Read Avengers Inc #4 the other day and I agree that it's a real shame this didn't prove popular. I love Al Ewing when he lets loose on a niche title. His Ant-Man and the recent Defender's minis all really struck a chord with me also. Only thing I didn't like about Avengers Inc were the covers. They were distinctive but didn't really seem to match the title for me. Do you think something like this can dissuade buyers? Would a more standard superhero-type art have made a difference possibly?
I haven't read AVENGERS, INC, but it sounds very intriguing. My question is: if there was a 10-issue arc planned out, couldn't Marvel have committed to those 10 issues right out of the gate? With the plan/intention/hope to recoup their investment in the collected edition? Yes, that's a gamble, but given the creative team and word-of-mouth buzz (generated here at MAN WITH A HAT, at least) I think it would have been a gamble worth taking.
"But it all makes me wonder: does anybody really believe in any of this stuff, or is both the creator and the audience in on the grift, agreeing in the manner that the audience for a magic show agrees to go along with the concept that the performer is capable of performing logic-defying feats?"
I can only speak to my experience. (Warning- mention of online harassment)
In 2018-2019, I angered the people who run one of these groups. You have probably heard of them, but I'm not going to type the name of the people involved or the group because I don't want them to hunt you down.
I could see the scam pretty clearly. Some of the people in this group were former mainstream comic book creators, and had done crowdfunding initiatives to sell their books. (The most prominent one is about a frog.) They claimed that the success of their initial crowdfunding efforts was an indication that they knew more about comics than, say, Marvel and DC, and urged anyone making comics to do what they were doing. They claimed to be the wise men, and they claimed that association with them would guarantee any up-and-coming creator financial success beyond their wildest dreams.
I poked the bear. I created some spreadsheets that showed that, while they bragged about the millions raised in crowdfunding by the movement, most of the projects actually raised very little money, nowhere near enough to break even. Yes, two or three creators had been very successful. But the overwhelming majority weren't.
The bear poked back. Social media warfare. Most of it was silly, but one person created a parody account using my name. "His name is Ray Cornwall? I'll call him Ray CORNBALL!" And they did. And hey, that's fine. I've been called Cornball, and just about every corn-related product manufactured in 48 states, since first grade. I have a thick skin about that.
But then, it got really serious. The person posted information about my then-wife, including her picture and her work information. Our marriage was already strained (we'd end up separating at the end of 2019), and this didn't help.
And then... and I still scratch my head on this... the person posted that I would leave porn at Chik-Fil-As so that kids in the restaurant could get sex education.
I got death threats. Not on the imposter account, but on MY account. People actually thought I did this.
I escalated this to Twitter, and it took them a *year* to take down the account because they had crappy rules about parody accounts. I rarely post on Twitter/X anymore, and I really only use it for sports news.
Now, is it possible that the people leaving death threats were actually in on the joke? That everybody was in on the scam? Maybe. Or maybe they had influenced other people to believe what they were saying. I don't know, and I don't care.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing how you're going to ruin X-Men. After all, you've ruined the Avengers and the FF. I know. I've bought and read at least 80% of all the books you've edited at Marvel. I don't know why it seemed so clear all of a sudden, but there is no doubt. Someone must destroy Marvel Comics and Tom Brevoort, and that someone must be me!!
I assume there's a story behind the crowbar in your office. An homage to Gordon Freeman (or even Dirk Garthwaite)? Or just an acknowledgement that being a comic book editor requires brute force as often as finesse?
Thanks as always, Tom. These newsletters remain a dependable pleasure.
Your anecdote about Bob Harras brings to mind a topic I think a lot of readers might benefit from learning about: what, these days, is the day-to-day purview and work description of a Marvel Editor in Chief? How do the EIC's responsibilities compare to those of group editors, the publisher, or the company higher-ups? Who, in the end, actually sets eyes on a comic book before it hits the stand, and in what order?
Call me crazy, call me a glutton for procedurals, but I love a good nuts-and-bolts breakdown of the editorial process.
