Anyhow, here is the chat transcript! When a question is in quotes, it is a direct quote of a reader-submitted question!

Enjoy!

Mark Waid: Okay, boss. Here I am.
Brian Cronin: Huzzah!
Brian Cronin: Very nice - we got quite a ton of questions
Mark Waid: I can only imagine. Hit me!
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Brian Cronin: The most asked question was - "Will we see any more Empire?"

Mark Waid: God willing, someday. Barry Kitson and I know the next chapter of the story. But so long as Barry's Marvel Comics exclusive is in play--well, he can do (and is doing) a lot of great work at Marvel, but it precludes EMPIRE.
Mark Waid: Someday, though. We're not done.
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Brian Cronin: Here's one question I can answer myself.
Brian Cronin: "When is Farscape coming out?"
Brian Cronin: I just saw you guys announced that - Christmas Eve, right?
Brian Cronin: A Christmas miracle!

Mark Waid: December 24th! Just barely in time to go under your Christmas tree.
Mark Waid: And it looks great and reads really well.
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Brian Cronin: A lot of people were wondering if you've been following the Kingdom Come stuff in JSA.
Brian Cronin: Most with varying degrees of pithiness
Brian Cronin: From "Have you been following the Kingdom Come storyline?" to "How do you feel about it being like you were not even involved?"
Mark Waid: Honestly? I'm doing with it what I do with a lot of arc-driven stories--just waiting until it can be read in a single sitting.
Mark Waid: And it is weird not being involved. Not that I'd have had time to be, or necessarily inclination, but you'd think it would be professional courtesy for DC editorial to at least ring me about the stuff. Weird.
Brian Cronin: True.
Mark Waid: But I guess the argument is that I had my turn with THE KINGDOM and this is Alex's take on stuff. Which is fair enough.
Brian Cronin: Not even a name check, I believe.
Mark Waid: Not a one.
Brian Cronin: That's the odder part.
Brian Cronin: As Alex certainly was name checked during the Kingdom.
Mark Waid: HA! Not if you know DC editorial.
Brian Cronin: Fair enough.
Mark Waid: I go through periods, genuinely inexplicable to me, where I'm dead to DC. It always cycles back around.
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Brian Cronin: A lot of people wanted to know about Boom!'s submission process, or rather, why the lack thereof?
Mark Waid: The first six months I was there, I was very aggressive in finding new talent and new projects. All of us were--publisher Ross Richie, co-Boom-er Andy Cosby, all of us.
Mark Waid: And now we're just overwhelmed. We honestly have the entire 2009 publishing calendar blocked out tightly, so we have to turn down even established creators who come to us--with regret--but thoughtless over-expansion will kill us dead.
Mark Waid: Also, the lawyers kept flinging big blunt objects at my head every time I said the slush pile was open to anyone anywhere.
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Brian Cronin: Scott Koblish wants to know, "If Superman gets his powers from a combination of lower Earth gravity and our yellow sun's radiation wavelength, then when the sun sets and only the wider red wavelength light gets through Earth's atmosphere, do the powers he gains from the tighter, higher yellow wavelengths diminish? Likewise, would those powers be weaker before sunrise, or perform to a lesser degree when he is fully clothed, working inside an office under fluorescents that don't offer a wide spectrum of light?"
Mark Waid: This "Scott Koblish" of whom you speak isn't taking into account the solar-battery aspect of Superman's cellular structure. Yes, all those conditions would affect Superman's powers given enough time--like, weeks-- but he's got enough juice stored up to last.
Mark Waid: Also - Hi, Scott! Fans should know that Scott Koblish is an amazing inker. He worked over George Perez on The Brave and the Bold and we loved him.
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Brian Cronin: A reader asked : "I've been dying to know ever since your Legion run with Barry Kitson began... was Sun Boy's costume supposed to make him look kind of like Prez Rickard? The shaggy blond hair, the big red shirt with a round yellowy symbol in the center... I always figured it was either a very subtle in-joke (given this Legion's meta-love for Silver and Bronze Age DC) or a total coincidence, but either way, it was genius."
Mark Waid: Genius, you say? Then...I...that is...
Mark Waid: ...SURE!
Mark Waid: No.
Mark Waid: But good question!
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Brian Cronin: A few folks wanted to know about the Batman suit in the Flash ring. "Was this a story he had planned that was never published or is it something we are yet to see?"
Mark Waid: It's a story I had planned that I hoped to get to back before everyone in the universe decided my return to Flash sucked. : )
Mark Waid: It involved Batman taking the twins under his wing for one adventure.
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Brian Cronin: And I guess your previous "I'm dead to DC" bit would answer all the "Any DC work in 2009?" questions
Mark Waid: Who knows how long the cycles last? Anything's possible.
Mark Waid: I could be back in favor tomorrow. Or I could be the next Cary Bates. Who knows? Ah, well.
Brian Cronin: Bates' new Marvel series is good!
Mark Waid: And, yes, go read Cary Bates' TRUE BELIEVERS!

Brian Cronin: Yeah, it's a very fresh approach by Bates.
Mark Waid: Cary was probably the most adaptable of the 1960s/1970s writers. Look at how much of a departure CAPTAIN ATOM was from, say, FLASH.
Brian Cronin: True, but what I was more impressed by was the ability to jump right back into telling the story. Usually I see at least a bit of a learning curve in a return like that. I mean, it's been a long while for Bates.
Brian Cronin: Then again, for all I know, he's been working on this series for a long time.
Mark Waid: It was a big deal when he came into Tom Brevoort's office a while back to pitch it. No one loves the Flash of that era like Tom Brevoort.
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Brian Cronin: Dan Didio mentioned that they killed Bart sooner than they planned, so did that affect your run, as well? Or were you just contacted whenever they did decide to kill him?
Mark Waid: No, I knew they were killing Bart off way, way before I came back to Wally.
Mark Waid: I was offered the Bart relaunch initially, but then-editor Steve Wacker and I could never come up with a take that DC liked.
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Brian Cronin: "What do you think of digital distribution of comics? Is it a viable additional outlet to print comics?"
Mark Waid: No. It's the future outlet for comics, period. Not tomorrow, not next week, but soon. Which is a shame, and the end of an era, and I'm not necessarily advocating it--I'm just being realistic.
Mark Waid: Paul Levitz had a great quote about digital comics, though. If I may paraphrase-- the reason we're not "there" yet has a lot to do with trying to find the right synthesis of format and delivery. For the first decade of its existence, television was really nothing more than radio with pictures. Everything was still dialogue driven, and you didn't really have to WATCH it. You could just listen. But then Lucille Ball came along and wedded the visual comedy of vaudeville to the structure of radio comedy, and the whole medium transformed.
Mark Waid: And that's what we're waiting for vis-a-vis cybercomics. That 'x' factor that turns it into its own medium and not just pictures of comic books.
Brian Cronin: Right.
Mark Waid: That's one of the smartest things I've ever heard, but then, Paul's really smart.
Brian Cronin: So if we do NOT see that - will digital comics still work as the "main avenue"?
Mark Waid: It'll limp along. But we will see it. Too many creative people are striving to find a way to make this new format work. Someone will be digital comics' Stan Lee, our Elvis, or whoever.
Brian Cronin: True, sort of like how Facebook blew everyone's mind
Mark Waid: Exactly.
Brian Cronin: Of course, Facebook did not explode until a bunch of comic book companies had already committed to MySpace, but, well...que sera, sera.
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Brian Cronin: "Who will be the artist on The Incredibles?"
Mark Waid: Marcio Takara is the artists for THE INCREDIBLES, and he's astounding. Beautifully on-model but imaginative on his own.
Brian Cronin: "Anything more to tease us with the Incredibles?"
Mark Waid: Not without waking up to find a giant mouse head in my bed.
Brian Cronin: Touche
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Brian Cronin: "What happened too or what is the status of Boom! Studios 'Godfather' title?"
Mark Waid: We're unlikely to get there anytime soon. The God's honest truth is that we were ready to go, and then the writers' strike hit last year--and when it did, during its duration, the licensor we were dealing with went through a big regime change.
Mark Waid: Pity.
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Brian Cronin: "The Muppets comics (not to mention the Disney/Pixar ones) have a great chance to appeal to a wide audience...if the wide audience knows about them. What are you going to do to make sure the non-comics-reader knows about the title, or better yet, what will you do to bring the book to where the non-comics-reader shops?"
Mark Waid: Muppets: agreed that if we were doing it just for the direct sales market, it'd be commercial suicide. So we're in negotiations to make sure it's in every bookstore and school library in the nation. I wish I could say more on that, but trust me, we're on this aggressively, and all signals are good.
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Brian Cronin: "Potter's Field vol. 2 is coming out...when?"
Mark Waid: Potter's Field: Stone Cold, a one-shot by myself and Paul Azaceta, is on the schedule for spring, followed by a trade collection pulling together the whole run thus far plus some unseen material. It looks GREAT.
Brian Cronin: Azaceta did a great job on that.
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Brian Cronin: "Who contacted who about your appearance on LA Ink? Did she legitimately meet you at a local con, or was it a more arranged event for the show?"

Mark Waid: What? Are you casting aspersions on the legitimacy and truth-telling of a reality show? I'm offended.
Mark Waid: I'd met Hannah. And I was sincere in my critique--she's a very talented graphic artist and could, should she elect to move from the high-paying and high-profile life of TV Celebrity to the slave wages of indy comics, do quite well.
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Brian Cronin: "Now in your capacity as EIC of Boom Studios, do you find it difficult to write stories for either DC or Marvel given your complicated schedule?"
Mark Waid: Working for DC or Marvel is pretty much a nights-and-weekends job nowadays, natch. First priority goes to Boom! But from the start--and this wasn't a condition that I put down, it was part of Boom's approach to me --Ross's take was that it was fine for me to keep my hand in at DC and Marvel, with the notion that a rising tide floats all boats--any publicity I get out of Spider-Man or whatever gives me a chance to point readers back to Boom!
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Brian Cronin: "During your Flash run, years back, you referenced Wally West's first time travel experience, which was apparently horrible. When do we get to read that?"
Mark Waid: Flash's first time-travel experience on his own is a story I've carried around forever and haven't yet told. I may have to take it to my grave. But I really love it.
Mark Waid: "When do we get to read that?" Haven't we already established that I shouldn't be let back in the Flash universe for a while? : )
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Brian Cronin: "When asked how long you expected your Superman: Birthright would remain in continuity, you replied, "What time is it now?" Do you have any feelings you wish to express about Geoff Johns' Superman: Secret Origin, which will essentially render void your version of Superman's beginnings?"

Brian Cronin: That last one was a fairly common question, asking what your take on Johns' Secret Origin was, which I found kinda odd - "How do you feel that they're re-doing the origin you created?" "I think it's AWEsome!"
Mark Waid: "Dear Mark: How do you feel about the fact that Geoff Johns is dating your ex?"
Brian Cronin: Yeah, exactly.
Mark Waid: I wish Geoff and Gary Frank the best of luck with Superman: Secret Origin. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't sad that it was bulldozing over a project that was a lifelong dream, but again, that's the downside to working at the big two.

Mark Waid: If you think you can leave any sort of lasting legacy, you're deluded. And I was deluded for a long time. But we live and we learn.
Brian Cronin: I dunno, so far, Wally/Linda looks solid
Brian Cronin: That's something
Brian Cronin: And Ed Brubaker picked up Sharon Carter big time
Mark Waid: Dude, zero legacy. Zip. Not false modesty. Just reality. Best I can do is just put my head down and keep bleeding on the page and hope someone will still be reading it fifty years from now.
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Brian Cronin: "Many years ago there was a proposed Origin story of The Red Skull that would be helmed by you. Due to the nature of humanizing a Nazi, I think it was scrapped. Do you still wish to flesh out a character who could really use a background?"
Mark Waid: It wasn't an origin story, exactly. It was Captain America #14, which was written, drawn, colored and lettered and then scrapped by Marvel at the last second--literally, the last second, so late that the cover was already printed.
Mark Waid: Which is why my name's on it. I had time to pull my name from the printed, bowdlerized job, but it's on the cover.

Mark Waid: S'okay. I have high hopes that someday that run will be collected at Marvel, and the pages of art and color still exist--Marvel could get some mileage out of the "director's cut," if you will. Write Marvel.
Mark Waid: Demand it.
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Brian Cronin: Here's another odd one for me, as you've worked with co-writers a LOT of times, but: "Mark, it's seems to me that more and more comic writers these days are collaborating on projects, often times to great success (Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction I'm looking at you). Is there anyone in particular you'd like to try and team up with to write a book, and if so, who and in what genre?"
Mark Waid: I enjoy collaborating. Heck, some of the best work out there with my name on it is stuff where Tom Peyer or Brian Augustyn or Kurt Busiek did the heavy lifting while I sat by the pool. It might be fun to jam with Joe Casey on something. Or Fraction. I can always learn new tricks.
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Brian Cronin: "I understand you have been frustrated with some projects that have not 'hit' the way you expected. How do you balance appealing to popular taste with good, classic storytelling? Do writers really have to pander, or should they pursue at least the semblance of originality?"
Mark Waid: Everyone's been frustrated with projects that haven't "hit." But, as frustrating as that can be, and as much as that leaves you with a three a.m. fear that you've totally lost touch with the audience, it's still preferable to grinding out sausage.
Mark Waid: All writers are better off swinging for the fences and failing than simply writing what they think people want to read. That's just a pathetic waste of electrons, the latter.
Mark Waid: There are writers out there who pander shamelessly. And, frankly, they're all richer and more successful than I'll ever be. So my word is hardly law. But as a writer, deep down, you know--you KNOW-- the difference between work you tell yourself you're proud of and work you're ACTUALLY proud of. It's so easy to convince yourself that you're not pandering, that you're not catering to a base or taking shortcuts but you KNOW in your heart. Here's a big clue: if you don't, at some point or another with a piece of work, look at it in mid-process and go "THIS SUCKS, I'M A FRAUD," then you're probably just pandering.
Brian Cronin: Do you also agree with the notion that you should look back at your older work and think "Wow, I could do that a whole lot better now"?
Mark Waid: Yes, God, yes. If you're not looking back on older work and thinking, "I could do that better now," then you should just stop and open up a tire store. Combustion engines will be running off your fossilized remains soon enough, anyway.
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Brian Cronin: "How many outfits did Supergirl have during the late 60's and early 70's and what did Batgirl's light do on the front of here batcycle?"
Mark Waid: Supergirl had more outfits in the early 1970s than I have in my closet right now. I always thought the godawful one with the hip boots was tragic. But the one from Adventure 409 got my little prepubescent heart fluttering.
Mark Waid: And the lights on Batgirl's cycle could, somehow, actually follow TRAILS OF CRIME. I wish I were making that up.
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Brian Cronin: Here's a cute one a reader sent in based on our recent Top 25 Comic Book Battles (the end battle in Kingdom Come came in third, I believe!) - "Mark, can you think of a good reason why Kyle tried to punch Deathstroke in Identity Crisis #3?"
Mark Waid: Here's a charitable reason: people do weird things in fights.
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Brian Cronin: A bunch of readers asked "Would you want to/What would you do if you did" write Superman?
Mark Waid: Superman: Birthright is the best clue of that. There's a giant essay in the back of that trade collection that pretty much explains my views on Superman from cowlick to boot-toe.
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Brian Cronin: Did Bill Loebs and Mark Gruenwald help much with the transitions to your runs on Flash and Cap?
Mark Waid: Both did enormously. Bill because he was a longtime friend. I actually didn't use his supporting cast, not because I didn't like them, but because he and I both thought he'd be taking them into his next assignment. But it didn't work out that way --- and by the time he realized that, I'd already sort of set my own tone with the series.
Mark Waid: And Gruenwald was unbelievably gracious. I still have the reams and reams of data he provided me on Cap's villains, origins, back story, etc. He was SO HELPFUL.
Brian Cronin: You took Linda, though, from Bill. I don't think he ever got enough credit for introducing Linda. I mean, obviously you did all the romance stuff, but she had a solid base right there in Bill's run, including the flirtation between Wally and Linda.
Mark Waid: Bill totally created Linda. Bill totally does not get nearly enough credit for how good and how influential he's been.
Brian Cronin: Speaking of Bill, a reader asked: "Can we have some more work by William Messner-Loebs, his contribution to Zombie tales #5 was amazing. Any chance of an ongoing or mini from him?"
Mark Waid: Bill's currently doing a four-issue mini for us at BOOM! called NECRONOMICON (with artist Andrew Ritchie) that's maybe the best thing we've put out yet.
Mark Waid: And more from him at Boom! Yes. Door's wide open. Look for more in the Zombie and Cthulhu anthologies.
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Brian Cronin: "Did Avengers Forever cause you to replace Kang with Korvac in your Cap run?"
Mark Waid: HA!
Mark Waid: No. Confluence of rumor.
Brian Cronin: Oh?
Mark Waid: Wait. I misspeak. Hang on...lemme go look.
Mark Waid: Here's what I was thinking of. The Ka-Zar debacle was first by a nose. I think we acquitted ourselves quite well with the Ka-Zar/Thanos battle, but that was never supposed to have been Thanos. I THINK that was supposed to be Korvac.
Mark Waid: And then, later, Kang was going to be in Cap, and Avengers Forever (I THINK) had us shifting out plan around and yanking Korvac BACK because it turned out there was no reason to have taken him out of Ka-Zar at all.
Brian Cronin: Wait a sec - so Avengers Forever WAS the reason you pulled Kang?
Brian Cronin: I mean, why was Korvac not used in Ka-Zar?
Mark Waid: No. Forever came much later. Remember, that run of Cap relaunched simultaneously with Kurt and Perez's Avengers. Kurt just asked for dibs on Kang after we had put him in the story, which was his right.
Brian Cronin: Okay, fine, gotcha. So it wasn't Avengers Forever, per se, but it was Busiek's Avengers.
Mark Waid: Korvac was allegedly being used by someone else at the time, and I regret to say that ten years later, I can't remember who. All I do remember is that he was yanked for what turned out to be no reason.
Brian Cronin: Aha
Mark Waid: S'okay. That stuff happens all the time.
Mark Waid: And if you're lucky, it makes for a better story. Honestly, I am still very proud of the entirety of the Ka-Zar run.
Brian Cronin: So did you catch Starlin's "Thanos clones" explanation in one of his Infinity mini-series?
Mark Waid: Yes, yes, yes. ZZZZZZZzzzzzz. It's really easy to say "Well, Ka-Zar fighting Thanos is STUPID!" unless you, oh, actually READ THE STORY.
Mark Waid: Because that was THE POINT OF THE STORY.
Mark Waid: But it's easier just to be pissy and dismissive.
Brian Cronin: Yep, I have always complained about creators knocking other creators in their work.
Mark Waid: Jim and I already had it out over this in Baltimore one year and shook hands. I saw where he was coming from, he saw my point. All's well there.
Mark Waid: But see what I'm saying? There's nothing you can do on non-creator-owned material that can't be undone by the next guy. And revenge is about the dumbest, least creative reason in the world to write a story.
Brian Cronin: It was a good run - it was really rough to ask Priest to follow that run, especially without Andy Kubert! Although that series later gave us some of Brian K. Vaughan's first work
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Brian Cronin: "Why did Boom Studios change the 'Fall of Cthulhu' ongoing series into a "series of mini-series"? I felt as an ongoing series, it had the potential to reach Issue #50 and beyond. Why the hesitancy of doing an ongoing series at Boom Studios?"

Mark Waid: It's just tough--very tough--to sustain any sort of long-term love from readers and retailers in this market. It's something we're aware of at Boom!: the trade-off between the sales upswing you'll get on a first issue versus the sense of legacy you get by building a long-term hit.
Mark Waid: We take that one a case-by-case basis. And the answer to how any smaller publisher approaches that depends on a lot of factors, not the least of which is which way the wind is blowing that day.
Mark Waid: My guess is that if we were launching FoC now, we'd be more inclined to have done it as a perpetual ongoing because our trade paperback sales are stronger now than they were earlier in 2008 when we made the decision to relaunch. But the landscape is different right this second than it was earlier in 2008. And it'll be different six months from now.
Mark Waid: 20/20 hindsight in action.
Mark Waid: And let me take the opportunity to plug Cthulhu writer Michael Alan Nelson, and his new series from Boom!, HEXED, which comes out early next year.
Brian Cronin: It's like JJ Abrams' Alias meets Hellblazer!
Brian Cronin: Some wise man said that
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Brian Cronin: Speaking of rumors, we had another one: "What was your original Onslaught origin?"
Mark Waid: The original take on Onslaught--and whether or not this would have been a good idea is open for debate, because I've always been the first to say that I wasn't a great fit on X-Men--
Mark Waid: --is that it was just intended to be Xavier's dark side that had been percolating for decades. IMHO, the last-minute decision to shoehorn Magneto into the mix was a confusing misstep. But maybe not. Again, I'm not the best judge of anything X.
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Brian Cronin: "Every time my DHL box of comics arrives, my kids want to know just one thing: When is the Wall-E comic book series coming out? Mark, you've got to do something, they're 5 and 7 years old, they are obsessed with Wall-E, and they are MERCILESS!"
Mark Waid: We would LOVE do to Wall-E. Seriously. What a brilliant movie. And what a brilliant property. And what a movie I can never, ever, ever watch again.

