Here’s some news from this weekend’s Emerald City Comic Con, announced today at the show’s “Marvel: Next Big Thing” panel and confirmed by the subject on Twitter: Nick Spencer, current writer of Iron Man 2.0 and soon-to-be writer of Secret Avengers, is the latest creator to sign an exclusive deal with Marvel Comics.
The news shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise: he’s got two (that we know of!) monthly books at the publisher, and his DC work seems to have slowed down — he only ended up co-writing one issue of Supergirl after being originally announced as the new series writer, and his Jimmy Olsen storyline that started as an Action Comics back-up in the pre-”holding the line at $2.99″ era wraps up in a one-shot this month.
As these things tend to go, it’s not affecting his creator-owned work (like Morning Glories and The Infinite Vacation at Image) or things he has already ongoing, namely DC Comics series T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. (That’s right, I made it through a whole blog post about Nick Spencer’s rapid success in the comic book industry without using the term “meteoric rise.” Well, until just now. But still, feeling good about it.)
March 7th, 2011 at 1:00 am
Cool. Good for him and good for Marvel.
March 7th, 2011 at 6:17 am
Awesome news! Looking forward to seeing what he’ll do with “Secret Avengers”! I’m loving “Morning Glories” and “Infinite Vacation” right now.
March 7th, 2011 at 6:45 am
Jeez. What’s going to happen to THUNDER Agents?!
March 7th, 2011 at 6:59 am
Argh! I knew it was just a matter of time before he picked a camp. I’m a growing fan of Spenser, and a fan of any good series, but right now I’m just not tied into Marvel continuity. I’ll trade watch for these series, but hopefully his contract allows him to work on Thunder Agents and his higher profile Marvel work puts more of a spotlight on the book.
March 7th, 2011 at 7:15 am
I think DC blew a chance with this.
I hope he gets to write Thunder Agents for a while.
March 7th, 2011 at 7:53 am
As long as it doesn’t affect the quality of Morning Glories, I don’t care which of the big boys he sides with.
March 7th, 2011 at 8:38 am
How long has it been since DC tied up anyone of this caliber? Scott Snyder, maybe. But their second and third tier writers are by and large not particularly noteworthy these days.
March 7th, 2011 at 8:43 am
DC didn’t blow anything. I’m sorry but I didn’t see anything special about Nick Spencer. Morning Glories is awful, Thunder Agents is extremely boring.His Jimmy Olsen stories were awful. His first Supergirl issue was a rehash of the same themes as all of his other work Mr. App. as I like to call him because rather than interesting concepts all he seems to try to do is make things culturally relevant by APPLEing every story. Marvel can have him frankly. He’s not innovative, he’s not a better writer than Greg Pak,Andy Diggle or Fred Van Lente. let him sink into obscurity over there and stop stinking up DC.
March 7th, 2011 at 9:08 am
I certainly hope his Thunder Agents continue as it’s one of DC’s current best books and i’d hate to see it go.
March 7th, 2011 at 9:17 am
Nick Spencer the scam artist and shady business man slash wanna be politician? Ha! He’s a perfect fit with Bendis and his ilk!
March 7th, 2011 at 10:08 am
Congrats to him but I too would’ve rather him sign with DC and they did miss a good opportunity. I love THUNDER Agents & Morning Glories and I’m strongly considering reading Secret Avengers again. The jury is still out on Iron Man 2.0. I’m just glad he gets to continue THUNDER Agents since creator-owned work usually is not affected by these deals.
March 7th, 2011 at 10:20 am
I also wish that we could have seen more of him at DC. Good for him to have an exclusive contract, but I don’t care a great deal about many of the Marvel Characters, so I will be reading less of him now I guess. However, I will continue to read THUNDER Agents and Infinite Vacation as long as he is writing them.
March 7th, 2011 at 11:35 am
@benwahbob
I’m sorry, but THUNDER Agents is not boring. Thanks for playing though.
March 7th, 2011 at 11:38 am
LMAO!!!
i had a chuckle @ all the Nick Spencer hate.
honestly tho, who is this guy, and where did he come from!?.
Morning Glories #1 was just terrible, tbh
what DC or Marvel see in this guy – I’ll never understand it
March 7th, 2011 at 1:09 pm
Sadly it looks like I’ll be dropping Secret Avengers when he takes over. There was nothing memorable about any of his books that I’ve read. And Brubaker is a tough act to follow.
It’s a shame, I liked Secret Avengers.
March 7th, 2011 at 1:19 pm
@benwahbob
describing the creator or Existence 2.0/3.0, Infinite Vacation, Shuddertown and Morning Glories as “not Innovative” is akin to describing the Pope as “Not Catholic”.
March 7th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
What’s up with DC not staking a claim to the “meteoric risers” when they’ve got a hold of them? Jason Aaron, Spencer, Dan Slott (iirc), Diggle. I expect Snyder to jump camps any minute now.
Now, I don’t really care who works for who (and I don’t like _all_ these guys equally) but it just seems like DC finds ‘em, then wastes them then Marvel skims ‘em. Spencer for e.g. ends up doing Supergirl and Thunder Agents (which I like but I can’t imagine lasting more than 18 issues), then hops to Marvel where he gets an avengers book and I won’t be surprised when he lands an x-book.
