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Trust
2008-09-26 11:37:39

One of the things you need to learn in a position of managerial authority is to trust your people. This can be a very difficult thing to actually do, though, especially when what they propose to do differs from your own inclinations. But assuming you buy into the notion of hiring smart, talented people and then letting them do their thing, it's an absolute necessity.

Among the most wonderful things that happens at a comic book company is that every so often a new idea or series comes out that strikes some sparks. It may not be the best-selling title in the line or anything, but it's a "buzz book", something that a dedicated and devoted audience finds something in that they can't get from any other book. These titles are usually the product of somebody's enthusiasm and trust, and it's terrific when one of them works out--especially when it's a project that I would never have thought to do that way myself.

I love it when something like INCREDIBLE HERCULES, which by all rights shouldn't work at all, becomes a minor hit. I love it when CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13 finds a vocal and supportive audience. I love it when IMMORTAL IRON FIST gets nominated for awards. And so on and so on. Putting aside the particular skills of these creative teams, these books are a testament to their editors, who had faith in the ideas and their execution, and in the talent involved.

I like to do a wide variety of comic books, and to try different things, and it's great when one of those works out and sticks. But in some ways it's even better when one of these things comes out of the office of a middle-tier editor, and helps to define them. Speaking just for myself, I produced two separate IRON FIST limited series during my time at Marvel, neither of them really better than mediocre. But I love it that Warren Simons cracked the code and together with Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker and David Aja was able to create one of the best series at Marvel. And I'm particularly impressed that he's been able to keep the series going strong even through the departure of all three of those creators. I've lived through that experience; it isn't easy at all.

One of the classic mistakes the folks in power at assorted comic book companies make is in falling into the trap of thinking that they and only they know the secret to making a good, successful comic book. And especially when sales begin to slide, these personality types tend to clamp down harder, enforcing broad, dogmatic directives, or simply moving the goalposts every ten seconds because they can't figure out where the win is. And that approach almost never works.

There's no guarantee that letting your people do what they want will work either, but from what I can tell, the chances of success increase dramatically.

I'm off to the Baltimore Comic Convention tomorrow, so we'll pick this up next week.

More later.

Tom B

Nice post. And for the record, I like it when you guys try new things too. I can't buy all that I want to, but I like that you are giving that kind of stuff a shot.

I Believoort.

Posted by kyle-latino on 2008-09-26 12:17:19

Great Post
It's just a shame Joey Q didn't get this before it was too late...

Posted by moral_d on 2008-09-26 12:32:38

Those are my favorite books! Plus, Guardians of the Galaxy. There hasn't been a bad issue yet of Hercules and I love the current arc with the Amazons ... and not just because I'm huge Subby fan. Pak and Van Lente are fantastic and deserve a raise. Ditto Paul Cornell and DnA.

Posted by Rheged on 2008-09-26 12:37:31

Very Well written...
Have fun at the Baltimore Comic Convention (or the closest approachable thing to fun).

Posted by Aziroth on 2008-09-26 13:12:15

Runaways!

Posted by hulkspants on 2008-09-26 14:00:38

HC for matt fraction's Thor stories ?!

Posted by underworldeve on 2008-09-26 15:51:35

I wish Marvel had a few more books like Runaways - this generation doesn't have a lot of books of its type to go on.

(Kind of wish you hadn't relaunched it a second time, either, but too late now...)

Posted by Fetsur on 2008-09-26 18:21:18

TRUST YOUR FANS!
How about putting some trust in your fans when they say WE HATE OMD/BND!

You said "One of the classic mistakes the folks in power at assorted comic book companies make is in falling into the trap of thinking that they and only they know the secret to making a good, successful comic book."

I'm laughing over here because that's what Joe Q did by ramming this crappy BND down our throat when we hate it.

You speak of trust?

Trust us: we don't want a Spider-Man who deals with the devil. We don't want a retcon of the last 20 years. We don't want an "undo" of the marriage.

WE TRUST YOU to not piss on the last 20 years of continuity.

Posted by HiddenVorlon on 2008-09-26 18:44:49

Funnily enough, you picked out three of my favourite books from the last year. I'm a little worried about Iron Fist though, given the departure of three creators of such amazing talent.

