#156: Make New Mistakes

The phrase that headlines this week’s Newsletter is one that I’ve said with regularity to my various assistant editors over the years. Everybody is going to make mistakes, there’s no shame in that. The important thing is to learn from those mistakes, to not be doing the same wrong thing over and over again. So the focus should be on making new mistakes, that way you will continue to evolve and grow and improve.

My many years working in the field coupled with watching further episodes of FRIEREN: BEYOND JOURNEY’S END, a show that’s very much about the passage of time and the people whom we meet along the course of our lives, has me thinking about such things. In a company-wide newsletter this past week, my 35th anniversary as a Marvel/Disney employee was congratulated to Rom Brevoort. Rom Brevoort was almost the title of this week’s release until I thought the better of it. On the one hand, it’s just a simple typo, on the other, it conjured images of me racing between the stars, carrying my unwieldy neutralizer and my even more cumbersome translator as I look for enemy shape-changing spud-things.

So it’s all brought back thoughts of earlier days. I was never the most social person in the world, but back in the 1980s, during my final years of High School and then College, I fell in with a diverse group of young anime fans from all across the country. We’d meet up every couple of months for a few days of driving and eating and driving and shopping and filming and driving and driving and driving. I haven’t seen some of those people in decades now, some of them are no longer with us, and even the ones with whim I’m still in contact are only in touch every so often. This is a natural evolution as times change and lives move forward. But it’s good to have good times to look back upon.

This small sequence from the FRIEREN manga does a good job of capturing my mindset. Remember that this is manga and is read from right-to-left, so start on the right side here first.

All right, so what’s on your minds this week?

Stefan

No question that you have natural editorial/management skills that have contributed to your longevity. But of course there have been many great editors at Marvel over the years with much shorter tenures. You yourself once said that during Marvelcution, it was a tossup whether you or another editor would be laid off, and you speculated you survived because it was thought you would be more of a "team player". In more recent years, colleagues have described you as "a sharp political player" whom it is unwise to go against in office politics. How much of your longevity would you attribute to those political skills?

Well, Stefan, I’d say a non-zero amount. But I don’t know that I’d classify a lot of why I do as political so much as psychological. So much of my job is applied psychology, so whatever aptitude I’ve built up over the years gets put to work frequently.

Brandon Giles

In your opinion, is there a threshold that a book like Ultimate Spider-Man (or Renew Your Vows, or Spider-Girl, or any of the other “Peter and MJ are a married couple” projects through the decades) could reach that would cause editorial to say “okay, Amazing is losing to this other book, clearly the thing the audience is responding to is married Spider-Man, we should bring that back into main continuity”?

If I was a smart man, I would let this deadly fastball go by untouched. Make new mistakes, right? If I was a smart man…

You never say never, Brandon, but I don’t believe that there is any such threshold because that’s not what publishing ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN or RENEW YOUR VOWS and the like is all about. Those aren’t test cases, they are alternatives for those who desire those alternatives. But I believe that we’ve concluded decisively that the best platonic ideal of Spider-Man is one that is unattached, and that conclusion isn’t going to be changed by a particular alternate interpretation momentarily performing well. And AMAZING SPIDER-MAN has been consistently our best-selling regular title for a decade and a half, so another book selling better than it isn’t cause for concern, it’s cause for celebration. but ASM sales continue to click along just as they’ve consistently done, so pointing to ULTIMATE and concluding that the one and only factor contributing to its success is coincidentally the one factor that those fans would like changed about ASM is working backwards from a desired conclusion.

Seastar

On the subject of what Alex Segura was talking about, I wanted to ask about Jim Shooter. He was someone who made it a rule to write each issue as if it were someone's first, which at the time seemed to lead to a lot of issues where characters would summarize previous issues a lot. Maybe some people find it unwieldy today, but I thought every issue was so full of dialogue and meaningful discussion that you could learn about characters in just 1-2 pages. That frankness, the direct nature of the dialogue, it really helped build this vast cast of X-Men characters.

Anyway, all that rambling aside, did you ever get to work alongside Jim Shooter? Was anything about his style of editing and mandates to writers something that influenced you (or the office you were working in) at all?

