The Marvel Universe: Hostage to Bendis and JMS?

[overcomebyfumes]

It was announced today that Brian Bendis will be authoring a second Avengers title.

It's been a pretty open secret that JMS will be writing the Thor re-launch.

Between JMS on Amazing Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and Thor, and Bendis on New Avengers and Mighty Avengers, we have only two authors writing the big titles - the face of Marvel if you will.

JMS has been writing Spider-Man for what? five years? six? and shows no sign of being ready to leave. Lord only knows how long he'll be on the FF and Thor. Bendis has said in interviews that he has at least six years of stories planned for the New Avengers.

Leaving criticisms of their writing ability aside, is it really a good idea for Marvel to be putting their "big gun" properties in the hands of only two writers for such long periods of time? Do we need JMS on Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four, or Bendis on Avengers for the next six years? or maybe longer?

Marvel has many good writers available, and a number of them have shown that they have the ability to handle an A-list book, but the top titles keep on going to JMS and Bendis. I'd love to see Kirkman writing Avengers soon, but he won't be able to get anywhere near it until at least 2012. 2012!!

Am I wrong in thinking that this is an awful long term plan? Fans are griping about these guys now - can you imagine the complaints after Bendis has been on New Avengers for another five years? On the other hand, their books seem to sell. I'm not really too sure what to make of it -- Is Marvel just rewarding their sucess by giving them the top titles, or is it a case of two writers who aren't able to share the big toys? Or am I mis-reading the whole thing entirely? Is this a legitimate complaint, or am I merely just another disgruntled fanboy? I'm tired and going to go to bed now. Thanks.


Pax.

[Jake V]

You're forgetting Iron Man, Captain America, Daredevil, the other 2 Spider-Man books, ALL the X-Books, The Hulk, and a multitude of other books.

So if two writers doing five books between them equals holding an entire universe hostage, I guess you're right.

[lament]

Am I wrong in thinking that this is an awful long term plan? Fans are griping about these guys now - can you imagine the complaints after Bendis has been on New Avengers for another five years? On the other hand, their books seem to sell. I'm not really too sure what to make of it -- Is Marvel just rewarding their sucess by giving them the top titles, or is it a case of two writers who aren't able to share the big toys? Or am I mis-reading the whole thing entirely? Is this a legitimate complaint, or am I merely just another disgruntled fanboy? I'm tired and going to go to bed now. Thanks.

No, I think you're right. Having one, two, or even three writers pen the majority of Marvel's major non-X titles is, in my opinion, a mistake, especially if you consider the long-term. Right now, Marvel has a load of talented writers who could really benefit from scoring a major title. If Marvel pushed a few of these young talents, they might become major names in their own right, and that could be good for Marvel.

Instead, Marvel seems to be relying on a small stable of Big Names, and in the long run, I think that will be a problem. I've already noticed that quite a few fans--myself included--are tired of seeing the same old names. The Big Names may be popular now, but come on. Popularity is fleeting, and people will burn out on seeing the same writers. Besides, all of those books spread an author pretty thin, and that reduces the amount of care you can put in to producing a well-developed story.

I'd like to see things mixed up a bit and see some of those lesser-known talents pushed into the limelight. They could bring to an Avengers title or a Spiderman title some fresh, new perspectives.

And no, admittedly, I don't care for Bendis's writing. But even in the case of an author I do like, I think the wealth could be divided.

[onenatv]

I do think that a writer shoud not be put on too many books at one time. Having said that, I have to admit that Amazing Spiderman, New Avenger, and Fantastic Four have been pretty good. Why should you care too much who's writing the stories as long as the books are enjoyable?

[overcomebyfumes]

You're forgetting Iron Man, Captain America, Daredevil, the other 2 Spider-Man books, ALL the X-Books, The Hulk, and a multitude of other books.

So if two writers doing five books between them equals holding an entire universe hostage, I guess you're right.

Well, look at it in terms of what the A-list titles are -

Amazing Spider-Man, Uncanny X-Men, Avengers, Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Thor, and Captain America, with Iron Man and Daredevil hovering somewhere between A-list and B-list (my opinion only, your mileage may vary)...

of the ten (two Avengers titles now) top titles, JMS and Bendis between them are now writing five. Brubaker's writing three, and I'm not sure who's currently writing Hulk or Iron Man. So yea, JMS and Bendis are pretty much dominating, with Brubaker as the new kid.

My only error then was not including Brubaker (probably because I like him). :p

Pax.

[Jake V]

Well, look at it in terms of what the A-list books are -

Amazing Spider-Man, Uncanny X-Men, Avengers, Fantastic Four, the Hulk, Thor, and Captain America, with Iron Man and Daredevil hovering somewhere between A-list and B-list (my opinion only, your mileage may vary)...

of the ten (two Avengers titles now) top titles, JMS and Bendis between them are now writing five. Brubaker's writing three, and I'm not sure who's currently writing Hulk or Iron Man. So yea, JMS and Bendis are pretty much dominating, with Brubaker as the new kid.

My only error then was not including Brubaker (probably because I like him). :p

Pax.
Eh. Stan Lee wrote ALL the books back in the day. Rucka, Johns, and Winick wrote a majority of the titles for DC and it worked out pretty well in terms of synergy. I think this is more a case of writers you don't like being given power you don't want them to have than anything else.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Marvel doesn't have the stable of writers that DC has. Marvel's got Brubaker , Bendis and JMS. Thats the 3 big writers that they have. I'd personally would have gave Mark Miller or Jeph Loeb " Mighty Avengers " since they are signed right now.

[Magneto_X]

Lee's "writing" is debatable. He wrote the dialog and had some input on the overall plots but most of the series characters & stories were handled by the artists (Ditko, Kirby etc).

It wasn't like he was writing every single series in script format like writers these days do.

[overcomebyfumes]

Eh. Stan Lee wrote ALL the books back in the day. Rucka, Johns, and Winick wrote a majority of the titles for DC and it worked out pretty well in terms of synergy. I think this is more a case of writers you don't like being given power you don't want them to have than anything else.


Well, if you phrase it like that - "Should writers I don't like be given power I don't want them to have?" - then the answer is pretty much obvious. I was trying to be diplomatic about it and you ruined it :rolleyes:

Anyway, even if it were writers I loved, not everyone would agree with my opinion of them, I'm sure. It would still be a bad idea, just someone other than myself would be doing the complaining.

Pax.

Side note: I've read a good deal of Stan Lee's work (yea Masterworks!) and of all the titles that he wrote, only Thor, the Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man were consistantly any good. He did write a LOT of dreck.

[overcomebyfumes]

Marvel doesn't have the stable of writers that DC has. Marvel's got Brubaker , Bendis and JMS. Thats the 3 big writers that they have. I'd personally would have gave Mark Miller or Jeph Loeb " Mighty Avengers " since they are signed right now.


...and I'd give Thor to Oeming...

.

[EmmettHULK]

You're forgetting Iron Man, Captain America, Daredevil, the other 2 Spider-Man books, ALL the X-Books, The Hulk, and a multitude of other books.

So if two writers doing five books between them equals holding an entire universe hostage, I guess you're right.


