I must admit I’ve always liked Captain Comet. That leads me onto my question Tom.
Marvel as I’m sure you are well aware has oodles of characters we rarely see. I loved the old Bill Mumy/Miguel Ferrier character of Comet Man, but he’s been barely seen in decades.
What are the chances of an appearance? He’d be a natural fit for Marvel’s cosmic stuff.
Seeing the SUPERSNIPE comic reminded me of the Supersnipe comic store I frequented in the 1970s in New York City at 84th and 2nd. I bought my first original comic art at the gallery next door partly owned by George Lucas. Did you ever shop at Supersnipe?
I also had one of my subscribers pledge to pay for my newsletter (he committed to the annual plan, which was very flattering!). It's Substack's passive-aggressive way to nudge their newsletter writers into going the paid route, and is on by default. It can be turned off in Settings.
Tom, I’m not sure if this is the right way to ask you a question but I’m wondering in your time as an editor, how close (if ever) has Marvel come to pushing the reset button and restarting the MU? I used to work at a comic store around the the time of the Ultimate Universe beginning and there were rumours back then the regular MU was going to stop.
Thanks for this great peek into the industry and your own thoughts. Has been very entertaining.
I have a question: I'm currently reading the Onslaught omnibus and reliving my mid-90s Marvel life. The omnibus is a beast and has a huge amount of content - I can't help but wonder what the Bullpen/editorial was like trying to organize the Onslaught event. It didn't have the more modern structure of a 5-7 issue limited series to anchor the story with some spin-off minis and tie-in issues but instead spread a pretty singular narrative across so, so many books in the line comprising dozens and dozens of creators. What was it like trying to coordinate such a massive event across such disparate books as Incredible Hulk, X-Man, and (one of my favorite oft-forgotten books) the Phil Urich-starring Green Goblin? Was it even more complex given that four of the books would be handed over to the Heroes Reborn reboot immediately following only to (I'd assume knowingly) be returned to the main line in a big Heroes Return launch?
"I don’t think you’ve quite got a handle on the specifics of what we describe as “stories about stories”, Matt. It’s not about having no history or connection to earliest adventures. Rather, it’s all about what a particular story has to say, what it’s about beyond just guys in funny suits punching one another. During the 1980s and 1990s, there were a bunch of stories that really only existed to “fix” some bit of seeming discontinuity in older stories."
Ah, so you mean "stories that are ONLY about previous stories". That makes sense to me, but I definitely don't think that's what Jemas intended when he came up with the term, since he cited several examples in Marville ( https://imgur.com/a/dZpQoFJ ) of storylines he objected to that clearly don't meet that description (and the kind which you guys do pretty regularly even these days). He also spiked story elements that various writers proposed that were about more than simply previous stories. The one in particular I remember is that he refused to allow Peter David in an issue of Captain Marvel to refer to Rick Jones' past killing of the dictator of Trans Sabal. The story was not *about* that previous story, but about the ramifications of such a moral quandary. This may sound harsh, but I think that decision reflected someone overstepping their expertise; he didn't have the kind of creative track record to warrant that level of micro-managing. And I'm pretty certain Avengers Forever would NEVER have come out under Jemas.
On the subject of paying for the newsletter; it's definitely my favorite, but rather than paying $8 for just one (excellent) newsletter, I would prefer to pay $30 a month bundled with other comic industry newsletters I would be interested in. I would go for a lineup featuring you and any 4 of the following:
Joe Quesada - Howard Chaykin - Scott Shaw - Erik Larsen - Peter David - Tom DeFalco - Geoff Johns - Neil Gaiman - Alan Moore - Warren Ellis - Christopher Priest - Robert Kirkman - Joe Casey - Larry Hama - Chris Claremont - Justin Jordan - Paul Levitz - Jim Shooter - Bob Greenberger - Andy Schmidt - Chris Ryall - Kevin Smith - Peter Sanderson - Dave Campiti - Mark Evanier - Brian Cronin - Brian Hibbs - Milton Griepp - Jess Nevins - Paul O'Brien - Rich Johnston - George Gene Gustines - Abraham Riesman - Umberto Gonzalez - Graeme McMillan
Glad to be back reading these and catching up! My newest question/comment is inspired by some of my recent reading, as I picked up “The Death of Captain Stacy” epic collection grouping together some of the early-ish Spidey tales.
