Former Marvel production artist Damien Lucchese explains to fans why those considering a boycott or protest over last week’s layoffs may be missing the point:

The MARVEL characters many of the fans are not familiar with are the ones who work regular work hours and continue to stay late to ensure they’re getting their job done to the best of their ability. They stay late because they work with talented people from around the world. They lose friends over time because they can never make it out on Friday nights because they’re ushering comics off to the printers. Family sometimes think that you don’t care about them because you’re always so busy with work. Getting home on time to have dinner with their families is a treat for some of these people.

Why do they? Because they are passionate about what they do.

Even with all the stress of deadlines and very little praise, they LOVE their jobs, otherwise they wouldn’t be there, making sacrifices.

Hard working, creative, talented, passionate PEOPLE so dedicated, they make sacrifices.

They endure the nasty, angry, “fans” that are never happy with anything and think they can do a better job, scratching and picking at what they had just worked so hard on. Week after week after week…

When I was kid, growing up reading MARVEL comics and I saw that classic logo, it was a symbol that stood for a family I belonged to. I saw it as amazing art, interesting stories, exciting characters and I knew there had to be fun people making it happen.

What I’m trying to say is that I don’t want everyone to just see the MARVEL logo and think of a huge, top-heavy company, full of money hungry suits that make poor descisions (in some peoples’ opinions.) That’s not what MARVEL is and there are still people working very hard (even harder now), day after day to put out comics for people to enjoy. (Or hate ::shrugs::) They’re coming up with new storylines and characters to brighten your days, take you out of reality for a few and for kids to dress up as.

They still need your support.

A classy, classy move.

Courtesy of Geoff Johns’ Twitter, here’s a NSFW look at next year’s Robot Chicken DC Comics Summer Special:

Remember: Geoff Johns is involved, so this is canon*.

(* – Okay, maybe not.)

This comment, in the middle of a Millarworld thread about what publishers need to do to capitalize on the successful launch of DC’s New 52, stood out to me:

One thing Marvel really needs to do to capitalize on potential new readers brought in by DCs 52 initiative is get off the event train and make their comics accessible again. The Ultimate line is off to a good start with it’s relaunch, but that’s 4 titles (one that’s a mini).

It stood out because, having finished Fear Itself last week, doesn’t this mean that Marvel is theoretically at an accessible point in its publishing line right now? Especially with the relaunch of the entire X-Men line, and new line-ups in the Avengers books…?

I started thinking about the structure of Marvel’s publishing over the last few years, and how off-putting the massive uber-epic storylines may be for new readers – Something like the Civil War/The Initiative/Secret Invasion/Dark Reign/Siege cycle may have been entertaining for longtime readers, but how inviting was it for newcomers, who wouldn’t necessarily understand who Norman Osborn was, who the Skrulls were, and so on? I’d never really thought about that before, and it made me wonder about Marvel’s current strategy, which seems to be the same thing, only bigger – Fear Itself leading to The Fearless and Shattered Heroes and Battle Scars at the same time as Schism leads to Regenesis, both of which are apparently leading to some massive storyline next year… With DC pushing titles as individual stories right now (Reminiscent of how Marvel was, back when Bill Jemas and Joe Quesada took over, in fact), is this the smartest move Marvel could make, because it differentiates them from their competition? Or are they doubling down on their existing fanbase at the cost of any new readers who may have been tempted by the movies?

An interesting twist in the Barnes & Noble/DC/Amazon kerfuffle: 2000AD/Rebellion has stepped in to fill Barnes & Noble’s empty shelves with a new deal that’ll see the line get what is probably its broadest US release to date:

A major part of the deal involves 2000 AD’s extensive library of Alan Moore-written comics. Having published some of Moore’s earliest material for decades, the British company has struggled to find a firm foothold in the giant US publishing business. DC’s loss is 2000 AD’s gain, however, as orders of titles like “The Complete Alan Moore Future Shocks” and “Tharg’s Terror Tales” have been increased by B&N in significant quantities in an effort to fill the hole left in the chain’s stock by the DC Comics purge.

This is great news for 2000AD/Rebellion, although I wonder what will happen if/when the bookseller decides to add the DC titles back to its stores. But as someone who grew up reading 2000AD, and who’s been disappointed by the lack of penetration the title has made in the US to date, this seems like a great opportunity; now I hope there’s going to be enough promotion to ensure that potential readers know what these books actually are.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has made a comic that teaches the importance of being prepared…for anything. Even back in May, the CDC posted advice on their blog about such a possible event. Now they are following up with a comic book demonstrating how one could be prepared against zombies and tornadoes and various hazardous situations.

“I think this has to do when one CDC worker said to prepare for anything…including zombies,” says former CDC associate Lisa McCarty, who has experience dealing and educating CDC standards on preparedness. “I think its fun and imaginative and helps people learn how important preparedness is for any occasion.”

