Hope everyone's having a good weekend so far. I've been able to relax (a little) and reflect on our final moves in the sim.
Phil -- I think you've got some solid thinking on dealing with Finch. Definitely like the start by talking to other editors, and following up with getting the production staff to develop something that could be used as a cover. Rather than going down the ultra-secret QT route, though, I might suggest being more open about doing a graphic to use IN CASE you need to drop something in at the last minute. I think if you go behind Finch's back, and he DOES find out about it, he'll go totally ape-shit. So I'd make another call to Finch and say that you REALLY don't want to go this route, but he needs to understand, as a professional, that we have deadlines to meet. But so long as he can turn the artwork in on time, then we'd much prefer using that.
Also, I'd suggest NOT pointing to an actual graphic of any sort. (Or even verbally defining it that clearly.) We're not supposed to really be doing creative, and I'd be concerned that trying to tie down to a specific design within the sim might work against us.
Good work with Brubaker.
Mike -- I like your thoughts about Christina. I'll do what I can to secure her as an exclusive and, as long as Phil's happy with her on BoPow, then I think we've got a plan.
Last thing I want to throw out there is Ramon Bachs. Any ideas on what to set him on post-BoPow?
Of course, then I have to address rumors of Tom heading to BigMoney and the massive security leaks in BigMoney's email system, but I think I've got that covered. ;)
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Friday, May 25, 2007
Extra Day...
I got confirmation from Tom that our final moves aren't due until Monday night at 8:00.
You guys have got some good ideas for handling our current problems. Let me think on it a day or so and I'll weigh in with my thoughts later.
You guys have got some good ideas for handling our current problems. Let me think on it a day or so and I'll weigh in with my thoughts later.
Philip's Day 9 Stuff
Let Brubaker know I appreciate him sending in some pages so Mike can at least get started. We’ll try and streamline this process as much as possible, and I’ll stay on Ed to get the remaining 15 pages of script in as soon as possible. Even so, if we have to delay Wolverine a week or two, it’s not the end of the world (and hopefully Wolverine will still count into our sales figures).
I contact any editors who’ve worked with Finch before, such as Axel Alonso or Tom Brevoort, and ask them if David has a habit of sequestering himself at his drawing table. If they tell me that David going dark right before a deadline is a normal, though irritating, part of his process, I’ll cool down a little bit, though I’ll still take certain steps regarding the production of a cover for Balance of Power 1.
If, however, David’s former editors have no idea what I’m talking about, and tell me that David is usually extremely available during the entire process, we move from DEFCON 3 to DEFCON 2, and I inform the joint chiefs that they should be prepared to move to DEFCON 1 at a moment’s notice. My immediate concern is no longer getting a cover out of Finch in a timely fashion; it’s about replacing him on the book. We’ll need somebody who’s fast, who can bring the heat, who’ll attract readers, and who can start right away. Good freakin’ luck. Jimenez is too slow. Pulling Deodato off FF throws too many wrenches in the works (I'm wracking my brain; suggestions would be great, though there's clearly plenty of time). Man, this’ll teach JMS to trust my judgment.
Even if I get word that David Finch is more often than not out of touch as he puts the finishing, uh, touches on his work, I will nevertheless go forward with the production of a simple, in-house cover for Balance of Power, not entirely dissimilar from Civil War: The Return, something like this:
Except, you know, based off a drawn image with drawn clouds, but you get the general vibe. If Finch comes through whatever layout is used here could still be employed as the series' cover template, or maybe as the cover for the trade, but what I'm mainly trying to convey is that my solution to not having a cover is to create a minimalist one such as this.
I will direct everyone, since we are at least under DEFCON 3, that all radio call signs used by our forces must change to currently-classified call signs—MEANING, if the fact that we are producing a cover for Balance of Power gets back to David Finch, there will be hell to pay; as much as I’d like to (and quite frankly should have as soon as he started grumbling), I still cannot justify burning any bridges with David. Balance of Power has to ship beginning of January, and the best way to accomplish that is with him aboard.
No rush here. We have plenty of time to get this together.
