To the Triumvirate of Terror - (look that one up in your Avengers archives, it's another reference to how old I really am)!
It has been an honor. And one hell of a hoot.
The passion that the three of you bring to this simulation has been staggering, to say the least.
I will miss logging in at ungodly hours of the day to find the latest back and forths. I will miss hearing more whale references than you get in your local aquarium. I will NOT miss not knowing what the hell I'm missing when I write something that I didn't even realize I wasn't supposed to be writing. Or something like that.
This comes as no surprise, and again, not surprisingly, Sean made the right call. That's why he makes the big bucks as EIC.
Should, in the near future, I see comic books on a DVD rack at Best Buy, in my son's dentist office, or hell, even in my local movie theatre, I will smile with a certain degree of pomposity.
So that's it for this webslinging fool. I'm off to make some big money......
See you in the funny pages!
Monday, May 21, 2007
INTERCEPTED TRANSMISSION
The following telephone conversation was intercepted moments ago:
EB: "Hello?"
PS: "Hey, Ed Brubaker?"
EB: "Uh... no?"
PS: "Hey, Ed, this is Philip Schaeffer. I'm the new editor on Wolverine."
EB: "Oh, right. I'd heard about that; tough break for--"
PS: "Yeah yeah yeah, whatever. Hey, listen, Eddie... Can I call you Eddie?"
EB: "No."
PS: "Yeah, listen Eddie, I'll get to the point. You're a busy guy. I just wanted to bounce a few ideas off you for the book."
EB: "Well, I'm pretty happy with how things--"
PS: "Eschrichtius robustus."
EB: "Bless you."
PS: "Thanks. It's a baleen."
EB: "Excuse me?"
PS: "Oh, were you interested in a toothed? I didn't think they had the right look--"
EB: "I'm not following this--"
PS: "--although Cuvier's Beakeds do have a certain charm."
EB: "--conversation at all."
PS: "That's okay. Me, I'm bad at following directions. Just ask my Editor in Chief!"
EB: "I think I'm going to hang up."
PS: "But we've got to figure out what kind of whale you're going to use."
EB: "Excuse me?"
PS: "What kind of whale you're going to use, you know. When you drop it on Wolverine. To kill him?"
--long pause--
EB: "Ohhhh, rightrightrightrightright. Duh. I don't know what I was worried about."
PS: "Oh, good!"
EB: "I was thinking of using a Humpback. Megaptera novaeangliae."
PS: "Great! Go really big. Giant splash page."
EB: "Exactly!"
PS: "I'm so glad Sean gave me this book."
EB: "Me too. Now let me get my hands on Spidey!"
PS: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
EB: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
--End Transmission--
EB: "Hello?"
PS: "Hey, Ed Brubaker?"
EB: "Uh... no?"
PS: "Hey, Ed, this is Philip Schaeffer. I'm the new editor on Wolverine."
EB: "Oh, right. I'd heard about that; tough break for--"
PS: "Yeah yeah yeah, whatever. Hey, listen, Eddie... Can I call you Eddie?"
EB: "No."
PS: "Yeah, listen Eddie, I'll get to the point. You're a busy guy. I just wanted to bounce a few ideas off you for the book."
EB: "Well, I'm pretty happy with how things--"
PS: "Eschrichtius robustus."
EB: "Bless you."
PS: "Thanks. It's a baleen."
EB: "Excuse me?"
PS: "Oh, were you interested in a toothed? I didn't think they had the right look--"
EB: "I'm not following this--"
PS: "--although Cuvier's Beakeds do have a certain charm."
EB: "--conversation at all."
PS: "That's okay. Me, I'm bad at following directions. Just ask my Editor in Chief!"
EB: "I think I'm going to hang up."
PS: "But we've got to figure out what kind of whale you're going to use."
EB: "Excuse me?"
PS: "What kind of whale you're going to use, you know. When you drop it on Wolverine. To kill him?"
--long pause--
EB: "Ohhhh, rightrightrightrightright. Duh. I don't know what I was worried about."
PS: "Oh, good!"
EB: "I was thinking of using a Humpback. Megaptera novaeangliae."
PS: "Great! Go really big. Giant splash page."
EB: "Exactly!"
PS: "I'm so glad Sean gave me this book."
EB: "Me too. Now let me get my hands on Spidey!"
PS: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
EB: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
--End Transmission--
The Shake-Up
When the dust has settled, responsibilities seem to be divided thusly:
MIKE:
Uncanny X-Men, Editor
Amazing Spider-Man, Editor
Spectacular Spider-Man, Editor
Rise of the Defenders/Balance of Power, Coordinating Editor
PHILIP:
Wolverine, Editor
Fantastic Four, Editor
She-Hulk, Editor
Balance of Power, Editor
Balance of Power: Frontscales, Editor
Hmm... I feel really bad about taking custody of Mike's baby. I don't quite follow what you're saying in your post, Sean, but it seems that you're indicating that of all the non-Spidey books, Wolverine is in the best shape, so its transition will therefore be the smoothest. I get that. But what if we laid things out like this?
