For those who (a) live outside of America, (b) don’t have basic cable, or (c) forgot, Marvel Comics EiC Joe Quesada appeared on Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report last night to talk about Civil War – It was part of the ongoing media blitz for the series, but an interesting change from the NPR/news media coverage that Marvel has been going for so far. The mothership has a recap of what happened, but that’s obviously not going to stop the rest of the internet talking about it.
For my part, I thought Quesada did well, even though he was obviously very, very nervous. It seemed telling to me that he had to tell the audience not to laugh at the meant-to-be-tragic destruction of Stamford, Connecticut, and hearing him try to pitch the series as something more than a standard superhero crossover with a pinch of playing politics came across as kind of embarrassing considering the usual, genuinely sophisticated and political, fare of the show. But who cares about what I think? Let’s go to the fans!
“Quesada looked especially handsome on the show tonight. Looks like he’s been vacationing somewhere tropical..or San Diego?”
“[T]o tell you the truth, I didn’t have much of a clue as to what Civil War was about until just now. I’m much more interested now than I was before, even though Civil War is being talked about everywhere (on the net, that is).”
“Joey Q you were a class act my friend!Good job.”
“Joey the Q – Starting off the interview with a blowjob. Good move.”
“Quesada fucked up. He means civil liberties vs. security, not personal freedom. Silly goose.”
“not too bad, joe looked a bit flustered at the start, but he came back with some good lines an held his own towards the end. good stuff.”
“Joe Q did good. All you Joe Q naysayers out there really ought to give the guy a break. That appearance was a win for the comics community.”
“He did manage to get the whole spiel out. I could see him racing the clock.”"Colbert went too easy on Joe. And I thought he would go on a tirade about Iron Man being a great American. But he let Joe talk. Of course Joe was sweating bullets, he wouldn`t have fared well. Anyway, great show.”
“I am constantly amazed that Civil War is writing and drawing itself. At least, thats the impression I get in every single press item I see about this. When Stephen King’s new book comes out we don’t see interview after interview with the head of DoubleDay (or whatever) where he talks about this great new horror novel that is sweeping the nation but where he doesn’t ever mention who actually wrote it.”
“I think alot more of Colbert for bringing on Joe Q. He really is a fan and is trying to get comics more exposure. I’m not sure if the audiance was into it but it was great to see someone talking about Civil War. Joe did a good job of selling the concept and coming off like a regular guy. Though he really was sucking up to Colbert, he did manage to stand up to Colberts jabs. All in all, it was great.”
Overall, then, the fans give a thumbs up to both Quesada’s performance and, it seems, his newly extra-handsome face. Next: Joe Q takes Broadway!
July 28th, 2006 at 12:18 pm
It made me feel embarrased. Quesada seemed a little too eager to justify the series, and Colbert was throwing him softballs. I think they could have focused on what Civil War and The Colbert Report have in common; mocking Right-Wing conseravitists by pretending they have a leg to stand on (They should have called the series “Iron Man acts like a tool”, because that’s really all that’s going on)
July 28th, 2006 at 1:49 pm
” I think they could have focused on what Civil War and The Colbert Report have in common; mocking Right-Wing conseravitists…”
They could have and that would have been interesting, but it would’ve required Colbert to break character and I don’t wanna see that on his show. Someone else’s show, yeah, but not on The Colbert Report.
July 28th, 2006 at 1:59 pm
I posted some comments as well — I thought the best part of the segment was Colbert’s intro.
July 29th, 2006 at 6:52 pm
Finally downloaded it. Thought Joe was well mannered and managed to push a comic book to a currently non-comic book reading audience but playing on the familiarity of Marvel’s brands. Did a fine job, from where I was sitting.
And the DC Senator interview was rather fun as well!
July 29th, 2006 at 7:53 pm
I thought it was great. How often do you get to see Joey Q starstruck?
July 30th, 2006 at 9:33 am
It was good, but I wished Joe would have given less of a “Civil War” speech and allowed more interaction with Colbert. But overall it was good and nice to see comics getting publicity.
August 1st, 2006 at 2:57 am
I thought it was pretty good, but it should not have taken Quesada so long to explain the premise to Civil War. That did take way too long to me.
The best part of the show was the interview with the lady representative of DC. Man, that has to be a classic…