This'll be another inconsistent week for blogging, as we've got editorial meetings scheduled for the rest of the week, and then comes the Christmas holiday. But so long as I'm here, I'll do my utmost to get you something to read every day.
We did a conference call with a number of our retailers today, talking about all of the assorted things we've got coming up out of CIVIL WAR. Which led, inexorably enough, to some questions about how shipping delays can be avoided in the future. And, unfortunately, there isn't any one magic answer.
Part of the problem is that not every reader wants the same thing. You can find people who'll ask why so-and-so the penciler who can draw 12 issues a year isn't getting more work. But you can also find people who, when you give so-and-so an assignment, simply aren't that interested, or who feel even more strongly and hate the work. "Just hiring fast guys" doesn't seem to be the magic solution. If it was, then it wouldn't matter who drew THE ULTIMATES, it would sell just as well.
But especialy these days, with the rising cover prices of most comics, the bar is set pretty high. In my day, back in the late 70s and early 80s, I could afford to buy pretty much the entire Marvel line of books, as well as just about everything from the competition, and still have some cash left over for back issues. No more. And that means that every comic needs to give more value-for-money to its readers. I can't tell you how many mediocre-to-bad issues of GHOST RIDER or DEFENDERS I purchased back in the day, simply because they were there and I could afford them. We don't have that luxury today.
Also, I think there's a misunderstanding about the work-habits of most of the artists doing comics. The typical picture one gets is of a guy who eats up tons of time playing video games, and only works when he has to. And while that might be the case in some instances, it isn't the norm. Our artists work hard, because the demands have changed. Heck, coloring is practically an entirely different discipline these days, and adds so much to the finished book that it can't easily be crapped out by a dozen guys with markers when the deadline looms, as was sometimes the case in the 90s.
Finally, there's a great deal of difference in terms of the financials associated with comics--meaning that our creators these days earn a good living wage. Jack Kirby would draw two or three comic books a month, but the reason for that was that that was how many pages he needed to produce to keep his family fed, and it meant working 14 hours a day often seven days a week. Kirby was no slacker, but if he had been freed from the driving need to produce, produce, produce, he'd likely have done far fewer comics, because that need wouldn't have been there--but he'd have been able to spend a far greater amount of time on each comic he did do.
So it's a conundrum. While you can find fans who'll align with any side of the issue, there are fans who'll stop buying if you go to a fill-in, and there are fans who'll stop buying if the delays get too great. So we need to make decisions on what steps to take on a case-by-case basis, at least until some other, better solution presents itself.
More later.
Tom B
My preference would be to publish a few less titles and make sure that quality is very high and that the storytelling has a definite velocity. Great stories and great art will always vindicate the book. Sometimes that storytelling gets sacrificed so that product will be available, such as New Avengers marking time while CW goes on.
Posted by bigdaddyhub2 on 2006-12-18 21:34:43
you're too hard with yourself first, we had notice some changes and if nobody talks about, let it be done once for all:
as part of common readership with an eye on comics since almost twenty years, I can say Thank you very much for a two-issue of Ghost Rider by Richard Corben, for the come-back of characters like Hellstrom, Moonknight, the Eternals ;Man-thing, Morbius,Werewolf by night , all kind of characters who got their hour or who we're not well-used, but why don't you give you some chances, I don't read everything but I can see that things are tried, with some things like Beyond,or Bullet points, but why don't you give you some more chances : mister Neil Gaiman is a far good example, it tell what he had to tell on Sandman and then left, same thing for Grant Morrison on Animal man, except for great changes on a character but can't you give some chance to creative team, there's already a writer, a drawer, an inker, a colourist, what ? I had perfectly understand that Marvel can't take the same risk that before, but once again :what ?
do you really think there must be an x-men comic-book every month -or avenger- if this is a bulls... and once again who cares ? You're dealing with artists , Joe Quesada is him self a drawer- and the drawer we are knowing-why just don't you use the concept you were talking about for Secret Defenders, differents creative teams working one year or two in advance... don't tell me you're already....no....must be kidding
Posted by notapotatoe on 2006-12-19 06:48:03
Late Comics Aren't Really My Gripe... As far as I'm concerned, I'd rather get a quality product than a rushed one, but what bothers me is when comics are soliciated monthly when no one seriously believes they'll ship that often. If there are artists who can only produce a comic every 6 weeks or so, then publish their work bi-monthly. I have to pre-order my comics online due to lack of a local store, and it really steams me when comics are solicited, and I pay for them, and then they're delayed ad nausium. I realize that it isn't viable to wait for completed product before solicitation, but when you know an artist can't handle a monthly, it seems disengenuous to solicit it that way.
Posted by c-mccormack on 2006-12-19 10:47:21
Something that might be worth experimenting with is doing something like the alternating artists on Uncanny or Captain America-- we won't mind artistic changes OR big gaps in shipping, as long as Marvel tells us beforehand. That way, we'll know what we're getting ourselves into when we decide to try the book out.
Posted by ButchMapa on 2006-12-22 07:43:01
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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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