MIKE:
Uncanny X-Men, Editor
Amazing Spider-Man, Editor
Spectacular Spider-Man, Editor
Wolverine, Editor
Balance of Power: Frontscales, Editor
PHILIP:
She-Hulk, Editor
Fantastic Four, Editor
Balance of Power, Editor
Rise/Balance, Coordinating Editor
Keep in mind that, from a perfectly professional standpoint, I could not be happier with the way Sean has divvied things up. I offer the above alteration only as a suggestion of how we might divide power and allow Mike to keep Wolverine. A disadvantage to this is that a heckuva lot of Rise/Balance stuff is riding on my office.
Mike, what are your thoughts?
MIKE:
Uncanny X-Men, Editor
Amazing Spider-Man, Editor
Spectacular Spider-Man, Editor
Rise of the Defenders/Balance of Power, Coordinating Editor
PHILIP:
Wolverine, Editor
Fantastic Four, Editor
She-Hulk, Editor
Balance of Power, Editor
Balance of Power: Frontscales, Editor
Hmm... I feel really bad about taking custody of Mike's baby. I don't quite follow what you're saying in your post, Sean, but it seems that you're indicating that of all the non-Spidey books, Wolverine is in the best shape, so its transition will therefore be the smoothest. I get that. But what if we laid things out like this?
MIKE:
Uncanny X-Men, Editor
Amazing Spider-Man, Editor
Spectacular Spider-Man, Editor
Wolverine, Editor
Balance of Power: Frontscales, Editor
PHILIP:
She-Hulk, Editor
Fantastic Four, Editor
Balance of Power, Editor
Rise/Balance, Coordinating Editor
Keep in mind that, from a perfectly professional standpoint, I could not be happier with the way Sean has divvied things up. I offer the above alteration only as a suggestion of how we might divide power and allow Mike to keep Wolverine. A disadvantage to this is that a heckuva lot of Rise/Balance stuff is riding on my office.
Mike, what are your thoughts?
X-Office: Solicitations
WOLVERINE #57
Written by Ed Brubaker, art by Michael Perkins, cover by Dave Johnson.
"Ex-Factor". You know those days when your ex-wife calls? In this standalone tale, Logan has one of those days. But his ex-wife is Madam Hydra, the woman formerly known as Viper! What does she want? And why is it in Logan’s interest to help her?
32 pages, $2.99. in stores on October 10.
UNCANNY X-MEN #491
Written by Robert Weinberg, pencils by Adrian Alphona, cover by Marko Djurdjevic.
"Status Quo Vadis", part 2 of 2. With Cannonball in the hands of the enigmatic Dark Sisterhood, can the X-Men help him before he is tortured to death? If you think the answer is yes, you might be in for a surprise…
Spider-office Monday moves - draft
Hey folks, just got back in, been away today, but am trying best to catch up to the day's developments. Wowzer!
So without further ado, going to fire off some quick moves, to be followed by a couple of other posts. As of right now, this is what I'm moving to post, but admittedly, I still need to plow through what every one else has up.
Am I missing anything people needed help with?
Proposed post text:
Sean, I've placed a call to Molly Lazer over at Thunderbolts regarding the coordination of Venom and Eddie Brock getting suited up again. Obviously, I don't want to upset any of the plans they've got going there. Apparently, Molly is away, but expected back soon, so I look forward to talking with her. I certainly dont' intend to distrupt anything Ellis has on tap, he's been doing a terrific job with that revamp, and I want to make sure the Venom storyline that David moves forward in conjunction with that, just like we did with Matt over on Amazing. I've got a conference call planned with David and Matt to let them know the skinny as soon as I hear back from Molly.
I've placed another call to Paul Jenkins for the four issue series to run concurrent with Balance of Power. I like the suggestion to rework the name, though. How about Balance of Power: The Scales of Justice? While we're waiting to hear confirmation from Paul, I've been thinking Kirkman would be a good backup. As I think I mentioned elsewhere, I think fans would be jazzed to see him paired with his Invincible partner, Ryan Ottley. I haven't had any interaction with Steve Lieber before, but if you think he's worth pursuing, I may need some help brokering that first meet.
I've backed off on the fill-in issue, will await the green light on this one.
On Amazing, Matt and JR Jr are turning in Amazing stuff! We're going to be looking for a significant on-line marketing campaign to coincide with the 45th anniversary issue. Also, what do you think about a sketch version of JR Sr.'s cover to be used as a sales incentive for the direct market?
