#161: Remember Who You Are

A week or so ago, a friend of mine told me that he thought I should stop doing this Newsletter. He was responding to chatter he was seeing out there in the world, on social media or wherever, reacting to something or other that I had said in answer to one of the many questions posed to me. He felt as though all I was doing was pissing on my own reputation by continuing to produce this feature week after week. I told him that I wasn’t troubled by any of it, that I mostly don’t see any of that reaction because I don’t typically go looking for mentions of myself on line. But that said, he may have had a point.

One thing I have been seeing crop up here and there is the sentiment that “Tom Brevoort hates the fans.” This tends to come out of the mouths of those who disagree with my position on one storytelling choice or another—it’s never one consistent issue, but instead a bunch of small pockets of fans complaining about their specific complaints. The only thing that they’ve really got in common is that they’ve landed on me as one of the architects of their discontent—sometimes on books and projects that I don’t even have much of anything to do with. And that’s fine, it comes with the job.

I will say, though, that if I do hate the fans, I certainly spend an awful lot of time interacting with them, far more than just about anybody else involved in an editorial capacity at any comic book company. I suppose that could simply be Narcissism on my part (much as this Newsletter has to be driven at least in part by a love for hearing myself speak, right?) but I can’t say that I really think that it tracks.

For many years now, I’ve talked about the strange way in which the audience will often conflate the characters and the creators, treating the latte as though they are the former while the former are full-fledged human beings in their eyes. This was no different in my days as a fan. I had a very fully-formed belief in exactly who Jim Shooter and Chris Claremont and John Byrne and Frank Miller were, totally separate from any direct interaction with them as individual. These impressions were nothing more than fannish nonsense, really, but I believed in them and put them forward as evidence of my status as a well-informed quasi-insider. So what goes around comes around, I suppose.

Still, this whole situation is beginning to make me a bit more gunshy about answering questions where I know that the response is going to be dicey. I’ve always tried to give anybody who approached with a question as direct and unveiled a response as was possible, even when the answer in question wasn’t going to make that questioner happy. I feel as though that’s what I owe you as a reader, and that only fielding easy softball questions is a waste of both your time and mine. I’ve done this for decades now, and by and large, it hasn’t done me any real harm. and I absolutely realize that I’m pretty blunt, and that can be off-putting for some people. I can’t really see that changing much, to be honest, so set your dials accordingly.

Still, if you see me letting more questions in the comments go by unanswered over the next couple of weeks, that’s largely why.

Speaking o the comments section, I had to remove a couple of posts there this week, which is something that I’m loathe to do. However, this is a place where all are welcome, provided that they conduct themselves in a reasonable fashion. It is not a place where I’ll allow personal attacks to take the place of honest discourse. I don’t really ask much here, you can say whatever you like so long as you’re polite. But please, don’t be a dick, all right?

So with all of that said, this Q & A section is still looking intimidatingly long this time. Could be that I’ll drop a few questions along the way and you’ll never be any the wiser. But probably I’m simply going to answer them all. Let’s find out together.

Joe West

Is there anything we can expect/anticipate for Cloak and Dagger in the next year? Feels like they’ve never been more popular than they are right now thanks to Marvel Rivals, and I’d just love to see them at the very least have more team-up appearances in major books.

I tell you, Joe, I tend to think that popularity in MARVEL RIVALS likely has more to do with play mechanics than it does the characters themselves. Which is to say that I haven’t seen any major correlation between popularity in the game and a rise of interest in the character in print, outside of maybe one or two outliers. That said, we are planning to do something with Cloak and Dagger in the near future, so that potential audience will have something to take a look at.

Brandon

With all the cancelations announced iceman/kitty pryde are now the only Canon queer characters to be in an x-men books well I'm pretty used to it or there's no representation at all or at least there's a few

saying that I have a question

Since kitty/iceman are the only ones in a book, are they gonna stay there and even if the book comes to an end, are they gonna be in another book without being shelved since they are the most known characters in the franchise when it comes to queer mutants

I can’t agree with your first point here, Brandon. There are definitely more queer characters in the assorted X-Books even with certain titles reaching their end. In terms of Kitty and Iceman, if EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN were to suddenly go away, then they’d at least momentarily be off the stands and back into the great limbo of unused X-characters—until there was some other book or project where creators wanted to use them.

Riccardo Galladini

I was recently re-reading "The Crossing" crossover, and there was a plot point which never went anywhere: in the event Kang is mentioned battling (and losing) against a mysterious enemy who we never see, and we never find out who that enemy was supposed to be (someone speculated it could be Tempus, but the secrecy made no sense if that was the case). At the end of the event it's heavily implied that Kang's demise opened the door for this enemy to strike the Earth. Then Onslaught happened and that "enemy" was never mentioned again. I know that Avengers Forever basically made that whole "enemy" point useless (Kang was actually Immortus keeping the Avengers busy before the Onslaught's arrival, so it stand to reason that there was no enemy to begin with), but I'm wondering if you knew who that "enemy" was originally supposed to be...

Yes I do, Riccardo. That menace was intended to be the Celestial Messiah, the child of Mantis whom Kang had attempted to create in an earlier story. We wound up doing something similar with that character, now called Quoi, in EMPYRE a few years back. But this is why there’s a bunch of Mantis-related stuff in The Crossing.

