MyCup o' Joe WEEK 26OCT 02, 2008MyCup o' Joe is the weekly communiqué from Marvel Comics Editor in Chief Joe Quesada to the legion of Mighty Marvelites Assembled! Every Friday, Joe will sit down with journalist Jim McLauchlin to answer questions on the pressing issues of the day at Marvel and throughout comics.
And you get to chip in as well! Joe will be answering YOUR questions every week! To get in on the fun, post your questions at the bottom of this page!
JM: It looks like you have… JQ: Hey, before we get in to anything, a double-important preview we have to run. This is the FIRST preview of
Secret Invasion 7. Things are whipping to a conclusion, and I'm pretty stoked about the way things have been going in this book, and all the crossover titles.
JM: Groovy. Well, as I was about to say, it looks like you have a hit on your hands with the new Deadpool series. Is this nostalgia for the '90s already? JQ: I honestly don't think so. I just think the book is hitting on all cylinders and is hitting just the right note for Deadpool fans. If you've ever met Daniel Way, which I know you have, Jim, it's pretty clear to all of us that he IS Deadpool. Thank god he lost his gun license.
He did lose his gun license, didn't he?
JM: Check under his pillow and we'll see.
There's been a couple small temblors in the comics biz in the past two weeks—DC has shut down its Minx imprint, and employees of Virgin Comics have bough VC's assets and turned it into Liquid Comics. What's the reaction to these events at the Marvel offices? JQ: Well, it's never good to see, but the honest truth is that it wasn't completely unexpected. With respect to Minx, I just don't think it was given the right kind of marketing push. Granted, it's not as easy to market Minx as it is to market superheroes. Minx could have been the greatest comics ever written and it wouldn't have mattered, as I honestly don't feel DC gave it the best chance to succeed. I'm not saying that they needed to spend a lot of money on it, but they could have been creative at least. It just didn't feel to me like they gave it a chance outside of promoting the initial launch.
As for Virgin, what they were trying to do was an uphill battle from the start, and as someone who has been there, it's not easy doing a start-up business in any field—especially comics.
JM: Personally speaking, I know you have to keep some kind of eye on the competition, but how do things like this affect your business? Are there repercussions at Marvel? Or do you just keep your head down in your own work? JQ: There are cautionary tales any time something like this happens, and always something to learn. Arguably, there is less for us to learn from what happened to Virgin when compared to Minx—we're not a start-up, but we might launch new lines.
JM: One question we constantly see in the reader qs is "Will Marvel collect Insert-Title-Here in paperback?" Now it's really not your department, but do you ever feel a want, need or desire to make it your department? JQ: Nope. Between the monthly titles and Marvel West stuff, I wouldn't have the time to worry about it, even if I wanted to make it my department. Plus, I would just gum up the works. We have some really brilliant and talented people in our Collected Editions department, and that's why it's been so amazingly successful. They don't need any input from me at all.
JM: 'Cause, y'know, I would love to see those old Joe Casey-Jose Ladronn Cable issues collected. Really. JQ: Not my department, man. Call Collected Editions.
JM: Shifting over to your December solicitations, which just went up recently, you have a lot hinging on Secret Invasion 8, the finale to that series. And, I guess…a whole new set of solicitations on eight books as soon as Secret Invasion 8 hits? JQ: Well, we try not to put all our eggs in one basket but there's no denying that we hung our hat on
SI as our big event for this year, and it's been a success.
JM: Logistically speaking, how easy/difficult is this? Having to solicit these books at a later date? Is this something that makes your sales and marketing guys tear their hair out? Or is it a relatively easy trick to pull off? JQ: Tearing their hair out isn't really the right way to describe it. They would be tearing their hair out if we gave them nothing to work with, and they were left trying to create marketing for something that was akin to the Emperor's new clothes, but that's not the case here. There's been some great stuff happening in
SI and it's brought out the best in the marketing folks and in us in Publishing. So while it is a lot of hard work, it isn't work that's filled with frustration. Rather the opposite, it's wildly creative late nights.
And one trick we want to pull off right now is a preview of some new
Thunderbolts art. This is definitely
SI and post-
SI, "Dark Reign"-related.
