My brother, the talented Mighty Joe Castro (whose own Newsletter can be found here), released a new single this past Friday off of his forthcoming album Between the Lightning and the Thunder. It’s a really good tune, one of his best—and you can experience it for yourself at this handy
"You’ve completely convinced me here, Rich. I look forward to all forthcoming Bleeding Cool stories not naming any characters or creators going forward." Are you saying you want me to run more blind items? Because I have this doozy about Marvel offices, and a partner of a fired employee making their way to the top floor... 8-)
In a bit where art from an older comic is referenced -- a newspaper article of a past adventure, or on a computer monitor, or hanging on a wall -- I've noticed often the present-day artist redraws it. Does it count as a "reprint" if for one panel we see, say, George Perez's Avengers or John Byrne's Uncanny X-men?
It is a little sad that Sam isn’t in Imperial, especially since his buddy Amadeus will be along for the ride. I’m hoping against all (seemingly insurmountable) odds that Sam pops up in just *one* of the new cosmic books following Imperial, or any book really. But I get that Hickman has his plan and sometimes characters you’d expect to be involved in some capacity just aren’t, just the way it goes. Still excited for the event though, I love this for the future of Marvel Cosmic.
In reference to the question about reprinting the Fall of X Unlimited story: I would love to see all the X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comics appear in print in the relevant volumes of the Krakoa omnibuses! (I am quietly hoping that that particular story appears in the Fall/Rise omnibus, whose page count *seems* like it might be big enough to accommodate it...)
I appreciate the attempt to bring in the writers from a specific era when revisiting certain stories. Loeb on AoA definitely piques my interest. Are there ever conversations to bring back artists from that era for these stories? I mean no offense or disrespect to any of the artists that are brought in to work on these. I just wonder about that. For example, Marvel has Adam Kubert under contract and he was one of the defining artists of the era and the AoA event.
Kind of a big question here, Tom, but I was wondering if you could speak to the challenges of crafting events in the open ended world of comic books. I’ve been having a lot of conversations with my students in particular lately about the post-Endgame MCU and how movies were designed to be more finite, even if you’re telling a big story over many years. However, the minute you finished Civil War, it was on to Secret Invasion—rinse, repeat ad infinitum. How do you make each next one as big as the last one?
Making each event as big as the last one had me pondering: When was the last time a comic story made a splash in the mainstream news? I’m thinking like the “death of Superman” or Jason Todd’s demise.
It was on the tip of my brain for a while, but I finally remembered Tom King’s ‘Superman 100-Page Giant’ story where Lois Lane repeatedly dies. That one wasn’t a deliberate headline grabber, but it sure did make some news.
I'd like to see two things with Dani Moonstar: Her being groomed for general leadership of the X-Men by Cyclops being recognized and continued. I also wouldn't mind a page where her powers are codified definitively. Claremont screwed with her power set so much I can't keep it straight. Bits of it never made sense from the get-go either, like how her original weak sauce powers translated into a psychic connection with Wolfsbane.
Going off of a little bit about what Neil was saying, I want to applaud your office for bringing ordinary people back to the lives of the X-Men. Some of those interactions have been the best parts of the new era and the team doing Astonishing deserves a lot of credit too. It's really cool to see ordinary mutants, who do regular jobs.
Who handles the What If brand of stories? As in, which editorial department does that fall under? Would a writer for an issue of What If? have to clear any What If scenario with the editor of that character's office? For example, if someone was writing a What If about Cyclops being abducted by the Shi'ar along with his parents, would they ask you for permission first? Or similarly Nick Lowe for any What Ifs about Spider-Man characters?
Just finished reading John Higgs Dr Who Book - ‘Regenerate Exterminate’. There is thread throughout the history of Dr Who about the need to retain his mystery. So my question is - do you think it would have been better if Marvel had kept Wolverine’s Origin and background as a mystery rather than revealing it?
I've always been of the opinion that you should be able to tell the major beats of a character's origin to where they are *now* in a single page to get a reader up to speed.
I think you can just about manage it with both The Doctor and Wolverine, although in both cases you have to ignore a lot of continuity to make it work.
That Lois Lane summary was hilarious. To your point about the popularity despite the lack of action in the Superman titles of the 50s/60s - there was a very good Comics Journal pice that articulated the charm of the puzzle-like stories that Weisinger's office constructed. They lack the verisimilitude of their characters behaving somewhat like real, rational people that you would find in Marvel comics of the 60s, but there is still a lot to like for younger kids that would have been the main audience.
Two questions:
- you mentioned that then-contemporary issues of The Flash would come in your Marvel comp boxes. How many competitor titles did/does Marvel send to editors? I never realized those comp copies would include comics from other companies, but it certainly makes sense to keep an eye on what's working or not working from the competition and identify talent not currently employed by Marvel. Are comp boxes typically just top-selling titles, big two stuff, or is it a wide market sample?
