Here’s a blast from the past: Peter David posts the column he wrote for the Comic Buyer’s Guide in 1995, when rumors of Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld taking over certain Marvel books for what would become Heroes Reborn started circulating:
The fans…
How will they react, I wonder?
That’s the really tough question. And, as with all really tough questions, there’s no easy answer.
Well, actually there is if you’re thinking from the point of view of Marvel money men. Because when they’re thinking of fan reaction, what they’re really pondering (much like Pinky in Pinky and the Brain) is: Will the sales go up?
And there’s an easy answer to that: Yes, they will. There’s no doubt in my mind. The curiosity factor alone will send sales through the roof. And to the Marvel bean counters, who wouldn’t know a story arc from Noah’s ark—who think that Ditko is a company run by a guy named Dit, and that Kirby is a little guy from a video game, and Lee—wait, Lee’s the guy who’s taking over some of the books, right?—to these individuals, that’s all that’s important.
And, just think, sixteen years later, Lee can bring in Liefeld to boost sales again at the main competitor… It really is just a big recurring cycle…!
September 13th, 2011 at 1:41 pm
That’s a thought, but the new readers DC is trying to attract won’t know who Liefeld is, and lapsed readers — they might know enough about him and his rep to avoid him.
I’ve been reading about how a batch of new readers selected by CBR reacted to the #1 issues. A reader expects to know how old the hero is, and other basic things. How will they react to being told that the hero doesn’t have a particular age, and/or that he doesn’t age?
The fans HEROES REBORN was aimed at are very different from new readers.
SRS
September 13th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
Damn you McMillan for making Propellerheads and Shirley Bassey pop in my head…
September 13th, 2011 at 2:11 pm
wel at least they did not give superman boob’s
September 13th, 2011 at 3:50 pm
stop juicin’ Cap. Marvel will ban HGH-use to go along with the smoking ban.
September 13th, 2011 at 9:19 pm
Who was the Editor in Chief of Marvel at the time? Wasn’t it Bob Harras?
September 13th, 2011 at 9:22 pm
who cares we’re all slowly dying anyway
September 13th, 2011 at 10:04 pm
Another useless post by Macmillan [without the wife]