Excellent answer.


Fanboys never cease to amaze...five books mean holding the entire MU hostage?
LOL!!!!

[Babylon23]

All Marvel is doing is giving books to popular writers that they know will sell comics for them. It's a sound business strategy, and something that they've been doing since the 60's.

I may not like NA, but it's selling in huge numbers for Marvel at the moment, which means I'm in the minority. People like it, so Marvel are giving them more of what they want.

It's worked in the past. X-Men was a big seller, so they launched New Mutants. Claremont wrote that book for 50 issues while simultaneously writing Uncanny, and created the biggest comic franchise of the 80's-90's.

Personally, I would have preferred a different writer on Mighty Avengers, but I can't fault Marvel's decision to go with Bendis.

[Magneto_X]

I was trying to be diplomatic about it and you ruined it :rolleyes:

It's what I do.

Being an X-villian is hard work, y'know!

[RichStanz]

Leaving criticisms of their writing ability aside, is it really a good idea for Marvel to be putting their "big gun" properties in the hands of only two writers for such long periods of time? Do we need JMS on Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four, or Bendis on Avengers for the next six years? or maybe longer?


Yeah, like others have said, considering back in the day that Marvel's direction seemed to revolve around the close-knit work of Lee, Kirby, and Ditko, this just seems like a return to form.

It felt like Marvel has been really raked over the coals the past few years because there was a "lack of cohesion." People wanted a return to the "shared universe" feel. Now, it seems like Marvel is making a real go at this. And they put their trust in two loyal, long serving, prolific, and (most importantly) successful writers. Bendis and JMS have been shown, in interviews, to have a really good rapport with one another and are keen to bolstering each other's creativity, so I think they will live up to the job.

To be honest, and I don't mean to attack anyone, I feel the problem people may have with this, is because its Bendis and JMS. I don't think there'd be any complaints if creative reign was being handed over to Slott and Kirkman.

[Leebenhouse]

Eh, I kinda like the JMS Amazing Spiderman, just started it with Civil War, but I'm getting burned out on his Squadron Supreme, too long without a major payoff in those books.

I think Quesada is Bendis's bitch frankly. Anything Bendis wants, he gets at Marvel. And I think I'm dropping New Avengers post Civil War. Too drawn out of plots. At least Brubacker is getting a good following, but even he is too drawn out. He's on Cap, one of the X-books, and now Daredevil. Eh, what I wouldn't give for Busiek back on Avengers...

[Sam T.]

I really don't feel bad at all about all this. Bendis is an amazing writer!!

[Young Avenger]

JMS is currently writing Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and Squadron Supreme. Bendis is writing New Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Powers with Spider-Woman and Mighty Avengers on the way. That's 3 titles between them and atleast one of those books takes place in a different universe. That's hardly taking the Marvel universe hostage.

Marvel do have other writers write multiple ongoings. Robert Kirkman is writing Ultimate X-Men, Marvel Team-up and will launch an Ant-Man ongoing in October. Dan Slott is writing She-Hulk and will write a post-Civil War book. PAD is writing FNSP, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man and X-Factor. Mike Carey is writing X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four. Really, almost every writer at Marvel is writing more than one book.

[Bobster777]

JMS is currently writing Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and Squadron Supreme. Bendis is writing New Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Powers with Spider-Woman and Mighty Avengers on the way. That's 3 titles between them and atleast one of those books takes place in a different universe. That's hardly taking the Marvel universe hostage.

Marvel do have other writers write multiple ongoings. Robert Kirkman is writing Ultimate X-Men, Marvel Team-up and will launch an Ant-Man ongoing in October. Dan Slott is writing She-Hulk and will write a post-Civil War book. PAD is writing FNSP, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man and X-Factor. Mike Carey is writing X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four. Really, almost every writer at Marvel is writing more than one book.
There is also Bru who has Uncanny, Cap, and DD.

[CyberCoyote]

Eh, I'd really prefer the second Avengers book be written by someone else. I'm not a fan of Bendis' style but a big fan of the Avengers and was hoping against hope that there'd be something new injected into a second series.

I agree, although they don't control the whole of the MU, the books that these guys are on are the core of the Marvel Universe to me, Spiderman, FF, Avengers are the big three I grew up on and now they all have the same flavor with a pair of writers that work together. Unfortunately I don't like any of them in the least right now. The events that happen in these books are the ones that have shockwaves throughout the rest of the MU, they set the general tone of the line.

The X-Books are their own little corner of the Marvel U, Hulk's literally off in his own corner of space. I wish there were a bit more variety in the books I have a time vested interest in. And now JMS on Thor? I dunno. I really liked his original Supreme Power, but it was good because it was separate from the established MU. His Spidey is a snore fest for me (I bought one again a while ago. It took Spidey something like seven pages to jump off a building and stop a car with two gunmen in it. That's a 4 panel scene, not seven pages), I was psyched about his involvement in the FF but now find the series so uninspired that I've cancelled collecting it after over thirty years of trudging through good and bad.

If I told marvel I'd pay double the cover price to get the likes of Busiek or Slott to write some of this stuff would they do it? I'd pay.

[Soundrave]

I really don't feel bad at all about all this. Bendis is an amazing writer!!

Couldn't disagree more.

I thought that the splitting up of the Avengers into two teams post-Civil War was a golden opportunity for Marvel to let Bendis write the gritty "street-level" characters for which he's known (i.e. Cap's renegade faction of Avengers: "Daredevil," Goliath, Falcon, Cage, etc.) and then let another writer who can handle big, exciting, universe-spanning, cosmic-threat-type stories handle the more traditional "Mighty" Avengers (i.e. Wonder Man, Ms. Marvel, Tigra, She-Hulk, etc.).

I don't know what whoever made the decision to put Bendis on both titles was smoking. I highly doubt the reason New Avengers is selling so well is because of Bendis name recognition alone. I think it has more to do with adding Wolverine and Spider-Man to the team and then hyping the living crap out of the project. If I were in charge, I would have put someone like Busiek, Slott, Nicieza, Pak, Kirkman, or Aguirre-Sacasa on the book -- anyone who has handled big, traditional "super-hero" stories well in the past and demonstrated a working knowledge of Marvel continuity. Heinberg would also be on my list if he were a full-time comic writer who didn't have other, more important obligations to television, as would Brubaker if he didn’t already have so many obligations to other titles.

But instead we get Bendis on a second Avengers title that's intended to serve as a big, traditional, sci-fi superhero book, which has proven to be Bendis' kryptonite time and time again. The book will also presumably feature classic Avengers characters with years of complex history and interactions in the Marvel Universe, which also causes me to worry. Brubaker has shown that he's a versatile writer who can write more than just crime noir -- but Bendis hasn't, IMO. I'll keep an open mind (and I love Cho art), but my expectations are very low.

[overcomebyfumes]

The events that happen in these books are the ones that have shockwaves throughout the rest of the MU, they set the general tone of the line.


Thanks CC. That's exactly the point I was trying to make.

[Mister Mets]

It was announced today that Brian Bendis will be authoring a second Avengers title.

It's been a pretty open secret that JMS will be writing the Thor re-launch.