I contact any editors who’ve worked with Finch before, such as Axel Alonso or Tom Brevoort, and ask them if David has a habit of sequestering himself at his drawing table. If they tell me that David going dark right before a deadline is a normal, though irritating, part of his process, I’ll cool down a little bit, though I’ll still take certain steps regarding the production of a cover for Balance of Power 1.
If, however, David’s former editors have no idea what I’m talking about, and tell me that David is usually extremely available during the entire process, we move from DEFCON 3 to DEFCON 2, and I inform the joint chiefs that they should be prepared to move to DEFCON 1 at a moment’s notice. My immediate concern is no longer getting a cover out of Finch in a timely fashion; it’s about replacing him on the book. We’ll need somebody who’s fast, who can bring the heat, who’ll attract readers, and who can start right away. Good freakin’ luck. Jimenez is too slow. Pulling Deodato off FF throws too many wrenches in the works (I'm wracking my brain; suggestions would be great, though there's clearly plenty of time). Man, this’ll teach JMS to trust my judgment.
Even if I get word that David Finch is more often than not out of touch as he puts the finishing, uh, touches on his work, I will nevertheless go forward with the production of a simple, in-house cover for Balance of Power, not entirely dissimilar from Civil War: The Return, something like this:
Except, you know, based off a drawn image with drawn clouds, but you get the general vibe. If Finch comes through whatever layout is used here could still be employed as the series' cover template, or maybe as the cover for the trade, but what I'm mainly trying to convey is that my solution to not having a cover is to create a minimalist one such as this.
I will direct everyone, since we are at least under DEFCON 3, that all radio call signs used by our forces must change to currently-classified call signs—MEANING, if the fact that we are producing a cover for Balance of Power gets back to David Finch, there will be hell to pay; as much as I’d like to (and quite frankly should have as soon as he started grumbling), I still cannot justify burning any bridges with David. Balance of Power has to ship beginning of January, and the best way to accomplish that is with him aboard.
No rush here. We have plenty of time to get this together.
In All Seriousness...
OK, before we blow the whole weekend coming up with artwork for BigMoney's books, let's nail down some of the problems we have on the table...
You know, I started writing up some ideas for you guys to pursue on this, but I don't want to be a Jim Shooter-ish EIC who's dictating stuff all over the place. Gimme your thoughts on your respective problems. I've got ideas I could throw out if you need them, but let's here what you guys want to do first.
You know, I started writing up some ideas for you guys to pursue on this, but I don't want to be a Jim Shooter-ish EIC who's dictating stuff all over the place. Gimme your thoughts on your respective problems. I've got ideas I could throw out if you need them, but let's here what you guys want to do first.
Talons of Power: Guise of the Pretenders
Hide, the Knave, Cookie and E-I-C?
Having Tom Brevoort make fun of an idea I had is probably the highlight of my life.
I, uh, need to start living a better life.
Having Tom Brevoort make fun of an idea I had is probably the highlight of my life.
I, uh, need to start living a better life.
I think Tom's lost it
Day 9 is up and it's... weird. He must not have slept in the past 2 weeks or something. :)
Anyway, I'm trying to confirm with Tom now about when our final moves are due, but I'm presuming that it will be Sunday at 8:00 at the earliest. I'd wager thought that he'll give us until Monday at 8:00. Confirmation pending...
Anyway, I'm trying to confirm with Tom now about when our final moves are due, but I'm presuming that it will be Sunday at 8:00 at the earliest. I'd wager thought that he'll give us until Monday at 8:00. Confirmation pending...
Thursday, May 24, 2007
The Future of Simulated Marveldom
As we wind down the simulation, do you guys feel that we should outline the general paths we see ahead of us, what we would do if the simulation were no simulation, but we were really in the employ of Marvel Entertainment?
For my part, I would probably describe how, after the momentous conclusion of Balance of Power 5, She-Hulk 27 and Fantastic Four 558, those two titles would have three issue wrap-up decompression arcs in which the characters would adjust to the new shape of the Universe. FF 559-561 would focus on the reconciliation of the original Fantastic Four, not only with one another but also with T'Challa and Storm. She-Hulk 28-30 would serve as an epilogue for the She-Hulk series (unless number had gotten so high that She-Hulk warranted 2 ongoing series... you all know where I'm going with this), an epilogue that would not only tie-up all the loose ends but start unravelling some new threads, threads that would lead directly into:
Fantastic Four: Los Angeles 1, with a roster of She-Hulk, Human Torch, Tigra and Crystal. Sean, I know you still hate the name, but I would have eight months to convince you it was a good idea. The series would be as I originally described it, a light-hearted girl power title with lots of fun action, but would carry extra weight after She-Hulk's pivotal role practically leading the FF through their difficult ordeal during the Balance of Power. She-Hulk will have really earned these good times.
