Marvel B0y jumps whatever credibility shark (s)he hadn’t already jumped:
And you want a spoiler, here’s the spoiler. Here’s the dark little secret that no one outside the office walls is talking about: Joe Q is about two weeks away from getting fired. Not just shown the door but having it slammed so hard it knocks him on his ass. He can sing and dance about how much of a success OMD was as much as he wants but everyone knows he messed up. Both licensing and west coast are pissed and even people in editorial know it was a mistake. There have been at least three meetings in the last couple of weeks about how we can get Peter and MJ back. Everything from lets just say it was an April Fool’s stunt to Peter’s been a Skrull since right before the unmasking has been thrown out there. (of course they have overlooked the best and most logical fix…it was Mysterio messing with Spidey’s mind!) So the writing’s on the wall and Q knows it. He looks terrible, he’s hardly in the office anymore and when he is, he just sits in his office with the door closed the whole time. He even got disinvited to the Iron Man premiere in NYC! So when it happens, remember you heard it HERE first, Quesada is done at Marvel. Don’t be surprised if you start reading MyCup of Blah-Blah-Brevoort sometime soon!
“Marvel, if this is someone actually doing this with your consent then you get my disapproving head shake and walk away. *Shakes his head dissaprovingly and walks away*”
“Seriously, if this person is for real, then he/she is clearly a huge douche. If it’s fake, then he/she is clearly a huge douche. If it’s a marketing gimmick, then whomever came up with the idea is clearly a huge douche. In conclusion….douche, douche, douche.”
“With April 1st right around the corner, it’s hard not to imagine that this is some sort of prank/hoax. I honestly don’t know, but just like OMD, I am rolling with it. And say what you will about Quesada, I have always liked him. So in conclusion I just have to say, Screw Flanders.”
“this is getting real tiresome [...] if this guy is for real,I’m amazed he hasn’t been pinpointed at Marvel offices”
“I like how someone points out that Quesada is Fury in this meta version of Marvel Secret Invasion”
“Yeah, his sudden and mysterious disappearance? This is just silly now.”
It’s just silly now?!?
March 28th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
I dislike OMD (no opinion on BND ‘cuz I haven’t read and don’t intend to) as much as anyone, but this is such crap… For a while I actually bought into this and thought Marvel Boy was for real. No longer. This is one of the lamest marketing campaigns I’ve ever seen.
Touche, Douche!
March 28th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I’ll say it again; if it’s viral marketing, then it’s quite possibly the stupidest and most self-destructive example of it I’ve ever seen, because it’s managed to piss off the pro-Marvel and anti-Marvel camps in equal measure - and not in ways that will sell books, either.
That being said, whether it’s a Marvel hoax or a genuinely disgruntled Marvel employee, there’s really no way around the fact that this is coming from someone inside the Marvel offices.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
“Licensing” is pissed because Spider-Man and Mary Jane aren’t married anymore? Did OMD derail their plans to roll out Spidey Marital Aids? Spidey/ MJ wedding cakes? Was the Lifetime Network all set to buy ads in Amazing Spider-Man but now refuses?
Yep. This marvelb0y thing is officially bullshit.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Exactly, Matches… What does licensing Spidey merch have to do with MJ? Aside from the infamous “thong” statue, nothing. A Spidey/MJ cake topper would’ve been a good idea, actually (I’d be shocked if Marvel never licensed one)… But I digress.
The merchandising is mostly to kids, and those kids likely know nothing about Spidey ever being married. He wasn’t in any of the cartoons (except for late in the run of the 90’s series), nor in the movies.
I think breaking up the marriage sucked, and I’m no longer on board with ASM, but I agree that Marvel Boy is total BS.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
It’s as simple as this, if Joe couldn’t sell it to the people above him, this would not have happened. This is Spider-Man, not Hawkeye, they would not have let him do this to Spider-Man if they did not understand, rightly IMO, that Spider-Man’s mainstream line needed major fixing and the marriage had been an albatross around the character creatively for 20 years.
I’m of two firm beliefs, one that the marriage of Peter Parker/Spider-Man to Mary Jane Watson was a mistake and that Joe’s fix was wrong.
He shoulda just killed her off.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
The marriage was fine… I supported it. It was years of writers who weren’t good enough to know what to do with it, that was the problem. Actually, even that wasn’t so much the problem. Just years of bad writing (and bad editorial mandates), period. Married or not, that would’ve been the case.
At any rate, I’m not sure how a Spidey that’s matured and changed and grown over the years is somehow worse than an overgrown man-child who still lives with his decrepit aunt and can’t hold down a real job, in spite of being so supposedly brilliant.