Also, Sean, over in Spectacular, David is looking to come out of his first arc with a revamped Daily Bugle. I know the Pulse was being pushed for a period of time as a super-hero supplement to the Bugle, but that seems to have fallen by the wayside of late. Can we take a look at possibly giving the Daily Bugle link on Marvel.com a bigger publicity boost on conjunction with the new focus in Spectacular? I'd like to see that link be a site where people turn to more and more for their Marvel news, and would be happy to help coordinate the maintenance of that link. Lemme know....
So without further ado, going to fire off some quick moves, to be followed by a couple of other posts. As of right now, this is what I'm moving to post, but admittedly, I still need to plow through what every one else has up.
Am I missing anything people needed help with?
Proposed post text:
Sean, I've placed a call to Molly Lazer over at Thunderbolts regarding the coordination of Venom and Eddie Brock getting suited up again. Obviously, I don't want to upset any of the plans they've got going there. Apparently, Molly is away, but expected back soon, so I look forward to talking with her. I certainly dont' intend to distrupt anything Ellis has on tap, he's been doing a terrific job with that revamp, and I want to make sure the Venom storyline that David moves forward in conjunction with that, just like we did with Matt over on Amazing. I've got a conference call planned with David and Matt to let them know the skinny as soon as I hear back from Molly.
I've placed another call to Paul Jenkins for the four issue series to run concurrent with Balance of Power. I like the suggestion to rework the name, though. How about Balance of Power: The Scales of Justice? While we're waiting to hear confirmation from Paul, I've been thinking Kirkman would be a good backup. As I think I mentioned elsewhere, I think fans would be jazzed to see him paired with his Invincible partner, Ryan Ottley. I haven't had any interaction with Steve Lieber before, but if you think he's worth pursuing, I may need some help brokering that first meet.
I've backed off on the fill-in issue, will await the green light on this one.
On Amazing, Matt and JR Jr are turning in Amazing stuff! We're going to be looking for a significant on-line marketing campaign to coincide with the 45th anniversary issue. Also, what do you think about a sketch version of JR Sr.'s cover to be used as a sales incentive for the direct market?
Also, Sean, over in Spectacular, David is looking to come out of his first arc with a revamped Daily Bugle. I know the Pulse was being pushed for a period of time as a super-hero supplement to the Bugle, but that seems to have fallen by the wayside of late. Can we take a look at possibly giving the Daily Bugle link on Marvel.com a bigger publicity boost on conjunction with the new focus in Spectacular? I'd like to see that link be a site where people turn to more and more for their Marvel news, and would be happy to help coordinate the maintenance of that link. Lemme know....
Mike's moves for today. 376 words.
1.: Ask marketing if we can schedule the Turner cover as a variant for WOLVERINE #59, the start of Ed Brubaker's first multi-part storyline. I think a variant makes sense because a) between the Dave Johnson covers and the Jock covers, we have enough covers to use and b) #58 will be the Lapham/Gaydos issue. A fill-in issue almost always gets lower orders than usual. And I don't want readers to drop the book. If anything, I want new readers to come in with #59, a great jumping-on point with a killer cliffhanger.
2.: With BLACK PANTHER already on board, I'm rushing through the bullpen, talking with the editors of the following books: IRON MAN, the AVENGERS books and the adjectiveless X-MEN. January will have the start of BALANCE OF POWER. I'm coordinating the tie-ins. Which books will be connected to the crossover? When will they ship? How do we avoid seven tie-ins in one week, with none for the next two weeks? Ideally, at least two tie-ins should ship in any week for the duration of this event.
3.: Once the creative team for Balance of Power is settled, the plot is finalized and we know which ongoings by other editors tie into this, I contact the Marvel Handbook editors about the BALANCE OF POWER TRAVEL GUIDE.
4.: I ask Joe Straczynski, Paul Jenkins and one or two writers of the most important tie-ins if they are interested in writing a couple of lines for Wizard about the characters in BALANCE OF POWER. Alternatively, if they would like to do one big roundtable interview with Ben Morse.
5.: With stores only getting one promo sheet at once, we offer Wizard printing all four in their books (though not exclusively, as we plan to offer wallpaper versions of those posters on Marvel.com), along with commentary by series editor Philip Schaeffer, Marvel EiC Sean Kleefeld and the writers that agreed to do this. Why were those characters chosen for the promotion? What's behind those taglines? What role will they play in Balance of Power? Rounding things up with character sketches and perhaps the cover of #1 (once that's done and approved)? What does the Marketing department say about that? If they give their okay, I call Ben.
FF Post with Solits
Sean, I mainly seek you to sign off on my plans for a double-sized FF 550, but also...
Can you think of any classic stories that might be appropriate? First encounter with Namor? You're the resident expert, let me know your thoughts:
Tell Dan he's not going anywhere; I was merely giving him an opportunity to get a head start on things if rush-writing the non-softball alternative had left him feeling swamped. Especially with She-Hulk joining the team, Dan is extremely important to the future of FF. I'll then request a conference call between Dwayne and Dan making sure everybody's happy with story direction, etc. And, if it hasn't happened yet, I'd still like to set up the Rise/Balance team meeting/conference call.
