Note: Earlier today, an ESSAY by Paul T. Riddell was posted out of sequence. The 'correct' ESSAY has now been posted. Sorry.

START: THE GREAT WHITE HYPE/ELEPHANT
BY DAVE POTTER

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It has been observed in the past few weeks that Marvel's newest Editor-In-Chief, Joe Quesada, seems to be positioning himself to be the greatest hype machine the company has seen since Stan Lee was cranking out comics with industry legends like Kirby and Ditko back in the 60s.

The observation comes with good reason, as Quesada is an almost ubiquitous presence among online and print news mediums-hell, he's even exchanged emails with ME. And like Stan, you can't help but sense a genuine and sincere enthusiasm for the product and company he's promoting. That's probably what makes it refreshing for a lot of folks, jaded and cynical (with good reason) in this age of relentless self-promotion.

But refreshing or not, it's a smart business move. People are talking about Marvel like they haven't since...well, probably since Stan was tooting his horn some 25 years ago. Creators and potential readers are also becoming aware that Marvel is, by all appearances, a good place to work again. And that the product may actually be good for what it is (and really, that's all a lot of people would like out of Marvel).

But the downside is that he is hyping an idea and not a physical, delivered product yet. His name has been on the masthead as EIC at Marvel for more than a few months now, but there are really no visible CHANGES to the general public yet, except for the new trade dress on the Essential line (which I like, for whatever its worth, but still). The true Quesada Marvel-the creative product-doesn't really hit the stands until next month's Spider-Man titles, and then May's X-Men titles. And even then, given that this is a serialized medium (for Marvel anyway), it will take a few months to get into or complete the first story arcs before you can really say and feel Quesada's true, lasting, long term impact as Editor in Chief. It will also be the appropriate time to debate how successful the creators like Stracyzinski, Morrison, Casey, Quietly, Bendis, Millar, et all have been in revitalizing the creatively floundering Marvel line.

That is the reasonable thing to expect. But since we have to hype our product before people can SEE the product in today's world, people have already had ample opportunity to declare how much it sucks. WITHOUT having read said product. Based solely on the hype.

For God's sake people, YOU CAN'T JUDGE SOMETHING YOU'VE NEVER SEEN OR READ. Period. It is so screamingly obvious that the prevalence of pre-judging unseen products makes my eyes bleed.

The problem is not limited to Marvel or DC or even all the major publishers/creators out there...its just that Marvel has been so effective at the hype machine that the inevitable backlash of this form of criticism was inevitable. To be honest, I'm surprised it took this long. God bless the internet, but to everyone out there busy trashing works they've never read and that NO ONE has read: you are not helping.

I'll say that again: you are not helping.

All you are doing is preserving and promoting the stereotype of the fat comic geek from the Simpsons who intones "Worst Episode Ever" over and over again, regardless of actual quality. You are reducing the entire medium to a years long running gag on an animated sitcom. Great fucking work, nimrods.

Now I'll be the first to admit that hype can sell you a bill of goods or a white elephant, and that questioning hype is a good thing. In fact, it's a necessary thing, as necessary as the hype itself. But making a definitive decision that a product is not good or is even bad before seeing the product is ignorance and arrogance of the worst kind. And for everyone out there already trashing Spidey or X-Men or Elektra or anything else forthcoming from Marvel-as a man once said, get a life, you people.

I'm not talking about people who just don't like a genre or a creator or even a publisher. I'm talking about people who make snide remarks about the obvious direction that a title is going to go in based on the promotional art. I'm talking about those who decide that a new creator doesn't "get" a character after hearing a one sentence description of a plot element they are introducing. The art or concept may reflect an idea that sounds dumb...but you won't know if the idea is, in fact, dumb until you see the actual idea, will you? In the interests of full disclosure, I have read about many of things upcoming in the same Marvel books I've mentioned earlier. And what I've read about those upcoming issues... I don't like everything I've read. I honestly don't. But by the same token, I am going to wait for the books to come out before passing judgment.

It's a pretty basic concept I like to call Know What You Are Talking About. Or alternatively, Wait Until the Building Is Built Before Setting Fire To It. The best part is, its pretty simple to do, not much trouble at all. Just requires some patience and an open mind.

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