Image Editor/Exec Says Marvel’s Next Big Thing’s Really Just the Same Old S#!t

Writer/Editor/Executive Director of Image Comics Eric Stephenson wasted no time in making his feelings known about Marvel Comics announcement regarding AVENGERS VS  X-MEN; the supposedly momentous 12-issue series that’s due out this coming April. On his personal blog the day after the announcement he scornfully states “Marvel has announced that the next big thing from the House of Ideas is a new version of this” and posts this image:

This is, of course, the cover of issue #1 of the 4 issue miniseries with the same name written by Roger Stern, Tom DeFalco, and Jim Shooter with art by Marc Silvestri, Keither Pollard, and Joe Rubinstein published by Marvel in 1987.

That series was built up to be a massive confrontation full of incredible battles, too. It was a face-off between two awesome teams that represented justice and peace as differently as possible while still being on the same side. But because of some disagreement over how the story should end, the original conclusion by Roger Stern was replaced with Shooter and DeFalco’s version. This significantly changed the tone into less of a balls-out brawl and more of an examination Magneto’s character.

While the basic plot of the story could end up being something similar- by which I mean a more character-driven, consequence-focused exploration rather than the kind of carnage we’re anticipating- I have no doubts that this new AvX will be nothing like its predecessor. Although he did have a point when he reminded us that this match-up isn’t exactly a fancy new concept, does that really matter if it ends up being as good as we’re told to expect? The fact that a four-issue series with the same name came out nearly 15 years ago doesn’t do much to dissuade me from wanting to own AVENGERS VS X-MEN. The only difference is that now I’m looking forward to writing an in-depth comparison piece between the two.

Not content to limit his disdain to Marvel, Stephenson continues “Meanwhile, DC is, by most accounts, gearing up to do multiple new versions of this:”

I’m pretty sure this needs no explanation, however I wish Stephenson had explained what he was referring to and in what way DC was going to do something like Watchmen more than once, let alone several times! But he had more important things to address.

“Image Comics is on a supersonic rocket ship to the future, however, and so next year, we’re going to be doing this:” Then he basically he’s shows what he must consider a line-up of Image’s heavy-hitters, and from what I’ve gathered he’s not wrong.

First  is the beautiful cover for Fatale; a series by Ed Brubaker with art by Sean Phillips that promises GUNS! SEX! SECRET CULTS! AND MONSTERS! (All at the same time?) Apparently nothing the acclaimed creators of SLEEPER, CRIMINAL and INCOGNITO have done so far will prepare us for it’s explosive debut, either. This is because FATALE “blends noir and horror to tell a riveting epic unlike anything you’ve seen before.”

Really? Because I once read this very cool series called FOOTPRINTS and that was very noir and both riveting & unlike anything I’d seen before, too. Though it didn’t have much in the way of horror, and the monsters to sex, cults, and guns ratio is probably nothing like this comic judging by its synopsis: ” A reporter in 2012 stumbles on a secret that leads him down the darkest path imaginable… to a seductive woman who’s been on the run since 1935, a mobster who may be an immortal demon monster, and the stories of all the doomed men who’ve been caught in their decades-long struggle.”

So does this reporter go back in time or is this woman the hottest and most seductive 97 year-old? Suddenly the secret cults and sex stuff is less appealing.  On the plus side I do enjoy stories about demons and doomed people of either sex. Issue # 1 goes on sale January 04, 2012 for $2.99, but what Stephenson doesn’t show you here is that there’s going to be an alternate cover as well. On the right is cover B and I’m going to take a wild guess and say this is the  immortal demon mobster with guns part of the story.

They’re not quite as revealing at ImageComics.com about everything that’s coming soon, but you can read all about this new series right here-http://www.imagecomics.com/news/129/

It’s called The Manhattan Projects and it’s by the same guys who created THE RED WING: Jonathan Hickman and Nick Pitarra.

Synopsis: “What if the union of a generation’s brightest minds like Albert Einstein and Robert Oppenheimer was not a signal for optimism, but foreboding? What if everything… went wrong? In the year 1945, the atomic bomb proved its capacity for immense devastation, but what if the creation of that ultimate killing machine was just a cover for a series of other, more unusual, programs? A brand new, monthly ongoing series from Image Comics will pose that question by taking a look at one of the most critical periods of change in the 20th century through a lens both darkened and strange.” The first issue is $3.50 for 32 pages and hits comic book shops March 7, 2012.