Gurkle

Do you have any thoughts on the practice Marvel introduced around 1979 (presumably by Jim Shooter's request) of abandoning the usual superhero comic practice of emphasizing certain words within a balloon, and switched to leaving all or nearly all the words un-emphasized?

I can’t say that I even noticed such a practice being put into place, Gurkle, if indeed one ever was. And if it had, it clearly had been reversed by the time I entered the business in 1989. So I’m afraid I don’t really know anything about it, sorry.

Joel Zorba

Why do you think what happened in X-Factor keeps getting brought up over and over again, even though it was 40 years ago, but other things that are just as or more damaging to the X-Men franchise and the characters, like AvX, IvX, and the Inhuman cloud fiasco, are just ignored? Same with the love triangle and Jean and Logan's relationship on Krakoa now being ignored and retconned. How do you choose what stays and what should be ignored?

As people said in the comments section, Joel, I don’t know that the events of X-FACTOR do continually come up over and over again. When was the last time that they were mentioned in an actual story? But as somebody who was there when that series came out, I think the difference is that the launch of X-FACTOR did some lasting damage to certain characters in an inarguable and personal way, whereas the other examples that you list, while they all have their detractors, sure, aren’t seen quite so universally. X-FACTOR was a good idea from the point of view of selling a lot of comic books and a bad idea in terms of creator and character respect. It just wasn’t a well-executed launch, even if everybody’s intentions were good. (And I’m not truly 100% certain that they were.)

Sergio Flores

1. Have you ever had a situation where you had a creator that you worked with, use an idea that they had previously discussed with you, but for another company? Either a specific idea they had for Batman, for example, or one that they had in mind for a Marvel character that they ended up tweaking for their work on another company’s character?

2. How do you feel about spoilers personally? In your position, you know a lot of details about upcoming Marvel comics and even Marvel Studios projects, so I’m curious if that has formed and/or changed your feelings on seeing spoilers for upcoming projects, in general, across different mediums

3. In your opinion, what types of stories or series fall under the umbrella of “that wouldn’t work today”? Not in the same vein as a Blazing Saddles, necessarily, so not because of changing cultural standards. But maybe more like a Heroes Reborn experiment, or a Thunderbolts twist, or a weekly year long 52 series.

1. Kind of? Years ago, back before he broke out in a major way, Mark Millar had been working on an idea for a series called THE SHOCKER for me. It would have been set in the Spider-Man portion of the Marvel U and been about the son of the Spidey villain inheriting his now-dead old man’s gear and becoming initiated into the secret underworld society of the villains. It wound up never happening, and years later, Mark recycled some of those thoughts into his creator-owned series WANTED. But WANTED wasn’t what THE SHOCKER would have been, not entirely. Still, this sort of thing happens, particularly with ideas that don’t get picked up. I’ve spoken in the past about how Warren Ellis’ unused pitch for NEW WARRIORS contained a prototypic version of the character who would later become Jenny Sparks. Same thing.

2. I generally dislike spoilers. I prefer that the audience get to experience a story or project that I’m working on within its pages, the way it was intended. But these days, it’s inevitable that any major twists or reveals are likely to be spoiled at least for the online community well in advance of the book coming out. That’s just the way it is now.

3. I don’t know that I can point to specific stories that I don’t think would work now other than those whose events turn on some story point that would be seen as racially insensitive or culturally ugly today. But I think all of the examples that you gave could potentially be repeated today and stand a good chance of working. Of them, the toughest would probably be THUNDERBOLTS, because as I said a few words ago, that last page reveal would be spoiled online the weekend before the book came out no matter what we did.

JV

Perfect final issues: Starman #80 by James Robinson - we get closure, a fun action packed story, hints at the future for the supporting cast and just a perfect ending (in general I found that James Robinson was adept at ending individual issues as well - satisfying on many levels as a reader).

Suicide Squad #66: by John Ostrander - a master plotter that knew how to tie up many loose ends in a cool way and a badass ending that ties into the themes (and title of the series) but gives you hope as well. Great Deadshot moment. His final issue of the 90s era Spectre is also a nice emotional tale as Jim Corrigan gets a proper funeral.

Talking about the Monster Society story made me think: what are your thoughts on reprinting 'problematic' comics of the past?

Stereotypes in Monster Society or the SPIRIT or even use of the "N" word from some 80s era issues of FF and Xmen.

Do you censor them? not reprint them? redact them?

We got some good and interesting suggestions for excellent final issues, so thanks for your contribution, JV. In terms of problematic comics of the past, this is almost always a judgment call. As a general rule, I prefer to leave things exactly the way they were presented initially. But I also acknowledge that there is material that will be received in an entirely different way if you don’t at least attempt to contextualize what people are coming to. so I think I’d take a different approach to a story that was being reprinted as a $4.99 Facsimile Edition than I might to the same story in a $150.00 hardcover collection. The audience for each project is likely to be different and to have different expectations. I haven’t had to wrestle with the Monster Society or old Spirit stories, but I do tend to agree with censoring out the N-word in those rare instances when it turned up in older stories. It’s even more provocative a thing today than it was when those stories were first crafted.