Meanwhile, in FF 562, the FF would welcome a new member to their ranks, hopefully someone established, appropriate and unexpected. After so many issues of personal, inter-team squabbling, it would be time for the FF to take to the cosmos for another grand, exploratory adventure. Like She-Hulk, these guys would have earned the opportunity to engage in some whimsy.
Wolverine would continue its awesome epic novel-length noir story through issue 70. Who knows what Brubaker would come up with to follow that. Depending on how strongly people responded to the noir saga, perhaps with another one; or maybe we'd let Wolverine explore some other pulp genre, and we could spend a few years retracing the roots of genre fiction through the eyes of Wolverine.
And after the record-shattering sales and critical success that was Balance of Power, I'd follow up by trying to bring the weekly comic to the offices of Simulated Marvel. Except, rather than focus on a few C and D list characters as DC has done for both of its year long books, I'd try and encourage an already existing, established, popular title to step up production for a year or two (Avengers Weekly? X-Men Weekly? Maybe even Fantastic Four weekly, if Balance really raised their stock among Marvel readers. Avengers Weekly? Are you kidding? How sweet would that be?).
Or all these plans would crash and burn, making way for new plans, new collaborations, ideas we can't even imagine. Sometimes I become so moved by all the possibilities that await us, even when they're only simulated possibilities in a simulated career.
It's certainly better than nothing.
For my part, I would probably describe how, after the momentous conclusion of Balance of Power 5, She-Hulk 27 and Fantastic Four 558, those two titles would have three issue wrap-up decompression arcs in which the characters would adjust to the new shape of the Universe. FF 559-561 would focus on the reconciliation of the original Fantastic Four, not only with one another but also with T'Challa and Storm. She-Hulk 28-30 would serve as an epilogue for the She-Hulk series (unless number had gotten so high that She-Hulk warranted 2 ongoing series... you all know where I'm going with this), an epilogue that would not only tie-up all the loose ends but start unravelling some new threads, threads that would lead directly into:
Fantastic Four: Los Angeles 1, with a roster of She-Hulk, Human Torch, Tigra and Crystal. Sean, I know you still hate the name, but I would have eight months to convince you it was a good idea. The series would be as I originally described it, a light-hearted girl power title with lots of fun action, but would carry extra weight after She-Hulk's pivotal role practically leading the FF through their difficult ordeal during the Balance of Power. She-Hulk will have really earned these good times.
Meanwhile, in FF 562, the FF would welcome a new member to their ranks, hopefully someone established, appropriate and unexpected. After so many issues of personal, inter-team squabbling, it would be time for the FF to take to the cosmos for another grand, exploratory adventure. Like She-Hulk, these guys would have earned the opportunity to engage in some whimsy.
Wolverine would continue its awesome epic novel-length noir story through issue 70. Who knows what Brubaker would come up with to follow that. Depending on how strongly people responded to the noir saga, perhaps with another one; or maybe we'd let Wolverine explore some other pulp genre, and we could spend a few years retracing the roots of genre fiction through the eyes of Wolverine.
And after the record-shattering sales and critical success that was Balance of Power, I'd follow up by trying to bring the weekly comic to the offices of Simulated Marvel. Except, rather than focus on a few C and D list characters as DC has done for both of its year long books, I'd try and encourage an already existing, established, popular title to step up production for a year or two (Avengers Weekly? X-Men Weekly? Maybe even Fantastic Four weekly, if Balance really raised their stock among Marvel readers. Avengers Weekly? Are you kidding? How sweet would that be?).
Or all these plans would crash and burn, making way for new plans, new collaborations, ideas we can't even imagine. Sometimes I become so moved by all the possibilities that await us, even when they're only simulated possibilities in a simulated career.
It's certainly better than nothing.
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