Brian Cronin: Hah
Mark Waid: It broke my heart. It hit all the pain buttons in me. It's the single saddest movie I've ever seen. It left me devastated. Seriously.
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Brian Cronin: "Do you think that silver age artists, working at the skill level they had back then, would be able to get jobs in comics now?"
Mark Waid: They would be at Boom!
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Brian Cronin: "Are you comfortable with the co-authorship inherent in writing, but not drawing, comics? What is necessary to ensure a good collaboration?"
Mark Waid: In my experience--and I stress, this is just my experience--I think the final story is best when, no matter how collaborative the creative process is, one guy does all the typing. Mixing writing styles, even among friends---is a delicate alchemy.
Mark Waid: But what's absolutely necessary to ensure the best collaboration is to check ego at the door. That, more than anything else, is what made 52 work.
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Brian Cronin: "With a little bit of time and perspective, what's your take on your Legion reboot? What worked, what didn't and what would you have done differently?"
Mark Waid: Legion reboot. Hrrm.

Mark Waid: I think what worked was a level of energy and enthusiasm Barry Kitson and I brought to the project. And I think the first bunch of issues is still really strong. But--my own failings as a writer aside (and you can look them up on the internet)--what didn't work was the 30-page structure. It sounded great in theory--but we didn't get started soon enough, and no way could Barry pencil 30 pages a month at the level he was working.
Mark Waid: So that meant fill-ins. But as the writer, you want the "choice" moments in your story to be told with your regular artist. BUT you don't want to make a fill-in issue NOT important to the building story. It's a dilemma. One I didn't handle well, and one that made our first 12 issues feel like ten issues crammed into 12. There's some legitimacy to the theory that the story moved too slowly.
Mark Waid: What DID work, I think, is that we DID get a BUNCH of new readers fresh to the Legion, and for every letter I got cursing me, I got one praising us for delivering an incredibly accessible book for new readers.
Mark Waid: Remember, too, at the time we relaunched, "rebooting" to the Adventure Comics days was Not An Option Available To Us. Had we simply done that, I think we'd have been revered. By 30,000 people. Big whoop.
Brian Cronin: Ha
Mark Waid: This is what I mean about swinging for the fences. I wasn't trying in any way to be dismissive of existing Legion fans--I'm one of the STAUNCHEST Legion fans EVER, second only to Paul Levitz himself--but Legion fans alone were not enough in number to keep that franchise alive. So Barry and I tried to write for people who had never read the Legion. Like it or hate it, our run was at least eminently accessible to new readers.
Mark Waid: But something was off. We didn't connect. I'm sure Tim Callahan will lecture me at condescending length about why that's so, were I to ask him.
Brian Cronin: Would you have gone that route [back to the Levitz era] had it been available?
Mark Waid: I don't think I would have gone that route, no. The Prime Directive was to make it super-abundantly clear that if you'd never read a Legion comic before, you could still pick up our book and BAM! Be in on the ground floor.
Mark Waid: Relaunching instead with a take that dated back to 1988 would never have sent that message.
Mark Waid: It's working now, for Geoff, but the landscape's much different than it was in 2004.
Mark Waid: Also, Geoff has DC editorial behind him. We did not. We had to get sandbagged by the goddamned "Lightning Saga" in JLA that, no fault of writer Brad Meltzer's, was a total surprise to us and made us look like idiots.
Brian Cronin: Could you have not done a take on the Abnett and Lanning Legion that would have been accessible to new readers?
Brian Cronin: Or did the Abnett and Lanning Legion have too much of its own continuity to worry about?
Mark Waid: It's not even that it had extensive continuity. It's that all new potential readers BELIEVED Legion was a continuity nightmare, whether or not that was true.
Mark Waid: (Which it kinda was.)
Mark Waid: But even if it weren't, we weren't dealing with reality. We were dealing with perception. This is a fact: The perception was that Legion was totally new-reader-unfriendly.
Brian Cronin: But wouldn't a third version of the Legion help bolster that?
Brian Cronin: If we're talking perceptions, "Oh, the Legion, it's so convoluted, they're on their third reboot!"
Mark Waid: As opposed to what?
Mark Waid: Seriously. You've just advanced a total lose/lose scenario. Discuss.
Brian Cronin: But that's what I mean - why go with what seemed to be a lose-lose scenario?
Mark Waid: Look, I agree, with 20/20 hindsight (again), the smart thing would have been to roll everything back to Levitz days. But Geoff and Gary Frank have an arrow in their quiver that we did not: Superboy.
Mark Waid: So had we done exactly what Geoff and Gary did recently--well, (a) we couldn't have, because then-Superman editorial would have nixed it, and (b) IF we had, we'd have had to scrap everything the moment Superboy entered Legal Limbo for two years.
Mark Waid: So we would have had to retcon OURSELVES six issues in.
Mark Waid: What a quagmire.
Brian Cronin: Like the 5 years later Legion.
Brian Cronin: What was that - three issues into the new series that the reboot hit?
Mark Waid: Five issues in.

Mark Waid: What a nightmare.
Mark Waid: Look, it's all timing. And my career is, creatively speaking, a virtual ode to lousy timing.
Mark Waid: Let's move off Legion. You're driving me to drink.
Brian Cronin: Hah
Brian Cronin: Sure
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Brian Cronin: "I used to read the comics letters pages almost as thoroughly as I read the comics themselves and I was always pleased when a particularly insightful letter writer ended up writing for comics (such as a certain Mr. Waid). Have Marvel and DC lost something by getting rid of their letters pages? Did being able to interact with the editors in that way encourage your interest in writing for comics? Did it help you to get your foot in the door? Conversely, did having to write a letter cause fans of the past to have to be articulate in a way that posters to online forums (other than Comics Should Be Good, of course) often are not?"
Mark Waid: Honestly, letters pages never really encouraged my interest in writing for comics. I always enjoyed reading them as a fan, and wrote a handful of letters. I understand the logic in letting them go a few years back--they seemed redundant given the number of message boards--but I can't deny, in retrospect, there's something about them that sends the message "We're listening." BUT--and this is a HUGE "but"--what those who were most vocally outraged about the loss of letter columns overlooked or didn't know was that often--VERY often--it was VERY hard to FILL those columns with anything even remotely resembling well-written comments and critiques.
Brian Cronin: Oh, I bet - if people find that hard to believe, come on, read a message board - the majority of comments are usually going to be weak.
Mark Waid: There isn't an assistant editor of the time who wasn't, at some point at 2:00 a.m., faced with a thousand-word letter column to fill and only two letters.
Mark Waid: I'm not saying the increasing lack of letters was to blame--but it was a genuine consideration. But, yes, God almighty, having to write an actual letter made you a THOUSAND times more articulate than NuklonFan988 on some message board.
Brian Cronin: Which is too bad, as NuklonFan956 is quite articulate
__________________________

Brian Cronin: "How do you go about crafting the antagonists' end of the heroic conflicts (as opposed to personal or internal conflicts) when writing superhero stories? Do you see the villain as the least meaningful element in a superhero story, that is, as primarily a means to explore the protagonist rather; or do you think of continuing adversaries as 'full' members of the story or the book's cast?"
Mark Waid: Antagonists: The pat answer is to say that the hero is nothing without a villain of equal stature, blah, blah. Yeah, yeah. And there's some truth to that. But that is never, ever, ever, ever, ever where I start my stories.
Mark Waid: Some do. That's fine.
Mark Waid: And great villains are gold.
Mark Waid: Someday, I may even create one.
Brian Cronin: Nah, use Abra Kadabra instead.
Mark Waid: Har.
Mark Waid: But when I write, I start with the hero's internal conflict first. What does he want? What's in his way? What's going on inside his head? If there's a villain who can help me externalize that, swell.
Mark Waid: But if not...well, to me personally, the way a hero defeats a villain is always the dullest part of the story. The choices the hero makes and the sacrifices he makes are far more interesting. And, yes, the former can help structure the latter.
Mark Waid: But you can always write without a villain, and you can never write without a hero's journey.
Mark Waid: Again, that's just my opinion. And that's colored by the undisputable fact that I just simply don't enjoy writing villains nearly as much as I enjoy writing heroes.
__________________________

Brian Cronin: Here's a nice ego-boosting question
Brian Cronin: "You've written my favorite characterizations of both the classic Superman and of Captain America. With both you showed heroes with a strong moral center, with a clear vision of right and wrong, and with the will, determination, strength, and the hopefulness for a better tomorrow to fight for Truth, Justice, and, if by it we mean freedom of speech, freedom from tyranny, and respect for the honor, dignity, and integrity of our fellow beings, then for the American Way, as well. These are the kinds of characters that define heroism for me. But they *don't* seem to be the template for the vast majority of super-"heroes" in titles on the stands today. Have you considered creating your own character in that mold? I'd certainly buy such a character and title."
Mark Waid: Man, why can't ALL the questions be like that one?
Mark Waid: I've not considered creating a hero like that because I'd rather just write Superman well. Seriously. The heroes I have created and will create for Boom--well, I can't deny that they'll always have a strong moral compass -- but the challenge is to find some way to create a vehicle for that morality that doesn't feel grounded in the past.
Mark Waid: There are ways. I have ideas. And a BUNCH of Waid-created Boom properties to come in 2009 and 2010. So stay tuned.
Mark Waid: Did I mention www.boom-studios.com enough yet?
Mark Waid: Everyone go THERE. Free digital comics!
Brian Cronin: www.boomstudios.com?
Mark Waid: hyphen. www.boom-studios.com.
Brian Cronin: Ah, my mistake, I meant to write www.boom-studios.com.
Brian Cronin: No, I don't think you mentioned www.boom-studios.com enough
__________________________

Brian Cronin: Okay, for the last two questions - how about your general stance on the whole One More Day situation in the Spider-Man books - are you for or against the marriage, in general terms>?
Mark Waid: My head exploded the day Peter Parker married Mary Jane. Mostly that was because I thought a loser should never win, and part of that was because Gwen Stacy was my first true love.
Mark Waid: But I also understand that for a whole lot of the audience, a married Spider-Man is what they always knew. I understand why they're upset.
Brian Cronin: I understand it, too, but still...
Mark Waid: I do think Spidey works best as a single man, or at least not married to a hot supermodel, but that's my opinion.
Mark Waid: I'm very ADAMANT about my opinion, but it's still my opinion.
Brian Cronin: Hah
Brian Cronin: Nice non-offensive answer
Mark Waid: I'm not going out of my way to be inoffensive. I'm just remembering how much I hated John Byrne's Superman reboot back in 1986 and how upset I was over it, and remembering that helps me feel compassion for Mary Jane lovers. Seriously.
Brian Cronin: That's right, you mentioned that in the comments awhile back on the blog.
Mark Waid: Yeah, seriously, it's like, "Geez, where were all you outraged guys back in 1986 when *I* needed you?"
Brian Cronin: As an aside, the current story - very nice! Marcos Martin is astonishingly good.
Mark Waid: Thank you. Marcos is astounding. Next one up is issue 583, a one-shot by Barry Kitson and myself. It's gorgeous.
__________________________

Brian Cronin: Here's an interesting one to close on (from our own Joe Rice) - "What superhero/genre creator would you like to read a mainstream/art comix project from?"
Mark Waid: Huh. Good one. Gimme a sec.
Mark Waid: I think I'm having problems with this question because it presupposes that there's something inherently artistically superior to non-genre work. And that's just not so, not necessarily.
Mark Waid: Or to put it another way, I don't get the same sense that I might have in the 1980s that there are a bunch of super-hero writers out there who are suffering under the genre and who are just champing at the bit to break out and do "real" work.
Brian Cronin: I see your point, but if you take it as a strict "what creator from Genre A would you like to see work in Genre B" type of deal, rather than a qualitative statement, I think it goes better.
Brian Cronin: Like how Howard Hawks would direct Westerns, Romances, Mysteries, Screwball Comedies, Science Fiction, etc
Mark Waid: Okay, that's fairer. And I would love to see Grant Morrison tackle a western without any extra-genre trappings. And I think letting Gail Simone write flat-out comedy would be aces.
Brian Cronin: Your second statement, by the way, is basically Brian Michael Bendis' response to the Kirkman manifesto. That there aren't creators chomping at the bit to not do non-superhero work - those that want to, do so
Mark Waid: Exactly. I thought Kirkman's manifesto was just ADORABLE.
Mark Waid: It was so cute.
Mark Waid: I remember when *I* had MY first beer.
Brian Cronin: Ouch
Mark Waid: I like Robert a lot. He's a good guy. And he's very talented.
Mark Waid: And I think he'll bring a lot to Image.
Mark Waid: But....c'mon. There are no absolute answers in the system.
Brian Cronin: Yeah, that was basically my reaction, as well.
Mark Waid: Luck and timing are every bit as important--maybe even more important--than career planning and creator ownership.
Mark Waid: And, like you say, I don't know anyone who's "suffering" under the burden of non-creator-ownership.
__________________________

Brian Cronin: Oh hey, speaking of timing - I don't think I've ever heard you asked this
Brian Cronin: What did you have planned for your Avengers run?
Brian Cronin: The pre-Onslaught one
Brian Cronin: I'm sure it was asked somewhere, I just don't recall seeing it
Mark Waid: Really? That was never intended to be a run. I knew from the start that I was running the clock out on those three issues. I had no plan. Had I a plan, those wouldn't be the three lamest issues of Avengers ever.
Mark Waid: No offense to Ringo, who drew 400.

Brian Cronin: Haha
Brian Cronin: See, that's why I never heard about the run! There WAS no run!
Brian Cronin: And yes, those were bad issues
Brian Cronin: But come on, those were better than the issues that directly preceded them
Brian Cronin: So at the time, it seemed like a great new start
Mark Waid: But that is not a good comic. In my defense, I was writing those three issues while my mom was passing away, so that wasn't a great time. But, still...man, my name will be on those forever.
Mark Waid: Pain does not always equal great art. Sometimes pain just equals crappy comics.
Mark Waid: Blurgh.
Brian Cronin: Hey, everything can't be X-O Manowar

Mark Waid: X-O MANOWAR IS A LOST CLASSIC, PAL!
Mark Waid: Okay, "classic" is strong. But it really is a good run.
Brian Cronin: I think X-O Manowar is going to be Chris Ware's next story arc in Acme Novelty Library
Mark Waid: We did something there that no one ever caught onto, Augustyn and I.
Mark Waid: And I'm proud of it.
Mark Waid: We deliberately made all the supporting cast members women, because the keynote of the book was "fear and anxiety," and nothing makes comics fans more anxious than girls. And we made them good, good characters.
Brian Cronin: Actually, seriously, there was nothing wrong with X-O Manowar. I liked your run on it. I couldn't think of a better story to put in there, and X-O Manowar just sounds hilarious
Mark Waid: There are SO many worse comics you could pull off my resume.
__________________________

Mark Waid: Any last burning questions?
Mark Waid: Also, www.boom-studios.com
Brian Cronin: With a hyphen!
Brian Cronin: Too many to bother with, so we should just end it at that!
Mark Waid: Also, Russell T. Davies "The Writer's Tale" is the best book about the writing process I've read since college. Mention that.

Brian Cronin: I think you just did.
Brian Cronin: Thanks for the chat - that was a LOT of questions
Mark Waid: Glad to help.

63 Comments

• At December 12, 2008, Jeff Albertson wrote:

  Great read. I always enjoy reading interviews with Mr. Waid. I'm crossing my fingers that one day he gets ...

• At December 12, 2008, Jim wrote:

  I'm not saying he's wrong or right, but Waid's been VERY candid in the past about DC and their editorial. ...

• At December 12, 2008, Jim wrote:

  And again, I'm not saying he's wrong with his comments. From everything I've read and heard, he's probably right.

  I just ...

• At December 12, 2008, David Uzumeri wrote:

  Reading Mark Waid talk about his career is like hearing a dude in a police station talk about getting mugged ...

• At December 12, 2008, Bombshell wrote:

  Wow.

  That was actually a really interesting read.

• At December 12, 2008, T wrote:

  in response to Superman: Birthright being "rendered void" by Geoff Johns, I simply have to say good stories will never ...

• At December 12, 2008, David wrote:

  That was a great read and Mr. Waid was honest and candid. Thank you!

• At December 12, 2008, Ian L wrote:

  Fantastic interview, Brian! I had the absolute pleasure of meeting and talking to Mark at last year's Megacon, as ...

• At December 12, 2008, Kirkerson wrote:

  I started reading comics when the first trade of Waid's Legion run came out. His work on that title has ...

• At December 12, 2008, Stephen wrote:

  "Mark Waid: Exactly. I thought Kirkman’s manifesto was just ADORABLE.

  Mark Waid: It was so cute.

  Mark Waid: I remember when *I* ...

• At December 12, 2008, Larry King wrote:

  This was a terrific interview Brian. You made my day when I saw you picked my question. Thanks. I just ...

• At December 12, 2008, Matt K wrote:

  Very nice interview. Really, all I have to say is that I'm one of the people who Waid brought ...

• At December 12, 2008, Matthew E wrote:

  I hope history treats Waid and Kitson's (and Bedard and Calero and Shooter and Manapul's) threeboot Legion kindly. It's been ...

• At December 12, 2008, John Lewis, Jr. wrote:

  Seriously, someone should bring this costume back.

  http://image.milehighcomics.com/istore/images/fullsize/01436986896.409.GIF

• At December 12, 2008, Mike Lee wrote:

  Mark! I use to buy every comic you write for the big 2 expecting top quality comics. Even ...

• At December 12, 2008, Larry King wrote:

  To: John Lewis, Jr.

  Thanks for finding that. It may be kind of wrong to say that I might read Supergirl ...

• At December 12, 2008, rwe1138 wrote:

  Fantastic chat. Thanx to both Brian & Mark for taking the time to do it.

• At December 12, 2008, SnapperCarr wrote:

  Four words: Send. More. Mark. Waid.

• At December 12, 2008, danjack wrote:

  Mark Waid: If you think you can leave any sort of lasting legacy, you’re deluded. And I was deluded for ...

• At December 12, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  Sooooo, when's Kitson's contract with Marvel over?

  I'm jonesing for some EMPIRE!!!

• At December 12, 2008, David wrote:

  Thanks for the book referral. This budding writer appreciates it.

• At December 12, 2008, Michael wrote:

  For what it's worth, Mark, I loved you and Barry's Legion. I had no Legion experience before I came in, ...

• At December 12, 2008, Michael wrote:

  And now to completely annihilate any goodwill gained by the previous post:

  "A loser should never win."

  That's the thing: Spider-Man's not ...

• At December 12, 2008, Rommel Reyes wrote:

  Mark Waid, one of the best writers of this generation. I'm not a spiderman fan but I started reading the ...

• At December 12, 2008, victor lanza wrote:

  I had to look up Adventure Comics #409 after reading Mark's comments...

• At December 12, 2008, Scavenger wrote:

  Waid's X-O Manowar was great.

  Acclaim is a lost treasure of great books, that gets's dismissed because of the freak Valiant ...

• At December 12, 2008, teej71 wrote:

  I totally agree about "a writer's tale" (a wonderful revelation to read and a treasure to own*) and feel the ...

• At December 12, 2008, verge wrote:

  Great interview! I always enjoy reading Mark Waid's interviews. His run on Fantastic Four will probably always be ...

• At December 12, 2008, John Seavey wrote:

  My take on "Birthright" is that saying that it was somehow erased by the latest version of Superman's origin is ...

• At December 12, 2008, Jer wrote:

  Great interview. I always love reading Waid's comments on stuff. I do take issue with this though:

  Mark Waid: ...

• At December 12, 2008, Trey wrote:

  I will never ever ever ever read a comic off a computer screen. Just like i will never watch video ...

• At December 12, 2008, Matt D wrote:

  I'm terribly unimpressed with every aspect of Davies' work except for his ability to write for a broad audience and ...

• At December 12, 2008, Matt D wrote:

  Oh, and for the sake of double-posting, I'm frustrated about the undoing of the Byrne/Wolfman/Stern/Jurgens etc Superman, and the last ...

• At December 12, 2008, BOOM! Studios Blog » Blog Archive » CBR has Mark Waid, and now you can too! wrote:

  [...] If there’s one thing that has to be said about BOOM!’s EIC Mark Waid, (and it can’t be, as ...

• At December 12, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:

  Wow, Waid's smart and humble and a class act.

  Thanks for such a long in-depth interview, Brian. I'd ...

• At December 13, 2008, Funnybook Babylon · Archives · Lasting Legacies wrote:

  [...] - Mark Waid [...]

• At December 13, 2008, Rob wrote:

  GREAT interview!!!

  And Mr Waid is WRONG!! A writer can have a legacy.

  His FLASH and CAPTAIN AMERICA runs are unmatched. His ...

• At December 13, 2008, Frank wrote:

  Hot damn! Why couldn't every other writers be this honest, ego-free and interesting. The dude actualy go into one of ...

• At December 13, 2008, TimCallahan wrote:

  "But something was off. We didn’t connect. I’m sure Tim Callahan will lecture me at condescending length about why that’s ...

• At December 13, 2008, Gerry Alanguilan wrote:

  I didn't expect a Russel T. Davies mention coming out of the blue and right at the end. He's one ...

• At December 13, 2008, Joe Lechem wrote:

  Wasn't Mark Waid the guy who said in a Con (addressing Byrne) "when are we going to get our Superman ...

• At December 13, 2008, Ciro wrote:

  Mark Waid is a legend, regardless of how he thinks, Kingdom Come is one the genre's masterpieces, he shouldn't feel ...

• At December 13, 2008, michael poirier wrote:

  The 1930s and 1950s versions of Superman's origin are compatible, with only a few minor details that are different. Those ...

