Any big, a-list creators you'd love having in the x-office? or is there anyone who's doing something that hasn't been announced yet? The Fabian and Warren Johnson announcements made me excited!
To answer Tobia’s question about the name of the Taxonomist, from the little bit we know about him so far, it seems like he takes parts from different dead animals, insects, etc. and fuses them with technology to bring them back to life like a type of chimera. He creates his own unique sort of species out of them, so he actually is dealing with living and non-living things.
I was glad when he was brought back for New Warriors but wasn't a fan of Fabian portraying him as more of a meathead instead of the good guy he had been, though I grew to enjoy it. What is your feeling about that switch in character? <<
>>> I tell you, Neil, I had been a regular reader of NOVA at least for its last couple of issues, and I really liked the character. But I also feel as though he was often written as just another generic young good guy without a lot of specific personality to him. So for me, Fabian’s approach , while he maybe steered into it a bit too sharply at first, worked all right in that it helped to make Rich more of an individual and less of a generic type. <<<
Just to clarify something that remains a little vexing to me 30+ years later -- and acknowledging Neil said he grew to enjoy it, but "Novaheads" (as I called the small diehard original-series Nova fans who loudly complained when Nova first reappeared in NEW WARRIORS) consistently acted as if the version of Rich Rider I introduced in New Warriors was taking place five minutes after they had finished reading Nova's last appearance in FF after his series had been cancelled.
For me, it was roughly 2 years later. 2 bad years for Rich. 2 years where he didn't aspire up and all his friends left for college. 2 years where he got wrapped up in a very bro-centric meathead clubbing and weight-lifting scene in Queens. So... he became a meathead.
And starting him out as a meathead was ALWAYS part of a PLAN, because I expected to get his name and costume officially back by issue 12-ish once the trademark/editorial continuity concerns with Frankie Raye lapsed (in light of my confidence that New Warriors' success would blow other claimants out of the water). And even then I knew I would recreate the Nova-corps sometime in the 4th year of the book, so I planned accordingly.
I gave Rich Rider an arc.
In order for him to climb back up he had to start at the bottom.
You can't tell me that if you read New warriors #1-53 and the Nova series I wrote you don't see how the character regained a better perspective on his role and himself.
Did I ever want him to revert COMPLETELY to what I considered slightly-bland Peter Parker-ish clone from the original series? No. I wanted him to grow up with a little more edge. And in my mind, my vision for how I saw his future development WAS fulfilled by the work of Abnett & Lanning during their years spent on the character.
And on another note, when I was editing BARBIE and BARBIE FASHION in the early 90s, both those titles were Marvel's #1-2 in subscriptions, each with 40k+.
My grinding frustration with our subscription department that they didn't spend any $ to try and INCREASE those already solid numbers, I assure you, were not gears that turned in silence. Tom knows I was not smart enough to stay quiet back then... :)
Yep, I didn't like him when he was reintroduced, because basically I wanted a continuation of his original series and it was a different take, one I wasn't expecting. But as you continued, we got to see more sides of him and I always enjoyed New Warriors. Thanks for both of you responding.
Enjoyable as always! But it got me thinking. How do you, as editor, handle a situation where there's a conflict between personalities that's affecting the work? Is it as a simple as (metaphorically) knocking two heads together and telling them to be professional? I'm thinking in particular of one occasion in which Creator #1 loathed the work of Creator #2 and wrote an issue undoing the events of Creator #2's previous comic? (In this case, there was no doubt about what was going on--Creator #1 was vocal about what he was doing).
"I didn’t confuse anything, Tobia, as I neither write nor directly edit PSYLOCKE. And neither, from what I can see, did Alyssa Moy or Darren Shan."
But you did somehow confuse Alyssa Wong, the writer of Psylocke, with Alyssa Moy, Reed Richard's ex-girlfriend from the pages of FF. Just an fyi! Probably not a big deal!
Hi, Tom! As an enthusiastic reader of the newsletter for 1.5+ years, I hope you choose to continue it. It's given me illuminating nuggets of wisdom aplenty, and a deeper appreciation for the Marvel books of now and of yesteryear.
Onto the question! The upcoming volume of Amazing Spider-Man was announced upfront with two artists: Pepe Larraz and JRJR. Which is both unusual and delightful, to a JRJR fan like me.
Have you considered announcing multiple artists like this on fast-shipping titles you edit, X-Men and Uncanny X-Men? Netho Diaz, for example, has done as many issues of X-Men as Ryan Stegman has, but Diaz fans had no idea he would be working on the book until solicitations for issue four were announced.
Thank you for the newsletter. A few months ago you mentioned your grand unifying theory for Scott and Jean. I was wondering and hoping if we will learn it in the books soon? If not could you share it here?
I hope you stick it out with these Q&As. Us X-Men fans can be a contentious bunch but there's many, many of us beyond the vocal parts of that Twitter platform that appreciate the transparency and willingness to engage.