Dear Tom - please bring back MENACE !!! I also loved AGENTS OF ATLAS - such a cool / fun idea - but have a suspicion there weren't that many of us who did - or, similarly, who would love to see a new Pulpy fun Horror title like Menace :-)
Regarding AVENGERS 2 -- if my hazy memory is right, I suggested that we swap in the cover for issue 3 to replace the Scarlet Witch cover Bob didn't want to use, because there wasn't time for George to do a new cover, and we were kind of one step out of sync with the covers anyway -- the Queen's Vengeance debuted in issue 2 but we didn't show them on the cover so solicits wouldn't give it away. But I could be wrong about that.
I did suggest doing the Wonder Man cover for issue 3, and was very happy with it, because due to the circumstances, that cover wouldn't be used in solicitation, so we could actually have it be a surprise to readers. And George could get it done in time without slowing him up on the issue he was working on.
[I also wanted to do an arrow-shaped caption on the cover saying "One of the Avengers on This Cover Will DIE in This Issue! But Which One?" -- pointing directly to Wonder Man, since he faded back to "dead" by the end of the story. But you were sensible enough not to do it.]
Tom, this article has mostly disappeared from the web, but it's the one I was asking about with my question about Marvel's library going to France. FWIW.
Comic Books Donated to French Museum
Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:37 AM ET Entertainment - AP
By KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press Writer
PARIS - Spiderman, Captain America, the Incredible Hulk and Daredevil have bounded across the Atlantic in a single leap "” a giant donation of almost 300,000 vintage comic books to a French museum.
Jean-Pierre Mercier, who manages the collection for France's National Center for Comic Books and Images, said he was "flabbergasted" when he learned in March that Marvel Enterprises wanted to donate the huge quantity of comic books dating back as far as the 1950s.
The gift, from one of the top U.S. comic publishers, was made through Gifts in Kind, a U.S. charity that distributes donated items.
"Marvel specifically requested that they go overseas to a cultural institution where they would benefit numerous children and numerous people," said charity volunteer Margaret Mallon-Pujol. She said the French comic book museum was the ideal candidate.
The museum, in the western city of Angouleme, didn't know what a superhuman task it was in for.
Mercier said Mallon-Pujol first offered 800,000 to 1 million comic books, but he declined the offer. Such a gift would overwhelm his museum. Instead, the museum selected only what it believed to be the earliest books, including some published under Marvel's early names: Timely Comics and Atlas Comics. In June, about 275,000 books arrived in 1,800 boxes. Among them were hundreds of copies of the same editions.
Most date from the early 1950s to the late 1970s. Mercier believes the collection represents nearly 80 percent of comic books produced by Marvel during that span.
The comics are being sorted into five identical collections, two for the center and others for France's National Library and a museum in Amadora, Portugal, said Catherine Bourgouin, spokeswoman of the Angouleme museum. The destination of the fifth collection has not yet been determined.
The Angouleme museum hasn't decided how it will display its colorful treasure "” although an exhibit on the glory years of Spiderman, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four and other superheroes is expected.
For customs purposes, the collection's value was estimated at US$300,000 (euro225,000), but experts say the real value is difficult to ascertain. A mint-condition, first-edition "Spiderman" from 1963, for example, would be valued today at US$32,500 (euro24,095), said Frederic Solti, manager of the Gael comic book shop in Paris.
Susan Corrigan, president of the Gifts in Kind charity in Alexandria, Virginia, said Marvel is one of the top donors to the organization and has given millions of comics to young people in the United States and overseas.
"They just thought this would be an effective thing to donate worldwide," she said.
The agreement with Gifts in Kind allows the museum to destroy duplicate copies, but it cannot barter, trade, sell or give any away.
"We have received e-mails, phone calls and letters from fans and specialists who protest and complain about this decision, but there is no way for us to deal with that in any other way," Mercier said.
An initial sorting, numbering and stamping of the books should be completed in 2005.
The museum is still waiting for Marvel to send about 8,000 books "” the oldest, rarest ones "” which the publisher is scanning into its digital archives.
Some of the most valuable include love-story comics "” designed to appeal to girls "” from the 1950s and earliest issues of the Fantastic Four, Spiderman and Captain America, among others.
Marvel is also home to Captain Marvel, the X-Men, the Avengers, and other superheroes.