Between JMS on Amazing Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and Thor, and Bendis on New Avengers and Mighty Avengers, we have only two authors writing the big titles - the face of Marvel if you will.

JMS has been writing Spider-Man for what? five years? six? and shows no sign of being ready to leave. Lord only knows how long he'll be on the FF and Thor. Bendis has said in interviews that he has at least six years of stories planned for the New Avengers.

Leaving criticisms of their writing ability aside, is it really a good idea for Marvel to be putting their "big gun" properties in the hands of only two writers for such long periods of time? Do we need JMS on Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four, or Bendis on Avengers for the next six years? or maybe longer?

Marvel has many good writers available, and a number of them have shown that they have the ability to handle an A-list book, but the top titles keep on going to JMS and Bendis. I'd love to see Kirkman writing Avengers soon, but he won't be able to get anywhere near it until at least 2012. 2012!!

Am I wrong in thinking that this is an awful long term plan? Fans are griping about these guys now - can you imagine the complaints after Bendis has been on New Avengers for another five years? On the other hand, their books seem to sell. I'm not really too sure what to make of it -- Is Marvel just rewarding their sucess by giving them the top titles, or is it a case of two writers who aren't able to share the big toys? Or am I mis-reading the whole thing entirely? Is this a legitimate complaint, or am I merely just another disgruntled fanboy? I'm tired and going to go to bed now. Thanks.


Pax.

Keep in mind that in Marvel's most creative period the big comics were written by one guy (Stan Lee.) I'm not that upset when two writers are writing a total of six Marvel Universe books, amongst them Spiderwoman, and Thor.

The top titles keep going to JMS & Bendis because A) Bendis has turned New Avengers into one of Marvel's biggest books, and B) After sixty issues, Amazing Spider-Man is still a Top Ten book. The two writers know how to get sales, proving once again- that the fans on message boards (myself included) don't always know what normal fans will want.

Some other major Marvel writers.
Ed Brubaker- Uncanny X-Men, Daredevil, Captain America. I think it's on par with the books JMS has to do.
Marc Guggenheim- Wolverine, Blade
Mike Carey- Ultimate Fantastic Four, X-Men
Jeph Loeb- Ultimates, Ultimate Power (three issues), Onslaught Reborn, A Spider-Man project, Wolverine
Daniel Way- Ghost Rider, Wolverine: Origins
Greg Pak- Phoenix: Warsong, Incredible Hulk
Robert Kirkman- Marvel Team Up (cancelled after 20-something low selling issues), Antman, Ultimate X-Men (if that's not a vote of confidence...)
Warren Ellis- Nextwave, Newuniversal
Dan Slott- Thing (cancelled because it sold poorly), She-Hulk, upcoming Post Civil War project.
Fabian Niceza- Thunderbolts, Cable/ Deadpool

[Elegance Liberty]

I want more stuff by Dan Slott (he's got my kinda sense of humor, albiet lighter) and Mike Oeming (I am FLOORED by his work with 'Stormbreaker', which really got me to absolutley love Beta Ray Bill 'til kingdom come) please.

[Mister Mets]

Thanks CC. That's exactly the point I was trying to make.

There are other books which impact current Marvel comics.
Greg Pak's Incredible Hulk will be one, as soon as the Hulk comes back to Earth (Queseda hyped Planet Hulk as one of Marvel's three big events of the year.)
Daniel Way's Wolverine: Origins will have a tremendous impact on Marvel's second biggest character.
Jeph Loeb's guaranteed to have a big effect on Ultimate Marvel.
etc etc...

Marvel doesn't have the stable of writers that DC has. Marvel's got Brubaker , Bendis and JMS. Thats the 3 big writers that they have. I'd personally would have gave Mark Miller or Jeph Loeb " Mighty Avengers " since they are signed right now.

I think Millar, and Loeb are as important to Marvel currently as Bendis, JMS, and Brubaker. That means Marvel has 5 big writers, not including the guys with one A-list project (Charlie Huston, Joss Whedon, Neil Gaiman.)
This gives them one less big writer (with more than one book a month) than DC's stable- Mark Waid, Grant Morrison, Kurt Busiek (working on Marvels 2), Judd Winick, Geoff Johns, Greg Rucka
* Edit. And this point, I'd say Mike Carey's on par with Mark Waid, in terms of big assignments.

[dingo]

I would say that this is not really something to be too concerned about for one reason.

The only constant is change.

Who know what will happen tomorrow? There is a lynchpin at the top of the stack for a start: Quesada. If he leaves then a new EIC would soon change things.

And Bendis having six years of stories is not such a big deal. With his six issue arcs then that is only 12 stories. In the old days with stories in one issue, that would be planning one year ahead. If someone 10 years ago said they planned 12 months in advance I would say that is a good thing. He will not likely be around on that title that long.

[agrich]

I think it's a long time since Thor has been a big title at Marvel. When was the last time anyone was really excited about Thor? Seriously? I can't fault Marvel for giving it to a popular writer, even one I'm not personally excited about. There was little chance of my buying it anyway.

Just a side note to one poster: Mark Millar is a big writer. Maybe he's not writing stuff like Thor and Avengers because he'd rather write more interesting stuff.

I don't know. I can quite happily buy a bunch of Marvel titles that aren't by either Bendis or JMS. Hulk, Daredevil, Ultimates, UFF, a couple others here and there. Do I have to care if they're considered the "face of Marvel" or not?

If people don't want Bendis on a lot of books, a good first step would be to stop buying crap like New Avengers. The book sucks, but everyone buys the thing. Small wonder they're putting Bendis on the other title; why mess with a successful thing? He's not "holding Marvel hostage" - Marvel is giving the consumer what they apparently want. As long as people keep buying a Bendis-penned Avengers, I'm sure we'll get 3 or 4 titles eventually. Stay tuned for the West Coast Avengers relaunch.

[algertman]

I mostly blame Joe Q. for not being man enough to step up and do his job by telling his friends 'NO'

[algertman]

You're forgetting Iron Man, Captain America, Daredevil, the other 2 Spider-Man books, ALL the X-Books, The Hulk, and a multitude of other books.

So if two writers doing five books between them equals holding an entire universe hostage, I guess you're right.


they are when they dictate the direction all the books take

[ChildOfTheDarkholde]

JMS is currently writing Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and Squadron Supreme. Bendis is writing New Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Powers with Spider-Woman and Mighty Avengers on the way. That's 3 titles between them and atleast one of those books takes place in a different universe. That's hardly taking the Marvel universe hostage.

Marvel do have other writers write multiple ongoings. Robert Kirkman is writing Ultimate X-Men, Marvel Team-up and will launch an Ant-Man ongoing in October. Dan Slott is writing She-Hulk and will write a post-Civil War book. PAD is writing FNSP, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man and X-Factor. Mike Carey is writing X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four. Really, almost every writer at Marvel is writing more than one book.

Excellent post.

And don't forget that at some point, Slott had She-hulk and Thing going at the same time and if I recall correctly, he had She-hulk, GLA and Human Torch/Spidey running at the same time at some other point (I could be wrong about that, I don't exactly remember when those came out.)
He also wrote a recent Two-Gun Kid one-shot and some stuff in that Amazing Fantasy special.