I didn’t think it was really possible, but my eyes may now be able to roll even harder when I hear somebody complain about comics going “woke.” It surprised me how many ideas that would be deemed progressive today showed up in some of the books; such as taking on racist politicians, combating air pollution, and even working to better the rights of prisoners. These different themes were nice bits of added depth that help make the stories all the more enjoyable.
That being said, one the themes that started to appear in the later issues of the collection (once Roy Thomas took over writing duties and Stan was officially credited as “editor), was the decline or print news/media because of TV. This leads to Jameson complaining about paying his workers too much, his disdain for television, etc. That being said, was Jameson’s character as an editor occasionally used by writers to poke fun at their boss Stan, or perhaps by Stan himself to jokingly voice his concerns? The work related troubles of Jameson and Stan (aside from hating Spider-Man) seem like they would be pretty similar, and I just wonder if this was a way for creators to peel back the curtain a little bit in their work.
Wow, Alan Davis is retiring? I'm happy he'll get to enjoy a well-earned rest, obviously, but I'm gonna miss his art. The man could draw anything -- from dark, frightening alleyways to whimsical to sci-fi vistas -- and no matter what it was, it would sing.
A question: Are there any books from your time at Marvel that you feel were "right book, wrong time"? As in, it was too ahead of its time and would have probably been successful if had launched some years later?
Late to the party here, but that Spidey "cover" was for a feature we did in ASM #600 called "Spider-Man Covers You'll Never See" that was a nod to the classic "What If...?" #34
I know Bendis and Loeb each contributed a gag as well, but I can't recall who came up with this one in particular. However, McKone drew the hell out of it. (I generally hated being drawn into books, but I've never looked better!)
While it was intended as a Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd style gag, Gay Marriage became a hot button political issue in the midst of putting the comic together. So there was a reasonable fear it would look like we were making fun of something that actually mattered or making some kind of obscure statement. The page was therefore spiked (which makes sense in hindsight, though I was bummed at the time since it's so funny.)
Also I have every issue of Captain Comet! Marvel TV was sick of hearing me pitch it as a TV series a few years back.
I must admit I’ve always liked Captain Comet. That leads me onto my question Tom.
Marvel as I’m sure you are well aware has oodles of characters we rarely see. I loved the old Bill Mumy/Miguel Ferrier character of Comet Man, but he’s been barely seen in decades.
What are the chances of an appearance? He’d be a natural fit for Marvel’s cosmic stuff.
Seeing the SUPERSNIPE comic reminded me of the Supersnipe comic store I frequented in the 1970s in New York City at 84th and 2nd. I bought my first original comic art at the gallery next door partly owned by George Lucas. Did you ever shop at Supersnipe?
Thank for this newsletter, Tom!
Here is a question I have...
As a longtime comic book fan, what do you look for in a comic shop? And do you get a chance to vist any when you travel?
Thanks! Patrick Brower (Challengers Comics + Conversation in Chicago)
Had no idea Davis was retired from mainstream comics! Sad to hear, but excited to read his collaboration with Paul. The preview pages look amazing.
I also had one of my subscribers pledge to pay for my newsletter (he committed to the annual plan, which was very flattering!). It's Substack's passive-aggressive way to nudge their newsletter writers into going the paid route, and is on by default. It can be turned off in Settings.
Tom, I’m not sure if this is the right way to ask you a question but I’m wondering in your time as an editor, how close (if ever) has Marvel come to pushing the reset button and restarting the MU? I used to work at a comic store around the the time of the Ultimate Universe beginning and there were rumours back then the regular MU was going to stop.
Hi, Tom.
Thanks for this great peek into the industry and your own thoughts. Has been very entertaining.
I have a question: I'm currently reading the Onslaught omnibus and reliving my mid-90s Marvel life. The omnibus is a beast and has a huge amount of content - I can't help but wonder what the Bullpen/editorial was like trying to organize the Onslaught event. It didn't have the more modern structure of a 5-7 issue limited series to anchor the story with some spin-off minis and tie-in issues but instead spread a pretty singular narrative across so, so many books in the line comprising dozens and dozens of creators. What was it like trying to coordinate such a massive event across such disparate books as Incredible Hulk, X-Man, and (one of my favorite oft-forgotten books) the Phil Urich-starring Green Goblin? Was it even more complex given that four of the books would be handed over to the Heroes Reborn reboot immediately following only to (I'd assume knowingly) be returned to the main line in a big Heroes Return launch?