• At December 13, 2008, Kai "the spy" wrote:

  As many have stated here, Waid is one incredible writer and certainly an important personality in comics. I also agree ...

• At December 13, 2008, Mark Waid wrote:

  "Wasn’t Mark Waid the guy who said in a Con (addressing Byrne) “when are we going to get our Superman ...

• At December 13, 2008, michael poirier wrote:

  i met my 'childhood hero' John Byrne when I was 13 year, and it took about 5 minutes of talking ...

• At December 14, 2008, NuklonFan988 wrote:

  Hey why the hate man? I can be as articlate as the next guy I just write what I feel ...

• At December 14, 2008, Kris Krause wrote:

  Mark Waid has always been one of my favorite writers and I've enjoyed his recent work no less than I ...

• At December 14, 2008, Matt Bird wrote:

  I met Byrne when I was 18 at the very tumultuous 1993 DragonCon, where John and McFarlane and Gil Kane ...

• At December 14, 2008, Jacob T. Levy wrote:

  Seconding and thirding and so on others' comments about the "legacy" thing. Mark Waid knows better than anyone that ...

• At December 14, 2008, rickshaw1 wrote:

  I'll weigh in on a few things.

  First the return to Flash. Mark gave us a great first run, and introduced ...

• At December 14, 2008, Dan Coyle wrote:

  Who was saying Waid's return to Flash was terrible, excepting what Wally did to punish Inertia? That was the only ...

• At December 14, 2008, SuperFobby wrote:

  I was 3 in 1986, started reading Superman at the Death, and went back to collect starting from Man of ...

• At December 15, 2008, MDK wrote:

  Sheesh, yet another Superman origin revamp, and with all that (albeit slightly-updated) goofy Silver Age folderol thrown in. Meh!

• At December 15, 2008, Mark wrote:

  While I like Waid a lot as a person, he's lost it in my opinion. Birthright was terrible, especially Wu's ...

• At December 15, 2008, Kai "the spy" wrote:

  "All that vegetarian, Africa nonsense was a huge turn off ...."

  Wow. You actually got mad about this one mention in ...

• At December 15, 2008, Mark wrote:

  It just made him seem small. There was no sense of grandeur or universal themes or anything that made the ...

• At December 16, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Legion- Honestly, the “concept” was something that might have flown if there hadn’t been a huge history. And while that ...

• At December 17, 2008, I’m Just Sayin’…#40 | Comics Nexus wrote:

  [...] this chat transcript with Mark Waid, courtesy of COMICS SHOULD BE GOOD! A very insightful back-and-forth with one of ...

• At December 22, 2008, Ken Raining wrote:

  I know that no one will probably ever read this, but Mark's comment above that Mark Waid "never really had ...

• At December 22, 2008, Mark wrote:

  Could not disagree more. No disrespect to Wieringo but he was a nice artist (and to me not suited for ...

• At December 23, 2008, Mike-EL wrote:

  "he’ll never do anything that will never be undone, because of the fluid (some would say irrational) nature of mainstream ...

• At December 23, 2008, Frank wrote:

  The writers write the way they like to write; they don't write based on a mandate to "cater to 40 ...

Okay, enjoy the chat!

Brian Cronin: Welcome to the Fred Van Lente Chat!!
taimur: Hooray
Fred Van Lente: Yes, welcome!
irthling: Happy FVL to one and all
_____________________________________

Brian Cronin: How awesome was it that three of your books came out this week?
Fred Van Lente: It was pretty awesome.
Fred Van Lente: EXCEPT Dennis Calero and I were supposed to do a "X Men Noir" signing at Jim Hanley's Universe...
Fred Van Lente: ...and Hanley's got shorted on their order!
Brian Cronin: ouch!
Brian Cronin: so no signing?
Fred Van Lente: So Dennis and I will have to go sign X Men Noir next Wednesday.
Fred Van Lente: When, of course, I have NO new books out.

Brian Cronin: oh, ha
Brian Cronin: that's rough
Fred Van Lente: C'est la vie.
Fred Van Lente: But anyway, that will be Jim Hanley's on 33rd Street in Manhattan, Wed., Dec. 10, 6-8pm, for those who are interested.
Fred Van Lente: Calero and I will be in our full noir finery.
Brian Cronin: Excellent
_____________________________________

Brian Cronin: That must have been neat to be involved in a project with a mysterious ad!
Fred Van Lente: You mean the Noir titles, Brian?
Brian Cronin: Yeah
Brian Cronin: Always good to do a comic with actual promotion
Fred Van Lente: Yeah, it was neat, not only the House ads, but how Joe Q would flash the art at the convention panels.

Fred Van Lente: Dennis was very amused at how many people compared him to the likes of Frank Miller and Jae Lee. (And flattered.)
Brian Cronin: They were very cool looking
_____________________________________

seeso Fred, I love your work! I've been a fan since the MODOK mini, and I think you are the bee's knees.
Fred Van Lente: Thanks, Seeso!
seeso I'm also a fan of your Herc partner, Greg Pak. I saw the movie "Robot Stories" before he was a Marvel writer (some of my friends were in it), and was ecstatic when he got Marvel gigs.
Fred Van Lente: I have to Netflix "Robot Stories." I feel like a crappy writing partner for not having done it sooner.

Fred Van Lente: (And yes, it is available on Netflix, you Pak fans.)
seeso Robot Stories is excellent. Some top-notch sci-fi writing.
_____________________________________

taimur: So, with the FCBD Wolverine title officially released, safe to assume Alpha Flight will be in it.
Fred Van Lente: You KNOW there will be Alpha Flight on FCBD.
Fred Van Lente: The story takes place before "Incredible Hulk #181".
Fred Van Lente: In fact, it's about how James MacDonald Hudson arranges for Wolvie to get the anti-Wendigo mission in the first place.
Fred Van Lente: But is that the only Flight reference?
Fred Van Lente: Canucks and fellow travelers will have to wait 'til May to find out...
taimur: Of course
_____________________________________

seeso What would be your dream title to write?
preston: Hey Fred, love your work! I was just wondering if you could reveal just how many titles you'll be releasing next year...
Fred Van Lente: Thanks. Let's see here.
Fred Van Lente: Incredible Hercules.
Fred Van Lente: Fred Secret Project #1
Fred Van Lente: Fred Secret Project #2
seeso: Ooh secret project!
preston: nice
Fred Van Lente: #1 and #2 are both minis.
preston: Aww man
preston: I was hoping you'd get another ongoing
Fred Van Lente: Fred Secret Projects #3 and #4 have not been green-lit, but we have high hopes.
Fred Van Lente: Those are both on-goings.
preston: *crosses fingers*
seeso: I don't mind minis, but you need another ongoing.
Brian Cronin: Are they part of the Marvel Universe or set apart like X-Men: Noir?
Fred Van Lente: One is not set in the Marvel Universe.
Fred Van Lente: But is a title Mr. Bendis has written.
Brian Cronin: Fancy
Brian Cronin: It should be Torso II - the Return!
_____________________________________

Fred Van Lente: The other three are set in the Marvel Universe.
preston: hmmm
Fred Van Lente: But one of them features brand-new characters.
Fred Van Lente: I am also co-writing right now a manga with Dean R. Koontz based on his "Odd Thomas" character. That's been a lot of fun.
seeso: I'm super excited to read characters that are created by you, Fred.
timbre68: A Bendis book outside of the Marvel Universe?
preston: Powers?
Fred Van Lente: Timbre, alas, I have been told I can't say outright, so I am being coy.
Fred Van Lente: The Marvel Department of Marketing and Thought Control would cause this chip in the base of my skull to explode if I revealed too much.
seeso: lol
Fred Van Lente: And what fun is that if you can't see the gooey bits fly across the room?
preston: don't want that happening
timbre68: I'm an old guy, I love your books, very old school - however they are the books I recommend to my kid's friends. Great stuff!
_____________________________________

timbre68: Big fan, are you dipping your toes into the Ultimate Universe?
Fred Van Lente: Timbre, not yet.
Fred Van Lente: But it's something I wouldn't mind doing.
Brian Cronin: You need to write for Heroes before you write an Ultimate title, I'm afraid
Zombo: I agree, you should totally write for Heroes.
_____________________________________

seeso: How long have you been reading comics? What did you do prior to writing comics?
Fred Van Lente: My mother claims (though I have no memory of it) I taught myself how to read through comics since she was sick of reading them to me over and over again.
Fred Van Lente: I was about four.
_____________________________________

Crystal Skillman joined the chat
Fred Van Lente: My curious wife, Crystal Skillman, everyone! Say hi.
seeso: Well, hello, Mrs. Hercules!
Zombo: Hi!
Crystal Skillman: Hi there!
Brian Cronin: Howdy!
taimur: Hi!
preston: Say hi
_____________________________________

Zombo: Mr. Van Lente, what's your opinion on cursing in comics?
Fred Van Lente: I'm not against if the story calls for it.
Fred Van Lente: I've only recently started using the "!@#$!" in dialogue myself.
Zombo: I guess that's a solid standpoint.
Brian Cronin: I was disappointed that Power Pack Day One had no profanity
Fred Van Lente: Brian, it's layered subliminally into the artwork.
Fred Van Lente: Although, to finish the profanity thread...
Fred Van Lente: ...fuck it!
Zombo: Personally, I think it's kind of lame, sometimes, when writers just use it to make a more seem more 'gritty' or 'hardcore'.
Fred Van Lente: Ha, ha, no I'm just kidding.
seeso: LOL
seeso: HAHAHAHA
timbre68: Hear Hear!
Fred Van Lente: I would prefer to use actual profanity than the symbols.
Brian Cronin: I'd imagine
Fred Van Lente: In "Noir" they wouldn't let us use bad words, so we literally blacked them out. I thought Nate Piekos, our wonderful letterer, did a really nice job with that effect.
timbre68: I let my kids read your profanity!
seeso: I bet that's coming soon. I'd say in the next 5 years.
Fred Van Lente: They let us keep all the sex in, though!
Brian Cronin: I like the blacked out approach
seeso: Yay for sex
Brian Cronin: Even though it got Frank Miller into trouble
Fred Van Lente: I think what got "All-Star Bats" into trouble was they used gray variants while Piekos wisely used solid blacks.
Fred Van Lente: Don't quote me on that, though.
Fred Van Lente: I find myself trying to work more and more sex into my comics as I get older.
Brian Cronin: There's probably a Power Pack joke there, too, but who wants to go there?
Zombo: It definitely sells.
preston: That's all right, no one minds
Fred Van Lente: I think I'm hitting the age where it's more interesting to me than violence.
_____________________________________

seeso: Hercules has sure been getting some lately!
seeso: Amadeus Cho needs to get busy.
Zombo: But Amadeus was DENIED by that Amazon.
seeso: I hope snakey schoolgirl chick isn't dead!
Fred Van Lente: We will see about Delphyne.
Fred Van Lente: I have been in love with her since I saw Clayton's kick-ass design, so I certainly hope she pulls through somehow.
seeso: Ha ha, coy again...
Brian Cronin: I've been mightily impressed with Henry's work as of late
Brian Cronin: Always good to see artists grow as artists
Fred Van Lente: Clayton has been kicking ass, and he's already committed to another arc in 2009.
preston: nice, Clayton belongs on Herc!
preston: his facial expressions are the bomb
seeso: Clayton is amazing. Love his stuff.
Brian Cronin: The cover with Hercules breaking through the wall - tremendous job. His Marvel Adventures: Avengers covers have been striking, as well.

_____________________________________

taimur: Any chance of seeing ARMOR again in the future? Marvel Zombies 3 rocks!!!!!!!!!!
preston: so I'm guessing one of your secret projects is a MAX book?
preston: Speaking of Herc, are you and Dan Slott (and Greg Pak) trading notes for Hercules, because it seems like he and Amadeus are gonna play quite a role in Mighty Avengers
Fred Van Lente: Dan and I were actually just trading notes yesterday via Gmail chat (a useful little tool).
Fred Van Lente: And he let me pick his brain about She-Hulk for "Hulk Family", so it's mutual.
preston: cool, if anyone else can do Herc and Amadeus justice it'd be Slott
Fred Van Lente: Yeah, Dan seems really excited to write Amadeus and Greg and I are excited to see what he comes up with.
preston: Yeah, in an interview he described Amadeus as the new Rick Jones, lots of fun to be had there
seeso: You and Dan seem to have similar feels to your writing styles.
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Zombo: I thought this chat would be bursting with Van Lentians, but it's actually rather civil.
Fred Van Lente: Just as long as we don't all contract Van Letitis.
Fred Van Lente: "It burns when I pee!"
Zombo: We all already have it.
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seeso: Are you satisfied with the numbers Herc is doing? I'd really like to see that book do well. It's at the top of my stack every week it comes out.
taimur: What issues are you and Pak writing up to? Last time I heard it was in the 130's
Fred Van Lente: Well, we've been budgeted out through #140.
seeso: It needs more push from Marvel, and seems like that's starting.
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seeso: What can we look forward to seeing in Herc next year?
Fred Van Lente: In 2009 for Herc, we get the origin of the big guy in the March issue, #126.
preston: double-sized!
Fred Van Lente: #126 is indeed x2 sized...
Fred Van Lente: That issue features the RETURN of KIRBY, now that "Secret Invasion" has ended.
Fred Van Lente: ...and it's basically the "Season Premiere" of Season Two of the INCREDIBLE HERCULES.
Fred Van Lente: Hera allies herself with, um...
Fred Van Lente: ...I guess you could call it this "Cabal," see...
seeso: Awesome!
seeso: The push has begun.
preston: whoa, Dark Reign
seeso: OOOO
Brian Cronin: Very cool.
Fred Van Lente: And there is one thing "Incredible Hercules" fans have been asking for since the series was announced.
Fred Van Lente: And they will get it in spades, at last, in the summer of 2009.
Brian Cronin: Profanity?
Fred Van Lente: Fuck no!
seeso: lol
seeso: Tease us a little bit?
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Fred Van Lente: You know that Peter, Paul and Mary song?
seeso: Dragon?
seeso: Puff?
Crystal Skillman: LOL!
Fred Van Lente: "If I Had a Hammer"
Brian Cronin: Blowin' in the Wind! (Any chance for a Dylan reference)
timbre68: THOR!
seeso: THOR
seeso: HOLY SHIT
seeso: OMG
taimur: I say thee....YAY!
seeso: sweeeeeeeet
preston: nice!!!
Brian Cronin: "Blowin' in the Wind" can apply to Thor, too!
Fred Van Lente: Yes, Brian, we will soon introduce Herc's new arch nemesis, Mr. Tambourine Man.
Zombo: Mr. Van Lente, do you play Rock Band or Guitar Hero?
seeso: can't wait!
seeso: Henry's Thor will rock.
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Fred Van Lente: In speaking of arch-nemeses...
Fred Van Lente: ...we meet Amadeus Cho's.
seeso: Ooh, nice. Wonder who it is?
taimur: the 6th smartest person perhaps?
Fred Van Lente: Is there a connection between said nemesis and the death of Amadeus' parents?!!?
Fred Van Lente: Is there a connection between said death and...
Fred Van Lente: Wait, wait, I've said too much.
Fred Van Lente: I can feel the chip in the base of my neck vibrating.
taimur: Carmilla Black
Fred Van Lente: I am afraid we will be going into "Scanners" territory if I say any more.
seeso: but... gooey bits....
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Fred Van Lente: Any other Herc questions?
seeso: Are you satisfied with the numbers?
Fred Van Lente: I am.
Fred Van Lente: The thing that I like about Herc is, when you think about it, he is a character who has NEVER had an on-going series before (at Marvel).
seeso: That's true.
Fred Van Lente: How many titles is Marvel publishing that is the inaugural run of a series?
seeso: I never liked him before you guys started your series.
Fred Van Lente: That is to say, that isn't a revival of another series?
Fred Van Lente: I honestly can't think of another one.
preston: What I love is when a writer or two comes along and does a run that makes me love a character
timbre68: I don't think the title is going anywhere, great critical success...
Fred Van Lente: Thanks.
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Zombo: I always loved the scene where he tried to hold off the Masters of Evil all by himself at Avengers Mansion.
Zombo: That is one of my all-time favorite scenes.
Fred Van Lente: Yeah, I love me some Roger Stern Avengers.
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taimur: So Mikaboshi.......we gotta assume he'll be back.
Fred Van Lente: Mikaboshi is out there.
Fred Van Lente: Be afraid. Be very afraid...
_____________________________________

preston: Oh, is there going to be a Renegade reunion?
Fred Van Lente: At the moment, "Love & War" with Namora is about as close as you're gonna get.
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seeso: I think you are the guy they should have tapped for Avengers: Initiative. You'd rock on that book.
Fred Van Lente: Thanks, Seeso! Although Christos and I have been talking, and he seems interested in using another creation of mine someone mentioned earlier...
Fred Van Lente: ...and if she joined the book, that would rock.
Brian Cronin: Carmilla needs to get a Dark Reign tie-in
Brian Cronin: Because I was going to do a Top Five Attempts to Tie Carmilla to Popular Titles, and I was short one.
seeso: Ooh, she?
seeso: awesome
Fred Van Lente: Well, Brian, it's something Christos mentioned in passing, and I haven't followed up with him in a while, so I don't want to put words in his mouth.
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timbre68: I seem to remember Herc having a drinking problem, any hints towards this?
Fred Van Lente: Timbre, he can drink as much as he wants without hurting his liver!
Fred Van Lente: How is that a drinking "PROBLEM?!??!"
timbre68: lucky!
Fred Van Lente: The problem is there is just so much booze, and so little time...
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seeso: Fred, are you looking to get into movies or TV?
Zombo: Mr. Van Lente, are you ever going to do any What If? titles?
seeso: Fred, who would you cast as Hercules in a movie?
timbre68: Do you have any dream characters? Ones you'd kill to write?
Fred Van Lente: Yeah, someone asked this earlier.
Fred Van Lente: I really enjoyed doing "Marvel Adventures Fantastic Four," and I think it'd be cool to do the 616 version of Ben, Sue, Reed and Johnny.
Fred Van Lente: Something with Machine Man would rock too.
seeso: Oh, man that would be amazing.
Fred Van Lente: As you can tell, I'm an unabashed Kirby partisan.
seeso: Machine Man needs his own team. A team of robots, would rock.
timbre68: that would be great! A FVL FF
preston: I mentioned once in a forum: Machine Man, Agent of ARMOR
preston: that would rock
Fred Van Lente: Oh, and editor Bill Rosemann knows I'm open for any ETERNALS stuff the Knaufs don't want to do.
taimur: Marvel Zombies.....4!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Fred Van Lente: Right, that was another question from before:
Fred Van Lente: Yes, ARMOR will return.
preston: nice
seeso: Zombies is totally rocking right now.
Fred Van Lente: Definitely.
Fred Van Lente: I think Howard the Duck, Agent of ARMOR would rule too...
timbre68: You'd be a nice match for Howard the Duck...Gerber was amazing!
preston: He'd be perfect
seeso: Can't wait to see how it ends. You write a great Aaron Stack, but I wanted Jocasta to kick more butt!
Fred Van Lente: Yeah, I love Jocasta.
Brian Cronin: It's a renaissance time for Jocasta nowadays
seeso: Will she kick butt in the conclusion?
Fred Van Lente: There is more Jocasta butt-kicking, yes.
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Crystal Skillman left the chat 4 seconds ago
Fred Van Lente: Geez, thanks a lot honey!
Fred Van Lente: Heh.
seeso: lol
preston: ha
timbre68: Your wife dogged you!
Fred Van Lente: I'm used to it by now. I live with her.
seeso: I think his wife knows all the answers to these questions.
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taimur: Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy clones being harvested by the Jackal in Marvel Zombies 3. Brilliant! What was the genesis of that crazy idea?
Fred Van Lente: That's a good question.
Fred Van Lente: Like a lot of things, ideas just pop into my brain.
Fred Van Lente: Since I was a kid, the storytelling mechanism inside my brain hasn't turned off.
Fred Van Lente: It's always churning new ideas, overturning old ones, combining two disparate concepts into one much better one (or crappy one), etc.
Fred Van Lente: I actually don't remember where the Jackal thing came from.
Fred Van Lente: I have to admit, the science-loving part of me never quite got the zombie apocalypse thing.
preston: it's just an excuse for gore
Fred Van Lente: Their entire purpose is to eat everything, so if they devoured the whole planet, they'd wipe out the whole food supply.
Fred Van Lente: Wouldn't they then be screwed?
seeso: Zombies don't have logic.
Brian Cronin: I guess that's why most people write zombies as morons
seeso: They just must... eat... brains...
Fred Van Lente: I think that's where the Jackal thing came from:
Fred Van Lente: Whoever could provide them with an unlimited food supply would be King.
Fred Van Lente: Or Kingpin, as the case may be.
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Zombo: Are there any Zombie babies?
Fred Van Lente: The baby thing was done in the "Dawn of the Dead" remake, so I've avoided it.
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Fred Van Lente: Another thing about zombie worlds:
Fred Van Lente: Why ARE there so many zombies running around?
Fred Van Lente: Don't they devour human flesh? Whole? Insatiably?
preston: That's what i never figured out
Fred Van Lente: IF a zombie found somebody, wouldn't he just gobble him or her right down?
Fred Van Lente: Why is there enough left over to stand up and become a zombie?
seeso: Ha ha ha, good point.
timbre68: Well you did get the ones who escape with just a bite or two
timbre68: These are questions for Kirkman and Romero!
Fred Van Lente: At least in Marvel Zombies, there's KIND of an explanation...
Fred Van Lente: ...in that only super-powered corpses are left because they can defend themselves from each other.
preston: that part sorta makes sense
Fred Van Lente: I mean, it's not like you and I are drowning in half-eaten hamburgers.
Fred Van Lente: And we don't even have "THE HUNGER".
Fred Van Lente: Anyway, these are questions I did not have to confront until I became the "Marvel Zombies" writer.
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seeso: So, where are you from, Fred?
seeso: How did you get into writing?
Fred Van Lente: I'm from Cleveland, Ohio.
seeso: Aha. My condolences.
larry Lot of good comic people from Cleveland. Bendis, Vaughan, Sumerak... not to mention Seigel & Schuster and Harvey Pekar. Is it something in the water?
Fred Van Lente: I got into comics in college, when I was in the "Comics Club" at Syracuse University.
Fred Van Lente: There I met Steve Ellis, of Zuda's "High Moon" fame ... and Ryan Dunlavey, who'd later do "Action Philosophers" and "Comic Book Comics" with me.
Fred Van Lente: Steve and I did an independent crime comic called "The Silencers."
Fred Van Lente: That got me noticed by Marvel.
seeso: Right on, thanks!
Brian Cronin: Silencers was a fun book.
seeso: Where can I pick up a copy of "The Silencers?"
Brian Cronin: http://www.fredvanlente.com/silencers.htm
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Zombo: So, what did Brian threaten you with to get you to do this?
Brian Cronin: He knows
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seeso: What are your favorite comics right now?
Fred Van Lente: Right now, I'm enjoying the collected "Local" by Wood & Kelly....
Fred Van Lente: ...and "Berlin" Book 2 by Lutes...
seeso: I don't know any of these books.
Fred Van Lente: ...and Marvel Horror Essentials Vol. 1... which I have to read for one of the aforementioned projects above.... Hmmmmm...
Brian Cronin: Local, seeso, is about a young woman who travels to different locations
Brian Cronin: so each issue is a look at a different "local" scene
Brian Cronin: Berlin, meanwhile, is a stunning look at life in Berlin between the two World Wars
seeso: Oho. Filed into my brain.
timbre68: Local was amazing...
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Nitz the Bloody: hello, Mr. Van Lente, it's an honor to meet you (even by disembodied chat ). Quite enjoying Incredible Herc
Fred Van Lente: Thanks, Nitz!
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seeso: Fred, do you have a twitter account?
Fred Van Lente: You know, I've avoided all MySpace-Facebook-Twitter-etc. social networking sites like the plague.
seeso: Aha, noted.
Fred Van Lente: My friends convinced me to set up a MySpace account, but then I never used it...
seeso: Quesada has been twittering like a fiend lately.
timbre68: FACEBOOK is terrifying
Fred Van Lente: ...and I disconnected it when it wouldn't stop sending me links to porn and/or escort services.
seeso: lol
Fred Van Lente: I suppose I should get more involved and use it for self-promotion...
preston: MySpace does that??
Fred Van Lente: ...but I just find keeping up with it kinda draining, to be honest.
seeso: I see.
preston: Nah Fred, you don't need self-promotion, it's already in your writing
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seeso: So any aspirations to write a play?
Fred Van Lente: My wife, who just left us, is a playwright and we have talked about working on something together.
seeso: Whoa, sweet!
Fred Van Lente: But I'm not sure I'd want to tread on her turf on my own.
seeso: I'm an actor in Chicago, which is why I'm asking.
seeso: Gotcha.
Fred Van Lente: My wife has a play in Chicago right now!
seeso: No shit?
Fred Van Lente: Yup.
seeso: What is it?
seeso: I'll go see it.
Fred Van Lente: I'm yelling at her to tell me the name...
Fred Van Lente: It's at the "Side Project". Heard of it?
Fred Van Lente: "Cut to the Quick" is the festival/show.
seeso: Yes, I've seen some shows there!
seeso: Small theater, but good work.
seeso: Got it, it's called, "Agony in the Garden." I'll go see it.
_____________________________________

