Unless you've been hiding in a cave for the last 6 months, you know
that Joe Quesada is Marvel's Editor in Chief. Joe has made much ado
about his big plans for Marvel Comics. In this interview he talks
about them and a whole lot of subjects within the comic industry.
Coville:
Now that you've been EIC for about 6 months, how has it been? Do
you miss being a penciler?
Quesada:
That's really my only regret since taking the job is how little time
I get to sit behind the drawing board to draw.
Coville:
It's been said that you write some 'interesting' fanfic and e-mail
them out to several comic pro's. Any chance fans will be able to read
your writings?
Quesada:
Huh? I've never written fanfic in my life. I do send out
interesting e-mail's with bizarre sites and such. Nothing i could
distribute amongst strangers ;-)
Coville:
There has been a long history of Marvel 'Suits' and freelancers
getting into conflicts here and there. How have you been handling
those?
Quesada:
Just by dealing with everyone honestly and attacking every problem
head on rather than waiting a week to make a call and letting things
fester. Usually when a decision comes down regarding how we do our
books or business it's not done with reckless abandon, there is
usually a very good, sound reason. I just tell the people that work
for me the truth and for the most part they understand. Marvel has
been pretty quiet with respect to crises in the last 6 months that
I've been there and I believe that's the reason.
Coville:
Traditionally when a conflict between Marvel and freelancers
happened, Marvel kept quiet. You've been active in telling Marvel's
side of the story in the press. Why?
Quesada:
Because, like I said, there is always another side to every
argument. Marvel in its fear or in its arrogant silence has taken
way too many a black eye in the public forum. Quite frankly. I
believe that no one wanted to speak up on Marvel's behalf. Maybe in
the past we felt it didn't matter since we were the top dog and we
could do whatever the hell we wanted. Well, guess what? It hurt us,
it hurt us to the point where freelancers (myself included) were in
fear of coming and working here. Marvel did itself a grave
disservice by turning its back on its freelance community and its
fans. And also keep this in mind, if ever a time comes when I feel
that we're in the wrong, I'll be the first to admit that we screwed
up.
Coville:
As of late A lot of people have been speculating what would
happen to the Direct Market if Marvel were to stop publishing.
Responses range from all out catastrophe to wounded but surviving.
What do you think?
Quesada:
I think everyone could pretty much pack it up and call it a day, the
direct market would most likely die. Bill Jemas and myself have
gone out there on a daily basis to squelch these fears. We heard
rumors that said that Marvel didn't intend on publishing in the near
future which really freaked us out, especially when we felt like for
the first time we're really starting to behave like a "real"
publishing company.
Coville:
Any chance Marvel will break it's exclusive distribution deal
with Diamond when the contract runs out?
Quesada:
Oh, man, jeese I don't know. This is something that would be
completely out of my jurisdiction.
Coville:
Will Marvel try different formats other than the 9 1/2 by 6 /14, 32
page comics?
Quesada:
If you mean original graphic novels, not right now. It doesn't make
fiscal sense.
Coville:
I was thinking more along the lines of Marvel Backpacks or the
Monster Sized and as a regular ongoing title instead of a one shot try
out.
Quesada:
Yes, we'll be experimenting in the future but there is no guarantee with
ongoing. If the market accepts it then fine, if not we have to move on.
Coville:
Do you see Marvel publishing black and white comics?
Quesada:
Quite possibly. I received a concept by Chuck Austen who is drawing
Elektra Assassin with Brian Bendis. It has an amazing Manga feel and I
would really love to see it in black and white and at a low price point.
Coville:
So is that still up in the air or has it been determined if Electra
Assassin will come out in B&W or Color?
Quesada:
No, Elektra is a color book. The project I'm referring to hasn't been
publicly discussed.
Coville:
I know you've talked about Marvel publishing some non-superhero
comics. Do you have any further information, like a date for when that
will happen?
Quesada:
It all starts in the fall and rolls out during the remainder of the
year. Our adult imprint will begin with some super hero related stuff and
will branch out into more.
Coville:
Will the new Mature Readers line get a strong TPB priority like
DC's Vertigo Line?
Quesada:
Exactly the same priority that our entire line is getting.
Coville:
Will Marvel be overprinting and warehousing these books like
DC does?
Quesada:
Yes, depending on the project we will be warehousing quite a bit of
our TPB overprint.
