A post from my now-vanished Marvel blog from 13 or so years ago, in which I answer some reader questions.
April 28, 2007 | 1:00 AM | By Tom_Brevoort | In General
Got a short week going on, as I’m due to fly out to the west coast for Wizard World Los Angeles on Thursday. So I thought I’d do something easy today and answer a bit of viewer mail.
>Tom, I really hate that attitude of every comic having to be someone’s first.
The first comics I had tossed me right in and if they had stopped and explained more, I probably wouldn’t have been so interested in reading more to find out just what was going on. That’s a real draw to me, and it is to a lot of kids too, I bet, the sense that you’re figuring out something HUGE, like the MU.
Posted by MattDiCarlo on 2007-03-07 16:12:49>
Sorry that you hate it, Matt, but if we want the industry to be able to grow and thrive and reach new people, then we have to be as inviting as we possibly can. If you watched a television show, read a novel or paid 10 bucks to see a movie, and at the end you couldn’t even name the characters or understand what their relationships are, you’d feel like you wasted your time. Comics is the only place where discussions like this take place–we’re so used to talking to the converted, to the long-time reader who understands all of these things before they even crack the latest cover, that we sometimes fail to look beyond our own navel and out into the larger world. As you can tell, I feel pretty strongly about this–it’s what Bill Jemas used to call “talking to ourselves,” and it’s an easy trap to fall into. Every comic book could be somebody’s first, so that’s an important fact to remember when you’re making them. Virtually nobody likes to be frustrated by their entertainment.
>post CW- the champions
Reading the pitch for the new upcoming title ” the Champions,” seems very interesting, close (very close) from some Tv-reality-shows concept;the next step for social analysis of the super-hero mythos (gods among us -please don’t flag this as offensive), nobody don’t become a legend like that ( hope to read what Keith Giffen could do on a pitch like this but I ‘m not sure that Marvel want to take a MARSHALL LAW direction ), question is : is there enough villains to fight in the MU now ?
Posted by notapotatoe on 2007-03-05 05:26:57>
We can always use more quality villains, potatoe–that’s something I’ve spoken about herein in the past, and it’s something we’re working on. And hopefully CHAMPIONS will not disappoint.
>Avengers
Tom, I’m curious. At one point when MA was just being discussed, you said you’d still see NA as the successor to the Avengers title (for whenever Marvel restores the proper numbering to the book). Do you still feel that way, because MA certainly would seem to have more in common with the previous title than NA does (based on solicits and interviews).
Posted by motteditor on 2007-02-28 20:47:33>
It’s pretty simple: AVENGERS became NEW AVENGERS, was followed up the very next month by NEW AVENGERS. So NEW is the successor title–it’s the book that took AVENGERS’ place on the publishing schedule. MIGHTY AVENGERS may feel to you more like the classic AVENGERS, and that’s somewhat intended, but it’s not the direct continuation of that series.
>Question for Tom
Did I miss something from the last issue of Iron Man and this one? I seem to recall Happy being on his death bed in the hospital and now we’re right in the middle of things but at the same time, the Mandarin sub-plot appears to be continuing.
Was this a result of trying to establish a starting point to reflect the ‘new’ title?
Posted by IanZL on 2007-03-01 22:44:51>
Maybe we were too subtle in IRON MAN #14, Ian. But Happy died in that issue, his vital signs tapering off at the end of the issue. He’s gone, that story is over. And yes, the subplots pick up from what happened previously, because it’s the same title (as they would if Happy’s fate hadn’t been determined, if he were still fighting for life in a hospital bed. But he isn’t.)
>If it’s worth anything, I gave it some internet coverage.
http://www.4thletter.net/?p=368
It’s under Day 3, natch. Truly my story is a heart-wrenching triumph that rivals even Rocky Balboa.
Posted by Gavok on 2007-03-01 04:21:18>
Some very nice coverage, Gavok. And congrats on winning.
>You Killed Cap?
The inexplicable character behavior of the irresponsible Civil War mess was one thing but killing off Captain America? I hope somebody has something up their sleeve to explain that one with an ingenious comeback because right now from a fan that looks like the mother of all really bad ideas from the “House”
Posted by JJonahJameson on 2007-03-07 16:18:16>
Cap is dead, miss him, miss him, miss him.
More later.
Tom B
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