Brian Cronin: Dan Felty asked: Is the complete Action Philosophers I heard tell of going to be ready by Christmas? How about by Feb. 13th? My dad called the issue of AP I showed him the greatest thing in the history of things and I would love to get him a nice compilation as a gift!
Fred Van Lente: The AP collection will be ready for Christmas _2009_.
Fred Van Lente: We're 99% certain it's only going to be in softcover.
Fred Van Lente: I crunched the numbers for the hardcover, and it just didn't seem economically feasible.
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Brian Cronin: Speaking of Action Philosophers, let us take a moment to note how amazing the artwork by Ryan Dunlavey was on that project, and how he is killing it on Comic Book Comics now, as well!
Fred Van Lente: Yes, Ryan is great.
Fred Van Lente: And he is trying his best to crank out CBC #3 before the end of the year...
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Zombo: One quick question: who shot first: Han or Greedo?
Fred Van Lente: Han.
Zombo: Awesome.
_____________________________________

Brian Cronin: And Alexander asked: Fred, have you ever thought of writing a 2nd Ares mini? He seems to need a bit more fleshing out and with WWH and Secret Invasion. Not enough time has been spent with him.
timbre68: Did you write the first Ares mini?
Fred Van Lente: Well, Ares is primarily Brian Bendis' property.
Fred Van Lente: What I loved about Ares from reading about the myths...
Fred Van Lente: ...is that he's the Rodney Dangerfield of gods -- Nobody ever gives him any respect.
Fred Van Lente: He was largely despised as representing the bloodlust aspect of war.
Fred Van Lente: Athena was the strategist goddess of war.
preston: He's such a great character and yet no one seems to realize that he's fully fleshed out
Fred Van Lente: That's what we tried to get across in "Incredible Hercules".
preston: I think the definitive Bendis scene of him was in Secret Invasion where he told everyone to get the fuck out of the Savage Land and no one listened
preston: also there's this great humor about him even though he's somewhat of a straight man
preston: "Williams, now is not the time for you to be you"
Fred Van Lente: And I think Mike Oeming (who wrote that first "Ares," Timbre) did well in his original series.
timbre68: Yeah, I liked the Oeming series much more than his characterization in the Mighty Avengers...
Fred Van Lente: And Ares will be returning in the pages of iHerc sooner rather than later...
Fred Van Lente: ...'cause like he's kind of on a new hero team now, and everything...
Brian Cronin: Good to hear
preston: there is that
taimur: Poor Ares, He's already lost his daughter, Hippolyta
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YouKnowForKids: I just wanted to wish Mr. Van Lente and all a happy Fred Van Lente day, and thank Brian for introducing me to the joys of this holiday.
Fred Van Lente: And a great FVLD to you, YKFK!

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Fred Van Lente: Unfortunately, I'm leaving "Wolverine: First Class" with #12, which was a tough decision...
Fred Van Lente: ...but the "Free Comic Book Day" issue will be kind of a swan song, so that's nice.
Brian Cronin: Those books are almost impossible to stay on long term, Fred.
Brian Cronin: I mean from a creative standpoint
timbre68: Wow! Sorry to hear about Wolvie 1st Class - who's to follow?
Fred Van Lente: Yes, Brian, you're totally right, it can be very draining.
Fred Van Lente: On the average on-going comic, a 6 issue arc is basically one story. (At least the way I think of it.)
Fred Van Lente: While on the all-ages done-in-oners, you have 6 issues, you have to come up with 6 different stories.
Brian Cronin: Those types of books are best done with a writer doing a few issues here and there
Brian Cronin: Because burnout is just a guarantee after enough issues
timbre68: Well it's nice to see a creator who can do a single story in one issue. Shows great imagination and talent. KUDOS!
preston: yeah, done-in-ones are this lost art that very few writers can master
Hunter: I hope we get a big hardcover of your Wolverine First Class issues.
Fred Van Lente: I had heard talk of Borders doing a special edition WFC hardcover for the movie... Not sure if that's still on...
seeso: Interesting...
preston: cool
Hunter: I would buy it on a sec.
Brian Cronin: It'd be nice if Borders was still around for the Wolverine movie
Fred Van Lente: Yeah, right? That's why I'm not sure about the status of the WFC collection...
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Brian Cronin: Hey, Machine Man - you were a big fan pre-Nextwave as well, right? What did you like about him as a character?
Fred Van Lente: I really did like Nextwave, yeah!
Fred Van Lente: When we decided to put him in MZ3, I went out and got all the Kirby issues, which I think are really underappreciated.
Fred Van Lente: I think next to "Eternals," that was Kirby's best 1970's Marvel work.
timbre68: I liked when the Hulk tore him apart...
seeso: I really liked your explanation of why Machine Man took this new attitude towards life.
seeso: Ellis didn't really explain that in NextWave.
preston: it's been great so far though
Fred Van Lente: It's interesting how much what Ellis was doing, while obviously he took it to extremes...
Fred Van Lente: ...but a lot of it -- MM calling humans "Fleshies," the whole insurance job... That all comes right out of the Kirby/Ditko issues.
YouKnowForKids: Kirby introduced Machine Man in a 2001 tie-in, right? Does that make the monolith in Marvel continuity, I wonder? And will we find that it was actually Mr. Sinister who brought it to the moon?
seeso: No shit? Didn't know that.
Brian Cronin: yeah, he was a bit of a wiseass even back then
seeso: So it was there already.
Fred Van Lente: It would be great if Marvel did a 2001/MM Omnibus to go with Devil Dinosaur and Eternals...
Fred Van Lente: ...since those 2001 issues are impossible to find, and believe me, I've tried...
YouKnowForKids: It would go along well with the current Machine Man and Kirby love, though.
timbre68: They may not have the rights to 2001
Fred Van Lente: Right, exactly, I think the 2001 rights are the issue.
Brian Cronin: they do not have the rights.
Brian Cronin: but they've worked out stuff in the past with other licensed projects
Brian Cronin: so it is feasible
Brian Cronin: like doing one single printing of essential Godzilla
Fred Van Lente: Maybe we can start a letter-writing campaign to Fox (or whoever owns them)...
Fred Van Lente: What studio did 2001?
Brian Cronin: 2001 was a joint project, so I have no idea who owns the rights
timbre68: Write to Asimov or the Kubrick estate...
Hunter: Would it be that expensive to get the rights for a reprint? It's not like there is a lot of 2001 merchandising out there...
Fred Van Lente: I imagine the problem is that unlike "Star Wars" which has a bulk of back material you can make $$$ out of...
Fred Van Lente: ...2001 may not be profitable enough to the Insane Rabid Kirby Fan Specialty Market (of which I am a proud member) to warrant the license fee.
Brian Cronin: I bet they'd be willing to do it, it's just a question if the price is worth it to marvel
Brian Cronin: Hah, or what Fred just said
Hunter: Well, there is a bunch of Master of Kung-Fu to reprint and Marvel doesn't get the right either...
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ex: Marvel Zombies 3 and Incredible Hercules are amazing!
ex: Thank you!
Fred Van Lente: Thanks, Ex!
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seeso: Any word on when you can announce your secret projects?
Fred Van Lente: One secret project you'll know about next month.
seeso: Sweet, thanks.
Fred Van Lente: That is a lock for April, so I imagine you'll be hearing about sooner rather than later.
Fred Van Lente: Oh, and then there's Secret Project #5, which is coming out next month and is very different than all the others.
seeso: A Marvel project?
Fred Van Lente: Yes, Marvel is #5.
seeso: Cool.
preston: wait, so it's been announced?
Fred Van Lente: Oh, and #2 reunites me with my SUPER VILLAIN TEAM UP compadre, Francis Portela, and that is 100% awesome.
seeso: Right on. I'll be picking that one up. MODOK's Eleven was so underappreciated.
_____________________________________

Brian Cronin: Hey, do the Gurihiru folks speak English?
Fred Van Lente: Brian, they do not. They have a great translator, Aki.
_____________________________________

timbre68: Is secret project #5 a team book -- hope your head doesn't explode
Fred Van Lente: #5 -- Sort of.
timbre68: The Legion of Monsters -- Werewolf by Night, Frankenstein, Santana,
Fred Van Lente: You may be on to something there...
Fred Van Lente: ...crap! Chip tickling! Never mind. "I KNOW NOTHINK!!"
timbre68: hehehehe
seeso: Awesome. Some horror teases...
ex: The end of Marvel Zombies 3 is going to lead to some new horror titles, right? Right!?
Fred Van Lente: Mmmmmmmaybe.
timbre68: MORBIUS!!!
_____________________________________

seeso: I also thought your Living Laser portrayal was really well done and tragic.
seeso: I really felt sorry for the poor guy...
Fred Van Lente: Little known fact:
Fred Van Lente: Living Laser is Ryan Dunlavey's all-time favorite comic book character.
seeso: Ha ha, good to know.
Fred Van Lente: That's why I put him in there.
Fred Van Lente: Because then I knew Ryan would buy it.
Brian Cronin: yeah, your Laser portrayal - was that inspired at all by Kaminski's run on Iron Man?
Fred Van Lente: No, believe it or not I hadn't read a single Iron Man comic for any significant period of time before I got the "Marvel Adventures Iron Man" gig.
timbre68: The Living Laser, really. That's an obscure favorite character
_____________________________________

YouKnowForKids: Well, my procrastinatory drop-in to FVLD chat needs to end - time to resume grading student papers. Thanks for spending the time with us, Fred!
YouKnowForKids: I look forward to reading more of your stuff.
Fred Van Lente: Flunk 'em all, YKFK!
YouKnowForKids: Nah, they're good kids.
Fred Van Lente: Oh, in that case pass 'em all.
YouKnowForKids: Can do, and I'll tell them that you said to. Thanks!
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ex: It seems like Hercules is joining the Mighty Avengers -- does this make it tougher to write him now?
Fred Van Lente: Not really, Ex, Dan Slott and Greg and I are coordinating stuff pretty well.
ex: You need to collaborate and make sure things aren't wrong in the MA title, if he stays
timbre68: Is continuity really a headache?
Fred Van Lente: Yes.
Fred Van Lente: BUT...
Fred Van Lente: ...I do think ignoring it is "breaking the rules." I know I -- and most writers I know, really -- make a very conscious effort not to violate it.
Fred Van Lente: But there's so goddamn much of it, never violating it is a pracitcal impossibility.
Fred Van Lente: And, you know, so much of it is so terribly stupid.
nas: so does it bother you when fans point it out when/IF you DO violate continuity?
seeso: I don't care that much about continuity. I just want good stories.
preston: X-men noir must be a fresh breath of air
timbre68: too true. as long as the story is good and the characters are in character
Brian Cronin: I liked Wolverine First Class for a bit.
Brian Cronin: But then I realized that the costume did not fit into continuity, and I was PISSED
Fred Van Lente: Ha ha ha! Nice one, Brian.
Fred Van Lente: The horrors of FVLD last year.
Fred Van Lente: It doesn't really bother me anymore, now that I'm more established.
Fred Van Lente: When you're more of an unknown quantity, you tend to be more sensitive to that kind of stuff.
ex: Any plans for a Incredible Herc and Hulk team-up or meet-up or something any time soon?
Fred Van Lente: Ex: Not beyond the "Hulk vs. Hercules" one-shot, no, not at the moment.
Fred Van Lente: Wait -- What am I saying?
Fred Van Lente: Read INCREDIBLE HERCULES #126!
preston: Well, Hercules and Hulk are gonna be in Mighty Avengers
ex: Yes!
seeso: Ooh, cool!
preston: so minus the VS.
preston: You could make Herc's new costume the Borat swimsuit and I'd still read it.
Fred Van Lente: Dude, his Kirby costume practically IS the Borat swimsuit...
preston: rofl
Brian Cronin: You should bring back the mid-90s look
Brian Cronin: No beard, mullet, big metal shoulder pads and a t-shirt
seeso: Ugh, the mid 90's look was teh suck
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seeso: Are you going to Chicago Comicon next year?
timbre68: Do you know of your convention schedule for next year?
Fred Van Lente: I think we'll be at Stumptown (in Portalnd? Or Seattle?), maybe Toronto, maybe San Diego, definitely New York Comic Con & MoCCA Art Fest.
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ex: Why wasn't Hera invited to the Cabal!?
Fred Van Lente: Read INCREDIBLE HERCULES #127!
ex: YES!
seeso: Hera may be aligning herself with the Cabal.
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Gokitalo: Of the creative sound effects you've come up with for Incredible Herc, which has been your favorite so far?
seeso: I like the "grgpk" one.
seeso: lol
Fred Van Lente: Confession time!
Fred Van Lente: Those awesome sound effects?
Fred Van Lente: 99% are the work of our assistant editor, Nate Cosby.
Fred Van Lente: He puts them while he's ballooning the art for the letterers.
seeso: Whoa, didn't know that.
timbre68: Nate Cosby---talented editor!
seeso: Awesome.
Gokitalo: Nate Cosby is a brilliant man
Fred Van Lente: So, I can't take any credit.
Fred Van Lente: So when Hercules punches Kly'bn across the room at the climax of "Sacred Invasion"...
preston: Btw, what's up with Tom Halloway in X-Men Noir? Did you just want to replace the Angel who apparently committed suicide by "doing his impression of a birdie" or are you going to play up some Golden Age ties there?
Brian Cronin: Who is your favorite non-Klein letterer of all time?
Fred Van Lente: ...the SFX is "NA-COSBOOM!"
Fred Van Lente: That was me.
Gokitalo: Ha!
seeso: "NA-COSBOOM!" Ha ha!
Fred Van Lente: Mr. Cosby, the X-Noir Editor, was the one who suggested we used the Angel.
Fred Van Lente: And I'm glad he did! The character has been terrific
_____________________________________

seeso: You seem to be able to write a lot of different genres. Is there any one style that you think suits you best? What's your "wheel house?"
Fred Van Lente: I like a lot of different genres.
Fred Van Lente: It keeps me from getting too stale.
_____________________________________

ex: Are you going to be writing any of the other Noir titles?
ex: If not, who is? Or are the writers tied to the future projects secret?
Fred Van Lente: Ex, no, I don't think I am.
Fred Van Lente: The complexity and research that went into "X Men Noir" meant I didn't have much left over for converting other franchises.
Fred Van Lente: Wouldn't mind doing an X-sequel, though...
Brian Cronin: Power Pack Noir
Fred Van Lente: Power Pack Noir = They all work in a Dickensain match factory.
Fred Van Lente: Or they're "newsies."
seeso: lol
taimur: Christian Bale's finest
b>Brian Cronin: He peaked then
seeso: Oh yeah, Bale was in that!
seeso: LOL
Fred Van Lente: Wasn't Kenneth Branagh in it too? Or am I thinking of something else?
seeso: No Branagh in Newsies
_____________________________________

timbre68: Who would win Thor or the Hulk?
Fred Van Lente: I think Thor and Hulk would verily rip the very Earth asunder before such a contest 'tween champions was decided.
timbre68: Good Answer!
_____________________________________

seeso: Who do you think should play Captain America?
Fred Van Lente: My mom.
seeso: LOL
preston: Beyonce
Fred Van Lente: "Fred's Mom IS.... CAPTAIN AMERICA!"
timbre68: You must have an awesome mom...did she buy you comics!
Fred Van Lente: She did, and read them to me too!
_____________________________________

Brian Cronin: Why do people give Power Pack such crap? It's a great comic!
Fred Van Lente: Brian, that's a question I've asked myself many a time.
Brian Cronin: "Comics Should Be Like When I was a Kid!" But if you do a comic for kids, it gets shit on!
Brian Cronin: So when we get Power Pack in the regular Marvel Universe, we have struggling actress Julie or Alex steals the other kids' powers
Fred Van Lente: Marvel is feverishly trying to figure out how to use the Power Pack in 616, believe you me...
.Hunter: Power Pack is cool.
seeso: I want to see the other Power Pack kids in 616
Fred Van Lente: I think there is some insecurity out there that if superheroes aren't relentlessly "mature" all the time...
Fred Van Lente: ...there's a fear that the perception of the medium will continue to be thought of as "for kids"...
Fred Van Lente: ...as opposed to, you know, there can be comics for kids, for superhero fans, for non-fiction readers, etc. ...
seeso: Word.
Fred Van Lente: I guess you could have a cookbook as a comic, too, but I don't know quite how that would work.
preston: that'd be excellent
preston: the visual medium is perfect for instructions!
preston: captions full of easy to steps!
Hunter: In Japan and France there are comics for everyone.
nas: "Cooking for Comic Fans, by Fred's Mom...who is Captain America"?
preston: *head explodes*
Fred Van Lente: "KICK HITLER'S ASS WITH THESE RECIPES by Fred's (Captain America) Mom"
Brian Cronin: Google Chrome Instructions
Gokitalo: That's secret project #5 right there
Fred Van Lente: Nice try, Gokitalo: No, it isn't.
Fred Van Lente: One of them is an all-ages project, though.
seeso: I'd love to see Power Pack get back together in 616.
seeso: How old is Alex now? 20?
Hunter: You just know that SOMEONE will want to kill, rape or maim them.
Fred Van Lente: "Show me on the doll where the villain touched you."
Brian Cronin: I don't mind them being in regular continuity, but when they do, they keep trying to do "serious" stories
Brian Cronin: or making them all in their 20s
Hunter: It's bad enough they grew up...
preston: They should play up a younger Fantastic Four angle
preston: I mean the family aspect shouldn't be an obstacle but a strength
Fred Van Lente: Power Pack is rough because the continuity is all F-ed up.
Fred Van Lente: I don't entirely understand how Franklin Richards is still a little kid and Alex Power now shaves.
Brian Cronin: Exactly
_____________________________________

timbre68: An all ages Thor would be cool, especially with your knowledge of mythology
Fred Van Lente: You will be pleased by a coming announcement, then, although I'm not involved...
timbre68: Sweet!
_____________________________________

