Another great newsletter Tom! the DD/Shadowland behind the scenes info is crazy!
and I love that Buscema page (from one of my fave Avengers runs) - the body language is amazing - I mean you can see what the Wasp is thinking even though her back is to us. Buscema was a titan of comic art!
And my question of the week based on your cool blog posts where you deep dive on some classic 60s art and lost stories: there are rumours that Dikto completed 1 or 2 Strange tales era Dr Strange stories - do you believe they exist somewhere?
And if they did would you publish them (as you did with that Wonderfull lost FF Kirby story a while ago)?
Who would you get to dialogue them (Mark Waid or Roger Stern would be perfect IMO) or ink them?
The "heroes turning into villains" topic is interesting, because the most recent example did it really well *and* reversed it: Beast. His arc, starting from the post-Decimation all the way through the Krakoan Era, was about his slippering slide into doing more and more reckless and dangerous things and not caring about the consequences other than if they benefited mutantkind and thinking he was totally in the right to do so. Krakoa then provided the means for him to jump off that slope and become a complete villain -- but also provided a backdoor for the return of "good" Beast, which happened at the end of the Krakoan Era. It ended up being a really interesting and fascinating arc that the current Beast is still grappling with the implications of.
I have wondered if perhaps the old Beast *could* have stuck around to become a kind of arch-nemesis for new Beast and then you could have your cake and eat it, too. Like the use of Dark Beast, but more personal.
I've long thought it might be interesting to gradually corrupt a new character. They start out thinking, when they get powers, "sure, I'll be a superhero; I'm a good guy!" But over time, they gradually become corrupted in some way. Slowly at first, but accelerating the further along they go. It could be gradually cutting corners on the financial end ("Well, that's $100K I just recovered. But my rent's due...surely I deserve a couple of thousand as a 'recovery fee'....") or gradually adopting a more and more severe political or philosophical viewpoint in conflict with most other main heroes. Or even gradually getting addicted to various substances. The overall concept being that while they start off wanting to be a hero, not everyone is up for the sacrifices and costs of being a hero 24/7 and it goes downhill from there.
I think the HOOD had this arc - started out bad but got much much worse as we tracked him from his mini to the Avengers, etc. Either way cool idea you posted.
I think that'd work really well. As long as the slide toward villainy starts early enough that readers would be excited by seeing it happen rather than betrayed by getting to love the character over 4 or 6 issues and then being hit with it.
Thinking about it some more, this could have been sort of a track for Hawkeye. Instead of Natasha eventually coming over to the US side, she might have continued seducing him and ending up with a combination of her non-romantic seductions and Clint's anger at being considered the bad guy pushing him over the edge. And I did come up with one, non-big-two time this was sort of done, but not quite. Absolution and its sequel by Christos Gage was about a superhero who cracked after seeing too many horrors and essentially became a much more effective Punisher. This'd be another possible approach with regards to the newbie.
Hope your son makes the drive okay, Tom! Thanks for this newsletter. Really loving the look back at NW and your editorial approach. And agree that B&V comic is among the best ever.
Thanks for the look at John Buscema's breakdowns. He and Palmer were an outstanding duo, and I remember how excited I was when they came back to the Avengers. I know Buscema always said that he didn't really like superheroes, but you sure can't tell...he knocked it out of the park every time.
Is there a modern equivalent to Buscema, a penciller who routinely just does breakdowns instead of full pencils? Or is that a thing, like "Marvel-style" plotting, that has gone out of fashion?
I was thinking about this same question. Closest thing I can think of is when Frank Miller did breakdowns for Philip Tan’s art on Ronin II a couple of years ago.
Thank you for answering my question. Top tier vague!
In response to your answer to another question about Emma…I’m really looking forward to delving deeper into Emma and where shes at now. Especially her future goals for the kids in her, Kitty and Bobby’s charge.
One follow up question on the Krakoa era: you said you were concerned that we’re still talking about the Krakoa era. Some books like NYX lean more heavily on it while others not so much. Is the goal to phase it out entirely or will it still have some presence? I’m guessing it’ll evolve into something else more through NYX than be entirely removed but I’d love your thoughts on it.
