Thursday, May 17, 2007
FOR APPROVAL: FF OFFICE DAY 3 - MOVE 1
Sean, based on response from the boards and the overall direction of Balance of Power/Defenders, I've decided to hold off on plans to relaunch She-Hulk. Instead, I'm going to suggest that Sue leaves Reed and the children once again and goes to Namor and the Defenders and She-Hulk replaces her on the team. That will anger so many more die-hard fans that they'll wish I just started a new book. Also I obviously vote to get FF out, mainly cause I doubt Amazing will come together in time. If you think Amazing will make it to press, then go ahead and release that since it'll sell more copies.
Due to upcoming events that will resonate throughout the Marvel Universe, we're holding off on She-Hulk's relaunch/retitle until things have settled down. She-Hulk will instead be joining the Fantastic Four starting in issue 23 of her own book and FF 551, replacing Sue Richards. This means Dan doesn't lose Johnny Storm. But remind him I can take him away whenever I want. Then laugh so he knows I'm joking. But put something sinister behind the laugh so he's not sure I'm joking.
The previously described crossover will take place in She-Hulk 21-22 and FF 549-550(extra pages on that one if possible); it that works with the Black Panther schedule, they're beyond welcome. The crossover will bear the following banner: THE RISE OF THE DEFENDERS, and will instead be the darker FF arc we'd described (Doom gather together the Defenders), instead of the original crossover pitch of chasing Doom across the galaxy (Dan and Dwayne may work elements of that into the beginning of the revised crossover, however).
Forget die-cut bookmarks; they'll just give people papercuts anyway.
Tell Molly the following (or just call the guys myself):
First, tell Deodato I'll talk to Dan about changing the story. Then I'll point out to him that he's allowed to make the softball game the most gritty, brutal softball game in the history of softball (the players all have powers, after all).
If Dan's already started writing the softball story, see if he can at least rewrite the last half or two thirds to include calling off the game so the heroes can, in some action-packed manner, avert a catastrophe (construction acccident, alien space craft crash, unregistered hero trying to buy some milk). Keep in mind this only requires rewriting one part of the story, since several scenes were focused on Sue and Reed being grumpy faced (hence my wanting Deodato's emotional touch).
If Dan hasn't already started writing (in which case he's in trouble with me, but I'll let it slide THIS TIME since it works to our advantage), suggest he scrap the softball storyline in favor of the New FF on a distant alien world battling space slugs or an army of fierce warriors and treating it like it's normal, to establish how Black Panther and Storm are really fitting into the new team. Resolicit the issue if necessary.
Then, I'll do everything in my power to rush the preview pages for Marvel, which I would imagine includes: crying a lot, paying multiple inkers and colorers to work on a single page of the preview art each (and apologizing, because I bet that irritates them), clicking my teeth and bugging everybody in the office, urging Amanda to work as fast as she can and generally trying to cheerlead/bulldog everyone into getting it done. Then I'll think about gluing all of the Marvel.com guys' belongings to their desks, but I'll remember that they're only rushing me so they can promote my book and I should probably just be thankful whenever somebody helps me out on She-Hulk.
Due to upcoming events that will resonate throughout the Marvel Universe, we're holding off on She-Hulk's relaunch/retitle until things have settled down. She-Hulk will instead be joining the Fantastic Four starting in issue 23 of her own book and FF 551, replacing Sue Richards. This means Dan doesn't lose Johnny Storm. But remind him I can take him away whenever I want. Then laugh so he knows I'm joking. But put something sinister behind the laugh so he's not sure I'm joking.
The previously described crossover will take place in She-Hulk 21-22 and FF 549-550(extra pages on that one if possible); it that works with the Black Panther schedule, they're beyond welcome. The crossover will bear the following banner: THE RISE OF THE DEFENDERS, and will instead be the darker FF arc we'd described (Doom gather together the Defenders), instead of the original crossover pitch of chasing Doom across the galaxy (Dan and Dwayne may work elements of that into the beginning of the revised crossover, however).