The thing with Slott and Kirkman is that (except for Marvel Zombies) their books aren't huge sales hits, and thus their profiles aren't as prevalent and visible as Bendis or Millar or JMS...

If She-Hulk, MTU, Ant_man and Thing were all in the top ten, and those writers had huge fanbases and huge hype, with constant profiles on Wizard and their names splashed all over, there would also be accusations that "Slott and Kirkman are holding the MU hostage!!! Slott And Kirkman are ruining the MU"


That always happens...a writer/musician/actor is a critics' darling and a "best-kept-secret' buzzworhty raved-about talent when he is unknown, but once he becomes a mainstream hit, he suddenly turns into a "hack" according to many of the same people that raved about them in the first place...

[TransformersFan]

Eh. Stan Lee wrote ALL the books back in the day. Rucka, Johns, and Winick wrote a majority of the titles for DC and it worked out pretty well in terms of synergy. I think this is more a case of writers you don't like being given power you don't want them to have than anything else.


I totaly agree. There are alot of Bendis fans out there. The online community is certainly more vocal, but there more regular, everyday type fans out there who buy his books. The sales figures dont lie.

Being in the minority sucks, ask the x-men, but try not be so gloomy. Bendis wont be around for six years, there will be other titles and stories to choose from. All you can do is practice your capitalistic right and dont buy his books! If you really want Marvel to get it, dont give them your money and maybe others will follow.

But until then, let us Bendis fans enjoy his stories while he can still tell them.

Peace?;)

[DDM]

Eh. Stan Lee wrote ALL the books back in the day. Rucka, Johns, and Winick wrote a majority of the titles for DC and it worked out pretty well in terms of synergy. I think this is more a case of writers you don't like being given power you don't want them to have than anything else.

Stan Lee virtually created Marvel Comics, but he did not stay on such books for long periods of time. The exception being Fantastic Four #1-100 (?). Stan did not stay on The X-Men for very long before he gave the book to Roy Thomas. The same holds true for The Avengers. X-Men was never considered an A-list book throughout the 60's; indeed, The X-Men was the black sheep of the bunch because it was not a successful book. The X-Men did not become an A-list book until Uncanny X-Men #137 in 1980 as the book slowly grew the audience with its relaunch in Giant Size X-Men #1 in 1975 & Uncanny X-Men #94-136. Stan Lee had nothing to do with the X-Men's success. The X-Men's success is with Chris Claremont.

[Expletive Deleted]

Stan Lee virtually created Marvel Comics, but he did not stay on such books for long periods of time.How do you figure?

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1-100, 105-110, 116-118
DAREDEVIL #1-9, 11-50, 53
FANTASTIC FOUR #1-115, 120-125
JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY/THOR #83-125, 126-194, 200
STRANGE TALES #100-147, 150-157, 174, 182-188
TALES TO ASTONISH #24-33, 35-101
TALES OF SUSPENSE #39-99

He had some short runs too (SGT. FURY, SILVER SURFER, AVENGERS, X-MEN, a few others), but c'mon. Stan was everywhere, and stayed that way for quite a while.

[protege]

It was announced today that Brian Bendis will be authoring a second Avengers title.

It's been a pretty open secret that JMS will be writing the Thor re-launch.

Between JMS on Amazing Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and Thor, and Bendis on New Avengers and Mighty Avengers, we have only two authors writing the big titles - the face of Marvel if you will.

JMS has been writing Spider-Man for what? five years? six? and shows no sign of being ready to leave. Lord only knows how long he'll be on the FF and Thor. Bendis has said in interviews that he has at least six years of stories planned for the New Avengers.

Leaving criticisms of their writing ability aside, is it really a good idea for Marvel to be putting their "big gun" properties in the hands of only two writers for such long periods of time? Do we need JMS on Spider-Man or the Fantastic Four, or Bendis on Avengers for the next six years? or maybe longer?

Marvel has many good writers available, and a number of them have shown that they have the ability to handle an A-list book, but the top titles keep on going to JMS and Bendis. I'd love to see Kirkman writing Avengers soon, but he won't be able to get anywhere near it until at least 2012. 2012!!

Am I wrong in thinking that this is an awful long term plan? Fans are griping about these guys now - can you imagine the complaints after Bendis has been on New Avengers for another five years? On the other hand, their books seem to sell. I'm not really too sure what to make of it -- Is Marvel just rewarding their sucess by giving them the top titles, or is it a case of two writers who aren't able to share the big toys? Or am I mis-reading the whole thing entirely? Is this a legitimate complaint, or am I merely just another disgruntled fanboy? I'm tired and going to go to bed now. Thanks.


Pax.
DC's kind of doing the same thing.

[protege]

JMS is currently writing Amazing Spider-Man, Fantastic Four and Squadron Supreme. Bendis is writing New Avengers, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Powers with Spider-Woman and Mighty Avengers on the way. That's 3 titles between them and atleast one of those books takes place in a different universe. That's hardly taking the Marvel universe hostage.

Marvel do have other writers write multiple ongoings. Robert Kirkman is writing Ultimate X-Men, Marvel Team-up and will launch an Ant-Man ongoing in October. Dan Slott is writing She-Hulk and will write a post-Civil War book. PAD is writing FNSP, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man and X-Factor. Mike Carey is writing X-Men and Ultimate Fantastic Four. Really, almost every writer at Marvel is writing more than one book.
And doesn't Jeph Leob have a Spider man book coming out?

[algertman]

DC's kind of doing the same thing.


so wrong it's not even funny

[garin]

Well, at least we'll get to test the idea that New Avengers only sells because of the roster. It'll be very interesting if the new book flops.

[Magneto_X]

I think Millar, and Loeb are as important to Marvel currently as Bendis, JMS, and Brubaker. That means Marvel has 5 big writers, not including the guys with one A-list project (Charlie Huston, Joss Whedon, Neil Gaiman.)

The only one of those writers with an A-list assignment is Whedon. Moon Knight is C-list (possibly now B due to the exposure and popularity it's gotten since the relaunch) and the Eternals are even lower.

[RichStanz]

they are when they dictate the direction all the books take

ALL the books? How is Exiles being driven by JMS and Bendis' non-sensical whims? How are She Hulk or Ennis' Punisher or Runaways or the Eternals being forced into telling a specific story because JMS and Bendis said so?

[Shellhead]

Excellent post.

And don't forget that at some point, Slott had She-hulk and Thing going at the same time and if I recall correctly, he had She-hulk, GLA and Human Torch/Spidey running at the same time at some other point (I could be wrong about that, I don't exactly remember when those came out.)
He also wrote a recent Two-Gun Kid one-shot and some stuff in that Amazing Fantasy special.

The thing with Slott and Kirkman is that (except for Marvel Zombies) their books aren't huge sales hits, and thus their profiles aren't as prevalent and visible as Bendis or Millar or JMS...