The French museum was created in 1990 and its collection has consisted mostly of French and Belgian comics. It organizes a four-day international comic book festival each January.
The festival this year is Jan. 27-30 and includes shows on comic books figures, young comic book artists, and the origins and future of comics.
DC infamously put out The Wit and Wisdom of Lobo, a 64-page blank book. Some people bought it unaware of the joke, hoping for 64 pages of action featuring The Main Man. Have there been any ideas pitched to Marvel that may have sold, but were shut down because it would feel too much like ripping off the audience?
From what you've written in previous newsletters, Pepe Larraz has been stockpiling art for Blood Hunt for some time, and Daniel Acuna has been far enough ahead on Avengers Twilight that you could double-ship the first two issues. How often do you get to have artists work far in advance of publication, and what's the average amount of time between a comic being drawn and getting shipped in this era? Is working in this way something that is only prioritized for particular star artists and high profile projects? Are there any down sides to working well in advance of release dates?
My question is specifically about Doctor Doom but also may speak to a larger trend of sorts. Dr. Doom is very popular and as such, has become something of an anti-hero as opposed to an outright villain. The last book I can really remember him being "evil" in is Matt Fraction's FF I think? When Scott Lang avenged his daughter's death.
Granted, in Cantwell's solo series IIRC (spoilers ahead) he blew up an entire alternate universe, but somehow that doesn't actually come across as badly and he's able to retain his noble anti-hero status. I guess my question is, would you guys allow a writer to pitch an in-continuity truly evil Doctor Doom, of the type who murders an innocent child like he did with Cassie Lang?
It seems to me like this process has happened with a fair share of villains, and I wonder if a lot of thought is put into it or if it's simply a natural consequence of their popularity? Not saying it's bad by the way, just interesting!
A while ago you mentioned how Wolverine once struggled to fight a handful of Hellfire goons ("Wolverine Fights Alone!"— an issue of X-MEN that I waited on the EDGE OF MY SEAT for!) yet today that would be a walk in the park for him. That sort of "mission creep" or "power creep" in comics has always bothered me, the obsessive desire to keep upping the ante or "take it to the next level" (as Mike Carlin liked to say). It seems to me that leads to total Event Publishing (something Dan Jurgens predicted in the 80s)— where the fate of the world! The Universe! REALITY ITSELF! is always at stake. And it makes me wonder where all the wonderful, smaller, more self-contained "This Man, This Monster" stories fit in.
Related to this is that at the heart of many superheroes is the dichotomy of the Hero Who Struggles and the Hero Who is The Best. Spider-Man certainly started out as a Hero Who Struggles, but after 60 years he's a seasoned, experienced pro, and the only way to make him struggle is to have him constantly go up against stronger and more overwhelming foes/situations… which he overcomes… which only makes him even more experience and accomplished at what he does. It seems to be a vicious cycle that will sooner or later eat itself.
I believe this is where legacy characters come in— like Wally West becoming the Flash, or Miles Morales as a less-experienced Spider-Man. This is how we see *a* Spider-Man, at least, struggle against much smaller threats and odds.
But does that mean Spider-Man— I'm talking Peter Parker here, not the *idea* of Spider-Man— can Spider-Man never again be the Hero Who Struggles? The hero who spends most of an issue trying and trying and trying again to shoulder and lift a literally crushing weight that he's trapped under? (A Ditko reference, yes.) Can a character like that be "re-set"— WITHOUT a reality-altering Crisis or a partial/radical "de-powering"— or do we have to accept that these characters grow and change… and now it's Miles' turn.
Obviously "This Man, This Monster" happened right after the Galactus trilogy— setting the standard for how to bring your characters back to "ground level." But that was in a time before constant, company-wide Events which, to my mind, effectively wipe out or at least drown out the smaller moments— and even mid-sized moments like the introduction of Wakanda and the Black Panther. Nowadays those sort of things have to be PART of a big event, or it's like they never happened.
Some of this "power creep" is a natural extension of new people playing in the sandbox. Hell, Barbara Randall Kesel and I revamped HAWK & DOVE, purposefully making them much more than they were before. And that was fun! Exciting! And well-received! I'm not saying this shouldn't happen, not saying it's bad. Just that it feels like that's ALL that is happening these days.