Out of my own pocket, send JMS a thank-you gift basket of smoked fish, with a card reading "Serve Namor up however you'd like."
Offer Balance to Finch (alt. Jimenez, Epting, Olivetti, McNiven, McGuinness) and tell him we need a commitment. We’d like for the interior artist to provide covers with variants from Michael Turner. Ask Amanda if she’d needs breathing room by taking off the covers for the Rise of the Defenders She-Hulks; if so, ask Finch (or whoever can do Balance) if they’d like to draw those two covers.
Ask again about extra pages for Fantastic Four 550; if I can have them, I’d like to include a 22 page full length story from Slott and Deodato, perhaps a reprinting of a classic FF tale and a brief comedic summary of Rise of the Defenders by Chris Giarusso.
Solicitations:
She-Hulk 21
McDuffie and Conner
Cover by Finch
RISE OF THE DEFENDERS!
Guest-Starring the Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom! Jen just wants some time to relax with her old teammates—too bad Doctor Doom’s about to make his triumphant, and very public, return to the lives of America’s premiere super family!
She-Hulk 22
McDuffie and Conner
Cover by Finch
RISE OF THE DEFENDERS!
Guest-Starring the Human Torch, Dr. Doom and Namor! As Namor and Doom weigh the prospects of joining forces, Jen, Ben and Johnny weigh the prospects of breaking the law to help Reed prove Doom’s still up to his old tricks.
Fantastic Four 549
Slott and Deodato
Cover by McGuinness
RISE OF THE DEFENDERS!
Guest-Starring She-Hulk, Black Panther and Storm! The FF investigate Doom’s most recent scientific breakthrough… and it’s a doozy! An unforgettable conversation between Reed Richards and King T’Challa sets the stage for things to come.
(pending certain approvals)
Fantastic Four 550
Slott and Deodato (and additional contributors, if any)
Cover by McGuinness
RISE OF THE DEFENDERS!
Special over-sized issue! The Fantastic Four are at a crossroads in this landmark issue that leads directly into the upcoming BALANCE OF POWER! Featuring a classic story from FF?, an original Mini-Marvels story and the very first appearance of THE DEFENDERS!
Can you think of any classic stories that might be appropriate? First encounter with Namor? You're the resident expert, let me know your thoughts:
Tell Dan he's not going anywhere; I was merely giving him an opportunity to get a head start on things if rush-writing the non-softball alternative had left him feeling swamped. Especially with She-Hulk joining the team, Dan is extremely important to the future of FF. I'll then request a conference call between Dwayne and Dan making sure everybody's happy with story direction, etc. And, if it hasn't happened yet, I'd still like to set up the Rise/Balance team meeting/conference call.
Out of my own pocket, send JMS a thank-you gift basket of smoked fish, with a card reading "Serve Namor up however you'd like."
Offer Balance to Finch (alt. Jimenez, Epting, Olivetti, McNiven, McGuinness) and tell him we need a commitment. We’d like for the interior artist to provide covers with variants from Michael Turner. Ask Amanda if she’d needs breathing room by taking off the covers for the Rise of the Defenders She-Hulks; if so, ask Finch (or whoever can do Balance) if they’d like to draw those two covers.
Ask again about extra pages for Fantastic Four 550; if I can have them, I’d like to include a 22 page full length story from Slott and Deodato, perhaps a reprinting of a classic FF tale and a brief comedic summary of Rise of the Defenders by Chris Giarusso.
Solicitations:
She-Hulk 21
McDuffie and Conner
Cover by Finch
RISE OF THE DEFENDERS!
Guest-Starring the Fantastic Four and Doctor Doom! Jen just wants some time to relax with her old teammates—too bad Doctor Doom’s about to make his triumphant, and very public, return to the lives of America’s premiere super family!
She-Hulk 22
McDuffie and Conner
Cover by Finch
RISE OF THE DEFENDERS!
Guest-Starring the Human Torch, Dr. Doom and Namor! As Namor and Doom weigh the prospects of joining forces, Jen, Ben and Johnny weigh the prospects of breaking the law to help Reed prove Doom’s still up to his old tricks.
Fantastic Four 549
Slott and Deodato
Cover by McGuinness
RISE OF THE DEFENDERS!
Guest-Starring She-Hulk, Black Panther and Storm! The FF investigate Doom’s most recent scientific breakthrough… and it’s a doozy! An unforgettable conversation between Reed Richards and King T’Challa sets the stage for things to come.
(pending certain approvals)
Fantastic Four 550
Slott and Deodato (and additional contributors, if any)
Cover by McGuinness
RISE OF THE DEFENDERS!
Special over-sized issue! The Fantastic Four are at a crossroads in this landmark issue that leads directly into the upcoming BALANCE OF POWER! Featuring a classic story from FF?, an original Mini-Marvels story and the very first appearance of THE DEFENDERS!
