Well I originally had another post planned for this week, but it gets trumped by this.
If you haven't heard (which I'm sure you have by now), Marvel is being bought by Disney. Yes, Disney. While the sale has not been fully approved yet, since it won't be creating a monopoly or anything of that sort chances are this will go through as long as the two companies to everything legally. The price is $4 Billion, yes, with a "B"
So is this good or bad? Well it's good in that Marvel wont have to worry about money anymore, which could see a rise in the quality of work as it may be more keen on paying to keep high end writers and artists. It can also be a boon for movies as funding likely wont be a problem anymore.
Of course, there is always a flip side.
Disney is known to shove out movies just to get them released so quality may suffer in that aspect. They're in it for the money and I think we've all seen how Disney milks everything they own for what it's worth be it film rights, characters or actors. And they're definitely going to do this with what they're paying for the company.
The question is how much they will interfere with the creative process at Marvel. While I am drooling over the possibility of Joe Q getting the boot, the truth is Disney doesn't really do comics and they could make things worse. If they just throw their own people in charge who have no clue what they're doing (even less so than Marvel) well, the Marvel U will be a mess, titles will get cancelled and who knows what kind of Deus Ex Machina they will have to use to fix it all.
All in all I am skeptical about this. There are definitely pros to this acquisition, and as much as Marvel may be misguided at times, I'm kind of for the devil you know in this case. Comics aren't exactly PG anymore and if Disney decides they should be, well, I don't look forward to Cyclops shooting rainbows from his eyes and Dr. Doom striving for something despicable like maintaining the highest tv ratings in the world.
I wonder what the Vegas odds are when the X-Men take on Duck Tales?
Monday, August 31, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
If I Were Marvel Editor in Chief
I’ve made no secret I am not a fan of Joe Quesada as Marvel Editor in Chief, and neither has many of other Marvel fans out there (not that Marvel cares what any of them think). He’s done far too many things that, while may sell comics, has severely dropped their quality. Things up at Marvel don't seem to be all happy go lucky, filled with ego and either too much leniency for writers or tying their hands too much. When you hear tidbits from those who work there, it isn’t all the fun and games you think it would be. In reflecting on this I have decided to pose a question to myself: what changes would I make if I were Marvel’s Editor in Chief. Below is a list of the changes if I hypothetically got the job.
Arc length is no longer decided by a TPB
This is a major problem I have with Marvel right now. Arc lengths are determined by being put into a TPB, normally six issues and this sells the story and reader short. If an arc only needs to be four issues, do it in four and don't draw the story out. If it needs to be eight, don't cut it short and deprive the reader of what the story was supposed to be. Too often arcs feel rushed or drawn out because of this. The TPB is the one whose length (and subsequently price) should be adjusted to fit the story, not the other way around.
Asterisks are OK
Joe Q got rid of these citing writers should explain what happened in the past in the story, feeling it is a bit of a cop out. Personally I think it’s so they don't have to point to a story that’s been retconned but I digress. Honestly putting the asterisk in keeps the story moving so a writer doesn’t have to waste precious space on referring to the past. Using the asterisk speeds the story up and avoids lengthy retellings.
Smoking is back
Smoking was banned because it was seen as a bad influence to kids. Somehow, all the sex, violence, death and other stuff that is far worse than smoking is ok to have on a regular basis. But a few characters having a smoke? Don’t even think of it. They add an element to the characters and I guarantee you kids never smoked because Wolverine had a cigar. I know it had no affect on me.
Vivid colors return
Far too often comics look drab and dark. Some are supposed to be dark and I am fine with that, but not all comics are a good fit for the noir style. Moon Knight? Yes. Iron Man? No. Too often the Marvel world seems blah from poor coloring. Reading series like Legacy of Doom the story was brought to life by bright, vibrant colors, and it needs to happen again. Look, if people were that into dark, we’d have never switched from black and white film to color. There is a reason TV companies promote how vibrant the colors of their TV are, bright colors are eye catching and are visual stimulating. It should be no different with comics.
Epic and shock factor aren’t a priority of a story
I truly think this has taken over. It’s like every arc there has to be some death defying, world changing occurrence that changes the character(s) life. It’s ridiculous. So many writers try to tell the grand story they lose sight that they aren’t writing a good story. Give me a well written, entertaining non-epic arc over one that is lots of filler but ends with a bang. I don’t pay $3.99 an issue just to have it be filler that leads up to something better. I’m all for a twist or meaningful ending, but it shouldn’t be the point of the arc. If the lead up story isn’t any good or it’s boring, the ending doesn’t really matter.