Greg: Fred, would you say working on the periphery of the Marvel universe has afforded you more freedom than if you were writing one of Marvel's 'big name titles' and if so would you be interested in working on one of the aforementioned "big name titles" or are you happier working on the more 'second tier' titles with more freedom?
Fred Van Lente: Yes, it has afforded me more freedom, which I do appreciate.
Fred Van Lente: As I said before, "Fantastic Four" would be a lot of fun.
Fred Van Lente: Come to think of it, "Avengers," which is the comic I collected as a kid.
preston: You'd be great on it, it'd be very Waid-like
Fred Van Lente: But if I can do an "Alpha Flight" revival, I'd throw either of those over in a second!
preston: Excuse my comparing you to other writers btw
Fred Van Lente: 'S cool.
nas: Who're your favorite Alpha Flight members, Fred?
timbre68: Alpha Flight! Old School Alpha Flight with Byrne on pencils
preston: Hopefully AF is one of the aforementioned secret projects pending approval
preston: don't have to say anything though, wouldn't want that chip to explode
Fred Van Lente: No. I wish.
preston: ahh, me too
Fred Van Lente: Northstar is probably my all time favorite.
Fred Van Lente: Followed by Puck.
Fred Van Lente: Snowbird, obviously.
Fred Van Lente: Talisman.
Hunter: Geez, if Power Pack continuity is bad, Alpha Flight is a disaster.
preston: We'll say it was Mephisto and clones
taimur: Did you cry after New Avengers #16?
ex: Which one was New Avengers 16?
preston: the Alpha Flight massacre
ex: Ah
Fred Van Lente: I cried after Bill Mantlo and Mike Mignola, and never got over it.
Fred Van Lente: No offense to either of those fine creators.
Fred Van Lente: Of course, I had literally JUST subscribed and then, the second issue, Byrne left.
Fred Van Lente: ARGH!
_____________________________________

J-Dub: Hi, Fred. I picked up the Hulk family issue that came out this week, and I noticed that you did two stories in there. Were those written just for that special or were they inventory stories?
J-Dub: btw, I loved both stories.
Fred Van Lente: J-Dub, they were written both for that 1-shot.
_____________________________________

Brian Cronin: Speaking of Mephisto, since everyone's favorite topic if One More Day, if it were up to you - would Spidey be married or single?
timbre68: I'm loving the current Spider-man
seeso: Me too.
preston: me too
Fred Van Lente: Single. I'm good buddies with Jim Salicrup, with whom I serve on the board of the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art here in New York...
Fred Van Lente: ...and he's very proud of how well that annual sold.
Fred Van Lente: But as a kid I stopped reading Spidey when that happened -- I wasn't mad or anything, I just lost interest in him, felt like I couldn't relate.
_____________________________________

Amp: Wow, I can't believe this is still going on
Amp: I lost track of time because I'm on a different continent, and I thought this would be over by now
Fred Van Lente: Amp, a Fred Van Lente Day party don't stop.
Brian Cronin: Come on, Amp, this is Fred Van Lente here! He won't let you down!
Amp: haha
_____________________________________

seeso: Whoa you're on the MoCCA board? Awesome. Who else is on it?
seeso: Ellen S. Abramowitz, Chairman David J. Ennis 2, Vice Chairman Lawrence Klein, Chairman Emeritus Ken Fisher Mark J. Lerner Keith Mayerson Roger Reed Jim Salicrup Jeff Trexler Fred Van Lente
_____________________________________

timbre68: What Annual - Salicrup?
Brian Cronin: The Annual where Spider-Man got married, timbre, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #21
Fred Van Lente: Jim edited the Wedding Annual. I forget the number.
Hunter: I'm loving the current Spider-Man too. For the first time in a decade or so!
Fred Van Lente: Oh, and I'm doing an issue of ASM in March. I'm stoked!
Brian Cronin: oh very cool
ex: YES!
Fred Van Lente: A MODOK's 11 member returns to menace the Wall Crawler... Oooooooh....
nas: Fred on Spidey - YES!
ex: Enticing!
preston: What??
timbre68: Ah FVL on Spider-man fantastic...that Martin guys does the best Spidey!
seeso: HOLY SHIT
preston: FVL on ASM!!
seeso: Dude, so awesome.
preston: Awesome!
Amp: Fred, are you happy with the current status of Spidey?
Fred Van Lente: Steve Wacker is awesome to work with.
seeso: Who's your artist?
preston: the SPOT??
seeso: It's gotta be Spot.
preston: I loved him in the old cartoons
Hunter: Rocket Racer?
seeso: So you can't tell us the artist yet, I presume?
seeso: I hope it's Martin.
nas: The Spot! Do it, Fred! DO IT
preston: is this just a one-off or are they gonna tap you for more ASM in the future?
timbre68: FVL on Spidey! I smell an Eisner! Single issue story?
Fred Van Lente: Yes.
Hunter: Van Lente on Spidey, great news!
Gokitalo: "The 34-year-old fanboy who collected Spider-Man"
Fred Van Lente: I don't think I can reveal the artist, no.
Brian Cronin: Wow, Steve Ditko is returning to draw an issue of spider-man written by Fred!
Brian Cronin: You heard it here, first!
seeso: lol
Amp: tell everyone!
Fred Van Lente: You know, I got one of Ditko's self-published collections of essays recently...
Fred Van Lente: ...and the first essay is a total denunciation of the "Marvel Zombies" franchise.
Fred Van Lente: So, even though I'd love to work with Ditko, I don't think I'd past muster with him.
seeso: LOL, he must love you then.
J-Dub: Wow, so the essays are all recent?
nas: Wait, before I go: give me the name of that Ditko book - please
Fred Van Lente: Here, my bookshelf is behind me...
Fred Van Lente: It's 2007's "The Avenging Mind".

Fred Van Lente: And the MZ essay is the first one - dated 2007, so pretty recent, yeah.
Brian Cronin: Ayn Rand hated zombies
Fred Van Lente: Well, yeah, actually that's exactly it...
Fred Van Lente: The Randian notion of the "hero" is an idealized individual who should provide a model of virtuous reason...
Gokitalo: Maybe Marvel Zombies 4 should have a flamethrower-wielding Ayn Rand as a guest star...
Brian Cronin: that would be a great action philosophers/marvel zombies crossover
Fred Van Lente: ...and the MZ franchise, with its decaying, flesh-munching Spider-Men and such is part of the "Looter" culture to undermine and weaken correct moral values, etc., etc. ...
Fred Van Lente: Part of the reason, in fact, that Peter Parker lost his glasses in the mid-teens of Spider-Man (whenever it was)...
Fred Van Lente: ...was that Ditko was starting to become more and more influenced by Rand's ideas and wanted to idealize Spidey more.
seeso: Wow!
Fred Van Lente: That's all in Blake Bell's great biography, "Strange & Stranger," which Fantagraphics brought out this year.

Brian Cronin: Right, and it drove him NUTS that lee kept having peter be more of an everyman in the dialogue
Fred Van Lente: And he would denounce protestors on his college campus and such.
Fred Van Lente: (Peter Parker, that is, not Ditko.)
Gokitalo: Ha, I remember Neil Gaiman talking about that
preston: oh yeah, I heard about that whole Lee/Ditko characterization dispute
Brian Cronin: What's fascinating to me is how Ditko was okay with Foswell being redeemed
Brian Cronin: How the heck does Foswell getting redeemed tie in with the idea of objectivism?
Fred Van Lente: I have the Omnibus here, I'll have to check that out...
Fred Van Lente: My understanding is that Ditko's ideas became more and more calcified after he left Marvel.
_____________________________________

ex: Will Hercules be affected by the Dark Reign?
Fred Van Lente: "Dark Reign" will fall on Herc, Cho and Athena like a ton of bricks.
ex: Now we're talkin'!
_____________________________________

timbre68: Gotta go...It's my kids birthday party night
Fred Van Lente: Enjoy, Timbre! Happy birthday to them.
_____________________________________

J-Dub: I saw you do that great panel for all ages books in New York last year with the slides, now that you are doing more and more main marvel universe books, do you see yourself leaving the all ages books behind?
Fred Van Lente: J-Dub, unfortunately I have left most of my All-Ages books behind, but we hope to change that in 2009.
J-Dub: Right on, I'm glad to hear you will do more all ages, I've really come to know you as a great all ages writer, even though I first started following your works with the Silencers.
_____________________________________

seeso: All right guys. Gotta go. Thanks for answering so many of my questions, Fred! Good luck to you, and I'll watch your wife's play!
Fred Van Lente: She thanks you, Seeso! As do I...
_____________________________________

Amp: Fred, what all ages book would you like to do that would never be expected, like All-Ages Punisher or something like that?
Gokitalo: Do All-Ages Punisher, Fred!
Fred Van Lente: Honestly, I thought "Wolverine: First Class" was pretty crazy when it was proposed to me.
Fred Van Lente: That's why I insisted Kitty should be there.
Brian Cronin: Good idea, Fred
Fred Van Lente: Otherwise it would be 22 pages of Wolverine NOT stabbing people.
Fred Van Lente: NOT getting shot.
Fred Van Lente: Et cetera...
Brian Cronin: Kitty makes the book
Greg: well, great job on taking a concept you weren't sure about and making a book that is consistently enjoyable and fun with it
Me: I loved it

Brian Cronin: By the way, I love how the first issue had the problems with the costume AND kitty's chest
Fred Van Lente: I actually complained about Kitty's chest.
Fred Van Lente: Fortunately, they reduced it in the published version.
Fred Van Lente: I know breasts are getting bigger with all those hormones they put in milk and all...
Fred Van Lente: But she was supposed to be 13 1/2...
preston: Kitty's always been the token small breasted comic woman for me
_____________________________________

ex: FVL, do you read DC as well?
Fred Van Lente: I read very little superhero stuff, primarily because I eat, breathe and crap this stuff 24/7, and so when it gets to be "Fred Time" I'm rarely like, "Hey, let's read a superhero comic!"
Fred Van Lente: But you know, I loved Ellis's Thunderbolts.
Fred Van Lente: And "Dr. Thirteen" from Azzarello.
Gokitalo: Oh man, Dr. Thirteen
Gokitalo: I've wanted that for ages
preston: Dr. 13 was so underrated
preston: and ended on a cliffhanger, lol!
J-Dub: Dr.13 was terrific
_____________________________________

Me: Hi Fred and thank you so much for Action Philosophers. Could you please consider doing the same thing for scientists in the future?
Amp: Wasn't there a Fraction book about scientists? Five Fists of Science?
Fred Van Lente: You're welcome, Me! And Five Fists of Science was fiction.
Amp: Oh, i haven't gotten around to read it yet
Fred Van Lente: Probably not with the scientists, because Jim Ottavani does a great job with science guys with his GNs he self-publishes through his own company, GT Labs.
Me: I didn't know about Jim Ottaviani and it looks great. Thanks!
Fred Van Lente: Tell Jim I sent you.
_____________________________________

Brian Cronin: what has received more nit-picking? action philosophers or comic book comics?
Fred Van Lente: Neither, actually.
Fred Van Lente: The nit-picking has in general been very respectful.
Fred Van Lente: At NYCC one year I got into a spirited discussion with a Judiasm scholar
Fred Van Lente: who seemed to think I was saying that the Kabbalah was directly responsible for the rise of Hasidism
Fred Van Lente: and I didn't think I had. I hope I'm remembering that correctly.
Fred Van Lente: But it was hilarious because it's not the usual kind of heated Talmudic argument you usually find in the Javitz Center next to Molly Crabapple's Table
Fred Van Lente: where a burlesque dancer had "SLUT" written the back of her black panties.
Fred Van Lente: Philosophy is everywhere!!!
Brian Cronin: hah
Fred Van Lente: Fred = Total Goy
Brian Cronin: How many letters did you guys get from actual professors?
Fred Van Lente: Yes, I get letters from college professors all the time.
Fred Van Lente: What's awesome is I got a letter, and chatted on the phone, with a major from West Point. They use AP in their ethics classes there.
_____________________________________

Amp: What's the weirdest thing that has happened to you in a con?
Fred Van Lente: The weirdest thing at a con...
Fred Van Lente: I was at Wizard World Phlly as a "guest," so I had this signing table in Artist's Alley.
Fred Van Lente: This girl -- well, young woman, 19 or something -- came over to look at Action Philosophers and Comic Book Comics I had spread out there.
Fred Van Lente: I was chatting with her, and, all of a sudden, she realized she had lost her con badge that had been around her neck.
Brian Cronin: Dude, why did you steal her badge? Uncool
Fred Van Lente: She literally burst into tears right in front of me and sat down in front of the table.
ex: WTF
Fred Van Lente: She then picked up her cell phone and called her friend and told her about it, right in front of the table, blocking traffic, people staring at her, the whole thing...
ex: Why did she cry?
Fred Van Lente: It was totally bizarre. I would have asked her if I could help her, but she was on the phone!
Amp: Haha, wow
Fred Van Lente: After about five minutes she left and went to go find the badge.
preston: I bet she was sent by Bendis
Fred Van Lente: (Later I saw she found her and she had found the badge - So I gave her the thumb's up.)
Amp: A happy ending!
Fred Van Lente: This one time, I was at a really crappy little Niagra Falls, NY show with Ryan and this metalhead comes up, looks at our comics, looks at us, and just goes
Fred Van Lente: "I like gore."
Fred Van Lente: And walks away!
J-Dub: haha
Amp: Al Gore?
Fred Van Lente: Ryan and I cracked up and that is now the definitive con story with us to this day, like a decade later.
Gokitalo: Ha!
Fred Van Lente: Body parts gore.
Fred Van Lente: I think Al was still VP at this point...
preston: What an inconvenient truth
Amp: Did he at least say it in the Crypt Keeper's voice?
Fred Van Lente: He said it in Beavis and/or Butthead's voice.
_____________________________________

Brian Cronin: what's the longest time someone (that you did not know personally) has spent at your table without buying anything?
Fred Van Lente: Oh, half the afternoon. Easily.
Fred Van Lente: Most often when the buddies of the guy at the table next to you camp out to hang for the bulk of the day.
_____________________________________

preston: btw are you and Greg building up towards some sort of huge Greek mythological climax in Hercules, what with all the flashbacks we get of his life, or are those just framing sequences?
Fred Van Lente: Yes.
preston: yes to the first hypothetical answer or the second?
Fred Van Lente: 1st
preston: cool beans
Fred Van Lente: But it's happening in the present, not in old-timey times.
Fred Van Lente: That's how it's always referred to in the script: "Old-timey times"
preston: Cool. Drama's always better when it's not retroactive.
_____________________________________

Brian Cronin: Will we ever see more silencers?
Fred Van Lente: Probably not. Steve has his hands full with "High Moon".
J-Dub: Sucks about Silencers... i always remember the first image's issue's editorial page saying it was the 1st and last issue, which sucked.
_____________________________________

Greg: Fred, will we be seeing Herc interacting with gods from other pantheons again any time soon or will he be sticking mostly to the Greek sandbox?
Fred Van Lente: Yes, and especially the one pantheon everyone has said he should interact with.
_____________________________________

Fred Van Lente: My friends, this has been awesome, but we have officially hit the 120 minute mark -- Whoo hoo!
Fred Van Lente: And, no kidding, my hands actually really hurt...
Brian Cronin: quite impressive
Fred Van Lente: Brian, thank you so much for putting this together.
J-Dub: Thanks Fred and Brian!
Fred Van Lente: It has been awesome!
Amp: thanks Fred
preston: good bye everybody, and thanks Fred and Brian!
Fred Van Lente: Thanks for all the great comments, and great questions.
ex: Thanks
Brian Cronin: Okie doke, thanks a lot, Fred, and thanks to everyone for coming! A nice turn out this holiday!

3 Comments

• At December 9, 2008, Michael wrote:

  I realize it was one line in a two-hour chat, but: I have never understood, and will never understand, people ...

• At December 10, 2008, Beacon wrote:

  I must have that power too because eight-year old me became a fan of married Spidey in 1990 and I ...

• At December 10, 2008, Somebody wrote:

  *also started reading Spidey well, WELL after he was married, while still a kid*

  Basically, anyone who started reading Spidey IN ...

Fred will do a live online chat this Fred Van Lente Day starting at 3:30 pm Eastern time!

(Although I'm sure you already know) Fred is the co-writer of Incredible Hercules, writer of Marvel Zombies 3, Wolverine First Class, Comic Book Comics, Action Philosophers, and a bunch of other comics!

So stop by the blog at 3:25pm to get a link to the chat room!

8 Comments

• At December 2, 2008, Matt D wrote:

  I heard through the grapevine that there are bigger and better things in store for FVL with his run on ...

• At December 2, 2008, Dean wrote:

  Ah, Fred Van Lente Day, when Fred Van Lente comes down the chimney, delivering high-quality comics to good children!

  ...

• At December 2, 2008, Gokitalo wrote:

  I dare say Fred Van Lente Day deserves its own tag!

• At December 2, 2008, Dan Felty wrote:

  I don't know if I can make it to this chat; please get across the following question if you can:

  Is ...

• At December 3, 2008, JackKing wrote:

  I can't believe it's that time of year already.

• At December 3, 2008, Dunc wrote:

  Dan's point seconded. I've got the last trade so I'd love access to either the first two or that complation'd ...

• At December 4, 2008, Eric wrote:

  4th annual? Man, I'm late to the show. I've been really into his work since he started on Hercules, and ...

• At December 4, 2008, Alexander wrote:

  Fred,have you ever thought of writing a 2nd Ares mini? He seems to need a bit more fleshing out and ...

Mostly anything goes, question-wise. The only criteria is whether I like the question or not, so don't bother asking belligerent questions or anything like that, because I won't be passing those along.

Everyone else, send your questions to bcronin@comicbookresources.com. Do note - send your questions via e-mail! Questions in the comments will not be asked.

You have until December 9th to submit your question!

49 Comments

• At December 2, 2008, Gala wrote:

  When exactly did you join the spider-trust?

  And are you an active member or you "just" deliver some stories on your ...

• At December 2, 2008, Tom Fitzpatrick wrote:

  My question is this: When are you and Mr. Kitson re-uniting to work on the second EMPIRE mini-series?

  The first ...

• At December 2, 2008, fb1990 wrote:

  Whats the truth behind the rumour that when Robinson 'quit DC' you were offered to do his Superman book and ...

• At December 2, 2008, Michael wrote:

  My question would be "When do you sleep?"

• At December 2, 2008, Goh Mifune wrote:

  What are your thoughts on the necessity to periodically re-imagine characters or properties in general, especially when it pertains to ...

• At December 2, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Who was your favourite artist to work with, firstly in comics in general, but more intriguingly (sp.?), on "The Flash"? ...

• At December 2, 2008, Dunc wrote:

  What are you most proud of in your body of work, either in terms of pure storytelling or in what ...

• At December 2, 2008, jorge f. muñoz wrote:

  man, talk about following instructions.

• At December 2, 2008, Ricardo wrote:

  Can we expect more DeMatteis and Giffen stuff on Boom?

• At December 2, 2008, Ricardo wrote:

  ...except that comments will not be read... hahaha

• At December 2, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Doh!

  Followed the herd...

  Thanks Jorge!

• At December 2, 2008, Nick Marino wrote:

  What's the plan for the Muppets comics? Are we going to see these monthly on the stands or is the ...

• At December 2, 2008, Rob R. wrote:

  I used to read the comics letters pages almost as thoroughly as I read the comics themselves -- and I ...

• At December 2, 2008, Scott MacIver wrote:

  Mark Waid is a pretty cool interviewee. I think this could be good.

• At December 2, 2008, Eric Kayser wrote:

  When wil the Disney/Pixar comics be solicited? My young daughter is very interested in my "cartoon books", yet I'm hesitate ...

• At December 2, 2008, Alex Brokaw wrote:

  What comics are you not involved with that read on a regular basis? Do you still find time to ...

• At December 2, 2008, Anonymous wrote:

  Guys, read the instructions!

• At December 2, 2008, Omar Karindu wrote:

  It seems to me that you provide omnipotent or pseudo-omnipotent archfoes, motivated largely by egotism and malice, in your runs ...

• At December 2, 2008, Omar Karindu wrote:

  Actually, let's just make that the last two questions in the rambling paragraph I just posted: What processes do you ...

• At December 2, 2008, Chris J. Thompson wrote:

  Mark,

  Some people have referred to you as not being 'fan-friendly'. Do you feel this is a fair comment and/or do ...

• At December 2, 2008, Jae Yu wrote:

  In an all-out fight between Superman and Thor, who do you think would win? Also, what is your personal opinion ...

• At December 2, 2008, Rockin' Rich wrote:

  How does it feel to be writing for a bunch of illiterates?

• At December 2, 2008, Northstar-9 wrote:

  Of the many artists you've worked with, who do you think you shared the greatest synergy with? And of the ...

• At December 2, 2008, Grimace wrote:

  my question: when are Boom Studio comics actually going to sell well? what happened to the Book Studio Gears of ...

• At December 2, 2008, Bob Shubey wrote:

  Is that you, Grim?

• At December 2, 2008, JackKing wrote:

  "Do note - send your questions via e-mail! Questions in the comments will not be asked."