Philip, about Wizard's Balance of Power coverage:
I think I have the best connection to Ben Morse thanks to the X-Men/Wolverine articles. So while you edit the main series, in my function as liaison to the other editors (to get Iron Man, the Avengers, the other X-books and so on in on this), should I contact him about the Balance of Power stuff? I'm currently thinking: With stores only getting one promo sheet at once, we could have Wizard printing all four in their books, along with commentary by you, Sean, Joe Straczynski, Paul Jenkins and the writers of the other tie-ins.
Why were those characters chosen for the promotion? What's behind those taglines? What role will they play in Balance of Power? Rounding things up with character sketches and perhaps the cover of #1 (once that's done and approved)?
I think that could give readers a chance to see the other posters (and download them as desktop wallpapers through Wizardworld.com and/or Marvel.com), it would give the article a nice structure, and you could tease about upcoming plot twists in the interview without giving too much away.
Why were those characters chosen for the promotion? What's behind those taglines? What role will they play in Balance of Power? Rounding things up with character sketches and perhaps the cover of #1 (once that's done and approved)?
I think that could give readers a chance to see the other posters (and download them as desktop wallpapers through Wizardworld.com and/or Marvel.com), it would give the article a nice structure, and you could tease about upcoming plot twists in the interview without giving too much away.
Pat's Punchlist
Hey, Pat --
As you requested, here's what you need to address today/tonight...
1) Coordination with Thunderbolts office. Ellis has first dibs on Venom regarding changes. Any significant changes in the status quo should be reflected in your books, and you need to make sure that Brock does not get back into the suit before Ellis is done with him. Should not be a huge issue, but one that needs to be coordinated. Which further means that your communications with Thunderbolts office, whatever the outcome, needs to be reported back to both Fraction and Micheline. Possibly JRJr and Pelletier as well if Ellis' work impacts how the character looks.
2) Follow up with Paul Jenkins on Balance of Power: Frontline. See if you can get a definitive answer from him, so he can start working on the books. Did we (all four of us) discuss the length of this series? BoPow is only going to be 5 issues, so Frontline shouldn't go on too long, I expect. Maybe let Jenkins determine how many issues he can/wants to do?
If Jenkins ultimately declines, we need a backup writer (and prefably a backup for your backup) for you to contact. Since Larocca isn't interested, we also need an artist for the book. Didn't Steve Lieber do some Civil War: Frontline? Might be someone to contact, but he's got some movie stuff going on, too, so we'd DEFINITELY want a backup for him.
Also, to everyone, I'm having doubts about the "Frontline" name. It makes for an easy shorthand so we all know the general premise of the book, but the term "frontline" is generally associated with war and/or attacks. While I like the series concept, I would like to tone back the aggressive war notion in our books collectively, so what about something like Balance of Power: Beyond the Headlines? Same premise, just a different title.
3) Don't know how closely you read Tom's blog, but the fill-in thing I asked you to start investigating is a no-go. Do NOT pursue this any further.
4) Finally, just do some general follow-up with your creative teams to make sure that they have everything they need, and that their work is moving apace smoothly.
As you requested, here's what you need to address today/tonight...
1) Coordination with Thunderbolts office. Ellis has first dibs on Venom regarding changes. Any significant changes in the status quo should be reflected in your books, and you need to make sure that Brock does not get back into the suit before Ellis is done with him. Should not be a huge issue, but one that needs to be coordinated. Which further means that your communications with Thunderbolts office, whatever the outcome, needs to be reported back to both Fraction and Micheline. Possibly JRJr and Pelletier as well if Ellis' work impacts how the character looks.
2) Follow up with Paul Jenkins on Balance of Power: Frontline. See if you can get a definitive answer from him, so he can start working on the books. Did we (all four of us) discuss the length of this series? BoPow is only going to be 5 issues, so Frontline shouldn't go on too long, I expect. Maybe let Jenkins determine how many issues he can/wants to do?
If Jenkins ultimately declines, we need a backup writer (and prefably a backup for your backup) for you to contact. Since Larocca isn't interested, we also need an artist for the book. Didn't Steve Lieber do some Civil War: Frontline? Might be someone to contact, but he's got some movie stuff going on, too, so we'd DEFINITELY want a backup for him.
Also, to everyone, I'm having doubts about the "Frontline" name. It makes for an easy shorthand so we all know the general premise of the book, but the term "frontline" is generally associated with war and/or attacks. While I like the series concept, I would like to tone back the aggressive war notion in our books collectively, so what about something like Balance of Power: Beyond the Headlines? Same premise, just a different title.
3) Don't know how closely you read Tom's blog, but the fill-in thing I asked you to start investigating is a no-go. Do NOT pursue this any further.
4) Finally, just do some general follow-up with your creative teams to make sure that they have everything they need, and that their work is moving apace smoothly.