Jim Shooter is absolutely a complex figure in the history of Marvel, Seastar, one that did good things and not-so-good things. I never really worked with him directly, though I came close once. But that project fell apart as it was being conceived. Jim’s version of that story blames me, my version feels otherwise, and the truth is likely somewhere in the middle. But I did come into Marvel shortly after Jim’s departure, when pretty much all of the staff that was there had worked under him, and the stories that everybody shared about their own experiences were universally the same. All that aside, while Jim would sometimes become too dogmatic about the how, he is absolutely correct that certain basic information is owed to the reader in each and every installment of whatever series you may be thinking about.

Jordan L

what were your thoughts on Gundam: The Witch From Mercury? I really wanted to like it more than I actually did.

I thought it was great from end to end, Jordan. And while I would have liked for it to run longer in the manner of all prior GUNDAM television series, I must admit that the shorter run time kept the story focused and forward-moving.

AE

I’m also reading LORNE and glad to hear you’re also enjoying it. That made me wonder, have you had any interaction with SNL over the years in your role (or outside it)?

Outside of having gone to see the show live once in 2009 ( an account of which can be found here.) not really, AE. There were points where Bill Hader and Seth Meyers wrote an AMAZING SPIDER-MAN comic, but all of that work and interactions were handled by Spider editor Stephen Wacker rather than me.

Sam M

A question for you, and sorry if this sounds stupid, coming from a non-professional: Can you explain the great Frank D’Armata’s coloring style on Captain America and Avengers? It’s kind of like a glossy style that I’ve never seen another colorist use. I don’t know if I’m right or not, but I’m struck when I read those books (and others he’s colored) how singular his approach seems.

Also, if you tried Downfall, may I recommend Tokyo These Days by Taiyo Matsumoto? Three volume Manga about the industry, but one that’s sweet, heartfelt and ultimately uplifting (though definitely has some downbeat moments too).

I don’t know that I really have the technical skills to explain what you’re talking about here, Sam, other than to say that Frankie D’s style is his style, the approach to the work that he’s worked out that works best for him. You’d need to ask him for a greater degree of insight than that. And I’ve read the first volume of TOKYO THESE DAYS, which was lent to me by C.B. Cebulski a few months ago. I’ve meant to go out and scare up the others but simply haven’t gotten around to it yet. But thanks for the recommendation!

Michael Perlman

Why does the ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM #2 cover image in Pimp My Wednesday have “1” in its number box?

Because what you’re seeing here most of the time, Michael, are the initial mock-ups that the Bullpen put together for my review, and sometimes mistakes are in them. This is why we also occasionally have different (wrong) credits on the upcoming covers that we show here.

Matthew Perpetua

Particular to the superhero codenames, so much of the point is that these are adults who mostly believe this is something from their youth they've left behind/outgrown. The arc of the story is how they reconnect with their youthful idealism and belief they have the power to change the universe by doing the right thing. But you have to see them discard their past selves first!

This is concerning the infamous Five Years Later period in LEGION OF SUPER HEROES, for those unfamiliar. And I get what you’re saying, Matthew, but as somebody who read those issues serially as they were coming out, I don’t feel that they pass the most fundamental level of providing the core information that a reader needs to understand each installment. They depend way too much on readers knowing all of this stuff already, and being able to instantly identify Tenzel Kem as Matter-Eater Lad. And somehow, in the presentation, there’s an embarrassment about code-names such as Matter-Eater Lad (which is, no doubt, pretty silly). The problem is that Tenzel Kem is almost exactly as silly, and tells you absolutely nothing about who the character is. The characters may have chosen to discard those silly code-names, but the story still needs to tell them to us and make it clear who everybody is (especially since some of those characters have visually changed dramatically in the intervening five years, so they can’t even immediately be identified by sight.)

Fabian Nicieza

I never knew Evan hadn’t read the Marv/George Titans.

As far as I know, Fabe, he still hasn’t, apart from the two or three issues that I brought him to look at.

Feral Lives

Is X-Factor definitively cancelled?

At least for the moment, Feral. Issue #10 will be the last in this current run.

Travis Ellisor

I was a huge New Warriors fan during Fabian's run, but I admit that I drifted away during your run with Evan. One of my major issues was that you got rid of Night Thrasher, Rage, and Silhouette. It was rare for a team to have two black members, and also a member with a disability, and that representation disappeared after you guys took over. It was very disappointing to me.