• At December 2, 2008, Gus wrote:

  Now that your doing some Spider-man work, do you see any real noticable difference between the stories that are being ...

• At December 2, 2008, Mikhail Bakunin wrote:

  Every time my DHL box of comics arrives, my kids want to know just one thing: When is the Wall-E ...

• At December 2, 2008, Richard Ian Bird wrote:

  Looking forward to the Mark Waid interview, I was wondering what advise someone like Mark Waid would give to the ...

• At December 2, 2008, Anonamonous wrote:

  The instructions make no sense....

  Why should everyone send their questions via email? Wouldn't it make more sense to see ...

• At December 2, 2008, Phil wrote:

  I just came into a box of old comic books from what looks like 1964, 1965, and 1966. They include ...

• At December 2, 2008, Adam Johnson wrote:

  What projects are you looking forward to now you're editor-in-chief of a new young comic publisher?

• At December 2, 2008, Frankie Five Angels wrote:

  What happened to The Godfather comic Boom was going to publish?

• At December 2, 2008, T.C. wrote:

  Whatever happen to G.I. Spy????

• At December 2, 2008, mightygodking wrote:

  Do you like my suit?

• At December 2, 2008, tombo914 wrote:

  What inspires you? Who do you read (Non-comics related)? What artists'(Non-comic related) inspire you?

• At December 3, 2008, Dunc wrote:

  *slaps forehead*

• At December 3, 2008, 666MasterOfPuppets wrote:

  Hey Mark.

  Is there any truth to the rumor about you almost becoming the new writer of "Superman"? What happened?

  And how ...

• At December 3, 2008, Scott wrote:

  Since you are now at Boom, any chance that the War of the Worlds series could be revived? The ...

• At December 3, 2008, 666MasterOfPuppets wrote:

  And I meant how would you write him "now". Would there be any difference to how you wrote Superman in ...

• At December 3, 2008, Grimace wrote:

  What happened to the Godfather comic book series? Why do you guys announce stuff and then it doesn't come out?

• At December 3, 2008, martinjdekay wrote:

  Who's joining you at the artist for your All Star Superman run?

• At December 3, 2008, Corey wrote:

  As a Shocker fan I wanted to say thanks for using him in your Spider-Man story.

  Any Spider-Man villains(new or old) ...

• At December 3, 2008, El Charro Ninja wrote:

  There is any possibility for a Spider-Man/Superman animated movie or videogame?

  With the DCU/Mortal Kombat hype, a DC/Marvel videogame would be ...

• At December 3, 2008, Matt D wrote:

  I bet they would have understood what was going on here if everything was in yellow caption boxes with Brian's ...

• At December 3, 2008, Jeff Ryan wrote:

  Mark,

  Why do I always confuse you with Jeph Loeb? I think it's because your first and names names all have ...

• At December 3, 2008, Grimace wrote:

  Why do you agree to do interviews where the interviewer is censoring questions because they might be seen as belligerent? ...

• At December 3, 2008, Dan Felty wrote:

  Hey Brian, I sent you some questions. Good luck!

• At December 4, 2008, Patrick wrote:

  What was up with Wonder Woman's weird characterization in Kingdom Come?

To see the transcript, read on!

Enjoy!

Brian Cronin: Thanks for coming, Steve, we got over 100 questions for you - over 20 of them were even usuable!

Stephen Wacker: You can tell everyone up top that we aren't going to stop publishing Spidey or go back to Pete being married, so if that drives you nuts, you can stop reading now.

Brian Cronin: Duly noted!
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Actually, on the subject of unusable questions, one fellow sent me a question that opened with "Thanks for doing this segment. As journalists, I hope you're willing to field some constructively critical questions to S. Wacker."

Stephen Wacker: Ah, this'll be good: "Do you try to suck so hard, Steve?"

Brian Cronin: And included such gems as: When are you going to undo this absolutely destructive retcon? Let us know so that we can know when to be the least bit interesting [sic] in Spider-Man again?

Brian Cronin: So I was curious, what is the most convoluted way someone has tried to insult you via a question?

Stephen Wacker: I wish I could remember. When you grow up a chubby, stuttering vagabond kid named Wacker, the insults tend to all run together.
_________________________________

Stephen Wacker: Here's a dirty secret...these books aren't created with a huge barometer on what particular fans will get angry about. The anger is part and parcel of putting these books together and has been for 40 years.

Brian Cronin: True, but for the folks who DID write me these heartfelt questions -how do you best explain that you do not mean to "disregard" their feelings?

Stephen Wacker: I love the opinions but in general I am more guided by my own instincts, my boss' instincts and, most of all, by the instincts of my creators.

Brian Cronin: That's fair - I've said on the blog more than once that I'd much prefer creators to just do what they think is best rather than make decisions based on what they think fans will think. Of course, if the end result is poor, then that's on the creators - but the initial notion, I think they should have all the leeway they want to do what they think is best.

Stephen Wacker: Really, if the fans really had control over the reins, Bucky wouldn't be back, Daredevil would never be a ninja, Doctor Manhattan would be Captain Atom and a million other things that a section of people didn't agree with at first.

Stephen Wacker: Bottom line is, the decision that Pete was getting unmarried was done by the time that I and all the Spider-Man writers got here, but we all agree with it. This is about long term goals, not the feelings on message boards in the short term.

Stephen Wacker: All that said, as you mentioned, you may just think that the book stinks and I strongly feel that you shouldn't read something you're not enjoying. If you have to leave, go ahead. It's okay.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Speaking of the "fan versus creator" take on the issue, while I do note that, for the most part, the fans probably weren't asking for this, practically EVERY creator over the past decade or so were. And if creators as different as John Byrne and Joe Quesada, and many different creators in between all agree on a point (while, of course, disagreeing on how to achieve the point), then while you certainly don't have to agree with said position, it likely has some real merit.

Stephen Wacker: FOR THE MOST PART (big so you don't miss it) fans want things to stay like they were whenever they personally liked it best. However, the truth is that this stuff is a pendulum, going back and forth to keep a character interesting.

Stephen Wacker: I love the feedback though. We get a lot and it's a blast. People really care about this.
_________________________________

Stephen Wacker: Mark Farmer will be done with his next issue on Monday, by the way.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: I got a lot of questions about continuity

Brian Cronin: How will the continuity be parsed out over the next year or so? You have a certain amount of continuity changes that you plan on addressing, right? Is it a matter of "we're going to address X amount next year, then Y amount the year after" or is it not planned out that far ahead?

Stephen Wacker: You mean the wedding stuff? Next summer.

Stephen Wacker: Same with the identity stuff. It's a big story. We're aiming for #600, but it keeps growing.

Brian Cronin: Fair enough.

Stephen Wacker: We just had a retreat where we planned the rest of 2009.

Stephen Wacker: I'll warn you not much has changed.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Okay, here are some specific questions.

Brian Cronin: Reader Jamie asks: With all the goblin related characters appearing, is there any chance we'll see the Hobgoblin anytime soon?

Stephen Wacker: No plans for Hobgoblin. Roger Stern did a pretty good job wrapping that story up.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Do you have any plans in the future for Stern being involved at all?

Brian Cronin: One reader asked what he needed to do to get a Stern/JRjr story again?

Stephen Wacker: I have a pitch for Rog's next story right here that he's waiting for notes on.

Brian Cronin: Great!

Stephen Wacker: JRJr is booked for now. He starts his next story next week.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: A few different readers (surprisingly) asked about the Stacys, Jill in particular.

Brian Cronin: Any chance of them stopping by?

Stephen Wacker: No Jill Stacy plans.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Could Spider-Man Family be a place for new Spider-Man 2099 stories at any point?

Stephen Wacker: As for 2099, I already have that written down. No plans at the moment, but it'd sure be cool
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: A few readers also asked about JMS' run - will anything from his time on the book be addressed any time soon?

Stephen Wacker: You'd have to ask about specific JMS things for me to answer. Aside from where the ID went back into the box, it's all in continuity.

Brian Cronin: Sure, stuff that JMS left unresolved in his run - like the future Spider-Man storyline.

Stephen Wacker: We did talk about the future Spidey stuff and Slott even wrote up something, but nothing nailed down
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Why was the Secret Invasion tie-in published separately instead of just as three issues of Amazing?

Stephen Wacker: We had too much planned for the regular books to be able to make room for the Secret Invasion stuff. We planned all this when SI was a gleam in Bendis' one good eye.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Eddie Brock/Anti-Venom seems to remember Spider-Man's identity- does that mean perhaps other people do remember his ID, such as Black Cat?

Stephen Wacker: No one remembers Spidey's ID. Except Peter.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Speaking of Black Cat, any plans for her in the future?

Stephen Wacker: Yes there are Black Cat plans in Amazing.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader Pedro had a question about TPBs: Has the thrice-monthly schedule improved TPB sales, since a certain number of readers (myself included) would rather prefer to buy a bimonthly TPB than so many comics every month?

Now that the BND imprint is gone, will the TPB release pattern for the series continue to be the Premiere HC followed by the regular softcover TPB?

Are there other formats planned (digest-sized books, oversized HCs, Omnibus, etc.)?

Stephen Wacker: I don't believe the TPB plans are changing. We have them on a relatively regular schedule.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Another suggestion for Spider-Man Family by a reader (it seems like folks view that book as a place to put their odd ideas) would be a "Re-Told Tales of Spider-Man" story, like the "Death of Jean DeWolff," which involves Daredevil knowing Spider-Man's ID as a major plot point.

Stephen Wacker: We'll only be retelling one story. No need to retell anything else. It all happened.

Tom Brevoort joined the chat

Brian Cronin: Hi, Tom

Tom Brevoort: A Re-Told version of the "Death of Jean DeWolff" would be exactly like the published version.

Tom Brevoort: At that point, Daredevil knew Spidey's identity.

Brian Cronin: Okay, so that goes to another reader question

Brian Cronin: So the identity change is one of those mystical things that didn't change the past? Just the present?

Tom Brevoort: Only one thing was changed, and that's the wedding.

Brian Cronin: But people don't know Spider-Man's ID who did before the wedding, right?

Tom Brevoort: Daredevil, the Goblin, Venom, etc. used to know that Pete was Spidey--but after a certain point their memories were erased. That changed as of around the time of "One More Day". They used to know--everybody used to know--but now they don't. Exactly how that happened will form the basis of an upcoming story.

Brian Cronin: Gotcha.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Are Liz and little Normie still around?

Stephen Wacker: Normie and Liz in December. Prepare for The Molten Kid!!!
________________________________

Brian Cronin: A reader asked about the ethnicity of Eddie Brock's ex-wife in Venom: Dark Origin. Was that a coloring error or is that a ret-con (She used to be white now she's black)?

Tom Brevoort: Coloring error.

Stephen Wacker: Coloring error.

Stephen Wacker: I should say a Warren Simons' sponsored coloring error.

Brian Cronin: Hah

Stephen Wacker: For once it's not me!

_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader Michael asked: The cab driver in Dan Slott's first story - was it the same cab driver that drove Detective Gonzales around in the Rashomon issue? Will we see him again?

Stephen Wacker: Yes and yes. Good catch.

Stephen Wacker: He's a benevolent Travis Bickle.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader Glen brings up something that I think is important

Brian Cronin: He says - Was this "Brand New Day" Peter Parker de-aged? And if so, how old would you say the character is?

Brian Cronin: Now, that is a major factor in my mind about having Peter be single, because Peter has NOT been de-aged, but it just feels that way, because when he was married, it seemed like he was 30 when the guy should be mid-20s tops.

Stephen Wacker: My ball park for Peter is mid-20s

Tom Brevoort: Pete is exactly the same nebulous age he was before OMD. He hasn't been de-aged. We just play him a little younger, that's all.

Tom Brevoort: When Spider-Man feels like he's your dad's age, you've got a serious problem.

Brian Cronin: This one fellow did an age chart and got it published in an old issue of West Coast Avengers that was pretty detailed. And he had Peter at 23 back then, so I think 25 is a reasonable age for him now.

Stephen Wacker: That's pretty cool, but I don't feel beholden to it.

Tom Brevoort: That sort of thing will only make your head hurt, because characters in various titles don't age consistently.

Stephen Wacker: I used to do the same types of things for ATARI FORCE and NEW TEEN TITANS.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Is Sins Past in continuity?

Tom Brevoort: Yes, like it or not. Everything that was in continuity is still in continuity, with one exception.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader Ashley wanted to know if we would be seeing more of Carlie Cooper

Stephen Wacker: Yes. She's a big part of Character Assassination coming in a couple months.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader M. Waid wanted to know if it was true that Kick-Ass outsells Spider-Man.

Stephen Wacker: Only on the Millar board.

Tom Brevoort: Would Mark Millar lie to you? Could he?

Tom Brevoort: What's important is that FANTASTIC FOUR outsells KICK-ASS.

Stephen Wacker: Kick Ass does outsell 1985 though.

Stephen Wacker: IS there going to be a sequel to 1985?
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader Ryan had a good question - Being an election year, is there any policy to try to keep appearances equal among candidates. Or can writers feature whatever candidates they wish, as often as they wish?

Stephen Wacker: There is no equal time clause in the Marvel U., though McCain-Feingold is related to the origins of Kree-Skrull War.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: A few readers asked if we will see Peter date in 2009

Stephen Wacker: Here's the beginning of the solicits to 583: "YOU ASKED FOR IT, YOU GOT IT! PETER PARKER DATES!"
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader Taimur asked -Was there a reason not to include Swordsman, Moonstone, and Penance with the rest of the T-Bolts in New Ways to Die?

Tom Brevoort: Just a matter of not being able to service that many characters in the space we had.

Tom Brevoort: Just assume those other T-Bolts are off somewhere hunting down NFL SuperPro.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: The same reader asked the following threee questions:

Brian Cronin: Will the new Kraven get her own villain moniker or will she just be referred as Kraven?

Tom Brevoort: New Kraven will get a name so you'll have some way to refer to her.

Stephen Wacker: We call her Kraven around the office, but Ana is acceptable.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: - Is the villain Blank who is set to appear in Roger Stern's December ASM issue the same Blank from his run on West Coast Avengers or a new completely new villain?

Stephen Wacker: Same Blank.

Tom Brevoort: Yes, it's the same Blank.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: I know you probably can't reveal the creative team on the 600th issue coming out next summer, but can you tell us if one or more writer(s) will be involved?

Tom Brevoort: There'll be at least one writer involved with AMAZING #600.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: One reader asked if there was any past Spider-man villain that you didn't like at the time that you would like to see a writer revamp and make cool now.

Stephen Wacker: Erik Larsen.

Tom Brevoort: Who's he? I must've missed that issue.

Stephen Wacker: I never much liked Slyde, sorry to say.

Stephen Wacker: I'd like to see Kaine made into something interesting, too.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader David asked if you will continue to introduce a lot of new villains once the older villains begin to come back, or will it be mostly re-using the new ones already introduced (like Paper Doll, etc.)

Tom Brevoort: We'll be doing all three--introducing new guys, bringing back the new villains we've used so far, and bringing back and revamping the classic villains.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: I didn't even notice the following, so it may be one of those things where the reader is just flat-out wrong, but if he's right, it's an interesting question

Brian Cronin: Where have all the oversized text in the captions gone? I thought it was a good look and it DID make the book stand out visually, I mean...what happened?

Tom Brevoort: Pete stopped talking to himself during "New Ways To Die." But it'll come back just as soon as one of the writers opts to use it again.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: About villains, another reader wondered if the new villains were mostly joint-created or the creation of the writer who wrote their debut story.

Tom Brevoort: Most of them tended to be the creation of one writer, the guy who wrote their story. So Mr. Negative and Paper Doll were Dan's, Freak was Bob's, Li'l Kraven was Gugg with a lot of Phil Jimenez...

Tom Brevoort: And Menace was something of a joint effort.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader Shaun has been wondering for over a decade, apparently: Will they ever say what really happened to Lance Bannon way back in Web Of Spider-man? The story line was bad (what a lame villain, F.A.C.A.D.E.), but I've been wanting at least someone to come in and end it.

Tom Brevoort: Eventually somebody will inevitably deal with it, but there isn't really a wellspring of interest. Just assume he was a mutant Inhuman and move on.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader Michael asked: Since "Spectacular Spider-Man" is arguably the best animated interpretation of the character ever, is there any chance of getting some members of that writing staff taking a crack at Peter's world in the Marvel U?

Stephen Wacker: I don't know the guys from the cartoon, but if they had a good idea, sure.

Stephen Wacker: Brevoort hates Spider-man cartoons though. All of them.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: I don't know whose office this book was announced in, so I don't know if it fits here, but reader Iyanez asks: What happen to the Genndy Tartakovsky Power Man mini series?

Tom Brevoort: Genndy's CAGE series is still being worked on. He's got a day job, y'know?
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader Patrick wants to know if we'll be seeing any romance within the supporting cast.

Stephen Wacker: Patrick, we're already starting to see Lily show interest in Peter.

Tom Brevoort: I'm not going to be dating anybody from the supporting cast, and I don't think Steve will either. Brennan, maybe.

Stephen Wacker: John Romita Jr. and Aunt May have started dating too since they're so close in age.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Speaking of romance in the supporting cast - what do you guys think - did Peter sleep with Betty Brant when she was married to Ned Leeds? That recently came up on the blog.

Tom Brevoort: No, Peter wouldn't have slept with Betty while she was married. If he did, we'd be reading about it it huge self-tortured thought balloons for pages.

Stephen Wacker: We should bring that Spidey back.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Will we see more interaction with Spider-Man and the police (a la the DeWolff days), or is he too much of a fugitive nowadays?

Tom Brevoort: Definitely more interaction between Spidey and the cops--but not necessarily on the same side of the bars.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: A few readers asked if Puma will return in the future.

Stephen Wacker: Puma will return but not soon

Brian Cronin: I imagine he'd be pissed about giving Peter and MJ that free vacation for no reason.

Tom Brevoort: They're good people, they helped him out. And he's rich--it's no sweat.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: A number of readers asked about the various classic villains - the Doc Ocks, Mysterios, etc. of the world - will any of the classic ones be showing up in 2009?

Stephen Wacker: Most of last weeks retreat was talking about the classics.

Brian Cronin: Cool.

Tom Brevoort: Yes, we'll be slowly bringing more of the classic Spidey villains back on stage. You've seen Norman and Venom already, and you've heard about Molten Man...

Stephen Wacker: You may have already seen one classic villain and not realized it.

Tom Brevoort: My, Kraven, how you've changed...
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: One reader wanted to know what the deal was with the pardon Tony Stark offered to any hero who would help during WWH.

Tom Brevoort: That deal was for amnesty, but they'd still have to sign up and register. Seems like not too many people took him up on that.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader Mike wants to know what's the deal with the Osborns' hair in New Ways to Die?

Tom Brevoort: It's a sophisticated gel developed by Osborn Chemical. It's also flame-retardant!

Stephen Wacker: Hair was my fault. JRJr and I had a mis-communication on what we were doing. We'll try and fix it in the trade.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: One reader wanted to know what was the current status of Peter and the Human Torch's friendship

Tom Brevoort: Spidey and the Torch remain friendly rivals. Pete and Johnny have met, but they're not especially close.

Stephen Wacker: They're still friendly.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader Stephen wanted to know if Ron Frenz will get a shot at the main book in the future and whether Spider-Man will ever use the black costume.

Tom Brevoort: No immediate plans for Ron on AMAZING, he's got his plate full with SPIDER-GIRL.

Tom Brevoort: And inevitably we'll see the black costume again. Possibly early in 2009...
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Another reader asked why Spider-Girl was not given more publicity.

Stephen Wacker: Spider-Girl gets a decent amount of promotion, all things considered. Any way you look at it, that book has been a success. What else from the last 10 years has been that steady?

Tom Brevoort: We mention SPIDER-GIRL every chance we get. SPIDER-GIRL!
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader Magnus wanted to know if we'd be seeing more or less of JJJ in 2009 as compared to 2008

Brian Cronin: Same with MJ - less or more in 09 than in 08

Stephen Wacker: JJJ is in 577 in a few weeks. Spider-Girl!

Tom Brevoort: More JJJ in 2009. SPIDER-GIRL!

Stephen Wacker: MJ is in Spider-Girl!
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader Chris asked: How does a reader maintain an interest in Peter Parker's personal life if it is known that, as a matter of editorial policy, he is destined never to get the girl?

Stephen Wacker: Chris made that rule up, so it's a bit of a stacked deck.

Tom Brevoort: Pete can get the girl, he just can't marry the girl.

Stephen Wacker: Pete got the girl. Had her for 20 years. Then something broke them up.

Stephen Wacker: It's a soap opera - that kind of thing happens.

Tom Brevoort: SPIDER-GIRL!
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Reader Taimur asks if Peter will ever find out about what happened to the Steel Spider

Stephen Wacker: Warren messed him up...which was a real slap in the face to my childhood!

Tom Brevoort: In terms of the Steel Spider, anything's possible, but there aren't any immediate plans.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: Besides not using the classic villains, were there any other "rules" that the writers had to adhere to in the early days of BND?

Stephen Wacker: I mandated that everyone must have the webshooters fail.

Brian Cronin: Ha!

Stephen Wacker: Seriously, we did all agree to not dwell on One More Day right away and to jump right into new stories.

Tom Brevoort: They all had to say how much they liked 52.

Stephen Wacker: Hey, I edited most of that!

Stephen Wacker: Brian, did you like 52?