- If there was a second "Best of the FF" volume, which stories would you have put forth for consideration?
I think it was Mark Millar who said his kids loved the 50s Superman stories as they were written as sort of 'fairy tales' - not realistic but whimsical, simple tales with a twist or a moral at the end that kids could get into.
Hi Mr Brevoort. I've been reading this feature for a while now, but it's my first time writing. I was thinking the other day about how remuneration works in the industry. I mean, as far as I understand it, usually the penciller is paid a certain amount per page, the inker the same, the color artist, etc. But what happens if the artist delivers the pages already inked, does he gets double pay? This seems to be getting a lot more common nowadays, thanks to the switch to digital art - or at least that's my perception. And in there case of painted art, that doesn't need inker nor colorist, does the artist gets a much higher rate?
On the other hand, if an artist only does breakdowns and leaves the details for the inker to fill in (like was famously the case with John Buscema and Tom Palmer in Avengers), does he gets a diminished rate? I'm not an artist and have no plans to work for Marvel, just wondering how you manage this kind of thing.
Sounds like I'll have to check out that Stan and Jack book—I also think some folks go too far in denigrating Stan to build up Jack, and I appreciate a more balanced view.
A couple of questions here made me think about how it's not unusual for me to grab my phone while reading a comic to look up a character or a reference I'm not familiar with. While I appreciate not having every issue recapping the same information (e.g. "My skeleton's laced with adamantium, makin' them near indestructible..." in every Shooter-era issue), I don't want to be constantly looking things up. Does the ready availability of the Marvel wiki and such inform how much backstory a comic rehashes?
In regards to the Clone saga - was it true that sales fell on the Spidey titles at a certain point? And that is what finally cause the resolution (and relaunch I believe)? Or is that an urban legend and sales remained strong/stable throughout the multi year saga?
Delighted to see Red Ronin back, and yes of course he should be a Marvel owned character, in the same way that Arcturus Rann, Bug and Marionette are (though I get why there might be confusion, given they were all created in “licensed” books by Marvel)
"You’ve completely convinced me here, Rich. I look forward to all forthcoming Bleeding Cool stories not naming any characters or creators going forward." Are you saying you want me to run more blind items? Because I have this doozy about Marvel offices, and a partner of a fired employee making their way to the top floor... 8-)
In a bit where art from an older comic is referenced -- a newspaper article of a past adventure, or on a computer monitor, or hanging on a wall -- I've noticed often the present-day artist redraws it. Does it count as a "reprint" if for one panel we see, say, George Perez's Avengers or John Byrne's Uncanny X-men?
It is a little sad that Sam isn’t in Imperial, especially since his buddy Amadeus will be along for the ride. I’m hoping against all (seemingly insurmountable) odds that Sam pops up in just *one* of the new cosmic books following Imperial, or any book really. But I get that Hickman has his plan and sometimes characters you’d expect to be involved in some capacity just aren’t, just the way it goes. Still excited for the event though, I love this for the future of Marvel Cosmic.
In reference to the question about reprinting the Fall of X Unlimited story: I would love to see all the X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comics appear in print in the relevant volumes of the Krakoa omnibuses! (I am quietly hoping that that particular story appears in the Fall/Rise omnibus, whose page count *seems* like it might be big enough to accommodate it...)
I appreciate the attempt to bring in the writers from a specific era when revisiting certain stories. Loeb on AoA definitely piques my interest. Are there ever conversations to bring back artists from that era for these stories? I mean no offense or disrespect to any of the artists that are brought in to work on these. I just wonder about that. For example, Marvel has Adam Kubert under contract and he was one of the defining artists of the era and the AoA event.
Kind of a big question here, Tom, but I was wondering if you could speak to the challenges of crafting events in the open ended world of comic books. I’ve been having a lot of conversations with my students in particular lately about the post-Endgame MCU and how movies were designed to be more finite, even if you’re telling a big story over many years. However, the minute you finished Civil War, it was on to Secret Invasion—rinse, repeat ad infinitum. How do you make each next one as big as the last one?
Making each event as big as the last one had me pondering: When was the last time a comic story made a splash in the mainstream news? I’m thinking like the “death of Superman” or Jason Todd’s demise.
What do people here remember?
First one that comes to mind is the time Captain America was turned into a Nazi for a while
I think the last one probably was Jon Kent getting a boyfriend
It was on the tip of my brain for a while, but I finally remembered Tom King’s ‘Superman 100-Page Giant’ story where Lois Lane repeatedly dies. That one wasn’t a deliberate headline grabber, but it sure did make some news.