I feel like Emma would absolutely side with Rogue and think that Cyclops was being an overemotional fool about it all.
Is there anything about the ongoing solos that you can share right now about their long-term futures? I know it's only been 6 months for Phoenix and less than that for Storm, but as early signs go, anything you can say that may suggest these being long-term fixtures for the characters?
You've said in the past you answer questions as a service to fans, but the only ones you really serve by responding to the same obsessive questions on the same topics every week are the very people you're knocking for doing so ... so on some level, you must find their obsessiveness entertaining and enjoyable!
Tom, how do retcons usually work within an office? Do the editors suggest it or is it something the writers suggest? And in what kind of circumstances do you feel that a retcon crosses the line and you need to intervene?
Well, that’s on me. If I wasn’t clear (I wasn’t), the question was open to everyone here and not directed solely to Tom. So. Open question for everyone here:
Are comics fans’ interest in art limited to comics art or is their interest in comics art part of a much broader interest in art?I had thoughts and then I became curious.
I love art but I consider say, visiting a museum as a wholly separate activity than reading a comic book. In both instances, we’re engaging with art, but the pairing of text and visuals is a unique experience almost exclusive to the comic book medium. The best comics allow us to appreciate the craft of visual storytelling and the invisible craft of prose at once, activating two different parts of the brain. There’s really no other experience like it.
Back when G.O.D.S. was coming out, you mentioned that the current Living Tribunal is not the Adam Warlock from "Thanos: The Infinity Revelation". Is that because Jim Starlin's "Thanos: Infinity Noun" saga is not in-continuity, or the traditional Living Tribunal had already resumed his position in another story (Secret Wars 2015, Ewing's Ultimates 2)?
Another great newsletter Tom! the DD/Shadowland behind the scenes info is crazy!
and I love that Buscema page (from one of my fave Avengers runs) - the body language is amazing - I mean you can see what the Wasp is thinking even though her back is to us. Buscema was a titan of comic art!
And my question of the week based on your cool blog posts where you deep dive on some classic 60s art and lost stories: there are rumours that Dikto completed 1 or 2 Strange tales era Dr Strange stories - do you believe they exist somewhere?
And if they did would you publish them (as you did with that Wonderfull lost FF Kirby story a while ago)?
Who would you get to dialogue them (Mark Waid or Roger Stern would be perfect IMO) or ink them?
Looking back on it, any thoughts on Spider - Man Fast Lane?
Great question. The artist on it was Brevoorts assistant at the time.
Here’s an oral history of the project if you never read it - https://comicsalliance.com/complete-history-of-fastlane-marvel-comics-anti-marijuana-story/ - unfortunately it’s over a decade old and the images don’t work any more but it’s still an interesting read.
For “don’t really have much of anything that I want to talk about” this sure was a great issue! Particularly enjoyed the segment on breakdowns.
The "heroes turning into villains" topic is interesting, because the most recent example did it really well *and* reversed it: Beast. His arc, starting from the post-Decimation all the way through the Krakoan Era, was about his slippering slide into doing more and more reckless and dangerous things and not caring about the consequences other than if they benefited mutantkind and thinking he was totally in the right to do so. Krakoa then provided the means for him to jump off that slope and become a complete villain -- but also provided a backdoor for the return of "good" Beast, which happened at the end of the Krakoan Era. It ended up being a really interesting and fascinating arc that the current Beast is still grappling with the implications of.
I have wondered if perhaps the old Beast *could* have stuck around to become a kind of arch-nemesis for new Beast and then you could have your cake and eat it, too. Like the use of Dark Beast, but more personal.
This!
Stephanie said that shes waiting for Marvel to give her greenlight to talk about PHOENIX future plans. May we know when that gonna be?
I've long thought it might be interesting to gradually corrupt a new character. They start out thinking, when they get powers, "sure, I'll be a superhero; I'm a good guy!" But over time, they gradually become corrupted in some way. Slowly at first, but accelerating the further along they go. It could be gradually cutting corners on the financial end ("Well, that's $100K I just recovered. But my rent's due...surely I deserve a couple of thousand as a 'recovery fee'....") or gradually adopting a more and more severe political or philosophical viewpoint in conflict with most other main heroes. Or even gradually getting addicted to various substances. The overall concept being that while they start off wanting to be a hero, not everyone is up for the sacrifices and costs of being a hero 24/7 and it goes downhill from there.