I think that’s a very fair cop, Travis. And it certainly wasn’t a thing that we were thinking about enough at the time. On the other hand, we did bring in Timeslip and Helix, but I’ll admit that isn’t entirely the same thing.

TD Mollusk

I had a question about rebooting series. You have written many times about the benefits of having new #1 issues for titles, but of course there have been exceptions to that over the years. Some (somewhat) modern examples of what I’m thinking of are Incredible Hercules spinning off from Incredible Hulk and inheriting its numbering, or when Sif took over as the main character in Journey Into Mystery without renumbering. When does it make more sense to go with this “back-door pilot” approach instead of relaunching with a new #1?

In almost all of those cases, TD, they were an outgrowth of something unexpected and good happening in the previous titles that we maybe wanted to keep going. So that kind of thing tends to happen whenever that option naturally presents itself. But in most cases, it would be smarter to begin, say, a SIF series with a #1. But in that case, Kieron’s short THOR run had proven successful enough that we continued it on into JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY until he had told all of the story with Loki that he wanted to sell. And sales on the series were still good enough at that point that we decided to try continuing it on for a while with Sif (since Kieron was wrapping up Loki’s story in his run.)

Christopher Orrell

On the subject of crossover events, especially those with core books and many tie-ins, do you have a particular approach that you would use/recommend for reading them, either as a long time reader yourself or as an editor? I'd be especially interested to hear how you'd suggest approaching events once they're finished and released as TPBs.

I think that each one tends to be its own thing, Christopher, so apart from those with umbered chapters such as the recent X-MANHUNT series, I’d suggest reading whatever parts interest you.

Neil Cohen

Two questions: Has there every been a long run on one of your titles that you said afterward, "Well, that wasn't as good as I hoped?" And what is your favorite run of Fantastic Four, pre coming on staff?

Well, sure, Neil—I don’t know about a long run per se, but there’ve been substantive runs that never quite achieved the success that I might have hoped for for them. But this isn’t science, the numbers don’t always add up the same way, and so you can do everything right and still not have a hit. So it goes. And the only possible answer to your last question is the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby era, of course, comprising the first 102 issues and six Annuals. Pretty much everything since then has to a certain degree been doing jazz riffs on those formative comics.

Alex Jamieson

was there any talk of either of the Black Knights at the creative retreat, by any chance?

Can’t say that I remember any, Alex. Sorry.

Zack J

Who can bench press the most in the Marvel office?

Oh, I have no earthly idea, Zack. Given the general fitness of most comic book professionals, though, I’m inclined to say “nobody.”

Jeff Ryan

Every once in a while an interior comics page or spread will have a signature on it. Does Marvel have a rule about when an artist's signature is okay on run-of-book pages?

Not really, Jeff, apart from the fact that it’s always a bad idea to break the spell of immersion that exists within the story pages. So a large or loud signature on a spread would be something to be avoided. That’s more an individual editor’s judgment call, though.

Rob London

Who’s taller, Jim Shooter or Ryan North?

I’ve never seen them together, Rob, but I’d put my money on Jim.

Ben Morse

Is there a point where Legion collapsed under the weight of its own continuity and subsequent attempts to “fix” it? Has it been FUBAR since Superboy was first removed post-Crisis?

For context, I shared with Alex that my first exposure to the Legion was the post-Zero Hour incarnation, so I read and loved that stuff without ever knowing it was a retread of sorts. I was also able to eventually go back and enjoy the original material.

I wonder if the idea of course correcting the Legion has become even trickier since now that Legion I just referenced is the “real” one to some, and same with Waid’s team, Bendis’ team, etc.

I gave this a bit of thought, Ben, and I think that you’re probably right: the Legion has been mortally wounded ever since the Superman reboot that removed Superboy from the Legion’s history. And later attempts to try to put those pieces back together again or to start everything over from scratch again have never entirely held, so ultimately they now make the entire situation even more confusing and unwieldy. I’m not sure precisely what I’d do to try to get that property back on track, but it certainly is a mess. Part of the problem, I expect, is that so much of the Legion’s essential history and backstory is tied to a 1950s conception of the future and feels dated today—especially most of the code-names. By that same token, if you try to change that backstory or those names, you begin to break the longtime audience’s connection to the characters. The Legion’s history was always one of its real strengths among its dedicated fans, but with that fragmented and shattered, I don’t know quite how you get it all back.

