Axel-In-Charge - Apr 27, 2012

[CBR News]

This week, Marvel Comics E-i-C Axel Alonso speaks up on how the publisher connects with its fanbase online and at cons, dropping hints and history on everything from Hulk and Spider-Man to Infinite Comics and "AvX."


Full article here.

[Sabrewulf]

Anyone else get the feeling Thanos is about to be everywhere in the MU.

I love how people who aren't all pro Marvel are somehow painted as unreasonable. Maybe it's not so much about anonimity but instead about honesty. I wouldn't go up to Bendis at a convention and tell him I think his writing sucks. That would be me being honest but it would also be rude.

It seems to me that professionals seems to be a bit confused about message boards. They are a place to share your opinion and maybe even vent. Because it's a bloody message board to discuss comics good and bad. Not the don't be honest in case you offend the talent message boards.


I liked over on the DC boards when Gail Simone asked if it was okay to post on a thread because a professionals presence causes people to feel they can't be honest.

[CTpitch]

I wouldn't go up to Bendis at a convention and tell him I think his writing sucks.

I would
.......

[jyeager11]

I remember one guy at a con begging me to retcon “One More Day.” I asked him if he was currently enjoying the series, and he said, emphatically, “Yes!” and then he went on to explain how much he liked so many of the subplots and characters that, again, wouldn’t have been possible if we hadn’t done “One More Day.” And I said, “Mission accomplished.”

Name ONE that required Peter trade his marriage to Satan to undo mistakes he made of his own free will.

Just ONE subplot that couldn't have been accomplished with a divorced Peter, or a Peter who found out that the priest that married him wasn't ordained and he was never legally married.

Just ONE.

Take your time.

[ViewtifulJC]

Name ONE that required Peter trade his marriage to Satan to undo mistakes he made of his own free will.

Just ONE subplot that couldn't have been accomplished with a divorced Peter, or a Peter who found out that the priest that married him wasn't ordained and he was never legally married.

Just ONE.

Take your time.

How about everything involving Aunt May? Since she'd be dead.

Also, his secret identity would be known by everybody, so that would change...a lot actually.

Hey, that was easy!

[joshtylen]

Every now and then my questions gets asked. If the infinite comic #2 isn't about Nova I don't know who else it could be that they can't talk about yet.

[Sighphi]

Alonso: I'm always a bit skeptical when people say they’ve dropped a series, yet they seem to know everything that's occurred in it over the last few months. [Laughs]

Because there is absolutely no way to find out what is going on besides reading the book, right?

So yes, I’m still a bit skeptical when someone says they’re boycotting all Marvel Comics because of a story in one book. I guess it’s possible, but I don’t understand the mindset. I can’t imagine denying myself one of my passions because of one story development – and let’s face it, one that will probably be rectified in the future.

You cant imagine that something you like can develop a story element you dont like and dont wish to continue reading that element?

Alonso: Without a doubt. At conventions, it’s all fans that say how much they love what's going on at Marvel. At C2E2, it was all about how everyone’s loving "AvX." But that's to be expected, I think. There’s plenty of reasonable discourse on the message boards, but it gets droned out by whoever yells loudest. Anonymity emboldens people.

If people dont like what is going on what makes you think they are going to sit in a panel for an hour or so to ask a question that you are not going to answer?

Alonso: You've got to tread very carefully. Whenever a writer wants to “fix” a story that already, you've just got to consider a lot of factors, not the least of which is how important that story is in the overall canon of the series. If we’re going to play with the very foundation upon which a character is built, we’re going to need very compelling arguments to go that route, and feel what we’re getting out of this move really helps us move into the future. There is no "one size fits all" analysis or standard we use. For instance: When J. Michael Straczynski introduced the concept of totemic mythology to Spider-Man's origin, I approved the move because it added another layer to Spider-Man’s legend. It enriched the origin. But it someone were to assert that, say, Peter Parker didn’t get his powers from a radioactive spider-bite, but from a gypsy witch who was off-panel outside the museum...that wouldn’t fly.

So Bendis must be good at putting out arguments because the dude retcons something every other month.

Okay: Many years ago, under a different publisher, I was given the latitude to have the Hulk actually kill someone in a berserker rage – you know, this time the soldiers don’t get out the tossed tank. Even though this would have give the series the “oh-$#!% moment that every editor lusts for, I elected not to go that route because I felt it opened up a Pandora's box that could never be closed. The moment Bruce Banner wakes up in a stretched-out pair of purple pants and covered in blood, he’s going to have to realize he is responsible for whatever happened and do everything in his power to (a) atone for it, and (b) make sure his never, ever happens again. From that moment forward, every moment Banner walks the earth a free man, he is putting the value of his own life above others, and he becomes un-heroic, even unsympathetic. That's a place the Hulk shouldn't go. One of the eternal truths of the Hulk is that he lives in a world that's very elastic – tanks don’t break, they bounce – and he doesn’t become what he would in the read world: a mass murderer.