Thank you for letting me rant. Move along. Nothing more to see here.
Great post Karl - I agree with a lot of this and find this affects my enjoyment of Batman a bit - I miss the year One/Denny O'Neil era Batman that got hurt, cut, beaten down...now the uber Morrison JLA era Batman who has a plan and means to take down everyone including Darkseid just seems less interesting to me.
Tom - do you think War comics (not necessarily by Marvel) have a place in modern comics? Is it too sensitive a subject that can be trivialized? or is there room for it? Should it be 'realistic' (like the 'Nam') or is there room for a WW2 Invaders series?
I am torn a bit because I love the old Roy Thomas Invaders and All Star Squadron series, as well as Garth Ennis more recent (and brutal) explorations of past conflicts in his war stories. It is a tricky to write about modern conflict without stirring some justified emotions.
Good evening Mr Brevoort, if the question bothers you, ignore it, I am very curious about your stag in X-men but asking you about that would seem very daring to me, although if Mr Clameront's stage is your favorite I like that because for me it is too, (Kitty and Wolverine They are my favorites and they are because of Mr Clameront) and I know that Spider-Woman has a regular series but my question is if there is any possibility that in the near future Spider-Woman could be part of a team and we will see her in another series being part of a MARVEL team and sorry if I have bothered you, thank you very much Mr Brevoort.
And a post to say I love Leonard Kirk's art - a beautiful clear line - he falls into the same category for as does Pat Oliffe, Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway. Tom Grumett, Paul Pelletier and the late Paul Ryan - a real pleasure to look at when it comes to superhero comics (especially team books).
Read Avengers Inc #4 the other day and I agree that it's a real shame this didn't prove popular. I love Al Ewing when he lets loose on a niche title. His Ant-Man and the recent Defender's minis all really struck a chord with me also. Only thing I didn't like about Avengers Inc were the covers. They were distinctive but didn't really seem to match the title for me. Do you think something like this can dissuade buyers? Would a more standard superhero-type art have made a difference possibly?
I've really enjoyed AVENGERS INC. as well -- an unconventional story with good scripting and strong art, and a lot of fun characters.
I've liked the covers, too, though I can see that they might be uncommercial. I do think they represent the book well, though.
kdb
I like Ewing a lot but I think the Acuna covers are what tipped me over to buy the issues as they came out!
I haven't read AVENGERS, INC, but it sounds very intriguing. My question is: if there was a 10-issue arc planned out, couldn't Marvel have committed to those 10 issues right out of the gate? With the plan/intention/hope to recoup their investment in the collected edition? Yes, that's a gamble, but given the creative team and word-of-mouth buzz (generated here at MAN WITH A HAT, at least) I think it would have been a gamble worth taking.
"But it all makes me wonder: does anybody really believe in any of this stuff, or is both the creator and the audience in on the grift, agreeing in the manner that the audience for a magic show agrees to go along with the concept that the performer is capable of performing logic-defying feats?"
I can only speak to my experience. (Warning- mention of online harassment)
In 2018-2019, I angered the people who run one of these groups. You have probably heard of them, but I'm not going to type the name of the people involved or the group because I don't want them to hunt you down.
I could see the scam pretty clearly. Some of the people in this group were former mainstream comic book creators, and had done crowdfunding initiatives to sell their books. (The most prominent one is about a frog.) They claimed that the success of their initial crowdfunding efforts was an indication that they knew more about comics than, say, Marvel and DC, and urged anyone making comics to do what they were doing. They claimed to be the wise men, and they claimed that association with them would guarantee any up-and-coming creator financial success beyond their wildest dreams.
I poked the bear. I created some spreadsheets that showed that, while they bragged about the millions raised in crowdfunding by the movement, most of the projects actually raised very little money, nowhere near enough to break even. Yes, two or three creators had been very successful. But the overwhelming majority weren't.
The bear poked back. Social media warfare. Most of it was silly, but one person created a parody account using my name. "His name is Ray Cornwall? I'll call him Ray CORNBALL!" And they did. And hey, that's fine. I've been called Cornball, and just about every corn-related product manufactured in 48 states, since first grade. I have a thick skin about that.