Seastar

There are some people who are under the impression that this Hellfire Vigil is a response to Marvel Rivals including Krakoa in their game, and this is all a late stage pivot. For the benefit of people who seem to believe that (somehow), could give us some insight into how long it takes to put together a project like this, with multiple writers, multiple artists, and setting up future stories through it? I was under the impression it would take 4-5 months at minimum, if not more (well before Marvel Rivals announced anything).

Well, Seastar, it could have been a response, assuming that we became aware of RIVALS intending to do their event ahead of time. But it isn’t. The Vigil is something that I talked about in my initial briefing document to the various potential creators and editors of the X-Line. It didn’t have a name then, but the concept for it was in place and ready even before any of the current crop of writers came on board. And that’s all down to the fact that Jordan White and the previous editorial team did a great job at making the first three Galas such a success, and I’m just enough of a sales-whore to not want to give that up.

Ralf Haring

Perhaps that's something to reflect on. The X-books, in particular, have a strong history in regard to the question being asked.

I assure you, Ralf, I reflect long and hard on how the X-Men speak for the marginalized and disenfranchised. This isn’t something that anybody is running away from. But unfortunately, you can never be all things to all people, and there’s always more work to be done.

Venus

Are you having fun leading the X-Office? It has been about a year now, and I hope the task has been as fun as it might be challenging.

For the most part, I am, Venus. It’s different from anything that I’ve done before, for all that I’ve been at this for a very long time, and that continually makes it interesting. In particular, I’m having a good time playing away with different types of collaboration. So “Raid on Graymalkin” had one sort of a build, X-MANHUNT had another, the HELLFIRE VIGIL has still another, and the upcoming GIANT-SIZE X-MEN projects have yet another. I’m working trial-and-error to figure out what works and what doesn’t and why. Given a few more years, I expect we’ll get really good at this.

Aled Davies

May not technically count as a cancellation but I think the ending of ‘Valor’ is one of my favorites.

It wrapped up all of the outstanding plot threads in regard to Valor, but also contributed to the End Of An Era crossover it was part of.

(I also thought End Of An Era in general wrapped things up well for that iteration of the Legion)

Good choices there, Aled. Thanks!

Michael Orbach

Did you like the original Frieren opening? I thought it was so good and didn't care much for the music switch later in the season.

I agree, Michael. That first opening, by YOASOBI (whom I was familiar with from their work on MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: THE WITCH FROM MERCURY) was really strong, both rhythmically and graphically. The second set of opening titles wasn’t quite so much of a grabber, though I got used to it over time as you do with these things. For those who are unfamiliar, here’s a link to that first title sequence.

Todd Matthey

Some great final issues: GI Joe #155, Sandman #75, Starman #80, Preacher #66.

I think a good final issue not only wraps up the storylines but sums up the themes (or story) of the series and leaves the character in a place where they live happily ever after or lived a satisfying life yet leaves a small window open for a return.

And thanks for your picks as well, Todd!

Tom Galloway

Perfect ending; while not quite as connected over the last few issues as you'd expect today, I'll go with the last few issues of the original Doom Patrol run. Over the previous issues, there'd been an ongoing plot thread of The Chief reclaiming Madame Rouge from the Brotherhood of Evil to the side of good, and getting romantically involved with her. Then the Brotherhood got her back on their side (yes, there was a fair amount of brainwashing/counter-brainwashing going on and these days a shocking lack of agency on her part) and things were generally building to a head between the two groups. In the final issue, things get. so back The Chief evacuates the DP to a deserted island. so bystanders won't be hurt.

The Brotherhood (down to Admiral Zahl and Rouge) find them, and from an offshore submarine trap them into a small area of the island. They then give the DP a choice; Codsville, ME, a fishing village of 14 ordinary people, has been booby-trapped with explosives. The DP can choose between being killed on the island, or being allowed to go free...but Codsville and its residents will be destroyed/killed, proving that the DP are not heroes but care more about themselves. This was more significant a choice than it'd seem if you don't know the series. The big point of the DP was that they all felt they were freaks, isolated from humanity.

But they immediately and unanimously decided to save the Codsvillians, and Zahl was happy to immediately push the button, seemingly killing the DP*. Various shots of characters mourning are shown, including the residents of Codsville renaming their town Four Heroes.

*Robotman was not revived for around a decade. The Brotherhood were not caught and matters resolved until around the mid-teens of The New Teen Titans, circa 15 or so years later (appropriate because Beast Boy/Changeling had been an associate member of the DP and his adoptive mother a full member). Over time, not including linewide reboots, various other members were revived until finally one of those reboots revived Elasti-Girl, the last of the four to be brought back.

And thanks for this, Tom. I first encountered the Doom Patrol during that period when they were all dead, so this final run of stories was pretty impactful to me—even though today they’ve lost a lot of their spark since all of the characters have come back since then.

Mark Burkhardt

A great final ending, if a gut-punch to readers, is Peter David's heartbreaking conclusion to the Matrix/Linda Danvers incarnation of Supergirl. The issue was Supergirl #80, I believe.

Thanks for your choice, Mark. And speaking of Peter David, he and his family could still use everyone’s help to defray the cost of some mounting medical expenses. So if there’s money that you maybe wanted to give to this feature, it would do a hell of a lot more good if instead you handed it over to Peter at this link.