Forget die-cut bookmarks; they'll just give people papercuts anyway.
Tell Molly the following (or just call the guys myself):
First, tell Deodato I'll talk to Dan about changing the story. Then I'll point out to him that he's allowed to make the softball game the most gritty, brutal softball game in the history of softball (the players all have powers, after all).
If Dan's already started writing the softball story, see if he can at least rewrite the last half or two thirds to include calling off the game so the heroes can, in some action-packed manner, avert a catastrophe (construction acccident, alien space craft crash, unregistered hero trying to buy some milk). Keep in mind this only requires rewriting one part of the story, since several scenes were focused on Sue and Reed being grumpy faced (hence my wanting Deodato's emotional touch).
If Dan hasn't already started writing (in which case he's in trouble with me, but I'll let it slide THIS TIME since it works to our advantage), suggest he scrap the softball storyline in favor of the New FF on a distant alien world battling space slugs or an army of fierce warriors and treating it like it's normal, to establish how Black Panther and Storm are really fitting into the new team. Resolicit the issue if necessary.
Then, I'll do everything in my power to rush the preview pages for Marvel, which I would imagine includes: crying a lot, paying multiple inkers and colorers to work on a single page of the preview art each (and apologizing, because I bet that irritates them), clicking my teeth and bugging everybody in the office, urging Amanda to work as fast as she can and generally trying to cheerlead/bulldog everyone into getting it done. Then I'll think about gluing all of the Marvel.com guys' belongings to their desks, but I'll remember that they're only rushing me so they can promote my book and I should probably just be thankful whenever somebody helps me out on She-Hulk.
Tom posted. Day 3 has officially begun.
Just had an idea to kill two birds with one stone.
Byrne doesn't want to do Spectacular Spider-Man, and Jim Cheung needs a book. How about giving Spectacular to Jimmy, at least until we agree on a replacement for Byrne?
Also, with Cheung fresh off the Illuminati mini, could he be a suitable artist for "Balance of Power"?
Byrne doesn't want to do Spectacular Spider-Man, and Jim Cheung needs a book. How about giving Spectacular to Jimmy, at least until we agree on a replacement for Byrne?
Also, with Cheung fresh off the Illuminati mini, could he be a suitable artist for "Balance of Power"?
THE BALANCE OF POWER
Mike, how's this for a compromise:
What if we call the limited THE BALANCE OF POWER. The lead up books are bannered RISE OF THE DEFENDERS. The team is still called the Defenders, but now the diehard fans won't be quite as incensed against it?
What if we call the limited THE BALANCE OF POWER. The lead up books are bannered RISE OF THE DEFENDERS. The team is still called the Defenders, but now the diehard fans won't be quite as incensed against it?
Defenders Discussions Continue
I'm rescuing some more pertinent comments on the Defenders from a message board that's getting a little too removed from the main page. Mike, let's keep brainstorming; this is getting good:
Philip:
I hear you loud and clear.
Helicarrier crash is outer than Elton John.
Hercules is a great beat, I'll mimic it world wide: Magneto holding the Great Wall of China together by metal bracings, Doom standing in the middle of a large group of terrified South American children triumphantly holding a force field emitter above his head that protects them from fallen rubble as a crowd looks on cheering, Namor and several members of the Atlantean guard astride sea creatures carrying stranded kids, reuniting families in a tsunami swept Indonesia, T'Challa and the Wakandan guard welcoming refugees into Wakanda
These images aren't necessarily as striking; they're supposed to be about the emotional impact of the characters. Baxter Builder standing pristinely in a force field while the city around it crumbles is by comparison a pretty damning image.
Michael:
It comes even heavier. When the Baxter Building and the Stark Tower are the only things standing amidst all the rubble and chaos, that's two towers.
It will be an inverted 9/11.