Coville:
Marvel has announced a number of new TPB's coming out this year.
Will Marvel also be putting sold out TPB's back into print?
Quesada:
Coville:
Which TPB's will you be putting back in print?
Quesada:
I don't have the list in front of me but it's extensive.
Coville:
Will Marvel gamble on Original Graphic Novels instead of just
putting out TPB collections?
Quesada:
Probably not right now. As I said, it doesn't make fiscal sense to
us. They make more sense if you can afford a vanity project or two or if
you're interested in winning Eisners, but the reality of life at Marvel
right now is that we have to keep growing our profit base in order to get
to the vanity stage. One step at a time.
Coville:
As of late some small press/independent books like Safe Area
Gorazde, From Hell and Pedro and Me have been getting some
mainstream press. Do you think Marvel will ever publish comics with
similar critical acclaim?
Quesada:
That is the hope. You can't plan for that, it just has to happen. I will
say this, we do have the talent pool to do it now.
Coville:
How well did Ultimate Marvel Magazine #1 and #2 do on the newsstands?
Quesada:
Phenomenally well and our exposure base is growing as we gain more
accounts! So far the experiment is going well.
Coville:
Do you think they would have sold that well on the newsstands if
they were available to comic stores through Diamond?
Quesada:
Sure, the fact that we didn't solicit it through Diamond was a
grievous oversight.
Coville:
I noticed in the upcoming Previews Marvel is selling Ultimate
Spider-Man #1 that are CGC rated and slabbed. Do you think this is the
path Marvel should be following?
Quesada:
No absolutely not, and I'm not aware of us doing this. Are you sure
this isn't one of our licensees?
Coville:
It comes from Dynamic Forces, they're selling "300 Re-Marked
Editions" for $69.99.
Quesada:
Dynamic Forces is a license, outside of that they have nothing to do
with Marvel. I can't stop them from buying copies of our books and
CGC grading the stuff. Part of their license agreement is that they
get a page in our section of the catalog.
Coville:
Marvel did reach out during the X-men movie giving away free
comics at the theater. What will Marvel be doing when the Spider-Man
movie comes out?
Quesada:
Hopefully twice as much and hopefully the core books and not just the
movie adaptation books will be coherent when the movie comes out.
Coville:
Do you think licensing Marvel characters will increase comic readership?
Quesada:
Man, I sure hope so! I'm really hoping that the right promotional
push will enable these movies to do something for us!
Coville:
Are you afraid of turning off female readers with a new line of
'Bad Girls for Fanboys' comics?
Quesada:
Wait and read the books, that was just Bill J's way of getting
everyone's attention. It worked.
Coville:
Some people have noticed Marvel being more 'mature' with their
covers and language used inside the books. This despite a CCA stamp
being on the cover. Doesn't this devalue the CCA Stamp?
Quesada:
Not really. It's time for the CCA to grow up with the rest of the
real world. They generally bounce words that are perfectly acceptable for
Saturday morning cartoons. We may have gone a bit overboard,
especially with the Ultimates, but we're fixing that. With the rest of the line you
have to understand that we're trying to walk a thin line and compete with
the rest of the youth entertainment biz. You realize we're dealing with a
400 million dollar grossing movie and DVD in which every child and
adults favorite line is "You're a dick!"
Coville:
Marvel recently changed the way comics were made by making
colorists bid for work. Do you see this expanding to other areas of
freelance work?
Quesada:
No, the coloring situation was an isolated one. We had one of the
best coloring studios come in with a very aggressive bid. It changed the
landscape and we had to pursue the possibilities. It also came at the
same time that our nearly exclusive contract with a large color vendor
came to a close so bids were just flying in and around. The final outcome
was that we're saving money and incrementally the quality of the color
will be improving starting in May. It was strictly a business decision, I
didn't feel great doing it but it had to be done and the books will
improve because of it. I would have had a larger problem with it had it
been a decision made regardless of quality.
Coville:
A while back, someone asked at a Press Conference about the
> possibility of Marvel including Credits for Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko
> co/created characters. Has anything come from that?
Quesada:
I look into it. It's a bit more difficult than it appears. I really
can't get into the legal mumbo jumbo of it and it's really silly but it's
not all on our end. I would love to see it happen someday but the stars
would all have to line up appropriately.