Really, it’s Aunt May they shoulda killed off.
Oh, wait they did. Years ago. In a great story no less. Then they brought her back again. THAT’S the albatross around Spidey’s neck.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
I was talking to one of my friends ‘in the industry’ and I was told that Marvel_B0Y is Jim McCann and Brian M. Bendis. This is just a really, really, really bad idea. And it paints both of them in a real bad light, especially since Brian ’swore on his dogs’ that it wasn’t him. I’m going to go out on a limb as suggest that Slott, Wells, Fraction, and Joe are in on it too. In which case, shame on them. To suggest that Marvel Corporate can’t catch this person is really retarded.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I love how people say “bad writing” was the reason the marriage didn’t work.
The characters were married for twenty years, during which time many writers worked on the character- David Michiline, Howard Mackie, PAD, Paul Jenkins, JMS, and god knows who else. If NONE of these people could make this marriage thing work, then perhaps it *was* bad for the books.
March 28th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Screw Flanders, indeed.
March 28th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Your list includes exactly *one* writer I consider to be consistently good (PAD). The only other one I would rank closely would be JMS and I read his run on Amazing pretty much entirely because I liked the way he wrote Peter, MJ, and May. His portrayal of the marriage kept me reading through any number of plots that I disliked (pretty much all of them). Also PAD wrote a short story that has been trotted out by almost every single OMD hater as an example of how to make the marriage work. I’d also add Mark Millar’s Marvel Knight’s run to that, which was the only arc in any of the Spider-Man books that actually felt through-and-through like Spider-Man to me within a period of something like 6 years.
And don’t even start about Paul Jenkins… Ugh.
I’ve been enjoying BND, but I think that ending the marriage, especially ending the marriage the way they did, was a bad idea. I’m one of the folks who think that the things that make it work (dilemmas, personal problems, mysteries, ongoing plot-threads that all feel in keeping with the ‘Spider-Man’ mythology) would still work with a married Peter Parker at the center of it. Hell - I think that if the team had been willing to get on board with it, it would have been *better*.
March 28th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Knox, that’s not what I meant… People want to gripe about the marriage “not working.” I think that’s ridiculous, but whatever. Did I say ALL of the writers over 20 years sucked? No, I didn’t. What I’m saying is that any faults the Spidey books have had over the years comes from, first and foremost, bad writing.
JMS? Meh… I was never enamored of his work. And his lengthy run was certainly. pretty divisive. Explain to me how stuff like Sins Past or The Other would’ve been better had Spidey been unmarried.
By contrast, one name you left out, incidentally, was DeMatteis. Now there’s someone who’s Spidey I loved, and who did great work with a married Spidey. Many hold up Kraven’s Last Hunt as the best Spidey ever. It’s right up there, at least. Guess what? Married Spidey.
I can’t speak for everyone who’s written Spider-Man over the past 20 years. I haven’t read comics for all that time, nor have I bought all that many Spidey books in that time (I have the complete DVD Rom collection though, so I will read them all eventually). All I tried convey is that the character, and his books, have had his ups and downs over the years.
Good writers and bad, great stories and utter shite, and through the past 20 years Spidey was married for all of it. So how was the marriage the problem, and, again, how is making Peter a pathetic loser living with Aunt May all over again any better?
March 28th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
“By contrast, one name you left out, incidentally, was DeMatteis. Now there’s someone who’s Spidey I loved, and who did great work with a married Spidey. Many hold up Kraven’s Last Hunt as the best Spidey ever. It’s right up there, at least. Guess what? Married Spidey. ”
Preach it Shaun!
DeMatteis never seems to get enough credit for his Marvel work. His Spidey was fantastic as was his Captain America!
March 28th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Testify! Can I get a witness?
Oh, wait… You are my witness, Ed!
I thought your comments were excellent too.
It’s entirely possible that BND is a fun book right now. I just know that OMD left a bad enough taste that I didn’t want to stick with it. I needed to cut back somewhere, anyhow so it really wasn’t a tough choice.
Anyhow, you’re right about DeMatteis’ work. Both on Spidey and Cap. He did a series of (short) children’s books recently, but what else is he doing? I’d love to see him do some work for either Marvel or DC again, much more than so many of other clowns writing comics right now.
March 28th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
I’m loving this Marvel b0y shit. Then again, I’m not romantically involved with super hero comics like most of the detractors seem to be so…
March 28th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Shaun -
I know that his children’s book series was discontinued in it’s current form, but I’ve been hearing rumors that it may be revived in it’s original form of comics (the books put out by Disney/Hyperion were sort of a hybrid comic/illustrated prose, and there had been a few issues of it as a comics series a few years ago. I think it was published by CrossGen at the time.)