Listen to the fans
You know, the people that support Marvel by purchasing their product? Too many times has Marvel blown them off because the editors and writers think what they do is good. The Crossing? One More Day? Avengers Disassembled? All horrid in terms of story or their implications but the editors loved what happened. Did it matter to them the fans hated these stories? Nope. Marvel patted themselves on the back for a job well done because they liked them, ignoring the vitriol spewed by the fans.
Get rid of specific dates
I’m sorry, but Wolverine Origins has done nothing but damage the character. Setting a specific date has proven to be a no-no in comics for decades. Wolverine is a great example of this because now we know exactly how old he is, and when he gets to be too old, boom- retcon. All is does is create trouble and spawn an eventual fix, re-boot, retcon or some other method of undoing the date. It’s always been stated Captain America was frozen for an unspecified amount of time after World War II, and despite that working so well some writers don't want to follow that. Specific dates are truly nothing but trouble.
Arc length is no longer decided by a TPB
This is a major problem I have with Marvel right now. Arc lengths are determined by being put into a TPB, normally six issues and this sells the story and reader short. If an arc only needs to be four issues, do it in four and don't draw the story out. If it needs to be eight, don't cut it short and deprive the reader of what the story was supposed to be. Too often arcs feel rushed or drawn out because of this. The TPB is the one whose length (and subsequently price) should be adjusted to fit the story, not the other way around.
Asterisks are OK
Joe Q got rid of these citing writers should explain what happened in the past in the story, feeling it is a bit of a cop out. Personally I think it’s so they don't have to point to a story that’s been retconned but I digress. Honestly putting the asterisk in keeps the story moving so a writer doesn’t have to waste precious space on referring to the past. Using the asterisk speeds the story up and avoids lengthy retellings.
Smoking is back
Smoking was banned because it was seen as a bad influence to kids. Somehow, all the sex, violence, death and other stuff that is far worse than smoking is ok to have on a regular basis. But a few characters having a smoke? Don’t even think of it. They add an element to the characters and I guarantee you kids never smoked because Wolverine had a cigar. I know it had no affect on me.
Vivid colors return
Far too often comics look drab and dark. Some are supposed to be dark and I am fine with that, but not all comics are a good fit for the noir style. Moon Knight? Yes. Iron Man? No. Too often the Marvel world seems blah from poor coloring. Reading series like Legacy of Doom the story was brought to life by bright, vibrant colors, and it needs to happen again. Look, if people were that into dark, we’d have never switched from black and white film to color. There is a reason TV companies promote how vibrant the colors of their TV are, bright colors are eye catching and are visual stimulating. It should be no different with comics.
Epic and shock factor aren’t a priority of a story
I truly think this has taken over. It’s like every arc there has to be some death defying, world changing occurrence that changes the character(s) life. It’s ridiculous. So many writers try to tell the grand story they lose sight that they aren’t writing a good story. Give me a well written, entertaining non-epic arc over one that is lots of filler but ends with a bang. I don’t pay $3.99 an issue just to have it be filler that leads up to something better. I’m all for a twist or meaningful ending, but it shouldn’t be the point of the arc. If the lead up story isn’t any good or it’s boring, the ending doesn’t really matter.
Listen to the fans
You know, the people that support Marvel by purchasing their product? Too many times has Marvel blown them off because the editors and writers think what they do is good. The Crossing? One More Day? Avengers Disassembled? All horrid in terms of story or their implications but the editors loved what happened. Did it matter to them the fans hated these stories? Nope. Marvel patted themselves on the back for a job well done because they liked them, ignoring the vitriol spewed by the fans.
Get rid of specific dates
I’m sorry, but Wolverine Origins has done nothing but damage the character. Setting a specific date has proven to be a no-no in comics for decades. Wolverine is a great example of this because now we know exactly how old he is, and when he gets to be too old, boom- retcon. All is does is create trouble and spawn an eventual fix, re-boot, retcon or some other method of undoing the date. It’s always been stated Captain America was frozen for an unspecified amount of time after World War II, and despite that working so well some writers don't want to follow that. Specific dates are truly nothing but trouble.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Well Isnt This Interesting?
This story is courtesy of poster IMJ over at the Advanced Iron forums.