With Valentine's Day coming up, I wanted to ask what you think about doing an X-Men series that is a straight up romance? Maybe an anthology series that revisits all the most iconic mutant couples in the present, or even one that explores specific couples. Seems to me that while romance is always a part of many great comic runs, I wondered if making romance the central part of a comic run was something you'd ever consider?
I was curious about what the editorial process looks like for confirming/making a character queer in some way? I know recently, Tini Howard and Leah Williams spent a couple years building up to Betsy and Rachel getting together, whereas its been said that numerous writers wanted to confirm that Iceman was gay over the years before Bendis finally did. Is there ever a concern for its impact on the IP or what higher ups in the corporate side might say?
No question comes to mind this week, but saw today that you were the writer on Funeral for an Octopus and so wanted to commend the very good issue title: A Farewell to Arms.
I have a question about the original and excellent ‘Thunderbolts’ series which you edited. One strength was the consistent art by Mark Bagley, who seems the master of long runs. How did he manage this? He even produced an annual with about Captain America and Citizen V. What are your memories as Editor and did he ever, nearly, miss a deadline. His art is so clean and brilliant. I have the issues somewhere but am now enjoying them in the Epic format which is a lovely format. The next volume is released later this year.
This may have answered elsewhere but I'm curious about One World Under Doom and how the first issue was solicited as The Rise of Emperor Doom and the event instead was called One World Under Doom. Why this change?
In this week’s newsletter Behind The Curtain section you wrote “subscription copies are today a relatively infinitesimal part of a title’s circulation.” I was not aware that Marvel, or any publisher, offered subscriptions directly to readers. Where can I get information on what subscriptions Marvel offers?
Marvel and DC both still offer mail subscriptions to many of their current series. You can find links to the "Print Subscriptions" at their respective official websites. The subs are fulfilled by comics store Midtown Comics. A year ago I wrote a blog post (link below) providing details about how my subscription to Captain America went recently, including when each issue arrived (compared to their release dates) and in what condition. I recommend subscribing as a less expensive alternative to paying cover price in stores -- and plus it's fun to get comics in the mail. :-) https://robimes.blogspot.com/2024/01/my-subscription-to-captain-america-in.html
Any big, a-list creators you'd love having in the x-office? or is there anyone who's doing something that hasn't been announced yet? The Fabian and Warren Johnson announcements made me excited!
Really enjoy the newsletter Tom and I read it every week. Hope the joy returns!
If everybody claps their hands real hard, the joy will return.
Was your plan to just hang out in the comments and be rude? Because there are other places online where you can do that.
Twitter seems like the place mean spirited people hang out these days.
To answer Tobia’s question about the name of the Taxonomist, from the little bit we know about him so far, it seems like he takes parts from different dead animals, insects, etc. and fuses them with technology to bring them back to life like a type of chimera. He creates his own unique sort of species out of them, so he actually is dealing with living and non-living things.
>> Neil Cohen
I was glad when he was brought back for New Warriors but wasn't a fan of Fabian portraying him as more of a meathead instead of the good guy he had been, though I grew to enjoy it. What is your feeling about that switch in character? <<
>>> I tell you, Neil, I had been a regular reader of NOVA at least for its last couple of issues, and I really liked the character. But I also feel as though he was often written as just another generic young good guy without a lot of specific personality to him. So for me, Fabian’s approach , while he maybe steered into it a bit too sharply at first, worked all right in that it helped to make Rich more of an individual and less of a generic type. <<<
Just to clarify something that remains a little vexing to me 30+ years later -- and acknowledging Neil said he grew to enjoy it, but "Novaheads" (as I called the small diehard original-series Nova fans who loudly complained when Nova first reappeared in NEW WARRIORS) consistently acted as if the version of Rich Rider I introduced in New Warriors was taking place five minutes after they had finished reading Nova's last appearance in FF after his series had been cancelled.
For me, it was roughly 2 years later. 2 bad years for Rich. 2 years where he didn't aspire up and all his friends left for college. 2 years where he got wrapped up in a very bro-centric meathead clubbing and weight-lifting scene in Queens. So... he became a meathead.
And starting him out as a meathead was ALWAYS part of a PLAN, because I expected to get his name and costume officially back by issue 12-ish once the trademark/editorial continuity concerns with Frankie Raye lapsed (in light of my confidence that New Warriors' success would blow other claimants out of the water). And even then I knew I would recreate the Nova-corps sometime in the 4th year of the book, so I planned accordingly.
I gave Rich Rider an arc.
In order for him to climb back up he had to start at the bottom.
You can't tell me that if you read New warriors #1-53 and the Nova series I wrote you don't see how the character regained a better perspective on his role and himself.
Did I ever want him to revert COMPLETELY to what I considered slightly-bland Peter Parker-ish clone from the original series? No. I wanted him to grow up with a little more edge. And in my mind, my vision for how I saw his future development WAS fulfilled by the work of Abnett & Lanning during their years spent on the character.