If She-Hulk, MTU, Ant_man and Thing were all in the top ten, and those writers had huge fanbases and huge hype, with constant profiles on Wizard and their names splashed all over, there would also be accusations that "Slott and Kirkman are holding the MU hostage!!! Slott And Kirkman are ruining the MU"


That always happens...a writer/musician/actor is a critics' darling and a "best-kept-secret' buzzworhty raved-about talent when he is unknown, but once he becomes a mainstream hit, he suddenly turns into a "hack" according to many of the same people that raved about them in the first place...

I'm not sure that you grasp the point that certain Marvel characters are extremely popular. It's not realistic to say that the guy writing Spider-man has the same impact as the guy writing Spider-Woman, for example. The first character has a huge fanbase, so his books will always sell better, even if the second character gets an excellent creative team.

Certain Marvel writers *are* having a major impact on Marvel beyond the monthly titles that they write. Hudlin is taking Storm away from the X-books. Hulk got sent off into space. The New Warriors are revealed to be incompetent and irresponsible and dead. Alpha Flight is dead, too. Reed and Sue are apparently splitting up. Lots and lots of mutants lost their powers, and that didn't even happen in a book with a "X" on the cover.

On the other hand, slack editorial control has somewhat minimized that impact. Iron Man is acting very badly in Civil War, but is doing his normal hero routine in his own monthly title. Cap has been a weak and clueless leader in New Avengers, but is still highly competent in Brubaker's Captain America comics. I don't know how these differences wil be reconciled... is the timing merely different between Marvel titles that come out at the same time? Or will we eventually discover that Bendis and Millar are writing in an alternate Marvel reality, and that Hudlin has his own separate MU, too? Or maybe Slott and Nicieza are the ones who out of line with Quesada's vision?

[Will.S]

I think Quesada is Bendis's bitch frankly. Anything Bendis wants, he gets at Marvel.
Check out the podcasts from Wordballoon on Brian Bendis, what you state here was raised as a question and while he does have a bit more pull than most writers, he says that he has to earn his cred as much as any other writer everyday and he has lots of things/ideas turned down.

Eh, what I wouldn't give for Busiek back on Avengers...
Quite frankly I think his best stories are behind him and he's written pretty definitive Ultron, Kang, Nefaria stories but if he can still surprise us with a few more tales I'm all for it.

[Will.S]

On the other hand, slack editorial control has somewhat minimized that impact. Iron Man is acting very badly in Civil War, but is doing his normal hero routine in his own monthly title. Cap has been a weak and clueless leader in New Avengers, but is still highly competent in Brubaker's Captain America comics. I don't know how these differences wil be reconciled... is the timing merely different between Marvel titles that come out at the same time?
Since Iron Man has become monthly it's slowly catching up to the Civil War continuity but certain elements planted from even Ellis's run along with the Knauf's current run contribute towards his Civil War status quo. Also Iron Man is doing some really crazy stuff in his own title (which is beyond his control) so what he's doing in Civil War isn't jarring by any means.

As for Cap, while I agree that Brian doesn't have a particularly strong grasp of how to use the character effectively as a team leader yet, what Bendis and Brubaker are doing are obviously going to feel much different given the style of the books.

[RichStanz]

I'm not sure that you grasp the point that certain Marvel characters are extremely popular. It's not realistic to say that the guy writing Spider-man has the same impact as the guy writing Spider-Woman, for example. The first character has a huge fanbase, so his books will always sell better, even if the second character gets an excellent creative team.

Just out of curiosity, how well did Slott's Spider-Man/Human Torch mini-series sell? Has there been a sales increase/decrease with Kirkman on Ultimate X-Men? I think those are examples of young, new, underground writers being given the keys to the car so to speak. How has their work on mainstream franchises like that, resonated with fans?

Certain Marvel writers *are* having a major impact on Marvel beyond the monthly titles that they write. Hudlin is taking Storm away from the X-books. Hulk got sent off into space. The New Warriors are revealed to be incompetent and irresponsible and dead. Alpha Flight is dead, too. Reed and Sue are apparently splitting up.

Alpha Flight was rendered kind of pointless with Scott Lobdell's recent volume. Hudlin, JMS, Bendis were nowhere near that.

If you read "Contest of Champions 2" from a few years ago, Black Panther single-handedly defeats the New Warriors in a basketball game, and the scene is played for laughs. Even the Slingers laugh at the New Warriors, at the beginning of NW vol. 2 That joke image has been with them before Quesada took over as EIC. In fact, I would speculate that the joke image already being in place, is why Quesada never made a MONUMENTAL attempt to revitalize them. But if you read She-Hulks CW tie-in and "Frontline," writers are making an effort to redeem the survivors. You need to be bottom out before you recalim your glory. That's just classic dramatic storytelling.

I've always read complaints that X-Men characters were ghetto-ized; not allowed to leave the X-books and interract with the rest of the Marvel universe. Storm has been around for 30 years, yet remains untested with the likes of the F4 or Captain America. Don't you want to see her placed into new, original stories and environments that don't HAVE to rely on the concept of the X-Men?

Lots and lots of mutants lost their powers, and that didn't even happen in a book with a "X" on the cover.

It's not like it happened in Dardevil - it happened in the House of M, a one-time mini-series that was designed to include many corners of the entire Marvel Universe.

On the other hand, slack editorial control has somewhat minimized that impact. Iron Man is acting very badly in Civil War, but is doing his normal hero routine in his own monthly title. Cap has been a weak and clueless leader in New Avengers, but is still highly competent in Brubaker's Captain America comics. I don't know how these differences wil be reconciled... is the timing merely different between Marvel titles that come out at the same time? Or will we eventually discover that Bendis and Millar are writing in an alternate Marvel reality, and that Hudlin has his own separate MU, too? Or maybe Slott and Nicieza are the ones who out of line with Quesada's vision?

Iron Man's current storyline in his comic is supposed to happen before CW. I've been reading the Avengers for years, and don't feel that Cap is being written as ineffective in NA. Bendis is making compromises to Millar's CW idea. Whedon is pretty much left to his own corner with the most profitable team of X-men of the past 10 years. Brubaker is allowed to bring Bucky back, not JMS or Bendis. If there was such an Illuminati among Quesada and a select number of writers, then why doesn't Marvel publish ONLY comics that they write? If Slott and Nicieza don't fit into this vision you speak of, then why are they even employed?

[Norrin Radd]

Are people on this thread actually comparing Stan Lee-the man who created and shaped these characters-to Bendis and JMS-the guys who are tearing them apart? No, I don't want Spider-Man, FF, and Avengers, almost exclusively in the hands of these people.

[jade_nova]

How Bendis causing Nick Fury to go underground in a miniseries that really shouldn't of had any impact.

[overcomebyfumes]

The only one of those writers with an A-list assignment is Whedon. Moon Knight is C-list (possibly now B due to the exposure and popularity it's gotten since the relaunch) and the Eternals are even lower.

The Eternals is interesting, because Neal Gaiman is unquestionably an A-list writer, but at Marvel so far he's picked (or been given, not sure which) projects on the very outer fringe of the Marvel Universe.

Maybe, like Whedon and Huston, he's got so much other stuff going on he can't take the time to write more than the odd limited series now and then.

I think if Gaiman were to take over a monthly, I'd like to see him on the Fantastic Four, or, even more idealy, Thor.