But then, it got really serious. The person posted information about my then-wife, including her picture and her work information. Our marriage was already strained (we'd end up separating at the end of 2019), and this didn't help.
And then... and I still scratch my head on this... the person posted that I would leave porn at Chik-Fil-As so that kids in the restaurant could get sex education.
I got death threats. Not on the imposter account, but on MY account. People actually thought I did this.
I escalated this to Twitter, and it took them a *year* to take down the account because they had crappy rules about parody accounts. I rarely post on Twitter/X anymore, and I really only use it for sports news.
Now, is it possible that the people leaving death threats were actually in on the joke? That everybody was in on the scam? Maybe. Or maybe they had influenced other people to believe what they were saying. I don't know, and I don't care.
Anyway, I look forward to seeing how you're going to ruin X-Men. After all, you've ruined the Avengers and the FF. I know. I've bought and read at least 80% of all the books you've edited at Marvel. I don't know why it seemed so clear all of a sudden, but there is no doubt. Someone must destroy Marvel Comics and Tom Brevoort, and that someone must be me!!
(That last paragraph is sarcasm.)
I assume there's a story behind the crowbar in your office. An homage to Gordon Freeman (or even Dirk Garthwaite)? Or just an acknowledgement that being a comic book editor requires brute force as often as finesse?
Thanks as always, Tom. These newsletters remain a dependable pleasure.
Your anecdote about Bob Harras brings to mind a topic I think a lot of readers might benefit from learning about: what, these days, is the day-to-day purview and work description of a Marvel Editor in Chief? How do the EIC's responsibilities compare to those of group editors, the publisher, or the company higher-ups? Who, in the end, actually sets eyes on a comic book before it hits the stand, and in what order?
Call me crazy, call me a glutton for procedurals, but I love a good nuts-and-bolts breakdown of the editorial process.
Dear Tom - please bring back MENACE !!! I also loved AGENTS OF ATLAS - such a cool / fun idea - but have a suspicion there weren't that many of us who did - or, similarly, who would love to see a new Pulpy fun Horror title like Menace :-)
Regarding AVENGERS 2 -- if my hazy memory is right, I suggested that we swap in the cover for issue 3 to replace the Scarlet Witch cover Bob didn't want to use, because there wasn't time for George to do a new cover, and we were kind of one step out of sync with the covers anyway -- the Queen's Vengeance debuted in issue 2 but we didn't show them on the cover so solicits wouldn't give it away. But I could be wrong about that.
I did suggest doing the Wonder Man cover for issue 3, and was very happy with it, because due to the circumstances, that cover wouldn't be used in solicitation, so we could actually have it be a surprise to readers. And George could get it done in time without slowing him up on the issue he was working on.
[I also wanted to do an arrow-shaped caption on the cover saying "One of the Avengers on This Cover Will DIE in This Issue! But Which One?" -- pointing directly to Wonder Man, since he faded back to "dead" by the end of the story. But you were sensible enough not to do it.]
kdb
Tom, this article has mostly disappeared from the web, but it's the one I was asking about with my question about Marvel's library going to France. FWIW.
Comic Books Donated to French Museum
Fri Dec 31, 2004 9:37 AM ET Entertainment - AP
By KATE BRUMBACK, Associated Press Writer
PARIS - Spiderman, Captain America, the Incredible Hulk and Daredevil have bounded across the Atlantic in a single leap "” a giant donation of almost 300,000 vintage comic books to a French museum.
Jean-Pierre Mercier, who manages the collection for France's National Center for Comic Books and Images, said he was "flabbergasted" when he learned in March that Marvel Enterprises wanted to donate the huge quantity of comic books dating back as far as the 1950s.
The gift, from one of the top U.S. comic publishers, was made through Gifts in Kind, a U.S. charity that distributes donated items.
"Marvel specifically requested that they go overseas to a cultural institution where they would benefit numerous children and numerous people," said charity volunteer Margaret Mallon-Pujol. She said the French comic book museum was the ideal candidate.
The museum, in the western city of Angouleme, didn't know what a superhuman task it was in for.