Cian McDarby

Personally I do actually have a worth it point! In a perfect world things would go as long as the team wants, but this world is, I think everyone agrees, not perfect. My ideal is 18. Long enough that most writers can explore multiple ideas, get into the characters and really make something feel worthwhile. Plus it means for sure that the first trade comes out during the books run. Honestly though, I can see some arguing that ideal might be too long, and I see that. So for me, the true number where I can go “Ok, most Marvel books may only last this long but I can live with that” is 15. 15 issues feels like a great minimum for an ongoing book. Long enough that it’s not a maxiseries, short enough that it’s not plugging forever at an idea with mediocre sales. Allows for building ideas with a concept, which is important, especially if you’re looking for the idea of adaptations. Feels perfectly long for a book to find a footing too. I know I’m just a fan and you’ve been working in comics since my mother was a teenager, but yeah, that’s my own feeling on it. 15 is a great bare minimum for ongoings. This of course does exclude massive flops, where a book is pulling numbers like that Great Ten maxi from 20 off years back or the recent Electric Warriors mini (not singled out as an attack, just the two worst selling books the other company put out this century), then an abrupt and quick cancellation is absolutely fair. But excluding historic flops, which I suspect many books that get cancelled aren’t selling THAT bad, 15 being the standard would give me much more faith in the average Marvel ongoing.

Your thoughts on the aforementioned would be appreciated but if you don’t really think it warrants a response or you don’t really have any thoughts on that massive brick of text, I’d also like to know if you have any interest in bringing Quicksilver into an X book? Unlike his sister, I think he’s kinda boring in the Avengers orbital but a real MVP in the X-Line.

First things first, Cian: it’s always easiest to spend other people’s money. Which is my way of saying that I don’t really think a 15 issue commitment for every new series launched is in any way reasonable. And I’d have to tell you straight up that your comment that cancelled books “aren’t selling THAT bad” is just plain wrong. And especially in a system where we’ve got a bunch of overhead to maintain in the way of offices and staff and so forth, every project that Marvel puts out needs to hit a certain margin of profitability in order to meet that need. And books that not only fail to meet that margin but actively lose money are an anchor around the necks of other better-selling projects. But that’s always going to be the divide between art and commerce here. I don’t disagree with you fundamentally that it would be nice if we could guarantee 15 issue runs to everything, but operating on the other side, that simply isn’t realistic. In terms of Quicksilver, I’d be open to using him somewhere in X, but these days he like his sister isn’t a mutant any longer, so his entry point is somewhat blunted.

Adam

if I'm remembering right you teased the Young Avengers showing up at some point this year somewhere. Is that still happening? As a huge fan it was disappointing to see their 20th anniversary go past without even a one-shot

Right this second, Adam, there isn’t any YOUNG AVENGERS project on the horizon. We’ve had real difficulties in putting together another run on that series that might be able to stand up alongside the Allan and Jim and Kieron and Jamie ones—it’s a fairly high bar. But maybe this will be the year that we get it together.

ComicBookDad531

Tom with all this Legion talk, who are your top 3 favorite Legionnaires? Also excluding the Great Darkness Saga do you have a favorite Legion run? Keep up the great work, loving the X titles!!

I don’t know that I can really get it down to three, Dad. But I’ve been a fan of Ferro lad ever since I first encountered him when I was young. I have a certain fondness for Wildfire as the brash Hawkeye-like hothead. And I’ve always felt a strange attraction to Blok of all people. But really, I also dig the three founders. And in terms of Legion runs of the past, I love those weird Adult Legion stories for being such a fun idea, the first Fatal Five story, the first two-parter with Mordru and the Earthwar storyline.

Manqueman

Tom, just knocked off “World of Doom” #2. Just want to say this old fart found it, like the first issue, very, very, very triggering. (Also sussed out a flaw in Doom’s plan, but I’m always wrong projecting stuff so I’ll live it there.)

Well, hopefully it’s been a good triggering, Manqueman.

Ben Forte

1. How do you advise/edit writers when their book ends earlier than they may have intended? In what cases is it better to rush to a planned ending and what cases is it better to leave it more open to being continued in the future?

