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INTERVIEW: JOE QUESADA - Part 3 Joe Quesada Interview - Part 0
Always! I try to listen to every logical suggestion or argument. These are the people that pay my rent, how can I not listen to them. Launchpad was actually formed after I made a suggestion about a fanzine on the Event Comics Website. I read every stitch of mail I get and I would venture to say that I respond to 99% of it. I was a fan before I was an artist and an artist before I was EIC. I'm not going to change just because of my position at Marvel. I made this clear before I was hired that I try and communicate with the fans every free moment I get. It's funny how it's worked out. For years I've heard a vocal group of Marvel bashers talk about all the suits up at Marvel not caring about the fans, now I continue posting on the net just as I always have and these same people criticize me because I should be acting more like a suit. Apparently they find my approach unbecoming or too guttural for someone in my position. It's pretty funny reading! Still the majority of the fans are amazing, they're as astute as anyone working at Marvel. Many of the suggestions come in very handy during our weekly publishing meetings. It's funny because I know that Bill Jemas reads fan mail as well and we both come loaded for bear during these meetings. So I encourage the fans to continue sending me their suggestions, many times they have ideas that I just never would have thought of and sometimes it's comforting knowing that the fans and I are of like mind with regard to certain business decisions. Speaking of Event, how has the ASH movie been progressing? Dreamworks purchased the option and last I heard it was in pre production Would you seriously consider bringing ASH to Marvel, and if so what of the creative team? Both you and Jimmy are most likely too busy to handle the title anytime in the near future. This gets back to one of my earlier problems at Marvel. My placing Ash in the Marvel U would be a very interesting thing to do and very easy to do in my position. It would also be self serving as hell! The only way I could consider this is if an editor wanted to use the character or if something or someone creatively, outside of the realm of my ordering it, wanted to do it and showed me good reason why it would be cool. I can't make that call for the obvious reasons.
The next payment cycle for the event boards was coming up and I was in the process of creating joequesada.com. On my new website the Event boards will also appear so it will be home for many things. Has a manifesto been created to represent the 'new voice' of Marvel? No, I wouldn't go so far as to say that. I think it's really something unspoken but all our crew understands what the goal is. There's a lot of energy in these halls and the creativity is really flowing between our artists and writers. We have people working on Marvel titles that you would never expect who are jazzed to be playing in this playground and internally we can feel it and get jazzed in turn. We all know what the goals are and we know what to look for and ask from our talent. All we want are the best, most well thought out stories which are accessible and hopefully can be turned into part of our future backlist. I look at it, and I hate to say this because I'm a Mets fan, like building the New York Yankees. We're going to stock our lineup with sluggers and hope that the fans notice and fill the stadium seats! Aside from just refining the books, will Marvel be creating more titles specifically geared towards the younger audiences? We have some projects in development that are strictly for very young readers. Not a Batman Adventures type of thing but more in a storybook vein. What we're really looking for in order to branch out in this direction of our publishing is a publishing/licensing partner that specializes in that age group. We have some people who are very interested and we're in the process of working up some proposals and art in order to make a big push into that market. Have you tried the scholastic systems? Then you could get a steady flow going straight to the public schools. We have book club deals in place. There are very few places that you could ask us to look that we haven't. The whole 'bad girls for fanboys' thing. I'm guessing 'bad girls' was just a poor choice of words. But none the less marvel is still intent on creating more strong female oriented titles. Which characters are there currently up for their own spot? Bad choice of words or do you mean a played out phrase? I could have sworn that the industry was using the term Bad-Girl without shame over the last four or five years? I quite frankly hate the term but Bill Jemas loves ruffling peoples feathers by dropping little verbal bombs like this. He really does get peoples attention. The last catch word was "collectible," he warned me that he was going to use it ahead of time and boy did it ever serve its purpose. Sure helped to get the message out there. Has much movement been made on the Bad Girls line? It was mentioned the line will involve a move into more genres. There is no Bad Girl 'line'. Bill J was referring to some books that will be coming out. Elektra is one of them and so is Witches which we recently announced along with Bendis' Alias. Will the new Bad Girls ‘initiative’ at Marvel also include more female talent? I know there's many fans eagerly awaiting the return of Ann Noccenti. Yes, we don't gender discriminate. We only discriminate against bad stories.
