Tuesday, May 22, 2007

FOR REVIEW: PHILIP OFFICE DAY 6 - MOVE ONE

Call Ed and explain the editorial shake-up. Tell him I am excited to be working with him, and that I’m sure we can come up with a way for Captain America to take priority without Wolverine falling behind. Ask him if he’d mind a co-writer, and if it would speed the process. If he answers yes to both questions, ask him who he’d like to have aboard and, if the co-writer agrees, bring ‘em in. If Ed can’t think of anybody, suggest re-teaming him with Rucka (if BigMoney shakeups have left him non-DC exclusive), Fraction, or Bendis, or bringing in ??????????????, Claremont, Edkin (I want to offer so many options here, keep suggestions coming).

If Ed doesn’t want a co-writer, let him know that the EIC and I agree he should stay on the book no matter what, and that while we understand that Captain America requires a lot of attention, Wolverine’s another high-selling title, and every month it ships late is a lot of lost revenue.

With JMS and Finch locked into Balance, and Dwayne and Dan coordinating on She-Hulk and FF, I’ll let the creators do their thing, making sure they know I’m available if any problems come up. If Amanda does in fact want somebody else to handle She-Hulk covers, I’ll ask Greg Horn or Greg Land and let Finch know we’d like for him to focus on the great Balancing act. VP Ops wanted Finch off the She-Hulk covers, but if he’d prefer Finch focus entirely on interior art, maybe Garney, Churchill or even Quesada (depending on the manner of his departure from Marvel) could do the covers.

(Mike, I have plenty of space here so if there’s general Rise/Balance stuff for Wizard I could throw it in if you’d like).

8 comments:

Philip Schaeffer said...

How concerned should I be about the numbering snafu? Do I reference and correct it in my post or do I ignore it and use correct numbering from this point onward?

Michael Heide said...

Just stick to the numbers in my schedule. That way, we're all on the same page.

Another potential Wolverine co-writer might be Rian Johnson (the Brick guy). Ed Brubaker could show him the ropes of a comic book script, and if we run in real trouble, maybe Johnson could take over completely.

And I'll think of something about Wizard.

Philip Schaeffer said...

I'll throw Rian Johnson out there. I'm a big fan of Brick, and that may have the equivalent mystery writer in on the job factor.

I imagine he might initially slow Ed down as he is shown the ropes of sequential storytelling, but I'll throw it out there.

Michael Heide said...

Ooh. Another idea. How about getting Jo Chen (Runaways, Buffy) for the She-Hulk covers?

Philip Schaeffer said...

Sure. This isn't a huge issue. Amanda Conner needed one fill-in She-Hulk cover. She may not even need a full time replacement.

Philip Schaeffer said...

Mike, sorry, this numbering thing keeps worrying me.

I solicited 550 as a double-sized end to the Rise of the Defenders stuff. I guess that should have been 553.

Clearly, based on the numbering spike, Tom was counting issue 550 (about the FF and Namor dealing with a sea monster, totally not exciting or milestone-like) as the double issue, that had an irrelevant classic Namor/Doom backup story and a weird comedic summary of an event that hasn't even started yet. I don't know how, with me giving the specifications of the double-issue yesterday, we would've produced any kind of double issue that quickly.

It also seems like we only get one more set of numbers on Thursday, which will be the October books... that's before the Rise of the Defenders tie-ins even start. You're the resident scheduler; does what I'm saying sound right?

Anonymous said...

You know, that Jo Chen idea is kind of brilliant, if I'm thinking of the right artist...

Nice one!

Michael Heide said...

Philip, I'm afraid you're right. And that's not only because you're a whale-hurling maniac, but because we probably won't be getting sales estimations for the Balance of Power tie-ins.

Sean, any idea? Did you ask Tom if he can increase the speed of the simulation?