Mercier said Mallon-Pujol first offered 800,000 to 1 million comic books, but he declined the offer. Such a gift would overwhelm his museum. Instead, the museum selected only what it believed to be the earliest books, including some published under Marvel's early names: Timely Comics and Atlas Comics. In June, about 275,000 books arrived in 1,800 boxes. Among them were hundreds of copies of the same editions.
Most date from the early 1950s to the late 1970s. Mercier believes the collection represents nearly 80 percent of comic books produced by Marvel during that span.
The comics are being sorted into five identical collections, two for the center and others for France's National Library and a museum in Amadora, Portugal, said Catherine Bourgouin, spokeswoman of the Angouleme museum. The destination of the fifth collection has not yet been determined.
The Angouleme museum hasn't decided how it will display its colorful treasure "” although an exhibit on the glory years of Spiderman, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four and other superheroes is expected.
For customs purposes, the collection's value was estimated at US$300,000 (euro225,000), but experts say the real value is difficult to ascertain. A mint-condition, first-edition "Spiderman" from 1963, for example, would be valued today at US$32,500 (euro24,095), said Frederic Solti, manager of the Gael comic book shop in Paris.
Susan Corrigan, president of the Gifts in Kind charity in Alexandria, Virginia, said Marvel is one of the top donors to the organization and has given millions of comics to young people in the United States and overseas.
"They just thought this would be an effective thing to donate worldwide," she said.
The agreement with Gifts in Kind allows the museum to destroy duplicate copies, but it cannot barter, trade, sell or give any away.
"We have received e-mails, phone calls and letters from fans and specialists who protest and complain about this decision, but there is no way for us to deal with that in any other way," Mercier said.
An initial sorting, numbering and stamping of the books should be completed in 2005.
The museum is still waiting for Marvel to send about 8,000 books "” the oldest, rarest ones "” which the publisher is scanning into its digital archives.
Some of the most valuable include love-story comics "” designed to appeal to girls "” from the 1950s and earliest issues of the Fantastic Four, Spiderman and Captain America, among others.
Marvel is also home to Captain Marvel, the X-Men, the Avengers, and other superheroes.
The French museum was created in 1990 and its collection has consisted mostly of French and Belgian comics. It organizes a four-day international comic book festival each January.
The festival this year is Jan. 27-30 and includes shows on comic books figures, young comic book artists, and the origins and future of comics.
Cool! Good find.
DC infamously put out The Wit and Wisdom of Lobo, a 64-page blank book. Some people bought it unaware of the joke, hoping for 64 pages of action featuring The Main Man. Have there been any ideas pitched to Marvel that may have sold, but were shut down because it would feel too much like ripping off the audience?
From what you've written in previous newsletters, Pepe Larraz has been stockpiling art for Blood Hunt for some time, and Daniel Acuna has been far enough ahead on Avengers Twilight that you could double-ship the first two issues. How often do you get to have artists work far in advance of publication, and what's the average amount of time between a comic being drawn and getting shipped in this era? Is working in this way something that is only prioritized for particular star artists and high profile projects? Are there any down sides to working well in advance of release dates?
Hi Tom! I hope your week is going well.
My question is specifically about Doctor Doom but also may speak to a larger trend of sorts. Dr. Doom is very popular and as such, has become something of an anti-hero as opposed to an outright villain. The last book I can really remember him being "evil" in is Matt Fraction's FF I think? When Scott Lang avenged his daughter's death.
Granted, in Cantwell's solo series IIRC (spoilers ahead) he blew up an entire alternate universe, but somehow that doesn't actually come across as badly and he's able to retain his noble anti-hero status. I guess my question is, would you guys allow a writer to pitch an in-continuity truly evil Doctor Doom, of the type who murders an innocent child like he did with Cassie Lang?
It seems to me like this process has happened with a fair share of villains, and I wonder if a lot of thought is put into it or if it's simply a natural consequence of their popularity? Not saying it's bad by the way, just interesting!
