What was behind the cancellation of Victor Von Doom from Marvel? Rich Johnston over at Bleeding Cool ran a story on Friday afternoon that he later withdrew, citing “two very adamant but contradictory sides” arguing over its validity to the point where he didn’t feel happy keeping the original up, but Kevin Huxford has a screengrabbed copy on his blog. The upshot of the original version of the story? Sources at Marvel said that artist Becky Cloonan didn’t complete a page of the project beyond the solicitation covers for the first two issues. (more…)

Joe Keatinge is talking about his new Image series, Hell Yeah, and what it’s about:

Youngblood and X-Statix focused on the celebrity superheroes. Hell Yeah is about the world they made, twenty years after their initial appearances. It’s about their effects on culture, economy and government with a focus on the generation born into their world. Even so, all this is merely a starting point. Where do you go in a world where time travel is possible? What’s the effect on religion when a gigantic being comes to Earth to eat the entire planet? I think a lot of the times when comics explore these themes they take the fun out of it. Watchmen is a great comic, but man, it is a downer. I like Marvels too, but I don’t want to see how Celestials effect an old man. I want to see how they effect hot bands.

The idea of superhuman culture is one that’s been touched upon in only a few books throughout the genre’s life – Astro City, perhaps, Grant Morrison’s NewXMen, Joe Casey’s Wildcats and Alan Moore’s Watchmen and Top 10, Steve Englehart’s completely-forgotten Big Town – but it’s one of those ideas that feels as if it’s been waiting to happen for the longest time. The weirdness about something like the Marvel Universe is that it tries to be both “the world outside your window” and a superheroic world of possibility and invention, and those two things are completely in conflict if taken to their logical conclusions; if you think of how world events affect culture, whether it’s 9/11 or Occupy Wall Street or the Moon landing or whatever, it’s both ridiculous and frustrating to consider that no-one’s ever really managed to put this kind of thing into a comic book entirely successfully yet. It’s a reason to look forward to Hell Yeah, definitely, but also a question to think about for ourselves: What would it actually be like to live in a world with unstable molecules, the existence of time travel and parallel dimensions that we can visit, and an annual threat to your very existence?

Have today’s comic writers forgotten how to do cliffhangers? Jim Shooter thinks so, and he also thinks that decompression isn’t helping matters:

I’ve seen this too many times: The writer takes us through twenty-one pages of set-up, what he or she thinks of as “human interest,” like hanging around the mansion drinking coffee, and maybe an action scene that’s trumped up so there will be an action scene. The hero stops a bank robbery or something. Something ultimately irrelevant to the overarching story. Then, on page twenty-two, Doctor Doom or some villain appears. Doesn’t do anything, just appears, looking menacing. We get it. We know who Doctor Doom is. We know that this means trouble. And we probably didn’t mind spending a quiet day with the hero. But the guy on the fence, or the new reader isn’t nearly as impressed, even if they know, or have an idea who Doctor Doom is, or intuit from his looks that he’s trouble. What it means to them is that they sat down to read a story, this issue—but, apparently the cool stuff starts next issue. It’s not a cliffhanger. It’s a tease. And if what a new reader has paid four bucks for is twenty-one pages leading up only to a tease, there’s a fair chance they won’t have enjoyed the experience. Not nearly as much as we do, anyway.

It’s a charge that’s hard to argue with, when looking at it from that angle. But it does make me wonder if this attitude is underselling the new theoretical new reader. What if they like the twenty-one pages of set-up just as much as we old hands? Why shouldn’t they enjoy stories that set the scene as much as readers who’ve seen it all before – after all, shouldn’t we be the more jaded, cynical ones?

Over on his “workblog,” Kieron Gillen looks back at Generation Hope as he leaves the title:

I always suspected I’d leave Generation Hope at the end of the first year, and so planned it as a coherent statement that would establish the book. I saw it as my job to properly delineate the lights and define Hope’s post-Cable existence as a somewhat desperate Messiah. Like all work, I’ve got some things I regret and some things I’m enormously pleased with. I think to start with I was a note too overconfident and obtuse , and immediately following that went too far the other way into being a little nervous and crass before swiftly (and thankfully) finding its balance. Taken as a whole, I can only view it as a success. I’d taken six kids, shown how each one ticks, and took them from meeting, to bonding, to an initial success, to heartbreak and then near destruction, and both showed who they were and how the experience changed them, while setting the stage for whatever comes next.

