All right, the polls have closed, the vetos have been tallied, and we now have a pretty long list of questions to take a look at. My plan is to do this for five days, and we'll see how many questions I can answer in that time.
>1. Who is the one character (or group of characters if you wanna take the easy way out) that you feel really closely connected to, or identify with the most?
Posted by Anson17 on 2008-03-27 18:42:44>
I don't know that I have a really good answer for this question. There are plenty of characters that I like, but I don't know that I feel all that closely connected to any of them--I've seen them all in too many bad stories over the years. Like many long-time readers, I went through the typical conversion, from following characters to following specific creators. But even within that, there are still characters I like enough to check in with their books regularly regardless of who's doing them. But at this point, I read about a third of the Marvel line just as part of my job, and that level of involvement in the intimate decisions about these characters' fictional lives tends to grind off your connection with them to a degree.
>2. What is the hardest editorial decision you've ever had to make?
Posted by Anson17 on 2008-03-27 18:42:44>
It's not directly my story, as it was my assistant at the time who wound up dealing with most of the situation, since the project in question was being edited by them. But the toughest editorial situation we had to deal with concerned a long-time artist who was working on a particular series. He'd been at work on that series for some time, and his command of the tools was deteriorating steadily--he had developed Alzheimer's. It got to the point where the work was looking shaky enough where we knew we had no choice but to take him off the assignment. So my assistant called him up to relay the bad news, and he took it like a man. However, two days later, the artist called back, asking when he'd be receiving the next batch of work--he'd completely forgotten the earlier conversation. And again, my assistant had to reiterate the situation. And again, a few days later the artist left a message looking for the next issue. Eventually, we had to get the artist's wife on the phone, explain the situation to her, and count on her to make her husband understand. A very difficult situation all around, especially since the artist in question was a guy of some genuine standing. Bad enough to have to fire a guy like that once, but three times?
>What makes a bad editor?
Posted by welleshadow on 2008-03-27 19:41:50>
This could be many, many columns in and of itself, and has been if you dig through the archives of this blog. If I had to narrow it down, though, I think the worst editors in general have been those who really wanted to be writing the comics themselves, and who used their position and authority to attempt to do just that, from the back seat. The editor isn't there to tell his story, the editor is there to help the creators tell their stories. And while the editor will always have a certain amount of say in what goes into a given story, they're not the star of the show. To be an effective editor, you need to be ready and willing to stand in the wings while other people take the bows. Hiring whomever happens to walk in the door that day regardless of appropriateness for the assignment is bad editing. Not having a viewpoint of some kind leads to bad editing.
>How much of what we see is dictated by executives.
Posted by welleshadow on 2008-03-27 19:41:50 >
Depends on who you consider "executives". Is Joe Quesada an executive? Am I? If you're talking about "nameless, faceless suits sitting in dark rooms somewhere above and counting their money while they cackle evilly", not much. And even the occasional request that comes down from somewhere above typically tends to be of the "Don't do" variety, rather than the "Do" variety--in other words, "don't show Spider-Man smoking crack", rather than "can you do a scene where Spider-Man endorses steel-belted radials."
>How spoilers affects your mood? I mean, one day you find out that the super-secret plot of a project edited by you is around the net and it's being talked massively days before the comic hits the stores.
Would you be pissed, very pissed or you'd just say "whatever"?
Or none of the above?
Posted by gala81 on 2008-03-27 19:44:06>
Let me be very clear on this point: the only purpose most spoilers serve is to damage or ruin the impact of the creative work being done by a lot of talented people, most often as a way of pulling a spotlight towards the person doing the spoiling--as though they're somehow a more worthy human being because they've ferreted out some plot point coming up. It's selfish and self-interested and destructive, and shows a decided lack of respect for the people putting these stories together. Look, I certainly understand the appeal of a spoiler from the perspective of the readers. The question every reader wants the answer to is "what happens next." And there's an appeal to advance previews-- I can remember what an event it was when the Amazing Heroes Preview Special would come out every year, and it would list upcoming teases for the next six months or so. The difference there, however, is that those spoilers are a part of the public relations for the book--they were worked out between the magazine and the assorted companies as part of the promotion for the projects. But the advent of the Internet made what was once a localized phenomenon global. Where once a retailer in some small shop or other might hear some bit of news in his travels and share the tidbit with one or two of his regular customers, now one of those customers will inevitably post that tidbit on the web ("Look what I found out! Aren't I a noteworthy person?!") where several hundred other people can read it (and often pass judgment on it sight-unseen.) So yes, spoilers can be frustrating, but they also rarely affect the sales of the book in question. Where they do hurt, though, is in how the reader responds to that particular issue, that particular work, which influences whether he'll buy the next issue. But the reality is that spoilers are a fact of life, and there's not all that much that can be done to stamp them out, and at a certain point you're expending more effort on trying to plug every perceived leak than you're really getting a return on.
More later.
Tom B
Good form, good form! Thank you, this is very cool.
Posted by kyle-latino on 2008-03-31 19:37:50
Thanks ... for taking a crack at my questions. I don't know how else to say this, but firing that artist must have been terrible. I can't imagine having to do something like that. Sometimes those decisions need to be made though.
Your spoiler answer was great. Eloquently stated. Spoilers are stupid and mostly come from attention seeking individuals. I acquainted myself with the Marvel b0y tragedy this evening and just found him, his way of writing and what he's trying to accomplish extremely immature. If its real and not just a viral marketing campaign (well done by the way, if it is) i hope you hang him out to dry.
I was wondering if you would think of posting the Stan Lee Afterword from OMD. I thought it was really interesting. I saw it on CBR somewhere today. Anyone curious should go take a look.
Posted by Anson17 on 2008-03-31 21:38:44
Wow I'm impressed, you're actually going to reply to all the questions? Again, you've got my respect!
As for the artist with Alzheimer's: ouch. Yeah. Not much to say about that, although I had a grandfather who had Alzheimer's so I can imagine how terrible that was.
Oh, and I just read Quesada's My Cup o' Joe on MySpace. I have to say, I really like the guy. He's amusing and sounds like he really knows his job. I hope he's got it for many years to come.
(Does that pertain to this blog? Probably not...but seeing as how so many people keep dumping on him here, it couldn't hurt!)
Posted by PseudoSherlock on 2008-04-01 08:17:55
Interesting to read your thoughts on spoilers given that Marvel are so willing to send out spoilers for books the day they are released in emails such as the Make Mine Marvel Digital newsletter. I assume not everyone there feels the same way.
Posted by ukdavew on 2008-04-01 10:14:48
imo if the books out, its not a spoiler on the same level as posting key details of a book that has yet to be released or is even months away from being released. Plus, people should know by now, if you want to avoid spoilers on stuff that is out, avoid the internet. Its not just comics, but everything.
Posted by Anson17 on 2008-04-01 19:44:34
What do you think of the recent Rulling in the Siegal Vs DC trial over the Superman copyright? http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/business/media/29comics.html?ref=business
I'm just wondering what you think of the ruling, how it will affect the industry and any implications it might have. Sorry it's a non-marvel related question, I just figure it's be cool to hear what someone in Marvel has to say about it.
Posted by pkempson on 2008-04-02 15:18:41
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About this blog: Ramblings and musings from the mind of Tom Brevoort. "It won’t be clean. It won’t be fun. It mostly won’t be coherent."
About the author: Tom Brevoort is Executive Editor for Marvel Comics, and oversees such titles as New Avengers, Civil War, and Fantastic Four.
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