That's all for me! :-)
Tom:
A while ago you mentioned how Wolverine once struggled to fight a handful of Hellfire goons ("Wolverine Fights Alone!"— an issue of X-MEN that I waited on the EDGE OF MY SEAT for!) yet today that would be a walk in the park for him. That sort of "mission creep" or "power creep" in comics has always bothered me, the obsessive desire to keep upping the ante or "take it to the next level" (as Mike Carlin liked to say). It seems to me that leads to total Event Publishing (something Dan Jurgens predicted in the 80s)— where the fate of the world! The Universe! REALITY ITSELF! is always at stake. And it makes me wonder where all the wonderful, smaller, more self-contained "This Man, This Monster" stories fit in.
Related to this is that at the heart of many superheroes is the dichotomy of the Hero Who Struggles and the Hero Who is The Best. Spider-Man certainly started out as a Hero Who Struggles, but after 60 years he's a seasoned, experienced pro, and the only way to make him struggle is to have him constantly go up against stronger and more overwhelming foes/situations… which he overcomes… which only makes him even more experience and accomplished at what he does. It seems to be a vicious cycle that will sooner or later eat itself.
I believe this is where legacy characters come in— like Wally West becoming the Flash, or Miles Morales as a less-experienced Spider-Man. This is how we see *a* Spider-Man, at least, struggle against much smaller threats and odds.
But does that mean Spider-Man— I'm talking Peter Parker here, not the *idea* of Spider-Man— can Spider-Man never again be the Hero Who Struggles? The hero who spends most of an issue trying and trying and trying again to shoulder and lift a literally crushing weight that he's trapped under? (A Ditko reference, yes.) Can a character like that be "re-set"— WITHOUT a reality-altering Crisis or a partial/radical "de-powering"— or do we have to accept that these characters grow and change… and now it's Miles' turn.
Obviously "This Man, This Monster" happened right after the Galactus trilogy— setting the standard for how to bring your characters back to "ground level." But that was in a time before constant, company-wide Events which, to my mind, effectively wipe out or at least drown out the smaller moments— and even mid-sized moments like the introduction of Wakanda and the Black Panther. Nowadays those sort of things have to be PART of a big event, or it's like they never happened.
Some of this "power creep" is a natural extension of new people playing in the sandbox. Hell, Barbara Randall Kesel and I revamped HAWK & DOVE, purposefully making them much more than they were before. And that was fun! Exciting! And well-received! I'm not saying this shouldn't happen, not saying it's bad. Just that it feels like that's ALL that is happening these days.
Thank you for letting me rant. Move along. Nothing more to see here.
Great post Karl - I agree with a lot of this and find this affects my enjoyment of Batman a bit - I miss the year One/Denny O'Neil era Batman that got hurt, cut, beaten down...now the uber Morrison JLA era Batman who has a plan and means to take down everyone including Darkseid just seems less interesting to me.
PS: I loved your Hawk & Dove series!
Tom - do you think War comics (not necessarily by Marvel) have a place in modern comics? Is it too sensitive a subject that can be trivialized? or is there room for it? Should it be 'realistic' (like the 'Nam') or is there room for a WW2 Invaders series?
I am torn a bit because I love the old Roy Thomas Invaders and All Star Squadron series, as well as Garth Ennis more recent (and brutal) explorations of past conflicts in his war stories. It is a tricky to write about modern conflict without stirring some justified emotions.
I would love more war comics!
Good evening Mr Brevoort, if the question bothers you, ignore it, I am very curious about your stag in X-men but asking you about that would seem very daring to me, although if Mr Clameront's stage is your favorite I like that because for me it is too, (Kitty and Wolverine They are my favorites and they are because of Mr Clameront) and I know that Spider-Woman has a regular series but my question is if there is any possibility that in the near future Spider-Woman could be part of a team and we will see her in another series being part of a MARVEL team and sorry if I have bothered you, thank you very much Mr Brevoort.
And a post to say I love Leonard Kirk's art - a beautiful clear line - he falls into the same category for as does Pat Oliffe, Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway. Tom Grumett, Paul Pelletier and the late Paul Ryan - a real pleasure to look at when it comes to superhero comics (especially team books).
To quote that article : Who’s Your Stilt-Man (an obscure character you're particularly fond of) ?
https://sktchd.com/interview/whos-your-stilt-man/