Taylor Murphy

I have a nerdy continuity question in regard to the current Wolverine series. Does this take place prior to or after Logan joins Rogue’s team in Louisiana? I’m assuming prior based on the way it starts and where Logan is at in his head in regard to the Fall of Krakoa, but just curious how your team typically operates in considering continuity when you have so many series with the same character and status quos going at once (for Logan in particular we also have Deadpool/Wolverine and soon to be Spider-Man/Wolverine!). Do you have a running reading order and continuity placement map your team follows for the line? Or do you look at each more in isolation with loose overlaps?

The current WOLVERINE series takes place in tandem with UNCANNY X-MEN and Wolverine’s appearance sin other titles, Taylor. In general, I don’t worry about the specific reading order of every single issue, just the general sense and shape of things. So at launch time, the events of WOLVERINE #1 came first, then Logan’s appearance in X-MEN #1, and then his involvement in UNCANNY X-MEN #1, even though that isn’t quite the order that those books came out in. In the broadest sense, Wolverine’s solo adventures take place on “Tuesday” and his UNCANNY X-MEN exploits happen on “Thursday.”

Kevin Peterson

Great last issues. Let’s see.. Peter David’s supergirl wrapped up nicely despite his plans to use the character in another book and dc’s plans to destroy the character once he left. Fraction’s Hawkeye ended nicely. McKeever’als Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane ended perfectly - even if it’s the comic I want to see return the most. Kelly Thompson’s Black Widow had a fantastic ending. Dan Slott’s Silver Surfer and Batman Adventures Runs. And his last amazing issue is a perfect perfect issue. Geoff Johns original Stargirl series ended very nicely with something that also ended up being one of the best episodes of the tv series.

Speaking of Peter David,

His last issue of Captain Marvel with Keith Giffen is an all time classic final issue, where he literally put all the toys back in the box and reset the status for Rick Jones and Marlo, Moondragon, Phylla, etc. really well done.

Do Alan Moore’s “last issues” of Superman and Action count?

Thanks, Kevin! And this is another good time to remind people to give generously at that link a few paragraphs back. And yes, I would say that “Whatever Happened To The Man of Tomorrow” counts as final issues, yes.

Ellis

Hi Tom, what are some of your favorite DC characters and which ones would you like to work on if you had a chance to do so?

This is a tough question, Ellis, because there are just so many. I could do a solid twenty years o work over at DC and never grow bored. I will say that, while there are many, many others, the one that I pine for on cold winter nights is Superman. I’ve worked on Superman stories in a limited capacity in the past, for crossovers, but have never gotten the chance to helm an actual series run with the character, and I would have liked to have done that.

Deborah

Is Magneto going to get out of that awful hover chair and back to normal any time soon, and if so, are we talking months or years?

Well, I tell you, Deborah, it’s a story, and stories tend to determine their own length. That said, there’s a sequence coming up in X-MEN over the next few issues that should make you at least a little bit happier.

Jeff Ryan

Do you know if it ever happened that Marvel had so many ads in one month they added an extra 8-page signature to allow room for them all? Or are the house ads deigned to be ballast that can be (relatively) easily removed in case of an ad-heavy month?

House ads only get run in the absence of paid ads, Jeff, so if you see any house ads, it’s because there was space for them. And yes, there have been times in the past when we had so many paid ads that we increased the size of the books by a half-signature (8 pages) in order to accommodate them all. That hasn’t been the case for many years now, though.

Kevin Stout

Regarding final issues, while I won't claim it's perfect Teen Titans #53 from the 1970's might have been the first final issue I read as a kid. Mal & Karen learning the true origin of the Titans before the group decides it's time to call it a day. And me getting to the end and realizing there's no next issue. The Wolfman/Perez Titans is my comics Holy Grail, but this previous run regardless of how good or bad it was is what introduced me to the Titans and made me a fan of the characters.

As you know, that’s a very maligned run, Kevin. But I read it back when it was coming out, at least those issues that I was able to find.

Felipe Visentin

with NYX ending, Giant-Size only lasting two months, and Hellfire Gala Vigil being Hivemind’s Swan Song on the X-titles, I wonder if there are any more plans for Kamala Kham after that? I’m a big Ms. Marvel fan and would be really disappointed to see her disappearing so soon after becoming an X-Men

So after the thing that’s after a thing that’s after a thing, will there be another thing? I’m pretty sure that the answer is yes, Felipe. But I prefer that readers focus on the present and the immediate future rather than worrying about months and months and months and months down the line. We aren’t out of the Ms. Marvel business by any stretch.

Jenn

So very very excited about the upcoming Hellfire Vigil! And hoping we can get the one thing we haven't yet from Marcus To: a Retsy kiss! The man helped create this amazing couple, and is the only artist who has drawn them without getting to draw a kiss?

I hate to disappoint you, Jenn, but while Geoffrey Thorne and Marcus To did produce a section of the HELLFIRE VIGIL, it doesn’t have anything to do with either Betsy Braddock or Rachel Summers. Sorry—thought you should know before you go into it with your expectations too high.