MI13 is shaping up very nicely. And, not to put a tooth in it, Incredible Hercules is the most FUN book on the shelves bar none. It's got that superficial "Big-Dumb-Fun," factor, while actually being incredibly sharp and witty at the same time.

I get my comics delivered in a huge batch at the end of each month, and I usually start with Herc and finish with Captain America, because they pretty much both guarantee quality.

A hearty "thank you," to all concerned.

And thanks for chatting with Brian Cronin on his blog as well!

Posted by cjmcaree on 2008-09-26 19:24:09

Marvel Group Tee Shirt
Can anyone please help me name all of the characters on a shirt I bought in Universal Studios in May? I've been able to get about 85% of them and now I'm stuck. Can some PLEASE HELP ME! I can't find anything online..here is the link to the shirt...

http://www.stylinonline.com/tsmarvelgroupshotsblk.html

Posted by keithwj on 2008-09-27 15:17:50

TRUST YOUR FANS!
Why don't you trust your fans and get rid of OMD/BND.

We trust you not to keep deleting posts that are not drinking the OMD/BND kool-aid.

Posted by HiddenVorlon on 2008-09-27 17:29:28

You speak of trust
You speak of trust, yet you don't trust your fans when they say "we don't want OMD/BND". It's a bad idea to have your hero sell his marriage to the devil. We don't want it.

You said:

One of the classic mistakes the folks in power at assorted comic book companies make is in falling into the trap of thinking that they and only they know the secret to making a good, successful comic book.

How true of Marvel right now forcing OMD/BND down our throats when we HATE it!

Posted by HiddenVorlon on 2008-09-27 18:51:28

HiddenVorlon, it's incredibly arrogant of you to assume you speak for all fans in saying "we don't want OMD/BND". Because as far as I'm aware, I'm a fan, and I want it. In fact I'd be glad if the previous status quo is never returned to.

This is why people like Tom Brevoort have to trust their instinct and ignore what the most passionate "fans" have to say...

Posted by Fetsur on 2008-09-27 19:29:19

Great post
Really honest and takes you inside the editorial mind.

Posted by baxtos on 2008-09-29 03:13:27

but Tom,
who can you trust ?

Posted by bulgarianyogurt on 2008-09-29 06:06:02

but Tom,
....okay okay

Posted by bulgarianyogurt on 2008-09-29 10:21:47

.
HiddenVorlorn:
Sorry, if being a good editor meant trusting all the outspoken fans comic books would change directions faster than an ADHD kid with a sugarhigh in a toy store. Every month we'd get, "That's not MY Cap/Iron Man/Spider-Man/Hulk/She-Hulk/Pym/Thor/Cage/etc/etc/etc/etc" and we'd hear "What is Bendis/Slott/Brubaker/Fraction/Pak/David/Cornell doing writing my favorite character?! He sucks!" And new directions and creative teams would come on every month and the MU would be one jumbled mess and only the die-hard fans complaining about the books in the first place would stick with it.
Nope, not for me.

Posted by doncorswhazie on 2008-09-29 16:15:08

Lessons learned
The difficulty is getting your point across without being offensive while maintaining an effectiveness on being heard.

Another Catch 22 is being critical about something you continue to buy. How can one be critical without actually reading it?

In addition, is it truly possible to gauge how this storyline is appealing to fans?

I ask that Marvel post a non-binding online poll to determine whether or not fans like the direction of the Amazing Spider-man.

Simply ask Marvel.com registered users, and you can't vote unless you register with Marvel.com -

In response to the recent changes that occurred from the Brand New Day storyline, do you like the direction that the Amazing Spider-man is going?

__ Yes

__ No

How bout it?

Make mine Marvel.

Posted by coolhanddave on 2008-09-29 18:15:29

sales declining
look at what has been done to spiderman sales are falling at this point they are almost identicle to last year but are going down. granted nwtd added a boost but i am sure not what you folks where hoping for. so look at what the consumer wants good writing on spiderman and restorded continuity.

Posted by spiderFAN1984 on 2008-09-30 13:08:29

Online Poll
"I ask that Marvel post a non-binding online poll to determine whether or not fans like the direction of the Amazing Spider-Man." What would this prove? What the Marvel.com participants think? Now there's a fair snap-shot of all the people that read Spider-Man, because I'm sure that each and every single one of them visits Marvel.com daily...