Just out of curiosity, how well did Slott's Spider-Man/Human Torch mini-series sell? Has there been a sales increase/decrease with Kirkman on Ultimate X-Men? I think those are examples of young, new, underground writers being given the keys to the car so to speak. How has their work on mainstream franchises like that, resonated with fans?

There's some interesting questions raised here, and I'm really not sure what the answers are. Writers like Slott and Kirkman obviously have a great deal of support among fans, but that support isn't necessarily being translated well into sales. Even a wildly critically acclaimed and well recieved book like Vaughan's "Runaways" I don't think is selling particularily well when compared to, say, Amazing Spider-Man. Slott's "Thing" had a great deal of internet fan support, but that support never upped the sales enough to avoid cancellation.

So, question one - why aren't "good" (in the sense of what us fanboys like) books selling well? For example, with the amount of critical accaim it gets, "Runaways" should be one of Marvel's top ten books right now. It's not. WTF?

Question two - how much of sales is the title and how much is the author? Let's say JMS is writing Amazing Spider-Man and it selling well. How much of that is JMS's writing and how much is the name "Amazing Spider-Man"? Because "Amazing Spider-Man" sells well, then JMS is rewarded with another top title "Fantastic Four". The cycle feeds on itself.

JMS, if I remember correctly, started at Marvel writing "Amazing Spider-Man" straight from day one. If he had first had to slog it out in the pits of lesser titles, would he still be selling the same number of comics? For example, if his first project at Marvel had been, say, a Human Torch solo book instead of "Amazing Spider-Man", would he have sold enough copies to be promoted to writing the top tier titles now, five years later?

Interesting questions. I wish I could say with authority what the answers were.

Iron Man's current storyline in his comic is supposed to happen before CW. I've been reading the Avengers for years, and don't feel that Cap is being written as ineffective in NA. Bendis is making compromises to Millar's CW idea. Whedon is pretty much left to his own corner with the most profitable team of X-men of the past 10 years. Brubaker is allowed to bring Bucky back, not JMS or Bendis. If there was such an Illuminati among Quesada and a select number of writers, then why doesn't Marvel publish ONLY comics that they write? If Slott and Nicieza don't fit into this vision you speak of, then why are they even employed?

Hey, someone's got to write the B- and C- level books! Could JMS and Bendis find the time and energy to write every title Marvel could sell? On the other hand, if Slott and Nicieza and Kirkman DO fit, why aren't they being given a shot at the top tier books?

...for example, my first reaction to hearing the news about the "Mighty Avengers" was "Wow. Bendis can't share the Avengers with another writer. That's really pathetic." A second Avengers title, to any other publisher, would have been the perfect opportunity to spotlight an up-and-coming writer (like Kirkman!!) and give them a chance to work on a book that's actually going to sell. Instead, Marvel's coughing up more of the same. "One Bendis Avengers book is doing great, so two can only be better!" Creative companies shouldn't be making decisions like that - that's stultified and static coperate board logic. Bah.

(and now I have REALLY mixed feelings, because I love the way Frank Cho draws huuuuuuuge... tracts of land)

I know a lot of people have strong feeling about Bendis. Personally, I do like a lot of the stuff he's written (his run on Daredevil was exceptional). Unfortunately, I don't feel that he's done I good job with New Avengers, despite the sales numbers, and I don't want him writing the Avengers for the next six years if there's anything I can possibly do about it.

(and, yea, I agree with Shellhead, Bendis hasn't a clue in the world how to properly write Cap. Granted, Captain America can be a difficult character to do properly, but Bendis hasn't remotely been able to pull it off like Brubaker has.)

Wrapping up this post with some other points:

Whedon's "Astonishing" has been doing very well, and I'm sure if he had the time to spare, Marvel would unquestionably put him on a big monthly title. Unfortunately, he's got too many other projects going. I'd love to see what Whedon could do with "Amazing Spider-Man".

Brubaker was allowed to bring back Bucky because he's now part of the conspiracy too. :p He's got three top books, remember - Uncanny X-Men, Daredevil, and Captain America. Even though I like him, he's part of the problem. (Actually, I think he's the only writer ever to come up with a plan to bring back Bucky and not only make it not suck, but actually do it well).

Anyhoo, Pax.

[alextron]

Bendis on New Avengers has been alright.

JMS (AKA Satan) has pretty much destroyed Spidey. It was the reveal so much as everything before the reveal and then... the unmasking.

My lord, how bad can you get. He can't write stories with Spider-man's classic characters. Not to many that I can remember. He seems to have trouble getting Parker's family to do anything. He has to change everything in Spider-man's past for his own stories benefit. Take for instance the Spider-totem thing, THe SIn Past with Gwen Stacy, and he also has to alter everything about Spider-man's present yet doesn't do anything with that either. He gave Spider-man new powers twice now and do we really need organic webbing or some stingers if your not going to use them?
Did I mention he was the Devil?

Taking risks and opening doors is one thing, but recently he just piled things onto SPider-man and never worked them out to a logical conclusion. Why does Peter have to jobs. Maybe if he has to do all that, he shouldn't be writing Spider-man... or the FF... I'm not even going to read the new Thor.

Sure sales will go up on Spider-man, although for how long?

Did I mention he was Satan?

[overcomebyfumes]

I think it's a long time since Thor has been a big title at Marvel. When was the last time anyone was really excited about Thor? Seriously?



Well, I was really excited about Thor until I discovered who was writing it...

I wasn't big on Thor either until I got ahold of the Thor Masterworks. Thor was some of Stan and Jack's best work back in the day. Some of the best Silver Age stuff I've read, actually. That was enough to make me a hardcore Thor fan. Check out the thor Masterworks if you can find them. Great stuff.

[RichStanz]

Writers like Slott and Kirkman obviously have a great deal of support among fans, but that support isn't necessarily being translated well into sales. Even a wildly critically acclaimed and well recieved book like Vaughan's "Runaways" I don't think is selling particularily well when compared to, say, Amazing Spider-Man.

I think it's just different strokes for different folks. I love "Runaways" - I got my younger sister into it, but male friends my age were just like "pass." People like different things and its hard to predict an audience preference that is also profitable.

JMS, if I remember correctly, started at Marvel writing "Amazing Spider-Man" straight from day one. If he had first had to slog it out in the pits of lesser titles, would he still be selling the same number of comics? For example, if his first project at Marvel had been, say, a Human Torch solo book instead of "Amazing Spider-Man", would he have sold enough copies to be promoted to writing the top tier titles now, five years later?

Didn't "Rising Stars" and "Midnight Nation" come out before his Spider-Man run? I'd say trying to sell an independent, original super-hero comic in the market five years ago would qualify as "slogging it out."

Hey, someone's got to write the B- and C- level books! Could JMS and Bendis find the time and energy to write every title Marvel could sell? On the other hand, if Slott and Nicieza and Kirkman DO fit, why aren't they being given a shot at the top tier books?