I know that he’s been doing a super-hero sit-com type book for Boom!, but I’d love to see more work from him. I’ve enjoyed almost all of his work for the big two as well as more personal work like Moonshadow (one of my favorites) and Brooklyn Dreams. The book he’s doing for Boom! is actually one of the only things he’s done that didn’t really ring my bell, but I LOVED Abadazad and hope he gets to finish it.
I really hope someone gives him some prominent work. I’d hate to see him become another great comics writer who stays mostly forgotten about while still able to work.
March 28th, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Abadazad, that’s the name of the children’s series… Thanks Ed! I might pick up the books and read them with my daughter. I’m alsways looking for good things to share with her. As a fan of DeMatteis, I might enjoy it too! Good to hear that it might get a revival.
I’m not aware of his work outside of the big two… I should look and see if his independent stuff has been collected anyhwere. Thanks for the info!
I agree that it would be a shame for someone like him to not find work. Far too many less talented people are getting far too much these days.
March 28th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I’m pretty sure that Moonshadow is still in print from Vertigo. Beautiful painted art by Kent Williams in there too (who also, incidentally, has been doing some fantastic children’s books over the last few years too).
I don’t think Brooklyn Dreams is currently in print, but I see copies of the collected edition in my local used bookstores all the time.
March 28th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
I would love for Quesada to step down as EIC, but the fact is it doesn’t matter how much people hated OMD, it sold. Marvel shills a lot of crap and it all sells well. There’s no reason to oust your EIC when you’re the #1 publisher month in and month out.
March 28th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
Someone explain to me how a copy boy knows for certain that Joe Q is on his way out. I know how corporate gossip can spread in a company but honestly if this were even remotely true would a copy boy know about it? No I think not.
Oh and Marvel_b0y is an Annihilator.
March 28th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
I don’t think Quesada’s going anywhere any time soon, Joshua. Marvel’s success, for better or worse, would bear that out.
The jury’s still very much out on BND Spidey in terms of sales. The numbers seem to be going down with each issue (based on what I’ve seen reported here on the ‘Rama), and there’s certainly been an overall drop from pre-BND numbers for ASM, but that could be as much a factor of publishing three times a month now.
As others have said, the real test will come as the numbers roll in for what retailers are ordering once BND started, since they have to order well in advance, not to mention numbers settling down once the initial curiousity in BND dies down.
To Ed: I’m gonna order Moonshadow from Amazon this weekend! Looking forward to it!
March 28th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
I’m MarvelB0y.
March 28th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
I’m starting to think that Marvel Boy is a real person, but they’re just making shit up now because they’ve run out of real spoilers and info and don’t want to admit it.
March 28th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
“I don’t think Quesada’s going anywhere any time soon, Joshua. Marvel’s success, for better or worse, would bear that out.”
Um, that’s exactly what I said.
To Grant-
Well played. Kudos, good sir, kudos.
March 28th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Sure thing, Marvel Boy, but are you really Grant Morrison?
March 28th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Of course I am. I slum here all the time.
March 28th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
“The characters were married for twenty years, during which time many writers worked on the character- David Michiline, Howard Mackie, PAD, Paul Jenkins, JMS, and god knows who else. If NONE of these people could make this marriage thing work, then perhaps it *was* bad for the books.”
PAD did a reasonable job.
Didn’t Paul Jenkins mostly write when Mary Jane was out of the picture?
Howard Mackie’s writing on Spider-Man was better during the marriage (or rather, better before the Byrne reboot).
David Michelinie did an okay job, I thought.
March 28th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Thing is, Mr. Morrison, sir, been reading you since Zenith, worship the ground you float over.
I really wouldn’t put it past you.
March 28th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Ha. If only.
March 29th, 2008 at 12:45 am
…I need PHOTOS! Photos of Grant Morrison posting as Marvel B0Y!
March 29th, 2008 at 1:42 am
Now Marvel is trying to one-up its own PR disasters?
Brilliant, in a retarded sort of way.
March 30th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
Joshua… So? Is it wrong for me to agree with you?
March 31st, 2008 at 8:37 am
I’m Marvel B0y.
And so’s my wife.
But no way is this an offical Marvel viral marketing thing. Couldn’t be. You don’t get personal and bad mouth creators/editors/Da Q to generate buzz. That’s self-destructive in the extreme.