EXTRA:
OPEN LETTERS TO JOE QUESADA
BY DAVE POTTER AND MATT FRACTION

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AN OPEN LETTER TO JOE QUESADA, PART I-- DAVE POTTER

First off, congratulations.

You've been doing a lot of great work with the Marvel Knights imprint and helping launch the Ultimate imprint, and you're rewarded with probably the toughest, most thankless job in comics. Odds are, you'll be one of the most hated people in internet fandom inside of two years by simple virtue of being Marvel's Editor in Chief.

But this can't be helped. All you can do, and doubtless all you will do, is work to ensure that Marvel is, first and foremost, putting the best quality product it can across the board.

This is important in so many ways, because although a lot of people are loathe to admit it, as Marvel goes so goes the comic industry. I don't Marvel is in the position of dominance that it was in the late 80s and early 90s, but its still the crown jewel. It just needs some polishing.

So I have some thoughts I wanted to share with you. On lots of things. But first and foremost, on what I understand to be your first and second priorities at Marvel: Spider-Man and the X-Men. Just one fan's opinion. One long time fan, of course ;-)

Griping about Spider-Man has become one of the great parlor games for the online community. And yes, I am one of those who believes that the character has lost the zest that he used to have. But I think the roots of the problem are deeper than that.

Basically, Peter Parker grew up. In fairly short order, actually. Although Peter Parker gained his powers as a teen, he graduated from high school in issue #28 of his title, and then completed his undergraduate degree in college in issue #185, and finishes his first year of postgraduate work circa #242. That is the point at which he left college.

I always thought that this was a smart move. As long as Peter was a student, time would keep moving forward and the character would keep aging. Having him leave school solved that problem. Except he kept having significant character developments, such as his wedding to Mary Jane.

The Peter Parker we all know and love is today a quite different character than he was when Stan and Steve first breathed life into him. And that's fine, because characters do need to change with the times to a certain extent to remain fresh. But the core of Peter Parker/Spider-Man has changed dramatically, and as creators flail about trying to restore that balance we've only had more damage done.

The Clone Saga. The Death and Resurrection of Aunt May. The Painfully Bad Death and Future Resurrection of Mary Jane. Chapter One. The loss of Baby May, and the inexplicable retcon that she was never saved by Norman Osborn. The cancellation and restarting of all Spider-Man titles.

Fixing this is difficult. But some positive steps have already been taken to build on.

First, the aforementioned reboot. The good thing that came out of this is that it chopped down the total number of Spider-Man titles. Overexposure kills; leave your audience wanting more. Marvel also recently uncoupled the two books by hiring a second writer for the Spider-Man franchise. Having a different flavor for each book is important.

Second, accessibility to new readers. Spidey was falling into the trap of the X-books, in that it was becoming incomprehensible to non-longtime readers. Paul Jenkins initial stories have proven to be self-contained and easily accessible, not to mention damn good.

That being said, there is some work to be done, and some hard choices to be made.

First, I think it might be time for Howard Mackie to ride off into the sunset. This man has been writing Spider-Man nonstop for almost a decade, and frankly I think he's getting a little burned out. Fresh blood for the flagship Spidey title is in order.

Second, answer this question: Is Peter Parker a student or a photojournalist? Or both? I think he should be both. People have tried to get Peter back into school, but he never seems to stay and the school portion of it fades into the background within six months. Maybe its because no one knows how to write school experiences for a second year grad student; I don't know. But perhaps the thing to do is make Peter a TA for a professor teaching undergrads-just get him back in the environment of school with classmates and school concerns. Enough people go to college or think about going to college that it is still a near universal access point to the character.

Third, have him be single. But also don't have Mary Jane be dead. Don't get me wrong, I love the character of Mary Jane and was actually very happy to see Peter get married. I always thought that if the original hard-luck case could get married to a beautiful supermodel, then there was hope for everyone. But that's also the problem-Peter isn't the original hard luck case if he's married to a gorgeous supermodel or soap opera actress or whatever.

Fourth, Spidey needs to be a loner. As Spider-Man, he's built up a bit two much of a support network, especially through people who know his secret identity (see below). He's always been a tragic loner, apart from the crowd. He's become too much a part of the crowd over the last 15 years. He's also become to accepted in the super hero community (even joining the Avengers at one point). Keep him away. Keep him unique. Keep him Spider-Man.