If I'm still here tomorrow, I'd like to do the following things:
1.: Ask marketing if we can schedule the Turner cover as a variant for WOLVERINE #59, the start of Ed Brubaker's first multi-part storyline. I think a variant makes sense because a) between the Dave Johnson covers and the Jock covers, we have enough covers to use and b) #58 will be the Lapham/Gaydos issue. A fill-in issue almost always gets lower orders than usual. And I don't want readers to drop the book. If anything, I want new readers to come in with #59, a great jumping-on point with a killer cliffhanger.
2.: I'm rushing through the bullpen, talking with the editors of the following books: BLACK PANTHER, IRON MAN, the AVENGERS books and the adjectiveless X-MEN. January will have the start of BALANCE OF POWER. I'm trying to convince as many of the editors as possible that they should have BoPow tie-ins in their titles. Black Panther is the most interesting book of them, since that title could profit from a "Rise of the Defenders" tagline as well in the two months before BALANCE OF POWER starts.
3.: With Sean's permission and the publisher's approval, I'd like to call Eddie Berganza over at the Distinguished Competition to propose a two-part UNCANNY X-MEN/Justice League crossover, one issue published by us, one by them. If he's interested, we'll have to think about this: Will we have two different creative teams? If not, who appoints the writer, who the artist, colorist, letterer etc.? When should we schedule this so it doesn't collide with Marvel's BALANCE OF POWER or DC's MEGACRISIS OF 52 EARTHS?
2.: I'm rushing through the bullpen, talking with the editors of the following books: BLACK PANTHER, IRON MAN, the AVENGERS books and the adjectiveless X-MEN. January will have the start of BALANCE OF POWER. I'm trying to convince as many of the editors as possible that they should have BoPow tie-ins in their titles. Black Panther is the most interesting book of them, since that title could profit from a "Rise of the Defenders" tagline as well in the two months before BALANCE OF POWER starts.
3.: With Sean's permission and the publisher's approval, I'd like to call Eddie Berganza over at the Distinguished Competition to propose a two-part UNCANNY X-MEN/Justice League crossover, one issue published by us, one by them. If he's interested, we'll have to think about this: Will we have two different creative teams? If not, who appoints the writer, who the artist, colorist, letterer etc.? When should we schedule this so it doesn't collide with Marvel's BALANCE OF POWER or DC's MEGACRISIS OF 52 EARTHS?
Oh, he's GOT to be kidding!
Well, I guess Tom couldn't make it too easy for me either.
*sigh*
OK, first off, I am NOT going to make this decision quickly and/or lightly. I've got excellent reasons for NOT getting rid of anybody! But I guess I need to make a decision on things regardless.
Here's what's going to happen today: I want all three of you to keep working with your respective issues/problems. According to Tom's post, I was told of the need to let someone go in Buckley's office, which means that you all, as editors, would NOT know of that conversation. Realistically, you wouldn't know that I need to downsize the staff at all, so there's no reason you wouldn't continue working as if nothing were different. As far as you're concerned, nothing is different today than it was yesterday.
So, come up with your respective game plans for today/tonight as normal. We'll go through the same type of review process we've done since last week and once I sign off on your plans, feel free to post those on Tom's blog.
I'll be posting various other moves unrelated to this throughout the day, but my final decision will probably be a little before 8:00 tonight. I'll e-mail whoever it is first, and post my decision on Tom's blog shortly afterwards.
*sigh*
OK, first off, I am NOT going to make this decision quickly and/or lightly. I've got excellent reasons for NOT getting rid of anybody! But I guess I need to make a decision on things regardless.
Here's what's going to happen today: I want all three of you to keep working with your respective issues/problems. According to Tom's post, I was told of the need to let someone go in Buckley's office, which means that you all, as editors, would NOT know of that conversation. Realistically, you wouldn't know that I need to downsize the staff at all, so there's no reason you wouldn't continue working as if nothing were different. As far as you're concerned, nothing is different today than it was yesterday.
So, come up with your respective game plans for today/tonight as normal. We'll go through the same type of review process we've done since last week and once I sign off on your plans, feel free to post those on Tom's blog.
I'll be posting various other moves unrelated to this throughout the day, but my final decision will probably be a little before 8:00 tonight. I'll e-mail whoever it is first, and post my decision on Tom's blog shortly afterwards.
FF OFFICE POSSIBLE POST - DAY 5
If I don't get turned loose, here's my game plan:
Tell Dan he's not going anywhere; I was merely giving him an opportunity to get a head start on things if rush-writing the non-softball alternative had left him behind. Especially with She-Hulk joining the team, Dan is extremely important to the future of FF. I'll then request a conference call between Dwayne and Dan making sure everybody's happy with story direction, etc. And, if it hasn't happened yet, I'd still like to set up the Rise/Balance team meeting/conference call.