I’ve heard the comic was passed around NYCC last week at the “Zombie Summit: How to Survive the Inevitable Zombie Apocalypse” panel,  but those who missed out on that, can read the comic (for free) online. It’s an interesting approach to teaching groups about such things and even if zombies aren’t your thing, I’m sure there’s something any reader can find educational in the pages.

It looks like Marvel’s current cost-cutting is also going to extend to the cut-off point of books themselves: Bleeding Cool is reporting that Iron Man 2.0 is canceled with #12, and a commenter in the subsequent thread reports that Paul Jenkins’ eight-issue All-Winners Squad miniseries has been canceled with the current fifth issue, and I understand that Alpha Flight is also to end with #8.

Looking at the Diamond Chart for September, it’s worth pointing out that Iron Man 2.0 may not have been the lowest-selling ongoing Marvel title, but it was the lowest-selling ongoing Marvel title that hadn’t already been canceled – Herc charted lower (#140, to Iron Man 2.0‘s #132), suggesting that 15,000 copies would appear to be the cut-off point for ongoing MU series moving forward.

The rumored cancellation of All-Winners Squad is more troubling. It was selling poorly (Charting at #211 in September, with an estimated 7,914 copies), but there were a number of Marvel titles selling even less – Ka-Zar being the only Marvel Universe title, but even outside of titles where the financial metrics are likely different (Both Halo: Fall of Reach and Anita Blake are licensed and likely to sell more digitally and outside the direct market when collected, while Casanova: Avaritia is an Icon title and subject to its own metrics, with writer Matt Fraction admitting in the most recent issue “I even still don’t get paid for Casanova“), the future for both Mystic and Marvel Adventures Spider-Man appears grim.

Meanwhile, Alpha Flight will be canceled with #8 after all, despite earlier sales being strong enough that the series was upgraded from an eight-issue mini to an ongoing just three months ago. Sales in the September chart for the series had it at around 23,242 orders in the US, ahead of books like Thunderbolts, Ghost Rider, Generation Hope, Black Panther and PunisherMax, but this cancellation is also believed to be sales-related.

Brian Hibbs, owner of legendary San Francisco store Comix Experience, explains why he won’t be stocking Marvel’s Avenging Spider-Man #1 on his shelves:

Over time, Marvel Comics has unilaterally decided that the initial solicitation [for a comic] is fairly meaningless, and that books are not finalized until before the FOC date (typically 3 weeks before publication), and anything about the solicitation can change for any reason. I think this is a low down process because, as a working comic book store, a significant amount of our consumer education and outreach is done in the subscription model — I really do need 10-12 weeks to get the information out, and collect it back (not from my capability, mind, but from how fast the typical consumer reads and responds).

Marvel and all of its employees are well aware of solicitation and marketing deadlines — they fall in the same ways and means each and every month, there are no surprises anywhere in the process. I find it personally impossible that something as significant as full, free, digital codes in every copy wasn’t decided well in advance of catalog deadlines, just from a manufacturing standpoint, so for Marvel to not announce it until well after orders have started to be collected is thoroughly dirty pool.

(more…)

Although Marvel is going ahead with Fear Itself #7.1, 7.2 and 7.3 to tie up loose ends from this week’s big finale to the crossover event, there’s one scene in particular that I feel as if we were robbed of. And so, begging your kind indulgences, may I present a short script I call Fear Itself #7.4: (more…)

Maybe the most depressing thing I’ve seen about yesterday’s mass layoffs at Marvel? The suggestion that those layoffs were just the beginning:

I’m told that there are more cuts to come and that Marvel Digital will bear the brunt. While the division that runs the website, the forums, the videos, the news content doesn’t make a profit, its branding value is considerable. Nevertheless, it won’t impact on sales immediately, so they are the next to join Marvelcution 2011.

Being someone who spends a stupid amount of time online, you can imagine how frustrated I feel about the idea that Marvel Digital is apparently considered somewhat expendable; it’s made worse by the fact that Marvel was one of the first comic publishers to embrace the potential of the internet, and do so in a smart way. taking the Marvel brand beyond just the direct market audience and, in many ways, preparing for the company’s recreation of itself as a movie and transmedia company. If the above rumor is true, it’s a sign of stunningly short-sighted thinking.

X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn hasn’t yet decided on his next picture, but according to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, there’s a good chance it’ll involve Mark Millar.

Vaughn, of course, directed the film adaptation of Millar’s Kick-Ass in 2010 — and he also co-created The Secret Service with Millar, a recently announced series, illustrated by Dave Gibbons, scheduled for February 2012. Vaughn holds the movie rights to both that and Superior, Millar’s Icon series with artist Leinil Francis Yu, and either one could end up as his next movie.