The "core truth" that Hulks doesnt kill people when he rampages is something new, bud.
Or that one where tanks dont break..... where the hell does that come from?

[jyeager11]

How about everything involving Aunt May? Since she'd be dead.

Also, his secret identity would be known by everybody, so that would change...a lot actually.

Hey, that was easy!

No, Aunt May never actually died. So like all the previous times she's been on the edge of death, she would make a miraculous comeback thanks to sheer will to live alone.

As for the secret identity, Dr Strange could have taken care of that.

The question was... name one story that was told post OMD that could not have existed without Peter turning to Satan when God wasn't answering the phone.

A story that could not have been told any other way.

Take your time, I'll grab a sandwich.

[Zarathos81]

Well, the series has been highly entertaining since One More Day and better with the marriage destroyed so there really isn't much of a reason to keep crying about something that's better now, yes?

[Zarathos81]

We’ll definitely be spreading the AR love around further in the coming months

I wouldn't call it 'love' Those AR boxes are annoying and distracting. Considering they cater only to the few who actually have the devices needed to 'enjoy' them (By few I mean of those who read these comics, not many would have the devices and fewer would actually care if this 'feature' went away) I think they should just be done away with. I read comics to look at the art. Not to have to use my mobile device to look at some minor adjustments on the page. If people want that they can go for the fake digital 'comics'

[Mister Mets]

Name ONE that required Peter trade his marriage to Satan to undo mistakes he made of his own free will.

Just ONE subplot that couldn't have been accomplished with a divorced Peter, or a Peter who found out that the priest that married him wasn't ordained and he was never legally married.

Just ONE.

Take your time.

I think you're arguing past Alonso here.

His current comments about the difficulty of retconning it now, and about what we got as a result of One More Day, rather than about how the story could have been done differently.

Whether a divorce would have been preferable to the deal with Mephisto is a separate matter.

[Mister Jerusalem]

Anyone else catch this bit:

"I guess it’s possible, but I don’t understand the mindset. I can’t imagine denying myself one of my passions because of one story development – and let’s face it, one that will probably be rectified in the future."

First time I've heard someone from Marvel actually acknowledge this possibility.

[jyeager11]

I think you're arguing past Alonso here.

His current comments about the difficulty of retconning it now, and about what we got as a result of One More Day, rather than about how the story could have been done differently.

Whether a divorce would have been preferable to the deal with Mephisto is a separate matter.

I'm not so sure it's a separate matter when Alonso pompously writes things like :

I asked him if he was currently enjoying the series, and he said, emphatically, “Yes!” and then he went on to explain how much he liked so many of the subplots and characters that, again, wouldn’t have been possible if we hadn’t done “One More Day.” And I said, “Mission accomplished.”

This. This is the arrogance that makes people like me want to bring up everything that was wrong about OMD again.

To pat yourself on the back and say "mission accomplished" when you just betrayed everything the character stands for (why is Aunt May worth turning to evil for help over, but Uncle Ben wasn't? It almost makes Peter's relationship with May seem a little inappropriate) is going just a little bit too far, IMHO.

Was it Marvel's mission to alienate so many of us in the transition? No? Then maybe "mission accomplished" isn't the term Alonso wants to be using, here.

I'm pretty sure the mission was to unmarry Spider-Man in a way that did NOT alienate half the book's readership, and create a religious and moral controversy surrounding the company's most iconic and important property.

And in that mission, Marvel failed.

Marvel needs to stop acting like the OMD backlash is something that was necessary. That's like Chris Brown saying beating up Rhianna was necessary. Sure, it got the job of shutting her up done. But to then pompously claim "mission accomplished"? It makes everyone want to remind him about the bruises. And that there was another way.

Get my drift?

[vh4ever]

I would
.......

...in a heartbeat. Much like I'd catcall Barry Bonds or McGwire for the cheating SOBs that they are. Facts are facts.

[Xenon]

Name ONE that required Peter trade his marriage to Satan to undo mistakes he made of his own free will.

Just ONE subplot that couldn't have been accomplished with a divorced Peter, or a Peter who found out that the priest that married him wasn't ordained and he was never legally married.

Just ONE.

Take your time.

Carlie Cooper. Also that recent Daredevil crossover where it's about him getting dumped kinda but it's really about hooking up Black Cat with Daredevil.

Man can't date while being married.

But, of course, in general your point is correct. Spider-Man can globe trot, get a science job, and fight supervillains without OMD. But the party line must be maintained.

EDIT: And for the record, that just really makes it worse to me. It's bad enough what you did without lying about it.