2. It seems like we may get a cosmic/space line of books as a result of Imperial, does the post imperial line of cosmic books get its own "office" like the new ultimate universe? Or is it more like the Avengers office and the X-Men office share the books?

1. There’s no one specific answer, Ben. It all depends on the book and the creators and what business needs to be wrapped up and what the skills of those creators allow for. But it’s almost never ideal from a storytelling standpoint to have to truncate a storyline, so you always just do the best you can with it.

2. No, for the time being at least, most of the titles that grow out of IMPERIAL will also exist in my office, with one, maybe two exceptions. Because I am mighty!

X of Alex

A question about creator working on licensed properties in Marvel.

I've noticed that the upcoming "vs Godzilla" one-shots are staffed primarily with mainstay Marvel writers and artists, while the "What If? Disney characters became marvel characters" books are filled with creators from outside of Marvel's stable.

Is this a case of disinterest of superhero creators in cartoon animal comics, or an editorial call?

No, Alex, this is more a question of what seems to be right for the property in question. On the Disney books, they’re mostly being done by creators who’ve built a whole career on doing Disney work and who are familiar with what the tolerances are for those characters, so it’s a useful skill set to possess on that assignment. Whereas on the Godzilla crossovers, everybody involved was interested in seeing what Marvel creators would do with the challenge of the assignment. It always comes down to what is required and who possesses the skills and background that might be of value.

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Off The Wall

We saw a copy of this book on my spinner rack a week or so ago, so I thought it was worth looking at this piece from my wall. It’s a variant cover for FANTASTIC FOUR #16 done by Alan Davis and featuring me. But not commissioned by me. This issue was my last one editing the title after a dozen years, and so behind my back, the Marvel senior staff including Dan Buckley, Joe Quesada, David Bogart, Axel Alonso and George Beliard worked together to get Alan to do this cover as a surprise for me—one that they revealed to me in the middle of a panel at New York Comic Con that year. Which was very nice of them, the bastards. And Alan and Mark Farmer gave me the original art to the piece as a part of the arrangement, so it’s been framed on my wall ever since. This was meant to be my final issue on FANTASTIC FOUR, and it was for awhile. Mark Paniccia edited the following run which was written by James Robinson. After that, the series went onto hiatus following SECRET WARS. I sort of assumed that when the book eventually came back, it would wind up being edited by Jordan White or somebody. But when the time came to do MARVEL 2-IN-ONE, all eyes turned in my direction, and after a day’s reticence I went ahead and took it on. And that led directly into me launching the revived series, which I’ve been editing ever since for another seven years or so. I doubt I’m going to get another cover appearances once this later period runs its course.

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On The Spinner Rack

Another turn of my office Spinner Rack reveals this week’s books, starting at the top with WOLVERINE SAGA #4, which was the first published credit I ever had in a Marvel book. Underneath that is a pair of issues of SUPERMAN from the mid-1970s as edited by Julie Schwartz. Below that is an AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL that’s full of reprints and then a random issue of ACTION COMICS from the tail end of editor Mort Weisinger’s tenure. Then there’s a 1970s issue of THOR, and an issue of ZOT! Underneath that is an issue of THOR from the underrated Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz period and then a copy of UNCANNY X-MEN #700 with my first edited X-Men story in it, and at the bottom is another random issue of the 1980s SPECTRE run.

And over on the rack dedicated to books I put together, this time we see an issue of AVENGERS: THE CHILDREN’S CRUSADE at the top, followed by the gold foil cover to THOR #25 from the also-underrated Dan Jurgens and John Romita Jr era. Below that is FANTASTIC FOUR #54, which was both a 100-Page Monster issue and featured the birth of Valeria. Next is an early issue of Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting and Michael Lark’s CAPTAIN AMERICA, an issue of the SPIDER-MAN/HUMAN TORCH limited series, the last issue of the GLA limited series, the first issue of a THING limited series written by Walter Mosley, last year’s BLOOD HUNT Free Comic Book Day release, the anniversary edition of CAPTAIN AMERICA in which assorted modern artists each redrew a page from the original story, and finally an issue of FANTASTIC FOUR from the Waid/Wieringo era.

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Hey, Kid! This Ain’t A Library!