"I don’t think you’ve quite got a handle on the specifics of what we describe as “stories about stories”, Matt. It’s not about having no history or connection to earliest adventures. Rather, it’s all about what a particular story has to say, what it’s about beyond just guys in funny suits punching one another. During the 1980s and 1990s, there were a bunch of stories that really only existed to “fix” some bit of seeming discontinuity in older stories."
Ah, so you mean "stories that are ONLY about previous stories". That makes sense to me, but I definitely don't think that's what Jemas intended when he came up with the term, since he cited several examples in Marville ( https://imgur.com/a/dZpQoFJ ) of storylines he objected to that clearly don't meet that description (and the kind which you guys do pretty regularly even these days). He also spiked story elements that various writers proposed that were about more than simply previous stories. The one in particular I remember is that he refused to allow Peter David in an issue of Captain Marvel to refer to Rick Jones' past killing of the dictator of Trans Sabal. The story was not *about* that previous story, but about the ramifications of such a moral quandary. This may sound harsh, but I think that decision reflected someone overstepping their expertise; he didn't have the kind of creative track record to warrant that level of micro-managing. And I'm pretty certain Avengers Forever would NEVER have come out under Jemas.
On the subject of paying for the newsletter; it's definitely my favorite, but rather than paying $8 for just one (excellent) newsletter, I would prefer to pay $30 a month bundled with other comic industry newsletters I would be interested in. I would go for a lineup featuring you and any 4 of the following:
Joe Quesada - Howard Chaykin - Scott Shaw - Erik Larsen - Peter David - Tom DeFalco - Geoff Johns - Neil Gaiman - Alan Moore - Warren Ellis - Christopher Priest - Robert Kirkman - Joe Casey - Larry Hama - Chris Claremont - Justin Jordan - Paul Levitz - Jim Shooter - Bob Greenberger - Andy Schmidt - Chris Ryall - Kevin Smith - Peter Sanderson - Dave Campiti - Mark Evanier - Brian Cronin - Brian Hibbs - Milton Griepp - Jess Nevins - Paul O'Brien - Rich Johnston - George Gene Gustines - Abraham Riesman - Umberto Gonzalez - Graeme McMillan
Glad to be back reading these and catching up! My newest question/comment is inspired by some of my recent reading, as I picked up “The Death of Captain Stacy” epic collection grouping together some of the early-ish Spidey tales.
I didn’t think it was really possible, but my eyes may now be able to roll even harder when I hear somebody complain about comics going “woke.” It surprised me how many ideas that would be deemed progressive today showed up in some of the books; such as taking on racist politicians, combating air pollution, and even working to better the rights of prisoners. These different themes were nice bits of added depth that help make the stories all the more enjoyable.
That being said, one the themes that started to appear in the later issues of the collection (once Roy Thomas took over writing duties and Stan was officially credited as “editor), was the decline or print news/media because of TV. This leads to Jameson complaining about paying his workers too much, his disdain for television, etc. That being said, was Jameson’s character as an editor occasionally used by writers to poke fun at their boss Stan, or perhaps by Stan himself to jokingly voice his concerns? The work related troubles of Jameson and Stan (aside from hating Spider-Man) seem like they would be pretty similar, and I just wonder if this was a way for creators to peel back the curtain a little bit in their work.
Wow, Alan Davis is retiring? I'm happy he'll get to enjoy a well-earned rest, obviously, but I'm gonna miss his art. The man could draw anything -- from dark, frightening alleyways to whimsical to sci-fi vistas -- and no matter what it was, it would sing.
A question: Are there any books from your time at Marvel that you feel were "right book, wrong time"? As in, it was too ahead of its time and would have probably been successful if had launched some years later?
Late to the party here, but that Spidey "cover" was for a feature we did in ASM #600 called "Spider-Man Covers You'll Never See" that was a nod to the classic "What If...?" #34
I know Bendis and Loeb each contributed a gag as well, but I can't recall who came up with this one in particular. However, McKone drew the hell out of it. (I generally hated being drawn into books, but I've never looked better!)
While it was intended as a Bugs Bunny/Elmer Fudd style gag, Gay Marriage became a hot button political issue in the midst of putting the comic together. So there was a reasonable fear it would look like we were making fun of something that actually mattered or making some kind of obscure statement. The page was therefore spiked (which makes sense in hindsight, though I was bummed at the time since it's so funny.)
Also I have every issue of Captain Comet! Marvel TV was sick of hearing me pitch it as a TV series a few years back.