No, not Al-Qaeda. Mark Millar Backs Saddam Hussein.

(Whatever happened to the JoeQuesada.com forums, anyhow? Please politely ask Joe to get on it.)

Anyway, you're my top editor of the present. The only things I would like to see you do differently are some wholly new books like Runaways (as if a book like that doesn't come along once in a blue moon!) to bring fresher concepts into Marvel and give it an even more prosperous future (those film licenses are going to run out sooner or later, and personally I can't wait for them to get to RUNAWAYS), and implementing the mixed-case lettering that works so well on books like Ultimate Spider-Man (why oh why did you go back to all-caps? It looks like everyone's shouting at each other). Other than those little things, you're doing everything just great!

Posted by Fetsur on 2007-08-27 18:36:40
yeah
I heard someone say JMS should be executed for what he's done to Spider-man, I'm sure worse has been said. It's stupid. I don't hate on guys, I just don't buy the books. Everytime I tell someone to shut up and just stop buying Wolverine Origins, they say "Shut up, this is a forum. He's ruining my favorite character!" As for editors, i don't really pay attention. It's about the creators for mr.

Posted by hulkspants on 2007-08-27 19:12:33
thanks
Your posts are fascinating. Thanks for giving us a taste of how the industry works, and how things look from the inside.

Posted by ted_dahlman on 2007-08-27 19:44:44
I still love you, you hethen bastard....

Posted by Xenith on 2007-08-27 20:22:26
Ennh, I still cling to the notion that you're the "great white hope," and when something I don't like happens under your ever-increasing authority I just look the other way at something I do like.

Posted by jim_smith on 2007-08-27 22:28:35
Eidtorial Question
Tom -- I'm completing a Ph.D. at the University of California and my field of specialization is comcs. In fact, my dissertation is on superhero comics. I've got some writing credits with IDW and Kirkman's Funk-o-Tron studio, and I've been teaching freshmen how to read, write, and make comics for a few years now as a grad student.

Since I'm looking to finish my degree soon, I'm looking at employment opportunities and your column about the hazards of being an editor gives me the opening I have been waiting for. Could I send my CV in for consideration, in the eventuality that an editorial position becomes available?

Thanks for your time,
Jason Tondro
UC Riverside

Posted by Jason Tondro on 2007-08-27 23:35:10
Tom B. is the stuff.
Hey, Tom, just so you know, I have long been of the opinion that you have been, are still, and hopefully will long be a major positive influence at Marvel, and that you had alot to do with pulling them out of the bad habits of the 90's, which involved some major, massive healing.

Please, please, PLEASE do not listen to the haters. My god, the fan community represented on the boards is almost nothing but haters these days, and they are ruining alot of the enjoyment of the fan community. I shudder at the thought that their constant griping might negatively affect some writer's career.

Posted by orion34 on 2007-08-28 01:07:27
Tom,

My good sense is telling me not to enter the din here, but your post makes want to have my say, however small it might be the scheme of things. There is no excuse for the over-the-top hysterics so many comics fans engage in regarding you and your fellow creators at Marvel. I would hate to be seen as excusing their behaviour. But, I wonder if you and other comics professionals aren't using the more extreme elements out there to dismiss even valid criticisms. (Pardon me if this point has been made by cooler heads before. Maybe I'm rehashing a million arguments.) When cynicism sets in, Tom, it's hard to shake. For my money, Marvel is producing great books. I think you've got the advantage in terms of talent on this side of the Big Two. But what you've also got (as a group, not you specifically) is a big chip on your shoulder. Bendis never seems to say anything publicly with commenting on how hated he is. Joe Q's column at Newsrama would be about half as long each week without his endless defense of Marvel's "controversies." JMS and the fallout from "Sins Past?"... sheesh! And you, Tom, usually stand above this, until this last week and, specifically, this column, which is just dripping with "nobody gets me." You guys are constantly projecting that being hated and making comics that sell are the same thing. Obviously, you know that isn't so. What's the deal then? I know that as professionals, you can't badmouth the work of others, or your own work while it's generating money and attention for the company. But, the defensiveness brought on by engaging creeps who having nothing to say, makes those of us who aren't up in arms about plot points we don't like, wonder how much productive criticism gets through. My fear is that the only voice that gets heard, is that of sales. And I'm sure you'll agree that sales are not always reflective of quality. I know you've all pointed out that you don't make decisions out of comtempt for your readship, and I believe you. But, it's obvious that there's not a point where the stream of hysterics gets to be too much and the desire to say "f' off" to everybody manifests itself. The fact is we, the internet comics community, see it ALL the time. And it's not a hard leap to see it in the comics themselves, whether it's there or not. Sometimes, I feel like I see that anger creeping into the books, and it bums me out.

zachary.

Posted by goodintentions on 2007-08-28 01:54:26
intellectual honesty
Let be clear of that,
I can understand that you're sick that everybody says you're a bastard,
I personally don't have any problem with everybody saying that you are a bastard,
my problem is that you are an hot one.

Posted by bulgarianyogurt on 2007-08-28 02:16:22
Well, kudos for honesty there! It's easy for people to scream out and say they 'hate' him or her for doing this or that but they seldom realize there are actual people being hurt ... So I see this blog not so much as a 'f%*£k' y'all but rather as a sort of statement of 'Hey, I have feelings as well, o.k.'. And yeah, some fans should really be a lot politer about it, even if they don't like everything that is being done to their favorite character.