And on another note, when I was editing BARBIE and BARBIE FASHION in the early 90s, both those titles were Marvel's #1-2 in subscriptions, each with 40k+.
My grinding frustration with our subscription department that they didn't spend any $ to try and INCREASE those already solid numbers, I assure you, were not gears that turned in silence. Tom knows I was not smart enough to stay quiet back then... :)
Yep, I didn't like him when he was reintroduced, because basically I wanted a continuation of his original series and it was a different take, one I wasn't expecting. But as you continued, we got to see more sides of him and I always enjoyed New Warriors. Thanks for both of you responding.
Enjoyable as always! But it got me thinking. How do you, as editor, handle a situation where there's a conflict between personalities that's affecting the work? Is it as a simple as (metaphorically) knocking two heads together and telling them to be professional? I'm thinking in particular of one occasion in which Creator #1 loathed the work of Creator #2 and wrote an issue undoing the events of Creator #2's previous comic? (In this case, there was no doubt about what was going on--Creator #1 was vocal about what he was doing).
"I didn’t confuse anything, Tobia, as I neither write nor directly edit PSYLOCKE. And neither, from what I can see, did Alyssa Moy or Darren Shan."
But you did somehow confuse Alyssa Wong, the writer of Psylocke, with Alyssa Moy, Reed Richard's ex-girlfriend from the pages of FF. Just an fyi! Probably not a big deal!
Hi, Tom! As an enthusiastic reader of the newsletter for 1.5+ years, I hope you choose to continue it. It's given me illuminating nuggets of wisdom aplenty, and a deeper appreciation for the Marvel books of now and of yesteryear.
Onto the question! The upcoming volume of Amazing Spider-Man was announced upfront with two artists: Pepe Larraz and JRJR. Which is both unusual and delightful, to a JRJR fan like me.
Have you considered announcing multiple artists like this on fast-shipping titles you edit, X-Men and Uncanny X-Men? Netho Diaz, for example, has done as many issues of X-Men as Ryan Stegman has, but Diaz fans had no idea he would be working on the book until solicitations for issue four were announced.
Thank you for the newsletter. A few months ago you mentioned your grand unifying theory for Scott and Jean. I was wondering and hoping if we will learn it in the books soon? If not could you share it here?
I hope you stick it out with these Q&As. Us X-Men fans can be a contentious bunch but there's many, many of us beyond the vocal parts of that Twitter platform that appreciate the transparency and willingness to engage.
With Valentine's Day coming up, I wanted to ask what you think about doing an X-Men series that is a straight up romance? Maybe an anthology series that revisits all the most iconic mutant couples in the present, or even one that explores specific couples. Seems to me that while romance is always a part of many great comic runs, I wondered if making romance the central part of a comic run was something you'd ever consider?
I was curious about what the editorial process looks like for confirming/making a character queer in some way? I know recently, Tini Howard and Leah Williams spent a couple years building up to Betsy and Rachel getting together, whereas its been said that numerous writers wanted to confirm that Iceman was gay over the years before Bendis finally did. Is there ever a concern for its impact on the IP or what higher ups in the corporate side might say?
No question comes to mind this week, but saw today that you were the writer on Funeral for an Octopus and so wanted to commend the very good issue title: A Farewell to Arms.
I have a question about the original and excellent ‘Thunderbolts’ series which you edited. One strength was the consistent art by Mark Bagley, who seems the master of long runs. How did he manage this? He even produced an annual with about Captain America and Citizen V. What are your memories as Editor and did he ever, nearly, miss a deadline. His art is so clean and brilliant. I have the issues somewhere but am now enjoying them in the Epic format which is a lovely format. The next volume is released later this year.
Any thoughts on the current Diamond distributors crisis and how it will affect Marvel and the comic industry at large?
This may have answered elsewhere but I'm curious about One World Under Doom and how the first issue was solicited as The Rise of Emperor Doom and the event instead was called One World Under Doom. Why this change?
I was also really confused by that for a bit. Didn't want to miss those Doom shenanigans.
In this week’s newsletter Behind The Curtain section you wrote “subscription copies are today a relatively infinitesimal part of a title’s circulation.” I was not aware that Marvel, or any publisher, offered subscriptions directly to readers. Where can I get information on what subscriptions Marvel offers?
Marvel and DC both still offer mail subscriptions to many of their current series. You can find links to the "Print Subscriptions" at their respective official websites. The subs are fulfilled by comics store Midtown Comics. A year ago I wrote a blog post (link below) providing details about how my subscription to Captain America went recently, including when each issue arrived (compared to their release dates) and in what condition. I recommend subscribing as a less expensive alternative to paying cover price in stores -- and plus it's fun to get comics in the mail. :-) https://robimes.blogspot.com/2024/01/my-subscription-to-captain-america-in.html