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Monday, 5:08
2007-03-22 14:01:41

I hate to put out a bad book. It's really disappointing. But sometimes, despite everybody's best efforts, it happens. Nobody bats 1000 all the time.

There are a number of ways that a project can go south. Sometimes, the flaw is built in from the get-go, particularly if it's a project that you're inheriting from somebody else, or a project whose nature is being handed down to you by the Powers-That-Be from above. Other times, you've got some idea in your head, and it just doesn't translate to the page properly. Sometimes you've got creators who don't mesh, who wind up working at cross-purposes. Sometimes you just plain run out of time, and have to crank to get the issue done and off to press. And sometimes you make a bad call--like thinking that two writers on a book will be twice as good, instead of 60%-80% as good, which is what you usually get in that instance.

This all looks so easy to do from a distance, and yet it can be maddeningly dificult. Part of it is that making comic books isn't science, with hard rules that'll always lead to a positive result. It's more like alchemy, where you combine elements in a quasi-mystical way in the hopes of coming up with gold--and even if it works once, you can't necessarily duplicate that success the same way the next time, even if you use all of the same ingredients.

Not every issue of every comic book is going to be a masterpiece, but so long as everybody's given an honest effort, I can look that comic book in the metaphoric eye, and stand behind it. It's when things go wrong early and despite all of your best efforts you wind up putting out a dog that you feel the worst. No editor can make a bad comic book good--he can only make it better (or worse).

The good part, though, is that you get another chance next month

More later.

Tom B

Math Minor
So if you have two writers and a co-plotter, would it be 36%-64% as good?

Hopefully, you didn't feel obliged to write this because you have some dogs coming out next month. ;-)

They taught me in school that the failures teach you as much as the successes. Unfortunately, it seems that in real life, there isn't much of a margin of error. If anything, it seems like the rate of cancellation for low-selling or slow-starting entertainment ventures is faster now than ever before. I think this is true across all media, comics, television, even movies. Can you still learn from your mistakes at today's pace?

Posted by Lonesome Pinky on 2006-07-24 19:04:37

yea
finally u screwed up YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Posted by tarhaun on 2006-07-24 22:40:11

Bad Comics
Throw Avengers #21 into that pile of bad comics. Then throw it into the a burning pile of trash. The art was the worst I've ever seen, especially for a book that is supposed to be one of Marvel's flagship series. Please don't let the UPS guy draw anymore issues of anything.

Posted by moj8681 on 2006-07-24 22:58:26

ups guy drawing comics
that is hariaious messterchesser man i'm the guy from iwin.com who said i was a mutant

Posted by tarhaun on 2006-07-24 23:14:39

if the UPS guy draws like that methinks he should change his career and work in comics full time!

Posted by Fetsur on 2006-07-25 08:34:29

That's gotta be rough, knowing you've failed millions. Kidding! Kidding! Keep upp the good work, Marvel, and don't sweat it, you'll always have me as a devoted fan.

Posted by EnvoyOfDarkness on 2006-07-25 08:58:21

Still Aces in My Book ^_^
Wow, well said, like always. But I also think that in a lot of cases there are no bad comics. It all depends on an individual's tastes. I'm not saying that there aren't times when 99% go "Oh my god it was bad."

I'm just sayin that most of the time it is probably cases where someone reads it and decides they hate it and right next to them is someone who loves it. But it makes me feel good that you have this attitude and outlook on the whole thing. That you don't have this "I'm Omnipotent and all knowing, so all comics are perfect" attitude.

I think that is one of the key factors to Marvel's success. The fact that you guys, despite your fame and success, are always trying to improve. To keep up the quality of your work and show it as much dedication and respect as we the readers would hope you would. You all do an amazing job in my book and like EnvoyOfDarkness said, I too will always be a devoted fan.

Thank you for your hard work, please know that it is always appreciated.

It's great

Posted by TwilghtDragon on 2006-07-25 11:57:04

Bad Comic
I think I have to agree with the analysis on New Avengers 21. Huge disappointment from the mightiest of all marvel books. But, having said that, I loved almost every other New Avenger issue and I am looking forward to the next one. My only comment is that I question whether New Avengers is the book to do "introspective asides" to the Civil War story. I think that it would make much more sense to use NA to be a primary mover of the civil war story along with Civil War 1-7 instead of ASM and Civil War 1-7. Anybody have change for my 2 cents?

Posted by bigdaddyhub2 on 2006-07-25 12:22:30

Bad comics
When I was younger, I would get upset about "bad comics". A bad job by an artist, a story that didn't make a lot of sense, a rushed a poor conclusion to a long running story. I thought that it showed a creator or editor who just didn't care and knew we'd buy the book just because we'd read the pervious 3 or 4 issues and had to have th rest of the story.

Then, as I got older and met creators, I learned that no one, and I mean NO ONE sits down and says "I want to put out something that sucks, screw those readers." A bad book can come from any number of problems: an artist running late and having to do a rush job, a story change because of some outside reason, a disagreement between creative people, and so on.

I'll forgive a bad issue of a book here or there. I'll even chalk up a bad run by a writer or artist to their inability to get a good handle on a character. But I'll never buy a comic and say, "They just didn this to make me mad."

Posted by Cory!! Strode on 2006-07-29 04:24:33

Array

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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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