IMJ attended the Wizard World Chicago event over a three day period and one of the things he attended was the Marvel panel. One of the things they talked about was the current and future arc of Iron Man. They expected there to be a a good reaction to the new arc Tony Stark Disassembled (I cover this in a later post) and what they got was silence. In order to break said awkward silence one of the panel said "this arc won an Eisner for a reason!" (or something along that line according to IMJ).
That's really the story, but those last two things are very significant: the silence from the announcement and that Marvel's response was winning the Eisner.
Silence can be golden as they say, and it was definitely the case here. Marvel thought they hit a home run with the upcoming Disassembled arc (even thought people still have nightmares from Avengers Disassembled) only to find out no one was impressed. Why would we be? The current 12 issue arc is basically dragging Tony through the mud even more telling us how he is losing his mind, so why in God's name would we be impressed with another six issue arc that does it even more? Marvel is obviously excited about Stark getting shit on even more yet is ignorant of the fact that everyone, even non Iron Man fans, are sick of it. Like I mentioned in an earlier post months ago, I was talking to a Spider-Man fan and even he said what Marvel was doing to Stark was ridiculous, and he didn't even read the main title!
Next on to Marvel's pathetic response of it winning an Eisner. Here is the thing about books: people who read them don't give a rat's ass about awards. I had no clue what an Eisner was before Fraction got nominated. People read books for enjoyment and don't care what awards they won and right here is the big problem with Marvel: they think the opposite.
They think winning an Eisner means the book is good and the fans would care. Funny thing is when you talk to long time Iron Man fans none of them like this arc at all. Some consider it a rehash, some like myself are bored with it and others just think it's outright crap. The fans silence voiced their displeasure with this title right now.
The problem is Marvel wont take the hint. They'll go home, wonder why no one was cheering then say "well the fact it won an Eisner makes us right." They will, as they have done many times in recent years, ignore the fans. I have no doubt they are saying to themselves "the fans just don't get it." Unfortunately, it's Marvel that just doesn't get it. People are tired of Iron Man being dragged through the mud. While they made it fashionable to do so by blaming everything in Civil War on him three years later it is tired and boring and the readers are just rolling their eyes at this point.
IMJ attended the Wizard World Chicago event over a three day period and one of the things he attended was the Marvel panel. One of the things they talked about was the current and future arc of Iron Man. They expected there to be a a good reaction to the new arc Tony Stark Disassembled (I cover this in a later post) and what they got was silence. In order to break said awkward silence one of the panel said "this arc won an Eisner for a reason!" (or something along that line according to IMJ).
That's really the story, but those last two things are very significant: the silence from the announcement and that Marvel's response was winning the Eisner.
Silence can be golden as they say, and it was definitely the case here. Marvel thought they hit a home run with the upcoming Disassembled arc (even thought people still have nightmares from Avengers Disassembled) only to find out no one was impressed. Why would we be? The current 12 issue arc is basically dragging Tony through the mud even more telling us how he is losing his mind, so why in God's name would we be impressed with another six issue arc that does it even more? Marvel is obviously excited about Stark getting shit on even more yet is ignorant of the fact that everyone, even non Iron Man fans, are sick of it. Like I mentioned in an earlier post months ago, I was talking to a Spider-Man fan and even he said what Marvel was doing to Stark was ridiculous, and he didn't even read the main title!
Next on to Marvel's pathetic response of it winning an Eisner. Here is the thing about books: people who read them don't give a rat's ass about awards. I had no clue what an Eisner was before Fraction got nominated. People read books for enjoyment and don't care what awards they won and right here is the big problem with Marvel: they think the opposite.
They think winning an Eisner means the book is good and the fans would care. Funny thing is when you talk to long time Iron Man fans none of them like this arc at all. Some consider it a rehash, some like myself are bored with it and others just think it's outright crap. The fans silence voiced their displeasure with this title right now.
The problem is Marvel wont take the hint. They'll go home, wonder why no one was cheering then say "well the fact it won an Eisner makes us right." They will, as they have done many times in recent years, ignore the fans. I have no doubt they are saying to themselves "the fans just don't get it." Unfortunately, it's Marvel that just doesn't get it. People are tired of Iron Man being dragged through the mud. While they made it fashionable to do so by blaming everything in Civil War on him three years later it is tired and boring and the readers are just rolling their eyes at this point.
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