Fifth, no one else should ever learn his identity. It used to be special that Norman Osborn, in his Green Goblin persona was the only one who knew. Now we have the Black Cat, Norman Osborn, Harry Osborn, Mary Jane, Venom, Dr Octopus, Robbie Robertson (in all probability). It would be shorter to list people who don't. You can't go back and erase people's memory (and I would advise against it if people proposed a mass memory wipe like Tony Stark did in Iron Man), but let's at least stop the bleeding.

Sixth, continue the practice of having a Spider-Man mini series out alongside the two main titles. But don't feel compelled to have one out all the time-ONLY do them when they justify themselves as a story. Always leave the audience wanting more, never leave them completely satisfied in that regard.

It sounds silly and basic and why-didn't-they-do-that before, but Spider-Man needs this kind of refocusing as we come up on the movie next summer. Let's fix the barn doors before the horses come home to rest, you know?

As opposed to the X-Men, which experienced no sales spike from the summer blockbuster movie of the same name. Fixing these books now will still allow the franchise to continue to grow, as it will receive more exposure from DVD releases, sequel movies, and new video games. The problem here is actually a bit simpler, as it's more recent.

The X-Men, as a team and as a book, long ago lost their unique place in the Marvel Universe and comicdom in general. And by unique place, I mean a book with a unique concept. The glory years of the X-Men were when Uncanny X-Men was the only book where you could read about mutant heroes fighting to protect a world that fears them. Just like Avengers was the only place you could read about Earth's Mightiest Heroes banding together to face threats they couldn't alone, or Dr Strange was the place you could read about supernatural and mystic adventures.

When did this happen? The introduction of X-Factor in the mid-eighties. Others may point to New Mutants as where the expansion began, but I disagree. Even though New Mutants was the first X-Men spin-off, it didn't really expand the X-Men world or concept; it actually returned to its roots. The original X-Men book by Stan and Jack was as much about a school and young kids as it was fighting evil mutants and protecting the world. The X-Men relaunch didn't really incorporate that. I remember Cyclops even thinking it at one point (I believe the beginning of the Dark Phoenix Saga, circa issue 129) that this was a group of adults that already knew how to use their powers. So New Mutants merely reopened a portion of the X-Men premise that had been lost.

But when X-Factor launched, reuniting the original X-Men, we now had competing teams of mutants in the Marvel Universe with competing agendas-that were all supposed to be friends and basically sprout from the same core seed of Xavier's dream. And kept expanding, with each seemingly new book exploring a different aspect of Professor Xavier's dreams and philosophies.

And that's when you got in trouble.

Because suddenly, each book was limited to a certain perspective or channel of Xavier's dream, rather than exploring the conflicts that it sometimes presents. And with the loss of unique status, you suddenly find yourself having to follow more than one book to get "the whole story" or the whole picture. And that's a problem.

My advice is that less is more. Trim back the X line. Examine each book and if its concept can't stand up as unique and special, cancel it. Get rid of it. Publish some additional X-Men mini series every year. But follow the first rule of showmanship and leave the audience wanting more, much more.

My opinions below on what to trim and what to keep are probably too extreme for serious consideration, but maybe they can serve as a starting point for discussions:

CANCEL:

X-Force: Even with Ellis' new widescreen action mandate, I don't see any unique reason this title ought to be published.

Mutant X: I am unsure why this book is being published or considered an X book. It's concept is not unique to being a mutant, and I would at least encourage it being disassociated with the X-universe.

X-Men Unlimited: If stories need to be told, tell them in the regular books. Too often this book winds up being simple filler or used to deal with plot points that no one particular cares about.

Gambit, Bishop, and Cable: Publish a limited series every year for these characters. Attach top-flight names to each series. I guarantee, sales will be higher.

KEEP:

X-Men: Make this the main team book, the big character names, etc. If you liked the movie, you should be able to pick up this book and see a connection.

Uncanny: Make this some of the second tier characters, give the creators a little more room editorially and watch them create the next superstars of the X-Men world. Seriously. Let X-Men maintain the franchise, let Uncanny grow it.