Yliaster

On the topic of Omega-level mutants, during the Krakoan era, writers mostly followed Hickman's list from HoX with the exception of Arakkii mutants.

Prof X just got stated to be Omega. Does that mean the new era is no longer upholding the HoX list? And if so, is there the possibility of adding back previously stated-to-be-Omegas that were excluded from the HoX list, like Rachel, Cable, Nate Grey (seriously Hickman? ALL the Summers/Grey kids?! Mr. Sinister would be very displeased), etc.?

I have to tell you, Yliaster, I find the whole question of Omega-level mutants just a little bit tiresome. That’s mostly because what I like about the characters isn’t usually how world-beatingly powerful they are. So I think that Jonathan’s list is fine in that it’s established. At the same time, I don’t know how anyone could look at Xavier and not see him as existing at that same level. But it isn’t a big deal to me, and not a designation that we’ll be guarding like gold. Plus, who in-world gets to make that determination in the first place?

Mark Coale

I wonder how many people first encountered COBRA from Matthew Sweet's music video for Girlfriend and how many then searched out the anime?

I expect that most people saw it as a music video and had no idea whatsoever that the material came from elsewhere, Mark. And at the time, it’s not like SPACE COBRA was easily accessible to anybody who might have looked for it. But hey, it’s an excuse for me to post this link to that video for anybody who hasn’t experienced it before.

Pedro Afonso

Hey, Mr. Brevoort, are you the one editing Imperial? How come there's a Hulk Family Reunion in a Barbarian setting and Lyra isn't invited?

I am working on IMPERIAL, yes, Pedro. And Lyra isn’t involved because space isn’t really her typical environment.

Shaun

Since we are nearing the final issue of Cable: Love and Chrome, I have to ask: Did Nathan and Esme break up off panel or is he cheating on her with Avery? I keep expecting it to be brought up, but so far it hasn't been mentioned. What happened to their relationship that was established in his last ongoing? It was shown to have lasted until both their old ages.

Time can be rewritten, Shaun.

David Brazier

I am currently reading the Omega the Unknown series by Jonathan Lethem. Really interested how that came about? I remember being on holiday as a boy on holiday in Bournemouth on the English coast and buying Issue one of the original Omega series by Gerber and it blew my mind! What do you think of the original? And what are you feelings about the remake?

That OMEGA series happened when I reached out to Jonathan to see if he’d have any interest in writing something for Marvel. The original OMEGA THE UNKNOWN #1 had been a formative comic book in his life, so the opportunity to essentially remake it and then take the story in a totally different direction was appealing to him. I’ve read that original series, but only well after the fact, and consequently it’s not any great influence on me. I can appreciate that Steve Gerber was trying to do a super hero comic book that gave a more unflinching view of life in the city, but the whole thing is a bit of an odd duck, neither fish nor fowl.

Lara

As a huuuge Namor fan, I enjoyed the heck out of the 2024/25 NAMOR miniseries by Jason Aaron and team. Any chance we'll see my favorite Atlantean drama llama make an appearance in another Marvel book this year?

I guarantee it, Lara.

Chris Sutcliffe

When you hire a writer or an artist, I assume that there is some kind of agreement on the level of quality in the pages, rather than simply quantity. Do you have any stories you can share of times when the delivered work was not fit for purpose, and how that was handled?

If the people who’ve been hired to do the job prove to be incapable of doing so at the quality level that we require, then we tend to move on from them in very short order, Chris. I don’t know that I have any specific stories about this (except, perhaps, portions of the Deathlok Chronicles) but that’s because there’s typically very little to be done. Fortunately, our vetting process is good enough that it’s rare that we’ll put somebody into play who is so utterly hopeless that we can’t get a single story out of them at the very least, even if they can’t do the job on a regular basis.

Shaun

I really enjoyed the recent X-Force legacy story in 10# by Fabian Nicieza. What are the chances we get to see more of those versions of MLF and X-Force?

They live on forever in back issues, Shaun. But I don’t know that we’ll see them again in exactly that way moving forward, apart from possibly in throwback stories set during that timeframe.

Jenn

After the announcement of Doomed 2099 today, I have a question about the Rachel Summers that is advertised as being on the team. Is she the Phoenix of the time she's coming from? The announcement was strange because the Marvel article said, "Rachel Summers, the Phoenix," but linked "Phoenix" to Jean Grey's page. But the author's tweet said "Rachel Summers Phoenix."

That isn’t really my project, Jenn, so there’s only a limited amount that I can tell you in this regard, sorry.

Stefan

1. Your comments on the subject of how a comic sells appear to imply that if a comic will be financially beneficial to Marvel (ie; it sells well and won't harm other endeavors), that's reason enough for you to publish it. Did you always feel that way, or was there ever a time where you felt "That might be what's selling right now, but it's not something I'm interested in generating from a creative standpoint"?

2. Is there any comic you helped conceive that both sold well and went on to be considered a classic of the medium? (eg; Marvels, Watchmen, Kingdom Come)

3. You mention that sometimes old comics which don't always follow the rules of comic craft can be refreshing as a palate cleanser, and you find yourself enjoying them despite judging them as bad in some way. Is it possible the rules currently in place have become too rigid and formulaic, thereby dampening the fun present in older comics?