Brian Cronin: I liked Matt Fraction's review of 52 the best!

Stephen Wacker: 52...Great weekly comic, or GREATEST weekly comic?

Stephen Wacker: Before 1985...there was....52!
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: I collected all the various writers and artists people wanted to know if there are plans to have do Spider-Man stories, and I figure I'll post them all at once:

Brian Cronin: JM DeMatties, Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, Peter David, Brian Reed, Jeff Parker, or Jason Aaron?

Stephen Wacker: I think most of those guys are writing a Spidey story of one kind or another in the next year. Not all for my office though.

Brian Cronin: And on the art-side - Leinil Yu, Terry Dodson, a return of Steve McNiven, Frazer Irving, Arthur Adams or Mike Allred?

Tom Brevoort: Most of them are tied up elsewhere at the moment, but down the line you never know.
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: That's about it for reader questions

Brian Cronin: Although, I can always return to the guy with the constructive criticism: You know that the Clone Saga debacle was a masterpiece compared to this BND debacle, right?

Brian Cronin: I like the "right" parts he sprinkles in, like he's going to catch someone off-guard and they're going to say yes. "Yes, I do know...oh crap, I've undone myself!"

Stephen Wacker: I declare that he may not read Spider-Man again. There. He's cured.

Stephen Wacker: It's all due to be reversed in issue 950...see ya then!

Tom Brevoort: Why, that reads like the kind of thing that gets posted over at my blog day in and day out...

Stephen Wacker: Brevoort can work a blog plug into any answer. Try him...

Tom Brevoort: SPIDER-GIRL!

Stephen Wacker: Tom, what was 52's greatest failing?

Tom Brevoort: It wasn't mentioned often enough on my blog...
_________________________________

Brian Cronin: I asked Steve this, Tom, but since you're here, I'll ask you, too - can you recall any particularly good convoluted criticism?

Brian Cronin: You know, like a post designed to LOOK like it's being normal, then it sneaks in insults.

Tom Brevoort: Most of the criticism I see is relatively blatant and obvious. I guess they figure I'm not sophisticated enough to read between the lines.

Brian Cronin: By the by, a few of the above questions had stuff like that mixed in that I had to delete. Like the question about the captions, after "What happened?" was "What happened, did your balls drop off?"

Tom Brevoort: Hey, like in that movie!

Stephen Wacker: If the 1-point caption size difference is bugging someone that much then we're doing something right. Did Waid ask that?
_________________________________

Stephen Wacker: Thanks for doing this, Brian.

Brian Cronin: Thank you guys for coming out!

78 Comments

• At September 24, 2008, gaastra wrote:

  Dang you didn't ask my question about the outlaws returning. Someone else asked the same question also. Dang.

• At September 24, 2008, Marc Kandel wrote:

  Thanks for addressing more than a few points Brian. That was a fun read (moreso than I had expected- ...

• At September 24, 2008, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  On my trades question, he answered the one about different formats, but forgot the one about sales, which was more ...

• At September 24, 2008, Martin M wrote:

  Thank goodness they mention somethings about Spider-girl.

• At September 24, 2008, JimmyDee wrote:

  "When you grow up a chubby, stuttering vagabond kid named Wacker, the insults tend to all run together."

  LOL! Co-Me-Dy!

• At September 24, 2008, Neil wrote:

  Did Spiderman's unmasking during Civil War, actually affect anyone or cause anything to happen (plot-wise)? Because I am guessing, ...

• At September 24, 2008, Jamie Tarquini wrote:

  It's question! WOOHOO!!! Now Hobby? Ok, I'll deal...

  Glad to know I'm not the only one who wants ...

• At September 24, 2008, MikePFox wrote:

  I love the whole "We broke up Spidey because fans deserved a single Spider-man" becomes "We only follow the creators, ...

• At September 24, 2008, Paul wrote:

  Of all the condescending, self-important....

  Stan Lee would have never, EVER dissed fans for giving their opinion of a ...

• At September 24, 2008, Chris McAree wrote:

  Roger Stern returns to Spidey (my all-time favourite Spidey writer)!

  My regular blogging pitstops; Breevort and Brian in the same place!

  And ...

• At September 24, 2008, Chris McAree wrote:

  Whoops, too many "ee", not enough "oo,"s, although I do feel an urge to get some cheese!

• At September 24, 2008, Steve Horne wrote:

  I am glad they plan on using the black costume again. I think the movie really screwed up the ...

• At September 24, 2008, Eric wrote:

  If everything happened except one exception (the marriage), how is it that no one remembers who Peter is after Civil ...

• At September 24, 2008, Marc Kandel wrote:

  well... that and Harry's now non-demise and the reversal of what was a pretty memorable Spectacular Spider Man arc- though ...

• At September 24, 2008, Greg Manuel wrote:

  Hm - doesn't look like my question made the cut. Bummer.

  Well, I guess on the bright side I get to ...

• At September 24, 2008, carloshll726 wrote:

  Since the mutant population has currently decreased to just a few hundred there won't be a mutant Scarlet Spider? I ...

• At September 24, 2008, Marc Kandel wrote:

  Ben Reilly had a sex change to further differentiate himself from Peter. He's actually Jackpot.

• At September 24, 2008, Flythe wrote:

  When Brevoort says the wedding is the only thing that's changed, how does that explain Harry?

• At September 24, 2008, Jeff R. wrote:

  I wonder how deep that "no one" goes in the "no one knows Peter is Spidey" statement...

  Does it really include ...

• At September 24, 2008, Buhe wrote:

  "Really, if the fans really had control over the reins, Bucky wouldn’t be back, Daredevil would never be a ninja, ...

• At September 24, 2008, Paul wrote:

  The people who SHOULD still know Spider-Man is Peter Parker:

  Daredevil

  The Black Cat

  The Green Goblin (Norman Osborne)

  Eddie Brock

  Tony Stark, Nick Fury ...

• At September 24, 2008, MikePFox wrote:

  Still not sure how BND is better without the marriage. The whole Cop-roommate is no different than Robbie Robertson ...

• At September 24, 2008, carloshll726 wrote:

  Does Peter Parker got plans on switching up to the Spider-Girl costume?

• At September 24, 2008, hypestyle wrote:

  hello to all the spider-staff-- I'm a fan and I would love it if you guys would create a new ...

• At September 24, 2008, Neil wrote:

  I stopped reading Spiderman with the end of JMS run and the start of BND. So now that some ...

• At September 24, 2008, TheAmazingSpidey wrote:

  Great read. Thanks for doing this.

  SPIDER-GIRL!

• At September 24, 2008, Chris Tolworthy wrote:

  "I am more guided most of all, by the instincts of my creators."

  He's a polytheist?

• At September 24, 2008, fred wrote:

  You know i respect the fact that marvel creative thinks that Brand New Day was the right way to go. ...

• At September 24, 2008, RD Francis wrote:

  Interesting that we're being told that only one story has changed.

  If the marriage really never happened, then obviously more than ...

• At September 24, 2008, RD Francis wrote:

  By the way, they're lying about mentioning Spider-Girl every chance they get, as they didn't bother to mention that the ...

• At September 24, 2008, Nathan wrote:

  "Stephen Wacker: You can tell everyone up top that we aren’t going to stop publishing Spidey or go back to ...

• At September 24, 2008, Michael Heide wrote:

  Thanks for using my cab driver question. :)

• At September 24, 2008, RD Francis wrote:

  I have to agree with the frustration evidenced against the editorial staff of the Spider-Man books over the last several ...

• At September 24, 2008, Gus wrote:

  I thought it was a good interview but I still think some of the tough questions were held back. ...

• At September 24, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  Wacker wasn't the editor of the book during One More Day, Gus, so I didn't think it really made much ...

• At September 24, 2008, Bertone wrote:

  But Peter DID angst about sleeping with married Betty!!

  I wonder if they saw the context or not..

• At September 24, 2008, Sentry wrote:

  Nice read...

  But they didnt make the most important question....

  WHEN Ben reilly will be backkkkkkkk!!???

  The best single Spidey everrrrrr

• At September 24, 2008, Dreighton wrote:

  Seems like a real F U to fans that actually want to know ....crazy things, like...answers to how did we ...

• At September 24, 2008, stealthwise wrote:

  Man, Quesada really $#&*(@ed those guys over with OMD. No matter what, even if the Spidey stories we get ...

• At September 24, 2008, Alex wrote:

  THe sad fact is that Spider-man is done. The poor writers are stuck with this poor sap of a character ...

• At September 24, 2008, Bertone wrote:

  For the record, some context for the "sleeping with Betty"

  http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/4270621.html ---- part 1

  http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/4280427.html ---- part 2 (where it ...

• At September 24, 2008, McK wrote:

  I have to agree with the frustration evidenced against the editorial staff of the Spider-Man books over the last several ...

• At September 24, 2008, Mark Waid wrote:

  Wow, is this what I sounded like back in 1986 after reading MAN OF STEEL? I bet it was.

  "Stan ...

• At September 25, 2008, Matt wrote:

  I think the Johnny Storm/Spidey relationship is the most disappointing answer out of the whole bunch. You know, I don't ...

• At September 25, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Wow, is this what I sounded like back in 1986 after reading MAN OF STEEL? I bet it was.

  “Stan Lee ...

• At September 25, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  But Ben, Mark is in SUPPORT of the move to bring Spider-Man "back to basics," not criticizing it.

  Any criticism he ...

• At September 25, 2008, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  "Wow, is this what I sounded like back in 1986 after reading MAN OF STEEL? I bet it was."

  It's been ...

• At September 25, 2008, fanboy d wrote:

  it's funny about the man of steel thing - you know, that means that a few bitter "fans" will talk ...

• At September 25, 2008, Pedro Bouça wrote:

  Well, "Fanboy d", for what's worth, I've read almost everything Spider-Man out there (mostly in reprints, of course) and Straczynski’s ...

• At September 25, 2008, Rebel Dragon wrote:

  "If Stan Lee’d had to endure internet message boards, he would have gone into aluminum siding."

  That is a funny statement ...

• At September 25, 2008, Jeff R. wrote:

  You will notice that, twenty years later, pretty much every single ornamentation and frippery of the Silver and Bronze ages ...

• At September 25, 2008, Marc Kandel wrote:

  Damn good point Jeff. I got in on "Man of Steel" b/c for me, it was a nice, clean, ...

• At September 25, 2008, Mike wrote:

  Black Cat yeah!

  No Hobgoblin Booooooooo!

  Puma have Kraven Skin him!

• At September 25, 2008, Paul wrote:

  “Stan Lee would never have done this!” “Stan Lee would never have done that!” Yeah, yeah. If Stan Lee’d had ...

• At September 25, 2008, vynsane wrote:

  @ Dreighton re:

  Seems like a real F U to fans that actually want to know ….crazy things, like…answers to ...

• At September 25, 2008, Patrick Lemaire wrote:

  Jeff R. You didn't get it. The married Spidey is the Byrne retcon. We have the silber/bronze age one right ...

• At September 25, 2008, Doug L. wrote:

  I would like to know if Amazing is outselling itself from it's pre BND numbers. (of course taking it ...

• At September 25, 2008, Doug L. wrote:

  oh and at least one answer to a readers comment... JJJ had launched a lawsuit against peter ...

• At September 25, 2008, Casey wrote:

  Weird cheap shot at Erik Larsen from Wacker.

• At September 25, 2008, Turkishproverb wrote:

  Wow. Highly disrespectful, and really gave no information whatsoever. Par for the course on things coming out of ...

• At September 25, 2008, dexy9000 wrote:

  Well they've got their wish, I have no intention of continuing to read anything produced by them after that interview. ...

• At September 25, 2008, Alan Coil wrote:

  Mark Waid go Boom!

• At September 25, 2008, Alan Coil wrote:

  If Wacker and Brevoort want to be comedians, then I suggest they quit their day jobs and join the comedy ...

• At September 25, 2008, QCCBob wrote:

  All you need to know about the direction of the sales on Amazing Spider-Man is that they are so desperate ...

• At September 25, 2008, Brett wrote:

  Funny how Wacker says, "Fans want things to stay like they were whenever they personally liked it best"

  Does this guy ...

• At September 25, 2008, Brett wrote:

  ... e) People can say the industry is dying, internet and computer games inhibit sales -- BLAH, BLAH, BLAH. People ...

• At September 25, 2008, Brett wrote:

  Paul:

  "Of all the condescending, self-important….

  Stan Lee would have never, EVER dissed fans for giving their opinion of a character ...

• At September 25, 2008, Buhe wrote:

  These people obviously think working for Marvel automatically makes them the best in the business and that everything they write ...

• At September 26, 2008, Graeme Burk wrote:

  I saw Ty Templeton at a convention in July-- I gather he works with Dan Slott (and pretty much acts ...

• At September 26, 2008, XDestron wrote:

  The current Spider-man editors need to be fired. This book is consistently the biggest waste of time, money, and paper ...

• At September 27, 2008, Russkafin wrote:

  If nothing in continuity has been changed except the marriage, how is Harry Osborn alive again?

• At September 28, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  But Ben, Mark is in SUPPORT of the move to bring Spider-Man “back to basics,” not criticizing it.

  Any criticism he ...

• At September 28, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  It illustrated for me that people running the show at Marvel want Spider-Man to be what they grew up reading ...

• At September 29, 2008, Comics Should Be Good! » Did Spider-Man Sleep With a Married Woman? wrote:

  [...] asked the question of Marvel Executive Editor Tom Brevoort, in a recent chat I did with Brevoort and Amazing ...

• At September 29, 2008, Niko wrote:

  "Stephen Wacker: No one remembers Spidey’s ID. Except Peter."

  Does this include Mephisto?

• At October 1, 2008, Comics Nexus | I’m Just Sayin’…#29 wrote:

  [...] thing I didn’t get a chance to bring up before: COMICS SHOULD BE GOOD has a chat interview posted with AMAZING ...

• At October 19, 2008, JohnnyWar wrote:

  I knew it! Spider-Man's still magic! I win!

  I win half. The Peter/Mary Jane thing is still a complete regression, and ...

• At December 30, 2008, Mia wrote:

  'Of all the condescending, self-important….

  Stan Lee would have never, EVER dissed fans for giving their opinion of a character ...

The following is an edited (for easier reading) transcript of the chat!

Enjoy!

Brian Cronin: Welcome, everyone, to Alex's chat!

AlexRobinson: Hey!

Adam P Knave: *applause*

AlexRobinson: Oh, stop! Everyone sit down!

BrandonHanvey: Greetings
______________________

Brian Cronin: How did ComicCon treat you, Alex?

BrandonHanvey: Yeah I got Too Cool there. The candy cigs were a nice treat.

AlexRobinson: Comicon was awesome--exhausting but awesome.

Brian Cronin: Do you like having it be so close to a new release? Or would you prefer to have had more time to hype the book?

AlexRobinson: No, I like having something fresh and new.

AlexRobinson: The best situation at a show is to have people handing you money, so the closer you can get to something being brand new the better.
________________________

BrandonHanvey: Is there going to the a soft cover version of the book?

AlexRobinson: There are no plans for a softcover.

AlexRobinson: Top Shelf figured a softcover would go for around $10 anyway, so it's not that big a savings.
_______________________

Brian Cronin: Regarding designing the book like a cigarette pack, was that your first pick or did you have other earlier designs?

AlexRobinson: Originally we were going to go with a yearbook theme but couldn't settle on an idea Top Shelf, Matt Kindt (the designer) and I liked, so we changed direction.

AlexRobinson: And I really love the cover

Brian Cronin: Yeah, it's a striking look.
______________________

Adam P Knave: Who do you follow, comic/artistwise these days?

AlexRobinson: I mostly follow a lot of the usual indy comics suspects.

AlexRobinson: But I don't enjoy reading comics as much as I did before I "went pro."

Brian Cronin: How often do you go comic shopping?

AlexRobinson: I go shopping for comics about once every two or three weeks but I don't buy stuff all the time.

AlexRobinson: The last two books I bought were FART PARTY

and the collected JOURNEY.

Brian Cronin: Wertz reminds me of your stuff a bit
_________________________

BrandonHanvey: So does Too Cool take place the BoPverse?

AlexRobinson: My thinking was that TOO COOL takes place in the BOPverse but someone pointed out some inconsistencies so I'm not sure.
________________________

BrandonHanvey: So who came up the the editor's note at the end of the book?

Brian Cronin: By the by, for the uninformed, Alex had a character think the word "dad" where he meant to say "did" - Alex meant it as an intentional Freudian mistake, the editors did not want people to think it was a typo, so there was an editor's note at the end of the book explaining that the typo was intentional.

AlexRobinson: The "editor's" note at the end was a compromise between Top Shelf and myself.

AlexRobinson: I really wanted to keep the heavy-handed foreshadowing in there and they felt just as strongly to fix it.

AlexRobinson: So I semi-jokingly came up with the idea of the note from the "editor" and actually wrote the comment.

Brian Cronin: How has the reaction to that been?

AlexRobinson: I think it might've been a mistake, since enough people have commented on it that I think it might be a distraction, and at least one person told me that having that right at the end was sort of jarring.

AlexRobinson: Top Shelf and I are sort of keeping a running tab on people who liked it and people who didn't, in case there's a second printing.

Brian Cronin: It is a distraction, but I don't think one that really affected my reading of the book.

AlexRobinson: That's good.
________________________

BrandonHanvey: So how much research dit you do for the book? Did you go back to your old highschool yearbook for ideas?

AlexRobinson: I have my yearbook from my senior year, which I consulted a lot of hairstyles and stuff, and my wife who's the same age has a few yearbooks

AlexRobinson: Hers were almost better since I could just look at the people objectively without the rise of bile in my throat or sorrowful regrets.

Brian Cronin: Ha

AlexRobinson: I also used some references to try and make sure the pop cultural references were at least close

BrandonHanvey: Did you use a lot of your own high school experience for the story?

AlexRobinson: I didn't actually use too much of my own high school experiences in the book, since I spent most of my free time in high school alone drawing comics

AlexRobinson: Which would've been very boring and I wanted Andy's experiences to be (I hope) more typical.
_________________________

Ben Dunn: Just wanted to drop a quick line to congratulate you on your recent success. Glad to see you doing such great work and look forward to your newest work.

AlexRobinson: Thanks, Ben!

AlexRobinson: (in case people don't know, Ben gave me my big break when Antarctic Press published BOX OFFICE POISON as a series)

_________________________

WhiskeyTango: What's next?

AlexRobinson: I haven't talked about it publicly yet but I did settle on my next project.

AlexRobinson: I don't want to go too much into it yet but it should be out in for Christmas of 2009 and will be coming out from Harper Collins.

pooky: Are you going for a longer book like BOP or Tricked, or staying shorter?

AlexRobinson: The new project is pretty short, only about 60 pages, but I would like to do a longer book next.

pooky: Kinda like Craig Thompson right now, working on the long book almost exclusively?

AlexRobinson: I've been thinking about doing another 500 page book but I think I would serialize it this time, maybe over five books which would then be collected...maybe have them come out as annuals

AlexRobinson: I like the idea of doing something serialized, giving people time to mull over the story and imagine what's coming.

AlexRobinson: I don't want people to forget me while I'm working on a big long book!

Brian Cronin: That's always the fear with collections vs. serial work
____________________________

Mordy: I've got a question, Alex. You clearly use music and music culture often in your graphic novels. You're also not alone (I notice a lot of comics, especially in Vertigo right now) that find inspiration in pop music. Why do you think music culture keeps creeping into graphic novels? Am I wrong in seeing this as a phenomenon?

AlexRobinson: Well, Mordy, I don't think it's unique to comics or graphic novels.

AlexRobinson: A lot of movie makers and TV shows use music as well, for various reasons

Mordy: Well, let me rephraise it then. Why do you use it?

AlexRobinson: I think I use it because I really like music, which sounds simple but that's the only reason I can think of.

Mordy: Also, Alex - with film and television, music tends to be a soundtrack. Something audible to accompany a montage or something. You're literally writing, often, about music culture. Lyrics - bands - groupies - etc.

AlexRobinson: Well, I really only did it with TRICKED.

Mordy: (Btw, before I forget: I loved Tricked.)

AlexRobinson: None of my other books have musicians as main characters, but music does play a big part in all the books (except LOWER REGIONS)

Brian Cronin: On sale for $3 now!

Mordy: So is it just because you're a huge music fan yourself?

AlexRobinson: That's about it.
_______________________

Brian Cronin: Are there any translations for Tricked?

AlexRobinson: TRICKED has been in Spanish, French and German
______________________

BrandonHanvey: Your art seems to becoming slightly more cartoony. Is that a conscience choice on your part?

AlexRobinson: I think my new book sort of lent itself more to a cartoony style, since it dealt with teenagers who are naturally more cartoony

BrandonHanvey: Plus Andy's glasses lent to the big cartoon eye effect.

AlexRobinson: Yeah, I think he got more cartoony as the book went on.

AlexRobinson: If you look at the first time you see him in the mirror he looks slightly more "realistic"

Brian Cronin: True
___________________

BrandonHanvey: Do you tend to do rough layouts and ink in the details or have more detailed layouts?

AlexRobinson: I tend to use very rough layouts.

Brian Cronin: You posted an uninked piece of art awhile back, and wow, you really do add a lot of detail in the inking stage (at least with that piece, you did)

AlexRobinson: I'll lay the whole page out very roughly and then add details in pencil if I think I need it or if it's something tricky.

AlexRobinson: Since I work on one page at a time it's kind of an ongoing process, I'll add details to the pencils of one panel after I've already inked another one.