The thing is, why should JMS and Bendis get bumped from top comics, if they are still selling well (or better than when they started their runs)? Why should they get bumped if they haven't finished telling all the stories they want to tell?
Theoretically, if Slott and Kirkman were given top books that sold well, made them famous, wouldn't they also need to get pushed aside so that *even newer* young buzz-worthy writers could be given a chance? There shouldn't be a Logan's run-esque formula of "you had your 24 issues, now leave!"
People seem to forget that JMS starting writing in TV in 1983, in addition to many novels before he even got into comics And Bendis was working in indie comics for like 10 years before the Spider-Man gig. They have reached a career pinnacle, they should be allowed to enjoy their time at the top.
Quesada has just started boasting about a new post-CW book by Slott, that will supposedly make him huge. And Bendis has always hinted at giving Ultimate Spider-Man to Kirkman, when he was done telling his stories. I think it's just a matter of patience.

...for example, my first reaction to hearing the news about the "Mighty Avengers" was "Wow. Bendis can't share the Avengers with another writer. That's really pathetic."

That's the thing that irks me. How did Bendis develop this reputation on the internet as being some sort of selfish, character-grubbing tyrant? Bendis said he loves the Avengers, and I thought that this new Avengers book w/ Cho, was suppossed to be a better demonstration of his love of the Avengers. It just seems like b/c he wrote one title that got a mixed reaction, that he should never be allowed to touch these characters again. Going by that logic, then according to the internet community, Miller can never write Batman again, Busiek can never write the JLA, Claremont can never write the X-Men again b/c they all wrote stories with these characters that were not universally loved.

Nonetheless, those were some excellent points you raised. Cheers!

[RichStanz]

Taking risks and opening doors is one thing, but recently he just piled things onto SPider-man and never worked them out to a logical conclusion. Why does Peter have to jobs. Maybe if he has to do all that, he shouldn't be writing Spider-man... or the FF... I'm not even going to read the new Thor.

Sure sales will go up on Spider-man, although for how long?

Did I mention he was Satan?

The problem that JMS has had is that sins past, the other, and the unmasking have all fallen on top of each other in terms of scheduling. Very little room to breathe in between.

I'll admit that Sins Past was needlessly convoluted, and the other was too long, but I would still say his run on SM has been a success.

The reason I think the unmasking and the "Spider-totem" work is because they are more faithful to Spider-man's core concept than people give credit.

Let me explain: you could say an inherent conflict in "superman" is that he is a powerful being raised to be like a human. B/c he thinks and feels like a human, Superman's full potential is limited by his need for acceptance, love, family. He could save the world and be everywhere at once, but he would probably have to disconnect from Lois and the rest of humanity, which he doesn't want to do.

Spider-man is like the anti-superman - he'll never be able to save everybody, but he wants to. He is grounded in his humanity by his mortality, his flaws, his doubt. Mary Jane, Aunt May, uncle Ben are his anchors - he wants to be able to ascend beyond them to protect them - but he can't. To him unmasking protects his family more. It gives him even greater power to protect them. But unlike Superman he isn't nigh invulernable, and if Peter Parker chooses to unmask, then he is going to need to accept the great responsibility that comes with it. Personally, I can't wait to see if he is up for the challenge!

The spider-totem I would argue is the exact same thing. Parker hasn't always been happy to have his powers. And now there is a mystical theory that it was pre-ordained; he became Spider-man for a greater purpose. As far as everything I've read, JMS has never implicity stated that the totem is the 100% truth. Every story always has dubious circumstances around the totem to mess w/ Parker - and the reader. The whole point of it is to make Parker question if he really can be a greater, more powerful protector, at the risk of disconnecting himself from his humanity - the one thing that makes him so unique.

I can't offer the same crazy theories for FF b/c honestly, JMS is still relatively new to the title.
Is it confirmed that he is doing Thor?

[Alan2099]

As far as everything I've read, JMS has never implicity stated that the totem is the 100% truth. Every story always has dubious circumstances around the totem to mess w/ Parker - and the reader.
Is that how you see it?

it reads to me like, "you might have magical based powers. Here's a new character with the exact same abilites as you and his are magic. Here's a few new magical based enemies that have magcially tracked you to eat your magical lifeforce, but I'm not going to say you really are magic. Oh, and have some more powers because blah blah blah something about the Spider-totem."

To him unmasking protects his family more. It gives him even greater power to protect them.
I don't see that. Up until now, there were only a few people that knew who Spider-man was. Now his entire rogue's gallery knows his name and face and tracking him down and threatining his family is as easy as picking up the phonebook.

[overcomebyfumes]

Well, if we can't get people to stop buying comics that we know they shouldn't like, and we can't bully and whine until Marvel makes editorial decisions that we approve of, then we are complete and utter failures as fanboys.

Maybe we're just not being snarky enough. Scottie! Increase power to the sarcasm generators!

Pax.

[rondre sleazde]

People cry and whine too much and I mean too much.


BMB-@ NA, MA, Ultimate Spidey, Powers and Spider-Woman Ultimate Power

JMS-FF, SS, ASM and Thor maybe Ultimate Power

Mark Millar- UFF, CW, Ultimates and other books

PAD-FNSM, X-factor and MASM

Ed Bru- UXM, DD and Cap

Jeph Loeb- Ultimates 3 and 4, Wolve, Spidey, Onslaught reborn and Ultimate power

[EmmettHULK]

That's the thing that irks me. How did Bendis develop this reputation on the internet as being some sort of selfish, character-grubbing tyrant?


He didn't.
It's all fanboy paranoia and gossip, all fueled by the "He Destroyed My Avengers And Raped The MU" mentality.

Bendis said he loves the Avengers, and I thought that this new Avengers book w/ Cho, was suppossed to be a better demonstration of his love of the Avengers. It just seems like b/c he wrote one title that got a mixed reaction, that he should never be allowed to touch these characters again. Going by that logic, then according to the internet community, Miller can never write Batman again, Busiek can never write the JLA, Claremont can never write the X-Men again b/c they all wrote stories with these characters that were not universally loved.
!

Excellent points.

[garin]

There shouldn't be a Logan's run-esque formula of "you had your 24 issues, now leave!"Haha, nice reference!

Now his entire rogue's gallery knows his name and face and tracking him down and threatining his family is as easy as picking up the phonebook.He lives in Avengers Tower. It's defenses are adequate to handling most of Spider-Man's enemies, even if none of the actual Avengers are home. If he even gets threatening phone calls, the government can obtain the phone records, and then Spider-Man and fifty heavily armed SHIELD agents go and kick the door down. There's no question that there are more resources at his disposal now.

[Gold guardian]

Putting Bendis on the Mighty Avengers was a BIG fat mistake in my eyes.

He freakin RUINED the Classic avengers with his god awfull Dissasembled and frankly except for his addtion of Spider-man (it's about time he was more then a reserve avenger) to the team, I've hated all this New avenergers street level crap and haven't bought any of it.

I meen for the love of heck The Avenergers should NOT be having trouble with Ninja and I hate when they decompress it out for 6 issue story arcs that suck balls. Red Zone comes to mind as one of the pre Bendis stores that blew chunks.