He goes through each of the central characters, one-by-one, to explain what he liked about each, and it’s a particularly illuminating commentary; it’d be too much to hope that a version of this appears in some future collection of Gillen’s run, but as it is, consider this a pretty essential coda to everything he’s done on the book so far (And also, something that’ll make you wish he was writing Green Lantern; you’ll recognize that when you see it).

Somehow, I entirely missed this at the end of last week, but Mark Millar has formed his own television and movie production company, and as is usual with everyone’s favorite analog creator (As in, one who creates analogs, not one who doesn’t work digitally), he’s aiming high:

It would be easy for me to take off and just set up base in Los Angeles. But I feel passionately about doing [in Scotland] what the director Peter Jackson achieved in New Zealand. He’s as far away from Hollywood as we are but proved geography was no barrier by creating one of the biggest movie franchises of all time with Lord Of The Rings. The scenery is stunning but we can more than match that. Over the next five years in Scotland I want to do the same here.

The first project the company is working on is American Jesus, AKA Chosen, but he also promises some brand new ideas for television down the line:

I just want to make TV shows that I actually want to watch. I can’t stand all the low-end reality shows. I know a lot of the guys making those programmes and they hate them as much as I do. I just want to do real quality here and that can be high-end documentaries or brand new formats as much as quality dramas like The Sopranos or Mad Men. I know the stations’ hands are tied because there isn’t a lot of money around and so in the long-term I’d like to arrange co-productions with American companies and try to get things rolling again. The studios trust me as long as my movies make money and as long as I don’t drop the ball they’re happy to invest.

No mention in the story about Miracle Park, surprisingly; you’d think that with its Scottish setting and Millar’s writing and directing the project it would’ve at least rated some kind of comment. Whatever happened to that movie? Did I miss some announcement or something?

Okay, internet. It’s time to start your speculating: If Gail Simone is going to write a new team book for DC, who is it going to feature? We already have both Teen Titans and Legion of Super-Heroes titles, the two classic “teen teams” for DC, so it’s more than likely going to be a new title – or, perhaps, a new usage for an old title – unless Gail’s going to use something from out of left-field (Newsboy Legion? Young Heroes In Love? The Ravers? Hey, there isn’t an actual Young Justice book running in the DCU these days…). We’re still lacking an Outsiders title in the new 52iverse, and we have all manner of characters who could fill it these days (Wally West! Donna Troy! Stephanie Brown! And so on!).

But there’s a really, really obvious possibility for a teen team for Gail to write in the New 52 that might not spring immediately to mind… One, in fact, that she’s written before: Gen 13. We know, after all, Caitlin Fairchild is a supporting character in Superboy and Teen Titans, with those books hinting that there’s more to her than meets the eye, so what’s to stop there being a spin-off title with her discovering her powers and running off to form her own superhero team?

Despite Gail’s con appearance tease, there’s been no official confirmation from DC, nor scheduling information. So, in other words, don’t expect a final answer on this anytime soon.

So, Jim Shooter has been sharing some of John Byrne’s ideas about how to revamp Superman from before the 1986 Man of Steel reboot – These come from the never-happened-but-almost-did Marvel buyout of DC in the early ’80s, apparently – over on his blog:

At the perfect moment, Jor-El waves to Lara in the little ship and launches the rocket. Lara looks back at dying Krypton—which explodes, sending forth a burst of “searing radiation”—the mysterious, additional factor, maybe? John doesn’t say. Lara feels the radiation affecting her just before the rocket enters hyper space.

Over on John Byrne’s forum, he’s not so happy about this – complaining that he was never paid for the work, and that what was shared was more “spitballing” than an actual pitch. He also throws this odd comment into the mix of whether or not Shooter’s recollection of DC almost being bought out by Marvel is even true:

It didn’t [happen]. Shooter was convinced, during his later years as EiC, that Marvel was on the verge of buying DC.