You’re dancing around something here, Stefan, so I wish you’d just come out and say what you want to say. But all right, let’s tango.

1. There generally needs to be more of a reason for me for any comic book that I directly put together than a feeling that it will sell (though that is a fairly important part of the equation.) But lots of people make up Marvel and they all have different things that they want to do and try. So a project needs to be that for whoever is working on it, even if it isn’t for me. Does that make sense?

2. You pretty clearly want me to say no, but I think I’ve worked on enough projects over the years that have achieved this sort of success—everything from the Winter Soldier storyline in CAPTAIN AMERICA to JLA/AVENGERS to CIVIL WAR to, heck, Brian’s NEW AVENGERS that I think I’ve got this base well covered.

3. I don’t enjoy crappy comics because I think they’re good. If anything, I enjoy them due to their flaws. But I don’t sit down to work with the intention of producing stories that don’t work. That happens sometimes, because storytelling is alchemy more than it is science, but that’s never the intent. So no, I don’t think that the basic fundamentals of storytelling are preventing a bunch of truly excellent garbage comic books from coming into being. It doens’t work that way.

Geo Harriet

Uncertain if you are a fan of time travel stories, but have you ever seen Dark on Netflix? Amazing show, lasted 3 seasons and I feel it really stuck the landing. I encourage you to watch it with German subtitles if you can as the dub doesn't seem to parlay the emotion that the actors are giving. Netflix also has a great site for it that allows you to put in the season and episode you are on so you can track certain things without spoilers. Huge fan of that show and it comes with my highest recommendation. Plus, the music is hauntingly good.

I haven’t seen it, Geo, hadn’t even heard of it before. So I’ll try to make it a point to check it out, thanks.

Chris Sutcliffe

I put together a little monthly video that highlights the comics featuring Spider-Man (and related characters) that month. As I'm prepping July, there's a question on the Hellfire Vigil, since Spidey has been invited to the Gala on occasion. Are you able to say whether any Spider-Man (or related characters) will show up in the issue?

Yes, but it’s such a fly-by appearance that I don’t know whether it genuinely counts, Chris. So you’ll have to use your own judgment on where the line is. If it’s literally just “shows up”, then yes.

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Off The Wall

This caricature of the young me was done by artist and former intern Manny Galan back in 1992. I can’t recall exactly what it was done for after all of this time—it’s too involved to have been executed potentially for the Marvel Editorial Trading Cards we did back then. But regardless, it’s been in my files ever since. And it’s chock-full of references to things going on in those days, from my Deathlok-style robot arm to the note to call my writing partner Mike Kanterovich. The likeness is pretty good, too, although I don’t think my arms are quite that hairy.

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On The Spinner Rack

This feature is really just an excuse to say a few words about some random old comic books, so I’m not sure how long I’ll continue it. It’s beginning to feel a little bit repetitive. Anyway, with another turn, we see the books on display this week on my genuine Spinner rack. At the top that’s Grant Morrison’s THUNDERWORLD ADVENTURES one-shot, their take on the Captain Marvel mythos which was executed in grand style. Underneath that is a random issue of MARVEL TWO-IN-ONE, a random 1970s issue of SUPERMAN, and the AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Annual that introduced the wrong-headed concept that peter Parker’s parents had been secret government spies, a thing we’ve been stuck with ever since. Then we get a random issue of ACTION COMICS, a sexist issue of LOIS LANE from the early 1970s, then the final issue of Scott McCloud’s excellent series ZOT!. Underneath that is a forgettable issue of THOR, the third issue of the underappreciated SLAPSTICK limited series, and an issue of BATMAN from the run that introduced Tim Drake, soon to be the new Robin.

And over on the rack dedicated to comics I worked on, we’re back around to the AVENGERS side, starting off with a NEW AVENGERS special that featured the Illuminati and which led into CIVIL WAR, then an issue of AVENGERS PRIME, and an issue of AVENGERS from the Geoff Johns/Olivier Coipel period. Under that is issue #2 of Genndy Tartakovsky’s CAGE! limited series, the first issue of my era of UNCANNY X-MEN (love that cover), an issue of AVENGERS FOREVER, the first issue of G.O.D.S., the first issue of Brian Bendis and David Marquez’s INVINCIBLE IRON MAN run, and the first issue of NIGHT THRASHER that I worked on, #17. And way at the bottom, there’s the Amalgam title THORION OF THE NEW ASGODS, which I inherited after Mark Gruenwald passed away, and which was shot from John Romita Jr.’s pencils.

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I Buy Crap

I think THIMBLE THEATER as created and executed by cartoonist E. C. Segar may be my favorite newspaper comic strip of all time. If your only point of reference for his signature character Popeye is the ubiquitous cartoons featuring the Spinach-eating swabbie, then you haven’t ever experienced the true Popeye at all. Over the last couple of years, there have been a set of very fine action figures released based on Segar’s original designs. This one is literally First Appearance Popeye, sculpted to match Segar’s earliest interpretation of the sailor. consequently, I felt that I had to buy one. It comes complete with a Whiffle Hen, in some interpretations the source of Popeye’s vast strength and ability to absorb punishment. The Whiffle Hen imparts good luck upon whomever pets its head feathers, so after Popeye was shot fifteen times by a ne’er-do-well, he lay in the hold of the ship rubbing the Whiffle Hen, only to emerge shortly thereafter as an unstoppable dynamo to whom bullet wounds were like bug bites.