My grandmother used to half-seriously ask me, “What do you need with so many books?” And I have to admit, she kinda had a point. I have stacks of unread volumes all around my home, in the places where I’m likely to sit and read from time to time. The one you see above is in the living room where most of my television watching gets done and where I read most of my comics. This isn’t even close to everything that I have around here that needs to be read—would it surprise you to learn that I have an entire bookcase filled with to-be-read material? But this is what’s at my right hand on most evenings at the moment. I’ve been working my way through that Plastic Man reprint volume a few stories an evening, since they’re relatively short and relatively undemanding. The funniest thing about it to my eye is the fact that, because they no longer have the rights to Will Eisner’s The Spirit, DC felt compelled to remove the character from all of the reprint covers that they reproduce. This leads to a number of gags not really working and some ugly and unfinished compositions. But you do what you have to do, I suppose.

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Behind the Curtain

Once in a while, there’s a cover that doesn’t get used for one reason or another. When that happens, you constantly look for some other place to use the piece in question—but certain covers simply are too specific to be easily shifted to some other issue. This was one of those.

This Alan Davis cover was intended for one of the issues of AVENGERS that was going to tie in with the FEAR ITSELF event that was then going on. The plot was going to involve Ms Marvel, Monica Rambeau and The Protector/Marvel Boy confronting one or more of the new hammer-wielders in Brazil. However, as work on FEAR ITSELF continued and we found ourselves falling behind the outline, something had to give, and one of those things was the sequence set in Brazil. So Brian Bendis changed up his AVENGERS plans accordingly, and this image went into the misfit cover pile—where, given its eclectic and specific mix of characters (Carol Danvers pre-Captain Marvel, Monica in her Nextwave look, Marvel Boy as the Protector) it’s stayed ever since.

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Pimp My Wednesday

This week wraps up the X-MANHUNT storyline running through the X-titles—which is good, because it isn’t easy juggling simultaneous event stories. For now, I can sit back and concentrate on ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM—at least until IMPERIAL begins.

So let’s begin with that ending. X-MANHUNT OMEGA was written by Murewa Ayodele and Gail Simone and features artwork from Gleb Melnikov, Enid Balam and Federica Mancin. It’s forty glorious pages of X-nonsense that packs a surprising punch to it by the end. Even readers who haven’t been on the ride all along ought to find something to enjoy here.

But the beat goes on in the world of X, and so also dropping this week is UNCANNY X-MEN #12, our long-awaited spotlight on Gambit. Gail Simone collaborated with Cajun artist Gavin Guidry on this one for extra accuracy, and it also introduces a nefarious figure from Remy’s past, the Vig.

Elsewhere, the testosterone is in heavy supply in the second issue of WEAPON X-MEN as Joe Casey and Chriscross match five of the most grizzly, gravelly players in mutantdom against a threat pulled from Marvel’s past.

And finally, FANTASTIC FOUR #30 (or FANTASTIC THREE as we’re calling it) follows up directly on the developments from this week’s ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM #2. I suspect that it may be the best issue that Ryan North has written of the series so far, and it’s ably brought to life by artist Cory Smith.

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A Comic Book On Sale 80 Years Ago Today, March 23, 1945

Superboy was, for some strange reason, one of the greatest stealth launches in the history of comics. The feature premiered in MORE FUN COMICS #101 in January of 1945 and despite the huge popularity of the Man of Steel, it wasn’t so much as mentioned on the cover. The same was true for the next issue, #102. But by this one, #103, the ice was beginning to thaw. Superboy does get a blurb here using the established Superman logo, and feuding characters Green Arrow and Dover and Clover mention him in the text. But once again, no image. One wonders, given that the strip had used writer Jerry Siegel’s idea for the character without consulting him about it, whether the thought here was to get the series in print and established so that, if there were any future objection, it could be pointed to that it didn’t come about until the series had been established and running for a while. Honestly, nothing else really makes a whole lot of sense to me in this regard. Superboy proved to be the biggest success DC had in the postwar years with a super hero-based property at least until the advent of the Silver Age, and the character would make the leap to ADVENTURE COMICS in a couple of months after the decision was made to turn MORE FUN COMICS into exclusively a humor anthology. The Boy of Steel also proved popular enough to get his own title, which was one of the few super hero books to run uninterrupted from the 1940s through to the 1970s. Dover and Clover were right to respect his awesome popularity.