Take from that what you will.

The whole idea that DC was almost licensed out prior to its mid-80s renaissance has been surprising from the start; it’d be interesting to hear someone who was at DC or Warners at the time having some input into whether or not it’s true or not.

I’ve actually never read or seen Kick-Ass. I just know it came after The Death-Ray [first appeared in Eightball], and when it came out, people said, “Oh, that’s a lot like The Death-Ray,” and now that this book has come out after the movie, people are like, “Oh, that’s a little like Kick-Ass.” And that’s the kind of thing I deeply resent, so I don’t want anybody thinking I’m responding to it… Oh, he doesn’t [have powers]? I didn’t know that. [Laughs.] See? That’s very different. I won’t even have to address this question anymore. Now I know. I’m glad you told me. It’s more similar to Thor or something. [Laughs.]

That’s Dan Clowes, getting over his distaste at hearing about Kick-Ass while talking about his The Death Ray, over at New York Magazine. This now makes me want to see Clowes take over writing Thor.

Chalk yet another project up for Stan Lee. The man who co-created pretty much the entire Marvel Universe as we know it has been particularly busy in recent years with projects announced with Boom! Studios, the NHL, and 1821 Comics amongst many others, and now he’s at it again with the announcement of a new partnership with Vuguru, the independent studio owned by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner.

The aims of the partnership seem vague in the initial announcement, with a promise of “studio quality films, episodic series and a variety of digital content across multiple platforms” without actually naming any upcoming projects. Nonetheless, Vuguru president Larry Tanz seems enthusiastic:

As a fan of Stan Lee and the iconic characters he has created, we are thrilled to work together with POW! Entertainment. This is a tremendous opportunity to bring compelling and heroic stories to a mass audience.

POW! Entertainment, Lee’s production company since 2001, was brought to Vuguru by former Sony and Microsoft strategist Scott Nocas, who is quoted in the announcement as promising that the partnership “will certainly lead to a whole new experience in storytelling.”

If nothing else, there’s something fitting in seeing the former EiC of Marvel team up with the former CEO of Disney, considering the relationship between their two previous employers these days…

From Gerry Conway’s Twitter feed:

Some months ago, Marvel sent me a contract offering to acknowledge my creation of a character called Mindworm. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindworm

Really, Marvel? This http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindworm is the character you want to acknowledge I created for you? No other characters come to mind?

For those who may not understand what Gerry’s getting at, Kurt Busiek offers a clue:

@gerryconway I particularly liked the MINDWORM WAR JOURNAL series.

Conway – who added “I’m not bitter, honestly, just bemused” – then went on to ask Marvel why they don’t send him comps of statues based on his creations, the same way that DC does, and then offers examples of both. In the process, he reminds you of all the characters he’s created that are still in use today: Firestorm and the Punisher, obviously, but also Vixen, Killer Croc, Power Girl and Marvel’s Jackal. It’s a pretty impressive resume, really. More impressive, at least, that having the legacy of the man who created Mindworm…

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.

Mark Millar is at it again. Ahead of Wednesday’s promised announcement of his upcoming series with Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons, he’s auctioning off the chance to have a character named after you one more time, with the chance to name the new series’ villain being up for grabs:

Okay, this goes live on Wednesday when the series officially gets announced. So stay tuned.

But the idea hit me when I heard that my old primary [school] in Coatbridge is no longer running school trips for the kids. This school is great and the teachers lovely. Some of my happiest memories are when I attended this place between the ages of five and eleven. But it’s a tough time economically as both the local authorities and some parents themselves have less money than before and I just found out that last year the Christmas panto trip was cancelled… We’ll announce the comic and preview the ad in the morning and then, once the title has been released, we can start the auction.

People with all kinds of disposable income and a desire to see yourself immortalized in a comic: Stay tuned until Wednesday.