Brian Cronin: How long did it take to draw the awesome "Andy made out of words" page, then? That must have been amazingly tricky.

AlexRobinson: It's funny because the things people assume are tricky and the things that usually take the most time are things people barely notice.

AlexRobinson: The face made of words was actually pretty easy, and I was happy to do that page since I finished ahead of my usual pace.

Brian Cronin: What pages would you use as an instance where it looked easy but was actually hard for you to draw?

AlexRobinson: Hmmm

AlexRobinson: It's hard to recall because it's usually just something that's unspectacular but personally hard for me to draw.

Brian Cronin: Fair enough

AlexRobinson: Cars, for instance, are always a tremendous pain in the ass.

Brian Cronin: Hah!

AlexRobinson: Anytime you see a full shot of a car you can be assured that it was penciled and erased many times

AlexRobinson: And stuff like that requires reference.

AlexRobinson: The big reason I did my LOWER REGIONS was that I only wanted to draw fun stuff.
___________________

BrandonHanvey: Do you use text books for reference or more interent searches?

AlexRobinson: Mostly internet these days but I do pull out books occassionally.

pooky: Do you conscously spend time paying attention to things like proportion when you're drawing, or is it more automatic given your experience level?

AlexRobinson: It's usually something I pay more attention to when I'm starting a book and haven't internalized the way the characters look yet.

AlexRobinson: By the time I get to the end of a book I can usually pretty much draw them by heart.

AlexRobinson: But in the early pages you have to pay more attention.

Brian Cronin: Do you ever adjust the early pages?

pooky: how often do you find yourself scrapping a page and redrawing it? Are you pretty good on the first pass or do you lean towards the perfectionist route?

pooky: (i'm assuming you already know what you want on the page from the writing perspective...)

AlexRobinson: I definitely would not say I'm a perfectionist. Usually the only time I'll go back and scrap or redraw a page is if I have to change it for the story

AlexRobinson: I actually write it as a I go along, so there have been times where I've had to "back up" and rewrite after I drew pages.

AlexRobinson: In that case I'll scrap them, but it doesn't happen much.
___________________

Brian Cronin: Does something like what Lynn Johnston is doing now ever appeal to you for Box Office Poison? Not that you would ever be able to actually DO it, but is the notion of reworking your early work an appealing one at least?

AlexRobinson: I'm really hesitant to rework already published work because you wind up being George Lucas and possibly ruining something that was already fine.

AlexRobinson: Plus, I don't think my 39 year-old self should get to tell my 27 year-old self what to do.

AlexRobinson: That was his book, if I think I can do better I should write my own.
____________________

BrandonHanvey: How much computer work is involved in your art process? Or are you still mostly pen and ink?

AlexRobinson: I don't use the computer at all.

AlexRobinson: TOO COOL was the first time I even used the computer to make corrections.
_________________

BrandonHanvey: How often did the story of TOO COOL change? Did you write the whole script before doing any art?

AlexRobinson: I never write a whole script out ahead of time, since I like to give myself a lot of room to improvise.

AlexRobinson: The story didn't change much from what I originally envisioned, though I did wind up leaving some stuff out that I wish I'd included.

Brian Cronin: How detailed are your scripts? Do you at least have a specific end goal in mind?

BrandonHanvey: So you go with a rough outline of the story and start drawing pages?

AlexRobinson: I have a very rough outline in my head, keeping in mind what things are needed to move the story along or key scenes, and then I'll write

AlexRobinson: and layout page one in my sketchbook.

AlexRobinson: Then I'll draw it, and move onto writing and penciling page two

BrandonHanvey: So you have major points you need to address and do scenes that connect those points?

AlexRobinson: A lot of people have said it's a crazy way to work since it makes editing very annoying

AlexRobinson: I have key scenes or plot elements I'll need to connect, but usually I'm not sure how I'll work it out until I get there.
_________________

Brian Cronin: Do you happen to recall any of the ideas you ended up dropping from the book?

AlexRobinson: I wanted to do more stuff about high school, like what it would be like to a gay kid in the 1980s or a minority student in an mostly white school

AlexRobinson: and talk about a kid committing suicide, which seemed to happen to a lot of schools at that time

AlexRobinson: But I found that too many of the high school scenes were already Andy thinking to himself

AlexRobinson: "Wow, there's so and so. Look, there's that kid I knew"

AlexRobinson: I worried it was getting monotonous.

AlexRobinson: And of course, someone wrote to me saying they enjoyed the book but wish I had shown some minorities.

AlexRobinson: But yeah, I try to keep the writing very loose.

AlexRobinson: With this new story I'm doing I'm actually adapting an existing story so it will be an interesting challenge.

Brian Cronin: A novel?

AlexRobinson: A short story.

AlexRobinson: They're doing a series of books adapting Christmas stories and I'm doing one.

Brian Cronin: Oh, that sounds like a cool concept for a series.
____________________

BrandonHanvey: Is your process changing since you are working with a whole story?

AlexRobinson: I'm going about it--adapting the story--in a very different way since the plot already exists and I know I have to get it in at 60 pages.

AlexRobinson: Usually I have a lot more freedom in terms of page count.

AlexRobinson: Also, I'm adding some bits and adapting it but since it's not really my story I'm okay with them changing it, something I normally resist with my previous books.
_______________

pooky: where do you see your career in 10 years? do you want to keep doing comics? Is there another area that you'd like to get into?

AlexRobinson: I can't think of anything I'd like to do, or anything i could do, other than comics so I don't foresee any changes in that.

AlexRobinson: It's always a balancing act, between working and living a life

AlexRobinson: I thought by this point in my life I'd have finished a lot more books so it's scary and depressing to think I'll go to my grave only having done at most ten books.

AlexRobinson: I thought I'd be Kurt Vonnegut with a whole shelf to myself.

pooky: Quality trumps quantity in my book!

AlexRobinson: Thanks! But it's frustrating when you see other people who work much faster than you do, cranking out books.
_______________________

BrandonHanvey: Do you do any freelance illustration in-between comics?

AlexRobinson: I've done some illustration but not very much.

AlexRobinson: I don't have the stomach for shopping my stuff around and getting rejected, and I think most real illustrators can draw better than I can.
____________________

Brian Cronin: What's the weirdest commission request you've had?

AlexRobinson: I've had a few blatantly pornographic requests, which I have done.

AlexRobinson: They were amusingly/disturbingly specific

pooky: How does someone request that stuff without being red-faced? i think i'd die of shame...

AlexRobinson: He asked for my characters in various sexual sitiuations, but I drew the line when he asked me if I would draw other characters like Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker

AlexRobinson: I felt like I could convince myself it wasn't as bad if I was drawing my own characters.

AlexRobinson: It was over e-mail.

AlexRobinson: The only time anyone's requested nudity in person was in Europe.

pooky: Ah - anonymity makes things much easier (kinda like this chat!)
____________________

BrandonHanvey: What is you character design process like?

AlexRobinson: I'll usually come up with the personality first and build on that.

BrandonHanvey: Do you uses certain head/body shapes for certain personalities.

AlexRobinson: It's not really that mechanical, where funny characters have round heads, nerds have triangles, or whatever.

Brian Cronin: Nerds just naturally have triangle heads

AlexRobinson: Obviously some things convey personality, like big eyes suggest innocence, etc, but I try to mix it up.

giftedstats: Has anyone ever copied your characters and changed the designs? i.e. bodyshape, color scheme, logo's etc?

AlexRobinson: If they have they've done a good job because I've never noticed!

giftedstats: Haha.

AlexRobinson: Sometimes people have "swiped" the question page idea from BOX OFFICE POISON but that's okay with me since I sort of adapted it from Dan Clowes anyway.

BenL: I loved the question pages in Box Office Poison!
____________________

Brian Cronin: Does doing superhero work at Marvel or DC ever have appeal to you?

AlexRobinson: It does appeal to me but I've never been good at pitching ideas or working in a more formal editorial structure.

AlexRobinson: I would love for Marvel to say "you have carte blanche on this title for a year. Have fun!" but that would never happen.

AlexRobinson: If this adapting a Christmas story thing is a positive experience maybe I'll rethink working for a mainstream publisher.

BrandonHanvey: Any specific title you would like to have "carte blanche" with?

AlexRobinson: I'd be fine taking some obscure character and rebooting them or whatever, like Jack Kirby did with JIMMY OLSEN

AlexRobinson: "Give me your poorest selling book."
________________

Brian Cronin: Speaking of music, what do you typically listen to while you draw?

Brian Cronin: Do you actually pick specifc style of music, or just whatever you hapepn to have on?

AlexRobinson: Lately I've actually mostly been listening to podcasts rather than music, though I will listen to music podcasts like Coverville or All Songs Considered.

AlexRobinson: I'll also put in movies.

AlexRobinson: But mostly podcasts lately.

Brian Cronin: That's interesting - you don't find yourself distracted by getting involved in them?

Brian Cronin: Music strikes me as something you could almost tune out

AlexRobinson: I don't listen to anything while I write but I think drawing uses a different part of the brain.

Brian Cronin: It makes sense, I guess, that you listen to podcasts instead of music, as Dan Savage tells me listening to music is over as podcasts are the future

AlexRobinson: That's funny because Dan Savage is in my regular rotation.

AlexRobinson: His podcast, that is.
________________

BrandonHanvey: I've not found any yet, but do any BOP characters make a cameo in TOO COOL?

AlexRobinson: As for cameos, the only one that springs to mind is Mr. Valentine, the principal, who is Sherman's boss sometime later.

AlexRobinson: That was one of the inconsistencies someone pointed out.

BenL: Maybe he wasn't a very good principal?

BrandonHanvey: Well I did see that Velma was in one panel, but she is more of an easter egg.

AlexRobinson: I put her everywhere, my beautiful, beautiful Velma.

Brian Cronin: Is there going to be a Crisis on Infinite BOP Earths?

Brian Cronin: To explain the inconsistencies?

AlexRobinson: Terry Laban once addressed this with his own work and said it was like the same actors playing diffferent parts.

AlexRobinson: You're like "That's the guy who played the principal in BOX OFFICE POISON!"

AlexRobinson: Caprice is the other one I'm always getting yelled at about.

AlexRobinson: Since at the end of BOP she talks about a future which clearly doesn't happen in TRICKED.

AlexRobinson: I need an assistant editor to manage this stuff.
___________________

Brian Cronin: Speaking of Laban, everyone, be sure to check out Alex's site for this realy cool feature he's been doing where various artists draw Alex's characters

Brian Cronin: Laban recently did one

Brian Cronin: Laban is amazing

AlexRobinson: Actually, I only recentely posted it--he actually did it in 2000!

Brian Cronin: Hah

AlexRobinson: I had a bunch of pin-ups that originaly ran in the BOX OFFICE POISON floppies.

BenL: Laban's 'The Unseen Hand' from Vertigo is great.

AlexRobinson: I haven't read it.

BenL: Well, if you can find it, it'll be in the quarter bin, which is a crime.

AlexRobinson: No.

Brian Cronin: That's the downside of serial comics, as I don't believe Unseen Hand was ever collected
_________________

AlexRobinson: I count on people I know to clue me in to what mainstream comics are good.

AlexRobinson: Any other suggestions?

Brian Cronin: Skyscrapers of the Midwest is awesome, Alex!

Brian Cronin: From AdHouse

AlexRobinson: I loved SKYSCRAPERS.

Brian Cronin: My girlfriend and I spoke with him at MOCCA, and he was talking about the same collected vs. serial thing you mentioned before

Brian Cronin: As he was considering going into graphic novels like you

AlexRobinson: It's kind of like TV shows on DVD

Brian Cronin: Yeah, but, obviously, you fear being forgotten

Brian Cronin: You just hope you're too cool to be forgotten

Brian Cronin: Yes, I had to do that awful pun

Brian Cronin: Couldn't stop myself

AlexRobinson: The turnover in comics can be high, which is good and bad.
_________________

BrandonHanvey: Did you do any research on hypnosis for TOO COOL?

AlexRobinson: Personally I'm skeptical about hypnosis but I do any research since it's just kind of a magical gimmick in the book.

BrandonHanvey: What gave you the idea to use hypnosis?

AlexRobinson: As for the hypnosis, I just needed some way of getting him back to high school that didn't involve a time machine or anything to science fictiony.

AlexRobinson: I also wanted to keep it open for people to decide whether it "really" happened or if it was all in his head.
_________________

BenL: Alex, not sure if you'll know, but I'm curious as to why 'Too Cool' was released a week earlier in Australia than the States? I'm not complaining - was a pleasant surprise, it just usally goes the other way.

AlexRobinson: I had no idea it was released early there!

AlexRobinson: The only thing I can think of is that they were printed in China, so they didn't have to go as far?

BenL: That's the best I could figure.

AlexRobinson: I know we had to have them Fedexed over here in time for the release at MoCCA.

AlexRobinson: (that was the comics festival it debuted at)
_________________

Brian Cronin: Did you have fun at MOCCA?

AlexRobinson: I think that was the most pleasant American comics experience I had, since I got to make the first sale ever.

AlexRobinson: And it's always nerve wracking having a new book out so it was a relief when it did well.

Brian Cronin: What is the closest american comics experience to the European experience?

Brian Cronin: MOCCA?

AlexRobinson: MoCCA.

AlexRobinson: Oh wait, I misunderstood.

AlexRobinson: I think probably SPX

AlexRobinson: But you can't really compare, since comics are very big over there.

AlexRobinson: Imagine San Diego but only about comics instead of video games and movies.

Brian Cronin: Right.
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BrandonHanvey: Which idea came first the idea of traveling "back in time" or the smoking addiction?

AlexRobinson: First I came up with the idea about his dad, although it all came together almost at the same time.

BenL: How involved were you in designing the packaging for Too Cool?

AlexRobinson: Top Shelf hired Matt Kindt to work with me on some ideas.

AlexRobinson: I wanted to do a yearbook idea and Matt came up with the cigarette idea, which was much better.

BenL: It's a beautiful looking book, even before you open it up!

AlexRobinson: Other than me drawing Andy, Matt gets total credit for that.

BenL: I bet it was a good day when the design work came in.

AlexRobinson: It was a big relief and I was very excited.
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Brian Cronin: Do you worry about the pop culture references in Too Cool when it gets translated? That it might be too American-specific?

AlexRobinson: I don't worry about the pop cultural stuff in TOO COOL since I couldn't think of a way to do it without them.

AlexRobinson: And BOX OFFICE POISON has done well when translated and that actually has a lot more of that stuff.

Brian Cronin: Will this one have a reference guide like BOP did in Spain?

AlexRobinson: If it will they haven't told me about including a guide to the references.

AlexRobinson: I didn't know they were going to do that with BOP, so who knows.
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BrandonHanvey: I remember in the last CBR chat that you siad you switch drawing material between BOp and Tricked have you changed any methods or materials with TOO COOl and current work?

AlexRobinson: Every since TRICKED I've used the same drawing materials, the Japanese brush pens and microns.

AlexRobinson: I do draw smaller than I did, in the interest of moving things along.

BrandonHanvey: By smaller, do you mean in size of paper?

AlexRobinson: Yeah, I used to draw 10x15 but I think I'm down to something like 9x12

AlexRobinson: When I look at my old pages they seem gigantic!

BrandonHanvey: Has the size change altered your style in any way in terms of line weight?

AlexRobinson: I haven't really noticed any difference with the art, though I think it might've been printed a bit too small in TOO COOL

AlexRobinson: Not that a mistake was made, just that I think it would look better maybe 5% bigger

BrandonHanvey: Smaller outside margins or a bigger book size?

AlexRobinson: I think some of the finer lines got a little too thin when it was printed.

AlexRobinson: Maybe it's just me.

BenL: We need an 'Absolute Too Cool' Edition, with gigantic art! It could be a carton of smokes.
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Brian Cronin: Are there any other "easter eggs in TOO COOL?

AlexRobinson: I'm always slipping in stuff in the backgrounds of my books that I forget about so I'm sure there's some stuff in there that will amuse people.

AlexRobinson: One thing no one has commented on is the fact that Andy's wife is actually the widow of Nick from TRICKED.

Brian Cronin: Oh wow, I did not get that at all
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Brian Cronin: How great has Top Shelf been to work with?

AlexRobinson: Generally it's pretty good.

AlexRobinson: They give me a very long leash which I'm happy for.

AlexRobinson: They usually don't see the book until it's more or less done.

AlexRobinson: And they've done a great job getting the books into bookstores, which was a goal of mine

BrandonHanvey: Do they give you back notes on things they think need changing like the "did/dad"

BenL: Yeah, was the disclaimer at the back a joke, or did they really put the pressure on for that?

AlexRobinson: The dad/did thing is noteworthy only because it's the only time we really came to loggerheads.

AlexRobinson: Chris Staros will give me notes on things that aren't clear or ways he thinks the story can be improved and sometimes that's proved very helpful but I'm not obligated to change anything

BrandonHanvey: Have any of Chris' notes ever cause you to change a scene that you had to go back and draw it over again?

AlexRobinson: There have been some changes to all the books.

AlexRobinson: There are about five or six pages in the BOP TP which were different from the floppies.

AlexRobinson: With TRICKED I redid some pages.

Brian Cronin: Nick from Tricked was originally an Orangutan

AlexRobinson: Every other page had Nick giving someone the finger and Staros thought it was a bit much.
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Brian Cronin: Since you commit so much time to a project, how much pressure do you feel in picking a good idea for a book? How long do you usually take to settle on an idea?

AlexRobinson: Each book is really different when it comes to finding the idea.

AlexRobinson: TOO COOL came very quickly, TRICKED was a struggle with a lot of false starts.

Brian Cronin: With Tricked, were you worried about matching BOP?

Brian Cronin: I can only imagine how daunting that must be

AlexRobinson: That was a factor.
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BenL: Was BOP planned to head towards the ending it did, or did it change as it went along? (I only recently read it collected, so I'm not sure if it took months or years to ome out)

AlexRobinson: BOX OFFICE POISON was originally published over four years.

AlexRobinson: Once I came up with the plot of BOP, which starts around page 60 I pretty much knew how it was going to end, at least the broad strokes.

BenL: But you still left some room to play?

AlexRobinson: But I gave myself a lot of room to play around, and do stuff that wasn't essential to the plot like the landlady or the ice skating.

BenL: Well, I really loved the ice skating scenes, so I'm glad they got in there.

AlexRobinson: Me, too.
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BenL: Do you feel that's important on a longer project? Not to plan it exactly all out?

AlexRobinson: Well, I think it helps to keep me interested.

AlexRobinson: If I knew everything that was going to happen I think I would get bored.

AlexRobinson: But everyone works differently, your mileage may vary
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pooky: Just wanted to say that I enjoy your work and hope you keep doing it for a long time. A whole shelf of Alex Robinson would be quite welcome!

AlexRobinson: Thanks!

AlexRobinson: You can always buy multiple copies.

Brian Cronin: Variant covers

pooky: that's the cheater way to fill it up

BenL: Bagged trading cards?

Brian Cronin: Arthur Suydam cover of Nick as a zombie

AlexRobinson: All good ideas!

AlexRobinson: I want to release my commentary tracks for all the books.

AlexRobinson: The annotated BOX OFFI CE POISON
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Brian Cronin: Which character gets the most commission requests?

AlexRobinson: Jane

AlexRobinson: Jane and Stephen as a couple is a popular one.

AlexRobinson: "My girlfirend and I loved the book. Can you draw Jane and Stephen..."

BenL: They remind me so much of two of my house mates

Brian Cronin: Darnit, you answered too quickly

Brian Cronin: I wanted to guess Jane

AlexRobinson: Sorry!

Brian Cronin: Darn your efficiency, Robinson!

AlexRobinson: Time is money!

Brian Cronin: You even remembered to make the o in MoCCA small

AlexRobinson: Well, my wife helped run the show so it's ingrained.

Brian Cronin: How could anyone think "dad" was a typo with your efficiency?

AlexRobinson: Believe me, if you saw the uncorrected version, you'd know.

AlexRobinson: I'm incapabel of writing a word ballon without some mistake

BrandonHanvey: Is your wife an unoffical editor of your work?

AlexRobinson: She reads everything I do and will point out things that don't make sense but she knows I'm too sensitive to accept much criticism.

Brian Cronin: That was a timely typo!

pooky: if "incapabel" wasn't intentional it was still funny

AlexRobinson: Speaking of the lovely Kristen, I'm afriad our time is up.

BrandonHanvey: Thanks for taking time for the chat, Alex.

Brian Cronin: Thanks a lot, Alex.

AlexRobinson: It's been my pleasure.

AlexRobinson: Night, everyone!

Be sure to check out Alex's website here (www.comicbookalex.com), for lots of great comic-related goodness!

6 Comments

• At September 8, 2008, layne wrote:

  Good stuff, thanks for posting it!

• At September 8, 2008, Blackjak wrote:

  Thanks for posting this Brian! Much appreciated. Great insight into his work processes.

• At September 8, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  Brian, did the chat start earlier than planned, or did I somehow get international time wrong by half an hour?

• At September 8, 2008, Brian Cronin wrote:

  The latter, I'm afraid.

• At September 8, 2008, FunkyGreenJerusalem wrote:

  How did I get off by half an hour?

  A full hour, sure... but half?

  That's both odd and embarrassing.

• At September 9, 2008, Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » Sept. 9, 2008: Lupine suicide… don’t do it! wrote:

  [...] Brian Cronin presents the transcript of an online chat with Too Cool to Be Forgotten author Alex [...]