Out of my own pocket, send JMS a thank-you gift basket of smoked fish, with a card reading "Serve Namor up however you'd like."
I'm still in favor of bringing Deodato to Balance, Sean, but if you'd rather keep him where he is I'm totally behind Finch or Jimenez. I put those in as alternates in case Cheung defected; I wish Tom had just gone ahead and assigned somebody.
I'll then post solicitations for the Rise of the Defenders issues of She-Hulk and Fantastic Four.
Tell Dan he's not going anywhere; I was merely giving him an opportunity to get a head start on things if rush-writing the non-softball alternative had left him behind. Especially with She-Hulk joining the team, Dan is extremely important to the future of FF. I'll then request a conference call between Dwayne and Dan making sure everybody's happy with story direction, etc. And, if it hasn't happened yet, I'd still like to set up the Rise/Balance team meeting/conference call.
Out of my own pocket, send JMS a thank-you gift basket of smoked fish, with a card reading "Serve Namor up however you'd like."
I'm still in favor of bringing Deodato to Balance, Sean, but if you'd rather keep him where he is I'm totally behind Finch or Jimenez. I put those in as alternates in case Cheung defected; I wish Tom had just gone ahead and assigned somebody.
I'll then post solicitations for the Rise of the Defenders issues of She-Hulk and Fantastic Four.
THE CHOPPING BLOCK
This is seriously slow going up on Tom's Blog's main page. You can find it at www.marvel.com/blogs/Tom_Brevort/entry/750
So this is the big twist Tom's been waiting for? Cutting one of us out of the game Survivor style is going to SERIOUSLY SCREW EVERYTHING UP. Tom Brevoort, you're the meanest man I never met.
SIMULATION II Day 5
2007-05-21 10:18:28
DISCLAIMER: All individuals, sales figures, situations and occurrences involved in this editorial simulation are completely fabricated as part of the game, and do not in any way reflect the actual real-world opinions, viewpoints or situations involving any of the creators or titles named. THIS IS A WORK OF FICTION!
Back after the weekend, so let's see where our intrepid young editorial team is, on this, sure to be one of the most difficult days in this simulation.
SEAN
Matt Fraction isn't going to take an exclusive contract with Marvel. He is writing a book for BigMoney, but he's also committed to doing his Marvel work as well.
Mike Deodato will sign an exclusive deal with Marvel.
BACK ISSUE is happy to run your piece on Steve Gerber's DEFENDERS. They're not sure what to do with your nominal payment for it, though.
The Marvel.com folks will put resources towards having the BALANCE OF POWER DVD-commentary digital comic ready. The Sales Department, however, isn't crazy about this move. They feel the retailers are going to be very upset about ordering and trying to sell a book that's simultaneously available for free (and with more content) online.
The Sales Department also tells you that any material change in creative team from what was solicited will likely make that particular issue returnable. That includes soliciting with Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch, for example, and then just having Mark and Bryan do a 5-page framing sequence around a 17-page story by other creators. The solicited creators must do more than half the book in order for the issue to remain non-returnable.
The design department will begin to get to work on logos and treatments for RISE OF THE DEFENDERS and BALANCE OF POWER.
The marketing department will get to work putting together your house ads. And assuming you don't mind the 25/split posters being a quarter of the size of a typical poster, they should be able to get one randomly sent to each comic shop.
MIKE
Turner's WOLVERINE cover, while it may be used by Wizard in their article, was commissioned by you and paid for by Marvel. So it wouldn't be used on the cover of Wizard--they commission their own pieces. So you'll want to apply that Turner cover to a WOLVERINE issue.
The Publisher has gotten wind of your intention of offering Robert Weinberg the option of another editor on UNCANNY X-MEN. He tells Sean to let you know that no creator gets to dictate the internal set-up of Marvel editorial, and any decisions involving the reassignment of titles will be made by the EIC and the Publisher. In other words, you can't simply hand your work over to somebody else to do.
PHILLIP
Dan Slott doesn't want to take the crossover issues of FANTASTIC FOUR off--he only just got the book, and now between the crossed signals on the softball sequence (for which he appreciates getting paid) and now this seeming desire to dump him off the crossover, he's starting to get a little bit paranoid about his job security.
Paul Ryan will do the next SHE-HULK cover.
With Jim Cheung going over to BigMoney, you'll need to finalize an artist for BALANCE OF POWER.
JMS is very interested in writing the BALANCE OF POWER crossover, having wrapped his head around it, assuming that you intend to go ahead with the plan he's heard about through the grapevine of killing Namor. As he envisions it, Namor's death is the perfect punctuation on the close of the story, giving it a tragic ending, and some real consequence for the Marvel Universe going forward. He's very excited by this idea.
PATRICK
Matt Fraction is fine with moving his Venom storyline back a few months to accommodate SPECTACULAR.