Mark Waid on why comics (Specifically, in response to a question about what drew him to the Victorian setting of Ruse):

I rail heavily against graphic novels that have no strong visual component; if your graphic novel is a story about modern guys in modern clothes living in an ordinary modern world that I can visit on TV, for free, chances are you picked the wrong medium in which to tell your tale. One of the advantages of comics and graphic novels is that they allow the writer and illustrator as many set pieces, “special effects,” and visual popcorn as the imagination allows, all on a limitless budget.

I’m not sure I completely agree with the idea that a story about “modern guys in modern clothes living in an ordinary modern world” means that it’s in the wrong medium – That describes some of my favorite comics, from Eddie Campbell’s Alec and Nick Abadzis’ Hugo Tate to Dave McKean’s Cages – but I am fully, completely on board with the idea that comics should have a strong visual component, and with Waid’s description of the advantages of the comics format.

Jim Shooter reveals the secret origin of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe (in three parts – One, two, three), including the previously unknown inspiration for the project:

In early 1982, I was in the Barnes & Noble on Fifth Avenue and I came across this very cool book, Jane’s Fighting Ships. Every page or so had a clear picture of a warship plus its specifications and key information. Wow. Nifty-keen!

There were other, similar books, too, notably Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft. Extra groovy!

The succinct, info-packed pages of those books reminded me of the Night Girl “dossier” that I’d failed to get into a Legion of Super-Heroes issue some six years earlier. The little light bulb went on—why not publish a book like those featuring Marvel characters

I remember being very into the “Deluxe Edition” of the Official Handbook back when it was coming out; back when I was first getting into comics, this was the kind of thing that really cemented my love affair with the Marvel Universe of the time because, wow! Lookit all these characters! There’s been a lot said, in the years since the Official Handbook debuted, along the lines of that idea taking the wonder and mystery out of superhero comics and, in many ways, I agree – but, as a ten year old kid, or however old I was at the time, I didn’t think about it in terms of limiting potential, but constantly revealing all new worlds of possibility on a monthly basis. I could be wrong, but I think I first discovered some of my favorite characters in that series. Am I alone in that…?

It’s a fairly classic good news/bad news moment for Jonathan Hickman fans, as Image Comics announces that Feel Better Now won’t be released this month as originally solicited, but that’s because it’s going to be a much longer book than originally intended.

“Unfortunately, during the course of creating this story, it got bigger. Far beyond the 40 pages we had allocated for the book, and, as a result, I have decided to give the story the scope I feel it deserves,” Hickman says in the PR. “Right now, we think the best thing to do is pull it from Diamond and re-solicit the book at a later date when we can firm up the final price point, page count and delivery date. I apologize for the inconvenience, but sometimes these things take on a life of their own and FEEL BETTER NOW is a story that deserves a full canvas.”

Running on time, however, are the reissue of The Nightly News and the collection of The Red Wing, due November and October respectively. Hickman also says that he’s already at work on next year’s The Manhattan Projects and new ongoing series Secret.

Mark Millar would like you to know that he loves comics, and that movie adaptations are just an added benefit:

I’ve been very lucky to have my books picked up as movies as often as they have. Like Stan Lee and Stephen King, I’ve got a very fortunate track record in these things and a particular bunch of story ideas that execs seem to like. I see nothing to be ashamed of in this. In fact, I see it as a massive, massive boon. Creator-owned projects used to be done as side gigs, creators working at Marvel or DC doing projects they often didn’t like to pay the bills while their real labour of love didn’t really bring them in enough cash to live on. The Hollywood options and adaptations have meant that, like a couple of friends before me, I’ve been able to strike out on my own and afford to do my own thing. As a comic book creator that’s everything I’ve ever wanted. Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster would have KILLED for the opportunities we have right now, where a creator-owned book like Kick-Ass can outsell established characters and the writer and artist get to keep all the rights and all the money. This is a GOOD thing.