March 7th, 2011 at 2:13 pm
I like Marvel and DC, but it is becoming ridiculous how Marvel snatches buzz-worthy writers and artists so consistently from DC. In my mind, it started with Brubaker and just hasn’t let up. I mean, how many new writing voices start out at Marvel to get poached by DC? DC should be trying harder.
March 7th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
@David
Actually Scott Snyder went that way. He did “Ironman: Noir” of all things before American Vampire and then getting swiped up exclusive by DC. He’s an example of DC doing everything right.
And Brian Wood, although Marvel never really had a stake in him, DC was wise enough to grab that guy while the grabbing was good and not let go.
March 7th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Marvel has really been licking Spency baby’s balls.
March 7th, 2011 at 4:17 pm
They lose Mark Bagley, back to Marvel.
Cut back on some fairly entertaining titles to push redundant stuff, to mimic Blackest Night.
and than here, DC fumbles again.
Just…Sad.
March 7th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
I love Nick Spencer’s writing but have no interest in Marvel characters. Scott Snyder is a grea new talent that is exclusive to DC. American Vampire is absolutely fantastic as is his Detective run! He gets a ton of buz. I will stay on the slow burning THUNDER Agents to support the team I love. Jeff Lemire is another example of fresh new writers at DC. Sweet Tooth has been phenomenal! Superboy is excellent! Paul Cornell was taken from Marvel and his Batman and Robin work was very good. His work on Action has been amazing! Can’t wait for him to write a Superman arc starting in 900. Finch from Marvel and they can have Bagley. Brian Wood is a great writer. DMZ, New York Five, and Northlanders are all great books! I think DC will be fine
March 7th, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Despite the fact that he was trying really hard (dressed like Jimmy Olsen during SDCC 2010 (bowtie and all)), I found his work for DC to be dull and beyond boring. The Jimmy Olsen stories (aliens decide to use Earth as a location for a rave but their partying will trash the planet until and Jimmy “defeats” them by showing how boring we were) ended up being just that. Boring. No loss for DC here.
March 7th, 2011 at 5:30 pm
I’ve personally been enjoying all of Nick Spencer’s work that I’ve read, be it Morning Glories and Infinite Vacation at Image, or his Jimmy Olsen and (single issue of) Supergirl at DC. Since Marvel hasn’t been a real draw for me the last couple years (aside from X-Factor and, to a limited degree, New Mutants), I don’t know that I’ll follow him there, but I do wish him well.
Like others have said, I hope the increase in output doesn’t affect Morning Glories at all, but I have no reason to think it will.
Fact is, the guy can write stories that, I believe, could be very good for bringing new fans into the industry. People who might have no interest in superheroes may pick up a Marvel title because of his Morning Glories, but I’m hoping the reverse is all true, so that more books like it come out and gain popularity, because I feel like that’s a much more mainstream-audience book than what the superhero crowd can offer (and I love me some superheroes, so don’t take that the wrong way).
Either way, good for him, good for Marvel, and, potentially, good for comics all around.
March 7th, 2011 at 6:39 pm
If you’re not reading Morning Glories, you have my sympathy.
March 8th, 2011 at 1:04 am
@paul: being Prolific is not the same as being a good writer. Stephen King’s prolific and half oh his catalogue is to me unreadable. Morning Glories is the exact same storyline as Tower Prep, for god sakes. Sorry, Spencer is all hype and no substance.
March 8th, 2011 at 2:22 am
Marvel lands another one! Marvel have so many talent writers, it’s going to be a problem to keep them all happy on writing the comics they want. Of course, it’s better than DC who are starved of talent writers. You say Cornell, Snyder and Lemire? Please. They don’t compare to the likes of Bendis, Brubaker, Fraction and others writers that are exclusive to Marvel. People got to ask if DC wants to beat Marvel or are they just content with being second place comics publisher. I suppose being above Dark Horse and Image comics is something brag about.
March 8th, 2011 at 6:14 am
I too have been asking myself if DC has decided that their place is the second teir. They don’t seem to be competing hard enough for talent. Of course whatever Johns and Morrison write will sell just off name recognition. But they can’t write the whole line. As a fan of DC this kind of news is disappointing.
March 8th, 2011 at 11:07 am
Congrats, Nick! You’re the greatest thing to happen to comics since Neil Gaiman.
-Your #1 fan!!
March 8th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
“You say Cornell, Snyder and Lemire?” I was listing off new talent at DC which seemed to be the jist of the conversation going on here. All three of them have received as much if not more, Snyder, buz on the net and social media. I love Nick Spencer’s writing but will not follow him over to Marvel. I have not cared for their characters since the 90′s. I will stick with his Image work and DC work until they are done.
March 8th, 2011 at 7:31 pm
@tim: Don’t get it twisted. Marvel isn’t #1 because they’re books are better, they’re #1 because they flood the market at the end of every month artificially inflating their marketshare with lower tier comicbooks.
March 8th, 2011 at 7:32 pm
@Rich comparing Nick Spencer to Neil Gaiman is an insult to Neil Gaiman.
March 10th, 2011 at 10:17 am
@benwah plus Neil Gaiman isn’t a failed scammer and shady businessman like Nick Spencer
March 12th, 2011 at 10:37 pm
The DC fanboys are butthurt because another talented writer went to Marvel. LOL.