This is my first time commenting on this blog thingy so forgive me for playing devil's advocate.  I promise to be respectful, but accurate.  You wrote "Yes, Marvel accepts PUBLISHED WORK ONLY from new writers". Most "new writers" in Marvel comics or what they used to advertise as "Young Guns", have been writers writing novels, short stories, or in the comics field whether--independent,Dark horse, Image, DC/Vertigo, or British Comics-- for at least over a decade. Some of them have been writing comics since I was in high school in the late 1980's.So your Young Guns or talent, are really "Old Guns", who just never worked for Marvel.      Secondly, you wrote, "No pitches. No submissions. No original ideas. Nothing Marvel related".  and "No, no PDFs. Nothing digital. Nothing electronic. In this case, published means PRINTED".Well, that's just confusing.  As an artist/ writer I've spoken to many "editors" over the years, I was even trained to write by Dennis O'Neil and Carmine Infantino and Howard Post in SVA, back in 1993.  There really is no standard.  Each editor has there own taste of what they want to see, so you just have to investigate.when I was in college in the early ninties, and the truth is, if it's original they don't want to see it, because in the past people have accused or sued companies for stealing ideas, which they will do if you don't C.Y.A, so the best advice is copyright or trademark your work BEFORE you print it or send it off to an editor or God forbid, another artist/employee, who works for the industry.Howard Post, who was an editor at Marvel, before most of you blogger's were born, he was very precise. Howard would say something like this," If you want to write as a Writer or become a comic artist, there's two things you'll need: A) an Agent or B) a lawyer, because the industry will not hire you or take you seriously if you don't have either, and you won't have your "talent", meaning your creative work protected.  I'm not sure how true that it is today, but in our micro-managed society, I can't imagine it being any different, except if you decide on bringing a priest along with you, just to make all parties included in your meeting honest by feeling guilty, that if they cheat you they'd all end up in editor's hell.LOL  C'mon, ya had to give me at least one.Lastly, I'd like to say, that publishing or even self publishing is no guarantee to getting in the industry. It's a fools errand to join comics professionally, but if you decide to do it, do it for the love of medium, for the love of writing or drawing, because anything else other than that will lead you to the crazy house, the poor house or filled with disappointment.  If you're lucky you'll get all three for the price of one.Cheers

What about writers that aren't trying to write Marvel canon? I've had three small-print publishers respond to my pitch about a guy in the real world who gets superpowers by reading comics.  Ever since Kick-Ass, they've been saying "there's a market for this idea."  But when they find out he specifically reads Marvel (and it's kind of integral to the end that he knows who The Beyonder is), they drop the idea. ICON is your imprint for big names to print pet projects like Kick-Ass.  Is there a smaller, more indie imprint that I could submit to?

Sadly, this is the reason why the comic and print industries are having a hard time adjusting to the digital age. Magazines, newspapers, and comics are suffering from the costs of printing; hence, why everyone is going digital. I am a writer, and I have had several works published, both in print and digital formats. My advice for writers is to find a career that allows you time to write... as well as sharpen your writing skills - education, editorial work, or freelancing, for example - and then just wait for the industry to catch up with the rest of the world. In five more years (if that), more editors will accept digital publications. After all, with the rate technology is advancing (Kindle), old school publishers will have no choice - especially if they want to reach the younger generation (Digital Natives). More and more magazines are realizing this little fact and switching to digital format. And self-publishing? Do you really accept this type of format? Do you think self-publishers actually care about grammar and writing skills? I used to collect comics, but I quit after the 1990s. I miss the days of Chris Claremont and good storytelling.