JM: Coming from a newspaper background, there's an almost constant advertising v. editorial conflict, usually resolved by the publisher. Is there any internal strife at Marvel regarding stuff like this, having to solicit and re-solicit some December books? And what "side" of the company drives something like that? JQ: When it comes to Marketing vs. Publishing, rarely are there any creative conflicts, but scheduling can sometimes be a source of tension. If a book drops out, you need to do your best to make up for that lost revenue, not necessarily in that month, but you try to make it up in the same quarter. Where it becomes really problematic is when you lose it out of an entire year. That's something that we try desperately to avoid.
JM: Some are of the opinion that soliciting books 2-3-4 months in advance is an inherent logistical problem in and of itself. The classic example usually being, "Nobody knew about 'The Death of Gwen Stacy' until it happened." Do you carry an opinion one way or another? JQ: The system is what it is, and it needs to be this way for the direct market to work properly. Believe me, if there was a better way we would be on it ASAP.
JM: Y'know, I ask you a lot of freakin' questions. Anything you wanna talk about? JQ: Yeah, have you seen that American Express commercial where they dis us comic fans? A guy is having a business lunch and everything seems to be going well until he puts down his credit card that has a comic character on it. The clients look at this, speak to each other in a foreign language and walk away from the meeting laughing at the guy who put down the card. I have never been more angry at a TV ad than this one, it's really a slap in the face of everyone who likes comic books, comic based movies, and so on.
Sorry, I had to get that off my chest.
JM: Angry man. Are you done? JQ: Yes. No, wait! No! This is important.
I rarely do this, I always avoid discussing politics in a public forum, but after last week's presidential debate, I'm very frustrated and feel that I have come across an alternative that will help save our great nation.
http://zod2008.com/index.htm Get out and VOTE!
JM: On that note, we are so reader questioning…
Mahgninnuc asks:
Since there are so many heroes from New York, which ones are Met fans and which ones are Yankee fans? Also, since Steve Rogers is from Brooklyn in the 1930's, is he a Yankee, Dodger, Giant, or Met fan? JQ: Spider-Man is definitely a Mets fan, as Pete has grown up in Queens and much like the Mets, he is a loveable loser. Ben Grimm is a die-hard Yankee fan, and Johnny Storm roots for the Red Sox just piss Ben off. Steve Rogers is a Brooklyn Dodger fan, but finds it hard to root for them now that they're in L.A.. He also finds it hard to root for the Mets, and he definitely can't root for the Yanks, being an Ebbets Field boy. So I think he follows the Coney Island Cyclones, the Mets' minor league team.
Wolverine is a front-runner, so he roots for the Yanks, but this season, he also secretly roots for the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL.
Cain asks:
Where are the X-Babies and Mitey 'Vengers? They're just really awesome with a lot of great story possibilities, so I'm interested to find out if there are any future plans for these two titanic tiny teams. (Whoa, lots of T's, there.) JQ: Ugh. Cain, it sounds to me like somebody's been reading some DC comics recently…
Dark Knight asks:
Is Madelyne Prior dead for good? Is she still alive somewhere? Is she going to make a return in a future book? JQ: Well, Dark, that's a great question being posed at a great time. Keep your eyes open. In fact, keep your eyes open here for a preview of stunning Alan Davis art from Astonishing X-Men: Ghost Boxes 1! Eventually, you'll find out about Maddy. You get your Alan Davis NOW.
Valeria Kementari queries:
As a writer, what's your take on Internet fan-fiction? Some people such as J.K. Rowling adore fanfics, because sometimes the fans come up with great ideas. What's your take on it? JQ: I have no problems with fan fiction. To me it just shows fan's love of what it is that we do for a living. And while I would never have the time to go to a fan fic site to check out people's work, I do think it's a good place for writers to test out their craft. That said, it's not a place where we would ever look for new ideas. We have a submissions department which looks for new voices as far as writers and artists are concerned, and that's where we look for tomorrow's talented folk.