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Behind the Curtain

What we have below is a promotional pamphlet produced by Independent News, the distributor that was owned by the same people who owned DC Comics, Harry Donenfeld and Jack Liebowitz. It distributed not only DC’s comic book product, but also that of ACG, Prize Comics and Martin Goodman’s unnamed company which would soon be christened Marvel. Based on the comic book that the ”boss” is holding on the cover (SUPERMAN #142), this undated pamphlet was produced sometime around the start of 1961, just before Marvel was about to come into being.

The impetus for this promotional item was no doubt the fact that the industry leader at the time, the ultra-popular Dell Comics, had raised their cover price to 15 cents from a dime, a move that had a disastrous effect on their sales, one that cost them their leadership position in the industry. A year later, when increasing cover prices became an inescapable reality, the comics carried by Independent News chose to go up to only 12 cents to maintain their competitive advantage over Dell. Eventually, Dell would be forced to bring their price down to 12 cents as well.

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Pimp My Wednesday

We’re a long way away from 12 cents these days, let alone a dime. But we still try to give you the most for your money. Let’s see what we have for you this week.

Tying in to the ongoing ONE WORLD UNDER DOOM storyline, FANTASTIC FOUR is now down to being FANTASTIC TWO, as all efforts to restore the Thing’s lost power have so far come to nothing. And as more radical solutions are attempted, the stakes grow ever more dangerous. It’s by Ryan North and Cory Smith.

Elsewhere, it’s a showdown with Baron Strucker and his Wolverines of Mass Destruction in the pages of WEAPON X-MEN #3, as well as the debut of an exciting new character. Joe Casey and Chris Cross deliver it to you!

And from the hand of Annalise Bissa comes the final issue of NYX as written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly and illustrated by Francesco Mortarino.

And next Saturday is Free Comic Book Day! So don’t forget to make your way to your local comic shop, where you can pick up this beauty absolutely gratis! (Though, if you’re going in for FCBD, be a sport and buy something while you’re there, all right? Your retailer will thank you for your patronage.) This issue opens with a Fantastic Four story by the new team of Ryan North and Humberto Ramos, features a colorful prologue to GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1 by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and Iban Coello, plus an unexpected third feature by ZCN’s own Chip Zdarsky. It’s a whole lot for, well, nothing, so partake, enjoy, and get on the bandwagon!

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A Comic I Worked On That Came Out On This Date

WHAT THE…?! #25 was released on August 27, 1993 and contained not one but two stories written by myself and Mike Kanterovich, both of which were illustrated by the aforementioned Manny Galan. These were the first two (and only) installments of The Eccentrics, a series that Mike and I had conceived that we’d intended to be more in line with the sorts of comics that we’d produced as fans, rather than a typical Marvel parody strip. The Eccentrics were four guys who lived in a remote town and who fancied themselves mutants even though they weren’t, because mutants were cool. The four were Crowbar, the delusional drill sergeant-esque leader, Bucket, a janitor, Carmel, the cleaning woman, and Chair, an inanimate chair. In the first story, the quartet makes a provisions run to a convenience store, where they fight back against anti-mutant persecution even though they’re the only ones in the place, and in the second, their annoying neighbor Gene Pool wants to join the group, but he’s a pain in the neck and they don’t want anything to do with him. The cliffhanger at the end revealed that Crowbar’s twin brother had replaced Chair with a double, and had the actual Chair chained up in the basement. and as far as I can tell, that heroic piece of furniture is still there today. The whole thing didn’t quite come off, in part because Manny drew the characters a bit too close to their X-Force antecedents (we were trying for types rather than specific parodies, but that wasn’t the WHAT THE formula) and partly due to the benign neglect that happened when the title switched editorial offices. But mainly because Mike and I were maybe not as funny as we thought we were.

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The New Warriors Chronicles

NOVA #18 marked the end of the road for the second NEW WARRIORS spin-off title, leaving only the mothership series afloat. Part of that was simply the marketplace at this time, but I also didn’t really do enough to save the book quickly enough. I still might not be able to save it today, but I would make more sweeping changes more quickly today. In any event, this issue led directly into the next NEW WARRIORS issue, #60, and set up plotlines for Rich Rider that would last until the end of that run.

I have to say, I don’t think I would do this story today. It feels just a little bit cavalier and irresponsible in the way we handle it, and especially in the manner in which the series ends. At the time, there wasn’t any complaint, no reader outrage or blowback. But I look back on this comic book and it makes me uneasy, so that tells me that it’s being heedlessly sensational. I seem to recall that writer Evan Skolnick really wanted this ending, and that I had to be talked into it. But in the end, I let him do it, so any responsibility is ultimately mine.