Speaking of Millar, he’s currently auctioning off the right to name The Secret Service‘s bad guy, with proceeds going to the “St. Bartholomew’s Primary School Pantomime Fund,” in the hopes of paying for a school trip. The auction is here.

It looks like The Punisher might be headed to TV screens soon, Deadline reports.

In a twist, the project is at Fox instead of ABC or another channel owned by Disney, Marvel’s parent company. Deadline reports that Fox has given a put pilot commitment to a series based on the famed Marvel character, co-executive produced by Marvel and Ed Bernero. What’s a “put pilot,” you might ask? Here’s how Variety defines it: “A deal to produce a pilot that includes substantial penalties if the pilot is not aired; a virtual guarantee that a pilot will be picked up.”

Based on the article, it looks to be a different take on the character, reinventing Frank Castle as a New York City police officer who moonlights as The Punisher, rather than a military veteran who makes vigilante justice his full-time mission.

Bernero, a former Chicago police officer, co-created NBC series Third Watch and served as an executive producer on CBS procedural Criminal Minds. This would be the first live-action TV series to feature The Punisher, who has been the focus of three films: One in 1989 starring Dolph Lundgren that went straight-to-video in the United States; another in 2004 starring Thomas Jane that had a worldwide total of $54.7 million; and 2008′s Punisher: War Zone, starring Ray Stevenson, which was a critical and financial disappointment.

Currently, Marvel has confirmed four live-action series in development at ABC networks — Hulk and AKA Jessica Jones (based on the MAX series Alias) at ABC, and Mockingbird and Cloak & Dagger at ABC Family.

Heidi MacDonald updates on the Marvel layoffs, apparently finalizing the number at twelve members of staff (which is better than fifteen, I guess, if you’re looking for an upside) and adding some more names to those confirmed to be leaving, including Special Projects Production Coordinator Jerry Kalinoski and Production Department veteran Scott “Pondscum” Elmer.

Following news of multiple layoffs in Marvel editorial today (So far, Alejandro Arbona, Jody LeHeup and Rachel Pinnelas have been named as being affected; up to 15 are rumored to be facing redundancy according to reports), Rich Johnston has a fascinating, horrific story putting together various Marvel moves from the last few months to paint a picture of the company’s current status quo:

Heidi [MacDonald, of The Beat] also echoes growing complaints that I’ve been receiving, that Marvel general freelancer rates were cut earlier this year, though she talks about exceptions for individual agreements such as exclusive deals. At a time when Marvel have justified the 20 page $3.99 comic book as because of increasing creative costs, it seems a number of them have been summarily cut.

It’s not quite as general as Heidi implies though. It started with letterers, then colorists, then inkers – Marvel have asked creators to establish a lower rate they’ve dubbed “B-rate” along with their current rate. If the book a creator is on is currently selling below a certain threshold, the B-rate is used instead of the “A-rate.”? They are of course told first and can chose to leave the book or stay depending on their circumstances. But this has effectively cut certain freelancers overall pay, for the same amount of work delivered. It has yet to touch pencillers or writers, however.

It’s not just the newsstand and bookstore staff or less glamorous freelancers that are worried. Marvel hasn’t replaced any recent editorial departures in the last year, including Nate Cosby, Michael Horwitz and Charlie Beckerman. Axel’s promotion to Editor-In-Chief also means the loss of a line editor who was never replaced. Ralph Macchio’s retirement is regarded as anything but.

I am told by Marvel sources that the publisher’s policy is to spread the work amongst the remaining staff. Marvel is still publishing a hundred comic books a month, with many collections and special projects, more than a year ago, when they were talking about publishing less – but now doing it with less staff.

After the June firings, work was either outsourced or spread to the managers below – who get paid less for the job. With fifteen fewer staff, things have to be close to breaking point.

Go read the whole thing. Sobering, and depressing. Good luck to those who were let go from Marvel today (Great to see that Alejandro will remain with the Casanova team), and also to those who remain.

What’s going on with Ultimate Comics Spider-Man?

Amongst the weekly product updates Marvel sent out to retailers last Friday was this odd notice:

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #6 has been cancelled and will be resolicited in November 2011’s Marvel Previews.

(more…)

If Rich Johnston is to be believed, one of comics’ favorite rumors is on its way back:

I was told before New York Comic Con… that DC were drawing up a wishlist of creators for a series of Watchmen prequel comics. Well, I’ve now heard a lot more. Darwyn Cooke’s name is at the very top, linked to drawing two mini-series and writing another, followed by the likes of JMS, JG Jones, Andy Kubert and Brian Azzarello. Whether or not they have been approached, I don’t know, and no one’s talking, but it gives you an idea of the scale. I would also expect Dave Gibbons and John Higgins to be involved in some way.