A Fan Of Delicious Flavor sez: Hi Joe,
Is there any chance that Marvel might start up Malibu Comics again? Some of the character in that Universe were cool and amazing, such as Lord Pumpkin, Nightman, and Prime. All would make excellent heroes or villains in the Marvel U. JQ: Nope, due to some behind-the-scenes stuff that I'm not able to discuss. I doubt we'll ever be dabbling in these characters any time soon.
Andrew asks:
Just wondering if you can update us on the Jeph Loeb/Jeff Campbell Spidey series. It seems like it was announced forever ago (I'm pretty sure it was while Spidey was wearing the red and gold "Iron Spider" suit). I'm wondering if it is ever going to come out, or if it got canned or something. JQ: Andrew, the Loeb/Campbell Spider-Man is a very special book for us, and rather than launch it and potentially get waylaid by delays, we've decided to wait until the book is done to solicit it. That way, we're assuring you that it comes out on time. The two J's are well into it though, and when it finally comes out your eyes are going to be blown out of the back of your head and right onto Mephisto's lap. It's beautiful stuff.
Stephen asks:
Hey Joe,
Since NYX was your baby, can you shed some light on X-23? Of course she is an X-Man now, but will we ever see when and why she left the NYX storyline and what kind of impact it had on the other characters? JQ: Definitely.
NYX writer Marjorie Liu is working on a story that reunites X-23 with Kiden, Tatiana, Bobby, and Li'l Bro. We'll see what her absence has meant to the NYX kids, and what the NYX kids mean to her…
On a related note, if you're reading this and haven't picked up
NYX, then you're missing out on an unbelievably amazing comic. I'm calling it here—Marjorie Liu is going to be one of those truly unique voices in the comics field and a future superstar! I'm blown away with what she's doing on NYX! Don't dawdle, go check it out.
I am not swearing anymore asks:
With Dan Slott taking over writing Mighty Avengers, will any of the characters from Slott's Avengers: The Initiative get full Avengers status? Perhaps Cloud 9 or Justice? JQ: That's definitely a possibility, I am not swearing anymore, but we won't be able to say anything definitive about the future rosters of any of the Avengers titles—
New Avengers, Mighty Avengers, Dark Avengers or
Avengers: The Initiative—until
Secret Invasion ends, for obvious reasons.
Spidey 616 asks:
Since Stephen Colbert will be teaming up with Spidey in a short story written by Mark Waid, when can we expect you to appear on The Colbert Report again? JQ: Honestly, I don't know. That kind of stuff is always up to Stephen and his crew, but any time they need me on for the ratings boost, I'm there for them.
4SAKE asks:
Will the death of the Invisible Woman affect the regular Marvel Universe? JQ: 4SAKE, it's happening in the regular Marvel Universe, so yes, of course.
Burner wants to know:
Are Chamber and Franklin Richards still mutants? Neither of them have displayed any powers post M-Day, but Franklin is still listed as a mutant, I think, and in New Excalibur, it was said that Chamber was an omega-class mutant. JQ: Burner, Chamber isn't a mutant anymore. You can find him with the New Warriors. As for Franklin Richards, his powers were stripped away quite some time ago, even before M-Day.
Renda asks:
Okay, Joe, I'm calling you out: When will the previous Squadron Supreme series be completed? It's very unprofessional to just leave it hanging like that. JQ: Renda,
Squadron Supreme Vol. 1 is done! Over! Finito! The current
Squadron Supreme series is the continuation of that previous series. We've jumped ahead in time, but the ramifications of the Squadron's (unseen) battle with Redstone and the subsequent
Ultimate Power story reverberate to this day. And once the original Squadron return—I mean, IF they return—we might get some answers as to where they have been and what happened in the missing time.
And we'll end with a preview of
She-Hulk 34—can you say "Lady Liberators? And She Hulk Annual goodness?"
Ok, fine, one more preview—Nova 18.
Learn more about The Hero Initiative, the only federally chartered charitable organization dedicated to helping comic veterans in medical or financial need at www.HeroInitiative.org. It's a chance for you to give back to the creators who gave you your dreams.
And you can become friends with the Hero Initiative and Marvel Comics right here on MySpace!