I'd like to see two things with Dani Moonstar: Her being groomed for general leadership of the X-Men by Cyclops being recognized and continued. I also wouldn't mind a page where her powers are codified definitively. Claremont screwed with her power set so much I can't keep it straight. Bits of it never made sense from the get-go either, like how her original weak sauce powers translated into a psychic connection with Wolfsbane.
Going off of a little bit about what Neil was saying, I want to applaud your office for bringing ordinary people back to the lives of the X-Men. Some of those interactions have been the best parts of the new era and the team doing Astonishing deserves a lot of credit too. It's really cool to see ordinary mutants, who do regular jobs.
Who handles the What If brand of stories? As in, which editorial department does that fall under? Would a writer for an issue of What If? have to clear any What If scenario with the editor of that character's office? For example, if someone was writing a What If about Cyclops being abducted by the Shi'ar along with his parents, would they ask you for permission first? Or similarly Nick Lowe for any What Ifs about Spider-Man characters?
When it comes to X-Men, I really like the concept of "mutant names" so I prefer them to use that more often than not.
Just finished reading John Higgs Dr Who Book - ‘Regenerate Exterminate’. There is thread throughout the history of Dr Who about the need to retain his mystery. So my question is - do you think it would have been better if Marvel had kept Wolverine’s Origin and background as a mystery rather than revealing it?
It would 100% have been better. This character is much more interesting as a mystery.
I've always been of the opinion that you should be able to tell the major beats of a character's origin to where they are *now* in a single page to get a reader up to speed.
I think you can just about manage it with both The Doctor and Wolverine, although in both cases you have to ignore a lot of continuity to make it work.
Is Kid Omega in Vigil?
He is on the cover.
That Lois Lane summary was hilarious. To your point about the popularity despite the lack of action in the Superman titles of the 50s/60s - there was a very good Comics Journal pice that articulated the charm of the puzzle-like stories that Weisinger's office constructed. They lack the verisimilitude of their characters behaving somewhat like real, rational people that you would find in Marvel comics of the 60s, but there is still a lot to like for younger kids that would have been the main audience.
Two questions:
- you mentioned that then-contemporary issues of The Flash would come in your Marvel comp boxes. How many competitor titles did/does Marvel send to editors? I never realized those comp copies would include comics from other companies, but it certainly makes sense to keep an eye on what's working or not working from the competition and identify talent not currently employed by Marvel. Are comp boxes typically just top-selling titles, big two stuff, or is it a wide market sample?
- If there was a second "Best of the FF" volume, which stories would you have put forth for consideration?
I think it was Mark Millar who said his kids loved the 50s Superman stories as they were written as sort of 'fairy tales' - not realistic but whimsical, simple tales with a twist or a moral at the end that kids could get into.
Tom discussed the comp bundle situation in a previous post: "#23, Chasing the Dragon" (Sept 4, 2022): https://tombrevoort.substack.com/p/chasing-the-dragon
Hi Mr Brevoort. I've been reading this feature for a while now, but it's my first time writing. I was thinking the other day about how remuneration works in the industry. I mean, as far as I understand it, usually the penciller is paid a certain amount per page, the inker the same, the color artist, etc. But what happens if the artist delivers the pages already inked, does he gets double pay? This seems to be getting a lot more common nowadays, thanks to the switch to digital art - or at least that's my perception. And in there case of painted art, that doesn't need inker nor colorist, does the artist gets a much higher rate?
On the other hand, if an artist only does breakdowns and leaves the details for the inker to fill in (like was famously the case with John Buscema and Tom Palmer in Avengers), does he gets a diminished rate? I'm not an artist and have no plans to work for Marvel, just wondering how you manage this kind of thing.
Thanks for the attention!
Sounds like I'll have to check out that Stan and Jack book—I also think some folks go too far in denigrating Stan to build up Jack, and I appreciate a more balanced view.
A couple of questions here made me think about how it's not unusual for me to grab my phone while reading a comic to look up a character or a reference I'm not familiar with. While I appreciate not having every issue recapping the same information (e.g. "My skeleton's laced with adamantium, makin' them near indestructible..." in every Shooter-era issue), I don't want to be constantly looking things up. Does the ready availability of the Marvel wiki and such inform how much backstory a comic rehashes?
In regards to the Clone saga - was it true that sales fell on the Spidey titles at a certain point? And that is what finally cause the resolution (and relaunch I believe)? Or is that an urban legend and sales remained strong/stable throughout the multi year saga?
Delighted to see Red Ronin back, and yes of course he should be a Marvel owned character, in the same way that Arcturus Rann, Bug and Marionette are (though I get why there might be confusion, given they were all created in “licensed” books by Marvel)