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A Comic I Worked On That Came Out On This Date

Jonathan Hickman had been writing FANTASTIC FOUR for about 18 months when the title was relaunched as FF. This was right at the point where interest in the series was skyrocketing and the relaunch was an effort to take advantage of that. The previous FANTASTIC FOUR storyline “Three”, which culminated in the death of the Human Torch, got readers paying attention, and this new title, which included Spider-Man as a part of the cast, clad in a new white costume, propelled it forward. We had initially wanted to call the new book FUTURE FOUNDATION, but it was felt that FF reflected FANTASTIC FOUR better and would be easier to get retailers to see and accept as the successor series. Artist Steve Epting had come on board to replace Dale Eaglesham, who had started the run with Jonathan and who moved on to other assignments just as it was starting to pick up notices. The new white costumes, which were inspired partly by the clean suits used in scientific endeavor as well as the “plug suits” worn by the pilots in EVANGELION, made a strong statement after so many years. Clearly something different was going on here. This first issue dropped on March 23, 2011, which now seems like a ridiculously long time ago. As was already his forte, Jonathan had planned out the storyline up through at least what would become FANTASTIC FOUR #604 after the book returned to the classic title at its Legacy #600th issue. But even then, sales on FF had been good enough that we were asked if we could somehow keep it going too, and so for a while Jonathan was writing two FF books each month rather than one. This remained the state of play moving into Matt Fraction’s tenure thereafter. So that’s a pretty good run for a title that was only created in order to capitalize on a moment, to exceed that moment by several months and a complete refresh as well.

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The New Warriors Chronicles

When i was just a reader, I made it a point to pick up the final issues of series that had gone a decent run. I think it was a curiosity factor, wanting to see exactly how things wrapped up. I know I did this with a bunch of books that I didn’t ordinarily buy, such as MASTER OF KUNG FU and SAVAGE SHE-HULK and MAN-THING. So whenever I was putting out a last issue, I would tend to declare it loudly on the cover, in the hopes of attracting readers like me. Who knows, maybe it sold through an additional copy or two.

NIGHT THRASHER was the first of the NEW WARRIORS titles to reach the end under my watch. I don’t feel like this was genuinely my fault, the series had been ailing even before I got it. But I don’t know that I particularly did anything to even attempt to stave off that fate. As I’ve said before, assessing the books I’d been handed, I had come to the conclusion that NIGHT THRASHER was already likely mortally wounded, and so, like a M.A.S.H. surgeon, I made the decision to concentrate my efforts on the other books that I thought I stood a change of saving. It wasn’t as though I didn’t put any effort into NIGHT THRASHER, but I clearly didn’t give it the energy that I devoted to NOVA and NEW WARRIORS.

By the time this final issue was being worked on, everybody involved knew that it was going to be the last, and so there really wasn’t any drama involved, apart from telling co-writer Steve Mattsson that his dreams of taking over the book had been dashed on the rocks. It’s a perfectly fine last issue, with some serviceable artwork. But the presence of two inkers in the credits tips the fact that the book was still behind schedule at this point.

The last page of this issue runs a promotional image for SKRULL KILL KREW, a project that I’d started working on in the final days of editor in chief Tom DeFalco and wound up putting out as a part of Bobbie Chase’s MARVEL EDGE line when editorial was divided up into five separate units. I wound up doing work in four of them: my base home was Bob Budiansky’s Spider-Man group, I did SKRULL KILL KREW under Bobbie (who I don’t think really got it and who didn’t pay too much attention to it), I worked on the Marvel Handbook for Mark Gruenwald, and I wound up doing some toy tie-in projects such as SKELETON WARRIORS for Carl Potts. The only office I didn’t work as a part of was Bob Harras’ X-Line, and Harras would become overall EIC in a year, so I worked with him at that point. I suspect that the range of projects that I did and the range of people I worked under and alongside is one of the secrets to my longevity.

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Posted at TomBrevoort.com

Yesterday, I wrote about Robert Kanigher’s forgotten 1943 book HOW TO MAKE MONEY WRITING FOR COMIC MAGAZINES

Five years ago, I wrote about REMO WILLIAMS: THE ADVENTURE BEGINS

And ten years ago, I wrote about this Great Cover

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That’s going to do it this time, folks—as though this wasn’t plenty enough already! Be well, make some new mistakes, and we’ll see you in the future!

Hat’s All, Folks!

Tom B