He’s writing in response to this article at IGN, which is based around a theory that comics becoming optioned while still mid-publication (or even pre-publication, in some cases) is “doing a disservice to the medium and the potential it offers.” (more…)

I keep coming back to this Warren Ellis post about the state of web comics, digital comics, and why they’re different things for different audiences, and feeling like there’s something I’m missing in it. Not that it’s badly written, because it’s not – It’s Ellis, after all – but it feels incomplete, somehow, and I can’t work out why. File under Food For Thought, definitely (Anyone interested in comics that aren’t just print, which should really be anyone interested in comics as a medium at this point, you should go and read it, if you haven’t already), but this part bears repeating:

Also, it’s a hell of a lot easier to take your time telling a story when you’re not charging people.

And, while there’s a smile in that comment, there’s also a degree of truth.  Compressing comics down to twenty pages, nineteen pages, probably eight or ten or twelve pages when people get to producing original material through digital comics services… while it’ll certainly make a nice change for a lot of people, after a decade of spacious and airy commercial comics, I’m compelled to point out that the crushed-in nature of commercial comics in the 1970s was one of the driving forces behind the big changes to the commercial medium that came in the 80s.  People were desperate for longer episodes and arcs that allowed them to tell stories more novelistically – and, in large part, they did that by using the then-new process of selling to the direct sales comics store market.

We’re all looking at compression techniques now, because we need them for commercial comics and we’re going to need them for digital comics.

It’s not just digital comics, I’d argue; with both DC and Marvel essentially formalizing “20 pages” as the length of a comic book now in the same way that 22 pages was the formalized length previously, comics in general are going to become more compressed in future.

Also, Ellis is totally right about American Flagg and how essential and overlooked it is.

Rob Liefeld gives a masterclass in How To Beat The Haters. And, let’s face it, he should know:

You can never rest on your laurels, award winning, record setting or otherwise. This is a “What have you done for me lately” business, and you need to deliver product and make it timely or else. I’ve learned this the hard way, after failing to deliver many books on time, I turned it around and started producing regular work starting with X-Force in 2004, Shattestar and Teen Titans in 2005 and most recently Deadpool and Deadpool Corps. my longest stint on any title or character in a decade. It may not be the gig you desire but any regular gig is an opportunity to show fans and more importantly, retailers, that you are deserving of their commitment. Without product you are the equivalent of a tribute band, playing dated tunes from another period. I love Night Ranger as much as the next guy, but I’m not buying a ticket to hear them belt out “Sister Christian” for the thousandth time. Keep the product coming and your connections will increase in every facet of the business. I’m currently producing more work than at any time in my career, pencilling 2 books a month and producing Avengelyne. I’m doing it now because I won’t be young forever and I feel that at my peak in the 90′s I failed to deliver as many comics as I could have. And I don’t hear “Liefeld can’t deliver on time anymore.”

I’m not a massive fan of Liefeld’s artwork, but I can’t bring myself to dislike him because… well, how can you really feel bad about a guy who writes “Laugh at yourself. it’s the single most important aspect of surviving this crazy business. And that’s from the man that gave Cap boobs”?

On the same day as the record gets set straight about some of Mark Millar’s previous charitable efforts (Spoiler: It’s good news), Millar has announced that he and artist Lenil Francis Yu will be “sharing” their Captain Marvel-esque Superior with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to raise awareness for the society and MS in general. (more…)

Over on her tumblr, Gail Simone has revealed two things for fans of her Secret Six run. Firstly, Catman was/is bisexual. Secondly, Gail has more Catman in her future, in some form. Somehow, I suspect that the former is going to be the thing that people are going to react to the most, but for me, the latter is the more exciting. Especially when she says this (emphasis mine):

I don’t want to reveal the exact scene yet, but [Catman's sexuality] would become revealed to Deadshot through a set of circumstances. My first thought was Deadshot reacting in a bit of shock, which seemed to make sense going by Deadshot’s character. But then I thought about it, and I think it’s MORE his character that he knew or suspected and didn’t give a ****.

I can’t use the exact scene I had in mind, so I can at least reveal that bit. But the rest is still in play the next time I get to write the two of them together, which Dan has assured me, is very much on the table.

It took me awhile to warm up to Secret Six, because I am stupid, but this news makes me very, very happy. I’d eagerly pick up a Deadshot/Catman title, if that ended up happening (Although, really, the one I’d really want would be a Scandal series…).