I think the HOOD had this arc - started out bad but got much much worse as we tracked him from his mini to the Avengers, etc. Either way cool idea you posted.
I think that'd work really well. As long as the slide toward villainy starts early enough that readers would be excited by seeing it happen rather than betrayed by getting to love the character over 4 or 6 issues and then being hit with it.
Thinking about it some more, this could have been sort of a track for Hawkeye. Instead of Natasha eventually coming over to the US side, she might have continued seducing him and ending up with a combination of her non-romantic seductions and Clint's anger at being considered the bad guy pushing him over the edge. And I did come up with one, non-big-two time this was sort of done, but not quite. Absolution and its sequel by Christos Gage was about a superhero who cracked after seeing too many horrors and essentially became a much more effective Punisher. This'd be another possible approach with regards to the newbie.
No! Hawkeye stays good!
Tom, is there a moment in the comics that stuck with you?
Hope your son makes the drive okay, Tom! Thanks for this newsletter. Really loving the look back at NW and your editorial approach. And agree that B&V comic is among the best ever.
Thanks for the look at John Buscema's breakdowns. He and Palmer were an outstanding duo, and I remember how excited I was when they came back to the Avengers. I know Buscema always said that he didn't really like superheroes, but you sure can't tell...he knocked it out of the park every time.
Is there a modern equivalent to Buscema, a penciller who routinely just does breakdowns instead of full pencils? Or is that a thing, like "Marvel-style" plotting, that has gone out of fashion?
I was thinking about this same question. Closest thing I can think of is when Frank Miller did breakdowns for Philip Tan’s art on Ronin II a couple of years ago.
Hey Tom,
Thank you for answering my question. Top tier vague!
In response to your answer to another question about Emma…I’m really looking forward to delving deeper into Emma and where shes at now. Especially her future goals for the kids in her, Kitty and Bobby’s charge.
One follow up question on the Krakoa era: you said you were concerned that we’re still talking about the Krakoa era. Some books like NYX lean more heavily on it while others not so much. Is the goal to phase it out entirely or will it still have some presence? I’m guessing it’ll evolve into something else more through NYX than be entirely removed but I’d love your thoughts on it.
I feel like Emma would absolutely side with Rogue and think that Cyclops was being an overemotional fool about it all.
Is there anything about the ongoing solos that you can share right now about their long-term futures? I know it's only been 6 months for Phoenix and less than that for Storm, but as early signs go, anything you can say that may suggest these being long-term fixtures for the characters?
You've said in the past you answer questions as a service to fans, but the only ones you really serve by responding to the same obsessive questions on the same topics every week are the very people you're knocking for doing so ... so on some level, you must find their obsessiveness entertaining and enjoyable!
You go to battle with the army you have, not the one you want.
Tom, how do retcons usually work within an office? Do the editors suggest it or is it something the writers suggest? And in what kind of circumstances do you feel that a retcon crosses the line and you need to intervene?
Well, that’s on me. If I wasn’t clear (I wasn’t), the question was open to everyone here and not directed solely to Tom. So. Open question for everyone here:
Are comics fans’ interest in art limited to comics art or is their interest in comics art part of a much broader interest in art?I had thoughts and then I became curious.
I love art but I consider say, visiting a museum as a wholly separate activity than reading a comic book. In both instances, we’re engaging with art, but the pairing of text and visuals is a unique experience almost exclusive to the comic book medium. The best comics allow us to appreciate the craft of visual storytelling and the invisible craft of prose at once, activating two different parts of the brain. There’s really no other experience like it.
Back when G.O.D.S. was coming out, you mentioned that the current Living Tribunal is not the Adam Warlock from "Thanos: The Infinity Revelation". Is that because Jim Starlin's "Thanos: Infinity Noun" saga is not in-continuity, or the traditional Living Tribunal had already resumed his position in another story (Secret Wars 2015, Ewing's Ultimates 2)?