Finally their was a glimmer of hope that Classic avenger fans would get a title for them. And they had to ruin it by placing Bendis on board. Where is Kurt Busiek when you need him? He's practically the ONLY man to get the Avengers right in a vary damn long time. Everyone else who came along after him on the main title has screwe up to some degree or another.
(Jones Red Zone and Killing off Jake of hearts, Austons horrible horrible run with the Female captian brittan and Hawkeye sleeping with the Wasp.)

The only other person I'd consider is the guy who Wrote the Avengers: Earth's Mightyest Hero's mini since that was Damn good classic avenergers at their best.

I prey for the day when Dissasembed is retconned out of Contiunity so we can get the REAL avengers back to where they belong.

I want the real Vision back not the fake over in Young Avengers. I want the heroic and stable Scarlet witch not the mental reject. The Heroic if vain Quicksilver and not the badly protrayed Villan. Hawkeye to be a REAL hero again and not somebody who dies so easily becuse his quiver got set on fire.
For Captain america, Iron man and Thor to work together again as the big three to kick some serrious cosmic ass.

Where are the REAL Earth's mightest hero's? Right now we just have frauds using their good names.

If the Avenerges where real then the fallowing would happen.

Thor swining his hammer with thunder booming in the background and the rest of the classic avenergers standing behind him. "Bendis, We would have words with thee"

[Archer]

Well, I was really excited about Thor until I discovered who was writing it...

And I was really uninterested in Thor until I heard who was writing it.

Swings and roundabouts.

[Magneto_X]

Finally their was a glimmer of hope that Classic avenger fans would get a title for them. And they had to ruin it by placing Bendis on board. Where is Kurt Busiek when you need him? He's practically the ONLY man to get the Avengers right in a vary damn long time.

Agreed here. He's the only writer to manage to make their insane continuity make sense & be enteraining while doing it re: Avengers Forever. To bad Pacheco is at DC right now, he'd make a great regular Avengers artist. His Avengers in the Annual '98 and Forever was great!

The only other person I'd consider is the guy who Wrote the Avengers: Earth's Mightyest Hero's mini since that was Damn good classic avenergers at their best.

That was Joe Casey.

[Magneto_X]

Jeph Loeb- Ultimates 3 and 4, Wolve, Spidey, Onslaught reborn and Ultimate power

Always thought Brubaker was better suited to the Ultimates then Loeb. His style would be better on the Avengers.

[Gingold]

Remember the early 90s, when it seemed like every other book was written by a member of the editorial staff? And all the rest were written by Scott Lobdell? It wasn't pretty.

Marvel's got a much better crop of writers on their books these days. If you were Joe Quesada, and your top-selling writers were able and willing to work on two or three books each, wouldn't you think that was a good idea?

[alextron]

And doesn't Jeph Leob have a Spider man book coming out?

Yeah, but I don't think it really has anything to do with regular the Spider-man books. Which is probably just as well. I don't think any future writer will be able to anything with public Spidey with the messed-up incomplete stories they've been doing with him lately.

[Hi-Fi]

The question is: when are they going to give Brian K. Vaughan more books to write??

Heck, I'd give him a core X-Book, a Spidey book and an Avengers book, besides Runaways!

Plus DC should give him one or two more Vertigo titles.

The world needs more BKV!!

[Bobster777]

The question is: when are they going to give Brian K. Vaughan more books to write??

Heck, I'd give him a core X-Book, a Spidey book and an Avengers book, besides Runaways!

Plus DC should give him one or two more Vertigo titles.

The world needs more BKV!!
Isn't he supposed to be getting that Dr. Strange book?

[Hi-Fi]

Isn't he supposed to be getting that Dr. Strange book?

We should not be satisfied with just mini-series. I say give him a monthly Dr. Stranger book! ;)

[lament]

The question is: when are they going to give Brian K. Vaughan more books to write??

Heck, I'd give him a core X-Book, a Spidey book and an Avengers book, besides Runaways!


I'd love that. I want to see more Vaughan, more Kirkman, more Slott...there are so many writers I want to see on major titles.

[Bobster777]

We should not be satisfied with just mini-series. I say give him a monthly Dr. Stranger book! ;)
Oh, it is just a mini. well, I agree with you there.

[overcomebyfumes]

Just heard a rumor that JMS is writing the Silver Surfer after Anniliation. My source for this isn't too reliable, tho. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

[Young Avenger]

Just heard a rumor that JMS is writing the Silver Surfer after Anniliation. My source for this isn't too reliable, tho. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

JMS is writing a Silver Surfer mini-series. It's set to be released next year.

[Expletive Deleted]

It's a fully painted mini-series project with Esad Ribic called SILVER SURFER: REQUIEM, and will probably be released some time next year, possibly to coincide with FF2.

The "Annihilation" guys had to get permission from JMS to use Surfer in their project since, as the current FF writer and the guy doing that mini-series, he had dibs.

[meethraa]

Okay, so I'm reading this thread and my question is: how do we rescue the Marvel Universe?
Because Lebanon be damned, this is a serious crisis we have here.

[Magneto_X]

Okay, so I'm reading this thread and my question is: how do we rescue the Marvel Universe?
Because Lebanon be damned, this is a serious crisis we have here.

LMAO @ meethraa

[Mister Mets]

Okay, so I'm reading this thread and my question is: how do we rescue the Marvel Universe?
Because Lebanon be damned, this is a serious crisis we have here.

What's the nature of the crisis?
I'm really not seeing it.
The worst things I see are smaller things that are okay now, but could be better.

I'd love that. I want to see more Vaughan, more Kirkman, more Slott...there are so many writers I want to see on major titles.

Slott tragically can only write two books a month.
I say, let him keep She-Hulk, and put him on a Spider-Man book with John Romita Jr. The rule is that each issue has a complete story.


The question is: when are they going to give Brian K. Vaughan more books to write??

Heck, I'd give him a core X-Book, a Spidey book and an Avengers book, besides Runaways!

Plus DC should give him one or two more Vertigo titles.

The world needs more BKV!!

1. BKV is working plenty of books right now (Runaways, Ex Machina, Y The Last Man, The Escapists, Lions of Baghdad, Doctor Strange.)

2. The sad thing is Bendis, Millar & co sell better. BKV's Ultimate X-Men got the best reviews of the title's career, but performed lower than Millar, or Bendis.

[Hi-Fi]

BKV is working plenty of books right now (Runaways, Ex Machina, Y The Last Man, The Escapists, Lions of Baghdad, Doctor Strange.)



I know that. I was only joking because I'm a big fan of his work. There is no way he'd be able to handle all the books I mentioned. Oh, and it's Pride of Baghdad. ;)

[Mark (nonick)]

Civil War proper: I think the core story has been very good.
Punisher: Better than it's ever been
Daredevil: Continually beating a$s for years - since Bendis took it
Astonishing X-Men: Got me to actually read an X-book
Ultimates (1,2): Knock-out hammer punches in the throat
Captain America: KRAK! That's the sound of a boot crushing your skull.
Hulk: Well... Hulk smash right now
She-Hulk: She-Hilarious, and full of great characterization

So, while there are some books floundering (Spidey and Avengers of note) the MU isn't hostage to anyone. And it's certainly not in need of any rescue.