Marvel.com would love to have Matt do a blog about working on AMAZING SPIDER-MAN. The VP of Operations cautions you to keep an eye on how much time it's taking up; the most important thing for Matt to do for Marvel is to write comics.
A key point of coordination: Warren Ellis has been writing the Mac Gargan Venom over in THUNDERBOLTS, and he doesn't want to have to try to change the character all around right in the middle of his run. He feels that all of the character set-up he's been doing will be lost if he has to suddenly bring in a different individual in the Venom costume, and that his pay-off will be compromised by this. He also reminds you that he was promised Venom cleanly for at least a year.
The concept of putting comic racks into Best Buy or similar outlets is an enormous negotiation, and one best carried out by the Sales and Marketing team. Likewise, the concept of putting the FCBD Spidey book into dentists' offices.
Paul Jenkins would like to do a BALANCE OF POWER FRONT LINE series, assuming he can fit it in around his film and video game commitments. But this all depends on the project being approved by the EIC in the first place. Salva Larroca isn't all that wild about drawing this, however.
INDUSTRY NEWS
Jim Cheung signs an exclusive contract with BigMoney.
BigMoney's initial wave of titles begins to ship, accompanied by an aggressive marketing campaign.
MOLLY
As your assistant editor, Molly Lazer has this to report:
I will be out of the office on Friday, May 18th and the morning of Monday May 21st. For urgent matters or if you are turning something in, please contact Tom Brevoort mheroes@marvel.com.
THE PUBLISHER
The Publisher pulls Sean into his office this morning to let him know about a situation. As was rumored last week, there was a snafu with Marvel's deal with Sony over the profit-sharing on SPIDER-MAN 3, and because Marvel didn't publish a comic book adaptation of the film, several million dollars that was supposed to come our way isn't happening. Consequently, we've got to tighten our belts a bit--which means that the publisher needs you, Sean, to trim your editorial staff down by one member, and reallocate the books to the remaining staff. Put more simply, you've got to fire one of your editors.
Your move.
Tom B
So this is the big twist Tom's been waiting for? Cutting one of us out of the game Survivor style is going to SERIOUSLY SCREW EVERYTHING UP. Tom Brevoort, you're the meanest man I never met.
Mr. Fish strikes again?
Tom seems to be very busy today. That means, even more than usual. I'm worried this dispute could have something to do with our dispute yesterday. Do we have a plan B ready in case Tom can't make it today? Because that would mean we won't have enough days to reach BALANCE OF POWER...
My moves for today, first draft
As the new editor of BALANCE OF POWER, I'm facing a dilemma. On the one hand, the four of us have created quite a plot for the crossover. On the other, we still have no writer. Or artist.
So my first step is a call for Marvel's exclusive, as well as freelance writers to pitch their ideas for Balance of Power. The only plot point they have to include is the setup: Dr. Doom, Magneto, Black Panther, Namor and perhaps Ikaris, Black Bolt, Mole Man or others band together for a kind of Anti-Illuminati: The Defenders. When the Initiative fails to protect the East Coast from a natural disaster, the new Defenders pitch in, and the classic roles of heroes and villains get reversed.
They can springboard from that. If they have better ideas about the "lineup", if they want to bring in a third party behind the disaster, I'm all ears. In the end, the four of us should pick the best pitch based on how good it is, independently of how close it is to our original idea.
While the writers start submitting their pitches, I go looking for an artist. Philip had a few in mind, so I'll ask them first. If none of them can or wants to commit to this, I'll ask Mike Wieringo or John Romita jr (providing that he doesn't mind doing another crossover so shortly after World War Hulk and providing that he is still able to keep his schedule on Amazing Spider-Man).
With a creative team and a finalized plot in place, I can finally approach the Marvel Handbook editors about the Balance of Power Travel Guide.
So my first step is a call for Marvel's exclusive, as well as freelance writers to pitch their ideas for Balance of Power. The only plot point they have to include is the setup: Dr. Doom, Magneto, Black Panther, Namor and perhaps Ikaris, Black Bolt, Mole Man or others band together for a kind of Anti-Illuminati: The Defenders. When the Initiative fails to protect the East Coast from a natural disaster, the new Defenders pitch in, and the classic roles of heroes and villains get reversed.
They can springboard from that. If they have better ideas about the "lineup", if they want to bring in a third party behind the disaster, I'm all ears. In the end, the four of us should pick the best pitch based on how good it is, independently of how close it is to our original idea.
While the writers start submitting their pitches, I go looking for an artist. Philip had a few in mind, so I'll ask them first. If none of them can or wants to commit to this, I'll ask Mike Wieringo or John Romita jr (providing that he doesn't mind doing another crossover so shortly after World War Hulk and providing that he is still able to keep his schedule on Amazing Spider-Man).
With a creative team and a finalized plot in place, I can finally approach the Marvel Handbook editors about the Balance of Power Travel Guide.
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