Because it will allow issue #1 to open with an automatic circulation of close to a quarter of a million copies! Because it's never been done! Because the book is amazing and we want people to see it! One thing that I noticed with Wizard readers, a lot of the people who left comics years ago continue reading Wizard because they hate feeling like they've severed all ties to the art form. It keeps them connected somehow. Well, maybe we can get to some of these die-hards and bring them back into the shops. Also keep in mind that the issue that hits the direct shops will have at least 14 extra pages of content than the Wizard issue. I'm assuming there will also be some big web iniative behind the project as well? Similar in terms of the online Ultimate Spidey? Maybe make the preview pages available as a pdf download? Oh yeah! Now you're not one to shy from the online community, you're actively on the boards, your e-mail is widely available. Have you been subject to a lot of 'electronic attacks' and 'letter bombs' since your inception as EIC? You also came aware of Chuck Austen when he e-mailed you, have any other promising creators contacted you recently that you'd seriously consider employing? I get all sorts of mail and yes sometimes you do come across some wonderful talent out there. But as is also my policy, I don't like to talk about things until they're a done deal. For the most part, the fans are great, yes you do get a few who just lose control, but that's expected with the job. It's nice knowing that what I'm doing is important enough to them to warrant that kind of behavior. Any past characters you're partial to you'd like to see go through a revamp? I really think we can be doing much more with Captain America. We've gone through extensive conversations with Millar and Bendis with respect to the Ultimate Cap concept that would work within the parameters of the Ultimate Universe. Dan Jurgens, Bobbie Chase and I have also discussed possible new directions for Cap and I think Dan has some wonnderful new stuff planned for Cap and Cap fans are going to be really surprised. These discussions of course including the possibility of a black Captain America. Has a decision been made on whether or not to follow through with that direction? Not in the way you think. These conversations are great because they help to springboard other concepts. Now you're a big advocate of what this medium is capable of, where do you see us heading in the near future? I do see us expanding in readership base. Not an expansion like the early nineties but a real slow build to a comfortable, economically sound reader base. A readership base that's built on fans who just expect great entertainment and not the Franklin Mint. Comics have been around since man has been scribbling on cave walls and if we go back to focusing on what it is that makes our artform great we'll be around for the long haul. I think it's unrealistic for fans to dream that it's ever going to be here like it is in Japan, you're dealing with a whole cultural frame of mind. It's also death to want a boom like the early nineties, that was a foundation built on glass and Holo-Foil. Where do you see Marvels focus heading with all the new changes going on? The focus for the next year on the publishing end is very simple, just try to get the best talent possible doing the best books possible. It's not magic, just common sense. On a larger front we're putting every available effort behind getting and showcasing our books outside of the direct market. I think that we can expect a very significant number of old fans returning because of good word of mouth which will be great for supporting the direct market, but while that's happening we'll be pushing forward exposing our product to as many new readers as possible. Creatively, right now we're on a high, but sales wise, we still need to create a rise in the number of readers out there. When do you see comics finally making the news again? How many new readers are we from being 'hot shit' again - [in the good high quality way not the early 90's repetitive crap way]? That's tough to say. It's been a while since we've seen a time like this. There was a time after W.W.II when the industry all but died. Then came this Stan Lee guy and his wonderful group of creators and created something literally from nothing. They looked at the genre and literally reinvented it simply by looking out their windows and writing stories that related to their readers in very real world ways. Gone were the days of the perfectly invulnerable hero like Superman and in were heroes with feet of clay who had living breathing alter egos. Even though it looks quaint in retrospect, they tried to deal with real world issues like drug addiction. I think we're in a similar situation right now. The rest of the comic buying public has been clamoring for stories and heroes that are more relevant and much like DC of the fifties we're ignoring their wishes by telling imaginary Superman stories. So I believe that we're growing in the right direction, but secretly I'm hoping that it's gradual and consistent. So are there any real world issues Marvel intends to focus on? Oh, yeah. Wait until you get into the meat of Allred's and Milligan's X-Force! Silent month. Telling a story without words, the true measure of a sequential artists abilities. What inspired you to do this and have you had any reservations about undertaking such an event? Will you even know for sure who will and who won't be working on what come December? Actually it was Bill Jemas' idea. I just helped refine it a bit. I think it's going to be a blast! As for who works on what? The way I see it is if the scheduling works out, it should be the regular teams that are on the books. By the way, the thing that inspired Bill with this idea was that someone at Marvel had created an animated Ultimate X-Men screen saver for Bill and one day as he was watching the images go by he was struck by how amazing Adam Kubert's story telling ability was and how beautiful the art looked without words balloons.