Posted by Thomas More on 2008-09-30 15:04:39

You're right
Thanks for the support TM, this is a fair snap shot of people that read ASM. I'm glad you're on board.

Posted by coolhanddave on 2008-09-30 21:06:36

"Among the most wonderful things that happens at a comic book company is that every so often a new idea or series comes out that strikes some sparks. It may not be the best-selling title in the line or anything, but it's a "buzz book", something that a dedicated and devoted audience finds something in that they can't get from any other book."
Really? Apparently that only applies to books that aren't titled Alpha Flight. When will we get a new series using the old characters? You know, the ones all the fans (AKA: the people who give you their money) keep asking for? So, how about it?

Posted by Legerd on 2008-09-30 21:46:17

So if OMD/BND is such a fantastic idea, why have sales dropped 50%????????

Oh yeah, because it sucks.

Posted by HiddenVorlon on 2008-09-30 22:58:20

Characters Younger Than Their Past
What I have suggested before was to reveal that before Fantastic Four vol.1 # 1,that DOCTOR DOOM tried to Kill REED RICHARDS and BEN GRIMM by letting the PAST DO IT FOR HIM: by imitating what was done in FF# 236( 11/81)--Dr.Doom and the Puppet Master altering the memories of the Fantastic Four,Franklin Richards and Alicia Masters.See DOCTOR DOOM could have captured REED and BEN and altered their MEMORIES( and create Identification and backgrounds for them using both technology and magic ) and sent them back to WW 2( in the hopes that they would die in the past ).After all DOCTOR DOOM's WW 2 appearance was explained as TIME TRAVEL[The Invaders # 32( 9/78)-33(10/78)][Marvel Universe# 2( 7/98)].After REED and BEN fulfill their part in history they would be detected by EXCELLO or MERZAH THE MYSTIC or the Golden Age VISION who will send them back to their proper place in TIME with the help of TOMMY TYME or a Golden Age Sorcerer( DAKOR,MANTOR,MONAKO,MAGAR ) or my version of the Golden Age VISION has the same level of magical knowledge as his successor ETRIGAN THE DEMON( he's as strong as ETRIGAN too,95 tons ). SHARON CARTER was a little during WW 2[Captain America # 162(6/73) page 18 panel 4 ] and her sister( PEGGY CARTER ) and parents are to young to have been active during WW 2.Before I get to my theory I want some one to identify the REDDISH-BLONDE WOMAN in the "HOTEL OF HORROR" story in Captain America Comics # 10( 1/42) page 10 panels 1 and 2 as PEGGY CARTER---she might of gone to GOTHAM CITY to see CAPTAIN AMERICA and BUCKY who were invited by the MAYOR for BOND RALLY.Plus COLONEL CARTER[Captain America Comics # 8( 11/41)"Murder Stalks The Maneuvers"][All-Winners Comics # 2( fall/41)Captain America story] be the FATHER of PEGGY and SHARON CARTER.Now if anyone ever saw the Original TWILIGHT ZONE series they might remember an episode where a PLANE full of people ended up in the TIME OF DINOSAURS( they never landed ) thanks to a freak JET STREAM and their second trip in the JET STREAM put them in the 1930s and they were last seen making another attempt in the JET STREAM to get back to their right TIME PERIOD.I bet you their is an ATLAS AGE TALE about a cruise ship or a plane that ended up in another DIMENSION or TIME PERIOD or ALIEN PLANET that can be used to explain how THE CARTERS,STARKS,THUNDERBOLT ROSS look so young for their age( meaning that they returned home decades later ).

Posted by John Holstein on 2008-10-04 15:20:03

Im with Tom on this one
Ill make you a deal Tom you promise me those comic books will continue to hit the shelves every week, and Ill promise you that Ill keep on buying them. Trust me!!

Posted by terciera on 2008-10-07 03:32:08

Array

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About this blog:
Ramblings and musings from the mind of Tom Brevoort. "It won’t be clean. It won’t be fun. It mostly won’t be coherent."

About the author:
Tom Brevoort is Executive Editor for Marvel Comics, and oversees such titles as New Avengers, Civil War, and Fantastic Four.


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