The issue itself is pretty well written, though, and the artwork is generally attractive, though artist Phil Gosier had a bit of trouble with characters’ faces. To put it plainly, everybody is pretty ugly. The story revolves around the status quo that we’d set up last time, the one that was meant to start off an entirely new cycle of stories; Rich Rider had been replaced as Nova by former villain Garthan Saal, and in this issue the powerless Rich is returned to Earth. Unknown to anyone, the ship carrying Saal and Rich to Earth is also carrying Volx, Queen of the shape-shifting Dire Wraiths. Dispirited by having been stripped of his powers, Rich is almost deliberately a hindrance to his replacement, acting out and preventing him from bringing Volx to heel. But it’s not his problem any longer, he isn’t a super hero any more, and he’s got a long walk back to civilization to think about what he’s going to do next.

It’s in his decision that the problem with this issue’s climax comes to a head. You see, after he had lost his powers following the conclusion of his original 1970s run, Rich had regained them—they had been dormant within him—when Night Thrasher threw him off a roof with the intention of resparking them. It was a crazy moment that opened NEW WARRIORS #1, and it’s maybe even crazier that the two ended up as teammates thereafter. But anyway, in this situation, Rich figures that the solve to getting his powers back is to repeat that process; to jump off of a rooftop. He realizes the risks involved, but if he can’t be a super hero, if he can’t be what he once was, then he doesn’t want to go on. The narration for the issue is framed as a letter Rich writes to his quasi-girlfriend from the series, telling her what he’s planning to do. In essence, it’s Rich’s suicide note.

And so the issue ends with Rich leaping out into space and plummeting towards the ground below. There is a small caption that indicates that the story will be continued in NEW WARRIORS #60, but it looks like it was added after the book had been lettered, so I wonder if it was something that we were asked to do to at least provide a sense of the final page being a cliffhanger rather than a conclusion. And the letters page, of course, showcases the cover to that NEW WARRIORS issue and directs readers to go there next. But boy, this is a dangerous message to be putting out into the world, especially in the manner in which it’s been framed. I have to assume that neither Evan nor myself at that point had enough life experience to truly understand what we were doing here, not that that excuses anything. It’s dramatic for sure, but almost too real in its presentation—a comic in which a character commits suicide to become a super hero again.

Not my finest hour.

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Monofocus

The second season of LIGHT AND MAGIC dropped on Disney +, the behind-the-scenes look at the history of cutting edge movie effect shop Industrial Light and Magic. This new season advances events into the 1990s and early 2000s as the emphasis shifts from practical effects to digital filmmaking, a transition that was clearly painful for some of those involved. I don’t have as strong an emotional connection to most of the films that are covered in this sequence, particularly the STAR WARS prequels. But it was still an engaging look at what happened and why, and the way in which many of those movies were made. It’s only three episodes, so it’s also a small overall time commitment.

Of all things, an obscure SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE sketch led to me watching a few episodes of the late 1950s western series TRACKDOWN this past week. TRACKDOWN starred a young Robert Culp, who would later go on to become one of the coolest (and yet most plausible ) spies of the 1960s in I SPY, a series that I love. Unfortunately, ever since the revelations came out about Bill Cosby’s heinous activities, I haven’t been able to get through an episode of I SPY—I just can’t square Cosby’s character Alexander Scott with his actions. The sketch in question was done in 1982 when Culp hosted SNL, and it involved him reprising his I SPY character of Kelly Robinson against a young Eddie Murphy’s spot-on skewering of Cosby. Here’s a link to the sketch in question. It made me want to watch some I SPY again, even though I didn’t really want to, if that makes sense. So TRACKDOWN became my placebo until the mood passed. And I can’t say that TRACKDOWN is a great show. It’s perfectly fine, and Culp is good in it as Texas Ranger Hoby Gilman. But it’s a bit formulaic and at the same time a bit sedate—Culp never quite gets to be a presence in the way that you’d want him to, and the thirty minute run time leaves most of the stories feeling obvious and underdeveloped.

Another misfire, at least for me, is the Chinese/Japanese co-production TO BE HERO X, which is available on Crunchyroll. Having heard some good notices about it, I came to it hoping for something more analogous to MY HERO ACADEMIA, an outsider’s viewpoint on American super heroes. And it is that, but I find that I don’t love the writing nor the heavily computer-assisted animation style. The series postulates a world in which belief (specifically trust) can be harnessed to create super-powers, and so the most powerful heroes need to maintain their popularity and the trust of the citizens in order to maintain their advantages. The main character Lin Ling worked at a P.R. firm producing propaganda for the company’s client super heroes until he was present when popular hero Nice stepped off of a rooftop and fell to his death. Now, he’s been recruited to take the place of that fallen hero, to replace Nice and step into his life—even though, while he desperately wants to be a hero, he doesn’t think he has it in him. Based on the description, it all ought to work, but I found the opening episode a bit of a slog to get through. I might try one more, though, depending on what else there is that needs watching in the next week or so. It does have a pretty stylish-though-overblown title sequence, which you can experience here.

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Posted at TomBrevoort.com

Yesterday, I wrote about the latest episode of Doctor Who

Five years ago, I wrote about Jack Kirby's cameos in early Marvel Comics

And ten years ago, I wrote about the much-beloved Mego HALL OF JUSTICE playset

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And we’re out! Guess there’s only so much hate that I can spew forth against the fans before even I am exhausted! But with any luck, I’ll get my second wind by next week, and we can pick this all up then. In the meantime, have yourselves a fantastic week!

Hat’s All, Folks!

Tom B