The Writer, The Reader, and Editorial Politics
I'm a fan of superheroes and I started my comics reading with Marvel, specifically the X-Men. I'll likely always default Marvel, or at least default to the X-Men because that's where I started, that's what I relate to the most. Despite that, I can't help but feel a greater distance than ever from Marvel. The reason: Civil War#2.
After reading this, I saw a lot of ways that the comic industry could go. I saw DC clearly having the superior edge in the current sales wars. I saw Marvel fading back to a time where the X-Men had to carry the company's sales. I saw the death of superhero comics. It hasn't gone that far yet, but if this particular train isn't stopped, it could end up there.
The big thing about this issue, which could be the lasting moment of the entire series, is the last two pages where Spider-man reveals his true identity to the world. This action irrevocably alters the character, forever, and if logic holds any bearing, this is a terrible thing. Think about how many people Spider-man has put in jail. Think about the case for fraud J. Jonah Jameson might have against him. Think about how many insurance claims will be filed against Spider-man.
Most of all, think about his family and friends, for they are the walking dead. With the sheer numbers of villains that would want Peter's head on a platter, they only have to organize and vengeance will be theirs. He will suffer as no man has ever suffered before.
Now, I ask you to think of this from a reader's point of view. As someone who's read Spider-man for long stretches, I think the appeal of the character is his upbeat mentality, his "everyman" qualities, and a general sense of fun that comes from his superhero activities. GONE! Moreso, the ability to let the character have some small solace from the stresses of his life is also gone. Not only does he lose his relatability, he loses all his fun aspects as well. Spider-man stories from this day forward will be exercises in sadism and participation in them will be a practice in masochism. But I'm raving a bit.
My real thoughts are... betrayal. As a reader, I feel that Marvel comics as an entity has betrayed what loyalty I have to them. For them, policy is now "nothing is sacred, nothing is safe." I respect that heroes have to bleed for readers to sympathize with them, but they have to have the ability to win.
As a writer, I think about how such a story can be approached. Many people were quick to attack Mark Millar for writing the issue until he said this:
"There's scenes coming up and twists on characters that will blow you away, I promise, but this one was entirely Joe Q... ...I'd have had him on the other side, but the rationale they had was a good one, so I came up with the TV camera way of doing it. But the blame for this one lies with Joe essentially."
From this, I gather that Millar had no choice--Spider-man reveals himself. But as Millar said, the blame lies with Joe Quesada. He is the editor-in-chief and he makes policy. That is his right. However, I've heard that Greg Rucka has an interesting viewpoint on Marvel: essentially, Marvel doesn't focus on characters being superheroes, but on them arguing with one another; their heroes usually don't get to do much for the greater good. I butchered that, but you get the idea.
It is Marvel policy to invoke shock value to get people to read their books. What good comes from Spider-man revealing himself? What does anyone gain from this--anyone not DC that is?
I can tell you some results:
1. List Dropping--many Marvel fans (not to be confused with zombies, which have no brains) will remove Civil War from their lists, everything Marvel from their lists, or somewhere in between. I've already seen the beginnings of this and it will murder Marvel sales in the long term.
2. Massive Amounts of Hate Mail--all addressed to Joe Quesada, the intelligent villain of Marvel.
3. Price Hikes--it might require the first item, but if Marvel thinks all that's reading are zombies, then they won't shed a tear in raising the price of a standard comic to the atrocious level of $3.50.
4. The End of Regular Marvel--if it isn't stopped soon, this mentality of "shock equals substance" will run the Marvel Universe into the toilet.
For all of you who are fans of comic book superheroes or anything related to them, I implore you to do the following:
1. If you know why you are mad, write a letter to Joe Quesada and tell him about it.
2. If you're really interested in a comic book, be it Uncanny X-Men, Civil War, 52, Wyrms, etc., buy it and enjoy it.
3. Conversely, if you don't enjoy a book, don't buy it.
4. If you're not sure if you like a book any more, force the creators to sell you on the book; don't give them a guaranteed sale without any effort.
5. If you're dissatisfied with a company/character, don't give them any money. This includes toy, poster, and DVD money.
As fans of comics--or movies, video games, and music--we each get as many votes as are in our pockets. Each vote is green with a picture of George Washington on it. As prices go up, we owe it to ourselves to use each of our votes for only those things we truly support. Your purchase is a vote for that product, so make your vote count.
After reading this, I saw a lot of ways that the comic industry could go. I saw DC clearly having the superior edge in the current sales wars. I saw Marvel fading back to a time where the X-Men had to carry the company's sales. I saw the death of superhero comics. It hasn't gone that far yet, but if this particular train isn't stopped, it could end up there.
The big thing about this issue, which could be the lasting moment of the entire series, is the last two pages where Spider-man reveals his true identity to the world. This action irrevocably alters the character, forever, and if logic holds any bearing, this is a terrible thing. Think about how many people Spider-man has put in jail. Think about the case for fraud J. Jonah Jameson might have against him. Think about how many insurance claims will be filed against Spider-man.