As for the Great Wall of China: How about the Mole Man? He's a monarch as well, and I doubt that all of his Moloids were killed in Mighty Avengers #3. Can you imagine millions of Mole people standing all along the Chinese Wall, trying to keep it vertical? I think that could be a better image than Magneto holding it in place with girders. I think Magneto should hold something already made of metal. The Eiffel Tower?
Also, could Blob get his powers back? Think of the image when the immovable Blob is supporting the structure of Brussel's Atomium in an Atlas kind of image.
Alternatively, Juggernaut could do the same. Both are allied with Magneto, whose brotherhood (Mystique, Blob, Sabretooth, Toad, Juggernaut and, *gasp*, Gambit and Rogue (who believe that the X-Men should oppose Stark and Richards, thus ending up on the Defenders' side. And Doom even finds a way to cure Rogue, something Xavier never managed to do)) will be involved in this, of course. They are his X-Men, after all.
Clarification: With "cure", I mean get rid of Ms Marvel's powers and memories, as well as control of her powers.
Philip Schaeffer said...
Oh Mike,
I get all tingly when you start including mutants in the crossover.
This is feeling pretty global meaning both world wide and line wide. Patrick, where do you see Spidey fitting in?
Yeah, definitely, all those images of former villains holding things together, Magneto keeping the Eifel Tower, this is all perfect.
I'd rather not use Juggernaut linked with Magneto because he's in New Excalibur (but I'll do it), and I'm not a huge Blob fan...
But could I have Colossus? Forsaking America and joining the world community at large, perhaps holding up the Atomium or something more Russian?
And I love the Mole Man being a part of this. It's a bit out of his character to want to help the world at large, but he'd be an interesting addition to the Defenders.
Sean:
I like the beats you're pulling out of this, but Debbie's got a point: the Helicarrier going down has been done a lot. Dan Slott's even been making fun of that in recent (real) issues of She-Hulk.
Also, with the global spin you're putting on the Defenders as a group (which I really like) can we do something similar with the visual beats? Intact Baxter Bldg amidst chaos/rubble is good, but are there international equivalents we can touch? What about Hercules trying to hold up the Parthenon? It's getting late and I'm drawing a blank on other ideas but the same general ideas/direction on a global scale.
May 16, 2007 8:58 PM
Philip:
I hear you loud and clear.
Helicarrier crash is outer than Elton John.
Hercules is a great beat, I'll mimic it world wide: Magneto holding the Great Wall of China together by metal bracings, Doom standing in the middle of a large group of terrified South American children triumphantly holding a force field emitter above his head that protects them from fallen rubble as a crowd looks on cheering, Namor and several members of the Atlantean guard astride sea creatures carrying stranded kids, reuniting families in a tsunami swept Indonesia, T'Challa and the Wakandan guard welcoming refugees into Wakanda
These images aren't necessarily as striking; they're supposed to be about the emotional impact of the characters. Baxter Builder standing pristinely in a force field while the city around it crumbles is by comparison a pretty damning image.
Michael:
It comes even heavier. When the Baxter Building and the Stark Tower are the only things standing amidst all the rubble and chaos, that's two towers.
It will be an inverted 9/11.
As for the Great Wall of China: How about the Mole Man? He's a monarch as well, and I doubt that all of his Moloids were killed in Mighty Avengers #3. Can you imagine millions of Mole people standing all along the Chinese Wall, trying to keep it vertical? I think that could be a better image than Magneto holding it in place with girders. I think Magneto should hold something already made of metal. The Eiffel Tower?
Also, could Blob get his powers back? Think of the image when the immovable Blob is supporting the structure of Brussel's Atomium in an Atlas kind of image.
Alternatively, Juggernaut could do the same. Both are allied with Magneto, whose brotherhood (Mystique, Blob, Sabretooth, Toad, Juggernaut and, *gasp*, Gambit and Rogue (who believe that the X-Men should oppose Stark and Richards, thus ending up on the Defenders' side. And Doom even finds a way to cure Rogue, something Xavier never managed to do)) will be involved in this, of course. They are his X-Men, after all.
