Once upon a time, the difference between Marvel and DC for creators was believed to be the speed at which each company moved. DC planned, we were told, with projects scheduled far in advance and Marvel flying by the seat of its collective pants, coming up with new ideas on the fly and scheduling them by the end of the day. Today…? Well, here’s Christy Marx, new writer on Birds of Prey, from the mothership, yesterday:
I was interested in the mix of characters and the possibilities they offered. And I do love kick-ass women.In general, it’s too early for me to say anything more. I’m still absorbing a ton of previous material and doing my initial thinking about the direction.
Assuming that Marx’s first issue on BOP is #18, the issue that Jim Zub was initially announced as writing, then that issue is due to hit shelves in nine weeks. Let’s be generous and say that Marx wasn’t actually speaking to Vaneta yesterday, but some time earlier; that still means that Marx and whatever artists are drawing the issue are definitely under the gun in terms of scheduling to get that first issue done in time. How long is printing and distribution turnaround these days, anyway…?
Something else that rankles about this whole thing; Marx clearly is coming to terms with the characters and the series and her thinking as to the book’s longterm direction under her pen, which is entirely understandable… But Jim Zub had talked previously (Just last week) about having to pitch for the title, which meant that both he and his editors had a set idea for the book’s direction before he even had the job. In making the change in writers, Birds of Prey has gone from a book with a plan to one with no plan as yet, but a writer having to fly by the seat of her pants, coming up with new ideas on the fly because the deadline is already right there in her face.
Meanwhile, over at Marvel, they’re preparing for Age of Ultron, a crossover event that’s literally been in the works since at least early 2011. It truly is an ever-changing world in which we’re living.
January 16th, 2013 at 3:37 pm
Sounds to me like they decided to respond to the criticism about a lack of female comic creators working on DC books in the dumbest way possible. They take a “chick” book and throw a “chick” writer on it. Never mind the fact that she clearly doesn’t have a plan for what she’s going to do with the book, having been thrown on it at the eleventh hour, while Jim Zub had a very detailed one and was quite enthusiastic about working with the characters. That’s more offensive than having no female comic creators, frankly. It seems they hired her simply because she is a woman. I wish Ms. Marx well and this is no commentary on her abilities. I’ve actually never read anything by her. DC is just such a hopeless mess right now.
January 19th, 2013 at 6:04 am
The response from Christy was from Monday afternoon.
January 25th, 2013 at 5:24 am
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