Issue #1 of Thief of Thieves doesn’t come out until February but until then you can head over to the website and check out the first four pages to see if it catches your interest-  http://www.imagecomics.com/previews/0006/1

It’s written by Robert Kirkman and Nick Spencer with art by Shawn Martinbrough and the description tells us that “Conrad Paulson lives a secret double life as master thief Redmond. There is nothing he can’t steal, nothing he can’t have… except for the life he left behind. Now, with a grown son he hardly knows, and an ex-wife he never stopped loving, Conrad must try to piece together what’s left of his life, before the FBI finally catch up to him… but it appears they are the least of his worries.” You can buy it starting on Feb. 8th for $2.99 in stores and online.

Stephenson seems pretty confident in all of these titles, but then he seems pretty confident in general. However I can’t deny that what Image is offering is probably going to be good. They publish good stuff- comics and graphic novels that I’d say are among the very best out there right now. Plus their much of it is creator-owned, something they encourage at Image rather try to persuade against or prohibit via legal contract the way some publishers do. I definitely support that aspect of the company and could see why it would be appealing to so many artists.

The meaty heart of Stephenson’s post and point is really not much more than a single short paragraph:

“Next year is Image’s 20th anniversary and instead of polishing the bumper on someone else’s old car, the best writers and artists in comics are going to be creating some of the best comics we’ve ever published. You’ll recognize some them – Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Robert Kirkman, Nick Spencer, Shawn Martinbrough, Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples, Jonathan Hickman, Nick Pitarra – while others will be new to you, but whether it’s an old favorite or somebody doing their first ever work in comics, the one thing they all have in common is new ideas.”

So let me make sure I’ve got this:  Image will not only have comics by all these famous artists and authors working on them (and everyone knows that if they’re famous that automatically makes them way better than everyone else,) but even the stuff by people I’ve never heard of is still a much better choice than anything by Marvel or DC because it will be new!

Image = awesome new stuff     Marvel & DC = crappy old stuff

Simple, right to the point, and it had pictures telling me what to buy! He really knows his readers, doesn’t he? Then like the olive in a martini he wraps things up with a Willy Loman impression, explaining that  “the best part is that’s just in the first three months, and there’s so much more than what I’m showing you here.” And I’m taking all of you to Disneyland! Just Kidding. Here; buy these comics.

So in the end what are we to take away from all of this?

Well clearly Eric Stephenson doesn’t have the highest opinion of Marvel or DC (even though many of the people creating for Image that he listed as “the best writers and artists in comics” are also involved in the creation of the AVENGERS VS X-MEN series.)

It’s also pretty obvious that he thinks Image is coming out with some really bad ass and innovative comic books in the near future that are better and more worthy of readers’ attention and spending money than what other publishers have to offer…I may have to give him that one. He actually did list some interesting-sounding stuff. Or rather he put up pretty pictures of stuff that turned out to sound interesting, which means at the very least his post can be called informative.

Lastly we learned that the Editor/Executive Director of Image Comics is currently time-traveling to the future by way of supersonic rocket ship! He writes blog posts that make him sound like a telemarketer, and he is quite possibly a bit of a douche.

Burning out my fuse up here alone,

-Dianthrax

Sources:

Stephenson, Eric. (Dec. 7). A Future Apart [Blog]. Retrieved from

http://it-sparkles.blogspot.com/2011/12/future-apart.html

(Dec. 8, 2011). THE MANHATTAN PROJECTS DESTINED TO BLOW UP: Hickman & Pitarra’s New Ongoing Science Fiction Debuts in March [News Article]. Retrieved from

http://www.imagecomics.com/news/129/

Shayer, Jason. (July 8, 2010). 1987 – X-Men vs Avengers Revisited [Blog] Retrieved from

http://marvel1980s.blogspot.com/2010/07/1987-x-men-vs-avengers-revisited.html

Shayer, Jason. (May 26, 2009). 1987- X-Men vs. The Avengers [Blog]. Retrieved from

http://marvel1980s.blogspot.com/2009/05/1987-x-men-versus-avengers.html

http://www.imagecomics.com/comics/4516/Fatale-1-MR-Cvr-B

http://www.imagecomics.com/comics/4513/Fatale-1-MR-Cvr-A

http://www.imagecomics.com/comics/4514/Thief-of-Thieves-1-MR-