And less...Of the inclusive material that we've painted ourselves in a corner with. But what I'd really like to do is...forbid any writer or artist to ever introduce another flashback panel in order to explain why we should care about a scene or character. So how does a day in the life of Mr. Q work out? Wow, I'm up early and usually get to Marvel by 8:30 or 9. I drink 2 extra large cups of coffee, black and a bagel while I answer fan e-mail. From that point on it's a series of freelancer calls, publishing meeting, editorial pow wows, putting out fires, creating controversy, telling Bill Jemas that he's nuts and that whatever his crazy idea for the day won't work, facilitating whatever idea for the day that Bill Jemas convinced me had wings and a million other things that come up during the day. I just recently actually started making time for eating lunch out but I'm still usually at the office at 7PM. I average 8 as my check out time. As already mentioned you have a good connection with your fans, but have you ever had a bad fanboy moment? I've had a fan flip out on me because I was eating lunch at a convention cafeteria with my wife and he just decided to jump into the booth with us. I asked if I could help him and he started to unpack all of his comics without saying a word, there must have been a stack of 50. I told him that I would be more than happy to sign his books once I finished eating and headed back to the floor. He started cursing me out and had a bit of a fit. What advice do you have to those out there trying to make it into the biz today, specifically to the new talent with their eyes on a spot at Marvel? Just follow your instincts and gut. Don't let anyone steer you away from your dreams. I had a pal tell me that I should bail from Marvel and MK because Marvel would never care enough about me to let me dictate or change policy, boy am I glad I stuck around and didn't listen to that advice. This should serve as a lesson to anyone who wants to get into this industry. For crying out loud, look at me, I'm just a pudgy fanboy from Queens New York who loved comicbooks. Marvel Online. We've seen the experiment with the online version of Ultimate Spidey. What further steps will Marvel take to get more involved with the net community? We have big plans but somebody upstairs (at Marvel) will slap me if I give them away. It just happens to be one of those crazy daily ideas. That said where do you see the industry in general going in terms of the net? I believe it will be a great tool, but a tool is what it will remain. I believe that people will always want to hold a physical book in their hands. Reading on screen is okay for short spurts but I bet folks are pretty worn out just reading this long goofy thing! Print it out, it's better that way!!! Convention season is on hand, and for a lot of people you'll be the man to see. Whether it's to get advice or just to pimp themselves - either way you'll certainly be busy. What advice can you give to those hopefuls on how to present themselves? The best way to create a portfolio and leave a good impression? Wow that's a loaded question. The easiest advice I can give is keep it short. A long presentation helps no one. Also keep in mind that I let my editors do the hiring, I try to make suggestions but for the most part stay out of their way. What about in terms of portfolios or leave behinds? That same rule applies. No one wants to dig through tone of material, it all becomes one big blur in the end. Leave behind a package that is clean, lean and simple. What do you see as the primary differences between what DC COMICS does, and what you're doing at Marvel? The difference is that DC rarely has to look at the bottom line. They have the ability to do many vanity projects that might never turn a profit. In some ways you can't even call them a business because that's not the way they're run. They run more like a licensing factory. We on the other hand are still a company struggling to get back on it's feet so I would say there's more of a reality and a here and now awareness that comes with our side of the street. There is an immediacy to what we do! I found it amazing that my 2 former DC editors were amazed that they were part of the P+L process for their books. In other words they get to work with accounting and sales to see how their books will shape up in the real world. Apparently they were never in the loop at DC with respect to that. The 11 pager you're working on. Can you reveal any details as to the short - what capacity it'll be presented in? You mentioned it involves a big name writer. If this experiment works out and you feel you can return to your art, what's first on your list of projects? I really can't say much except that it's for Marvel Knights. Hopefully Kevin Smith will get his act together and have something for me. How confident do you feel about the upcoming adult line? For instance we already know that you'll be dealing with some dramatic sexual scenes. Is Marvel really prepared to take that leap? We're perfectly ready! I'm extremely confident that we'll be kicking major butt come September. Do you believe that more recently, particularly since your appointment to EIC, that comics are becoming more widely accepted in the mainstream market? Do comics really have a place in the mainstream market to begin with? I certainly hope that awareness has been growing. I think comics have a definite place in mainstream markets although I feel we're at our best when we're still able to stay in our niche. Finally, parting words - what does the future portend - anything you feel should be mentioned to the comic readers of the world? All I can say at this juncture is that the future looks incredibly bright for all of us in the industry right now! JQ Joe Quesada Interview - Part 0
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You've always had a tight connection with your fans, you even donated a cover to the fanzine THE LAUNCHPAD founded by members of the Event comics message board. Do your fans often affect your work? Do suggestions you receive often bear much weight on your decisions?
Why did the Event boards close down - is this incentive of an eventual phasing out or dying down of Event Comics entirely? Even now it still operates through Marvel Knights but in that regard the company exists solely in the hands of Stuart and Nanci. 
Why, oh why, will ELEKTRA be making its premiere in the pages of WIZARD?
Finish these sentences;
