you for not killing off all the New Warriors as your first act as editor!
Feels more like a dry run for what Warren did with Stormwatch (using the Xenomorphs from Aliens in a crossover called “Aliens/WildCATS”) and turned the remains of that team into the Authority. Complete with “Spark”.
Warren has done the same thing with a cancelled project/rejected pitch for a different series , changed the serial numbers and turned it into his Ultimate Extinction trilogy.
This New Warriors run would have potentially changed the trajectory of Ellis’ career.
As a devotee of the Silver Age Flash, do you have a favorite member of the Rogues?
"nobody is going to be filling in on this Newsletter. Nobody would even want to."
AHEM
I have to ditch my planned question to ask how the Clone Saga would have/should have ended before people got cold feet! You've probably answered this but I don't remember right now.
As someone who was 8 or 9 years old, I loved the Clone Saga and thought every (incredibly long) part of it was planned to perfection LOL because at that age you care much less about, well, quality.
I don’t remember if Tom has answered it either. I am still enjoying reading it again in the Epics, as I mentioned last week.
There is a 35 part blog about The Clone Saga detailing the original plans and how it morphed as it went along written by a man named Andrew Goletz, but with insights from the inside provided by Glenn Greenberg and it's pretty fascinating. You can read it all here:
https://www.benreillytribute.x10host.com/LifeofReilly1.html
I’m sure there’s not a one-size-fits-all answer here, but what do the discussions usually look like re: changing or emphasizing a character to bring them in line with an adaptation’s version of them? I’ve noticed at Marvel this tends to happen in a pretty soft way (for example, Jed MacKay’s phenomenal MOON KNIGHT run coming on the heels of the show, but not incorporating anything from it other than retconning Layla into Marc’s past) which makes the times it’s done less delicately (Kamala Khan, for example) stand out all the more. How do you know when a character or a line just needs emphasis and when they need (or don’t-see again Kamala Khan) to be overhauled in a more significant way to match their MCU portrayals?
Tom, do you have any plans or have you thought about the possibility of bringing together all the new mutants from From The Ashes in a single book?
The last issue of Exceptional was AMAZING, by the way. I love how Eve works on the personalities of these young mutants, it's so refreshing. I loved seeing more of Emma, she was great. I can't wait to see her, Kitty and Bobby trying to work together.
Tom - since you seem to have reprints in multiple formats of classic Marvel - what is your favourite? Omnibus, Epic, Masterwork, etc?
I am looking to buy some classic runs from the Bronze Age (mid 80s specifically) and was curious as to what your preferred format is? On my end I want something that emulates the feel of the originals that I read back in the day (no major recoloring, completeness, etc).
Other readers feel free to chime in as well on your thoughts/preferences. I am leaning towards some marvel Masterworks but we'll see...
Hi Tom. Thank you for sharing those fundraising links. I would have been in the dark about the first two if not for this newsletter.
Paper quality aside, I'm curious about your thoughts on the Ghost Machine comics that you've read.