Wolverine: He's probably the most popular comic creation of the last 25 years. I figure, what the hell, keep him in his own book

Generation X: This explores the whole school concept I was talking about earlier that was an original core part of the X-Men and now isn't

X-Man: Ellis' reboot of the character as a shaman protecting this world is nothing short of fabulous. The book stands on its own not just within the X-Men universe, but also within the Marvel Universe as a whole.

X-Men: Hidden Years: The concept is solid enough, and frankly, John Byrne is currently making it one of the best damn super hero books on the market. The time will definitely come to end this particular title, when the quality dips significantly.

Joe, you've got a hard job ahead of you. And no matter how much good you do, it will always seem to be the bad that people will remember. Jim Shooter's reign produced some of Marvel's best work, yet the man is constantly vilified in the online community. My point is, you have good instincts. Trust them. And even when you don't get it right (and believe me, there will be times that you don't), just try again. The rest will take care of itself.

--Dave Potter

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ARMCHAIR QUARTERBACK --BY MATT FRACTION

Dear Joe,

All right. Congrats.

I'm sure you've been deluged with opinions and advice from all creatures great and small lately, so far be it from me to not go along with the heard.

And I don't know shit about shit. But this is what occurred to me. It's not too specific, I guess, but I'm a little out of the Marvel Loop by and large. So, um, yeah. Here's some armchair quarterbacking for you.

Don't be afraid to walk away if it doesn't work out. And do it the first time your instincts tell you it's not working out. Better to leave a failed experiment behind as a heroic scientist than leave a failure as a failure, a sellout, or an ulcer-case.

Get the talent. Make whatever amends you have to. Make whatever reparations you have to. Scalphunt, shamelessly. Do what you have to do to get the right names on, in, and behind the books. And follow through. Be a man of your word. Be a man of ethics. Make the Marvel brand mean something again.

Make people mad. Don't ever compromise your beliefs to keep the audience or the perceived audience happy. You guys have some of the most recognizable icons in popular culture. Pop culture will follow you. We're all junkies. Give us the fucking fix.

Do what's good for comics, not just for Marvel. In the end, it's the same thing, but not the other way around.

Grow the market. Don't grow in the market-you want more pieces of the pie, bake the motherfucker. That means the trade market, too. Keep it all in print.

Jemas' ideas about Epic are interesting. Don't let them be forgotten. Time for Marvel to grow up. Do it. Do it do it do it do it.

Put out a monthly Esquire or Vanity Fair sized (in height, width, and thickness) Marvel Sampler magazine. Don't call it that. Get it on newsstands. Treat your creators like rock stars. Preview work-and not just random pages, reassemble it like a movie trailer, run long interviews, EPIC stuff, fiction, etc. Like Ebay or something like that, only good; get the word out to the world. Bundle it with a CD/ROM with music, short films, animations, stuff from the Marvel and Epic websites, etc.

Put Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Steve Ditko, and others in the credit-boxes. Stan and Jack present, Stan and Steve, Jack and Joe, whatever. Time to be stand up guys again.

Hire David Carson or Brian Wood to do a unified, line-wide trade dress remake. Focus on your flagship titles and Ultimate. Retool those garish Masterwork/trade designs. Just because they're unified doesn't mean they're good. Make your books look as cool on the outside as they are on the inside. Do not allow anyone who buys a Marvel book to ever feel embarrassed to be buying a comic because of how it looks.

Covers are precious things. Don't feel obliged to interior artists when someone else could really make a cover unique and remarkable. Stop thinking about them as comics; start thinking about them as art objects.

Get a good PR/Ad firm. Why didn't I see one non-comics media advertisement for Ultimate Spidey?

Don't be bogged down by history. Don't let old loyalties that aren't your own destroy the potential of what works and what doesn't.

Toybiz makes awful toys. The comics aren't solely to blame. The sooner they realize that, the easier your job will be.

Make your own book again. Dodge the same bullets and take the same risks as everyone else working under you.

Brandalize the world. Make Mavel mean something again.

Experiment. Play. Make mistakes. Take risks. Take chances. Whatever happened to the House of Ideas?

Take care,

Matt