Clarification: With "cure", I mean get rid of Ms Marvel's powers and memories, as well as control of her powers.
Philip Schaeffer said...
Oh Mike,
I get all tingly when you start including mutants in the crossover.
This is feeling pretty global meaning both world wide and line wide. Patrick, where do you see Spidey fitting in?
Yeah, definitely, all those images of former villains holding things together, Magneto keeping the Eifel Tower, this is all perfect.
I'd rather not use Juggernaut linked with Magneto because he's in New Excalibur (but I'll do it), and I'm not a huge Blob fan...
But could I have Colossus? Forsaking America and joining the world community at large, perhaps holding up the Atomium or something more Russian?
And I love the Mole Man being a part of this. It's a bit out of his character to want to help the world at large, but he'd be an interesting addition to the Defenders.
Day 3 - The X-Men group editor
Okay, before Tom posts his update on his blog, I just wanted to add a few things:
Is there an upcoming convention we could use to make our exclusive deals public and spread word about the crossover?
I just asked the real Marko Djurdjevic on his MySpace page if I can use his actual X-Men redesigns he came up with about a year or so ago. If I get his approval, I could post them here for Ben Morse (for his exclusive First Look feature in Wizard).
Today I will have to tell Robert Weinberg if issues 4 and 5 of his Uncanny X-Men run will be tie-ins to "Road to Defenders". Note that I'm not asking about the name here, but about the contents of two upcoming issues. So do we go through with this or not? I need a clear answer here.
Mike
Is there an upcoming convention we could use to make our exclusive deals public and spread word about the crossover?
I just asked the real Marko Djurdjevic on his MySpace page if I can use his actual X-Men redesigns he came up with about a year or so ago. If I get his approval, I could post them here for Ben Morse (for his exclusive First Look feature in Wizard).
Today I will have to tell Robert Weinberg if issues 4 and 5 of his Uncanny X-Men run will be tie-ins to "Road to Defenders". Note that I'm not asking about the name here, but about the contents of two upcoming issues. So do we go through with this or not? I need a clear answer here.
Mike
Morning Thoughts
Quick hits this morning before I get sucked into something else...
I want you guys to start promoting creators as they sign up. See if you can't get them interviews and such in various/multiple venues. Wizard and Newsarama are pretty obvious, but realize that they're not the only games in town either. Look at blogs/fan sites/podcasts/whatever that focus on either Marvel generally or your characters particularly. If any of the creators have blogs, especially, talk with them about what artwork/plots they're working on they can/can't post.
Back to my note from last night about the Defenders "leak". I'm thinking that might be something we can play up as a marketing thing. If we go so far as to stage a reasonable leak -- say, the artist posting the opening splash page on his blog only to pull it down the next day after we "reprimand" him. Maybe some anonymous hints sent to Rich Johnston. Then we, as editors, officially deny anything. Maybe an additional image "leak" to Wizard the following month-- they'd have to be in on it, obviously. So by the time retailers need to place orders, it's something of an open secret that the new book will be the Defenders relaunch.
Gotta split...
I want you guys to start promoting creators as they sign up. See if you can't get them interviews and such in various/multiple venues. Wizard and Newsarama are pretty obvious, but realize that they're not the only games in town either. Look at blogs/fan sites/podcasts/whatever that focus on either Marvel generally or your characters particularly. If any of the creators have blogs, especially, talk with them about what artwork/plots they're working on they can/can't post.
Back to my note from last night about the Defenders "leak". I'm thinking that might be something we can play up as a marketing thing. If we go so far as to stage a reasonable leak -- say, the artist posting the opening splash page on his blog only to pull it down the next day after we "reprimand" him. Maybe some anonymous hints sent to Rich Johnston. Then we, as editors, officially deny anything. Maybe an additional image "leak" to Wizard the following month-- they'd have to be in on it, obviously. So by the time retailers need to place orders, it's something of an open secret that the new book will be the Defenders relaunch.
Gotta split...
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