I’ve always been skeptical about the idea of DC going back to the Watchmen well, but this particular variation on the rumor just seems so insanely unbelievable that I almost wish it was true. I mean, does anyone really think that Darwyn Cooke would be interested enough in doing a Watchmen prequel that he’d sign up for three separate projects? Or that DC would be so sure of the projects’ success that it’d be willing to tie up top talent like Andy Kubert and JG Jones, instead of having them work on DCU books…? It all seems so unlikely as to be almost laughable… but then again, those are the rumors that turn out to be true, sometimes. So what do you think?

So, Marvel has just sent out a press release announcing its free double-ship of next month’s Point One one-shot:

To ensure all retailers have enough stock to meet anticipated demand over the next year, Marvel will provide all retailers with an additional 100% of their orders for Point One (excluding incentive inked variant cover) at no additional cost (excluding shipping).

What’s odd about the release is that it includes David Gabriel apparently revealing that the book had been ordered really low originally. He’s quoted as saying “We just want to make sure everyone is well stocked with over 120,000 copies of this book in stores for excited readers.” So… that’s 120,000 copies after doubling initial orders? Which means that initial orders were around 60,000? That wouldn’t have brought it into the top 20 books sold in September. Admittedly, that was a freak month, but still: That barely has it in the top 10 in July or August, either. Doesn’t that seem rather low to anyone else, considering that Point One is supposed to be a primer/teaser for everything major in Marvel’s 2012 plans?

Also, I got into this yesterday on Twitter, but now I’m curious: Given that retailers will now have twice as many copies as they ordered, what are they planning to do with them? Will they give the extras away? Sell them full-price? Sell all of their copies half-price ($2.50 is a much more attractive price than $4.99, after all)?

Thinking about the end of Fear Itself, I end up wondering about the role of superhero death these days. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that there’s another death in #7 – The solicit has talked about “another hero falling” or something similar, right? – but, like the death of Bucky in #3, it’s entirely unconvincing; you end up thinking “Wait, is that it?” and “They’ll be back in a few months” simultaneously, and that seems to be a problem. Actually, the problem for Marvel is the same one that DC had, as underlined by Blackest Night: All of their major characters had “died” and come back from the dead. (more…)

And then there was the time that Jim Shooter reviewed Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1:

So what do we have here? A bushel of coincidences that would make Thomas Hardy blush. A series of unlikely events, many related to the movements of spider 42. A pile of people and things introduced or mentioned that are irrelevant to the issue in hand. More items devoid of meaning and questions unanswered in the episode in question than one would ever encounter in any professionally written TV show. Even the worst.

A bunch of Lego blocks—not a very big bunch—spilled out onto a table that, with the addition of many, many more blocks might someday become a cute little choo-choo or something. Not enough blocks here even for the cow catcher, though. It’s going to take a lot more blocks. This thing is the decompression gold medal winner. Three pages to get the kid accepted at a high school by random drawing? Which has precious little bearing on whatever the Hell is going on? Three? Of 21? Really?

Brian Michael Bendis is the writer, so savvy-me knows that there will be more Lego blocks, and that a choo-choo is in the offing. Eventually.

New Reader me couldn’t care less. I quit reading somewhere on page ten.

Harsh but fair? Or the Ghost of Marvel Comics Past fighting against a comics market he doesn’t quite understand? I suspect your answer to that may be today’s Comics Rorschach Test.

The news of the revival of Rob Liefeld’s Extreme Comics line – or Awesome Comics, if you remember that extremely short-lived revival around the turn of the century – has got me to thinking: What other defunct lines are left to bring back? This year, in addition to Extreme, we’ve seen announcements of the return of First Comics, Archie’s Red Circle characters (again!) and Valiant, as well as an actual, published, revival of Crossgen, via Marvel (Last year saw Dark Horse revive the Gold Key characters with the help of Jim Shooter, of course). So who’s left? The Malibu Ultraverse, of course, but Marvel has been claiming that that’s impossible due to mysterious contractual issues for some time now. Miracleman? Well, Marvel’s also working on that.

With IDW, Dynamite and Dark Horse all actively working to revive or reprint as many other familiar brands as possible, I find myself wondering: What are the remaining previously-successful comic brands or lines out there that aren’t in some stage or another or revival? What do people want to see again, and yet don’t seem to stand a chance just yet?

Wondering what the “It’s Coming” teases – now with extra Phoenix! – are teasing? Well, this might add some fuel to your thinking fires:

Not a Phoenix event…? But something with the Phoenix, it seems, and written by all of Marvel’s Architects, with art by Olivier Coipel, John Romita Jr. and Adam Kubert? Something tells me that it’ll be a massive hit, even if the only Phoenix it features are flashbacks to Excalibur so that everyone can make fun of the costume Rachel Summers wore at the time.

Those wanting to try and puzzle it out, you might want to pick up the Point One oneshot, which’ll be easier than you might have thought; turns out that Marvel will be double-shipping the book, which is released next month.