I would have loved to have an out of continuity version of Ellis's idea...lol. Beating a dead horse, I'd be shocked if Evan put that spread on the dartboard...yet as he says in his proposal. the IDEA of it seemed very lame to him as well, and Fabian took it with Mark Bigley and made it sing. What's really funny about your struggle with hiring Evan (who did a great job with the series I thought) is that I TOO had a struggle over hiring...EVAN. When he was my assistant...and I'm not sure if you were still our intern or if you'd gone back to schooI... was in this odd position called MANAGING EDITOR...basically a junior editor who had a senior editor supervising them. In this case... BOB BUDIANSKY. But unlike previous ones, I came fully loaded with my own titles, and edited them WITHOUT his supervision while working on other titles and projects that he DID supervise...at any rate...Tom DeFalco was aware of my irritation at not being a full editor despite doing more than the usual editorial workload (but to be fair there was specific way folks became editors and I technically was not senior enough...)and decided to test my mettle. He came to me and asked if I would edit ROBOCOP. Oddly, Dwayne and I were originally slated to WRITE the book earlier...and when Don Daley was going to edit it for about 2 seconds he indicated that the book was ours if we wanted it...So my immediate foolish reaction was...Oh...but "we were supposed to be writing that book". Now Dwayne was IN the office with me when this occurred as was Evan. Tom looked at me directly and said..."OK. Your choice you can decide to be an EDITOR or you can write the thing." And walked out the door. Dwayne looks at me and says. "You have to edit the book. You won't get the full editorship otherwise. And you can't hire me. You have to do this right, it's a test." As I'm agreeing Evan pipes up.."You should hire me to write it!" To which I point out that there is a rule that an editor can't hire their assistant to write a title full time, only a fill-in issue. Evan argus with me but I say no...walk out the door and find Tom to accept editing the book. Now I go abut the task the same way you did and sure did get a bunch of terrible submissions from staffers and other creators. And sure enough despite my telling Evan I would NOT hire him as the writer (surefire way to prove I'm not ready to be a full editor) he gives me a proposal anyway. Now, I had solicited a proposal from Alan Grant...I felt his work on Judge Dredd would be perfect. When I read through the slog of proposals...3 rise to the top. Alan Grant's, Bill Mumy and Miguel Ferrer's and...EVAN's. Alan's was EXACTLY what I wanted. But Evan's was REALLLLY good. My dilemma was going to be...what if Alan says NO to the offer? Luckily Alan said yes...but Evan naturally didn't like anything we were donig on the book...mostly thanks to Orion Pictures demanding we...never mind...but I did ask Evan to write me a fill -in. Which he did. And eventually it was drawn by Herb Trimpe when I left staff and the book went to Bobbie Chase...and she had hired me as the new colorist...so I colored Evan's story. Evan and I would later compete for the TERMINATOR series that Marvel never did. Evan's proposal beat out mine.
Wow, some backstory even I wasn't aware of there re: ROBOCOP. Thanks for the illuminations and the kind words re: my proposal, Greg! That issue of ROBOCOP was the first full comic book story that I wrote, and I managed to get Stan to sign it when he was in the office one time. It now hangs proudly on my wall.
With regard to the New Warriors dartboard thing. I haven't weighed in on this until now because I have a famously terrible memory, and I honestly don't remember that page ever being on the dartboard. But that doesn't mean it wasn't.
Tom is adamant that it was there, you were utterly convinced that it wasn't, but now seem be giving ground on that stance. When I first read about it in Tom's posting, my jaw kind of fell open in shock. Because while I don't remember it being there, it's also completely believable to me that it could have been. And as terrible a political move as it would have been to put a page from the Editor in Chief's series on the dartboard in full view, doing so would have been in character for my very naïve and politically clueless mid-20s self.
But I don't remember whether or not I actually did -- I can literally neither confirm nor deny. However it would certainly be ironic if I did, considering that I ended up writing the series four years later.
I'm pretty certain you definitely didn't put it on the dartboard. And I didn't for certain, specifically for the reason you state...but someone else may have put it there. Other folks did put stuff on the dartboard. It's a mystery. I really don't remember it being there at all. But Mark Gruenwald put his own picture up there and threw darts at it at one point, so who know how it got there.
Yeah a what if mini series of that New Warriors pitch by Warren Ellis would be cool. Reunite him with his Transmet artist Darick Robertson (who also has a NW connection) and you have a cool comic..!
SLEEPWALKER! :-)!
I see chip zdarsky has left batman, would be a missed opportunity if he didn't get a role in the x-office. I think he would write an amazing Bishop, Gambit, Jean or Wolverine if they were to ever get a book or a creative change
Since it's out next month, I'm curious behind about the creative choices behind books like Timeslide, that preview future events. How do you decide on what events get teased? Does the creative team get told these moments and gets to fit them in, or do they essentially leave space for a moment that will be defined later?
As someone who asked about that very Sleepwalker special in these comments threads a few months ago, I'm very pleased to see a bit of background to it (I think the artist on the second strip was Joe Phillips though, rather than Quinones).
I'm a huge devotee of the New Warriors, but although I'm very happy to see the concept taken in new directions (I think Zeb and Skottie's version is great, for example), Warren's pitch is so typically Warren's usual, right down to the sexy lady in leather, that it feels very much like a massive bullet was dodged
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that...
Gorillas sell comics!