Most of all, think about his family and friends, for they are the walking dead. With the sheer numbers of villains that would want Peter's head on a platter, they only have to organize and vengeance will be theirs. He will suffer as no man has ever suffered before.
Now, I ask you to think of this from a reader's point of view. As someone who's read Spider-man for long stretches, I think the appeal of the character is his upbeat mentality, his "everyman" qualities, and a general sense of fun that comes from his superhero activities. GONE! Moreso, the ability to let the character have some small solace from the stresses of his life is also gone. Not only does he lose his relatability, he loses all his fun aspects as well. Spider-man stories from this day forward will be exercises in sadism and participation in them will be a practice in masochism. But I'm raving a bit.
My real thoughts are... betrayal. As a reader, I feel that Marvel comics as an entity has betrayed what loyalty I have to them. For them, policy is now "nothing is sacred, nothing is safe." I respect that heroes have to bleed for readers to sympathize with them, but they have to have the ability to win.
As a writer, I think about how such a story can be approached. Many people were quick to attack Mark Millar for writing the issue until he said this:
"There's scenes coming up and twists on characters that will blow you away, I promise, but this one was entirely Joe Q... ...I'd have had him on the other side, but the rationale they had was a good one, so I came up with the TV camera way of doing it. But the blame for this one lies with Joe essentially."
From this, I gather that Millar had no choice--Spider-man reveals himself. But as Millar said, the blame lies with Joe Quesada. He is the editor-in-chief and he makes policy. That is his right. However, I've heard that Greg Rucka has an interesting viewpoint on Marvel: essentially, Marvel doesn't focus on characters being superheroes, but on them arguing with one another; their heroes usually don't get to do much for the greater good. I butchered that, but you get the idea.
It is Marvel policy to invoke shock value to get people to read their books. What good comes from Spider-man revealing himself? What does anyone gain from this--anyone not DC that is?
I can tell you some results:
1. List Dropping--many Marvel fans (not to be confused with zombies, which have no brains) will remove Civil War from their lists, everything Marvel from their lists, or somewhere in between. I've already seen the beginnings of this and it will murder Marvel sales in the long term.
2. Massive Amounts of Hate Mail--all addressed to Joe Quesada, the intelligent villain of Marvel.
3. Price Hikes--it might require the first item, but if Marvel thinks all that's reading are zombies, then they won't shed a tear in raising the price of a standard comic to the atrocious level of $3.50.
4. The End of Regular Marvel--if it isn't stopped soon, this mentality of "shock equals substance" will run the Marvel Universe into the toilet.
For all of you who are fans of comic book superheroes or anything related to them, I implore you to do the following:
1. If you know why you are mad, write a letter to Joe Quesada and tell him about it.
2. If you're really interested in a comic book, be it Uncanny X-Men, Civil War, 52, Wyrms, etc., buy it and enjoy it.
3. Conversely, if you don't enjoy a book, don't buy it.
4. If you're not sure if you like a book any more, force the creators to sell you on the book; don't give them a guaranteed sale without any effort.
5. If you're dissatisfied with a company/character, don't give them any money. This includes toy, poster, and DVD money.
As fans of comics--or movies, video games, and music--we each get as many votes as are in our pockets. Each vote is green with a picture of George Washington on it. As prices go up, we owe it to ourselves to use each of our votes for only those things we truly support. Your purchase is a vote for that product, so make your vote count.
posted by LEN! at 11:20 PM
1 Comments:
Oh I think they like money, they just figure that by the time the long-term consequences roll around, they'll be wealthy and retired, and it'll be someone else's mess.
I've been wondering the last month whether I could give up entirely on a company, because of things they do, mainly because of Robin #150. Part of me feels, like you said, that I need to make a stand, and show them that I won't tolerate them screwing with characters I like. On the other hand, they still put out books I do like, and part of me hates to stop supporting books that are good.
As for Marvel, it seems like the books that are the best are the ones that aren't heavily connected to the mainstream, so they can do whatever they want. X-Factor was like that, but now it's successful enough to get dragged into Civil War. Will that hurt it? I don't know. Hopefully not. Runaways is supposedly good, but now they're being dragged into Civil War too. Spider-Girl was doing well (not in sales, but in story), but it's being cancelled. The Thing? Cancelled. That leaves what, maybe Exiles? New Excalibur, since it's set in England, and CW seems focused on the U.S.?
One final thing. I've heard there will be mini-series either during or after Civil War, which Joey Moron has said will 'put Marvel's biggest genie back in the bottle'. To me, that means Peter realizes he's a dumbass and has Doc Strange whip up helpings of mindwipes.
Whether he pulls his head out of his ass prior to MJ's death is another matter.
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