Anyhow, Tom ... for every fan that doesn't like what you're doing, there are at least four who DO. I have seen Marvel take some serious risks, in trying to recreate, reinvigorate the universe. And it has worked!!! The MU has never before been SO extremely interesting ... You have a feeling that ANYTHING can happen. And I'm still a bit perplexed about some choices made. But that's like life. You don't get to decide what happens. You get dealt a certain set of cards and manage with this. With comics the role is more passive than life, because in life we have influence on what we do with those that are dealt, but in comics .... we just have to follow the flow.

And yeah .... sometimes I don't like what happens. (I miss Captain America) BUT .... as long as it is done with style, artistically and well executed .... it's o.k. for me. It's like reading a book with a tragic ending... You can't blame the author for the ending!!!

SO .... Please continue to put your heart into the comics as I now all of you guys have done up to now and THANK YOU for an excellent job!!!

Posted by Zigy on 2007-08-28 09:25:50
-zigy: what do you mean by "it's esy for people to scream out and say they 'hate' him or her for doing this or that...."?
-four is okay for me.


Posted by bulgarianyogurt on 2007-08-28 09:35:59
Hi "bulgarianyogurt" (whatever drove you to choose such a name?? :-) )

We have a saying about that in Belgian that roughly translates "the best sailors stay onshore". It's just like when you're watching sports (something I don't do by the way) and you see the football player miss an easy shot ... and everybody starts screaming that the player "sucks" and complains about "how he could have missed that shot". But try doing that yourself???

the same goes for comics: we fans can very easily say things like "how could they've killed Captain America" and resent the comic creators for doing so... But they WERE doing their very best in trying to make a good comic.

And also: nowadays the medium (internet, this site) is out there to let yourself be heard. If you like things you make yourself heard. If you DON'T like things, again: you can make yourself heard. And that is another plus about the new Marvel: this new site, it's blogs, podcasts etc etc that allows us to respond and tell the creators and other fans how we feel.

It is also a common fact now in marketing (I'm a programmer now, but I have studied Economy) that a satisfied customer will tell less people about the positive experience than non satisfied customer. Negative feelings are a bigger driver to let yourself be heard, so if it seems as though most fans are dissatisfied ... it's because of that simple law.

My point about all this is that I think people complain too quickly and that we should be a little bit more respectful (towards the comic creators) when we do complain and also that we perhaps should let ourselves be heard when we ARE happy about how some things are handled.

(Sorry about any bad English ... I'm not a native speaker)
(and sorry about the double posting ... that was my Firefox)

Posted by Zigy on 2007-08-28 10:45:10
you know there are some people who'd like to this job not because they are hungry , some people really would really like to write comic-books stories, they like comic-books.
if there's something that provided me fun, I'll be the first to be grateful,
if I point something that is used later and ameliored, without credits for me,it's not a problem, (even if someone suggests that there could have been some remuneration sometimes " just for blogging ideas ");that's why I'm sick of the tone of this blog sometimes:" we're such men ,us and our ideas ", great, man, really! or the way they are sometimes victimizing theirselves "but we know it, it's routine now (about the Millar Antechrist stuff and so on...), you can't please everybody" , sure, but you're not forced to act like an 'a' neither.

Posted by bulgarianyogurt on 2007-08-28 11:28:34
Pride vs. arrogance
I think I understand what you're saying. You have the feeling that 'the guys at Marvel' just do as they please, and that they feel superior in some way and have too little respect for their fans in the sense that they don't accredit the ideas of the readers, don't you?

But the way I see it is that they indeed do act out a bit out of pride, but I think that is actually OK. There's nothing wrong with being proud of what you have achieved. I myself make comic books as well (ps: did you see the latest Ghostrider?? It had an image of me on the fan page.) and when I have just finished another comic book I keep telling everybody how absolutely amazing I am ...

... it's after a few weeks that I get back to reality and see it more in perspective ...

... but pride can indeed be easily mistaken for arrogance. I can't guarantee that anybody at Marvel isn't arrogant, but that's not really the impression I get. The way scripts are shared, podcasts are made, behind the screen videos are made ... that's all a proof that they DO care about the fans ... I mean ... we don't pay for any of that, now do we? And they do put a lot effort into that as well ....

As Joe Quesada once said (not a literal quote) ... keeping close in touch with the fans was important for Stan Lee, and thus remains important for Marvel now.

To me this post of Tom is NOT a posting about victimizing himself, it's a post about being honest ... and sharing the fact that he feels a bit frustrated.

I read a lot of the blogs here etc and I really really don't have the impression that arrogance is involved. I'm a fan, and I really do feel as though on this site, the creators try to give as something back...

Posted by Zigy on 2007-08-28 12:04:00
Maybe we're not hearing the things the same way.
On his blog, Warren Ellis says about his next dedicace session that the friend dedicating with him will "wheeping his @@%@@@ "(...so will he. )
That's exactly the feeling I have.

Posted by bulgarianyogurt on 2007-08-28 13:01:57
Any bets on how soon Tom's comments appear on a forum out of context to show how their views on the Marvel editorial staff are supported by him - "Joe Q is Satan, which is why he ruined such-and-such"?

Posted by Ruggaman on 2007-08-28 14:24:31
money for nothing
it will surely be taken for what is it :
yaers of learning.
but I don't want to sound too manichean ( not too white, not too brown, and not the two at the same time...)

Posted by bulgarianyogurt on 2007-08-28 14:59:27
Bulgarianyogurt
Notapotatoe, is that you?

Zachary had a good point and I think it is one that we should all heed no matter what our walk of life is. If we spend our time simply reacting against what others think of us, we have lost that important initiative which make us simply act for what we believe in. Don't take the path of the cynic!
Thanks for your words, Tom!

Posted by bigdaddyhub2 on 2007-08-28 15:15:07
were you there ?

Posted by bulgarianyogurt on 2007-08-28 15:32:54